So here’s the plan: train and Skybus to the airport on Saturday morning. Fly to Adelaide. Check into hotel on North Terrace for 3 nights. Explore on foot during the afternoon. Hire car booked for Sunday to explore beyond the city. Monday and Tuesday morning more exploring on foot, before flying back on Tuesday afternoon. ... [More]
Trying to navigate school holidays and come up with affordable holidays in the wake of the monthly mortgage payments isn’t particularly easy. Last year was Hobart (piggybacking on Marita being there for a conference) and Sydney over the Cup Day weekend with the kids. The latter worked really well, so I’ve decided to do it ... [More]
Marita and I were walking along the Centre Road shops on Saturday when we saw a passport on the ground. We picked it up. From the cover, photo, and identifying marks inside, it appeared to belong to an Australian-Canadian boy of Asian (perhaps Chinese) appearance. Looking around, we couldn’t see him. A couple of bystanders ... [More]
(Written and posted on Sunday 12/11/2006, but backdated to the day it happened.) And so our last day in Sydney dawned. Thankfully the weather had improved immeasurably, and after breakfast we checked-out (more about the total bill later), left our luggage in storage at the hotel (I’d checked — Central Station has no luggage lockers) ... [More]
(Written and posted on Friday 10/11/2006, but backdated to the day it happened.) After another buffet breakfast, we set out for a walk around Sydney’s CBD. One of my criteria for hotels was walking distance to plenty of attractions; it avoids a lot of hassle with fares for transport if you just want to wander ... [More]
(Written and posted on Thursday 9/11/2006, but backdated to the day it happened.) It was a pretty good night’s sleep in our small room, and we got showered and dressed and went down to avail ourselves of the hotel breakfast. We all quickly warmed to the idea of helping themselves to all the toast, cereal, ... [More]
(Written and posted on Wednesday 8/11/2006, but backdated to the day it happened.) On Saturday I ran around packing up my big backpack full of stuff. We needed clothes for the four days, plus the usual bathroom supplies, plus a book each to read while bored in airports or in the hotel. I also packed ... [More]
I’m off to Sydney today for a few days with the kids, on the trip I booked in July. Hoping to walk across the harbour bridge, ride the monorail and the ferries, go to Tooronga Zoo, all that good stuff. Hopefully the flight home won’t be a long saga of delays like the last couple ... [More]
My camera has come back from its European holiday with Justine. Even better, due to an incident with some water, it’s got fresh (and better) rechargable batteries, and since the memory card got filled up, it’s come back with another card as well. I really should lend my camera to Justine more often. Looks like ... [More]
(Post backdated to the day it happened. Posted Tue 10 Oct 2006.) Over breakfast we pondered if we should go up Mount Wellington. The night before we’d rung about a bus tour, but looking at the weather that day, with snow forecast for the peak, and a lot of fog visible around the top, it ... [More]
(Post backdated to the day it happened. Posted Tue 10 Oct 2006.) When it comes to hotel accomodation: there’s a few different variants. First is your budget place: backpackers and so on. Ugly, perhaps not comfortable, often pretty bare, but cheap. Then there’s your corporate hotels: often ugly, but comfortable and functional. Soemtimes quite expensive. ... [More]
(Post backdated to the day it happened. Posted Sun 8 Oct 2006.) I thought Jetstar liked me, when the lady at check-in suggested I not check-in my bag. It was light enough, she said, that I could carry it with me on the plane, provided it didn’t have any sharp objects in it — which ... [More]