Caught smoking

As I've previously blogged, the train trip from Sydney to Melbourne takes 11 hours or more.   Obviously a long time to go between ciggies if you're a smoker, even if you're not going the full distance.   At many stations, only one or two doors are opened, and even at the bigger stations, passengers are strongly discouraged from getting off the train.  In fact, early in the trip an announcement was made that, because it's illegal to smoke on station platforms, it was no use smokers even trying to get off the train to have a quick light up.

A no smoking zone

Evidently all this was too much for one fairly young traveller on our train.  I happened to be moving about the train at the very moment that the train crew confronted him with the information that a remotely-monitored smoke detector had gone off in the toilet from which he had just emerged.

His denials didn't carry much weight as the crew (and I) could readily smell that he'd just had a cigarette.


He was escorted to the train manager's office, so I don't know what happened.  However, a few minutes later, a "final reminder" announcement was made that anyone caught smoking on the train would be fined and/or off-loaded at the next station.  Being off-loaded?   An option on the train, but wouldn't work so well for an airline!

By train from Sydney to Melbourne

We took the train from Sydney to Melbourne.  In hindsight, I'm not quite sure why, but I suppose I wanted to be able to say that I'd done it.  And, I admit, there was a good fare available!

Well, there were a couple of positives, but there were a whole lot of negatives.

On the positive side, departing from Central involved just a short taxi ride from our accommodation, and the taxi pulled up almost next to where the train was.   No security, no hassles, just walk on board.  On the train, the seats are comfortable with a seat pitch of a metre (and that's in economy).   You can walk around and you don't need seat belts (out of force of habit I kept trying to do one up!)

On the negative side, it's a long trip.   Yes, XPT trains “can” run at 120 km, but for a lot of the time they don't.    There are stations to stop at, speed restrictions, curves and hills.  The trip from Sydney to Melbourne (about 960 kms, according to Wikipedia) is “scheduled” to take about 11 hours, which means the average speed is less than 90 kmph.  For a while, I enjoyed the ever-changing view, but once we got about half way, I did start thinking that perhaps I could have made better use of my day!  Fortunately, I had a good book to read.

There's food (and beer and wine) available for purchase, but although it's adequate, it's pretty basic.   There's no lounge car or even a place to eat what you buy except at your seat.

I was aware when I booked that the train only ran as far as Broadmeadows because of infrastructure work interfering with the run into Southern Cross.  I guess this should have sounded warning bells, but they weren't too loud, so I thought, oh well.

On the outskirts of Sydney, our train obviously got stuck behind a suburban train, which meant slow running for a while.  Then when we ought to have been powering up the hill to Moss Vale, things weren't quite as fast as I would have expected from an XPT train.  Somewhat later, we were informed that, yes, we were behind schedule, because one of the train's power units was not operating at full capacity.   Result, by the time we reached the outskirts of Melbourne, the train was over 30 minutes late.   Then, just before Broadmeadows station, where we were to disembark, to come to a stop.   We were told that, sorry, coz the train was 35 minutes late, it had missed its “landing slot”, and there would be a further delay of 30 minutes before we could get off.   So near, yet so far.  Finally, after waiting nearly 35 minutes at a place called Roxborough Park (actually, Somerton Loop for the gunzels) we got to the Broadmeadows platform, a grand total of 75 minutes late.  The transfer to buses went smoothly, and I suspect that the time the bus took to get into the city, down the freeway, was probably on a par with the time the train would have taken negotiating Melbourne's western suburbs.  Just the same, it wasn't the best end to a long day.

Bottom line?   I've ticked the "been there, done that" box, and will leave inter-city train travel in Australia in the future to the main users of the train, who are people travelling to and from the towns along the way to the "big smoke".

West Head and Palm Beach

We had a lovely dinner with M and G at their home, and next day they were kind enough to take us to West Head for the view and then to Barrenjoey restaurant at Palm Beach for lunch.

View of Lion Island from West Head

I had never been to West Head, overlooking Pittwater and the Hawkesbury, and it is many, many years since I had been to Palm Beach (and could hardly remember it), so it was a day of great interest and discovery (and, of course, good company).

Whale Beach

Pittwater

Manly to The Spit Walk

I was unsure whether to start at The Spit or at Manly, but it turns out that my decision to start at the Manly end was a good one.  The section of the track from Sandy Bay to the The Spit is closed, and although an occasional shuttle bus is provided from the Clontarf Reserve, it apparently goes back towards Manly.   What provision is made for people who arrive at The Spit looking for the path, I don't know.

Starting at the Manly end, the walk from Manly to The Spit is a sealed path along the beach front and past quite dense housing, but further along the track ranges from scrambling over rocks at Forty Baskets Beach (I wasn't sure that I was heading in the correct direction but fortunately was able to ask), up and down quite steep steps in parts of Debroyd Head national park and along bush tracks of various types. Signage is a little inconsistent and while it's quite good in parts, in other parts, even with my map, I took a couple of wrong turns and at one point missed a whole section, walking instead along suburban streets.

The views are very good, as I had expected, and in parts of the Debroyd Head park, you could be in the middle of remote bushland (save for the occasion intrusion of beeping from reversing construction equipment in the distance).  A lot of the vegetation is coastal heath, including banksias and the like.    Even in June, there were some wildflowers in bloom (not too many, though).

As mentioned, the section of the track from Sandy Bay to the The Spit is closed, so I took quite a lengthy detour along the streets to come out on the main road above The Spit, where I was able to catch a bus.    There was an hourly free shuttle from the Clontarf Reserve back to somewhere, but I didn't bother with this as it would have involved a 50 minute wait.

I had hoped to stop for a coffee along the way, but if there are any coffee establishments at the beaches I passed, they're off the track and I didn't see them (I ws later told I ought to have looked harder!).   The walk took a little over 3½ hours, which was definitely time well spent.

On the path near Manly

Manly ferries passing  just inside the heads

Steps in the Debryd Head section

Harbour view

To Sydney

We booked a while back to spend a few days in Sydney, so we flew up on Monday. The Jetstar computer permitted me to check in on-line – but of course we still had to wait in line to drop our baggage (no do-it-yourself bag drop for Jetstar) and answer the “dangerous goods” question. So I don't know whether Qantas/Jetstar have got over their issues with me yet, or not. And everyone in front of us at the baggage check-in seemed to have issues of some sort. However, we had adequate time, so we couldn't complain. There was another long queue to board the plane, but I was pleased to see efforts (even if somewhat token) to enforce the carry-on baggage size limit. I guess when when an airline charges extra to check-in a bag, it serves as an incentive for everyone to try and carry as much as possible into the cabin with them.

The train into the city from the airport in Sydney was pleasant (of course, this line does have the newest trains), and we ate dinner at a casual Italian restaurant in The Rocks area. Impulsively, we jumped on the Manly ferry to occupy our evening and were rewarded with a nice view of the bridge by night but little else (in particular, Manly is very ordinary after dark)!

One lesson I've re-learned: re-activate my mobile broadband account before leaving home. Yes, we arrived in Sydney, and I found I hadn't brought with me the necessary log-in information!   As good luck would have it (certainly not good management), somewhere deep in my emails was a message with just enough information to get me going.

Credit charge surcharges and "drip pricing"

It's interesting that the ACCC is looking at the "drip pricing" techniques used by some airlines.  Presumably this is primarily directed at credit charge surcharges, of which I have recent personal experience.  There are other charges such seat allocation charges (on Jetstar but not Virgin or Qantas) and baggage charges (usually fairly well displayed?), but these don't seem to be such an issue.

In fairness, however, I thought the late booking deal on Virgin (which allowed payment by direct debit at no extra cost) was acceptable.   I haven't tried booking on Jetstar at short notice, but I wonder why no mention is made in the news report about the actions of Qantas which is "right up there" when it comes to credit charge surcharges (they give you no alternative but to use a card when you're booking close to the day of travel).

More generally, surcharges when you pay by credit card are increasingly a fact of life.  The Reserve Bank has views on the amount of such surcharges and the ACCC has views on their disclosure.

Clearly an important statement in the ACCC's pronouncement on the issue is that the merchant must "ensure ... customers are aware - before they enter into the transaction or contract - that a fee will apply and the amount of the fee."

In short, at the price comparison stage, this statement doesn't require the surcharge to be displayed - unless not to do so is "misleading", which seems to be the point the ACCC is taking in its recently announced proceedings.

Something else that the ACCC could look at, in a similar vein, is Melbourne Airport's practice of publicising quite prominently their "book in advance" car parking prices with no mention of a credit card surcharge at all until the final payment screen was displayed. 

Given that  there was no option at all except to use a credit card to pay, with a 2% surcharge, their otherwise helpful on-line calculator seems to me to go very close to the wind in terms of being misleading.   

Other players who are fast and loose with  the credit card surcharge, or so it seems to me, are car hire companies.  On our recent trip to Canberra, Avis looked as though it would be even worse than Hertz were in Perth:  in the case of Avis, if you wish to pay by a Visa/MasterCard debit card  (link is to FAQs, so it's necessary to select the question) so as not to incur the surcharge, the website seems to suggest that their rule is along the lines that they would take the whole of the hire charge, plus your excess plus $100 for fuel out of your debit card (that is, from your cash) - and refund it to you when they get around to it, perhaps 7 - 10 days after you return the car!  I didn't investigate whether it is quite as bad as this in practice, as needless to say, I opted for payment by credit card (and in any event I don't have the required type of debit card).  But the ultimate irony was......on carefully checking my final statement, in fact Avis didn't impose a credit card surcharge at all!   

Ticking the wrong box

I went to check in on-line for our Qantas flight to Canberra.  Yes, I ought to have been more careful, but unfortunately on the page asking if we had any dangerous goods, I inadvertently ticked the wrong box.   Result - I was locked out of the on-line check-out process, with no way to go back to the beginning.  Oh well, I thought, I'll ring Qantas, surely it will be easy for them to re-set the process.   After 35 minutes waiting on hold (fortunately I had other things to do while waiting), the operator informed me that, yes, what I had done was not uncommon, but there was no way the process could be re-set.  The only option was to queue at the check-in and explain the situation to a real person.   She was adamant that this was a "safety" issue, and explained that Qantas were worried that having ticked the wrong box, I had to be checked in by a real person.

She was horrified when I suggested that perhaps if I was really out to sneak something on to the plane, I would have just checked the "I aren't carrying anything that I ought not to" box, rather than tick the other box and wait for 35 minutes on the phone to change it.  Ah, airline bureaucracy!

At the airport, the staff were very understanding, and we were checked in without any difficulty.

In fact, with hindsight, I see that the on-line check in process is almost certainly linked in to the database in the same way as the airport self-checkin stands, so perhaps the lack of flexibility is understandable after all.    Just the same, why the check-in personnel at the airport can override the system and the call centre operators can't remains a bit of a mystery.   The cynic in me wonders if this has anything to do with the fact that Qantas (like other airlines, I guess) doesn't wish to encourage phone calls?

However, I was a little unnerved when, on our return flight, the next day, once again, I wasn't able to access the self-checkin process at the airport.  The flight was again on Qantas, but it was a completely separate booking, made at a different time, and with a different reference.  But no, the self-checkin machine refused even to commence the process, and so we had to explain to a real person that we weren't carrying anything we weren't supposed to.

I'm now apprehensive that the Qantas computer has locked me out of the self-checkin process!  Surely, not as a result of my discussion over the phone?   We have a flight in the near future with Jetstar, so time will tell whether we have demonstrated ourselves trustworthy! In the meantime, two lessons have been reinforced:  be very careful about which boxes you tick and don't take issue with anything an airline person says.

Travelling at short notice

Being "seniors", most of our travel is planned some time in advance.   However, sometimes events arise that require plans to be made at short notice, such as travelling to Canberra for a funeral.
Of course, the only fares on both Qantas and Virgin at our preferred travel time were significantly more costly than the cheapest fares available at other times (including later in the day on which we wished to travel ... but we didn't have the necessary flexibility).  Such is the price of booking close to the date of travel and not having a great deal of flexibility.

Even so, for a single booking at our preferred time, the fare shown was what might be regarded as a "intermediate" amount, so things could have been worse.  But, when I tried to book for 4.....a higher figure was shown!

Hmmm.   I revised the booking down to 2 people, and, yes, the lesser (intermediate) fare was available.   It seems that if a booking is for a number of seats that exceeds the number available at the cheaper figure, then the whole booking will be processed at the higher cost (I've encountered this before).   In our case, the 2 remaining family members travelled instead on Virgin, which fortunately operated a nearly parallel flight (at a nearly parallel cost).



Happily, there seemed to be plenty of accommodation available in Canberra for our night there, and we got a good rate for this.  And car hire rates at the weekend in Canberra seem to be a lot cheaper than during the week. There were certainly a lot of unused cars in the hire car carpark.

But how to avoid the credit card fees charged by the airlines?   Virgin allow you to do a direct debit (via Poli)...there are a few steps, but it's not hard.   But with Qantas, it's much more restrictive.   Within 7 days of travel, Qantas don't allow the use of BPay.  You can only use a Visa or MasterCard debit card, which I don't have (although I'm thinking about getting one), and even that costs $2.50 per passenger.  Use of a credit card attracts a surcharge of $7.00 for each passenger.
 
How Qantas justify their $7.00 surcharge in light of the RBA Guideline eludes me, but perhaps this is an issue for another time.

Are (were) there foxes in Tasmania?

When we were last in Tasmania, on a number of occasions we came across information in motel rooms asking us to report any sightings of foxes that we made.   But we didn't see any foxes.  Now it seems that there may never have been any to see!

Hawley House, Port Sorell - but no foxes?

According to this report, the story that foxes had been deliberately introduced had no firm basis.  The report doesn't even discuss the story about a fox or two that hitched a ride across on the ferry (as told to me).

I guess the outcome, namely that there don't seem to be foxes in Tasmania, is good news.  Pity it's taken this long to come to this conclusion.

Taj Mahal on the Swan

We weren't too far away, so while were in Perth, we just had to drive past the "Taj Mahal on the Swan".   It's still there, unfinished, and little seems to have changed since it was reported 3 years ago to be on the market, perhaps because the Oswal family finances seem to be somewhat "complex" (this link is also to a report some years back).

It is said to be caught up in a morass of legal proceedings!  As to a value of $70 million+?   Well, maybe the land (this is prime Peppie Grove real estate) is worth a bit....but the unfinished structure?    Can't see it, myself.

Perth Airport

We returned our hire car at Perth airport.  Yes, I know that Bayswater are the place to hire cars from when in Perth (and I've used them several times in the past), but the convenience of a pick-up and drop-off at the airport was, on this occasion, worth the extra cost.

However, I was aware that a small surcharge applied if you used a credit card.  So, on returning the car, I offered to pay by EFTPOS.   No sir, I was politely informed, the only option other than a credit card is cash.   Accordingly, I offered cash, save that $1 change was required.  Even providing a single $1 in change proved to be somewhat of a problem!    I dug deeply and was able to provide the exact amount, but I was left with the strong impression that the credit card surcharge is usually "optional" in name only!

Lots of flights to mining centres

The other thing I noticed was  the Qantas Club.   It certainly occupies a big area in Perth (there's even an overflow area).    It seems that many of the fly in/fly out workers have Qantas Club memberships!

Last Day in Perth

We're back home now, but our last full day in Perth, after attending St Aidan's in the morning, was spent in having lunch at Trigg with I (a former colleague), a quick look at the Karrinyup shopping centre (well, it was nearby), a drink at City Beach watching the sun set over the Indian Ocean and a casual meal in the apartment having a quiet night and then packing up.

Relaxed atmosphere at City Beach!

Watching the sun set at City Beach over a drink and/or coffee seems quite a Perth pastime, especially for families with young children.  

Trigg

Big Mac house at Trigg

Restaurant at Trigg

Sunset at City Beach

St Aidan's

One of the highpoints of the time we sent living in Perth was the welcome we received at St Aidan's Uniting Church at Claremont.

We returned to visit St Aidan's and received an extremely warm welcome even though it has been over 10 years since we attended regularly (we have visited once or twice in the intervening years when in Perth).   It was indeed lovely to catch up with a number of familiar faces and also to see the renovations that have made to their buildings.  

Perth

We had a leisurely lunch with some relatives (kumovi), which included a catch up with baby E (now 19 months and very attentive!).  

Freshwater Bay

Then we spent a few minutes checking the views over the Swan River at dusk, followed by an early dinner at - yes, predictably? - Cottlesloe again!    This time, it was at Indiana, which was very acceptable.   Pity it was dark so the ocean view was limited to the lights of the ships out at anchor.

Old haunts

Our first full day in Perth was a bit of a retrospective! However, our first stop was the new Bib & Tucker cafe/restaurant which had been recommended to us. Well, it's part of the Leighton Beach development, and it just oozes “trendiness”. Certainly, our initial impression was that the Attitude (capital “A”) was consistent with this. As a result, we limited our orders to coffee, but on inspection the food menu looked good, as did the appearance of meals as they emerged from the open kitchen. Perhaps we just arrived at a bad time?

We moved on to check out Fremantle. The maze of streets, the “cappuccino strip” (in spite of the fact that there are plenty of other places these days that now have just as many coffee venues), the markets, the harbour area – all familiar, although there has been some incremental development. Lots of people around, which was nice to see, although my personal impression is that they're largely tourists (including probably visitors on working holiday visas). There's always been just a slight bit of “edginess” to Freo, and this is still discernible.

The Indiana - unchanged

Then back to Cott. Yes, lunch at the Blue Duck! And we weren't disappointed: a friendly welcome and efficient service while sitting on the deck. Let's clear the air about sitting on the open deck in Perth: the sun is often nice BUT the pictures don't convey that on most days there's a “sea breeze” from the south west which sometimes becomes progressively stronger over the course of the day, although it wasn't too bad today. Lunch was followed by a journey back in time, walking along the beachfront, admiring the dogs, dodging the joggers, inspecting the Indiana and the pylon, and completed by a stroll on the groyne.

On the way back to our accommodation we obviously drove down Loma St (again, only incremental changes) and stopped for a few minutes to look at the Napoleon Street shops: outwardly affluent as always (coffee shops, jewellers, travel agents, the original “Dome”), seemingly well-patronised. “The Grove” shopping centre is now “Cottesloe Central”, and of all things, Bunnings now occupies the space at one time occupied by Harris Scarfe.

For dinner, we went to Shafto Lane:    lots of activity, noisy, alive.....so there is life in Perth after dark, after all.

Busselton to Perth via Mandurah

After checking out of the Sebel (our accommodation on the outskirts of Busselton), we had a coffee at the Goose, which is one of several restaurants near the Busselton Jetty. We saw the little train that runs out along the jetty, but the return trip takes about 45 minutes, and presumably you have to add an hour to this if you visit the underwater observatory.

"Train" on Busselton jetty

So after our coffee, we headed in the direction of Perth, stopping for lunch in Mandurah where we had a good view of the dolphin that came into the estuary, presumably enticed by the food provided for it to eat (much splashing and jumping). Anything left over was taken by the pelican!

Our accommodation in Perth is quite centrally located, in Victoria Av. The central location wasn't particularly important, but car parking was, and frankly getting a less-than-exorbitantly priced self-catering studio with parking in Perth took some research. So the central location was a bonus. We took a walk around the CBD area after arriving; yes, things have got a bit busier since our time here, but there are still occasional glimpses of the “big country town” to be had, at least for those of us who are on the lookout for such things (such as, all the shops except the supermarket close promptly at 6 pm).

Ngilgi cave and lunch

There are quite a few caves in this part of the world, and we opted to visit Ngilgi Cave. When you first enter, you're guided into the Amphitheatre which is a big cave, then you're left on your own devices to explore the Main cave via a series of winding passages and a lot of steps, reaching the deepest part at Cupid's Corner. The LED lighting is subdued but the colours, while subtle, create a good impression. At the far end, there's another guide stationed who explains some of the cave's features and directs you around a loop and back towards the entrance. The whole tour takes about an hour, but since you're on you're own for most of the time, it can take a little less, or as long as you like.

 

I can't remember how many steps they told us we encountered, but it was a lot, so then we headed to Wise's Winery for a terrific lunch. The food wasn't innovative but it was done very well indeed, and the outlook over the vines and Geographe Bay was memorable.

Busselton

Flight to Perth, then drive to Busselton.....bit of a long day, but all went satisfactorily, and now we're all set in a pleasant studio at the Sebel resort, with direct access to Geographe Bay and the sound of the gentle waves in our ears.   We had dinner at a nearby restaurant on the foreshore and then went for a short walk. It's peaceful and rather quiet here (I guess it's not a busy time of year), but it is definitely very relaxing.

Possums on the balcony

Ducks in the pool

Rabbit on the foreshore (one of many)

Paringa Estate

We had Sunday lunch at Paringa Estate, and were impressed.  The food was excellent, being thoughtfully conceived and well-presented (the web-site says, " exciting and imaginative" and, yes, I'd agree with that).  The staff, too, were knowledgeable and explained each dish when it arrived.   The restaurant has a chef's hat.  I guess I can see the basis for that, as it has the seemingly obligatory "trendy" ingredients, for example, my snapper came with "beach herbs".   However, there weren't too many ingredients in this category!

Scallop carpaccio

The winery's geese

We drank Paringa wines;  not cheap, but very acceptable.  Of course, on the Mornington Peninsula, you expect a good outlook, and in this respect Paringa is right up there, even if the world outside was cold and showery. 

Accommodation in Canberra

This post is a bit belated, but when we were in Canberra for the Australia Day long weekend, we once again stayed at the Quality Inn in the Dickson precinct.    The main appeal is that this location is on the same side of Canberra as the St Sava Monastery.   Even though the hotel doesn't look much from outside, it's very satisfactory, although a power fault of some sort one morning meant there was no hot water and the lifts weren't operating (we did get a bit of a discount off that night's accommodation).    But even though it's ultimately owned by the CFMEU, News Corp papers are free for the taking along with the Fairfax papers, at the reception desk.  

As to the ownership, I did pause to think about this, but then decided that I've never previously considered that as an issue when deciding where to stay (I wonder if we've ever stayed at a property owned by the mafia?)  Thus if the place ticks most of the other boxes, why should I change my approach now?   Anyway, all the electrical leads are "tagged".  Perhaps I ought to be re-assured by that?

In fact, my employer's clients are mostly in the corporate sector, yet the offices are in a building owned by Cbus.  So, if they're not worried about issues such as this, why should I be?

Dickson itself is sometimes promoted as a good place to eat. I think has more to do with quantity of restaurants rather than quality, and Asian restaurants of one variety or another are very well represented.    There's also a Peruvian restaurant, but we contented ourselves with looking at it from the outside.

Also in Canberra for the weekend were a number of bike riders.   I don't think they were an "outlaw" gang, but they were noisy (and intimidating), just the same!   We saw them arrive in groups of 15 - 20, but I was just finishing my visit to the National Archives when they all arrived at the nearby carpark - hundreds of them.   The Archives staff member who joined us watching them arrive kindly pointed out that there was a side exit, so a couple of us were able to leave without swimming against the tide of all the bikes.