Continuing with the Blue mountain trip, the whole show there is around a set of three rocks called ‘Three Sisters’. They form a part of the , in the shape ‘∩∩∩’. The funda is, they have formed through millions of years by nature.
We had a lunch of Garlic bread, which was the only stuff available in the Scenic World. We were done, and ready to move to the main view point for Three sisters and the landscape, called ‘Echo point’. We had some 20 minutes for the double-decker expected by 2:45. Just took the time to walk down to have a look at the waterfall viewpoint.
The bus dropped us in Echo point in another 5 minutes. We walked down the viewpoint to get a better view. Then a walk of 2kms to the ‘Three sisters’ through the stone pathway created between the woods.
A steep 900 steps climb would take us to the bottom of the rocks, but we chose to be safe J. Back in to the main street, some shopping in the information centre-cum-shop. As in UK, these information centres facilitate accommodation bookings.
Wait for the bus to the next stop. We had had a good experience of the view, and the other viewpoints were not that interesting as these two places. We got down at Leura village centre and it was 4:30. The driver reminded us that the next bus at 5 will be the last bus. He was also suggesting that if anyone is planning to go back to Sydney, they can board the train from Leura itself.
We just walked through the main street taking some snaps. Back to catch the last double-decker, the sky was getting cloudy and it started raining. By the time we reached Katoomba, it has become a heavy rain.
The main street has most of the shops extending their roof to cover the footpath also. We went in to an Italian restaurant nearest to the bus stop. A big vegetarian pizza followed. We had to pack half of it back home and had to finish it for supper. These pizzas costs a bit sometimes, but they make it from the scratch after you order! So that makes it really tasty.
A long wait for the train back in Katoomba station, it was still raining. On the return journey, the rain vanished after Penrith and back in Parramatta, there was no rain at all !
Tailpiece:- Why is the Blue mountain blue ?
There is wonderful similarity coming up for Blue Mountains with our Nilgiris. Nilgiris also means Blue Mountains ! Then how come they are blue. Why is this similarity in naming, across the continents? What is common there? There comes this Eucalyptus. The theory says, the vapours from these trees float in the air giving the landscape a bluish look ! They refer some gum tree vapour also are responsible for this, I am not sure our Ooty has got them
Friday, October 07, 2005
Friday, September 30, 2005
AUSSIE WEEKENDER 12
Blue Mountains to Sydney is Mahabalipuram to Chennai – a sure visit place for anyone staying more than 2 days in Sydney. A places surrounded by hills! You take a train from Sydney and it will drop you in Katoomba in less than 2 hours! Hills, cableways and something they say as World’s steepest railway too!
We had this as the first in the plan, but winter was making us keep postponing the trip. As the winter is giving way to spring (ideally, but still the chilly wind is ), this is the best time to be in Blue Mountains.
It was a Saturday, we started by around 9:20. Parramatta, where we live, is on the way to Katoomba from Sydney Central. The CityRail offers a combined ticket which incorporates a return train ticket with a site seeing double-decker for one day. It costs around A$38.
We got a train by around 9:45, it runs every one hour. The trains were more crowded, a clear reflection of the climate change! Crowded, I mean, relatively crowded. We were just finding it tough to get a side seat. Sometime people just spread around their hats, bags etc around them filling all 4 seats for a single person! You really have to stand and give them a stare for the bags to be put in its place!
As the train was moving away from the city, the flats started disappearing. Once it past Penrith, the limit of the city trains, it was fully moving in through woods. Slowly we were surrounded by mountains, and far above the sea level!
The train dropped us in Katoomba by around 11:20. A livelier town or I will call a village as the shops and crowds ended once you walk a 100 metre away from the station. We came out of the station, walked to the office across the street to change the link ticket from CityRail, to get a bus pass along with a map book depicting a lot of walking trails and the route for this hop on-off bus. This hop on off concept is same popular one in Europe! You take a day’s ticket and you can use the bus, which keep on going around in a specific route, thus turning up at the same spot every 1 hour or half an hour. So you can get down anywhere, spend sometime there, and pick the same bus to the next stop!
It was a double-decker running for the London Transport. The label was still on it. Again, inside the bus, the stickers normally seen in the London buses were still there! We got the driver seat in the first floor (I mean, the front seat on the top of the decker, which is a normal seat. That used to be my favourite in my childhood days). We decided to go for a full route first and then decide on which all to be prioritised for getting down and spending time. The bus went on with us, passing some stunning views of mountains, view points, the Scenic World (which has this cableway, and winch across the mountains), golf courses, houses with gardens, and then it was village nearby called Leura. This one looked like a typical English village – a long street full of small shops, selling paintings, flowers, a bar, butchery, a bakery, a pizza shop and so on.
During the next round, we got down at Scenic World, took a combined ticket for all the three trips. Started with the scenic rail which, they say, is the steepest in the World! It was taking us down through a slit between two huge rocks almost vertically! The ride will be for some 30 seconds, but it was amazing. We were actually sitting horizontally and the train was moving not as fast as a ride, it looked wonderful why we were not getting pushed out of the seat! I forgot the tickets leaving it in my seat. We had started walking through the rainforest which they call as scenic walk. Suddenly I realised it and came back. The train has gone up to pick the next set of people. I was amazed to see the tickets lying in the same spot, when the train came back!
We completed the walk, through the forest. We have to walk half a km and then, we will be picked up by a cable car of a capacity about 15 people taking us to the top. The last stretch was another cable car to take us to a point from one hill to another and bring back. It was again having a capacity of 10 plus, but was empty when we went in. That was amazing one. They had made the flooring also with transparent glass which made a flying feeling! A water fall, down below, gave us the feel of the depth. I would say that was the best of all!
I think it is enough for a week. I will continue with it next week.
We had this as the first in the plan, but winter was making us keep postponing the trip. As the winter is giving way to spring (ideally, but still the chilly wind is ), this is the best time to be in Blue Mountains.
It was a Saturday, we started by around 9:20. Parramatta, where we live, is on the way to Katoomba from Sydney Central. The CityRail offers a combined ticket which incorporates a return train ticket with a site seeing double-decker for one day. It costs around A$38.
We got a train by around 9:45, it runs every one hour. The trains were more crowded, a clear reflection of the climate change! Crowded, I mean, relatively crowded. We were just finding it tough to get a side seat. Sometime people just spread around their hats, bags etc around them filling all 4 seats for a single person! You really have to stand and give them a stare for the bags to be put in its place!
As the train was moving away from the city, the flats started disappearing. Once it past Penrith, the limit of the city trains, it was fully moving in through woods. Slowly we were surrounded by mountains, and far above the sea level!
The train dropped us in Katoomba by around 11:20. A livelier town or I will call a village as the shops and crowds ended once you walk a 100 metre away from the station. We came out of the station, walked to the office across the street to change the link ticket from CityRail, to get a bus pass along with a map book depicting a lot of walking trails and the route for this hop on-off bus. This hop on off concept is same popular one in Europe! You take a day’s ticket and you can use the bus, which keep on going around in a specific route, thus turning up at the same spot every 1 hour or half an hour. So you can get down anywhere, spend sometime there, and pick the same bus to the next stop!
It was a double-decker running for the London Transport. The label was still on it. Again, inside the bus, the stickers normally seen in the London buses were still there! We got the driver seat in the first floor (I mean, the front seat on the top of the decker, which is a normal seat. That used to be my favourite in my childhood days). We decided to go for a full route first and then decide on which all to be prioritised for getting down and spending time. The bus went on with us, passing some stunning views of mountains, view points, the Scenic World (which has this cableway, and winch across the mountains), golf courses, houses with gardens, and then it was village nearby called Leura. This one looked like a typical English village – a long street full of small shops, selling paintings, flowers, a bar, butchery, a bakery, a pizza shop and so on.
During the next round, we got down at Scenic World, took a combined ticket for all the three trips. Started with the scenic rail which, they say, is the steepest in the World! It was taking us down through a slit between two huge rocks almost vertically! The ride will be for some 30 seconds, but it was amazing. We were actually sitting horizontally and the train was moving not as fast as a ride, it looked wonderful why we were not getting pushed out of the seat! I forgot the tickets leaving it in my seat. We had started walking through the rainforest which they call as scenic walk. Suddenly I realised it and came back. The train has gone up to pick the next set of people. I was amazed to see the tickets lying in the same spot, when the train came back!
We completed the walk, through the forest. We have to walk half a km and then, we will be picked up by a cable car of a capacity about 15 people taking us to the top. The last stretch was another cable car to take us to a point from one hill to another and bring back. It was again having a capacity of 10 plus, but was empty when we went in. That was amazing one. They had made the flooring also with transparent glass which made a flying feeling! A water fall, down below, gave us the feel of the depth. I would say that was the best of all!
I think it is enough for a week. I will continue with it next week.
Friday, September 23, 2005
AUSSIE WEEKENDER 11
We started where we left it last week. We, actually planned for a two day trip with a day stay there in Kiama or Wollongong. But I got too confused that nothing really happened on Saturday J !
The same train on Sunday, and reached Wollongong around the same time, seeing the same views! Isn’t it boring? But this time, we had a better flask; we planned our lunch to be taken at the Buddhist temple. Nowhere could we find where to get a bus or timings, for the temple! Anyway, we walked to the closest bus stop and checked the timetable. It had an entry for the place where the temple is situated. We had no clue of the next bus, it said after an hour!
But sometimes, timetables go wrong for good! A bus turned up in 10 minutes! It was costly, far costly compared to the train fare and Sydney city buses. For a 15 minute ride, we were charged A$4 per head! The only good thing was, the driver was asking us whether we have to get down at the temple, straightaway, while issuing the ticket. The bus went out of the town area, was moving parallel to the rail and crossed a level cross( with no gate man), climbed a hill and dropped us in an isolated place where we could see a Chinese building inside the gate far away hidden in woods.
The time was around 2pm. The driver told us that there will be only one bus to go back now, around 5:40pm. The temple was built up around a compound of some acres, landscaped with trees, pond (we saw some lotus leaves, but no lotus), some ducks in them. The temple architecture was typical Chinese with the curves and all. I still wonder whether it was Chinese, as the whole premises including the Shrine was crystal clean and very well maintained.
We saw the boards saying No meat, No alcohol, no smoking, no pets, etc. in the premises. We tried the small restaurant like below, which was obviously fully vegetarian. I ordered for a vegetarian mince with noodles, and Krithi tried some Veggie nuggets. The dishes arrived, made of mushrooms in different shapes and colours – mostly look like meat ! I confirmed with them twice or thrice and the monk was smiling and telling that it is all mushroom no meat J !
Krithi couldn’t get on with it (She had to depend on the sandwiches we brought with us for lunch). So I had to eat them both! It was tasty, with a difference.
We slowly climbed the steps to the shrine. It was a Buddha with 12 hands (or more?) all having weapons of different kind ! I think, I have missed out something here! Else how can I see a God, who is the teacher of Ahmisa, standing packed with all sorts of weapons like a God of destruction! The prayer hall was silent. There was a stand on the corner selling some beautiful candles covered with glass, and some incense sticks, again for offering. The prayer style suggested was standing on the knees! More like the idol is similar to a Hindu God and the rest (candles, praying on knee) similar to Christianity!
We climbed the steps through the sides to the main shrine. It was bigger than I thought; the infrastructure around the main shrine included a Student room, a painting gallery, a dining hall, and a souvenir shop. The shrine consisted of 5 huge Buddhas sitting in colourful attire, each representing a direction (the 5th Buddha for the middle direction). The main shrine built in a Chinese style resembled the palace structure in ‘The Last Emperor’ from outside. Inside, the walls were gloriously filled up with small Buddhas in 1 foot squares, lighted with a neon lamp, uniquely named and covered in glass! Sounded very much taken from Hinduism, chants thousand names for God! The floor was having some cushions for seats where you can kneel down and pray. In front of the five Buddhas covered in glass, plenty of candles been lighted by the worshippers. There were prayers written in English and Chinese, for different purposes (money, prosperity and what not). Easy way of praying, isn’t it? Decide what all you want, and then, take the respective notes and read it silentlyJ !
We spent exploring the premises, for an hour more and came out by 4:50. We had more than half an hour for the bus. Just gave a try to walk down the hill, to the nearest rail station. The roads are empty with a few cars passing by.
We walked for some 40 minutes to reach the station, Unanderra. Now, we had to wait for an hour in that small, lonely station. The station is empty, not even a station master, except an young guy with his girl friend who got disturbed with our presence. The machine gives the ticket, and there is no need for anyone to be in the station! By the time train came, there were some more people started coming – a drunkard gang of teenagers, and a couple of girls. Though the gang was talking to each other using all swear words, it was within them. As far as we are not too bothered about it, can just stand away as nothing is happening; none is going to bully you.
The train was empty again, dropped us back at Central by around 8. One more weekend gone with a bit of redundancy with the travel, but there was this unique experience of a Chinese temple. Mind is filled with a lot of questions: Buddha had been customised for marketing? Or is it something in Buddhism we never have heard?
I also overheard one of the monks explaining to the tourist saying, ‘We are also like you. We also believe that a Buddha will take birth (I am not sure what he meant by ‘you’. Christianity is heard to have this basic difference between Christians and Jews that Christians have Jesus as God, and Jews are still waiting for Jesus. So for both of them, The Bible is the religious text)’. That seems to be something sounds like ‘Heenayana’. I know that Mahayana worships Gautam Buddha as their God (and those are the only two partitions in Buddhism).
Please revert if you have any idea about this, or if you feel I am wrong about anything.
Tailpiece:- About my query on Australia as a colony, one of my friends replied that Canada is also similar. Though it was freed from English colonialism, still they maintain Queen, for their coins, holidays, and heard they even pay taxes to the Queen! So, ‘Mera Bharat Mahan’, we have left it long long ago !
Information :- About Nan-Tien Temple : Opened in 1995, the Temple is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. Wollongong was chosen as the site for the Temple because of the ideal location of Mt Keira and Mt Kembla in relation to the site. The name 'Wollongong' also has significance in the way that it is a tribute to a Chinese man of great intelligence named Wollong. The translation of Nan Tien is ‘Paradise of the Southern Hemisphere’.
The same train on Sunday, and reached Wollongong around the same time, seeing the same views! Isn’t it boring? But this time, we had a better flask; we planned our lunch to be taken at the Buddhist temple. Nowhere could we find where to get a bus or timings, for the temple! Anyway, we walked to the closest bus stop and checked the timetable. It had an entry for the place where the temple is situated. We had no clue of the next bus, it said after an hour!
But sometimes, timetables go wrong for good! A bus turned up in 10 minutes! It was costly, far costly compared to the train fare and Sydney city buses. For a 15 minute ride, we were charged A$4 per head! The only good thing was, the driver was asking us whether we have to get down at the temple, straightaway, while issuing the ticket. The bus went out of the town area, was moving parallel to the rail and crossed a level cross( with no gate man), climbed a hill and dropped us in an isolated place where we could see a Chinese building inside the gate far away hidden in woods.
The time was around 2pm. The driver told us that there will be only one bus to go back now, around 5:40pm. The temple was built up around a compound of some acres, landscaped with trees, pond (we saw some lotus leaves, but no lotus), some ducks in them. The temple architecture was typical Chinese with the curves and all. I still wonder whether it was Chinese, as the whole premises including the Shrine was crystal clean and very well maintained.
We saw the boards saying No meat, No alcohol, no smoking, no pets, etc. in the premises. We tried the small restaurant like below, which was obviously fully vegetarian. I ordered for a vegetarian mince with noodles, and Krithi tried some Veggie nuggets. The dishes arrived, made of mushrooms in different shapes and colours – mostly look like meat ! I confirmed with them twice or thrice and the monk was smiling and telling that it is all mushroom no meat J !
Krithi couldn’t get on with it (She had to depend on the sandwiches we brought with us for lunch). So I had to eat them both! It was tasty, with a difference.
We slowly climbed the steps to the shrine. It was a Buddha with 12 hands (or more?) all having weapons of different kind ! I think, I have missed out something here! Else how can I see a God, who is the teacher of Ahmisa, standing packed with all sorts of weapons like a God of destruction! The prayer hall was silent. There was a stand on the corner selling some beautiful candles covered with glass, and some incense sticks, again for offering. The prayer style suggested was standing on the knees! More like the idol is similar to a Hindu God and the rest (candles, praying on knee) similar to Christianity!
We climbed the steps through the sides to the main shrine. It was bigger than I thought; the infrastructure around the main shrine included a Student room, a painting gallery, a dining hall, and a souvenir shop. The shrine consisted of 5 huge Buddhas sitting in colourful attire, each representing a direction (the 5th Buddha for the middle direction). The main shrine built in a Chinese style resembled the palace structure in ‘The Last Emperor’ from outside. Inside, the walls were gloriously filled up with small Buddhas in 1 foot squares, lighted with a neon lamp, uniquely named and covered in glass! Sounded very much taken from Hinduism, chants thousand names for God! The floor was having some cushions for seats where you can kneel down and pray. In front of the five Buddhas covered in glass, plenty of candles been lighted by the worshippers. There were prayers written in English and Chinese, for different purposes (money, prosperity and what not). Easy way of praying, isn’t it? Decide what all you want, and then, take the respective notes and read it silentlyJ !
We spent exploring the premises, for an hour more and came out by 4:50. We had more than half an hour for the bus. Just gave a try to walk down the hill, to the nearest rail station. The roads are empty with a few cars passing by.
We walked for some 40 minutes to reach the station, Unanderra. Now, we had to wait for an hour in that small, lonely station. The station is empty, not even a station master, except an young guy with his girl friend who got disturbed with our presence. The machine gives the ticket, and there is no need for anyone to be in the station! By the time train came, there were some more people started coming – a drunkard gang of teenagers, and a couple of girls. Though the gang was talking to each other using all swear words, it was within them. As far as we are not too bothered about it, can just stand away as nothing is happening; none is going to bully you.
The train was empty again, dropped us back at Central by around 8. One more weekend gone with a bit of redundancy with the travel, but there was this unique experience of a Chinese temple. Mind is filled with a lot of questions: Buddha had been customised for marketing? Or is it something in Buddhism we never have heard?
I also overheard one of the monks explaining to the tourist saying, ‘We are also like you. We also believe that a Buddha will take birth (I am not sure what he meant by ‘you’. Christianity is heard to have this basic difference between Christians and Jews that Christians have Jesus as God, and Jews are still waiting for Jesus. So for both of them, The Bible is the religious text)’. That seems to be something sounds like ‘Heenayana’. I know that Mahayana worships Gautam Buddha as their God (and those are the only two partitions in Buddhism).
Please revert if you have any idea about this, or if you feel I am wrong about anything.
Tailpiece:- About my query on Australia as a colony, one of my friends replied that Canada is also similar. Though it was freed from English colonialism, still they maintain Queen, for their coins, holidays, and heard they even pay taxes to the Queen! So, ‘Mera Bharat Mahan’, we have left it long long ago !
Information :- About Nan-Tien Temple : Opened in 1995, the Temple is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. Wollongong was chosen as the site for the Temple because of the ideal location of Mt Keira and Mt Kembla in relation to the site. The name 'Wollongong' also has significance in the way that it is a tribute to a Chinese man of great intelligence named Wollong. The translation of Nan Tien is ‘Paradise of the Southern Hemisphere’.
Friday, September 16, 2005
AUSSIE WEEKENDER 10
It was another weekend, and we had run out of plan. We had planned to start going out of Sydney now. Though we have a lot to see in Sydney itself, we can keep them as fillers and start going for long ones now.
To begin with, I was planning to start with one day trips, to places where we can reach with a 2-3 hour travel and then, spend a day there and come back home by late evening. That will give a feel of the places outside Sydney in terms of expenses and food. That is, if I can see that in an outer area is a problem for vegetarian food; I will have to plan for either for packing food or take a self contained cottages.
We had Blue mountain as the first pick, and we didn’t bother to check for others at all ! Checking the weather, the Mercury level was still giving us a ‘negative’ answer ! But it was too late by the time we dropped Blue Mountains. Else, this place is an hour from Sydney and the train will pass through Parramatta.
We spotted a diesel locomotive train in our of our leaflets, which takes us for a day tour leaving Sydney Central in the morning and reaches back by evening. The journey is the attraction here – the route passes through the Royal National Park, a cliff and seashore to Wollongong and then climbs a hill to reach the destination, Robertson ! It just reaches there stays 2 hours, and comes back. But by the time we started chasing it, the offices were closed. As it was a private rail, none know about it in the City Rail office ! Again, it runs only on Wednesdays and Sundays. The tour costs A$85 pp. So, we got Saturday free to plan( *understood* free to sleep too) !
There goes the filler concept – this is where the remaining spots in Sydney comes! We planned for an IMAX experience, and while going to the city planned to check for more information about the Cockatoo run( that is the touring rail’s name).
Took a return ticket to Town Hall station, got down at the Central for more information ( but I can’t go out of the station as the return tickets does not allow breaking the journey, unless for changing trains). The rail staff had no clue about this rail. But they gave me another valuable information. The normal trains go through that route to the same destination, and it costs just 18 bucks for a same day return! Then, we are paying the extra 70 bucks for just the diesel experience( which we get in India without any choice) ! The normal trains also takes the 2 hours plus, and we will have the advantage of travelling free than depending on this train which will wait at the destination for 40 mins for shopping and lunch, before it starts its journey back.
Walking to the Darling harbour from Town Hall, the cloudy sky started a light& shade show with the Sun and the clouds! I will say it was the best, better than the IMAX ! The sky was dark, and suddenly we found only the skyscrapers behind us lit by the Orange Sun rays! As the Sun went down, it gave a beautiful backlit sky ! And whoever had a camera or a camcorder were copying it into the celluloid. But, I have seen the best shows of nature only when I forget to take my SLR. Today was no exceptionL !
IMAX, I had my first experience of a 3D film in my life and Krithi, it was her first IMAX experience! A show costs A$17( for 3D and 16 for 2D), and you will get a A$27 if you can see two shows one after the other !
For Sunday, we decided to give a try to take the normal train and see what can see ! We chose Wollongong, a spot on the way which is a coastal spot. It was just a 1hr 40 min. journey, and the trains left Central every hour. We started by 11 from home to take the 11:44 train starting from Central. We took a direct ticket from Parramatta and rushed into the local train just ready to depart. It was as usual slow. It dropped us at the central station by 11:38 at platform 6. We have to see which platform our trains for Wollongong depart. Each platform/ the escalator to the platform will have a TV displaying only the routes of the trains departing from that platform. Nowhere can you get the big pictureL ! So we did a running to the main board to check with the information, and ran to platform 14, the train was just about to close its doors!
As a precaution for the first journey, we had taken a flask full coffee and some sandwiches! The train was slow but it was not stopping in any of the local stations! It went in to a tunnel after Waterfall station, and there we go…. ! It was full of trees, dominated by Eucalyptus (now we know why Koala is so choosy, and may be why Australia is very dry)!
The train stopped at one or two stations, and was moving faster than ever before! It was going through a tunnel every 10 minutes! There were a couple of bridges too, very old ones! We exited a tunnel and down some 200-300 meters was a beach! We were on the edge of a sea cliff ! It was greenery around us, and filtering through the woods was the glittering sun rays resulting from the reflection of the beach! It took a turn through the side of the next hill to go much closer to the beach, and at a point, the sea was just below us down the hill! I would say it was beautiful!
It was travelling through the coast at some distance – the greenery in between slowly tuning in to roads, houses, shops and all. It approached small stations every 5-10 mins. A very useful fact I noticed was a board with the next station name on it, at the end of platform for each station.
It dropped us at Wollongong by around 1:20. We walked with no plans ahead. All we know is, we had to take a train back by evening. We know there is a beach there, and there is a Buddhist temple too! That latter is been told as the biggest in Southern hemisphere!
We had a problem with my bag getting wet with the coffee leaking from our new flask, just bought a day ago! We cleaned up the mess, but some of our travel books had already gone for a toss! Foreign vacuum flask, ehJ !
We found a shopping mall there, as good as one we could find in Sydney! We spotted the food court and had Pizza( this looks better, at least you get some pizzas all over the country. Thanks to Roman !). A long walk to the beach, and spent sometime walking through the rocks and that was it. We had to cancel the Buddha temple plan as the last bus was also gone by 3 (we realised that it is far and there are only buses once in 2 hours) !
That was all we could do that day, so it was at the end of the day just as good as the train journey! We returned by 4:30 train, promising we will be right back :) !
To begin with, I was planning to start with one day trips, to places where we can reach with a 2-3 hour travel and then, spend a day there and come back home by late evening. That will give a feel of the places outside Sydney in terms of expenses and food. That is, if I can see that in an outer area is a problem for vegetarian food; I will have to plan for either for packing food or take a self contained cottages.
We had Blue mountain as the first pick, and we didn’t bother to check for others at all ! Checking the weather, the Mercury level was still giving us a ‘negative’ answer ! But it was too late by the time we dropped Blue Mountains. Else, this place is an hour from Sydney and the train will pass through Parramatta.
We spotted a diesel locomotive train in our of our leaflets, which takes us for a day tour leaving Sydney Central in the morning and reaches back by evening. The journey is the attraction here – the route passes through the Royal National Park, a cliff and seashore to Wollongong and then climbs a hill to reach the destination, Robertson ! It just reaches there stays 2 hours, and comes back. But by the time we started chasing it, the offices were closed. As it was a private rail, none know about it in the City Rail office ! Again, it runs only on Wednesdays and Sundays. The tour costs A$85 pp. So, we got Saturday free to plan( *understood* free to sleep too) !
There goes the filler concept – this is where the remaining spots in Sydney comes! We planned for an IMAX experience, and while going to the city planned to check for more information about the Cockatoo run( that is the touring rail’s name).
Took a return ticket to Town Hall station, got down at the Central for more information ( but I can’t go out of the station as the return tickets does not allow breaking the journey, unless for changing trains). The rail staff had no clue about this rail. But they gave me another valuable information. The normal trains go through that route to the same destination, and it costs just 18 bucks for a same day return! Then, we are paying the extra 70 bucks for just the diesel experience( which we get in India without any choice) ! The normal trains also takes the 2 hours plus, and we will have the advantage of travelling free than depending on this train which will wait at the destination for 40 mins for shopping and lunch, before it starts its journey back.
Walking to the Darling harbour from Town Hall, the cloudy sky started a light& shade show with the Sun and the clouds! I will say it was the best, better than the IMAX ! The sky was dark, and suddenly we found only the skyscrapers behind us lit by the Orange Sun rays! As the Sun went down, it gave a beautiful backlit sky ! And whoever had a camera or a camcorder were copying it into the celluloid. But, I have seen the best shows of nature only when I forget to take my SLR. Today was no exceptionL !
IMAX, I had my first experience of a 3D film in my life and Krithi, it was her first IMAX experience! A show costs A$17( for 3D and 16 for 2D), and you will get a A$27 if you can see two shows one after the other !
For Sunday, we decided to give a try to take the normal train and see what can see ! We chose Wollongong, a spot on the way which is a coastal spot. It was just a 1hr 40 min. journey, and the trains left Central every hour. We started by 11 from home to take the 11:44 train starting from Central. We took a direct ticket from Parramatta and rushed into the local train just ready to depart. It was as usual slow. It dropped us at the central station by 11:38 at platform 6. We have to see which platform our trains for Wollongong depart. Each platform/ the escalator to the platform will have a TV displaying only the routes of the trains departing from that platform. Nowhere can you get the big pictureL ! So we did a running to the main board to check with the information, and ran to platform 14, the train was just about to close its doors!
As a precaution for the first journey, we had taken a flask full coffee and some sandwiches! The train was slow but it was not stopping in any of the local stations! It went in to a tunnel after Waterfall station, and there we go…. ! It was full of trees, dominated by Eucalyptus (now we know why Koala is so choosy, and may be why Australia is very dry)!
The train stopped at one or two stations, and was moving faster than ever before! It was going through a tunnel every 10 minutes! There were a couple of bridges too, very old ones! We exited a tunnel and down some 200-300 meters was a beach! We were on the edge of a sea cliff ! It was greenery around us, and filtering through the woods was the glittering sun rays resulting from the reflection of the beach! It took a turn through the side of the next hill to go much closer to the beach, and at a point, the sea was just below us down the hill! I would say it was beautiful!
It was travelling through the coast at some distance – the greenery in between slowly tuning in to roads, houses, shops and all. It approached small stations every 5-10 mins. A very useful fact I noticed was a board with the next station name on it, at the end of platform for each station.
It dropped us at Wollongong by around 1:20. We walked with no plans ahead. All we know is, we had to take a train back by evening. We know there is a beach there, and there is a Buddhist temple too! That latter is been told as the biggest in Southern hemisphere!
We had a problem with my bag getting wet with the coffee leaking from our new flask, just bought a day ago! We cleaned up the mess, but some of our travel books had already gone for a toss! Foreign vacuum flask, ehJ !
We found a shopping mall there, as good as one we could find in Sydney! We spotted the food court and had Pizza( this looks better, at least you get some pizzas all over the country. Thanks to Roman !). A long walk to the beach, and spent sometime walking through the rocks and that was it. We had to cancel the Buddha temple plan as the last bus was also gone by 3 (we realised that it is far and there are only buses once in 2 hours) !
That was all we could do that day, so it was at the end of the day just as good as the train journey! We returned by 4:30 train, promising we will be right back :) !
Friday, September 09, 2005
AUSSIE WEEKENDER 9
Getting into the big picture now, Australia is a place big enough to be told as the 6th largest country in the World next to Russia, Canada, China, USA and Brazil. It is the flattest and driest of continents (after Antarctica). This landmass of 7.7 million sq.km( India is around 3 million sq.km) yet has got extremes of climates and topography !
There are rainforests and vast plains in the north, snowfields in the south east, desert in the centre and fertile croplands in the east, south and south west. About one third of the country lies in the tropics. Australia has a coastline of 36,735km - if it were possible to drive non-stop along the entire coast at 60 km/h it would take about 24 days to complete the trip !
Australia consists of 8 territories : New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania( this is a small Island on its South east corner) and ACT( Australian Capital Territory).
The local currency is Australian dollars which costs around 33 INR. The denominations are cents. The currency notes are in denominations of 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5. The coins goes as $2, $1, 50c, 20c, 10c and 5c. Like India, 5c is the minimum denomination. The currency notes are thin, and like a polythene sheet with some faces featured on it( I have not heard of anyone before). The coins mostly contain Queen's face( no confusion, I am talking about Queen Elizabeth II only ) ! The coin size grows bigger till 50c( 50c coin is bigger than any coin I have ever seen). $1 coin is a bit smaller( comes to our 50ps size) and $2 is smaller than that( its radius is almost same as 5c). The difference is, $1 and $2 are heavy and made of bronze(not sure what it is, the same metal as 1pound coin) whereas the other coins are made of nickel/steel.
This coin's head raises a big question: Is Australia still a British colony?! The union jack part in the map of Australia ( same as New Zealand’s flag) is again confusing ! To my knowledge Australia still got a Governor General! Queen’s Birthday is a National Holiday here! Any idea ?
But, I still know that the immigration laws are separate, UK citizen need a Visa to enter Australia, and so this is surely a separate country!
Coming back to the vastness, there is a wonderful train across Australia. It starts from Sydney on Saturday afternoon and ends its journey in Perth travelling some 4000+ kms, by Tuesday! It is a bit expensive with the fare coming to A$1500 one way per person for getting a berth, and if you are ready to spend 3 nights in a daynighter seat, it is A$550. This is heard to be a life time experience to travel across Australia. It travels the World’s longest straight stretch of railway track (478 kms ! ), and promises you unique landscapes and fascinating array of wildlife from the comfort of the lounge or your cabin.
The travelling costs compells me to restrict my journeys or rather, sample them. A night's stay costing around 150-200 bucks and the food costing some 100 per day, travel is costly even without the train fares. Again, after all this, we rather end up getting tried at the destination after a long journey may not be worth it.
There are rainforests and vast plains in the north, snowfields in the south east, desert in the centre and fertile croplands in the east, south and south west. About one third of the country lies in the tropics. Australia has a coastline of 36,735km - if it were possible to drive non-stop along the entire coast at 60 km/h it would take about 24 days to complete the trip !
Australia consists of 8 territories : New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania( this is a small Island on its South east corner) and ACT( Australian Capital Territory).
The local currency is Australian dollars which costs around 33 INR. The denominations are cents. The currency notes are in denominations of 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5. The coins goes as $2, $1, 50c, 20c, 10c and 5c. Like India, 5c is the minimum denomination. The currency notes are thin, and like a polythene sheet with some faces featured on it( I have not heard of anyone before). The coins mostly contain Queen's face( no confusion, I am talking about Queen Elizabeth II only ) ! The coin size grows bigger till 50c( 50c coin is bigger than any coin I have ever seen). $1 coin is a bit smaller( comes to our 50ps size) and $2 is smaller than that( its radius is almost same as 5c). The difference is, $1 and $2 are heavy and made of bronze(not sure what it is, the same metal as 1pound coin) whereas the other coins are made of nickel/steel.
This coin's head raises a big question: Is Australia still a British colony?! The union jack part in the map of Australia ( same as New Zealand’s flag) is again confusing ! To my knowledge Australia still got a Governor General! Queen’s Birthday is a National Holiday here! Any idea ?
But, I still know that the immigration laws are separate, UK citizen need a Visa to enter Australia, and so this is surely a separate country!
Coming back to the vastness, there is a wonderful train across Australia. It starts from Sydney on Saturday afternoon and ends its journey in Perth travelling some 4000+ kms, by Tuesday! It is a bit expensive with the fare coming to A$1500 one way per person for getting a berth, and if you are ready to spend 3 nights in a daynighter seat, it is A$550. This is heard to be a life time experience to travel across Australia. It travels the World’s longest straight stretch of railway track (478 kms ! ), and promises you unique landscapes and fascinating array of wildlife from the comfort of the lounge or your cabin.
The travelling costs compells me to restrict my journeys or rather, sample them. A night's stay costing around 150-200 bucks and the food costing some 100 per day, travel is costly even without the train fares. Again, after all this, we rather end up getting tried at the destination after a long journey may not be worth it.
Friday, September 02, 2005
AUSSIE WEEKENDER 8
Australia is the land of Kangaroos. But we have not yet met one! The only place we can see a Kangaroo in Sydney, is Zoo ! There is another species Koala, you can say it is like Panda.
There was a place nearby which they called Featherdale Wildlife Park, which turned out to be a place little bigger than our Panagal park J !
We had to take a bus after getting down from the train. On Sundays, the frequency of the buses is only once in an hour ! And we landed just when the bus just left ! That left us wait in the bus stand for an hour. It was noon by the time we reached the gates of the ‘Park’.
Once we had a look at it, and realised that it has all birds except a crocodile( which I doubt Krithi is still believing that it was a statue), some reptiles in a small room and then some Koalas and small kangaroos. And for that, the entry fee was A$18 !
The birds which can fly out were in cages, and the fats ones were out in small river-shaped pond (I would like to call it so, as it was supposed to look like a river and got some flow also, of recycling. But I hate to call a 100 meter -sort-of-river, a river).
That is it with them and we will move to Koalas. None of them are caged, and at places we never even had fences. The advertisement itself was ‘take a snap with Koala’. There are one or two kangaroos also in the open.
Koalas are the most wonderful creatures I have ever seen. They just somehow manage to be in between the branches of a tree, and that is it! You should be lucky to see it moving! It mostly will be sleeping, sitting on some branches of the tree and holding the next branch tightly, like a standing person sleeping in a running bus! In between it opens its eyes, looks around with minimal movement for its head, like the sleeping traveller sees whether the bus has reached his place, and goes back to sleep J. It was fun watching them, as they look cute, but deadly lazy!
They eat only Eucalypts leaves! Believe me, I just mean it! They won’t eat anything other than that, it is said to get 90% of its hydration from these leaves. It only drinks water when the leaves are dry, or when it get sick! The word Koala came from the aboriginal language which means ‘no drink’! It will be more surprising when you know that these leaves are very low in nutrition and extremely poisonous to most of the animals.
This chap, then says he is very choosy! All he eats is only Eucalypts leaves and that too he eats only a few types of them! Luckily that Australia has some 80 types of Eucalypts J.
They are also like Kangaroos in carrying the young ones in a pouch! I was of the impression that only Kangaroos do this!
But at the end of the day, this guy won’t even move for the fear that movement may trigger the digestion of what they ate and so may have to eat again J ! I think their fat, bluffy body should be a lesson for people who think that fasting is the way to become slim :D.
We met some Kangaroos also. They are mostly fed up with the feeding of the people coming there. They also follow Koala as their stomach is full J !
We finished it all in 1-2 hours, and that too because we spent too much time waiting to see Koala moving J ! A restaurant inside the park had only French fries (rather will say potatoes in the shape of French fries) for vegetarians!
Tailpiece:- School looks full fun here ! They got a hell lot of vacations – 1.5 months for Christmas, 1 month April, 2 weeks in July and 2 weeks in September !
Information :- More information about Koalas can be found at : http://www.thekoala.com/koala/index.htm
There was a place nearby which they called Featherdale Wildlife Park, which turned out to be a place little bigger than our Panagal park J !
We had to take a bus after getting down from the train. On Sundays, the frequency of the buses is only once in an hour ! And we landed just when the bus just left ! That left us wait in the bus stand for an hour. It was noon by the time we reached the gates of the ‘Park’.
Once we had a look at it, and realised that it has all birds except a crocodile( which I doubt Krithi is still believing that it was a statue), some reptiles in a small room and then some Koalas and small kangaroos. And for that, the entry fee was A$18 !
The birds which can fly out were in cages, and the fats ones were out in small river-shaped pond (I would like to call it so, as it was supposed to look like a river and got some flow also, of recycling. But I hate to call a 100 meter -sort-of-river, a river).
That is it with them and we will move to Koalas. None of them are caged, and at places we never even had fences. The advertisement itself was ‘take a snap with Koala’. There are one or two kangaroos also in the open.
Koalas are the most wonderful creatures I have ever seen. They just somehow manage to be in between the branches of a tree, and that is it! You should be lucky to see it moving! It mostly will be sleeping, sitting on some branches of the tree and holding the next branch tightly, like a standing person sleeping in a running bus! In between it opens its eyes, looks around with minimal movement for its head, like the sleeping traveller sees whether the bus has reached his place, and goes back to sleep J. It was fun watching them, as they look cute, but deadly lazy!
They eat only Eucalypts leaves! Believe me, I just mean it! They won’t eat anything other than that, it is said to get 90% of its hydration from these leaves. It only drinks water when the leaves are dry, or when it get sick! The word Koala came from the aboriginal language which means ‘no drink’! It will be more surprising when you know that these leaves are very low in nutrition and extremely poisonous to most of the animals.
This chap, then says he is very choosy! All he eats is only Eucalypts leaves and that too he eats only a few types of them! Luckily that Australia has some 80 types of Eucalypts J.
They are also like Kangaroos in carrying the young ones in a pouch! I was of the impression that only Kangaroos do this!
But at the end of the day, this guy won’t even move for the fear that movement may trigger the digestion of what they ate and so may have to eat again J ! I think their fat, bluffy body should be a lesson for people who think that fasting is the way to become slim :D.
We met some Kangaroos also. They are mostly fed up with the feeding of the people coming there. They also follow Koala as their stomach is full J !
We finished it all in 1-2 hours, and that too because we spent too much time waiting to see Koala moving J ! A restaurant inside the park had only French fries (rather will say potatoes in the shape of French fries) for vegetarians!
Tailpiece:- School looks full fun here ! They got a hell lot of vacations – 1.5 months for Christmas, 1 month April, 2 weeks in July and 2 weeks in September !
Information :- More information about Koalas can be found at : http://www.thekoala.com/koala/index.htm
Friday, August 26, 2005
AUSSIE WEEKENDER 7
I have missed this Taxi driver’s story in between.
It was a Sunday( 3rd July), and we were moving from St.Leonards to Parramatta. He was not sure of the location of where we wanted to go, but had a street map. I just helped him out in spotting the place we wanted to go, to the precise point where the apartments are.
Then he started with asking me whether I am a software professional, and whom I am working for and all. I took this opportunity to go in to his life and get his story.
I will call him Ching, a Chinese migrated to Australia some 10 years ago. He had come to Australia some 10 years ago. He struggled a bit to find a job, and then started with driving taxi. Once slowly settled down his parents in China started looking for a girl for him. He says, then, he could see the girls have changed over 3-4 years when he went back to his home country. They were only looking for money. He was telling some examples of his friends who married from China and the girl ran away with a rich man in Sydney, after an year or so !
So, Ching dropped that plan and found a girl, basically Vietnamese, settled in Sydney itself. She also came to work and almost 3 years she has been in Sydney when Ching met her. He feels that this gave him the advantage that she will be comfortable with the environment, and don’t have to worry much about her language problems or cultural shocks. He is now married to her and has got two kids.
The taxi drivers works in shifts. One person is only allowed to work for 8-9 hours only. They take one day off a week. Most of the drivers, Ching says, start by 6am or 7am and work till 3pm. Ching normally starts an hour late, and stays for an hour or two more so that he can exploit the demand for taxi around 3 pm when all taxis vanishes. The second set of people takes over to work till midnight, after that.
Ching is a Buddhist, but he was telling me he will eat fish and meat. Once a week they will fast, that is fully vegetarian. I was about to ask him why, as the followers of Buddha – the father of Ahimsa, they are eating meat, but then I realise in spite of all this wisdom and charm, this question may be too much for a poor taxi driver ! I have the danger of us been forced to get down somewhere on the roadside with all my luggage J !
I am not sure whether I am becoming a story teller from a traveller, but I think these stories are also part of the journey J.
By the by, these guys here never worry about helping you out with loading your luggage, and never worry about the tip too! If you give them a tip, they are more than happy, that is all. I am just telling this, as it is the other way in US.
Tailpiece:- About Driver's license in the Aussie Government Site J,
Whether you rent or buy, you'll need a valid driver's license. If you have a driver's license from your home country, with your photograph on it, you probably won't need anything else. In some cases you may need to carry a translation of your license if it isn't in English. You probably do not need a so-called international drivers' license - they went out of fashion years ago.
Information :- Taxi charges-
Booking- $ 1.15,
Flag off - $ 2.75( what we call minimum),
per km - $ 1.56
It was a Sunday( 3rd July), and we were moving from St.Leonards to Parramatta. He was not sure of the location of where we wanted to go, but had a street map. I just helped him out in spotting the place we wanted to go, to the precise point where the apartments are.
Then he started with asking me whether I am a software professional, and whom I am working for and all. I took this opportunity to go in to his life and get his story.
I will call him Ching, a Chinese migrated to Australia some 10 years ago. He had come to Australia some 10 years ago. He struggled a bit to find a job, and then started with driving taxi. Once slowly settled down his parents in China started looking for a girl for him. He says, then, he could see the girls have changed over 3-4 years when he went back to his home country. They were only looking for money. He was telling some examples of his friends who married from China and the girl ran away with a rich man in Sydney, after an year or so !
So, Ching dropped that plan and found a girl, basically Vietnamese, settled in Sydney itself. She also came to work and almost 3 years she has been in Sydney when Ching met her. He feels that this gave him the advantage that she will be comfortable with the environment, and don’t have to worry much about her language problems or cultural shocks. He is now married to her and has got two kids.
The taxi drivers works in shifts. One person is only allowed to work for 8-9 hours only. They take one day off a week. Most of the drivers, Ching says, start by 6am or 7am and work till 3pm. Ching normally starts an hour late, and stays for an hour or two more so that he can exploit the demand for taxi around 3 pm when all taxis vanishes. The second set of people takes over to work till midnight, after that.
Ching is a Buddhist, but he was telling me he will eat fish and meat. Once a week they will fast, that is fully vegetarian. I was about to ask him why, as the followers of Buddha – the father of Ahimsa, they are eating meat, but then I realise in spite of all this wisdom and charm, this question may be too much for a poor taxi driver ! I have the danger of us been forced to get down somewhere on the roadside with all my luggage J !
I am not sure whether I am becoming a story teller from a traveller, but I think these stories are also part of the journey J.
By the by, these guys here never worry about helping you out with loading your luggage, and never worry about the tip too! If you give them a tip, they are more than happy, that is all. I am just telling this, as it is the other way in US.
Tailpiece:- About Driver's license in the Aussie Government Site J,
Whether you rent or buy, you'll need a valid driver's license. If you have a driver's license from your home country, with your photograph on it, you probably won't need anything else. In some cases you may need to carry a translation of your license if it isn't in English. You probably do not need a so-called international drivers' license - they went out of fashion years ago.
Information :- Taxi charges-
Booking- $ 1.15,
Flag off - $ 2.75( what we call minimum),
per km - $ 1.56
Friday, August 19, 2005
AUSSIE WEEKENDER 6
The days are mostly pleasant here. It was rainy for one or two days in June, but it is no more like that. The temperature is also pretty consistent.
The shops normally closes around 5-5:30, except one or two like Woolworths. On Thursdays, they are open till late, mostly till 9. So, if you can plan your purchases on Thursday, weekends will be all yours!
For this weekend, we left the Saturday for sleeping, and planned for Sunday. Again, it will be 12 by the time it is morning for me J. This week, the rail maintenance was for our area, and Parramatta station was closed. We got a notice in all our post boxes notifying this! This replacement buses till Granville, the next rail junction from where we can carry on with train journey. The day’s plan was to get down at Town Hall and go to the top of Sydney Tower.
We had a downtown’s map to guide us. A 10 mins walk from Town Hall station, we came across some old huge malls on the way. A shopping complex built in early 60s or before -something like a shopping complex looking like our old government office buildings !
Then, was this shopping area with two huge malls on both sides, and from the middle of one of them goes the Tower, going up and up for some 1000 Feet – it is about 4 times our Kutub Minar, New Delhi ; 4 times the height of The monument, London ; only 81 metres less than the Empire State building Structure ! I can swear it is the highest view I have ever got from a man made structure! (I am not sure of the Fire Exit :D ). There are 4 round floors on the top, and an open terrace!
The first two floors are restaurants. You have to take $40 entry ticket (per person) and get in to another set of lifts to reach one of those revolving restaurants. Imagine sitting and eating at some 1000 feet high, and while you eat, the building is rotating slowly, to finish one rotation in an hour ! You will see the whole of Sydney!
This is told to be the highest building in Southern hemisphere. Aussies are lucky that US went in to the northern hemisphere J !
We had our lunch to finish. We settled for a north indian shop in the food court downstairs (Central Plaza), which got settled for around $15 - for rice, a curry, some pakodas and pappadams ! Then we just had a walk around, went to the entry ticket counter by 2:30. The entry to the top floor for view costs $22 per person and this comes along with a hologram show known as ‘Oz-Trek’ when you come down.
A small queue for the checking before entering the lift, for sharp objects or weapons, and here we go. The lift was fast enough to take us to the top in less than one minute, non-stop.
This floor is only for viewing. The middle portion has lifts, souvenir shop, and steps to go to the coffee & bar below. There is this terrace on top, which is open! They charge you $110 to go there, rather take you there, with safety equipments and it is referred as ‘Sky walk’.
Views from all sides were looking good. One part had the view of the sea with the Bondi beach, we had the harbour, and the main parts on the other side! We spend around an hour on the top, didn’t buy the souvenirs as a small 15cm model of the Tower cost $23!
We came down to enjoy a Virtual Reality show, which took us to an air ride above the harbour bridge, and then a lot of places in Australia ! It was a first time experience for me, have heard of such things from Brajesh and others – the shows in Universal Studios. May be it is a similar one?
We had spotted some beautiful meadows and fountains( Hyde Park) from the top, just walked in that direction and spent a peaceful evening there. Walked over to the Harbour, back to the Town Hall station, we had done with the day and back home by 8. One more weekend is over.
Tailpiece :-
Information :-
About the Sydney Tower: (taken from) http://www.sydneyskytour.com.au/tower.html
Construction of Sydney Tower Centrepoint began in late 1970 with the first 52 shops opening in 1972. The office component was completed in 1974 and the final stage of the complex, the Sydney Tower, was opened to the public in August 1981.
Ranked as one of the safest buildings in the world the design has made the tower capable of withstanding earthquakes and extreme wind conditions. 56 cables stabilise the tower, and if the strands of these cables were laid end to end, they would reach from Sydney to Alice Springs, or from Sydney to New Zealand.
The turret has a capacity of 960 persons, and contains two levels of restaurants, a coffee lounge, an Observation Deck, two telecommunication transmission levels and three plant levels.
Three high speed double Deck Lifts take approximately 40 seconds to travel from top to bottom.
The 1504 stairs, constantly monitored by security, provide emergency exit from the tower. Divided into two fire-isolated sets of pressurised stairs, they allow patrons direct access to street level.
The 420 windows of the tower are cleaned by a semi-automatic window-cleaning machine, which recycles and filters 50 litres of water. This machine takes two days to clean all 420 windows.
A 162,000 litre water tank, the tower's primary damping system, one million dollars worth of fire protection equipment and countless sprinklers add to the safety standards which far exceed normal building requirements.
The shops normally closes around 5-5:30, except one or two like Woolworths. On Thursdays, they are open till late, mostly till 9. So, if you can plan your purchases on Thursday, weekends will be all yours!
For this weekend, we left the Saturday for sleeping, and planned for Sunday. Again, it will be 12 by the time it is morning for me J. This week, the rail maintenance was for our area, and Parramatta station was closed. We got a notice in all our post boxes notifying this! This replacement buses till Granville, the next rail junction from where we can carry on with train journey. The day’s plan was to get down at Town Hall and go to the top of Sydney Tower.
We had a downtown’s map to guide us. A 10 mins walk from Town Hall station, we came across some old huge malls on the way. A shopping complex built in early 60s or before -something like a shopping complex looking like our old government office buildings !
Then, was this shopping area with two huge malls on both sides, and from the middle of one of them goes the Tower, going up and up for some 1000 Feet – it is about 4 times our Kutub Minar, New Delhi ; 4 times the height of The monument, London ; only 81 metres less than the Empire State building Structure ! I can swear it is the highest view I have ever got from a man made structure! (I am not sure of the Fire Exit :D ). There are 4 round floors on the top, and an open terrace!
The first two floors are restaurants. You have to take $40 entry ticket (per person) and get in to another set of lifts to reach one of those revolving restaurants. Imagine sitting and eating at some 1000 feet high, and while you eat, the building is rotating slowly, to finish one rotation in an hour ! You will see the whole of Sydney!
This is told to be the highest building in Southern hemisphere. Aussies are lucky that US went in to the northern hemisphere J !
We had our lunch to finish. We settled for a north indian shop in the food court downstairs (Central Plaza), which got settled for around $15 - for rice, a curry, some pakodas and pappadams ! Then we just had a walk around, went to the entry ticket counter by 2:30. The entry to the top floor for view costs $22 per person and this comes along with a hologram show known as ‘Oz-Trek’ when you come down.
A small queue for the checking before entering the lift, for sharp objects or weapons, and here we go. The lift was fast enough to take us to the top in less than one minute, non-stop.
This floor is only for viewing. The middle portion has lifts, souvenir shop, and steps to go to the coffee & bar below. There is this terrace on top, which is open! They charge you $110 to go there, rather take you there, with safety equipments and it is referred as ‘Sky walk’.
Views from all sides were looking good. One part had the view of the sea with the Bondi beach, we had the harbour, and the main parts on the other side! We spend around an hour on the top, didn’t buy the souvenirs as a small 15cm model of the Tower cost $23!
We came down to enjoy a Virtual Reality show, which took us to an air ride above the harbour bridge, and then a lot of places in Australia ! It was a first time experience for me, have heard of such things from Brajesh and others – the shows in Universal Studios. May be it is a similar one?
We had spotted some beautiful meadows and fountains( Hyde Park) from the top, just walked in that direction and spent a peaceful evening there. Walked over to the Harbour, back to the Town Hall station, we had done with the day and back home by 8. One more weekend is over.
Tailpiece :-
Information :-
About the Sydney Tower: (taken from) http://www.sydneyskytour.com.au/tower.html
Construction of Sydney Tower Centrepoint began in late 1970 with the first 52 shops opening in 1972. The office component was completed in 1974 and the final stage of the complex, the Sydney Tower, was opened to the public in August 1981.
Ranked as one of the safest buildings in the world the design has made the tower capable of withstanding earthquakes and extreme wind conditions. 56 cables stabilise the tower, and if the strands of these cables were laid end to end, they would reach from Sydney to Alice Springs, or from Sydney to New Zealand.
The turret has a capacity of 960 persons, and contains two levels of restaurants, a coffee lounge, an Observation Deck, two telecommunication transmission levels and three plant levels.
Three high speed double Deck Lifts take approximately 40 seconds to travel from top to bottom.
The 1504 stairs, constantly monitored by security, provide emergency exit from the tower. Divided into two fire-isolated sets of pressurised stairs, they allow patrons direct access to street level.
The 420 windows of the tower are cleaned by a semi-automatic window-cleaning machine, which recycles and filters 50 litres of water. This machine takes two days to clean all 420 windows.
A 162,000 litre water tank, the tower's primary damping system, one million dollars worth of fire protection equipment and countless sprinklers add to the safety standards which far exceed normal building requirements.
Friday, August 12, 2005
AUSSIE WEEKENDER 5
The Sun was shining, my first allowance is credited in my account and it is a Saturday too! What a way to begin a weekend!
There is a day-tripper ticket, similar to weekend pass in London, which allows you to travel in train, bus or ferry through out the city, except for the private services. This costs some AU$15 whereas London weekend pass costs 8 pounds. But the latter is valid for two days! I would have to say transport here is costlier than London!!!
I checked the ferry schedule and we decided to leave by the one at 12. It is just 10min walk to the Ferry from home. We reached the ferry in time; it was big enough to accommodate 100+ people. The water was stinking, but the landscape looked beautiful!
And we started by 12. It was quite sunny. We both chose to stand in the deck with many other people, enjoying the winter Sun. Imagine a single ferry takes you from a canal in English country side (with those small stone bridge, with pavements and meadows on the banks), then in to wet lands like in Pichavaram (any wetlands will do ;) ), and slowly enter the canals of Venice !!! Now you see houses with entrance to the water, and shed for the boat (like a car shed) ! Slowly the scenario changes as you pass through some vacant land - a factory, lots of ship carriage boxes near it- nearing more urban areas. A huge bridge with road and rail, and then you enter water more of a part of sea than a river. Still, the water is narrow; the hilly roads on the banks are so steep that the parked cars seem like waiting for their turns to jump in to the water!
The water starts getting widened; some schooners standing in the middle! It resembles some pictures of Norway, Greece sort of. Then the real Sydney, incomparable, when the ferry taking a left turn and you suddenly see the harbour bridge and all this skyscrapers behind it, the busy port, the Opera house….You can see a lot of big ferries crossing the water , the waves they send out hits your ferry and it sways. And slowly you cross the harbour bridge, and take a right turn, just before the Opera house on your left, the trip comes to an end at Jetty 4 in Circular Quay.
I think I am exhausted with my words now. But just will be able to say this much that it was a memorable trip for us, and the explanation I gave is not even one tenth of what it really is! But for now, let me continue.
We walked to spot the ‘India Quay’ restaurant, which we had planned for our lunch, thanks to Binish Gopal( with his reference in ‘Sydney Badaees’ I could get its map and menu too, on net). The same was spotted easily, we had just planned for a walk around and come back for lunch. But our fate had other plans ! We were just passing a small bus stop and we saw a bus to the Bondi beach ! We had never travelled in a bus in Australia till now, and this beach was on top in our list for places to visit.
We checked with the driver and boarded the bus, to start another new experience. Through the one way steep roads of downtown, and on our both sides, a lot of old Victorian style buildings, and new concrete skyscrapers, a good mix of them! It slowly became a bit less messy, and purely residential, suburb areas. In some 10-15 minutes, we could see the beach in between the gaps of houses and bushes, down the hill!
Got down at the beach – a beautiful one with white soft sand, waves not very strong, but enough to hit and splash at the cliffs on our both sides. We both forgot the lunch and started walking through the beach - watching the surfers, taking some snaps, and continued the walk climbing the cliff which was projected to the sea, and through a path for pedestrians cut through the middle of the cliff. There were some portions of rocks in front of us, which looked like they were under water for a long time. I think this walk went on for an hour or two. Krithi was excited with the sea and I used it well for this long walk J. By the time she felt that we had getting tired, we had come far away from the beach J ! The main road was somewhere behind the hill, we climbed the steps to the nearest road, it was around 3:30 !
We ended up in a residential area, which was almost empty except some cars passing by. Spotted the nearest bus stop, and checked with the bus timings. But we had no clue where this buses goes to is in the same direction. I appreciate the London bus stops, which use to have a map of the routes which ach buses from that stop goes.
I was right in my worry, the first bus turned up in a few minutes and the driver showed me the bus stop for bus in the opposite direction. Another wait for the correct bus, which dropped us in Bondi Junction rail station.
Again, we were ‘fortunate’ in finding that the station is closed for maintenance and replacement buses are running till ‘Edgecliff’. Took a train from Edgecliff to get down at Town Hall, another train to Circular Quay, it was 4:30 by the time we reached ‘India quay’ for lunch! The fortune was again with us, ‘India quay’ was closed! Biniiiiissshhh….
We had no choice other than stupid Mc Donalds ! Krithi was giving me a look, it was her first birthday after marriage ! I was planning a memorable Indian lunch after the romantic ferry and beach, and see where ‘India Quay’ left me !
Took another ferry to Darling harbour, it would have been another good experience with the sky getting dark, Opera house and the bridge getting lighted – but there was this winter breeze which forced us to get in to the ferry and see all through window glass. I still managed to take some snaps, but without my tripod I doubt whether it will come without a shake !
I went too long ? I doubt yes. Anyway, the best part is over. We waited in the harbour for the fireworks, till 7:30. The mercury was dropping, and with the freezy breeze it was impossible to keep on waiting with no idea of when it will happen. A crowd had gathered and some were saying it 8 and some saying 8:30 ! Some rock music was going on and we had no interest in it anyway. Took a ferry back to the Quay and had a good dinner in ‘India Quay’. The last ferry to Parramatta had gone at 7 itself, so only train was an option.
Tail piece:- “ Australia is the land of Kangaroo. When Captain Cook saw the strange animal for the first time he had no one but the natives to ask what they call it. Unable to understand his question, they replied "Kan Ga Roo" meaning "I don't Know"! Tree Kangaroos of Taronga Zoo, Sydney.” Taken from http://sureshgo.tripod.com/, site of my supersenior who was in REC few years ago and in Sydney as well sometime back. He got nostalgic and wrote back when I wrote about St.Leonards, as he was working there.
Information :- The plug points are different from that in UK and India, I think they insisted to keep a different configuration ! It looks like ‘ / \ ‘ compared to UK ‘ ‘ and Indian, ‘o o’. The earth pin is ‘ ‘ same as UK :D. I am not sure whether the whole Europe follows UK’s method, and whole Asian pins looks like that in India.
There is a day-tripper ticket, similar to weekend pass in London, which allows you to travel in train, bus or ferry through out the city, except for the private services. This costs some AU$15 whereas London weekend pass costs 8 pounds. But the latter is valid for two days! I would have to say transport here is costlier than London!!!
I checked the ferry schedule and we decided to leave by the one at 12. It is just 10min walk to the Ferry from home. We reached the ferry in time; it was big enough to accommodate 100+ people. The water was stinking, but the landscape looked beautiful!
And we started by 12. It was quite sunny. We both chose to stand in the deck with many other people, enjoying the winter Sun. Imagine a single ferry takes you from a canal in English country side (with those small stone bridge, with pavements and meadows on the banks), then in to wet lands like in Pichavaram (any wetlands will do ;) ), and slowly enter the canals of Venice !!! Now you see houses with entrance to the water, and shed for the boat (like a car shed) ! Slowly the scenario changes as you pass through some vacant land - a factory, lots of ship carriage boxes near it- nearing more urban areas. A huge bridge with road and rail, and then you enter water more of a part of sea than a river. Still, the water is narrow; the hilly roads on the banks are so steep that the parked cars seem like waiting for their turns to jump in to the water!
The water starts getting widened; some schooners standing in the middle! It resembles some pictures of Norway, Greece sort of. Then the real Sydney, incomparable, when the ferry taking a left turn and you suddenly see the harbour bridge and all this skyscrapers behind it, the busy port, the Opera house….You can see a lot of big ferries crossing the water , the waves they send out hits your ferry and it sways. And slowly you cross the harbour bridge, and take a right turn, just before the Opera house on your left, the trip comes to an end at Jetty 4 in Circular Quay.
I think I am exhausted with my words now. But just will be able to say this much that it was a memorable trip for us, and the explanation I gave is not even one tenth of what it really is! But for now, let me continue.
We walked to spot the ‘India Quay’ restaurant, which we had planned for our lunch, thanks to Binish Gopal( with his reference in ‘Sydney Badaees’ I could get its map and menu too, on net). The same was spotted easily, we had just planned for a walk around and come back for lunch. But our fate had other plans ! We were just passing a small bus stop and we saw a bus to the Bondi beach ! We had never travelled in a bus in Australia till now, and this beach was on top in our list for places to visit.
We checked with the driver and boarded the bus, to start another new experience. Through the one way steep roads of downtown, and on our both sides, a lot of old Victorian style buildings, and new concrete skyscrapers, a good mix of them! It slowly became a bit less messy, and purely residential, suburb areas. In some 10-15 minutes, we could see the beach in between the gaps of houses and bushes, down the hill!
Got down at the beach – a beautiful one with white soft sand, waves not very strong, but enough to hit and splash at the cliffs on our both sides. We both forgot the lunch and started walking through the beach - watching the surfers, taking some snaps, and continued the walk climbing the cliff which was projected to the sea, and through a path for pedestrians cut through the middle of the cliff. There were some portions of rocks in front of us, which looked like they were under water for a long time. I think this walk went on for an hour or two. Krithi was excited with the sea and I used it well for this long walk J. By the time she felt that we had getting tired, we had come far away from the beach J ! The main road was somewhere behind the hill, we climbed the steps to the nearest road, it was around 3:30 !
We ended up in a residential area, which was almost empty except some cars passing by. Spotted the nearest bus stop, and checked with the bus timings. But we had no clue where this buses goes to is in the same direction. I appreciate the London bus stops, which use to have a map of the routes which ach buses from that stop goes.
I was right in my worry, the first bus turned up in a few minutes and the driver showed me the bus stop for bus in the opposite direction. Another wait for the correct bus, which dropped us in Bondi Junction rail station.
Again, we were ‘fortunate’ in finding that the station is closed for maintenance and replacement buses are running till ‘Edgecliff’. Took a train from Edgecliff to get down at Town Hall, another train to Circular Quay, it was 4:30 by the time we reached ‘India quay’ for lunch! The fortune was again with us, ‘India quay’ was closed! Biniiiiissshhh….
We had no choice other than stupid Mc Donalds ! Krithi was giving me a look, it was her first birthday after marriage ! I was planning a memorable Indian lunch after the romantic ferry and beach, and see where ‘India Quay’ left me !
Took another ferry to Darling harbour, it would have been another good experience with the sky getting dark, Opera house and the bridge getting lighted – but there was this winter breeze which forced us to get in to the ferry and see all through window glass. I still managed to take some snaps, but without my tripod I doubt whether it will come without a shake !
I went too long ? I doubt yes. Anyway, the best part is over. We waited in the harbour for the fireworks, till 7:30. The mercury was dropping, and with the freezy breeze it was impossible to keep on waiting with no idea of when it will happen. A crowd had gathered and some were saying it 8 and some saying 8:30 ! Some rock music was going on and we had no interest in it anyway. Took a ferry back to the Quay and had a good dinner in ‘India Quay’. The last ferry to Parramatta had gone at 7 itself, so only train was an option.
Tail piece:- “ Australia is the land of Kangaroo. When Captain Cook saw the strange animal for the first time he had no one but the natives to ask what they call it. Unable to understand his question, they replied "Kan Ga Roo" meaning "I don't Know"! Tree Kangaroos of Taronga Zoo, Sydney.” Taken from http://sureshgo.tripod.com/, site of my supersenior who was in REC few years ago and in Sydney as well sometime back. He got nostalgic and wrote back when I wrote about St.Leonards, as he was working there.
Information :- The plug points are different from that in UK and India, I think they insisted to keep a different configuration ! It looks like ‘ / \ ‘ compared to UK ‘ ‘ and Indian, ‘o o’. The earth pin is ‘ ‘ same as UK :D. I am not sure whether the whole Europe follows UK’s method, and whole Asian pins looks like that in India.
Friday, August 05, 2005
AUSSIE WEEKENDER 4
I will have to finish this searching a house episode, it is going too long ! So, at last I got an apartment near to office, and a brand new one. I am going to be the first person to live there.
Signed a 6 month lease and walked in to the apartment complex. First, I had a tough time to find my flat, as the numbering was random, given a floor. The Lift has level, 2, 5 and 7 only. Level 5 can contain anything from 301 to 699 ! Level 2 will contain all 101 to 399 ! and so on.
That was just a tip of the iceberg. The A/c was not working( remember it is winter here), kitchen sink is stuck with the water not going out smoothly, our apartment is not connected to the intercom at the entrance( that means we will never know if someone comes to see us), and some small things like no keys to open the door to balcony !
I had not even in the wildest dream thought that I will get these issues along with a new apartment, that too in Syndey ! I am sure I am paying one of the highest rents for a single Bed room house in this part of Sydney.
Anyway, the slow people took down our complaints again and again, whenever we go there to follow up ! After one or two days of sleep in the cold, we found a reset switch after opening the A/c and it solved one of the major problem partially, even though under no control, it works ! At last they found that the remote given to us was a wrong one and replaced it!
Now to add to this, the setting up of a home also needs to be done. After some research, we found a new dining table been on Sale at 20$, and chairs for 10$ each. Along the groceries, bought this dining table! Now came the problem, we have to bring it to our place some 1-1.5 kms away !
It was around 9:30 at night (Thursdays all shops will be open till at least 9, and this one was open till 10), we tried one or two taxis but no use. Just managed to place the table on the shopping trolley, and walked back home with it ! I was amazed with Krithi, who joined me to pull a cart on this freezing night with out any protest ! Really an experience of a lifetime J ! The nearest I previously had was the great move of my fridge to and from Krishnakumar’s(97MCA) place, we both had actually loaded and transported the fridge in a Maruthi Omni call taxi J !
In the normal case, TCS people do wait for some 3-4 people to join who need the same things, visit some shops will sell used furniture, buy them and ask for a delivery. Then, it will be reasonable to pay some 40-100$ per person when 4 people combines, for delivery. But this one was ok to be carried alone, and the shopping trolley was anyway there with no restrictions. The chair business was quick, next day just carried some 3 steel chairs with cushions from the same shop.
So, all is set, rented the other appliances like fridge, washing machine, TV and microwave to avoid all these trouble. They will just install it for you after delivery and pick it back once we are done with it.
As the house problems also get fixed over two week’s time, just waiting for my allowance to come (all money is finished) for starting my travel. This magic castle got a lot of fun now. Our apartment number is 412. It is not in the 4th floor. As I told you, I have to go to Level 5 and then climb one level down. Level 4, if you can call it, has only 2-3 apartments. All other 4xx are in level 5 ! The electricity provider recognises our meter as the meter of 12th Apartment, 4th floor! To give us a ring from the entrance so that we can see you and open the gate for you, you need to dial 50, which is ALWAYS the apartment number! Again, he has given some key words. No need to dial or check. If you know it, you can get in to the apartment and till any apartment door steps!
As I have already mentioned, one of my intentions is to make sure that I am giving a clear picture of what I, as a new comer, am experiencing. That is why I am just walking you through everything, so that this gives you as much information as, you were here and experienced them all. I believe our life is very short to learn all from our own experience!
Give me a shout if I sound boring. I will just keep these write ups for my personal diary.
Tailpiece :- There are many things I am skipping for now. One of the them is the story of a chinese driver who dropped us from St.Leonards to Parramatta. Just will try to write it down sometime later. That will give a glimpse of a driver’s life in Australia.
Signed a 6 month lease and walked in to the apartment complex. First, I had a tough time to find my flat, as the numbering was random, given a floor. The Lift has level, 2, 5 and 7 only. Level 5 can contain anything from 301 to 699 ! Level 2 will contain all 101 to 399 ! and so on.
That was just a tip of the iceberg. The A/c was not working( remember it is winter here), kitchen sink is stuck with the water not going out smoothly, our apartment is not connected to the intercom at the entrance( that means we will never know if someone comes to see us), and some small things like no keys to open the door to balcony !
I had not even in the wildest dream thought that I will get these issues along with a new apartment, that too in Syndey ! I am sure I am paying one of the highest rents for a single Bed room house in this part of Sydney.
Anyway, the slow people took down our complaints again and again, whenever we go there to follow up ! After one or two days of sleep in the cold, we found a reset switch after opening the A/c and it solved one of the major problem partially, even though under no control, it works ! At last they found that the remote given to us was a wrong one and replaced it!
Now to add to this, the setting up of a home also needs to be done. After some research, we found a new dining table been on Sale at 20$, and chairs for 10$ each. Along the groceries, bought this dining table! Now came the problem, we have to bring it to our place some 1-1.5 kms away !
It was around 9:30 at night (Thursdays all shops will be open till at least 9, and this one was open till 10), we tried one or two taxis but no use. Just managed to place the table on the shopping trolley, and walked back home with it ! I was amazed with Krithi, who joined me to pull a cart on this freezing night with out any protest ! Really an experience of a lifetime J ! The nearest I previously had was the great move of my fridge to and from Krishnakumar’s(97MCA) place, we both had actually loaded and transported the fridge in a Maruthi Omni call taxi J !
In the normal case, TCS people do wait for some 3-4 people to join who need the same things, visit some shops will sell used furniture, buy them and ask for a delivery. Then, it will be reasonable to pay some 40-100$ per person when 4 people combines, for delivery. But this one was ok to be carried alone, and the shopping trolley was anyway there with no restrictions. The chair business was quick, next day just carried some 3 steel chairs with cushions from the same shop.
So, all is set, rented the other appliances like fridge, washing machine, TV and microwave to avoid all these trouble. They will just install it for you after delivery and pick it back once we are done with it.
As the house problems also get fixed over two week’s time, just waiting for my allowance to come (all money is finished) for starting my travel. This magic castle got a lot of fun now. Our apartment number is 412. It is not in the 4th floor. As I told you, I have to go to Level 5 and then climb one level down. Level 4, if you can call it, has only 2-3 apartments. All other 4xx are in level 5 ! The electricity provider recognises our meter as the meter of 12th Apartment, 4th floor! To give us a ring from the entrance so that we can see you and open the gate for you, you need to dial 50, which is ALWAYS the apartment number! Again, he has given some key words. No need to dial or check. If you know it, you can get in to the apartment and till any apartment door steps!
As I have already mentioned, one of my intentions is to make sure that I am giving a clear picture of what I, as a new comer, am experiencing. That is why I am just walking you through everything, so that this gives you as much information as, you were here and experienced them all. I believe our life is very short to learn all from our own experience!
Give me a shout if I sound boring. I will just keep these write ups for my personal diary.
Tailpiece :- There are many things I am skipping for now. One of the them is the story of a chinese driver who dropped us from St.Leonards to Parramatta. Just will try to write it down sometime later. That will give a glimpse of a driver’s life in Australia.
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