Trip to Toowoomba

As I explained in an earlier post my brother's wedding was postponed due to the floods in Queensland. It finally went ahead on the 5th of February, only three weeks after the floods.As the wedding was in Toowoomba I was expecting the worst, but really, it wasn't that bad.

On the Thursday before the wedding Mum and I flew to Brisbane and drove from there to Toowoomba. We had also arranged to pick up my 14 year old niece at the airport, as she attends boarding school in Sydney (on a scholarship to a very, very exclusive school. Very proud of her we are). We found her at the baggage claim with a huge box of Krispy Kreme,that were apparently in her words "to share with everybody". The empty box was found hidden under a bed the day we checked out of the motel.

To get to Toowoomba we had to drive through Brisbane and out past Ipswich and up the Lockyer Valley. We had to take a road which I can honestly say is the single worst road I've ever been on. The Inner City Bypass (on a map, it's the orange road running diagonally across from top left to lower right), which bypasses the The Brisbane CBD. First of all the speed limit is constantly changing, and there are pretty much constant lane changes necessary to keep driving along without getting funnelled off it. It is twisty and turny, and quite scary, which has led me to dub it the Inner City Mad Mouse. Once we made it to the Western Motorway I was able to relax as the from here it was a much more straight forward and relaxing drive.

Along the was we passed through some areas of Brisbane that flooded including Milton (we went right past the XXXX brewery) and Goodna.

In the Lockyer Valley, the highway bypasses most of the towns that were devastated by the flood so the worst could not be seen. There were still some road works on the remaining damaged areas of road, although it seems they had been very quick to repair the road. We only encountered a few very minor delays while driving through the area.

The damage to property in Toowoomba itself didn't seem that bad. The flash flooding was confined to the creeks that run through the town. The only noticeable damage were the closed shops along one of the streets and a lot of debris in places it wouldn't normally be. Other things I saw include a water tank that had floated away during the flood and lodged itself on a fence, and perhaps most telling a large piece of steel girder bridge that had obviously floated down stream. The town city seemed to be getting on with life.

We met up with my brother and 9 year old niece latter that night at our Motel room, as they had driven up from NSW during the day.

Friday we met up for morning tea with the new in laws at the shopping centre. The girls went shopping for dresses and jewlery, while we men went looking at mens things...Actually we just walked around for a bit. That night we went to the brides place for Pizza and to meet the extended family.

The wedding itself was simple and quick. It was held in the Baptist church that my brother's new wife attends. As they have both been married before there was no need for the nonsense of bridal parties. I got to be a witness so now I know what happens during the boring bit of weddings.

There was a short reception held in the adjoining indoor basketball court at the church, before photos were taken in the garden of the church. Finally we had one giant group photo taken back in the basketball court. As it was a morning wedding, we all went out to lunch afterwards.

We had lunch at a restaurant called Angelo's House. I suspect it really was Angelo's House, because it was, well, a house. The food was delicious, I would go back for sure.

On Sunday, the day after the wedding we got to do a bit of sight seeing around the town, which was good.

On the Monday Mum and I drove back to Brisbane airport. On the way we stopped for an hour at Mt Coot-Tha and had lunch at the cafe overlooking Brisbane. My niece had been given a ride back to the airport the day before so we didn't need to worry about her. We arrived back in freezing cold Melbourne at 8 pm that night.

I completely forgot to take my camera to the wedding, so there are no photos of that, but I did snap a few on the day after the wedding, and on the way home.

The view from Picnic Point in Toowomba looking
out over the Lockyer Valley towards Brisbane.

And this is what the lookout looks like...

Looking towards Toowoomba

We found this tree while driving around. At first
we thought it may have been a Boab, but we have
since worked out that it is a Queensland Bottle Tree.

Another View of Toowoomba

Our hire car, a Mitsubishi Lancer, which has been
driven half way around Australia to be with us
judging by the Western Australian number plates.

View of the Brisbane CBD from the Mt Coot-Tha lookout
I love how all the buildings are squashed up close
together in the tiny Brisbane CBD. High density,
almost like a mini Manhattan.

A very dirty looking Brisbane River, it could give the
Yarra River a run for it's money in the brown department.

Our ride home, a Qantas Boeing 767.
We flew up there on a smaller Boeing 737.

We are number three for take off. We also waited
for a planeto land, before lining up on the runway.

The small one is a Beechcraft King Air, I'm pretty sure it belongs
to the Royal Flying Doctor Service. The jet is a Boeing 737-800
No need to guess the airline...

Leaving Brisbane in golden light.

Possibly Postponed

Definitely...

The wedding I mentioned in my previous post was to be this weekend. In fact it is my brothers wedding. As it is his third and (I believe) her second, so it's not such a big deal.

Why is it postponed? Due to the fact it was to take place in sunny Toowoomba. Clearly doing anything in South East Queensland at the moment is a bit difficult, so a wedding is definitely out of the question.

The plan was to fly to Brisbane, where we would hire a car and drive the 2 hours or so to Toowoomba. Given we need to drive through the flood waters to get to Toowoomba from Brisbane, I doubt we'll even make it if it were to go ahead.

My brother however still has some hope, and wont let us cancel our flights to Brisbane (Qantas is quite reasonably willing to waive all fees in light of the situation too). Never mind the fact that he is at his current home in western NSW and the roads between there and Toowoomba are cut. Last we heard he is still trying to contact his wife to be to see what's going on.

I guess we'll just wait and see...

MYKI, Trams, Fares and Ticketing etc

1. MYKI

So it appears that MYKIi is full steam ahead, with the system rolling out across buses in regional cities. One revelation that had not occurred to me, but was revealed over at Melbourne on Melbourne on Transit (and here), is that short term disposable tickets will be smartcards. There is no printing on the ticket issued by the bus driver to tell you what it is or how long it will be valid, it just comes of a pile of identical blank tickets (much like they do today with metcards on buses). I had imagined that the system would be similar to Perth and S.E. Queensland where short term tickets(ranging from 2 hour / single trip and dailys etc) are printed on thermal paper by the ticket machine or bus driver. The reason I thought this was that I noticed that the ticket machines at Perth rail stations are the same as those seen in the MYKI discovery centre at Southern Cross.

Examples of short term cash tickets.
From L to R, Brisbane from vending machine,
Perth from Bus driver and Perth from vending machine.

Thinking about it though retail tickets will probably be pre encoded, and therefore will probably have some sort of text denoting what they are. Vending machine tickets could also have printing applied as they are issued. This leaves just the fact that there is no way to tell how long the ticket is valid without pringing, although tram issues probably could as they would be tagged on as they are issued from the machine. This leaves only the bus issues with no physical indication at all. Doesn't seem very consistent or user friendly to me.

2. Tram Fares and Ticketing

On Sunday I took a tram ride along Bourke St, having driven to the city (I know I'm evil but I had a car and I had to go somewhere else on the way) I didn't have a ticket and so attempted to buy a city saver. As it turned out the machine was just spitting out all coins fed in, so I got a free ride. As I was pondering the fare structure on the sticker above the machine it occurred to me that having trams in both zone 1 and 2 is too complicated when considering that by and large the tram network is in zone 1. I'm not saying that the 3 tram lines (or is it 4?) that extend into zone 2 territory should should be curtailed at the zone boundary, but that tram ticketing would be greatly simplified it if they were treated as a zone 1 service no matter where they are.

I think I just like the simplified idea of having a single fare system for trams. Either buy a daily or a 2 hour, adult or concession, no need to worry about zones. I don't think it would or could happen with the current zone system as it would be unfair on people connecting too/from a bus or train in zone 2 .

3. Sunday Saver

On a related issue, I still can't believe they couldn't find a work around for dispensing Sunday savers from ticket machines. Actually IIRC it was never intended if a certain poster to some of the public transport forums is to be believed . On the tram I noticed some people using Sunday Savers and I couldn't help but feel that those buying tickets on the tram (this was on my return along Bourke St on tram that had a working ticket machine) were getting ripped off. The seniors daily button is useless on a Sunday as all seniors can apply and use a free Sunday ticket. Why not program the tram ticket machines to dispense a sunday saver when that button is pressed on a sunday?

QLD Day 4 - Brisbane/Mt Coot-tha

Being my last day in Brisbane I decided to get up early and do a few things before checking out of the hostel. After battling with the crappy WiFi in the hostel and having seen an Officeworks store the night before on my wanderings, I thought I'd go down and investigate the prepaid WiFi that I thought they might sell there. The opening time of Officeworks was 8 AM so I timed it to get to the McDonald's next door for breakfast (I don't know why, but I like McDonald's breakfasts) just before then. As it turned out Officeworks didn't have any prepaid WiFi so I walked back empty handed. On the way I stopped at a supermarket to buy a bottle of water and a nectarine, which I consumed on the spot outside.

After packing up and checking out of the hostel I trundled down to Roma Street station and left my luggage in a locker for a few hours. Still on the hunt for prepaid broadband I ended up buying a Telstra prepaid kit from Target in the city. After buying a few more supplies I decided it would be a good idea to fit in a bit of sight seeing before moving on to the Gold Coast.

On the bus to Mt Coot-tha

I had seen a bus heading to Mt coot-Tha earlier and decided to go. I happened across an electronic public transport information booth and obtained a timetable for the route, the only problem was I didn't know exactly where to catch it. I went back to near where I saw the bus the first time and ended up on a free city circle bus (is there a city in Australia which doesn't have one of these?). Keeping my eyes peeled I worked out where I needed to get the Mt Coot-tha bus from and waited.

The view from the summit. Not sure what
the TNT courier truck was doing up there...

It was an interesting ride, as the bus went past the back of the hostel and through a whole area that I had been only a few hundred metres from the night before and that morning. After a windy trip up the hill, and the bus backtracking at least once we reached the summit. On reading the timetable I assumed the bus stayed at the top for a few minutes before heading back down. The plan was to jump off take a few photos and get back on. Upon asking the driver about this I was informed that he was going off duty, and the we had just passed the return bus (I remember seeing it too, but it didn't twig at the time). Looking at the timetable, it would be an hour until the next bus. So to make the most of it I decided to have lunch at the cafe at the top. This is one of the few places I remember visiting in Brisbane when I was 12, so it was a bit nostalgic I guess. I took some of photos of the view, and I reckon that I could almost see the hostel where I stayed. I sat down and had a nice lunch, Malaysian stir fry noodles. It was all very pleasant really.

The view again, this time my hosetel is right at
the centre of the photo

The view inland to the Great Dividing Range
west of Brisbane

Back on the bus down the hill and into the city. I alighted and decided to catch one of the underground buses to Roma Street station. Yes Brisbane has underground busways in the CBD, it's all pretty cool actually. These connect to above ground busways the go out into the suburbs. Something inside me wishes these were at least light rail if not a heavy rail metro system.

QLD Day 3 - Ipswich Workshops

Citytrain set 262, These trains almost identical to Perth's
new trains. They were built by the same factory, EDI
Walker in Maryborough QLD

One of the Electric Tilt Train sets before departure to
Rockhampton at Roma Street station.

Today I ventured all the way out to Ipswich to go to the Workshops Railway Museum. It was about and hour train ride from the city and it was interesting to see the landscape change from lush to more scrubby type vegetation on the way. I thought Ipswich was an outer suburb of Brisbane, but it is really it's own city, as there is actually quite a gap between the two. From Ipswich station it was a short 5 minute bus ride to the museum, and the bus connected with the train perfectly (harmonised headways). Overall I spent about 4 hours at the workshops, partly due to the Bus Schedule and partly due to the timing of the various tours you can take.

Loco 1262, to the left can by seen loco 1710 which
now contains a train driving simulator

Inside the cab of 1710

The museum itself is rather small with a few examples of locomotives and rolling stock, plus many interactive displays including a train cab simulator.

Lego Coal train

Model coal train

Queensland loco 1281 in it's golden splendour

Diesel shunter DL1

Loco no.6

The Ipswich workshops are still active and is where the Queensland Rail heritage fleet is maintained and stored. In the sheds there are many steam locomotives and items of rolling stock in various states of repair.

A locomotive under repair at the workshops

Garratt 1009

Beyer-Garratt builders plate on 1009

The workshops are also home to a blacksmith's workshops which makes all kinds of objects for both the heritage arm of the railways, the day to day needs of QR as well as outside contracts. What seems amazing to a Victorian is that all of this is state funded, is based on full time employees, and some parts such as the blacksmith workshop make a profit.

Sparks fly in the blacksmith's workshop.

On both the workshops and blacksmiths tours we got to ride on the traverser which is used for moving rolling stock around the workshops.

The traverser

Due to timing and bus schedules I didn't leave the workshops until will after 3 pm. As such the bus was packed with school kids, I managed to find a seat at the back, but some of the kids at the front wouldn't stand for an old lady, and they were giving the bus driver a hard time by always pressing the stop request button whether or not anyone wanted to get off. Coincidentally a few days I heard a news story about a bus driver in Ipswich who ended up driving to the police station after a school kid threw something at his head while driving. I thought of my bus ride.

Once again it was a smooth train ride back into Brisbane.

That evening I went to the cinema near my hostel to see Gran Torino. When I was in the ticket line still wearing the grotty clothes I'd been in all day I realised everyone else was rather well dressed. Feeling a bit embarrassed I decided to dash back have a shower and get changed before the movie. Not having time for dinner I thought I'd get by on some popcorn and a drink, but somehow I ended up with the combo that also included a choc-top. The weird thing was that it was cheaper than just the drink and popcorn.


As it turns out, after the movie I was a bit peckish, and so went to a nearby take away and had the worst kebab of my life. It was really dry and didn't taste very good at all. The night still being relatively early I ended up going for a walk down to the XXXX brewery and back again, which was just down the road.

XXXX Milton Brewery - the view across the road
from my hostel.

QLD Day 2 - Brisbane/Southbank

Slept in late. After getting ready I walked into town via Roma Street train station to buy a Go Card and grab some breakfast. After breakfast at McDonald's (yeah I know, but it was there) I couldn't find anywhere to buy a Go Card and ended up catching a train to Central to see if I could get one there instead. I found a small newsagent and bought my Go Card there, and I was off through the city in the direction of the river.

Brisbane buildings from the river

I ended up at the Eagle Street wharf where I got a ferry down the river and back up stream to Southbank. From my seat on the top deck I got a view of the city and surrounding suburbs, plus a really good view of the Story Bridge.

Going under the Story Bridge, the Sydney Harbour Bridge's little brother

Luxury apartments at Kangaroo Point

Yachts moored on the river

My ferry "Mermaid" continuing on her way to North Quay

Once at Southbank I wondered along eventually passing the rather large artificial beach there. Probably one of the best things I've ever seen in a city. It has real sand, and a large pool of water that has both shallow and deep parts. It is patrolled by life guards and is surrounded by lush tropical vegetation. Being a Sunday it was quite busy too.

A bit further on I came across an auditorium where they were screening the national day of mourning ceremony from Melbourne, so stopped I and sat down in the shade and watched this until it finished. After donating some coins and putting a flower in the tribute wall I continued on through the parklands.

The only remnant of World Expo '88 is a pagoda from the Nepalese exhibit that was saved from demolition by the people of Brisbane.

Nepalese multifaith pagoda

Southbank is also home to Brisbanes wheel, a less ambitious, but more successful attempt at a Ferris Wheel than we have in Melbourne.

The big wheel

After wandering around a bit more I wandered back over the river and into the city where I bought some lunch and looked around the shops a bit. Later in the afternoon I ventured to Fortitude Valley. I thought this was the place to be in Brisbane, but the place seemed deserted, seems I was there at the wrong time of day.

Southbank

That night I hung around the hostel and watched some TV, before surfing the net to see what my transport options were for the next days activities.

QLD Day 1 - Brisbane

This edition of Ben's Adventures is coming to you live from down town Brisvegas.

The flight up was pretty uneventful, except for the fact we flew straight past the fire affected areas. I managed to make out Wandong and Kilmore East townships. The extent of the area affected was mind blowing. The whole Mount Disappointment/Kinglake/ Flowerdale area looked a sort of grey colour, quite depressing. Most of the smoke was coming from the Yea/Alexandra area.

We reached cruising altitude over Corowa, after that the only towns I managed to make out when I happened to glance out the window were Cootamundra and Tamworth. As you travel north the landscape gradually changes from browny-yellow in Victoria and Southern NSW to bright green near the Queensland border. The green may be just on the surface, because I happened to read on the weather page in a newspaper (last Wednesdays Courier Mail) I was reading while eating dinner tonight that the SE QLD water storages are only 50% full. The most shocking thing is that the average water usage figures accompanying this are that the average daily usage is 150 litres per day. i'm too tierd to work out how it can be acheived in QLD, but not in Melbourne, something to do with not needing to water gardens

From Brisbane airport I took the skytrain to Roma Street station. The trains run at 30 minute intervals, and having just missed one had to wait about 25 minutes. Luckily my train arrived just after the one I missed left so I was able to sit in the cool air conditioning. Once it got going the journey was relatively quick, although we seemed to wait a long time at one station where the drivers changed over, and then agian we sat in the platform for a few minutes at Central station.The one way trip was $14. Overall the service seems a bit half baked, with such large gaps between trains and the leisurely pace. I would rather pay about the same fare for the more frequent and faster Skybus service in Melbourne.

I'm staying in a backpacker hostel in Roma Street, of a well known international chain. I booked a private room, which is basic but all you really need. I'm currently using the wifi provided by the hostel which is not cheap, very slow, and occasionally drops out. I'm seriously considering going out and buying a prepaid wireless internet thingy.

Late this afternoon I took a walk down through the Brisbane CBD and found myself in Queen Street Mall. I don't know why I'm always impressed with other cities main shopping strips, in comparison this makes Bourke Street look rather sad. I think what impressed me the most was that instead of putting tram tracks down the middle, every 50 meters or so they have a small outdoor bar/cafe serving beer on the tap (not just XXXX), and what looked like good reasonably priced meals. Each one seemed to have a different theme, there was an irish one and one that served prawns.

The thing that doesn't impress me is that the place seems to die at exactly 5:00 pm, that's it everything closes. Near the hostel there is a Coles where I thought I would buy some supplies. No such luck, they closed at 6, and it was already 6:05. That is just ridiculous.

As I will be relying on public transport to get around, in the morning I intend on going and getting a Go card, which is the SE QLD public transport smart card. They are everywhere. I'm keen to use one to see what it may be like in Melbourne if they ever get Myki up and running. In the time it has taken Victoria to dither around with Myki, two Australian states have implimented whole systems.