travelling allrite

I remember a number of outings to Melbourne Zoo as a child. I daresay a lot has changed since then. The zoo train sadly went during my childhood and today even the hints of tracks have disappeared. However, you can still catch a train to the zoo. After a breakfast at the outlet centre above Southern Cross Station (known as Spencer Street when I was a kid) we went to catch a train. Unfortunately, the Myki stored on my phone has expired in the two and a bit years since it's last use. Very annoying! I have to get a new one. The Upfield train is an a refurbished Comeng. I did an assignment on them in grade 3. The short train ride to Royal Park at the rear entrance of the zoo brings back a few other memories. I could have ridden it further! Despite having visited both the Canberra and Adelaide Zoos this year, the Melbourne Zoo manages to impress. It's not just the range of animal species, but the beautiful surrounds and enclosures. We especially e...

The best way to explore a city is on foot, unless you actually are the foot involved. Sometimes the legs and the rest of the body as well. However, the brain had decided that it was sick of driving and couldn't be bothered working out bus routes, so it was up to the legs and feet to do the work of taking us around Adelaide city. The first destination of the day is the Adelaide Zoo, a good couple of kilometres away. Up the road and past Rundle Mall, across the bridge over the Torrens River opposite the impressively rebuilt Adelaide Oval. The main roads of this well planned city are broad and planted with trees. Along with the old buildings, it reminds me a bit of Melbourne. Certainly not Sydney. We walk along the northern bank of the Torrens and through the parkland. It is a pleasant walk but for the summer heat. Of that, there is plenty. There are ducks, pelicans and moorhens in and alongside the river and plantations of roses and other flowers whose sight and scent remind me of my...

As 2021 comes to a close the travel situation is as messed up as it has ever been. Just when we thought a small measure of normality was about to return and that we could travel interstate and overseas once more, along came the Omicron strain of Covid.  The rapid spread of Omicron in the community and the requirements to have a PCR test before travel means that the testing centres are overloaded and unable to provide tests or results in time. And if you do actually travel, what happens if you catch covid? Can you get the test? Where will you isolate? It is really messed up. But after so long with restrictions, everyone wants to travel now. B and Alex are desperate to go somewhere outside of Sydney. The situation is so fluid, the risk of being a considered a close contact or, worse, infected so high. I am unwilling to travel further than a petrol tank away from home in case a rapid return is required. A post Christmas night in Canberra. The traffic out of Sydney is horrendous, crawl...