Poh-faced Jamface and the Adelaide Farmers Market

Adelaide seems to have got itself a convenient and comfortable train service since I was last there, and the Glenelg tram has been well renovated too. What's more, transport is free for oldies outside of peak hours, so we were able to get around rather well on our recent Sunday excursion there.


First stop was Adelaide Farmers Market, at the Showgrounds in Wayville ( more here ). One of the attractions there was Jamface, the gourmet food stall run by Poh Ling Yeow, the Malaysian-born runner-up in the first Australian Masterchef series in 2009. One of our party was keen to sample the very fine sweets she makes and serves there. See more on Poh and Jamface here: Jamface











They were indeed delicious. And they sort of survived being carried around for the day, though there was some contention about that!

On the trail of North West Rail (Part 1)

Sydney's new train arrives in Cherrybrook. It's even got passengers. There they are below!

Alas, the North West Rail Link is a few years away still, and the happy passengers aren't actually riding on their single-deck, driverless, Metro train. They're two dimensional ones on a poster at the station construction site.

At least there is finally something happening to extend the suburban train network. Tunnels are being bored right now between Epping and Bella Vista, and the line will then go to Rouse Hill and beyond on an overhead section.

There are contentious issues around it all though. Such as that it will be deliberately incompatible with the current double-decker train system, and that it will be given to a private company to run. The shiny new Epping to Chatswood line, recently built by us taxpayers and running beautifully, will be given to the private operator too. Passengers from the north west, who will have been coaxed away from their current fast direct express bus services, will have to change trains at Chatswood, and then probably stand for the rest of their trip into the city. Passengers from the stations between Hornsby and Epping, who currently get direct services to the city, will probably have to change trains TWICE once this thing is going.

I thought it was time to do my tour of inspection of progress to date. Most of us have a soft spot for trains after all. I headed first to the Cherrybrook site, where I was able to peer in on the opening to a big hole, around which was lots of activity, a conveyor bringing up a steady stream of pulverised Sydney sandstone, and curved concrete sections which were clearly to become the tunnel lining.

The photo of said concrete sections had to be taken through a tiny accidental gap in the surrounding wall. There were serious looking signs forbidding unauthorised entry to the site, and there were none of the usual viewing holes that you get at so many building sites. It was almost like they aren't very proud of what they're doing.



It was the same story at the other  station sites I checked out. The Bella Vista Berlin Wall is pictured on the right.


Here's the project's official website, with maps and things:  http://nwrail.transport.nsw.gov.au/  (It's rather good actually - there are simulated train rides and things so you can join the other happy passengers already!)

Abandoned!

A train line near Dubbo. You can still get to Dubbo by train. Still get further west, to Broken Hill, as far as I can tell. But most of the smaller branch lines in New South Wales closed down long ago. Here's one of them.

Kerala trains and buses

Train or bus? If there's a choice, you usually go for the train. They cost very little, they're faster than buses, they're moderately predictable, and sometimes on time, and if you book in advance and go for the most expensive class available, they can offer a fair degree of comfort. It's also essential for every traveller to experience train travel - so important is it to India's life and soul. We travelled AC Chair class from Calicut to Ernakulam, and 2AC sleeper class from Varkala to Kottayam.

For the Ernakulam to Trivandrum leg of the trip the trains were all booked out. So we took a bus. We were advised to go for the air conditioned Volvo service, and after a fair bit of confusion and faulty advice from the bus staff, we did manage to secure the last two seats on it. (This was just before Christmas, and a peak travelling season). The first of the buses pictured here is air conditioned in the traditional Indian way, by virtue of its unglazed windows, but the lower one is the genuine article.

It was in fact a comfortable bus, physically speaking. The main drawback was the horror movie being shown. It was called 'View out of the front window', and it featured dozens of close calls with grizzly death scenes - our own. Of all the homicidal/suicidal road user maniac subclasses, the bus driver subclass is the scariest. We charged down the middle of the two-lane road, sending all other traffic scattering in every direction, sometimes right off the road. Occasionally our game of chicken failed us, and we would  screech suddenly to a halt. Even one of  the local Hindu pilgrims on board couldn't take any more, and started loudly chastising the driver at one point.

We were very relieved to arrive in one piece in Trivandrum. But I can't help wondering about the perceived safety of our train rides. Could it be that on a train you just can't see out the front? Maybe if you could, it would be just as scary as a bus ride?!!

Getting around (trains and boats and planes, plus bikes, becaks and buses!)

Plenty of transport options in Central Java. There are comfortable and regular train services.










 There are punts to cross the rivers on when you're cycling in the countryside.













There are lots of airlines plying the many routes between and within the islands of the enormous Indonesian archipelago, and they don't crash nearly as often as they used to.







Within cities you often rely on the ojek (motorbike taxi). I was unsure of the best pillion passenger etiquette. Do you hold on behind the seat, in front of you, or do you hold on to the driver? So I had a good look at what others around me were doing, and the truth is, hardly anyone holds on at all!

Or you can use a becak (bicycle trishaw - some of them now motorised with a little motor). I forgot to mention real taxis too. Plenty of them around too, though I don't seem to have a picture.














The odds are though that you'll do a lot of your land travel using buses. There are lots and lots of buses, going anywhere and everywhere. Traditionally if people stand on the roadside anywhere for more than a few seconds, buses will compete to screech to a halt alongside them, anxious to lure them aboard, whether or not they want to go where the
bus goes, and regardless of how much luggage they're going to lug aboard with them. Buses tend to be relatively clean and smart on the outside, but a bit the worse for wear inside. The ride can be exhausting. They're driven by maniacs who think nothing of tailgating and roaring past trucks and other buses on blind corners, only to screech to a halt seconds later when they see another potential passenger on the side of the road. Often, impecunious wandering minstrels get on for a few minutes at a time, and play ukuleles and sing tunelessly. Most passengers meekly pay them with a small donation - This is the country's social security system at work.

This sort of bus 'service' has usually applied to both city and intercity bus systems. So I was very pleasantly surprised to come across Yogyakarta's new city bus service. Would you believe there's a well organised network of air-conditioned city buses, with route maps and timetables even? There are designated bus stops - comfortable shelters on raised platforms, each with an attendant. You pay the attendant and are let through the turnstyle, and when the bus comes along it pulls up at the right spot for easy ingress and egress. The bus conductor, whose job is just to announce the stops to the passengers and to open the doors, then welcomes you aboard, and off you go to the next stop.