A new look at Newcastle

 

It was back-to-Newcastle day for me yesterday. That is, I realised it was nearly 8 years since I last visited the place. (The local one. I visited the slightly smaller UK Newcastle a couple of years ago.) See here: 2013 post  and here: 2019 post

Since I was last there they've torn up the rail line into the city proper, and replaced the last bit of the journey with a tram.

It's a nice tram, and it works very smoothly. I'll give it that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nobbys Beach is still looking good. It was full of kiteboarding birdmen.

 

 

 

And marauding ravens.

One negative change, I thought, was the demise of the Hunter St pedestrian mall. Maybe it comes to life at night. But it was pretty dead yesterday afternoon. Lots of very serviceable cafes seemed to have sprung up elsewhere though.

And then there are all the fine looking parks and open spaces. And the particularly fine looking old railway station. It's become a quiet spot to hang out, and it's filling up, or trying to, with art galleries and boutique arty shops and things.

Here's the old Customs House - now a hotel.

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.