Irreverently irrelevant.
Sysadmin, developer, web dude in a science research organisation. WordPress, Japan, planes, trains, Arduino, Raspberry Pi/Pico, puns, dad jokes, etc
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Batemans Bay
A long weekend and B just wants to get out of the house. Having gone off on my own little adventures lately I can hardly refuse, but the accommodation is mostly either crappy motels or way too expensive. The only one we find is a three-star hotel at Batemans Bay. We drive down. I’m more…
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Return: Daylight XPT to Sydney
I’m on my way home. If this train is one time then it is less than one and a half hours until I get off this daylight XPT service from Melbourne to Sydney. Only it’s not daylight any longer. There is nothing to see out the window but blackness. I should have flown, had tickets…
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Daylight XPT to Melbourne
I have caught the train between Sydney and Melbourne many times before, even back to the Southern Aurora as a seven year old, but never have I ridden the day service between Australia’s largest cities. Today I changed that. My celebrations of composer John Williams’ 90th birthday continue with another concert by the Melbourne Symphony…
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Not so Smart
After spending the night on the apartment couch, while B and Alex had the queen bed, it is time to leave Canberra and begin our journey home. So as not to entirely waste a visit to the city, we first make a stop at the National Gallery of Australia. Alex wanted to revisit the War…
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A wet drive to Canberra
We sadly say farewell to our room at the Pan Pacific and its wonderful view and drag our luggage to the car. I miss the entrance to the freeway on my first attempt, but after chucking a “u-ey” the escape from Melbourne proceeds relatively smoothly. It’s raining fairly heavily once we are on the highway…
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Sarawak laksa and bak kut teh
Travel is a series of quests for us. They give it structure and purpose even if the quests themselves are no more than a MacGuffin. The theme running through our Melbourne trip has been Malaysian food and, on our final day, I wanted to ensure we tried some more interesting dishes. For me it was…
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Melbourne Zoo
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…
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Puff Piece
Melbourne is supposed to be a foodies’ paradise, but what would be open on Good Friday? We walk along the south bank of the Yarra from our hotel until the Princes Bridge. Past the casino and the celebrity chef restaurants that exist outside our price range. Crossing the Yarra, we head to Federation Square where…
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City views
I gripped the steering wheel tightly and swore. “I told you I didn’t want to drive in the city, but you guys insisted!” I’ve just missed the turn to the hotel, after previously being stuck on parts of the motorway that the November 2021 GPS update doesn’t know and now I have to go on…
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Barwon Heads
I’ll be sad to leave Barwon Heads tomorrow. I feel like I could stay here a lot longer. Doing very little and enjoying it. We take a long walk down the main street, past beach houses old and new and wooden churches with large gardens stopping by shops run by ladies with posh sophisticated accents…