Another lovely morning in Sydney - what they call cool, we call perfect!
When I wake up, my phone tells me that I missed the staff meeting at 3 a.m. Uh oh! I blame Alejandra for booking it at such a weird time. 😉
This morning, I turned on the gas burner, and lit it with a lighter. Fwoompf! Flames. Which means, I can cook my eggs at last. Yay! Breakfast is back on the menu. I would also like to point out that my free range egg carton has a photo of the chickens wandering around their farm. Proof of ranging! I like it.
I would have worked on my blog while eating breakfast, but JQ stole my laptop, so instead I just stared at the walls. 😢 But at least I had yummy cooked eggs.
Our plans for today? As mentioned yesterday, we've got the Bridge Climb for this evening, but for the day, we plan to head out to Featherdale Wildlife Park and use our shiny, new iVenture card to get in. The Featherdale Wildlife Park is about 45 minutes by train from where we are. That's okay - we have an Opal card and we like trains!
Since it's a warm summery day, we decide to walk to the Central Train station, which takes us about 20-25 minutes, but it's an enjoyable walk. You get to see what else might be in the nearby vicinity, as well as get a chance to check out the character of the neighbourhood.
When we get to the train station itself, we're a bit confused - these are the big trains, and it's obvious that they all go way-far-away, and we don't want to accidentally end up in the Outback. So we pop by the Information desk, and they redirect us downstairs to Platform 18 to catch the T1 to Blacktown.
Downstairs we go, looking for our platform. We note the ominous message on the departures board that there are "major delays" on T1 due to a power outage. Uh oh - that doesn't sound good. But there's our platform and our train, so off we go. We probably should have crossed our fingers first, but I don't think we did.
We're following along on our map to see how close we're getting to our destination, and seem to be making good time. But it's just shortly after the Strathfield stop than JQ says "uh oh." North Strathfield. That shouldn't be on our rail line... except it's the next stop, which means we're on the wrong train. Apparently there are multiple T1s. Aargh.
Okay, so we get off in North Strathfield. It's an easy fix - we will hop onto the next train going the opposite direction, ride it back to Strathfield, and then transfer to the correct train. But JQ frowns at the departures boards on both sides of the terminal, proclaiming that all these trains are wrong and they won't take us to Strathfield. I argue that it cannot be wrong, the next stop on the track is Strathfield; therefore, it is impossible for it to go anywhere else. She agrees with my logic, but still can't figure out the departures board and her map. Screw the map - the secret of railroad is that you have no choice but to follow the rails.
Eventually, she figures out that her confusion was coming from the way the trains are labelled (which I have not paid much attention to). We have a philosophical discussion about the difference between researchers and IT people. We are all rats in a maze, but the researcher rats say: "Why is there a maze?" and they will not be happy until they know. The IT rats say: "How can we get through this maze?" and as long as we get to the end, we don't necessarily care about the 'why'. The moral of this inspiring story is: we are all rats.
It is 15 minutes before another train arrives to take us back down the track. We hop aboard, and proceed very slowly back to Strathfield. Over the intercom, the train conductor makes an apologetic announcement, explaining that the delays are due to the earlier power outage, that everything has been thrown off schedule, and it may take a while for all the trains to be back on schedule. So that's why the train is running so slow.
When we arrive at Strathfield, we hop off, then board the next T1 train heading towards Blacktown. We double-check the map to make sure we're on the right train. Yes, we are. At least we're back on track now and heading in the right direction. We have a lovely conversation with a woman named Adrienne, who is originally from Croatia, but has lived in Australia since 1970. The train continues to putz along at an aggravatingly slow speed.
Finally, we arrive at Blacktown, our stop, and we head for bus stand E, where we will catch the 729. It's a 10-minute ride to Featherdale. That would be 10 minutes from whenever the bus arrives, that is. JQ stares at the posted bus schedule, makes her researcher frowny face, and announces that - of course - we have just missed the bus. I give the appropriate IT response of "sun of a beach!!!" It is a half-hour before the next bus arrives, because of course it is. The time is already 12:30 p.m., and with the next bus, it would be after 1 p.m. by the time we get to the park.
It has been weighing on both our minds is that we have the very expensive Sydney Bridge Climb booked (no refunds) for tonight at 6:15PM, which means we need to be at Circular Quay by 5 p.m. or so. We also can't remember if we had to bring a paper ticket with us to the Bridge Climb or not, and we forgot it at home. So if we have to head back, that makes our schedule even tighter.
JQ suggests scrubbing this trip and just heading back. I hate to do that; I really, really hate it. But, even so, I have been sneaking peeks at my watch for a while now, calculating the time we've wasted in getting here, the time it will take us to get back, and what else might go wrong in between. Everything might work out perfectly at the Featherdale Wildlife Park, and we might have a good time and get back on time. On the other hand, we might not, and it would be disastrous to miss our 6:15 event... and our luck has not exactly been stellar so far.
Throwing our hands up in the air, we yell, "I GIVE UP!" to the Fates, and abandon Featherdale Wildlife Park for today (not forever, just today). It's worth nothing that this is our second failed attempt to visit a zoo.
On the upside, the train back into Sydney CBD moves much faster - maybe the trains are getting back on schedule. We exit the subway at Town Hall, and JQ indulges in some Indian Food at the food court. Then we head over to Woolworths to get groceries (yes, Woolworths. It's a thing here), and the prices are much much better here, so that's a bonus.
Grocery bags in hand, we head to our bus stop, where the 389 is just arriving. Perfect timing! Maybe our luck is changing!
No, it's not. The bus expels all its passengers with a hearty burp, and no one is allowed on, because I don't know why. Because something something blah blah the fates hate you so there blah. The bus drives away, leaving a crowd of sad and/or moderately annoyed people standing there. Many other buses pass by. They don't care that we've got no bus.
Eventually, more than 15 minutes later, another 389 shows up. By now, there is a great big crowd of people waiting, who all climb onto the bus and pack it to capacity. I am standing in the aisle, and try not to brain an old lady with my grocery bags. I may or may not have been successful. I didn't dare check. But we do successfully reach our stop, and get home with the groceries.
We briefly contemplated heading out to the Fish Market, which is supposed to be a nearby walk, but given our luck thus far today, we decided against it. Better to just kick back and relax at home before heading out for our evening excursion. So that's what we did.
When I wake up, my phone tells me that I missed the staff meeting at 3 a.m. Uh oh! I blame Alejandra for booking it at such a weird time. 😉
This morning, I turned on the gas burner, and lit it with a lighter. Fwoompf! Flames. Which means, I can cook my eggs at last. Yay! Breakfast is back on the menu. I would also like to point out that my free range egg carton has a photo of the chickens wandering around their farm. Proof of ranging! I like it.
I would have worked on my blog while eating breakfast, but JQ stole my laptop, so instead I just stared at the walls. 😢 But at least I had yummy cooked eggs.
Our plans for today? As mentioned yesterday, we've got the Bridge Climb for this evening, but for the day, we plan to head out to Featherdale Wildlife Park and use our shiny, new iVenture card to get in. The Featherdale Wildlife Park is about 45 minutes by train from where we are. That's okay - we have an Opal card and we like trains!
Since it's a warm summery day, we decide to walk to the Central Train station, which takes us about 20-25 minutes, but it's an enjoyable walk. You get to see what else might be in the nearby vicinity, as well as get a chance to check out the character of the neighbourhood.
When we get to the train station itself, we're a bit confused - these are the big trains, and it's obvious that they all go way-far-away, and we don't want to accidentally end up in the Outback. So we pop by the Information desk, and they redirect us downstairs to Platform 18 to catch the T1 to Blacktown.
Downstairs we go, looking for our platform. We note the ominous message on the departures board that there are "major delays" on T1 due to a power outage. Uh oh - that doesn't sound good. But there's our platform and our train, so off we go. We probably should have crossed our fingers first, but I don't think we did.
We're following along on our map to see how close we're getting to our destination, and seem to be making good time. But it's just shortly after the Strathfield stop than JQ says "uh oh." North Strathfield. That shouldn't be on our rail line... except it's the next stop, which means we're on the wrong train. Apparently there are multiple T1s. Aargh.
Okay, so we get off in North Strathfield. It's an easy fix - we will hop onto the next train going the opposite direction, ride it back to Strathfield, and then transfer to the correct train. But JQ frowns at the departures boards on both sides of the terminal, proclaiming that all these trains are wrong and they won't take us to Strathfield. I argue that it cannot be wrong, the next stop on the track is Strathfield; therefore, it is impossible for it to go anywhere else. She agrees with my logic, but still can't figure out the departures board and her map. Screw the map - the secret of railroad is that you have no choice but to follow the rails.
Eventually, she figures out that her confusion was coming from the way the trains are labelled (which I have not paid much attention to). We have a philosophical discussion about the difference between researchers and IT people. We are all rats in a maze, but the researcher rats say: "Why is there a maze?" and they will not be happy until they know. The IT rats say: "How can we get through this maze?" and as long as we get to the end, we don't necessarily care about the 'why'. The moral of this inspiring story is: we are all rats.
 |
| Rats can be fabulous! |
 |
| Sometimes, you have to go slow. |
When we arrive at Strathfield, we hop off, then board the next T1 train heading towards Blacktown. We double-check the map to make sure we're on the right train. Yes, we are. At least we're back on track now and heading in the right direction. We have a lovely conversation with a woman named Adrienne, who is originally from Croatia, but has lived in Australia since 1970. The train continues to putz along at an aggravatingly slow speed.
Finally, we arrive at Blacktown, our stop, and we head for bus stand E, where we will catch the 729. It's a 10-minute ride to Featherdale. That would be 10 minutes from whenever the bus arrives, that is. JQ stares at the posted bus schedule, makes her researcher frowny face, and announces that - of course - we have just missed the bus. I give the appropriate IT response of "sun of a beach!!!" It is a half-hour before the next bus arrives, because of course it is. The time is already 12:30 p.m., and with the next bus, it would be after 1 p.m. by the time we get to the park.
It has been weighing on both our minds is that we have the very expensive Sydney Bridge Climb booked (no refunds) for tonight at 6:15PM, which means we need to be at Circular Quay by 5 p.m. or so. We also can't remember if we had to bring a paper ticket with us to the Bridge Climb or not, and we forgot it at home. So if we have to head back, that makes our schedule even tighter.
JQ suggests scrubbing this trip and just heading back. I hate to do that; I really, really hate it. But, even so, I have been sneaking peeks at my watch for a while now, calculating the time we've wasted in getting here, the time it will take us to get back, and what else might go wrong in between. Everything might work out perfectly at the Featherdale Wildlife Park, and we might have a good time and get back on time. On the other hand, we might not, and it would be disastrous to miss our 6:15 event... and our luck has not exactly been stellar so far.
 |
| Sydney seagull gives us the stink-eye. "No Feather(dale) for you!" |
On the upside, the train back into Sydney CBD moves much faster - maybe the trains are getting back on schedule. We exit the subway at Town Hall, and JQ indulges in some Indian Food at the food court. Then we head over to Woolworths to get groceries (yes, Woolworths. It's a thing here), and the prices are much much better here, so that's a bonus.
Grocery bags in hand, we head to our bus stop, where the 389 is just arriving. Perfect timing! Maybe our luck is changing!
No, it's not. The bus expels all its passengers with a hearty burp, and no one is allowed on, because I don't know why. Because something something blah blah the fates hate you so there blah. The bus drives away, leaving a crowd of sad and/or moderately annoyed people standing there. Many other buses pass by. They don't care that we've got no bus.
Eventually, more than 15 minutes later, another 389 shows up. By now, there is a great big crowd of people waiting, who all climb onto the bus and pack it to capacity. I am standing in the aisle, and try not to brain an old lady with my grocery bags. I may or may not have been successful. I didn't dare check. But we do successfully reach our stop, and get home with the groceries.
We briefly contemplated heading out to the Fish Market, which is supposed to be a nearby walk, but given our luck thus far today, we decided against it. Better to just kick back and relax at home before heading out for our evening excursion. So that's what we did.
 |
| Sometimes you get the bear. Sometimes the bear (or rooster) gets you. CHOMP. |
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