Weather in NZ & Australia early January

[Aussie Gal]

Uktog,

 

Though I would bring a light rain jacket and perhaps a long sleeve top as the weather can be unpredictable at that time of year, especially in December so you may need layers. New Zealand's South Island will be cooler than Australia.

 

Jennie

[mochuck]

BTW, you can have the APEC summit if you like.

 

But we get an extra public holiday for it.

 

Sorry for being grumpy. Thats me - grumpy old woman. Its just such a stupid debate to start with and then throw sporting events in for one upmanship makes it even more ludicrous:eek:

[Fires]

But we get an extra public holiday for it.

 

That's true, but I'd ruther be able to do my morning run around the Opera House.

 

BTW I forgot to mention the world class public transportation in Sydney;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(for those of you know don't know, it is one of, if not THE worst in a first world country)

 

Terry

[newfarmers]

That's true, but I'd ruther be able to do my morning run around the Opera House.

 

BTW I forgot to mention the world class public transportation in Sydney;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(for those of you know don't know, it is one of, if not THE worst in a first world country)]

 

 

gosh, I nearly spat my weetbix out in disbelief when I read the first couple of lines, then I read further:D . The buses and ferries are not that bad from our recent experiences staying in Balmain, but the trains:eek: :eek: :eek:

 

I grew up in the Sutherland Shire and travelled to school by train back in the days of the red trains and the very exciting introduction of electric doors (early seventies) and double deckers. gee, how old I feel. They were ALWAYS on time back in those days

 

how have they let it go so wrong?

[Fires]

That's true, but I'd ruther be able to do my morning run around the Opera House.

 

BTW I forgot to mention the world class public transportation in Sydney;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(for those of you know don't know, it is one of, if not THE worst in a first world country)

 

 

gosh, I nearly spat my weetbix out in disbelief when I read the first couple of lines, then I read further:D . The buses and ferries are not that bad from our recent experiences staying in Balmain, but the trains:eek: :eek: :eek:

 

I grew up in the Sutherland Shire and travelled to school by train back in the days of the red trains and the very exciting introduction of electric doors (early seventies) and double deckers. gee, how old I feel. They were ALWAYS on time back in those days

 

how have they let it go so wrong?

 

I love the red-rattlers. Though they don't use them anymore you can still see some of them sitting in the Redfern rail yards.

 

Now not wishing to alarm any future visitors to Sydney, but like any large city, its has it's problems and accidents. As far as the ferries go we had a ferry run straight through a stationary boat under the harbour bridge killing several people and that is still being investigated. Over the last few weeks several people have been hit by buses in the city, at least one has died, and the trains are suffering from poor maintainence management. Twice recently a train has broken down in peak hour on the harbour bridge causing most of the inner city rail network to stop and when something does go wrong, they don't have an effective plan to deal with it.

 

Ya gotta luv this place . . . . . .

 

Terry

[Globaliser]

Twice recently a train has broken down in peak hour on the harbour bridge causing most of the inner city rail network to stop and when something does go wrong, they don't have an effective plan to deal with it.

When I was there a couple of weeks ago, it was in the middle of all the hand-wringing over the second incident.

 

You know, I come from London. This sort of thing happens to us on a daily basis. Can't understand what the fuss is about! ;)

 

Oh, and I even went to Parramatta and back on the train. First time I've ventured out to the true westies. Survived to tell the tale, even if the North Shore Line was shut and I had to get a cab home from Central.

[mochuck]

I

Now not wishing to alarm any future visitors to Sydney, but like any large city, its has it's problems and accidents. As far as the ferries go we had a ferry run straight through a stationary boat under the harbour bridge killing several people and that is still being investigated. Over the last few weeks several people have been hit by buses in the city, at least one has died, and the trains are suffering from poor maintainence management. Twice recently a train has broken down in peak hour on the harbour bridge causing most of the inner city rail network to stop and when something does go wrong, they don't have an effective plan to deal with it.

 

Ya gotta luv this place . . . . . .

 

Terry

 

I am one of the fortunate ones who get to commute on the ferry and I also catch a bus through the CBD. I'm surprised more pedestrians aren't hit by buses. They play chicken with them. It would be a nerve-wracking job driving a bus in the city. I could get to work faster in my car but I can't stand the traffic, plus I can have a snooze on the ferry or read my book.

 

Globaliser, are you saying the trains are worse in London than here??

[Globaliser]

Globaliser, are you saying the trains are worse in London than here??

To take one example: The Canary Wharf area is where increasing numbers of big banks and other major businesses (McGraw Hill, Reuters and Clifford Chance, for example) are located. It's one of the business hubs of London. Its main public transport service is the Jubilee Line of the Tube.

 

Many of these banks take a very dim view about poor timekeeping. American banks, for example, really expect you to be there when you're supposed to be there. (My partner works for one, so I have this from a reliable source!) So, miss a meeting at your peril.

 

The only exception is the excuse that the Jubilee Line has broken down. Everyone accepts this at face value, and sympathises. It's rare to go through an entire week without a day of "serious delays on the Jubilee Line due to signal failure".

 

So it was funny to see how hysterical everyone was over a couple of incidents when the trains on one line stopped for a couple of hours. That probably happens at least once a month in London.

[tomtal]

Globaliser - was waiting for your reply and didn't want to steal your thunder! Are the trains in London bad - not half! Is our transport system bad - not half! Our transport system comes to a halt with the wrong kind of snow, leaves on the line, etc. etc. The excuses are too numerous to mention. BUT we're British and just get on with it. We complain about the weather instead - first sunshine for months and it's too hot! Having said the above, we absolutely love our wonderful country - and that is said sincerely.

[Aussie Gal]

We have just returned from a wonderful 4 days in Sydney. We had brilliant weather, 17C most days and sunny.

 

We used the public transport the entire time, it is so easy to use. We used the ferries, buses and rail. We even went to Parramatta by ferry and returned back to Sydney by rail. We went over the first Government House whilst there. We also went to Watson's Bay by ferry for lunch at Doyle's. This is always on our list when we visit the Emerald City. We went to Manly, again by ferry and since we were last there it has certainly become very modern though the beach is still fantastic.

 

On Sunday we saw the musical Priscilla Queen of the Desert at the Lyric Theatre in Star City and thoroughly it.

 

We also walked a lot. We caught the ferry to Mosman on Monday and did the lovely walk along the harbour back to Cremorne Point. It is an easy city to get around and there are lots of eating places in the Rocks area near Circular Quay which won't break the bank. Of course if you want to spend your money, Rockpool will certainly take it at $250+ p.p.

 

A taxi fare from the airport to the Rocks area where we were staying was around $38 and on the return journey was $30 - it is dearer going into Sydney because of the tolls and airport tax.

 

To all our overseas visitors, Sydney is a great city and you will love it.

 

Jennie

[kaseyoz]

aussie gal, you werent at doyles on sunday lunch were you as we were there also.

we decided to do the walk to south head, my first time.

it is amazing what we have in our own back yard

[Globaliser]

You didn't worry about a timetable...just got on a train when it arrived!! And the cost!!!

There is no published timetable for the Tube, because it runs on a "metro" system. Although there's an internal operational timetable, it's confidential because the vagaries of the system basically mean that it's more of an aspiration than a promise. At any time, trains can be cancelled from the operational timetable, or they may be told to stop their journey short of their original destination, or they may be told to go further than originally planned. All this is controlled in real time to deal with the way the system is actually working on the day.

 

The cost of using public transport in London is now pretty reasonable, because of the Oyster card. If you use it on a pre-paid pay-as-you-go basis, it not only gets you discounts from the cash price on every trip, but there is also a daily price cap as well. This means that it is always cheaper to use a pre-pay Oyster then to buy any paper tickets (including one-day Travelcards (travel passes)). So for a visitor travelling only in central London (Tube zones 1 and 2), there should never be any need to pay more than £6.10 per day - and, depending on what day or what times you travel, the price cap will often be only £4.60 per day. A bargain price for unlimited travel on the Tube, buses and DLR.

 

More about Oyster in this post, and about price capping in this post.