A rough ride

If you visit Sydney, it is almost compulsory to catch a ferry from Circular Quay to Manly, with one side of the suburb facing the harbour where the ferry berths, and the other side, the open Pacific Ocean, great for surfing.

Once when returning from Manly to Sydney's Circular Quay, we were tossed about a bit and a little water sprayed those sitting outside at the bow. Seeing people outside being sprayed was very amusing. However, it was nothing like what is in these videos. The only dicey part of the trip is when the ferry crosses Sydney Heads, open water to the Pacific Ocean, and was no doubt where this occurred. I hasten to add, this is very unusual.

I believe these videos were taken by Matt Lambley, maybe. I've seen a different name embedded in the video. 

 

Rough rides for me? Nothing will beat the ferry journey from Fremantle in Western Australia to Rottnest Island. Grace, can you believe that in a couple of months it will be ten years ago when we were in Perth?

The Queen still travels

The Queen Elizabeth was in port, Station Pier Outer West, a couple of weeks ago. She is a big ship but I think there are larger.

The was also a boutique ship, Regatta at the outer west mooring, which carries less than 700 passengers. Posh I suppose, and no children allowed.

This old fixed crane has been preserved.

The cruise ship season lasts from late October to early April.

I once knew a Manxman

I worked with a Manxman. I was in my twenties and he was in his sixties. He told me he was a Manxman and I really had no idea what that was. He was a reliable employee in that he was punctual for work but he was terrible at his work. He would be in the 'office' every second day to answer a 'please explain'. I can't remember his name, but there were the remains of a handsome military kind of man. He was always perfectly attired and groomed, and quite a charmer. I've remembered his name now, Alf Vary. 

Right, so here is my and your edjicashun. 

Forty years later from Alf Vary, I now have a nice blogger (request to read) on board who hails from Isle of Man. I have a vague memory of seeing a tram video online with a stark landscape on IOM. So Let's investigate JayCee the Isle of Man. 

The small island between England and Ireland has historic rail transport, so that interested me even more.

I was somewhat surprised to learn that IOM is not England but a crown dependency. While it relies on England for foreign affairs and defence, it has its own government and its own currency which I expect might be more useless than Scottish pounds in England. 

I wanted to see YouTube videos of the railway systems but learning about IOM was quite interesting. 

It is both wetter and sunnier than most parts of England. Its population is around 85,000. The residents can have an IOM passport or (perhaps and) a UK passport. It has never been part of the EU. It has its own language, probably a dying language like Welsh. 

The negatives? I can't find the information now but as I recall the general health of its residents is not good, with obesity being a huge problem. It is a tax haven for some and a good place to launder money by others. 

The old ferry to England, The Steam Packet made its last journey a week or so ago, replaced on a sunny and warm day by the new ferry, the Manxman. The following day the weather changed it was judged the new £78 million ferry could not cope and the old Steam Packet ran the service.

The Steam Packet ferry from Shipping Today and Yesterday magazine. 

The new Manxman ferry from Wikipedia. 

 Douglas is IOM's capital and the next largest city is Ramsey. From southern Douglas to northern Douglas you can catch a horse drawn tram and then transfer to an electric tram to travel to Ramsey. You can stop off on the way the tram at Laxey and catch another electric tram to the top of the highest mountain on IOM, Snaefell. 

Also from Douglas you can catch a steam train south to Port Erin. A Google map image of the island. 

Photos from Wikipedia and the IOM tourism website. This is one of the tram models to travel between Douglas and Ramsey. 

The steam train between Douglas and Port Erin. 

The tram to Snaefell peak is unusual. Rather than using a pole or pantograph to pick up power from the overhead wiring, it has what are called bow collectors. With a steep descent from the mountain it has a very old emergency Fell braking system. I read a little about it but I am not much the wiser.  I think it is unusual to have two bow collectors. My theory on this that if one collector for some reason loses contact the other will maintain contact and ensure the tram's, a later addition, dynamic braking will work. 

Missing the Spirit of Tasmania coming into Port Melbourne

Forlornly I gaze out to an empty sea

Looking for the ferry that was stolen from me.

I know it was ought

That it needed to change port

But that makes it no less sad for thee.

Lovely Lunch

I cannot say they are close friends, but we have known Mk a very long time via our late friend David and we know each other well enough. Mk's older partner died maybe a decade ago and he found a new partner, Indonesian born TG.

Mk's earlier partner was an heir to McEwans hardware store empire and Mk hasn't worked for many years, being rather comfortable, as they say. But like me he still worries about money and how much is spent down to the dollar. It can be in your upbringing to be thrifty or just from your own nature.

Anyway, we have caught up Mk and Tg twice this year for lunch at a cafe. This time they invited us for lunch at their place. The day before R and myself agreed we were not looking forward to it, but it turned out to be fine. Tg cooked a lovely meal, the wine was nice. I only had two glasses. I am not a daytime drinker. 

We have been to their apartment but it was perhaps 20 years ago on a New Year's Eve to see fireworks from their building's rooftop. At 11pm on NYE and not being the driver, my memories are not clear. That was before Mk's first partner died. We had great fireworks views at midnight, back in the day when fireworks were such a novelty.

Anyway, they live in a low level at high rise apartment on the beach front in Beacon Cove, part of Port Melbourne. Their three bedroom apartment is perhaps valued at around AU$2 million. It is very nice without being over the top. Tastefully decorated, modern and comfortable. The building itself is very nice too.

Now the problem is how to reciprocate. We know how to have people for dinner but we have never really cooked a lunch for guests. Mezza platters?

They have a balcony with city views and one with sea views. I chose the sea view balcony to take a gander. 

The redundant Princes Pier which once even supported a train track. Some train track is still on the pier. In the distance is the Port of Melbourne where ships, to use an old joke, plasma tvs arrive from China and the ships leave empty.

That looks like a big boat at Station Pier. I wonder what ship it is?

Closer up photo of Princes Pier. The redundant pier pylons have been kept, which is rather nice. If you want to see a very stylish photo of the pylons check out Roentare's photo here. 

I found a balcony gap where the cruise ship name was clearly on show. No wonder it looked big.

Transport Tuesday

When cruise ships arrive at Melbourne's Station Pier, those who haven't booked coach tours will probably mosey their way to the City. The obvious way to travel is by the 109 Port Melbourne tram which will take the ship passengers from the tram terminus to the centre of the city.

But with perhaps 2 to 3 thousand people leaving a ship within a hour or two, how can such a large number get to the city on a the normal 109 tram? I would really like to say that Yarra Trams puts on terrific extra services to get ship passengers to the centre of the city, but it doesn't.  

It is listed on the Public Transport Victoria website so I assume it under government control, contracted by the gov to provide the service. The 109 bus is lauded as an express bus to the City but it is at the mercy of Melbourne traffic, whereas the tram isn't. 

The 109 bus was suspended when cruise ships ceased to operate because of you know what. It used to dump passengers at the Arts Centre and passengers would have to walk or then catch a tram to the City proper. 

So where do cruise ship passenger who receive the strong promotion to use the 109 bus, rather than the perfectly good 109 tram end up now? 

Myki is our public transport stored value card and there is a tourist card offering discounts to tourist attractions, but I think for just a day visit as is normal for cruise ship passengers, it is probably not worth buying one. The standard card costs $6 and you will need to add $9.20 to that for a day's travel on all public transport. Hmm, that's $15.20. The tourist card is $16 and gives you a day's travel. You may as well buy that, even if you don't use any of the discount benefits. PTV is Public Transport Victoria. Read on...

Travel from Station Pier to Melbourne city

Your ship will arrive at Station Pier in Port Melbourne, six kilometres from Melbourne city. To travel into the city, you can take Bus 109 City Express to Stop 115 Casino/Southbank, Queens Bridge Street.

From here you can walk or continue your journey via tram into the city.

The bus shuttle and trams cost a normal public transport fare and you must travel with a myki which you can buy at the PTV ticket booth inside the Cruise Terminal.

Travelling to the city

You can catch either a tram or a bus from Port Melbourne into the city, however the shuttle bus is the only service that runs directly from Station Pier into the city.

The Bus 109 City Express shuttle runs direct from the Cruise Terminal on Station Pier to the city, stopping on Queens Bridge Street. The journey takes approximately 20 minutes.

Dumped right outside the Casino with a confusing way to get to the City centre. I smell a rat. The 109 tram takes less than 20 minutes to the centre of the city. The 109 express bus is not quicker and it is just a bus. Many people in the world who don't have trams in their towns would like to experience a tram ride, but no, that is not what PTV encourages. Instead PTV wants cruise shop passengers to catch a bus to the Casino rather than insisting Yarra Trams provide a proper tram service for extra passengers. That rat scent is extra strong. Ducks, quacks, walks, resemblance. 

There is a solution. A second tram track needs to be built at the Port Melbourne tram terminus where large capacity trams can be stored with drivers all ready to take the influx of cruise ship passengers into the city proper. Older Australian's will pay about half the aforesaid prices. Foreign tourists the full price. Cost benefit? It is an extra tram track that won't be used at all for half the year but will cost little to maintain. It will be there for use when it is needed during the cruise ship season and the extra trams will make a profit if the bus is discontinued. 

Little M's visit Pt 2

It must be a month ago when Little M visited, but here is a wrap of what we did.

We took her the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, ACMI. Children love it as there are many interactive displays where they can play with things. Adults seem to like playing with the same things. Some old dude is reflected in the beginning of the video. Sorry about that. The Zoetrope works simply by spinning and strobe lighting. Brilliant and fascinating.

Then it was a visit to Sandpark where there is a marvellous machine to amuse Auntie Andrew whereby you turn a heavy wheel to pump out water into a sluice with a gate you can leave open or closed to cause a build up of water. Release the water and it flows into a large dish before emptying onto the sand. If you pump enough water, it will flow and dam on the sand. Otherwise it quickly soaks in. Unfortunately some kids put sand in the machine which annoys me no end. We were close to two cruise ships at Station Pier, but the less said about the disease ridden cruise ships at the moment, the better.

Once home it was swim time. R is in the spa and Little M underwater having just taken a dive.  

We took Little M home and had a few minutes to wait before her mother returned from work. Across the road is this very curiously un-Australian house. I can't find any information about it aside from sold prices. It looks American to me, somewhat barn like.

Fine Dining, now Facing Poverty

Last week was an expensive time food wise. We lashed out dining at Chin Chin and then on the Saturday Ex Sis in Law's husband called and said he had won on the gee gees and asked if we would like to join him and Ex Sis in Law Sunday at a place called Wings and Fins. 

Damn, we the day before been to Mother's and taken her out for lunch. She had forgotten we were coming and was not dressed or made up. Tradie Brother was there to fix ABI Brother's garage roof drainage issues. Mother is much better when she is surprised by a visit from anyone. She doesn't suffer pre visit stress. We lunched at a local cafe and she later said it was the best afternoon ever. I managed to extract from her $50 for her meal, and the last one she did not pay for. Bills and paying for things has never been her focus. 

Anyway, the point of mentioning Mother's outing is that I had already driven Saturday on the Monash Freeway and now to visit Wings and Fins, it would be another drive on the Monash. I hate the road with a passion. Interestingly to local readers familiar with the area, rather than use the South Gippsland Highway through Cranbourne, Google suggested we use Cardinia Road from the Monash which becomes Dalmore Road, joining the Highway almost right at the restaurant gate. It was quick.

Wings and Fins sits over the Tooradin light plane airport, with a view over some seaside mudflats. It is not a cheap eats place but it was ok though rather noisy. It has a lovely outdoor partly shaded deck but hard to believe a few days later, it was a bit warm to sit out. 

This abandoned ship sits on swamp before the mudflats. Ex Sis in Law suggested we ask staff about its history. Her husband confidently said, 'It was one of the boats Vietnamese boat people used to arrive here in the 70s and then abandoned'. While waiting for our meal, I went out on to the deck to take some photos and also had doubts about the ship tale. I googled it and armed with facts I returned to the table. 

Now when you don't normally swear, you can very occasionally do so with great effect. "Vietnamese refugee ship my arse", I proclaimed. Here is the rather sad story of the ship.

It was owned by a man who was renovating the small steel ship. The swamp leading to the mudflats below our dining position was the only place he could find to store the boat while he worked on it with occasional help from his son. Between them they extended the length of the steel hull by six metres. The son was in Darwin in 1974 when Cyclone Tracy hit and was killed. The father was so distressed, he never returned to the ship. The ship has sat there ever since, slowly rusting away.

Are these passionfruit vine flowers? Interesting aren't they.

We didn't see any of these tiny planes land or take off but a light helicopter made a landing.

Spirit of Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island state to the south of the State of Victoria with Bass Strait in between. A ferry known as the Spirit of Tasmania transports people, cars and trucks in both directions in about eleven hours between Station Pier, Port Melbourne and the northern Tasmanian town Devonport. 

It is a sad day for many people as the last sailing from Station Pier happens at 7.30pm 22/10/22 and as I type it is 7.39 and I should be able to see it in the bay but of course it is late. It was late when we took our car on the ferry to Tasmanian in 2020. The ferry loading is chaotic in the very tight space, including car queueing on public streets and limited passenger handling space on the pier along with sharing the space with cruise ships. I understand the change to its Victorian port changing to Corio in Geelong, but that doesn't stop us being sad as we may never see the ferry again. 

It is nearly dark so I can't take photos and the ferry is late. Here are some photos I've taken over the years.

But wait, I did manage to catch her last voyage from Station Pier at about 7.50 and in spite of low light, the pic is not so bad. Bon voyage.