Hello, went for a weekend trip to Echuca and surrounds, with my friend, to check out the National Parks near there (Barmah NP in Victoria and Murray Valley Regional & NP in NSW) and to eat parmas (which, incidentally, they do very well in Echuca)!
Echuca is a nice place if you like rivers, paddle steamers and beer. I have never been to a place which has so many pubs, many of which are located in close proximity to one another. The hotel accommodation was just acceptable but the owners liked their sleep in as reception didn't open until 9am in the morning. I was also not sure why they decided to locate the fridge and tea making facilities in the bathroom.
On the way there and back I caught the bus from Bendigo. I like Bendigo but people seem to be hanging on to the old fashion of bolts in your face there. On the way back near Shepparton I saw a sign for the chocolate apple factory. Some time ago I queried why no one has come up with the idea of coating apples in chocolate. Well someone has and they have quite a range: http://www.chocolateapplefactory.com.au/chocolateapples/. When I finally got to Wangaratta train station to get my bus to Bright, there was the usual problem with the train being late from Melbourne, meaning the bus had to wait. After we finally left, on the edge of town, we had to turn around and go back to the station to collect some Asian tourists who apparently didn't see the large bus outside the station. That's the problem with groups, if the head sheep is not switched on there can be problems. They got off at Myrtleford. I have seen a number of these groups get off there. I am not sure what sort of scam they are running as I don't see Myrtleford being one of the tourist highlights of North East Victoria. I also had the bonus, on the trip in, of a person listening to music on his ear phones and, what I would describe as, "moaning" along with the music.
Now for some other observations...
Trip to Melbourne
A few weeks ago I went to Melbourne for the soccer etc. On the bus from Bright I noticed a woman get on who appeared to have been delivered by ambulance. Not sure whether the ambulance was outsourcing its work or the ambulance was running a sideline as a taxi. She looked reasonably healthy. On the train from Wangaratta I saw a person with a tablet the size of a small TV. I wonder at what stage these things no longer count as being portable. Also on the train saw someone with a tank top who was so hairy he looked like a moulting bear.
Robots
I suspect one or more of the newsreaders on the ABC are robots. One of them read exactly the same story twice. That's only a mistake a robot would make without knowing it.
Snakes
Usually we don't have much issue with snakes around here but we have recently. The front entrance of the Bright Visitor Centre was closed for a period due to a brown snake sighting. Apparently, the snake was quite territorial as the rear entrance was open as was the cafe next door. A similar snake was also sighted in our street by our new English neighbour. Seemed a bit worried but I have not seen it around, although I have noticed a sharp decline in the reptile population around here.
Medical Centre
I have had another soccer injury (torn tendon in my finger) which required attendance at the local doctor's surgery (I think it's a sign). While I waited I was provided so much entertainment I didn't have to bother reading any of the magazines on offer. There was the woman that was singing along with the radio (even with the commercials); the man with no shoes (he left them outside the door for some reason); and the kid coughing all over the place that wouldn't put on a mask despite the mother's best efforts (she made the whole family put them on but it still didn't work). The doctor sorted him out when he came, asking him why he didn't have his mask on. I also saw a very pregnant nurse or doctor. I guess it's the best place to be if you are pregnant.
Train Tirade
Our train line (Albury - Melbourne) is the worst in Victoria. One day the train was late because of a signal failure as a result of a storm a few days earlier. Then some weeks later the signals failed again and the train was delayed 1.5 hours. They didn't say why. Perhaps it was too sunny? They even cancelled a service because a storm was coming and of course when it's hot the train can't run as fast (i.e. slow) as they usually can. It only got worse over the Christmas - New Year period when many trains were replaced by buses because miraculously all the locomotives (known locally as pieces of junk) developed "unforseen" faults. I guess this is in contrast to the foreseen faults they usually suffer from that results in the regular cancellations and delays.
Now some pictures from my trip...
Echuca is a nice place if you like rivers, paddle steamers and beer. I have never been to a place which has so many pubs, many of which are located in close proximity to one another. The hotel accommodation was just acceptable but the owners liked their sleep in as reception didn't open until 9am in the morning. I was also not sure why they decided to locate the fridge and tea making facilities in the bathroom.
On the way there and back I caught the bus from Bendigo. I like Bendigo but people seem to be hanging on to the old fashion of bolts in your face there. On the way back near Shepparton I saw a sign for the chocolate apple factory. Some time ago I queried why no one has come up with the idea of coating apples in chocolate. Well someone has and they have quite a range: http://www.chocolateapplefactory.com.au/chocolateapples/. When I finally got to Wangaratta train station to get my bus to Bright, there was the usual problem with the train being late from Melbourne, meaning the bus had to wait. After we finally left, on the edge of town, we had to turn around and go back to the station to collect some Asian tourists who apparently didn't see the large bus outside the station. That's the problem with groups, if the head sheep is not switched on there can be problems. They got off at Myrtleford. I have seen a number of these groups get off there. I am not sure what sort of scam they are running as I don't see Myrtleford being one of the tourist highlights of North East Victoria. I also had the bonus, on the trip in, of a person listening to music on his ear phones and, what I would describe as, "moaning" along with the music.
Now for some other observations...
Trip to Melbourne
A few weeks ago I went to Melbourne for the soccer etc. On the bus from Bright I noticed a woman get on who appeared to have been delivered by ambulance. Not sure whether the ambulance was outsourcing its work or the ambulance was running a sideline as a taxi. She looked reasonably healthy. On the train from Wangaratta I saw a person with a tablet the size of a small TV. I wonder at what stage these things no longer count as being portable. Also on the train saw someone with a tank top who was so hairy he looked like a moulting bear.
Robots
I suspect one or more of the newsreaders on the ABC are robots. One of them read exactly the same story twice. That's only a mistake a robot would make without knowing it.
Snakes
Usually we don't have much issue with snakes around here but we have recently. The front entrance of the Bright Visitor Centre was closed for a period due to a brown snake sighting. Apparently, the snake was quite territorial as the rear entrance was open as was the cafe next door. A similar snake was also sighted in our street by our new English neighbour. Seemed a bit worried but I have not seen it around, although I have noticed a sharp decline in the reptile population around here.
Medical Centre
I have had another soccer injury (torn tendon in my finger) which required attendance at the local doctor's surgery (I think it's a sign). While I waited I was provided so much entertainment I didn't have to bother reading any of the magazines on offer. There was the woman that was singing along with the radio (even with the commercials); the man with no shoes (he left them outside the door for some reason); and the kid coughing all over the place that wouldn't put on a mask despite the mother's best efforts (she made the whole family put them on but it still didn't work). The doctor sorted him out when he came, asking him why he didn't have his mask on. I also saw a very pregnant nurse or doctor. I guess it's the best place to be if you are pregnant.
Train Tirade
Our train line (Albury - Melbourne) is the worst in Victoria. One day the train was late because of a signal failure as a result of a storm a few days earlier. Then some weeks later the signals failed again and the train was delayed 1.5 hours. They didn't say why. Perhaps it was too sunny? They even cancelled a service because a storm was coming and of course when it's hot the train can't run as fast (i.e. slow) as they usually can. It only got worse over the Christmas - New Year period when many trains were replaced by buses because miraculously all the locomotives (known locally as pieces of junk) developed "unforseen" faults. I guess this is in contrast to the foreseen faults they usually suffer from that results in the regular cancellations and delays.
Now some pictures from my trip...
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