I have flown Garuda air to Yogyakarta airport before, back in 2002 when I was working in Indonesia for a few months. It's a small airport, even smaller than Hobart airport, with only one departure gate. Standing next to the airfield as we disembarked was a rickety, old plane, a DC3 or DC9 or something, the kind you'd see in a 1920s movie... when I saw that, I just hoped that it wasn't still in active service. Seeing something like that right next to the runway doesn't inspire confidence in Indonesian airlines!
Luckily, my flight was much less eventful - it was probably only half full. It was amazing how cheap it was, too. From memory, about $60 for the return flight.
Evie, the cute cat from across the road, was hanging around the letterboxes this afternoon. I went down to give her a bit of a pat, and she followed me back all the way to the front door, where she sat, this cat, on the mat, looking plaintively through the glass door.
Why, oh why can't I come inside, her reproachful eyes seemed to say.
Then, she got down to business.
I mean, really got down to business.
I left the house at 7.30am this morning, as usual, passing a woman going the other way. "Are you going to the station?" she asked. "Don't bother - there was a fatality up the line and the trains aren't running."
Oh, good.
When Sydney's trains are good, they're good, but when they're bad, they're atrocious. Despite talk of 'replacement buses', I figured that it'd be ages before they were ready to ferry everyone into the city, and so headed up to the Pac Highway to catch one of the regular buses in.
As I stood at the corner of the highway to cross the road, I saw the line of about 30 people, and watched as a bus sailed past, packed to the rafters. Figuring that it'd be ages before I'd actually get on, I decided to sit down and have a coffee and wait for the crowds to disperse before trying to get on a bus - I was going to be late for work anyway.
Eventually, I caught a bus going into town at about 8.30. It was only allowing people on to replace those getting off, and was completely full.
What amazed me most as I crossed the bridge was just how many cars were heading into town, with only one person in them. The city is supported by train lines and buses, and still people selfishly clog the city streets and block the buses with their cars. What Sydney really needs is more bus lanes, more train lines and more disincentives for people to drive into the busiest, most congested part of Sydney.
By the time I finally caught a train from Wynyard and arrived at Parramatta, it was 8.45am, and I eventually got into work at 10, two and a half hours after leaving home.
Now I just need to sit and clear my head before getting on with the day!
