Sydney. If you want to take the train from the airport to the city, and want to save almost $14 and explore a bit of Sydney on foot, buy your Opal card at the airport station, and then walk 25-30 minutes to the closest station, which from the domestic airport is Mascot. The walk is not very pleasant: rubbish, heavy trucks driving fast near the sidewalk, waiting at the traffic lights under the scorching sun, but still, when you spend $55 on a Jetstar flight from Gold Coast to Sydney...
Welcome to Sydney!
Walking to Mascot train station.
This shack (the block) is probably worth a million dollars.
This is the other side of the street.
The entrance to the station is here. Can you find it?
Mascot apartments next to the train station with Woolies, cafes, kindy... a 3 bedroom apartment may cost 860k here.
Pitt Street Mall, a Westfield in disguise.
St. Mary's Cathedral
Sydney Tower
Add yellow cabs on the wrong side of the road and voilà you get New York.
The Reserve Bank of Australia Museum is an interesting and free museum right next to Martin Place train station. The early colony and Commonwealth years of Australia were a mess in regards to currency (and railways). First Australian notes were printed in 1913 - 12 years after the establishment of Commonwealth of Australia. The currency thing is now sorted out (railways is not). Australia uses decimal currency, banknotes are very hard to forge and it's ok if you take them surfing - they are plastic... and we make them for 13 countries. :-)
Queensland state government printed its banknotes long before the federal government.
A private bank note, bought by the federal government, and stamped "AUSTRALIAN NOTE".
This 1000 pound note was very easy to forge and soon after issuing it was restricted to inter-bank use. Also, the sheep.
Five Australian Royals - first ask the public what they would like to call the new currency, then decide that you don't like any of their suggestions and come up with something stupid yourself, start making designs, roll back when you start receiving death threats from the public, use 'dollar' - now everyone is happy.
The year is 1963. In 1966 the new decimal currency "dollar" will be introduced: 1..12 pence -> 0.833..10 cents, 1..10 shillings -> 10..100 cents, 1 pound (20 shillings) -> 2 dollars.
Manly Municipal Council
Christmas in summer
Manly, The Corso
Manly beach
Shelly beach in Manly
Bondi beach
Camp Cove in Watsons Bay
Hornby
A postcard at sunset
An aboriginal audio-visual show at sunset, on the roof of the Sydney Opera House
The Vichy French did not even have decency to surrender quickly to their former allies.
They killed over 400, and wounded over 1000 Australians during fighting in Syria in 1941.
Australians occupied Japan until 1952.
Specifically, the Hiroshima area.
Diggers in Iraq. The tone and wording of the message is typically Australian.
A piece of beautiful southern Europe in Fremantle.
Out of this world plants in the Botanical Garden in Kings Park in Perth.
Very symmetric leaves.
Red stem, green and black flowers.
A bottle tree.
Triangular leaves and crazy flowers.
A treetop walk.
American Navy loves Perth, very, very much:
Transperth train and a bush fire in the distance.
A view from Kings Park towards Elizabeth Quay.
Elizabeth Quay area.
Aboriginal women and children in European clothes around year 1900.
A mention of Noongar people's tragedy in a public space.
Aborigines were prohibited from being in the city centre after 6pm, unless with a pass, until 1954.
Panorama of CBD from South Perth.
Hotel Windsor in South Perth.
A few words about Transperth. The trains are clean, safe, and punctual. Frequency and availability of services is very good. There are bike paths along some train lines. A paper ticket from the airport to city centre costs $4.70 for an adult, a daily ticket for a family costs $12.80. Transperth may pay you up to $1000 dollars reward for reporting criminal activities. Comparing with Queensland's TransLink - no paper tickets, no daily tickets, no evening services, infrequent services, graffiti and scratched windows, and the extortion price of $18 for a 20 minute ride from the Brisbane airport to the city centre.
Transperth ferry to South Perth/Zoo.
Transperth clever public ad: "It's quicker to wait".
Transperth announcing more bike shelters at stations.
