Australia Travel thread for Guru. Forbidden to mention any other places.

That certainly explains the cars we found available for rental.

On a train to Edinburgh which hasn’t moved in over three hours. Still at least two hours to go when we do eventually move.

Apparently the train in front struck an animal - this was confirmed based on the blood on the train. I am sitting here wondering who has the job to confirm that and how they do it.

Least you'll get a full refund. Though I doubt that's must comfort at the moment.

That was clearly the initial fear, when they announced it was an animal (they have now said a deer) the tone was very much that makes things easier.

At that point they didn’t know how bad the damage was. The train has now been evacuated (a complicated process we were told), and we moved the five minutes or so into Northallerton station to allow people off there but that was at least half an hour ago.

Think I would have been even more pissed off if I had spent over three hours five minutes from my stop like quite a few people around me.

At least Luton made me smile.

Bet that is a phrase that is not used often.

Finally on the move 294 minutes late. Due to arrive in Edinburgh at 02.00, but we are getting there any trains behind us are terminating early.

Missed all this entirely but this sums it up.

The Great Ocean Road really is great. Albeit the best bit is the bit where it isn’t going along the Ocean.

Melbourne is the best but don’t dare ask any of us who live here what you should do. It’s a weirdly hard question to answer. Just, I dunno, walk around places like Fitzroy and drink coffee or some shit.. that’s what we do. The ‘Capital City Trail’ is a really good cycle/walk all around the inner city and it you get to see a pretty good representation of what the place is all about.. both the urban and the open public spaces in and around it.

I would recommend that when you’re looking for a hotel/accomodation, look outside of the city centre.. especially avoid Southern CBD/Docklands and Southbank. If you can get something in Fitzroy, Collingwood, Richmond or Carlton then do that.. Melbourne is about the neighbourhoods, not the centre. If you do end up in the centre then aim for the middle/northern end. The southern bits are for BUSINESS people during BUSINESS hours, and Southbank is a traffic sewer.

I hope so. I think I am signed up to be told when they are available but the whole process was very confusing.

I am not envisaging it being especially difficult to get MCG tickets as it’s fucking huge and Melbourne isn’t a rugby town. If it’s a sellout it will be a slow one. I wanna get in early so I can sit where I like to sit though. It should be fun… the Irish will be out in mighty force.

Can we name this Australia travel thread?

Ne nar ne nar it's the thread police!

Done

Can a mod please put all the Edinburgh posts in a special thread for the porridge-fetishists thanks.

Come on lads, stay on topic.

I’m off to Namibia in June. Is this the right thread?

I'm off to Thurso next Friday. Is there anything to do in Thurso?

Thurso feels to me like a kind of Scotchland Worksop, in that you see it on all the motorway signposts and maps and shit, but in reality it's just a main road to somewhere else with a B&Q Distribution Centre, Chef & Brewer / Wacky Warehouse and a fair to medium sized Sainsbury's.

That said, I've never been so it's probably some sort of massive metropolitan hub of commerce and culture.