On Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:27:56 GMT, "Rudy"
wrote:


"Vic Smith" wrote
St. Charles Borromeo, cur Victoria Road & Charles Street, Ryde.
Of course I don't know what that means.

We stayed in the Ryde, Best Western for a couple of nights on our OZ trip
last year..
typical Metropolitan suburb northwest of town.

You can get there on the River Cat
http://www.sydneyferries.info/about-...leet-Facts.htm

I was impressed with their transit system: buses, ferries, jetcats, electric
trains, underground, all linked together and you can get an "All in One"
daily pass

Yes, as far as I am concerned, Sydney has a great public transport
system, not perhaps as good as Singapore but then Sydney is much
larger in both population and area and, whereas Singapore is
relatively flat and the systems new, Sydney is saddled with some
narrow roading, a hilly terrain and an older train system. BTW, the
state of New South Wales (Sydney) was the first in the world to
introduce double decker passenger carriages.

Having reached 60 I qualify for a "Senior's Card" which allows me
unlimited travel on buses, trains and ferries for AUD$2.50 each day.
The card is for those who work no more than an average of 20 hours per
week. Love it. The commuters complain and there is room for
improvement but overall it is rather good.

Petrol today (gasoline to you non-English speakers) is AUD$1.72 per
litre which is US$6.70 per US gallon. When you can, it makes far more
sense to take public transport and you don't have to find and pay for
city parking. Just take a book and an MP3 player and its amazing how
fast the half hour goes.

Oh, I used my Senior's card in San Francisco in March when I went to
the Aquarium on the Bay. I got in for $8 instead of $14. I was told
that you do not qualify for such a discount card in the US until you
are 65. Mine gets me into the movies ($8 instead of $15), art
galleries, museums etc. at concession rates and even gets me a 10%
discount on such as KFC.

cheers
Peter