Don’t Be A “Schapelle”

“You’ve got enough there to fill a boogie board, but here’s a letter to confirm it’s all legitimate in case you have problems at immigration”, the doctor half-joked to me today, referencing Schapelle Corby, as I went to get my vaccinations, ahead of my trip to Cambodia and Vietnam.

Minutes later, I was standing at the light rail at Town Hall on George Street, and one of the “street preachers” mentioned her name, though I missed the context.… Read the rest “Don’t Be A “Schapelle””

Catching the XPT

The last time I caught the XPT was probably in the mid-1980s. The XPT, by the way, is the “express train” between Brisbane and Sydney. And when I say “express train”, I don’t mean Chinese style/speed trains. It’s more “leisurely”, taking around 14-15 hours for roughly 900km.

When I was a child, we lived only about 100m from the railway line, and it was a regular thing for me to go out and wave to the passengers on the trains that came through daily.… Read the rest “Catching the XPT”