Victoria Day 7 - Last Day in Melbourne

Assalamualaikum. G'Day Mate!

Ok sambungan dari previous entry 

1 Aug 2015

Melbourne City

Dari enjin tut tut, kami balik pi city. Mau kena return kereta sewa di Apex office. Kalau after-hour drop-offs; kenalah kami naik teksi pi city centre. Sebab free shuttle bus to city centre / airport available masa office hour jak.

And ditakdirkan Allah, on the way drop kereta tu...kami accident. Masalah problem betul si Err sama traffic light di Melbourne. Akibat 'salah faham' konsep red light works for this & that lane...aku stopped at this one junction BECAUSE I saw the light turned red. Suddenly, bang!! Kuat gila hoii bunyi! Ms G who was behind me, terhantuk seat driver. Ms H co-pilot, terdorong pi depan. Whilst me as the driver? Terdorong pi depan juga; tapi mujur Allah jaga *alhamdulillah* & my head didn't hit the stereng. 

Few seconds after being hit, semua macam blur lagi. Tengok cermin & tanya keadaan Ms G at the back. After making sure, all us three ok aku pun keluar. Told them to not worries (walhal sendiri masih shivering) as our rental agreement covered collision damage waiver. Apa-apa damage sama kereta, kami ndak payah ganti. Lurus juga pemikiran aku masa ni. Luckily ikut suggestion si John untuk include damage waiver.

Keluar jak kereta, terus nampak driver kereta yang langgar kami dari belakang tu. A lady driver, and she drove a jeep. Yang siap ada bumper besi penyondol di depan. God! Dalam hati aku, memang sudah imagine keranapan bumper belakang si Accent ni. Upon seeing me, first thing she uttered or was it more to yelling siap both tangan 'berlingkaran' as to emphasized her big WHY

"Why did you stop? You're not supposed to stop here. That red light is not for us"

Bertambah blur. Aku, Ms H & Ms G looked at each other. Kelip-kelip mata. Suddenly kawan lady driver tu keluar dari kereta. Terus dia tanya kami ok ka tidak (ini baru betul wei). He looked at his friend & said

"Obviously they aren't familiar about the laws here."

After making sure no one is injure (most important), and no damage to the car, laju dia suruh kawan dia masuk kereta & off they went. He probably knows better. Kalau bawa pi balai; memang diorang salah sebab yang langgar tu diorang. And jarak kereta sure jadi pertikaian juga. How close were they to our car in front sampai boleh berlanggar bagai. Gitulah hipotesis si Err. 

Yang buat kami semua 'wow' (in fact, sampai sekarang masih bersyukur+kagum), kereta sewa kami tiada damage! NOT even a single scratch! Plat pun utuh melekat. Kalau ikut bunyi & affect hentakan (sakit leher oii masing-masing lepas tu) memang kuat juga. Allahu akbar, betul-betul Dia jaga. Sobs. 

Any info about Apex Rental, boleh refer blog si John (nampak kan berkampung lama di blog beliau + korek info). Moga Allah balas yang baik-baik kat kau.

Ndak lama kami di jalan, takut ganggu traffic pula kan. Drama perlu berhenti bersesuaian masa. Tetiber! So kami gerak pi tempat drop-offs. Sebelum tu singgah refuel lagi sebab full-to-full tank agreement. Masa returned kereta, staff Apex inspect kereta. Final check. Masa tu memang kami ndak risau apa sebab tiada sign pun si Accent tu baru kena hentam. Kalau ada luka sikit haruslah jujur kami inform tapi ni memang tiada calar-dan-balar langsung. Alhamdulillah staff tu sign form return, and we're good to go. Shuttle bus pun menanti sudah di luar, laju kami melompat masuk sebelum any bonus inquiry ke udara. Ngeh~~

The driver dropped us somewhere in the city centre (I totally forgot where it was). And we took the tram to Spring Street; famous as the traditional street of the Government of Victoria. 

#1 Easy sebenarnya mau navigate guna tram ni as each station ada map 

#2 The Old Treasury building; one of the notable Victorian architecture on this street

#3 Old school tram still run here in Melbourne

#4 Muka penat don't care...dari seawal Subuh sudah start mengukur jalan

We didn't get to explore more that evening as everyone was already too tired to walk around. Banyak lagi notable buildings along Spring Street ni tapi tulah, cuma mampu kami nampak few. Temperature dropped wasn't helping as well. Gigil masing-masing, belum campur perut berkonsert lagi. Ada lah berjalan few kilometres juga before we called it a quit. Marilah kembali ke South Cross station (Lord of Fries sudah memanggil; rupanya!).

#5 Tiga dara jelita (belum mandi seharian tabahlah). Our first tram ride in Melbourne

Sampai South Cross station, laju lah masing-masing menapak pi area Etihad Stadium where the Lord of Fries food truck is located. Kebulur katanye.

Tapi sebab sudah alang-alang sampai, wandered around jugalah sebelum kami rest untuk makan. Besar area SC ni, rasanya sejam kami di sana pun belum sampai half dapat kami covered. 

#6 Long distance train platform

#7 Terus cakap sama Ms H, best juga ni kalau kita buat rail trip pi Sydney or Adelaide. Gitulah berangan tiada sempadan, free jak kan

#8 It was Etihad Stadium (named by rights sponsorship) until 2018. Now it is known as Marvel Stadium; obviously Walt Disney sponsored lah kan siap ada Marvel retail store dalam ni sekarang

#9 Pencukup syarat posing depan stadium

#10 Ada game masa kami sampai ni. Ntah lah football or rugby tapi orang al-ramai area entrance (picture above taken from the not so busy side of the stadium)

#11 Walked to the Harbour Esplanade where we could see one of the many bridges in Melbourne. This is Bolte Bridge. Anganlah boleh nampak Webb Bridge from here, but it was too far. Next time, perhaps? (amin, amin)

#12 La Trobe street from where we stood

#13 Sebab ada games hence banyaklah merchandise truck along the way from South Cross to the stadium area

#14 Yang menjadi sebutan every Malaysian friends who have been to Australia. Konsep asal cuba, so kami order 1 large portion of the classic fries

#15 Our customary lepak-place bila pi bercoti; jadi ado-ado katanye

#16 Kecilnya bumi Melbourne terjumpa ex-unimate di sana

#17 Our verdict; bolehlah. Fries tu still crispy, ndak lemau sebab diorang praktis konsep 'cooked to order'

Lepak lebih kurang, then it's time to depart for the airport. Flight tengah malam, memang boleh lenggang kangkung tapi risau lah kalau ada emergency ka apa. At least sampai airport awal, lega sudah sikit. 

#18 Time to take out anak-anak gajah

#19 We took the SkyBus to reach the airport. Ticket sudah beli masa 1st day sampai haritu

Sampai airport, terus cari port untuk melepak. Tunaikan tanggungjawab, masa sudah time untuk makan (lagi). Dinner lah kan, sebab tadi tu di Southern Cross cumalah menu minum petang terlewatkan. Menu dinner memang meriah. Nasi goreng se-Tupperware penuh + complimentary susu kotak yang Ms H kutip at each accommodations we stayed. Alhamdulillah kenyang melantun. 

Ndak lama lepas makan, kami joined queue untuk drop luggage. Sekali check-in lah kiranya. Si Err beli pillow neck di boarding hall, tapi lepas sampai Malaysia ntah di mana keberadaan pillow tu. Sampai sekarang memang tiada trace; ndak dapat recall langsung mana aku misplaced. 4 tahun sudah berlalu Bie, redha sila. 

#21 Tukar tudung si Err terus, senang bersilat dalam flight. Tudung lilit ni nanti takut terbelit...gitu gigih explain

Alhamdulillah, touch down KLIA2 the next morning. Pastu minta jasa baik husband Ms H hantar kami pi rumah Ms C (another Jemah who didn't get to joined us for this trip). Masa ni masih Syawal so tumpang 'bersiram + beradu' di rumah Ms C sambil berhari raya. 

Maka dengan berakhirnya entry ni, tamatlah sudah cerita Birthday Trip to Down Under si Err! Hooray!!! Finally, completed. Ambil masa 4 tahun juga, sudah 4x birthday berlalu. Sobs gila. Lepas ni insha Allah update pasal accommodation pula. 

Till then, wassalam.

eryantierdabdulkarim

Victoria Day 7 - Puffing Billy, Belgrave

Assalamualaiku. G'Day Mate!

Previous post (here).

Bangun seawal pagi untuk kejar masa bayar parking berkupon. Saman di Australia ni bukan alang-alang 'murah' ya tuan puan. Jadinya kalau boleh elak, sila lah elak. Untuk avoid nama dari blacklist pun ya juga. Tapi kalau agak-agak mau merasa feeling bayar saman di luar negara, bolehlah try. Koh!

After breakfast, campak semua bag dalam kereta. Check out terus sebab hostel tu tiada tempat untuk simpan luggage. Nasib baik kereta seluas alam, lagipun memang since Day 2 hidup nomad. Ngeh.

Plan harini, pi Belgrave mau naik enjin tut tut. Then pi Southern Cross Station untuk simpan bag dalam lockers, later drop kereta sewa di office Apex before explore Melbourne City with the remaining time we have. Untunglah flight malam, boleh juga jalan-jalan cuci mata kejap. Trip ni memang ndak sempat explore sangat the city hence plan untuk repeat Melbourne. Insha Allah one day (amin, amin), bawa Bunda pula next.  

1 Aug 2015

Belgrave, Melbourne

It only took us less than an hour to reach Belgrave from the hostel. Don't ask me about the route because we only followed where the GPS took us. Disuruh ke kiri, maka ke kiri lah kami. If ndak silap, ada masuk highway & housing area juga. 

Sampai Puffing Billy carpark, cari parking. Then dari carpark, kena menapak naik sikit pi ticket counter. Sebelum beli tiket, kami discussed dulu which route to take. It is best to study the train timetable prior coming as to avoid wasting your time should you arrived when the train just departed. Sejam dua juga mau menunggu tau. 

As for us, schedule memang sudah ada cuma belum sure which route to take. After menimbang menara, we decided to take the Belgrave - Emerald - Lakeside route. The nearest (and cheapest) route will be from Belgrave to Emerald. But we have to wait at Emerald station merely an hour for the return train from Lakeside. So alang-alang tunggu, better pi Lakeside station terus. By the way, please note train fare both route berbeza. The route to Lakeside mahal sikit; tapi ni harga 4 tahun lepas lah. In which aku memang totally lupa how much we paid. 

Latest ticket price & timetable please refer ---> here 

And sebab malas menceceh pasal Puffing Billy ni, bolehlah baca summary si John. Senang kerja aku, bagi link jak kan. Ain't taking any credit for myself though hence the link instead of copy-paste. Thank you John for sharing the info.

#1 Ticket counter

#2 Chance for Melbourne indeed; especially for the young generations

#3 Luckily hujan sudah berhenti masa kami tengah tunggu train

#4 Ms H repeatedly told us she had experienced classic-er train than Puffing Billy. She was referring to the train back in her hometown; Tenom (in Malaysia). 

#5 The track

#7 Busy lah si Err posing sendiri, tiba-tiba tersembul seketul Ms H di jendela sebelah

#8 Gigih lah tunggu train moving on curved track

#9 First leg of the classic train journey; we stopped by at Emerald station where few passengers disembarked here

#11 Hello Ahjussi!

#12 Continued our journey to Lakeside station

#13 Tickets not-so close up shot

#14 Udah sampai. 

Sampai Lakeside, passengers boleh turun & enjoyed the scenery for 15 minutes. So ambil lah peluang ambil gambar sana sini. 

Btw, the engine driver used to work in Penang so he was pretty excited when he found out I'm a Malaysian. Chit chat berkenalan, terus imbau kenangan gitu. Tu lah si Err pun ambil kesempatan masuk engine car bagai. 

#15 Pensebok abadi

#16 One for the memory

#17 Oppa comel

#18 This train didn't stop at Lakeside so we assumed it will go straight to Gembrook (the final station)

#19 Train orang ado-ado. This includes lunch on board. Kami marhaein cuma, so naik lah keretapi kelas biasa

#20 Time to go back to Belgrave. Goodbye Train Guard, see u when I see u

#21 Masih gagah posing gini. Dengan harapan, Edward muncul di sebalik pokok. Harapan!

#22 We purposely chose to sit at the other side of the train. Untuk dapat different view

#23 Gerabak sekali dengan lambakan information board. Memang sempat baca habis

#24 Busier than ever; carrying happy passengers like us. We're delighted to be able to be one of the contributor to keep it puffing tut tut!

#26 Kanak-kanak lebih umur riang gumbira

#27 Mission accomplished!

#28 Few tracks were built on hills side hence landslide is something unavoidable 

#29 Another curved track; combination both modern & classic

#30 Approaching Belgrave Station

#31 I don't remember how long the return journey was but this picture tells me that we might arrive before 230pm. 

#Changing the schedule / information; the manual way. 

For your information, all the workers at Puffing Billy (including the booking clerks, shop assistant) are volunteers here. It means; they don't get paid. They are doing this for the sake of Puffing Billy; to restore & keep it operating as Australia's premiere heritage steam railway.

By travelling aboard Puffing Billy; we actually are contributing to train, tracks & land maintenance, marketing, administration as well as covering for the coal cost. Yes; coal. Kan enjin tut tut, berasap bagai mestilah guna coal. Siapa yang ndak mau naik train, boleh masuk dalam platform ni untuk bergambar. Just inform pekerja yang jaga tiket tu. Si DJ pi sana (boleh baca sini) untuk bergambar jak sebab minah tu sibuk menerjah Tesselaar Tulip Festival. We didn't get to witness the infamous tulip festival because it wasn't the tulip season when we were there. Bukan rezeki, ndak pa nextime siapa tau akan menjejak (amin, amin). 

Lepas berposing lebih kurang, we quickly made our move out of Belgrave. Semua kena on time harini. Time is extra precious on the last day of the trip.

#Pulang marilah pulang, marilah pulang sebelum jammed

We reached Southern Cross Station without so much hassle. Terima kasih Cik GPS jasa anda dikenang ketat-ketat. Sebab ndak mau bazir duit bayar parking bagai, Ms H & Ms G turun untuk simpan our anak gajah in the locker. Masa sampai haritu, before naik shuttle bus pi hotel...memang aku ada recce location locker ni. Sebab masa DJ datang Melbourne (2013), locker ni wujud. Since aku datang 2 tahun kemudian (2015), tu yang kena make sure locker tu still ada atau tiada. Alhamdulillah, locker tu wujud lagi. The storage is located near the Skybus Hotel Transfer counter. Kalau naik Skybus dari airport, memang akan turun sini. 

Oleh sebab bag kami bertiga boleh muat locker besar so minah berdua tu pilih lah locker besar (bijak!). Cost us AUD 14 for 24 hours. Minimum hour is 3 hours; memandangkan masing-masing ndak yakin sama ketepatan masa sendiri...betterlah ambil 24 jam terus. 

Settled misi simpan bag, marilah bergerak pi Apex office. Ikut contract masa pick up haritu, we will have to return the car by 4pm. Kalau lambat, ada extra charge. Lagipun last shuttle bus (free) from the office to the airport is at 5pm. Harus ndak mau lepas yang tu, else kena tahan teksi balik airport. Poket sudah menipis, teksi was a big NO-NO. 

Ada cerita juga masa on the way return kereta sewa tu. Memang kenangan abadi mengusik jiwa sampai sekarang. Nanti aku continue cerita yang tu. Over-berjela sudah entry kali ni.

Till then, wassalam.

eryantierdabdulkarim