Scenes of Rabat in Morocco
Railway station in Rabat, Morocco
During our visit to Morocco most of our travel was done in a mini-bus with our tour group – except for two camel rides in the desert. I’ll write about that experience in the coming weeks.
After we left our touring group we took the train from Marrakech to Casablanca and then another train to the north coast before crossing over to Spain. We enjoyed our limited train travel in Morocco. Compared to Spanish trains, those in Morocco were what we are used to here in Australia, nowhere near the speeds of Spanish trains. The steady pace of the trains in Morocco meant we were able to take in the wonderful scenery along the way.
The above photo shows the railway station in the capital city, Rabat. We didn’t catch a train here but show this photo to illustrate the fact that the stations we did see in Morocco were clean, modern, well-appointed and welcoming buildings.
A little further on we saw a large group of protesters; I can’t recall now what they were protesting about. This was the only instance we saw of protests or of any civil unrest anywhere in Morocco during our visit.
Protesters in Rabat, Morocco
Rabat, Morocco
Sydney Great Steam Train Expo 2011
Sydney Great Steam Train Expo, Central Station
Sydney Great Steam Train Expo, Central Station
Sydney Great Steam Train Expo 2011
Sydney Great Steam Train Expo, Central Station
On the first weekend of our stay in Sydney earlier this year our daughter in law arranged for tickets to the Sydney Great Steam Train Expo. Apart from being able to look through some very historic carriages our tickets included a 75 minute steam train ride through the suburbs of Sydney. It was a wonderful trip and enjoyed by all the family, especially my 2.5 year old grandson. (He plays almost daily with his own train set.)
Over the coming week or so I will be showing the photos taken that morning. I won’t bore you with my writing; I’ll just let you enjoy the photos.
Sydney Great Steam Train Expo, Central Station
Central Station, Sydney
Tintinara in the SE of South Australia
Playground, Tintinara, SE South Australia
I took this photo of the playground in the picnic area in the main street on a recent visit to Tintinara because of the piece of equipment in the foreground. It’s in the shape of a kangaroo, though I can’t recall if you get “red” kangaroos in the Tintinara region. (I just checked my field guide to Australian mammals – Red Kangaroos are found much further north.)
Old steam train water bowser, Tintinara
Next to the playground is this old water bowser (or water tower), a relic of a by-gone era when the steam trains would stop here to replenish their water tankers. In the background you can see the railway line which is the main line between Adelaide and Melbourne. The Overlander passenger train came through as I had my morning cuppa. It rarely stops in Tintinara these days, whereas in a the steam age there would have been several passenger services daily. Now the line is used mainly for heavy interstate freight traffic, mixed with one daily express passenger train daily.
Galah at Tintinara, SE South Australia
While I was in Tintinara I managed to get a few good photos of some of the local bird life. More photos can be seen here and here.
Metro Light Rail, Sydney
Metro Light Rail, Sydney
On one of our excursions into the CBD of Sydney during our recent holidays we took the Metro Light Rail to the Sydney Fish Markets. Until we took this tram I was not aware that Sydney had a light rail system. Metro Transport runs the Metro Light Rail and they also run the Sydney Monorail which intersects with the light rail and then loops through parts of the CBD.
We didn’t take the monorail on this trip; you have to leave some fun for our next holiday in Sydney. We took the train from Artarmon, which is a five minute walk from our son’s home. We alighted at Central Station and then caught the light rail to the Sydney Fish Markets. These trams are quiet, quick, clean and arrive every few minutes throughout the day. On some sections the trams run for 24 hours a day every day of the year. My only criticism is that they are quite expensive to the length of the ride. Still, it saved a lot of walking.
The track goes from Central Railway Station and terminates at Lilyfield, going through Haymarket, Darling Harbour, Pyrmont Bay and Glebe.
Metro Light Rail, Sydney