painting the town 'ped'

i have sold my car with wild abandon in the interests of saving the planet - i was trying to practise not using the car, but there always seemed to be a reason to use it, so i just jumped in the deep end and sold it, and now i have to deal!

an interesting side-effect is that i am re-discovering much in my local hood, just by being forced to walk more, so i plan to document it here.

i'll also post helpful hints on alternate local travel, eg. helpful bus routes I'd long since forgotten about....

disaster strikes!!!!

it happened. i left work with ample time to jump on a bus from taylor square to bondi beach to pick up my son from school. the bus didn't show......i had no option other than to hail a cab, or there would have been one lonely little man waiting for his mum in the playground!

lesson learnt? i have to make the same trip today, so i have checked journey times with the syd buses trip planner site (http://www.131500.info/realtime/default.asp) first, and i am trying picking up the bus from the city stop (cnr liverpool and elizabeth sts) instead of taylor square, in case the reason was that the bus was too full by the time it reached taylor square and thus wasn't picking up?

any advice on routes/times/stops that people know are especially reliable or not for travel between surry hills and bondi beach would be welcome! 

DON'T EVER, EVER GIVE IN...

....not as a statement of your will-power or goodwill or anything noble....but cos IT SUCKS.

got a lift on school run two mornings this week as there was a gale a'blowing and deludes of water and my little man was sick...but...(and not meaning to sound like an ingrate) it was awful. lift-giver ran late to pick us up as traffic was bad, so was in bad mood. little man in bad mood cos didn't want to be late for school. no morning coffee. no friendly chat on bus. just rush, rush, rush. lift-giver swearing at traffic ...oh, awful, awful world of the car.

we have raincoats, wellies, umbrellas and a metroten, so: No. More. Lifts.

The Great Unwashed

I know public transport isn't the only alternative to driving, but it's what we use most at the moment.

It is certainly affording some great learning experiences for my little carbon cop and I; he is fascinated by the notion that the seats at the front are meant to be given up for elderly/ pregnant ladies/ people who need more room etc... It's been great to see him transition from scowling at people for not offering their seats, but being unwilling to do it himself, to - finally - happily squeezing on to my knee the other day to allow a senior lady to sit with us.

A real parenting result in the character stakes!

Certainly a far cry from the lack of courtesy usually evident when driving a car around these parts.

It must be said, though, for the sake of transparency that now that Summer is showing herself the Bondi bus run has become a lot less fun and a lot more sweaty, crowded, loud, slow and inconsistent. I am having to allow a good extra 20 min each side of the journey to not run late. And I dread those moments waiting in the city where seemingly three of every other bus other than the Bondi one turns up, and you watch the crowd of people who you know are waiting for the same bus as you gather, and you know it will arrive packed, and late and possibly not have room for you arrgghh!

Another good opportunity to practise kindness to all...I guess! ;)

But still, this whisper remains car-less!