How Ya Goin’?

Many people here use this phrase as a common greeting. It was explained to me that it can mean several different things: How are you? How is it going? How are you doing? Whats new? — Its really a catch all, but it’s a very friendly way to greet someone. I would struggle later in the trip to decide whether I should attempt this phrase or simply say ‘Hello’ to householders out in the bush. One thing this phrase is not used for is to inquire into which mode of transportation someone intends to use.

One of the interesting things about Sydney is how many options there are for public transportation. The ferries have been mentioned already. There are thirty six wharves dotted around the harbor, inlets, and tributaries and they generally allow you to traverse great distances quickly. Each wharf has digital schedules posted so that you know which wharf you need, when the next ferry will arrive, and where it will take you. Of course many people arrive on cruise ships which dock in the same harbor as the ferries.

There is also an elaborate and terribly convenient train network that will take you about anywhere for far less than a taxi or Uber ride. For example, to get from Sydney out to The Featherdale Wildlife park on the train cost about $6 and took an hour. The bus would have cost $12, A taxi $130, and an Uber ride $95. All of the trains that I rode on were of the split level variety and quite nice, and the people on the trains were generally friendly. There’s a suburban railway network, a metro network, and a light rail network (though I’m still not sure which is which) and these are mostly automated. So the city is well covered by rail.

From my lodgings, the travel options were plentiful. The Kirribilli wharf was a two minute walk from the hotel and the Milson’s Point train stop was about a ten minute walk to the spot where I could climb the stairs to the Harbor bridge. Taxis and Ubers were available. But there was something else this city has that I had never seen before. Something truly unique.

As I wandered around, I kept coming across bikes that were parked at random locations. Sometimes they were sitting next to trees on tree lawns, sometimes they were parked on city streets, and at other times they were sitting (or laying) out in open plazas and parks. There were two types that I noted: Mobike (China owned) had orange bikes and Lime (US owned) had green. There were also a few yellow ones, the last holdouts of a Beijing-based company called Ofo, but as the outfit was mostly defunct, they had little visible presence apart from the odd cameo. But the other two were honestly everywhere. Essentially these are bicycle shares. I believe both were electro-assisted bikes, meaning that when going up a hill an engine would engage to help you.  What was even more interesting, though, was the way these systems worked.

You would download an app and set up a payment method. After that, the app would show you where these bikes were located using GPS. When you found one, you would scan a QR code on the bike and it would unlock so that you could ride it. When you arrived somewhere, you would get off the bike and lock it. Then the next person would do the same and take it off to wherever they wanted to go. Having an electrical element to them that would wear down over time, the bikes were remotely and recharged by the company on a regular basis. I wish I would have tried one, but I was honestly a little fearful of crossing streets on foot much less navigating them at speed on a bike.

As a friend reminded me before I left Ohio, ‘Always look right when crossing a street instead of left’. In fact there were large signs on the ground at most cross walks that simply said LOOK with an arrow to the right. Its a small thing, but it honestly messed with my head every time I tried to cross a street. I had this irrational fear that a car would randomly materialize and destroy me. We tend to look left before stepping into a street in the US because that’s the direction a car is usually coming from, but with cars driving on the opposite side of the street here, ambulant metal death is always coming from the right. Look left as you step into a street, and you could be stepping right in front of a speeding car to your right. However the crossing signals were very helpful and provided a safe Haven. They would beep very slowly until the walk sign came up and then chirp excitedly so that you knew it was safe to walk.

One last mode of travel I noted was a car that had ‘GoGet’ printed on the side. This was essentially the same scheme as the bikes, only with cars: download an app, find one, scan a code, and go. There is also a gas card in the car so that you can make sure to leave the car with at least a quarter tank for the next person, and…wait for it…the company pays for the gas you need to buy in order to do that!

Really remarkable.

There were also herds of motorcycles clustered around the city in special parking areas. But tomorrow would acquaint me with another type of train travel: a fourteen hour journey North to Brisbane in Queensland, and from there a further six hours to my final destination in Gladstone.

As much as I was enjoying this city, my budget said it was time to go. I had a ticket, a neck pillow, an mp3 player, and a very thick book to read. I couldn’t have been more ready or more excited to make the trip.