Public Transport – Going to Toowoomba

I’m going to ignore the obvious question of ‘Why the hell would you want to go to Toowoomba?’ Apparently some people like it there. Frankly, I think they’re lying. But it’s worth a visit, even just for the opportunity to be grateful you didn’t grow up there.

What I am going to cover is how to get there, and back.

Car

Just drive there, you goit. It takes around an hour (sometimes two, depending on traffic) to get there.

Train

Wait until a Tuesday or a Thursday, and catch the Westlander from Roma Street, Corinda or Ipswich rail stations. You’ll need to book in advance. The journey takes 4 hours from Brisbane to Toowoomba. Rumour has it that horses can do it faster, fed enough oats.

If this option does actually interest you, check out the Traveltrain website for more information.

Bus

If you don’t have a car (owned or hired), then this is the most sensible method of transport. It will take 1.5-2.5 hours to travel by bus, depending on how many towns it stops in. As far as companies go, you have a few different options (be aware that these will tend to change every 6-12 months, so make sure you have updated information):

Toowoomba Transit Coaches
They don’t run very frequently, but they’re cheap and fairly reliable. Usually uncrowded, so on an average day you’ve a good chance of being able to walk up, pay for a ticket and jump on. They don’t run on some public holidays, so check before blithely making assumptions.

Greyhound
Run far more often, and have gotten up my nose by running most of their competition into the ground then raising ticket prices as soon as they have a monopoly. Fairly standard business tactic, I know – but it still sucks. Ticket prices can vary wildly month to month due to aforementioned tactic. Often expensive, sometimes ridiculously cheap. They usually run a reduced number of services on public holidays.

Toowoomba Airport Flyer
By far the most expensive option of the lot, but also the most convenient IF you’re coming from Brisbane airport. It’s a fairly standard airport shuttle service – door-to-door service etc.

Southbank – Tourist Trap and Full of Crap? (Part 2)

Smack-bang under Southbank Cinemas is a place that is a must to try if you’re a fan of hot chocolate, coffee, tea, herbal tea, or iced versions of any of the above… or, for that matter, of homewares and timber furniture. Batavia, run by the very friendly Cindy Walker, is a strange but engaging combination of Fair Trade homewares shop and Tea Salon.

The Tea Salon

Batavia specifically styles its food and drink section as a ‘Tea Salon’, rather than a cafe. Patrons are encouraged to relax, socialise, and have some fun. Boardgames are available, or you can bring your own. Obviously, during peak business periods it would probably be appreciated if you weren’t quite as leisurely.

Drinks

The prices will seem steep on first perusal of the menu. But there’s a good reason for that. Most cafes will serve you a hot mocha in a glass or mug. Batavia serves you an entire tray:

(note: that ‘teacup’ is, in fact, almost soup-mug sized)

The jugs for a hot mocha (pictured) contain hot chocolate, hot brewed coffee, and milk. While the ingredients for each drink obviously differ, they’re all generously proportioned. A couple include a mound of icecream nearly filling said soup mug. If you’re just a bit peckish, you may find that one of these mugs is all you need.

Teas are high quality, and there are some exquisite and unusual offerings.

Food

Batavia’s food menu consists of fairly common cafe items – cake, biscuits, focaccias, soup. However, they all have the distinctive Batavia twist that turns them into something special. There are several options available when ordering a slice of cake – from just the cake to icecream, handmade chocolates and biscuits in accompaniment. Beware – the largest option is an extremely sweet meal in itself.

I have one perennial favourite dish at Batavia – the biscuits. They’re served on a very swish serving dish (designed to fit around the huge trays for the drinks – clever eh?) with a bowl of chocolate dipping sauce. Decadence. *drooool*

Wares

Batavia sell all sorts of stuff. Most eye-catching are the pieces of solid timber furniture – they range from gorgeous to gorgeous and comfortable. As I mentioned earlier, it’s all Fair Trade, meaning that the craftspeople producing it actually got a decent price for their work. Cushion covers, scarves, journals, vases and jewellery are just some of the items you’ll find in here.

They also sell the teas served in the Tea Salon.

Public Transport – Which Ticket?

If you’re looking for a basic introduction to Brisbane’s ticketing system, see Public Transport – Buying a Ticket. It explains integrated fares and zoning.

Translink currently offer a range of tickets, all of which suit different needs. The question is – which one is right for you?

go card

This card has received a lot of publicity recently, partly because of the huge problems encountered by Translink in getting it working and rolled out. It’s been available to the general public since 21 February – long enough to have generated a lot of conversation. While it’s convenient to some, others have found it an expensive annoyance.

Convenience Factors – No zone restrictions (can be used almost anywhere in the Translink network). Makes carrying cash unnecessary.

Usage Restrictions – Not currently accepted on Airtrain, Laidley Bus or Surfside Bus services.

Price Options – No discounts are applied for off-peak travel. If you’re a regular public transport user, your first 6 trips in a week will be charged at full price. You’ll then receive a 50% discount on all trips for the remainder of the week. ‘Week’, in this case, is designated Monday to Sunday. So if you make those 6 trips on Thursday- Saturday, then you’ll pay full price again on Monday. For a standard 5 days/wk 2 trips/day traveller, this works out the same price as a weekly or ten-trip ticket. For anyone else, it could work out far more expensive.

go card Top-ups – Top-ups via credit card are available via the website or phone. May (read ‘most probably will’) take 48 hours to process. So this is not a quick “Whoops I need more money on my go card” option. Top-ups are also available at rail stations (EFTPOS or cash) and should be applied immediately.

Automatic Fines – If you forget to touch your card when leaving a bus, ferry or station, a fine will be automatically removed from your card. Ditto if the card reader isn’t working. At the moment the fine is $5 for an adult train passenger, less for bus passengers and concession holders. The current plan is to double the fine later in the year. This is non-refundable, although in theory a non-working card reader would get you a refund.

Paper Tickets

Single – This allows you to travel on as many services as you need to in order to take the shortest route from one location to another, within the specified zones.

Daily – A daily ticket is double the price of a single for the same zones, and allows you to travel all day in the zones specified, as many times as you want. If you have a zones 1-7, for example, you could travel from Ipswich to Brisbane City to Redcliffe and back.

Off-peak Daily – Exactly the same as a daily, but only valid on weekends, or on weekdays from 9am to 3:30pm and after 7pm. It’s 75% of the price of the equivalent daily.

Weekly Ticket – A weekly ticket costs the same as 8 single trips in the specified zones. For example, a single ticket for zones 1-3 costs $3.20. A zones 1-3 weekly ticket costs $25.60. It is valid for an unlimited number of trips for 7 days from the issue of the ticket.

Ten-Trip Ticket – A ten-trip ticket costs the same as a weekly ticket. Where it differs from a weekly is that it allows you only ten trips within the zones specified, but does not limit you to a specific time period (ie, doesn’t expire after a week). In theory, it allows you to transfer from one service to another as part of your trip without charging you for another trip. But they seem to be keyed to direction of travel. If the first service you get on is travelling toward the city, and you get off in the city and catch one away from the city, you may find yourself overcharged. Keep an eye out. These tickets are valid for Brisbane City Council buses and ferries only – not for trains or private bus companies.

Price Comparisons

Scenario 1

John travels from Ipswich to the city every weekday for work. He usually goes to the Valley on a Saturday night, and sometimes goes to Southport (on the Gold Coast) on a Sunday. Because he doesn’t have a car, he uses public transport for all of his travel.

go card – John will pay $5 per trip for the first three days of the week – $30. He’ll then pay half-price for the remainder of the week – $10 for the rest of his weekday travel, $5 for his visit to the Valley, and $8.40 for his trip to and from Helensvale station. He’ll need to buy a paper ticket to travel any further on Surfside Bus Lines, because they haven’t integrated the go card readers yet – another $4.80 for a 3-zone off-peak daily ticket.

Paper Tickets – John would buy a weekly ticket for zones 1-7, as he typically makes more than 10 trips per week. This will cost him $40, and cover his weekday travel, his trip to the Valley, and part of his Gold Coast trip. The extra cost for the remaining part of his Gold Coast trip (zones 8-13) will cost him $6.90 for an off-peak daily ticket.

Week’s travel cost using the go card – $58.20
Week’s travel cost using paper tickets – $46.90

Scenario 2

Alison and Frank live in Beenleigh. Alison works 3 days a week in Yeerongpilly, and gets a lift home on average one of those nights. Her husband Frank works Monday-Friday in the city and uses public transport every weekday to get to work and home again. They have a car, and use it for weekend travel and grocery shopping.

go card – Alison pays full fare for each of her 5 trips – $4.10 per trip, $20.50 per week. Frank pays full fare for his first six trips – $5 per trip, $30. He then pays half-price for the rest of the week – 4 trips at $2.50 per trip, $10.

Paper Tickets – Alison buys daily tickets for 2 days of the week – $8.20 per day – and a single ticket the other day – $4.10. Frank buys a weekly ticket – $40.

Week’s travel cost using the go card – $60.50
Week’s travel cost using paper tickets – $60.50

Scenario 3

Sally lives in Toowong. She has two jobs – one in Milton on Monday-Wednesday, one in Sandgate on Friday-Saturday. She uses public transport only to get to and from work.

go card – Sally pays full fare for each of her trips to and from work in Milton – $2.30 per trip, $13.80 per week. She pays half-price for each of her trips to and from Sandgate – $1.80 per trip, $7.20 per week.

Paper Tickets – Sally buys a daily ticket each weekday that she works – $4.60 x 3, plus $7.20. She buys an offpeak daily – $5.40 – for the Saturday trip out to Sandgate and back.

Week’s travel cost using the go card – $21.00
Week’s travel cost using paper tickets – $26.40

Conclusion

Rare though Sally’s situation might be, it is possible to save money using a go card instead of the traditional paper tickets. People in a situation to do so will typically live fairly close to their workplace, work at least 3 days a week, and travel a comparatively long distance at least once a week. Others – perhaps a large number of people – will find that the go card is the same price and more convenient than paper tickets. Frequent public transport users, though, may well find that their ticketing costs would be significantly higher with the GO Card. Do the maths, check your situation out for yourself, and find the solution which works for you.

More Information

Check out these sites for more information on the go card and opinions from users:

Official go card information site
Brisbane Times readers’ opinions
Discussions on Back on Track Forum

Wildlife Watch: Butterflies

I’m hopeless at photographing butterflies. I think it takes patience. I’m not good at patience.  So I was impressed when this little guy gave me huge amounts of time to take his photo. Apparently this variety do that a lot.

I’m 99% sure he’s a Meadow Argus. Feel free to disagree with me, though.

Southbank – Tourist Trap and Full of Crap? (Part 1)

Well, maybe. But lurking behind the strange building layout and the large amounts of crappy fast food lie some treasures. This was originally going to be a single article, but when the first section got to three paragraphs, I realised that that idea wasn’t going to work. Instead, this could turn into a right little series, with 4 parts at last counting.

Southbank Cinemas

I first discovered the Southbank Cinema a few years ago. See, occasionally a company irritates me so much that I’ll decide to boycott, and lemme tell you – I can really hold a grudge. BC&C managed to get on my really really bad side when they banned outside food from their premises. Public indemnity risk. BULLSHIT. The choice – accept the dictatorial edict, meekly buy ridiculously-overpriced CRAP to eat and thank them for the privilege of using their cinemas? Nuh uh. I’m far too stubborn for that sort of thing. So off I trotted to the independents – and with a cinema like this on hand, who the hell would want to go to BC&C?

Southbank Cinemas offer a great movie-going experience at a surprisingly low price. Adults get in at a maximum $7.90 (cheaper during the day on weekdays), children at $4. When you consider that BC&C charge around $15 for adults and $10 for children, you can see why they’re so popular. The savings extend to food, too. While it isn’t really cheap, the prices look fantastic when compared with BC&C’s gouging. And of course, outside food is permitted. To a point – hot food and drinks probably won’t be appreciated. The screens are well-sized – except for the screen left over from the days when this was the Imax Cinema. It’s FREAKING HUGE and is usually used for the just-released blockbusters. With good reason – it’s great to watch those big special effects on.

One warning – if you’re with a group, or you’re picky about where you sit, check which cinema your movie will be in. If it’s in the big Imax screen (Cinema 5), you’ll want to get there about an hour early. Take a book, pack of cards, food, whatever, and start lining up in the passageway outside. Trust me on this one. Turn up 10 minutes beforehand and you risk sitting on the edge of a row, scattered to the winds and unable to share snacks. And that just sucks.

Go to the Cineplex website to get information on movies showing, session times, or to buy tickets and popcorn online.