By the time Tony co-founded Lonely Planet Publications in 1973, he already had the travel bug. And ever since, travel and discovery have been at the heart of his life and career.
Melbourne has a new subway line – the Metro Tunnel – running through five new stations and currently having a soft opening, before the schedule launches full tilt on 1 February 2026. The new Parkville Station will probably be the most useful new station, since it’s at the University of Melbourne which badly needed a handy Metro station.
▲ The Town Hall Station
The two new central city stations might look slightly redundant since the Town Hall Station is only a couple of hundred metres from Flinders St Station and the State Library Station is right beside the Melbourne Central Station. In fact you might find it easier to enter the State Library Station from Melbourne Central rather than from its own entrance. The Metro Tunnel line, however, runs in a different direction than the other lines through Flinders St and Melbourne Central.
Unfortunately to use the new line you still need the horrible old Myki Card. Transport Victoria have announced that they are introducing ‘tap and go’ technology to Melbourne. Tomorrow? No, they are testing it in 2026 and at some point in the future you’ll actually be able to use it. But didn’t they start testing it in 2023 at some stations? Well yes they did, but clearly three years of testing wasn’t enough, there’s more testing to be rolled out in 2026
◄ My hated Myki Card
Hasn’t anybody asked them about this before? Well yes, for one person I asked Transport Victoria why we couldn’t use contactless cards in Melbourne when London introduced the technology in 2014. So that’s 10 years ago.
And I did get an answer, ‘we’re working on it and hope to introduce it soon.’ Which in Melbourne seems to be in 10 years time. So for over 10 years I’ve been able to use my Australian ANZ credit card to pay for public transport in London, England. But not in Melbourne, Australia. Absurd isn’t it?
Once upon a time Melbourne was a regular ‘most liveable city in the world’ title holder. How could you be a ‘most liveable city’ and at the same time operate the world’s most-visitor-unfriendly-travel-card? I suggested that in 2013 and 13 years later my opinion hasn’t changed. Never mind, the new Metro Tunnel Line reportedly took lots of lessons from London’s very popular Elizabeth Line. In London I often use the Elizabeth Line even if it means travelling a bit further because it’s so fast and convenient. Perhaps Melbourne can also learn from London how to get rid of the Myki Card.
▲ The Elizabeth Line at Bond St.in London
Since it opened in 2022 the Elizabeth Line quickly became the busiest railway line in the UK although technically it’s not part of the London Underground network. It runs out to Heathrow Airport – but so does the Piccadilly Line – and even further to Reading. It’s popular and has won architectural awards as well as being so busy. Check my August 2024 posting about riding the London Tube.
The train trip from Auckland via the volcano-studded centre of the North Island of New Zealand went as planned. As did some museum visits in Auckland. The walk I’d planned at the Tongariro National Park didn’t go so well. . ▲ TEAL Solent ZK-AMO, MOTAT, Auckland . ...
During the course of 2023 I’ve been on trains in 12 different countries – in date order in Australia, South Korea, Japan, Canada, USA, England, Spain, Belgium, France, Monte Carlo, Italy and Switzerland. There could have been a 13th – Bulgaria – but there was a group ...
For a spell from 1988 Remo was a Sydney store run by Remo Giuffré selling weird and wonderful things. Eventually it collapsed, but it’s now come back to life as a twice a year catalog of … well of weird and wonderful things. You can subscribe for A$72 a year. I...
◄ Michael A Cummings quilt, Hunter Dunbar Projects Gallery, West 24th St – we were staying at the Chelsea Hotel on West 23rd St and a block north and three blocks west West 24th St featured a whole block of door-to-door art galleries. I rather liked the quilt art at t...
▲ Iguazu Falls from Brazil – yes they’re wonderful. If you want to compare the Iguazu Falls with Niagara Falls (Canada-USA) or the Victoria Falls (Zambia-Zimbabwe) the Iguaza Falls National Park website has all the comparison figures. I’d also throw the Murchison Fall...
My recent South American travels started in Buenos Aires, crossed the River Plate to Colonia in Uruguay, continued to Fray Bentos, the capital Montevideo and then along the Uruguay beach strip to Punta del Este and José Ignacio before continuing to Asunción the capita...
After crossing the River Plate from Buenos Aires to Colonia I travelled north to Fray Bentos with its history of canned food. Most Brits don’t realise that familiar supermarket brand – Fray Bentos – comes from Uruguay. Next stop was the capital Montevideo from where I...
That high speed Buquebus ferry sailed me across the River Plate from Buenos Aires to Colonia, a delightful place with a strong Spanish colonial flavor and lots of restaurants and cafes – and museums – to attract day-tripping Argentinians. ◄ City Gate, Porton de Cam...
Before I met Maureen in New York and stayed in two interesting hotels – The Chelsea and the TWA Hotel – I had two weeks in South America. Catching up with two countries – Uruguay and Paraguay – which I would have visited in 2020, if that pandemic hadn’t come along. ...
◄ The Chelsea Hotel, New York City Maureen and I spent four days in New York City in early October – she flew in from Milan, Italy, I met her from the Iguassu Falls in Brazil. We met at The Chelsea Hotel, if there’s an iconic hotel in New York this has to be it. We...
© Tony Wheeler’s Travels 2013