SMH blows the whistle on 30 years of inaction on Sydney public transport planning

Farewell Dinner at Bathers' Pavilion, Balmoral Beach

Quail for entree, Barramundi for main, Strawberry and Rhuburb for dessert, all washed down with a 10yr old Pepper Tree Grand Reserve Cab Sav. Nice!

Dinner at kelly's Bar and Grill, Bondi Junction

Dawn at Coogee pools

Ross Jones Memorial Pool, Coogee
Originally uploaded by adrianhind

Up at 4:45am today for some early morning photography at Coogee pools

Betting on the house

[smh] "Think house prices here are going to fall? Soon you'll be able to short-sell Sydney housing, by taking out a derivative contract based on indices compiled by Rismark/RPData and quoted daily on the sharemarket."

Now this is an interesting concept, a way to get some exposure to the property market (either on the long or the short side), without have to take on a massive mortgage.

Dinner and drinks at Bodega Tapas Restaurant, Surry Hills

Dinner at Viva Goa, Pyrmont

Dinner at Alio, Surry Hills

Metro rail plan hits the buffer

[smh] Sydney's long-term public transport planning farce continues...

We're driving to disaster, rail guru warns

[smh] "The state's most respected transport bureaucrat has broken an eight-year silence to condemn the NSW Government's botched handling of Sydney's transport system"

Some interesting insight into the problems with the current Sydney public transport infrastructure that were predicted back in 2001. The need for a second train line under/over the harbour is something that I am now experiencing every day with the near crush loads on the North Shore line during peak hour.

Dinner at Spice I am, Darlinghurst

Bondi Junction blast: frustrated residents stuck in limbo

[smh] "More than 300 homeless residents of the Bondi Junction apartment block rocked by a gas explosion on Monday face weeks of further uncertainty about compensation and when they will be able to move back in.

Unit owners and tenants of Eastgate Towers on Spring Street were told at a meeting on Wednesday night it would take at least five weeks - and as long as eight months - before the building is fully repaired."

Bondi Junction blast residents homeless

[smh] "More than 200 residents left homeless after an explosion in a Bondi Junction apartment building do not know when they will be allowed back to live in their homes."

Bondi Junction gas explosion

All of this happened in an apartment block about 100 metres up the street from where I live:

[smh]"Two plumbers remain in hospital, one in a critical condition, after a gas explosion on the 29th floor of an apartment block in Sydney's eastern suburbs yesterday.

The men, aged 22 and 20, received serious facial and hand burns in the blast, which ripped apart walls on the 29th floor of the unit block on Spring Street, Bondi Junction, about 12.40pm.

It is believed the explosion was caused by a ruptured gas pipe in the eastern tower above Bondi Junction's Eastgate shopping complex.

Most of the 200 or so residents evacuated yesterday were allowed back into their units overnight.

But police warned the building would have little or no power, water or gas supply for at least the next three days."

Sound Relief at the SCG

Sound Relief: Coldplay ... and John Farnham
Originally uploaded by adrianhind

Coldplay, John Farnham, Wolfmother, Hoodoo Gurus, Architecture in Helsinki, Eskimo Joe, Taylor Swift, Jet, The Presets, and Icehouse! Fantastic line-up, and all for a great cause.

Dinner at glass brasserie and bar

The War of the Roses Part 2

[Sydney Theatre Company]

8 / 10

The War of the Roses Part 1

[Sydney Theatre Company]

Cate Blanchett is absolutely brilliant as Richard II in Part 1 of The War of the Roses.

8 / 10

(9.5 / 10 for Cate)

RED OAK Boutique Beer Cafe

Microbrewery in the heart of the Sydney CBD; Tasting plates with matching beers; and a absolutely delish Seeded Mustard and Rosemary Marinated Lamb Backstrap.

Brilliant.

[Freakonomics] Why You’ll Love Paying for Roads That Used to Be Free: A Guest Post

The Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Harbour Tunnel are soon to have different tolls for different times of day, which I think is a great start, but, as Stephen Dubner writes, "the best solution is to vary the tolls in real time based on an analysis of current traffic conditions."