Australia

Damien Evans said:
You can see why we have it in Victoria though, if we didn't from mid November to early January the sun would rise at around 4:30 in the morning, which is just uncivilised.
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Christ on a popsicle stick, I'd never thought of that before. Cheers, Dazza. :thumbsup:
 
And the sun does rise well before 5am in Brisbane at the height of summer. What is really ridiculous is the lot of those who live in Tweed Heads and do business over the border. I was in that area a couple of years ago, crossing the border several times. I literally lost track of the time.

Intelligent Queenslanders I know (the three of them) hate not having daylight saving, but know that any government that enforces it would lose the next election by a landslide.
 
It escaped my attention that Queensland don't do daylight saving. Thanks for the reminder, guys... we're going there for a holiday in December, and we'd have been extremely confused if we didn't know.
 
Akhenaten said:
Right then . . .

<snip>

Since the 1980s Western Australia has gone from being "The State of Excitement" to "Home of the America's Cup" (cringe) and then "The Golden State". All of these appeared on the state's number plates during their 15 minutes of fame until the practice was abandoned in the early 1990s. Nowadays all you get is a simple "Western Australia".

<snip>
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Once upon a time, an aquaintance was trying to convince me the WA slogan was 'The Big State' which I think you'd agree is worse than all the other offerings. However, I'm not sure of the accuracy of this recollection.
 
Queensland doesn't have daylight saving because we've had numerous referendums on the issue over the decades and there is little support for it outside the south-east corner.

I live in Brisbane but I'm not keen on it either, though I can see how it creates problems in the Coolangatta/Tweed Heads region.

Orphia Nay said:
It escaped my attention that Queensland don't do daylight saving. Thanks for the reminder, guys... we're going there for a holiday in December, and we'd have been extremely confused if we didn't know.
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I remember once catching the train from Sydney to Brisbane around Xmas. The train is owned and staffed by the NSW rail authority and the staff on the train persisted in announcing the arrival time in Brisbane as 6.00am "daylight savings time" which of course was an hour ahead of when the train would actually arrive. It created great confusion amongst the tourists on board.

And don't get me started on the different rail gauges used by the States...
 
lionking said:
And the sun does rise well before 5am in Brisbane at the height of summer. What is really ridiculous is the lot of those who live in Tweed Heads and do business over the border. I was in that area a couple of years ago, crossing the border several times. I literally lost track of the time.

Intelligent Queenslanders I know (the three of them) hate not having daylight saving, but know that any government that enforces it would lose the next election by a landslide.
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The problem is that while it rises at the earliest at around quarter to 5 in Brisbane, up at Cairns it doesn't rise until quarter to 6.
 
Damien Evans said:
The problem is that while it rises at the earliest at around quarter to 5 in Brisbane, up at Cairns it doesn't rise until quarter to 6.
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Yeah, north Queensland is way west of Brisbane and being the most decentralised State (I think) there's lots of people that daylight saving doesn't work for.

And what a stupid name - "daylight saving". What do you guys down south do with all the daylight you save? :)
 
Magenta said:
Yeah, north Queensland is way west of Brisbane and being the most decentralised State (I think) there's lots of people that daylight saving doesn't work for.

And what a stupid name - "daylight saving". What do you guys down south do with all the daylight you save? :)
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It's also way North of Brisbane, so they get less daytime in Summer anyway.

For example, Cairns gets about 13 hours of daylight in early December. Brisbane gets about 13 hours and 40 minutes. Melbourne gets about 14 hours and 40 minutes.


Daylight Saving means an extra hour of sunlight after work, so anything requiring daylight, midweek 20/20 cricket comps for example, can be played on days they otherwise wouldn't be able to be played.
 
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I sleep in.

Makes me feel like a big shot, wasting daylight like that.
 
SezMe said:
Surely you jest. Isn't there a train that runs all the way across Oz? Is there another that goes north-south?
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Yes. A change of train is required when the gauge changes are encountered. It is better than the alternative....
 
Damien Evans said:
Daylight Saving means an extra hour of sunlight after work, so anything requiring daylight, midweek 20/20 cricket comps for example, can be played on days they otherwise wouldn't be able to be played.
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Makes sense, but often it's so hot in the afternoon here that it's a relief when the sun goes down - carpe noctem I say!

arthwollipot said:
Anything we want.
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So.... pretty much the same as we do without daylight saving?

BTMO said:
I sleep in.

Makes me feel like a big shot, wasting daylight like that.
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But... the extra daylight is at the end of the day. Really you should be going to bed earlier, preferably while it's still daylight. :p


A.A. Alfie said:
Mine goes in my sunny box
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Saving for a rainy day? :)
 
Magenta said:
But... the extra daylight is at the end of the day. Really you should be going to bed earlier, preferably while it's still daylight. :p
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You clearly have no concept of the degree of my lethargy...
 
SezMe said:
Surely you jest.
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I kid you not:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_gauge_in_Australia


SezMe said:
Isn't there a train that runs all the way across Oz? Is there another that goes north-south?
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Yes, the Indian Pacific runs between Sydney and Perth on the same gauge and, north-south, The Ghan runs between Adelaide and and Darwin, also on the same gauge. On the east coast you can travel between Melbourne and far north Queensland by train, but not the same train all the way.

The now defunct Great South Pacific Express used to travel between Sydney and far north Qld, but had to undergo a bogey change in Brisbane because of the different rail gauge between the two States. The current passenger train from Sydney to Brisbane and NSW freight trains run on dual gauge line from the border to Brisbane.
 
SezMe said:
Magenta said:
And don't get me started on the different rail gauges used by the States...
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Surely you jest. Isn't there a train that runs all the way across Oz? Is there another that goes north-south?
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All of the state capitals are linked by Standard Gauge lines, Including Sydney/Perth (East/West) and Darwin/Adelaide (North/South) and for passengers this would be of little consequence, I'd think, seeing that it's a days travel between states anyway.

In terms of freight, though, it's probably a bit more disruptive. Having to transfer a whole goods train worth of stuff from one train to another is a lot bigger undertaking than shuffling a few passengers about the place.

The Standard Gauge is gradually replacing the others. For example, the Adelaide - Darwin line which was once narrow gauge is now Standard Gauge, as is the formerly Broad Gauge Line from Seymour (Victoria) to Albury (New South Wales)


TheGhan.jpg

The Ghan, which normally runs between Adelaide and Darwin. This is in Broadford, Victoria on its way
from the workshops at Junee, New South Wales, to its Southern terminus in Adelaide, South Australia​


Know-it-all Stuff:

Standard Gauge (NSW and interstate lines) = 1435mm (4' 8½")

Narrow Gauge (Queensland, WA, Tasmania and bits of SA) = 1067 mm (3' 6")

Broad Gauge (Victoria and other bits of SA = 1600 mm (5' 3")​


This is the biggest map I can find which shows the current lay of the land rails:


Map_RailGauges.png




ETA: Oh, beaten to it. :)
 
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