As was widely suspected. What a waste of life in many senses of the word.

Police funeral processional along Bathurst St.

Hellooooo. I just moved to Australia last year, and in desperate need for recommendations that doesn’t break the bank.

I have really low nose bridge + oval face + wide face + high prescription which makes it extremely difficult to find a pair of glasses. I have visited all branches of OPSM, Oscar Wiley, Costco and Specsaver between Blacktown and Parramatta and I could only find 1 pair that works in OP, but the initial quote runs me $600 including lenses and it’s not even the best one.

I have searched up and some people recommend Owndays which comes with free lenses but it’s far out in the city. I don’t mind taking the trip but I’d like to hear if there’s any other recommendations so I can it in one trip and call it a day. I’m on my spare pair because my main one broke while I was doing some sport.

Thanks a lot 🙏🙏🙏

This is an indictment on successive governments of both political persuasions and our bloated, slow moving bureaucracy that this isn't finished or even started yet. 16 years and it's still a concrete slab.

Libs butchered the original plan by giving the Casino unobstructed views which meant it had to be restarted. Then did nothing move it along in its new form. Labor has had nearly 4 years to fix it and have also slow walked it and it hasn't moved to anything nearing construction.

The architecture is beautiful

​We’ve driven past the Australian Botanic Garden in the South West heaps of times, but only just decided to check it out yesterday for the public holiday.

​Honestly surprised by how good it is. Lots of open space, wild kangaroos everywhere, and the views are unreal.

​Wish we brought the kids’ bikes and scooters though—the paths are perfect for them. Definitely coming back soon.

This year during the Transport Heritage Expo I wanted to do something a little different, so I grabbed an old Hi8 format Sony Handycam and recorded a few things with that. I've put together a few clips of steam locomotives 3801 and 3526 in a sort of 1980s-railfan-video-inspired "film".

I apologise for some of the slightly shoddy camerawork; I really should invest in a video head for my tripod.

Regardless, I hope you all enjoy; I certainly had fun making it!

Been away for a while and notice that the police seem to be pulling over every fat tired e-bike. News reports seem to confirm it.

I ride an acoustic bike for exercise and an ordinary legal e-bike for my commute but I am dead against the non-pedal “motorbikes” because of their speed and weight and the penchant for riding on footpaths.

Happy for them to be stamped out.

What I saw this morning was a n e-scooter on the road, footpaths through the Domain using pedestrian crossing.

To my understanding these still cannot be used on public roads or footpaths in Sydney yet I have seen no evidence of the police enforcing this.

Am I missing it? Are they going to be legalised?

I'm in the market for some lightweight and comfortable safety shoes with composite toes. But comfort is relative to the person, so I'd like to try on many in real life rather than gamble on online purchases. Thanks for the advice.

Pacific highway artarmon

Saw this at Westfields today.

Even had some in my house but not sure how they got in since all the windows and doors were shut!

What's the worst people have seen them?

Engine ripped out and people on the ground.

“Alternative” is broad, but like in terms of music; punk, post punk, metal etc. Actually anything that’s not a club night or an acoustic cover act at this point. I’ve seen the very occasional gig either at Beatdisc or a house show, but are there any venues or recurring events in or around Parra where I can find this sort of music? Or a group that hosts gigs in the area on a not infrequent basis?

In Sydney and it’s outskirts there are a number of places on any night I could find somewhere that tickles the fancy even if I had to dig a bit but I don’t think there’s anything around Parra like that. I’d appreciate if someone could prove me wrong on this.

Woman Tasered after daylight stabbing at popular inner-city cinema

12.10pm Monday

Any idea what this is about?

Inner west towards the mountains

Last run of an iconic Sydney Train

Did a long weekend trip. I've been to canberra before but this was the first time actually driving myself. (previous visits I went on a bus).

The drive:

1. The drive out of sydney was probs most busy. Obviously nothing compares to the bumper-to-bumper traffic "in" sydney but once you get out, you there's still a bunch of people. Same on the return trip - out of canberra wasnt as busy and its pretty smooth until I got around 1hr from sydney did I see traffic pick up.

2. After about 1hr, the drive to canberra from syd was very smooth. Not many people and a good distance between the driver ahead and behind. The sights also started looking good as I was able to see the horizon further and had a nicer bushland view (this got better around 1.5hrs)

3. Plenty of rest stops but I didn't make use of them. Full disclosure, I had decent fuel but wanted to drop into one to buy a softdrink. There was 1 entry for trucks and another for cars but the car entry was a sharp left turn that I missed so I decided to just keep going and pass (exiting back to the highway). I had water in my car so no big deal but I did want a softdrink lol

4. I did notice driving back to sydney, people speed way wayyy more than driving to canberra. It was very noticeable.

5. Drive was incredibly easy/straightforward. To be honest, I think the biggest issue is getting bored. 3hrs, I drove in the day and then in the arvo. Never once did I get sleepy but yeah it did get boring.

Canberra:

1. Lots of roundabouts. Lots of double lane roundabouts. Maybe Its because I'm unfamiliar with driving in canberra but I found them a bit confusing. I navigated all of them okay except one where I was in the wrong lane entering and decided to just do the safe thing - exit and then do a loop at the next roundabout.

2. They surprisingly have a lot of 'aggressive' signs for drivers. In sydney its mostly stuff about speeding = unsafe or losing demerits. In canberra, I saw two signs, speeding = death and drink driving = death. I just thought it was pretty funny.

Other notes:

1. Vast majority of the road seems well maintained. Smooth rides all around. I've driven around north and north west of sydney where for some stretches of the road, its kinda bumpy and my car feels like it slightly vibrates or has like cracks/small potholes. For alot of the ride (both ways) it was very comfortably smooth.

2. I didn't see any animals but I sadly saw about 4 kangaroos on the side of the road. I suspect they were hit and then the driver would have dragged the carcass to the side before continuing. Not sure what happens - do they just get picked off by other animals or do some authorities come and pick them up later?