Yesterday, after my shift at 2RPH, I wandered down to Thai Town (Campbell St area) to buy the usual requests for my family. The city seemed livelier than I can remember in a while, with more students about. Cafes looked fuller, shops busier. The coronavirus is still very much a presence (with new strains forever on the horizon) but some people seem to have relaxed into the risk, perhaps more than they should have. I wear a mask pretty much all the time when away from home but I am in a very small minority, perhaps about ten percent.

Later I caught my usual inter-city home and noticed people queuing with bags at one of the gates. The Indian Pacific was lined up on Platform 3 ready to its long journey across the continent. Porters bustled with luggage carts and people said their goodbyes. I would love to do that trip.

From one train to another.