Wed-Fri 14-16 December - Perth...

In Perth for the next three days.

Tue 13 December - More cancellations...

By 06:15, we already know that at least two Sandy trains are cancelled - the 06:59 and the 07:59. Can't be the heat problem from yesterday, perhaps it's the rain?

The loss of the 06:59 means the 07:14 is a bit cosier than normal, but not too bad. And it's only a minute or so late.

Coming home, some 17,321 passengers manage to cram into the 17:49. They close the doors, they open the doors, a further 2,419 manage to squeeze in. We finally depart at about 18:00 - can't lift my arm to see my watch!

We arrive at Richmond and it seems three people get out and a further 6,575 jam themselves in. A fair few more find some nooks and crannies to fill at South Yarra.

At Windsor the driver tells us that if we're feeling a bit cramped (nooooo!!!!) then there's another train one station behind. That'll be the 18:01 also running late. There's the agony of indecision... do I or don't I? As the doors are about to close I pop out like a cork from a champagne bottle onto the platform and wave that train goodbye. Can't believe I just did that! The golden rule is never ever ever let a train go, you never know when the next one will come along. Anyway, the driver sounded trustworthy...

A couple of minutes tick by, a mouthy youth and his girlfriend on the citybound platform begin to verbally abuse a passenger near me. He responds appropriately. I start asking myself if this was a good idea and whether I should've trusted the driver. Anyway, along comes the 18:01 and there's a surprisingly large number of passengers on that. I'm glad I'm interstate for a few days...

Mon 12 December - Morning's OK...

The 07:14 is pretty much on time.

At 17:42 the message comes through that the 17:38 is cancelled. Fortunately I was not aiming to catch it anyway, but Shaz was, and she reckons the platform is heaving.

I go for the 18:12 and that time comes and goes with no comment from Connex. The train arrives a couple of minutes late and off we go. Thankfully the aircon's working as it's a hot and sticky evening. We pull up at Ripponlea about three minutes late.