Long Nosed or Flat Faced?

That's right, I'm talking about prime movers for semi-trailers.

One of the things Australians who are paying attention will notice in Europe is that there is not a long nosed prime mover to be seen. They are all flat faced (I believe the technical term is something like 'cabin over engine').

Road train on the Newell Highway, New South Wales.

 Why is this so, and why do long noses dominate in Australia? I went digging on the internet to find out.

The short answer is space. Flat faced trucks take up less space and are more manoeuverable, so in Europe they are more practical. Whereas in Australia the environmental factor that trucks struggle with the most is dust, and long nosed (technical term 'bonneted') are easier to maintain. They also allow for a more powerful engine.

Road train on the outskirts of Goondiwindi.

 The long answer involves regulations that specify different axle configurations and load weights in different regions and is too complicated to go into. But if you are interested, I suggest you read this article: https://historicvehicles.com.au/working-vehicles/why-australian-heavy-trucks-are-the-way-they-are/

In the course of my reading on this subject I also discovered that the term 'B-double' is only used in Australia, and that any multi-trailered rig is a roadtrain. I had thought there must be some technical difference between a B-double and a roadtrain, but the reason we have two names for the same thing turns out to be political. When roadtrains were allowed into the more populated areas of Australia, the politician in charge of the change thought the public would be scared of having roadtrains in their home towns so he coined the term 'B-double'.

Coffee Here and There

Yes, let's return to the vexed issue of coffee. Australia versus France. Knickers will be twisting already...

Vietnamese iced coffees, Sunny Café, Merimbula, New South Wales.

Since we have been living overseas café culture has blossomed in Australia, and it's lovely to see. Even the smallest towns have at least one thriving café, and many have two or more. My home town has three, for a population of about 3300. The cafés that do the best are those serving breakfast burgers, good house made savoury pies and the sort of cakes that look traditional and home made, like your granny would have made. 

However, since we have departed the sunny shores Australians have taken to boasting about the quality of their coffee, and that's not so lovely. That's just parochial, tedious and irritating.

 Roses Café, Goulburn, New South Wales.

In the majority of cases the coffee available in Australian country towns and big cities alike disappointed us. Most of the coffee we were served was faintly flavoured foamy hot milk. We tried asking for extra shots of coffee, but it made no difference. In the end I realised that it was not entirely the coffee that was the problem. It was the enormous quantity of foamy hot milk plonked on top of it that was the main culprit. Bear in mind that we were not asking for 'lattes', we were asking for 'flat whites', and we were not asking for 'large', just 'medium'. Finally we resorted to asking for milk on the side and that more or less solved our problem. 

 Cakes, Bottlebrush Café, Pittsworth, Queensland.

The French aversion to milk in coffee must have been absorbed by us to some extent I think. I was quite repulsed by the quantity of milk that it appears most Australians habitually consume in their coffee. The French are more tolerant of dark bitter roasts too, and we found most of the Australian coffees a bit bland.

 

Iced coffees, Garden Café, Tenterfield, New South Wales.

Flavoured milk drinks are available everywhere, and I had a strawberry one for old time's sake. It was a lot of milk and I struggled to finish it! On the other hand I also had an old fashioned strawberry milkshake in a down and out roadhouse, which was excellent. You just can't tell until you try with this sort of childhood nostalgia. 

 

 Bakery/café, Adaminaby, New South Wales.

On the whole, cold milk drinks generally worked better for us. Because it was hot much of the time we opted for iced coffee, something most of these cafés can do well, and a treat for us because it's not something you see so much in France. The best was in a Vietnamese takeaway in Manly. 

The best hot coffee I had was in the National Portrait Gallery café in Canberra.

The best coffee I've had since our return to France? That's to be had in the Bar Restaurant de l'Image, just round the corner from where we live. The proportion of coffee to milk is good, and a flat white tastes like coffee, not milk. Mathieu, the owner and barman, says the milk is important though, and he always uses milk from our local dairy co-operative Laiterie de Verneuil, as it is higher in protein than the milk from Poitou that our shops also stock.

Footwarmers

This is the last blog post about Tumut Station - at least for a while. And finally, it's the reason why it made such an impact on me.

Tumut Station

While we were there we took a photo of this structure, helpfully labelled as a footwarmer boiler. I'd never seen one before (they were rare, even in the heyday of the railways) and whilst researching them I learned something*. I have read early fiction that mentioned railway trips and footwarmers (Conan Doyle, Collins, or Wodehouse, can't remember) but I always assumed they were either hot water bottles or a box of embers. The truth is more complex than that.

The remains of a footwarmer boiler 

Australian railway footwarmers were reusable heat packs provided to train passengers during colder months. They were sealed metal tubes containing a supersaturated solution of sodium acetate. They were heated in baths of boiling water, and provided a couple of hours warmth. Also inside each warmer were small metal balls which meant that when the footwarmer was cold it could be shaken, and the balls provided a nucleation point around which the liquid crystallized. This process released heat, warming the pack for several more hours. Once cooled, the footwarmer was reactivated by boiling it in water, which dissolved the crystals back into liquid form, ready for reuse on the next journey.

*This is partially the reason we blog - take a photo, research it, blog it, discover facts

Bike Paths

On our walk yesterday (3.17km) I got to thinking about the differences between Australian disused railway lines, and French disused railway lines.

In France, over 6,900km of disused railway lines have been converted to voies vertes - cycle and walking paths. There is an ambition to increase that to a network of 20,000km by the year 2030.

This is our local voie verte, yesterday.

And this is the goods shed (also yesterday)

In Australia there is an ongoing - sometimes very heated - discussion on the wisdom of converting railway lines to bike paths. Many people are in favour of the plan, but there are those who want railway lines reopened. Even if they were closed in the 1940s and serve areas of decreasing population.

One of the schemes under "discussion" is the old railway between Tumut and Batlow. As far as we could tell, the residents of Batlow are generally in favour, and show this by displaying an old bicycle on their verandah roof.

This is the state of the railway - and goods shed - in Tumut.

Fontbaudry

Fontbaudry is the neoclassical chateau (built 1845) that you glimpse through the trees as you approach Preuilly along the Loches road. You can also see it (side on) if you walk along the northern edge of town. 

Usually we only see it in winter, once the trees around it have lost their leaves. Yesterday was a typical sighting: I was on a perambulate around town and I snapped it from a distance on my phone.

It wasn't a great day for walking yesterday: I think the photo says it all.

Autumn to Winter

We went for a short walk yesterday, and when we got home I looked at the photos I had taken only to realise I already had an almost identical photo, taken almost exactly 3 months ago.

The top photo was taken a week before the autumn equinox, the bottom photo a week before the winter solstice. I guess I have two more photos to take - but not quite yet!

Smoking Here and There

French people have a reputation for smoking, but actually, these days, you can go for days, even weeks sometimes without encountering anyone in France smoking in your presence. Smokers are not the pariahs they have become in Australia but they are generally fairly discreet, and many people have managed to give up altogether, or swapped to vaping (which is indeed quite commonly seen in public).

 

In Australia on our recent trip I noticed very few people smoking, but I did notice a trend I hadn't spotted before. Everyone I saw smoking in Australia was doing so in their car. That is presumably viewed as a safe private space where one can indulge a habit which has become socially unacceptable.

Wizzing Into Danger

The toilets at the Old Tumut Station (surely it's a misnomer - there is no new station, and the railway line is closed, anyway) are perfectly clean and useable...

if slightly unsettling....

It's Flunch Time

Flunch is a French cafeteria chain which opened its first restaurant in 1971 in Lille. It has since grown to the extent that you rarely see an Auchan supermarket without an associated Flunch. In total there are about 160 restaurants across the country. It's owned by the same family that founded and still control most of the following companies (take a deep breath)... Alinéa, Aquarelle, Auchan, Boulanger, Cultura, Decathlon, In Extenso, Kiabi, Leroy Merlin, Norauto, Odyssey International network of French schools, Saint Maclou (amongst others).

We've been living in France for over 15 years, and in that time we have eaten in Flunch maybe a dozen times. Even though they have a reputation for being good value cafeteria style food, we've never quite cracked the system of how it works - in fact we usually come away wondering why it cost more than we expected. However, yesterday we made huge progress.

You take one of the white, odd shaped trays (this is important later) and make your choice from the large screens above the cashiers (and other places) you select the menu you want and the dessert (and entrée, if you're having one) that corresponds with that menu. Choose your drinks (they may or may not be included). Then go to the cashier, place your order and pay, and make your way to the kitchen. Hand your ticket over and you're presented with the meat part of your hot food. Then hit the freestyllee vegetable bar for chips (fries), a choice of hot vegetables, cheesy pasta, and other stuff. You can go back to that as many times as you like.

After you've eaten, you pile all the remainders on your white tray (remember that?) and put it in the racks provided. The little red trays don't fit.

Thus for 18€40 we had two sets of chicken nuggets, endless chips and veg, excellent if simple desserts, and a bottle of sparkling water.

Ace!

Our Traditional Lamb Order

It's that time of year: our local lamb producers the Bottamines of Les Effes have their boxes of meat available. Susan has a standing order for a side of lamb, and went to the farm yesterday to collect it. As ever it's vacuum packed and ready to use. What amazes me is that prices haven't increased - 7.3 kilograms cost €117 in 2021, this year 7.06 kilograms cost €111.99. It's excellent meat, and the box usually lasts us a year (with judicial meat consumption). In fact the weekend before we left for Australia we had the leg of lamb from last year's order - and very nice it was too!

When I was a boy in Australia my parents used to buy half a lamb (hoggett, actually) and it would last 6-8 weeks. But then they were feeding three growing children, and hoggett was the cheaper option.

A Calvary Emerges

We have mention in passing that in the 19th century a Calvary was erected on the hill behind Chaumussay. We assumed that it had disappeared, because we've neither see it, nor trespassed up the mosquito infested path to find it.

Imagine our surprise, then, when on visiting just before we left for Australia, we noticed a cross at the top of the hill.

Whether this is because trees have died or been removed, or we have never been there in winter (unlikely) I don't know. But I assume it is one of the original crosses emerging from the undergrowth rather than a new erection.

Local Walks

It would be wrong of us to assert that every commune in France has a board showing local walks in the area, often with the national walks (Grand Randonné), but that would appear to be the case. Sometimes these boards are near the post office, often they're by the town hall, and sometimes they're in the parking lot by a picnic area.

They aren't all an identical format, and some are very old. The board in Ferrière Larçon is typical.

Preuilly sur Claise once had a similar board by the post office, but that is long gone. The is a board in the Bourg Neuf that shows longer walks in the South Touraine (but not little walks from villages).

This makes it very easy to explore France on foot, no matter your mobility. As long as you can find the board.

Dad's Car

While we were in Australia my dad decided that it is time to stop driving. I understand what a difficult decision it is to make, and dread the day I have to do it myself, but at 92 sharing the road with enormous trucks and people driving very fast cars without any sense of courtesy (or the road rules) is not a lot of fun.

This meant he was able to lend us his car, a 2007 model Toyota Yaris. It's a small town car, very polite to drive - if a little underpowered and with an automatic gearbox that has very little sense of logic. If you want random gear changes and over-revving then a Toyota CVT automatic gearbox is your friend. 

But it performed well, getting us where we needed to be with only a little fuss, in relative comfort, and with all our luggage. Add in navigation via our phones and you're away!

Our first, and longest, trip was from my dad to Susan's dad and returning to JB and Rosy. We did it over the course of two days each way, pausing along the way for many breaks, meals and taking in the view. What's the point of rushing through scenery?

I was interested to see how I fared driving distances after so long away, but apart from one or two times where I ran out of steam and needed a 20 minute nap I am quite pleased. Driving in Australia is different to driving on Europe.

Our Voyage in Numbers

This is a per person count. We didn't spend all of our time together, but the numbers are remarkably similar.

Air: 36,000(±)km

Train: 1548km

(586km in France, 962km in Australia)

Road: 3242km driven

(Plus countless kilometres in other peoples' cars)

Ferry: 109km

Just chillin'

We were away from home for 38 days, slept in 12 different beds, and ate in 28 restaurants.

We didn't turn Strava on, so there's no count for the number of steps or kms walked, but "enough" would cover it.

In total we took 2787 photos (plus a number of photos of knees, nostrils, lens cap covers, and floors). We can show them all to you if you care to visit.

Awaydays Blog Post X: A Wall of Thanks

We're back in Preuilly sur Claise after just over five weeks in Australia. As ever there are a long list of people to thank: JB and Rosy for hospitality, friendship, and loans of all sorts of stuff, Kathy and John for hospitality and for reorganising themselves so generously around us, my Dad for the use of his car, Rick and Helen for hospitality, Kippa for last minute taxi service, Geoff and Christine for a last minute bed and excellent roast lamb, and a host of other people who went out of their way to be helpful and provide meals.

It wasn't a trip long on planning: we had been talking about visiting for the past 5 years or so, but medical things (including a world wide pandemic, don't forget) were always getting in our way. Then Susan emailed my oncologist, asking if we could, at some stage, consider visiting Australia, and he replied "certainly, I've rearranged your appointments".

This forced our hand. I had a week to plan and buy tickets and get my head around the reality of going. In some ways I never really got my head around either going to Australia or being in Australia. Things I would normally just cruise through I found thoroughly stressful, and I made some beginner's errors - luckily not really financially disastrous.

But I'm glad we went. We saw our dads, which was the main purpose of the exercise. There are many people we didn't see due to the time constraints, and only a couple of days felt like a proper holiday. But it was nice (if slightly too noisy and frantic for my tastes) seeing family.

Awaydays Blog Post 32: So Near - Yet So Far

Our flight arrived in Paris 30 minutes early, and we got to the train on time. Unfortunately, due to a suspected bomb on the line at Marne le Vallée we're sitting on a train going nowhere. Latest advice is that the bomb squad will be attending in half an hour, which means our train will be at least two hours late.

People are not yet complaining out loud, but the train is overly warm for my liking.

Awaydays Blog Post 31: Sydney to Perth

Yup. It's almost over. Paris to Perth via the Great Australian Bight, Spencer Gulf shown.

That's the airport in Perth. I've been here three times, without actually bothering Perth itself.

Awaydays Blog Post 30: Three From Manly

Our last night in Australia. It was getting dark, so photo quality varies.

Nativity Scenes in a Secular State

The Chateau Royal d'Amboise have started setting out their splendid Neapolitan nativity scene in the Great Hall. In order to be able to do so they will have had to establish the legalities. France is a secular State and there has been some debate about whether it is legal to have nativity scenes on display in public places (other than churches). Except, and there is always an exception in France, if they have high cultural worth. This is certainly the case with the Amboise nativity, as it reflects the 15th century royal practice in the chateau.

The High Court ruled in 2022 that Town Halls and other public buildings were not allowed to have nativity scenes (Fr. crèche de Noel) except if they can prove 'cultural, artistic or festive purpose'. Most have very sensibly decided that it is a matter for the local church to deal with. Last year I barely heard a 'joyeux Noel' in the street, and there seems to have been a definitive and conscious shift to 'bonnes fetes'.

Awaydays Blog Post 29: Travel Fries Your Brain

We drove from Canberra to Woy Woy today, left the car there and caught the train/ferry combination to Manly. In doing so in the heat I left one of our phones in the car.

Tomorrow I return to Woy Woy to collect it.

In the meantime, the Hawkesbury River from the train.

Awaydays Blog Post 28: Gawn Bush

JB and I went for a drive in the foothills of the Brindabellas this morning. The weather wasn't great, but it was a nice run out.

Awaydays Blog Post 27: Running Up That Hill

Yesterday was another excellent day, divided between the coast and the high country. We started with a walk along the Merimbula boardwalk, past oyster beds, followed by a really nice lunch at Sunny's Kiosk.

After taking our leave of Rick and Helen we drove to Canberra via the Mount Darragh Road, a very picturesque country road that winds its way up the Great Dividing Range through temperate rainforest and tree fern lined gullies.

Awaydays Blog Post 26: A Day at the Seaside

I went swimming today. Aslings Beach Rock Pool is an ocean pool in Eden on the NSW south coast. According to unreliable sources it was built in 1961. It's ace!

However, you do have to be careful, because there was an undesirable on the beach: the Pacific Man O'War (Physalia physalis), also known as the man-of-war or bluebottle, is a marine hydrozoan found in the Pacific Ocean. It is considered to be the same species as the Portuguese Man O'War. It's not a jellyfish, it's a community of nasty stingy things suspended below a gas sack. (Read more here).

Awaydays Blog Post 25: Rock Oysters

Today we had oysters for lunch. They're grown, harvested, and sold about a mile from where we're staying. They're Sydney Rock Oysters rather than the bigger but less regarded Pacific Oyster, and were very tasty indeed.

Growing near the shop was the biggest patch of samphire either Susan or I had seen, so we stole a bunch as an accompaniment.