myki - girl - train stations - melbourne blog

Myki and Me

During the Melbourne Cup Carnival is about the only time that I use my Myki card! That’s partly due to the fact that we don’t have a train line out in Doncaster! So a quick top-up was needed and away we went. We were informed that our Myki cards would be expiring very soon so please go and swap over to new ones! What was that about?? Apparently everyone who attained their card right at the beginning had to swap theirs for a new one all around the same time! They expire after 4 years! That’s a few hundred thousand cards going into the trash all at once. Waste of resources, if you ask me!

Do you love Myki?

As we don’t travel too often on the trains, we haven’t experienced any of the grief that some Melbournians have with the whole Myki thing. This ‘touch-on, touch off’ system has caused some problems with Melbourne commuters. The biggest problem that I have encountered were with the online top-ups, where it takes up to a few days for the payment to register on the Myki card. Not great for those unsuspecting travelers who don’t read the fine print!

Public transport in Melbourne

I love public transport – it’s usually the best way to commute and travel in a big city. Despite being one of the most liveable cities in the world, Melbourne lacks some infrastructure and the system is made way too complicated. No idea why they felt the need to change it … I don’t see any benefits.

What needs to change: 

  • touch on / off too complicated, time consuming  –> change to one touch and charge only one price. Keep it simple!
  • instant online top up – I don’t want to plan ahead 24 hours to travel on public transport
  • solution for instant travel is necessary – I don’t take my Myki everywhere and might forget it – I would not buy a new one just for one trip.
  • why do cards need to expire – replace them when they are broken
  • train infrastructure needs to improve there are still plenty of suburbs without access to train lines. And who needs to travel to the Airport by train  … Melbourne is not that a big city. Where is the second tunnel through the city? A “star system” is not ideal – you pretty much need to go to Flinders street first. And I still see some boom gates throughout the city to cross the train tracks … this is 2014 not 1950!
  • and maybe some nicer train stations would help as well to change the image of public transport – colour – music – art work and sculptures – plants- cafes – themed train stations.

But it’s not all bad. Due to the high amount of traffic during the Melbourne Cup Carnival, it was best to catch public transport. If you aren’t lucky enough to live in the city, it’s only one change of trains to Flemington from most places. It’s best to travel early as the trains get very full with race-goers around lunch time. You are taken right to the race track.

My outfit for the day – The perfect day for a cloud print dress

The day is a cold and windy one. It’s Oaks Day during the Melbourne Cup Carnival. The day did start off with a warm twenty-seven degrees. Of all the days that I decided not to take something to keep me warm, this was it. Even though I wasn’t showing it, the temperature dropped and left me pretty shivery. Needless to say, I did come down with a nasty bout of the flu after that.

We were not going to let cold temperatures ruin a photo shoot opportunity! So we made a quick stop at the North Melbourne train station to bring you this photo shoot. This beautiful silk Thurley dress has a print totally appropriate for the day – it’s a cloud print! I’m loving the swirls of silk which acts as a lovely alternative to the peplum, sitting around my hips and tummy. Thurley is Australian and is one of my favourite labels. There’s still a few pieces sitting in my wardrobe waiting for a photo shoot. The shoes are from Nine West.

 

metro trains in melbourne

melbourne public transport

girl on escalator - train station

black and white thurly dress -

windy day in melbourne - hair

metro myki user

girl over train tracks