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You might find this interesting. https://transport.vic.gov.au/news-and-resources/news/free-weekend-travel-across-victoria-this-summer

When I click on the language indicator (ENG) on my task bar, the pop-up menu shows 3 options. ENGLISH AUSTRALIA with a sublabel US, English New Zealand (NZ Aotearoa) and United States (United Kingdom). Regardless of which option I choose, it highlights words such as colour until I remove the U.

Ah yes IMAS. I was thinking of the Australian Maritime College which is up north.

Hobart.. mainly

Hobart, or Launceston? For some reason I thought the marine biology course is up north. May be mistaken.

We are nearing the point of moving back to Aus.. at the moment, Melbourne looks the goods for us (because I am from there, have family, and know it better than anywhere, although there are more jobs in Sydney). Wasn't planning on getting a car - the tram and train network are very good and can get you to where you want to be.. Yeah may have to walk a bit, but that is good for one's health, anyway. Hopefully home shopping is the rage in Aus as it is here. If we need a car, we can borow a brothers, and worked out to hire a car for the odd trip is much cheaper on all accounts. Happy to train/fly between capital cities, and as RandomX says, the trains in Vic are very cheap each way within the state (of course, there will be lots of bussing in between apparently). But, son has decided he wants to do marine biology, and guess where the best marine biology course is in the world? Townsville! So, if we end up there, I will need both a car and a light plane (and an IFR) to get me to Sydney or Melbourne on the odd occasion.; But not to worry @nomadpete and @Marty_d - the second best marine biology course in the world is in Hobart, and my son has a penchant for the place. We may be neighbours, yet. Who knows, I can get a job down there as a sign writer 😉

Forgiven. For some reason, the spell checker on my Firefox browser doesn't work on my Windows box. It does on my Linux box, but as that is packed away, unfortunately, I only have my Windows box to use.

Don't bother with the spell checker. Half the fun of reading Jerry's posts is figuring out what he's trying to say.

Best city in Australia IMO. Not too big, clean, very good road and rail network, cycle tracks everywhere, generally good weather and the Swan river running through the city makes for great views from King's Park (2,000 acres). I came over from Melbourne for work and stayed, although the Western District is still home in a lot of ways. Always enjoy going back there. Lived in Warrnambool for three years (nice place but cold and windy). Grew up in Port Fairy and Portland and worked in Cobden for a while before heading overseas for three years.

Forgive me Jerry, but I doubt you use a spell checker. If you did, you'd have a page covered in red underlines.In just two paragraphs of your post above, this is what I found. Check the yellow highlights

The reality is continual investment in obsolete infrastructure will further result in underutilisation costs, because a lot of it is manifactured/fabrcated by global companies and Australia won't have the economic size to warrant whole production facilities and global supply chains to maintain them. Of you can absolutely pay through the nose and then some to maintain the ability to replace and increase capacity using the obsolete infrastructure. One of my nuclear clients had to do just that and ended up paying virtually all it would have made in profits by retaining old technology. They eventually bit the bullet and upgraded their infrastructure. At some stage, you have to run down the use of obsolete infrastructure. If that means you are decommissioning plant and infrastrcuture before the end of its useful life, that is your bad planning and management and mothing else. This is done by winding down the investment in obsolete infrastructure while investing on the new, far more efficient infrastructure. Indeed, even maintaining the existing infrastructure eventually moves to minimum to keep what is needed going while comissioning the new infrastructure, and keeping some of the obsolete stuff going in parallel to mitigate teething problems. This is called transitioning and is not a new concept. The problem is, the LNP government from Howard on were sponsored by the fossil fuel industry right at the time it was right to start the transition, both ecologically and economically. However, they fought against it and, with the help of the Murdoch and to a lesser extent, then Fairfax press, were able to maintain power and further delay the inevtiable, resulting in the cost of underutilised and increasingly obsolete infrastructure to increase, rather than transition to superseding infrastructire while optimising the life of what would have remained. The other side of it is finding the finance to fund the operations of fossil plants. Do you not remember the Morrison/Dutton government pressuring the Aussie banks to lend for new fossil fuel generation when they weren't prepared to? Banks will generallly lend to lawful etnerprises as long as the risk adjusted return on their capital meets their desired threshold. Even arms dealers can get funding, albeit with more stringent checks before that funsing is provided. Yet reputable banks are unwilling to lend to new fossil fuel electricity generation projects. Even with government pressure to try and get them to lend, why do you think that would be? I can tell you first hand. When we lend for project finance (the model commonly used), we have to work out the economic viability of the plant over the time horizon the finance is sought. We are often talking billions of USD (sorry, @randomx - USD is still the global currency) and usually over multiple decades - sometimes the expected life of the plant (ex. extestions). And, with the global electricity generation industry in its advanced state of transition, the risks are too high that we will lose on the deal. This is happening all over the world.. yes, there are developing economies where you can still get finance for new builds, but ultimately, they will fall away, as well. And we are now seeing, thanks to modelling other climate risks into the equation, operational funding on the decrease in these industries, as this compounds the risk of the probability of default in these sectors (and some others). We see plant of all different types (not just electricity generation, but manufacturing, processing, distillation, etc) being mothballed aand those costs have to be borne. But to continually invest in ne but obsolete capacity and try and be the last man standing and carry the costy of all of that is,well, quite nuts both at a micro and macro economic level.

We priced a battery, but due to our already low bills, it did not stack up economically. It does, of course, provide backup power which is useful. Our thoughts at the moment are that when we need to replace our car (next year or the one after), we will get an EV capable of V2G. This would suit us perfectly. The car is often parked here during the day, and we have excess solar, and it can be on standby for the occasional power cut

Technically true. However, there are many countries that are close in terms of electricity generation. I am not sure if I have used the term 100% and I do think that is something for the future. It is not the case that it is 100% or failure. Even leaving pollutants out of the equation, surely we would not want to build new coal or gas, as it is the expensive option. Switching to renewables is not just an ideology; it is an economic imperative. Albania: Hydroelectric[48] American Samoa Tau: ~100% solar power, with battery backup[69] Australia Tasmania: Hydropower supplies 100 percent of Tasmania's electricity. (Pending legislation plans for %200 renewable power by 2040, with the remainder to be sent to mainland Australia via submarine power cables)[70][71] Austria Lower Austria: 63% hydroelectricity, 26% wind, 9% biomass, 2% solar[72] Bhutan: Largely hydroelectricity; exports 70% of its production due to excess energy generated; no fossil fuel power plants.[73] Canada British Columbia: 97% hydroelectric[74][75] Manitoba: 97% hydroelectricity, 3% wind, <1% petroleum (diesel in four off-grid communities), <1% natural gas[76] Newfoundland and Labrador: 95% hydroelectricity[77] Quebec: 99% renewable electricity is the main energy used in Quebec (41%), followed by oil (38%) and natural gas (10%)[78] Yukon: 94% hydroelectricity[79] Costa Rica: 99% renewable electricity. Hydroelectric (90%), geothermal, wind (and others)[80] Democratic Republic of the Congo: Almost 100% hydro, but only 9% have access to electricity.[81][82] Denmark Samsø: Net greater than 100% wind power and biomass, connected to mainland for balance and backup power[83][84] Ethiopia: Mostly hydroelectricity (>90%). Smaller quantities of wind, solar, and geothermal. 45% of the population has access to electricity As of 2018, and there is a 100% access target set in 2017 for 2025.[85] Germany Aller-Leine Valley: 63.5% wind, 30% biogas, 10.7% hydro, 3.1% solar[86][87] Wildpoldsried, Bavaria: 500% wind, solar, hydro[88] Greece Tilos: 100% wind and solar power, with battery backup[89] Iceland: 72% hydroelectricity, 28% geothermal, wind, and solar power, less than 0.1% combustible fuel (off-grid diesel)[90] Norway: 96% hydroelectricity, 2% combustible fuel, 2% geothermal, wind, and solar[90] New Zealand South Island: 98.2% hydroelectricity and 1.6% wind. Around one-fifth of generation is exported to the North Island.[91] Tokelau: 93% solar power, with battery backup and 7% coconut biofuel[92][93] Paraguay: Electricity sector in Paraguay is 100% hydroelectricity, about 90% of which is exported, remaining 10% covers domestic demand[94] Tajikistan: Hydropower supplies nearly 100 percent of Tajikistan's electricity.[95] United Kingdom Scotland: 97% of electricity (2020) produced from renewables, mainly wind followed by hydroelectric.[96] United States Kodiak Island, Alaska: 80.9% hydroelectricity, 19.8% wind power, 0.3% diesel generator[97] Palo Alto, California: 50% hydro, rest a combination of solar, wind and biogas[98] Aspen, Colorado: Hydroelectric, wind and solar and geothermal[99] Greensburg, Kansas: 100% - wind balanced with grid connection[99][100] Georgetown, Texas: 100% - 154MW solar and wind balanced with grid connection[101] Burlington, Vermont: 35.3% hydro, 35.3% wood, 27.9% wind, 1.4% solar photovoltaic[102] Washington Centralia: 90.6% hydro, 7.9% nuclear[103] Chelan County: 100% renewable energy made up of 99.98% hydroelectric and 0.02% wind power.[104] Douglas County: 100% hydro[103] Pend Oreille County: 97.1% hydro[103] Seattle: 86% hydroelectricity, 7% wind, 1% biogas[105][103] Tacoma: 85% hydro, 6% wind[103] Uruguay: 94.5% renewable electricity; wind power (and biomass and solar power) is used to stretch hydroelectricity reserves into the dry season[106]

No country is 100% renewable.

a) it's not mystical (I think you mean mythical), and b) they are often set automatically at installation time based on your computer's locaisation settings.. So. no need to apologise. Ahh.. yes.. the difference between TV and the internet is you have total choice about the your content consumption, whether you consume it at all, and about content creation. Unlike TV, which is governed by execs, the Internet has totally democratised content.. Of course, it's a furphy to say you have a choice whethe to use the internet or not, as, after all, even doing govenment business like a class 2 medical requires the internet and a app - as I found out on Thursday. But you have total choice about what you consume.. and if you like, you can produce content and make a decent living from it as well. The reason for Americanisation (or should I spell Americanization) globally isn't a simple, "oh, we are force fed US content", The reality is the far more complex than that. America has a much stronger entrepreneurial culture than much ofd the rest of the world. What this means is that the US tolerates a greater degree of risks, and actually celebrates failure as lessons learned rather than failure itself. And, in it's entrepreneurial spirit, it has tapped well into consumerism as and expanded globally. But this is not unique to America. Europe did it beforehand through conolisation, as did the Ottomans, and the Romans. At different times of humanity, cultures of the dominant societies prevailed, although these days, thanks to technology, it is easier to do. One of my favourtie quotes from a British government committee on Thomas Edisson's lught bulb (I think it was the Brits that actually invented a carbon paper filament bulb beforehand): “is is okay for our transatlantic friends…but unworthy of the attention of practical or scientific men.” The Brits invented the computer, but the USA expolited it.. And the nuclear bomb, by the way. And look who owns the global trademart to Ugg (Ugg boots brand). While the US DoD invented the internet, HTM, which powers individual interaction to the internet was invented by a Brit - Tim Berness-Lee (sp?). However, the US business world exploited it. They do this because they are willing to take risks and accept losses. In the 90s dot bomb boom and bust, I was working in San Francsico with a start up looking to launch a B2B premium wine trading site. When I was looking at CVs and interviewing people, I was shocked how they were open with startups they tried and failed. Why would they admit failure? That is a no-no in UK, Europe and Aus. I refrained from interviewing a couple of people, but curioisty got the better or me. One candidate went into elaborate detail about how that was the best learning experience of his life, what he learned from it, and how he would apply those learnings going forward. To use Australian venracular, it was bloody refreshing. I hired him and he was a top performer. The company, though, did go bust, and I learned a lot from it - about business, corporate environments, and myself! And the US is the biggest consumer market in the world. So, while yyou may not be American making content, you want to attract the market likely to make you most money: (made specifically for the US.. but a strangely familiar accent). The reality is you can moan about it, but even if the pollies did tryt something, the sheer juggernaut is off and going, and there is little they can do about it. Of course, rather than moaning, you can start your own content to correct the issue and bring Aussie culture to the world.. You know, like Bluey, Neighobours, and the Aussie travelling spirit. When I first arrivedi in the UK, I was surprised at how well adopted some Aussie vernacular was - such as shocker, She'll be right, mate (mate being English; Cobbah being Aussie, but mate being predominant in Australia, too). In other words moaning about it and to you dear One Nation friends aboujt it is pushing ship uphill, or as we used to say, you'll be up ship creek in a barbed wire canoe.

Yeah right, use to have to pick my daughter up from the station all the time l dunno, l always thought it did really well to myself . Perth since the 80s hey, how is been happy over there? Nice damn place the old Perth. Only went there once back packing , they had a great PT to though back when, yrs ago, no clue these days.

Funny, 26 shrinks around the US all did a Trump diagnosis as far as they can without him on their couch- and all 26 declared him a narc. Some even said although you'd usually need an in person diagnosis there's not even any need with Trump as it's so obviously loud and clear anyway bc they see him 24/7 on everything. l'd go 1 further- don't need anything , just look at his bs on Ukr. Could say one thing though , we could cert do with some partial Trump type leader, "partial", calling out all the bs going on in this country, a to hell with the red tape, just bloody do it. Our crime for one. Housing, small business red tape and costs, immigration, make Australia Oz again, China, just a few wittle things, yaknow !

To use the example of my rooftop solar SA (and Australia generally) is still at the stage of absorbing the cost of changing to a system that will be cheaper. If you want an instant reduction in your power bills, then what is your solution? No businesses want to build new fossil fuel power, and those companies that are in fossil fuels are moving away from it. AGL has a commitment to move away from fossil fuels by 2035. This is not because they are green hippies, but it is the rational business way to go. The rest of the world is moving in this direction again not from ideology but from financial pragmatism. As a country, we are not at the leading edge. The transition is quite slow and steady. The Middle East has become immensely wealthy because of its oil. Australia is well placed for the next energy revolution. We have vast amounts of uninhabited land, and we have the minerals required for batteries, etc. I am in no way saying it is all easy. So far. Many countries are 100% renewable, but they rely on hydro or geothermal energy. The thing about being weather-dependent is that in Australia, it is usually sunny or windy somewhere. This is why we need a smart grid. So what are these other options? Do you want AGL to be forced to refurbish or build new coal infrastructure? Do you think this would bring you cheaper bills? If, as you say, moving towards renewables is a recipe for disaster, then you would expect this to reveal itself through countries like Denmark (70% wind). What could be criminal is if we go in the opposite direction to the rest of the world. We could end up as a quaint backwater. Coal plants in Australia are aging and need to be replaced with something. Replacing coal plants is far more expensive than renewables plus firming. Coal is now the most expensive form of new energy. I personally am not totally against nuclear; however, the 2 problems I see are the economics and the time required to build. Gas is useful at the moment for peaking, but it is very expensive.

The Warrnambool to Melbourne train runs five time per day (weekdays). I grew up in the area and used it quite often in the past to visit family since I moved to Perth in 1980. Pretty good service.

So where SA loses in having the cheapest form of energy, we will lose the savings in uderutilised infrastructure. We still dont know if it will work before the country goes broke. No one has ever built a grid on intermittent weather dependant renewables. It is criminal to even try when we have other proven options. Pity there wasnt a way to hold politicians to account for bad uninformed decisions they make while in power,

On PT, can't say too much really but my from my old place near Warrnambool Vic, you could get a Melb train and back 3 or 4x a day. l thought that was pretty good really can't expect any more often than that it'd be 99% empty. My daughter said something to about 9bucks to anywhere in Vic, forget any detail but crikey can't argue with that , dunno if there's a catch. On another note, my partners been in Sydney last 6yrs l drive up but then we train everywhere.She runs the show ha ha, gets us some card thing, no idea, but it's cheap as and we train and bus all over the place as much as we want to anywhere so again l dunno but that seems pretty damn good to me. But l mean this stuff can't be expected to go straight to 27 mill peoples front door , it's impossible. Sydney we have to walk a bit we like it , same from my place in Vic if l wanna use the train, no biggie it's bloody nice actually and refreshing when your use to driving everywhere, gives you a break. But eh, that's just me.

Ha , yeah that'd be right. Such good will these days eh.

Yeah but plssssss, naturally yeaah , it happens and it has here compared to our grand parents- we're even losing Gday, butttt, must we all evolve into yanks via it all being forced down our throats.

Sorry buddy but l don't think you took one word of anything l tried to say in any just everyday sense. No kids gonna go searching out some mystical spell checker even if it actually really does work. Just talking everyday internet man, it all spell checks to US - there's your training, emails, anything you do, searches, forums- try it right here in this forum. ARSE - there ya go, click on that ????? Put that in 20 different just plain everyday google or whatever else search, emails - whatever you like- see what you get. lt's already been said man, all of it. Anddddd, once again, yes , we've all mentioned tv too, it's everywhere. Matter of fact, as l just said, there's even been docs about this EXACT, stuff. Everything l'm saying. Unfortunately ofc though, lead to nothing.

Haaa, l'm not worried about any exodus to the US, letem. Don't want their crap forced down our throats here though and nope, wish it was but it's not some storm in tea cups. There's even been specials on tv about the way it's happening here, pretty common knowledge. Unfortunately , these shows even if someone does notice though, don't seem to change much.