We went to Chatswood by train from Central station. We went around Chatswood visiting The District Dining precinct above the station , had some KFC at Chatswoid Chase , shopped at Daiso and managed to line up to receive a free Krispy Kreme donut. It was the grand opening of their tiny store in Chatswood near the station. We spotted the queue of mainly school children some with their parents lining up and wondered what the queue was for - oh a free Krispy Kreme donut. The line moved pretty quickly with security control ( to stop people pushing in where there was a break in the queue to allow pedestrians to cross) however after we received our free donuts the line curled down the entire concourse of the station - mainly older school kids with only a few general members of the public lined up amongst them. Poor Panfu next door probably received very little business due to this promotion.
I posted photos onto Facebook at the event.
More photos below
When I am travelling on the train from Central to Gordon continuing north on the North Shore Line, I often look out to the left of Killara Station along a grassy garden. Here you will see on most days rabbits freely roaming around. They are such postcode snobs that you won't see them at Roseville, Lindfield or Gordon Stations they only reside at Killara Station. They are so cute but don't touch them as they are probably full of parasites.
I went for a ride on the relatively new B line double decker bus service from the back of Wynyard Park on Carrington Street towards Mona Vale. I have caught the B line before but only as far as Neutral Bay to connect with s Balmoral bus - this time I wanted to travel further to see where this bus took me but only made it as far as Warringah Mall to go shopping ( what?! it was a very hot day and I couldn't stand the heat outside) before running across the main road at the lights to stand B and just making a connecting bus to Stocklands Balgowlah ( I was determined to get to Balgowlah one day and explore). It was a very quick trip and once I reached the bus stop across the road from the mall, crossed at the lights to explore the smaller shopping centre. How cute it was and it seemed to have most of the facilities/conveniences locals needed. I spent quite a bit of time ( in an air conditioned environment out of the heat) there. Checked out the Coles supermarket my manager kept raving on about - she was right it was pretty good - better then both Chatswood ones. It was like the Westfield Bondi Junction one - they serve takeaway pizza. I also had some sushi and teriyaki chicken from a sushi store there for lunch and visited the company I work for's Balgowlah store. It is smaller then the St Ives store and different in shape to the Balmain store. I met two of the employees that worked there Fi and I think James. It was Fi ( a Balgowlah local) who told me about the Hop Skip Jump bus - a free at least a decade old community shuttle bus that operates quite frequently 7 days a week connecting locals to surrounding Northern Beaches suburbs such as Seaforth and Manly. I hopped on this bus just outside the entrance/exit to Stocklands Balgowlah and took it along with a bunch of other locals all the way to Manly via the swim centre. It didn't take very long at all and when I arrived at Manly a bunch of people were waiting to hop on this bus to travel back in the opposite direction. Passengers just yell out to the dtiver of they want to get off at a stop along the routes - there are no buzzers on the bus. There is a donation box on the bus to keep the service running. I wanted to donate something but found I had no spare coins in my backpack.
Once at Manly there were thousands of people walking around. It was so hot so my first stop was to visit the markets then find a cold drink or at least a local supermarket to purchase a bottle of water. I found a Coles near the end of the famous Manly Corso but decided to go to the Aldi supermarket near Manly Wharf to purchase a bottle of water and a bottle of cold Kombucha. Then it was back onto a ferry to Circular Quay - I just made the ferry which was about to depart Manly Wharf and once on it was packed - so packed I could not find a seat inside or outside of the ferry on the bottom or top deck therefore sat on the floor with a few others near one of the exit/entrance docks on the upper deck. Quite a comfortable spot but it was so hot on the ferry even with the fans whirling in the background.
It is not a short ferry ride from Manly back to Circular Quay ( no tap off required on Ma nly ferries only tap on) - once we arrived I headed straight for the train which was also packed with people. I got off at Town Hall Station instead of Central and waited for the M30 bus to take me back to Railway Square instead of getting the train to Central Station and walking back to the YHA Railway Square. Not lazy just tired hence the bus.
photos attached
The Hop Skip Jump shuttle bus
Inside Stocklands Balgowlah Shopping Village
Not the most attractive of shopping malls from the outside but once inside it is quite appealing with its half indoor half outdoor areas
The B Line bus outside Warringah Mall
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