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Starry starry night

I've discovered another route to work which means I just get on one means of public transport instead of minimum 2 and I don't have to climb up a steep hill. Funny what becomes important to you - I don't mind public transport and the commute; I don't like the wait in between the tram and train, train and bus. And sometimes I don't want to walk up the hill in the evenings when I'm tired after work.

So if I walk up the hill from here (a gentle uphill and in the morning when I am fresh), I can then get a bus which drops me at the front door of my office. I now have to time the moment I step out of the door to perfection however!

Another upside of this route is that it's dark when I leave and dark when I come home and I walk through countryside so I hear the birds waking up and surprise surprise I often see a starry starry sky. It's amazingly clear given that we live in supposedly polluted Europe. I've seen the big dipper and the milky way and generally a skyful of bright stars. It's peaceful - as peaceful as it can be walking along an arterial road. And it almost makes up for not being able to walk to Manly from Balgowlah.

Every day I thank the stars for this fantastic opportunity we've been given. Life is good.

We have the prospect of two exciting weekends. The first in Amsterdam where we'll meet my niece and some good friends from Fiji days and the second is in Paris where we'll meet a good friend from Australia travelling in Europe. Both times we travel by TGV though for the Amsterdam trip we have to switch to a slow train pretty soon after leaving Zurich. But it's going to be good and we'll report again on Monday with pictures.

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