Again awoke without peril of alarm or time constraints.  Nice.  On the menu for the day is history from a few centuries ago, and then just a few years ago.

On closer examination, I think it's safer that I don't venture through the arch and risk getting wet.  Certainly, the tale is the water will just roll off my back, but I've never wanted to test the truth of that statement.

The train departs from the Olympic Park station back to Sydney Central.  And our 20 minutes of annoyance begins.  A woman boards with five children, ages three to nine or so.  Clearly, she's given up on life, and on discipline, and is eagerly awaiting the sweet slumber of her own death... for only then, she may have some peace.  I think the others in the train car where ourselves hoping for such a painless escape.  Of the offences of the children:

• The youngest, a sandy-haired girl of three years or so:
  • Really, no harm done by this one.  Certainly, she can't drink an apple juice box without splattering the floor with its contents, but she's forgiven, she's three.  Shame on mom, perhaps, for letting Three to walk and wander around a moving train with a container full of liquid, and not thinking far enough in advance to realise that to be three, having to concentrate on balance, holding the drink, a handrail, and being pelted from candies from her siblings, could be too much for the girl.
• The youngest boy, a lad of perhaps five:
  • He got bored about halfway through the trip, and kicked off his shoes in the front of the car, and began using the pole (which most people use to balance themselves) as a spinning point, but made sure that when spinning, he'd also hop up and down, while yelling.
  • His soda bottle, what appeared to be a Fanta Orange, was empty and discarded on the floor, left to roll around throughout the trip, and well onto the next trip (as mum never picked it up, nor asked the boy to do the same).
• The middle boy, of maybe seven years:
  • I think this one was named Ricky.  He likes candies.  Of course, he doesn't want to eat them.  He chose instead to throw them.  Now, if the others were aware of it and wanted to catch them in fun, great.  But Ricky's preference was to use the gummy-bear like candies as pellets to assault his siblings.  I counted five on the floor (there may have been more) at one point, all dangerously close to being stepped on at one time or another, and ground flat onto the floor.
• The elder of the two girls was a brown-haired lass who's survived about eight winters:
  • She was taking after mom in the areas of being in some need for a more streneous exercise regiment, but that's not germaine to the conversation.
  • To her credit, Brittany was her name, she did collect three of the five candies from the floor to discard them properly, or so I'd hoped.  She gave them instead to the boy we'll meet next.  She completely missed candy #4, and ignored #5, which was already smushed flat on the floor.  (She paid no mind to the plastic bottle rolling around.)
  • Toward the last third of the trip, she and Ricky kicked off their sandal-like shoes, and began hanging between two handrails, hopping up and down while yelling something or another.
• The eldest boy, of maybe nine years:
  • Decided to ride between the train carriages while the train was moving.  Never mind there are signs everywhere both warning and prohibiting this as unsafe and not allowed.  Mum said nothing.  At one point, a woman in the next carriage went and spoke to the boy; his ignored her, blatantly.  He came in only when he felt the need... and yes, mum knew, for the youngest, a sandy-haired girl of three, ratted him out to mum.
  • When Brittany had finally picked up after the others, he offered to take the candies she'd cleaned up from the others from her.  He then opened the door between the train cars, and discarded the candy.  Geez, in my country, that's be seen as littering.
  • He exercises, obviously given his lean appearances.  On this trip, he did so by leaping between the two benches on the opposite sides of the train carriage.
• Mum was a woman of ample frame and ability to dress herself and bring enough juice boxes for her five hellions, yet, she must be circumstantially deaf or has brief periods of coma.  She said nothing to these children at any time about their behaviour, their mess, or even to Boy, 9 about his unorthodox means of riding the train between the carriages, rather than in them.  Even when the conductor approached her and warned her -- he's heard both complaints from passengers (the woman who spoke to Nine, I suspect) as well as seeing it himself on the security camera on the train.  Not only is it very unsafe, but there are fines associated with such behaviour on the train.  Again, mum's the word, and mum said nothing of apology to the conductor, nor did she try to curtail the actions of her children.
• Wanna see this charming family in action or as they departed?