I had a realisation earlier today I haven’t really been home much lately. I was home in Lismore for Christmas. I was in Newcastle for a week with my work, and my work will take me to Brisbane for a few days later in the month. And last weekend, a friend and I travelled to the Sunshine Coast for a few days.

We stayed in an apartment at Maroochydore which was nice: spacious and close to the beach. Maroochydore itself was quieter than I remembered, though noting it’s a few years since I last visited there. We relaxed, ate well, and enjoyed our time there very much. Memorably, Maroochydore must have the world’s largest adult store which, amusingly, has a large sign at the front saying they have parking and you should “enter via rear”. We both laughed.

Mooloolaba was a little more exciting, and a little more visually appealing with a lovely beach, and a lovely bush walk. The surf club was an excellent place for lunch: they’ve done a nice job making it appealing to both tourists and the many older, retired people who can still afford to eat out at what’s essentially a tourist town. My friend was after a pedicure and was told the basic pedicure would cost $90 “because we’re a tourist town”. Yikes. An unexpected highlight of the town was the Steve Irwin statue just off the beach. Yes, really.

On the subject of travel, my mid-year plans are coming along nicely. In essence, a week in Japan, a week in New York, and three weeks in Europe (Sweden, of course) which now includes 5 days in Rome. I’ve never been there before, but am looking forward to it very much, having found good central accommodation (without breaking the bank), and with plans for sight-seeing both in Rome and beyond (Venice for a day-trip surely?). Any travel tips would be most appreciated.

4 responses to “Travel Bug”

  1. Victor Avatar

    Every time I have visited the Mooloolaba Surf Club the restaurant has done a roaring trade. It must be one the most profitable clubs of its type in the country.

  2. carolbaby Avatar

    I heart Rome and am very envious! (I’ll email you a link to our Italy flickr pix)

    I would recommend getting up very early to visit the Forum,Palatine (my favourites) & Colosseum to avoid the insane crowds.

    Not immediately obvious, but fabulous places to visit:
    centrale montemartini: broken statues amidst the achinery of a disused power station. Just as amazing as it sounds
    galleria nazionale d’arte moderna: gallery of modern art. In such an ancient city, great to see some more contemporary stuff
    terme di caracalla: Ruins of Giant Baths – really, really beautiful grounds.

    But really, even just wandering about the city and soaking up the atmosphere is positively excellent.

  3. carolbaby Avatar

    ARGH! wordpress ate my comment (though if it didn’t – apologies for the dupe)

    xxxxxxxxxx

    I heart Rome and am very envious! (I’ll email you a link to our Italy flickr pix)

    I would recommend getting up very early to visit the Forum,Palatine (my favourites) & Colosseum to avoid the insane crowds.

    Not immediately obvious, but fabulous places to visit:
    centrale montemartini: broken statues amidst the machinery of a disused power station. Just as amazing as it sounds
    galleria nazionale d’arte moderna: gallery of modern art. In such an ancient city, great to see some more contemporary stuff
    terme di caracalla: Ruins of Giant Baths – really, really beautiful grounds.

    But really, even just wandering about the city and soaking up the atmosphere is positively excellent.

  4. James O'Brien Avatar

    I also received this further comment about Rome which I’m sharing anonymously

    Have just had a catch up on the blog …..offering these suggestions for the traveller …..

    http://www.the-beehive.com/ accommodation very centrally located in Rome ( if you want to review what you have booked ) We loved this place , as it was so easy to navigate many walkable routes all over Rome Good list of ideas on their site . We stayed here in 2003 , and have told so many people about it, have never been able to book there since !

    http://www.museumsinflorence.com/musei/museum_of_natural_history.html this is the most fabulous Museum 16th/17th Century wax figures, still used by Medical Students and Artists …very quirky, and located close to other major attractions in Florence.

    http://goitaly.about.com/od/venice-islands/ss/torcello-island-venice.htm a lovely peaceful trip and surroundings….set apart from the general tourist trail, and was once a rival of Venice ….. till the canals silted over and the arrival of Malaria …almost plague conditions . Wiped out all the great farming area…used to be the ‘greengrocer ‘for Venice.

    http://www.italylogue.com/things-to-do/visiting-torcello-island-in-the-venice-lagoon.html a little more background.

    St Mark’s Venice, of course is a must ….if not flooded! We were there late in the year and dark by 4p.m. so missed a bit of touring time …your travel time is better planned. Venice was our last stop , before we returned to Florence and exiting to Vienna for the flight home …in fairness we were pretty tuckered out by that stage of the travel ….eight weeks ….Florence, Paris, Ireland for eight days and back to Paris overnight, then to Milan, Sondrio in the Valtellina , lower Swiss Alps ( birthplace of my Grandfather) then Florence to Naples , Paestum ( also worth a visit) Rome, Assisi ( Fabulous weekend ) Venice and back to Florence …phew !!!

Leave a Reply to James O’BrienCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Previous Post
Next Post

COMMENTS

  1. Fantastic station James. I remember a time (57 years ago !) when as a night announcer at 2LM (& pre-recorded…

  2. I’m so glad you have patience and a sense of humour. And I get the invisibility thing. The older I…

Designed with WordPress

Discover more from James O'Brien

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading