Travel
Travel is one of my all-time favourite things. From my days as a child, I loved going to visit family in Brisbane. I did my first overseas trip at 17. I love nothing more than catching a plane/train somewhere, and discovering what else the world has to offer.
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Out Of Office
There’s something super-exciting about putting on the “out of office” on your work email.
I’ve spent the last couple of days going through some of the practical considerations of my planned leave, such as making a list of everything that needs to be done while I’m away, sending emails in preparation, and making notes for (and chatting with) the person filling in while I’m away.… Read the rest “Out Of Office”
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Don’t Be A “Schapelle”
“You’ve got enough there to fill a boogie board, but here’s a letter to confirm it’s all legitimate in case you have problems at immigration”, the doctor half-joked to me today, referencing Schapelle Corby, as I went to get my vaccinations, ahead of my trip to Cambodia and Vietnam.
Minutes later, I was standing at the light rail at Town Hall on George Street, and one of the “street preachers” mentioned her name, though I missed the context.… Read the rest “Don’t Be A “Schapelle””
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Catching the XPT
The last time I caught the XPT was probably in the mid-1980s. The XPT, by the way, is the “express train” between Brisbane and Sydney. And when I say “express train”, I don’t mean Chinese style/speed trains. It’s more “leisurely”, taking around 14-15 hours for roughly 900km.
When I was a child, we lived only about 100m from the railway line, and it was a regular thing for me to go out and wave to the passengers on the trains that came through daily.… Read the rest “Catching the XPT”
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Tiwi Tour
“It would be genuinely ironic if we stopped to take a photograph of the sign and a coconut dropped on our heads”, I said to one of my fellow travellers.
Though I’ve been to Darwin many times I’ve never been to Bathurst or Melville Islands before, which are located about two and a half hours by ferry from Darwin.… Read the rest “Tiwi Tour”
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Crocodile tour
When I asked recently on Facebook for some travel tips/suggestions for my trip to Darwin, a colleague suggested the “jumping crocodile” tours. This implies something very “touristy”, but my response to such dismissal is always, “It’s okay, I don’t mind, I’m a tourist”.
I had a brief moment of wondering about whether this was ethical, whether or not it was cruel.… Read the rest “Crocodile tour”
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Tumba-bloody-rumba
Memory is an amazing thing. With age, you can sometimes have to think hard about something you did yesterday, or where you left something like the TV remote control, but memories from thirty years ago can be quite vivid.
As we walked around the Pioneer Women’s Hut at Tumbarumba, it took me all of ten seconds to remember the name of the woman, Wendy Hucker (no longer alive) who I interviewed many times, a leading figure in the creation of the museum.… Read the rest “Tumba-bloody-rumba”
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Yarrangobilly Caves + Thermal Pool
“We hope you’re fit”, an older couple (maybe in their late 60s) said to us as we walked towards the Yarrangobilly Caves. “A bit steep, is it?”, I replied, prompting a further response from the woman that they were “just taking a little rest”.
The caves are about eighty kilometres from Tumut, in the Kosciuszko National Park.… Read the rest “Yarrangobilly Caves + Thermal Pool”
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Tumut & Batlow
“Where do you get your millet from?”, I asked the young bloke at The Tumut Broom Factory, half expecting an answer like Weethalle or Temora, or another nearby Riverina town. When he told me “Mexico”, I was genuinely surprised. When he explained it was “labour costs, I understood completely, though I was also a little disappointed. … Read the rest “Tumut & Batlow”