Savannah in Georgia is I think the most beautiful city I’ve ever visited. Every street you walk down is stunning, block after block – but much of this historic beauty was almost lost as by the mid 1950’s a number of the heritage houses had been torn down to make way for new buildings. The destruction of these properties promoted seven local woman to form a historical preservation society for the town – that since that time has successfully saved over 350 properties in this little city from development. The results of their work can been seen instantly on a … Continue reading Savannah and Charleston

So after neglecting my blog for almost 2 months I’m here to catch up… This has been largely prompted by my Mum debunking my “it’s difficult to write blogs on a mobile phone” rationale by telling me about Behrouz Boochanj – a detained asylum seeker who’s novel “No friend but the Mountains” was written entirely on WhatsApp whilst detained on Manus Island… His book has just taken out Australia’s richest literary prize… so yes point begrudgingly taken! I’m going to attempt to put together a rapid series of catch up blogs prior to Europe and from that point onwards adopt … Continue reading San Antonio, New Orleans

It’s amazing despite having no job or real commitments I seem to struggle to find the time to write regular blog posts… I’m now three cities behind in my posts – so I’ll attempt to reduce that to two by updating on our week in Mexico City. The first thing we did upon landing in Mexico City (and checking into our amazing Airbnb – which was also incredible value) was head out for a late dinner. Getting good Mexican food in Australia is pretty hard – so we were both determined to hunt down plenty of Mexico food whilst in … Continue reading Mexico City

It’s been a while since my last blog update – which is a result of equal parts busyness and laziness on my part. We finished up our fortnight in Vancouver with a trip to the Aquarium which was excellent – often they can be hit and miss – but this one is absolutely worth a visit. It’s situated in the middle of Stanley Park an absolutely massive 1000 acre green space almost completely surrounded by water. John and I spent a few hours walking along the sea wall which surrounds the park and has fantastic views of the Vancouver CBD. … Continue reading Vancouver exit – Vegas entry

It’s been a busy past week in Vancouver as the city fights its way into spring – with sun one day and snow the next… Earlier in the week we visited the Van Dusen Gardens – a 55 acre space developed across what was once an old golf course. It was pretty spectacular – but really Vancouver is filled with spectacular scenery wherever you go – it’s one of the most scenic cities I’ve visited. We also visited The Museum of Anthropology which is located on the grounds of the University of British Columbia campus (the Uni campus itself is … Continue reading Markets, parks and plays

It’s been another whirlwind few days as we travelled from Singapore to LA via a night in Tokyo… then four days later onto Vancouver. Stopping in Tokyo for 24 hours certainly validated our three week trip through Japan at the end of the year – John and I both instantly loved the city – with its unique blend of ultra modernity and tradition. With more and more cities feeling the same – it was great to be somewhere that really was totally unlike anywhere we’ve visited before. Having only one night limited our ability to do much tourist stuff but … Continue reading LA via Tokyo

We’ve almost ended our pre-trip break in Asia and we’re off tomorrow to start our US/Mexico/Canada leg via a night in Tokyo. Last night we had dinner at Satays by the Bay – a large outdoor complex – not surprisingly serving up delicious satay as well as a range of other Asian cuisine. Amongst the hoards of locals and tourists enjoying their satay – there was still of course the obligatory table of Western tourists who managed to locate the sole stall producing burgers and chips within the satay complex….. (shakes head…) As it’s Chinese New Year it’s been sound, … Continue reading Last days in Singapore

After a few days of rest, John has now returned to the living and today we ventured out to visit the Thailand Creative and Design Centre. The centre – built inside the old Thai Central Mail Postal building in 2017, houses a mix of design work spaces, a massive design library, exhibitions, various galleries, as well as a cafe and rooftop garden. Overall it’s an excellent place to spend a few hours if interested in design (it covers all types of design disciplines). During our visit it was pretty much empty (we saw probably about 5 other non staff in … Continue reading Thailand Creative and Design Centre (and Peruvian Witches)

We’ve arrived safely in Bangkok and it’s now the morning of our 2nd day here. Neither John nor I have been back to Bangkok since we visited on the way to meet Fergus in Europe for Christmas in Dec 2009. Strangely (and through no intentional planning) we checked into our current accomodation and realised we were looking directly down upon the hotel we stayed at 9+ years ago… Sadly the pollution here has got markedly worse since our last visit – so much so that a few days prior to arriving the government announced they were closing schools for a … Continue reading Bangkok and the Thai Royal Family

Today is day three for us on the ground in Manila, John is still recovering from his bout of tonsillitis, and I’m continuing my six week treatment for a small basal cell carcinoma I had diagnosed on my lip literally days before we flew overseas. I’ll pause my usual travel updates here briefly to say; if you have a spot of any kind that forms and persists (as I did on my lip for several years) even if you believe this to be a scar (as I did from a cold sore) get it checked out. Luckily for me this … Continue reading Shopping malls, Chapels and moving movie chairs..