A Rock n' Roll Christmas (of the non-musical variety)
Christmas aboard the AS Carelia: dinner on Christmas Eve in the crew's mess, then gale-force winds off the Whitsundays that threw us out of bed.
Tagged “Australia”
The AS Carelia: A Freight Adventure
Boarding a container ship at Brisbane for 6,800 nautical miles to Malaysia — then the only vessel taking passengers from Australia to South East Asia.
Melbourne to Brisbane
There is no direct train: 1,965 km in two XPT legs via Sydney, 10.5 hours by day and an overnight run into Brisbane Central at 5.30 a.m.
Melbourne Excursions
During our time in Melbourne we made several weekend excursions to the surrounding countryside, in an attempt to explore some of the beautiful coast and bushland that Victoria is famous for. On Melbourne's doorstep there are opportunities to spot some of Australia's extraordinary wildlife including…
Melbourne Markets
As Spring gave way to summer in Melbourne, there was more and more to explore every day as new craft, food and festive markets began to explode onto the scene. Melbourne is known for its permanent markets too, however, and below is a short round-up…
The Melbourne Food Bazaar
Melbourne is a food lover's paradise, a fact which Sydney is all too aware of and is constantly trying to challenge in a friendly, one-upmanship sort of a way. There is an emphasis on fresh, local (or at least Australian grown) produce but not in…
Chasing Freedom and Yarn: Street Art in Melbourne
Street art in Melbourne's laneways — Hosier Lane, the yarn bombers, and a city that gave up trying to scrub its graffiti off.
Crazy for Coffee: Café Culture in Melbourne
Never will you look at a cup of the black stuff in the same way again after sampling Melbourne's most sacred beverage - for here it has become a form of high art - and not just where taste is concerned. Care and detail is…
Finding our feet in Fitzroy
It didn't take long for us to fall in love with Fitzroy and its surrounds; its streets never failed to entertain, subtly changing overnight, just enough to keep you on your toes. One day a shop-front would be filled with yarn or paintings, the next…
Melbourne: From the CBD to Fitzroy
The YHA Central hostel is a relatively new outfit, located on Flinders Street in the building of an ex-city hotel and so it provided an ideal jump-off point to go out and explore the CBD and its surrounds. Our first day in Melbourne was bright…
Sydney to Melbourne on the Countrylink
Eleven hours and 953 km from Sydney Central to Southern Cross on the CountryLink XPT, through Cootamundra, Wagga Wagga and the spring Yarrow fields.
Sydney
Leaving the boat for the last time was a strange, if not liberating, experience. Our YHA hostel was located very nearby, on the crescent of the hilly Rocks area of Sydney (which wasn't climb up to while carrying so many over-packed bags). From the hostel's…
Arriving in Sydney: 3 weeks and 7,415 nautical miles from L.A.
Twenty-two days and 7,415 nautical miles across the Pacific from Los Angeles, and the ten-metre swell that carried us into Circular Quay a day early.