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Otway Odyssey
Waterfalls, lakes and primordial forest. And satin bowerbirds! These photos were taken on a recent mid-winter visit to Otway National Park in Victoria, around Apollo Bay. The highlight, mostly because I hadn’t seen it before, was Lake Elizabeth. The lake was formed in 1952 when a landslide damned a section of the East Barwon River upstream from the town of […]
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If you can’t stand the heat get out of the Thai kitchen
(A diner’s lament) Excuse me if I be grumpy ‘Cause the throat’s lumpy Not from events of sadness It’s Thai meals sullied by blandness! Locals innocent I remonstrate Only try to accommodate Fussy foreigners feigning forays Couldn’t they simply stay away? They want authentic in a bubble Have adventure without the trouble To travel abroad and not leave […]
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Breaking a little bad in Bangers
After a long day and flight made more uneventful by the current airline trend of manufacturing night during daytime voyages (I think it’s to keep passengers subdued), followed by interminable queues at Bangkok immigration, I settled my starving self into this little regular near the guesthouse for khao pad Thai pak (rice pad Thai with veggies) and pad kee mao […]
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White Night could need a white knight
In 2016 I wondered if Melbourne’s White Night was losing its shine. After attending this year’s event the doubts remain. Again, there were great sights at the bookends, but much less to observe in between, apart from buskers. There was also a similarity about some of the displays, and perhaps it could benefit from more reinvention. IMO the event was […]
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Mekong Motorcycle Diaries Day 8
Thailand, 19th November, 2012. Ancient rock art, meditation caves and car accidents. Today – riding back to Nong Khai, which will end my Mekong River journey. It’s been a week of eight days. Must be a song in that somewhere. Fog and wispy cloud combined for a colourful Sangkhom sunrise. The farmer from next door passed via Dtoy’s footbridge (she […]
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The Day AD
Further to yesterday’s post and the passing of King Bhumibol, Thailand’s much revered monarch… According to the Roof View Place receptionist, today the king’s body would be transported from the hospital to the Grand Palace, which isn’t far from here. Thais will head en masse to this part of town to pay respect, and catching a bus to anywhere else […]
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Touching down as a King passes away
Our plane arrived early due to favourable winds, but we landed in Bangkok to less fortuitous reports the King of Thailand had passed away. Not that I’m putting any more into this than coincidence, though visits to Thailand have often coincided with events surrounding the king. Life appeared to be proceeding as normal on the way from the airport to Phranakorn, but […]
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Mekong Motorcycle Diaries Day 7
Thailand. 17th November, 2012 Sunday in Sangkhom Overcast again at the rise, so I watched the long-tail boats coming and going, motoring across calm, misty waters, to and from Laos. There was more river traffic this morning, but whether it being Sunday had anything to do with that I didn’t know. I would ask Dtoy. Crossing for breakfast I encountered […]
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Mekong Motorcycle Diaries Day 6
16th November, 2012 Coffee (as usual), caves and curious lights: Cloudy morning dullness discouraged efforts to rise early, though I was still up by 7.30 for a hefty banana pancake and a pot of tea. Dtoy didn’t have any knowledge about the light I observed traversing the hills above Laos last night. It still wasn’t identified, so it remained a […]
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Benalla let’s it all hang out
The rural city of Benalla in Kelly Country, North East Victoria, recently held its second Wall to Wall street-art festival, where town buildings are set aside for local and international artists to use as their creative canvas. As a former Benalla boy, I can say that past things ‘arty’ haven’t always been greeted with unanimous enthusiasm, but the whole community […]
A Travel Blogsite in Progress