Archive for 2010
Travel highlights of 2010.
Friday, December 31st, 2010
It wasn’t a big travelling year for me compared to last year, but the few overseas and local trips that I took were full of great highlights. From staying at five-star resorts (with our own private butler) to skiing untracked powder (in Australia no less) to dining with locals in the mountains of Vietnam (oh, except the smoked pig’s intestines part) to snorkelling with a dole of turtles (that’s the correct collective noun I believe!). So, without further ado here is my Top Ten Travel Highlights from 2010 (in no particular order)… (read more)
A Christmas tipple?
Tuesday, December 14th, 2010
It’s that time of year when most people (well, most Australians at least) give the bottle a bit of a nudge. I gave it a good nudge at the ASTW (Australian Society of Travel Writers) Christmas party last week. Oh, my head. My self inflicted hangover was wine induced, but it could have been worse. Last month when I was in Vietnam I got quite tipsy on rice wine and I had stomach cramps to go along with my headache. My stomach cramps may have had something to do with the fact that we (about twenty of us) were all drinking the sickly sweet rice wine from a large wooden bucket. Out of shared straws… (read more)
Friday Brilliant Friday.
Sunday, December 5th, 2010
I saw U2 on Friday night and it was one of the best concerts that I have ever been to. My girlfriend Beth and I got there nine hours before the show started and I’m so glad we did. We ended up only fours rows from the front right below Bono – as in so close that I could see his nasal hairs. I’ve seen U2 four times now including, and this shows my age, way back in 1984. I even wore my 1984 U2 tour shirt to the concert (and I have to say that… (read more)
My new book out now!
Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010
Okay, it’s not entirely my book, but I did contribute a chapter. The book is called Red Dust & Wanderlust and it’s a collection of Australian travel stories, written by members of the Australian Society of Travel Writers and edited by Lee Atkinson and Lee Mylne. This is the what they said on the ASTW website: ‘The book has already reached high acclaim in publishing circles and by all measures, is an enjoyable read… (read more)
Vietnam: The romance of parrots.
Saturday, November 13th, 2010
I just got back from a wonderful and very interesting trip to northeast Vietnam where I was doing some voluntary work for SNV. I flew into Hanoi and from there travelled by car up into the Northern Highlands through areas that don’t get too many tourists. My job (along with marketing expert and fellow Aussie Judi from Noosa) was to get a good feel for the region then design four logos, write a few taglines and whip up a couple of brochures and a website. Also along for the ride was… (read more)
Good morning Vietnam!
Monday, October 25th, 2010
I’m off to Vietnam this week. I’ll be doing some volunteer work for a Dutch based NGO and probably also drinking some Bia hoi. I’m not helping build a school (and if I did it would fall over in a week), but I am helping bring more tourists into the relatively untouched Northern Highlands. I’ll be visiting Lao Cai and Son La province (and some other places that I can’t remember), then I have to come up with creative concepts (this is where my advertising background comes in) for a logo and tagline for the Northern Highlands and three provinces. Should be great fun and… (read more)
Carn the Pies!
Wednesday, October 6th, 2010
Last weekend was the AFL (Australian Rules Football) Grand Final and my team (the mighty Collingwood Magpies) won. This was their second attempt at winning it because they drew with St Kilda Saints the week before and had to come back to do it all again a week later. I would have loved to have gone to either of the games (the first game had a crowd of over 100,000), but tickets are hard to come by. I have been to seven Grand Finals before, though, and not only is it a wonderful spectacle, but also a truly unique and great ‘Aussie’ game (unlike that silly rugby and cricket caper). I recommend any tourist visiting Australia to try and catch an AFL game… (read more)
A video of me sleeping at Byron Bay.
Friday, September 17th, 2010
The lovely folk at the Byron Bay Writer’s Festival have just posted a video of one of my talks from the festival (see below for the video). It’s from the ’Family as Fodder’ panel that I did with Tony Martin, Susan Maushart and Justin Sheedy. I’m quite happy with it – people are laughing in the right places and I only said ‘um’ 27 times. And I didn’t doze off to sleep. The lovely folk at the Byron Bay Writer’s Festival have also posted a whole bunch of photos from the festival on their Facebook page. And out of all those photos there is only one of me and its a shot of me asleep on the grass. And just so you know I’m actually not asleep, but deep in thought about… (read more)
The Brian Thacker Radio Show.
Sunday, August 29th, 2010
I have my own regular travel show on the radio! Well, it’s not entirely my show. I will be a regular guest on MTR 1377 with Steve Vizard on Tuesdays at 12.30pm talking all things travel (that’s me in the pic on the left). This week we’ll be talking about wacky festivals – which is handy seeing as I’ve written an entire book about wacky festivals. We’ll also be talking about… I’ve got no idea yet. You’ll just have to listen on Tuesday at 12.30 to find out. You can catch me on the wireless (if you’re in Melbourne) or you can listen online here. And I’m sorry for… (read more)
A quick trip to Spain and Argentina.
Monday, August 23rd, 2010
I recently went on a quick trip to Spain and Argentina. Okay, it was only overnight. And it was less than a two-hour drive from Melbourne. My girlfriend Beth and I went to a Tapas Night at Rocky Passes Estate in Whiteheads Creek near Seymour. Rocky Passes is owned and run by Candi Westney and Victor Oles (who is also an incredibly gifted wood craftsmen). Candi is Australian and Victor is Argentinean, but they whip up some of the best Spanish tapas I have ever eaten. And it was all washed down with their delectable red wines. We started with a bottle of… (read more)