Posts made during January, 2010
Racing cockroaches, rubber ducks and cows.
Monday, January 25th, 2010
‘Australians usually celebrate Australia Day with a barbeque, oftentimes with lots of beer’ That’s the the answer to ‘what do Australian’s do on Australian Day’ on wiki answers. Which is actually pretty much what happens. But it’s not all barbies and tinnies, though. There are many other things to do on Australia Day. Like racing strange things. Last year I attended the Cockroach Races in… (read more)
Haiti – 200 years of bad luck.
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
I went to Haiti in 2003 for the Saut d’Eau Vodou festival. Back then Haiti was in ruins. Not from an earthquake, but because the entire country was falling apart after years of dodgy governments, lack of any significant industry and it’s own people stripping the land bare. Here is an extract from my book The Naked Man Festival which describes Haiti’s turbulent and troubled history:
‘The streets around Champs de Mars were packed with men standing around doing nothing. This didn’t surprise me… (read more)
The Best Beaches in the World (possibly).
Saturday, January 16th, 2010
I’ve just got home from a lovely week in sunny Hervey Bay, Queensland where I did lots of swimming, eating, swimming, drinking and also some swimming. My favourite place was Pelican Beach, which was one of the most beautiful, untouched beaches that I’ve ever been to. In fact, it would easily make my top 10 beaches that I’ve been to. Which then means I should have a Top 10 list to put it in. There are so many other wonderful beaches in the world that I’m yet to go to, but… (read more)
Pelicans and Paradise.
Monday, January 11th, 2010
I discovered paradise today. Okay, I didn’t discover it personally and my brother has been coming here for years, but Pelican Beach is one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever been to. Pelican Beach is actually a tiny island about twenty minutes by boat from Hervey Bay in Queensland. My brother Bruce (along with his family) took us out there on the way to Fraser Island. And, best of all, we had the entire island to ourselves… (read more)
Planes, Trains and Automobiles… and Buses.
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
Okay it’s time for a little whinge. Tomorrow my daughter Jasmine and I are flying to Hervey Bay in Queensland with Tiger Airways (which should be interesting). Except we’re not flying to Hervey Bay because it was so ridiculously expensive to fly there direct from Melbourne. So we got a cheap flight to the Sunshine coast where I thought we could just jump on a bus and be in Hervey Bay in a couple of hours. I was so wrong. I just assumed that because Queensland is Australia’s biggest tourist destination and Hervey Bay is a major tourist town that there would be a direct bus there. There are no buses – unless… (read more)
Tall things.
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010
I like tall things. When I travel I like going to the top of tall buildings (maybe it’s because I’m short?). I’ve been to the top of the Empire State Building, the World Trade Centre, Petronas Towers, Eiffel Tower, CNN Tower (Toronto), Sydney Tower, Sears Tower (now called Willis Tower – or ‘what are you talking about Willis Tower’), John Hancock Centre, Montparnasse Tower, Commerzbank Tower (Frankfurt), Tokyo Tower, and Lincoln Cathedral (which is only 159 meters tall, but it was the tallest building in the world from… (read more)