My new book out now!
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.
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!
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!
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.
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.
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.
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)
Memories from Byron.
August 15th, 2010
It’s been a while since I last blogged, but that’s because I have been really busy (okay, and a bit slack). I’ve got a bit to catch up on, but I’ll start with the Byron Bay Writer’s Festival from last weekend. And what a festival it was. In fact, I’d say it is my favourite Australian Writer’s Festival. The venue was fantastic, the crowds were large and appreciative, there were lots of interesting/funny/informative/controversial panels, some great dinners and parties and, best of all, the weather was simply marvelous. All the panels that I was in went extremely well with crowds over 500 for most of my sessions (which was somewhat daunting I have to say)… (read more)
Human limbs for dinner anyone?
July 16th, 2010
I’m involved in a project at the moment that’s all about weird restaurants around the world. It’s been a lot of fun (and a little scary) researching them and, if all goes well, it will be a lot of fun (and a little scary) going to them in person. And boy, there are some wacky folk out there not only opening these wacky restaurants but actually dining at them. My favourite so far is Hospitalis restaurant in Riga, Latvia where they serve hearty Latvian dishes and cake topped with realistic-looking body parts such as fingers, noses and tongues. The food is served (or hand fed if you’re in a straight jacket) by scantily clad nurses on gurneys and operating tables. The restaurant provides diners with cutlery such as syringes, tweezers and scalpels to devour their meals and guests are treated to disturbing dinner entertainment including… (read more)
Lunch with Captain America.
July 4th, 2010
It’s not easy to find an ‘American’ restaurant. This might seem hard to believe when on just about every suburban street corner is a McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut or Hungry Jacks (Burger King). But then again, you wouldn’t classify any of them as real ‘restaurants’ – or that they serve real ‘food’ for that matter. I wanted to take my American girlfriend Beth to an American restaurant in Melbourne for July 4th, but when I did a search on the net there really wasn’t much to choose from. There was T.G.I. Fridays (just an upmarket McDonalds really), Hollywood Palace (turned out to be a Greek restaurant) and a handful of ‘diners’ serving hamburgers and apple pie. In Melbourne you can dine on local cuisine at Laotian, Afghani, Eritrean, Somalian, Nepalese, Mauritian, Burmese, Iranian… (read more)