Category: Travel

  • Some special things about Nouméa

    Some special things about Nouméa

    Noumea, the capital of New Caledonia (la Nouvelle Calédonie) is situated at the southern-most tip of the main island, directly east of Australia.  It has a similar history to Sydney, as It was set up as a penal colony for (French) prisoners. The indigenous inhabitants are Melanesian.

  • Oxford Revisited 2014

    Oxford Revisited 2014

    Same reason for being in Oxford—the Oxford Dysfluency Conference that my partner helped organise—same train trip from London; same College for accommodation. But this trip, instead of visiting university landmarks and museums, I spent the time with a niece and her boyfriend punting on the Isis River, which is the Thames in Oxford. Other activities…

  • Travel Poems by a Guest Blogger

    This post contribution is from my Randwick Writers colleague Garth Alperstein, originally from South Africa, but obviously a citizen of the world now, who delights in other places, faces and cultures. Garth says: When I travel, I have of late written short poems, in an attempt to encapsulate the essence of a place, an experience…

  • In Dublin’s Fair City

    In Dublin’s Fair City

    We caught a plane to Dublin from London. Here we had our toughest passage through Customs yet. Admittedly Heathrow is difficult; it’s being renovated and we had to catch several buses to reach our terminal. Also, the Customs woman seemed to think I was on a false passport and fired questions at me: “Do you…

  • 7 ancient artefacts in the British Museum

    7 ancient artefacts in the British Museum

    1. The lion statue that features in the central courtyard of the Museum once sat at the top of a building and weighs 7 tons. It had a much fiercer look back then, with shining jewelled eyes and a fuller jaw. Its softer look appealed to me and reminded me of the lion in the…

  • Oxford Town, Oxford Gown, 2008

    Oxford Town, Oxford Gown, 2008

    We sped in a First Great Western train towards Oxford via Slough and Reading, passing through picturesque countryside, woolly green hills dotted with slate-roofed red brick houses; no water restrictions here; verdant pastures and flat crops under a vaulted cloud-filled sky. So different from drought-ravaged Australia. We stayed at St Catherine’s student college and were…

  • Londinium

    Londinium

    Tonight: Despite our best-laid plans, our travel was initially upset by the Qantas engineers’ “requirements” (strike).  We were bused to the Ibis Hotel in Darling Harbour in Sydney to spend our first night, instead of in Singapore. Once we got to Singapore, we managed to grab six hours’ “horizontal time” at the Traders’ Hotel, before…