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travelling blography

Paris. A fascinating city. The architecture is wonderful as the centre is largely unchanged since 1860. The buildings flow along the streets, the décor is one and as long as one continues to look up, all is fine. However the streets are dirty and the city is a very busy one. You have to be prepared for this and actively enjoy it to really be in Paris.

I have been to Paris a few times but never in the summer. It is hot and smelly but also very beautiful in parts. The gardens are magnificent, especially around Le Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle where plants from all around the world are grown to compliment each other. The grand architecture, as mentioned before, is astonishing. In London, old buildings have been destroyed and replaced by the overstated egos of architects. However in Paris this has been limited which, not only preserves great structures but, increases appreciation for modern buildings like Centre Georges Pompidou. By the way, there are great water fountain structures by the Pompidou which are well worth a look!

The museums are incredible. Musée d’Orsay is my favourite. The wealth of art and the way it is presented is very well done. The building alone, Gare d’Orsay, is well preserved with a tasteful alteration to the modern. Even the clock has stood the test of time:

Musée du Louvre is also very impressive. Again with the tasteful addition of something new and imaginative. It is housed within Palais du Louvre which began as a fortress built in the 12th century under Philip II. The pyramid addition to the courtyard is nicely done. The inverted pyramid is even more so. Since the installation of these works attendance has doubled making it the most popular museum in the world!

However, big art galleries and museums are not unusual for a big and famous city. The smaller museums, in my opinion, are just as good if not better. The Musée Rodin is brilliant. Fantastic works are on display here. Auguste Rodin’s works are inspiring. Conversely Camille Claudel, whose work also appears, is more impressive and expressive. They had a stormy passionate relationship which is shown in the pieces on display.

As far as museums and art galleries go, the tip top tip is the Gustave Moreau Museum. This is an absolutely fascinating place. Moreau donated his entire life to this building and designed it to display all his works. Unlike most other places though, this museum displays all his drawings too. This allows the viewer to see the development of thoughts and ideas in his work as well as the finished product. It is especially constructive as he was a biblical and mythological symbolist painter who’s labour is very hard to comprehend. The museum is cheap (like the Rodin), quiet, relaxed and a joy! Quite unlike the Louvre which is very expensive and always busy.

Of course, no trip to Paris would be complete without fleeting glimpses of the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe. Hence the Eiffel Tower:

And the Arc de Triomphe in the western end of the Champs-Élysées:

Both interesting if it weren’t for the incessant tourists and the high prices to go up them! Still, very good to see from afar!

Paris is a joy if you like cities. With the great rail connections it is a fantastic base to start your trip around France. Another top tip….if you are in Paris the first Sunday of every month then everything is free! Good luck to you if you are planning on seeing everything on that day though!

France – a whirlwind away from the southern hemisphere but a remarkable country. What astonished me first was the ease at which I can get there. I live in London and as such have the luxury of an easy trip to anywhere in the world. However, with France, it is lethargically simple. I have the choice of train, boat, coach or plane and it is cheap….cheaper than travelling to a city in middle England anyway! I plumped for Eurostar – not the cheapest but the most comfortable and trouble-free. Arrived in central Paris with not a care in the world about how to get to what station and what to do when I get there….it was all in front of me. A metro ride and I was in Gare Montparnasse to get the TGV to La Rochelle. Another train journey so fast that the countryside looked like a Turner watercolour and then I was in sunny La Rochelle.

La Rochelle is a city on the west coast of France and the Bay of Biscay. It has a fantastic maritime history going back to the 10th century and a fair few bloody battles with the English! I should also say here that the French successfully defeated us during the Hundred Years War. It has been a vital trading port since and was occupied by the Germans during WWII as a submarine base (inspiring the film Das Boot). A great place for sunsets too:

The city is beautiful. Much of the past architecture has been maintained making it incredibly picturesque as well as historically rich. It is marvellous to walk through the centre. There are many sites of historic interest including twin towers which guard the central port. These have brilliantly detailed accounts of what occurred in the city and even graffiti from 16/17th Century prisoners when they were held there!

I think the greatest aspect of La Rochelle is the neighbouring islands of Île d’Aix and Île de Ré. They are stunning, again steeped in history and have fantastic beaches too! Île de Ré is easily accessible by France’s longest bridge connecting it to the mainland. Île d’Aix can only be accessed by boat but both islands have great eateries. And that brings me to the food. In England it can be quite hit or miss when it comes to restaurants. However, in France this is not so. Everywhere I went, even to a place that looked more like someone’s house than a restaurant, the food was amazing. And that is the point is it not? This place has it all. Great food, bars, places to visit and places to relax. Unfortunately, as such, it is taken over by tourists in the summer. So…..go in the spring!

Tasmania is commonly known as the jewel of Australia. It is a separate island and state off the coast south of Melbourne and as such is less than an hour flight from Melbourne. From the plane the island looked quite yellow but vegetated as rain has been rare in the south this summer.

Our trip was a comic one. From the start this became apparent when we collected our camper van. The van itself was the size of a four person MPV. This would be fine except we also had to sleep in it and “we” are three grown men. Therefore to say it was cramped would be quite the understatement. However, we made it home for five nights and planned to travel around the north western tip of Tasmania.

Our first stop was Launceston (pronounced Laun-ces-ton – much to my difficulty). A small town and yet the second largest on the island set in fjord like surroundings:

Even thought the town was not much to shout about, it had stunning scenery and great eateries. In fact food and culinary delights is one of the topics on which Tasmania is best known – much to my understanding from our final night meal which was the most expensive and delicious meal I have ever had in my life.

Our road trip covered many kilometres not just by vehicle but by foot as well. Walking or tramping is available wherever you are and the island provides some fantastic natural landscapes:

Not just over ground either. The cave network south west of the Cradle Mountain area was stunning:

All in all a great trip. Fine food, fine walks and a miniature camper van is the best mix!

The bullet train (or shinkansen) is one of the fastest trains in the world. An amazing feat of engineering and one that runs on time every time (an even greater shock to someone who is so use to British Rail)! We went on the fastest route also, from Kyoto to Tokyo, reaching 300 kph!!

Tokyo was as expected almost – more English and more busy. However what was not expected was that there is so much that’s not on the beaten track. The typical temples and shrines were awe inspiring again but this was a place where there was so much more. It seemed to always chase re-invention – always wanting to go one better than itself (a tricky thing to keep up with as a tourist).

It is a huge city of 12.56 million and most of it is up. The buildings are tall everywhere and space is one of those things that we struggled to find! We had three days here which felt like nothing once again and we crammed as much in as possible.

We spent the first day, Sunday, exploring the city itself and wandering into a few electronic shops here and there! The place was manic – due mainly to the fact that they have 6-day working weeks and so Sunday is the only time to go shopping:

The hustle and bustle did not stop in the major areas either. In the evening we went to a part of the city known as Asakusa (spoken by the Japanese so quickly that you can barely hear it)! Here there was a great market:

And a great temple:

And a fantastic place to eat where we sat on straw mats and had Okonomyaki which is a selection of meats and vegetables with vegetable batter mixed up. This concoction you cook yourself on the griddle that makes up part of your table – it was delicious!

The second day was spent outside the city in the hills. Being extremely cold we wrapt up very warm and headed north to Nikko. A very old town which was created by Buddhist monks as a training centre and was the point of a large mausoleum for Tokugawa Ieyasu – a warlord who took control of Japan for more than 250 years, until the Meiji Restoration ended the feudal era.

Our first point of call was an onsen – perfect for the cold! These are essentially spa baths which are fuelled by hot springs. They literally pop up everywhere in the mountainous regions and they are quintessentially Japanese. Onsen are usually around 50oC and extremely relaxing. Etiquette is important in these establishments and one must wash thoroughly before entering in their birthday suit! Quite an experience and just what one needs after a cold morning.

It took us a while to get back into gear after that. We still had the afternoon to tour the mausoleum and Buddhist temple. Quite a temple it was too, with snow still hugging the ground, it made for a picturesque landscape:

On our return to the station we dropped by a restaurant where travellers had left their business cards and written messages all over the walls and ceiling. We had some excellent Sake there (to keep the warmth of the onsen going)! We also left our own message (Gochisō-sama deshita – meaning it was a real feast, a very high compliment) along with our business cards for the ceiling!

Our last day in Tokyo was spent haphazardly trying to cram as much in as possible as we were leaving Japan that night from Kansai-Osaka airport and had to get the shinkansen there mid afternoon. I went to Shinjuku which is known as the soho of Tokyo. This was the Tokyo I had witnessed on films such as Lost In Translation with bill boards covering tall buildings from head to toe and small streets full of electronic shops. It was as busy as Oxford St on a Saturday afternoon before Christmas but was extremely exciting.

All in all one amazing trip. We barely even dipped our feet into Japan but came out feeling rewarded for our efforts anyway. Many people were very kind and helpful throughout our trip – a very welcoming country. I can’t wait to go back and explore more!!

Our arrival in Japan was dominated by anxiety. Going to a land where the written language does not even use western symbols and unsure whether English is spoken to any great degree, we were convinced finding our hotel would be troublesome! However we were thankfully wrong and found the hotel very easily. We also found that almost all the signs had English translations!

Kyoto was our first destination – an easy train ride from Kansai Osaka airport. It is a beautiful city with temples and shrines almost around every corner. This is understandable as it was the Imperial capital between 794 and 1868 (after which has been Tokyo). It is considered to be the cultural heart of Japan with 17 world heritage sites, more than 1600 Buddhist temples and over 400 Shinto shrines.

We only managed to see two temples and an Imperial Palace in the one day we were there and we felt like we had missed out on almost everything! However we did see a Buddhist service which was quite intense with much monotone orating and two beautiful temples which had regular visitors and very ornate rooms:

The Imperial Palace is quite stunning and large with its own grounds which are well worth a visit on their own! A tour has to be booked to see the palace itself. One can imagine it was very grand in its day however it has burned down many times due to its unique thatched roofs (made out of bark). Many of the buildings we looked at were post imperial status but it was an interesting tour nonetheless especially the ornate slides:

One thing that was striking was how symmetrical the architecture was and how everything seemed to fit:

We also stayed in a fantastic hotel which had great Japanese styled rooms. Ours had three mattresses and straw mats and the bathroom I could not stand tall in – it was great fun!! A fleeting visit was not enough at all and even with a fantastic meal in the evening I felt hungry for more Kyoto!

Located an hour north of Brisbane on the Bruce Highway and in the midst of the Glasshouse Mountains lies a zoo – Australia Zoo. Aptly named, it exhibits some of the most dangerous and some of the most adorable animals in Australia (not in the same enclosure I might add). A great tourist spot and a must for anyone doing a tour of the state of Queensland.

I did all the fun stuff at first and realised I needed more than a day to do everything – see all the shows and go on all the guided tours. Unfortunately I felt I did so little and yet was exhausted when I left in the evening. However my day was great – I fed kangaroos in the kangaroo enclosure. They are left to roam in a large park with seats so people can wonder through and feed and pet the roos. I fed an elephant! Granted not an Australian native but still very cool and also slightly wet! The main event was an hour long show which was thoroughly entertaining!

Started by Steve Irwin and continued by his wife, Terri Irwin, this zoo and the conservation efforts it maintains are second to none. Something I found quite surprising! Not because it caters and plays on tourists but because conservation was literally at the heart of every exhibition, tour and show. It was impossible to avoid the issue and the trouble and strife these animals have when it comes to human invasion. The key was also how they stressed this to the children as well as the adults and the dangers that animals can hold for humans when they are threatened. I have not witnessed an effort like this in any other zoo and doubt I will since. It seems that Australia Zoo is the one that has got it’s ideas firmly in the right place for animal welfare.

The conservation efforts of the zoo are well known and they are currently building what will be the largest animal hospital in the southern hemisphere!! Something for veterinarians and Australians to shout about! They have done a great deal of work raising awareness to animal welfare in Australia and long may they continue. A great place and well worth a visit – I can’t wait to go back!

This break two “Resolvys” and I went to Rainbow Beach. I had been there before during my tour of the east coast of Australia and had visited Fraser Island. It was great to go back to Fraser Island and this time on a guided tour so we actually learnt some interesting facts about the island. For example the Satinay tree grown on the world’s largest sand island was very unique. It is found in other areas of the world but only on Fraser Island does it’s bark have such a high silica content (as it grows in sand). The bark is therefore extremely water phobic and was forested before the island became a World Heritage Site in 1992. As this tree was limited on the island, forestry was only conducted for special projects and one of those was the building of part of the London Docks! So there’s a little bit of Australia there!!

Fascinating as it was the highlight of the trip was not the Island. Every year in Spring Humpback Whales migrate from the northern shores of Australia, where they breed, to the cooler climes of Antarctica. This migration is beautiful yet hazardous with newly born young being shepherded down the shark infested waters. In fact, the Great White makes a special trip inland to hunt the young each year!! Around the Rainbow Beach area they come close to land in the shallow waters and teach their young how to communicate. Of course businesses have exploited this for our pleasure and so I could see first hand pods of Humpback Whales moving south.

It was incredible. The mums were teaching the calfs how to communicate. This entailed breaching, waggling their dorsal fins, and a variety of strange yet amazing noises. An incredible experience!!!

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When I first heard of skiing in Australia, I laughed. It is a peculiar notion that the world’s largest barbeque should have a cool area let alone an entire mountainous resort. But it does. The area known as the Snowy Mountains is located 200km west of Canberra in the state of New South Wales. It was only a six hour drive from Sydney! Not much of a deal to the Wallabies but quite the ride for us!!

The journey was broken up by a stop over in “The Nations Capitol”, Canberra. It was very reminiscent of Milton Keynes or a purpose built city such as those designed in the hay day of the USSR. It had clean, wide streets with ample parking in every location you would ever need. The city map itself looked more like a uniform bubble, or a cul-de-sac, than that of a bustling metropolis. The reason for this is that it was purpose built, as the new capitol of Australia, around the old colonial buildings that once dominated the hilly landscape. The purpose was purely to house the government and it’s related departments – you can imagine how fun it appeared. Unfortunately it was a flying stop and so we could not argue against these initial conclusions but the city did not leave us with a feeling for returning to explore a bit more. The government rooms below:

We stayed in Jindabyne, a quiet, small resort with an alpine edge located on a lake. It was stunning but lacked decent eateries. But this trip was not about the food – it was about the snow. We arrived late on Thursday night and so did not see any snow. And when we awoke on Friday again saw no snow. Not the most inspiring start especially as it was the end of the ski season. However a half an hour drive to the chosen pinnacle, Mt Perisher, and we were surrounded by white peaks.

The ski area itself was extensive and all lifts were open which was great news. We started slow for the first minute and a half just to get our ski feet back and then we were full throttle for the whole trip!

We were shattered every night so the après ski stories are limited however we did attend the National Ski Bunnies Contest 2007. A good show but it was hard to pay attention with a mountain outside just waiting to be used!

Towards the end of the trip we were jumping this way and that and doing grinds down the snow park on ramps and ledges.

There were a number of times I landed on my face which was impressive. The only shame was that it ended too soon. As it was the end of the season we could not go back the following break and so will have to wait for next year. It was awesome!

Yes, you may wonder at the title. This is, after all, a travel blog of my journeys around the world. So why would I want to mention the place I grew up and lived in for 18 years of my life? The reason is simple – I have met too many people who have had negative views towards London.

At a rough estimate three quarters of the people I speak to about London dislike the city. True, some of them have never even set foot within the M25 boundary but they vilify London as willingly as the next. And they could easily be forgiven for their misnomer. After all it is smelly, crime ridden, crowded, smoggy, dirty, and some residents would rather step on you than look at you! However it is a misnomer. The negative aspects listed above are on balance characteristic of any city. But London is not just any city; in fact it is the city.

I have spent most of this year abroad so far but the last month I’ve been back in London and have revelled in many of the fantastic features of the city which the rest of the world does not have. The culture for one is incredible. Whatever you’re in to, whenever you like, London has it. I have been learning pretty quickly that this is a luxury. You are spoilt for things to do, places to see, and food to eat. The list of possibilities is endless. I think I feel partly aggrieved because, in my 18 years of residency, I have only scratched the surface of what London has to offer.

Only a few places in the world have such a dynamic. London is not a place to be viewed from afar like a foreign land. It is there to be enjoyed and lived in. Go and see….

Sydney, not the capitol of Australia but the capitol of New South Wales (the capitol of Australia is Camberra). Just a little fact there to introduce the area. Although you would be forgiven in thinking it was the capitol. A huge metropolis of skyscrapers and very fast moving people gives this city a feeling of great importance. Due to this though it was harder to connect with the city. It was very much like London from that view point.

However it was another fantastic city. Full of places to visit and enjoy and mostly for free! The art was big here with a few large galleries. The Australia Museum was also a joy with a fantstic mineral collection by the mineralogist Albert Chapman. The forms in which the minerals are preserved is absolutely outstanding and a treat to see. Another great sight was the zoo which is only accessible by boat. Not only do you get a treat of a view of the harbour bridge and the opera house we saw kangeroos, wallabies, and venemous snakes!

A great last stop to cap a good tour of Australia. I think New Zealand still holds it for me though purely due to the fantastic scenary. It was truely inspiring. Onwards to Hong Kong for a few days…..