Flashback: Vietnam 2002

Again before digital cameras. I have no photos of HCMC, limited (and poor) photos of Hanoi. My childhood was filled with stories of HCMC or Siagon, whether from my parents or their friends that would be at our house. The food was familiar, I had been eating pho and rice paper rolls of years. My parents had been back in 2001, so this was the first trip I did when I had my first "real" job.

Beach of Nha Trang 

Buddha Statue in the Marble Mountains 

Hand carving on the street

Hue Citadel 

Swimming in Ha Long Bay 

Flashback: Darwin and the Australian Outback 2004

DH did a 5 week four wheel driving trip in 2004 that was almost 100% camping, not my thing, so my sister and I decided to take a week and go somewhere. I was pushing for somewhere else in Asia, Borneo maybe, Thailand, Malaysia perhaps, but she wasn't keen and that's how we ended up in Darwin, Katherine Gorge, the Devils Marbles, Uluru, Kings Canyon and the Kata Tjuta. Again prior to me having a digital camera....

Baby Crocodiles in Darwin

 Feeding the fish at Doctor's Gully

Katherine Gorge

The Devil's Marbles, the dreamtime stories surrounding this area are some good memories from my childhood 

The famous Daly Waters Pub

At Uluru, and no we didn't climb

Its a stunning part of the world and it's amazing how much we covered in 7 days (by car from Darwin down to Uluru).

Travel by Museum

DH and I are history buffs, a big part of our travel experience is learning about the history of a country, so needless to say most of the museums we have been to are history related but not all....


MONA, Hobart

The Museum of New and Old Art, is the new draw card for tourists in Hobart and worth the trip

Museo Inka, Cusco, Peru

It's beneficial to get a guide to take you through the large Museo Inka in Cusco, having said that we didn't and still got a good view of all the the museum covered.

War Remnants Museum, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Mainly covers the American war, but I visited on both trips to Ho Chi Minh City in 2002 and 2009

Auckland Museum, New Zealand

The Auckland Museum has an impressive section on Maori and Polynesian history.

War Photo Limited, Dubrovnik, Croatia

One of the great ways to learn about history is through photos. There was one in particular taken during the Siege on Sarajevo that is still etched in my mind

Iolani Palace, Hawaii, USA

The only Palace in the USA, the guided tours give a glimpse into Hawaii's history as a monarchy

Flashback: China 2002/2003

I visited China over the Christmas/New Year period of 2003/2004.

This was a trip prior digital camera (for me) and with no travel log/diary, so I don't have much details. But it's always fun to look at where you've been.

It was a whirlwind trip, only 9 days from Beijing, to Xian to Shanghai, all by train once I arrived in country.

 I was significantly under prepared for the weather, I spent the whole tour in the Forbidden City thinking I was going to get frostbite!

It was also the trip I discovered eggplant (no, seriously, I have no idea how I missed it before!) and Peaking Duck.

The Terracotta Warriors were only discovered in 1974, and were definitely the highlight of the trip.

By Xian is much more than this and a walk around the wall of the old city is worth it.

 I also am glad I visited this time of year, for Australian's good snow is hard to come by and there were very few people stupid enough to be visiting the Great Wall.

I'm not sure many of my Shanghai photos look like the Shanghai of today.

Hilton, Sydney

September 2013

We stayed at the Hilton back in 2011, but we need a place to base ourselves close to a train and within walking distance of the finish line of the Sydney Running Festival and they had a great rate so this was it.

Our room was the basic king, but it had a great bed, a great view of the QVB and great blackout blinds for our early night.

The big advantage of the Hilton is the location. Right near Town Hall station, within walking distance to the QVB, China Town, Darling Harbour and the Rocks. The only thing it misses is the harbour view.

Sydney Running Festival

September 2013

The Sydney Running Festival is the only event to remain from the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

For the last two years we've run the 9K Sydney Bridge Run, but this year we went for the Blackmore's Half Marathon.

The runs start under the Harbour Bridge and all end up at the Sydney Opera House, you really couldn't ask for a much prettier course. It was a fabulous experience, and even though I'm a back of the pack runner I still felt really supported by the crowd and fellow runners.

DH finished in a fabulous 93 min, but we discovered what the "front" of the pack runners can miss out on, compared to me who finished in 2 hr 35 min.

1. I got up and close with the wheelchair marathoners, including the fabulous Kurt Fearnley. The first time he came up on the other side was exciting, when he overtook me on the 19k mark (and the 40k mark for him), who knew I would be excited to be over taken?
2. The elite male marathoners came screaming around the 6k mark as I was plodding past the 9k mark, it was a stunning sight
3. Seeing DH at his 20.5 k mark and my 12.5 k mark really lifted me, especially since he wasn't that far off the 90 min pacer so I knew he was going to beat his target (100 min)

My only disappointment is not getting a photo at the finish, with my medal.

I highly recommend this race for the tourist and the local, we will definitely be back for our 4th year next year, who knows maybe even for the full....

Wish List: Tokyo

There are two destinations at the top of my wish list, one being Istanbul, Turkey, the other being Tokyo, Japan.

Japan is only a 9 hour flight for us, and we have thought about doing it over many long weekends from Sydney (especially since the flights to and from are overnight). Crazy, maybe, be definitely not uncommon for Australians.

There's a few appealing things about Tokyo for me:

1. Is the hustle and bustle, the bright lights

2. The cultural aspect, with the Imperial Palace and Sumo tournaments

3. The food - from Ramen, to Sushi to Yakitori to Tempura and more, so many great choices

So there's very little excuse for us not to get to Tokyo in the not to distant future. Then it will be a question of how long, where to eat and where to stay!