Category Archives: Uncategorized

February 27, 2023 Mal’s brother and sister-in-law drove us out to Korumburra, the small town where they live, about 90 minutes east of Melbourne. Along the way, we stopped at the even smaller town of Loch, where we stretched our legs and wandered along its main street. After lunch in Korumburra, Russ and Di droveContinue reading “Loch / Inverloch, Australia”

February 24, 2023 We spent a beautiful sunny morning exploring The Rocks, one of Sydney’s oldest neighborhoods, dating right back to the formation of the colony in 1788. From its earliest history it had a reputation as a slum but now it mainly consists of restaurants, bars and shops, catering to the large groups ofContinue reading “Sydney, Australia”

February 23, 2023 We walked over to the Art Gallery of New South Wales. In particular, we wanted to see the brand new Sydney Modern Project extension to the Gallery. Opening in December 2022 it has almost doubled the Gallery’s exhibition space, cost well in excess of $300 million. Here are some of the sightsContinue reading “Sydney, Australia”

February 22, 2023 We spent the next day wandering around downtown Sydney, checking out the shops and dodging the trams. Sydney has some beautiful old shopping arcades, including the impressive Queen Victoria Building, opened in 1898. And The Strand Arcade, opened in 1891. In the evening we joined our good friends John and Fiona forContinue reading “Sydney, Australia”

February 21, 2023 Back in 1983, we lived in Sydney for a couple of months. Our home was a one bedroom bedsit in the inner-city neighborhood of Redfern. Back then Redfern had not gentrified and was a little rough around the edges. In fact, there was a riot in the neighborhood while we were there.Continue reading “Sydney, Australia”

February 18, 2023 Out on an evening walk, we found ourselves up on Ponsonby Road, where the annual pride parade was about to begin. As the parade’s participants got themselves ready, we wandered around, enjoying the happy vibes. Particularly joyful, was the Brazilian carnival band, banging out Afro-Brazilian rhythms on an assortment of drums andContinue reading “Auckland, New Zealand”

February 16, 2023 Walking along Karangahape Road (commonly known as K Road by the locals) we decided to pop into St. Kevins Arcade for lunch. The arcade is home to some funky little shops and one of our favorite Auckland restaurants, Gemmayze Street, serving incredible Turkish food. Unfortunately, it is not opened for lunch so,Continue reading “Auckland, New Zealand”

February 6, 2023 If you start at the center of downtown Auckland by the port and drive east along Tamaki Drive, you pass through a number of pretty bays before ending up at St. Heliers. With the sun finally out, we decided to drive out to St. Heliers, have an early dinner and then goContinue reading “Auckland, New Zealand”

February 1, 2023 They said that the flood we experienced a couple of days ago was a once in a century event. Well apparently not, because this morning we were once again inundated with surging waters. If anything, this one was even worse. Nothing to do but close the doors and throw every towel andContinue reading “Auckland, New Zealand”

January 27, 2023 With the weather reports calling for bad weather, we decided to cut short our Holiday on Coromandel and head back to Auckland. It was a very fortuitous decision because a few hours after we got home, a river began to flow through our back yard. Auckland was being hit by the worstContinue reading “Auckland, New Zealand”