This whole trip happened because of a very special event: the 25th Anniversary Bash for the Ultima Dragons, the internet fan club devoted to the Ultima role-playing game series whose member I’ve been for close to 20 years. I travelled to Vietnam last year and I didn’t anticipate another trip overseas so soon after, but when I heard that a celebration was to be held in Anaheim, I decided almost instantly that I wanted to come. Flying to USA and back again from Australia is quite an ordeal, so to make the most of it I also tacked on an organised trip to Mexico; I’ve never been to Central or South America so I thought I’d start with USA’s closest neighbour.
Tag: photography
Townsville
Spent four days up in Queensland, in a place where every day was reliably hot and sunny without crazy temperature drops we have to endure here in Melbourne. Though on the plus side, we don’t have to worry about crocodiles and six varieties of stingers. It was rather weird to see beautiful palm-fringed beaches with beautiful warm water… except you couldn’t swim anywhere outside of the official netted areas.
Vietnam Week 2
We stayed in Hoi An for three nights, and it was totally worth it: it’s an incredibly pretty place, especially enchanting at night. We did another countryside excursion on the second day, this time on a mountain bike. By the end of the trip, I felt like some parts of me might never be the same again, but it was a fun day out. Among other things, we got to make our own rice noodles for lunch.
I’ve never heard of Nha Trang before, and it turned out to be a coastal resorty place, full of Russian tourists. It was bizarre seeing Russian signage and menus everywhere. We had a full day boat trip on the bay, including snorkelling which unfortunately I didn’t get to do since I can’t see much without my glasses. The water however was lovely and warm, and I really tried to squeeze in as much sunbathing and swimming as possible before coming back to Melbourne and the impending winter.
Once in Ho Chi Minh City (our group leader never called it so, preferring the old name of Saigon), I finally gathered enough courage to try the frog. It tasted kinda like chicken and caused many Kermit jokes around the table. I really liked the city and its wide shaded boulevards, even if the street traffic here was at its most intimidating to cross.
Hoi An
Hoi An – Japanese Covered Bridge
Hoi An – Food market
Hoi An at night
Hoi An lanterns
Hoi An – selling candles by the river
Hoi An – view from the bridge
Making rice noodles. It’s a bit like making pancakes.
Nha Trang bay
Ho Chi Minh City – Notre Dame Cathedral
Ho Chi Minh City
Cao Dai Temple, with the happy yellow swastikas. I know they don’t mean what they mean in the West, but it still weirded me out.
Boats in the Mekong Delta
Tuk-tuk ride… watch out for the coconut palm tree branches!
Boat cruise on the Mekong River
Vietnam Week 1
I’m back from my two-week trip to Vietnam, and it’s amazing how quickly the rubber band snaps right back and the whole thing feels like a dream. Thankfully, there are photos to remind of all the good times had. It was a big success all-around: great group and leader, a wide variety of experiences, yummy food. The weather was humid and got progressively hotter as we went further south, but other than sweating like a piggie I bore it surprisingly well. The only real low point came when I ate something dodgy couple of hours before boarding the overnight train. Food poisoning and bumpy Vietnamese train and me with my motion sickness… let’s just say it wasn’t pretty. It’s probably a karma payback for all those times in Egypt and India when I was almost the only person in the group without tummy troubles.
Canberra
I don’t think I’d want to live in Canberra but visiting for a few days was nice. It’s a very sedate place which, depending on a point of view, could either mean quiet and relaxing or dull and empty. On a plus side, the food was uniformly fantastic and the city is very green, with many European trees which must look stunning in autumn. The road system however is a visitor’s nightmare; evidently someone decided that parallel streets are way too boring and that the traffic must run in circles and loops instead.
Tasmania Day 3
MONA and Mt Field National Park
The first time I went to MONA (that’s Museum of Old and New Art), it blew my mind – it’s simply one of the best and most unique museums I’ve been to. I had no idea a place so amazing was just an hour’s flight from Melbourne. Even taking away the art itself, the underground spaces with their somewhat ominous atmosphere and bare rock walls are worth seeing. It was a pleasure to visit it again and see the changes since the last time.
Me taking a photograph of the mirrored ceiling from below. Kinda like a mash-up of The Matrix and The Ring
This installation is programmed so that the drops of water briefly form random headline-type words before they hit the grill below
This room was heaps of fun, with the people on the screens singing their way through Madonna’s 80s hits. It’s a strangely addictive spectacle.
A room full of shelves full of books full of blank pages
After MONA we decided to drive to Mt Field National Park and see the Russell Falls again. The last time we were there in a different time of year, it was more like a Russell Trickle, so it was nice to see it roar with a bit more energy. It’s a beautiful walk through the rainforest, as well, which made us burn off at least some of the food we shamelessly stuffed ourselves with during our break.
And that was it for our trip to Tasmania, except for a short stop in Richmond on our way back to Hobart, where Mum bought a couple of cheese knives, which she then forgot to take out of the handbag. That didn’t impress the guys at the screening point at the airport, luckily our bag was still available at the check-in so she could put them inside. I then also did a no-no by walking through the screening gate with my hands inside the jacket pockets, which I was told to never ever do again. The funny thing was that, at the beginning of the trip, Mum had to part with a pair of small scissors left in her handbag by accident when we were screened at the Melbourne airport, so this trip was obviously under a curse of small metal objects.
Tasmania Day 2
Freycinet and Bicheno
On the second day, we headed out to the Freycinet National Park. Our first stop was at the Friendly Beaches, which I haven’t checked out before. It’s a gorgeous spot, with white sandy beach and those awesome red lichen-covered rocks typical for the coastline on this side of Tasmania.
Then we went on to Coles Bay, which turned out to have its own micro-climate; it was hot enough to swim and made me wish I had packed my bikini or at least a pair of light pants instead of jeans. Sunbathing ruled out, I did a walk along the beach, enjoying the view of the Hazards and stopping to take a photo every 30 seconds or so, because seriously how can you not?
We had lunch at a local cafe which I would not come back to – we got served a lumpy seafood chowder, tiniest pieces of white bread, and a Greek salad which was predominantly spinach with a couple of drops of balsamic vinegar. Food everywhere else was great, but this cafe obviously survives only because of the high tourist turnover.
I chickened out of doing a hike up to the Wineglass Bay lookout, so instead we drove to Bicheno, a coastal town further up north. The sea was much rougher there compared to the sedate Coles Bay and the wind way nastier, but that didn’t stop us from hopping all over the rocks.
Tasmania Day 1
Salamanca Market and Mount Wellington
Sometimes in a rush for more exotic destinations we ignore the wonderful places right under our nose, and we pretty much ignored Tasmania for the first 11 years after we’d moved to Melbourne. Once we finally visited though, we never stopped coming back, as this small island is blessed with natural beauty and packed with things to see and do. And delicious food, too.
This time around we haven’t ventured too far from Hobart, which was our base for two nights, but we still managed to pack in quite a bit. The only real annoyance on the first day was waiting for almost an hour for our checked-in bag to show up. Note to self, best not to travel to places with tiny airports so close to a public holiday, because chaos may ensue. Because of this delay, we haven’t spent as much time at the Salamanca Market as we would have liked, but oh well. It’s a great place to hang around, with the beautiful sandstone buildings as the backdrop and plenty of interesting and tasty wares on display.
Afterwards, we went for a drive to the top of Mount Wellington, which looms over the city. It was freezing cold with a killer wind, however the views were spectacular. The terrain on the very top is quite rugged and harsh, but it has its own desolate beauty to it that always appeals to me.
Melbourne
This December will be 20 years since we moved to Melbourne, and I think it’s a fine place to live in, despite the random weather, railway crossings, high cost of living, Punt Road and way too much black in fashions.
Beach cabins at the Middle Brighton Beach
St Kilda; the first Melbourne suburb we lived in when we arrived in Australia. By a weird coincidence, I also got my first ever job as a housekeeper in the same serviced apartments we had first stayed in.
Flinders Street Station, one of my favourite buildings in the city.
Melbourne Moomba Festival, on a rare occasion when I actually attended it. I get less fond of crowds with age, but in a right mood it can be quite invigorating.
Queen Victoria Gardens; we didn’t have TV or computer for some weeks after we moved, so I remember my family hanging around there a lot… getting fresh air and exercise before I could play Civilization for the thousandth time again.
Crown Casino
This statue is actually called Angel, but I always thought of it as the pushmi-pullyu beast from a children’s book. When we first came to Melbourne it used to stand by the National Gallery, but now it’s near Yarra River.
Hosier Lane; it only took me 17 years to discover this place!
Phillip Island
Had a nice getaway at Phillip Island. Yesterday, it rained the entire two hours it took me to get there (managing to drown out Guns N’ Roses at one point), so I didn’t rate my chances for nice walks the next day, and consoled myself with the thought that at least I upgraded to a suite with an enormous spa bath (it was awesome). But miraculously, Melbourne weather for once didn’t behave like a bitch! Still cold and windy, but plenty of sunshine.
The Nobbies is one of my favourite walkways in Victoria. The coast in this area is ragged and dramatic and covered with weird succulent-type vegetation which creates an interesting texture of greens and reds.
I’ve never seen them on the island before, but it must be the time of year for geese. My Mum has horror stories about being terrorised by the village geese as a child, so they make me nervous too despite being like 1/10 my size
So much foam it looks like white paint spillage…
Smith Beach looks nothing like it does in the summer, except for a couple of crazy surfers who’d probably go for a swim at the North Pole too. The nice thing about visiting it in winter is that, when you’re not distracted by the beachy things, you can actually look around the place and notice things you don’t when you’re busy getting a tan.
I like to call the big red rock a Hippo Head
Not to sound pretentious or anything, but I really think that rocks are nature’s abstract art
This was a totally random surprise – I was driving back to Melbourne and made an impulsive turn for something else and found this cute little dock instead
yggdrasille.com 