Strolling the Queen Vic Market and Watching Yawning Lions at the Zoo
Often I compare these journeys to eating tapas. There’s a little bit here, a taste of that there, and you never really settle into a groove because it’s time to go when that finally happens. This week in Melbourne has been splendid, and I must say that Oz is as […]
The Tiny Butterfly Club is Where Talent Begins
In Melbourne, the arts are a seriously high priority. Whether it’s public art in city squares, or nurturing the art of new clothing designers or performers, the arts are a big part of the experience of visiting here. Even the highways coming into the city are lined with gigantic steel […]
Getting to Know the Pleasure Region with Josh Oakes
Josh Oakes says he is raw. Raw as in new to many aspects of running a full time tour guide business here in Melbourne. We met yesterday and he took me to a beautiful part of the country, the spa-focused region of the Macedon Ranges. Here, he said, the emphasis […]
The Convent is Just the First of Her Many Grand Plans
Tina Banitska paused for a moment, feeling a bit emotional when she took me through her 15-year labor of love called The Convent in Daylesford, Victoria. “Excuse me,” she said, sensing that I could tell this made her emotional. She grabbed my arm and continued, ‘I get this way sometimes, […]
The Wines Were Great But No ‘Roos en Route
Today I joined a group of about 20 wine enthusiasts for a trip to the Yarra Valley’s wine country. The van drove down winding roads through wooded hills and then onto more wide open areas with rolling hills and mountains in the distance. It was a gorgeous, sunny, fall day […]
How Much Do Things Cost in Australia?
I had an chat with a man named Murray who runs Melbourne’s Best Bicycle Tours yesterday. We sat by the Yarra river and sipped lattes and talked about how much people get paid here. Then we asked the waitress how much she made, and she wasn’t at all shy. “$18 […]
"I’m Sorry" Are Two Words That Mean Everything
“I’m sorry.” These words are everything to Australia’s Aborigine community, and just a month ago, they were uttered by Australia’s new liberal prime minister Kevin Rudd. For more than a decade, the conservatives have ruled, and they were not about to apologize for what the white man has done to […]
The Twinkling of Glasses Mark’s Melbourne’s Prosperity
Melbourne has the prosperous feel of a city on the up and up. I got this sense right after we got off the plane and stood in a line waiting for customs. As a cute blond Labrador was walked through the line, sniffing every passenger’s feet and luggage, posters up […]