Sydney is a great city. Always being compared to Melbourne (and let's be perfectly honest, they're the only two cities in Australia worth visiting), it definitely feels like the bigger, flashier sibling. More cosmopolitan, and certainly far less laid back, Sydney is a vibrant outdoors city with great food, great coffee, culture (a luxury in Australia), coastal walks, beaches and quaint seaside towns. And of course good weather for most of the year. A short ferry ride from the harbour will take you to Manly Beach or Watsons Bay, a world away from the bustle of the CBD. And areas like Surry Hills, walkable from the centre, ooze old-school cool. The coastal walk from Coogee Bay to Byron Bay was a particular highlight. We ate pretty well and stayed in a fabulous Airbnb and made some new friends in the process. Two excellent foodie highlights were Nour and Nomad and the brunch game is on a whole new level. I wish we had one budget for the trip and another budget dedicated to just food. Sadly we do not. I probably wouldn’t fly all the way round the world specially to visit Sydney, but it makes a great stopover to refuel and hang out for a few days.
The big decision then (which should really have ben made much sooner) was whether to drive on down the coast all the way to Sydney, or head across the Alps to join the motorway. We had seen a fair bit of Australian coast (and as you can imagine it all looks the same) so we opted for the Great Alpine Road. We were warned of hard driving conditions and possibly even snow. Utter bollocks to both, although it is one of Australia’s only ski resorts. The landscape is far from Alpine, however it is fairly breathtaking at times, and there is a lot of interesting history along the way as it was the site of the gold rush, so is peppered with old towns (think 1840 onwards). Although previously very affluent, there is little left to be proud of as most towns feel pretty down on their luck. Beechworth is a highlight, in part due to its strong ties with infamous bushranger Ned Kelly (you’ve probably heard the name but have no idea who he is or what he did. And to be honest you don’t need to). But there is some great food and wine along the way so roadside picnics are pretty satisfying.
Melbourne to Sydney seemed like the right thing to do. However we haven't left enough time to see the famous Great Ocean Road, so we have had to wing it slightly. We picked up the campervan and set off from the airport straight down to Mornington Peninsula somewhat behind schedule (our plane broke down on the runway at Hobart, but they got their spanners out and the same plane took off four hours later..). We needed a destination near Melbourne, but we hadn't realised quite what a quintessential caravan holiday destination it was, and not in a good way. The weather was also atrocious all night, however the clouds parted the next day and we wandered around the Victorian seaside town of Sorrento. The furthest tip of the peninsula is a large national park of historic importance. Inaccessible by car, a fairly short walk leads to Nepean Fort, a stronghold protecting the harbour, and therefore Melbourne, from its earliest days to after WWII. Interestingly, the first shot fired anywhere in the Commonwealth just hours after war was declared in 1939, was from Nepean Fort at a German vessel. It lead to nothing, but the concrete bunkers and tunnels that protected the fort and its armaments can be walked around and have been painstakingly restored by volunteers. A further fascinating piece of Australian history can be visited at the Quarantine Station, also in the Point Nepean National Park. As Melbourne and the south coast was the main disembarkation point for emigrants to Australia, a strict process of quarantine was put in place to prevent deadly communicable diseases arriving to Australia. A series of flags would be hoisted to alert shore of the status of the passengers, and the sick would be shuttled and housed in a series of hospitals depending on their class on the boat, then quarantined until they died or were cured. It was essentially a prison and large numbers died there from Cholera, Typhoid and influenza. One ship famously lost almost all their crew and passengers to influenza. It's an amazing piece of relatively unknown history. We spent the next night on Phillip Island (and Churchill Island). It's an entirely missable place in many ways, apart from the amazing little penguins who surf their way to shore at dusk every day and make a mad dash waddle to to the safety of their burrows on land! Absolute rip off however and ruined by Chinese tourists. We were also told the following day that penguins do this all over the island and it can be seen without having to join the tourist tours and pay silly amounts. However we then drove down to the much anticipated Wilson’s Prom, a large national park on a promontory at the most southerly point of Australia. It’s isolated wilderness with rainforest, mountains and stunning white sand beaches, but the stars of the place are the numerous and nonchalant wildlife, especially the bumbling wombats! (aka Rob’s new favourite animal) Tame is the wrong word, but they are certainly very tolerant. (and brave, one actually snuffled under the car hidden by the cloak of darkness and licked Rob’s toes!) You can only camp in WIlson’s Prom, but the facilities are good, and the lack of hotels keeps those disinclined to be adventurous away. Squeaky Beach is a must visit, so called because the sand is so fine it squeaks beneath your feet (and it really does). Otherwise just wandering the numerous trails reveals all sorts of variety of interesting sights. Still no snake sightings. Phew.
Last but not least, we have arrived in Hobart. We actually managed to time this part of the trip well as we were in town for the famous Salamanca market. It was sadly a disappointment and not full of the locally-sourced yumminess we had hoped for, but rather locally made ‘crafts’ - a word which we now associate with locally made tat and generally useless items. However the main reason we were here was to visit MONA. The Museum of Old and New Art is the largest privately funded art museum in Australia and presents the collection of Tasmanian millionaire David Walsh. It is an eccentric and eclectic collection comprised of antiquities, and modern and contemporary art. It is quite literally an art bunker and is one of the most gargantuan art spaces I have ever encountered. There are no windows within the three floors dug deep into the cliffs, and as you wind your way up through the labyrinth of rooms and staircases to the surface, the atmosphere is intentionally oppressive and ominous. But it is an outstanding and impressive collection, and the greatest of vanity projects. It lived up to our high expectations and more! Our last evening in gorgeous Tassie was spent at Franklins, a resto famed for its locally-sourced experimental menu. It more than pushed us over our daily spend but it was worth it. Followed by a walk through the historic part of town with a view over the harbour at sunset.
Excited about this part of the trip, I have a feeling we will love Tassie, we have never heard a bad thing about it. Idyllic beaches, food and wine delights, spectacular scenery, what more could you want?! We left it too late to rent a camper so we ended up in a car and doing our usual booking everything the day before, in some cases a couple of hours before! Thank god for airbnb, who have really been saving our bacon this past week! After touching down in Devonport and picking up our rental, we naturally headed straight for the House of Anvers chocolate factory, well it was Valentine’s Day after all so we treated ourselves to a bag of extortionately priced choccies and gave each other a peck on the cheek. Its really just another day, right? The chocolate factory can be missed, it’s exactly as one would imagine, a large viewing platform to view the far from frenzied chocolate making activities and furnished with resplendent chocolate sculptures. Down the road is the Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm, so then we got suckered into buying some raspberries and some raspberry beer. But the real gem of the day was a tiny vineyard, Wines for Joanie, a small family-run winery that had that perfect blend of rustic with touches with Tom Dixonesque lighting and bits of bronze everywhere. The rest of V-day was spent on a beach picnic table with fish and chips and our raspberry beer. Perfect. It seems that a lot of the accommodation on Airbnb in Tassie are small hotels, motels or guesthouses, which worked for us on several occasions but we feel it also kind of defeats the object of what Airbnb is about - a room in someone’s home or apartment, not clinical corporate hotel rooms. Anyway, we ended up in a bed and breakfast found on Airbnb in Beauty Point, which may once have been a point of beauty but now lacks a certain je ne sais quoi in that department. More exploring of Tamar Valley occurred the next day as we cruised through rolling hillside landscapes broken up by pitstops to various vineyards on the way. We made a brief stop at Bridestowe Lavender Farm and learnt this was not the right time of year for flowering lavender, so that was a waste of time. We then raced down to Pyengana cheese factory to arrive as it closed so settled on a drink in Pub in the Paddock - licensed since 1880 (ancient for Oz) and one of Tasmania’s oldest pubs. It was as pretty as a picture, despite the long stares we received from the locals slurping their schooners inside… To Rob’s surprise I was the first to jump out of bed as the alarm rang at 5.40am this morning. We were staying at Binalong Bay in the Bay of Fires and I was excited to get down to Dora Point to watch the sunrise. Sunsets and sunrises are pretty much the only things that will get me up before 8am, or up a mountain. The pictures just don’t do it justice. We had the beach to ourselves and it was another of those pinch me moments. Bay of Fires incidentally stretches over 50 kilometres and is regarded as one of the most beautiful parts of Australia. It received its name after some famous captain saw the fires of Aboriginal people on the beaches. As we continued navigating Bay of Fires we drove all the way up to The Gardens, stopping every now and then to discover incredible beach after incredible beach, Cosy Corner South was amongst one of our faves. I swear our standards are going to be so high by the time we get home that nothing will ever satisfy us again! Freycinet National Park (which annoyingly you have to pay an entry fee for) and “unforgettable” Wineglass Bay was our next stop after a few hours drive along spectacular coastal roads. We headed up to the lookout which was about a forty minute return walk in seriously hot conditions, and we were hatless - cue Rob making a turban out of his t-shirt and me wrapping my scarf round my head. Total tourists. The view was pretty incredible and the impossibly clear ocean, paradise. On our way down, we decided on a detour and went down to the beach itself. I was too chicken but Rob went for a quick dip. The sand here is super fine granite granules that sparkle and catch the sunlight. genuinely if it weren't so expensive to ship things home, I would have bottled some up. The tranquil town of Ross was our home that evening. It wasn't our first choice as it's quite far inland but we genuinely couldn't find anywhere close to Freycinet that wasn’t a total backpacker dive, or four times over our budget. Its clearly peak season here and advance booking is a must. Obviously there is nothing ‘advanced planning’ about this trip so at times its come to bite us on the arse. BUT, not this time, Ross was an unexpected delight! It is a historic and quaint little town packed full of the cutest colonial, heritage listed cottages and sandstone buildings, made famous by its convict history. Of particular interest was the Female Factory which is one of the only few female convict compounds to have existed in Australia. Astonishing to think that convicts spent three to four months on ships sailing across from the UK to Oz for the smallest of crimes, stealing a handkerchief got you seven years! Tough gig! And for all you old bridge buffs (Rob is in included in this category), there is also the third oldest bridge in Australia, that was constructed by convicts in 1836. Fact. And even more bizarrely, Ross is the home of the curried scallop pie (who knew there was such a thing?). Naturally it needed to be tried, despite it being 11am. Oh well, elevenses is a thing. It was really rather tasty! One hour drive back towards the coast brings you to an abundance of yet more vineyards. Spring Vale, Milton, Gala Estate, Freycinet and Devil's Corner were our faves. The thing with all these vineyards is that of course, it is wonderful to try so many varieties, but the real joy is the spectacular Tasmanian vistas that they are nestled amongst.
Sadly we failed to blag an upgrade on the flight over, much to my disappointment, so much for using all those air miles for upgrades, we are truly failing at the miles game. Having a best mate who lived in Melbs for a few years, and reading so much about this super cool city, we knew that we were going to like Melbourne. We weren’t wrong. How nice it was to be surrounded by signs we could read and a language we could understand! Rob’s sister Marian and our little godson James who live in Brisbane came down to see us for a night and we had an airbnb booked in North Carlton. Booking it last minute (again), we were forced to book outside the centre of town but as it turned out, it was nice to be a little further out and there were lots of cute cafes and heritage listed buildings all around. It was so nice to see some family and have a home cooked meal, not to mention endless cuddles with James. It was also nice to talk to someone other than each other, a relief one might say after seven weeks in only each others company! James was a little superstar as we walked through not just one but two exhibitions, the Viktor & Rolf and the David Hockney at the National Gallery, both brilliant. After lunch at Victoria Market, it was all too soon for Marian and James to head back home, a super short but sweet reunion! We were staying our next two nights at our friend Maree and her husband Andrew’s beautiful new house, they were absolute superstars and not only picked up all our junk but let us crash, despite having only just moved in themselves! They took us out on the town, dinner at The European after drinks at Siglo’s and Madame Brussels and after dinner, three more bars I couldn’t possible tell you the names of. They were cool though. Maree is expecting so was our chauffeur for the evening ;-) How do Australian’s do brunch so much better than anywhere else in the world? We hit up some pretty awesome brunch spots and Rob was in coffee heaven, Melbourne being one of the coffee capitals of the world. They really put the effort in here! Here are some of our faves: Market Lane Coffee (coffee) Proud Mary (coffee) Captains of Industry (everything, drinks, coffee, lunch, barber) Section 8 (super cool bar made out of old containers) Alimentari (brunch, Italian style) Industry Beans (brunch) Two:Bob (brunch) Auction Rooms (brunch) St. Kilda is a short drive from the centre of Melbourne and is worth a visit if you have longer. It's a beachside town with public salt water pools and a long pier. The views stretch back to the city and the Melbourne skyline is makes a nice backdrop to the yachts bobbing in the harbour. A storm had just passed when we arrived leaving a full rainbow over the town.
Speeding past the enshrouded Mount Fuji on the shinkansen announces your imminent arrival to Tokyo, the city to beat all cities. It is a fitting destination to end our month in Japan. Tokyo is not initially as high rise as you might expect, however it is as dense and vibrant. Narrow streets full of glowing colourful signs, busy roads with immaculately dressed taxi drivers in suits and wearing white gloves, and endless food establishments which appear to be busy 24 hours a day. However Tokyo also has a calmer side. Step off the main thoroughfares and you find serene back streets such as Ometosando, which could mistaken for the suburbs in the heart of the city. Surprisingly, Tokyo is also the greenest city in Asia, although charging to get into 'public' parks is not something to be encouraged. The architecture is a blend of large high-rise futurism (which has certainly dated better than most european brutalism), and low rise residential, most often in very close proximity. The popular districts of Shinjuku and Shibuya are perfect examples. Any major metro station also goes hand in hand with shopping, which if it's your thing is fairly phenomenal. A large number of the shops in Aoyama and Ginza are works of art in themselves. Tokyo has never held back in encouraging advanced and progressive architecture on every scale. However Tokyo is really a city to just be in. There is less pressure to visit historic sites and temples (although maybe only if you have already been to Kyoto), and no particular gastronomy to seek out as it is as cosmopolitan as most other capitals. The food however, with a bit of additional research, is exceptional. It was disappointing to be told at one enticing looking establishment that they didn't serve foreigners, however being Japan there really are plenty more fish in the sea. Speaking of which, Tsukiji fish market is amazing and absolutely essential to visit before it is sanitised and relocated.
Tokyo might not appeal to everyone, but it is probably a city that everyone should visit at least once in their life, just to experience how good life in a big city can be. Neighbouring Teshima Island is around twenty-five minutes by boat from Naoshima. We decided that two nights in Naoshima was enough and that a day would be plenty for Teshima so we took our bags and checked them into the luggage store whilst we went exploring. Sadly yesterday’s good weather did not hold and we awoke to pouring rain. But, this did not stop us, we had two must sees on the list, the Les Archives Du Coeur and the Teshima Art Museum. So, five years ago at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Palma, Majorca we participated in a Christian Boltanski exhibition and recorded our heart beats. At the time we just thought it was fun and hadn’t really given it a thought since. We were told that the recordings would be archived in a small wooden shed on a tiny Japanese Island. And yep, you guessed it, that island is Teshima! The archive is located in the middle of nowhere on a remote corner of the island down a disguised pathway that leads to the beach.
On arriving, with great excitement, we immediately went to the computers to find our names logged in the archive, we learnt we were numbers 556 and 557 out of now over 50,000 heartbeats recorded across the globe. We then headed into the ‘Heart Room’ which is pitch black with only a single lightbulb that lights up in time to the heartbeat playing. The walls are lined with mirrors and the beat is so loud it moves you to the core. I then asked the attendant, (if you don't ask you don't get), whether she could play our heartbeats in the heart room. To our surprise, two minutes later, we were listening to the heartbeats we recorded five years ago on the other side if the world. It was an incredible experience and is still giving me goosebumps writing about it now. A little poem for you: Teshima It's a place you can't easily reach. It's a quiet beautiful island that is far from Tokyo And the other large cities of the world. It's a trip to listen to ones heartbeat. The long journey and the time to think are the important things. It's almost like a pilgrimage. — Christian Boltanski The Teshima Art Museum is dedicated to the work of just one artist - my new favourite, Rei Naito, so I knew it was going to be special, but it was genuinely on another level. The concrete shell of the building itself is a collaboration between the artist and the architect Ryue Nishizawa and was created to resemble a water droplet at the moment of landing. It is located in the corner of a rice terrace that was restored in collaboration with local residents. There are no pillars, just a wide open space with two oval openings in the shell which allow the elements of the outside world in. In the interior space, water continuously springs from little holes in the ground and move across the floor, like droplets of mercury, around the specially contoured surface. Single strands of string hang from the ceiling and occasionally catch the light. It was subtlety personified and up there with one of the most spectacular art experiences we have had. I could have stayed there all day. But then Rob dragged me back into the rain and reality and our art island experiences were over. A quick pit stop in Osaka again gave us a chance to finally sample the famous Japanese pancakes we’d heard so much about. Rob managed to find a super old school cafe full of furniture that would cost you a mint to buy back home. |
AuthorsRob & Charlie's travelling adventures on their long journey back to London after living in Hong Kong. Four continents, twelve countries, lots of experiences. Archives
July 2017
All photos copyright ©
Robert Ware & Charlotte Nunn |