In early October 2020, I – quite spontaneously – booked a flight to Cairo, Egypt. This spur of the moment booking led me to one of the most unique trips I’ve taken in a while. Egypt – like the rest of the world – has been on my bucket list for some time, but it…
Category: travel essay
travel essay: pashupatinath temple
*Trigger warning: I talk about watching a Hindu cremation in this post. There are photos. If this is going to upset you, please do not read this post!* The sun is high in the sky as my taxi slowly navigates the pockmarked streets of Kathmandu. I’m heading to Pashupatinath Temple, along the river, site of…
travel essay: on landing in kathmandu
36,000 feet below me, the ground is patchwork of brown. Brown roads, brown fields. There is nothing to distinguish it from flying over South Australia or the Midwest of the US. A few minutes later, the captain comes over the intercom to inform us we are beginning our descent into Kathmandu. My tired mind is…
a brush with spontaneity: sailing in the bay of islands, part two
If you missed part one about sailing in the Bay of Islands, check it out here. Monday morning, the start of Christmas week, dawned bright and early with us moving anchorages to the other side of Mimiwhangata Bay, to a spot later populated by several fishing boats. The night before, during our solstice-party planning party,…
a brush with spontaneity: sailing to the bay of islands, part one
*also known as the adventures of Kiwi Rob and Papito* Many of you know that I recently spent some time in the Bay of Islands, but what you don’t know is that it tested every ounce of my spontaneous yearnings and made me realise that I may not be as spontaneous as I’d imagined myself…
travel essay: the great ocean road
A winding road that stretches from Geelong to Warrnambool, that hugs the unstable cliffs over sapphire seas: Australia’s famous coastline of the Great Ocean Road seems to rise effortlessly from the water. As my bus passes through Lorne, the coastline is rocky, the continental shelf visible as the tide recedes. By the time I am at…
an open letter to new zealand
this is the hardest post I’ve ever had to write Dear New Zealand, I’m getting on a plane soon, and unlike Rachel, I can’t get off. My god, how badly I want to be able to get off that plane. How do I begin writing about you? Thank you for being spectacular. Thank you for…
travel essay: christchurch, the broken garden city
It was like walking through a post-apocalyptic city. Lots were fenced in, windows were boarded up. Construction cranes took over the empty skyline. The sidewalks were broken, filled in with cheap asphalt between the cracks. The cathedral, a grey stone Gothic Revival church designed by Gilbert Scott, crumbled during the quake and is still surrounded…
travel essay: hiking roy’s peak
The afternoon sun is hot on my shoulders as I make my way from my car to the start of the track. Above me, the peak rises almost vertical, the trail obscured by the shrubs and tussocks on the mountainside. There are still people arriving – like me, late to the party – to the…
travel essay: bittersweet feelings on leaving dunedin and more
“The time has come, the walrus said, to think of many things: Of shoes–and ships– and sealing-wax– Of cabbages–and kings– And why the sea is boiling hot– And whether pigs have wings.” // Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland This post has been very hard to write. I’m sitting in my flat kitchen for the…