When the Travelater slows down...

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A city in a day: Melbourne

Melbourne, Australia. What a city. If you’ve ever been I know you’ll agree with me on one thing: you HAVE to spend more than one day there.

But I often find myself in places for just a day and wonder how I will see the sights in a day without it being like a bad night of speed dating.

I promise the following is a REAL day – you know, six to eight hours, not a ridiculous list that you can’t possibly do in a day. I don’t know about you, but when I visit a place, especially if I’m on holidays, I DO NOT get up before 6am. I also like to take enough time to actually enjoy the sights, not see them for five seconds and move on.

9am – Coffee: the breakfast of champions

I can’t start my day (any day actually) without a coffee and Melbourne has the best brew in Australia.

A local introduced me to a funky laneway café which boasts tasty coffee and an interior not unlike stepping back in time to the 40’s and 50’s. Complete with a barber and shoe-shiner, Captains of Industry is on Somerset Place, just a few left turns off Elizabeth Street, in the city centre.

I had two coffees (yep, buzzing for my big day ahead), and the toast with avocado and lemon. Between mouthfuls, I sipped my water out of a tin billy cup, just like my Nan used to have on the farm.

10am – Melbourne Museum: Surprisingly un-snoozworthy

After breakfast I jumped on a tram to head towards the famous Lygon Street in Carlton, to check out the Italian food, and Brunswick Street, to hit the shops.

One of the tram stops on the way was the Melbourne Museum, so I made a quick decision to jump off and have a browse. I knew the massive King Tut Egyptian exhibition was showing I thought I’d try my luck at getting in without a booking.

Turns out, even on a weekday, you need to book ahead. At 10am all the viewings were booked out until 5pm. So I paid measly $8 to see the regular museum exhibitions and wasn’t asleep by the end of it!

You could take the whole day to stroll through the exhibitions, but I spent 1.5 hours walking through the displays of the city of Melbourne’s history, complete with the stuffed version of the famous galloper Phar Lap. I’m still not sure if I was amazed by this feat of taxidermy or if it grossed me out, but it was an experience all the same.

Phar Lap & the wonders of taxidermy

My favourite display was the human body and mind section, with interactive displays and the history of psychiatry. Not sure what that says about me, but I do love my pop psychology.

If you’ve got kids in tow there’s heaps for them including dinosaur, bugs and creepy crawlies, and earth and space exhibits.

12.30pm – Italian food: I was born in the wrong country

I grew up with a lot of Italian friends in my country town, so I was practically raised on southern Italian food.

For Italian food lovers, Melbourne’s Lygon Street in Carlton is a Mecca. Your biggest problem when you get there will be choosing which Italian restaurant or trattoria you’ll eat at.

I had a cheap and tasty ravioli arrabiata for lunch at Café Corretto, with a cheeky glass of Lambrusco, but if you’re there for dinner Zingarella’s is hard to go past (leave room for dessert!).

2pm – Shopping: giving the plastic a workout

Melbourne has fantastic shopping wherever you go, be it the city or suburbs, but if you’re after a bargain, or something funky and different, Brunswick Street in Fitzroy is the place to go. As you migrate from shop to shop, you’ll find a café in every block, to fuel up on caffeine while you rest your weary feet.

Brunswick St

I got a stack of bargains (at more than 50% off) at sale warehouse Clear It. It has designer and regular labels so there’s lots of variety, but go there first so you’re fresh because it’s a bit crazy. While the women aren’t clawing your eyes out to get to a handbag first, there is a lot of stock, and you will have to look through a lot of racks.

6.30pm – Cocktails for dinner Thai for Dinner

As well as a reputation for amazing coffee, Melbourne has a well-earned reputation for great bars and great cocktails.

I had a yummy margarita with a difference at Gin Palace. Some how, they manage to take the taste of the tequila, lemon and salt combo and mix it into one mouthful! The bar is located on Little Collins St in the city, an easy walk from tram stops and city hotels. It’s also close to the hundreds of choices for a post-drink dinner; Thai, Indian and Italian can all be found within walking distance.

Phew! So that was my day in Melbourne.

Have you been? What would you recommend in Melbourne? Or what other places have you crammed into just one day?

Ain't No Mountain High Enough...

I’ve been a bit slack with the blog posts over the past couple of months – and I’d like to think (ok, my excuse is) that I’ve been climbing a few personal mountains lately; new job, moving house etc. They’ve been sucking up my travel blog time like a black hole.

It's all down hill from here

Anyway, that clichéd analogy got me thinking about the mountains I actually have climbed. I don’t fancy myself as a hiker so it’s not a long list, but I do intend to add to it in the future. I thought I’d share it with you because, lets face it, there’s nothing like feeling as though you want to quit at the bottom of a climb, and surprising yourself when you get to the top!

Little Mount Peel, South Canterbury, New Zealand

Firstly, I’d like to point the ‘little’ in Little Mount Peel ain’t so small. It must be something about New Zealanders living in a country with so many mountains that made then want to call this monster ’Little’ Mount Peel. The peak actually has an older sibling, Mount Peel, which is actually is bigger. Fair enough.

Little Mount Peel, New Zealand

Little Mount Peel is located around 1.5 hours drive from Christchurch, on New Zealand’s South Island Peel Forest Park. If your fitness is ok you’ll probably get up and back in about three hours. We did the walk in summer, so it was pretty steamy while walking through the dense scrub at the bottom, but take a jacket; the higher you go the lower the temperature gets. The track can be pretty rugged and muddy in places, especially if there’s been recent rain, so wear comfortable shoes that you don’t mind getting dirty.

The track is steep in places, and you may need to stop for the occasional breather if you aren’t used to climbing, but the view is SO worth it.

Murree Hills, Punjab Province, Pakistan

I was lucky enough to visit Pakistan when I was a teenager in 1997. It was a somewhat different country back then, but even at that stage I appreciated how lucky I was to visit such an exotic, and sometimes, scary place.



Murree Hills, Pakistan

 The view from the Murree Hills over the disputed Kashmiri border still remains one of the most exotic views I’ve ever seen in my life. The hills were dark green and almost mystical looking, with low cloud swirling the peaks. Ok, I didn’t actually climb the mountains with my legs, most of it was done from the relative safety of the 4WD with my uncle, aunt and cousins, but there was some walking. With the travel sickness and the 4WD winding round and round the misty, mountain road, I still felt like I climbed the damn thing.

Mount Warning, northern New South Wales, Australia

Located about 40 minutes drive from the Gold Coast, Mount Warning is a great climb, with a good track and rainforest view. The mountain is also known as Wollumbin (meaning cloud catcher), and has great cultural and traditional significance to indigenous Australians.

Mount Warning

Due to the often warm and humid climate of northern New South Wales, the ideal time to climb Mount Warning is early in the morning or during the winter months. It’s also a bit of a gamble as to the view you’ll see when you get to the top. Even if it’s a clear sunny day, Mount Warning can often attract low cloud, hence the indigenous name, over its peak. Mostly, you’ll get great views, even on the way up, but it’s good to keep in mind your end result is completely reliant on the whims of nature.

The last part of the climb is rock face, and all you have to assist you up the top is a chain. It’s not as primitive as it sounds, but you have to be pretty mobile to finish the climb comfortably.

Mount Kosciuszko, New South Wales, Australia

I climbed Mount Kosuiszko as a teenager too, so I probably remember it being easier than it was, although you don’t need to be a professional athlete to complete this hike and still be able to walk the next day.



Kosuiszko National Park

I did the climb during spring so the track was conveniently free of snow, (in winter it’s one of Australia’s best ski slopes) and we followed a nature boardwalk virtually all the way to the top. The view rivals any I’ve ever seen in terms of absolute 360-degree views of Australia’s beautiful Snowy Mountains landscape. It’s also relatively easy on the way back down, which means you’ll still have lots of energy left to explore the tiny ski village of Thredbo.

On my to do list I have the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea and Machu Picchu in Peru.


Have you done any of these? I’d love to hear about it if you have. What’s on your mountain list?

Wishful Wednesday Travel Photo

Travel photos from where I'd rather be...

Lake Ophua (South Island), New Zealand

Hello world, it's Queensland. I'm open for business.

Tounge Bay, Hill Inlet and Whitehaven Beach - Whitsundays
(Photo: Tourism Queensland)

It has been a long time between blog posts for me, I’ll admit. Some of it has been the usual pre-Christmas craziness and the post-holiday laziness – but the rest is because the state I live in, Queensland, Australia, has been inundated by devastating, mind-blowing flooding.

I consider myself very lucky because; firstly, I live at least an hour’s drive from the state’s capital - Brisbane - where some very damaging and widespread flooding occurred, and almost two hours from the regional areas struck by incredible flash flooding (you may have seen those pictures on the news). Secondly, my house wasn’t flooded. But many, many were. It has been an awful and life-changing experience for hundreds of thousands of people.

But this post is not about the tragedy of the flooding – it is about what you (as an avid traveller/blogger/ordinary person/friend who does me a favour and reads my blog) can do to help. Please come and visit Queensland. Help the Queensland tourism industry (which contributes $9.2 billion to the state's economy) get back on its feet.

 

Unfortunately there is a lot of out of date information still out there at the moment; even Google's 'Crisis Response' page has not been updated and still says that millions of people are being threatened by flooding.

The majority of popular tourist destinations in Queensland (the Gold Coast, The Sunshine Coast, Airlie Beach, Cairns, Port Douglas, Agnes Waters, Whitsundays and the Great Barrier Reef, just to name a few) have not been affected by flooding AT ALL. They remain a fantastic place to spend your hard earned holiday leave. All Queensland airports, except Rockhampton, are open and working as normal. The main highway from Brisbane to Cairns is open. You can get further details about the areas that are not affected by flooding at all from Tourim Queensland here.

For anyone who hasn’t visited Australia before, or doesn’t know the state of Queensland, the above map may help. You can see a lot of the northern tourist destinations I mentioned above are hundreds and sometimes thousands of kilometres away from the recent flood affected areas.

Yes, I’m biased. Queensland, and Australia, is my home, as well as a great place to travel. But if you’ve ever watched shocking news footage of a devastating natural disaster and wondered what you can do – here is a chance.

Pass this on to anyone and everyone you know who might be planning a holiday soon. Visit Queensland – the tourism industry is open for business!

Now, I’m not saying anything new; almost everyone in the online travel community within Australia is encouraging travellers to spend their precious dollars in Queensland. So many people cant be wrong, right?

There’s even a dedicated Facebook page full of ideas for your next Queensland holiday.

You can also follow the official Tourism Queensland blog

Airlines are even having sales, doing their bit to raise awareness. Domestic Australian airline Virgin Blue is having a sale to destinations in Queensland, where some flights are up to 50% off. Check out the Queensland Shines Sale.

And finally – there are so many people doing it tough in the wake of this incredible destruction. They won’t be having a holiday anytime soon. Please, if you can, donate to the Premier’s Disaster Relief Appeal – the Queensland Government’s official flood appeal fund.

Wishful Wednesday Travel Photo

Brrr...Central Park in winter, New York City

Backyard Travel: Australia

I’ve recently had a bit of a financial reality check, which as a traveller, is not much fun.

It’s that time in my life when I’m thinking about making some of those grown-up decisions, like getting a mortgage. This unfortunately means I may have to cut down on my expensive international travel addiction, and try to stick to one a year (or less – yikes!).

As much as I break out into a cold sweat at the thought – I’ve realised I’m lucky to live in a beautiful country full of travel adventure options. I think because my country is an island I’ve developed an obsession with ‘overseas’ travel’ when in fact, there’s plenty to see at home too.

So it’s about time I appreciate the amazing Australian places I’ve been lucky enough to visit…and to start a bit of a domestic travel wish list!

Coolangatta, Gold Coast

I am actually lucky enough to call the Gold Coast home, but before I lived in this beautiful coastal city, I visited my favourite part – Coolangatta – every year.

Not only does it still have a friendly, small-town-feel to the area surrounding some of the world’s most amazing surf breaks (Snapper Rocks to name just one), it's also five minutes from an international airport and has some of the most amazing beach views anywhere in Australia.

You can spend a day at the beach without having to fight for a square of sand, a common problem at so many other world-class beaches, and accommodation and dining isn’t overpriced. And if you’re a surfing fan, make the trip in the Australia summer to catch the Quicksilver Pro, the first stop on the ASP world surfing tour.

The Murray River, Victoria

Australia’s longest river may look less than exotic to many visitors; I think it could be the brown, muddy water, but it really is an amazing river to travel down.

Wishful Wednesday Travel Photo

Suburban street - Lisbon, Portugal

Five reasons to visit New Zealand

I was lucky enough to spend last weekend in New Zealand for a wedding. It was a lightning-quick trip and it got me to re-evaluate my ideas about travelling there.

The view from the flight into Christchurch

I’ve now had the pleasure of visiting New Zealand three times because I fell in love with a Kiwi. I have to admit, and the traveller in me is not proud of this, that before meeting the boy, I wasn’t in a hurry to visit the Land of the Long White Cloud.

I know this may seem crazy to anyone who lives half the globe away from New Zealand – but as an Aussie, who lives just across The Ditch, I must confess I took New Zealand for granted. It wasn’t on my top five list of places to go next.

But Aotearoa, I must confess to you, I judged you too hastily. You are a magnificent country to visit and travel.

Here are my Top Five reasons why...

1. Nature untouched

New Zealand is a place where nature almost seems untouched by humans. Whether it's Milford Sound at the bottom of the South Island, Stewart Island or Matamata on the North Island, where the Lord of the Rings Trilogy was famously filmed, you won’t be disappointed. As well as hitting the big touristy places, some of the lesser-travelled areas like the picturesque farming land of South Canterbury or the hot springs of Hanmer, are well worth travelling off the main highway for.

Wishful Wednesday Travel Photo

The Algarve Coast, southern Portugal

Wishful Wednesday Travel Photo

Where I would rather be...

Santorini, Greek Islands

These (Country) Boots Were Made For Walkin'

Music Festivals. I think they’re the tasty icing on the travel cake. I recently got the chance to experience the CMA Music Festival in Nashville, Tennessee. I’ll admit, it was different to other music festivals I’ve been to – but it was deliciously good!

Me and my Kiwi had been travelling through the southern states of the US and the plan was to road trip from Memphis to Nashville, before going on to New York City.

We hadn't planned to be in Nashville especially for the festival - it was a lucky coincidence - so most of the accommodation was already booked out. I trawled travel and hotel websites and eventually found a modest hotel, a Super 8, near Nashville Airport. It was too good to be true! And it turned out it actually was. The hotel was cheap and nasty - and that's a compliment! We were blessed with a blocked shower drain, stained towels, a bed cover peppered with cigarette burn holes, but really, they were merely first world problems. Thanks to Super 8, we saved around $200 a night on accommodation. Most of the two and three star hotels closer to the heart of CMA Festival activities in Downtown Nashville (like the Best Western) were going for no less than $300 per night. In stark contrast to our gross hotel room was the country music capital of the world, Nashville, Tennessee. An incredible city; rich with the sound of live country music floating our of every bar, populated by friendly locals and host to a pretty amazing music festival.

Wishful Wednesday Travel Photo

Like many people - I'd rather be out travelling the world - but more often than not I'm stuck in the office working to pay for my jaunts.

So to keep me going I've come up with a weekly travel photo spot aptly titled 'Wishful Wednesday'.

This is where I wish I was today....

Times Square, New York City

Got any great travel photos to share every Wednesday? Email me and I'll add them! (With a credit of course!)

Touristy Tours Part 3: Boring But Practical Graceland Tips

My last post was an emotional journey through Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley.

This post is a little more mundane – it’s the boring but basic things I’d recommend you do to make your rock ‘n’ roll pilgrimage to Memphis, Tennesse as smooth as possible.

Beale St Blues

Whilst conducting my recent jaunt to the home of The King I stayed in Downtown Memphis, where there are plenty of really good hotels at affordable prices - most will have rooms for under $100 a night. I would recommend staying Downtown for the atmosphere and convenience (it’s close to the famous and fantastic Beale Street). That is unless you’re really set on staying at the famous Heartbreak Hotel, located just behind the main Graceland entrance, which is also a unique experience, and the choice of many die hard Elvis fans. Just beware, if you’re staying at the Heartbreak Hotel, there isn’t much else to do in the area except tour Graceland, and Elvis Presley Boulevard is pretty seedy either side of Graceland. However, you’ve also got access to a free bus, which will take you to Downtown Memphis.

Personal jet anyone? The King's 'Lisa Marie'

If you want to do the musical double (both Graceland and Sun Studio, birth place of rock n’ roll) downtown Memphis is a great place to stay.

Sun Studio is about a 15 minute walk from the hotel area of Union Street. A tour of the famed recording studios, which gave birth to records by Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins (otherwise known as the Million Dollar Quartet) is worth the visit. The building is steeped with musical history - you can just about feel it in your bones when you arrive. When you’re finished the guided tour (I challenge any music lover to take the guided tour and not get chills listening to the very first rock ‘n’ roll recordings!) a bus will arrive. It does a loop between Sun Studios, the Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum, Heartbreak Hotel and Graceland – and it’s free! You get to ride to the spiritual home of The King in air-conditioned comfort, while watching an Elvis movie or show special on the flat screen TV.

Sun Studio -  birthplace of rock 'n' roll

Once you arrive at Graceland’s main building (which is across the road from Elvis’ actual home), everything is very user-friendly. Tickets are the first port of call, and you have a few options. The mansion tour tickets are around US$30 for adults, a few dollars cheaper for seniors and kids. For a couple more dollars the Platinum ticket includes the mansion tour, tour of Elvis’ two custom aeroplanes, the car museums and several other exhibits. For the serious Elvis fan there’s the VIP ticket, which includes everything in the Platinum plus a special extra exhibit at the mansion, front of the line access and a keepsake pass. You can be a VIP for around $69.

From the ticket building you can hop in a bus and meander slowly across Elvis Presley Boulevard and through the colonial style (musical) gates of the Graceland mansion grounds. The stately home is fringed by rolling green lawns and large lush green trees. More about the amazing tour here.

Once you’re done in the mansion – there’s still plenty more to see. If you’re an Elvis lover, you’ll want to set aside a whole day for Graceland – it’s not just a tour of Elvis’ former home – it’s also a multiple-museum experience.

I’d recommend hitting the mansion first, as it gives the necessary context for the Graceland museums, which include his car collection and seasonal exhibitions, showcasing Elvis’ infamously flamboyant wardrobe and possessions, including his Convair 880 plane and the smaller Hound Dog II Lockheed Jetstar aircraft.

The Elvis car museum

There are multiple souvenir stores, filled to the brim with Elvis paraphernalia and as corny as it can feel – it is also deliciously exciting for any Elvis-lover.

After all the tours and sight seeing – there is one thing I implore you to do before you leave the hallowed grounds of Graceland. For the love of god, eat a fried peanut butter and banana sandwich (you can get them for about $4 at the diner near the main buildings). See how The King lived and eat what The King ate! It’s the only way to experience Graceland.

Got any tips from your Graceland experience? Any questions? Let me know!

Touristy Tours Part 2: My Mecca - Graceland

When a place has more than one song written about it you can pretty much guarantee it’s a place worth visiting.

Graceland, the stately mansion of the late, great Elvis Presley, located in Memphis, Tennesse, definitely fits into that category.

Yes, Graceland is touristy within an inch of its life. Yes, many, many people have been there before you and will go there after you’re gone. And yes it is a place where you’ve got no choice but to take a tour, but I don’t think that’s any reason not to experience it for yourself.

Places well visited are well visited for a reason. While it’s great to trek to far-flung exotic locations and experience things that few people have, I think it’s also just as fulfilling visiting a place which is well trodden by the shoes of tourists.

I will confess right now that I am an Elvis Tragic. It’s my father’s fault. I grew up listening to the crooning of Elvis Presley; in our family car, in the house and whenever an Elvis Special or movie happened to be on TV. Graceland has established a place in popular culture and the experience is worth it, even just for pop culture’s sake.

As I climbed the front steps of Graceland and entered the mansion I felt an excitement which literally gave me goose bumps. Here I was entering the home of Elvis, a place I had dreamt of visiting for many years, but in an inner contradiction I never expected, I also felt like I was invading Elvis’ privacy a little. After all, so many private things would have happened to Elvis that house, not to mention his actual death. It was definitely a little eerie standing in the foyer, knowing Elvis had passed away almost directly above where I stood, in the second floor bathroom.

That feeling dissolved a little when I continued past the foyer and into the front rooms. Firstly you’re confronted with the formal dining room and lounge room. The lounge is characterised by a multi-coloured stained glass door way ironically featuring peacocks, electric blue curtains and white-as-snow couches. Once you continue past these first two rooms, you view the famous kitchen of Elvis, where his mother lovingly baked for him and where he consumed many an artery-hardening peanut butter and banana fried sandwich.

Next is the outrageous Jungle Room, which Elvis created in part for his beloved daughter Lisa-Marie. The room is a sight which must be seen to be believed; it features bright green carpet, ornately carved wooden furniture and a waterfall.

The Graceland mansion experience has the ability to be very tacky and a little bit morbid, but the tour is tastefully done. Well, tasteful Elvis-style. The interior has been criticised as being everything from ‘white trash’ to ‘garish and gaudy’ but you can be sure there is nothing else like it. In fact, I was surprised at how much it felt like an actual home, as opposed to a house, despite the flamboyance. The upstairs area of the mansion is blocked off as a mark of respect; Elvis only ever hosted visitors downstairs, so no one goes upstairs. I found this soothed my feeling of voyeurism.

The tour continues into the downstairs area where you see Elvis’ TV room, complete with three screens, a bar and canary yellow walls. From there it’s through to the billiard room, with a real tear in the table still visible from a rowdy game of pool. The room’s walls are covered with multi-coloured material, arranged in a truly psychedelic concertina pattern. It almost hurts your eyes to look!

It’s then out onto the back lawn of the mansion and into Elvis’ father’s office, the former firing range (Elvis had a love for guns and law enforcement in his later years) and the well know racquetball court, which has now been converted into a record room, displaying an array of awards and famous Elvis jumpsuits.

From there you’re led into a series of rooms which serve as a museum of sorts to Elvis’ life and achievements. Several displays of The King’s awards, records, movie posters, famous costumes and even his wedding suit for his marriage to ex-wife Priscilla litter the walls. This part of the tour removes you from the intimacy of the rest of the mansion and takes you into the tourist-like experience, which is a little less confronting than the inner rooms of the house.

The mansion tour is of the audio type – and I have to admit, I was a bit apprehensive about that. Audio tours can be very good or very, very bad. It’s a LONG tour if it’s bad. Thankfully, my fears were unfounded. It’s a big call, but this was one of the best audio tours I’ve had the pleasure of listening to. The majority of the tour features Priscilla and Lisa-Marie’s recollections of the Elvis they knew and their life at Graceland, in between smatterings of Elvis songs, which is a unique twist to the experience.

I’m normally very torn between living in the moment of visiting a major tourist attraction, taking in the sights and sounds, and snapping away like a tourist possessed. I like to document the places I’ve been, but with some moderation. But Graceland was different, I succumbed to the touristy impulses and I snapped away like my life depended on it!

The relentless picture taking continued until the final part of the tour – Elvis’ Meditation Gardens and his final resting place. The gardens feature a serene-looking meditation area and fenced pool – but also the graves of The King himself, his parents and grandmother.

Whilst standing at the grave site, I couldn’t bring myself to take a single photo. In that moment, I felt like it wasn’t appropriate. I wasn’t begrudging those around me, who had also likely travelled thousands of miles to be there, of taking all the photos they liked. But I just couldn’t do it. I was also shocked to find I was getting a lump in my throat. I am a major Elvis fan, but I had always associated an emotional reaction to a tourist attraction (even a grave site) with obsessive, slightly loopy fans. Now I was an obsessive, slightly loopy Elvis fan.

But really, isn’t that the great thing about travel? Sometimes it’s for seeing and experiencing new things and sometimes it’s for breathing new life into old childhood memories. I never thought I would say it, but my tour of Graceland was definitely a spiritual experience, of the rock ‘n’ roll kind.

Standing there paying my respects, I suddenly realised why hundreds of thousand of people made the pilgrimage to Graceland every year. Not just because they loved Elvis’ music, but because to them, Elvis represents a time in their life, a memory; some long forgotten emotion.

That’s why Graceland is a Mecca for many, a pilgrimage worth making for any music fan, Elvis Tragic or not.

In my next post, I’ll lose the emotional ga ga about Elvis and give you some practical tips for your own pilgrimage to Graceland!

September 11: One New Yorker's Perspective

I’m sure almost everyone remembers where they were when they heard about the World Trade Centre terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

Downtown Manhatten

I was in my university dorm room watching the late news. I can’t remember the exact time but it was probably around 11pm in Australia. I watched the TV screen in disbelief as the live pictures rolled in, the second plane flying into the second tower. It was, as so many people have described since, like a scene from a movie. Surreal, unimaginable and unbelievable.

It’s a perspective that so many people who saw the footage of that day share, but what about the people who saw this disturbing chain of events unfold right in front of them, in real-time? They were the ones there at Ground Zero, tasting the rubble dust and smelling the smoke.

In 2001, I didn’t know anyone who lived in New York. I didn’t hear anyone’s story first hand. Sure, I read a lot of stories, and there were so many compelling, horrifying stories of loss and grief.

I met my American friend Judy in 2003, while travelling in the United States. She had lived in New York City for many years – both loving and disliking the city equally at times.

I saw Judy again in June this year when I visited her in NYC. I had known her for seven years and had never heard her firsthand account of that day. Over a few red wines, in a New York City bar on the Upper West Side, Judy told me her experience. It is a story I will never forget…

It started like any other work day. I arrived at my Downtown office building, just a few blocks away from what is now Ground Zero.

As I walked towards the main entrance to the building I saw a few of my colleagues and one of them said “A plane has just crashed into one of the World Trade Centre Towers”.

I immediately realised something was wrong, but a couple of workers outside the building didn’t even blink. They continued to walk into our building, unphased.

I raced inside and grabbed a phone. I called my mum in Florida and told her “I don’t know what’s going on but a plane has just flown into one of World Trade Centre Towers. No matter what you hear, I’m ok” and I hung up. Just minutes after that all phone communication in Downtown Manhattan was cut off. I stood with the small group which had gathered outside the entrance to our office, and as we stood I watched the second plane fly into the second tower. Words will never describe how surreal that sight was. The minutes which followed are ones I’ve thought about many times since, but it still seems a blur.

We watched as the towers burned and billows of smoke poured from the gaping holes in both buildings. It was then we all noticed what no one wanted to say. People had started to jump from the buildings. The strangest thing happened…I started to talk. I talked through what was happening to the people around me, like a running commentary. I still don’t really know why I did it. It was as if it was a memorial to each person falling from the building; some one at a time, some in pairs. Any maybe it was also a way to make what was completely incomprehensible, somewhat real.

I later found out that some of our colleagues who worked in one of the towers had escaped in time, before the buildings fell. A manager had made the split second decision to tell the workers to leave, despite everyone being told to stay where they were.

It wasn’t long after that the first tower came down. And then the second. By that stage we all knew something incredible was unfolding and no one knew what that meant for the city. Pretty soon after that we were evacuated from the area.

Judy’s story is just one person’s experience of that day. It probably isn’t that dissimilar to other firsthand stories we’ve heard many times over in the media, through TV news, books and movies. It is dissimilar to some of those stories, in that Judy is still here to tell her experience. If she had caught her normal train and headed to work at her regular time, she would have been in the subway station when the planes hit. On that particular day, Judy had a meeting she was unprepared for and went in early to work.

Nine years later, New York is still an incredible city. The whole world witnessed the guts, glory and steely determination of New Yorkers in the days, weeks and months after September 11, during the slow recovery process.

9/11 changed many people’s lives – especially those living in New York City. Judy, like many others living in Manhattan, gave up her successful corporate career and set off around the world, backpacking to countries as far flung as Australia and New Zealand.

She told me she knows a lot of people who made similar decisions about the direction of their lives in the aftermath of that day. She still gets an annual call from her friend she experienced the evacuation with.

The thing that really hits home the reality of that day in 2001 is Judy’s view of what she lost that day. When I asked her how many people she knew, colleagues or friends, she lost that day; she said to me ‘only a few’.

That response will stay with me forever. It truly shows the magnitude of that day - that someone will consider themselves fortunate to have only lost a few people from their lives. Many people were not so fortunate. And may they always be remembered.

Touristy Tours Part 1: A Gator’s Favourite Food

Do you know what an alligator's favourite food is? No, it’s not Louisiana local, as you might think. It’s actually marshmallows. Well, to be honest, I can’t say that applies to every alligator – but the gators I got up-close and personal with in the United States were pretty happy to munch on a marshmallow or 50.

Okay, I hear your scepticism. Need proof? See exhibit A below…

This was taken in the canals and bayous just outside New Orleans, Louisiana. Although there are a hundred and one things to do in The Big Easy, it’s also worth getting out and seeing outside the beautiful but touristy French Quarter.

Despite some travelers' aversion to the organised tour – I reckon this is a great way to see the sights of a place and know you're not missing anything. For our swamp tour we were picked up in a bus from our hotel door and driven through the French Quarter and suburbans areas of New Orleans for about 40 minutes, before reaching the tour site at Marrero.

Once there we bought our ticket; there’s the low-key option of experiencing the tour on a cruise boat, where you float leisurely along the canals at a very relaxing pace. Or you can take the high-octane option of an airboat. Given my love of anything with eight or more cylinders and the excitement of a 454 Chevy on the back of a tin boat hull, I chose the latter.

Our tour guide was the real deal. He was born and bred in the Louisiana bayous and proud of it. Whilst telling us about the lives and loves of the Louisiana alligator (they mate early in spring and it's quite an achievement for a baby gator to survive to adulthood – quite often they’re eaten by their own), we also got a history of about the bayous and how devastating hurricane Katrina, and the more recent gulf oil spill, were for the region.

When we boarded the airboat and were handed our ‘optional’ (are you kidding?!?) industrial standard earmuffs, I noticed our guide packing two huge bags of marshmallows. I thought he was nuts, really. It wasn’t until we found a group of gators, who were willing to fight for a soft, fluffy marshmallow, did I actually believe they enjoyed eating them.

Ear muffs  'optional'

Please humour me while I nerd out for a minute and entertain you with some alligator facts I learnt during the tour…

Alligators have terrible eyesight. They really can’t see more than a couple of centimetres in front of their teeth. They were very fond of the lady sitting next to me, wearing a white t-shirt, the exact colour of the marshmallows.

Alligators were almost hunted to the point of extinction in Louisiana. Now, gator hunting is regulated by the government to keep numbers up. The people who live and survive on alligator farming are the only people licensed to hunt.

A bayou has an end and a canal doesn’t. I thought they were one and the same to be honest. But our tour guide informed us the famed bayous, lined with Spanish moss and thick sub tropical undergrowth, eventually come to dead ends and canals are the manmade versioned, frequented by freight barges and always flowing somewhere.

The tour was an amazing 1 hour and 40 minutes of reptilian excitement. Oh, and torrential rain. About 30 seconds after I sat down in the airboat, the heavens opened. We persisted with the tour though, and although I was soaked to the bone and had water in places that should never be wet, it was officially the best outdoor tour I’ve ever done.

What’s the best (or worst) tour you’ve ever experienced?

Top 5 Essential Food Experiences of New Orleans

New Orleans; also known as The Big Easy. Also known as The Big Easy-To-Eat-Lots-While-You’re-There! I happily ate my way around New Orleans when I was there recently. Here are my top picks…

Heaven on a Plate; the Cajun Donut

1. Cajun Donuts. And I am not referring to the famed beignets. Yes, beignets are beautiful, but I have to be honest and say the beignets made famous by Cafe Du Monde in the French Quarter are a little bit overrated. What you really need is a cajun donut. They are made with dough and fried, just like a beignet, but the difference is this version is then smothered in melted butter and has the tiniest bit of sugar sprinkled over. The end result is an absolutely divine donut, which melts in your mouth!

2. Oysters. Seafood is something New Orleans is famous for and with good reason. There are so many places to enjoy a good oyster in New Orleans and if you visit the city in June, you may even get to experience the New Orleans Oyster Festival. You can try them fresh in the half-shell, grilled, Kilpatrick, Rockefeller. Try the Acme Oyster Bar, popular with tourists but rightly so.

The original and best; The Po'boy

3. Po'boy Sandwiches. Whoever invented the Po'boy should be declared a saint. These things are scrumptiously southern and I had a couple (ok, maybe five) of the best Po'boys sandwiches in all of America, while in New Orleans. They come so many different ways, but I like mine with the traditional fried oysters and the not so traditional spicy chicken, with some slaw and fries on the side.

4. Crawfish. This freshwater crustacean is on just about every menu in New Orleans and it’s great served simply, but I like to eat my crawfish with some style. Etouffee style to be exact. I had an amazing crawfish etouffee (French for ‘to smoother’). It’s basically crawfish tails smothered in a butter blend of onions, peppers, celery and garlic. Etou-fantastic! Head to Deanie’s Seafood on Iberville Street in the French Quarter for some etouffee excellence.

5. Gator. Vegetarians please stop reading now. Yes, they swim in the bayous around New Orleans but they also taste really good on a stick! You can get gator served so many different ways at so many places in New Orleans, but I had gator on a stick with cajun spices, cooked two ways; fried and grilled. But the burning question; what does it taste like? Well, it’s a bit chewy like beef but it’s white coloured flesh. Get your gator on a stick at Gator-Me-Crazy on Decatur Street. They also have the friendliest waiters in the French Quarter. 

Gator-on-a-stick

What are your top 5 best foreign foods you've ever laid lips on?