Oct 25th, 2010 at 9:30AM:
Several nights into our journey, as we were speeding along dark roads en route to our guest house on the island of Lifou in New Caledonia, I felt a bolt of irrepressible excitement of the sort familiar, no doubt, to most travel enthusiasts. We'd just spent several nights in big, bold Sydney, a bona fide world city, well-organized and self-evident. Sydney was exciting, but, truth be told, not ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
sydney posts
Reflections on a round-the-world journey
Oct 25th, 2010 at 9:30AM:
Several nights into our journey, as we were speeding along dark roads en route to our guest house on the island of Lifou in New Caledonia, I felt a bolt of irrepressible excitement of the sort familiar, no doubt, to most travel enthusiasts. We'd just spent several nights in big, bold Sydney, a bona fide world city, well-organized and self-evident. Sydney was exciting, but, truth be told, not ...Round-the-world: Capricorn Route trip top ten
Oct 18th, 2010 at 11:30AM:
Later this week I'll reflect on the ups and downs of our round-the-world trip. I'll look at what we might have done differently as well as those elements that turned out to be particularly well conceived. In the meantime, here's a playful top ten list of some of the best things we encountered along the way: best beach; best ice cream; best tourist trap; best breakfast; best market stall; best ...Round-the-world: Sydney's sustainable design shops
Sep 22nd, 2010 at 10:30AM:
Increasingly, small independent shops are creating new aesthetics to pair up appropriately with eco-friendly and otherwise sustainable product and wares. Sydney boasts several boutiques that are in one or another way ahead of the global curve. Following are three shops, all opened within the past year or so, that merge sustainability, upcycling, and even a sense of community with retail ...Round-the-world: Four days in Sydney
Sep 20th, 2010 at 10:00AM:
The first four days of our round-the-world trip race by in a whirl of receipts, flat whites, great meals, urban hikes, and friendly Sydneysiders.
You'll see that receipts head my list. Australia has become one expensive lucky country, make no bones about it. A late night dash to a convenience store for bottled water, a muesli bar, and biscuits sets us back AUD17 ($16). A copy of Monocle ...How to take a round-the-world trip
Sep 10th, 2010 at 10:00AM:
An open-ended round-the-world trip can be led by whimsy and happenstance and benefit accordingly from extremely loose planning. A more structured, time-limited round-the-world trip necessitates figuring out transportation in advance. With five weeks to play with, we fell into the latter camp.
I emailed AirTreks in the spring and dutifully submitted an itinerary through their global map ...A round-the-world trip: Where?
Sep 8th, 2010 at 10:30AM:
Once I'd dispensed with my unrestricted fantasies of scurrying from seldom-visited corner to seldom-visited corner (see Monday's post) we got down to the essentials of figuring out where we wanted to go.
The Micronesian islands of Palau and Yap were our first priorities. Both destinations had been on our radar for years. Palau with its faintly stinging marine lake jellyfish and the ...Ship made of plastic bottles completes trans-Pacific voyage
Jul 27th, 2010 at 8:00AM: Way back in March we told you about the Plastiki, a ship made almost entirely out of plastic bottles, that was setting out from San Francisco to complete a crossing of the Pacific Ocean. The plan was for the ship, and her crew, to sail to Sydney, Australia, by way of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, in an effort to raise awareness of the impact that we are having on the Earth's environment, most ...Top 10 best international cities for shopping
Jul 19th, 2010 at 4:30PM: It's a familiar feeling... The sweaty palms, a racing heartbeat, shortness of breath. You've dreamt about this moment and it's finally here - staring you in the face with a come hither look that says, "You know you want me" and the reality is, you do. You fumble for your wallet in the bottomless pit of a bag you carry around and rush toward the "sale" sign you spotted through the endless faces and ...Photo of the Day (6.20.10)
Jun 20th, 2010 at 8:00PM:
How many times have you seen a photo of Sydney's iconic Opera House? Probably way more than you can count, right? But how many times have you seen the view presented by Flickr user Gus NYC in today's photo? Probably never. His photo offers a great example of how to great creative when framing famous landmarks. Every traveler has gotten stuck in the "photo rut" of a famous view. We try to get ...Sydney hostel more than budget accomodation: Wake Up! backpackers reviewed
Jun 14th, 2010 at 1:30PM: While I don't expect anyone to ooze sympathy for the plight of travel writers, the fact is, when we're not getting hooked up at swanky hotels, we're often left to sleep on airport floors and bus seats. I actually enjoy those experiences; it's the eponymous "youth" hostel I've grown weary of. I should add that despite their name, hostels (also known as backpackers) aren't only used by young'un's. ...The top 50 cities for quality of life
May 29th, 2010 at 1:30PM: If you don't live in Vienna, you might consider moving there.
A new survey lists the top 50 cities for quality of life and Vienna comes out as number one. The survey, conducted by Mercer, a human resources consultancy firm, looked at criteria such as infrastructure, economy, housing, recreation, personal and press freedom, and education. Vienna certainly scores high in all that, plus it has ...Jessica Watson completes round-the-world sail
May 15th, 2010 at 11:00AM: 16-year old Jessica Watson completed her solo, non-stop, circumnavigation of the globe earlier today, sailing into Sydney Harbor, while hundreds of Australians cheered, and thousands more watched on television. Jessica set out from Sydney last October, and has spent the last seven months navigating the high seas. By returning to the place she started on Saturday, she has become the youngest person ...Daily Pampering: Executive Club Lounge at the Four Seasons Sydney
Apr 2nd, 2010 at 4:00PM: There's something spectacular on Level 32 at the Four Seasons Sydney, and it's not just the view. Think: warm cookies, homemade desserts and a nightcap.
For a small fee, the Executive Club plays host to pre-evening activities and first-thing-in-the-morning necessities. Treat yourself to hot and cold buffets for breakfast including an omelet station and mounds of fresh fruit, or indulge at dusk ...The ten best cities for sunbathing
Mar 29th, 2010 at 3:00PM:
After you've been cooped-up inside all winter, that first day of nice weather at home feels like a gift from heaven. Clothes come off, frisbees start flying and the hardcore sunbathing begins. Even if it's still cold where you live, the prospect of warmer days ahead looms large. In preparation for the endless days of spring and summer, here's ten of our favorite spots for sunbathing around the ...Ship made of plastic bottles sets sail for Australia
Mar 29th, 2010 at 8:00AM: It has been more than a year since we mentioned David de Rothschild and his Plastiki Expedition. At the time, he was putting the finishing touches on his ship, the Plastiki, which is made out of more than 12,000 recycled bottles, and preparing to set sale from San Francisco to Australia. Unfortunately, due to a series of setbacks, that journey didn't get underway as scheduled, but with those ...15 more great cities for drinking beer
Mar 25th, 2010 at 4:30PM:
Last month, the writers at Gadling spent a lot of time at the pub, creating this list of The 24 greatest cities in the world for drinking beer. We had so much fun and got so many great comments, we decided we couldn't stop: we headed back to the bar and asked for another round. Here's 15 more of our favorite cities in the world for drinking great beer. Did we include your favorite? Take a ...Where to dine in Sydney: VAustralia employees dish on their favorite joints
Mar 22nd, 2010 at 2:00PM: Virginia Woolf said, "One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well." So, where does one dine when in a new city? What's the best cuisine the city has to offer and where can you find it? Where do residents go on a Saturday night when they need to break free from the week and still feel the comforts of home?
The tourist attractions, museums, tours and of course, the ...The 20 greatest cities in the world for foodies
Mar 11th, 2010 at 8:29AM: Once upon a time, the world's food capitals were a mere few well-known locales like Paris, New York, and Bangkok. All the action (and the eyes, and the forks) were focused there.
Recently, though, many areas of the world have expanded and improved both their menus and their talents in the kitchen, resulting in far more places staking their claims in the classy world of quality dining. ...Conquering Heights: The Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb
Mar 6th, 2010 at 11:00AM: Travel writers are born to be adventurous. We live for the unknown - the hidden restaurants, private gardens or once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. We ride on planes, buses, cars, trains, camels, donkeys, boats or anything else that moves, and set out to explore. No sight unseen. No stone unturned. While our jobs are fantasies to some onlookers, our fears our real.
I fly millions of miles at ...Expedition Review: On Board the MV Orion
Dec 22nd, 2009 at 10:30AM:
Where do people go when they've already been everywhere? On a ship that goes to places nobody else can get to. The MV Orion is such a ship, custom-built for expedition-style travel that takes you to the world's more inaccessible places--place like Papua New Guinea, Australia's wild northwestern Kimberley coastline, the remote corners of Indonesia, the lesser-known side of Antarctica, and as was ...
