1. Heading South,
about an epic round-Australia
rail journey, is out
now from Fremantle Press - learn about it here.
2. Ultimate Train Journeys:
World, a selection of the best rail
experiences, is out
now from Hardie Grant - read about it here.
Follow me or the publishers on
social media for more details.
Ten Most Recently Published
Flight Path: Fiji Airways Traveller, 13 October 2024
"For supper I choose the roasted tomato and basil
soup, the grilled paneer kebab, and a tropical
fruit bowl, which are all excellent. The drinks
menu offers five wines diplomatically sourced from
the airline’s key destinations (Australia, NZ,
USA), along with various spirits and beers, but I
stick to tomato juice. For breakfast we complete a
card, selecting from such delights as a pina
colada parfait and Indian spiced savoury waffles.
I choose the chia seed pudding and cheese
omelette, which are both tasty.
.."
Reviewing a Business class flight from
Nadi, Fiji, to Los Angeles, USA.
Too soon for a postcard mortem Traveller, 21 September 2024
"Three cheers for Heinrich von Stephan! I first
learned his name many years ago, as I was
travelling around Poland to update a Lonely Planet
guidebook. Strolling through a scrappy park in the
Pomeranian city of Słupsk (pronounced delightfully
as ‘swoopsk’), I stumbled across a sign marking
the birthplace of this 19th century Prussian
postmaster. His greatest reputed achievement?
Inventing the concept of the postcard. That was
enough to raise von Stephan to my pantheon of
heroes, because I love postcards..."
Explaining how my love of sending
postcards was underlined by a sign in a park
in regional Poland.
Just the ticket: The best new
rail journeys around the world Traveller, 7 September 2024
"Europe’s renewed affair with long-distance train
routes continues apace, and this time the
destinations being linked are popular big cities:
Paris and Berlin. It was in December last year
that the French and German capitals were
connected, with great acclaim, by sleeper train
for the first time in nine years. The next step
will be the start of direct high-speed daytime
services between the two cities..."
Describing ten upcoming developments in
rail travel across Europe, North America,
Asia and Australia.
Traveller Awards (three items) Traveller, 25 August 2024
"Several European countries operate high-speed
trains, but there’s something about Trenitalia’s
Frecciarossa (Red Arrow) trains that make them a
cut above. Start with the company’s scarlet
pointy-nosed trains, which scream “fast” – or more
precisely, “veloce”. Next in its favour are the
friendly onboard staff who, in true Italian
fashion, are kitted out in the most stylish
uniforms this side of the Dolomites. The food
packs given out in business class contain good
pastries along with other snacks, and the onboard
coffee is fantastico..."
Contributing three items to these
annual awards, covering Italian fast trains;
the Excelsior Hotel in Dubrovnik, Croatia;
and the Musée des Confluences in Lyon,
France.
"Riddle me this: when is an express not an
express? I’m pondering this question while gazing
at pretty Swiss pastoral scenes with cows in green
meadows, framed by mountains. I’m travelling
westward from Interlaken aboard the GoldenPass
Express, a train which takes about three
hours and 15 minutes to travel the 130 kilometres
to Montreux – an average speed of 40 kilometres an
hour. And seated as I am in Prestige Class, I have
no great desire for the trip to end..."
Riding aboard several lesser-known
scenic trains across Switzerland.
"The time machine’s controls gleam before me, as
the central rotor turns slowly within its
transparent housing. I’m in the TARDIS! It’s
something I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid in
the 1960s, when the BBC science fiction show Doctor
Who started screening on Australian TV.
Since then, the Doctor – the travelling alien
who’s the star of the show, righting wrongs across
the universe – has been a hero of mine, and
possibly the reason I became so keen on travel as
an adult..."
Visiting an exhibition devoted to the
television show Doctor Who in
Wellington, New Zealand.
Seize the day (five items) Paradise, July-September 2024
"'If you want to go out on a Wednesday night in
Sydney, this is where you’d come,' says Justin,
our guide on the mid-week Small Bars and Street
Art walking tour of the inner-city neighbourhood
of Newtown. We start beneath a sprawling mural
paying homage to Dr Martin Luther King Junior and
his famous statement, 'I have a dream'. From here
the group wanders the district’s busy streets,
lined with old shopfronts housing bars and
restaurants..."
Describing five fascinating walking
tours in Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns, Singapore
and Hong Kong.
"La Serenissima is notoriously a victim of
over-tourism, its daily visitors often
outnumbering its residents. But there are other
ways to sample the city’s pleasures than simply
crowding into its most famous locations, so I’m
heading for the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, a
modern art museum. It does overlook the Grand
Canal, but I’m approaching from a less-obvious
direction, alighting at the Zattere ferry landing
and walking along quiet footpaths past narrow
canals. The Peggy Guggenheim Collection, when I
reach it, is a subtle delight..."
Admiring modern art and learning the
story of a great collector in Venice, Italy.
"It’s not often you catch a ferry to dinner, but
I’m doing so today. It’s a good day to be out on
Port Phillip Bay – the water off Sorrento is as
flat as a pancake, a shimmering blue beneath a
sunny sky. As I stand on the deck of the
Sorrento-Queenscliff Ferry, the Norfolk pines and
limestone buildings of the Mornington Peninsula
settlement fall away, with the Bellarine Peninsula
looming ahead. And it’s there that my evening meal
awaits. It’s the first of a succession of great
meals I’ll be having as I travel clockwise around
the bay by public transport..."
Enjoying excellent food while
travelling by train and ferry around Port
Phillip Bay in Victoria, Australia.
"The woman is smiling at the camera with a rifle
slung over her shoulder, and the world is at her
feet. But there is so much trouble yet to come. In
Plaça de Catalunya, a broad square in central
Barcelona, this photo held by tour guide Nick
Lloyd is a portal to a different time. It shows
the same square back in 1936, and at its centre is
Marina Ginesta, a young socialist reporter. A
military uprising has just been quashed, but the
Spanish Civil War is about to begin..."
Learning about the Spanish Civil War on
a memorable walking tour in Barcelona,
Spain.
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