2010 - Cities and Towns

Here's the list of cities and towns I've stayed in during the past year.

London, England*
Salisbury, England
Graz, Austria*
Florence, Italy
Sienna, Italy
Cambridge, England
Penrith, Cumbria, England
Munich, Germany
Shanklin, Isle of Wight, England
Istanbul, Turkey
Worthy Farm, Pilton, England (Glastonbury Festival)
Silverstone, England (British Formula 1 Grand Prix)
Leeds, England
Irdning, Austria
Werfen, Austria
Zell am See, Austria
Vienna, Austria
Budapest, Hungary
Guiting Power, England
Paris, France
Sao Martinho do Porto, Portugal
Lisbon, Portugal
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Berlin, Germany

* Multiple entries, non-consecutive days.

On board the Stena Line

On board the Stena Line
Originally uploaded by adrianhind

Stuff flying! This is the way to travel to Europe.
7:16pm train from London to Harwich, walk straight onto the massive Stena Line for a comfortable overnight journey to Hook of Holland, then get a connecting train to anywhere in Holland, all for only £65.

2009 - Cities and Towns

Here's the list of cities and towns I've stayed in during the past year.


Sydney, Australia*

Melbourne, Australia*

Canberra, Australia*

San Francisco, CA, USA*

Stateline, NV, USA

Evergreen Lodge, CA, USA

Santa Barbara, CA, USA

San Simeon, CA, USA

Monterey, CA, USA

San Jose, CA, USA

London, England*

Fort William, Scotland

Portnalong, Scotland

Worthy Farm, Pilton, England (Glastonbury Festival)

Alkham, England

Brighton, England

Southwold, England (Latitude Festival)

Barcelona, Spain

Birmingham, England

Wasserburg am Inn, Germany

Zagreb, Croatia

Smoljanac, Croatia

Supetar, Croatia

Trogir, Croatia

Edinburgh, Scotland

Oxford, England

Alfriston, England

Graz, Austria*



* Multiple entries, non-consecutive days.

Stephen Fry in America

I've been reading king of twitter Stephen Fry's travelogue, Stephen Fry in America, during my brief holiday moments over the past couple of months. The ever eccentric Mr Fry rushes through every state in the USA in a London Black Cab, for the most part avoiding the big cities, and taking in unique local experiences along the way - visiting Morgan Freeman's blues club in Mississippi, ice fishing in Minnesota, and an interview with the madam at a legalised brothel in Nevada, to name just a few. An enjoyable read, conveniently broken down into bite-sized (state-by-state) chunks. Definitely inspiration for more American travel for yours truly in the coming years.

3 days in Edinburgh

Edinburgh - 01
Originally uploaded by adrianhind

For my final adventure of the European summer, Margaret and I went to Edinburgh for three days to take in some of the Fringe Festival atmosphere.

We went to twelve shows in three days, including a couple of shows in other festivals:

• Lola: The Life of Lola Montez
• Robin Ince versus the Moral Majority
• Steven K Amos - The Feelgood Factor
• Scottish Ensemble / Tenebrae
• The Oxford Imps
• Kataklo Athletic Dance Theatre's Love Machines
• Adam Hills - Inflatable
• Minority Report w/ Ava Vidal
• Words of Honour: The Mafia Exposed
• Charley Boorman (Edinburgh International Book Festival)
• Axis of Awesome - Infinity Rock Explosion
• Blues Brothers - Live!
  

9 Days in Croatia

Drvenik Veli - 01
Originally uploaded by adrianhind

3 days in Zagreb

1 day at Plitvice Lakes National Park

2 days in Supetar (Brac Island)

3 days in Trogir

Day trip to the island of Drvenik Veli


Full set of photos up on Flickr.

Five days in the Scottish Highlands

Urquhart Castle
Originally uploaded by adrianhind

To kick off my time in the UK, I went up to the Scottish Highlands for a few days of hiking and sightseeing.

The Man in Seat Sixty-One had given me the tip-off on the Caledonian Sleeper, a very comfortable overnight train from London's Euston station to Fort William, complete with single sleeper cabins, and a classy lounge carriage with a good range of whiskies on the menu.

I did the hosteling thing again, for the first time in about nine years; lamented the fact that it rained pretty heavily almost non-stop for the first three days, preventing my attempt at the summit of Ben Nevis; hired a dodgy rental car and drove to the Isle of Skye; visited the Talisker distillery (yum!); did some hiking in the Cuillins; and saw Urquhart Castle (pictured) and Loch Ness.

Full set of photos in the Scottish Highlands 2009 set on Flickr.

Driving Big Sur

Big Sur
Originally uploaded by adrianhind

The drive along Big Sur from San Simeon to Monterey is absolutely fantastic. Absolutely incredible coastline. Very little development. And a thoroughly enjoyable winding road to drive along.

Yosemite National Park, California

Half Dome
Originally uploaded by adrianhind

Three days in Yosemite National Park. Awesome.

Full set of photos here.

Bodie State Historic Park, California

Bodie State Historic Park
Originally uploaded by adrianhind

On the drive from Lake Tahoe to Yosemite National Park, I took a side trip to Bodie State Historic Park. Bodie is "a genuine California gold mining ghost town" that thrived in the late 1800s, declined in the early 1900s, was eventually abandoned, and was designated a state historic park in 1962.

Full set of photos here.

Hiking to Eagle Lake and beyond

Hiking to Eagle Lake and beyond
Originally uploaded by adrianhind

This morning I went hiking to the fantastic Eagle Lake (seen here) just off Lake Tahoe in California, and then attempted to get up to Velma Lake and Dicks Lake, but was beaten by nature as the trail was covered in snow beyond 7600 feet.

"Summer" Holiday plans

After working almost non-stop since March 2008, I'm planning to take up to four months off from May to September this year, traveling around the USA, UK, and some parts of Europe.

It's a long enough holiday that I'm packing up and moving out of my Sydney apartment. I have a Tier 1 (General) visa that allows me to work in the UK for the next three years without an employer sponsor, so if I can line up some project or permanent work while I'm traveling, then I'll stay on. If I can't line anything up, or if I decide I don't want to work in the UK, then I'll return to Oz in time for the AFL Grand Final in September.

My final day at work in Sydney will be Friday May 22nd.

I fly out to San Francisco on Sunday May 24th, from where I'll be doing a road-trip around California and Nevada for a couple of weeks.

I then fly to London (arriving on Wednesday 10th June), which will be my base for the summer. Events that have been lined up for the first few weeks in the UK include walking in Scotland, Glastonbury Music Festival, and Latitude Festival in Suffolk.

2008 - Cities and Towns

Following Stuart's lead, here's a list of cities and towns I've stayed in over the last year.

Cradle Mountain, TAS, Australia

Preservation Bay, TAS, Australia

Melbourne, VIC, Australia*

Sydney, NSW, Australia*

Adelaide, SA, Australia

Los Angeles, CA, USA

San Diego, CA, USA

Indio, CA, USA

Las Vegas, NV, USA*

Grand Canyon Village, AZ, USA

Bryce Canyon, UT, USA

Springdale, UT, USA

Breckenridge, CO, USA

London, England

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Shanghai, China

Hangzhou, China

Canberra, ACT, Australia*

Mumbai, India

Jaipur, India

Guerilla Bay, NSW, Australia*

Port Douglas, QLD, Australia

* Multiple entries, non-consecutive days.

Heaps of new photo sets on Flickr

• Backpacking trip in the USA, 2000
• Christmas Day in the snow in Central Park in New York, 2002
• Queenstown, Routeburn Track, and Milford Sound in NZ, 2006
• Uluru and Kata Tjuta weekend, 2006
• Death Valley roadtrip, 2006
• Venice weekend, 2007
• Urban photos of Bondi Junction, 2008
  

India photos are now up on Flickr

Photo highlights from my recent India trip are now up on Flickr.

• Mumbai - street scenes, art, and plenty of pics from Aadil and Ruby's wedding receptions
  
• Jaipur - palaces, supersize chess men, art, sundials, street scenes, and markets

India trip

I've just returned from my first trip to India.

Congratulations and many thanks to Aadil and Ruby for giving me the opportunity to come to Mumbai to experience the sheer scale and colour of (multiple) Indian wedding receptions.

I spent four days in Mumbai, attending a wedding reception in a mosque followed by another wedding reception in a function room, then traveled by overnight train to Jaipur, where I stayed in a palace hotel for another four nights.

Jaipur, in the heart of Rajasthan, was fantastic - incredible palaces, forts, rich colours, shopping bazaars, great food, and friendly people.

USA / UK / Cambodia / Vietnam trip

Have just returned from seven weeks overseas. Road trip through California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah, skiing in Colorado, visiting friends in London, seeing Angkor Wat, a cruise down the Mekong River in Cambodia and Vietnam, and a few days sightseeing in Ho Chi Minh City. Gradually adding photos to Flickr and Facebook over the coming days and weeks.