St Helens Point to St Marys (via Elephant Pass)
79km, 1260m elevation
Before picking up my rental bike, Sil and I spent a night at the Scamander Beach Motel in northeast Tasmania. This was quite a change from the hipster places we’ve been staying at in Melbourne and Hobart. The motel looks like it hasn’t been updated since the 1960s and Sil described dinner as “shockingly appalling”. We both got quite a kick out of how bad it was.
Continue reading “Cycling Tasmania – Day 1”
My first cycle trip was nearly three years ago. I spent five days with a great group of friends cycling the stunning Icefield Parkway from Banff to Jasper. It wasn’t until a few months ago that I did my second cycle tour – two weeks in surprisingly diverse Sri Lanka. I loved exploring the culture and natural beauty of the country by bike and I got to meet some great people.
I’ve spent the last four weeks exploring Melbourne, getting to know it as an (admittedly, temporary) local. It’s a city with so much diversity that a few days just isn’t enough. Having friends show me around made all the difference – thanks Michael, Rob, and Jolanda! Soky and Anthony, who I met on the Sri Lanka trip, also gave lots of spot-on foodie recommendations.
While I loved my time in Melbourne, I’m really excited for my next adventure. I’ve just finished my first day cycling in the most different and wild of Australian states – Tasmania. This morning I picked up a rental bike from Manfred (who lives in the far northeast of the island) and started heading south with sweeping views of surf pounding into long white sandy beaches. I plan to complete a 1000+km loop around the island, visiting wineries and lavender farms in the east and cold, wet, wild forests and mountains in the west. This time I’m cycling solo but Sil is driving a rental car and carrying all my luggage. I know, it’s cheating. That just lets me cover more ground and see more of this almost mysterious place.
Let the adventure begin!
UPDATE – I’ve completed the Tasmanian Cycle Tour! One month and 1,500-km of cycling around Tasmania.
Melbourne is a city with a tremendous amount of variety and there’s even something for the cat lover looking for a fix. Cat Cafe Melbourne opened in 2014 with the aim of creating a calm and relaxing environment where people could come share some affection with their 14 resident cats. Cat cafés got their start in Taiwan and Japan and have been experiencing rapid growth in popularity over the last few years. Melbourne’s Cat Café is the first to open in Australia.
Continue reading “Melbourne’s Cat Cafe”
Three of my favourite things: food, travel, and cycling. I’ve always wanted to visit Melbourne and now that I’m here I’m exploring every neighbourhood, street, and restaurant that I can. Joining a cycle tour is a great way to get oriented and see what a city has to offer. Freddy from Freddy’s Bike Tours knows all the quiet backstreets and some great places to get a good meal. Plus he rents comfy cruiser bikes that are easy on the backside.
Continue reading “Exploring Melbourne with Freddy’s Bike Tours”
As 2015 draws to a close, I feel the need to look back and reflect upon the year. I’ve had some great adventures and lots of good memories.
A week in Singapore is hardly enough time to sample all the delicious food that you can find throughout the city. There’s everything from simple chicken and rice cooked up at cramped little stalls in the bowels of Chinatown to sophisticated fare served at the classiest of fine restaurants. The one thing you’ll find in common among the wide variety of influences (Malaysian, Indian, Thai, Chinese, and Portuguese to name just a few) is that it’s all really good food. Singaporeans know their food and they don’t tolerate anything that isn’t up to par. Bad places go out of business and a sure way to get a good meal is simply to join in any long line of people you happen to see waiting for dinner. Here’s a taste of a few of the dishes I had the opportunity to sample over my short stay in this exceptionally appetizing country.
Continue reading “Singapore Street Food”
Colombo, the bustling capital city of Sri Lanka and home to 5.6 million people, might sound like an unusual place to go scuba diving. There are only a few reefs and it’s certainly not a tropical paradise but what it does have is a surprisingly large abundance of little-known shipwrecks. I visited at the end of November and dived with Island Scuba, a relatively new dive shop that’s trying hard to put this spot on the scuba diving map.
Continue reading “Shipwreck Diving in Colombo”
Sri Lanka is an island nation of 21 million very diverse people. It’s a mix of Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, and Hindus who speak Sinhalese and Tamil (as well as quite a bit of English). A violent conflict smouldered and flared between the Tamils and the government from the 1980s up until 2009, making parts of the island quite dangerous to visit. Thankfully, the country seems to have put that struggle behind itself and is now a safe and very culturally rich place to visit.
Continue reading “Sri Lanka Cycle Tour with SpiceRoads”
I’m exploring Sri Lanka by bicycle with a great group of people, visiting Buddhist temples and ancient ruins while cycling through remote rural areas that few people ever see. One of the highlights so far has been Wasgamuwa National Park. Wasgamuwa is home to a large population of Sri Lankan elephants (which means you have to visit on a jeep safari since the elephants might trample cyclists).
Continue reading “Stranded in the Sri Lankan Jungle”
Tomorrow I begin a 12-day cycle tour of Sri Lanka. I arrived a few days ago to give myself some time to work through the jet lag and do a little sightseeing. So far, I’m really impressed! My good friend Charles thought I might be in for another very trying experience like our trip to Bangladesh two years ago. Where we found rancid air and chaotic traffic jams in Dhaka, here in Sri Lanka I feel much more at ease. A fresh sea breeze blows through the trees, mixing with the aroma of curry and spices. The touts are even some of the friendliest and most respectful people I’ve met in all my travels!
Continue reading “First Impressions of Sri Lanka”
Eating Snow Around the World 