After an unexpected level of interest expressed in the1985 story of my visit to Lhasa in Tibet, I now go back into my archives and share my thoughts at the time about another ‘closed kingdom’, Bhutan. March 1987 BHUTAN Land of the Thunder Dragon Bundled in to our little “Dornier” twin-engined prop-jet of Druk Airways, …
The ‘Last Night of the Proms with the Sydney Symphony’ at the Sydney Opera House was billed as a Royal Celebration. On the Eve of Will and Kate’s Royal Wedding, the audience was obviously of monarchistic persuasion. I was simply a guest of an old friend, Randy Trull, whom I knew in New York in …
Australians are enjoying a rare long weekend with the traditional Easter extended break coinciding with Anzac Day Public Holiday. In today’s Australian newspaper, Simon Smart writes an excellent column illustrating that “there’s much that links Easter and Anzac Day, and both have a profound power to move us”, and he goes on to say, “Somewhere …
In 2010, I travelled to Seville for ‘Semana Santa’ Holy Week. Now in 2011, I am at home in Sydney and participating in the Holy Week observances with my fellow parishioners at St Canice’s in Elizabeth Bay/Kings Cross. There’s a vast difference in scale between the two events, but neither more fulfilling than the other. …
Friends often ask what prompts me to go to some far-flung places on my travels. Obviously reading magazine articles and promotional emails from certain travel companies have a bearing. Condé Nast Traveller magazine has an excellent feature each month known as ‘Epic Journey’. I’ve just finished reading about the 4,000km railway from Beijing to Lhasa …