Matt Down Under

Learning to sail

Something I always dreamed of was to go sailing. I live in Hobart, a few hundred metres from the sea and when I go cycling on weekends, to the beaches on the eastern shore, I have always been fascinated by the many sailing boats on the Derwent river. I wished I would have the chance to go sailing myself. Sometimes it seems like everyone in Tasmania owns a boat, and with all the great beaches and bays, and coastal areas fantastic for cruising, what could be better than going sailing?

South West Coast

Two weeks ago I went on another trip to explore Tasmania’s wild Southwest world heritage area. After walking the South Coast Track last year, I was keen to return for another trip along the coast, hiking along unspoilt beaches and on some of the less popular routes is fascinating me.

My bushwalking checklist

My leave got approved last week and I’m now in the final stage of preparing for my next big bushwalk. Last year around this time I walked the South Coast Track and even though it was frustrating to walk at times due to very bad track conditions, the pristine beaches and rough coastline were an amazing experience that made me want to see more of the South West National Park in Tasmania, especially along the coast line.

Singapore - Day 3: Sentosa

This had already been my last day in Singapore, my flight to Melbourne was scheduled for around 8pm. I checked out early, called a taxi to the airport, put my luggage in storage and went back into town with another taxi. I wanted to spend my last day on Sentosa, some sort of theme park island in the south of Singapore, with beaches, all sorts of attractions - I was sure it would be a lot of fun.

Singapore - Day 2: City tour and botanic garden

A city tour was part of my travel package so I was picked up early and driven to a bus company in the city from where the tour started.

We stopped at various points in the city, including a Chinese temple and a gem factory (no tour without a visit in at least one gem factory where you can spend all your money on stuff you don’t need). I found the tour was totally fascinating, mostly because Singapore was such a green city, exotic trees everywhere, not much traffic, great architecture, probably the cleanest city I’ve ever seen. Everything looked so well-kept and modern, I loved it.

Singapore - Day 1: Indian cuisine

When I returned from my visit to Germany on Christmas I didn’t fly back to Australia immediately, instead I had another stop-over for a couple of days, this time in Singapore. I had been in Singapore before, when I first traveled to Australia in 2008, but I didn’t leave the airport then. This time I brought enough time to check out the city.

Two years in Tasmania

Two years ago in early February I arrived in Tasmania. I had been planning to stay for a couple of weeks and now I am starting into my third year, so far with no plans for leaving. A lot has happend during the last year, exciting things, disappointing things, adventures and travels. Here’s a short recapitulation of 2009 with an outlook on what’s planned for this year.

Thailand - Day 5: Reptiles and parks

My last day in Thailand, my departure flight was scheduled for midnight. I arranged late checkout with the hotel so I was able to use my room until 4pm. I like hanging out in parks and botanic gardens, so I decided to spend the last day in Lumphini Park, one of the biggest and most popular parks in Bangkok.

Thailand - Day 4: Meet the tigers

My secondlast day in Thailand. I had booked a tour to the Tiger Temple about two hours drive from Bangkok. Part of the tour also was a stop at the River Kwai bridge, I only remembered there was a movie and some military background, but I was lacking the historical facts so I was simply hoping to have an interesting day.

Thailand - Day 3: With James Bond to the floating market

My guide - the same nice girl from the previous day - and the driver picked me up at the hotel early in the morning. After an hour or so we had the first stop at a traditional Thai house where they showed all sorts of things like how to make sugar from coconuts, how people used to live there and what parts and rooms a traditional house has. The house was built at a river or water canal and back in the days when people didn’t have cars they would use boats to travel.