Category: travelogue
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Delhi on the way home
I stopped in Delhi on the way back from Ladakh partly because I wanted to explore a mega city of 23 million people and see what such a large chunk of humanity is up to. And partly because I can’t get enough of India; it is so damn interesting. I have been to Delhi a…
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Seven days on the roof of the world: A Leh–Ladakh Motorcycle tour
Leh in the Indian Himalayas does not reveal itself easily. At 3,500 metres, the air is thin, the light is hard, and the mountains look as if they’ve been cut from biscuit tins. I spent the first few days wandering Leh at a deliberately slow pace. The old market, the palace, Shanti Stupa, a few…
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Dark Mofo 2026: The fire this time
This year’s Dark Mofo was a fleeting visit, a day and a half lifted from a longer trip to Tasmania’s north-west coast, where I’ve been spending time with my mother, who is approaching her 90th year. She lives near Ulverstone, and something is grounding about being there, in the flat grey light of a Tasmanian…
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Thailand Diary: nine days on Koh Phangan
I arrived in Bangkok on a beautiful morning, checked into my “suite”, a small, boxy room with no design logic and felt immediately at ease. This is the paradox of Thailand. The comfort factor is extraordinarily high even when the physical circumstances are modest. No matter how ugly Thai modernism may be, there are always…
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Source to Sea: tracking the Snowy River from Kosciuszko to Marlo
Australia’s Snowy River springs from the alpine snowmelt on Mt Kosciuszko, carving a 352-kilometre route through gorges, plains and forests before meeting Bass Strait at Marlo, Victoria. Our multi-day journey followed this legendary waterway, tracing its heartbeat. From Gippsland dairy flats to Kosciuszko’s rocky headwaters, every bend revealed a version of the Snowy, wild and…
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Southern tracks: Slow journeys through Sri Lanka’s hill country and Colombo 2/2
Rattly train to Nuwara Eliya Leaving the faded colonial robes of the Queen’s Hotel behind, we made our way on foot through Kandy’s early-morning bustle to the train station. Distances in Sri Lanka can be deceiving; on the map, towns appear close, but the reality is otherwise. Of all transport options, trains set the gold…