Category: Travel

  • Curious comment on our viral bird-strike YouTube video

    Curious comment on our viral bird-strike YouTube video

  • Group photos and the smart phone shuffle

    Group photos and the smart phone shuffle

    In the Philippines no social occasion is complete without a group photo. In a restaurant, a passing waiter is called to take the photo. In a public area one of the group might take the photo, or often someone passing by is asked. These days  everyone has a smart phone with a reasonable camera. So…

  • The future of Manila by Carlos Celdran

    The future of Manila by Carlos Celdran

    Back in November 2009 we went on a memorable walking tour of Intramuros, the ancient walled city of Manila. Our host was the legendary Carlos Celdran. In this TEDx video Carlos talks passionately about what Manila means to him. For full details you can check out the TEDx web site: http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/The-Future-of-Manila-Carlos-Cel  

  • This is why pilots fly

    This is why pilots fly

    Here is science, technology and human skills all coming together in a truly amazing landing at Queenstown Airport, New Zealand. Down through rugged mountains into cloud-filled twisting valleys the pilot breaks out the bottom of the clouds to make a perfect landing. This post has received a huge number of comments from pilots round the…

  • Turning off electronic devices in flight

    Turning off electronic devices in flight

    My Kindle is not my first love, but it’s certainly up there in the top 10. On the recent trip to the Philippines I loaded it up with plenty to read, thinking smugly that it’s so much better than having to agonise over which “paper” novels to take when there’s only limited space and weight…

  • England, the UK, Great Britain and the British Isles

    England, the UK, Great Britain and the British Isles

    We were chatting yesterday about England, the UK, Great Britain and the British Isles. I quickly realised that despite being a white Australian descended from ancestors from that part of the world that I did not know what the various terms meant. So I did some quick research, and here’s the result: England is a…

  • The big tour of Victoria

    The big tour of Victoria

    One of the items on Linda’s bucket list was to see the twelve apostles on the Great Ocean Road, Victoria. Well, she has ticked that one off. We’ve just returned from a fourteen-day 2,950km driving tour of Victoria, taking in Bendigo, the Grampians, the Great Ocean Road, Melbourne, the Bellarine Peninsular and home via Merimbula…

  • Jo and Dave are in the UK

    Jo and Dave are in the UK

    Jo and Dave (my new son-in-law) are in the UK for four weeks. Dave was invited to present a paper at the University of Glasgow* so, with one week of accommodation and one airfare paid,

  • US vacation links

    US vacation links

    Here are all the postings for our US trip in April/May 2010:

  • Back to reality

    Back to reality

    Back home in Sydney