Spring Down Under



Semaphore Jetty at Sunset

Wow. September already.

Spring is in the air, down under, and as I write this it is a beautiful day in Adelaide, Australia, where right now, I am house sitting for a member of my extended family who lives close to Semaphore Beach.

With the prospect of warmer weather and summer just a few more months away, my thoughts are turning more and more to travel.

In January I will spend five weeks house sitting again in Melbourne which coincidentally, has just been voted the most liveable city in the world – according to the latest Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Survey of 140 cities. Three other Australian cities (Sydney, Adelaide and Perth), have also made it into the survey’s top ten. Canada has three cities in the top ten list, which gives the two countries a total of seven of the ten most liveable cities in the world.

Never the less, despite the fact that Australians are spoilt for choice when it comes to great cities and panoramic vistas, I am planning to head overseas on my third extended journey towards the end of April next year. Once again I’ll travel to Europe and the United States. I’m especially hoping I will be able to apartment sit for the same person I house and cat sat for last summer. The prospect of spending another two months in New York City fills me with great anticipation, as you might expect.

I just hope the Australian dollar continues to stay high on the foreign exchange rates over the next twelve months.

-o0o-

Packing & Stacking

With around 60 hours to go before I jet off on the first leg of my round the world trip, I have spent most of the past few days (since my return from Melbourne) packing and stacking.

By that I mean I have been packing boxes with the detritus of my rental accommodation, and stacking those boxes in my niece, Sarah-Jane's, garage. I have taken a couple of car loads of clothing, books, and assorted goods to the charity shop and the second-hand book store down the road, and I've off-loaded some old magazines at the laundry on Semaphore Road - magazines which make much more interesting reading than the awful 'women's' magazines that usually lay about on the benches there.

I've got a couple of half full storage boxes waiting to receive the very last minute stuff that I need to see me through the next couple of days. My suitcase is packed. My backpack waits to receive the laptop I'm writing this with, along with the other technological paraphernalia that so many travellers burden themselves with - and that's it.

Los Angeles, here I come...

And New York City...

I hope you are able to join me on my travels, where I look forward to viewing the world with a fresh perspective, an open mind, a joyful heart, and welcoming smile.

See you on the road.

Two Tribes

~ Yesterday, I attended my first Australian Football League (AFL) game at one of Australia’s iconic sporting venues, the Melbourne Cricket Ground, otherwise known as the MCG, or to real sporting aficionado’s simply as the ‘G’.

Now you have to understand there is a world of difference between Aussie rules football, or footy, as we like to call it, and the British version of football (which we call soccer), and what the Americans call football, but this is neither the time or place to try and explain those differences. Except to say that Aussie rules football is high scoring, fast (and sometime furious), full of high marks and aggressive tackles, and played by teams whose supporters are practically born into their favourite teams, just like previous generations of family members.

Facing off for a classic round of Aussie rules footy where arch rivals Melbourne and Collingwood. Personally, I would have been happier attending a match between my two hometown teams, the Adelaide Crows and Port Power, but unless they miraculously play off against each other in an AFL Grand Final (dreams are made of this), I can only see them compete against each other in Adelaide.

However, Melbourne is where this sport was born, where the biggest teams come from, and where the most passionate fans are located, so it was interesting to attend a game between two Victorian teams with a long history of competition between them. It was also interesting to be part of a crowd of 67,454 football fans who are not afraid to give voice to their anger, frustration, and gratuitous advice, with which they liberally shower their team and coaches (and the opposition team and coaches with).

I don’t know how many tourists or travelers make a point of attending major sporting events in the cities they visit, but I think you can learn a lot about a country and its people by doing so. I suspect Australian football fans are no different from British, American or any other national sporting fans you care to name. We are passionate, vocal, rude, outrageous, and make no excuses for being so.

Along with the previously mentioned abuse hurled at both teams, the greatest vitriol is reserved for the hapless umpires who seemingly can’t do a thing right, or make a correct decision – especially when it is your team which is on the end of a controversial ruling. It is at this point that all semblance of decorum and manners fly out the window (or more to the point, fly out of the mouths of adults who should know better). I don’t know if sporting fans are the same all around the world, but Australian sporting fans don’t hold back when they disagree with an umpire or referees decision. Anything goes, and if you are the type of person who is offended by profanity of the worst sort, you wouldn’t want to attend an Aussie rules football game.

I fully intend to undertake my own research on the behaviour of sporting fans during my summer trip to New York City, where I plan to attend a couple of baseball games and roller derby events, and any other major sporting event I happen across. I’ll let you know the results of my ‘research’ down the track.

o0o

For the record, the game was a draw – a rare and unusual event in Australian football. However, Collingwood should have won, since they had 31 scoring shots to Melbourne’s 21 scoring shots. The final result: Melbourne 11-10 (76), to Collingwood 9-22 (76).

If you are wondering how the scores are arrived at, teams score by kicking goals or points. A goal is worth 6 points, and a point is counted as 1. Since Melbourne kicked 11 goals and 10 points the equation looks like this (6x11=66+10=76). For Collingwood it is (9x6=54+22=76). The team with the most points at the end of the game is declared the winner, and gets the four points allocated to the winning team which determines its place in the competition. Since the game was a draw, each team gets 2 points, and moves up or down the competition ‘ladder’ depending on how other teams in the competition performed over the weekend.

Whew, that’s more information than you probably needed to know, but there it is!

Four Seasons in One Day

~ Melbourne. Tim Finn was right. Mind you, I don’t know if he was writing about Melbourne exactly when he wrote Four Seasons in One Day, but the song’s title perfectly sums up Melbourne’s weather since I got here a week and a half ago.

Take today as an example. Cloudy and grey at first, then several hours of brilliant sunshine. Just as I got ready to head out for a while it started pouring with rain, so I sat down again to read a couple more chapters of Barack Obama’s first book, Dreams From My Father. An hour or so later, with the sun shining brightly in the early afternoon sky, I stepped out for a coffee and some lunch. Half way through my meal, I watched as a heavy shower of rain, washed the streets of Fitzroy North. Fifteen minutes later as I walked ‘home’, again bathed in sunlight, I couldn’t help but hum the Crowded House song whose title heads this entry.

So what have I been doing between bouts of sunshine, rain, and my last entry? Hanging out mostly. Walking into the city and back again – a round trip of 12-15 kilometres. Window shopping. Reading. Catching up on season one of The Wire. Checking out the open mic at the Empress Hotel just down the road. And discovering the final resting place of Australian Prime Ministers, renowned explorers, and the Elvis Presley memorial (see image), all located in the Melbourne General Cemetery along Lygon Street, Carlton North.

See, that’s the thing about extended vacations. About slow travel. You have the time to undertake weird things like walks through cemeteries, book reading, and just hanging out enjoying the location you are in. You don’t have to rush about trying to hit every major attraction or tourist trap just because that’s what every other visitor does, or because it is expected of you.

This time around, I am spending three weeks in Melbourne. Since I don’t have my own car, I will not get out of the city or the inner suburbs, but that’s fine by me. I’m happy just to hang out and take it easy. This is like the vacation you have when your not really having a vacation. It gives me time to think about the real journey that I am undertaking at the end of the month. My trip to New York City.

I feel like I’m conserving my energy and ideas for New York. Not to mention my money. And Melbourne in winter, is certainly preparing me for summer in New York. I can hardly wait, but wait I must.

In the mean time, it is threatening rain again here, and I’m settling down for a night in with the final two episodes of season one of The Wire. See you down the track…

Walking Melbourne

~ I’ve kicked off the shackles of illness and hit the streets of Melbourne town with a vengeance and a good pair of walking boots.

I set off at midday for a walk from Fitzroy North into the city centre – a pretty easy and doable distance of around 6 kilometres (3.7 miles). The object of the exercise (no pun intended) was to walk, explore, enjoy the sights, take a few photographs, eat, drink and make the most of a perfect, cool, clear sky Melbourne day.

You can see a complete route of today's walk here. I should however, point out that the route as displayed between the 4km and 10km markers looks like the ramblings of a drunken man – and I can assure you I was not staggering around the streets of Melbourne in an inebriated state. I can only assume that Walkmeter, the iPhone app I was using to map my route, had trouble getting good GPS coordinates due to the many high-rise buildings around the city centre. And it probably didn’t help that I kept disappearing into one building after another to explore some point of interest along the way.

In the end I also walked home again, completing a good afternoon of exploration of around 13.5kms (8.3 miles), that took in Brunswick Street, Federation Square, ACMI, the Arts Centre, Lygon Street and more besides.

My overall impression of Melbourne remains much the same as it was after my visit earlier this year. That is, there seems to be a pervasive sense of forward movement, continued growth and excitement about the place. Unfortunately, these sentiments can’t be said about my home town, Adelaide. But don’t get me started on that theme!

Melbourne’s alleyways are renowned for the quality of the graffiti that covers their walls, but the alleyways are not the only place you will find great graffiti. Yes, I know “great graffiti” sounds like an oxymoron, but let’s be honest, there are artists and practitioners of graffiti who do have real skills and creative ideas that rise above mere spraying of tags everywhere. Which is why I’ve decided to illustrate this post with some examples of the graffiti I discovered during my walk today.

This wonderful mosaic bench was one of three I saw at various locations along Brunswick Street. This is a good example of the types of public art you can see all over the centre of Melbourne, and the inner suburbs. In this respect, Melbourne reminded me of New York City, which also makes a point of placing public art all over the five boroughs that make up greater New York.

Melbourne even produces a public art walking map which guides you around a collection of some of the best examples of the city's public art works, and another brochure detailing the graffiti covered alleyways that have helped to make the Victorian capital so iconic and well known internationally.

There is much yet to discover in Melbourne, and I will barely scratch the surface over the next three weeks, but you have to start somewhere, and this has been my beginning.

...

Tip: Click on each image to view at full size

Mmm… Melbourne

~ So here I am in Melbourne, Australia for the start of three weeks house sitting. I should be out and about partying – or at least out having fun, which is not always the same thing – but instead I’ve been laid up all day trying to shake off the effects of either a head cold or the latest in an endless allergic reaction to who knows what.

Quite frankly, I feel like crud, but I hope to get out tomorrow to check out the city centre, and reacquaint myself with the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), Federation Square, and the general vibe of Victoria’s capital.

I was last here in January and February, house sitting for the same owners, and caring for their ageing cat, Bruce. Given his advanced age, Bruce probably feels worse than me, but seems happy enough to sleep and get the occasional back scratch.

Speaking of ACMI, I wrote about my visit there last January to see the fantastic Dennis Hopper exhibition Dennis Hopper & The New Hollywood. As you might expect, I, along with thousands of other fans, am deeply saddened to learn of his recent death at 74. Hopper was one of the great Hollywood rebels, and managed to carve out a niche for himself despite the workings of the big studios, movie moguls, and critics. His legacy will live on when many other lesser actors will fade into obscurity and the occasion footnote in some history of modern cinema.

But I digress.

Being in Melbourne for three weeks also gives me a chance to work on my stripped down Round The World packing list. My small suitcase weighed in at just 14.4 kilograms (32 pounds), and even that probably has more in it than I really need. I’m also traveling with a lap top computer and some other essential technological aids. However, this is the extent of my on road kit.

The other thing I am working on is my ability to budget for an extended journey spanning many months. I am hoping to keep my daily expenses in Melbourne as close as possible to $50 per day, and hopefully, I won’t be spending much more than that while I am in New York. But that remains to be seen. For now, I’m concentrating on getting over my cold/allergy, and enjoying Melbourne.

Training For Travel (Again)

~ Yesterday, I caught a train into the centre of Adelaide. Hardly a remarkable event given the everyday nature of the task. However it soon dawned on me that all transport systems are not created equal, and the transport system in dear little Adelaide is probably the least equal of all the major cities in Australia.

The reason for catching the train was so I could start getting used to the idea of not having my own motor vehicle to speed me from point A to point B, in a convenient and timely manner. You see, in ten days I fly to Melbourne for three weeks to house sit for the same people I house sat for in January. While in Melbourne I will be relying on that city’s extensive network of trams to get me from Fitzroy North into the city centre (and home again). And when I hit New York in July, I will be using the subway system there to navigate my way quickly from Washington Heights to downtown Manhattan.

Unfortunately, Adelaide is not Melbourne or Manhattan. As a result, the transport system here is nowhere near as frequent as the ones found in those two cities. Apart from the rush hour, here the trains run every half hour or so, and at night about once an hour. On weekends the trains again run about once an hour.

It stands to reason that if you are going to use the train system here, it helps to have a timetable for the line servicing your suburb, since if you miss one train you might have to wait up to an hour for the next one! In Melbourne and Manhattan, it doesn’t seem to matter that much if you miss your train/tram when you know another one will be along in 10-15 minutes. When the transport system is that frequent, you can pretty much dispense with timetables. Not so in Adelaide. Luckily I only had to wait for 20 minutes or so for the ride into town, but that was more than enough (and yes, I do now have a timetable for the Outer Harbor line which passes close to my home).

Still it’s good practise for world travel. It is easy to take modern transport systems for granted, even one as intermittent as Adelaide’s. But once you start travelling from country to country, using public transport becomes as much a part of the experience and adventure as anything else you might do. Especially when the signage and timetables (if they exist at all), are in a language you cannot speak – let alone read.

Come to think of it, this is as good a place to bear in mind this quote from Clifton Fadiman: "When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable."

Technology and Travel

Technology and travel; has there ever been a better time to marry the two fields together?

I am constantly amazed by the convergence of technology with modern life.

On my recent trip to Melbourne my new iPhone was permanently attached to my hand. Whether reading books while travelling on the city’s tram system, tracking my progress via Google Maps, looking up locations and information online, snapping photographs, taking notes, listening to music and podcasts, playing games, sending and receiving text messages and yes, even making the occasional phone call, my iPhone was constantly by my side.

As much as I continue to use the phone on a daily basis, I am still blown away by the marriage of technology and convenience it offers. Take this simple example: Yesterday, as I walked down Semaphore Road towards the beach, I was listening to the BBC radio program The World Today being broadcast via WHYY, a public radio station based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Semaphore Road, Adelaide; the BBC; WHYY, Philadelphia; an iPhone – and not a wire in sight. If that’s not incredible, I don’t know what is.

In future entries, I will begin reviewing some of my favourite travel applications.

Australian Centre for The Moving Image

~ The Australian Centre for The Moving Image (ACMI) is located at Federation Square in the heart of downtown Melbourne, and what an amazing place it is. If you are any sort of movie buff, ACMI will be high on your list of places to visit while you are in Melbourne. In fact, yesterday, was my second visit to the Centre, and I still haven’t seen the current major exhibition: Dennis Hopper & The New Hollywood. This is because there is simply too much to see and take in during one brief visit.

Across the three levels of ACMI, you can access Australia’s huge collection of moving images held by ACMI itself, and the National Film and Sound Archive (containing 1.4 million items). These archives include the earliest footage of the Melbourne Cup, and the landmark feature film The Story of The Kelly Gang (1906), as well as the latest award winning animations and so much more.

Then there is the ACMI studios which provides “Hands-on spaces for creative workshops, performances, talks and events”, while downstairs in the galleries you can visit major exhibitions, spend a good hour or two examining Screen Worlds which showcases the story of film, television and the new digital culture. You can also try your skills on a range of the latest computer games, or play a selection of old ‘retro’ games like Wolfenstein (remember that one) or many others.

Finally, as you would expect, the Australian Centre for The Moving Image would not be complete if it didn’t include several cinemas which screen full programs of the latest films as well as retrospective seasons of classic movies or films featuring specific actors – like Dennis Hopper.

Frankly, I’m jealous. I wish Adelaide had something similar, but I am delighted to have been able to spend some time visiting this incredible facility. Not to be missed.

What: Australian Centre for The Moving Image
Where: Federation Square
Hours: 8am-6pm (cinemas are open later)
Entry: Free for most areas (fees apply for major exhibitions)
Online: http://www.acmi.net.au/
Phone: 03 8663 2200

Hanging Rock, Victoria

~ Until 1975, Hanging Rock was a volcanic rock formation unknown to most people outside of Victoria. All that changed when the Australian film director, Peter Weir, turned Joan Lindsay’s book, Picnic at Hanging Rock into one of the finest feature films in modern Australian cinema.

The book and the film, tell the story of the disappearance of several female students and a teacher from an exclusive girls boarding school who visit Hanging Rock for a school picnic on St. Valentine’s Day, in 1900.

In Australia, the film made stars of Helen Morse, Jacki Weaver, Anne-Louise Lambert, and Peter Weir in particular, although only Peter Weir went on to real international fame. Almost all the actors in the film have spent their subsequent careers acting in Australian television dramas. Few if any, went on to have an international movie career of any real substance.

All this is by way of an extended introduction to explain my second visit to Hanging Rock a couple of days ago. To say Picnic at Hanging Rock put the volcanic outcrop on the map, is an obvious understatement. Anyone who has seen the movie, should make a point of visiting Hanging Rock if they are passing through the Mt Macedon area, or if they have the opportunity during their stay in Melbourne.

Since Hanging Rock is about an hour’s drive from my Melbourne house sitting address, it was a no brainer for me to jump in my car and head out of town for the short drive to the Rock and to reacquaint myself with the mystery and majesty of this area.

There are essentially two main walking paths: one going around the base of the Hanging Rock (a distance of 1.8 kilometres), and the other much more strenuous (though shorter) walk leading up to the summit.

Both paths can be traversed over a couple of hours, depending on how fit and active you are feeling. For those visitors who enjoy a bit of solitude, I recommend the easy walk around the base of Hanging Rock. I encountered only two other people on my walk, and was lucky enough to spot a group of kangaroos resting quietly in the shade of some eucalypts at the base of the Rock. This, in addition to the Kookaburra’s and Cockatoo’s calling overhead, and the abundance of butterfly’s, made it a very pleasant walk.

Since I was there anyway, I also followed the path to the summit of Hanging Rock. There are two paths to select from. One built using steps, and the other following a smooth asphalt covered path. Both paths meet towards the top of the Rock, where you can continue to the summit. The summit climb showed me just how unfit I have become, and left me puffing and blowing and gasping for air at one point. Note to self: get out and exercise more, Jim!

Because Hanging Rock is a little off the beaten track, it is not exactly crawling with visitors – or at least it wasn’t when I visited in the middle of the week. Not that I’m complaining. However, if you are able to time your visit to coincide with some of the special events that take place at Hanging Rock, you might like to consider these. Annual events include The Age Harvest Picnic, car events, annual picnic horse races on New Years Day and Australia Day, and an annual outdoor screening of Picnic at Hanging Rock itself, among other events.

Hanging Rock Information
Open every day except Christmas Day
Hours: 9.00am – 5.00pm
Fees: $10.00 per car
Phone: Ranger 0418 373 032
Office Hours (03) 5421 1469

Image: Hanging Rock, Victoria
Camera: Apple iPhone 3G
Photographer: Jim Lesses

Jim’s Guide to Packing Light

~ In a couple of days I head off to Melbourne to house sit for four weeks, and I am as ready as I will ever be.

The image illustrating this post shows the entire contents of my small suitcase. On top of what I am packing I will of course be wearing a full set of clothing (I dare you to visualise me driving 500 miles naked. Go on – I double-dare you!).

The amazing thing is – there is still space in my bag for more items of clothing. However, I am resisting the urge to fill it with things that are not essential to my Melbourne stay. Besides, if I want to do a spot of shopping in Melbourne, a little bit of extra space will come in handy.

I will also take a separate bag with essential technological aids (iPhone, laptop computer, camera’s and associated battery chargers and cables, etc). I should point out that a small toiletries pack will also go in the suitcase, but in terms of clothing, what you see is what I will be restricting myself to. As the four weeks progress, I hope to get back to making regular updates to this blog, and I will report back on how easy or hard it is to travel with this minimum set of clothing.

The whole point of this being, that when I head off on my major travels in May, I will have a better understanding of my real packing needs. Hopefully, I will never feel the need to travel with an over-packed and overweight suitcase again.

So, that’s it then.

Another year done and dusted.

I hope the past year has been all you wished it to be, and that 2010 will be even more interesting, exciting, and adventurous.

"Our destination is never a place, but rather, a new way of looking at things." Henry Miller

Travelling Lighter

~ Yesterday, I bought a new piece of luggage in preparation for my travels next year (see image).

It is a 54cm ‘Jet Stream’ bag from Tosca. That’s right, folks, 54cm. That is less than two feet high for those of you still using Imperial weights and measures. Anything smaller, and I would be restricting myself to carry-on luggage only!

I have written before on this blog about the concept of travelling light, and next year I hope to put my own advice into practise. As I said in an early post on House Sitting, I will be looking after a house for six weeks in Melbourne early in the new year, and I am using it as a practise run for my packing skills before I fly out to Europe in April or May.

I figure if can pack light enough to survive six weeks in Melbourne, I won’t need to pack anything extra for my European trip.

I should point out that I will also have a small carry-on backpack which will hold all my non-wearable gear such as camera, laptop computer, battery chargers, and other associated paraphernalia. I will also have a small ‘man bag’ – actually an old laptop computer bag for those extra items one always needs on long haul flights (water, ear plugs, reading material, etc).

Last year I used the 71cm version of the bag you see illustrating this post – as well as the backpack, and let me tell you, folks, a full 71cm bag is a pain in the back (not to mention the @ss) to drag around London, New York, Athens and the Greek islands!

I vowed that never again would I take such a large bag with me on my travels, and so the baby of the set, the 54cm piece will hopefully do the job for me. I say, ‘hopefully’, because I honestly don’t know if it will be enough, but then, one of the benefits of my six week house sitting gig is that it gives me the opportunity to fine tune my packing before I depart for Greece and beyond.

When I do eventually head off to Melbourne, I will post a complete packing list on this blog just so you can see what I have selected. Once the house sit is over, I will again post an entry letting you know what worked and what didn’t.

In Review: Bypass: The Story of a Road

~ At the age of 40, former Jesuit priest, Michael McGirr – armed with not much more than a copy of Anna Karenina, some spare clothes and a less than state-of-the-art Chinese built bicycle – set out to ride the 880 kilometres (547 miles) of the Hume Highway which links Sydney and Melbourne.

While the ride forms the backdrop to McGirr’s book Bypass: The Story of a Road, like all good travelogue’s the ride itself is really just a frame to hang the real story around, which as the title suggests, is the story of the Hume Highway.

From its humble beginnings as a rough track across the Great Dividing Range, to it’s current state as a modern dual carriageway, the Highway continues to serve as the major thoroughfare linking Australia’s two largest cities.

Bypass takes you on a wonderful journey covering the history of the Hume, and the politics that helped shape it. Along the way you meet some great – and not so great – Australian characters that have helped imprint the name of the highway into the Australian psyche. People like the 61 year old Cliff Young (great), who in 1983 won the inaugural Sydney to Melbourne foot race against competitors half his age. And men like Ivan Milat (not so great) who was convicted of the murder of seven young backpackers and hitch-hikers, all of whom he buried in the Belanglo State Forest.

Then there are the explorers Hamilton Hume (after whom the Highway was eventually named) and William Hovell, who in 1824 along with at least six others, set of from Appin (near the present day Sydney suburb of Campbelltown) for the first successful quest to reach Melbourne. We also meet truckies; the bushrangers Ben Hall and Ned Kelly; the dog that shat on – or in – the tucker box; and the poets ‘Banjo’ Paterson and Henry Lawson. We attend a Catholic Mass in Tarcutta – officially the halfway point between Sydney and Melbourne – where apart from the priest and two parishoners, the only other people in attendance are the author of Bypass and his companion Jenny, who has by this time joined him on his ride to Melbourne.

We visit almost every country town along the route of the Hume Highway, and learn something about each of them. Towns like Goulburn, famous for the Big Merino and Goulburn Jail (where Ivan Milat is currently serving seven life sentences). We visit Holbrook and learn why the outer shell of the Oberon Class submarine HMAS Otway now sits in a public park in the middle of town. In Chiltern we pass by the childhood home of the Australian writer Henry Handel Richardson, and learn that Henry’s real name was Ethel Florence. We learn too, that like other female writers have done throughout history, Ethel wrote under a male nom de plume because at the time it was felt that women didn’t have what it took to be great writers. And we also visit the town of Yass, and drop by the Liberty Café for a meal before continuing on our journey.

Now, I have to confess this section of the book took me completely by surprise, and was one of the great unexpected pleasures I got out of Bypass. Let me explain why.

Some years ago, I was returning to Adelaide from Australia’s national capital, Canberra, and on a whim decided to pass through the town of Yass, which is some 60 kilometres or so from Canberra. Because I had been on the road less than an hour, and because I could see no reason to stop in Yass, I simply left the Hume Highway, drove into town and up along Yass’s main street, while all the time looking left and right taking a mental snapshot of the landscape. I then headed back out onto the Hume and continued on my way.

It may seem such an odd thing to do, but then I am prone to do odd things on no more than a whim, and this was one of those occasions. The reason I write about it now is that as I drove up Comur Street, Yass’s main throughfare, my gaze fell on a small dining establishment called the Liberty Café.

At this point I should mention that apart from putting this blog together, one of the other ‘strings’ I’ve added to my ‘bow’ is songwriting. So within minutes of passing through Yass I began writing a song called The Liberty Café*. This song subsequently appeared on my second album American Dream, and remains one of my favourite songs. Never the less, I had always regreted not stopping in at the café as I drove through town. I’m pleased to say I made amends for that lapse earlier this year, when in April, I again drove to Sydney, and this time I did stop at the Liberty Café for a meal break. In fact, I stopped there for a second time on my way back to Adelaide. So, as I say, it was a delightful surprise to read about the Café in Bypass, and know that of all the restaurants and cafés in Yass, Michael McGirr had also been drawn to the Liberty.

Across its many short chapters, Bypass also introduces us to some of the thousands of bumper stickers that adorn the rear ends of many Australian vehicles. In fact, McGirr uses stickers as chapter headings to introduce us to every aspect of his journey. Thus, the bumper sticker THE OLDER I GET THE BETTER I WAS, allows him to explain some of his own personal story and the reasons for his decision to ride the Hume Highway. In the chapter THE GODDESS IS DANCING, McGirr introduces us to his riding partner Jenny, and in DEATH IS THE MANUFACTURER’S RECALL NOTICE, we pause to learn about some of the many roadside memorials that mark the sites of fatal road accidents that line the Highway.

To conclude, Bypass is a book that ticks a lot of boxes in terms of my personal criteria for a good travelogue. The book is immensly readable, always entertaining and informative, often surprising, and constantly filled with odd facts and humourous anecdotes. These keep the story moving along smoothly and effortlessly – which can not always be said of Michael McGirr’s monumental bike ride.

I began this review by writing “like all good travelogue’s the ride itself is really just a frame to hang the real story around, which as the title suggests, is the story of the Hume Highway.” But it should also be said, that Bypass: The Story of a Road is not merely the story of one relatively short (by Australian standards) stretch of highway. It is also about the history of this country, and about the people who have helped build and shape it into the modern land it has now become.

UPDATE, MAY 2011: At the time I wrote this review Bypass...  was out of print. However, I'm delighted to report the book is back in print and available from Amazon.Com. Michael McGirr has also written Things You Get For Free which is also available from Amazon. To make the purchase of both books easy for you, I've added direct links for both books below.

Click here... Bypass: The Story of a Road to purchase Michael McGirr's book. Click the link below to purchase McGirr's Things You Get For Free.

* Click here to listen to the song, The Liberty Café...

Further Reading at Wikipedia

More about Ivan Milat…

More about Cliff Young…

More about the history of the Hume Highway…