Top 5: Finds In Darwin

I have spent a bit of time visiting Darwin this year, and have discovered some gems in the city for escape, relaxation and beauty.

Now the tourist guides will mention a war museum, a couple of crocodile parks, and the new waterfront as places to visit. Although then they run out of suggestion, I found.

One of them is the view from the Darwin Trailer Boat Club. Family friendly, you can sit inside and out, and there is a pool for the kids, while the adult take in the ocean view and the plethora of drinks available at very reasonable prices. The food is not amazing, and I watched the footy there once, so it's not high end - go for the views!

The best view in Darwin has to be the sun dipping into the ocean at sunset, from the Nightcliff Jetty - or just off the jetty so that the jetty features in your view. Spectacular colours, such a show.

This area is packed with locals and visitors alike for the daily setting of the sun, and has rustic old-fashioned food vans, well worth the visit. You'll need to eat if you didn't come prepared with a picnic, because families and groups set up here with the most amazing smelling food!

Once the sun is down, and when it's in season, the Darwin Deckchair Cinema is the next find - below the Esplanade, it is tucked between the town and the sea. The movies are a good selection, the chairs are comfy enough, and there is also a rotation of food options through the week.

My favourite find, however, has to be Eva's cafe in the Darwin Botanical Gardens. A converted old homestead, the verandas and the back decking are the perfect place for an escape, among the trees of the Gardens. The food and coffee is very good, and the service was tops each time I went there.

The last Darwin recommendation is an extension of the Botanical Gardens, down to Mindil Beach. I managed to get the strip of sand mostly all to myself, for a total get away.

A walk along the path and up the hill, towards the Darwin High School, gave me a view across the water and beach, which was well worth the climb.

This area has sunset markets on most days, and I would imagine gets swarms of beachgoers on weekends.

Lots more to explore in this part of the world, but these have been my delighted finds so far!

Alternative Xmas Gift Ideas: For Social Good

The excess of Christmas continues to despair me. Such a waste. Such misguided expression. Such a perpetual feeding of our consumer driven world, and a distraction from the things that matter - family, love, hope, and humanity.

So I wanted to share some of the places we could all direct our spending, to do some good in the world instead, or as well, as the excess. For people who most need it - those faced with little hope.

With the glow of the Season's Greetings lights across Victoria Harbour on my recent visit to Hong Kong, here are my current Top 5 better places to throw your cash this Christmas:

SisterWorks - a Melbourne community group project working on empowering asylum seeker, refugee and migrant women, to find employment, and ultimately support them to gain the better life they dreamt of. Microfinance is something I really think is helpful for many people around the world, and the value of the additional emotional support goes without saying!

The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, also in Melbourne, is a community organisation that provides me with hope of a better Australia everyday. Their work in advocacy and real support to the people who need it blows me away all the time. The ASCR Christmas Appeal supports their ongoing work, of which 95% of funds come from community donations. These funds go to help with providing meals and groceries, legal assistance and case support, employment services, education and development programs, as well as a much needed accessible health service.

A friend of mine does a monthly grocery drive for the ASRC Food Bank, which I am impressed with every time she posts about it. I would love to be part of one. Give me a shout out if you want to form one together!

The situation in Syria is the world's current tragedy that makes my eye leak the most over this past year. There is so much that is needed for the people of Syria, but whilst the war rages, the basics are really the only realistic thing you and I can help with at this time. Assistance for some 6 million displaced people is what's needed, which is a mammoth task. The UN World Food Program was facing a funding crisis in their ability to continue to provide basic food supplies to those in need in Syria, and thus launched this appeal to call for funds to keep this vital assistance available. So, here is the link for the Syria Emergency UN WFP Appeal.

Closer to home is the need for disadvantaged Aussie families, and the gift of the joys of childhood - books, being read to, and having toys to play with. Buy a book for a child in need, through the Smith Family Toy And Book Appeal.

I always add a goat, or a cow, or something useful from the Oxfam Unwrapped Christmas Gifts to my Secret Santa wishlist, but never get one! No one thinks I am serious, but I am. A sustainable gift to a community, to help them feed and support themselves, is always a wish of mine!

These are the things that would bring back some of the idea of the Christmas spirit to me, and I'll be spreading donations across these 5 amazing causes over the weekend to try and bring me a little cheer as we read of the horrors going on in the world. May 2015 be a year where we win, more than we cry for humanity.

Please feel free to add any worthwhile causes YOU feel passionately about this Christmas, in the comments, for us all to consider, and give!

Top 5: Favourite Albums for 2014

Apparently the ARIAs happened in Australia this week, although I feel pretty removed from the First World whilst here at work. Still, I usually do a Top 5 Favourite Albums of the year post around this time, so here it is....

1 Chet Faker's Built On Glass - loved it from the first listen, and have listened to it pretty consistently since. Chilled,

2 Stay Gold by First Aid Kit. Love this sound from the Swedish female duo. So beautiful, and some very poignant tracks.

3 Dan Sultan's Blackbird was probably my most played tunes over this year.

4 Black Keys and their Turn Blue, followed me around this year in my iPod, and all around on my travels. Loved it!

5 Tough call, because again I have been pretty removed from new music and new albums this year because of travel and work. I would have to put Slow Dancer's Surrender here. Former guitarist for Oh Mercy, I loved these tracks from the moment we heard them live when he played as support to the band, and the album release this year is very good.

End of November is always good, as it's the end of the hard slog for NaBloPoMo - although this year was another fail, with 2 posts planned but not completed and published. Just way too hard here at work!

Top 5: Favourite Cities Around The World

After traveling to world for some 15 years now, predominately solo, and visited 54 countries and counting, there are a number of cities across the globe that I love, and yearn to go back to. And several of these I do go back to, frequently. One is the place I consider home, as much as life at the moment allows that notion.

My Top 5 Favourite Cities:

1 New York. This raging metropolis has been top of my list right from my very first visit back in 1999 - and I have been back 5 times now, with my last visit an opportunity to show it to my little sister. The magic of the Brooklyn Bridge, the wonder of wandering different neighbourhoods and getting totally different vibes for each, and the fact that there is always something happening somewhere, all appeal. The frantic bustle, the buzz and energy, and the possibilities, all make me dream of living there one day.

2 Tokyo - the Asian New York. But Tokyo is more perfected, more precise and efficient. So easy to get around, the food is amazing, the people are so cute, hip, and super friendly. I loved the energy and the cultural polar opposites at every turn. I'd love to return one day.

3 Phnom Penh. A city and country that got under my skin when I lived and worked there as a volunteer some 12 years ago now, and always feel a yearning to return. I would live and work there again in a heartbeat, for the right role. Going back early last year, the elements that I loved and hated about living in the city were ever present, reminding me of the buzz of the place - the amazing people and the killer traffic and pollution, the feeling of humanity from the way most people live and then the huge disparity between the rich and poor, the sense of rebuilding and resilience and then the evidence of the persistent corruption. The food, the buzz of new places to patronage, the feeling that just being there amongst it gives, as if you are somehow in the middle of something happening, something good and real and reborn.

4 Toronto. Just three months living there, admittedly over Summer (I am not sure I would survive a Canadian Winter!), was enough to know that this is a city that feels very much like home. And it IS very similar to Melbourne in many ways - the multiculturalism, the notion that there is always a festival going on somewhere, there is a great music scene, and different neighbourhoods are different little pockets across the city.

5 Melbourne, of course. One of the world's most livable cities, so the city finds itself claiming every year - and where I would sit still if the planets aligned again for that to happen (Hmmm, I am not sure what that would take, though!). The city that is my benchmark for everywhere else, in terms of what I want in a city - good sports events, a buzzing music scene, easy to get around, neighbourhoods that are unique from each other and have their own distinct character. Multiculturalism is what makes Melbourne so vibrant and full of so many amazing and diverse events, all year round. Good food, and always something new to discover and track down.


What would yours be?

Top 5: Places In The World I Would Runaway To

Many times when I am wandering the streets of a new city in a new country, it occurs to me that no one there knows who I am, and really, no one else knows where I am. I mean, family and friends have a rough idea when I head off somewhere of what country/city I will be in, but when I am on the move a bit when travelling and exploring, that plan may be pretty vague. The idea of being far from home, away from everything appeals, a lot of the time.

In that vein, there have been a few places on my travels where things have just felt right, and away and good, that the idea of running away to said place and staying there, has popped into my head. Living, maybe escaping from everything. I guess posting this won't make it a secret anymore - so if I do vanish from the world, these may be the places I have gone to!

It must be the country girl in me, who needs periodic escapes from the city to return to a more rural, slower paced setting.

So, here is my list:

1 Banff, Canada. Little town feel, in the middle of the mountains, with spectacular views, even from the little, quaint main streets. Far from the world, without being cut off. The food was amazing, and there were some pretty amazing sights to be seen not far away - and I would imagine tons more to discover.

2 Wilderness, South Africa. A little piece of natural forest next to the ocean, and along the Garden Route road. The people were friendly, the guesthouse I found I would return to for a longer term stay in a heartbeat, and the food was amazing (like everywhere in South Africa, really). Tucked away, peaceful and beautiful.

3 Green Island, Queensland, Australia. The place that really stood out for me on a trip to Far North Queensland - a little island where you can day trip, or stay.
Another forest meets the ocean place, so it's the best of both worlds. It was possible to take an early morning walk around the island, and oftentimes it felt like we were the only people there. The water was calm, so scaredy-swimmers like me could enjoy, and managed to snorkel there to see the amazing underwater world.

4 Fafa Island, Tonga. Lying in a hammock next to your private entry to the island beach, personalised staff service, minimal contact with the outside world, on an island in the Pacific - need I say more? Simple, clean living - the perfect place to recharge. It has day trips off the island to snorkel, and to see the main island of Tongatapu and the sights there, which could give me my fill out outside world a little bit.

5 Luang Prabang (but from what I have read of late from travellers, this entry is from the memory of the little Laotion town from 12ish years ago), Laos. I loved it there when I made it across from Cambodia for a few days - it's was a sleepy local town, with authentic streets of local stores and cafes, surrounded by mountains. The night market was lovely, the small bars at night had a great feel to them, and everything was easy.
Maybe it's not like that anymore, which would be such a shame. It's a place around the world that still lives in my memory as one of my favourite towns.

Where would you go? Where should I escape to next?

Top 5: Play Count

For many years now, during NaBloPoBo, I have been recording my Top 5 artists based on the top tracks played on my iTunes on my laptop. A little obsessive about this Top 25 playlist that iTunes accumulates as you play and synch, I think this list is telling of someone's music taste.

This year's annual post sees that Gotye's Making Mirrors has really made an impact, after it's release over 3 years ago now. Again, this list of my top 10 most frequently played sees 5 artists form this list.

My top song is Easy Way Out, followed by Save Me, my two favourites from that Gotye album. The very famous Somebody That I Used To Know is the fifth track on the list, with Giving Me A Chance - one I have grown into more and more with each listen - and the track I have loved for years, Learnalilgivinanlovin, equal at 6th and 7th.

Seeker Lover Keeper's Even Though I'm A Woman seems to play for me when I am traveling somewhere, lapping up my usual solo mode. It has been a favourite track since it's release, and when it plays on Shuffle of late, it is always at just the right time. It still ranks high, at number 3.

A song that brings me undone with every listen, particularly live, is Old Fitzroy, which sits on this list at number 4. Dan Sultan has been a regular voice in my ears this year.

The National and Sorrow is number 9.

Another artist that has occupied the sound waves for me this year has been Paul Dempsey, with Have You Fallen Out Of Love? coming in at 10, and being my 5th artist this year on this list. Love.

Top 5: Things I Love About Being Home

The end of the week just gone marks 2 years since I packed up my little rental cottage in Ballarat, stuffed all of my belongings into a spare room at Mum's, and set out to roam free! I quit my "real" job, sold my car...and haven't looked back! I am loving this total freedom!

But being this free, and homeless, I do appreciate the comforts of home - being Mum's place - when I am back for a rest from my travels, from my current FIFO work, or from the buzz of city living and trying to find a place to sleep from one housesitting gig to the next.

1. I joke about coming home to provide "Mum Maintenance", meaning spending time with Mum to work on the bank of favours I frequently call on her for. But really, being away so often has made me appreciate just hanging with Mum, the banter, the silliness, the mutual support. It's so comforting to spend time with someone who has known me all my life, and with someone who has to love me unconditionally - regardless of my broke, or over-tired, or scattered, or irrational states!
2. I love being looked after for a little bit of time - having my meals thought out and prepared for me, having food in the cupboards all the time (it's always stocked as if there will never be another chance to go grocery shopping!), having access to a washing machine and someone who may remember to bring in the washing if it was about to rain, and just having a space to hang out, care free. Even though I am meant to be a grown up by now, I really long for some respite from looking after myself on occasion!
3. Being in my hometown for a few days also means that I know where everything is! I can visit old haunts and favourite places, such a sense of the familiar. It's comforting....for a little while!
4. A chance to walk around the lake, and take in life at home. I also love checking out the chances around the main streets - there is always a new store or cafe, a shop closed down, or something moved or changed to be something bigger or very different.
5. It doesn't take long for friends to notice I am home, from social media posts, and then invites for catch-ups come through - so lovely to have lunches, or brunches, or coffee and drinks with long time friends, that I don't get to see all the time, but in these rare times I am home. It's always like I have never left, and we pick up where we left off. Such special connections.

After a few days of rest, and being taken care of, I am now heading down to Melbourne to stay in an AirBnB apartment, in a new neighbourhood to me, to hang out and catch up with friends. A prefect respite plan!

This post has been written as part of the ProBlogger forum community challenge.

Top 5: Favourite Albums For 2013

Wow, this annual post is more than a month late, but things have been a little hectic since the end of November, so hear it is now! I am also very aware that I have not been as across new music in the last 12 months as I have been in the past, due to travelling away, and then maybe because I have been so transient.

But here are the albums that were released in 2013 that I have listened to, and loved, the most.

As soon as the release date for The National's Trouble Will Find Me, I knew that it was going to be a musical moment of 2013 for me. And right from first listen, I loved it!

Harlequin Dreams by Sydney's Boy & Bear comes a very close second, and an album I have listened to very regularly since it's release. Seeing it live at the beginning of November brought it a new life, with the stories and emotional tales behind some of the tracks coming to life. Back Down The Black is a song that I can't get enough of, and yet tears at my heart every time. Certainly one of the stellar Aussie bands at the moment, they can do no wrong!

Another Aussie band who's album release stood out for me last year was the second LP from Cloud Control, being Dream Cave. Seeing this played out live well before it's actual release had the anticipation built, and the full first listen did not disappoint.

A rare and random recommendation had me listening to The Lonely Wild's The Sun As It Comes quite a bit across the year, with some great tracks.

Self-titled release from Jinja Safari rounds out my list, albeit from a small selection. These jungle beats are pretty addictive!

A special extra mention goes to the Shotgun Karaoke release from Something For Kate's Paul Dempsey, and his version of Concrete Blonde's Caroline. Oh my word! It's incredible!

A pretty small sample size, I admit. Any more recommendations for me, from 2013? Must listens? Albums you have been able to be without last year??

Top 5: Places Of Worship Around The World

Churches, mosques and temples are always places which feature heavily on a tourist guide, and for good reason. They are such important spiritual and cultural places for a city, and for a community, and you can learn a lot about the people from a place by walking through their place of worship.

This post has actually been an idea I have had in drafts on the blog for some time, with a firm list that I had jotted down. But since then, I have been to India and Burma! And so now, as I come to write it for National Blog Post Month so many options for a Top 5 come to mind! It's much harder to decide on five than I had first thought!

Sagrada Familia in Barcelona is and surely will always be number 1. Still in construction, having begun in 1882, I have seen the progress through photos of when my three sisters have visited at different intervals since I went in 2006. I have the romantic idea of going back to see it as a finished piece - which was going to be for my 40th, but based on current completion expectations, it may be closer to my 50th now!

There is so much more to it than I could explore in 2006, but then based on the plans, there is still so much more to be added. Truly remarkable church, and fest of art and architecture.

Walking into the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul in Turkey will always stay in my memory as one of the most breathtaking church and mosque. This building has actually served many, built in 537, it served as an Eastern Orthodox Cathedral, then a Roman Catholic church, before it was then converted to a mosque in 1453, eventually becoming a museum as it is today in 1935. Definitely number 2 for this list.

But then, things get a little tricky! So many options from the places I have been (and I am not even contemplating places I have not been to!).

The Angkor complex, and iconic central Wat, can't not be on this list. Cambodia is one of my favourite place in the world, and crawling over this temple will always be something special I have done, even though I have visited three times now! It's still incredible, and there are always new aspects to see, different temples to visit.

The Golden Temple in Kyoto was another place of worship that sprung to mind fairly instantly. My visit there in 2005 still brings memories of peace and stillness, walking down to the waters edge through the wooded pathway.

Sticking to images of gold, Amristar in India and it's Golden Temple also needs to be on this list within the Top 5. Walking around the pool, and watching the people come to this most important Sikh temple was seriously awe inspiring. And so, so beautiful.

The spots around the world that I have been agonising about whether to slot them into this list include St Anne's Cathedral in Belfast with spire through the middle of it. I have entertained the notion of including the bizarre White Temple in Chiang Rai also comes to mind, and then needed to refrain from adding a host of individual temples we discovered in Bagan.

Of course, as an atheist and sports nut, it kind of goes without saying that the Melbourne Cricket Ground would be my personal preference as a most important and significant place of worship! For footy, for cricket. For hopes and dreams. For feats of strength and courage!

I sure there are a heap of holy places that I am missing, or forgetting through the strong memory or experience of these listed above.

What would yours be? Or where have I not included, that I should have?

Top 5: Play Count

Listening to music on my iPod mostly on shuffle, and having it with me most of the time, and yet my top tracks in iTunes have a pretty familiar listing over the years since I have been doing this annual post. Again, the 10 tracks give me the most listened to artists. All Aussies this year.

Seeker Lover Keeper's Even Though I'm A Woman is still my most played song in my collection.

My love of Gotye's Making Mirrors album has caught up with my top 10 listened tracks, with Save Me and Easy Way Out in the top 3 listened songs, before the ever amazing Learnalilgivinanlovin. The lesser appreciated gem on the MM album Giving Me A Chance is next, and then the most appreciated is next, Somebody That I Used To Know. In Your Light is in the 10 songs, 5 artists of the top counts too, at number 8.

Clare Bowditch's You Looked So Good is next.

Mercy Valley from the Oh Mercy boys and girl is at 9.

The song that melts my heart with every listen makes up the top 10, and is Old Fitzroy from Dan Sultan. An incredible track.

Top 5: Influential Songs

When Carly posted her radio session and post about her influential songs, I felt compelled to make a list too. And then remembered how very far away my current music taste is from the stuff I listened to that come to mind as "influential". Wow...worlds away!

Make It Happen – Mariah Carey
“If you believe in yourself enough, and know what you want, you’re going to make it happen….” Need I say more? Middle of high school, this song made me think and dream that I can do whatever I set my mind to do. And she was, and still is, right!

If – Janet Jackson
On an album that seemed to be the soundtrack for most of Year 12 for myself and a couple of other close friends, this song was risqué and suggestive. Of course, it also related to a crush on a boy at the time, and all things seemed to just align around the same time in terms of personal development and exploring these sensual ideas – Janet seemed to make it ok to talk about, and own and seek, after Madonna paved the way several years before. Janet in 1995 was also the first gig I went to without any parents – just 4 Ballarat girls who joined a bus company running a trip down to the show. It was an awesome night, including stopping and having (underage) cocktails at Lygon Street on the way home. We thought we were so cool and grown up! Ha!

Hands – Jewel
With the message of making a small but significant difference, this song had such a profound effect on me. Gave me the inspiration to follow that idea...and now I am a Social Worker, making a difference one case at a time!

Since You've Been Gone – Powderfinger
I know this song is about Bernard’s brother, but it hit my car CD player when I had just returned from Cambodia, and was experiencing all kinds of issues with being back. Such a dark time for me, and I really felt like the missing “you” in this song for me was my usual happy self. It just fit so well.

Still Call Australia Home – Peter Allen
First with the mentions of the places he has been, which I longed to go to. Cities that never close down! New York! And then when I was in London, this song could hit you at an Aussie themed pub on big occasions like the AFL Grand Final and Australia Day, making the whole pub sing, and pulling at every string of homesickness you didn’t even know was there. Tears, a guarantee, for all! Nothing solidifies your patriotism like being part of such a heartfelt sing-a-long.

These are songs that come to mind in terms of influence, but then I think time and place and people also shift and mould your music taste. It certainly has for me, because whilst these songs listed have been important to me over the years, they barely resemble my current day music taste!

I think a lot of music taste as we go to through our formative years are development stages all of their own. Early on, when we are in that awkward teen phase when we just want everyone to like us, we listen to what most other people listen to. The Top 40, mainly, for me back then. And our parents' music is so daggy!

Then as we finish school and we start being so much more independent, we discover more independent radio and bands. So our music taste is shaped a little more.

I don't know if this fits for everyone, but then I moved to college and met boys (boy boys and boy mates) with good music taste, and started discovering Van Morrison and learn the words to Angie by the Stones, and Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd. And suddenly the music of parents' era (well, some of it) was actually pretty cool.

And then you find a balance of your own taste, and own it all, from daggy to indie stuff that no one has even heard of yet! Well, that was my musical journey, anyway!

Top 5: Favourite Albums '12

Even though I have not been home to watch the ARIAs tonight, today is the day for my annual post about albums of the year.  Albums for me, my favourites, given that I could not have possibly listened to every album released all around the world this year.  But here are my favs from the year...

Bertie Blackman's Pope Innocent X is my favourite release of this year.  Love it's edginess, and Cannot wait to see her as support for Gotye next weekend here in Melbourne.

Next up is The Winter I Chose Happiness, Clare Bowditch's album that I have not been able to stop listening to since it's release.  It has so much joy and so many life's lessons among the lyrics. Love it.

Something For Kate's Leave Your Soul To Science comes in as third for my albums of the year - such a return after a long break for the band, it feels like they are taking risks, and sharing some inner stories with you.  Was totally amazing live, too.

The mush anticipated fourth release of Sarah Blasko makes up my number 4 spot on this list, with I Awake.  We grow as Sarah grows, with every album, and this one takes up to the next stage in life after her last one.  Another one with some surprising edginess, and quite a few songs are real stand out for me, particularly towards the back of the album.

The self-titled second album from The Temper Trap round out my list this year, with a record I have played regularly with joy since it's release.

This picture is a door handle at the gift shop at Graceland, Memphis, by the way....

What albums did you love, and have listened to endlessly, this year?

Top 5: Gigs '12

With my seemingly ever moving lifestyle for much of this year, I don't feel like I have clocked as many gigs as previous years, although the ones I have caught were pretty varied across the year.  A whole heap of bands from decades ago seemed to decide this year was a great one to do a show in Australia, and my sisters and I got to fulfill a long standing dream to see one such band this year.  The year started off with a collection of such bands for NYE, and only got better through the year.

Fleet Foxes was a gig I went to in January, and I called it as my favourite gig of the year then, because it was that good.  And true to that feeling as we walked out of that amazing show, it was definitely my top gig of the past year.

Tearing around Toronto for the NXNE Festival, just weeks into my time there, was a great introduction to the city and the music venues there. The epic and crazy set of The Flaming Lips at the main concert at Yonge and Dundas Square, makes this list, as my second favourite gig of the year.

My sisters and I nabbed tickets to Roxette the minute they went on sale, which was a show in Sydney only at that stage, to be sure not to miss a band that featured so highly in our household as we were growing up.  A super fun weekend for the gig, the concert was epic, with every song you could have wanted, and the chance for the 4 of us to dance and sing within that amazing atmosphere. Definitely a moment of 2012!

A very recent gig makes the list, being the Ben Harper show just this month.  Three hours from the man, solo, chatty, and he played every track spanning his massive back catalogue and took requests. I am so glad Springer and I grabbed tickets at the last minute to the Melbourne show.

The Temper Trap in Toronto rounds out the top 5, with a Canadian crowd loving our Aussie home boys, and their really newly released sophomore album.  This is a band I got to see twice across the year, with them featuring at half time and after the AFL Grand Final in Melbourne.

Top 5: Play Count '12

Posting about my play count on my iTunes this year was actually an annual post I was going to skip this year - but with the pressures of NaBloPoMo clashing again with deadlines of final essays for uni, I will need to proceed!

I was going to leave this post this year, as there doesn't seem like a whole lot of change in my top 5 artists listened to according to the faithfully logged plays on iTunes from last year.  I blame the death of my much loved iPod companion in the middle of this year. Easily my most reliable and important relationship over the last 5 years, and it breaks down right when I am not working and earning to replace it, and at a time when I am walking to work everyday and travelling a lot.

Without my music collection in my pocket at the ready at all times, I have had to endure crying children on planes, weird conversations on streetcars and trains and waiting gates, and traffic and construction noise. Then I had issues with the replacement, and the replacement's replacement, so hopefully I have a new trusty companion again now!

Seeker Lover Keeper is still my most played track, with their gorgeous Even Though I'm A Woman, miles ahead of anything else!  Still love it!

Second artist is Gotye, and sees Learnalilgivinanlovin again at number 2 on the count.  A couple of his songs from his 2011 album round out the top 10 songs, with my 2 favourites from Making Mirrors, being Easy Way Out and Save Me. 

Sparkadia is the next artist on the playlist, with the older Too Much To Do coming in at place number 3, with Still Can't Make Up My Mind from last year's release making it in at number 10.

Oh Mercy is the fourth artist of my top play count this year, and there are three tracks in the top 10 from Great Barrier Grief.  Mercy Valley and Stay Please Stay are pegged at songs 4 and 5, and Confessions is number 9.

Florence and The Machine finishes my top 5 artists based on play counts, with Howl at 6.

So there are 4 songs the same as this list last year, and 4 of the same 5 artists. And fairly well established counts, to be fair. I would really need to flog a new album for it to climb into this list with any speed.

The new music of 2012 that I am loving the most has actually been released at this later end of the year, so maybe they will feature in this list next year, through times of commuting, travels ahead, and my love of the shuffle feature!

These pictures are from the streets of Toronto - street art is such a wealth of stock photos for random posts! Love it! A bloggers eye should always be alert!

Right, off to start my second essay of the last weekend of my MSW (fingers-crossed)!

Top 5: My Travel Illnesses

As I am still trying to figure out the mystery of the outbreak of leprosy that plagued my most recent travels, and sharing the stories with people here at home, I have been reminded that I collect some strange and full on illnesses in my travels. Maybe I am allergic to change? Of travel, itself? Hell no! And if so, there are drugs for that, right?

So here is a recap of the weird and memorable ailments I have collected, along with the stamps in my passports:

#1 - My DVT in 2008, upon returning from my first trip to the West Indies will surely (hopefully!!) be my enduring use of one of my nine lives because of travel. Given the travelling nature of the segments of clot, and the presence of that fleck on my lung, this ailment could well have signaled the end of my travel, and indeed all, days! A very scary one, but now I take every precaution, am very in tune with my blood circulation and comfort on long haul flights, and do all the things I need to to prevent a re-occurrence.

#2 - In Cambodia, I had Typhoid. Or was treated for Typhoid, which may well have been a SE Asia-specific bug. This experience has put me off the idea of getting every vaccination possible before heading out for a trip, rightly or wrongly, because I had a shot for Typhoid. But, as I was reminded again last week, the vacc only covers for a few popular strains of the bug, and can't really cover you for every germ you may come across of this variety in every corner of the world.

I know this was borne from the delicious breakfast fish curry I had on a morning market trip with one of the women I was working with. I knew it was a risk, but sharing that morning with her, going about her daily activities and interactions with all the stall owners, and then sitting and having a meal in among all that frantic market chaos, while buying the groceries for the shelter I was working in, was such an amazing and real experience. I wouldn't take it back in a minute. Even over those body-wracking cramps!

#3 - My current unknown allergy started at home, the week leading up to my last days of work, as I plan to set off on a big travel adventure for the next 12 to infinity months. It flared up again in Barbados, then worse than ever in Trinidad, where I went to the emergency room and got some much needed IV medications to calm it all down. The doctor in Port of Spain - St Clair Medical Clinic, who were all very good - started talking about this episodic skin issue as an allergy. Not having a bar of it, I took and filled his recommended treatment - and sure enough, needed it in Dominica.

Needed again in the USA and again upon getting home, this outbreak is getting less each time, and hopefully I have it under some control now as I am getting ready to head off again on the weekend. I was advised to keep a food diary, or recap all the things I have had consistently over these outbreaks - although across 5 countries, it seems a bit needle in a haystack to me!

#4 - I had the worst Flu I have ever had when I was in Nashville. I seriously willed death of this bad bout! Plus I was alone, on my first major trip away from home, in the employee accommodation of the hotel I was working for, and being in the USA, did not have access to the types of medicines I would usually use to fight off such a bug. I remember having a couple of days and nights, hell it could have been a week, all dosed up with whatever I could find that was an approximation to the familiar cold and flu remedies in Australia - but had surely, in a delusional state, overdosed, and was in and out of cohesion for some time! Awful!

#5 - It would be remiss of me not to include the self-induced Hangover on this list. And boy, have there been some rippers! Durban 2006 and Colombo 2004 come immediately to mind, both post-cricket series celebrations, both very large, both from drinking with Charles, and both resulting in all kinds of pain! A good hangover certainly reminds you that you're alive!

They all make for decent travel stories, I guess. I mean, I could certainly have done without all of these, especially the enduring DVT, but it's all part of the risk and trials and tribulations of travel. It's not really worth it if it all goes ridiculously perfectly!! Aliments in a strange place are all part of the journey.

What are yours, and where were they?

My A to Z of Travel

My itching feet and aching wanderlust has me reading a lot of travel blogs at the moment, and so I have been reading many, many versions of the ABC of Travel meme. I first read it here, and thought I too would delve into my travel back catalogue, for a post.

A: Age you made your first international trip
When I was in high school, Mum took the whole family on our first overseas trip, being a visit to the USA, to go to Disneyland! So I was just 14! We went to the touristy things in LA, like the Rodeo Drive city tour, Universal Studios, and a couple of days at Disneyland, but we also made a day trip down to Tijuana, Mexico, which was a real eye-opener for us all.

B: Best (foreign) beer you’ve had and where
You cannot really beat Guinness from the tap, poured within range of the brewery, and I was taken to Mulligan’s in Dublin by some (amazing) locals. They says it’s the pub with the best tap Guinness anywhere, and who am I to argue with their extensive research!

C: Cuisine (Favourite)
My favourite food from all around the world, and the one I have out-of-the-blue cravings for, is the Fish Amok in Cambodia. Made in such different ways around the country, this curry fish dish baked and served in a banana leaf is the goodness of the ‘bodge!

I have recently found a recipe posted online, which sounds pretty spot on. Although I would rather just go to Phnom Penh again, and have it there again!

D: Destinations. Favourite. Least Favourite. Why.
My favourite (Top 5) city destinations have included New York City, Tokyo, Rome, London and Phnom Penh. NYC, Tokyo and London for all the amazing things a big, big city has to offer - so much going on, all the time, so many different neighbourhoods to explore. Rome for the history, and the big city elements. Hard not to love a place with the Colosseum! And then Phnom Penh will always have my heart, after living and working there for 6 months.
These 5 will most likely always have repeat visits for me, whenever I can include them in a trip.

My favourite little town destination is Luang Prabang, in Laos. This is where I would be if I ever wanted to run away and disappear from the world! Such a lovely little tucked away place!

I guess Ho Chi Minh would rank as my least favourite place, if I had to choose one, only because it was just a larger, busier, dirtier version of Phnom Pehn when I lived there, and crossed the border for a weekend visit.

E: Event you experienced that made you say ‘Wow’
The ANZAC Dawn Service at Gallipoli comes to mind immediately here. Such a reverent experience to be part of, and mark the spirit and loss of those fallen soldiers at Gallipoli, but to also mark the contribution of Aussie Defence personnel in all battles, past and present.

F: Favourite mode of transportation
It’s hard to beat train travel in all forms, including the tube in London and the various Metros across Europe. Of course, the ultimate trip was the train across Russia, Mongolia and into China on the Vodka Train. The changing scenes out the windows, the people met and fun had onboard, the stops along the way. This is really one of those life experiences to be savored! But then even the simplest pleasure of a sunrise in the mountains on a train also makes this mode magical. Train, hands down!

G: Greatest feeling while travelling
I love the feeling of freedom, and the knowledge that I can work out how to get around within any culture on my own, that travel gives you. This was highlighted to me in my recent trip to Sri Lanka, and figuring out how to get back to Colombo from Galle all on my own - after a long time off the travel trails! Reminded me of all the things I love about travel, and experiencing real life out there in a different country.

H: Hottest place I’ve travelled to
Sri Lanka wins for this question as well. The hottest I have ever been is sitting in the stands in the sun at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo in 2004 for the test match between Sri Lanka and Australia. So, so hot! The only saving grace was the service of beers in our seats, by the Lion Man with a keg on his back.

I: Incredible service you’ve experienced and where
Having pina coladas delivered to us while we were swimming in the ocean at Playa Ancon, in Trinidad de Cuba will always be the most amazing hospitality service I have ever experienced. Loved it!

J: Journey that took you the longest
The train from Russia to China took us 3 weeks, albeit with many stops along the way. The longest single journey would be my flight over the top of the world, from Bangkok to New York City, being 17 and a half hours.

K: Keepsake from your travels
I started buying an ugly, sticky-out magnet from the places I visited in my early days of travel, as a bit of a piss-take gift for Mum. Now this trend has really taken off with my sisters and I, and Mum now has a fridge full of amazing, hideous magnets from all corners of the globe. The bigger, most sticky-outy, and uglier, the better! I think Mum has not cottoned on to the aim of this little gift purchase now, and takes it all with a grain of salt. But now I think it's actually a bit of a work of art!

I also buy the occasional art or artifact or replica piece from different places, if it catches my eye, with the vision that when I grow up I will have a house filled with amazing things from my travels. My plate from Turkey is one such thing.

L: Let down sight. Why and where?
I think there is certainly something I have seen and thought "is that it?", but totally can't think of anything specific...

M: Moment where you fell in love with travel
I think despite all my trips beforehand, to the USA mainly, my 6 months in Cambodia definitely ignited my wanderlust. The experience of emerging yourself in a city, a culture, a language (although, not very well!), and spending time with locals from such different life experiences was a real turning point for me in terms of a wish to see and do so much more.

N: Nicest hotel you’ve stayed in
I splashed out on a hotel in Bangkok after a month of travel. I don't recall offhand what it was called, but was a 5 star with all the trimming. This was a treat for the last night, before heading home. But with all the poshness of it, I arrived into the lobby a filthy, bedraggled backpacker after a day of hard travel.

I had left the beach of Sihanoukville in Cambodia that morning on the back of a moto to the Thai border. During this ride the sky opened up, delivering a torrential downpour that soaked me to the skin. Which included my passport in my back pocket. Once the rain stopped, the sun returned to bake me for the last little bit before the border crossing, and then I took a local bus for the rest of the journey to Bangkok.

I remember being horrified that a porter was going to carry my dusty, soggy backpack for me after check in, that I insisted on carrying it myself up to my room. I am far from a 5-star traveller! I did enjoy the rooftop pool, though, and the full breakfast buffet!

O: Obsession. What are you obsessed with taking pictures of while travelling?
Looking through all my photos from my years of travelling, it seems light fixtures, lamps and lanterns feature heavily. I will usually use them as a frame to capture the place I am exploring, and go out of my way to have them in the photo. I had done this fairly unconsciously, although it has amassed a pretty amazing collection!

This one is taken along the canals of Venice, on our weekend trip from London, back in 2006. So pretty!

P: Passport stamps. How many and from where?
Being an Aussie means you get a chance to work on filling your passport pages with a new stamp almost everytime you leave the country; I guess a reward for the distance you usually have to travel to get anywhere!


So, those are the stamps from my second passport ever. In my current one I have 10 stamps.

Q: Quirkiest attraction you’ve visited and where
Weird, political or topical, art, is something I seek out when I travel. The Aussie Big Things on roadtrips here in Australia has been become a bit of a quest, and then our trek to see all the art installations in Prague.

This is the Big Oyster, from our Nullarbor roadtrip, which is located in Ceduna, South Australia.

R: Recommended sight, event, or experience
A White Xmas! So, so magical, for someone from the Southern Hemisphere. Our visit to Sweden, and that falling snow on Xmas Day will always be one of the most amazing travel moments for me!

S: Splurge. Something you have no problem forking over for while travelling
I will always try and cram in all the things I want to see in a trip, and will pay accordingly to not skip somewhere just cos of the cost. I remember making a splash in my budget to include the Plain of Jars on my 10 day trip to Laos. We also laid out a bit of cash to see the Terracotta Warriors in China...a point of ridicule now, given that we missed the train that would get us there, by 3 minutes!

T: Touristy thing you’ve done
I do them all, as many as I can manage. I don't really understand going somewhere and not seeing or experiencing that place's claim to fame. Would the ball drop on NYE in NYC count as the MOST touristy?

U: Unforgettable travel memory
Seeing in the Millennium in New Orleans was one of the greatest NYEs ever!

V: Visas. How many of them and for where
Well, in the photo collage above of my old, expired and full passport I have my J1 Working Holiday vise from the USA, several entry and exit visas before the actual Multiple Entry Visa that let me work in Cambodia for 6 months, a couple of full page entry visas into Vietnam, and then my UK 2 year Working Holiday.

In my crisp, new little blue book, I have full page visas for Russia, Mongolia and China, after the Vodka Train. So 12 all up!

W: Wine, best glass while travelling and where
I like wine, and I like to drink it, but I am no expert. I would have to say the South African wines in the Stellenbosch region here, but to be fair our winery tour was a very big day, and I certainly could name any wines or rank any for your recommendations! Great day though, with some spectacular views!

X: eXcellent view and from where
I don't think you can beat the view of the Melbourne skyline coming into view through an airline window, after a long trip away. Will always be home to me....no matter how far, nor for how long I roam!

Y: Years spent travelling
I would say 12 years here, since I set off on my working holiday to Nashville during our Summer of 1999-2000.

Z: Zealous sports fans and where
Despite being a massive sports fan myself, and spending a lot of time with a bunch of like-minded sports fans all around the world, I think the Barmy Army has to get the vote for the most zealous and most impressive sports fans. Their humour, their tenacity regardless of how the English team are going on the field, is to be admired.

Wow, those are some great memories!

Top 5: Favourite Albums of '11

What an amazing year for album releases this year! So much great music set free for our listening pleasure. I have had a playlist on the go, adding to with each release, and that is now 23.4 hours of listening joy!

Of course, that's obviously not every musical album release of 2011 worldwide, so I am taking this annual post while watching the ARIA Awards this year, as my "Favourite" rather than best. I mean, there are loads of albums I haven't heard, or ones that didn't grab me enough to purchase. But still, I think these 5 are pretty amazing and rate at the best for me!

Gotye's Making Mirrors is by far my favourite album of the year, and the one I rave about the most. The journey through these 12 songs, from the highs of new love, to the hurt and confusion of lost love, to the depths of depression and finding your way out. And then right in the middle is the ode to music of today, with State Of The Art, ha! It's brilliant, and Wally is reaping in all the accolades that he deserves, with surely more to come in the next year with this album.

The first album purchased this year, from The Decemberists, was always going to rate high, even at first listen. The King Is Dead takes their indie folk rock sounds to new levels with their rustic sounds and storytelling. It's brilliant.

Moonfire. Boy & Bear. Need I say more? Ha! Scooping 5 ARIAs tonight, this album follow up to that amazing 5-track EP is just a dream of indie rock. Coming from Triple J's Unearthed process, and then emerging with their Crowded House cover last year, the album this year has raised them into the consciousness of most Aussie - and surely most Aussie's now after tonight's awards!

Aussie female supergroup Seeker Lover Keeper's self-titled album is a collaboration of harmonic joy of the talent in this country right now, in terms of singer/songwriters, and musicians. Seeker Lover Keeper has come to life in the gigs I have been to of these lovely ladies this year, and it a real thing of beauty.

The Great Impression, being the sophomore album for Sparkadia has been one of my most listened to albums of the year, and one that I love. AB's pop songs round out this count for me.

Missing from this list are albums from Oh Mercy, Architecture In Helsinki, The Dears, Feist, the second albums for Florence + The Machine, and of course Adele. Just too many for a list of 5!

A very Aussie view of albums for me really, with a host of amazing live performances bringing many of the these albums to life for me. Again, there has been so much talent unleashed this year!

Top 5: Favourite Gigs of '11

In what can only be described as a bloody awesome year of music, I have attended some totally mind-blowing gigs! This has actually included interstate trips....hate to think what I use in terms of an "entertainment" budget! Ha! Oh well, that's what all my hours at work are for - to fund the lifestyle I am accustomed to!

The amazing weekend in July, on the Sunshine Coast, that was Splendour In The Grass tops this list, without any consideration! Of course, three days of music, with the acts featured, is hard to beat. I had such a great weekend!

Sufjan Stevens' show is one that will be remembered eternally. So ridiculously good! An epic musical performance.

Seeing Wally De Backer showcase Making Mirrors at the Gotye album preview was such a treat! Traveling up to Sydney for the weekend for it, and getting to experience the album live, with the animations matched by Wally, all at the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House. Awesome!

Portishead and The National were my reasons for going to Harvest, and they surpassed all expectation. In a chilled atmosphere, in the grounds of Werribee Park, this festival was so great, but these two performances on the day were so, so amazing.

They Will Have Their Way, being the live performances of the songs of Neil and Tim Finn, by seven of the most talented Aussie artists. Need I say more?

A couple of these would definitely feature in a review of the Top 5 of all time...but that post would be way too hard! I think gigs in a year could surely be a regular NaBloPoMo feature though!

Top 5: Play Counts in '11

This annual look at my iTunes play courts was going to be a straight 5....til the weekend, and shuffle come along and made that invalid. So again, my top 10 plays will find the top 5 artists.

According to last.fm, I listen to 47 songs per day...that's a lot of my day! Whilst shuffle is my usual, I have actually played a lot of the artists who were at Splendour In The Grass in a playlist, and also a playlist of 2011 album/EP releases, frankly cos there were so many, and so many great ones!

The Aussie female supergroup Seeker Lover Keeper has skyrocketed to my most played, with their gorgeous Even Though I'm A Woman.

Gotye's Learnalilgivinanlovin is my second most played song. In line with this being my Favourite Song for the 30 Day Song Challenge, it does get a bit of play by me. Plus Gotye was also at Splendour, adding it to that playlist frequency over the last 4 months.

From one of my favourite albums of this year, Down By The Water by The Decemberists comes as one of 2 tracks in third place.

Sparkadia's Too Much To Do is the other. AB has featured pretty heavily in the music stakes for me this year, with his new album and his appearance at Splendour. Fade From View and Still Can't Make Up My Mind, from the 2011 release The Great Impression, come in at 6 and 7 songs respectively, being equal fourth played. Love Less Love also from this new album is ranked at 9 and Space and Time from his first album finishes the 10 songs, both being equal fifth in the most played list.

Between Two Lungs rounds out the fourth placed tracks, from Florence and the Machine, being the only track consistent with this review from last year.

In My Stride from Oh Mercy is the fifth band in my top 5 played songs, with a track from their EP In The Nude For Love.

Top 5: Play Counts This Year

My obsession with play counts continues! Since last year's post, my iTunes play count was refreshed with the transfer to the new laptop, and I think it's interesting that one band still features within my Top 5 bands for the last 12 months, but the rest are all new artists to me during this year. These 5 bands span my 10 most played tracks.

Florence + The Machine takes number 1 spot as most played track, with Howl, but also finds the Drumming Song and Between Two Lungs in the top 10-top 5 artists spread (8 and 9). I know I played this album a lot when I first discovered it, and we played it a lot on the train this year too....but it's dominance in my most played list had made me conscious not to play it as much! Of course, I listen to my iPod on shuffle most of the time, so there's no control there! Love Florence, and I thank Jessie for sending her album over to me as a recommendation from London!

Hush by Angus and Julia Stone is next at 2, being the artist from the previous count, but these tracks from them this year are from the new album. Big Jet Plane (from Down The Way, not Lady Of The Sunshine's version, even though it's on the 'Pod) and the beautiful Santa Monica Dream come in at 4 and 5 respectively.

Have You Fallen Out Of Love? comes climbing into 3rd most played in the last 12 months, and Bats at 7. Love this album by Paul Dempsey.

Another recommendation from Miss Jessie, again sent from London during a USB swap of tracks, is Feist's 1234 at 6. Can't get enough of this one!

Gossip's Your Mangled Heart rounds out the top 10 songs, but top 5 bands - another late discovery for me this year, after the kids were raving about this band last year! The delay a product of not listening to the radio, ha!

This measure of most played appears not to be a very valid measure, however, after checking my profile on last.fm. According to that my top 5 played artists, cumulative, in the last 12 months are: Powderfinger, The Basics, Angus and Julia Stone, The Whitlams, and The Decemberists.