With Pru on ABC Victoria Statewide we had a wonderful discussion about park benches with lots of listeners calling in to tell us why they love park benches on our travels.
I love picking apart my travels and finding within my travel experiences the things I do at home and away. Exploring a General Store, a market, catching public transport and in this case, sitting on a park bench to admire the view, have a rest, eat a pie or strike up a conversation.
I loved sitting with my son Tom on a bench by the Thames as much as I love the bench at the end of Boundary Road, overlooking Shoalwater Bay where my school holidays were spent. Where is your favourite park bench?
On ABC Victoria Statewide, Prue asked me about the Federal Government’s plans to introduce a compensation scheme for travellers.
Unlike schemes in Europe, it’s not likely to be financial. It will start out offering food, accommodation and support to refund or reschedule flights.
It will be a bit like making it onto the air bridge but not quite the aircraft.
We often talk about the need to be good tourists when we travel. We should expect the same of our airlines as well. We expect good service in the air and we should get good service on the ground when there’s a problem
On ABC Victoria Statewide on the Drive program with Prue Bentley, I discussed the decisions that need to be made if you’re travelling into a war zone or if you’re already there.
Enjoy listening to audio file below.
Always remember to find multiple sources of truth when making complex travel decisions. Get advice and be informed from government sites, news sites as well as building a travel picture from social media, your booked accommodation and tours.
On ABC Victoria Statewide the timing was perfect for Prue to want to know more about Kuala Lumpur. I’d returned from Kuala Lumpur only a few hours before our discussion.
We wandered through Kampung Baru and found a streetside stall selling Nasi Lemak. I explored the streets around my hotel, Hotel Stripes, and found a refreshing bowl of Cendol. At Chow Kit Hotel I enjoyed sambal prawns and satays with sophisticated cocktails in lamp lit dining rooms oozing speakezy vibes.
Prue and I talked about the melting pot culture of Malaysia and what this means beyond food. You can discover beautiful temples and mosques dating back to the late 1800’s. There is architecture from the 1940’s being reincarnated from laundries and residences into galleries, cafes and bars.
We discovered the green lungs of KL, those green spaces like Kabun Kabun Bangsar – a community garden with vege patches and squabbling turkeys and geese. There’s remnant jungle surrounded by urban jungle and parks with walking trails through shady trees that cast dappled light as you meander through opportunities to get away from the hustle and bustle of this amazing city.
It’s an exciting time to get to KL. Air Asia is flying new direct routes from Darwin and Adelaide and there’s always great deals on the established routes from the other state capitals. I also found that Air Asia has its own ride share service and partners with luxury and boutique hotel brands. I flew Air Asia, caught Air Asia ride share and for two nights enjoyed the remarkable Chow Kit Hotel. It’s a great way to travel, being able to bundle everything under one umbrella of service.
Hotel Stripes roof pool and bar with views to KL Tower (including remnant jungle). A beautiful hotel in a heritage neighbourhood.Chow Kit Hotel feels like a Gatsby era gambling den. It makes you smile as soon as walk into the hotel.Kebun Kebun Bangsar is a beautiful respite from the urban jungleCaptain Nasharudin and all of the Air Asia staff I met were so excited about the new direct routes to KL. KL is not a stopover city, it’s a destination.
It was a battle that was broadcast across the ABC airwaves of the Northern Territory with Andrew Murdoch and he graciously gave me the win. He wasn’t convinced that the new Air Asia flights from Darwin to Kuala Lumpur would fill many seats but after my descriptions of a city full of vibrant culture – from architecture to food – and monorails, shopping malls, secret bars, street food and so much more, I won the debate!
Enjoy just a few pics below of KL days and nights:
It’s not the Petronas Towers, Bukit Bintang or Petalang Street, it’s just a little cafe in 2D and it defines the quirkiness you’ll find in a city that enjoys having fun around every corner.
Nasi Lemak is a meal you can enjoy for breakfast, lunch and dinner. My favourite Nasi Lemaks in KL are in the old streets of Kampung Baru.
There’s nothing wrong with too much food in KL. Jalan Alor is just behind the bright lights of Bukit Bintang’s high end shopping malls. You’ll find fresh fruit, grilled satays and all sorts of curries and barbecue meats and vegetables that all go very well with a freshly made coconut juice or chilled Tiger beer.
On ABC Statewide we took a drive down our favourite roads. From Broome to Cape Leveque in the far north, to the roads of the Midwest during wildflower season, the big loop from Perth to Kalgoorlie, Esperance, Albany and back to Perth and how about the Zig Zag Scenic Drive up on Gooseberry Hill?
Personally, I still think an unsealed road in the Wheatbelt is hard to beat but the Broome to Cape Leveque road (back in the day) was a great experience.
Broome to Cape Leveque – couldn’t be redder, couldn’t be bluer, couldn’t be happier.
With the news that Qantas are commencing flights to fly out of Darwin to Singapore and Canberra, ABC Darwin called me to see which way I’d go.
We talked about Singapore and how there are so many opportunities to discover more than shopping centres. At Haw Par Villa theme park, visit Hell’s Museum and learn all about the Haw Par brothers who invented Tiger Balm and used to drive through the streets of Singapore in tiger themed cars with a horn that made the sound of a roaring tiger! Find your way to Lau Pa Sat where from the street you buy a million satays and a cold Tiger beer!
Canberra is the home of our federal parliament and very accessible Parliament House. It’s also home to our sacred Australian War Memorial and to many of our beloved art treasures in the National Gallery.
No fancy restaurant in Singapore required. Lau Pa Sat is where it’s at!From the roof of Parliament House you can see everywhere you need to go in Canberra
With Prue Bentley on ABC Victoria Statewide, I’ve been enjoying sharing my travel stories with listeners across Victoria.
Our first show was all about astrotourism and all the places throughout Australia and around the world where you can get up close to space without going into space. From big dishes on both sides of the country to fallen pieces of Skylab in Esperance and wonderful places with dark skies to take time lapse photos, there’s plenty of reasons to go somewhere and get that little bit closer to the final frontier.
We’ve also taken listeners to Malacca, one of my favourite destinations and favourite places to say. We’ve also done some travel tip chats, talked about my flight in a Spitfire above the fields of Kent and looked at opportunities in Victoria to find your own aviation heritage experience. So much to listen out for and just a little bit of Prue and I in the audio below as we make past the pirates and jump ashore in Malacca!
Malacca is full of culture, food, fun and history that encompasses, embraces and is influenced not just by the Malay, Indian and Chinese cultures but the colonial periods of the Portugese, Dutch and British.
Kuching murals are a great reason to walk around the city
Having just returned from Singapore and Sarawak I was given a great opportunity to talk fast and furiously with DJ Wan on Radio Melayu about my experiences.
We also had the Consul General of Malaysia, Mr Ahmad Fikri, come on the show and talk about his experiences of Sarawak and what we had spoken about together at a recent Tourism Malaysia event.
From some destinations in Singapore you might not be aware of to Sarawak, a land of constant activity by day and night, it was a wonderful opportunity to describe my adventures and encourage listeners to book their flights!
The Vagabond Club in Singapore is small in size but enormous in luxury and intrigue
The Main Street of York is full of history, cafes, books and lollies
Growing up in a country town, the main street was a great place to walk down on a Saturday morning to see who else was out and about.
Main Streets of Western Australia continue to define the life of their communities. It might just be to go to the butcher or grocer, pick up the newspaper (maybe a copy of Have A Go News!) or some rope from the trading post. Or it might be that you’re on a road trip and want to buy the best sausage roll in town or look through a local museum.
Main streets are great reasons to get out and explore regional communities at any time of year.
Below is a story I recently had published about some of the best main streets in WA, and the best reasons for a walk down them:
Chris Parry Writes For Us 