At the drop of a hat!
For my second show with Burgo we decided that the new Air Asia flights from Darwin to KL were a great opportunity to talk about why KL makes a wonderful holiday destination.
Enjoy the audio below and maybe just a few of my favourite KL pics.
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!
For the August issue of Just Urbane I’ve written a story about Malacca. The Straits of Malacca is one of those bodies of water that is famous for its pirates and spice traders. Malacca is more than a melting pot of culture, it’s a seething cauldron! The Dutch, Portugese, Chinese, Indian, Malay and British influence is in the buildings, it’s in the food, it’s in the craft and art of the little alley shops and it’s in the streets and on the river.
Enjoy reading my story below:
And if that’s not enough to get you on the next flight to Malaysia, here’s a couple of pics of my Malacca:
A recent conversation with the ever bubbly Andrea Gibbs on ABC Perth Saturday Breakfast explored some destinations that took us around Western Australia, over the border to some of my favourite states and finally overseas to a destination that’s just so cool to say and even better to experience.
Firstly, with ABC Producer Molly Schmidt firmly twisting my arm, we explored her hometown and holiday hangout, the Porongurups and Albany. Then we ventured across the coastline with some descriptions of Elephant Rocks, Greens Pool, a bit of beach driving at Peaceful Bay and the discovery of giants in the forests around Walpole.
ABOVE: WALPOLE TREETOP WALK
Then we had a chat about new ways to see new destinations and Rottnest is a great example of this. This familiar destination is a rite of passage for Western Australians and a bucket list item for most tourists to the state. With the new seaplane service taking off from the Swan River in front of the city you’re on Rotto in 20 minutes and can explore this incredible island, both on land and beneath the waves, before making your way back on one of the many ferry services available.
ABOVE: SWAN RIVER SEAPLANES TAKE OFF ON WATER AND LAND ON … LAND.
ABOVE: THE BASIN AT ROTTNEST ISLAND, MORE THAN A FAVOURITE, IT’S A RITE OF PASSAGE.
Next we took a trip to Tasmania and Andrea got very excited by my descriptions of the more than 20 gin distilleries to be found on the island and various DIY gin courses that are available. We then came back to the mainland and to our great neighbour, South Australia. There’s so much to see and there’s more to see than amazing wineries. There’s some cage diving with Great White Sharks and a slightly more sedate wildlife encounter at Whyalla in the Spencer Gulf you’ll find the opportunity to snorkel with giant cuttlefish.
To finish our travel tour we hopped on a plane to Malaysia and visited Malacca. I love just saying it. Malacca. The Straits of Malacca have been an important sea trading route for centuries and led to an influence in this gorgeous town of food, culture and architecture in the styles of the Portugese, Dutch and British. Interestingly, as well as having world heritage significance, funky hidden bars, evening river cruises and smiling faces everywhere, it is also one of the first large towns anywhere in the world to ban smoking in public. Malacca. Say it with me. Malacca.
ABOVE: AN EVENING CRUISE IN MALACCA
ABOVE: MALACCA, OR MELAKA.
Travel discussions can lead you down a rabbit hole of inspiration. This year try and think a little bit about trying to benefit the destination you’re going to. Consider, for example, amazing destinations like South Australia who need our help as tourists to recover from the bushfires, particularly on Kangaroo Island. In Western Australia, try a road trip to a country town you haven’t visited before or find a new way to visit a familiar destination, like a seaplane ride to Rotto.
Enjoy your travels, don’t be put off travelling, just try and contribute with your travelling.
Chris Parry Writes For Us 