Our bushfire crisis

Posted on by Greta
A smokey city

The bushfires ravaging Australia are beyond catastrophic.

A significant portion of the country is on fire and the Australian community is rallying together to do what we can. Whether it’s donating food, money or helping out in the devastated regions, there are a lot of people out there striving to make a difference.

On Tuesday 6th January I went to work in Melbourne CBD and as soon as I stepped off the train, I was hit by the coat of smoke that covered the city. I walked through it on my way to work, and on my lunch break I watched a violinist play passionately, with an almost colourless backdrop. As the afternoon went on, I noticed the cloud of smoke gathering around my building, slowly closing us in.

The people

Firefighters and residents alike are experiencing the trauma first-hand. These people are in the front line, defending their land against notorious flames. Firefighters from all over have come together to save our soil.

After learning from the unfortunate events of Black Saturday back in 2009, residents seem to understand the severity of these fires and the likelihood of beating them. People are being told to evacuate, it is not safe to stay, and, in most cases, they are doing just that.

The animals

The loss of native Australian fauna is absolutely devastating. Our koala population has reduced to 5%, which leaves me lost for words. The animals have a very low chance of survival, and those that have been burned are likely to be euthanised. There are not enough resources to cope.

I saw a headline about the Mallacoota fires recently, that described the events of December 30, the sound the koalas made as they burned. It brought tears to my eyes as I thought of these beautiful creatures suffering.

The rest of Australia

If you can donate, please do – places like the Red Cross and the CFA need as much support as they can get. You can also donate directly to the World Wildlife Foundation – Australia, where proceeds will be put towards re-homing animals affected by the fires.

We can hope with all our might that the fires are over soon, but it is only just the start of summer.

Our “leaders” really need to face the facts and think about what they aren’t doing to save our country at the expense of our environment, our people and our livelihoods.

I read a powerful article yesterday that called out the need for Australia’s climate change policies to change urgently, labelling the Government’s position as a ‘destructive stance’. I couldn’t agree more.

The country is devastated. Coming back from this won’t be an easy feat. In a couple of days, the heat is expected to hit us again, and there is a high chance that some of the biggest fires will merge. There are leaders at state level doing as much as they can in providing support to communities who need it. But what is missing is a national strategy to work towards the prevention of events like this, instead of solutions for the damages that the lack of prevention has caused.

The grounded feeling of flying

Posted on by Greta

I love flying.

There is nothing quite like being thousands of feet in the air, looking out the window and not being able to see anything within my reach, except for the wings of the plane. I love passing through clouds and watching, amazed as they disappear around me. Even being stuck for 1 or more hours with at least 100 strangers doesn’t faze me. I enjoy listening to how people react to certain situations in a confined area, as they seem to forget that they won’t be up there forever, that the ground will be beneath us in a matter of time.

Usually it’s children that cause stress for many on planes. But we shouldn’t always blame the children! There is an abundance of people who fly regularly, and many of them may come across as rude, but the flight attendants always smile and respond as positively as possible. There are also the drunk people – who may have enjoyed a few too many beverages before getting on board and end up having a loud conversation with their new friend sitting next to them. There may even be an exchange of phone numbers because some sort of relationship has been established – whether it’s business or personal.

I am happy to keep to myself on planes – as I said, I like to watch and listen to the people around me. If a passenger next to me strikes up a conversation of course I engage but I also understand that it is just friendly chit chat because they have nothing else to do, and want to seem interested in whatever the person next to them has been up to, or brag about what they’ve been doing, so that they are at least occupied for part of the flight.

It is a good way to meet people, if that’s what you want. I remember years ago when I was coming back from a solo trip to Europe. It had been a full-on holiday, on a Contiki tour with a bunch of other keen young adults, ready to explore. I had also spent some time with my mum’s cousin in Holland, which was lovely. Despite a great trip, I was looking forward to unwinding with a wine or two on the plane before arriving home to see my boyfriend. Luckily for me, I was sitting next to a lady who was also enjoying a beverage and was keen for a chat. We talked about our time overseas and our lives in Melbourne. At the end of the flight we said our goodbyes and never saw each other again.

A time to reflect

I don’t mind it being just me and my own company either.

I find that my mind is clear when I am in the air, and I know exactly what I want and how to achieve it. It’s a good time to reflect on life, and hear nothing but music in my ears, or the sounds of a plane full of people. I think about family, friends travel, work – you name it, it will most likely cross my mind as I sit up there in the clouds.

I always try to get a window seat, especially if I am going somewhere I have never been. I like watching the horizon, as the plane lowers to the ground, and seeing buildings and/or clumps of greenery and water beneath me. Apparently, this choice of seat means I’m selfish but hey, I know what I like. If the window seat isn’t available, I make do.

When I step off the plane, I am sad that this time of reflection is over, but excited at whatever awaits me. Being on a plane adds an aspect to travel that doesn’t happen anywhere else. It is crazy to think that when I am in the air, I somehow manage to feel so grounded.

The hours, sometimes days that follow hold a refreshing memory of that feeling – the feeling of complete possibility, of never-ending opportunity.

Although I have nothing planned, I am looking forward to my next flight already, wherever that may be to and whatever I may be thinking about at that point in time.

The recycling situation

Posted on by Greta

I don’t know how many people think about waste and recycling on a daily basis, but I know I do and have been doing so more and more lately, as I notice the issue (and the product) around me.

It is a topic I often see on the news, with headlines such as ‘China ban on foreign rubbish leaves recycling industry in a mess’ and ‘Malaysia, flooded with plastic waste, begins sending rubbish back to developed nations’. It’s becoming more prevalent and something really needs to be done about it sooner than later, something that isn’t an offshore solution.

It’s taken me a while to write this because I haven’t been exactly sure what I am trying to say. I think there are a lot of people who don’t have an opinion on the matter because they choose not to think about it or don’t fully understand the issue. But the more that is said about it, the more information there is available and it becomes easier to understand.

It shocked me to learn what Australia has done with our recycling for so many years. I never thought about it as an export market until I heard the news that China was no longer accepting our recycling.  I always thought our recycling was taken to a factory within Australia to be recreated into usable materials. How naive of me!

It’s hard to comprehend that our government isn’t doing more to support local recycling plants, like investing in them, rather than contributing funding to ‘research’ and ‘design’. It is disappointing that today, at least 15 Victorian councils are dumping recycling into landfill, contributing to the global waste crisis, because it is too expensive or difficult to do anything else.

Now I want to talk about the need to educate. If people are aware of the issues around recycling and know what is going on within their local council, they can do more, and will be more likely to help. Find out if your recycling needs to be cleaned, and what is accepted in each bin. There are councils within Victoria who are still sorting, cleaning and transforming our recycling into new products, but there are also some who demand recyclables to be cleaned. These councils may talk of ‘contamination’ in a fear mongering way, possibly because they have cut back on resources at recycling plants, due to lack of government funding. It takes a few minutes to visit your council’s website to find out what can be put in your bins. You would think education campaigns would be seen as a sure-fire way for councils to communicate to the people by getting messages out through digital or television marketing, but you don’t see much of this around.

With this recent bout of federal funding, it appears efforts are being made to do something, but the focus of these efforts is questionable. The more it is raised as an issue, the less our government can turn a blind eye to it.

I would be interested to hear other people’s thoughts on the topic, so please if the issue of waste or recycling ever crosses your mind, feel free to reach out. The more of us there are that are talking about these things, the more likely something will be done about it.

Taiwan and it cultural quirks: Part V

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On our last full day in Taiwan, we went to the National Palace Museum. Having seen the Smithsonian last year, we were ready to be amazed, as it we were aware NPM was known to be one of the largest displays of Chinese imperial artifacts in the world.

From the outside, it was spectacular, with its brilliant grounds and architecture, nestled amongst the picturesque mountains. We made our way through the rabbit warren of rooms, learning about Taiwan’s different dynasty’s as we went. The jewellery that was on display was special, and so vibrant in colour. We learned that jade is Taiwan’s national stone and is meant to bring the wearer good fortune. I was fascinated by the traditional scripture and how the writing is read and written vertically, rather than horizontally, as it is in English. Each character was so delicate I couldn’t imagine how anyone (let alone a young child) would remember each symbol and be able to differentiate them at the speed that we read and write.

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We saw many temples and admired their cultural significance, including the Confuscious Temple, the Longshan Temple and Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. They were busy places but worth visiting. Tourists attempted to fit the front of the temple and a face or two into the screen of their mobile phones, which reminded me of an article I had read on Mount Everest, and the crowds of people at the summit. It felt like the wrong place (at least to me) to be taking selfies. After seeing these, I must admit, the temples in Taipei were some of the most beautiful that I have ever visited.

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I recently read that protests similar to those that are happening now in Hong Kong could possibly break out somewhere like Taiwan. The anti-government protests are against extradition laws held between Hong Kong and China, China being a communist nation. Protestors do not want this law to pass, fearing that it will be the end of civil rights for Hong Kong. I can’t imagine the beautiful streets of Taipei full of protest. It seems such a peaceful, organised city, much different to that of Hong Kong, which we visited on our way home back in April. But who’s to say what is likely to happen anywhere. We can only hope that something will be learned or changed as a result.

This is the last post in my series on Taiwan and I don’t like to leave it on such a serious note, but it is important that people realise that these protests are not so far away, and they involve people just like us fighting for what they believe. How would you feel if you were in a position like this?

Those of you who have read Part I, II, III and IV, I hope you have enjoyed reading what we got up to on our trip. Taiwan is a beautiful place, with so much to do and see and I would love to go back one day soon.

Taiwan and its cultural quirks: Part IV

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Yellow taxi

Something we wanted to do on this trip was visit the infamous Taiwanese whiskey distillery, ‘Kavalan’, and we knew it was a bit of a drive from Taipei. If we were there for longer, we would have got the train but given our short trip, our hotel told us that the best way to get there would probably be by taxi (really?). We followed a woman who worked at the hotel to the taxi rank and watched as she spoke to the driver in the local language. He nodded and said something to her, which turned out to be the price – and it was reasonable, so we got in, not expecting to be in a yellow taxi for yet another day trip, but ready to explore.

We had been driving for a while and had gone through a few tunnels that must have been through mountains. It was a beautiful drive – the countryside in Taiwan is just spectacular! We entered another tunnel and I watched the brown walls pass by and waited until I could see light at the end. Soon were outside, at the base of some huge mountains, when the driver, who spoke very little English turned to us, pointed to the top of the mountains and said ‘coffee’. There was no way he knew how much I loved coffee, and I thought it was very nice of him to point this out. We smiled and nodded and thanked him. Not long after, we began making our way up a mountain. The road was narrow, and we had to pull over whenever a car needed to get past. After a winding drive of over 20 minutes, we pulled into a gravel driveway at the top. The driver stopped the car, turned to look at us and said ‘coffee’ and pointed to a building. It wasn’t until then that we realised he thought we wanted to go to this coffee farm! There must have been some confusion between the lady at the hotel and the driver! ‘No, no…whiskey’, was all we said and luckily, he understood. ‘Ahh, whiskey!’ He said and turned the car around. He apologised and pointed down the mountain, which we assumed meant it wasn’t far away.

The grounds of Kavalan

We had driven at least half an hour and were passing through a small town. To be honest, it felt like we were lost. The driver called his friend who was kindly able to provide directions to the distillery, thank goodness! When we got there, he said to take as long as we needed and that he would wait there. We thanked him and got out of the taxi (at last!). The grounds were huge and very well kept. We enjoyed a whiskey tasting, though couldn’t understand the man as he explained what each different whisky was, but it didn’t matter. We were in a foreign country sampling some of the finest whisky and were glad to have finally arrived. We even mixed our own whiskey after sampling three different kinds and deciding how much of each we wanted to add to our test tubes, 6 ml in total. After we had written down our ratios, the instructor mixed us large bottles that we could take home. He sealed the bottles and put them into a box, which we wrote our names on. We were quite surprised by this final touch and very happy. What a good idea!

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After a long and unexpected day being driven around Taiwan in a yellow taxi, we were looking forward to setting out on foot to explore Taipei once more.

Dinh Tai Fung

One thing that we absolutely had to try in Taiwan was Dinh Tai Fung. We had tried this restaurant in Melbourne and had learned that it actually originated in Taipei, so were pretty excited to check it out. We were staying right near the DTF at Taipei 101 and went to have a look the first day we arrived. When we got there, we realised there was an 80 minute wait for a table. We were pretty hungry, so decided to go another day. The original DTF wasn’t far from where we were staying either, so we thought we should check out that one anyway.

We went to DTF the day that we went to Shifen and Jiuffen actually! We had returned from the day trip and were starving and weren’t disappointed. We ordered at least four different kinds of dumplings, including their famous Sha Long Bao, or soup dumplings. We had heard that the dumplings at DTF were some of the best, as the casing was so delicate. It was a delicious meal but we couldn’t help remembering the dumpling restaurant we had been to on our street food tour.

Exploring and eating are two of my favourite things to do while on holiday. I highly recommend going to DTF in Taipei and making a trip out to Kavalan, however you end up getting there!

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Taiwan and its cultural quirks: Part III

Posted on by Greta

Another tour we had organised was a trip to Shifen and Juifen. We knew that these were traditional towns in Taiwan, and the areas were famous for lanterns, mountains and waterfalls.

We were surprised when a yellow taxi met us at the hotel, ready to take us on tour. There was a girl sitting in the front seat already, who greeted us with a warm smile as we clambered into the back seat. Our driver and tour guide introduced himself as Barry and we were off. We made chit chat with the girl in the front seat and learned that she was from England. She was friendly and told us she had not been in Taipei for long, so was interested to hear what we had been up to.

Yeh Liu Geopark

Our first stop was Yeh Liu Geopark, which Barry told us wouldn’t take long to look around. He waved us goodbye and got back in his car, where we soon realised that he would wait until we were ready to leave. The first thing I noticed were the people. There were tourists everywhere, posing for photos with the rock formations and talking excitedly amongst themselves. The three of us stuck together and walked around the Geopark admiring the rocks and stopping to take a few photos (no posing snaps with the ‘princess rocks’ though, sorry to disappoint :)). We could see a track that led through some trees, so went to explore. We all liked hiking, and it seemed like a less crowded option than the geopark. It turned out to be a beautiful walk through the greenery, towards the clifftop we could see from back at the park. As we walked along the track, we saw colourful butterflies of all sizes spreading their wings as they gracefully moved across the bushes.

When we returned to the taxi, Barry had gotten us each a bubble tea, which was very kind of him. I had never had one before and was a bit thrown by the blobs of goo that came up through my straw from time to time but enjoyed it none the less.

Shifen

The next stop was Shifen. Barry stopped the car, let us out and pointed down the street. He suggested we get something to eat because the next leg of the drive was long. He joined us this time, as we walked down the crowded main street, fascinated by the number of lanterns available for people to purchase, light up and let go into the sky. None of us wanted to do this ourselves, as we were aware of the impact these lanterns had on the environment when they landed, so we moved on. There was a railway track right through the middle of town and stalls on either side. We crossed over a bridge and found ourselves in a quieter part of town, where locals cowered over broken lanterns, mending them to get them ready for sale.

Back on the other side of the bridge, we saw a medium sized pig running through the crowd of people, squealing as it skipped along, clearly on a mission. It was quite the spectacle, as tourists reached out to touch it. One man even gave it a firm slap on the behind, which was very amusing.

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On the way to Jiufen we stopped to look at the ‘Golden Waterfall’ on a mountain near an old mining town. The water was brown or golden coloured because of the copper and iron that came from the surrounding rock.

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Jiufen

The next stop was the picturesque town of Jiufen, nestled amongst the mountains, almost Cinque Terra-esque in feel. There were shops and food stalls on either side of us as we walked down the steps of Jiufen Old Street. We were beginning to regret our decision not to get food in Shifen; we were very hungry by now. On the walk down the mountain, we tried a coriander, peanut butter ice cream burrito which filled a hole, and later stopped for some dumplings.

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It was a different tour than we expected but was very enjoyable. Barry turned out to be a kind, funny man who knew the area well. We hadn’t expected to spend the day driving around in a taxi but it was a nice experience as a small tour. We were actually getting pretty used to touring in taxis by now, but I’ll explain that in my next post.

I would definitely recommend this day trip to Shifen and Jiufen for people who want to get out of the city for a day and see more of Taiwan’s beautiful countryside.

Stay tuned or Part IV!

Taiwan and its cultural quirks: Part II

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The first night we arrived, we had to check out some of the night markets we had heard so much about. Every search we did prior to landing in Taipei led us to blog posts with pictures and descriptions of delicious looking food. We knew that there were a lot of districts in the city that had famous night markets to choose from, but since it was our first night, we thought we should try one of the best: Shilin night market.

A Taiwanese feast – market style

It was raining, but that wasn’t going to stop. We knew the train was meant to be really convenient in Taipei, but we were hungry, so caught a taxi. This took us close to one hour because Shilin was on the other side of the city to where we were staying, right near Taipei 101.

When we finally arrived all we could see were bright lights, drizzle falling from the sky and a crowd of umbrellas. Our first stop was a convenience store to pick up some umbrellas of our own; the rain was relentless and didn’t look like it was going to stop any time soon.

We ventured into the market and the first thing I tried was a local delicacy, barbecue Pleurotus Eryngii, a type of oyster mushroom grown nearby. It was tasty with its salt and pepper flavouring, and the man at the stall gave me a generous portion.

The next thing we shared was a giant Taiwanese type of chicken schnitzel, which was delicious. It was lucky we decided to share one because it was literally SO big. The chicken was surprisingly juicy and the crumb was coated with a chilli seasoning.

I left my husband in search of a rubbish bin and walked up and down the rows of market stalls for some time before I was able to find one. I returned to my husband, who I had left in a long line to get a Taiwanese Black Pepper Bun, which was delicious.

I was getting full by this time but didn’t want to leave without trying some dessert. We each got a mochi, which we knew to be a Japanese treat, but had heard Japanese food was good in Taiwan too.

The rain was still coming down when we decided to get a taxi back to our hotel, and as we approached, we could see Taipei 101 in all its splendour, illuminated by red lights. We agreed that we would check it out the next day.

The visibility situation

As we were about to cue for tickets to the observation deck of Taipei 101 the next day, we saw that the visibility was very poor. I suggested we wait and it actually ended up being the last day of the trip before we went up. Visibility was excellent, so we were very happy with our decision to wait.

The views were spectacular, and we were higher than Elephant Mountain now so could really notice the contrast between the city and the mountains that surrounded us. We saw an interestingly shaped figurine for sale as a magnet and as a printed picture on items such as mugs and drink bottles. When we saw a giant statue of the figurine we became even more curious. We eventually learned that it was a ‘Wind Damper’ and its purpose was to counter the effects of wind or other strong motion, such as the earthquake that occurred just days before we arrived.

Views of Taiwan

We explored other night markets as the trip went on, but Shilin was definitely the standout. The fact that we waited until our last day to go to the top of Taipei 101, only for the visibility to be excellent was a perfect result.

These are some more reasons that I think Taipei is one of the best places I have travelled to and will have to return sometime soon. Stay tuned for Part III!

Taiwan and its cultural quirks: Part I

Posted on by Greta

Has anyone ever been to Taiwan?

My husband and I recently spent 6 days in Taipei, and we weren’t sure what to expect, but I’ll tell you what, we loved every minute of it!

I’m going to tell you about our trip by uncovering our adventures as a series of interrelated ideas. A lot of the time, one thing led to another, which made for a lot of choices on our trip. Isn’t this the best way to travel?

So, let me tell you about our street food tour and hike up Elephant Mountain – two activities which we did not end up doing on the same day, but as promised, they are interrelated.

The streets of Taiwan

We had booked a street food tour for our third day there, which we were pretty excited about. For some reason, which is strange because we both really love our food and we travel overseas at least once a year, we had never been on a tour like this before. It was almost ignorant of us, assuming we knew the best bits about Asian food as a result of our travels through Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia and Japan because as we found out, we most certainly did not!

The food we tasted on the tour was fabulous, but so were the people we met and the cultural quirks of Taiwan that we learned about. It is such a great way to experience a new place. Walking through the busy streets allowed me to take the time to appreciate the beauty of what went on around me. A lady hunched over a bucket of nuts, shelling them to uncover the best bits, a team of pastry chefs working to create a Scallion pancake masterpiece or a fruit stall owner offering the freshest fruit with toothpicks to use as forks so that customers could keep their hands clean.

We ate some tasty and very unusual food, which I will tell you more about another time, but the people we met on the tour and the things we learned about Taipei also made it very memorable.

Market stall

There were 3 fellow Australian’s on tour, along with 2 girls from the US, a girl from Israel and an older guy from Canada. Some people, like us were travelling in pairs, but were just as keen to chat as the solo travellers. We found out about restaurants and must-see attractions that we foolishly had not factored in but luckily, we took their advice and checked out Elephant Mountain.

Where city meets mountain

It was a great hike, and we passed a lot of people on the way who were looking sweaty and accomplished as they stumbled down the steps. It was lucky that the steps had been built, as the slope was quite steep. There air was full of humidity, being April, and we were drenched in sweat. But we had dressed prepared – we made a quick pit stop to the hotel to change into our sports clothes after a busy day of sightseeing.

The views were magnificent. It felt like we could see the whole city, including one of the top 10 tallest towers in the world, Taipei 101, and the brilliant mountains that surrounded us. It was phenomenal – I don’t think I have ever seen such a contrast between a city and the surrounding mountains. It was a different view than we would get from the top of Taipei 101 – but I’ll get to that in another post.

For now, I hope you have begun to realise why this little discovered place is now one of our favourites. It was a short time there, but there is plenty more to tell you about Taiwan. Stay tuned for part II.

Consumed

Posted on by Greta

Most of you will agree that feeling underprepared is not a great feeling.

Unprepared, underprepared, unawares, however you choose to say it; it essentially means the same thing – not quite prepared and maybe even caught by surprise.

Whether it’s an occasion, an event, a sporting game or a meeting – being underprepared is not ideal for anyone.

Staying on top of things

It happened to me recently. Of course, it happens often in day to day life, but I usually try to stay on top of things as best I can. I was finishing up a meeting with a co-worker when he began asking about my next meeting, that I had been called to attend at last minute notice.

I answered his questions as best I could, he was curious and wanted to know what the meeting was about. He smirked and joked that I hadn’t done my homework. I smiled and looked down because I knew that that wasn’t entirely true – I knew the focus of the meeting, but I hadn’t completely readied myself for the discussion that would follow.

I had done all the pre-reading earlier in the week, but it was a lot of new information and some of it was still sinking in.

I should have almost expected to be called in to the meeting, then I would have been more prepared.

But I wasn’t.

Realisations

And did I stuff up in the meeting? I don’t think so, no. I may not have had much to say but I took a lot of notes as this is how I tend to absorb information.

Lately, I have been thinking that this is something I need to stop doing.

There is so much advice out there about being present and living in the moment. I need to learn to trust myself, trust that I know what is going on and be comfortable in knowing that I don’t always need to take a mountain of seemingly unnecessary notes.

If I am asked a question after a meeting, I most often go from what I remember anyway, I rarely refer to my notes.

So, I’m going to stop taking as many notes in the meetings I attend.

Once I am clear that I do understand what is going on – because I understand people and relationships to some extent, I will just sit back and listen. I think when I allow myself to do this, and to be fully immersed in discussion, I will add more value.

I mean, I don’t take notes when discussing what my friend is up to on the weekend or when I ask how her work is going. I just remember what she says and offer expressions and/or advice. Sometimes I forget, and that is okay.

We don’t always need to remember everything.

I almost makes me nervous – not to take notes. It has become the way I work – it’s just what I do.

But I need to let go of my fear of missing something. Because realistically, I am missing what’s happening right in front of me. I am missing the passion, the fight, the belief in what people are saying and really this is not what I ever wanted to do.

I never thought the day would come when I would say this, but I think my notes are consuming me, and I really need to stop and allow myself to live in the moment.

Comparing two cities

Posted on by Greta

Isn’t it strange how sometimes when you are in a place you compare it with somewhere else that you’ve already been?

You look around, get an understanding of the people, the weather, the landmarks and reach a conclusion that this place is very similar to somewhere you have been before.

Maybe it is because of the need to feel familiar with our surroundings, despite the fact that a lot of travellers think they would be comfortable anywhere.

Don’t get me wrong; I love exploring new places, but we all know that familiarity breeds comfort, which makes us feel content.

So why do we do it?

What is the point going anywhere if all you’re going to compare it to somewhere else?

Aren’t you there to take it all in; to experience the culture, food and the people? Why does this place need to be likened to somewhere else?

Back to the Golden City

Maybe we like to compare a new place with the most recent location that we have visited. On a trip to Auckland a few weeks ago, I couldn’t help but compare the city to San Francisco. We only returned from our trip to the states in August 2018, so it is relatively fresh in my memory.

We spent quite a bit of time in San Francisco down by the water, exploring the pier and riding bikes over the Golden Gate bridge and through the narrow streets.

In Auckland, we looked out to sea while dining on oysters from a restaurant near the port. The water was relatively still, just as it had been in San Fran.

The ferry to Waiheke Island was not unlike the ferry to Alcatraz, although the destination was indeed different.

Is this something that we only do after reaching a certain level of experience while travelling? I realise I have only recently started diving into my portfolio to compare two cities.

Maybe it is us showing off to ourselves; being proud that we have already been somewhere like this and knowing that upon returning home, we can tell others how this place has similar characteristics to another. It helps paint a picture and allows an understanding for people who have visited one o the places.

Breaky in the Big Apple

On our second day we had breakfast at one of the only places we could find open on a Sunday in the city – and it was such a cool café, with its relaxed vibe.

We walked through a small room with a few tables to an outdoor courtyard with tables and bench seats. We sat ourselves down and looked up – skyscrapers towered over us, visible through the lights which dropped from the roof with a dull yellow glow. There was some rap music playing, and I actually felt like I was in New York City. My bircher muesli took a while to arrive (something about them making it on the spot instead of soaking overnight) but that was fine by me as I sipped my coffee(s) and sat back to take it all in.

To liken to not to liken?

There were at least three instances where I likened Auckland to somewhere else, which I had not expected to do.

I wonder if I’ll feel the need to liken my next holiday to Auckland, or to America as well? After reflecting on this post, I think I’ll just take it as it comes.