Absolutely Auckland

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And here’s my best-of-Auckland: Best part/scene/place: Ponsonby. Probably the best mix between residential, restaurants and nightlife. Although much more quiet than Melbourne’s Fitzroy, it has it’s charm. Best drink (alcoholic): I didn’t experiment much. Just some local Kiwi brews. Auckland wasn’t cheap to go out, and I needed to save some money. Best restaurant: Xio Dan in Auckland. […] Read More

Hatches down for Lusi

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The weather has been great yesterday, and I enjoyed a good time in Albert Park with a bunch of shirtless students from the nearly university, and my NZ travel guide. I also managed to get some Japanese Yen, as I realized it might be wise to have at least some local currency before heading north. […] Read More

New friends (and food)

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I recently met up with Clint and his friend Nina in Grand Central in Ponsonby for an after-work beer. Ginger fusion, actually, something they had on the table and I joined in, not tasting the alcohol in it until it was too late…. Clint is a Pacific Islander through and through, coming from the biggest […] Read More

Waiheke

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When I first heard about Waiheke Island I thought they were talking about Hawaii. Many names here, taken over from Māori, have a hawaiian ring to me. I only recently found out that they are indeed all related. Funnily, all those polynesian micro-islands in the pacific have been discovered and settled way before the two main […] Read More

Getting started again

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As usually, moving to a new city is pretty busy on the first days. After the fun Pride of the weekend, I spend Sunday and Monday getting my bearings and setting up camp. I went to Vodafone again – their service in Australia was great – and it looks like the Kiwi version is just […] Read More

Best of Melbourne

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And here’s my best-of-Melbourne: Best part/scene/place: Fitzroy. No doubt. The smallest postal code area in Australia, but it has all it needs. After five weeks I had only discovered a fraction of its bars, restaurants and cafés. Best drink (alcoholic): Thursday 2$-Schooner at Sircuit. All you need. Before 9 pm. Then the price goes up! Best restaurant: The Newmarket […] Read More

Mr. & Mrs. Howell

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On my last day in Melbourne I finally made it to the restaurant where Kate works: Mr. & Mrs. Howell. Mr. & Ms Howell is located on bustling Sydney Road in Brunswick, a lively neighborhood in the north of Melbourne, not unlike Fitzroy. It got its name from two characters from the US sitcom Gilligan’s Island. […] Read More

Melbourne routines

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Back in Melbourne, I immediately felt at home as the taxi rolled through Fitzroy and on to Abbotsford, my new home in the Milkbar. It’s a great place, in a quiet side street, in walking distance to the Abbotsford vietnamese area, and a 10 minute walk from my Smith Street watering holes. My host Gerome […] Read More

Muriel (…and then some art)

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The sun is back – for a day. Still, I followed my usual routine of blogging, sorting pics and booking stuff in the morning in my corner Café, cute Forbes&Burton on the corner of, you guessed it, Forbes and Burton Streets. After that, a stroll through the parks towards the Art Gallery of New South […] Read More

Darlinghurst home

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The flight was good, then I took the train from the airport, which got me into the center pretty fast. I dragged my luggage to my new temporary home – through Sydney’s rather old, elevator-less metro, saving the cab fare. I’m pretty central, very close to Oxford Street, in a little Airbnb home, with two […] Read More

Lentil as anything

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After another day at the Fitzroy pool, my new friend Kieran, a fellow swimmer, took me to the Abbotsford Convent, on the Yarra river, just a bit west of the centre of Melbourne. During the 19th and part of the 20th century, it was one of the largest convents in Victoria. Today, it is a […] Read More