FROM the 300-metre Eureka Sky Tower, I can see all of Melbourne spread out below me, shadowed by dark rain clouds sweeping in from the horizon. Neon-bright towers blazoned with the logos of insurance and accounting firms – Ernst & Young, Aon – dwarf those raised to the gods of earlier ages: a sturdy 1950sContinue reading “Melbourne: Alley Cats”
Author Archives: Kieran
Uzbekistan: Silk Road
I GOT into Tashkent at 4am in the morning. Had I woken up at that time, I would not have been at my best, so perhaps it was a blessing that I had not slept on a cramped economy flight via Turkey, after a 7am start in London.
Dominican Republic: All Inclusive
“Good food, good wine, good cigars – we are all about relaxing and enjoying life.”
Honduras: Treasures Island
MOST VISITORS to Roatan arrive in the cruise port of Coxen Hole, a rather unfortunate name for a fairly unprepossessing dock, dominated by chain-link fences and swarms of tour buses. Things improve the further you get from the harbour, and that’s something (with no disrespect to the quirky Afro-antillean charms of Coxen Hole) that’s trueContinue reading “Honduras: Treasures Island”
Macau: Gambling on growth
THE JET-LAG wakes me at 5am and I rise to explore Macau, the quiet, rain-soaked streets already warm from the searing tropical day to come. Coming back to my hotel at 8am still befuddled by lack of sleep, I go in the wrong door and find myself in its casino.
Sierra Leone: Lion Awakes
I WAKE in the night, clammy with sweat, itchy with insect repellent. A branch cracks suddenly, falling to the forest floor near my tent. Monkeys howl. I gulp warm water, wonder if my bladder will hold until daylight, and pull my damp sarong about me as I toss and turn. This is the sideContinue reading “Sierra Leone: Lion Awakes”
Buenos Aires: A life of style
ARRIVING in Buenos Aires, you could be forgiven for thinking you were still in Europe. Graceful parks, apartment blocks and boulevards, the bustling citizens chasing style – you might be in Paris or Milan.
Tasmania: Sympathy for the Devil
I’M face to face with a bunch of Tasmanian Devils but I am keeping my nerve. Partly because I’m just a tough hombre, of course. And partly because they look very cute frolicking over a guide in Bonorong Wildlife Centre and nuzzling gently at her fingers.
Ecuador: Capital highs
DID YOU KNOW that Panama hats actually come from Ecuador? And, as I learned on my visit to Otovalo Indian market in Ecuador’s north, the less light that shines through when you hold one up to the sun, the finer the weave and the more the price rises.
Syria: Ancient sights
AT SUNSET, the Roman columns of Palmyra – lost in the desert, a five-hour drive from Damascus – look very romantic, the golden light highlighting the sandstone from which most of it is built. The main colonnade, lined with massive columns, stretches into the distance, its roadway unpaved so as to provide better footing forContinue reading “Syria: Ancient sights”
Inherit The Earth 