Category: Travel

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2010s Travel Writing

New Zealand North Island – Tren’s Travel Diary

Trenna facing off with a large sculpture of a man
"Is that right?" In a gallery in Auckland. 22 November 2016.

By us both

Introduction

Trenna and I liked to record information about our holidays. Below is the travel diary Trenna kept on her iPad of a trip to the North Island of New Zealand from 11 November 2016 to 22 November 2016. The only time we went there, and our last overseas trip together.

It was a trip that turned out like nothing we were expecting, due to an untimely and devastating earthquake. I have written a brief account of … Read the rest ... “New Zealand North Island – Tren’s Travel Diary”

Categories
2010s Featured Snippets and Vignettes Travel

We’ll Always Have Prague – and the China Lady on the Wall

a colourful ceramic woman on the wall
The Lady From Prague on the Ballroom wall in Kensington.

Special Note: I had this Post finished and ready to publish on 21 December 2023. And then the tragic news of a mass shooting in Prague came through. I have therefore held back the story for a couple of weeks out of respect for the people who lost their life.


23 May – 4 June 2012

PRAGUE

Wed, 30 May 2012 17:35:16 +0200

Hi Nance and Barb,

Hope all goes well with u both.

We have been in Prague … Read the rest ... “We’ll Always Have Prague – and the China Lady on the Wall”

Categories
2010s Snippets and Vignettes Travel Writing

A Few Days in Bridgetown – 2015

Reflections of trees on a Lake
"Reflections on The Lake". The view from the back porch of the place we rented in Bridgetown. 10 September 2015.

Intro by Greg, the rest by Tren

Introduction

Below are Trenna’s notes of a 4 day break we had in 2015. We had booked a house just outside the small but delightful town of Bridgetown, in the South West corner of Western Australia. It is about a 3 hour drive from our place. Oh, and Bridgetown can be cold!

I’ll tell you up front that the story is not a remarkable one. It reminds me of a Japanese movie or … Read the rest ... “A Few Days in Bridgetown – 2015”

Categories
1990s 2010s Snippets and Vignettes Travel

Kangaroos Having Fun

A mob of kangaroos standing around
There are a lot of kangaroos in this story. 1 June 2014.

by Greg

Introduction (I’m back, a psychological insight, and spiders holding back Australian tourism!)

Regular readers will know that I have recently returned from a holiday. I went to the UK, with a side trip to Budapest. The whole trip was great.

Whilst away I checked and approved comments submitted to the website, but didn’t write any new posts. That worked fine, my spirits were high and I was busy every day. I also kept a bit of a journal … Read the rest ... “Kangaroos Having Fun”

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1980s The USA Travel Diaries Travel Writing

The USA Trip Diary – Part 9

a wooden floor outdoor courtyard, or pier with buildings all around.
"Lunch upstairs on the Pier", San Francisco. 2 April 1982

Diary Entries From 2 April to 6 April 1982 – The End of The Trip

The USA Travel Diary series starts HERE.

Friday 2nd April

Place: San Francisco

Weather: cloudy and sprinkling

Got up at 6 am can you believe that! Caught the bus to San Francisco downtown. We had to get to Fisherman’s Wharf which became quite involved. It took us three buses to finally get to Pier 39. 

We bought our tickets for Alcatraz Island. It was … Read the rest ... “The USA Trip Diary – Part 9”

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1980s The USA Travel Diaries Travel Writing

The USA Trip Diary – Part 8

a streetscape in an urban China Town
"Lunch SF China Town." 30 March 1982.

Diary Entries From 12 March to 1 April 1982

The USA Travel Diary series starts HERE.

Friday 12th March

Got packed for Las Vegas. We went to The Suburban Mr and Mrs Wijnhamer, Jim, Tony, Toni and me. It took us about five hours to get there. When we arrived we couldn’t believe our eyes, the entire place was a mass of beautiful lights it looked like one big gigantic carnival.

We booked into our motel at about 11 … Read the rest ... “The USA Trip Diary – Part 8”

Categories
1980s The USA Travel Diaries Travel Writing

The USA Trip Diary – Part 7

Trenna with cowboy boots on sitting n the bumper of a car from the TV show "Dallas".
"Ewing 1, Me blonde & Texan boots." 18 February 1982. Trenna in full Dallas mode.

Diary Entries From 17 February to 10 March 1982

The USA Travel Diary series starts HERE.

Wednesday 17th of February

Caught a cab into downtown Dallas. We saw the Ewing Boulevard but not any Cowboys. Dallas is definitely not as glamorous as it is made out to be on telly.

Date: 18/2/82–21 –/2/82

Place: Dallas – Los Angeles

Weather: 70° F – 86° F and humid

Thursday 18th February

We took a tour to Southfork Ranch. Which was … Read the rest ... “The USA Trip Diary – Part 7”

Categories
1980s The USA Travel Diaries Travel Writing

The USA Trip Diary – Part 6

a white stately home
"Graceland"

Diary Entries From 25 December to 16 February 1982

The USA Travel Diary series starts HERE.

Date: 2/2/82

Place: Chicago

Weather: too bloody ridiculous for words

Note from Greg in 2023: For context, from what I recall from what Trenna told me the background to the Chicago visit was as follows. 
Toni had met a nice, attractive sailor, Wayne, when he was on shore leave in Perth.  They went to Chicago to catch up with him. 
However it turns … Read the rest ... “The USA Trip Diary – Part 6”

Categories
1980s The USA Travel Diaries Travel Writing

The USA Trip Diary – Part 5

Trenna with Mickey Mouse
"Disney World Me & Mickey"

Diary Entries From 25 December to 1 February 1982

The USA Travel Diary series starts HERE.

Date: 25/12/81 – 30/12/81

Place: New York

Weather: cloudy and cool

Friday 25th December, Christmas Day.

Unfortunately not a white Christmas but certainly a different Christmas from Perth. My presents included three jumpers, one pair of slippers, one bag, powder and a ticket to the Broadway show The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

My Chrissy meal was totally different, too.  A typical “ding” … Read the rest ... “The USA Trip Diary – Part 5”

Categories
1980s The USA Travel Diaries Travel Writing

The USA Trip Diary – Part 4

2 young women in front of a house having a snowball fight
"Snow fight". Trenna on the right hand side, Toni on the left outside the house they stayed in in Boston. 6 December 1981

The USA Travel Diary series starts HERE.

Diary Entries From 26 November to 14 December 1981

Date: 26/11/81–2/12/81

Place: New York and Boston

Weather: New York not bad. Boston cold.

Thursday 26th November. Thanksgiving. 

Everything is closed as it’s a public holiday. Bart drove us to Brooklyn Heights where we had a lovely view of New York at night.

Saturday 28th November 

Caught the bus to Boston. Stayed the night at the Ramada Inn.

Sunday 29th

… Read the rest ... “The USA Trip Diary – Part 4”
Categories
1980s The USA Travel Diaries Travel Writing

The USA Trip Diary – Part 3

View of New York City looking down from up high
"View from 110th floor" 29 October 1981

The USA Travel Diary series starts HERE.

The Day by Day Descriptions Start…

Diary Entries From 22 October to 15 November 1981

22 – 25 October 1981 New York

Weather:  fine and warm

We arrived in New York 22nd October. We caught a taxi from Kennedy Airport to Toni’s aunt’s place which cost us 30 bucks. Toni’s aunt is very nice. She [Toni] also has three cousins Bart 22, Antoinette 18 and James 12.

We slept two doors … Read the rest ... “The USA Trip Diary – Part 3”

Categories
1980s The USA Travel Diaries Travel Writing

The USA Trip Diary – Part 2

Two young woman in front of a waterfall.
Apr 6 '82 Laie Polynesian Cultural Centre near the end of their 6 month adventure.

The Diary Commences

By Trenna

The USA Travel Diary series starts HERE.

[GM:  Just so you know. In this series Trenna does mention spending the night with a man … a few times.  Nothing explicit is mentioned.]

[GM: at the start of the “My Trip” diary that Trenna was using it had a section for “En Route”.  These are the entries written there.]

En Route/Going There

20/10/81

Left Perth Airport at approximately 12 midnight, about six hours late. First … Read the rest ... “The USA Trip Diary – Part 2”

Categories
1980s The USA Travel Diaries Travel Writing

The USA Trip Diary – Part 1

Trenna standing in front of the Twin Towers in New York City
"Me & Twin Towers". 6 November 1981.

How it Happened

This bit by Greg. The Diary is by Trenna

Second Time Overseas

In this series of posts I will be revealing Trenna’s “Trip Diary” from October 1981 to April 1982. It was actually the first of two trips to the USA. The second was with me, 31 years later in 2013.

This 6 month trip to the USA happened well before I knew her.  It sounds like it was a fantastic adventure, and one I’m sure helped … Read the rest ... “The USA Trip Diary – Part 1”

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2010s Craig House Japan Travel Diary Travel Writing

The Japan Travel Diary – Part 5 – Seven Haiku

Wayne standing in a crowded street in Tokyo
Perhaps Wayne was trying to compose a Haiku?

… And the Original Reason For the Trip, Concluded

By Greg

I hope you have enjoyed reading the Japan Travel Diary, and the photos I added from our trip.

Once we returned to Perth Trenna set about writing an email to our friend Wayne, who had shown us around one afternoon, and with whom we had a very enjoyable evening meal in Yokohama.

Trenna loved seeing Wayne, who she had a soft spot for, and set about writing some Haiku … Read the rest ... “The Japan Travel Diary – Part 5 – Seven Haiku”

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2010s Japan Travel Diary Travel Writing

The Japan Travel Diary – Part 4

Wayne and Trenna sitting at a bar in a restaurant
Our friend Wayne with Trenna when we visited his place in Yokohama. We went to this Yakitori place and had a very enjoyable evening.

The first part in this series is HERE.

RETURN TO TOKYO

DAY 12, Tuesday 7/4/15

We arrive back in TOKYO @ 9:05pm. Walked down stairs to Marunouchi Line (M17), boarded train (M14) Kokkai-gijidomae Station, walked 435m to Capitol Hotel room # 2715 next to our previous room but interior layout in reverse! Confusing!

DAY 13, Wednesday 8/4/15

When Greg went to pay for our breakfast (as this time it was not part of the package) there was a bit … Read the rest ... “The Japan Travel Diary – Part 4”

Categories
2010s Japan Travel Diary Travel Writing

The Japan Travel Diary – Part 3

A Japanese woman in a uniform handing back a ticket
Checking our tickets as we speed towards Kyoto on the Shinkansen. 4 April 2015.

To read Part 1 of this series, click HERE.

TOKYO – KYOTO 4/4 – 7/4

DAY 9,  Saturday 4/4/15

Checked out Capitol Hotel before noon! 7 nights accommodation plus 2 hamburgers – total ¥367,223  (AUD$4,215.11)

We were able to leave our larger red bag here – FREE!

We walked, carried & pulled 435m+ from hotel exit to Kokkai-gijidomae Station (M14) to Marunoucchi M line, 3 stops to Tokyo Station (M17). Take lift 1 floor, go through ticket gate, up … Read the rest ... “The Japan Travel Diary – Part 3”

Categories
2010s Japan Travel Diary Travel Writing

The Japan Travel Diary – Part 2

Shibuya crossing taken from ground level
"Busy crosswalk, Shibuya". 31 March 2015.

To see Part 1 of this series, click HERE.

Day 4, Monday 30/3/15

Chilli Con Carne not so good for brekky.  Wayne had sent the train stops to get to Tokyo Tower. 11:17am set out and bought metro tickets. ¥170 each.

(Roppongi-itchome) train station. 

1:05 pm meal at the serve yourself and weigh it place. (Organic House deli and cafe)  ¥935

1:38 pm Starbucks tea and coffee whilst looking for Tokyo Tower ¥810

We came across a little park where … Read the rest ... “The Japan Travel Diary – Part 2”

Categories
2010s Japan Travel Diary Travel Writing

The Japan Travel Diary – Part 1

Beautiful white cherry blossoms against a blue sky and a skyscraper in the background
At that time of year there are cherry blossoms all through Tokyo. We took this shot in a business district whilst we tried to find the Tokyo Tower.

Tokyo and Kyoto in March and April 2015 – Cherry Blossom Time

Intro by Greg, Diary Mainly by Trenna, But Bits by Greg

If you want to go straight to the diary, click here.

Introduction

The Japan Travel Diary (which was done entirely on an iPad)  itself doesn’t have an Introduction.  I just wanted to set a bit of context and to let you know what to expect.

By the start of 2015 we knew that Trenna’s brother’s oldest … Read the rest ... “The Japan Travel Diary – Part 1”

Categories
1990s Darwin Travel Writing

The Darwin Letters No. 9

A big hunk of rock standing out of the water and forming the side of a gorge.
Rock formation in the Katherine Gorge. The trees on the top give a better idea of the scale of the gorges. 10 September 1995.

If you’ve missed it, this series starts here.

Tuesday 26 September 1995 

20/288 Casuarina Drive
Nightcliff 0810

G’day once again Mum and Dad, 

How are you both after your trip to Kal? We hope you enjoyed it.

Did you see some interesting sites? How did the local bus route and service compare with Darwin’s? Isn’t it around this time of the year that Kal has the racing round?

We are well, although we both feel that the cancellation of our Tassie holiday has … Read the rest ... “The Darwin Letters No. 9”

Categories
1980s 2000s Snippets and Vignettes Travel

9/11

Sexy looking Trenna leaning against a rail with a vague outline of the city behind
"Atop World Trade Centre". Trenna went to the top of the twin towers on 29 October 1981.

Trenna’s Birthday, 11 September

Trenna had no recollection of ever having a birthday party as a child.

I found that hard to take as my family always made a big deal of my birthday, even though it was just 2 day’s after my little sister’s birthday and just 3 days after Christmas.

So when I met Trenna I tried to make birthdays a bit special.

Where possible, and it almost always was possible, I would take the day off work … Read the rest ... “9/11”