LOCAL TOURISM

It's a pretty common experience for many of us - but playing tourist closer to home is something a lot of people don't always get around to doing. For people who like travelling, the allure of the unfamiliar is often far more tempting than poking around the corners of our own back yard.

INDEPENDENCE

A couple of weeks ago, the Northern Territory has its annual Territory Day celebrations. Much like the similarly timed Independence Day in the USA, the Northern Territory has developed its own tradition of celebrating self governance through the detonation of fireworks (somehow the standard total fire ban that's in place around this time always gets waived). Personally, I've always found it kinda strange how DIY explosive devices have become synonymous with declarations of geo-political autonomy.

OF WINE AND SUNSETS

I'm the first to admit that while Darwin beaches are quite lovely from an aesthetic point of view, they're a bit of a let down in the recreational sense. It's not that it's completely impossible - I've certainly indulged in the odd dry season paddle - it's just restricted in seasons (from October to May we have some rather nasty poisonous box jellyfish lurking in our seas) and generally considered to be a calculated risk with all those crocodiles swimming about looking for some human hors d'oeuvres.

DECKED OUT

If you had to ask me to list the top 5 best things about Darwin they would have to be (in no particular order); the sunsets, the bird life, the weekend markets, the foreshore bike path and the Deckchair cinema (oh, and the evening smell of flowering milkwood - which makes 6...but hey, who's counting?..anyway I can't blog about a smell so, whatever). As the dry season is back again (and I'm still here. How am I still here? I was meant to be not here by now but the interstate job offers are doing a remarkable impression of chirping crickets).

THE PINOT GRIS FILES - NORTH ISLAND

And now onto the bit of Aotearoa that I know a lot better. I decided to visit one of the spots I've neglected in my last couple of visits - the geologically hyperactive region around Rotorua (known mostly to my childhood self as 'that town that smells like rotten eggs').

THE PINOT GRIS FILES - SOUTH ISLAND

For the third time in a year I found myself stepping onto New Zealand soil, though via a different port of entry for once. The flight into Queenstown airport is said to be one of the prettiest landings you'll experience and although my early autumn arrival meant the Southern Alps were lacking most of their snowy caps, I'd have to agree that it beats most urban sprawl introductions to a new land.