Going Places

Ask anyone who knows me and they’ll likely agree that I’m a bit of a legend when it comes to taking vacation days. I like going on holiday basically. Regardless of my what my vacation balance may be…

I do love a holiday.

My earliest memories of holidaying were our family trips to Rottnest Island or "Rotto", off the coast of my home town of Perth in Western Australia, during the school holidays. Memories of hot summers, riding push bikes up and down hilly roads, racing all around the island, salty backs dried itchy under our rashies, fishing for herring off the big jetty, mornings spent out on the boat to pull our pots and hoping, hoping for one or two or three spiky red crays to be flapping their tails in the pot when it was heaved up over the side of the boat - lunch right there. Early years when our parents would camp at the Quokka Arms (aka the Rotto Pub) and we’d beg them for a fire engine (red creaming soda, of course) and a packet of chips while they sipped on their cold beers and shandies. Simple pleasures. Snorkelling at the Basin, feasting on jam donuts, grazed knees, Bad Boy caps and the General Store lolly section.

The early days of doing skiddies and begging for burger rings at Rotto have now been replaced by chasing pints and pies in London, racing around Tuscany in pursuit of the best ravioli and Chianti, or simply indulging in the finest martinis (yes a little dirty) in downtown Manhattan. Stay tuned for some writing on going places.