New Zealand

Photos including me taken by Ian Durkin. Check out more photos of our trip and other Kiwi adventures at his blog.

Back in the USA

A belated happy birthday to America.
I just landed in San Francisco airport, en route to Boston. Will put up several catch-up posts in the next few days.

Sydney wanderings

In Surry Hills.


Outside CarriageWorks.


Inside CarriageWorks.


At Bondi Beach skatepark.

Plastic Camera

Some more shots from my plastic camera. Rewinding the film ripped it, leaving me with only 6 shots on a roll of 24, but the dodgy construction also produces some interesting results.

More from Melbourne

These are all postcards I grabbed at the National Gallery of Victoria. I don't know what this one is, but it's awesome.

John Brack

A parting shot of Ned Kelly, the infamous Australian outlaw - Sydney Nolan

41 hours in Melbourne

After the long drive down from Sydney, I hopped on a train on the outskirts of town and landed at Flinders Street Station in the heart of Melbourne. My flatmate Eliot was going to Melbourne this weekend to visit his son, so I copped a ride, and while he was with his family, I explored the city.


Leaving the station, you enter Federation Square, where Australian Federation occurred in 1901, and which now houses a large arts complex, complete with modern architecture, tourists, interactive light and sound installations, and these two matching dudes with bicycles.


Melbourne is full of small laneways stuffed with cafes. This is Degraves St, one of the more popular laneways, and home to the excellent Degraves Espresso.


The laneways are also chock full of graffiti.




And people trying to photograph it.


Section 8 is a bar just off the strip that constitutes Melbourne's China Town. Although it's no more than a vacant lot enclosed by the walls of other buildings and a chain link fence, I was enticed to enter by the dance competition that was going on between several underage patrons. Once inside I discovered Argentinian BBQ firing on the grill and surprisingly inviting shipping material for seating. I purchased an excellent chorizo sandwich, before being offered free leftovers from the closing grill.


At the Queen Victoria Markets--an otherwise unexciting selection of souvenirs--I found this dance crew from Portugal.

505

505 is a jazz venue that puts on gigs every Monday and Wednesday night. It's actually an apartment, home to jazz bassist Cameron Undy. He's been putting on shows in his home for a few years now, and the crowd has grown by word of mouth alone. 505 doesn't advertise and its address is kept secret.


Tonight I caught trumpeters Scott Tinkler and Phil Slater, with Steve Elphick on bass and Simon Barker on drums. The Darts, as they are collectively known, put on a great show, largely playing free and exploring the outer reaches of their instruments, particularly the trumpet.


Despite being an apartment, 505 easily seats the many guests in its expansive, comfortably lighted room. It's the kind of apartment people wish to find before gentrification sets in entirely, an open Warhol Factory, rough around the edges but welcoming.


Get in early to grab a chair, or just snag a cushion on the floor and bottle of wine.


The name 505 comes from the apartment number, but the street address is kept secret. The place sits above a courtyard in a well graffitied building in Surry Hills. I discovered it through a friend at work. If you're ever in Sydney, I'll let you know how to find it.