TANKS Travel Tales - a travelogue.......

Australia, Western Australia, New Norcia The original article was first published in this blog in December 2018.  This was an unplanned side trip that ended up as a personal bucket list item for me. While visiting Western Australia, I had planned for a trip to Rottnest Island. However, inclement weather on the day of my planned visit to Rottnest Island meant that I had to cancel my travel plans leaving me with a full day of free time in my itinerary. Someone suggested I should visit New Norcia. Until then, I had never heard of this town before. And since I had a rented vehicle for the duration of my stay in Western Australia, I decided that a drive to this monastery town was a good idea. Instead, it turned out to be a great idea. Besides enjoying the relatively long two and half hour drive (one way ) from Perth to New Norcia, I got to experience an actual monastery town for the first time in my travels. This trip is proof that bucket list items don't have to be planned years ahead.

    "Connections in our travels, Make for lasting memories and friendship." -  Timothy Tan, author of this blog Sunset, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia (2018)

Many of my most memorable travel experiences were not borne out of planned itineraries or recommendations from travel guides. Instead, these experiences were from unplanned side trips. An example of this was when inclement weather forced me to cancel a planned trip to Rottnest Island.  After speaking to some locals at Sorento Quay, I decided to drive slightly more than 120km from Perth to New Norcia. On arrival, I was enchanted by the old monastery town. Prior to arriving at New Norcia, I had no idea this place even existed. But there I was, at New Norcia, totally unplanned but yet enjoying the experience no less. Souvenirs  that I bought at the gift shop stayed with me, several years after that visit. These included a rosary which I had placed at the dashboard of my car and some beautiful postcards which I still kept. Mementos from a memorable side trip. And of course, there were lots of digital memories from the photographs of this enchanting and serene monastery town, taken with my

To resume travel..... or stay put for now? As authorities in many countries started to peel back on travel restrictions, many who have had enough of being unable to travel have cheered these decisions and started travelling or planning to travel again. I am not referring to those who generally have justified needs to travel; whether this is for business, work, or to visit immediate family members, relatives and friends due to one reason or another. What I am talking about are those who resume travel for leisure's sake. The justifications put forth by these leisure travellers are that they need a break. So what kind of "break" do they really need? I am not sure. But to throw caution to the winds and embark on leisure travel at this moment in time just to sight-see may not be exactly a good idea. Apart from having to "jostle" with those who really need to travel for limited air tickets (many airlines are still not back to full operational capacity vis-a-vis pre-pa

Australia, Western Australia, Great Northern Highway I lived in a city state that measures approximately 50km from east to west and 17km from north to south. There are thus no country roads to speak of where I could drive and  drive to enjoy the pleasures of solitude. The longest drive that is geographically near to my city is the neighbouring country of Malaysia where the North-South Highway stretches from the southern state of Johor to the northern state of Kedah, a distance of about 772km. I often embarked on long drives along this route to travel from Singapore to Ipoh (capital city of the Malaysian state of Perak). The distance each way is about 550km (as measured by my car's distance tracker). But the North-South Highway is a relatively busy stretch of road and while the route passed by large swathes of palm tree plantations, this is definitely no country road by my personal definition. The opportunity for me to drive on a lonely country road finally arrived when I visited We

Everybody can probably agree that travelling provide us with the opportunities to see and experience new things. One of these new experiences is street art. I am sure we have all seen street art before, both at home and abroad. But just when I thought I had seen most forms of street art that the mind can imagine, I was in for a pleasant surprise. When I visited Fremantle in June 2018, the street art that I saw was a whole new level. Basically, the whole street was one gigantic artwork!  And the artwork became more gorgeous as the elevation that I viewed it from increased. I climbed a flight of stairs to a vantage point, just to take in the whole perspective that this piece of artwork was meant to be. And I was not disappointed. Street Art, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia (2018)

On a friend's recommendation, I decided to visit the Sorrento Quay Boardwalk for dinner as one of my itinerary items while visiting Perth. Arriving on a rainy June afternoon, I drove into the huge car park at Sorento Quay. Along the way, I noticed a number of leisure fishermen trying to get bites on their lines along the many breakwaters that lined the coast. The many small boats and yachts berthed  at the harbour,  Hillarys Boat Harbour,  Perth, Western Australia, Australia (2018) Located at Hillarys Boat Harbour, there are many shopping and dining outlets at Sorrento Quay. As I was early for dinner, I had a perfect excuse to shop at the many retail shops. My memorable purchases here include a very beautiful lava crystal candle holder.  Entrance to Sorrento Quay,  Hillarys Boat Harbour,  Perth, Western Australia, Australia (2018) Venturing in the light rain out into the boardwalk area, I discovered that one can purchase tickets and board a ferry from here

On a rain-soaked morning, I arrived at the monastery town of New Norcia after slightly more than  3 hours of driving from Perth's city centre. Along the way, I had stopped briefly for breakfast near Joondalup before continuing on my road trip. Besides the many historical heritage of this small town, I came across a small olive orchard with trees neatly pruned and meticulously maintained along a straight line. This was actually the first time I had seen an olive tree in person, much less an orchard of them! Walking along the orchard alone and soaking in the peaceful and tranquil environment, I of course took lots of photographs to record my trip. Here I was, getting all excited over olive trees! But of course, the simple things in life can be awesome too. This is something that I have learnt and re-learnt many times during my travels.  Olive trees in a row, New Norcia, Western Australia, Australia (2018) Olives on the branches of the tree, New Norcia, Western Au

Keeping a Travel Journal....... Travel journals can be a very useful item during one's travels. Not only does a journal allows one to jot down experiences encountered during a trip which may otherwise just become another fading memory, it also allows one to keep notes of the destinations, the next destinations and so on. In this day and age, a journal does not has to be a hardcopy notebook. A simple digital notepad or a simple travel app can serve as a travel journal. Personally, I prefer a hardcopy notebook although I had use a combination of both physical notebooks and digital notepads as my travel journals. Taking notes about the places just visited, short write-ups of experiences encountered and sketches of what one saw and experienced are just some of the many stuff that can go into a travel journal. Weeks, months or even years later, looking through the old travel journal is almost certain to bring back great memories of a past trip that has long been consigned t

Travelling at your own pace....... Apart from business trips where are usually characterised by fixed timelines for flights and strict agendas to adhere to, I always love to take it slow and easy at my own pace whenever I travel on personal vacations. For this reason, I typically prefer not to travel with a large group on vacation. A smaller travelling party allows me to adjust the pace of the trip and to modify the itineraries as and when needed. Solo travelling of course means I have only to seek agreement with myself for any changes in travel plans. My vacation trips are usually loosely based on a simple itinerary which only outlines the flights I am taking and the cities I will be visiting. Apart from these, the daily itineraries for the whole travel period are not decided upfront. I usually decide where to go and the sights to explore on the day itself. This flexibility is especially useful when unexpected travel road blocks crop up such as inclement weather. When I w

After having my intended visit to Rottnest Island disrupted due to inclement weather, I suddenly found that I had an extra day on my itinerary during my visit to West Australia. As the weather was not very friendly on that said day which led to the cancellation of ferry services to Rottnest, it also meant that I had to find some place where I could still enjoy the day and yet be shielded from the elements. A quick check on the map from my location at Sorrento Quay revealed that there is a large shopping complex just north of where I was. I decided to hop into my rented vehicle and drove to this shopping complex located in Joondalup. Outdoor view of Lakeside Joondalup where I spent a whole day shopping, eating and relaxing during my trip, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia (2018) Upon reaching Lakeside Joondalup, I had no trouble finding parking for the vehicle even though this was my first time there. I then proceeded to go on a shopping spree which resulted in me b

The setting sun in the back drop of the sea that extends into the horizon typically evokes a sense of vastness to me. It makes me realise how small I am in the vast expanse of the sea and the world. Since young, I had often stood on a beach or a jetty and stared right out into the horizon as the sun set, contemplating what life was, is and will be like out there. This photograph was taken at Cottesloe Beach in the western suburb of Perth as the sun sets over the sea. The ship in the distance provided perspective to the overall picture. Setting sun over the sea, Cottesloe Beach, Perth, West Australia, Australia (2018)

Having mobile phones with good cameras provide us with the opportunity to take interesting photographs whether we are at home, at work or traveling. The convenience that comes with taking photographs with our mobile phones means we are unlikely to miss out on those good photo opportunities wherever we are. While strolling along the beach on a nice afternoon at Fremantle, I came across this group of children playing and enjoying themselves during a day out in the sun. With my mobile phone, I zoomed in and took this photograph. The innocence of childhood captured in the photo brought back memories of my own childhood and set me on an introspective mood. Children playing at the beach, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia (2018)

2018 Travel Review....... In 2018, I did not travel as much as I wanted due to work commitments. Compared to the preceding year of 2017, I traveled a lot less. Nevertheless, I still managed to clock some amazing personal trips and got to visit many places for the first time. These included the cities of Moriyama, Omnihachiman and Takashima in Japan's Shiga Prefecture and also Perth and its surrounding areas in Western Australia. I also got to visit Indonesia's beautiful island of Bali for the first time in 2 years as well as my favourite and usual destination cities of Hong Kong and Taipei. And all these trips within a year in which I was supposedly "grounded" in my home city because of work!  Fireworks over the harbour to celebrate Western Australia Day on the night of 3 June 2018, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia (2018) My travel in Shiga in April 2018 was amongst one of the best trips I had ever taken. The itinerary was intentionally p

Located in the state of Western Australia near to Perth, New Norcia is a monastery town of the Benedictine Order. St Gertrude's, New Norcia, Western Australia, Australia (2018) Central Administration Building, New Norcia, Western Australia, Australia (2018) History and Geography The town of New Norcia is 132km north-east of the Western Australian state capital of Perth and is part of the Avon Valley region. Established in the year 1847, New Norcia is named after the Italian town of Norcia, birthplace of St Benedict. The former boarding schools of St Ildephonsus and St Gertrude have been converted into accommodations in today's New Norcia. St Gertude's College was opened in 1908 while St Ildephonsus' College was established in 1913. Other significant buildings in the town include the Abbey Church, an old and a new Flour Mill, Bishop Torres Beehouse and the Monastery. Entrance to St Gertrude's, New Norcia, Western Australia, Australia (2