My Australian adventure of 2009 – 2011 started unbelievably 10 years ago this month. I really find it hard to fathom that it was so long ago, but it was. I toured five of the countries 8 Provinces and Territories – missing out on Western Australia, Northern Territory and South Australia only. This included spending…
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“Papa don’t preach, I’m in New Guinea, Papa don’t preach, I’m in PNG, Papa don’t preach, I’m in Port Moresby, But I made up my mind, I’m touring the city…” – Mad Donna Port Moresby is a whackpacker’s dream. This is a place straight out of my textbook days of backpacking endless countries, upon which…
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“Solomon bites the worm” – Mark Morris. In my 30s, and with hindsight, I felt like my time in Australia (I arrived in my 20s) was a little bit naïve. I spent almost 2 years in the “land down under”, mostly staying in Parramatta (my heart felt home in Australia), Devonport and Poatina (where my…
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While Yaren might feel like the real capital city of Nauru, nearby Aiwo stakes a claim for the country’s busiest “city”. Well it’s nothing more than a village of course, yet at the same time it’s a hub of activity and also the name of the Province. This is basically as busy as it gets…
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“Try to sit with me around my table; but never bring a chair” – Noel Gallagher. Have you ever backpacked through a country without even knowing it?? As idiotic as that sounds, back in 2009, I managed it!! Today I finally get round to writing about The Empire of Atlantium, which really is the country…
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“Here is a sunrise, ain’t that enough?” – Teenage Fanclub. A bar that never opens yet pretends it does, a sh*t AFL pitch and a church with broken windows. Yes these were the highlights from whackpacking through Meneng Province in Nauru. Nauru as an island and country is split into 14 provinces. Meneng is the…
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“On the rip in a country where nobody is on the rip!!!” Anyone who has ever been to the Marshall Islands will remember something so unusual and distinctive about them – the thin narrow strip with ONE road straight through the capital city, Majuro, also known as DUD, (Delap-Uliga-Djarrit). In case, I’ve confused you, from…
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“Walking round the room singing stormy weather at 57 Mount Pleasant Street” – Neil Finn. Nauru is a real enigma for your travelling mindset. It’s a country that was once known as Pleasant Island, and indeed as a child growing up in Northern Ireland, I knew it as such, as it had that moniker in…
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Nauru as an island and country is split into 14 provinces but is not as remote and isolated as you might have been told – in fact it’s the hub for some Pacific Island hopping. Anibare is the largest province in area, and as well as being the name of the province is also the…
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“Although we view the world through different eyes, we share the same ideals, of paradise” – Pet Shop Boys. Kiribati (formerly the Gilbert Islands) can be confusing. It certainly confused me, the fact that I would officially land here three times (same as Nauru!) on the one trip, yet only visit it once, i.e. leave…
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