Christmas in Northern Europe 2023 – Part Three: Munich

To get from Lapland to Munich we had to fly back to Helsinki and then after a four hour layover catch a connecting flight. It was -28c in the morning when we left the hotel to catch the bus to the airport. Amazingly it was so cold that we didn’t need to deice the plane before departure – as any liquid in the air would have already been frozen. On all our flights with Finnair we found their service to be excellent, we also very much enjoyed the taste of the Northern Blush cocktail.

In Helsinki we were allowed to leave the airport, so we caught a train back into the city centre, went for a quick walk in the -15c midday sun. Initially this felt “warm” compared to our previous few days, but after a while our faces were again frozen. We returned to the airport, departed for Munich and by the time we arrived at our friend’s house it was 9.30pm.

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Christmas in Northern Europe 2023 – Part Two: Lapland

I didn’t know much about Lapland or what to expect when I landed at Rovaniemi airport. I knew we had to get a bus into the city, I also knew from Google maps that the city was small, but I didn’t know how easy it would be to get around or even how well I would survive doing activities in the cold weather.

Fortunately, my worries were overblown. Yes it was -8c when we landed and that was the warmest day we had in the next week! Yes it was dark 22 hours of the day because we arrived less than week after the shortest day of the year but there was still easy to get around on the public buses and there was plenty we saw and did.

One thing we quickly learned in Rovaniemi is that you need to ensure you have dinner bookings made ahead of time. We didn’t and we spent a lot of time going from restaurant to restaurant until we eventually found a place which was able to accommodate us.

On our first full day in Lapland we headed to the Santa Claus Village. We arrived as it opened and fortunately the lines to visit Santa were short at that time. The visit with Santa was very quick but still very fun. After visiting Santa we went on a reindeer sleigh ride. It was cold and slow but still very enjoyable.

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Christmas in Northern Europe 2023 – Part One: Arriving in Helsinki

In December 2023 I travelled to Europe to explore parts of Finland, Germany, and Ireland.

Our trip began by departing a hot summer’s day in Sydney. In typical Sydney summer style, the hot day developed into a huge afternoon thunderstorm. Lightning, thunder and rain poured down on our plane as we pushed back from the gate. We didn’t make it very far, the plane stopped for over two hours waiting for the storm to pass.

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PHILIPPINES TRIP 2023: Manila

Between the trips to Boracay and Batangas I spent a few days in Manila.

The first was spent in the very modern area around Makati. With the exception of the Jeepney this could be any city in the world.

A second day was spent exploring the history of Manila by visiting the Rizal monument, Intramuros and Fort Santiago.

The third and final day was spent in Chinatown

During all three days plenty of local food was enjoyed.

Before an overnight flight back to Sydney landing just before dawn.

Sydney to Gold Coast Road Trip

At the start of January, I did a four day road trip from Sydney to the Gold Coast.

We drove up the Pacific Highway over two days (staying overnight at Grafton), spent a day in the Gold Coast, and then drove back to Sydney via the New England Highway in one very long day.

Photos: Singapore 2022

My first trip out of Australia into a post-Covid world was in April 2022 when I went to Singapore for a few days.

As this was still a time when world-wide travel was still recovering, the usually busy city was remarkably quiet.

One of the things I enjoy the most about Singapore is the mixture of culture, especially the expression of this in the architecture of the city.


And the diverse food – German style burgers, Filipino fast-food, and high-end Japanese.

I also did the usual Tourist spots

And shopping, from markets to malls

While also admiring the way blank walls, and carparks are turned into art.

And finally, how the train takes a subtile dig at loud Aussies

Sydney to Melbourne Road Trip

During the 2021 Christmas Break, I headed on a road trip from Sydney to Melbourne.

To get to Melbourne we followed the Princes Highway along the coast of NSW and Victoria.

To get back to Sydney we drove up the inland Hume Highway.

Along the way we visited many small towns and enjoyed our first trip out of NSW in two years.