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The Croft Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Melbourne: gettin’ my drink on at Croft Institute

I’m with my friend, Belinda, on Little Bourke Street in the Chinatown area in Melbourne, Australia.

We make a turn off the street, and as I’m being led down a poorly-lit grungy alley with the sight of waste containers to the side, pools of stagnant water on the pavement, and the faint yet distinct smells of rotting food, I can’t help but wonder into what I’ve got myself now.

“Don’t worry,” she said.

“Famous last words,” I groused, only half-kidding.

At the end is a sign, indicating that there’s something here: a place to have a drink, or to come face-to-face with an ugly demise.

There are flasks, beakers, and tubing; old chemistry lab benches like high-school of old. And that’s where we’re going to prop ourselves after we fetch our drinks!

While the Croft Institute might appear like a Dr. Evil science-lab gone mad, in truth the only dangerous thing here are the beautifully delicious drinks.

Located at the end of Croft Alley just off Little Bourke Street in Melbourne’s Chinatown, The Croft Institute closed for good during the 2020-2022 Covid19 pandemic.

Disclosure: No Connection, Unpaid, My Own Opinions. I have not received any compensation for writing this content and I have no material connection to The Croft Institute. Thanks to BR who kindly led me to some of her favourite bars in Melbourne’s CBD. I made the photos on 27 August 2012. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as http://wp.me/p1BIdT-2Vf.

New Zealand: inside Fiordland’s Milford Sound

A trip to New Zealand’s South Island is incomplete without a visit to the Fiordland National Park. A stop at one or both of Milford Sound or Doubtful Sound is also highly recommended, as they are some of the most popular destinations in New Zealand and on the South Island. From Queenstown, I sided with Real Journeys for a daytrip out to Milford Sound: morning coach on the only road access, Milford Sound Highway (State Highway 94), from Queenstown to Milford Sound; a boat into the fiord; and the return to Queenstown by plane. The Maori Ngai Tahu name for the body of water is Piopiotahi (“one piopio bird”). The piopio resembles a thrush but is considered extinct with the last sighting in 1905.

Much of the scenery reminds me of my home province: coastal British Columbia. Carved by glacial activity, Fjords (also spelled “fiords”) are long narrow inlets with steep sides or cliffs. My time in southwest New Zealand reminds me of home along the southwest coast of British Columbia.

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Adelaide: street art in the CBD

The following shows some of the street art present in and around the Central Business District in Adelaide, South Australia state’s capital city. I’m very grateful to have spent some time in South Australia as a part of my year-long RTW (around the world).

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Baldwin Street, Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand

Dunedin: Baldwin Street, (2nd) steepest in the world

July 2019: The record for the world’s steepest road now belongs to Harlech, Wales (CBC News).

In Dunedin, New Zealand, make your way from the city centre, around the University of Otago to North Road, and onwards to Baldwin Street, where The Guinness Book of Records declared the latter street as “the steepest (street) in the world” in 1997. With this claim to fame, the street is touted as a place to visit in Dunedin. Anybody who’s spent time in San Francisco should take the challenge and find out whether the ascent grade on Baldwin Street approaches or exceeds their experience in the American city by the Bay.

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