Unreliable Guide

I miss this place.

The Unreliable Guide To... Virtual Travel

Words Nat Shepherd Photo Blake Reynolds

The Unreliable Guide loves to travel, so the restrictions caused by the pandemic have been depressing. I know we shouldn’t complain; at the time of writing, poor Melburnians can’t even leave the house, while we are still free to roam the length and breadth of New South Wales, one of the most amazing places on earth. This is a beautiful country, but sometimes we just want to be elsewhere, smelling foreign scents, eating strange foods, hearing exotic languages, experiencing new cultures...

Travel might not be possible for some time, but fear not, The Unreliable Guide has decided that vacations are just a state of mind. Here are some tips and tricks to recreate that feeling of holiday happiness.

Visit window-swap.com

Sonali Ranjit and Vaishnav Balasubramaniam describe the platform they’ve co-created as “a way to travel without moving” during isolation. It’s a bold idea and its gone viral. You can enjoy video views, with or without natural background sounds and often fascinatingly framed by the owner’s personal bits and pieces, from windows all over the world. Move from Henrique’s view of rooftops in São Paulo, Brazil, to Isabel’s serene view of green fields in Lütetsberg in Germany, to Twisha’s monsoon soaked garden in Delhi - there are thousands of views to enjoy. Plus, you can share your own view: just upload a 10-minute HD video of your window and frame and join the fun.

Read travel writing

When you can’t travel yourself, armchair travel is the next best thing - maybe even better, as you’re unlikely to get a dose of Bali belly or get robbed. You want to visit India? Check out William Dalrymple’s award winning City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi. Feel like paddling around the Pacific Islands? Hop on board Paul Theroux’s kayak in The Happy Islands of Oceania. Feeling really adventurous and want to know what travel was like before mobile phones and the internet? Try Eight Feet in the Andes by Dervla Murphy - all she had with her was a notebook, her nine-year-old daughter and a grumpy donkey.

Watch a travel show

There are so many travel shows, you won’t have time to watch them all. Try No Reservations, featuring the anarchic and much missed Anthony Bourdain who relished in giving so many places a whole new spin. Prefer a weekender? Watch Travel man: 48 Hours in… and the deadpan Richard Ayoade will take you on whirlwind trips through a variety of cities. For those of you who travel to eat, Street Food on Netflix gives a real flavour of life in cities like Yogyakarta or Buenos Aires. If you just want to mooch about, check out YouTube channels like Prowalk Tours and virtually walk around everywhere from the Colosseum to Cairo.

Revisit your past adventures

If, like The Unreliable Guide, you used to travel a lot, you probably have heaps of photographs and souvenirs. Missing Bali? Put on that sarong you bought on the beach, set up the laptop with a slide show of your old photos, play Balinese music, light incense, cook nasi goreng and drink a Bintang. I guarantee that you’ll get a little bit of that holiday happiness back into your heart.

Remember, this is not forever. We will get back out there again one day and we’ll appreciate the privilege of travel all the more. Bon voyage!

Randwick News

One of the key messages Council has wanted to impart to the Randwick City community the past few months, is to Spread Kindness Not Germs. The coronavirus has taken a toll on many people in numerous ways, and it is during these times that a little bit of thoughtfulness and compassion can go a long way. I’ve heard so many stories of people lending a helping hand or spreading some positivity, not just recently but as a way of life. I’m sure there are many more stories to be told, so I encourage you to nominate someone you know for our annual Community Service Awards. Head to our website, download the form and let us know about an individual, group or young person (aged 16 to 24 years old) who has put their community first. Nominations close Sunday 1 November 2020. Awards will be handed out on Australia Day 2021. Also happening in 2021 will be the roll out of our new food and garden waste collection service, called FOGO. Residents will receive a new kitchen caddy and green-lid bin in the new year, which will allow you to collect all your food scraps – fruit, vegetable, bones, dairy, leftovers, takeaway food and more – and put it all into the same green-lid bin, which used to only accept garden waste. We will collect this bin weekly and it will be taken to a processing plant that will turn it into compost for use on farms or in public spaces, like our parks and sportfields. Diverting food from landfill also reduces the amount of greenhouse gas emissions. It’s a small change that will make a big difference for our environment.

Councillor Danny Said

Mayor of Randwick

1300 722 542 randwick.nsw.gov.au

What’s On

EVERY FRIDAY PERMABEE COMMUNITY GARDENING PROGRAM

9am – 12.30pm Randwick Community Centre Bookings essential

5 NOVEMBER MAROUBRA DUNES BUSHCARE

9am – 1pm, Meet at the car park near Maroubra Surf Life Saving Club

11 NOVEMBER AUTHOR TALK: AN EVENING WITH SOPHIE LAGUNA

6.30 – 7.30pm Online Zoom event

13 NOVEMBER SHELL WORKSHOP WITH AUNTY MAXINE RYAN

1.30 – 3.30pm La Perouse Museum

19 NOVEMBER THE THIRD THURSDAY BOOK CLUB

1 – 2pm, Online Zoom event

UNTIL 22 JANUARY 2021 THROUGH MY EYES EXHIBITION

Lionel Bowen Library