Living anywhere will mean that you have adventures in and around where you are living. In Paris, these seemed all very glamorous; however it is clear that in and around Melbourne is equally glamorous, albeit in a different way. I have often had people ask me for things to do close to the city, and here a a few things that we have done in the region of Melbourne.
Read MoreThe Easter long weekend always offers a great chance to get out of the city and provides a chunk of time into which one can get some adventure. Having not that long ago returned from Europe and not visited my favourite park of the state, it was a good opportunity to go hiking in the Victorian Alps. Given Mia had done done much hiking in the area, it was a good chance to do an abridged highlights walk: a loop which connected The Bluff, Mount Howitt and the Howqua River track. The walk was always going to present some challenges, namely water scarcity and four-wheel drivers, but the self-inflicted wound was going to be Mia and I having brand new boots, and this was to be their first outing and there could be hell to pay.
Read MoreIn what would become a bit a trend in 2015, I signed up to all of the spam mailing lists for low-cost airline carriers in Australia in hopes of finding some good bargains. With fairly flexible working arrangements, it is often possible to take leave with short notice. Moreover, sometimes the travel deities throw you a bone; in this case Jetstar proposed travel to Hobart for $39 during a time Mia was in Hobart for a conference. This meant that I could just pop over Bass Strait, pick up a car and get out and do some hiking!
Read MoreIt was our first summer back in Australia, and with our first lot of holidays, we went to one of our favourite areas: the Great Otway National Park and the south-western coast of Victoria. As it was the Christmas holidays, the area was utterly packed with people, so finding a spot to camp was miserable. We ended up making a base at Beauchamp falls, allowing us to explore the Otways without too much driving. The forest, wildlife and landscape make the area something memorable. We moved onto the Port Campbell National Park which is always spectacular before hiding away in the Cobboboonee National Park for new year's eve. We thought we would be isolated from the festivities, but it was not to be, with a group of campers taking the opportunity to party on. From here we made some day trips to Cape Bridgewater, Mount Richmond National Park and the Lower Glenelg National Park; however our trip was cut short when the weather turned extreme and the fire danger skyrocketed. This meant missing out on the Grampians, but with fires all around, it is not the best place to be!
Read MoreI was fresh off the plane from Europe and once again found myself in Melbourne. When I had moved to Paris, I had endured the winter in Melbourne and arrived just as the autumn in Paris was getting going. The flip side of this is when I left, I had enjoyed the European summer - although it was unreasonably cold during my time in Germany - and the Australian summer was really starting to get going. A fixture of the Australian physics world is the Australian Institute of Physics (AIP) congress, which was to be help in Canberra. There was a large contingent of students and postdocs heading up, so rather than flying, it was more economical (and fun) to hire a van and drive up; it would also allow us to do some adventuring.
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