If you’ve long thought of The Rocks as a gimmicky tourist trap, join us for a rediscovery. Like so many of Sydney’s villages, this one is continually reinventing itself. The cobbled lanes and sandstone buildings mightn’t have changed since Sydney Town days, but, within them, there are ever-evolving adventures to be had. Keep reading on Concrete Playground.
Traditionally, Albury hasn’t made many a traveller’s bucket list. Drivers tend to whizz past on their way to quainter spots, like the gold rush town of Beechworth or the alpine village of Bright. But, over the past couple of years, this 45,000-person city on the northern banks of the Murray River has transformed itself into a destination. Keep reading on Concrete Playground.
For many a traveller, Singapore means three things: shopping centres, strict rules and stopovers. But, break out of the predictable itinerary, and you’ll discover a more exotic side to this five million-strong island state. Beyond the CBD, tree-lined streets lead to diverse neighbourhoods, and each home to a distinctive culture. Keep reading on Concrete Playground.
If there’s one place in New South Wales — well, besides Sydney — that’s embraced the state’s newly liberated small bar culture, it’s Wollongong. Like that of the harbour city, The Gong’s night life used to be all about rowdy pubs and dance clubs. Now, we’re not saying there’s anything wrong with that. Keep reading on Concrete Playground.
Island hopping is the done thing in Thailand, Fiji and, of course, The Whitsundays. In Sydney, however, its potential passes us by. Sure, we might pop over to Cockatoo Island for the odd spot of glamping, especially when the Biennale rolls around, or crowd onto Clark Island for New Year’s Eve. But catch a ferry or paddle a kayak to one of our isles during the workday week, and you may well find yourself as lonesome as Robinson Crusoe. Keep reading on Concrete Playground.
It might be France’s fourth biggest city, but Toulouse isn’t yet a firm fixture on the tourist trail. Unless you’re an aviation fanatic, that is — all Airbus A380s are born here, so Biggles fans drop by to tour what’s surely one of the world’s biggest assembly lines. But what’s less known about Toulouse is that it’s a mecca for creatives. Keep reading on Concrete Playground.
Beneath its glory and grandeur, Paris offers adventures a-plenty at ground level. For every 16th-century art gallery crowded with tourist snappers, there’s a neglected street art masterpiece on a corner somewhere; for every ritzy hotel foregrounded with limousines, there’s a quirky hideaway concealed behind a secret door; for every Michelin-starred restaurant, there’s a laneway shopfront peddling regional produce. Keep reading on Concrete Playground.
Jasmine Crittenden. Journalist & Copywriter. Travel. Food & Drink. Arts & Culture. 