Daily market, Chau Doc
Vietnam
April 2018
We ate so many delicious things in our 24 hours in Chau Doc. Deep fried rounds of sweet dough. Rice and banana wrapped in banana leaf and roasted over coals. A whole pineapple cut into a sculptural shape. A somewhat scary bowl of noodles that had large chunks of congealed blood floating in (which we avoided picking up with our chopsticks). A spicy bahn mi sandwich on crusty baguette.
An Binh, Vietnam
April 2018
We arrived on the island of An Binh in the late afternoon. We were met by our hosts who gestured for us to jump on the back of their two motorcycles for the quick ride to their homestay. (Sure, why not, let's hope I don't fall off with my 15 kg backpack strapped to me). We traveled quickly (but safely) along narrow paved paths surrounded by palm trees and fenced houses. Our homestay was a big open plan structure made from dark timber, strewn with hammocks and surrounded by plants, flowers and a pond (from which we ate a delicious elephant ear fish for dinner). In the yard, our hosts' ancestors were buried with small but elegant tombstones.
We borrowed bikes and rode around the island, stopping to watch a soccer game in a dirt field, and later to photograph the beautiful slanting golden light at dusk, when everyone burns their rubbish in their yards. The next morning we woke up early, met our guide and walked quickly to a longtail boat which our guide deftly directed through narrow canals and out into the Mekong Delta proper. The light was weak but still hot, and we watched the river coming to life. Soon it was scorching. We ate baguettes with cheese and bananas as we very slowly moved across the Mekong, stopping and changing directions now and again to visit a bonsai garden and a candy maker. Mostly we just slowly cruised and let our thoughts drift as we watched the river: big boats transporting huge mountains of rice, young kids playing naked in the water at the shore, a man washing his boat in shorts.
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
April 2018
Ho Chi Minh City was the first stop on our 12 week trip through South-east Asia and China. It was extremely hot (high 30s in the day, low 30s in the night), loud, thrilling, full of motorcycles, cheap strong iced coffee, home to some of the most consistently delicious street food I have eaten anywhere.
Gundagai, New South Wales
February 2018
I split the 12 hour drive from Hill End to Melbourne into two days, and stopped pretty much halfway home in the outback town of Gundagai. I arrived at dusk, set up my tent by the river, and walked into town for an eggplant parma and a gin and tonic. After a month of cooking all my own meals, it was rather wonderful.
Koorawatha Hotel, New South Wales
February 2018
Shot on expired film, hence the grain.
Agricultural Show, Sofala
New South Wales, Australia
February 2018
On my last day at the Hill End Artist Residency I drove half an hour to Sofala to visit their annual agricultural show. I won a chocolate hazelnut cake, a rhubarb chutney and a jar of honey for $10 in the cake auction. The shaky handwriting on the labels just about broke my heart.