Five Days in Sydney: Things To Do, Places to Eat & Drink

Sydney has been on my travel to-do list for as long as I can remember and it was always going to feature prominently in my Australian itinerary. I had planned to spend five nights (four-and-a-half days) in the city, but Qantas had other ideas. They cancelled my flight to Auckland on Monday morning and rebooked me on a much later one. Although I wasn’t exactly unhappy to have more time in Sydney, it was unfortunate that I then lost half a day from my much briefer stay in Auckland.

Brunch and the Beach in Byron Bay

Of all the places on my Australia and New Zealand itinerary, Byron Bay was the one I was considering dropping if I felt I was being over-ambitious. It wasn't that I didn't want to visit but one of the main reasons for going there is the wonderful beach with sand so soft it squeaks between your toes and world-class surfing. I've been to great beaches before, though, and they don't have the uniqueness of Melbourne's coffee scene, for example, or the Great Barrier Reef, the Daintree Rainforest, or of Sydney.

Reef, Rainforest and Rain in Port Douglas

From sunny Melbourne, I flew to tropical North Queensland to enjoy some R and R. In this part of the world, that means ‘reef and rainforest’, although I also got a large amount of a third R: rain. Travelling to various Antipodean locations in one trip makes it hard to find the perfect time of year weather-wise for them all. The wet season in Queensland (as opposed to the slightly-less-wet season) isn’t supposed to start until the end of November, so I thought I might be OK.

16 Great Specialty Coffee Spots To Visit in Melbourne

One of the main reasons I wanted to visit Melbourne was to explore the city’s extensive and diverse specialty coffee scene. Italian-style espresso coffee and espresso-bar culture first reached the city in the 1950s, although took another couple of decades to take off. Now, almost every block in the CBD has at least one specialty coffee shop and there are numerous roasters and micro-roasters based in the city.

Four Days in Melbourne: Things To Do, Places to Eat & Drink

After two pleasant overnight flights with Singapore Airlines, I touched down at Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport just after 7:20 am on Sunday and, thanks to the electronic immigration stations (alas, no passport stamp for me) and a speedy SkyBus journey, I arrived at my hotel just after 8:15 am. This was too early to check in, but just the right time to head off in search of jet lag-busting coffee and breakfast. I slept pretty well on both flights and was more than ready to start exploring. 

My Antipodean Adventure: Four Weeks in Australia and New Zealand

I'm off travelling again today. Regular readers will know that this is hardly news for me; I tend to take one or two foreign trips each month. This one is special, however. I will be away for a whole month, which is the longest I've been able to take off work at one time since I started my career in publishing 11 years ago. I decided to take advantage of my company's sabbatical policy to book in a four-week trip to Australia and New Zealand, both of which have been on my travel to-do list for over 15 years.

I've been planning (and saving!) hard since January and booked my flights from and to London back in April, nailing down the rest of my itinerary over the summer. As always, I found the Lonely Planet guidebooks an invaluable resource. I used their 2015 Australia guide (there is a new edition coming out next month) and their 2016 New Zealand North Island guide, knowing that I would be focusing most of my attention on this part of the country on this trip.

A note on my itinerary and my decision to visit both countries in four weeks: I know that it isn't possible to 'do' either country (or even a small part of Australia) in one month, but I also don't know when I will next get the opportunity to visit this part of the world — after all, it took me almost 34 years to schedule my first trip — and I wanted to have a taster for both countries. Moreover, for me, one of the best parts of travelling is that sense of excitement and wonder I get when I first arrive in a new city. I love revisiting favourite destinations, but I'll never tire of the thrill of discovery.

Excluding my international flights, I have 28 full days and am splitting this time about evenly between the east coast of Australia and New Zealand's North Island. Rather than taking the hefty Lonely Planet Australia guide, I was planning to buy a copy of the more portable East Coast Australia guide; the new edition isn't out until next month, however, and I am very grateful to Lonely Planet who provided me with a review copy, which will be a major point of reference during the first half of my trip.

I have a packed itinerary, which includes several cities, the Great Barrier Reef, some beach time and a road trip around New Zealand's North Island. Being me, a key focus will be speciality coffee. I already have an unfeasibly large coffee to-do list for both Melbourne (my first stop) and Sydney, but to help me sift through the many possibilities, I would really welcome any recommendations — please let me know in the comments or on Twitter (non-coffee-related suggestions are also welcome!). I'm also on the look-out for coffee (and other) tips for Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand.

As usual, I am packing light: I am taking my Rimowa Salsa Air carry-on suitcase (frustratingly, most of my internal flights have a 7kg carry-on limit, which will mean checking my case), my TUMI Halle Backpack and, as a handbag, my purple small Longchamp Le Pliage tote. During the Antipodean late spring, the weather is likely to range from warm to hot (by British standards, anyway), and I'm taking four dresses, two pairs of shorts, one pair of jeans, enough tops and underwear for ten days, three sweaters, my Uniqlo ultralight down jacket, running kit, two bikinis, a pair of running shoes, sandals, flip flops and ballet pumps. Technology-wise, I'm taking my MacBook Air and Kindle, and decided to downsize my camera kit and take just my compact camera (I bought the Canon Powershot G7X Mark II a few months ago, and I've been really happy with it) and my Nikon waterproof camera.

I won't have room to bring much coffee home, but I'm taking my trusty Aeropress with me so I can brew some fine Antipodean coffee while I'm there. I'm also delighted to report that the Made by Knock Aergrind, which I backed on KickStarter some months ago, arrived just in the knick of time and will be coming with me. Alas, it didn't come with any instructions, so I'll have to re-read Brian's great review on the Coffee Spot.

This month is partly about giving myself a break from my hectic day job in the busy press office of a major scientific journal, but while I'm away, as a minimum, I am planning to produce one post about each destination I visit and one speciality coffee update for each relevant city.

A Taco Feast at El Pastór, London Bridge

You wait an age for a great taco joint to arrive in SE1 and then two come along at once. After my recent visit to Santo Remedio on Tooley Street, on Saturday I finally got to try out El Pastór, a taquería located in a railway arch on Borough Market's Stoney Street.

El Pastór is often busy but they have a very amenable queuing system, whereby you can leave your name and they will text you once you are second in line. There are, of course, a plethora of pubs and bars in and around Borough Market for counting down the minutes until taco time over a pint. When my brother, his wife and our friend arrived just after 12:30 on Saturday lunchtime, however, there was no line and we were ushered straight in to a table at the back of the slender restaurant.

The décor is industrial-chic: exposed-brick walls, metal shelving and pendant lighting, accented with turquoise tables and even some foliage. The tables run along the length of the restaurant and you can also perch at the mezcal bar near the entrance. Our table offered a view of the kitchen and the spit-grilled meat that goes into the tacos al al pastór, which give the restaurant its name.

While we perused the menu, we ordered some cocktails. My frozen margarita (£7.50) was very good; alas, I wasn't quite feeling up to the Negroni al Pastor (£8), which sounded awesome. There are also beers, wines and an extensive and impressive mezcal list.

And so to the food... We ordered a couple of portions of guacamole (£6.50) between the four of us, one with a side of totopos (tortilla chips) and one with chicharrón (light, crispy fried pork belly). I prefer my guac a bit chunkier but it tasted great and I enjoyed both accoutrements.

The tacos are served two to a portion and advised by my brother that one taco twosome might not be enough, we all ordered two pairs. First out of the gate was the tacos al pastór (£6.50), which three of us went for. The juicy marinated pork shoulder combined perfectly with the sharp sweetness of the caramelised pineapple, and it was nice to have a bit of bonus guac on the tacos.

All four of us also ordered the deconstructed carnitas tacos (£7 per person for a minimum of two people to share). Dishes of confit pork, vinegar-pickled pork rind, crumbled chicharrón, salsa, coriander and onion were placed on the table, along with a warming dish of soft corn tortillas. We then got to build our own tacos. Perhaps we were being conservative with our taco loading, but we ended up running out of tortillas before we finished with the fillings, and the wait staff brought us some more. We probably each had three or four tacos. These tasted great and it was fun to construct them ourselves, but I still think the tacos al pastór were my favourites.

With a couple of sides (including some delicious grilled corn-on-the-cob (£4.50) and frijoles charros (£5.50)), and a couple of drinks per person, the bill came to £38 each, including service. This isn't cheap for tacos, but the food was really good and there was more than enough to fill four hungry diners. I certainly didn't have room for the 'Bounty Bar' on the dessert menu, unfortunately. One for next time...

El Pastór. 6–7a Stoney Street, London, SE1 9AA (Tube: London Bridge). Website. Twitter. Instagram.

The Caffeine Chronicles: The Penny Drop, London

The London offshoot of Melbourne speciality coffee shop The Penny Drop opened a few months ago but because it's closed at the weekends, it has been difficult for me to visit. Taking advantage of a rare day off in London on Friday, I finally put this to rights and dropped by The Penny Drop's London home on Tottenham Street in Fitzrovia. Tottenham Street is a bustling side street off the Tottenham Court Road and the café is just around the block from Goodge Street Tube station. There's scaffolding on several buildings on the block at the moment, making The Penny Drop a little tricky to spot. It is, however, well worth seeking out.

The café has a simple, minimalist design that harks back to the original in Melbourne's Box Hill neighbourhood. There's plenty of light wooden tables and walls, fresh flowers on the tables, a marble counter-top, and a cute white La Marzocco customised with The Penny Drop's signature copper, sans serif branding (also seen in the adorable stamp card, pictured above)). It wasn't too busy late on a Friday lunchtime, although there was a steady stream of customers.

On the coffee menu, you will find the usual espresso-based drinks (including long blacks, of course) and they also serve batch-brew filter (£2.50) or Aeropress- or V60-brewed filter coffee (£4). The coffee was from Danish roaster Coffee Collective, with four single-origin varieties on offer. On noticing the same Kenyan Kieni coffee I tried recently as a cortado at Fringe in Paris, I decided to go for that, brewed through the V60.

There was a selection of sandwiches (most around £5) on the counter, which looked great, but I already had lunch plans, so I compromised and went for a cake instead. The pistachio and fruit loaf (£2.75) won me over, but Antipodeans will be probably be pleased to see Anzac biscuits on offer.

My coffee soon arrived, prepared carefully by barista JC, and it tasted great. The juicy, fruity notes of the coffee came through nicely; I got hints of blackberries although the flavour profile is somewhat more complex. The coffee also went nicely with the pistachio bread, which was moist and tasty.

I asked JC about the original branch of The Penny Drop because Melbourne will be my first stop on my upcoming four-week Antipodean adventure (of which much more later this week). He used to work there and was incredibly helpful, suggesting myriad coffee shops and restaurants to try when I'm in the city. My Melbourne coffee list is currently so long that it's impractical so it was great to get some personal recommendations, and nice to spend so much time chatting about the Australian coffee scene. Thanks for your help, JC!

The Penny Drop. 13 Tottenham Street, London, W1T 2AH (Tube: Goodge Street). Website. Instagram.

London Film Festival 2017 Part II: Battle of the Sexes

My second — and sadly final — 2017 London Film Festival screening was for Little Miss Sunshine directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris's Battle of the Sexes. The 'it's not really about tennis' story of a 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King and former tennis champion turned hustler and self-proclaimed male chauvinist pig, Bobby Riggs.

Many of the cast and crew were out on the red carpet on Leicester Square last night, as well as assorted ball boys and girls and other tennis-related paraphernalia. I spotted Dayton and Faris posing together first, and then Emma Stone and later Elisabeth Shue and Heather Watson. Alas, I was ushered on into the cinema before Billie Jean King herself appeared.

Once festival director Clare Stewart got things started, however, we got to hear from various actors and crew members. Producers Danny Boyle and Christian Colson, screenwriter Simon Beaufoy and both directors came onstage to talk about their work on the film — and how they were all terrified that King would hate the end result.; "we wanted to do her justice," Faris explained. As it turned out, they did and King was delighted to be depicted by Emma Stone, urging the audience members to keep fighting for equality and freedom.

And so to the film... I wasn't aware of the titular battle until I started reading about the film and although I tried to avoid finding out the outcome, I didn't succeed. This didn't really matter, though, because as the directors, Boyle, Beaufoy and Stone all noted, Battle of the Sexes is much more of a love story with elements of political drama than a sports movie. As the film opens, Billy Jean King (Stone) has just won a tennis championship but finds out that at another upcoming tournament, the men's champion will receive a prize eight times greater than the female winner. She and Gladys Heldman (Sarah Silverman), a fellow advocate of the women's tennis game, protest to Jack Kramer (Bill Pullman), who has just issued a press release for the US Lawn Tennis Association about this news, but he doesn't see the problem. "The men are more exciting to watch, faster, stronger... It's just biology," he says.

King decides to found a separate Women's Tennis Association, signing up some of her fellow female players, including Margaret Court (Jessica McNamee) and Rosie Casals (Natalie Morales), and creating a women's only tennis circuit, to Kramer's consternation. King's husband Larry (Austin Stowell) remains at home for much of the tour to avoid distracting her, and one day she meets and soon forms a friendship with hair stylist Marilynn Barnett (Andrea Riseborough; in reality, Barnett was King's personal secretary). Before long, her feelings for Marilynn develop into something more and the two become lovers, despite her own anguish and warnings from some of her friends, including the players' wardrobe master (the ever-wonderful Alan Cumming).

Meanwhile, after enjoying much success as a tennis star in his youth, Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell) has fallen into a cycle of hustling and gambling. He wins a Rolls Royce, which turns out to be the final straw that leads his wife Priscilla (Elisabeth Shue) to kick him out. He needs one big, final gambit to win her back and soothe his aching ego, and decides that playing King in a televised tennis match is the way to do this. In 1973, King was 29 and at the top of her game, while Riggs was 55 and no longer quite as good as he would like to think. King refuses to accept the challenge for some time — she sees it for the spectacle that it is. But eventually, she gives in when she realises that it may be her best opportunity to prove not that women can be as good at tennis as men, but that women deserve to be treated fairly and equally. Will it all backfire or will the time Riggs dedicates to being parodically sexist, arrogant and obnoxious prevent him from practising enough?

I enjoyed Battle of the Sexes — it is entertaining and uplifting, and while Stone's performance as King stood out, Carell deserves kudos for being quite so pitiable. It's Pullman's Kramer who seems the more insidious character, however; as King points out during the film, Riggs is just putting on an act for the attention, but Kramer genuinely seems to believe that women belong in the kitchen and the bedroom and sees King and her 'women's lib' compatriots to be a danger for the game of tennis. I think the film would have been stronger had it been a broader biopic of King, focusing less on the pantomimish Riggs, whose story consumed all too much of the film. The best scenes were between King and Barnett, and the subtler scenes between King and her husband. Although Larry tells Marilynn that they are both just sideshows and that "tennis is her first love," actually, it's her love for these two important people in her life that comes through most strongly.

London Film Festival 2017 Part I: Breathe

Another year, another London Film Festival — my eighth, in fact, and you can read my coverage of previous years here. I usually try to go to four or five films, including the Surprise Film, but this year I'm only going to two — unless a ticket becomes available for the screen talk with David Fincher, one of my favourite directors. The reasons for this are twofold: first, I will be out of the country for part of the festival, and second, I've been trying to save for my big out-of-the-country trip, and LFF ticket prices have become very expensive over the years.

I was really pleased to score a ticket to last night's opening night gala, Andy Serkis's directorial debut, Breathe. I missed out in the ballot, but checking back regularly on the BFI website landed me a great seat in the fourth row of the Odeon Leicester Square. It had been a while since I'd attended an opening-night gala and I'd forgotten how busy Leicester Square gets. Usually, I loiter near the red carpet until the cast or crew member I am hoping to see heads on to start giving interviews, but the queue was so big last night that I just had to go to the end and cross my fingers that the queue gods were on my side.

Happily, I managed to snap a few photos of one of the stars, Andrew Garfield. Funnily enough, it was at the LFF opening-night gala for Never Let Me Go in 2010 — also attended by Garfield, along with Kazuo Ishiguro, who just won this year's Nobel Prize in Literature — where I first developed a fondness for Mr Garfield.

The show was running late but organ music kept us entertained, and I was also excited to have a minor encounter with Jason Isaacs, who was in the audience.

After BFI Chief Executive Amanda Nevill and the ever-colourfully-attired London Film Festival Director Clare Stewart had made their introductions, director Andy Serkis and producer Jonathan Cavendish came on stage and introduced some of the cast members, including Garfield, Claire Foy, Tom Hollander and Hugh Bonneville. Jonathan Cavendish is also the son of the couple depicted in the film, and his mother Diana also joined the cast and crew.

After all of this excitement, it was time for the film to begin. Breathe tells the true story of Robin (Garfield) and Diana Cavendish, who meet and marry in the 1950s before moving to Kenya where Robin begins a tea-broking business. Disaster strikes, however, when Robin contracts polio and becomes paralysed from the neck down, his survival relying on a mechanical respirator. Given just months to live, he wants to die and begs Diana to take her freedom and start again. She refuses and what follows is powerful, warm and inspiring tale of love and of challenging expectations.

Supported by Diana, their families (including Diana's twin brothers, both played by Tom Hollander) and friends, Robin is able to 'break out' of the hospital to move home and live an increasingly full life. Eventually, he is able to travel — thanks in part to innovations, such as a wheelchair with a built-in respirator, created by his friend Teddy Hall (Bonneville) — and goes on to become a campaigner and advocate for the rights of people with disabilities, defying the assumptions of the time.

If Tom Hardy's single eye stole the show in Dunkirk, Andrew Garfield's eyebrows deserve their own credit in Breathe. The actor's whole face is wonderfully expressive, though, and the convincing and tender relationship between him and Foy and their chemistry really carry the film and stop it becoming overly sentimental. Although often emotional, Breathe is also very funny at times; Garfield achieves much of this with his facial expressions and dry remarks, while Hollander's Blacker twins often act as the comic relief (one scene was perhaps a little too Chuckle Brothers). Added to a beautiful score from Nitin Sawhney and gorgeous cinematography from Robert Richardshon — showcasing England's green and pleasant lands as well as the sun-drenched Kenyan landscapes — and Serkis's film is a pleasure to watch.