We regularly found ourselves cycling in temperatures in the high 30’s (around 100 for you fahrenheiters) and it occurred to us that on days like that at home we wouldn’t consider getting the bike out of the shed, let alone ride 70km.

We ended up setting the alarm for early in the morning so we could knock off as many kilometres as possible before about 10am, when the sun would start to fry us alive.

We’d spend the rest of the day on endless searches for water fountains. Gasping with the heat of it all, we’d fill our water bottles, wet our heads and soak our clothes.

I also wet a sarong and draped it over my head and arms, which lasted for about 5 minutes before it vaporised.

August is Holiday Season in Italy

It seemed that all of Europe was clustered on the beaches, which were not at all like the beaches we Australians are used to. You don’t just rock up with your bag of stuff and find a nice spot.

The beaches along the Mediterranean coast are covered in neat lines of umbrellas and you must pay to use them. We found one ‘free’ beach, a narrow section about 5 metres wide squeezed in between the commercial sections. It was mental.

Given the choice, we’d plan this tour in one of the months either side of August to avoid both the heat and the crowds.

Italy is old!

It’s a pretty big deal for us to meet people living in houses that were built many centuries ago. It puts things into perspective from a historical point of view.

Sprawling cities and busy freeways can make it feel like Australia has always been this way, but in fact it’s only a couple of hundred years since our country was first invaded by white man.

Italian villagers had been going about their daily business for many centuries by the time that happened.

Our Route

Como
Milan
Reggio Emilio
Bologna
Castel del Rio
Borgo San Lorenzo
Levane
Cortona
Orgia
Casole d’Elsa
Pontedera
Avenza
La Spezia, Cinque Terre
Genova
Carcare
Mondovi
Caraglio
Ventimiglia

We rested for a week in Cortona, housesitting in a fabulous old monastery. Apparently it was over a thousand years old.

This video exists because of Johnny

Cycling through Italy was part of a bigger adventure, and we’ve already made videos about the other segments:

Buying a secondhand bike in London

25 hours on a bus from London to Switzerland 

Cycling over the Swiss Alps damn near killed me

94 year old Granny – “I’m the most ungangsta person in all the world”

The Italy segment happened right after the Swiss Alps, before the housesit in France with the 94 year old gangsta granny.

Editing the Italy video had been on my ‘To Do’ list forever but I’d been too busy with work to get to it. Then one day, in the No Small Creator (#nosmallcreator) Facebook group, a guy named Johnny James Jamrock offered to edit videos for other creators. He wanted to improve his editing skills.

I jumped at the chance and sent him a choice of 5 videos from my ‘To Edit’ list. He chose the Italy adventure so I set about narrowing hundreds of clips to ‘just 119’, yielding 22GB of data that I had to somehow transfer to him.

We drew up an agreement which clarified our expectations and Johnny set to work.

I was rapt with the outcome. Johnny perfectly captured the essence of a great adventure – two Australians cycling through Italy in the height of summer, dealing with the heat but having a blast anyway – seeing the sights, camping in the wild and enjoying each other’s company.

Johnny and I enjoyed working together so much we’ve started talking about collaborating on some commercial projects, which would be a pretty great outcome from a whimsical offer in a Facebook group.

You can stalk Johnny here:

Johnny’s YouTube channel 
Johnny’s Facebook page
Johnny’s Instagram

Thank you to the people that put us up

Some of the best nights were when we stayed with hosts from the Warm Showers organisation. Two that particularly stood out were Marco in Castel del Rio, who had the keys to the town and gave us a private night time tour of all the attractions, and Enrico from Borgo San Lorenzo. The scene where Cam buys gelato was at Enrico’s local. You can hear him laughing when Cam tries to say ‘limone’.

We also stayed with our good friends Leslie, Piero and Sofia in Orgia. Piero is an amazing cook so we enjoyed wonderful Italian meals at their house.

We visited an old school friend, Elena, and her partner Domenico, in Caraglio. The ride away from the coast and up into the mountains was totally worth it because I swear the best food I have ever eaten was at their house. Domenico is a magician. That’s him in the final few seconds of the video, learning to say ‘salad’ in Australian by holding his nose to get the proper nasal inflection.

Fun times. 10/10 would do again.

When you visit Singapore you’ll notice a heap of little markets and fruit stalls full of amazing tropical fruits from Thailand and Malaysia.

There are fabulous fruits such as dragon fruit, rambutans and lychees.

Then there’s the one that assaults your nostrils as you approach.

The durian is a large fruit that smells dreadful. You’re not allowed to take it on the public transport system. Many buildings ban it.

And yet, many people swear it’s their favourite fruit in the world.

Durian Stalls

To get around the problem of not being able to transport durian home, people eat it (wearing gloves) at special durian stalls.

The first stall we found had big signs up saying ‘sold out’. There was some pre-ordered durian stored in a fridge, guarded by shopkeepers who were fighting off the people that wanted desperately to buy it.

The next time we came across durian was when our local shopkeeper said she’d have some on Thursday. I went at the end of the day but apparently it was all gone by lunchtime.

Finally, I came across a durian stall in Chinatown with several varieties to try.

Durian tastes pretty weird

I had trouble getting past the texture of durian. It had no structure; it was paste-like, as if it had gone bad.

I found it helped if I didn’t breathe while I was eating it, otherwise it really was like eating spew-flavoured custard.

It was kind of interesting and I’m glad I had it but I wouldn’t rush back to have it again.

Other people reckon it grows on you.

The best fruit of them all

By far my favourite fruit in Singapore was the langsat, also known as luku-langsat, duku-langsat, lanzones and longkong.

It’s a small fruit with a thin skin that needs to be removed. Inside are about 5 segments of differing sizes. The big segments contain a bitter tasting green seed. The taste is similar in some ways to grapefruit, but it’s very sweet so there’s a delightful sweet and sour thing going on.

The amazing thing about langsat is the texture. It’s jelly-like, similar to the confectionary we know as ‘jelly babies’.

I stuffed myself with bags and bags of this fruit.

If you visit Singapore, eat as many as you can. Instagram a photo and tag me in it!

@cathwood1000

I really wanted to go downtown to see Singapore’s National Day celebrations while I was housesitting there in August 2018, but I was anxious about the crowds, especially the idea of getting home with millions of other people trying to do the same thing.

In the event I needn’t have worried because Singapore is an incredibly efficient country when it comes to moving people around.

I didn’t know that beforehand. After fretting a bit I decided to drink some concrete, harden up and get out there and enjoy it.

Where is the best place to see Singapore’s National Day Celebrations?

I watched the celebrations from the area in front of the Art Science Museum, which was pretty good. There were a lot of people there but it wasn’t hard to find a place to squeeze in.

I had done some research before I left which had the effect of making me worry there would be no space anywhere.

I went down a couple of hours before the celebrations were due to start, mostly because I wanted to capture a good shot of the woodpecker parents feeding their babies in the nest I had previously found in the Gardens by the Bay area.

I got talking to a guy who suggested I position myself right next to the platform where all the performances were taking place. I could see from the map that it was easily reached by crossing the Helix Bridge, but it turned out that bridge was closed and the only way across was to catch the train. I decided to stay on the Marina Bay Sands side.

Really I don’t think it matters that much where you end up. You’ll see most of it from most places. Being part of the crowd is the main thing, it’s such a buzz.

Spectacular Displays

The aerial displays by the various defence forces were absolutely spectacular.

Planes and choppers flew over in stunning formations, parachutists wearing wing suits came down in a blaze of red smoke and combat divers free fell into the water. It was all thoroughly marvellous and the crowd loved it.

The evening concluded with an outstanding fireworks display.

It never rains on National Day

I met a fabulous woman named Audrey who kindly let me occupy her rug.

I couldn’t have chosen a better tour guide. Audrey shared interesting snippets about Singapore and the celebrations all through the event.

I was especially intrigued when she told me it never rains on National Day because they seed the clouds in the days beforehand to make it rain, leaving National Day itself to enjoy perfectly fine weather.

“Everybody gets to enjoy today,” she said. “Nobody gets drenched.”

Getting Home

Before the celebrations I noticed police and security staff everywhere. I also saw that systems had been put in place to manage the unusually large amount of people. Combined with the polite way in which the Singaporeans conducted themselves during the celebrations, I started to relax about getting home.

It turned out I was right – there was absolutely nothing to worry about. Staff at the train station were controlling traffic flow, opening and closing various gates to let people through. I waited for a short time before my section was allowed through.

We all beeped our way through the gates and made our way to the platforms. A train came along and people flooded on, but there was a staff member positioned at every door controlling the crowd as the train got full and doors were about to close.

A minute later another train came along and I got on, following a young European boy who was thoroughly delighted by the whole experience, laughing manically as he and his family boarded the train in a crush of people.

10/10 would do again. If you find yourself in Singapore on National Day (9th August) go to the downtown area. It’s a heap of fun and nowhere near as stressful as you might think.

Looking for things to do while visiting Singapore? You could always visit the Singapore Zoo but if it’s the monkeys you love most, why not see them in the wild?

I was so excited when I discovered that monkeys live in the wild in Singapore that I raced off to find them pretty much immediately. It just hadn’t occurred to me that such a populated place would have a wild population of primates.

You can find them in several places, all of which are easy to get to with Singapore’s fantastic public transport system, the MRT.

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve is a lovely big park with heaps of walking and mountain bike trails. I had to search high and low for monkeys, so when I finally found a troop of Long Tailed Macaques it was very rewarding.

They were insanely cute. There were a lot of little ones leaping about the place and riding on the backs of bigger ones. I was watching their shenanigans when I noticed a big stream of piss coming out of the tree not too far away, so I decided to move up the road a bit. Before long the entire troop were over the top of my head…

They’re very curious about humans, apparently.

I had been so excited about seeing monkeys that I completely forgot to bring my new zoom lens so I was disappointed that my footage was a bit rubbish. Then I moved off the road and up into the jungle and things improved a little, so I persevered, thinking this was my one and only opportunity.

Tree Top Walk

I was just about finished editing the monkey video when I went downtown to watch the Singapore National Day Celebrations.

I met a lovely lady named Audrey, who you’ll meet in the next video.

She asked me if I’d been to the Tree Top Walk? I hadn’t because I’d made the assumption it would be $25 and I had enough free entertainment to keep me going. It turns out it’s a free attraction and boy, is it fabulous.

Audrey told me that if I wanted to see monkeys, this is where I should go.

MacRitchie Reservoir

The Tree Top Walk is located in the MacRitchie Reservoir park. If you look at a map of Singapore you’ll see a big green area right in the middle. This is the MacRitchie Reservoir to the east, and Bukit Timah Nature Reserve to the west.

Again I easily and inexpensively caught a bus, and set off on the walking trail.

Within a few minutes I came across a big troop of monkeys all lined up along the railings of a wooden walkway. It was highly entertaining to watch them go about their business. They were grooming each other, scratching their balls, rummaging about on the forest floor for things to eat, leaping dramatically from branch to railing and back again, and always, always watching for an opportunity to fleece the humans.

Monkey kicks woman

One lady positioned herself near the railing so her husband could take a photo. A monkey instantly came up behind her and started to undo the zip of her bag. The husband stepped forward and shooed the monkey away with his walking stick. The monkey retreated momentarily, then rushed forward, kicked the woman in the back and disappeared over the side of the railing.

She screamed. I caught it all on film.

It was completely marvellous.

Monkey grabs my tripod

After I’d published this video I went for ‘one last look’ at the monkeys before I flew out of Singapore.

I went back to MacRitchie Reservoir and found a troop hanging out on a path. I set up my camera – with the zoom lens – to capture their antics and was there for long enough that the troop took to ignoring me.

People came and went and I observed their different approaches. Some were relaxed, some were terrified. One guy was thoroughly obnoxious.

In one of the lulls a few little ‘teenage’ monkeys came over to investigate my equipment. I filmed the encounter on my phone because my main camera was on top of the tripod. One little guy approached only half warily, put his hand out, grabbed the tripod leg then backed off with a hiss when I moved slightly. It would have been quite entertaining to see what happened if I just let him go for it, but I didn’t fancy seeing my camera up a tree. It was bad enough when that horse made off with it in France.

You can see the footage on my Instagram feed, just near the sunflower. @cathwood1000

In July 2017 Cam and I hired a car and drove up the west coast of Ireland.

One of the highlights of the trip was the day we visited Slieve League Cliffs in county Donegal.

The cliffs are more than 600m high, among the highest sea cliffs in Europe, and they are absolutely breathtaking.

What struck us, and what we LOVED about Slieve League, was the complete absence of bureaucratic mollycoddling. There is nothing to blight the wild, wild landscape. No signs, no barriers, no trails. You go up there and actually get to be responsible for yourself. It’s refreshing and marvellous.

The other thing we loved was that we actually got to see the cliffs. A couple of days previously we had visited the Cliffs of Moher, but it was so foggy we couldn’t see more than a metre in front of us.

Irish Brothers

We met four Irish brothers who were on a kind of pilgrimage to their mother’s homeland.

The eldest, Declan, sung us a song.

It was one of those travel moments you just couldn’t plan. There we were, out in one of the wildest places on earth, being serenaded by an Irishman.

An Irish song, sung by an Irishman, in the wilds of Ireland.

It was perfect.

Unlike us, the brothers were fully organised with food and drinks. They were having a great time, full of laughs and stories and thoroughly enjoying each other’s company.

It was a privilege to stand on the edge of the world with the Molloy brothers.

Take Food and Drinks

We underestimated how long this hike would take, and didn’t take any food with us. We had water, of course.

We didn’t die of starvation or anything, especially as the Molloy brothers donated us each a banana, but I mention it here in case you’re thinking about visiting the Slieve League Cliffs.

Pack something to eat at the top.

It was a lovely sunny day towards the end of the Western Australian summer when Cam and I headed down to the beach for a quick dip.

Afterwards we were lying on the beach soaking up the warmth, as you do.

Unusually, we had our towels in an L shape, so Cam was looking along the beach. If we’d positioned our towels side by side, with feet towards the ocean and head towards the sand dunes, as per the usual custom, things would have turned out differently.

As it was, Cam noticed a small snake coming towards us from quite a long way away. We had time to whip out the camera and get some footage rather than being completely oblivious to what was happening.

It was rather alarming to see the snake make its way to exactly the spot where my feet had been about 30 seconds before.

The snake continued past our towel down to the water line. At one point we thought we were going to see it washed away by a wave, however it turned and headed back towards the sand dunes.

The fun wasn’t over though. A few seagulls arrived to see if lunch was being served, and we experienced the rather terrifying spectacle of a seagull attacking a snake.

We were torn about who to support. We didn’t want to watch the seagull being poisoned but we didn’t want to see the snake eaten either.

The seagull had a few goes but eventually gave it up as a bad idea, and the snake disappeared into the scrub.

It was an eye opener seeing how well disguised the snake was once it disappeared into the foliage.

“Keep your lamps open!” as my grandmother used to say.

A few weeks ago I uploaded Perth in a Day, in which my daughter Casey and I visited all the most fabulous parts of Perth, Western Australia.

We went to The Round House in Fremantle right on 1pm, not realising that’s the exact time the cannon gets fired every day.

In the Perth in a Day video we did a little jump in front of each attraction. To make sure we did it together we’d count down from 3.

As we prepared to jump at The Round House we said, “3, 2, 1, SCREAM!!!”

The cannon went off at the exact moment we jumped. The timing literally could not have been more perfect. It made for a pretty funny blooper at the end of the Perth in a Day video.

The lovely people at The Round House (Fremantle Volunteer Heritage Guides) got in touch and told me I could fire the cannon myself if I wanted to. Did I want to? I nearly wet my pants with excitement.

Given I had a birthday coming up I booked it in for that day.

Being right up close and knowing it was coming and furthermore being the actual person pressing the big red button, you would think I might have been mentally prepared for the bang this time around. You’d be wrong. I was scared out of my wits all over again.

A huge thank you to Susan for being a fabulous host – and also for being perfect in front of a camera.

If you’d like to fire the cannon yourself it’s totally possible. Visit the Contact page of the Fremantle Round House website and send a message requesting your preferred date.

A few days ago Casey Neistat uploaded a video in which he said:

“I have a question for you the audience, if you could sort of settle something between Dan and I…”

He went on to describe how Dan Mace uses the term ‘SMACK’, meaning ‘to get things done’.

“Is this a real thing?” Casey wanted to know.

I decided to make a video demonstrating how we use the term ‘smack it’, thus furthering Dan’s cause.

Who is Casey Neistat?

Casey Neistat is a highly popular creator on YouTube.

Based in New York, Casey currently publishes a daily vlog called ‘368’. It’s named after the building he recently decided to convert into a collaborative space for both New York and international creators.

(Yep, editing a vid at 368 just got added to my bucket list).

At the time of publishing this post Casey has 9.3 million subscribers. I’m one of them.

I admire Casey’s filmmaking skills, his work ethic, his positive attitude, and the way he treats other people.

Who is Dan Mace?

Dan Mace is a talented South African filmmaker. He  recently joined Casey in New York to help produce the daily vlog.

Dan has a special magic about him, in my opinion. He cares deeply about important matters and regularly comes out with profound words that make me pause, replay, pause again and think.

With Dan on board I’m tuning in to Casey’s work in a more regular fashion than I did before. As a team they’re unstoppable. I think part of it is that Dan is relatable to the average person. Casey has achieved such enormous success that he’s out of reach to most people.

Dan is the South African dude who suddenly finds himself in the mad world of New York, working with a guy that’s off the wall. It’s stretching Dan in a way that he expected and wanted (and it’s fun), but it’s stressful because of the lack of routine. He misses the ocean and surfing. We can imagine being in Dan’s situation. We feel for him and we want things to go well for him.

Let’s Smack it Usage

Dan explains the ways to use Let’s Smack It:

• Let’s smack it.
• Just smack it.
• Come on dude, let’s smack that.
• Shall we just smack that timelapse?

We used ‘let’s smack this’ quite a lot in our video too.

Let’s Smack it Meaning

Dan and Casey describe the meaning of Let’s Smack It:

• To get things done.
• Just do it that much quicker and that much better.
• It’s like the point of decision.
• When you commit to smacking it you have to go through.

You can’t use ‘let’s smack it’ to refer to something you might do, or something you’ll do in a half-arsed fashion. It’s very much an expression for something you’re definitely about to do very well, right now.

I was stoked that Dan got to see the video

I know that Dan is extremely busy in his role at 368, so I wasn’t sure how easy it would be to reach him. I was stoked to wake up and find that he’d replied to my tweet and subscribed to my channel. Thanks for saying hi Dan!  

Perth is a remote city blessed with gorgeous beaches, a stunning river, fabulous scenery and friendly people.

My daughter Casey, a circus performer, joined me for two days of filming to capture the essence of the city.

We only chose locations that didn’t require an entry fee, so this is a good list of free things to do in Perth.

Things to do in Perth

Perth City Centre

Opposite Perth train station you’ll see Forrest Place. That’s where you’ll find ‘The Cactus’, the big green sculpture at the start of our video. Not far away is a water fountain which is especially fun when it’s hot.

You’ll find London Court along Hay St Mall. It’s a gorgeous little arcade filled with interesting shops.

Down on the water at Elizabeth Quay you’ll see all sorts of interesting sculptures and good places to sit. It’s also where you’ll find the beautiful carousel that features in the opening of our video.

Northbridge

We only filmed one location in Northbridge. It’s where all the arty things are located – the gallery, the museum and the library. There are also a LOT of eating options in Northbridge.

Kakulas Brothers is always on our list of shops to visit when we’re in Northbridge. It’s a bulk food store which stocks everything you can imagine, as well as a lot more. The smell that hits you when you walk in is intoxicating.

Kings Park

Kings Park is one of the best things about the city of Perth. At 400 hectares, it’s one of the world’s biggest inner city parks. It includes beautiful manicured lawns and gardens as well as a large chunk of native bush.

Kings Park is positioned high above the city and river, so you get sensational views from every angle.

I recommend that everyone visiting Perth visits Kings Park. In fact, if you only have time to do one thing, this is the thing I’d recommend you do.

Queens Gardens

Queens Gardens is (are?) located right next door to the WACA, in East Perth.

It’s a lovely park for a relaxing stroll and it’s home to a very special Peter Pan statue.

A fellow named Sir George Frampton made the original statue, which is in Kensington Gardens in London. I took photos of it a couple of years ago and didn’t realise there were others around the world, so I was really surprised to stumble upon the one in Perth during our filming.

It turns out Sir George made 6 full size casts from the original moulds and they were put up all over the world between 1924 and 1929. The Perth Peter Pan statue went up in 1929.

Sir George Frampton died in 1928 and a memorial in his honour was made by another sculptor. It’s in the crypt at St Paul’s Cathedral in London. It’s a naked toddler holding a little Peter Pan on an outstretched hand.

Cottesloe Beach

We Australians don’t realise how lucky we are with our beautiful white sand beaches stretching for thousands of kilometres along the coast.

It’s not until you travel to other parts of the world that you realise we could have drawn the short straw with pebbles or sand.

Cottesloe Beach is stunningly beautiful, with snow white sand and sapphire blue water. It’s popular with the locals so it’s very busy on weekends in the summer.

Every year Cottesloe Beach is host to ‘Sculptures by the Sea’. At any time of the year you can enjoy the many sculptures along Marine Parade. We featured 5 of them in our video.

Fremantle

Australia is an ancient country, but the modern world as we know it only appeared quite recently. Many homes in Europe were built before the first Europeans arrived in Australia.

Fremantle is one of our historical areas. It was part of the original settlement of the ‘Swan River Colony’ before we became known as the Colony of Western Australia.

You’ll find some fabulous old buildings in Fremantle, as well as interesting museums and historical points. I should probably mention all the restaurants on the ‘cappucino strip’ of South Terrace too.

We did a lot of filming in Fremantle because everywhere we turned there was something fabulous. We found the cute little striped huts, the ferris wheel, the amazing Rainbow Sea Container, an optical illusion artwork that covered an entire street, sculptures and more.

We had a heap of fun dressing up at the WA Maritime Museum and fighting a duel to the death. I let Casey win because I’m the Mum.

Inspiration

The inspiration for this video came from Abd Faiz, an Indonesian YouTuber. He published a video called ‘One Day in Bali’ where he walked through various scenes in Bali. I loved the simplicity of his video. Casey and I decided to do our own version for Perth, Western Australia.

Filming Locations

00:00
Carousel – Elizabeth Quay, Perth
Rainbow Sea Container – 1 Canning Hwy, Fremantle
South Perth Foreshore, near Mends St jetty, South Perth
‘The Cactus’ (green sculpture) – Forrest Pl, Perth City centre
‘Spanda’ sculpture – Elizabeth Quay, Perth
Cicerello’s – Fremantle
Water feature – Forrest Pl, Perth City centre
London Court – Perth City centre
Queens Gardens – East Perth
David Jones – Hay St Mall, Perth City centre
Stairs near State Library – James St Mall, Northbridge
Peter Pan statue – Queens Gardens, East Perth
High St, near The Roundhouse, with ‘Arcs d’Ellipses’, an optical illusion artwork – Fremantle

00:18
Curved stone wall (handstand sequence) – Kings Park, Perth
Circular steel sculpture (Casey is running) – The Roundhouse, Fremantle
Steel bridge with glass sides, aka ‘Lotterywest Federation Walkway’ – Kings Park, Perth
Lifesaver’s Flags – Cottesloe Beach
Curved steel wall sculpture – Kings Park, Perth
Criss-Cross Sculpture – Marine Parade, Cottesloe
Ribbon Sculpture – Marine Parade, Cottesloe
Arrow Sculpture – Marine Parade, Cottesloe

00:31
Hay St Mall – Perth City centre
Lawn looking over river – Kings Park, Perth
Lookout with glass front – Kings Park, Perth
Cute little stripey huts – Bathers Bay, Fremantle
Whalers Tunnel – near The Roundhouse, Fremantle

00:35
Ferris Wheel – Esplanade Park, Fremantle
Indiana Tearooms – Cottesloe Beach
Wooden walkway, umbrellas, ocean – Bathers Beach, Fremantle
Elizabeth Quay bridge – Elizabeth Quay, Perth

00:39
Acrobatic sculpture – Marina Parade, Cottesloe Beach
(ferris wheel again)
Moreton Bay fig trees – Mounts Bay Rd, near the old brewery, Perth
(Cicerello’s again)
Bell Tower – Elizabeth Quay, Perth
(Kings Park grass again – 3 jumps)

00:44
The Roundhouse – Fremantle
Sculpture at The Roundhouse – Fremantle
(Rainbow Sea Container again)
Torpedoes – WA Maritime Museum, Fremantle

00:47
Lake Monger (handstand sequence) – Wembley
Brick wall – Fremantle
Bon Scott statue – near Cicerello’s, Fremantle
Bridge – Queens Gardens, East Perth
Cottesloe Beach (handstand sequence)
Big palm with lights of WACA in the background – Queens Gardens, East Perth
Dress-ups – WA Maritime Museum, Fremantle
‘To the Fishermen’ sculpture –  near Cicerello’s, Fremantle
Round sculpture (handstand sequence) – Marine Parade,Cottesloe

00:59
Duel to the death – WA Maritime Museum, Fremantle
South Perth foreshore, near Mends St jetty – South Perth
3 jumps, big trees – Fraser Ave, Kings Park, Perth
(south Perth foreshore again)
(more of the battle)
Narrows Bridge in background – Mounts Bay Rd, Perth
Big anchor – WA Shipwrecks Museum
Queens Gardens – East Perth
(final part of the battle)

Blazing Swan is a regional Burning Man event held in Kulin, Western Australia.

Cam and I attended the 2018 event as a guest of Big Lewis, the founder of the festival. You might remember him from the Life at the Circus series – he introduced the Day 5 video (I made 30 x short videos during the 2018 Western Australian Circus Festival.)

We’ve been talking about getting to Blazing Swan for a few years and we were stoked that this year we were finally able to make it.

It’s a pretty amazing event. The 11 principles are pivotal. When you first arrive a band of ‘greeters’ takes you through a short introduction to make sure everyone agrees to adhere to the principles.

The principles aren’t just for the festival though. They’re meant as a way of life, with Blazing Swan (and Burning Man and all the other ‘Burn’ festivals) teaching and reinforcing the benefits.

One of the principles is ‘immediacy’ which is all about being in the present. It’s actually pretty much impossible to film the festival and also to be fully present. I felt this dichotomy throughout the festival and found when I was editing that I was missing whole chunks of my experience. That’s because I was ‘experiencing’ rather than filming. I’m ok with that, but also sorry I can’t show you some of the really great sessions we attended in Shiva’s Tea House.

Before we went I searched YouTube to find out what to expect at Blazing Swan Festival. All the videos seemed to be made for people who had already been, or who already had an understanding of what it was all about.

Hopefully this video will help you if you’re wondering, “What’s it like at Blazing Swan?”

Find out more about Blazing Swan.