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New Zealand: Rotorua

Mon, 17 May 2010 09:04:05 +0100

I jumped out of a plane this time last week Monday - 15400 feet! Skydiving was the last thing on my bucket list and it was so much better than my wildest dreams - mostly because I was airborne over the stunningly beautiful north island NZ town of Rotorua.

I couldn't help weeping - the endless view of the pristine lakes, mountains stretching to the sea in one direction and distant volcanoes in the other was so overwhelmingly beautiful. I was extremely grateful "thankyou, thankyou, thankyou!" I told everyone. And I was very proud of myself... Also a little hungover, I must admit, from the dinner cruise the night before. A part of me wanted to throw up - but my instructor Paul had warned me that in this instance I would have to buy him a case of beer.

This experience was the icing on the cake of a minibreak, my second trip to Rotorua in six weeks, that well and truly took me out of my Bondi Valley comfort zone. After a weekend spent hooning around on a quad bike through a muddy bush track, bungee jumping above the hills at Agroventures adventure park, and immersing myself beneath a 38 degree C natural waterfall... I had both regained touch with my inner child, and hardened up buttercup. I was ready to take on the big smoke, nay, conquer the world! Or so I thought.

But as I sat on the train amid commuters on Tuesday night on my way home from the airport I realised that my urbanised heart had also melted in the hot springs of Rotorua, and my survival barriers had come down. It is a very, very special place indeed - I have fallen in love with Rotorua. Perhaps it was that moment after the Maori cultural dinner when I sat, bottom warm on a volcanically heated rock, watching enormous curtains of white steam jet skyward and listening to a (very easy on the eye) Maori baritone sang a beautiful lullaby in his native tongue. My breath was taken away. Rotorua is exquisite... and surreal.

NZ is not, I now concede, a part of Australia. It is indeed a foreign country. But Rotorua is now a three hour direct flight from Sydney, with airfares via Air New Zealand (check out their wicked Bare Essentials safety vid - yep it's bodypaint. Choice bru) for around the same price as a trip to Brisvegas or Melbourne. It's so easy. Why, just 10 hours prior to that commute home in Sydney peak hour I was jet boating over the glassy Lake Rotorua hearing Maori legends of swimming princesses and flute playing lovers and priests who's heads were crushed and arm bones used to make said flutes...

Getting through customs with your duty free only takes a split second, our dollar is strong, and everything is squished up together so you can submerge yourself in a thermal spa, race a luge down a mountain and learn the Haka before dinner ... all in one evening. Best of all, there are no queues or crowds.

And upon reflection...

Jumping out of that plane into the deep blue sky changed my life. While in reality I landed on my bum, let’s just say that I landed on my feet. After a years of fending off guilt over my insatiable wanderlust and lack of nuclear family and mortgage, I now realise I was dead bloody right! There’s no way of ever understanding or appreciating the depth of the beauty of the world unless you get out there and see it - as much of it as possible, from every possible angle… that’s the whole point of life. I want to tell everyone in Australia to bugger the Joneses and go and TRAVEL! And I don’t mean escape. I mean experience life. Devote yourself to the exploration of every interesting nook and cranny in your town, your state, your country. Try every activity within your physical capabilities – and push yourself. Harden up, buttercup! Eat everything, drink everything… and do not stop until you can explore no more. The world is full of wonderful surprises and people living lives beyond your wildest dreams, but you have to get off your backside and take a leap of faith to find them.

China: Rock Climbing in Yangshuo

Mon, 17 May 2010 10:25:37 +0100

For the Shanghai Star 2002-08-15

HAILING from a land where I can jog down the road and see great big men like Russell Crowe punching each other while balanced on their surfboards, I knew full well what was going on when I found myself perched on a fiberglass rock, gazing at the reflection of my high-rise apartment block in a 10cm deep, chlorinated "stream".

I'd gone soft. I needed air, I needed nature, I needed adrenaline, and I needed sport.

Yangshuo has it all. On the recommendation of friends, I went on a package trip with Aussie-run rock-climbing joint Chinaclimb. All I had to do was give them a call, and get to the airport.

Three hours later, sitting in the minibus from Guilin airport. I was hit by the heavy nighttime fragrance of tropical Southern Asia. Then suddenly, out of the darkness on either side of me loomed enormous mountains, the likes of which I had only ever seen on painted scrolls. I burst into tears of relief - nature.

Jelly Noodles

This is China nature in all its glory - of Karst mountains and caves and rivers and rice-paddies. Forget surfing, diving and skiing, there's tons to do - rock climbing, caving, rafting, canoeing, cycling and swimming.

The first climb was totally terrifying. There I was in a helmet and a crotch-enhancing harness, sprawled across a flat, slippery vertical rock with nowhere to go but down. My guide, Tommy, had no sympathy for my predicament, "No! Don't stop! Climb higher, you can do it - come on, just go left!" But my arms were shaking like jelly noodles and I felt like shouting, "but it's not Oprah Winfrey! I'm hanging off a sheer cliff face!"

I climbed down, received a pat on the back from Tommy, and stood sweating as I watched the more experienced climbers scramble up the same cliff face in two seconds flat, muscles bulging and shining, like giant brown lizards.

My spirits lifted when Tommy pointed out how high I had climbed and realized I had actually made it about 7 metres. I was a legend. I decided to work on my arm strength.

After climbing we went for a swim in a beautiful lagoon valley. The sky was perfectly blue and the mountains rose around us on all sides like crouching tigers all waiting to pounce.

Moon Hill

On day two, I took a motorbike rickshaw from Yangshuo out to Yueliang Shan (Moon Hill), famous tourist spot. It's not a "hill" but it's worth the climb, and just remember - 1,000 steps is a great way to build up your leg strength for rock climbing.

Through the arch of the cave, as far as the eye can see, misted peaks sit, poised like advancing waves. I watched the rockclimbers.

As it turned out, not only was my technique all wrong - clinging desperately by the arms is a cardinal rock climbing boo-boo - but I had totally misunderstood the whole sport.

In fact, my fear of falling to certain death was completely irrational - the truth is you can let go at any time. The belayer (person who stands underneath you and lets out the rope) will catch you. They have a pulley attached to their harness which snaps the rope tight and means they are only actually holding about 10kg, not your whole body weight.

You don't fall down, either, you fall out about half a metre and bounce back gently onto the rock. So you can do that at any point when first beginning and lean back and take a good look at what your next move might be. I guess it's like physical chess in a way.

The amazing climbers at Yueliang Shan (Moon Hill) just seemed to hang there from the limestone roof of the cave (by the fingers of one hand or by their pinky toe) for ages before they made their next move.

My second climbing outing was with a bunch of Aussies, Dutch and English. This time I listened to what the guides said: "Take it slowly, just get to the top."

And I did! Maybe I swore a little bit and had a few precarious moments with one foot near my ear and the other in the air, but thanks to the directions of my guide Tommy, I made it without letting go once.

Successful climbing

Yangshuo by night is gorgeous. The mountains are floodlit, and the streets are lined with travellers and locals alike, who enjoy the outdoor cafes and night markets.

A very good place to go and have dessert (apple crumble) and coffee is Cafe China. There is a rooftop garden on the fourth floor where you can sit and watch people, listen to distant flute music and appreciate the dark beauty of the mountains with their temples all lit up. Here's where I met Patrick, an Irish climber who knew all about the scene.

My third climb with Patrick was a raging success. Mainly because we were climbing with a nine-year-old and an 11-year-old who both made it to the top of the second route in five seconds. They climbed with a tongues-out, devil-may-care style and spent considerable lengths of time swinging giggling from their harnesses. I decided to take the second climb, which had previously defeated me, and treat it like a moment by moment exploration.

And I made it! The feeling of being perched at the top of a climb is incredible. The sense of achievement is one thing, but the view - gazing out at the rice paddies, the mountains, the farmers carrying bunches of grass, the blue skies - it's just so beautiful.

If you're bored with the gym, head to the indoor climbing walls around town. If you're going climbing in Yangshuo give it a go at one of these places first - they're about 30 yuan per visit and they give you all the equipment.

Travel tips

Give Chinaclimb a call. They will organize air travel, transfers, accommodation, breakfast, packed gourmet lunches and four activities (climbing, kayaking, caving, cycling). Prices for a two-night weekend package from Shanghai range from 2,800 yuan (US$338).

Tel: (86-0773) 8811-033

www.chinaclimb.com

Colorado: Winter Park is Fairyland

Mon, 17 May 2010 14:43:06 +0100

As a first time snowboarder and visitor to Colorado, I found Winter Park simply outstanding. It fulfilled all of my childhood winter wonderland fantasies. It is breathtakingly gorgeous. The skies are bright blue and the resort is surrounded by the mountain ranges of the continental divide. The snow falling sparkles like fairy dust!

While quiet in the Apres ski department, Winter Park is far more friendly and down to earth (and affordable) than resorts like Aspen and Vale, which makes it perfect for families and nature lovers. The slopes are amazing – ithe resort is on one massive mountain covered in powdery runs. The runs are not crowded and there are so many you need a map so as not to get lost. There are lessons for all levels and ages (my teacher was just outstanding - I actually made it down the whole mountain on my last day!), and bob cats to take high level skiiers out on fresh, untouched runs beyond the divide.
Also - the restaurants are fabulous (and they offer free childcare at night). It is the perfect place to ski, snowboar , ice skate and even "tube" in winter; and in summer you can hike, bike and horse ride. There is also a gorgeous high-end, eco friendly Nordic ski ranch called Devil’s Thumb Ranch an hour’s drive away which you can visit for day trips. And the Winterpark town pub is adorable and offers live music every night except Mondays. I fell in love with this fairytale place.

View from the chair lift across the Continental Divide.

With my travel companions, award winning journos Rob Macfarland and Ben Doherty in one of the many tempting pubs.

Colorado: Don't Miss the Steamboat

Mon, 17 May 2010 10:17:23 +0100

by Anna Warwick

Steamboat is a beautiful resort with a great Apres ski atmosphere like no other - it's a real life cowboy town. We spent five days there that flew by like five minutes. As well as my beginner snowboard adventures at the foot of the mountain, and nights spent crashed out at the luxuriously cosy Steamboat Grand Hotel; I thoroughly enjoyed the rich delights of the fabulous Cafe Diva down in Gondola village. I could have eaten everything on the menu. We also enjoyed havinga boogie to the live music at the pub afterwards!

Steamboat got it's name from the naturally occurring hot springs that are scattered among the mountains. We took a plunge in the 30 degree C Strawberry Hot Springs to rest our snowboarding and ski-weary bones. What a fabulously relaxing experience to be pink and warm among the quiet, snow white hills and Aspen trees. I wasn’t missing the beaches in Australia one bit.

The highlight of my Steamboat experience was winter horseback riding through the snow covered mountains with Ray Warner, the 72 yr old Steamboat cowboy and ex-Olympian (Steamboat is home to more winter Olympians than any other town in the world – skiing is on their school curriculum) who runs a ranch right up on the Continental Divide.

And we were so lucky to be in town for the night of the Winter Olympians send-off with a choir of Steamboat's children singing the Star Spangled Banner and waving little flags. What an amazing resort and an amazing town. I feel like I could spend a whole winter at Steamboat and still leave wanting more.

Colorado: Denver City, The Beer Frontier USA

Sun, 16 May 2010 01:54:37 +0100

By Anna Warwick

Think you know a lot about beer? Five Aussie beer lovers took their “beeriness” to the next level on a microbrewery tour of Denver, Colorado.

“There can’t be good living, where there is not good drinking”
Benjamin Franklin

My ski buddies and I stopped over in Denver to acclimatise to the altitude before heading up the mountains for some fresh powder. With its bustling, mountain-shaped airport and state of the art infrastructure, Denver is the natural first base for anyone going skiing or snowboarding in one of the dozens of Colorado resorts. But we found it was worth digging a little deeper into the workings of the Mile High city. In a bid to stay hydrated... we struck liquid gold.

THE NAPA VALLEY OF BEER

1000 feet high it may be, but dry Denver city it is not. This town is a year-round beer-lover’s paradise, thanks to its wide array of pubs, tap houses, and beer cafés. It’s all about the quest for a fresh brew. Since the late 1980's Denver has born a buzzing collection of boutique microbreweries and brewpubs. Today, the city produces 80 styles of fresh beer - more than any other city in the USA. You’ll find flavours to satisfy all palates, plus some “out there” new styles.

It makes sense. This glittering city, with its technicolour blue skies and wide streets, is at the heart of the wild, Wild West. It's frontier land. Taverns there were and taverns there will be. And if you keep your eye out, among the classy Denverites you might spot a real life cowboy or two, fresh from the ranch and replete with cowboy hat.

Denverites take their beer seriously. John Hickenlooper, founder of Denver’s first Brewpub - Wynkoop (pronounced wine coop) Brewery – is now their mayor. According to Mayor Hickenlooper, a fresh beer is akin to a freshly baked loaf of homemade bread; whereas bottled beer has all the charisma of processed Wonder White.

THE COOP

After a chilly morning walking around Denver, we visited the Mayor’s former establishment for a pub lunch. The Coop, we learned, is not only the largest brewpub in the world; it is home to the National Beer Drinker of the Year contest. This is a serious annual competition involving meticulous testing of the general “beeriness” (their word) of America’s most passionate beer aficionados. The winner is rewarded with a lifetime supply of ale.

I must confess. I am a girl who drinks wine and at first I was searching the enormous menu for the wine list. Not because I don’t love beer. I love, love, love it but I force it out of my mind for the sake of vanity: to avoid the bloat. However, in this place of beer worship my rubber arm was easily twisted and I ordered “a girl’s beer”. The others were slightly more adventurous. We discovered Patty’s Chile beer; a light German style beer with a hot kick from a dash of Anaheim chillies and smoked Ancho peppers; and the B3K Schwarzbier - a chocolate coloured lager with roasted flavours and just an edge of bitterness. It was beer, mate, but not as we knew it.

After lunch we were taken on an educational tour of the brewery itself, where we learned how beer is made.

And it was at that moment, standing in the well lit Wynkoop brewery in front of those great big gleaming, steaming silver vats as the brewer shovelled piles of grains and patiently explained how he made his ales... my latent beeriness came flooding back. I felt a warm fuzziness enveloping my entire body. Beer brewing is pure alchemy and I was intoxicated.

YOU BREW

It is a complex process. First, water is filtered through carefully selected grains of barley malt until they bloat up and release all the starch and sugars. They are then mashed in a giant pot at 160-170°F (70-75°C), until they look something like porridge, and filtered again to extract more sugars. The mix is then boiled at 212°F (100°C) for 1.5 hours, or longer for stronger beers. Next they add the hops for bitterness, and then the oils and solids are drained. Yeast is added to the liquid and the beer is fermented in tanks at 70°F (21°C). This releases alcohol and creates bubbles, although most beers are carbonated. Lagers are fermented for longer periods at cooler temperatures (30-40°F/ -1°C to 4°C). The brewer tastes the beer at each stage of the process and flavours are added at the end.

We moved into the next room and watched the beer being canned for shipping by three very happy workers. Here we learned that cans are actually better than bottles for beer as they do not let the light in. Light is very, very bad for beer. Hops boiled during the brewing process contain chemicals called isohumulones, also known as isomerised alpha acids, which when struck by visible or ultraviolet light produce some of the same chemicals that skunks spray at their antagonists – stinky ones. Brown glass bottles prevent this process, but not quite as well as cans.

Who Invented Beer?
Beer-like substances popped up among various cultures of the ancient world – wherever the magic of fermentation in carbohydrates occurred. The oldest surviving mention of beer is from the 6th millennium BC, in the written history of Ancient Iraq. The earliest known chemical evidence of beer dates to circa 3500–3100 BC from the site of Godin Tepe in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran. Beer may have been known in Neolithic Europe as far back as 3000 BC.

BUSINESS TIME

Now that we’d had a taste of the magic, we wanted more. We decided to take the Denver Microbrew Tour with engineering student and visionary Steve Schneiter. Steve offers guided 1.5 mile walking tours of Denver and its microbreweries, including samplings and one free pint of your choice at each of the breweries visited. What a bargain at only US$23!

Our first stop was the Great Divide Brewing Company. This clean and slick outfit is home to some serious young brewers who consistently win international beer awards, including Australian ones.

TASTE TEST

“Beer-drinkers have yet to learn to talk about brews as wine-drinkers talk about vintages. Why don’t they, too, prate and prattle and ooh! and ah! and roll their eyes and twitch their noses and sniff and gurgle and gargle, when they raise a glass of foamy lager to their lips? Why aren’t there beer-waiters as well as wine-waiters? And why have so few restaurants beer-lists as well as wine lists?”
Cyril Pearl, 20th Century Australian journalist and author. Beer, Glorious Beer (1969)

At the Great Divide we received a lesson in how to taste beer. Yes, it is just as complex as wine appreciation. In beer tasting you are looking for the flavours released by the balance between the sweet malt and the bitter hops, and there are four basic steps.

1. Look – at the colour and the head. Hold your beer up to the light. Is it cloudy or clear (filtered)? Is the head light and fluffy or creamy and smooth? A light coloured beer is wheat based (and not necessarily light in calories). Red or amber colours have a touch more body and a touch more malt. The darker a beer is, the more malt it contains.

2. Agitate

- Swirl the glass to release the aromas, and loosen and stimulate the carbonation.

3. Smell

- This is the key to tasting. To properly detect the flavour of a beer you should first breathe it in and out through the nose to warm the scent, and then in through the mouth and out through the nose (this is called retro-olfaction) to really fire up your senses.

4. Taste

- Resist swallowing immediately. Hold it in your mouth and breathe out again, now swirl it around your mouth to detect the tactual (touch) elements – like wetness, dryness, smoothness and fizz – and gustatory (taste) elements that combine with the smell to create flavour.

Steve showed us a diagram of where taste is detected on all the different parts of your tongue. The very tip of your tongue is for the sweetness; the sides of the tip taste the acid, and then a little further up the sides are the salt sensors. At the back of the tongue you taste bitterness, and in the middle palate you have all four elements combined.

Steve shows us his tongue

Finally, you can swallow the beer. Allow it to pass over the back of the tongue and release that all important aftertaste.

OPEN YOUR MIND

We got to work on the colourful rows of beer samples lined up on the table in the Great Divide’s cavernous storage room. We were amazed by their Denver Pale Ale (light and crisp like a German pilsner), Wild Raspberry Ale (creamy with a reddish tinge and a fruity tang) and the Yeti Imperial Stout (so thick and black and bitter it reminded me of Vegemite).

“I like my beer to taste like beer” someone murmured. Sure, these boutique beers were leading us a long way from our comfort zones, but beer creation is an art form – to appreciate it one must forget one’s beloved schooners of Coopers and New... The golden rule is a simple one: a good beer is a beer that tastes good, not necessarily like “beer”. Of course, you cannot become a beer critic in an hour. The key is practice, practice and more practice. We moved on to the next microbrew on our tour.

The next stop was the Breckenridge Brewery – a few blocks down 22nd Street. On the way, Steve told us all about the exotic history of the LODO (lower downtown) district. As we crossed Market Street we learned that it was first called McGaa Street after one of the city’s founders, then changed to Holliday Street after the founder of Denver's first railroad, then finally changed to Market Street because the place was a thriving market of the red light variety. These days the area is hip, trendy and safe, with renovated warehouses and multiple hops hotspots, all within walking distance of one another.

Inside, “Breck” was spacious - typical of a Denver pub - with two levels, high ceilings, pool tables, TVs with sports channels running 24/7, and wooden fittings with soft warm lighting.

We sampled several more tasty brews. I enjoyed the Vanilla Porter; a dark and creamy beer with chocolate, vanilla and roasted nut flavours; as well as the Agave Wheat - unfiltered and yet light and dry - and the Oatmeal Stout: dark, smooth and bitter with rich coffee aromas.

ELIXER OF THE GODS

As we sat on our high stools at the comfortable bar, carefully swirling and smelling and tasting our beers, my mental image of a belching and round-bellied Homer Simpson began to fade. Beer is more than just a fattening drink that men all over the world are in love with, I realised – beer is helpful! My friends heartily agreed. We discussed the obvious positive attributes of beer, like the warm and fuzzy Dutch courage in a glass or two of ale which can entice even the very shy to approach an attractive stranger. In that case, one of the guys mused, surely beer is integral to the maintenance of the human population?

Indeed, it has been argued that the invention of bread and beer is responsible for humanity's ability to develop technology and build civilization. A revelation! Beer is the root of all progress...

The Goddess of Beer
The earliest Sumerian writings contain a hymn to Ninkasi, goddess of beer and alcohol, which doubles as a prayer and a recipe for beer. Ninkasi was borne of "sparkling fresh water”. She is the goddess made to "satisfy the desire" and "sate the heart”. Amen.

But are there any health benefits to beer, I wondered? If wine has medicinal properties, surely beer does as well! A quick Google affirmed that the consumption of two beers per day reduces the risk of stroke, heart and vascular diseases. And apparently beer has beauty benefits too - you can use it to give yourself a facial or to strengthen your hair.

If that doesn’t work, the wise guy among us pointed out, you can always encourage the object of your affection to drink it, in the hopes that they might develop beer goggles and find you irresistible.

Later a little sober research into the mysterious ingredient of hops, famously used to flavour and stabilise beer, proved rather enlightening.

FLOWER POWER

Hops are actually the female flowers of the hop species, Humulus lupulus - a vigorous climbing herbaceous perennial. They were cultivated by the Bavarians in the 8th and 9th centuries. Hops flowers have relaxing, sleep-inducing and antiseptic properties. They are good for general insomnia, restlessness, indigestion or headaches.

Prior to the eleventh century, brewers used a wide variety of bitter herbs and flowers to flavour their ales, until they noticed that beer made with hops was less prone to spoilage due to the antibiotic effect hops have on the yeast. Many different varieties of hops are grown by farmers around the world, to create different styles of beer. Hops flowers also moonlight in other beverages and in herbal medicine.

DRINKS WITH THE GIRLS

The final stop on our tour was the Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery. By this stage the working day was over and real live Denverites were hitting this funky, light-filled establishment. I was surprised to see a few small groups of well groomed ladies sitting at the polished wood bars; chatting and sipping enormous ales – not a Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Noir in sight.

We took a table and were served samples of the Falcon Pale Ale (fragrant and caramel coloured with fruit and pine hop flavours) and the Red Rocks red (creamy with a caramel, toffee sweetness).

Steve explained to us the International Bitterness Units (IBU) Scale. The bitterness taste in beer comes from the AHA acids in the hops. An IBU of 5 is about average. A very bitter dark beer might have an IBU of 13. I wondered if this scale might be applied to personalities as well.

Steve also told us about the Original Gravity (OG) and Final Gravity (FG) of beer. OG measures the sugar levels in the beer before fermentation. The FG is how much sugar is left when fermentation is done. A lower FG indicates a dry or crisp flavour, while a higher FG indicates a sweet or malty flavour.

I definitely prefer my FG, and my IBU, nice and low – most of us Aussie’s do I reckon.

TAKE IT AWAY

The bars in Denver serve beers in 16 oz Pilsner glasses. The microbreweries also serve half gallon jugs, or “growlers” of beer.

The term “growler” dates back to the late 19th century when fresh beer was carried from the local pub to one's home by means of a small-galvanized pail. It is claimed the sound that the carbon dioxide made when it escaped from the lid as the beer sloshed around sounded like a growl.

Another story suggests that buckets of beer were given to factory workers before their stomachs began to "growl" from hunger. And still another story suggests that since the beer would spill from the pails as the men walked home from the pub, they themselves would begin to growl...

So if, like Mayor Hickenlooper, the Denverites are hankering for fresh beer and they want to drink it in the comfort of their own home while they watch the game, they can get a half gallon to take away from their favourite microbrewery in a growler. Pubs that don’t brew on the premises are not legally permitted to sell growlers. Unopened, a growler will last 7-10 days. Once opened, the beer must be consumed within 36 hours. No wonder these Yanks can hold their beer so well!

BEER LOVERS UNITE

Looking for an excuse to mine the Mile High City? Not only is the Denver the headquarters of the highest number of home brewers in the USA, it's also home to the world's largest single brewery (the MillerCoors Brewery in Golden produces more than 17 million barrels of beer a year). What's more, this Mecca of beer is host to the brewing industry's most prestigious event - the "Super Bowl" of beer.

In a salute to their international award winning beer industry, Denver holds the annual Great American Beer Festival (the world’s largest commercial beer competition – eat your heart out Germany) each September. For those who take their beer swilling seriously, this is the event of a lifetime.

Last year almost 50 000 punters flocked to the GABF from across the globe and wrapped their laughing gear around over 2000 different brews. 132 beer judges from ten different countries picked the top beer brewing states, the top breweries, the top brewers and the top brews in the USA. The state of Colorado won the most medals, naturally.

HOPS TO IT

V Australia flies direct to Los Angeles from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. United Airlines offers eight daily non-stop flights from LA to Denver.

Resources

visitdenver.com, denvermicrobewtour.com, wynkoop.com, greatdivide.com, rockbottom.com, breckbrew.com, greatamericanbeerfestival.com

This article was completed on March 11 2010. If you are interested in publishing it (or a rewrite), please email me at annabellewarwick@gmail.com.

Colorado: a Mile High in Denver

Sun, 16 May 2010 01:55:15 +0100

by Anna Warwick.

After a long-haul flight from sunny Sydney (thanks for the upgrades V Australia!) my friends and I took time out in Denver CO to adjust to the altitude before hitting the slopes. The mile high city took our breath away! Denver is gorgeous - it sparkles by day and glitters by night. The wide streets seem to stretch out flat forever beneath technicolour blue skies; but turn a corner and suddenly there’s an enormous snow-capped mountain range looming in the distance. Shopping is great. There are book stores and little cafes and original boutiques selling genuine cowboy shirts and boots.

By night Denver’s bars and restaurants are amazing. Young people move here for the outdoor lifestyle, neighbouring slopes and work opportunities. Even on Monday night we found a cozy pub to hang out in with the locals. This city is going places.

Cultural Oasis
Denver oozes history, art and culture. It’s easy to get around on foot, or catch the free streetcar. We took a fantastic mystery walking tour with Denverinsideandout.com, where 1920’s characters materialised to help us solve a gangster bank robbery! The clues led us from sculptures of buffalo to historical statues, to the Blue Bear and Denver’s most famous sights.

Our hotel - the Hotel Teatro - is where the stars stay when they come to town. It is beautiful and elegant, with high ceilings, framed photos of famed Thespians on the walls; and service to match. Animals are allowed – no cats, unless you’re Snoop Dog - and you can order a goldfish in a bowl to keep you company overnight...

We had a fantastic stay and really enjoyed the food as well, so if you’re staying elsewhere, pop in for dinner or a pre-theatre cocktail. You can catch a musical, play or opera across the street any night of the week. Pre-show dining means Denver’s fabulous restaurants fill up early. Our favourite was Rioja on Larimer Street - the mushroom and truffle oil ravioli knocked my socks off. Denver CO is a treat!

www.visitdenver.com
www.denver2for2tix.com

Heartbeat of a Nation: the Kangaroo Debate

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 06:14:26 +0100

by Anna Warwick

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHqaUyOGhxc&feature=player_embedded

I am greatly disturbed by the Kangaroo debate, one aspect of which came up this week in the form of the Queensland Kangaroo meat industry's bid to regain the Russian export market by cleaning up it’s act. But many experts, including Bob Irwin, argue that the entire industry should simply be put to bed.

I jumped on board this debate as soon as I heard the other side when I volunteered to MC National Kangaroo Awareness Day Rally October 2009. I was sceptical, but the "pest/sustainable resource" myth - which I had literally bought into (roo skin jacket, kangaroo bolognese) - was shockingly and finally debunked for me. The truth is that kangaroo populations have severely declined all over the country. Of an original 60 plus species of kangaroo, 20 are now threatened and 11 extinct. 60 Minutes NZ are doing a story on the issue and I believe it's time Australian journalists took another look at the facts.

Are kangaroos in plague proportions?
You hear it all the time. On November 6th news.com.au reported that"A PLAGUE of kangaroos has descended on the outback Queensland town of Thargomindah in search of food and water due to the drought."Other news sources used the inflammatory words "under seige", "invaded" and "overrun". The news.com.au report then quoted a local police officer who stated that around 50 roos and emus and other animals were coming by night to graze on abandoned paddocks and lawns and this was "a nuisance" merely. This week a kangaroo was accused by the Bundaberg News Mail of having “started a bushfire”. The facts are it was hit by a speeding sports car on a deserted Queensland road and killed. The sports car blew up and a bushfire started.

It is difficult to count kangaroos - the current estimate of the Australian roo population is somewhere between 19 and 42 million. The pre-European settlement roo population is estimated to have been around two hundred million. The cull is veiled in double speak. Internationally it is being likened to whale and dolphin harvesting for "scientific research". While the Australian govt has sanctioned the slaughter of over 1 million roos this year (in 2007/2008 the cull was a world record breaking 3.8 - not including those killed for sport or the 300,000 young at foot left to die or in-pouch young killed), the facts state that the average age of a kangaroo has gone down from 12 in the 1980's to 2/3 yrs old, barely breeding age, now. Kangaroos give birth to only one joey per year and the survival rate for joeys is low, particularly during a drought. The largest males are picked off first (effecting gene pools), but 70 per cent of 'roos slaughtered in recent years have been female. The death of a mother of two joeys effectively wipes out three generations. The Department of Environment's figures show that in most states where kangaroos are hunted they are at 'quasi extinction' levels (less than 5 roos per square km).

Is the kangaroo industry viable?
While the Department of Environment talks about the 'sustainable harvesting of renewable resources' the kangaroo industry is difficult to justify. Kangaroos could never replace more than a tiny fraction of the cattle and sheep meat Australians consume. According to the Queensland Department of Primary Industries, each full grown Kangaroo produces between 6.8 and 10 kilos of meat, 3 of which is lean and still only worth a few dollars a kilo. Even a three month old lamb produces 20 kilos of meat. A kangaroo skin is $10 per roo. There is skin and meat, but no wool.

Secondly, the way the roos are killed is inhumane. 50 per cent are killed with a shot to the face or neck from a moving vehicle in the dark, which is illegal under the Code of Practise for the humane killing of kangaroos and leads to a long, slow and painful death. Bashing, stomping on or decapitating in-pouch joeys to death is legal.

Thirdly, kangaroos cannot be farmed as their flesh becomes toxified when captive, so the meat is transported long distances and it doesn't last. Kangaroo meat is only edible semi-raw. the aboriginals ate their kill immediately. It swiftly becomes contaminated when stored and pets and humans can contract many different diseases from the meat, including cancer. Russia (formerly the largest investor in the industry) banned the importation of kangaroo meat in 2009 due to E.coli contamination and the unethical nature of the industry. Canado too, has banned the importation of kangaroo meat.

Are kanagroos a pest?
The language pastoralists use around kangaroos: "plague, invasion, pest" is negative; whereas the effect of the animal on livestock and the land is not. A six year study by Dr Steven McLeod at UNSW found "no evidence of a competitive effect of red kangaroos on sheep in terms of body mass, wool growth, reproductive output of sheep or the growth and survivorship of lambs." Roos have adapted to the Australian environment over at least 16 million years. Research shows that they rarely wander more than 400 meters from their home range in the bush, do not drink from dams (they barely drink anything compared with the livestock industry which uses 65% of all water) or eat farm crops as perceived (one proposed reason for the theoretical "plagues"), and avoid grazing livestock altogether.

In fact, unlike introduced livestock, which wreak havok on the environment, kangroos do not cause any soil erosion or release greenhouse gases. They eat the dry grass that would otherwise catch fire, and they regenerate and fertilize native grasses as they go.

Why have we turned against our mate Skippy?
I could theorise here about the size of a kangaroo, their freedom and their proximity to the top of the food chain. Do we see them, subconsciously, as a rival? Or is it just that they get in the road?

Perhaps the biggest issue we Australians have with our most famous icon is that they jump onto our country roads, causing their own deaths and the occasional fatal accident. Witness the debacle at Bathurst Mount Panorama last year where 140 roos were massacred just in case one got onto the road in the middle of the big money (environmentally disastrous) car race. John Lyle cares for the orphaned joeys from that mob at his wildlife sanctuary in Oberon. It's a full time job. In the States and Canada they have overpasses for their wildlife. Why can't we do the same for our roos? Is it just that bullets are cheaper or... do we like to kill them?

The roo myth is a symptom of a much bigger picture: apathy, ignorance and arrogance toward our ecology. It's a case of short sightedness and the prioritisation of established economic structures over the environment. There is a drought, and the remaining Australian wildlife are risking their lives to come closer to us and find food and water. In the case of Thargomindah, the cattle are gone and so the native wildlife are grazing on the de-stocked paddocks. We can't blame the farmers for the dessimation of the land and watersystems - sustainable farming is another issue - but nor can we use kangaroos as a scapegoat. We must address alternatives to culling.

Because it's not just about the kangaroos - it's about us. While the profits are being privatised, the losses are being socialised. How will we be able to call ourselves Australians if this species - our responsibility - becomes extinct within the next few decades because we turned a blind eye? What will we call our international football team? What unforseeable costs will the greater ecosystem face in this eventuality? Economically, Australia's $86 billion tourist industry is being jeapordised. Many tourists complain that they never see a single kangaroo in the outback.

We can no longer close our minds and hearts toward our national icon. Kangaroos are worth more to us alive than they ever will be dead.