Our Australia and New Zealand trip in 7 short stories - By Doug Powell & Lyz Nagan

Introduction

 Ok, Lyz Nagan-Powell and I have been back home for about a week now. We’re powering through the jet lag, and finally getting over our “Kiwi colds,” and it’s time to start sharing some pics and stories from our epic 5-week journey through Australia and New Zealand.

We’ve been planning this trip for nearly 4 years, since we first heard that the 2023 Women’s World Cup football (soccer) tournament would be hosted jointly by the two countries (how civilized and humane to share a global sporting event???). Lyz and I have been to the last two Women’s World Cups (2015 in Canada, and 2019 in France) and have steadily become infatuated with the women’s game for its passionate teams and fans, accessibility, affordability, and incredible quality of play. The combination of all that plus two of our favorite countries was too much to resist!

We mapped an itinerary through both countries that would give us access to as many WWC games as possible, and also to parts of both countries that we haven’t seen before (or have seen and wanted to see again). Ultimately we decided to use five cities as our home bases during the journey: Melbourne, Hobart, Wellington, Auckland, and Sydney. We stayed almost entirely in short-term rentals, as we usually do when we travel internationally, which gave us the chance to settle into the neighborhoods in a more natural way; requiring us to find the grocery stores, pubs, galleries, and coffee shops, and to figure out the local transit system (the very best way to understand a new city).

Stay tuned for individual posts & pics from each of our stops over the days to come!

Melbourne

Our first stop was Melbourne, one of our favorite places on the planet (oh yes, we also happen to have an amazing local host there in Zev Powell). We stayed in the impossibly charming Fitzroy neighborhood, a near-northern suburb of Melbourne nestled between Carlton and Collingwood. Melbourne is practically perfect in every way. Excellent public transit with buses and street cars that seem to arrive exactly when you need them, and take you anywhere you need to go. Local music, art, coffee/tea, and incredible food. And every couple blocks there is a “hotel”…a modest historic building on the corner with a pub in the ground floor. It’s usually nothing fancy, just a sweet spot to grab a pint (or a schooner), catch your breath, and reflect on your day or watch a little footy.

In addition to some lovely time with Zev and his local people, we saw an impressive exhibition of the underrated impressionist Pierre Bonnard at @ngvmelbourne, a breathtaking show of indigenous Australian artist Gordon Bennett at @suttongallerymelbourne, and an incredible photography exhibit at @ccp_australia. Melbourne’s many gardens and parks provided daily opportunities to stretch our legs and get in some steps.

Fitzroy is home to one of our favorite restaurants anywhere, @napier_quarter, which we visited on a previous trip (and have been dreaming about ever since). Our lunch of local oysters and wine will have to sustain us until our return visit.

We recommend these amazing local spots for anyone visiting (or living in) Melbs: @abbotsfordconvent @licoricepie @collingwood_yards @cibi_minanoie @quiettime___ @minlokal_fitzroy_cafe @faradays.cage

And we attended the first of six WWC games in Melbourne: tournament favorites Germany vs first-timers Morocco. Germany won 6-0, but the actual play was much closer and more competitive than the score. This turned out to be a teaser for one of the major themes of the tournament: traditionally powerful teams underperforming, overshadowed by upstart newcomers. Ultimately Germany shockingly lost their next two games and did not progress, while Morocco won their next two and were among the first African teams ever to advance in the WWC.