I'm not one for long-range planning, and my recent trip to Australia confirms this. Booked at the last minute with airline points, I just took whatever flights I could get. A more organized aging-folkie would have done the research, scanned the internet for music festivals and concerts and the like, and skillfully arranged a whirlwind, whistle-stop tour, taking in every musical venue Australia had to offer - but not me.

"So why did you want to go to Australia in the first place?" I hear you asking.
"Good question," I reply.

An anniversary gift to myself and my wife; a chance to catch up with my two daughters who are living in Darwin, a complete break from the routine, an escape from the Newfoundland winter and, oh yes, an opportunity to check out the Australian music scene. You know, all the usual reasons.

"So what does the Australian music scene have to offer?" you inquire.
“Another good question.”

Well for starters, every hard-working musician in the northern hemisphere and their dog are in Australia in February, March and April, to escape the brutal northern winter and bask in the warm Australian sunshine in between gigs. At this point, I should mention some of them - people that I almost saw, and would have seen if I had gotten my act together. Here goes...............

The day I landed in Melbourne, Lucinda Williams and Steve Earle were playing a concert downtown. What would I have given to see them? Not enough obviously as I had tickets booked to fly out that afternoon to Hobart, Van Diemen's Land. So my once-in-a-lifetime, never-to-be-seen-again chance to see two of my favourite artists together was not to be.

Other lost opportunities included the world famous Port Fairy Folk Festival near Melbourne, with just your average world class artists, including Alison Brown, Niamh Parsons, Ralph McTell, Eliza Carthy, Steeleye Span, Paul Brady, Kate Campbell, Dick Gaughhan, Harry Manx and Sharon Shannon, amongst others. Pick me up off the floor would you?!! Now that would have been one hell of a festival if I'd stayed on till mid March and seen it, but - you guessed it, it didn't happen. The hired car had to be in Cairns by then, so I didn't have the time.

Likewise the Byron Bay Blues and Roots Festival, not that I would have gone out of my way to see James Brown, the godfather of soul or Jackson Browne, but maybe Soloman Burke, Richard Thompson and TAJ MAHAL? Sure, why not? And there were other festivals which, for various reasons, failed to materialize, and slipped through my fingers like fine sand. At each of these festivals there was, of course, a wealth of local, home-grown talent that most of us have never heard of. Bands like Sleepy Jackson, the Waifs, the OLD SPICE BOYS, Eric Bogle (alright, everyone's heard of him), Paul Kelly, Juzzie Smith and, well, so many more.

So by now you're thinking, this idiot went all the way to Australia and saw nothing!! Wrong! The last part of my trip took me to Perth where even I actually managed to get to a folk festival and a folk club. At the Fairbridge Folk and Roots Festival, there were, amongst others, The Waybacks (from San Francisco), Christy O'Leary (Ireland) with Bert Deivert (USA), Pete Morton (UK), Bob Brozman (USA), Kristina Olson (USA) and my favourite band of all -- the Old Spice Boys (from NSW, Australia). At the Mundaring Folk Club, Canada's own James Keelahan was playing with Jez Lowe (from England) and what a night that was. Maybe we can get them to play here sometime. Oh yes, and I did bump into James Brown at Perth Airport when I was leaving. I knew it was him straight away, even before I saw his name on the back of his white suit!

So, what did I learn from all this? Is there a moral to this diatribe? Well yes, if I'd been more organized I'd have seen more. But do you know what? I have no regrets. I was on holiday and whatever happened, happened.

I did pick up some really important trivia though, from a newspaper in Melbourne. For years, they thought that the bubbles in Guinness all rose to the surface and that the slower ones that appear to be sinking weren’t really sinking at all and that it was just an optical illusion. Well guess what? Scientists have proven with sophisticated digital equipment that some of the bubbles do in fact sink. So there you have it. Who says travel is a complete waste of time?

P.S. By the way - the one Festival I never miss is the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival - back in my own backyard. Here’s to it!!