Riowakening

Brazil through an Australian's eyes

Technobloco, Carnaval, Rio, Friends and Freedom

Ambushing the Sambódromo with hundreds of other Brazilian Carnaval party animals was one of the best moments of my life. The epicentre...

Brazil's Rio Carnival is the best party in the world

Brazil's Carnival really is the greatest party on Earth. You hear these calls thrown around about different celebrations around the...

Brazilians love and hate relationship with Brazil

There are so many Brazilians with so much pride for their country and others with so much shame. For a lot it's a mix of the two. It’s...

Rio de Janeiro is like the Berlin of South America

Heading to a music night in the back of an Uber through Centro’s grungy streets dotted with dilapidated, graffitied-covered buildings, I...

Brazilian visas and the difficulties for tourists to stay

Coming all the way to South America and not visiting Brazil is like having sex without achieving orgasm - it’s great but you missed the...

Saudades for the beautiful Brazilian beach town of Buzios

As a Christmas orphan I hopped on a bus to find other family-less travellers in beautiful Buzios. Along with backpackers from the hostel...

Sydney lockout laws: A bad problem or a Baird problem?

I've been living in Rio for most of the year, a city which suffers from some pretty bad problems. But for all its issues it doesn't...

Murdered in Rio: A tourist’s wrong turn into hell

An Italian tourist who took a wrong turn into a favela and wound up dead with a bullet in his head today is another reminder of the...

Are Brazilians and Australians similar and what do we have in common?

You'll see Aussie surf brands worn all over Brazil, from the beaches to the gangsters in the favelas just like Quiksilver above. In...

Lollapalooza Brasil tickets and raging against the machine of high Brazilian costs

The uproar recently surrounding the soul-crushing price of tickets to Lollapalooza Brasil is just a glimpse of Brazil's huge cost problem....

An Aussie's misson to learn Brazilian Portuguese in Rio

You lose part of yourself when you try talk in another language. That quick wit, an off the cuff observation, a complex thought, jokes,...

Visiting Sao Paulo on a Brazilian holiday is a must

Sao Paulo has to be one of the most underrated and unloved great cities of the world. While just about everyone knows the famous...

Is Brazil safe to travel? Why tourists shouldn't worry

A newspaper front page with a little girl covered in her dead mother’s blood declared “Terrorism in Rio is everyday”. In the grisly...

Brazilian women are more than a gringo's sex dream

Amidst the sexed-up excitement of men clamouring to reach Brazil and indulge their fantasies all sense of reality seems to go missing. ...

Brazilian crime is prime time television

Brazil has turned its big time crime problem into prime time television. Taking the lead expertly from the USA, cameras chase Brazil’s...