MEDIA FEATURES
– Financial Times by Maria Shollenbarger -
“I opted to spend a dazzling bluebird Sunday exploring the northern reaches of Sydney Harbour — not on the more expected motor yacht, but an impeccably restored 61ft classic sailboat, with whose owner the hotel [Capella Sydney] has partnered. My Cicero was Max Burns-McRuvie, a guide-historian who is a real ace in the Capella’s pocket: charismatic, chill, deeply versed in his city’s past, with a penchant for amusing and slightly salty tales of its storied underbelly. We cruised past … all places the average for-a-few-days visitor might never see, their backstories brought to fascinating life. We anchored off Reef Beach, a tiny sliver of sand facing Manly that’s accessible only by bush trail or boat… It was as gloriously and uniquely Sydney a day as they come…”
– The Straits Times by Mavis Teo –
“Mr Maxwell Burns-McRuvie of Journey Walks is a walking encyclopaedia of Sydney’s colonial history. He describes himself as a crime historian, storyteller and event host.
He takes my group out on a night tour which starts with dinner and cocktails, followed by whisky shots in a former underground opium den, Doss House.
But most memorable are his tales of Sydney’s colourful residents, whose claims to infamy range from the ingenious to the farcical – such as three French whalers trying to get rid of a dead body after one of them bungled a murder.“
– The Times UK by Chloe Sachdev -
“I chose to wine, dine and crime my way through Sydney’s historic underworld with Capella’s young-gun historian, Max Burns-McRuvie, a salacious hoot of a storyteller, who spins sexed-up yarns of Sydney’s gritty past. Our night began with cocktails in a nearby converted 19th- century police station, now a Chinese restaurant, in Sydney’s historical cobblestoned district. Sitting inside a former cell, Burns-McRuvie regaled us with grisly murder stories and debauched tales about the city’s convict underbelly, before our delicious wine-pairing dinner of wontons, braised wagyu shin and lobster tail. Our night ended lubricated with whisky flights in a former underground opium den, Doss House, a 140-year-old cellar, and was both a genuinely fun night out and a snapshot of Sydney beyond the postcard“
TV FEATURES – WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? ON SBS
CHEF MATT MORAN
Season 13, Episode 6 – Matt Moran discovers a convict lineage hailing from Ireland, a criminal heritage that is broken by a heroic, hardworking ancestor, and a 100-year-old woman he met as a child.
JOURNALIST JENNY BROCKIE
Season 14, Episode 2 – Journalist Jenny Brockie uncovers her mother’s family history and learns her distant relatives were a gang member and a brothel owner from Ireland.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE - WRITTEN IN CHALK
Written in Chalk – The Echo of Arthur Stace
A documentary that explores the story of Arthur Stace, the man who inscribed the word eternity throughout the streets of Sydney, and the cultural impact he has had on generations to follow.
PODCAST FEATURES - HISTORY LAB
Last Drinks
In 1887 there were no less than 22 hotels in Darlinghurst. Over the next century and a half, the character, culture and clientele of Darlinghurst pubs evolved. This story explores the impact on Darlinghurst of two episodes of liquor licensing restrictions in NSW: six o’clock closing and the Sydney lockout laws.