- This is part of our incredible holiday of Scotland, Norway and Amsterdam, and seeing the remarkable Northern Lights. Amsterdam Place: Amsterdam Where: The Netherlands It’s 20 years since I last went to Amsterdam. On a Contiki tour. That visit was… let’s just say… a little more colourful and adventurous than this couple of days staying in a luxury hotel and dining out at some amazing restaurants. This was a brief stopover on the way home from our Scotland and Amsterdam trip. We stayed at the Dylan Hotel, which is also home to the two Michelin star restaurant, Vinkeles. We dined there […]
- Beijing Place: Beijing Where: China The planets had aligned on the earlier part of our trip – with a White Christmas in Europe, and then being spoilt with the Northern Lights. So our brief stopover in Beijing on the way home was always a bit of an afterthought. But again, the planets aligned. Snow in the centre of Beijing is pretty rare, happening only a handful of times over the last few years. Then having fine weather so we could see a crisp blue sky, not the brown haze that Beijing is so famous for. And then squeezing in our […]
- Darwin Place: Darwin Where: Northern Territory A short work trip took me to Darwin in September 2019. The flight was longer than the actual workshop we hosted – and given the meeting was on a Friday, I took the opportunity to hang around and see Darwin. I had never been there before and this trip ticks off the final capital city in Australia for me. After work, I walked around town and took in the Waterfront area where there is a swimming pool surrounded by sand. I’ve been assured they’ve made it crocodile safe, considering the Harbour is teaming with […]
- Little Willow Farmstay Place: Little Willow Farmstay Where: Gangbanang NSW Drive for about two hours west of Sydney and you’ll come to a little place called Kanimbla Valley, just across the river from the more famous Megalong Valley. Here you’ll find the Little Willow Farm Stay. We found it on Airbnb, and booked in a weekend away for a birthday celebration with some friends. The farm stay is in a beautiful location, where you can only see a few lights out on the horizon of a night time – and a million stars up above. The accomodation itself is nestled […]
- Byron Bay Place: Byron Bay Where: New South Wales Byron Bay is renowned for its long beaches, long surf breaks and… well, let’s face it. Backpackers, hippies and pot. We took a long weekend away here in February 2019. To break up the extraordinarily long drive (made even longer by the never ending roadworks on the Pacific Highway), we stopped in Coffs Harbour for a night. Up early in the morning, it was down to the Coffs Jetty for sunrise. Then, like a John Denver song, it was on the road again heading north towards Byron Bay and our Air […]
- Sydney Sunset Place: Dudley Page Reserve Where: Sydney Dudley Page Reserve is a park perched high on the hilltop in Sydney’s eastern suburbs overlooking Sydney Harbour. It presents an iconic Sydney scene, looking straight down the harbour at the Opera House, Bridge and city skyline. The perfect place to take in a colourful sunset like this.
- Mudgee Place: Mudgee Where: New South Wales Camping? In winter? You’ve got to be kidding me. Unless your tent comes with a bed, shower, bath, flushing toilet, wood fire, fridge… This is how you do camping – or to be more precise, glamping. We stayed at Sierra Escapes, about a 20 minute drive out of Mudgee. It’s in the middle of nowhere and due to the current drought, it’s a barren moonscape vista. But being so far away from everything means the stars shone bright. In fact, bright enough to see the Milky Way with the naked eye. We savoured […]
- Maldives Place: Maldives Where: Indian Ocean The Maldives is easily one of the most amazing and picturesque places on the face of the earth. The photos probably won’t do it justice. The crystal clear azure water, the white sands… this place is incredible. We stayed at two island resorts. The first was Finolou, a funky little beach place where we had an over-water bungalow. After a hot and sweaty seaplane ride in, we were straight into the water. After a few nights there, we moved on to our next island – Amila Fushi. This place is to die for. The […]