Matty Somewhere

Fun at West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton, Canada – Day One!

A waterpark, amusement park, seal & penguin shows, ice skating rink, mini-golf, over 800 stores, 100 eating venues spread over 5.3 million square feet with visitation of around 30 million people per year – Welcome to West Edmonton Mall, the largest mall in North America! They say it takes one hour and a half to…

The Poutine and Mac n’ Cheese Stuffed Burgers at N9NA, Calgary, Canada.

My nephew and I were watching the food network when the Canadian show You Gotta Eat Here comes on. They’re in Calgary and talking about a restaurant called N9na. They mention a poutine stuffed burger and a mac n’ cheese stuffed burger, we look at each other and we say ‘we gotta eat here!‘ Located…

Dark Table, Calgary, Canada.

Dark Table is one of those experiences that you need to try to truly understand it. The servers are sight impaired, legally blind, and the dining room is in complete darkness. Up to 70% of people who are blind in Canada face unemployment and this restaurant not only employs the sight impaired, but gives the…

Royal Oak Hotel, Balmain, Sydney.

I’ve recently spent a few weeks looking after a dear friend’s house and her gorgeous kitty Clover, in Balmain, right on Sydney Harbour. My new local go-to was just a few hundred metres away – the Royal Oak Hotel. Balmain is a quick 11 minute ferry ride from Circular Quay, under the harbour bridge, and…

Jetstar – Melbourne to Sydney for $20.

Time to head home from Melbourne on our $20 tickets! We only have carry-on baggage at a limit of 7kgs, so there wasn’t much shopping done, but we had a great time visiting Chloe, eating at Flower Drum Restaurant and our hotel stay at The Grand Chancellor Hotel was lovely! How does one get $20…

Flower Drum, Melbourne.

When we were planning our Melbourne trip, my friend Jen and I were looking for somewhere special to have my birthday lunch – the day before my birthday. After much too-ing and fro-ing we settled on Flower Drum. It seems both of us have been wanting to visit it for years. Flower drum is a…

Dinner with Chloe at Chloe’s Rooms Bar & Brasserie, Melbourne.

My friend Jen and I had scored $20 each way tickets from Sydney to Melbourne with Jetstar. I won’t review the flight to Melbourne as it was pretty perfunctory. When we arrive late on a Tuesday afternoon (yes – you will usually get the best fares on a Tuesday) we check into the Grand Chancellor…

Bankstown Food Tour – Taste Cultural Food Tours.

It’s like travelling through Indochina and the Middle East on this wonderful food tour of Bankstown. Even better is that the tour company is a charity, non-for-profit organisation and social enterprise, where the profits are used to provide training to asylum seekers and immigrants. Food, isn’t it one of the best ways to celebrate diversity…

The Wineries of the Megalong Valley.

We decide head out for a day and what better place to go and relax than a winery? Megalong Valley, located on the western side of the Blue Mountains, have two wineries located a short drive from each other – Megalong Creek Estate and Dryridge Estate. The wine is beautiful, the service warm and friendly…

Sydney’s Pittwater, Palm Beach And The Show Home & Away

While in lockdown, we all watched quite a bit of television – queue music from Prisoner or Orange is the New Black- if you’re like me and don’t mind watching the occasional soapie – it tends to be a bit of escapism from the everyday. Tourism has a lot to thank tv shows, movies and…

Three Pub Meals – Blue Mountains, New South Wales.

OK, so the title is a lie. Due to lockdown in Sydney and the Blue Mountains, in this post I visit two pubs and a Cafe for takeaway. I live at the base of the Blue Mountains and love to head up there on the weekends or a day I have free. If you love…

The Markets of Hakodate, Japan.

In the spirit of the Olympic Games being held in Tokyo, and while we’re under duress of not being able to travel, I thought I would take you on a journey, back to pre COVID-19 times, when I visited the Japanese city of Hakodate on the island of Hokkaido. It’s not Tokyo but has wonderful…

Yeppoon & The Capricorn Coast, Queensland.

Welcome to Yeppoon! Home to the Darumbal indigenous people, the traditional custodians of the area, Yeppoon was settled by Europeans in 1865. It’s a gorgeous seaside village on the Capricorn Coast of Central Queensland. Like the tentacles of a squid, or a Kraken, I’m spending this time of no international travel visiting friends and places…

QANTAS Airways Flight QF179 – Sydney to Norfolk Island.

You’ve probably read some of my Norfolk Island posts, posts on the food, the history, and the cows. In this post I will tell you all about the flight to the island. I was able to use up some Qantas Frequent Flyer points for this trip – my shopping at Woolworths has come in handy…

Taiwanese Three Cup Chicken

With a current Sydney lockdown (and still no International travel on the cards for awhile) I am missing international food. A Taiwanese friend gave me this easy recipe which is so tasty, and easy to make, it’s a banging good dish! Many years ago, I was flying from Australia to the United States via Asia….

Three Pubs – Rockhampton, Central Queensland.

I’m visiting a good mate who moved to Rockhampton (Rocky) a couple of years ago. Rocky has a country vibe and is known as the beef capital of Australia. I’m not a huge fan of beef but you know…when in Rome… We’re visiting three pubs while I’m here for some country fare. The first two…

Norfolk Island food review – and some fun foodie facts!

Welcome to Norfolk Island, a small island that lies some 1700 kilometres or so off the east coast of mainland Australia, almost midway between New Caledonia and New Zealand. I’ve just spent a week here… Get ready for an interesting island food ride…and some fun foodie facts. My BFF and travel tag-along (“Lets go here!”… “OK”), Ciaran,…

Norfolk Island Fun Facts – History

Welcome to Norfolk Island, a small island that lies some 1700 kilometres or so off the east coast of mainland Australia, almost midway between New Caledonia and New Zealand. I’ve just spent a week here… Get ready for an interesting island ride…and some fun facts. history /ˈhɪst(ə)ri/ 1. The study of past events, particularly in human affairs…

Norfolk Island Fun Facts – Communication.

Welcome to Norfolk Island, a small island that lies some 1700 kilometres or so off the east coast of mainland Australia, almost midway between New Caledonia and New Zealand. I’ve just spent a week here… Get ready for an interesting island ride…and some fun facts. Communication //kəmjuːnɪˈkeɪʃ(ə)n/ Noun1. The imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing,…

Ancient Buddhist Temple Borobudur, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Love to travel? Me too, so I thought I might share a post from 9 years ago, 2012 – What an amazing adventure into history this was! This is Borobudur Temple in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. What: Borobudur, the largest and oldest singular Buddhist Temple worldwide Where: Approx. 38kms from Yogyakarta (Jogjakarta) in Central Java, Indonesia When: 9th century…

Norfolk Island Fun Facts – Power.

Welcome to Norfolk Island, a small island that lies some 1700 kilometres or so off the east coast of mainland Australia, almost midway between New Caledonia and New Zealand. I’ve just spent a week here… Get ready for an interesting island ride…and some fun facts. Todays post is all about POWER. Power /ˈpaʊə/ Noun:1. The ability or…