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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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….

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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…

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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,…

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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…

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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,…

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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…

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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…

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Norfolk Island Fun Facts – Cows.

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. Cow /kaʊ/ Noun: 1. A fully grown female animal of…

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City Park – Launceston, Tasmania.

If you know me personally, I can be a bit of a monkey, all over the place but I also like things in order, symmetrical, a crooked picture will annoy me. Matty: “Could you give me directions to the closest supermarket please?” Hotel Concierge: “Sure, at the end of the street, it’s just a diagonal…

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