Sometimes when you live in a big city, the time comes when you need a break, to escape from the noise, the crowds, and the madness of everyday life. Everyone needs to get away from time to time. For Melbournians, Phillip Island is one of the best places to flee to when you need a bit of peace and quiet and some time to reconnect with nature. Phillip Island...
Artvo is Melbourne’s newest art gallery, but unlike other art galleries, it’s not about looking at beautiful works of art. Instead, you’ll become part of the art! It’s the first gallery of its kind in Australia, and thousands of people have passed through its doors since they opened in August 2016. By making art accessible, Artvo has become a social media phenomenon...
Sri Lanka is one of the best places in South Asia to see wildlife. In fact, that was a key reason we wanted to go there. Being animal lovers, we’ve always wanted take a safari to see wild animals in their natural environment. We haven’t yet made it to Africa, so Udawalawe seemed like a great alternative. We were keen to see elephants, but we wanted to avoid the...
Osaka was the last stop of our two week trip to Japan, and we had originally planned to spend two full days there. However, we made a last minute decision to stop off in Himeji along the way, to check out the newly restored castle. We ended up spending a good part of the day in Himeji, arriving in Osaka late afternoon. That only gave us a single day to explore the...
After our visit to Hiroshima, our Japanese trip was sadly coming to an end. We had to make our way to Osaka for our final two days, before flying home from Kansai Airport. But there was one final place to tick off the bucket list, Himeji Castle. After five years of intensive restoration work, Himeji Castle had finally re-opened its doors to the public. The castle is...
Miyajima is a picture-perfect island off the coast of Hiroshima. It is the best day trip to take if you want to escape that bustling city. Miyajima is really easy to get to and has so much to offer in terms of culture and local traditions. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996, Miyajima is one of the most popular tourist’s destinations in Japan...
Europe might be the second smallest continent in the world but it is full of wonderful places worthy of discovery. In fact, if you were to visit them all you’d be on the road for quite some time. The best thing about Europe is the diversity of landscapes, cultures, and religions. And to top that off, Europe has enough types of cuisine to keep any foodie happy...
After our stay in Kyoto we hopped back on a bullet train, this time headed towards Hiroshima. Our ride on the Shinkansen was under two hours long, direct and as always very pleasant. Because we left Kyoto bright and early, we arrived in Hiroshima just before 10 am. That let us spend a few hours in Hiroshima itself, before catching a ferry to Miyajima Island in the...
You might think that Hawaii is all about lying on the beach, surfing and enjoying the spectacular scenery. But some of the best things to explore in Hawaii are found under water. Beneath the stunning blue sea is a world of tropical fish, colourful coral reefs, friendly green sea turtles, rays, dolphins and many other species of marine life. A school of Surgeonfish in...
As a first time visitor to the Hawaiian islands, it’s really hard to choose which islands to head to. When I organised our initial trip to Hawaii I did lots and lots of research but I still found it hard to decide. Each of the islands has its own unique charms and personality. Ideally you’d visit them all, but of course, for most of us, that’s not practical. Which...