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Where is she off to next? A 2018 recap and plans for 2019

January 1, 2019October 28, 2022Adventure, Australia, Beaches, Cruise, Europe, Food, Hotels & Eateries, Leisure, New Zealand, Queenstown, Road Trips, Sightseeing, Sports & Activities, Travel, Uluru, Uncategorized, Wine admin 2 Comments

Firstly, happy new year to you all. It’s my first ever happy new year as a travel writer and man it makes my heart sing! Cheers to that!

I started this in July 2018 after some gentle persuasion from family and friends and let me just say, it’s been an absolute treat. Not only is this giving me an opportunity to write about my favourite thing to do, travel, I am actually writing. And taking photos. And learning. Being creative on some level has always been at the core of who I am and what I want to do with my life.

It’s been ace! And there is so much more to come.

I woke this morning on New Year’s Day with mixed emotion. One of my closest life allies and closest of friends was already up in the sky embarking on a new life adventure by moving from Melbourne to Seattle. I felt like I missed her already yet I was so bloody excited for her new path in life.

And we are up! Heli Glenorchy — Hannah & I in New Zealand… Good luck on your next life chapter darling. See you soon x

It got me to thinking about the past year, 2018. Personally, it was hideous on a lot of levels. No need to dwell on the past year, those who follow the blog know. But while it was literally the worst year of my life, I still managed to find it a humbling and life changing year in its own right. One in which I’ve learnt some extremely valuable life lessons and found a finer appreciation for life and living the best one imaginable. Lessons in which with gratitude and love I chose to embody going forward. I’ve dropped people pleasing and saying yes when I have wanted to say no for doing what I want on my terms, basically living my life more authentically and true to self.

And this means change. Professionally, personally and creatively. Some subtle, some huge and really significant and whilst it is scary I am so fucking excited! 2019 I absolutely and unapologetically choose me without any guilt.

And more travel of course.

And so the heart sings some more!

Nothing gives me more of a thrill that being in a plane… or helicopter so it seems

But back to last year. 2018 saw me focus on travel that was more localised. I ventured to Uluru, Northern Territory for the first time and it was monumental on all levels. So much so I really want to go back sooner rather than later. I think it was 2 weeks after my mum passed away that I fulfilled a promise to her and booked my flights and accommodation. At the time (and still now) my heart was completely shattered, I either felt a complete mess or just numb, so jumping on a plane seemed just about the best thing I could do to remove myself from all responsibilities of the last few years. Finding peace and connection in the middle of Australia is my account of one of the most insightful journeys I have had to date.

In July I headed off to New Zealand for the first time ever with a good friend of mine Hannah. While we didn’t stray too far from Queenstown, it was a beautiful holiday, one spent with a great friend, eating glorious foods, and adventuring around the area. Milford Sound was a huge highlight of this trip, the views are truly next level amazing and we got to see it all 3 ways, via bus, boat and unexpectedly via helicopter. You can read more about our Milford Sound adventure here. We had heard that food and wine in the area was sensational but nothing prepared us for exactly how amazing it was. Huge notable mention to fabulous Ferg burger, Ferg bakery, Rata, Bunker and the Gibbston Valley Winery and Cheese Shop. If food is your thing, get mouth wateringly jealous by reading this.

Queenstown, New Zealand — How stunning is Queenstown right?

Ship faced at 20 knots; a booze filled family adventure on the high sees details a little family get together on honour of my late mum for her birthday at the end of September. This trip saw me join my brother, his wife and numerous members of Mum’s family for a cruise off the coast of Queensland. This P&O cruise on the Pacific Dawn was to celebrate what would have been mums 64^th birthday and didn’t we do her proud. Well I hope so anyway. It was a bit of a booze cruise in the end, a few of us got sea sick (not I for I own a stomach of steel) but we all had a really great time being together. Especially that last day bar crawl. Ouch! Never knew there were so many bars on board cruise ships!

So… 2018 recap done and dusted, you may ask what is in store for The Bright Eyed Explorer in 2019?

Shit Loads.

It was only this morning I started planning my first ever trip to the US in October/November. I am off to Europe again in April and have done stuff all organising for that trip but the US trip, feel like I’m all organised!

So at Easter this year I’ll be off to Europe again. Landing in Rome on Good Friday I am hightailing it out of Catholic Rome at the most religious time of year and heading to Munich. Swapping religion for beer halls and pork knuckle sounds just about right to me. I’ll be in Munich for 4 days before heading to Salzburg to sample a little taste of what Austria has to offer.

Where I have stalled in organising this trip is… I only have 3 weeks and was thinking of heading from Salzburg to Slovenia and doing a bit of lake bled, and a touch of Ljubljana. But the more I think about Italy, and pasta, and Prosecco, and pizza, and wine, and gelato and um just Italy, the more I am compelled to skip the Slovenia side trip and just launching head first (stomach first) into northern and central Italy. Honestly, tough life choices I know. But what a good dilemma to have.

I am currently taking submissions/help/advice for my 2 weeks in Italy, but I do know that I will be doing Venice, Bologna, Florence and Rome. It’s the in between bits that I am unsure of. Do I do Cinque Terre? Pisa? Milan? Parma? Verona? I definitely want to do a bit of lounging around in Tuscany. With wine of course. If you have any insight for me, I am so interested in hearing your advice.

In October I’ll be heading to the US for the first time EVER! Didn’t think I’d be as excited as I am, it’s weird this disconnection I have had with the US until now. Maybe it’s the fascination I have with Europe? And Asia? Maybe like, New Zealand, I’ve stupidly felt it would be all too similar? But hey there’s nothing like one of your closest mates moving there to fuel some interest.

This morning I planned this trip all out. Land in LA, spend a few days with another close mate from Melbourne who happens to be on holidays at the same time. Then meet the friend living in the US in San Fran for a few days of exploring then heading back to her place in Seattle for a week and half. Being a teenager of the 90s and a huge lover of ‘Grunge’, Seattle has always been on my US list of must sees, but since knowing my friend was moving there, I’ve learnt more about the awesome food, coffee, booze, art and culture of Seattle so needless to say I am hell excited about going there.

While my friend is working, I plan on an overnighter in Portland Oregon, and on one of the weekends we will head into Canada to Vancouver. Ticking another country off my list. After Seattle, I’m solo tripping to Alaska! YAY! The more I learn about Alaska the more fucking excited I am. Glaciers, fjords, micro-breweries, off the beaten path stuff. It’s so me to a tea. BUT the biggest draw card and reason why I’m heading to Alaska, is the chance to see the northern lights again!!!

OMG I AM GOING TO SEE THE AURORA BOREALIS AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Speaking of the Northern Lights, I promise that I will have blog posts of my trip to Norway in 2017 up on the blog VERY soon… watch this space).

I’ve also realised that I really have not seen a lot of my home state Victoria. I mean I did grow up in the country and am very familiar with Ballarat and Portland, as well as Geelong, Port Fairy, Warnambool, Hamilton, Buningyong, Echuca and Wangaratta. But it is hard to believe that at 41 I have not yet seen the Great Ocean Road. What an absolute crime, I am actually quite embarrassed to admit that one. I’d also love to do a trip to Lake Tyrell to take gorgeous pics of the salt lake as well as other areas such as Lake Eildon, the Grampians, Bright and the Victorian Alps.

Time for some weekend road trips with my trusty DSLR me thinks.

And speaking of more local trips. Midway through writing this post I got side tracked (happens a lot) but received confirmation from a dear friend who is able to dog sit for me in a few weeks so it is off the Gold Coast I go for Australia Day weekend. Flights booked and all! Yay, I finally get to see my bro Richie and his wife Jas in their new home after too many months apart. Also ticking off the list for this trip is seeing his new band ‘Awake in Time’. I am VERY excited for this!

Before I forget, watch this space as I’ll be announcing a small collaboration with two other travel bloggers Matt Kepnes of Nomadic Matt and Kristin Addis of Be My Travel Muse. A piece I wrote on overcoming my fear of travelling solo will be featured with some other solo travellers. Such an honour to be a part of this one as both bloggers have been such a huge influence for me with their combined 14 plus years of experience. These are the bloggers that inspire me to be better and to work harder at what I am doing so it is an honour to be included.

Also, I recently came runner up in a competition to meet my master run by the guys at Red Zed. I had to write 250 words on my business master and what I would gain from meeting them. I submitted the entry on a tram on the way home from work so really have no idea what I wrote but apparently it was enough to get runner up placing and $1000 AUD. All goes into the travel account so I am so grateful for that opportunity. If I had of won, I would have been meeting Kristin Addis from Be My Travel Muse but the runner up placing was awesome considering I didn’t think my entry would even be considered.

So now I have blabbed on and on about my travels, where are you off to this year?

Do you have some plans set in place or a trip you are thinking about? If you do, I would LOVE to hear all about it.

Happy new year & safe travels for 2019.

S x

The Bright Eyed Explorer — Summer in Melbourne means hammock hangs…..

Queenstown – A food and wine lovers paradise

August 20, 2018October 28, 2022Adventure, Food, Leisure, New Zealand, Queenstown, Road Trips, Sightseeing, Travel, Uncategorized, Wine admin

Let me start of by saying one the one word that you will need to know for your trip to Queenstown is: ‘Fergburger’.

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, please read on.

My most recent holiday, a week in Queenstown, New Zealand with a good friend of mine, Hannah was always going to be a sensory overload to the tastebuds. Such is the reputation of the area’s local produce, wine and beer we were expecting utter greatness, and boy did Queenstown deliver the goods to two food and wine loving gals from Melbourne.

So, let me start with Fergburger. There is so much hype that surrounds the place, that when researching things to do, see, eat in Queenstown the first words uttered from every single one of my friends in Melbourne were “you MUST try Fergburger”. Every-single-friend. With a reputation like that how could you not give it a go, and a go we certainly gave it. Because Fergburger was so amazingly mouth watering good I have written a review which you can read here

The line up at Fergburger
You’ll have to read the review to see the burger

Most of our days started at the equally famous to Fergburger, the Fergbakery, where we’d fill up on strong coffees and breakfast as well as snacks for the day if we were out touring. In all honestly, the best croissants I’ve had outside of France, coffee was strong and so good (and being from Melbourne we know good coffee), their famous Boston cream donuts a sugary delight, and the pies! I thought Australia did pies well, but nothing comes close to how just how tasty New Zealand pies are. Skip the tomato sauce my friends, it is simply not needed. Fergbakery is certainly a winner, closing only for a few hours to re-bake and clean, it is a Queenstown institution and one that should be on your list.

Being lovers of good food and wine and being up for a good old splurge on our stomachs, Hannah and I booked dinner at two fine dining restaurants, Rata and Bunker. Bunker was a small and quiet little restaurant but the food was robust and delightful. Rata on the other hand, larger and slightly louder in atmosphere, had food that was out of this world orgasmic. I can’t ever remember a time where my eyes have rolled back into my head from the sheer delight of such good food before, it was simply that good! You can read the reviews of those two here (warning serious food envy to ensue).

Two other notable mentions:

The Pub – have $20 main meals that are both delicious and filling. I ate the pork belly and it was twice the size of what we get in Australia. Crisp crackle, not too salty and meat very tender
Eric’s Fish n Chips – located in a little caravan across from the Novotel. For a fresh light meal, this was a great option.

Eric’s Fish n Chips
Steak and onion pie from Fergbakery

There was only one place that we’d not waste time and money on again and that’s Cow pizza restaurant. Unlike Australia, Italian migration must have skipped New Zealand in the 1950s because the pizza was one of the worst I’ve tasted and the price exorbitant. The base was just wrong, too much cheese (and for a cheese lover that’s saying a lot) and who the hell ruins pizza by putting fresh tomato on it? One word, soggy. Hannah and I felt we were cheated out of a good Queenstown meal considering everything else we ate was top notch.

And now to the alcohol. The wine, especially the pinot noir is outstanding, and I will definitely go back to explore more of the Central Otago wine region for the wine alone. I’m imagining a beautiful warm autumn day tripping from one winery to the next, sampling the best of the regions wines and eating all the good cheeses. Hmmm yum!! The bars and pubs are very welcoming too. The service is great, they’re warm and most importantly showcase local beers which I was more than happy to sample a fair bit of. We particularly liked and frequently visited World Bar and Ballarat Trading Co. A word of caution for anyone who looks young enough to be underage, take your passport out with you on nights of drinking. Hannah at age 29 was refused service, a driver’s licence is not accepted, and I couldn’t buy drinks for her.

One of my most favoured parts of the trip to Queenstown was heading out to the Gibbston Valley winery and cheese shop. After taking the shuttle bus at 10am from Camp Street in central Queenstown in 20 minutes we were eating the most generous and tasty cheese platter paired with a delightful glass of Pinot Noir, and for breakfast no less. As you do when you’re on holidays! Honestly you can’t beat $40 NZD for all of what we ate. After gorging ourselves with cheese it was off to the winery for sampling… wine of course! What I liked about the wine tasting was that you could choose from only whites, reds or sparkling, or mixed tastings. All in front of an open wood fire. How cosy right? We both tried the Pinot Noir tasting, pared with a much smaller cheese platter. We did contemplate going the one we had for breakfast but thought that would be too gluttonous. I also had to sample the sparkling wines. I mean, I’d be a fool not to.

You can check out the Gibbston Valley Winery and Cheese shop website here

Breakfast is served!
Pinot Noir

Bubbles
Second cheese plate in 2 hours!

What pleasantly surprised me about Queenstown and I guess this goes for the whole of New Zealand, is just how well they do food and wine. I mean I knew it was going to be good but, was the reputation really to be believed? Aside from one shitty meal, everything else was amazingly beautiful. Fresh produce, tasty and felt healthy even if it probably wasn’t. On account of the food and wine alone, I will definitely head back to Queenstown for more gourmet experiences.