Search Results for: label/Asia
Secret Margaret River – What You Won’t Want to Miss
The Margaret River region, whilst famous for its wine, and rightly so, has something for everyone. Whether you are coming to escape the hustle and bustle of the city and want a quiet retreat. If you have come to celebrate a big occasion and want to taste some of the highest quality wines in the world. If spending time in the ocean is your thing. Or just hiking in the bush. One thing is for sure, Margaret River, and the surrounds, have you covered.
Start the day well
And what better way to set yourself up for your day, than an invigorating early morning walk along the oceanfront. Take off your shoes and feel the sand beneath your feet. Pause, listen to the seagulls squawking, circling above, and marvel at the ease with which the early surfers navigate the huge swell.
Whilst surfers have the sea to themselves, my priorities are a little different. No day starts without coffee, right? The best coffee in Margaret River right now is being pumped out by the Commonage Coffee Company (http://www.commonagecoffeeco.com.au/). On your way to the beach, take your reusable coffee cup and pick up one of the best brews you are sure to have on the west coast.
Suitably caffeinated, drive the short distance to the quaint bakery, Yallingup Gugelhupf, and pick up a small treat, still warm from the oven. I personally recommend the pain au chocolat. You won’t be disappointed.
Breakfast
The early start, the long walk along the beach, your mind will now be turning to thoughts of breakfast, and definitely more coffee.
Fast becoming a firm favourite, and not just for their excellent bacon benedict. Or the chilled vibe. Although both are a factor in always drawing us back. The great service, together with the strong, quality coffee ensure that a visit to the Sea Garden Café is always top of any itinerary in Margaret River.
All the breakfast classics are here, together with a few asian influenced dishes. Judging by the number I saw leaving the kitchen, the Nasi Goreng is a hit with the locals.
In town for more than one day? Of course you are. On your second morning, head along the coast to Gnarabup and have an equally impressive breakfast, with an even better view, at the unmissable White Elephant café. With possibly the best beachside location in the world, the “Ele” is always packed to the rafters with locals filling up after their early morning swim in the ocean, whatever time of year.
Wines and Vines
Breakfast done, and enough coffee to start your engine for the day, it is time to explore what Margaret River is most famous for. The premium wine that is produced from the 5,000 plus hectares under vine. Predominantly boutique, that are in excess of 200 wineries, enough to keep even the most enthusiastic oenophile busy for a long time.
Jarvis Estate
Greeted on arrival by AJ, the friendly family dog, Jarvis Estate (https://jarvisestate.com.au/) is a great example of one of Margaret River’s boutique vineyards. Thankfully, we arrived just as a large tour bus from the popular “Wine for Dudes” company was leaving. This meant we had the cellar door to ourselves, and AJ.
We were guided through a full tasting, of some rather excellent wines, and I even got to try a tawny, straight from the barrel. These are the kind of experiences that you don’t get from some of the larger, more commercial wineries.
Whether you prefer the classic Cabernet, famous in the region, or if white is your go to drink, there is sure to be something in the range that you will want to take home with you. If you would rather not go home, there are even a few unpowered camp sites available.
Rosily wines
Moving on to Wilyabrup, next on the list is Rosily vineyard (https://www.rosily.com.au/Rosily-Wines). Named after a French count, who was exploring the area of Western Australia in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Rosily maintains its French influence through the use of the fleur-de-lys on the label, and the French style in the wine making.
Enjoy an outstanding Sauvignon Blanc, but just don’t compare it to those produced over the Tasman in New Zealand. There was a friendly feeling of “them and us” when the subject was raised.
At Rosily, all the fruit is produced onsite and hand harvested, with the vineyard certified organic. The result is a full range of excellent wines that will make a welcome addition to your wine cellar.
Time for lunch
All this wine tasting has left you feeling as though you need some sustenance. And Margaret River has you covered. The options are almost endless. As I sat down to sip my Filius Chardonnay, from Vasse Felix, I decided that Meelup Farmhouse (https://www.meelupfarmhouse.com.au/) was certainly the right choice.
Located at the top of the Margaret River region, a stone’s throw from Meelup Beach, the Farmhouse feels like an oasis. Large picnic areas to while away a long afternoon, and a restaurant that feels relaxed, and refined at the same time. I can highly recommend the chargrilled Fremantle octopus and the Goldband snapper fillet. And I am told the chilli prawn spaghetti was delicious.
Breweries
Wine is what Margaret River became famous for, but hot on the shoulders is craft beer. With new breweries seemingly popping up all the time, you are spoilt for choice. Located at the top of the region, in Naturaliste, is Eagle Bay Brewing Company. A micro brewery situated on a working family farm that has been going for over 60 years.
The best way to sample the beers is to get yourself a tasting flight. Six of the tap beers, lined up in order of heaviness, saving the nut brown ale to finish on.
Situated down in Cowaramup, in a rural location on North Treeton Road, Cowaramup Brewing Company is a delight. Open every day, from 11am to 6pm, serving a range of quality handcrafted ales and lagers.
Again, the flight is the way to go. Getting to taste each of the Cowaramup Pilsener, Hefeweizen, Lightsign Summer Ale, Special Pale Ale, India Pale Ale and Cowaramup Chocolate Porter, leaves you wondering which one you will try a pint of. Just as long as you are not the “skipper”, and that someone else is in charge of the car keys.
Something for Everyone
The Margaret River region really has something for everyone. Now that the borders to West Australia have been relaxed this beautiful area, of natural beauty, and world class food and wine, should be top of your 2021 bucket list.
With so much still to explore, we have already booked a return visit for January. See you there?
Last minute reflections – Cambodia
So my final day arrives, and it is time for my last minute reflections on the trip to Cambodia. Funny how it always seems like just yesterday you were sat in an airport despite how long your trip has been. Time has a funny way of doing that to you. Through the ups and downs (and let’s not kid ourselves, there are downs – remember the night I saw my pizza twice in Sihanoukville?), it seems that you have been away forever. But then, like magic, you are back in the airport again and the whole adventure is over!
Moto, sir?
It has been a great adventure though. And like all my trips to Asia it always takes a day or two to readjust from the little cocoon we live in in the West. To reacquaint yourself to the sights, sounds, and smells of Asia. Yes, you do forget that the streets have piles of rotting garbage, that the heat gets unbearable and that if you hear “moto sir?” one more time you will go stir crazy. But after those first couple of days, when you are back in the groove, you find yourself chatting and having fun with the moto drivers, and complaining that you are too cold because of the air-con.
Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh was a real highlight, I think I really benefitted from having a couple of days at the start of the trip and then 2 more to finish up at the end. Walking through the city’s streets yesterday, seeing all the old buildings, I really got a feel what it might have been like when it was king of Indochine and described as the “Pearl of Asia”.
Kampot – worth a visit for more than just pepper
I loved Kampot and the slow pace of life down by the river. Oh, and did I mention the great pizzas? :-). Siem Reap has an unfair advantage, with the amazing temples of Angkor Wat on it’s door step, but I also really enjoyed the town, better appreciated once the floods had gone of course.
That leaves Sihanoukville. And with hindsight I wish I had. Left Sihanoukville that is! Shabby town! Shabbier beaches! And city bars owned by middle aged European perverts unable to find a wife at home in Germany.
Wrapping up my last minute reflections
So, to wrap up my last minute reflections on Cambodia. A fantastic trip. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Great locals, great food and great happy hours!
The changing face of travel
Example of 110 camera, introduced by Kodak in 1972 |
Reflecting on 2020, the almost year
The almost, but not quite year
Let’s just get the obvious out of the way. 2020 was not the year we all had planned. Not the year any of us could have predicted. And definitely not the year the world wanted, or needed.
A global pandemic. People’s lives turned upside down. Life plans decimated. Large parts of the world having to suffer through tough lockdown periods. It was unprecedented, the amount of times the word “unprecedented” was rolled out.
But how else to describe the year that was 2020? It truly was an annus horribilis.
And yet…
Gratitude and Positivity
I hear a lot of tales of positivity as people reflected on the year. People learned to slow down a little. Had time to reconnect with loved ones. Started to appreciate the simple things in life. Walks in nature. Home cooking. I mastered home made scones! Less time commuting to work. For some people, in parts of the world, the commute stopped completely. Work from home became a full time occupation. Dare I say it, the new normal.
Ironically, this brought unexpected consequences. It turns out that people used the commute time to read. Listen to podcasts. Think. It gave a lot of people that elusive white space so often missing in our busy lives.
Suddenly, this time, our time, was lost. The new commute was from the bedroom to the living room. We had no transition from home to office. The home was the office. Many people found themselves working longer. Pausing less. Becoming more sedentary. Missing their old nemesis, the commute, something I wrote about.
Starting 2020 with a sense of optimism
But this was all to come. At the start of the year nobody had any inclination of what was ahead. We started 2020 in Mudgee, New South Wales. A quiet weekend in wine country, looking ahead to what was to be an exciting year. Using the first three months of the year to finalise our plans to sell what we could of our possessions, and pack up the rest, and leave Sydney. Embarking on a long term sojourn across the globe.
A plan that was a couple of years in the making, it was suddenly almost upon us. We had talked about which was the best week to resign from our jobs. When to give the notice on our rental apartment. And when to book our first flight into Asia.
As we neared the end of March, we had resigned, and said our goodbyes. We packed up the apartment and moved all our possessions into storage. And we were homeless, staying in a hotel when we found out that Australia was closing the international borders. Like dominoes, other countries followed suit, and suddenly our world became very small.
With no jobs, nowhere to live, and only a backpack, we made a snap decision. I pulled out my phone and booked a couple of seats on a plane leaving for Perth the day after. We were moving to Western Australia (WA), arriving only 2 days before WA closed all the internal borders, effectively creating an island within an island.
Moving to Perth in a pandemic
This proved to be one of the best decisions we have ever made. At the time of writing, WA has not had a locally transmitted case of COVID for over 9 months. Life, fortunately, has carried on largely as normal. In the first couple of weeks after we arrived, whilst bouncing around Air BnBs, we could only get takeaway food and drinks.
But not long after, life returned, and for the best part of the year we have been enjoying a life not seen much outside of WA. For those not familiar with the size of West Australia, it is 975,000 square miles, with a population of only 2.6 million. That is a lot of space to explore. Not difficult to social distance.
And we have taken as much advantage as we possibly can, exploring lots of this beautiful part of the world. On our doorstep we have the wine country of Swan Valley and the Perth Hills, visiting both. A little under 3 hours away we have the magnificent Margaret River region, where we have already spent numerous long weekends, trying to get around as many of the 200+ vineyards as possible. And we have had staycations in Perth, the vibrant port city of Fremantle, and the beautiful Rottnest Island.
How to be productive in a pandemic
In the early days of our arrival in Perth I naively thought that we would sit out the virus, and be heading off overseas within a couple of months. I filled this time productively, studying for my WSET (Wine and Spirits Education Trust) Level 1 qualification, and also becoming an accredited mental health first aider (MHFA). Very different, but both very fascinating subjects to learn more about.
When I took my head out of the sand, I realised that we were not travelling anywhere anytime soon, and reluctantly found myself a full time job. This provided another example of the best in people. How people rally around and help. There were numerous people, many who didn’t know me, happy to get on the phone with me as I searched for a new role in Perth. I am thankful to each and every one of them for their kindness, help, and support through a difficult time.
The outcome was that I got a 6 month contract. And I was lucky enough to get a renewal for this just before xmas which means that I now have work through to June of this year. Beyond that? I daren’t plan, as the world has shown us about the “best laid plans”, and all that. What does give me hope is the news this week that Qantas have resumed selling international flights from July 1. Definite green shoots that give me cause for optimism,
Both our jobs started out with working from home, but as normality returned, the offices reopened and now we have a happy hybrid of splitting our work week between home and the city. An arrangement that really suits how I like to work.
When a house becomes a home
With work came the need for somewhere longer term to live, and after 6 months in an apartment in East Perth, we found a perfect little cottage in a suburb called Mt Hawthorn. A suburb that is very reminiscent of where we lived in Sydney, which was Mosman. Streets lined with old style cottages. Many bars, cafes (with great coffee) and restaurants. And only 10 minutes into the city for work. We definitely landed on our feet.
For the first time in over a decade I live in a house. We have an actual front door and both a front and back garden. Having always wanted a couple of Adirondack chairs, they now sit pride of place in the back garden, close enough to the BBQ so I can quickly flip my steaks when needed. A small table between the two chairs completes this idyllic picture, holding our glasses of wine. A covered patio area is where our new bicycles live.
And we finally transported all our belongings from storage in Sydney, bringing to an end the “living out of a backpack” phase of our Perth adventure.
Perth is very bike friendly, being largely flat, and having a great network of bike paths. Weekends we can head off towards the Swan River with a picnic of egg mayonnaise sandwiches, a couple of pork pies, and a bottle of wine. Does life get any better than that?
So, whilst we have all lived through a crazy year, we have been very fortunate to have spent it here in WA.
Even in crazy years, where events are not what we expected, a lot of the time it is how we respond to the events. As the saying goes, “when life gives you lemons.”
Reflecting on what I hoped for in 2020
I started the year, fully expecting to be a full time nomad, embracing my love of travel writing. I set a lofty ambition to get at least one travel article published. With overseas travel off the cards, I switched my focus to get at least one piece of writing published.
And I was very pleased to win second prize in a freelance writing contest, with a short story about the future of work. I won $350, which was beyond anything I expected. This gave me great confidence in my writing and as we enter 2021, my focus switches back to getting a travel article published.
On the professional front, I finally got my coaching journey started. September saw me joining a great bunch of leaders from across Asia as we embarked on a virtual 3 day training course by the Institute of Executive Coaching and Leadership. With the follow on activities completed, and a successful assignment, I became a certified coach at the start of November. I enjoy this work so much that I have already enrolled in Level 2, starting in March.
Our regular pilates and yoga practice has taken a back seat since we relocated to Perth. With everything that has been going on we just haven’t got around to joining a new studio. Typical of the world we now live in, I have been checking out virtual alternatives. I would love to hear of any recommendations that you have. Of the ones I have looked at so far, “Glo” seems to get the best reviews. Are there any others that you recommend?
Daring to look ahead to 2021
I am not one for making new year’s resolutions, but do look ahead to the year and consider both what changes I want to make, and what I would like to achieve. And as with every year, I start this one wanting to shed a little of the xmas weight. We have just had an epic 2 week road trip up the west coast of Australia, and I ate and drank everything in sight. The body will get a shock as I lock the booze cabinet, hide the chocolates, and get back on the treadmill.
This year I also hope that we can finally fly overseas and start our travelling. We are not making any plans for this, at the moment, other than continuing to save money. I have a natural reflection point as my current work contract expires in June. This will give the opportunity to assess the state of the world, the success of the various vaccines, and the likelihood of us being able to travel through countries without being quarantined anywhere.
Last, but certainly not least, this is the year I leave my 40s and enter my 50s. Quite a milestone, I am sure you will agree. And for a few years I have been putting some pennies aside for the big occasion. The “plan” is to travel on the Eastern & Oriental Express. 3 days of luxury, travelling the rails between Singapore and Bangkok. With all the Belmond Orient Express journeys currently paused, it is hard to say when this will happen. But I remain committed to it being a “when”, and not an “if”.
Putting the spectre of 2020 behind us, what are you hoping for in 2021?
Time to build an ark
What has been happening in the world of Mr and Mrs C? You may have read that after 64 weeks we finally escaped Western Australia for a holiday. The original plan was to visit Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road. Replacing the trip that got cancelled back in March 2020. The trip that was to kick start our world travels. We know how that worked out.
Best laid plans, and all that
We planned to finally do the trip, had the accommodation and flights booked and along came Delta. And again, the trip was binned. Looking at the state of the internal borders in Australia, and places we could travel to and return to fortress WA from without quarantining, our options were few.
And so we found ourselves doing a road trip around the very beautiful Tasmania. Something I would highly recommend. Thankfully we were allowed to enter Tasmania, and return to Perth without quarantine at either end. Something of a luxury in Australia at the moment. Tasmania exceeded all our expectations. We had been to Hobart previously, and this time we had a car and really explored this beautiful small island.
Will we escape from Australia?
The holiday blues were somewhat ameliorated by hearing that airlines will recommence international flights out of Australia by the end of the year. The Australian government has committed to a plan to have borders open once we reach 80% double dose of the COVID vaccination. This is slated to be November. This is every State Premier except one. Ours. McGowan is refusing to budge and wants to keep Perth in its little bubble.
This will not deter us as we now start seriously considering when to finally start our overseas travel. If the international borders within Perth remain closed through the start of 2022 we will road trip to Adelaide, perhaps FINALLY doing the Great Ocean Road trip, and then fly out to Asia from Melbourne.
On the move again
In news that was rather less exciting for us, and rather a blow, we got notice that our landlords were returning to Perth and decided they wanted to move back into the house we had blissfully rented for a year. Knowing how horrendous the Perth rental market is we were not relishing trying to find somewhere new to live. Thankfully, our existing agents found an apartment on the same road and we have recently moved ourselves there. Literally, we moved ourselves. A few trips in a car. A few more in a ute and we are in.
The week we moved turned into a bit of a nightmare. Last year, thinking we were only around in Perth for a short while, we chose to rent a washing machine rather than buy one. Day 2 of the recent move saw us having the rental company move the washing machine from the old house to the new apartment. The evening of day 2 saw us returning after a walk to find the apartment under water. Literally under water. With more of it gushing out of the tap that was supposed to be connected to the washing machine. The pipe had not been correctly fitted and had come off whilst we were out. We did not even have a wash running. Cue me furiously trying to bail the water out whilst we waited for the emergency tradesman to turn up.
Getting back to normal
Two weeks later. After many carpet blowers blowing. A weekend in a hotel to avoid the noise and smell of wet carpets. And a complete refit of the underlay through the whole apartment and we seem to be back on an even keel. Hopefully all the dramas are now behind us and we can see out the remaining 5 months of our lease in relative peace. Once this lease is up, who knows what will happen. Vaccination rates continue to climb, both here and internationally. Countries are starting to open up for travel again. And even Fortress Australia looks to be rejoining the world.
Daring to dream
Some two years after leaving our home in Sydney to travel the world on an extended sabbatical, the dream may finally be coming true. And as was the “plan” two years ago, we will have no real itinerary. We plan to head to Singapore first and then spend a few months exploring south east Asia. At some point we will head to the vineyards of Europe and the islands of the Mediterranean before heading to the UK for a long overdue catch up with family and friends. Life is too short to be away from our loved ones for so long.
But, before we get ahead of ourselves, we first have a few action packed months. A birthday each to celebrate in November and December. Another Perth summer to enjoy. A couple of trips to our beloved Margaret Riverwine region and a holiday to another of my happy places, Hamilton Island in Queensland.
All of course, subject to this pesky virus.