Central West Roadtrip: Iandra Castle

Waking up to this beauty

There is a castle in NSW! Technically Iandra Castle isn't a castle in the strictest definition. However, it is what the homestead is known as colloquially and it has stuck. The structure is privately owned and they only have a few open days a year (coinciding with the long weekends). Admission is $10 per person and all the proceeds go towards the restoration of the castle as they do not receive any government funding.

Central West Roadtrip: Stargazing in Condobolin

One of the many advantages of living in Australia is the fact that there is relatively little light pollution. For those who are curious, you can check out this map to see how much light pollution there is in your country / region! Naturally, there is quite a lot on the coastline (which is where the capital and major cities / towns are) and pockets inland. However, generally, once you head a few hours inland, the light pollution diminishes and the skies are amazing! With this in mind, I wanted to head as far west as I could from major cities / towns and I decided on Condobolin purely because there was a free camp.

In my attempt to find something - actually anything - to see / do on the way to Condobolin from Orange, I stumbled upon The Utes in the Paddock. It is an art installation where 20 Holden utes have been given a makeover and placed in a field!

Central West Roadtrip: Autumn Leaves in Orange

Another long weekend and another roadtrip! This time I headed to Central West of NSW out towards Orange and Condobolin. I originally wanted to head to Warrumbungle National Park, past Dubbo, as it is Australia's only Dark Sky Park.

A dark-sky preserve is an area, usually surrounding a park or observatory, that is kept free of artificial light pollution. The purpose of a dark sky preserve is generally to promote astronomy.

However, I wasn't convinced it would be that much more amazing than another area in the region and eventually decided against it. Plus, I wasn't excited about the bushwalks at the national park either.

First stop on my roadtrip was Orange. Orange is 254km west of Sydney and is known as a "Colour City" due to the autumn leaves. The area is also known for fresh produce and wineries however as I am not a massive foodie, my appeal lay with the leaves. I had been wanting to visit Orange in the autumn for a few years now. This may sound quite silly for people who live in the Northern Hemisphere / areas where there are deciduous trees however the native trees in Australia (except for one in Tasmania) are evergreens and autumn isn't as visually exciting.

Warning: this post is image heavy with photos of leaves.

BW Film: Sydney [Part 2]

Continuing on from Part 1! These photos were taken during a lunch break over a year ago in Sydney CBD.












I am heading out on another road trip to Central West of NSW and hopefully there are no mishaps! I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter long weekend!

Celebratory Day

I made another attempt to look for pączki however was also unsuccessful. I thought the deli / bakery was separate to the Polish Club however it was in the same location and it wasn't open when I visited. I think I am officially giving up now. I ended up walking from Ashfield to Strathfield for two reasons: (1) It was a beautiful day and (2) I really wanted the exercise.

The Smelly Cheesecake Shop -  mocha and matcha cheesecake

I met up with S later in the day to celebrate my new job! We watched The Lego Batman Movie. Although it was a decent watch, I felt it was trying a little too hard at times to be funny.

BW Film: Sydney [Part 1]

I recently developed a few rolls of film and on one of my rolls, I discovered some shots from the Sydney region. It is only when I develop my black and white rolls that I remember how much I love black and white film photography. Part 2 will be coming soon!

Searching for Pączki

There is sometimes no rhyme or reason as to why I do the things that I do. Conversely, there are times where I do things for random reasons and this was one of those occasions. I randomly stumbled upon a Youtube channel called Gone to the Snow Dogs [essentially a channel about a couple in northern Michigan and their three huskies. Completely random] a few years ago and they mentioned Fat Tuesday and pączki. Pączki are essentially the Polish version of filled donuts. And so my mission began to the other side of Sydney.

Prior to this trip, I hadn't realised that there was such a large Indian community in Liverpool. There were so many stores selling saris and a giant Indian supermarket. Naturally I popped in for a visit, admired their henna and picked up a guava drink as well.

Sadly my trip for pączki was not successful. The first cafe no longer existed and the second one had a 'We Are Open' sign in the window however I couldn't find the door ....

After my failed attempt, I met up with S. and had my favourite chips and a chai latte from Max Brenner. I was quite disappointed as Max Brenner had previously provided a pot of the chai latte instead of just the cup.

Despite my failed attempt, I did successfully walk away with 500gram of henna! I try to henna my hair once a month. I normally purchase henna online for around $15 / 250mg, so at $7.50 for the bag, this was quite the bargain. Hopefully the quality is good!

I wasn't exaggerating when I said I headed to the other side of Sydney for this. Ha