Country Music Capital of Australia

Tamworth is a major regional city and is also known as the country music capital of Australia. I am a massive fan of country music and was so excited to find a country music radio station!!


I did a quick visit to the iconic Big Golden Guitar before heading further north west to the small town of Manilla. Manilla is known as a hang-gliding and paragliding destination, however the only reason for my visit was due to the fact that this was my former colleague's hometown. No, it wasn't to visit him but I was just curious what the place was like. Honestly, that really is the explanation for most of why I do things - curiousity.

Chasing Waterfalls in NSW

Another year, another roadtrip! This was my first trip of 2017 and I decided to head to New England region in NSW. My roadtrip is mapped below.

I had been putting this roadtrip off for a while due to distance from Sydney however as I had the first week off from work I decided to make the most of my precious free time. Sadly the day on Waterfall Way was quite miserable weather-wise; it was raining on and off, overcast and foggy.


My first stop was to Wonga Walk to see Crystal Shower Falls and Tristania Falls. It entailed a 6.6km return walk on a relatively easy track. It started to rain halfway through the track, however I was reasonably protected from the rain by the foliage.

Glengarry Bush Maze

During my research, I discovered that there was a bush maze in Glengarry. It is a bit of a novelty and, as I had never participated in one, I thought it would be good to tick it off my Things I've Never Done list. I had planned to take it a little slow that day as my quads were still so sore.

Quick stop to see the opium poppy fields. The farms in Tasmania produce around 50% of the world's (licit) supply!

So pretty!

Tasmania: Cradle Mountain

Cradle Mountain is 1545m above sea level and is the fifth highest mountain in Tasmania. There are a few day walks in the national park however I intended to walk to the summit and back. This equated to a 13km hike and recommended time of 6.5hrs.




Christmas Day in Australia

Tasmania: Launceston & Devonport

Launceston was my first stop in Tasmania and I had intended it to be a short visit solely for the purpose of getting groceries for my week long trip. I briefly went to Cataract Gorge however as the weather was sweltering, I only managed to do the short walk to the bridge and back to the main area.

Tasmania, Australia

Tasmania was the last remaining state in Australia that I had not visited. I had been wanting to visit for many years now and back in March, I decided to finally visit during the first week of my office closure from 24th December to 31st December. Sadly, my trip did not go as planned and the map below is where I wanted to go and where I ended up going.

Red is where I did go and the blue is where I was planning on going but sadly didn't make it

So what happened: I got into a little car accident and wasn't able to get another car so I went back home early. I am a little bit bummed considering I hadn't seen the best part of Tasmania (arguably) which is the east coast. That being said, I will write about the places that I managed to visit.

Lazy Sunday at Wattamolla

On Sunday (and the last day of being 24 years old), we headed south to the Royal National Park to Wattamolla Beach. There is also a small waterfall however as there hasn't been any rainfall, the waterfall was only a small trickle. There were quite a few people when we arrived at 10am and already 25 degrees.




Some 'light' reading about the British rule in India

Melbourne

I had 30 hours in Melbourne however that was enough time for me. This was my fourth visit to Melbourne and there wasn't anything that I really wanted to see in the CBD that I had not seen before.


I loved the borek from this store last time I visited Melbourne. As you can see in the photo from then and the one now, the dough is a lot thicker now. Since my trip to Turkey in 2015, I also tasted what a REAL borek should taste like and I think neither of them are very authentic. But definitely not the one I had that day, almost like a pide but not! 










This was my eleventh trip as part of #take12trips. To see previous trips please click here.

Victoria Roadtrip: Canola Chasing II

Wordless post

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.

Victoria Roadtrip: Canola Chasing

I had been wanting to find canola fields for the past few years to photograph. Canola or rapeseed results in gorgeous yellow flowers when they bloom in September - October. The canola fields in NSW are located around 4 hours [one way] away from Sydney which was why I hadn't made the journey to them. However in Victoria, they are only 2 hours away from Melbourne CBD and therefore it was a lot more convenient to visit them.

On an early Sunday morning after I woke up in my car, I headed west to the canola fields.


Where I slept for the night. The first time I have car camped in suburbia. 

Victoria Roadtrip: Lavandula Lavender Farm

On the way to Ballarat, I stopped at Lavandula Swiss Italian Farm. The 100 acre property was once farmed by Swiss-Italians who came to Australia in the 1850s.

Victoria Roadtrip: Bendigo

After Heathcote, I continued my journey to Bendigo. I didn't have any particular reason to head to Bendigo, but I had thought it might be nice to see some of the larger cities in Victoria. It also gave me the opportunity to pop into the supermarket to grab some supplies.




Bendigo Joss House Temple

I stopped first at the Joss House Temple however I probably should have done a bit more research. Rather than a proper active temple, it was more a museum about the Chinese migrants who came to Bendigo during the Gold Rush. I didn't end up paying for admission as that wasn't really up my alley and headed to the town centre instead.

Victoria Roadtrip: Heathcote

Over the Labour long weekened back in late September, I flew down to Melbourne as a little getaway. As you may be able to guess, I like to spend my long weekends away and make the most of it. In the past I went to Riverina region, Capertee Valley and Port Stephens. I decided on Melbourne for two reasons: [1] To meet my work colleague for the first time and her new baby and [2] I was running out of ideas of places to visit near Sydney.


Eating McDonalds at the airport is part of my airport ritual, especially for long haul flights. I have eaten at so many McDonalds at the airport over the world because its comforting. I am not the best flyer and plane food is always a bit hit and miss, but Maccas tastes virtually the same everywhere.


On Saturday morning, I picked up my rental car and commenced my roadtrip!

Central Coast Getaway

A few weekends ago, S and I went on a little getaway to the Central Coast. We really didn't go that far up as we stayed at Ettalong. I had been there before briefly and it feels very similar to the Northern Beaches.

Friday night traffic! It took at least 40 mins to travel 2km. It was painful.

Bouddi National Park & Wisemans Ferry

I had rented the car for the entire length of the long weekend and thus headed up north to the Central Coast for a day trip. Bouddi National Park had been on my radar for well over 7 months now however it required a car to get there and it wasn't a high priority for me. But alas I made the drive up since it was reasonably close!

Hill End

I mentioned that I had wanted to visit Hill End during my Easter road trip, however due to time constraints I didn't end up going. As I was roughly in the area, I decided to head there on my second and last day.

I woke up to the valley completely surrounded in fog and it was just breathtaking. Stupidly, I had forgotten to remove my camera battery from my camera and in the -4 degree temperatures overnight, it had drained completely. D'oh! I moved the battery to my pocket on my shirt to warm it up and eventually had the battery partly restored which is why I still have photos!

Glen Davis Shale Oil Works

The Glen Davis Shale Oil Works closed in 1952 and can now only be accessed via a tour that is run every Saturday at 2pm by a local. It is on private property hence the need for a tour and honestly, I really didn't mind paying the $15 as it does go back to the very small community.

Capertee Valley

Over the Queen's Birthday long weekend I had plans originally to drive to New England region of NSW and drive "aimlessly" around Tamworth and the surrounding towns. However, I ended up only having two days (intention to return to Sydney on Sunday night) and it wasn't feasible to make the drive there and back. Instead, I did a quick google search and discovered Capertee Valley.

In the past 12 months, I have driven on the same road through the Blue Mountains three times and all three times it has been very overcast despite being sunny in Sydney. I left a little later than what I would have liked due to the opening hours of the car rental place. There were also quite a few cars cruising at 80kmph on a 100kmph stretch of road which was a little frustrating. But soon enough I reached the roads that I love to drive on; 100kmph country roads with minimal / no cars on it. It is just so peaceful and the epitome of a road trip.

Blue Mountains

This post is from mid April and is about my trip to the Blue Mountains.

After breakfast at Henri Marc, we headed to Wentforth Falls in the Blue Mountains. The last time I visited was - surprisingly- in 2012! I hadn't actually realised it was that long ago! The aim for the day was to do a short walk at Wentworth Falls. I am a hiker and I love it; unfortunately Mr Paella is not quite the hiker / outdoor-sy kind of person. I don't mind it generally, however it does make it a little difficult when we are doing something together. Something that is deemed a Grade 1 (very easy) is right up his alley whereas I don't really look at any hike that is below a Grade 3 (moderate / hard). I enjoy hikes that are at least 9km round trip whereas he is more comfortable with 1km. For Wentworth Falls, we were just going to walk to the bottom and then back up the death stairs.