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

Seabay Handmade Noodle Restaurant

Historically, I have not possessed any semblance of restaurant loyalty simply due to the fact that new places are continually popping up. However over the past 9 months, I have found my favourites for various cuisines. My new favourite Chinese restaurant is Sea Bay Handmade Noodles. There are two locations - Eastwood and Burwood - and I have been 5 times now across the two places in the past 6 months!

The restaurant specialises in handmade noodles and dumplings, with the former dominating at least 80% of the menu. Typical of Chinese restaurants, the service is efficient and no fuss; the roles and responsibilities are clearly defined where their objective is to get you in and out of the place as fast as possible. Whilst this may be jarring to some, I actually much prefer it that way. Although I admit it is slightly disconcerting when the waitress gives the occasional stink-eye.

I admit, it looks like a bowl of lettuce. But there is a generous serving of noodles and dumplings underneath!

The noodles are chewy and a little firm

What my boyfriend and I like about the place are the large serving sizes and super cheap prices! Dishes are on average $13 which is incredibly cheap by Sydney standards.

Hot and sour soup noodles with wonton 

The place is completely no frills and cleanliness may be questionable, although I have never been sick. The food is cheap and tasty and there are so many other noodle dishes that I have yet to try.

Monthly Recap: February

February was a quiet month and I didn't really do too much. This was partly attributable to the heatwaves which dominated the first half of the month but also due to stress / anxiety. Despite spending most of the month in bed / on the couch in my spare time, surprisingly, I didn't watch too much on Netflix. I also finally purchased private health insurance, so I guess I am officially an adult now.

The books that I read / listened to were largely uninspiring and underwhelming apart from two books, A Brief History of Seven Killings and Half of a Yellow Sun. Marlon James' "A Brief History of Seven Killings" won the Man Booker Award 2015 and I was introduced to it by Sunbeamsjess mid last year. I had attempted to read it back in September however I ended up simply reading words. Fast forward 5 months later and I gave this novel another try. It is definitely a challenging read and I found it most manageable to read a few chapters in one sitting only. Between the different "languages" used - Jamaican patois, British English, American English-, the 75 character list including gang members, politicians, American journalist and a very intricate story, it is definitely not for the faint hearted. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was less of a challenging read however the prose is absolutely beautiful and effortless. It is centred around 5 characters in Nigeria during the Biafara Civil War and the best book I have read in a very long time.

This month, I also noticed a trend: I feel that I have been seeing a surge in posts about the Maldives / Bora Bora over the past year or so. Has anyone else noticed this? I find it strange when influencers / bloggers are sent on sponsored trips there, courtesy of the hotel, because I don't really understand the return on "investment". It is not as though the average person would be inspired by so-and-so's Instagram photo or blog post because, let's be real, who can really afford $1000+ accommodation per night?!?

Still on the topic of travel, the insanely cheap flights to Europe, Santiago and New York City are killing me. Around $1000-$1100?!?!?

I also have a giveaway going on right now which will finish by the end of this week so please enter as soon as possible!

How did the month of February treat you? 

5 Places I Want to Visit in Australia

There are so many places that I would love to visit and the ones that come to mind are invariably far flung across the world. However, Australia is a beautiful country with such diverse landscapes and is usually a 'once-in-a-lifetime' country for most people; I am lucky to live here. I have listed below some of the places that I would love to visit in my own (massive) backyard.

1. Lord Howe Island, NSW

Lord Howe Island (Group) are World Heritage Listed islands located in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand and approximately 600km east of Port Macqurie. It is where Blake Lively's film, The Shallows, was filmed. It is also bloody expensive to get to! It is a universally accepted fact that Australia is expensive, especially when it comes to travelling. However, a 2 hr flight from Sydney to Lord Howe Island costs upwards of $800. How(e)?!?!? I am punny. At that price, a few hundred dollars more could take me to LA or Rome! And I haven't even looked at accommodation prices...






The expensive plane to take you there!