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!

Mongolia Trip: Gorkhi-Terelj National Park

Day 11 & 12 - Thursday 18th & Friday 19th August 2016

The end was near!

This was going to be one of the last times I was going to repack my bag; I must admit, I was soon becoming quite proficient at it.

We headed back to Ulanbaataar to drop off one of the tour members before heading to Gorkhi-Terelj National Park, which is located not too far from the city.

Mongolia Trip: Karakorum & Ankle Bones

Day 10 - Wednesday 17th August 2016

The end of our tour was nearing and it was a little bittersweet. On one hand, I was excited at the prospects of not being with the same people 24/7 and heading back to civilisation. Hello Western style toilets, or any toilets. Heck, I would have been excited about proper squat toilets. I was getting sick of peeing anywhere / at squat toilets which were literally two planks of wood and usually a trillion flies. And the smell .. oh boy the smell. On the other hand, I was sad that I would be leaving the beauty of Mongolian countryside and I knew that I would not be returning any time soon.

But first - we got into a situation. Due to the rain, the ground was super super muddy and our van actually got stuck. We all climbed out and started to gather branches etc to help the wheels get traction. The van moved a little however we were still stuck. Eventually we had another tourist group in a 4WD pull us out of the mud. The funniest thing was that my tour group were all muddy and when the tourists in the other car got out, the contrast was hilarious. This Korean girl got out in her white jeans and her super white sneakers, saw the mud and then immediately got back into the car. Who wears white sneakers to visit countryside Mongolia?!?!