Category: TRAVEL

The spare parts to take on a road trip

Van in snow

Road trips can be a lot of fun. They’re one of the most recommended holiday ideas to try out, and you can go anywhere you want at any kind of speed you want, with everything you could need on the backseat within easy reach! Sure, a road trip places a lot more emphasis on the journey rather than any of the destinations, but that’s what’s so great about them. After all, the car you bundle yourself and your friends or your loved one into is your own vehicle, and you have to make the experience enjoyable all on your own. No airplane luxury food, no pods you can sleep in, and no replacement bus service if the train stops working! And that takes a bit of preparation – cars can easily break down, especially if they’re going hundreds or maybe even thousands of miles, and there’s no one around but you to fix the problem. So with all that in mind, here’s the spare parts you should pack along with you. Make sure you’ve got a tool kit Before you even think about investing in any spare parts you think might come in handy, you’re going to need to buy yourself a good tool kit. If you don’t have the right tools, you’ll have no way to fit these spare pieces in if you have a breakdown, and you’re not going to want to risk your hands and fingers on a car engine. Not just any tool kit, but one with items that can be… Read More

4 travel destinations with the best cuisine

Morocco spa bath

When imagining travel and exploration, most people tend think about the cultures, languages, and the enticing landscapes of the far away lands; but nothing is better than thinking with your stomach and indulging yourself in the local cuisines of the respective country you’re visiting. With international flights being cheaper than ever, there has never been a better time to pig out and indulge; so without further ado, here are a few foodie favourite countries with some of the best foods on the planet. Mexico This Mesoamerican country, rich in historic culture and mouth watering dishes, it’s safe to say it doesn’t lack in a variety of flavours and unique dishes. With dishes ranging from fish tacos, enchiladas and corn tortilla quesadillas, you will find some dishes from various counties with blends of unique spices and foods foraged from the land; it’s safe to say there is a dish for travellers with a range of preferences for their pallet. Greece Visiting this Mediterranean paradise feels like you’re stepping back in time to Ancient Greece with its island temples and ancient cities, the food is just as fascinating and rewarding as stepping foot on the acropolis. With is crystal blue waters and verdant farmlands, dishes made with a variety of fish, roasted meats, lentils, and olive oils; taking a bite of this countries treasured dishes is like sending your tastebuds back in time, brimming with flavour and nutrition. India The next country on this list is much more than massive colourful festivals, Vedic and Buddhist temples, and… Read More

Riding the roads – 4 must visit locations in Queensland

Four wheel drive beach

Sprawling across the northeast part of Australia lies scenic Queensland. This area is home to the world-famous Great Barrier Reef and many other beautiful stretches of coastline. But even beyond the stunning beaches, the region also offers a number of exciting opportunities for both tourists and locals alike. Exploring the coastline and cruising around in the sun can be one of the highlights of your trip if you know the right places to stop. Brisbane, the bustling capital of Queensland, is filled with unique and novel opportunities for road trippers. The great climate and diverse landscape make the perfect duo to provide you with an experience to remember. Whether you want to venture out by taxi in Brisbane, head to some more remote locations or whether you prefer to zip around the metropolitan areas, Queensland offers something for everyone. Let’s take a closer look at just some of the must-visit locations in Queensland for anyone planning a visit. Tour Around The City The City of Brisbane itself offers a number of opportunities for adventure. Whether you travel through Brisbane on foot, by car, or via taxi, there is a lot to see. Many landmarks are worth checking out, including several historical sights. The city is also filled with contemporary architectural features such as its numerous stunning bridges. Several museums and galleries are also worth getting out of and about for especially as a way to take a break from the heat in summer. As a coastal city, a drive along the numerous beaches is sure… Read More

6 best shopping destinations in Dubai

Dubai

If you like shopping, Dubai is where it’s at. From the world-class mega malls to the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF), there is so much on offer for pretty much everyone. Here are the best places to take a day trip to when you’re next visiting or passing through Dubai in the Emirates. Dubai Mall – The world’s fifth largest mall and dubbed the best mall of 2017 Having recently celebrated its 10 year anniversary the Dubai Mall is the most-visited lifestyle destination in the world, having welcomed over 80 million annual visitors in the past four years. Dubai Mall has everything from clothing to shoes, souvenirs to entertainment and food all under one massive roof. There is also an Olympic-sized ice-skating rink, and the awesome Dubai Aquarium. Not to mention the 1000-plus retailers, which include high-street favourites such as Topshop, Zara and COS, and department stores Bloomingdale’s and Galeries Lafayette. Luxury labels find their home in Fashion Avenue – a glossy section dedicated to high-end designers, with the nearby Level Shoe District boasting 96,000 square feet of retail space and brands such as Nicholas Kirkwood, Saint Laurent Paris and Dior. Mall of the Emirates – The world’s first shopping resort   Featuring 360 international brands across department stores, fashion, lifestyle, sports, electronics and home furnishing outlets, a Magic Planet family entertainment area, a 14-screen VOX Cinemas, the world-renowned Ski Dubai – the Middle East’s first indoor ski resort and snow park, the 500-seat capacity Dubai Community Theatre and Arts Centre (DUCTAC) and more than 90 international dining and café… Read More

The Little Albion Guest House in Surry Hills makes you want a staycation every weekend

James Banham Albion Guesthouse Hotel

Tucked clandestinely down the side street that is Little Albion in Surry Hills, the Little Albion Guesthouse has pitched itself a spot and is kicking total goals. You know you’re in for something great when the front gate swings open and you’re greeted by a concierge in full regalia, complete with cravat, a tower of light, decorated with suspended tea lights and a front terrace that is as much Alice in Wonderland as it is ‘trendy inner-city hotel’. The hotel does the traditional hospitality type of thing, but in its own, inimitable way. They offer breakfast, but without a dining room, their open bar runs with an honesty policy, whereby you take what you want and deal with it later, their rooms are large, old-cum-new and offer a sense of attainable luxury that you’re hard done-by to find in many other boutique hotels around the city. They say that the concept came about after researching hotels through the ages. From the very first kind, the ryokan (a traditional Japanese inn dating back to the eighth century AD) to the modern big box branded hotels of the 80’s, followed by the explosion of boutique offerings and finally through to the innovation of the game-changing Airbnb platform. From here, they saw a clear evolution and landed squarely on what both corporate and leisure guests genuinely want from their ‘home away from home’ – the luxury and comfort of a hotel teamed with the ease and familiarity of home. And it works. The hotel is staked inside an old… Read More

How to take-on a two-day fitness bender in Hobart with Bulk Nutrients – and survive

James Banham Bulk Nutrients

Sure there’s exercise and fitness, but doing it in Sydney on Bondi Beach, glistening under the southern sun in a balmy 25-degrees is nothing compared to doing it in the freezing cold in Hobart. Or up an even colder mountain. But, when you and a contingent of six other faces and folks in the Aussie fitness industry get on a plane and head south from Sydney to do just that as guests of Tasmanian born-and-raised protein supplement manufacturer Bulk Nutrients, you know you’re in for something quite unique. Bulk Nutrients and its founder, Ben Crowley were keen to show off the best that Tasmania – his home state and the home to his upwards of $27 million business based in Grove just out of Hobart – had to offer. And that they did. With a group of personal trainers, fitness writers, Instagrammers and bloggers in-tow, the Bulk team put themselves and their group through our paces to test the benefits of what Bulk Nutrients protein supplements can do. And after and two day assault on the bod, it seemed pretty unanimous – they work! Here’s what we took-on, what we recovered with and what we personally back. Day one with Bulk Nutrients: Arrive at Hobart airport. It’s cold. Super cold. Like, single digits cold. Coming from Sydney, it’s a shock to the system, but we all survive, order our green teas and coffee at the single cafe in the terminal before piling in to the seven-seater people mover to head to destination number one: Raw Challenge… Read More

New Zealand’s first smart hotel opens in Queenstown, mi-pad Hotel

Queenstown New Zealand

If you’ve ever heard anyone talking about New Zealand, then they would’ve mentioned Queenstown. But up until recently, they couldn’t have muttered the name, mi-pad Queenstown, because it’s only just opened and is a stunning, six-storey hotel right in the heart of Queenstown on New Zealand’s South Island. mi-pad is New Zealand’s first fully ‘smart’ hotel; a next generation, energy-conscious hotel experience for the smart traveller and the ultimate marriage of technology, sustainability, comfort and convenience. Complete with 57 stylish and well-appointed rooms with the latest in-room tech, multiple ‘social spaces’ and an impressive rooftop terrace, the hotel is keyless, spacious, conscious and savvy, making the stay a unique experience for any guest from the moment they arrive. Complete with an app that enables you to set temperatures and mood lighting in your room, request room service or alert hotel staff that they don’t want to be disturbed, it’s thought about what you want before you even know you needed it. Designed by John Blair and ringing-in at NZD$15 million, the hotel is less than a two-minute walk from the vibrant centre of Queenstown with its hundreds of bars, restaurants and activity operators set on the shores of stunning Lake Wakatipu. The mi-pad hotel concept is the brainchild of Queenstown property developer Lewis Gdanitz and is the fruition of three years of hard work. “mi-pad is the result of 15 years of research, travelling the world and finding the places that did accommodation really well,” he sayid. “I’m delighted that we’ve been able to deliver a property that’s… Read More

All The Fun Of The Airport – Making Your Travel A Part Of Your Holiday

Aeroplane

They say it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey. And when it comes to airports, that’s certainly the case. Airports are no longer just about getting your plane – they’re now an incredible part of your holiday. From luxury spas to incredible shopping, there’s so much to do at the airport that you might not even get on the plane! How can you make your airport journey worthwhile? Let’s examine some of the world’s best airport features ready for you to add to your travel bucket list. Luxury shopping at Heathrow Airport, UK Heathrow Airport was the obvious choice for the Best Airport Shopping Award at the Skytrax Airport Awards, with voters crowning it the winner in a ‘landslide victory’. So what makes shopping at Heathrow so great? Well, not only is there plenty of variety at Heathrow, but it’s all so accessible – you can even hire a personal shopper to assist you! From top designer names like Gucci, Cartier and Chanel to more familiar (and affordable) brands like Jack Wills and Kate Spade – there are some great choices for fashion lovers. Know what you want? You can even order in advance and collect on arrival – now that’s what you call service! Concierge services at Changi Airport, Singapore As one of the world’s largest airports, there’s no harm in getting a bit of help around Changi Airport in Singapore. The concierge service is one of the most luxe you’ll find, with golf buggy transit escorting you from arrival to departures… Read More

Chances are that 47% of fellow travellers find you annoying

Female woman holiday trip travel photo

Everyone loves a holiday, everyone loves time off and everyone loves documenting said good times for future reference, right? And there’s nothing wrong with that. At least not if you fit into the roughly 10 million Aussies that go abroad every year. But, are you one of the annoying ones? We all hear tales of “oh, I hate this”, and “I hate that” when we recount stories of each other’s travelling habits overseas, but some new findings by the travel people at Agoda have now got a verifiable list of the most annoying behaviours travellers adopt when overseas – and none of them are good. Number one on the list won’t come as much of a surprise to you if you’re living in the modern day, but doesn’t make it any less annoying. According to the fresh stats, 47% of world travellers find it irrefutably annoying when travellers spend too much time on their mobile devices. Are you guilty? Makes sense when you’ve spend in excess of thousands of dollars to go somewhere and you’re not taking it in. The rest of it is fairly broad, but basically noisy travellers (57%), travellers glued to their devices (47%), and those insensitive to cultural nuances (46%) topped the most annoying habits of fellow travellers according to Agoda’s global ‘Annoying Travel Habits’ survey. Mass tour groups and selfie-takers, cited by 36% and 21% respectively, completed the top five irritants. No surprises there! Here are some other fun facts for Aussies abroad… – Noisy travelers (56%), insensitivity to cultural… Read More

Lonely Planet inspires a lifetime of travel on foot with Epic Hikes of the World

Hiking

Just because Lonely Planet clearly doesn’t stop, what with cruise guides amongst their myriad other things for itchy-footed travellers, they’re back this month with a reason to travel from now until forever with their Epic hikes of the World instalment. The latest book comes packed with 50 hiking routes in 30 countries along with 150 ideas to keep you putting one foot in front of the other for decades to come. It even has five amazing hikes from Australia included in there, too. There’s enough land after all… Hiking has become the number one most enjoyed activity for active travellers, according to a recent study on adventure tourism*, and Lonely Planet being the legends they are, know what we need to keep it up. The new book comes a part of the ‘Epic’ series, which gave us such pearlers as the Epic Bike Rides of the World (2016) and Epic Drives of the World (2017), offering challenge-after-challenge to the most gun-ho of travellers.   The Aussie hikes in this book they’ve included are Sydney’s Seven Bridges (27 km), The Great South West Walk (250 km), Tasmania’s Three Capes Track (46 km), Victoria’s Feathertop to Bogong Traverse (77 km) and Indiana Jones and the Gold Coast (54 km). The book is jam-packed with all the perks of true insight, like practical information on the best time of year to hike, how to get there, where to stay and what to eat. All hikes are coded according to difficulty, taking into account their duration, local conditions and possible inaccessibility. Get the new Lonely Planet book Epic Hikes of the World for $44.99 from… Read More