One day while exploring Brisbane I accidentally happened on the Museum Zoo at the Queensland Museum. This event even though it was 10 years ago, continues to be a favourite of mine. The zoo was made up of 700 prehistoric and modern animals in various displays.
I loved all aspects of the museum zoo, however my favourite was the Parade of Animals. The parade had taxidermy animals and animal skeletons lined up in relative size. It was fascinating to compare so many different species.
I also admired the special attention the museum zoo paid to our extinct animals.
Yackandandah is a beautiful little town just over the New South wales in Victoria. It is an original town that hasn’t changed a lot since it was a gold mining town. Because of this, the centre of the town is classified by the National Trust.
When we visited we spent about an 1 1/2 hours talking to staff in the Tourist Information Centre, gaining invaluable knowledge of the town and local region. This is something we love to do when we visit a new town. Doing so, often reveals hidden gems you don’t find on the internet.
One of the big tips we were given was the Gum Tree Pies. As we hadn’t eaten even though it was 1400, we decided to sample their wares. Wow, we were very pleased we did. I chose the pepper pie and I would have to say it was and still is the best I have ever eaten. The other surprise was how busy the small store was, despite it being past the lunch time rush.
In 2003, the iconic Australian movie, Strange Bedfellows was filmed in Yackandandah. The film showcased the main street in all its glory. As we drove through the town we were excited to remember the film and pick out the individual film locations.
This year I have decided to think outside the box for X. So I have come up with a list of ideas that give a tourist destination that something special.
For me, the X-factor can be many things. possibilities include:
Welcoming to travelers
A special story attached to the town
Interesting scenery or connection to nature
Make use of available resources
Friendly people
Sell their uniqueness
Encourage travelers by making a special feature of the area to draw crowds e.g. Parkes Elvis festival
Well maintained parks and open spaces
Family friendly facilities
Including anything that is different to home
National Parks
Ability to see local animals
Good quality food, reasonably priced
Museums and places of history
Tourist information centres with knowledgeable staff
Local walking tours both self guided and with knowledgeable local identities
The Gloucester Region is home to platypus so this park made a feature to celebrate them.
There is only one problem with spending time thinking about holidays. Now I have to go and plan my next Xtraordinaire adventure.
On our trip to Kyneton we decided to follow many of the second hand book trails it the area. We had a great time and came home with many second hand books for our library.
My favourite was the first that we visited – Woodend Bookshop. An old fashioned second hand bookshop that is filled with 20,000 books. As well as modern fiction from popular writers, the bookstore keeps signed first editions, rare and collectible books as well as valuable first editions.
The owner was extremely knowledgeable and passionate about books. He was available to answer all our questions when needed and loved having people browsing in his shop even if they didn’t buy. We were also pleased to hear that if we were looking for a book even if it was difficult he would do what he could to procure it for us.
“You can’t buy happiness but you can buy books and that’s kind of the same thing.”
Vivid Sydney commenced in May 2009. It is a festival of light, music and ideas. Each year it has grown and now is the largest festival in Australia. The festival runs for 23 days from late May to middle of June and begins at 1800 every night when the lights are turned on.
The first building to be lit is the sails of the Sydney Opera House. In 2017 when we last attended Vivid, we planned our trip to see the Opera House light up. It was a real ‘ah’ moment.
Lighting of the Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Harbour Bridge also takes centre stage every year with its changing displays of colour.
These projections top and bottom are on Cadman’s cottage, one of Australia’s oldest buildings. It was built in 1816 at The Rocks.
Projections Onto Cadman’s Cottage
The Museum of Contemporary Art displays each year are one of my favourites. It is one the original buildings to join the festival and can easily be seen across the harbour.
The Museum Of Contemporary Art
Walking Through The Botanic Gardens
Each year as the festival has increased in popularity, more areas around Sydney are lit up. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic Vivid 2020 has been cancelled but it promises to make Vivid 2021 an even bigger and brighter festival.
Universal City Walk Osaka is the all-American style shopping mall outside of Universal Studios. I loved this area. It was filled with shops and restaurants that we didn’t have in Australia. Choosing a place for lunch was a challenge. We eventually decided on TGI Fridays and we were not disappointed. After lunch we enjoyed exploring Hard Rock Cafe and taking a trip down memory lane.
The entrance to Universal Studios made us wish we had an extra day in Osaka. So when we return, we have promised ourselves that we will go through the gates.
The Tongariro River is on New Zealand’s North Island at Turangi. Known for it’s fly fishing, it is New Zealand’s most fished river. Tongariro is also classified as one of the best trout fishing rivers in the world. 75% of the catch is rainbow trout and 25% brown trout. While the fishermen in the river made it look easy, we unfortunately didn’t get to try it.
White water rafting is the another outdoor sport the river is known for. This we did get to try and it was amazing. Our raft had people from all around the world, none whom had tried white water rafting before. From memory, we went on a grade 3 rapid trip and some of the rapids were very scary. Even though the guides who steer the rafts are very experienced, the problem is that the river is constantly shifting so they are constantly looking out for new obstacles and dangers.
I actually feel in love with this river as my husband and I were following the Tongariro River trail. This walk took several hours but was well worth it to see so many of its different parts. I wasn’t expecting the river to be as different as it was to our Australian rivers. On our walk my favourite thing was seeing all the fly fishermen working their sport with such grace. It was just like a painting or a scene from a movie.
When we lived in Sydney I loved spending the day exploring Sydney Harbour by the ferries. We would get on at Sydney Olympic Park Ferry Wharf on the Parramatta River and travel into Circular Quay. This trip is about 50 minutes and takes you under Sydney’s iconic Harbour Bridge.
We would have something to eat at one of the amazing restaurants or cafes around the Rocks. Then, we would go back to the Circular Quay Ferry wharf. We would then decide where our next ferry trip would take us. Our favourite trip being across Sydney Harbour to Manly. To finish off the perfect day, we would catch ferries all the way back home away, often into the setting sun.
Sydney Harbour is the world’s deepest natural harbour. It is a beautiful busy harbour the holds over 500 gigalitres of water. 1 gigalitre is 1,000,000,000 or 1 billion litres. As Sydney Harbour contains 240 kilometres of shoreline, it is easy to see why there is always something new to see, notice and admire.
‘The best bakery in the world.  This is all about heart, passion and a love for making great bread.’ ​George Calombaris, MasterChef
​​​​‘I had RedBeard sourdough for breakfast and it was absolutely delicious. RedBeard is doing a wonderful job to promote the resurgence of authentic sourdough and artisan woodfired baking.’
Maggie Beer, legendary cook and restaurateur
Thes two quotes were taken directly from RedBeard Historic Bakery’s website and written by famous Australian chefs. Personally, I agree.
RedBeard Historic Bakery is in Trentham, Victoria. It makes the most amazing sourdough bread, cooked in a rare scotch oven. A scotch oven is a traditional, wood-fired commercial baker’s oven. Originally all bread was made in a scotch oven, however as bread began being made in factories the old ovens were destroyed and replaced by gas or electric ovens to eliminate competition.
RedBeard’s scotch oven is approximately 140 years old. It was used continuously from 1891 to 1987. After this time it lay dormant for nearly 20 years until the property was renovated and the scotch oven repaired.
The scotch oven has a floor area of 16 square metres, weighs 75 tonnes and has a massive domed roof. On one side of the floor area is the firebox which is put out before the bread is cooked. On the opposite side of the floor is a flu. Between all these elements enough heat is created to cook 600 loaves or equivalent.
RedBeard’s sourdough bread is leavened with a natural wild culture of yeast and healthy bacteria. They also use organic flours and their bread is shaped by hand.
The day we visited Trentham, we didn’t realise that RedBeard’s Historic Bakery would be as amazing as it was. The whole cafe was full and that didn’t include the number of people who came in for takeaway. I ordered the vanilla slice as I had been craving a cake for me birthday and not found one. But let me tell you this vanilla slice melted in my mouth. It was different to any I had ever had before. Sorry no photos.
We bought some bread to take home for lunch and again we loved it. In fact, we loved it so much that when we were coming home to Newcastle we drove 20 minutes each way extra on top of a 10+ hour trip just to buy more. The only problem was we were a day early, as the bakery isn’t open every day.
Quokkas are said to be the happiest animals in the world. They are a unique marsupial only found in a few isolated places in Western Australia. Rottnest Island, a short ferry trip from Perth is home to approximately 10,000 of them. Quokkas thrive on Rottnest because there are no foxes to prey on them.
Quokkas seem to know instinctively how cute they are. They love a good selfie. Quokkas are not afraid of humans and move around freely on the island. They are even in the pub.
Quokka’s are everywhere on Rottnest Island, even on the food.
If you get the chance put a trip to Rottnest Island on your bucket list.
