So many people have raved to me about Kuala Lumpur, so when Marina, our travel agent, proposed it as our South-East Asia homebase, I picked it over Bangkok. We have a great AirBnB that is only a 5 min walk from the famous Petronas towers – a giant (and I mean, GIANT) shopping mall with […]
Author: Shiela
MONA – Controversial art, fun for all
The MONA is probably what put Hobart, and Tasmania overall, on the tourist map. It is the biggest private art collection in Australia, and a pet project of its multimillionaire founder, David Walsh, a talented mathematician turned professional gambler who made his fortune with Black Jack and betting on race tracks. His collection is dedicated […]
Les p’tits gastronomes in….Myanmar
I arrive in Burma with my culinary expectations practically zero if not negative given everything I have read about the cuisine being bland and uninteresting, especially compared to its neighbours. Thierry, who visited Burma over 15 years ago also does not have particularly exciting memories of the food scene, but we are in for a […]
2019 to 2020, reunions to tennis Masters: Sydney – Hunter Valley – Melbourne
We embark on our plane to Australia with only three objectives, the rest is wide open: visit our good friends the Fouter family in Sydney, take surf lessons and go to Uluru/Ayer’s Rock. As we leave Auckland, we don’t know quite to expect: Julien had sent us pictures looking out from their house in the […]
Auckland, take-2
After all that paddling (and rain) of our canoe trip, we decide to skip any further adventures and just take it easy in Auckland instead. Having gorged ourselves on essentially crackers and dips for the past 4 days we are craving some decent food, and our memories of Auckland are sweet so back we go. […]
Auckland, take-1 & the Coromandel Peninsula
Arriving in Auckland at 6am from Papeete I realise that I managed to book a hotel night for a night that we literally just skipped – we had just crossed the dateline….. No matter, after several incredibly beautiful weeks on the waters of French Polynesia but starved of decent food, most notably fresh vegetables but […]
Tasmania – Part 2
One of the many things we were looking forward to on our Tasmania trip, were the hikes. It turns out though, that hiking – or tramping, as they call it down under – is not a spontaneous affair here, but something to be planned and pre-booked, at least for the Great Walks such as the […]
Tasmania – Part 1
FINALLY we get to discover the much hyped “island off the island” Tasmania. From the beautiful backdrops seen in movies like “Lion” to all the food and travel blog hype, Tassie seems to be THE place to be in 2019/2020. Thierry and I originally had planned to go there in Jan 2006 when we were […]
From coconut shooting to curried bénétiers: The cruise begins! Huahine – Taha’a – Bora Bora
We start our cruise with a different view on Huahine. Gérard takes us to a secluded little bay that used to house a treehouse hotel in the 80s, beloved by locals and tourists at the time until a hurricane blew it away. Now it is an overgrown small stretch of beach, forlorn and idyllic. The […]
Sunset dolphin escort from Rangiroa
Rangiroa, the most known of the Tuamotu archipelago, is famed for its world class diving, with two big passes teeming with fish. We arrive from Tikehau after another night of fighting the waves with face forward winds. Our poor captains don’t get much of a rest in these choppy waters. Jules takes us out on the […]