Tag: lifestyle

August 12, 2014 Camping and Glamping, UK 3 Comments

Gone Glamping…

Somewhere in the middle of the Sussex Downs in the rolling countryside sits a glamping field and in that field sits The Big Green Bus…that’s where I’m heading tomorrow for my 30th birthday celebrations!
Turning 30 is pretty exciting and I wanted to do something different, so celebrating with my best friends and husband Matt, combined with a stay on this quirky bus seemed to be the perfect answer!  The bus has three bedrooms upstairs, a lounge area, kitchen and bathroom, very cool!  It was featured on Channel 4’s TV series George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces.  The same program I saw the beach hut on which I booked as a surprise earlier this year for Matt’s 30th.  This is proper glamping and I’m so excited!  I will report back in full and tell you all about it next week…
Here’s the full write up of my birthday trip: All aboard the big green bus….

 

July 18, 2014 Bermuda 6 Comments

Biking The Bermuda Railway Trail…

On Tuesday I was in Bermuda with the whole day free before flying home, wanting to do something different from my usual visit to the beach I decided to hire a bike and go exploring.  I chatted to the hotel concierge who suggested the Bermuda Railway Trail.  Stretching across the whole of the island it is a wonderful way to explore this stunning archipelago.  I only covered three of the eighteen miles of track but came across some lovely spots.  The track is well signposted and has information boards along the route explaining the history of the railway.  Meandering through tropical woodland, past pastel coloured houses and along Bermuda’s beautiful waters there is so much to see.  I got a little bit lost at one point but with the help of a few friendly locals I got back on the right path.  I imagined that being an old railway line it would be a straight track, but was surprised to find in parts it to be quite a work out cycling up and down hills and peddling through some deep gravel.  So, on that note I would recommend wearing decent footwear, as I struggled at times in my flip-flops!  Water and suncream are a must too.  I throughly enjoyed my day exploring a little part of Bermuda by bike, next time I go back I will get back in the saddle and explore some more!
My previous blog post on Bermuda was all about food…check it out here: Brunch in Bermuda.
June 3, 2014 Interviews 6 Comments

Interview with author Lucy Clarke…

I am a huge fan of Lucy Clarke’s books; The Sea Sisters and A Single Breath both incorporate elements of travel and the ocean and had me captivated right from the start.  Lucy’s latest book A Single Breath was published in March this year and is set in London, Dorset and Tasmania.  Full of suspense, I could not put it down and finished it in just a few days.  When Eva loses her husband in a tragic accident, her quest to meet his family and discover his past takes her to the other side of the world.  This leads Eva to make discoveries that she could never have imagined and in turn change her life in even more ways than she thought possible.  With gripping twists and turns along the way, I can’t recommend this book enough!

 

I was thrilled when Lucy agreed to answer a few of my burning questions….
1. Themes of the ocean and travel are weaved into the characters’ lives in both The Sea Sisters and A Single Breath; are these themes ones that are close to your own heart? 
Absolutely.  I’m a passionate traveller, and I’ve always lived by the coast, so those two elements have naturally weaved themselves into my first two novels . . . and will no doubt be present in my future books, too!
2. Do you travel a lot while researching?
My husband and I spend as much of each winter as we can abroad.  He is a professional windsurfer, so we are both lucky enough to be able to take our ‘offices’ with us.  Over the past few years, our travels have taken us to Chile, Hawaii, Western Australia, Tasmania, Fiji, New Zealand, Canada, the US and Europe.  When I’m researching the setting for a novel, I like to spend as much time as I possibly can in that particular place.  I hope it lends an authenticity to my writing that I may otherwise struggle to achieve without visiting the destinations.
3. How did you get into writing?
I’d always assumed I’d be a business woman and I pushed aside all the signals that I’d perhaps make a better writer: I kept diaries and journals since I was 11; I read voraciously; I studied English Literature at university; I’m at my happiest with a notebook and pen in my hand.  It took a round-the-world trip with a van, tent and travel journal to make me realize that what I wanted to do most was write.  I was 24 at the time – and it took me until I was 30 to sign my first book deal.
4. Where is your favourite place to write?
My favourite place to write, where I have my clearest thought, is by the sea.  I’ve grown up on the south coast of England, so the sea has always been part of my life.  Cities are wonderful and exciting places to be, but after a few days I feel an almost gravitational pull towards the coast.  Our family has a beach hut where I love to tuck myself away to write.  The hut is quiet, sits right on the sand, and has views stretching for miles.  For me, it’s heaven.
5. What do you like to do in your spare time when not writing? Do you find it easy to switch off?
I love doing anything that involves being outdoors: paddleboarding, windsurfing, hiking, camping, barbecuing with friends.  I also – of course – LOVE to read, and there’s nothing better than finding a quiet stretch of the beach to hunker down on with a book.  I think as a writer you never fully ‘switch off’, as everything around you – places, people, emotions, events – can act as inspiration.
 6. How often do you get to travel?
We’ve spent the past nine winters abroad, so we’re lucky enough to feed our wanderlust fairly often.
7. Do you have any favourite songs to listen to when travelling?
I seem to have an album that defines each of our trips.  One of my favourite songs, which I discovered whilst staying in a little shack in the rainforest of Haiku on Maui, was Over the Rainbow by Iz.  I fell in love with the track and, seven years later, it was the first dance at our wedding.
 8. If you weren’t an author, what would you be?
Ooo . . . so many things!  I think we all need a dozen lives to try out all the fun stuff.  I’d have a go at being a dancer, photographer, conservationist, musician, and artist – amongst numerous other things!
 9. What inspires you to write?
Quite simply it is my love of listening to, reading, or sharing a damn good story.
10. Are there any more books in the pipeline?
There most certainly are!  The working title of my third novel is The Blue, and it’s set on a yacht sailing towards the South Pacific, crewed by a group of travellers.  Best friends, Lana and Kitty, join the yacht in the Philippines and sail through crystal clear lagoons, and remote, uninhabited islands.  But, on a 10-day ocean crossing, the crew wake to discover one of their friends is missing – and no one claims to have seen anything.  Disturbed by the disappearance, relationships between the crew begin to fracture, and Lana and Kitty’s friendship is stretched to breaking point.  It’s a story of friendship, hedonism, and the delicate balance between truth and lies.  It’s due for release by HarperCollins in 2015.
Thanks Lucy, I can’t wait for the next book!
A Single Breath and The Sea Sisters are available online at Amazon, the perfect books to read on your travels!
May 2, 2014 Camping and Glamping, UK 17 Comments

Beach Hut Living…

Shaldon Beach Hut No.1 - one of my favourite unique places to stay in the UK
This year I’m really trying to make the most of what the UK has to offer. As well as continuing to explore the rest of the world I’m enjoying visiting new places in my own country.  (My last trip was a lovely long weekend in Cornwall.)  A trip to the tiny seaside town of Shaldon in Devon a few weekends ago was my next UK break, and a very special one at that as it was a surprise trip for my husbands 30th birthday!
Matt's birthday clues!Six months ago I booked ‘Beach Hut number 1’ after watching a programme on Channel 4 called George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces.  The series focused on the use of small buildings and spaces including boats, buses and everything in between and followed the progress of turning them into unusual dwellings and holiday homes.  The beach huts in Shaldon featured on the programme and stood out for me, as I’m a big fan of all things to do with the sea.  I instantly fell in love with it and thought it would be a fantastic place to take Matt to celebrate turning 30.  The hardest part was keeping it a secret for so long!  I gave Matt three envelopes containing clues about where we were going.  He guessed on clue three; so I think I did a pretty good job!  We excitedly set off on a sunny Saturday morning and arrived three hours later.  Pulling up outside Beach Hut One, sun shining and seagulls soaring high in the sky I knew we were in for a great weekend.  As we opened the door we were greeted with a glow of white washed walls and nautical décor.  A modern twist to a traditional beach hut this one came with everything including the kitchen sink!  A galley kitchen, light and airy living space, a mezzanine level with a cosy bedroom complete with comfy futon mattress and a compact bathroom under the stairs.  Bi-folding doors which opened up along the full width of the building onto our own private terrace and under floor heating (I love little touches like these!) completed this small but perfectly formed beach dwelling.  The beach hut also had a TV and wi-fi, but I tried to leave the wi-fi alone as I wanted to relax and enjoy the beautiful surroundings.  This tiny space is so cleverly thought out and elegantly designed, it’s amazing that so much can fit into such a small area.  Overlooking the Teign estuary, Teignmouth and the beach this was definitely the ultimate glamping weekend and we were very excited!  With the champagne chilling ready for a birthday cheers we headed out to explore the village.  Shaldon is full of West Country charm; it has a few pubs, a bakery, The Yummy Shop, (love this name!) a coffee shop full of local treats, a few great shabby chic style gift shops and some good-looking restaurants.  We had dinner at The Ness a lovely hotel and gastro pub with fantastic views overlooking the estuary and Teignmouth.  I had steak and ale pie washed down with a large glass of red and finished off with a salted caramel sundae, it was just what I wanted!
The following day we explored the area in more detail, taking the passenger ferry from the beach at Shaldon over to Teignmouth.  The journey takes about 5 minutes and cost £1.50 each way!  We had some lunch and a stroll along the promenade and then headed back over to Sheldon.  Don’t miss Ness Cove; this lovely beach is accessed by a smugglers tunnel, very cool!  Also follow the South West Coast Path up to Ness Point; there is a nice view through the trees at the top of the hill looking towards Teignmouth and the rest of the coastline. I loved taking photos and capturing the essence of the lovely English seaside in the sunshine.  After this we retired back to our beach hut and chilled out on the terrace.  Reading and drinking wine, while watching the changing tide and boats bobbing on the water were the main items on the agenda!  We were only there for two nights but it felt like a lot longer, it was such a great place to unwind.  Living in England knowing how changeable the weather can be we were very lucky that the sun shone all weekend too.  I loved nothing more than opening up the doors onto the terrace first thing in the morning and seeing the golden sunlight shimmering on the water.  It felt like I was letting the beach right into the hut and so relaxing to read my book in bed listening to the waves lapping at the shore while admiring the lovely view.  Time seemed to slow down, making me appreciate the simple things in life.  I love beach hut living!
February 23, 2014 UK 6 Comments

Port Isaac, the ultimate Cornish retreat…

Beautiful views of Port Isaac from White House Cottage. This is one of my favourites in my blog on unique places to stay in the UK
View from White House Cottage, Port Isaac
There has been so many storms and flooding in Britain lately I was worried that it might affect our winter break away.  The drive down to Cornwall was quite unpleasant with a lot of water on the roads, trees down and very high winds.  But once we arrived the weather was glorious.  We only had one day of rain, which lent itself well to lounging by our log burner and scoffing afternoon tea!  Staying in the quaint fishing village of Port Isaac found on the North Cornish coast it was the perfect escape from everyday life.  With no phone signal in most areas of the village you have no choice but to relax and forget about all your daily worries.  (I cheated slightly when I started this blog as the cottage I was staying in had wi-fi, but I did limit my daily usage!)
If you stay down in the village a lot of cottages don’t have parking.  The roads in the village are also extremely narrow and can be a bit nerve-racking to drive along especially if you meet another car!  The closest place to park is the car park at the top of the hill.   A ten-minute stroll will take you down into the village centre.  Pasty shops, cafes serving cream teas, the Golden Lion pub, a few restaurants, (The Moat is my favourite) and some lovely shabby chic shops await.  Exploring the village doesn’t take long follow the narrow streets as they wind past quaint white washed cottages. Look out for Squeeze – ee -Belly Alley, as the name describes it is a very narrow walkway built-in between the cottages.  How very Cornish!  The harbour is good for an adventure when the tide is out, rock pools and caves appear and you can climb up onto the harbour wall.  For a scrummy dinner after all that activity head to the fishmongers right on the Platt.
For such a small village with a population of only about 700 people, Port Isaac is quite famous.  Home to the TV series ‘Doc Martin’ many tourists are attracted to this quaint part of the UK.  On that note one of the reasons why I prefer visiting in the winter months is that there is hardly anyone around, compared to the summertime.  ‘Keeping Mum’ starring Maggie Smith and Rowan Atkinson was also filmed in the community.  The sea shanty group Fisherman’s Friends have all lived and worked in Port Isaac, many are fishermen, and members of the lifeboat and coastguard.  They can be heard performing to huge crowds on the Platt every Friday night throughout the summer.  I would love to see them live, their powerful a cappella tones send shivers up my spine!
I love heading down to the south-west of the UK for surfing in the summer but there’s nothing like braving the elements and staying in a cosy cottage, log burner roaring, watching the winter swell roll in through the harbour.  Staying with our friends at White House Cottage this is exactly what we did.  Situated on Roscarrock Hill with magnificent three doors down from Doc Martin’s surgery and a stones throw from the village centre, harbour and the South West Coast Path at the top of Roscarrock hill.  There is a great viewpoint at the top by the way; from here you can look back down to Port Isaac and the surrounding rugged coastline, it is breathtaking and great for photos.  Don’t try walking up the hill with a hangover though, believe me it’s not fun!  The cottage itself had uninterrupted views across the harbour and village.  In fact you could see the beautiful view from every room, including the bathroom.  The novelty of brushing your teeth while watching the gulls soaring, waves crashing and fisherman in the harbour never got boring!  I loved lying in bed with the window open in the morning listening to the waves rolling softly into the harbour, utter bliss!  White House cottage also came with not one but two gardens.  One in front of the building and an upper garden, almost like a secret garden, set higher up above the cottage.  It was the perfect place to have the view all to yourself.

 

The nearby fishing village of Padstow is well worth a visit.  Colourful fishing boats are lined up in the harbour and the cobbled streets are filled with gift shops and pasty stops.  There is a lovely walk along the beach; you can also jump on a passenger ferry just over the water to Rock.  Padstow is home to the National Lobster Hatchery which I would thoroughly recommend visiting.  This charitable organisation focuses on marine conservation.  The work and aim of the hatchery is to protect and support local fishing communities by rearing and releasing these beautiful crustaceans into the wild.  The lobster population has declined over the years due to over fishing and poor survival rates.  An interesting fact that I learnt via the hatchery website is that a female lobster can hold up to 20,000 eggs, with only one of those expected to survive in the wild!  The hatchery has lots of information and you can see the laboratories and baby lobsters at different stages before release.
While in Cornwall there are a few must dos on the food and drink front.  First and foremost you must have a pasty.  This very traditional Cornish delight is a savoury pastry typically filled with beef, potato, suede and onion, seasoned with salt and pepper and crimped on the edge to hold it all together.  There are some tasty alternatives such as steak and Stilton and you can even get sweet pasties.  Be careful if you are eating your pasty in a seaside town such as Padstow though as the cheeky seagulls have become wise to tourists and will dive bomb you for your lunch, keep that pasty protected!  A cream tea is another west country treat, scones accompanied with jam, cream and a pot of tea.  There is much debate around which way you should put the jam and cream on the scone.  Jam before cream is apparently the Cornish way, cream before jam is the Devon way.  I prefer spreading the jam first and then putting the cream on top.  Our favourite Cornish beverages include, Rattler, cloudy cyder and Doom Bar, an ale brewed in the small village of Rock close to Port Isaac.  Back in Port Isaac The Golden Lion is the perfect place to warm up with a local beverage; the tiny public house is the centre of village life, has a lovely open fire and a friendly atmosphere.
It always amazes how time passes so quickly when you are on holiday, our days centred on lovely walks, food, drink, afternoon naps and cups of tea by the log burner.  Port Isaac is my ultimate Cornish retreat and I can’t wait to visit again soon…

 

 

December 4, 2013 France Post a Comment

24 hours in the South of France….

With only 24 hours to spend in Nice, in the south of France I wanted to make the most of it.  This doesn’t sound like a lot of time but you can definitely cram a lot of exploring in!  Arriving in the evening meant checking in at the hotel and heading straight out to explore the nightlife.  With the airport located conveniently close to the town it didn’t take too long to find ourselves in the old town in a very cool bar with a beer in hand.  Wayne’s bar was rammed with locals, and with live music playing it was definitely the right choice of venue.  Although, we enjoyed it a little too much and ended up staying out slightly longer than planned.  This meant sore heads all round in the morning and slightly more money spent than had been intended!  None the less we dragged ourselves up early, ravenous for a typical French breakfast.  Coffee and croissants in a lovely café was the perfect antidote.  All perked up and ready for the day ahead we strolled to the train station, the plan was to spend the day in Monte Carlo.  I was really looking forward to the train journey along the coastline, but once at the station we discovered there had been a landslide and no trains were running!  Feeling a little disappointed we went back to the town centre and decided having only explored Nice’s nightlife that the rest of this lovely Mediterranean area was waiting to be uncovered.  Strolling along the bustling Promenade des Anglais, with the sea shimmering and the sun shining we headed towards the cliffs near the harbour.  Climbing the steps up to the clifftop revealed fantastic views over the coastline, old town and the port on the opposite side.  You could even see snow-capped mountains further inland.  Known as Parc du Château this cliff top park has a man-made waterfall called Cascade Donjon and lovely gardens, perfect for a picnic with beautiful views of the ocean.  Next stop was a visit to the food and flower market in the old town.  It’s a great place to pick up fresh bread, meats and cheeses.  The Corsican cheese I bought was a particular favourite.  There were also lots of lavender products, soaps and oils to purchase.  After checking out the market, it was time to get lost in the tiny side streets.  This is one of my favourite things to do in European cities; the buildings and beautiful architecture were a real highlight of the trip for me.  Continuing further we stumbled across a wonderful bakery and bought some scrummy fresh pastries.  With a huge variety of restaurants to choose from for lunch and being in France I felt it was only right to go for Moules – frites with a glass of white wine.  After lunch it was time for a bike ride, Velo Bleu rental bicycles can be found all over the town and from €1 a day you can help yourself to one of these beauties.  We cycled along the promenade stopping for ice cream along the way.  A quick coffee outside in the sun along with a bit of people watching ended our glorious day in France.  Back at the airport I bought a bottle of red wine as a souvenir of a perfect 24 hours on the French Riviera.  Cheers!

 

November 30, 2013 Australia, Camping and Glamping 4 Comments

Three weeks in three and a half minutes…

Matt and I have put together a short video documenting our adventures in Australia. We spent three weeks travelling from Sydney to Cairns and covered 1633 miles. To view the video click here. Hope you like it…

 

Here’s some of my blog posts all about our Australian adventures:

Planning a Road Trip on the East Coast of Australia 

Cool Campsites on the East Coast of Australia

Whale Watching in Australia

In Search of the Cassowary

Five Things to do in Sydney

 

 

August 26, 2013 Blogging, Uncategorized 2 Comments

To travel or not to travel?

I stopped to get fuel for my car on my way home from work today.  As I was in my uniform the lady in the garage asked what I did.  I explained that I worked for an airline as cabin crew, to which she replied, “I couldn’t do your job!” I asked if it was because she was scared of flying?  She went on to explain that she wasn’t scared but that she had never been on a plane in her life.  I told her she should go for it, she simply said “oh no thanks” and seemed pretty content with her answer.  It just got me thinking that of course not everyone has the want or need to travel, but when I think about my job I realise how lucky I am to fly overseas to different countries every week; along with countries I have travelled to in my own time.  I feel so privileged and lucky to have done so and can’t imagine not ever wanting to travel, to never having that urge to step on foreign soil, to taste different foods or to experience a new culture.  I’ve learnt so much by travelling to different countries and feel I am a richer person for doing so.  Like I said this conversation showed me that there are lots of people who are happy with not seeing other parts of the world, but boy does our world have so much to offer!  I am thankful for the opportunities and experiences I have had so far and look forward to the new experiences I will continue to have through my love of visiting pastures new.  Be it in the UK or further afield I never want to stop exploring…And I encourage with all my heart everyone to do the same…Hope you agree with me?….