British novelist Nick Hornby wrote a book of essays about songs that he either liked or that had an impact on his life. It got me thinking about a playlist to my life (indulgent!), and tunes that are evocative of a time and place. I like music. I’ve got friends who like it a lot more than me and are better at it. For me it is more of a backdrop to what is happening around … [Read more...]
Ten Favourite Travel Gadgets
Updated 6 Oct 18 People often ask me about my list of travel essentials*. So here is a list of my ten favourite gadgets, compiled from observation, necessity and a good few years of travel. I often travel for work, and for more than a month at a time. I do travel light, and my bag is too small to have more than 20kg in my luggage – allowing a bit of space for ‘acquiring … [Read more...]
Snapshot – Block Printing Workshop in Jaipur
Tourism and textiles are two very important industries to Rajasthan. In Jaipur you can combine both at a hand block printing workshop just out of Jaipur, at Bagru. Natural dyes The printing is done using natural vegetable dyes and colour fixers. During an interactive show and tell session, we learnt things like yellow colour comes from turmeric. Green can be made with … [Read more...]
A week in Rajasthan
Thinking of visiting India? Consider a week in Rajasthan in the north west and visit the coloured cities of Jaipur or Jodhpur, or the City of Lakes - Udaipur. Here are some suggestions for a seven day itinerary. When we had a family dinner prior to my leaving for India, my father said “where are you going? Raspberry?” I said “no Dad, you remember the Raj? (yes) Well I’m … [Read more...]
Western Australia’s Best Beaches North of Perth
In this post I take you on a road trip to some of the best beaches in Western Australia, which happily are in my back yard. The beaches south of Perth are reasonably well known and well frequented – Yallingup, Smiths and Margaret River in the South West. Margaret River has the added bonus of being a wine growing region and a foodie destination. But being an adventurous … [Read more...]
