The Ultimate New Zealand Roadtrip: The North Island Edition

Aoteoroa, Land of the Long White Cloud, God’s Own. New Zealand is known by many names, including ‘home’ for me. At least once in your life, you must do a North Island road trip. With gorgeous waterfalls, geothermic oddities, amazing beaches, snoozing volcanoes – the North Island is gorgeous, but it often plays second fiddle to the glory of the South Island.  What qualifies me as an insider? I’m a born and bred North Island… View Post

/

19 of the best places to go in Amsterdam

19 of the best places to go in Amsterdam

There are certain cities that have an addictive, mysterious joie de vivre to them. Amsterdam sits firmly on that shortlist. Please excuse the somewhat clickbait style post title, but I was at a bit of a loss how to describe our most recent city break there. A good friend of ours (he and his family live in Japan) found himself in Europe, and really fancied finally exploring Amsterdam. 

/

Hellbrunn Palace: Trick Fountains and The Sound of …

Hellbrunn Palace: Trick Fountains and The Sound of Music

It was 37°C. Our faces were practically melting off in the unusual summer heatwave across Europe, and we’d already spent the morning climbing via cable car 1,320m up the Untersberg Mountain, so we headed for Hellbrunn Palace with its trick fountains Hellbrunn Palace is an early Baroque villa of palatial size, near Morzg, a southern district of the city of Salzburg, Austria. It was built in 1613–19 by Markus Sittikus von Hohenems, Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg, and named… View Post

/

9 of the best things to do in Salzburg

9 of the best things to do in Salzburg

Even if you don’t know the words to the Sound of Music or Falco’s epic 80s classic hit ‘Rock Me Amadeus’, you need to explore Salzburg for at least a long weekend at least once in your life. Most people roll up to this city for a day or so, hit up the tourist highlights and then disappear into another European country. The green waters of the Rhine shimmer through the centre of Salzburg, there is… View Post

/

Glenskirlie House and Castle Hotel – Snoozing in a …

Glenskirlie House and Castle Hotel – Snoozing in a Scottish Castle

Weddings are magical – and even more so when they are held in a castle that’s nestled in the peaceful Scottish countryside. Glenskirlie House and Castle was the venue for a good friend’s wedding recently – and we celebrated the joining of their two families in an age-old handfasting that went on into the wee hours. (In total honesty I didn’t last all the way into the wee hours when the shots were broken out,… View Post