MAINE WEEKEND

Here are some shots from our 4th of July/ jam-band festival trip up to Maine... moody, saturated photos courtesy of my new favorite invention: the shake-it app.  It's been a hot summer so far and I am already dreaming and planning for Cape Cod!

SPT DAYS 16 & 17: THE EDGE OF THE WORLD

Miles flown so far: 14,228

We left Brisbane and flew to the west coast of Australia and the city of Perth.  The humid, cloudy tropical air of Queensland was replaced by the searing dryness and blazing sun of Western Australia.  After one night in the suburb of Fremantle, we drove down the coast about 3 hours to the city of Busselton.  This is as far from home as I have ever been.  In fact, it is as far from New York City (while still being on land) a person can be.  Of course, I swam out into the warm gentle waters of the Indian Ocean to be just that much further.

There was an old green market in Fremantle, and we used the opportunity to buy some produce and make a bit of guacamole-- a little taste of North America to enjoy in the hot sun by the pool in this far, far away place.  We had to substitute Thai peppers for Mexican ones, but it was still tasty.

I also discovered this delicious ginger beer that I am now obsessed with finding at home.  It is perfect with some tequila and a little bitters.  Is it winter somewhere?

SOUTH PACIFIC TRIP: DAY 2 AND 3

Miles flown so far: 10,380

We arrived in Melbourne rested and ready to go.  We checked in to our hotel downtown, then walked around a bit in the sunshine, got some coffee, met up with an expat friend of mine in the Fitzroy neighborhood, and later headed to Dainty Sichuan for dinner.  I have never had Chinese food like this in my life.  It was SO SPICY my body felt like it was going into shock, but if you could get past the pain there were so many complex flavors, it was beyond words.  I couldn't finish what I ordered, but now I want to go back and eat there again tonight.  
Today we visited the Royal Botanical Gardens, the seaside St. Kilda neighborhood and our hotel's funny rooftop pool.  We are having some down time before dinner with an Australian friend at a surprise place of her choosing (Dainty Sichuan, I hope?)  Here are some images from the botanical gardens.

Melbourne is a pretty, livable, cosmopolitan city.  It feels like Denver or San Francisco or San Diego, but if they had been British instead of Spanish founded cities.  Lots of Victorian ironwork, beautiful parks, a great tram system, good food.  The Christmas and Boxing Day holidays mean a lot of things are closed, but hopefully tomorrow things will liven up a bit.

Here she is: the Dainty.  I, of course, learned of this place on No Reservations.  There are a couple more Melbourne spots Anthony recommended that we want to try before we leave.  We will see.

Spicy Prawns.  Absolutely delectable.  Not an ounce of slimy, gloppy sauce in sight.  Everything was crispy, oily and seasoned to within an inch of your life.  Spice at this level terrifies me, but I had to try it, and it was worth it.

This dish is called Mouth Watering Chicken.  And it was.  Though if I had one criticism it would be to be more careful to get rid of the bones and gristle before chopping up the chicken.

Some images via rabbit does brisbane and ador australia

BOOKED

After three weekends in a row of nearly solid reading, googling, researching, phone calls, emails guidebook indices, and currency conversion charts, I have the major details of our winter trip to the South Pacific booked.  Here is a little rundown of the itinerary:

We fly from New York on Christmas Eve, because that was the only day there were any seats available for purchase with miles.  It was a tight spot, because we have to be there by December 28th (the origin of this trip is boyfriend-work-related) and apparently Quantas books out 11 months in advance for mileage cash-ins, so we were lucky to get seats at all.  In any event, we fly Christmas Eve, which means we actually miss Christmas Day as a result of crossing the international date line!  We land in Melbourne on the 26th and have a few days to recover from the flight and jet lag, and to enjoy summer time by the hotel pool before the BF has to go to work.

The Australian portion of the trip is centered around work, so the schedule is a bit hectic:

December 26-29: Melbourne, Victoria

December 29-30: Lorne, Victoria

December 31: Hobart, Tasmania

January 1-3: We have a few days off, so are retreating to the Victorian countryside outside Melbourne (as close to the outback as I am going to get, I am afraid) and taking a few days at the Royal Mail Hotel and restaurant, made famous by Anthony Bourdain in his Melbourne episode of No Reservations.  I hope to visit some of his other featured food stops while in town as well.

January 4-5: Melbourne

January 6-7: Brisbane

January 8-10: Perth

January 11-14: Sydney

These days are going to be fun, but exhausting, I expect.  Luckily after Australia we are heading to New Zealand for some rest and relaxation on the North Island, and then some sight seeing on the South Island.

January 15-17: Mangonui, North Island, New Zealand at the house of friends.  I have been told about subtropical climate, sailing to abandoned beaches to swim with wild dolphins, eating good food, etc.  From here we fly to the South Island to see the sights.  We are staying in little hostels and motels (with a few punctuations of more luxurious accommodation here and there).

January 18-19: Picton and Queen Charlotte Track, South Island for some hiking, kayaking, and maybe wine tasting.

January 20-21: Kaikoura for some whale watching and cool tree houses at the Hapuku Lodge
January 22: Hokitika, on the west coast of the South Island

January 23-24: Lake Wanaka in the southern Alps

January 25-26: Te Anau, which we are using as a base to explore Milford Sound, the fjordlands, the glow worm caves, and maybe Doubtful Sound (we will see how motivated I can get my BF).

January 27: Queenstown

January 28: We are flying back to Auckland for a night before leaving the country.

And here is where things get a little crazy.  In order to get home with miles, we had to book with Air Tahiti Nui, with a layover in Tahiti.  Not a problem for me, getting to stay in Tahiti for a night... except when you are that close to what is, in my imagination, one of the most exotic, faraway destinations in the world-- Bora Bora-- you are obligated to go... even if it is the rainy season there (gulp).

January 29-February 2: Bora Bora (!)

February 3: Fly home...

When I was a kid I used to pour over old atlases, and I would dream up itineraries for month-long trips I never thought I would ever actually get to go on.  This, it is turning out, is one of those trips.  I cannot wait!

Images via travelideas.au, The Telegraph UK, and hawaii 5-0

LABOR DAY MAINE

Back to New York for a hectic week of work and catch up.  Luckily I got to wash the stress away with another perfect trip to Maine.  It took nearly 9 hours to get there (I recommend NOT driving anywhere on Labor Day weekend) but it was worth it.  The weather was amazing, and we boated, hiked, antique shopped and ate lobster until we could eat no more.

Vintage Maine

Red's famous lobster rolls, in Wiscasset.  Very tasty, but they go the "plain Maine" route with their rolls: no seasoning, no herbs, little mayo.

Nothing plain about these fried clams.  Totally delectable.

We also stopped in Pemaquid for some hiking, followed by some down and dirty oysters harvested right there in the waters off the town.  Again, no frills: no minonette, no ice, no cracked pepper... just super fresh oysters and a lemon wedge.  Intense.  Sea.  Flavor.

A bowling alley in Cozy Harbor