Monday 6th May, 2024 Our last day in Mauritius started slowly and deliciously again, with breakfast back at the large table under the gorgeous frangipane tree, overlooking the bay. Today’s spread included little individual mushroom frittatas, freshly sliced ruby red ripe tomatoes, toast, bananas, apricot yoghurt and a super large and delicious passionfruit, cut in…
Author: Sara
Choices, choices
You think you want options. But do you, really? Making choices is such an essential element of planning a holiday. Number of days per location is a critical one for me. High-end hotel with all the jazz; or mediocre, with enough comfort to sleep well; or basic and brutal, but low cost enough to then…
“The best laid plans of mice and men”
Apparently, things don’t always go to plan. Which is a shame really, considering how much I love to plan. When I first became a chef, nearly 35 years ago, it was the thing that totally made sense to me and drew me to the commercial kitchen. The basics I learned as an apprentice was all…
Amazing Africa Awaits!
I am so so so excited. In two weeks from today we are heading for my first ever visit to Africa! We will be meeting up with Will and Emma there and visiting South Africa, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Zambia over three weeks. We have lots of exciting plans, but truth be known, if I…
Lovely London
LONDON: Tuesday 28th August – Friday 1st September Tuesday How wonderful is London! Oozing with history, culture, gorgeous gardens and terrific food… what’s not to love! I remember when England had a terrible food reputation. English food was known to be stodgy, tasteless and boring. But no more! The UK in general seems to have…
Unexpected Edinburgh
Friday to Sunday 25 to 27 August It wasn’t on our trip plan (carefully planned and curated over the months preceding our holiday), but we are learning to be more spontaneous and when Will suggested we spend a few days in Scotland on our way back to the UK from Iceland, we couldn’t resist. Will…
The Land of Fire and Ice
ICELAND: 22-25 August 2023 12 months ago, Iceland was not on my list of ‘must visit’ places. When, early in our holiday planning, Dave suggested we visit Iceland on this trip, I was not jumping at the bit. Iceland sounded cold, distant and boring. How wrong could I have been! It’s a good lesson for…
“Top of the world to you”
Ireland: 14 -18th August 2023 One of the fabulous things about being in Bingham is its closeness to East Midlands Airport, around 10 miles from the house where Will and Emma are based. I booked super-cheap airfares to Ireland a few months ago (£15 each!) and we drove to the airport on Monday afternoon after…
Hong Kong
Tuesday & Wednesday 8/9 August 2023 Sometimes we are a little competitive in my family. Dave started counting the countries he has visited quite a few years ago, and the kids and I have since followed suit. Dave topped the 100-mark earlier this year, Will comes in 2nd at 54, and I’m bringing up a…
I’m obsessed!
Day 1: Monday 7th August 2023 I’m obsessed with a few things. Those of you who know me well will realise this ? I’m obsessed with my family… not least of all my two gorgeous kids who I love to eternity. I’m obssesed with food. I used to use the word ‘passion’ to describe it,…
T minus 13 days!
I have some news… we are heading on a trip in 13 days! First stop Hong Kong, then to London and up to Bingham to see Will and Emma. I am sooooo excited ? I wont blog daily, but will certainly post something from each location. Any ‘must-do’s’ for Hong Kong, that you know peeps?
Sayonara
DAY 14: Tokyo. Saturday 8th April 2023 As I began to type this, we were sitting at Haneda airport, waiting to board our overnight flight back to Melbourne. It was time to say goodbye to Japan, unfortunately, but not before another enjoyable day was had in Tokyo, which now rates as one of, if not…
A taste of Kichijoji
DAY 13 – Friday 7th April 2023 (Our last full day in Japan 🙁 ) I’ve been on a few food walking tours over the years. It’s my very favourite thing to do. Barcelona still stands out as the best, but Athens with the Perry’s last year was right up there, and Prague was pretty…
Go Hard or Go Home!
DAY 12 Tokyo – Thursday 6th April 2023 When we woke on Thursday morning we realised, with much sadness, we only had two or so days left in Japan. It was time to go hard and see and experience as much of this city as possible while we could. Thursday, for me at least, was…
Its big!
Nagasaki and Tokyo: Day 10 and 11: Tuesday and Wednesday 4th and 5th of April Tokyo is the world’s biggest city, and this post is probably my biggest post ever… two days’ worth of Japanese adventures to follow 🙂 I decided to post two days’ at once, not because we haven’t done much, but because…
Skyfall in Nagasaki
DAY 9: Nagasaki. 3rd April 2023 The second reason we decided on visiting Nagasaki involved James Bond. Surprise, surprise 😉 Nicknamed Gunkanjima, or Battleship Island, because of its shape, Hashima island has an eerie, sinister look, perfect for say, a villain’s lair in an action movie. The inspiration for villain Raoul Silva’s deserted hideout in…