Best of the web: Hotel news and deals

Sadly the owners of Danzante Hotel, a small eco hotel in Baja California, have sold up and a major tourist development is underway, according to the Intelligent Travel blog. Intelligent Travel also has a round-up of hotel deals in New York this winter. Have you heard about travel auction site Priceline but never tried it? [...]

Unusual vegetables

Look at this gorgeous Romanesco cauliflower that came in my vegetable box the other week. Half of it made a delicious Sophie Grigson curry recipe and the other half went in my own improvised vegetable risotto. It tastes almost exactly like white cauliflower but slightly more piquant because of the greenish tinge. I particularly like [...]

Best of the web: Competitions and giveaways

Passports with Purpose: A travel blogging initiative to raise money for Heifer International. Raffle tickets go on sale on December 1 and remain available for the rest of the month. It’s a worthy cause and there are some great prizes on offer. More information. World map giveaway: Leave an entertaining comment on the relevant post [...]

Photo Friday: Good and evil at Goree Island

Dakar, Senegal; May 2007 Goree Island lies just off the coast of Dakar, the Senegalese capital. Today it’s a happy and mellow place where people hang out on the beach, play soccer in the dusty town square and fish from wooden boats from the warm waters of the tropical Atlantic. A few people make their [...]

Passports with Purpose

I’m delighted to be a participant in Passports with Purpose, a travel bloggers’ fundraising event to raise money for a worthy cause. We’re hosting a raffle to raise funds for Heifer International, a charity that aims to end poverty worldwide through supporting and encouraging self sustainability. Tickets are $US10 and go on sale for a [...]

The road to Damascus

I was lucky enough to go to Syria earlier this year, to write about an Iraqi wedding in Damascus for G2. As well as staying with an Iraqi family and experiencing Arab culture from within, I also took the opportunity to explore the fascinating, ancient city of Damascus. I’ve written an article on the highlights [...]

Recipe Road Test: Pumpkin pots de creme

With Thanksgiving coming up this week in the US (the Canadians had it last month), there’s going to be a whole lot of pumpkin pie eating going on. Pumpkin as a dessert is not unheard of outside North America but it’s not common. Pumpkin pie is occasionally found in Australia and Britain but it’s a [...]

The UN of food: Japanese at Abeno

Restaurant review for Abeno, Japanese okonomoyaki restaurant in London. So you think you know Japanese food? You’re familiar with sushi and sashimi, maybe even tempura and teriyaki beef? Well what about okonomoyaki? This is my new favourite Japanese food and the place to go in London is Abeno in Bloomsbury. It’s usually not too busy [...]

Photo Friday: Freshly shucked Tassie oysters

Tamar River, Tasmania; February 2007 This was a family road trip with a twist – three generations of women from age 77 to 23. In February 2007 I drove around Tasmania in a motorhome with my grandmother, two aunts and cousin. One night we camped by the shores of the Tamar River and my cousin [...]

Photo Friday: Polar bears and penguins

Bicheno, Tasmania; February 2007 In Bicheno on the east coast of Tasmania, you might run into fairy penguins – also known as little penguins. When I was there on a family holiday in 2007, we watched them huddling on a little rocky island about 15 metres off shore. Longyearbyen, Svalbard; August 2006 Up in the [...]

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