We had 10 days in Sri Lanka while en route to the maldives, this is what we got up to and the places we visited!
Sri Lanka was a pleasant surprise.. we flew into Colombo, and went straight down to Unawatuna to spend a couple of nights by the beach towns, this is close to Galle.
This is where you will find the swing on the palm tree into the ocean captured below..
We also visited a Hatching Sanctuary and paid a donation to release baby sea turtles into the ocean, this was a realllly cool experience.
They collect the eggs at night when the mothers come up to lay their eggs and allow most to hatch and crawl to the ocean by themselves and they then keep a few in the sanctuary for the visitors to come and be educated and experience releasing baby sea turtles.
While in Sri Lanka I had NO problem being a vegetarian, it was actually much easier than most countries, as they are close to India there was many options, I always use Happycow.com to research vegetarian food options.
Our next destination was to Pinnawala, the elephant sanctuary, We stayed at the hotel elephant park- you gain free access to view the elephants bathing in the stream each day from the hotel, if you are not staying in one of these hotels by the stream you must pay the entry ticket to the centre, which allows you to go by the river- so this is a saving, and plus the hotel isn’t even expensive!
They claim the elephants are taken from the wild to prevent them from poachers, and this is a place of refuge for them, I’m not sure on the exact condition for the elephants, I seen them bathing in the stream all day, and didn’t see any extreme signs of cruelty, BUT I am not an expert on this so I voice NO opinion- if this is something you are concerned about I HIGHLY recommend you to do your own research if you choose to visit this area, do not base it on my recommendation.
We spent 2 nights in Pinnawala before heading to Kandy we spent a couple of nights here and just spent more time relaxing and did some vintage jewellery shopping- This is where I bought my anklets that I LOVE, We then caught the train towards Ella for the day- through the rice fields and mountains, its a beautiful train ride. As we didnt have much time left we only went half way before heading back to Colombo and stayed at Bentota for a further 2 nights before we flew out to Male-Maldives.
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Travel
Fiji
Recent campaign trip to Fiji with Tourism Fiji to promote #FIJINOW post cyclone Winston that hit 20th February
The images we created show how beautiful the islands of Fiji are post cyclone and the happy ‘bula’ spirit of the Fijians
Tourism Fiji Website
Our first destination was a 3 night cruise with Blue Lagoon Cruises to a few of the islands of Fiji
Blue Lagoon Cruises
Modriki Island- from the movie Castaway 
Village Kids on Taveuni
Tavoro Waterfall
Infinity pool from Nanuku’s penthouse villa
Nanuku Resort
Taveuni Island- waterfalls
Private Boat trip from Nanuku Resort to their private island, this was my highlight from the trip.
Nanuku Resort
Hawai'i > Oahu
We finally have made it to the Islands of Hawai’i. Can’t believe it took us this long to make it to this beautiful paradise!
First Island stop is Oahu. This is the most commonly travelled to Island for young Australians, with direct flights here with our budget airline, Jetstar. We hired a Jeep & headed straight to the north shore to our first location Turtle Bay Resort.
Along the way we checked out some iconic spots including Pipeline & Sunsets. I was just on the lookout for scenes from Blue Crush.. Yeeep childhood fav movie, always made me think I could become a pro surfer! 😛
We stayed at Turtle Bay Resort for 2 nights- wish we didn’t have to leave!
We got to go sunset horse back riding, and had a beautiful sunset dinner at Pa’Akai Restaurant.
Days were spent exploring the coastlines & snorkelling with Honu (Sea Turtles)
Daily dose of Acai bowls, but to be honest.. I had far better Acai bowls all over Hawaii then the much raved Haleiwa Bowls.. But I could have just got them at a bad moment..
The food trucks across the North Shore were my absolute favourite! We ate every meal when not at the resort from them, This cute Indian one pictured above was my fav! it was in Haleiwa.
After two nights we drove back to down the Southern end of the Island to the iconic Waikiki, This is the central tourist location, and it is BUSY!
Ill have to say this wasn’t my favourite location across Oahu, only because I much prefer natural beauty, and this beach in lined with resorts, restaurants and shops.
Had to be visited though, and Hiring a surf board and catching some small waves is so much fun in Waikiki.
We stayed at the Outrigger Waikiki Beach, and these overhead shots of Waikiki Beach were taken from the roof top. Such incredible views over the whole bay.
We went to Lanakai for the morning and did the Lanakai Pillbox trail, which is a must in my opinion, the hike is rather easy and the views are insane. The colours of the water from up above are so vibrant. We did it around mid morning, Sunrise or sunset I’m not sure which is better, would be special, although the water wouldn’t have the same great light over it.
http://www.outriggerwaikikihotel.com
The Mountains are Calling; Mount Kenya
Early January 2016 I travelled to Africa for the first time, to visit Kenya with Magical Kenya and World Expeditions.
To climb Mt Kenya 4985m, a 6 day hike!
Day 1; We had a small group of 4 in the tour, a couple from Australia, a lady from America and myself! We left from our hotel in Nairobi with two members from World expeditions, Eddy and Stephen and drove for 4 hours through the city and into the villages before arriving at Chogoria village for lunch and a tour around the farm with one of our guides. We then changed vehicles and continued towards Mount Kenya National Park, this road was super bumpy and steep, we all had our eyes peeled at the windows after seeing signs of elephants in the area.. unfortunately.. no luck! First walk was only a 2 hour walk to camp where we stayed at Bandas Cottages in the woodland near the Chogoria Gates, glamping in huts with… beds, toilet, SHOWER and most importantly a fireplace.. luxury I was not expecting! The evening fog rolled in and set the mystical mountain mood..
Sleeping at 3000m
Day 2; Woke up at 6:30am to clear views of the summit in the very distance.. Breakfast and warm tea awaited with a packed lunch for the road! Spotted some Colobus Monkeys around the camp, even Waterbuck and Buffalo nearby drinking from the waterhole.. We began our hiking around 8:30am and arrived at Mount Mughi for lunch, our highest elevation for the day at 3600m, I began to feel the elevation from up here, thats why the altitude hikes were essential. Arrived at camp by 2:30pm with hot tea and coffee awaiting.. Camp today was Lake Ellis which was a beautiful and quiet campsite amongst all the birds and by the lake. Brrrgh the evening got pretty cool.. but i guess thats to be expected at 3500m. The night sky was clear & filled with many bright stars, first night sleeping under the african stars..
Sleeping at 3500m
Day 3; Today we woke up at 5:30am for a beautiful sunrise over Lake Ellis, We were woken with a bowl of steaming hot water, which was perfect for those frosty mornings! We began our days hike before 8am, after a well deserved hot breakfast and packed lunch. We crossed a creek through a valley and began the long ascend, We had lunch and M’Tea along the way before reaching our highest point for the day at 4200m. We then came around the corner to the most stunning view i’d seen this far on the mountain.. overlooking Lake Michelson, camp for the night! Down in the valley, the fog would quickly roll in and out, Being up in the mountains always blows my brain out with the Marvellous beauty.. We then descended down the mountain towards our camp which was already set up, oh those porters, Made everyday a dream, rolling into camp after a days hike to camp all set up and warm tea and popcorn awaiting! oh and popcorn is my favourite snack.. how did they know?? The descend was a wet and slippery one, it began to rain & the fog had really rolled in! There was endless photo opportunities, but the rain and fog put that on hold.. We arrived at amp by 2pm. Camping by Lake Michaelson, we were the only group here also, how incredible to be in such an incredibly beautiful campsite, and to have no-one else there is unbelievable, (don’t think that would happen on Mt Kilimanjaro)
Sleeping at 3820m
Day 4; Wake up call was 6am today, I was usually awake before the came to wake us up, as you do when camping on a mountain.. bed early! Crystal clear morning, leaving camp at 7:30am we began our ascend up the valley, following the stream up until we reached the top of the valley and had the most insane views of the lake! We also seen some of our first views of the summit! Usually it was covered in clouds! At this altitude our steps became slow, thats what I was really impressed by, our guide Eddy; He would ensure we were taking it super slow in those steep altitude climbs, and always check in on how we were feeling for signs of altitude sickness, his experience was so evident! Today we arrived at camp by midday, in time for the best lunch yet- PANCAKES & oodles of noooodles, these little details make your day when your out in the wilderness! In the afternoon the rest of the group went on an altitude hike to the ‘Tooth’, I decided to spend this time capturing some images around camp instead. It began to SNOW, well frozen rain, but snow to us Aussies where its a rare sight. This was officially the ~ALPINE~ zone Brrrrgh, and it felt like it too! Bed time was extra early tonight, waking up well before the birds; SUMMIT day tomorrow
Sleeping at 4560m
DAY 5; Summit Day was finally here.. Wake up call was at 3:30am, warm cup of tea & on the road we left, luckily we didn’t have to pack up camp before leaving. Today was a sleep in for the rest of the team. The sky was bursting with stars at this early hour, 2 hours to Summit, which went so quickly. Most the time was spent staring at my feet, I was relying on the hikers infront and behind for torch light; One of my tips.. bring extra batteries for your head torch seriously how did I not think of this!! As we reached the final climb to the top the sky began to have some pre-sunrise daylight Thank Youuuu, this part is the most challenging of the hike, bit of an ice/rock scramble and then up a ladder, but don’t look down, DROP OFF.. but don’t worry, you always feel safe with the incredible guides! 🙂
We reached the summit with around 10 minutes until sunrise, we could see the couple doing the technical climb up Summit Nelion, They had a long climb ahead of them! We could even see Mt Kilimanjaro off in the distance peeping through the clouds. The sun rose, It took my breath away- literally at such altitude!! We all snapped up our summit photos before a quick descend down to camp for a hot and well well deserved breakfast! Today was going to be a long one! We set off again and reached Shiptons camp where we were greeted with some of the most picturesque views of Mount Kenya, I was literally speechless and couldn’t stop clicking that shutter button- It just looked sooo good!
We kept on hiking todays camp>camp was 7-8 hours away, But feeling that increase in oxygen as we got lower was so relieving, and gave me bursts of energy! Majority of todays hike was wet and sloppy, so I hide under my poncho and just kept walking, we arrived at camp in record time.. Camera was packed away for the day so I wasn’t holding everyone up like usual! ahhhh seeing camp today was extra special.. Wet & exhausted that tea & popcorn never tasted better!
ANOTHER TIP: When camping out in the cold temperatures sleep with your camera/spare batteries close to your body! Cold drains the battery life, luckily someone told me this before I left, and I had no problem with battery for the entire 6 days! I even brought heaps of extra camera batteries and reached the end of the hike with loads of battery, but wasn’t worth the risk of making it to the summit and not even being able to snap up a photo to remember the incredible moment any!
DAY 6; The final day! and the shortest hike too, up at 6am b’fast, packed and on the road for a 2 hour hike. Reached the park gates and waiting was Steven from the company- always a happy sight, knowing that shower is only hours away!
On the drive out of the National Park we seen… ZEBRAS! yes certainly felt like I was in Africa now, eyes filled with tears and I raced for the camera. I unfortunately didn’t have time for a day safari to the gaming park, but we will save that for next time! But for now Goodbye Kenya and thank you for the incredible memories and experiences!
P.s I tipped $5000 Kenyan shillings for the trip ( We had no idea what was an appropriate tip, but heres hoping this was respectable, they sure deserved this)
Travel Insurance; Is a MUST! I never go overseas without it! It’s just not worth the risk, even though 9/10 times I don’t use it, it’s that one time you don’t get it you may run into big trouble, in the last few months, for the first time ever, Ive had delayed baggage.. TWICE, and it sure is a pain in the butt! This trip actually had my bags delayed by days.. It was probably the one trip that it was the biggest pain, and a MASSIVE inconvenience! Leaving to hike a mountain, and be in the middle of nowhere with absolutely none of your gear and equipment, you can imagine the distress of that! But thats travelling- Not always smooth sailing as I’ve learnt numerous times, but what would the fun of no challenges bring- No good stories thats one thing!
Ive used a few travel insurances but I’ve found thatCover More suits me best, Travelling with camera gear, laptops etc It’s the best cover for me!
Townsville, North QLD
Recently we headed to Townsville, North Queensland with Tourism QLD and Tourism Townsville to explore the region and showcase its beauty.
Luckily this trip we got to bring along an extra to our usual duo, Elsa! My twin sister @Elsas_wholesomelife, Which was super fun to show her what we have been up to this past 12 months, exploring and working with tourism bodies. She brought in a fresh interest too, Food! So we got to experience much more to Townsville.
It was a lot of firsts for El, which brought so much excitement and really helped me to realise what incredible opportunities I’ve been able to experience in the past year. Sometimes you need a little bit of a reality check!
‘Oh darling, Lets be adventurers’
We all flew from Gold Coast to Cairns and collected our hire car, a quick brekky pitt stop to see my mumma and of course our beautiful pup, Cooper!
Went to my fav cafe in Cairns, Caffiend.
Before hitting the road heading south to Townsville, our first stop was at Tyto Wetlands
NSW Summer Roadtrip
In late November my twin sister Els; (@elsas_wholesomelife) and I hit the roads for a summer road trip..
Destination Brisbane QLD > Berry, South Coast of NSW
“Oh, Darling, Lets be Adventurers”
We set off in a camper van from Travellers Autobarn for a week long Roadtrip, Just two sisters on the road what more could we ask for.. from Brisbane all the way to Berry (2 hours south of Sydney) over 1000kms and stopping everywhere and anywhere along the road..
The Kuga Campervan from Travellers Auto Barn
Just the two of us.. & the van! These are some of our highlights
The Figure 8 Pools, Royal National Park
We spent the afternoon at the figure 8 pools and were lucky enough to have them to ourselves for some time..YEP all to ourselves, that is rare at such beautiful places. I have heard some negativity around visiting the pools (too many people, smaller than anticipated, long walk blah blah blah) well here is my experience/opinion on those words..
Firstly the hike is so so stunning, you walk down the headland of a national park with stunning views of the coastline and beach (Burning Palms). It takes roughly 45 minutes.. Take the track towards Burning Palms and once you get to the beach (past the beach shacks rented out by NSW national parks) walk along the rocks around the headland, passing a 2 headlands until you see some life-buoys up on the rock cliff, the Figure 8 Pool will be around this area, can become a bit of a where’s wally game, when theres not loads of people surrounding it. It is surrounded by MANY other rock pools, or as I like to refer to them as Mermaid Pools!
Too many people.. well yeah… anywhere beautiful tends to be like that, especially when you pick the busiest time of day and a Sunday..! It’s like any beautiful location if you want it uncrowded you need to go either really early or late afternoon not the middle of the day, and always pick try to not go on a weekend.. Especially if you are a photographer that is the most photogenic time of the day anyway 🙂 We went late afternoon and it was just PERFECT and still had plenty of daylight to get back to the car park!
Too small: NO WAY- It was exactly as I anticipated it to be, seeing many photos of people in the rock pool how could you be dissapointed.. It’s natural and so stunning, I appreciate anything mother nature gifted us!
Now this next tip is important;
HINT: Check your tides before visiting!! Many people make the mistake of not looking at the tides and on a high tide the entire area is under water, Now thats no fun! Unless you have the whole day to wait for them to change..
Back2Earth farm stay at Berry NSW
(Outfit by Shop Spell Designs)
My sister Ellie was invited to stay at the back2earth vegan farm stay for a couple of nights, and lucky me, I got to be here Guest!! Jenny & Marc run the farm along with their two dogs Smudge & Ebony.. They made us feel right at home, cooked and educated us on so much, from the farm animals to raw vegan diet benefits. Although the vegan meals are an extra to the accomodation I 100% would recommend that you DO opt for a detox of raw vegan meals! The food is absolutely DROOL worthy, soo many flavours & smells, I was in food heaven!
My twin els is a plant-based foodie, so it was really incredible to see them bounce of ideas and knowledge to one another! I just loved the education on sustainable living practices. I am a Vegetarian myself & love the vegan diet! You don’t have to be a vegan/vegetarian to visit each of the houses are equipped with a full kitchen and you are welcome to bring your own food. (Although why would you when you can have the BEST vegan food thats homemade from scratch by Marc & Jenny)
The farm is in Berry which is around a 2 hour drive south from Sydney. It is quiet possibly the most gorgeous country town I have visited, and I truely fell in love with the quaintness of the town. Whilst staying on the farm we would be up and going by 7am to go feed the animals and let them roam for the day. Animals at the farm included; ducks, chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs, goats, sheep, miniature horses & alpacas. It was such a unique experience to be able to get up close and personal with all the animals! We repeated this in the afternoon to tuck all the small animals away for the night.
Sunset over Zenith Beach, Nelsons Bay.. This is one Sunset spot not to be missed!
We raced up the mountain from the carpark, with time not being on our side.. I knew I needed to witness a sunset from here! The spot I took these photos from is not quite at the top, but it offers the best views over the deserted beaches and beach towns.
Nelsons Bay is approx 2.5 hours north of Sydney and around an hour north of Newcastle.
We only had time for an afternoon in Port Stephens area, oh I wanted so much more time to explore, but we had long drives ahead, add this to the return to list!
Night Shooting on the road;∗
Peoples responses on night shoots are always mesmerised and curious to the gear setup and camera settings.. so well here it is!
I shot each of these on my Nikon D750 with 24-70mm f/2.8 with the photography necessity- TRIPOD!
These were all shot at 24mm on settings; 30sec f/2.8 ISO1250
Shop the Nikon 24-70mm 2.8f here
I shot each of these in a beach carpark in Port Macquarie, there was a nearby toilet block that was lighting up the van, Oh and I was totally unaware a moonrise was about to happen! That was pretty cool! Meanwhile el was keeping the van nice and warm ♥
HINT: Make sure you have focused your camera properly, which can be hard sometimes in the dark, if I’m with someone I get them to stand a few metres from the camera & shine a torch at themselves until I have the lens in focus and then switch it to manual focus! So each photo afterwards are in focus and that process isn’t necessary (Oops unless you bump it)
Bondi, Sydney
Now who can do a trip past Sydney without a stop in to Bondi! A good friend offered us her visitor parking space at her apartment in Bondi- SCORE! So we were able to camp right in the city and even better in my favourite busy spot of BONDI! But shhh we weren’t supposed to be camping in the car..
During our short time in Sydney we got to meet up with the talented creatives Tara from ‘TaraMilkTea’ & Noel from ‘Noel.Alva’ for a sweet breakfast date at Speedos Cafe I always love meeting faces from Instagram and being able to form a friendship more than through a phone screen.
This is what we got up too in our short time in Bondi;
(Clothing by our Favourite;Spell Byron Bay )
Hello Samoa!
Samoa, the home of natural BEAUTY.
When you day dream of your Paradise, well Samoa is the day-dream come true! Coconut Palms surround every inch, with warm salty blue waters, coral coastlines and the friendliest smiles.
My partner Khy and I set off to Samoa in late February for 3 weeks, we explored all around the two islands of Samoa, Upulo and Savai’i. We rented a Rav 4 for the entire time from Apia, the capital of Samoa. Which I feel is essential if you want to see all of the beautiful island, you can never get too lost while driving around Samoa, on Upulo there is one main road that goes around the outside of the entire island and two roads that cross the centre, savai’i is even easier with just one main road around the entire island.
We arrived at Upulo and spent the first 8 nights at The Samoana Resort- which is situated on the southern end of Upulo at Salamumu Beach- certainly one of my favourite spots on the island, the resort is small with 7-8 beach front bungalows and then a surf house behind, I could not recommend staying here enough, the ocean infinity rock pool is a stunning spot to watch the sun go down.
The Samoana offers free hire of snorkel gear, kayaks etc. The Beach straight out the front of the resort has a small sandy bay that opens out to the reef, it is flat and calm perfect for kayaking and snorkelling, the waves break approx 30-50 metres from the shore.
The reef out the front of the resort was some of the most beautiful I seen around. A lot was damaged in the recent cyclone, and with the locals standing on the reef to fish in areas has damaged the reef, as this is one of their main food sources. The bungalows have outdoor rock showers, makes you feel as though your showering in nature. The resort has a restaurant/ bar and pool table overlooking the gorgeous beach, they also offer daily tours. One night a week is the fiafia night- traditional food, show and teachings, I would recommend this as you learn heaps about their culture history and traditions.
http://www.samoanaresort.com
Things to do and see on Upulo:
To Sua Ocean Trench, Lotofaga village, Main South Coast Road,
The To Sua is an incredible MUST see place. It was my number one place in all of samoa. It is on privately owned property and there is an entrance fee of $ 20 Tala ($10 AUD) which is completely worth every cent, especially when you see how much hard work the owners put into the upkeep of the entire property. If you go there early enough you should be lucky to have it to yourself for some time, we were lucky enough to have it to ourselves on more than one occasion! The entire property and coastline is seriously breathtaking and like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I would advise to pack a lunch and spend the day there!
The trench is a big swimming hole that is connected through old lava tubes to the ocean, so the water is fresh ocean water. When it is low tide you can actually swim through the caves out to the ocean, would only recommend if it is low tide, small swell and you are comfortable doing a breath hold!
On the property also is a pathway down to a seaside picnic area and rock pools, stunning! Then if you follow another pathway to the left of this area and follow that down the hill/cliff you will get to some blowholes and a massive water hole surrounded by lava rock and palms, it is so surreal. We were told some Samoans call this spot, heaven. It’s so beautiful it’s what they imagine heaven to look like. The short walk here is very scenic so have your camera on hand!
After exploring the main island of Upulo for 8 days we took the car ferry over to the other island Savaii; the car ferry goes every 2 hours and it is recommended to prebook if you have a car with you. We decided to take our hire car over with us rather than alternatively hiring another over there as the rate was discounted the longer you hire and the ferry wasnt too expensive.
The ferry trip takes 1.5 hours and costs around $50AUD each way for two adults & a small car
There is one main road that goes around the entire island, i recommend if you have a car to take the drive around. We stayed at Stevensons at Manase for the first 3 nights & Viasala 3 nights also.
Stevensons is located on Manase Beach which is a stunning beach, in terms of the resort itself I wasnt overally impressed with it
Türkiye
In all my recent travels Turkey has been one of my stand out countries to explore, the rich and vibrant culture has absolutely captivated me.
I’m often asked what is my favourite country and it always races to my mind first.
We did turkey by ourselves, had nothing planned until we arrived and had the most special and incredible travels.
We flew into Izmir to begin our journey and picked up our hire car, first destination was Ephesus, the ancient city that has been reconstructed over generations. The architecture from that century is just breathtaking. The workmanship and intimate detail carved into the stone and marble is so special.
Ephesus- Ancient Ruins
Ephesus- Ancient Ruins
Ephesus- Ancient Ruins
Ephesus- Ancient Ruins
Ephesus- Ancient Ruins
Ephesus- Ancient Ruins
Ephesus- Ancient Ruins
We then headed to Pamukkale (The cotton castle) I’ve dreamt of visiting this place for such a long time, and it is just as amazing there as I had imagined! Although I would recommend visiting early in the morning before the tour buses arrive, beat the crowds and have far better photo opportunities.
Roadside Sunflower Fields in July;
Country sides painted with sunflowers, makes a scenic drive..
Olu Deniz Beach & Butterfly Valley;
Next stop was Olu Deniz, popular coastline for tourists, peak of season it was soo busy!
We scaled down the cliffside facing the local mountain goats to get some incredible views over Butterfly Valley.
Only suggest this if you’re not afraid of heights 😛
Sakklient Gorge;
We left Olu Deniz and headed to Sakklient Gorge for the night & slept in a tree house amongst the mountains.
The next day we headed for antalya.. returned the hire car and jumped on an overnight bus, destination… CAPPADOCIA
The overnight buses are actually super comfortable, cheap and they even have a little host that comes around with refreshments, can’t beat that!
Treehouse Rooms
Cappadocia
We arrived in Cappadocia early in the morning and headed to our accomodation.
Stayed a few nights at Local Cave House Hotel.
Got up each morning for sunrise with the balloons.
Unfortunately we didn’t get to go up in one, due to my last minute planning and it being peak tourist season they were all booked.. and we tried everyone… But hey, thats a reason to go back! 🙂
Carpet Shop in Goreme
Carpet Shop in Goreme
Cappadocia was my real highlight in Turkey!
We spent hours in a carpet shop, chatting carpet and sipping on Apple Tea, although I didn’t buy any, it was so nice to sit and catch with the lovely locals in their magical carpet
Cave Hotel – Goreme
Carpet Shop, Goreme
Cappadocia Valley
Cappadocia Valley
Tu Luz Salt Lake
Blue Mosque, Istanbul
Grand Bazaar, Istanbul
Blue Mosque, Istanbul
Grand Bazaar, Istanbul
Turkish Tea
Blue Mosque, Istanbul
Blue Mosque, Istanbul