Hunter Valley – in a day 🍷

Hunter Valley, NSW, an amazing place to taste some fine wines. Stunning scenery, boutique wineries, friendly people, what more could you wish for. I have been here quite a few times now and have always stayed at least two nights. I guess because it’s quite far away and it’s the ideal place to have a mini vacation. So when I was asked by my friends and work colleagues to join them for a day trip, I was excited to see what we could experience in a day. At least with the 2.5 hour drive each way, we could chat and catch up with each other 😊.

We had booked a day trip with Teds Tours. A company that specialises in wine tours and has a very friendly mentos. You can click https://www.tedstours.com.au/hunter-valley-tours/tour-packages for more information. Our driver Kris was amazing. He was a great laugh and very accommodating, picking us up from Wolli Creek and taking us there and back, whilst driving us also around three different vineyards and also to the pub for lunch. Nothing was a bother for him and he managed to keep us all within the time limits, no easy feat when everyone has had a few wines 🤪.

The gang ready to head off with Teds Tours

The three vineyards we had the pleasure of visiting were: Saltire 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, Vinden Wines and Tatler. All three were good on there own merit, however, Saltire really stuck out for us. The scenery was unreal. Delicious wines, fantastic setting, a Scottish heritage and the service was extremely warm and inviting. All in all, this vineyard set the bar high and the staff had a really good knowledge and appreciation of their products 🍷.

Vinden is a family run vineyard that takes their traditional wines and adds a more modern twist. Delicious wines and a really quaint setting. You can also stay here!

Lunch at The Mighty – this was delicious and I really love this pub!

This was our last stop so I really can’t say too much about here 🙈🤣 except the wines were really tasty. The 2019 FRIZZANTE SEMILLON stood out for us, it’s spritzy, light and really good with a slice of lemon! (Pictured above)

All in all, this was a great day out. We loved the company, the vineyards and the wines. Would I travel 2.5 hours each way again for a day trip, probably not. However, I would definitely use Teds Tours again, especially if staying in the Hunter in the future. I hope it inspires you to visit Hunter Valley, for a day or a longer stay. You won’t be disappointed.

Thanks for reading guys, take care and stay safe.

Wayne ☺️

November 29, 2021 10

Come From Away ✈️ 🎭

I want to share with you my experience of seeing this musical and hopefully inspire you to go also 🙌🏼. I’m not sure if you have heard of this one as it’s relatively new so I will give a quick synopsis soon. First of all, being back in the theatre to see any show was such a novelty and a welcome back to normality. It’s one thing that I have really missed, live entertainment. I used to work in a theatre in Belfast, The Grand Opera House and it was from there, where my love for theatre began and grew. Being able to see every show that entered the Opera House many, many times was such a treat, especially the musicals as they’re right up my street. Anyway, being able to return to the theatre for a musical that I have been dying to see for ages was a real joy 🤩 (postponed so many times due to covid). Even just having a drink at the theatre bar was amazing!

Come From Away takes place from 11th September 2001 (can you believe it’s 20 years ago?) over a few days and tells the remarkable true story of those stranded after the events that occurred that day. I’m sure we all remember or know about the 9/11 attacks and the Twin Towers/Pentagon etc. However, you may not be as familiar with the aeroplanes that could not land as they were diverted due to the American airspace having completely shut down.

A total of 38 aeroplanes were told to land suddenly in the small town of Gander in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada as part of Operation Yellow Ribbon (to clear the American airspace). The characters in the musical are based on real Gander residents who rallied around to help the 7,000 stranded travelers that had just landed there. They found them accommodation, provided food for the people and showed great kindness and hospitality. People were stranded there for several days and it managed to double the entire population of Gander temporarily. On a side note, those people not from Gander are known locally as those who “come from away”. Interesting fact ✌🏽.

I won’t say too much as I don’t want to spoil it for you but the story is really fascinating and one that I had never heard before. The music is amazing, really uplifting and memorable and tells the story wonderfully. It makes you realise also how far we have come from that time space, for example, no one really having mobile phones then, making it harder to call loved ones etc when in a time of panic and uncertainty.

If you’re looking for a night out that lifts your spirits and highlights the kind nature of human beings in troublesome times, then this is the show for you! I feel like we can all relate to this in some way, especially now with us living through a pandemic and needing to be empathetic with one another.

This musical is only 1 hour and 40 minutes long with no interval. So bring your drinks and snacks in with you. We saw this at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney, one of my favourite venues so far in Sydney 🤩.

Please let me know if you have seen this also or if you plan to see in the nearby future.

Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Wayne ☺️

November 23, 2021 10

Jacaranda season 💜

For this post I want to simply show case these amazing trees here in Sydney. I have been a huge fan of Jacarandas since arriving in Australia over 4 years ago. I think it’s the colour of the trees that make them so special and the fact that I had never seen them before. The season starts around mid October until mid November and it really provides that sense of spring being in the air and a gentle reminder that it is almost summer here.

Although it’s easy to think of these trees being native to Australia, they are interestingly a tree originally from South America, predominantly Argentina. If you want some more info on this tree you can find more info here.

These trees, presumably because of their attractive purple/blueish colour have become increasingly popular with social media people, all vying for that perfect snap or selfie. This is great to see people taking such an interest (me included), however, it can prove difficult at times to take some pictures without any other people photo bombing 🙈.

I will show you some of my Jacarandas snaps over the last few years and where they were taken. The good thing is, there are lots of places that Jacarandas can be found 🙌🏼.

If you’re looking for a grove of Jacaranda trees, McDougall Street in Kirribilli is a popular spot for bloggers and social media people.

I think the trees found near Como Hotel in Como, NSW, are pretty special, as are those found at Hogben Park in Kogerah. If you’re simply looking for a random tree or two, you can see these in many different streets in and around Sydney. I see a lot of them where I live in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney.

You can find them in lots of other Sydney suburbs, for example, Croydon.

I hope you all have the chance to see a Jacaranda this season and if not, at least you can see them here 🤗. Thanks for taking an interest in my love for the Jacaranda tree!!

Take care & stay safe,

Wayne ✌🏽

November 16, 2021 22

Happy Sunday 🌺

The most epic tree I ever did see 😜 or is it a plant? Does anyone know what we call this fine specimen? I was honestly so delighted to have seen this today. It’s a really stunning tree (or plant). I think it also really stands out due to the white wall behind it. It’s the little things in life, am I right?! ☺️

Have a lovely Sunday everyone, wherever you are in the world.

Wayne ✌🏽

Ps. Post update: apparently this tree is in fact Bougainvillea. Confirmed by my WordPress and Instagram friends. Thanks everyone ☺️

November 13, 2021 21

Celebrating my 50th blog post and what I have learned so far ✌🏽

Ok so I know this might not be a big deal for most people but for me, this is a huge milestone 😊. I normally do not write blogs daily or even weekly. I am more an every month kind of blogger or when I feel inspired to write. I don’t put pressure on myself to write a blog. I just have never seen the point 🤷🏼‍♂️. It’s an achievement for me as I have been blogging for over 4 years now and I am proud to have lasted the distance of time.

I would like to share with you five things that I have learned over the duration of my 50 posts:

1 – Don’t feel pressured to write a blog post all the time. It’s your blog and you can write whenever you want to. No one will judge you. Or if they do, don’t let it bother you 💁🏼‍♂️.

2 – I know this may seem obvious but it is super important to write about things that interest you. Otherwise it will become a chore.

3 – Always proof read your blog posts or have someone that can check them over before you publish. We’re human and we do make mistakes. Even if you miss something during a proof read, hopefully someone reading can inform you and it’s really easy to fix your mistake 🙌🏼.

4 – Don’t stress about the amount of likes or comments you do or do not receive. I know it can be disheartening when you spend a good amount of time on a post and you receive little to no likes. This concerned me at the beginning. However, I soon realised that many people may still have read my blog and have enjoyed it or been inspired by it. I have had people thanking me for my blogs but maybe were not WordPress users and therefore did not or could not like the post on the WordPress site. This gave me some comfort and reassurance that my efforts were not in vain 👍🏻.

5 – This brings me to my final point. If you want to have people noticing your blog and interacting with you, you have to be social on WordPress. You need to be reading other blogs and showing an interest. This is how you connect, make friends and become involved in the blogging community. I must admit, this is something I have only realised in the past few months. I have a somewhat noteworthy Instagram following and I assumed my Instagram followers would join me on my blogging journey. The reality is, this is just not the case. People perhaps like Instagram solely for pictures and not a lot of dialogue. Therefore, they maybe do not want to read a whole blog piece. It is essential that if you want to grow your blog audience, you need to interact with fellow bloggers and those with similar interests. If you show enthusiasm for other blogs and comment with your own opinions, you will see the same happening for you also ☺️. For me personally, having people react to my blog posts inspires me and encourages me to write more often. This is something I am excited to be doing now and in the future.

I hope this is some help to other bloggers or those who are beginning their blogging journey. Good luck and happy blogging 🤗.

Take care and thanks for reading.

Wayne ✌🏽

November 12, 2021 31

NSW on a vaccine high ☺️

90% of people here in New South Wales are double vaccinated. I am so thrilled for everyone here for pulling together, listening to the health professionals and getting their shots. I know it hasn’t been easy with some people divided over having the vaccine. However, the fact that it has been made almost compulsory to have the vaccine has enabled us to be safer in our daily lives and get back to some sort of new normal.

I’m hoping things continue to improve for us here in Australia and for everyone around the world 😷.

Stay safe and sane everyone ✌🏽

November 9, 2021 3

Covid 19 Booster

This blog is in response to Fandangos Provocative Question #FPQ, which is: If you have already received your initial COVID-19 vaccinations, are you intending to get a booster shot when it becomes available to you? Why or why not? If you have yet to be vaccinated for COVID-19, are you intending to ever get vaccinated? Why or why not?

Although I’m a travel blogger per se, I think this is such an interesting question and a very topical and divisive topic at present. Personally, I cannot wait to have a booster shot, 3rd vaccine in total to protect against the coronavirus.

I’m a nurse, so I appreciate the importance in protecting ourselves and others from the virus spreading. I am no medical genius by any means but I trust the medical professionals and the advice they have provided. I know with the vaccines you can still be infected and can still pass the virus on to others. However, the chances of this are significantly reduced and if you do happen to become infected, your risk of hospitalisation is decreased drastically. Very few, if any people here in Australia are hospitalised after having the initial 2 shots of the vaccine. This therefore frees the hospital beds for those people that are sick from other illnesses etc.

I believe a 3rd shot is needed to maintain a high number of antibodies in your system. I look at it like a flu shot we receive every year. Different strains may evolve again as we have seen in the past. Therefore, vaccines may need tweaking in the future again and given again to people en mass.

Even with my initial 2 vaccine shots, I still do not want to get covid 19. So bring on my 3rd shot already 🤣🤣. At present we have to wait 6 months for our booster so hopefully I can receive mine next month 🙌🏼. I think we should be extremely thankful that we have the vaccines, especially as some people living in third world countries may find it harder to obtain them or some people may lack the education and knowledge of how the vaccines work.

Stay safe everyone and get vaccinated ✌🏽

Wayne ☺️

November 3, 2021 14

1 night in Manly ☺️

When you need a break but can’t have more than a weekend off, 1 night will have to suffice. We just wanted to get away for a couple of days for a change of scenery. So we decided on Manly. Although Manly is still within Sydney and easy to travel to, we have never stayed overnight here. You see, you normally would catch the ferry here from Circular Quay and have a day trip in Manly, normally catching a ferry back home at around sunset. There are a few lovely bars and restaurants at the harbour and we would often have a couple of drinks here while waiting on the ferry to come in and take us home. However, when the craic is great and the drinks are flowing, you seem to just watch the ferries arrive and then they depart, without you on them. There’s always time to catch the next ferry 😉. This could go on for about 3 or 4 ferries until we have decided, enough is enough and head back home.

Drinks at the harbour waiting for the ferry ☺️

So this in itself would be a novelty for us to stay here and not have to worry about catching the ferry home. There’s lots to do at Manly and we still hadn’t seen all that is on offer. You have the harbour, bush walks, beaches and rock pools, as well as, amazing bars and restaurants. We decided to stay at Hotel Steyne. It’s a hotel but more so, it is a restaurant and pub, with outdoor areas, a glasshouse bar, whiskey bar and a rooftop with stunning views of Manly beach. It has charm, character and is right in the heart of everything Manly has to offer. We loved this place.

I could not recommend Manly enough for a short stay (more than 1 night would have been amazing) or a longer holiday. It honestly has everything and really feels like a holiday destination. I am seriously looking forward to a longer break but for now, 1 night will have to do 🙏🏼

Daniel San – this Japanese restaurant was amazing 🤩

We caught up with friends from home at The Ivanhoe Hotel.

The beaches and walks are stunning. We didn’t do any bush walks this time but they’re really worth checking out.

Is anyone else planning a night away? Where’s your favourite place to travel for a weekend break?

Thanks everyone for reading!

Keep safe,

Wayne ☺️

November 1, 2021 5