Margaret River, Australia

Hey y'all! Michael and I are back from an AMAZING trip to Western Australia. We took advantage of (another) holiday in Singapore and jetted off 5 hours to the South to cold temperatures, open farm land, wildlife, vineyards, beaches, wood fires and a more peaceful way of life. A recap below: 

One of the major wine regions in Australia - Margaret River (MR) - is a very popular destination for Singapore residents and young families. It's an easy flight to Perth and a scenic 3 hour drive to your final destination  (much shorter travel as compared with getting to Sydney). Michael and I have been keen to check it out for a long time and were thrilled to dust off our sweaters and boots and visit the area during the Australian winter. The trip was everything we hoped for and then some. 

After a bit of research, we discovered that a 'farmstay' was the way to go when in MR. It's pretty much as it sounds - staying on a working farm. We were obsessed with our little bungalow at the Burnside Organic Farm. Cows, pigs, chickens, kangaroos, avocado and olive trees - gangs all here. I highly recommend the location if you ever find yourself in the region. 

Our mornings were spent making breakfast with farm eggs, local bacon and bread. Our evenings were spent grilling out and cooking dinner with our farmers market finds. Life goals complete.  

I told Michael a million times that I seriously thought I could be a successful farmer and we should move here asap. 

One of our main events on the trip was a morning spent whale watching off the small coastal town of Augusta - the very SW tip of Australia. It was a bit blustery (absolutely freezing), but a really neat adventure. It was refreshing to get out on the water and we saw heaps of humpback whales. They weren't doing belly flops like the Pacific Life whale as I had hopped they would, but it was still an amazing,  memorable experience.  

Doesn't our skipper look exactly like how one would picture an Aussie whale expert?!

Tharrr she blows...! (said for real) 

Seals for the sharks :) Sadly no shark sightings though. 

Next and last on the agenda was touring the famed local vineyards and breweries. We did a proper guided tour one day and popped in and out of various places on our own the following few days. 

Voyager Estate. 

Break for sheep. 

Colonial Brewery Company. Or as Michael referred to it, utopia. 

<3

Cullen Wines. 

Bootleg Brewery. 

Vineyards we also visited in case you are interested: Ashbrook, Carpe Diem, House of Cards, Sandalford, Clariault Steicker. We aimed to check out some of the smaller, family run vineyards.

More scenes around town... 

Add it to the resume: semi-proficient in driving on the opposite side of the road. The hard part is not the driving on the left side of the road, but the sitting on the right side of the car. It was like a comedy sketch - we were constatnly getting in on the wrong side of the car, or Michael would reach for the gas pedal or steering wheel while I was driving. It's a small miracle we are alive, not going to lie.  

Margaret River Farmers Market. 

Outside of all the spectular wine, MR is originally a popular beach and surf town. On our last night we drove to the ocean to catch the sunset. It was by far the most powerful and beautiful waves I have ever seen.  

Multiple roo spottings in the bush. 

I feel so very lucky and blessed to have been able to experience such a physically beautiful and  spiritually charming location on this planet. 

5 stars for Margaret River. Possibly our favorite destination thus far. I promise we will be back again. 

Lots of love. 

XO,

CD

***PS some exciting news to share: next month I will be starting an internship writing full-time for one of the top food and travel blogs in Singapore! Follow along and read about the best places to eat in Singapore and places to check out around SE Asia at SethLui.com. Woo!*** 

PPS my parents arrive in Singapore for a visit in just a week and a half - double woo! 

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Michael Down Under: Sydney, Australia + Auckland, New Zealand

G'day all you loyal LGE followers! It's been quite some time since my first and only foray into the world of blogging, and I'm glad to be back in action with a recap of my recent trip down under. 

It's been a hectic six months to say the least, beginning in June when Cassidy and I made the long trip back to the States to get hitched. Since then, between personal and business travel, I've been to Phuket, Bangkok, Bali, Hong Kong (thrice!), New York, Georgia, Kansas City, Connecticut, Mumbai and, most recently, Sydney and Aukland (off to India again next week...). The miles definitely take a toll, but the toughest part about the grueling schedule is being away from Cassidy for sometimes weeks at a time! Despite these negatives, however, I must admit that I've been incredibly lucky to get to see so much of this part of the world.

My most recent business trip to Australia (Sydney) and New Zealand (Auckland) was one of my most eagerly anticipated jaunts to date. It's also a trip that I can't wait to repeat in a more leisurely fashion with my wife by my side! Business travel is great in that it has little impact on my bottom line, and most often I get to travel in relative style (Singapore Airlines biz class is as ballin' as it gets), but I'm usually so busy that I barely have time to look around. Lucky for me, my colleague, Javad, who I was traveling with is pretty much in love with Sydney (he's been many times) and had never been to Auckland. He was really cool about encouraging me to get out and about - and even played tourist with me on Saturday in Auckland before we headed back to SNG. 

The above photo was obviously compulsory. I was lucky enough to stay right up the street from the Sydney Opera House -- literally a 2 minute walk downhill to the harbor from the Intercontinental. It sounds a bit funny, but I was actually rather unimpressed with the building from up close and in broad daylight...picture a white car that never gets put in the garage...

...what a different story at night! This photo was taken from the other side of Sydney Harbor (also known as Port Jackson). 

I feel like you can see the difference in weather (from Singapore) by the color of the sky in these photos. It was much cooler and less humid than what I've now become accustomed to - I think you can see the crispness in the air here.

    Sydney Harbor Bridge

On my second night in Sydney I finished meetings in time to enjoy the last couple hours of sunlight. I took advantage of the free time and caught a ferry out to Manly Beach. The above were taken from the top deck of the ferry, which departed from Circular Quay and arrived at Manly Wharf about 30 minutes later. 

If you ask me, it was way too cold for surfing (~65 degrees F), but there were tons of bros out in the water, even at dusk. 

On the other hand, I needed to find a hole in the wall somewhere to warm my bones...and this was just the place. It was a great place to enjoy a local brew (or two...and maybe also a specialty gin drink...) after the sun went down and the weather turned cold...middle of the day in the summer might require a slightly different setting, though.

Manly Beach faces pretty much due east, so the sun was setting behind me over the rest of the Australian continent.

I'm not much of a photographer, but I tried my best to capture this moment on the ferry ride home. 

......

Mid-week I was off to Auckland! I had a couple days of meetings, and managed to push my Singapore return flight off until late Saturday night (1:00am to be precise!) in order to have a day to explore the city and surrounding area. 

The most striking thing about New Zealand, to me, is how lush and green everything is. I took the above photo on my iPhone as we approached Auckland from the west. We've descended quite a ways by the time I snap this picture. 

So this was kinda funny. I'm walking along after my first work meeting on Friday morning...desperately seeking a flat white (which is the only coffee drink to order down under)...and all of a sudden I hear someone in the street shouting my name: Duvall!!!! 

I turned around just in time to brace myself for a bear hug from one of my closest college friends, Chris (DB)! WHAT!?!? Chris and Kate just so happened to be on the second leg of their honeymoon (which, by the way is a year long trip around the world --> you can follow the O'Dennys travels here). I was was a groomsman in their wedding no less than 6 weeks earlier! How crazy. I scurried off to my next meeting and we met later that night for drinks and made plans for the next day. 

Here we are on the ferry to Waiheke Island on Saturday morning (shouts to my dude - er, boss - Javad for taking this pic). 

Scenes from the top deck ^

Three people I never expected to be in the same place at the same time (Kate, DB and Javad) -- it's such a great thing when worlds collide unexpectedly. I believe that if one chooses to associate oneself with genuine, honest and interesting people, mixing circles can be one of the must enriching experiences around! 

A 20 minute hike through a neighborhood of vineyards...

...and we arrived at this little gem.

And what a gem it was. Here's DB looking smug, as usual, with one hell of a horizon behind him. A person could soak up this view for hours (ahem, out of the way DB...) and that's just what we did. 

To the right, a chopper that was shuttling folks back and forth from the city to the vineyard and landing about 50 yards away from where we lounged. Now that is LUXE.

Spent the second half of the day with good friends, a bottle of local Sauvignon Blanc and a nice beach view. That sounds kinda queer but it felt so natural at the time.  

(not pictured: me getting horrifically suburned.  Apparently there is an ozone problem down under)

Did I mention the Rolling Stones were playing in Auckland that night? Apparently Auckland was the last stop on the Stones' "14 on Fire" tour. We couldn't pass up the opportunity, and somehow managed to snag some great tickets at the last minute.

Here's one of the newlyweds jamming to "You Can't Always Get What You Want." Just below that, some Kiwi friends that we met outside stadium before the concert. Apparently these ladies were told they were "too drunk" at the gate and that they needed to wait 10 minutes to sober up before they were allowed in (haha). Provided some unexpected but good humored conversation to get the night warmed up. 

Below: Keef working his magic on the six string.

What a whirlwind of a trip - full of surprises around every corner! Nothing to do but roll with the crazy twists and turns that life throws at you. 

I boarded an 11 hour flight back to Singapore roughly 2 hours after this last photo was taken, by then ready to be home to my wife, but at the same time incredibly thankful for adventure I'd just been taken on. 

Until next time,

MRD 

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