I was not going to write this but then I found a set of photos which I have loaded up onto my Picasa website http://picasaweb.google.com/cgolisau/WorldTrip2008#
The trip comprised a number of sections:
We started with a visit to my daughter, Louisa and her husband, Tom in Chicago in June. First tip go to Chicago in late spring, the weather was great.
Chicago is an amazing city with incredible buildings and outdoor sculptures. Do the architecture tours led by the docents.
We then went to England and visited Nick Cross and his wife JoJo. Nick was an old LBS colleague who always wanted to do good and ended up doing rather well. He kindly gave us two tickets to Wimbledon which was a great experience.
Then we met up with my sister in Paris and did the Burgundy Wine Cruise which I have already described in an earlier blog.
We went back to England and buried my parent's ashes in the grounds of Swainswick Church. It is called closure and it works.
We then went to Budapest. Great city and worth a visit. Of the big 3 my wife and I have enjoyed Vienna and Budapest the most and would put Prague (full of Russian prostitutes and British Lager louts) at the bottom.
In Budapest we were guests of Les Farkash who was another great host.
Finally we ended up in Croatia where we visited Dubrovnik and did another boat cruise on the Croatian coast. We were lucky in that we had good weather.
The six of us, Ali & Barry, Ann & Anthony, Vivienne and myself (in separate bunks!!!) managed again to sail together and maintain good cheer.
Chris Golis
Australia's expert on practical emotional intelligence
website: www.thehummhandbook.com
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/chrisgolis
blog: blogs.bnetau.com.au/aussierules/category/improving-your-eq/
mobile: +61-418-222219
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
France 2007 & 2008
I have put these two trips together.
The first trip in 2007 was for the Rugby World Cup. We went with our good friends Cate & Fred Dawson. The four of us arrived in London, went to Cardiff for the match between Australia and Wales which Australia won in their best display of the tournament and which was a great day starting in the pubs at 10am and finishing with curry for dinner. We then flew the next day to Paris and collected our leased Renault Espace which we proceeded to drive around France and only knocking off the wing mirrors twice.
France 2007 consisted of 6 sections.
• We spend the first week in the Loire valley staying at a cottage at Abbaye de Fontevraud. They are called Gites in France and the three we stayed at were exceptional value. In the Loire valley you go to chateaux. Chenonceau is top of the list but I think we ended up going to around 14 until we were chateuxed out. One place not to miss is Samur. The French calvary known as the Cadre Noire have their equestrian centre just outside of the town with around 400 beautiful horses. Take the tour. I will never forget an American woman asking with a straight face, “How much manure is produced a year?” “About 6,000 tonnes, madam.” “What do you do with it?” “We put in on top of the mushrooms, madam.”
• The second week was spent in Beynac in the Dordogne. Our cottage was located next to the castle on the top of the hill. Again a spectacular place. You have to go to the market at Sarlat and Domme is well worth a visit along with Rocamadour.
• The third week was spent in Provence in a small village called Meridol, in the foothills of the Luberon. Again what can one say about Provence. Avignon, Arles, Aix, Lourmarin...A week in Provence is like a week in heaven.
• We then got back into rugby by going to the quarter-finals in Marseille. Australia lost to England who played well. The atmosphere in Marseille was terrific and it was a great weekend. It was particularly so because the Saturday night France was playing New Zealand in Cardiff after having lost to Argentina in the opening game. 20,000 people were in the town square watching the game on huge TV screens, expecting the French team to be massacred. The French won and Marseilles went absolutely bananas.
• Then we drove up through Burgundy staying 2 nights in Lyon and 2 nights in Dijon. The four days whetted my appetite to return.
• Finally we ended up in Paris. Le Grand Colbert is still going strong. Again we had a great time with terrific lunches followed by the semi-finals in the evening. Paris was filled with NZ supporters walking around wondering what they were doing there.
We returned in 2008, this time meeting up with my sister. We again spend several days in Paris and then spent a week cruising the Burgundy canals on the Luciole.
What can I say? This is a gourmet trip. We had 28 different cheeses, tasted some great food and some really beautiful wines. This is one trip you have to do in your life. Also the one week trip from Auxerre to Clamecy on Nivernais canal is off the beaten track and through some of the most beautiful country side in France. I have heard of people being disappointed with the Canal du Midi.
We were very lucky and had great weather. It only rained when we were driving from one region to the next. France is fantastic with great wine, history, culture and food but we did find the andouillettes a challenge.
Chris Golis
Australia's expert on practical emotional intelligence
website: www.thehummhandbook.com
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/chrisgolis
blog: blogs.bnetau.com.au/aussierules/category/improving-your-eq/
mobile: +61-418-222219
The first trip in 2007 was for the Rugby World Cup. We went with our good friends Cate & Fred Dawson. The four of us arrived in London, went to Cardiff for the match between Australia and Wales which Australia won in their best display of the tournament and which was a great day starting in the pubs at 10am and finishing with curry for dinner. We then flew the next day to Paris and collected our leased Renault Espace which we proceeded to drive around France and only knocking off the wing mirrors twice.
France 2007 consisted of 6 sections.
• We spend the first week in the Loire valley staying at a cottage at Abbaye de Fontevraud. They are called Gites in France and the three we stayed at were exceptional value. In the Loire valley you go to chateaux. Chenonceau is top of the list but I think we ended up going to around 14 until we were chateuxed out. One place not to miss is Samur. The French calvary known as the Cadre Noire have their equestrian centre just outside of the town with around 400 beautiful horses. Take the tour. I will never forget an American woman asking with a straight face, “How much manure is produced a year?” “About 6,000 tonnes, madam.” “What do you do with it?” “We put in on top of the mushrooms, madam.”
• The second week was spent in Beynac in the Dordogne. Our cottage was located next to the castle on the top of the hill. Again a spectacular place. You have to go to the market at Sarlat and Domme is well worth a visit along with Rocamadour.
• The third week was spent in Provence in a small village called Meridol, in the foothills of the Luberon. Again what can one say about Provence. Avignon, Arles, Aix, Lourmarin...A week in Provence is like a week in heaven.
• We then got back into rugby by going to the quarter-finals in Marseille. Australia lost to England who played well. The atmosphere in Marseille was terrific and it was a great weekend. It was particularly so because the Saturday night France was playing New Zealand in Cardiff after having lost to Argentina in the opening game. 20,000 people were in the town square watching the game on huge TV screens, expecting the French team to be massacred. The French won and Marseilles went absolutely bananas.
• Then we drove up through Burgundy staying 2 nights in Lyon and 2 nights in Dijon. The four days whetted my appetite to return.
• Finally we ended up in Paris. Le Grand Colbert is still going strong. Again we had a great time with terrific lunches followed by the semi-finals in the evening. Paris was filled with NZ supporters walking around wondering what they were doing there.
We returned in 2008, this time meeting up with my sister. We again spend several days in Paris and then spent a week cruising the Burgundy canals on the Luciole.
What can I say? This is a gourmet trip. We had 28 different cheeses, tasted some great food and some really beautiful wines. This is one trip you have to do in your life. Also the one week trip from Auxerre to Clamecy on Nivernais canal is off the beaten track and through some of the most beautiful country side in France. I have heard of people being disappointed with the Canal du Midi.
We were very lucky and had great weather. It only rained when we were driving from one region to the next. France is fantastic with great wine, history, culture and food but we did find the andouillettes a challenge.
Chris Golis
Australia's expert on practical emotional intelligence
website: www.thehummhandbook.com
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/chrisgolis
blog: blogs.bnetau.com.au/aussierules/category/improving-your-eq/
mobile: +61-418-222219
The Masters Augusta, Georgia 30 March 18 April 2009
This trip was effectively in four legs.
• San Diego seeing my sister’s family.
• Playing three rounds at Pinehurst, North Carolina known as the St. Andrews of North America
• Going to the Masters in Georgia and staying in Aiken, South Carolina.
• Hiring a car and staying in Savannah and Charleston.
If you are a golfer, (and my wife and I are) this is said to be the closest you will ever get to heaven. The annual trip is organised by Teed-Up
Teed Up are the managers of Club 19 of which I am a member.
There were around 80 people on the trip; everyone agreed it was fantastic and worth every penny.
Pinehurst is an unbelievable complex with 8 golf courses. The day that you play Pinehurst #2 where they hold the US Open with caddies is one you will never forget.
For the Masters we stayed in Aiken in a fabulous apartment above Malia’s which is regarded as the best restaurant in town. However Aiken itself is beautiful town with a number of excellent restaurants. The Masters is an incredible experience. We went on the practice day and the Par-3 day, the second day and the fourth and final day. On the first and third days we played golf.
You can take your cameras on the practice and Par-3 days. The practice day was very cold and few golfers were out except for one, Angel Cabrera, who must have taken at least 40 putts on every green and having his caddie write everything down. Cabrera, nicknamed El Pato or the Duck for the way he walks around the golf course won in a very exciting match.
I have written about Cabrera’s win in my other blog but it is my firm belief his time spent on practicing putting on the treacherous Augusta greens made a difference.
Don’t do what we did and forget your camera on the Par 3 day. That day you can get really close to the golfers. We were three yards away from Greg and his caddie Chrissy (that is why she divorced him) and the famous trio of Nicklaus, Palmer and Player.
We adopted the strategy of letting the field come to us, as recommended by Bobby Jones. On the second day we went to Amen Corner. On the final day we went to the 16th. By then the weather had really warmed up and I am now a Golf major junkie.
We were also very lucky that we caught up with Bill Reynolds and his father. We had met Bill and his wife Russi on a wine cruise trip in Burgundy. Bill and his father were Gallery Guards at Augusta and they took us for dinner at the Augusta Country Club after spending the practice day watching the players. It was a fantastic dinner. Full length minks were the order of the day, while we were all dressed in cold weather spectator gear.
After the Masters we drove down to Savannah. We stayed at the wonderful and historic Eliza Thompson House. Do the tours as the town is a wonderful place to visit. It has 22 squares. Also the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil tour is terrific.
We drove up to Charleston which is another historic town and great to visit.
This is where the Civil War started and you should do the Civil War tour. We stayed at the French Quarter Inn
On Bill’s recommendation. Another terrific place.
Another highlight was a visit to Magnolia Plantation.
While we were there I saw a plaque saying it was here that the American’s suffered their greatest defeat when 4,650 of the American army of 5,000 men was captured and the rest were casualties. The British suffered 0 casualties. Unsurprisingly this battle which occurred on 12 May 1780 gets little airplay in the US history books. I had never heard of it and I went to school till I was 13 in the US and the history of the American Revolution was drummed into us annually.
The loss was a severe blow to the colonies. It was the greatest loss of manpower and equipment of the war for the Americans and gave the British nearly complete control of the Southern colonies.
General Clinton, the victorious British General, was subsequently recalled to London to report. General Clinton's one order to General Cornwallis before he left, was to maintain possession of Charleston above all else. Cornwallis was not to move into North Carolina if it jeopardized this holding. Of course, in May 1781, British Lt. General Charles Earl Cornwallis decided to move north into Virginia where he was ultimately defeated at the Battle of Yorktown. This is probably one of the best examples of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in the history of man. If Cornwallis had followed orders and stayed put the course of American history would very different. The US could have ended up as a small country sandwiched between the British Colonies of Canada and the Carolinas.
Chris Golis
Australia's expert on practical emotional intelligence
website: www.thehummhandbook.com
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/chrisgolis
blog: blogs.bnetau.com.au/aussierules/category/improving-your-eq/
mobile: +61-418-222219
• San Diego seeing my sister’s family.
• Playing three rounds at Pinehurst, North Carolina known as the St. Andrews of North America
• Going to the Masters in Georgia and staying in Aiken, South Carolina.
• Hiring a car and staying in Savannah and Charleston.
If you are a golfer, (and my wife and I are) this is said to be the closest you will ever get to heaven. The annual trip is organised by Teed-Up
Teed Up are the managers of Club 19 of which I am a member.
There were around 80 people on the trip; everyone agreed it was fantastic and worth every penny.
Pinehurst is an unbelievable complex with 8 golf courses. The day that you play Pinehurst #2 where they hold the US Open with caddies is one you will never forget.
For the Masters we stayed in Aiken in a fabulous apartment above Malia’s which is regarded as the best restaurant in town. However Aiken itself is beautiful town with a number of excellent restaurants. The Masters is an incredible experience. We went on the practice day and the Par-3 day, the second day and the fourth and final day. On the first and third days we played golf.
You can take your cameras on the practice and Par-3 days. The practice day was very cold and few golfers were out except for one, Angel Cabrera, who must have taken at least 40 putts on every green and having his caddie write everything down. Cabrera, nicknamed El Pato or the Duck for the way he walks around the golf course won in a very exciting match.
I have written about Cabrera’s win in my other blog but it is my firm belief his time spent on practicing putting on the treacherous Augusta greens made a difference.
Don’t do what we did and forget your camera on the Par 3 day. That day you can get really close to the golfers. We were three yards away from Greg and his caddie Chrissy (that is why she divorced him) and the famous trio of Nicklaus, Palmer and Player.
We adopted the strategy of letting the field come to us, as recommended by Bobby Jones. On the second day we went to Amen Corner. On the final day we went to the 16th. By then the weather had really warmed up and I am now a Golf major junkie.
We were also very lucky that we caught up with Bill Reynolds and his father. We had met Bill and his wife Russi on a wine cruise trip in Burgundy. Bill and his father were Gallery Guards at Augusta and they took us for dinner at the Augusta Country Club after spending the practice day watching the players. It was a fantastic dinner. Full length minks were the order of the day, while we were all dressed in cold weather spectator gear.
After the Masters we drove down to Savannah. We stayed at the wonderful and historic Eliza Thompson House. Do the tours as the town is a wonderful place to visit. It has 22 squares. Also the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil tour is terrific.
We drove up to Charleston which is another historic town and great to visit.
This is where the Civil War started and you should do the Civil War tour. We stayed at the French Quarter Inn
On Bill’s recommendation. Another terrific place.
Another highlight was a visit to Magnolia Plantation.
While we were there I saw a plaque saying it was here that the American’s suffered their greatest defeat when 4,650 of the American army of 5,000 men was captured and the rest were casualties. The British suffered 0 casualties. Unsurprisingly this battle which occurred on 12 May 1780 gets little airplay in the US history books. I had never heard of it and I went to school till I was 13 in the US and the history of the American Revolution was drummed into us annually.
The loss was a severe blow to the colonies. It was the greatest loss of manpower and equipment of the war for the Americans and gave the British nearly complete control of the Southern colonies.
General Clinton, the victorious British General, was subsequently recalled to London to report. General Clinton's one order to General Cornwallis before he left, was to maintain possession of Charleston above all else. Cornwallis was not to move into North Carolina if it jeopardized this holding. Of course, in May 1781, British Lt. General Charles Earl Cornwallis decided to move north into Virginia where he was ultimately defeated at the Battle of Yorktown. This is probably one of the best examples of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in the history of man. If Cornwallis had followed orders and stayed put the course of American history would very different. The US could have ended up as a small country sandwiched between the British Colonies of Canada and the Carolinas.
Chris Golis
Australia's expert on practical emotional intelligence
website: www.thehummhandbook.com
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/chrisgolis
blog: blogs.bnetau.com.au/aussierules/category/improving-your-eq/
mobile: +61-418-222219
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Argentina 24 August – 10 September 2009
For the record we stayed in a rented flat in Buenos Aires near the Palermo Subte station with one overnight trip to Iguacu Falls. The domestic airport is on the river and in the city (10 minutes) which makes domestic air travel very easy. The International airport is a 45 minute drive and costs about 90 pesos.
Buenos Aires is South America’s richest city. However I would make the following three comments:
1. I did not see one woman wearing a diamond ring. We were correctly advised not to take any jewellery, expensive watches etc. I wore a swatch and Vivienne left all rings etc. in an Australian bank. You could tell the tourists in BA, they were the ones wearing cheap clothes.
2. Every reasonable store has a security guard.
3. There was some form of demonstration in Buenos Aires every day. On the last day there 10,000 people marching holding banners that had Maradona’s name inscribed in a coffin. Argentina had lost 3-1 at home to Brazil and then 1-0 to Paraguay and looked like it may not make it to the next World Cup in Cape Town. Maradona had fled to Italy.
On the other hand we had no problems whatsoever, but we definitely took a low risk approach to life. We gave La Boca a miss during the night.
Buenos Aires is a great city to visit if you are an Australian in that it is great value and there are some terrific restaurants. You can get a great meal with a terrific Argentinean Malbec for two for around $60. The equivalent meals in Sydney would be $200. Taxis are numerous and cheap but make sure you have close to the exact money. We gave one driver a 100 peso note for 17 peso ride and were given counterfeit notes. And I gave him a tip. This is a very common occurrence. On the other hand the people as a whole are terrific.
Here are some suggestions:
Go to the recently opened Eva Peron Museum followed up with lunch at Voulezbar. These are two great places located to the east of the Buenos Aires Zoo. The zoo looked particularly daggy so we gave it a miss.
On Sunday go to the polo followed by a meal at Las Cholas in the Las Canitas area.
The Museum National of Belle Arts and MALBA are ok however the place we were really impressed was the newly opened Fortinbrat Museum in Puerto Madero. Fortinbrat are Argentina’s wealthiest family. It was not in the Aug 2008 edition of Lonely Planet. It is located at the Uruguay ferry end of the Port. In Puerto Madero there are some great restaurants. Cabaña las Lilas is regarded as the best parrilla in BA. Directly opposite the Cabana is another new restaurant called OneCentral?? which also was filled with beautiful people and served great food.
The other great locations in BA for food are Palermo Hollywood and Palermo Soho. We had a great Sunday brunch at Olsen and La Cabrera is another great parrilla. By the way we never ordered the full BBQ. One it is too much and secondly the Argentineans love the beef very well done. I always ordered a lomo (which is the top fillet) jugaso which means juicy. The steaks were fantastic.
Other restaurants we really enjoyed were Sabot in Microcentro and of course you have to have coffee at the Cafe Tortoni. However overall the food was great value and the people serving it were friendly. At many of the restaurants we were the only English speaking couple. A little Spanish goes along way here but the famous ‘che’ makes it hard to understand at first. For example calle (street) is normally pronounced ‘cal-yeah’ in Spanish but in BA it is pronounced ‘catch-cheh’. Che Guevara was nicknamed Che because he came from Argentina.
While we were in BA it was Tango month and we went to the Semi-finals of the world tango championships which was amazing. There were couples from all around the world. We saw about 30 dancing couples. We also went to the Tango show at Piazzolla Tango which was wonderful, like the theatre but while I had been told the food was good I would rate it at below many of restaurants we ate at.
BA is a great city to walk around. There are some amazing sights like the dogwalkers and I had a blazer made in Recoleta by the top tailor in BA (George). I would certainly recommend BA to anyone for a visit. The metro is also very cheap.
As I said we went to Iguacu Falls. If you do go, don’t stay anywhere but the Sheraton. Not cheap but really it is worth it. It is a short 10 minute walk to the falls from the hotel. The park is very well maintained. When you arrive, put on a swimsuit, do the lower walk and take the boat trip and jungle trip ride on the afternoon. Nothing like two of you staying on the truck to go to the hotel while all the other 40 people disembark to catch a bus 40 minutes to a town outside the park On the jungle trip you will be told all about the animals that you don’t see. However if you get up early the next morning to do the upper walk to catch the train to the Devil’s Gorge you should see all the animals: coatis, howler monkeys, and capybaras.
The people in Argentina are friendly and civilised. I would recommend a visit to anyone.
Chris Golis
Australia's expert on practical emotional intelligence
website: www.thehummhandbook.com
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/chrisgolis
blog: blogs.bnetau.com.au/aussierules/category/improving-your-eq/
mobile: +61-418-222219
Buenos Aires is South America’s richest city. However I would make the following three comments:
1. I did not see one woman wearing a diamond ring. We were correctly advised not to take any jewellery, expensive watches etc. I wore a swatch and Vivienne left all rings etc. in an Australian bank. You could tell the tourists in BA, they were the ones wearing cheap clothes.
2. Every reasonable store has a security guard.
3. There was some form of demonstration in Buenos Aires every day. On the last day there 10,000 people marching holding banners that had Maradona’s name inscribed in a coffin. Argentina had lost 3-1 at home to Brazil and then 1-0 to Paraguay and looked like it may not make it to the next World Cup in Cape Town. Maradona had fled to Italy.
On the other hand we had no problems whatsoever, but we definitely took a low risk approach to life. We gave La Boca a miss during the night.
Buenos Aires is a great city to visit if you are an Australian in that it is great value and there are some terrific restaurants. You can get a great meal with a terrific Argentinean Malbec for two for around $60. The equivalent meals in Sydney would be $200. Taxis are numerous and cheap but make sure you have close to the exact money. We gave one driver a 100 peso note for 17 peso ride and were given counterfeit notes. And I gave him a tip. This is a very common occurrence. On the other hand the people as a whole are terrific.
Here are some suggestions:
Go to the recently opened Eva Peron Museum followed up with lunch at Voulezbar. These are two great places located to the east of the Buenos Aires Zoo. The zoo looked particularly daggy so we gave it a miss.
On Sunday go to the polo followed by a meal at Las Cholas in the Las Canitas area.
The Museum National of Belle Arts and MALBA are ok however the place we were really impressed was the newly opened Fortinbrat Museum in Puerto Madero. Fortinbrat are Argentina’s wealthiest family. It was not in the Aug 2008 edition of Lonely Planet. It is located at the Uruguay ferry end of the Port. In Puerto Madero there are some great restaurants. Cabaña las Lilas is regarded as the best parrilla in BA. Directly opposite the Cabana is another new restaurant called OneCentral?? which also was filled with beautiful people and served great food.
The other great locations in BA for food are Palermo Hollywood and Palermo Soho. We had a great Sunday brunch at Olsen and La Cabrera is another great parrilla. By the way we never ordered the full BBQ. One it is too much and secondly the Argentineans love the beef very well done. I always ordered a lomo (which is the top fillet) jugaso which means juicy. The steaks were fantastic.
Other restaurants we really enjoyed were Sabot in Microcentro and of course you have to have coffee at the Cafe Tortoni. However overall the food was great value and the people serving it were friendly. At many of the restaurants we were the only English speaking couple. A little Spanish goes along way here but the famous ‘che’ makes it hard to understand at first. For example calle (street) is normally pronounced ‘cal-yeah’ in Spanish but in BA it is pronounced ‘catch-cheh’. Che Guevara was nicknamed Che because he came from Argentina.
While we were in BA it was Tango month and we went to the Semi-finals of the world tango championships which was amazing. There were couples from all around the world. We saw about 30 dancing couples. We also went to the Tango show at Piazzolla Tango which was wonderful, like the theatre but while I had been told the food was good I would rate it at below many of restaurants we ate at.
BA is a great city to walk around. There are some amazing sights like the dogwalkers and I had a blazer made in Recoleta by the top tailor in BA (George). I would certainly recommend BA to anyone for a visit. The metro is also very cheap.
As I said we went to Iguacu Falls. If you do go, don’t stay anywhere but the Sheraton. Not cheap but really it is worth it. It is a short 10 minute walk to the falls from the hotel. The park is very well maintained. When you arrive, put on a swimsuit, do the lower walk and take the boat trip and jungle trip ride on the afternoon. Nothing like two of you staying on the truck to go to the hotel while all the other 40 people disembark to catch a bus 40 minutes to a town outside the park On the jungle trip you will be told all about the animals that you don’t see. However if you get up early the next morning to do the upper walk to catch the train to the Devil’s Gorge you should see all the animals: coatis, howler monkeys, and capybaras.
The people in Argentina are friendly and civilised. I would recommend a visit to anyone.
Chris Golis
Australia's expert on practical emotional intelligence
website: www.thehummhandbook.com
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/chrisgolis
blog: blogs.bnetau.com.au/aussierules/category/improving-your-eq/
mobile: +61-418-222219
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Noosa 1-7 August 2009
The touring party comprised Ann (the Admiral) and Antony Mayer, Vivienne and myself. Armed with credit cards we got into training by going first to Doyles at Watson Bay. You can get there by taking a ferry from Taronga Zoo where we live to Circular Quay and then taking the ferry to Watsons Bay. As Ann and Antony were both seniors they were able to buy the all-day pass for £1 and get 4 ferry and 1 bus trip. The weather was perfect and it was a great day.
Doyles on the Beach 11 Marine Parade, Watsons Bay NSW 2030
We flew up to Noosa on the Saturday and I had pre-rented a 4WD. My plan was to do a day trip along the beach to Tin Can Bay and then on to Fraser Island. To my chagrin I discoverd that 4WDs hired from Sunshine Coast Airport are banned from driving along the beach. So much for the adverts on the television.
I had booked us in at On The Beach Apartments on Hasting Street overlooking the beach. This was on the recommendation of our good friends Rosie and Mel Thompson. Noosa is famous for having one of the few north facing ocean beaches on the east cost of Australia. These are the most expensive apartments in Noosa but you cannot take it with you.
The apartments were excellent and we had several great BBQs on the balconies.
Our first meal was dinner at Lindoni’s, 13 Hasting St. This is an Italian restaurant and an icon in Noosa. Vivienne and I had eaten here before in previous trips in 2002 and 2004. It was packed. The service was good but I thought the food was average (not as good as I remembered it) and the pricing totally over the top. I would not go back.
We went here for lunch. Interesting location, excellent food and great value for money. The weather was perfect as it was for the whole of the week. By the way this week is perhaps teh best week of the year to visit Noosa. No mosquitoes and you can get into the restaurants pretty easily. By now the tenor of the week was set. If I got to wine list first we drank pinot noir but if it fell in Anthony’s hands we drank merlot. Typically 3 bottles between the four us.
68 Balmoral Rd, Montville Queensland 4560, Australia
Next we went to Sails. Living in Richmond, Ann had a desire to eat in restaurants that overlooked the beach. As you can see from the pictures below by the end of the week I think we had satiated that need. This was a good restaurant but a little overpriced.
When we went to play golf and Ann & Antony went to lunch at Season. We went back to dinner. The food here was good and fair value for money.
Season Restaurant 25 Hastings St, Noosa Heads
Bistro C was located below our apartments which you can see in the picture below. Again a buzzy place, good food and good value.
We finished the week by having a great lunch at Ricky’s. You get to Ricky’s by taking the Noosa Ferry River Cruise. Start at the Sheraton Pier go to the end, come back and then jump off at the Quamby Pier.
Noosa Wharf 2 Quamby Place Noosa Heads
Back in Sydney we finished with a Sunday brunch at Ripples at Chowder Day. Quiet brunch only two bottles + another glass of merlot for Anthony. This has recently opened and is now one of the hot spots for a great value for brunch in Sydney. the view is again fantastic.
Australia's expert on practical emotional intelligence
website: www.thehummhandbook.com
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/chrisgolis
blog: blogs.bnetau.com.au/aussierules/category/improving-your-eq/
mobile: +61-418-222219
Friday, October 2, 2009
First Post
On this blog I intend to post what Vivienne and I enjoyed on our various trips. I have called the blog Chris Golis Skiing in that I have told my two daughters that from now on they should realise they are paying for our trips 50/50.
My intention is to give a personalised view and some tips about the various trips we are taking.
Chris Golis
Australia's expert on practical emotional intelligence
website: www.thehummhandbook.com
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/chrisgolis
blog: blogs.bnetau.com.au/aussierules/category/improving-your-eq/
mobile: +61-418-222219
My intention is to give a personalised view and some tips about the various trips we are taking.
Chris Golis
Australia's expert on practical emotional intelligence
website: www.thehummhandbook.com
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/chrisgolis
blog: blogs.bnetau.com.au/aussierules/category/improving-your-eq/
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