Weekend Life....This is Australia

Weekend Life....Australia Day Special!

It is Australia Day on 26th January (hurrah!), and Kate from I Am Not A Celebrity asked whether I would give a little interview and share some photos for a series she is doing this week on Aussies living in the UK. I pulled some of my photos from my trip back home last year to Australia for her, and thought I would share them on my blog as well. They were taken in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Noosa and I guess are a (small) insight into Aussie life through my eyes/camera lens. I still intend to do a post on each place, sharing some of my favourite places to shop, eat and drink coffee but with fashion month approaching, I am not sure I will have time to do that for a little while. So think of this as an amuse bouche to limber up your appetite for more Aussie photos :)

p.s.I am continually grateful to every single person who allows me to take their photo, stranger or not. It makes me happy that people trust me enough to let me make a photo of them.....and that applies especially to people wearing swimsuits!

I hope you enjoy this little glimpse of Australia just like Oprah did in this clip (joined by Hugh, Keith, Nicole, Russell and Olivia at the Sydney Opera House). I admit I had a little "moment" when I watched the video the other night....twice :)

So whether you are celebrating Australia Day in Queenland, NSW, ACT, Victoria, NT, South Australia, Western Australia, Tassie or around the world, at the beach, watching the cricket, firing up the barbie, sheltering from the rain (Queenslanders), munching on lamingtons, pavlova, Anzac bikkies and mini meat pies, knocking back a few beers, Happy Australia Day for tomorrow!
I still call Australia home for sure.

p.s. If you are in London this week, Taylor St Baristas are doing a flattie (flat white) and lamo (lamington) special this week for Australia Day.

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Weekend Life...Long Island

These are the last of my photographs from 2011's pre-NYFW trip to Long Island, New York.

Prior to staying at The Surf Lodge, we spent two nights in Hampton Bays. It was just a few days after Hurricane Irene so we felt extremely fortunate to have even made it to Long Island and that the damage caused by Irene wasn't worse than it was.

We spent our time driving around, admiring the beautiful houses and architecture (who doesn't love a porch with a swing out front?!), visiting the roadside farm stalls which are dotted around the island, hoping for a random sighting of Ina Garten (okay, that was only me ;), photographing random cars (clearly I am obsessd with American motor vehicles-I photographed even more than I have shown you here!), taking a trip on the ferry to Shelter Island and listening to this song by Billy Joel. I think it is my most favourite Billy Joel song.

Eat: Excellent chowder at The Dockhouse in Sag Harbour (sit on the dock and watch all the huge yachts- and their lucky passengers- as they manoeuvre their way into the harbour while slurping your chowder).
Espresso Market in Sag Harbour. This kind of place is one of the reasons I love travelling in the US so much- the food won't blow your mind but it is good, homemade and served with a smile. We shared an omelette stuffed full of mozzarella, fontina, provolone and prosciutto for breakfast one morning.
Canal Cafe&Market on the Shinnecock Canal, Hampton Bays.

Drink: The American Hotel is an institution (so worth a visit for the history) but.....

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Weekend Life....New York City, February 2011

New York City, February 2011.

Look away now if*:

a) you don't want to see an indulgently long post of NYC travel photos (I'm sneaking this post in on a Sunday to give me more of an excuse-weekends are for self-indulgence;);

b) you are sweltering in NYC and don't want to be reminded of the slightly cooler weather in Feb.

If not, read on!

I was over in NYC for fashion week in February and snuck in a little bit of time for some sightseeing. Highlights from this trip?

Crunching through the snow in central park on a very cold afternoon followed by drinks at the beautiful Oak Bar in the Plaza Hotel. (Weirdest, most "I don't want to look but I can't look away" moment was when we were in Central Park and a red-tailed hawk nabbed a squirrel for supper.eep!);

Watching the Super Bowl at Oliver's Bar&Grill in the West Village (boo to jet-lag);

Awesome coffee at Stumptown Coffee Roasters in the Ace hotel. Thanks to the guy (who will probably never see this!) who let me take his photo with the coffee cup. I first came across Stumptown roasters when they had a pop-up coffee bar in Amsterdam last year so it was nice to experience the full Stumptown experience in NYC.

Wandering through Mario Batali's Eataly and picking up provisions for dinner;

Lunch at Momofuku Ssam Bar in the East Village. The steamed pork buns and bbq rib sandwich were incredible;

Brooklyn Farmacy&Soda Fountain (see the retro photos above) in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. Wish we had something like this in London. Followed by a brisk stroll along the Brooklyn Heights Promenade to take in the view of lower Manhattan;

Coffee at Tom's Restaurant (had to do the Seinfeld experience at least once ;)

Watching the ice-skating at The Rockefeller Centre;

Chocolate chip cookies from Levain bakery on the Upper West Side; Warm, gooey goodness;

Breakfast at Bubby's in Tribeca followed by a wander around Tribeca (is Robert De Niro in Tribeca the equivalent of Rick Stein in Padstow?!);

Walking from the East Village to Columbus circle- best way to experience a city is to walk it

*I realised when I was typing this that if you have got this far, you will have seen the whole post anyway ;)

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