Loggy the @dventur-er

Family in the Sydney to Hobart

Go Nicki Langman and Pete Langman, what a great article about their Sydney to Hobart journey

Magical Melbourne

I recently traveled to #Melbourne to visit one of my best friends, and thanks to my boyfriend and my best friend, who are both culinary adventurers. I got to experience some great restaurants and cafe’s in the city that boasts the most diverse and unique dining experiences.

Restaurants:

Cumulus Inc: http://cumulusinc.com.au/

Mo Vida Aqui: http://www.movida.com.au/

Hotels:

http://www.artserieshotels.com.au/ 

Cafes:

Dukes on Chapel St: http://www.dukescoffee.com.au/

Galleon in St Kilda: http://galleoncafe.com.au/

Bar:

Cookie: http://www.cookie.net.au/site.html

A link to the best cafes in Melbourne for 2010 which look really interesting. And to be classified as one of the ‘best cafes’ in Melbourne - is a pretty amazing achievement: http://www.bestcafes.com.au/melbournes-best-cafes-2010

Wonderful illustrations...

Congratulations to Kiwi illustrator and animator Kieran Rynhart for being selected for Luerzer’s Best 200 Illustrators Worldwide.

Winner of Tropfest 2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxiSP_ch_oI&feature=share

Rowing Association of Maldives

This is a lovely website I worked on in the Maldives.. I also took all the pictures with my little digi camera. Quite happy with the results.

Made an appearance as a charater on a mates blog.. check it out.....

Life at sea level

Well, living in the Maldives is something that I may have always dreamed of, but never thought it actually would become a reality.

When you think of the Maldives, you think deserted, pristine coral sand islands with coconut trees arching towards warm crystal water featuring unimaginable shades of turquoise and blue. You may also think of resorts with bungalows perched above the reef. All this is an accurate description of the Maldivian islands, however there is a human element, that you more often than not – overlook.

Whilst living on Thinadhoo in the Gaaf Dhaal atoll, which lies about 450kms from the capital island Male and 20kms from the equator, you experience life as a Maldivian on this Village Island and life very close to sea level.

Life is simple, quiet and civilised considering how remote the atoll is. Children often ask ‘what island are you from?’ with little comprehension of how large this world is, or knowledge of continents and bearings.

Houses are simple often made from concrete bricks, coral rock and corrugated iron. Paint is colourful and often features a political party symbol on the fence, a majority of which is a frangipani. Manicured tropical gardens with coral sand paths are another striking feature of village homes.

Most girls on the island cannot swim. They haven’t even seen coral reef before and it only lies 200m offshore. It’s been an amazing experience to assist James in teaching young women and girls how to swim and see their confidence growing in the water.

Being a Islamic country on this tiny island which is 750m x 1.1km there are 2 large mosques and many smaller places for prayer. Today is the second day of Ramadan and it’s quite quiet on the island during daylight hours. When the community isn’t fasting the main diet here is curry, fish and rice or roshi.

As remote as Thinadhoo is, people have iPhones and TVs (I have even seen Plasma TVs), there are a few cars on the island too. Many things are imported from Male which is seen as the ‘big city’ and does influence youth even this far away.

So, for me this experience has been phenomenal, something that I’ll look back on often with gratitude to James for giving me this opportunity to see a part of the ‘real’ Maldives. Yes, we often visit deserted islands (which are only a few kilometres away), but we have also experienced being part of the community.

Santorini

I didn’t know what to expect with Santorini… I hadn’t done any previous research into the destination, I was just extremely excited to be spending two magical weeks with my friend Tamie. A link to Australia which I haven’t had since I left Australia last September. 

We spent 3 nights in Oia, which was beautiful - of course for the stunning sunsets, but we were surprised when we moved to Thira (for a further 2 nights), because we both enjoyed the view of the sunset more from this vantage point. Its most likey because our accommodation, the stunning Nefeles Suites had a beautiful view over the crater towards the sunset - and we had the pleasure to enjoy this view from our own balcony, whilst sipping Greek wine with crushed ice and lime.

On our second day in OIa, Tamie and I enjoyed a day-trip out to the crater of the volcano. It was a huge highlight to Greece for us. We were picked up from the port in a beautiful boat and whilst motoring to our destination we had the chance to admire another angle of the spectacular volcanic cliffs of Santorini.

Once the boat was moored on the volcano, we walked across and up the volcano with our guide ‘Mama Joy’ who had a wealth of knowledge on the volcano which was passed down through the generations in her family. 

After visiting the active crater of the volcano (we even saw sulfuric steam coming out of vents) we then walked back to the boat where the tour visited the hot springs, heated from the volcano. Had a 30min dip in Greece’s stunning crystal deep blue water, and then headed to a nearby island for some lunch prior to returning to Oia. The tour runs from Thira and OIa and takes about 5-6 hours.

Santorini is extremely romantic and is also very touristy. June is probably ideal time to visit, as it’s still ‘low season’ but has the warmer temperatures and I would say, a lesser scale of tourists.