editaroundtheworld

Kangaroo Island

September 6, 2026 by editaroundtheworld, posted in Australia, Travel

My overdue visit to Kangaroo Island finally took place just a couple weeks ago. My lovely friend, Bella picked me up at the airport in Adelaide and we were headed towards our great adventure. We took the ferry and got there in the afternoon and headed straight to Bella’s friend’s, Carlos’s home. Carlos kindly offered to host us and we had the best view ever from his home.

That day we took it easy, but the next day we started full on. We started the day with an ocean dip, which was oh my, so cold, but oh my, so refreshing, energizing, uplifting and so much more. I can’t emphasize enough how madly I got in love with ocean swims! I was always the person, who even in summer, would go for a quick 30 seconds dip and quickly run out of the water shivering. I would have never imagined that my today’s version of me will initiate ocean swims and in winter too!

I got involved with a fundraising community that supports cancer research and that was my main motivation to do cold dips. I’m so eternally grateful that I discovered the benefits of ocean swims and now I’m literally obsessed! On a good day, it’s part of my routine to start the day on a good note aka with an ocean swim. Bella and I did it 3 days in a row and one of the days I persuaded Carlos to join us too. He was reluctant at first, fair enough, and I may have pushed it a bit, but once all three have done it, we all felt amazing. Of course everybody wore something yellow too because we were supporting the Daffodil Cold Dip, the charity I mentioned earlier. Funny enough, even Bella’s car that we travelled around with, was a bright yellow too. It’s like the theme of the whole trip was yellow!

So, as I mentioned, every day started with a refreshing cold dip, followed by lots of exploring. My only wish for this trip was to see seals in their natural habitat.

I was a happy child when I saw them, heard their sound and witnessed their playful attitude. Seals are such a special creatures, feeling confident both in water and land, but sadly they are endangered. Seal Bay, where we saw most of them, we were following the boardwalk and observing them from distance.

Did you know that seals go out to the ocean for three days, during that time they feed on fish, then they return to the shore to rest? Fascinating!

Apart from seals, which was the ultimate highlight of the trip, we visited also Remarkable Rocks.

We made our way also to Admirals Arch, where we saw more seals. I was in heaven!

Beautiful rock formation and seals, seals everywhere!

This trip has been amazing and filled with lots of seals, that I enjoyed so much to observe! I believe we have so much to learn from them: they are sweet and sensitive, but in the same time strong and resilient, always up for a little play, but strong enough to defend themselves.

Now I have a little seal zipper charm that not only reminds me of this great trip, but hopefully reminds me also to be a little bit like a seal.

Kangaroo Island, with the seals, the rocks, the untouched nature and the beautiful flowers, a great place to visit any time of the year. And so great for cold ocean swims!

Magical Whitsundays

September 6, 2026 by editaroundtheworld, posted in Australia, Travel

I don’t even know where to start: with how stunning the Great Barrier Reef is, how magical snorkeling there is or how special Hamilton Island is…

For my second time in the Whitsundays the weather gods were on my side and for most of the trip they provided great weather.

Started off the trip in Airlie Beach and landed on Proserpine airport excited to revisit some places and discover some new ones.

On my first day I settled at my accommodation and then headed out to a sunset cruise, the same I took a couple years ago, when it was rainy and the sunset was not there at all. This time on the other hand, it was beautiful. To natures beauty it contributed connecting on the boat with a lovely elderly couple, Robyn and Fred, who shared their adventures travel stories with me and we enjoyed the sunset cruise together, followed by a lovely dinner back in Airlie beach.

To these days we keep in contact with Robyn and Fred and I’m sure we will meet again. Their invite to Orange is in the back of my mind and one day I’ll honor it.

For the dinner in Airlie Beach my friend Olesia joined as well and we were about to start our first time travel together.

Olesia is a great travel buddy but we needed a bit time together to adjust our travel style.

Probably one of our most memorable travel memory is flying in a helicopter above the Great Barrier Reef. Stunning is an understatement if I want to describe the view. I’ve never quite seen anything like that and I’d encourage anyone to do the helicopter tour prior to the sailing trip.

As I mentioned earlier: sailing trip. Well, that was quite an adventure. I spent two nights on a catamaran with a group of people, sailing around the Whitsundays. Most times the journey was smooth, expect sometimes quite rocky. I didn’t get seasick and I actually enjoyed the whole experience, although as usual, the water activities are always a bit out of my comfort zone. I was the only weak swimmer in the group, so I insisted having a vest while snorkeling. That just gave me enough confidence and comfort to go ahead and explore the wonderful sea world. The amount of colorful fish I’ve seen blew my mind away. The water was cold, but you quickly forget about it when you are distracted with looking at the beautiful coral and fish.

While on the boat, the lovely team looked after us, fed us healthy food and we all had a great experience. Sunbathing on the deck, sharing great travel stories and enjoying the stunning rainbow were just a few things that I cherish now.

One of my favorite memories from the sailing trip was going back to Hill Inlet lookout, where I’ve been a couple years ago but then it was cloudy and rainy, therefore I couldn’t experience the beauty of the colors I did this time. It was a beatiuful sunny day and the view was breathtaking.

It’s always nice to revisit places that once made an impression and Hill Inlet lookout is one of those places for me.

Wandering around Whitsunday Island and exploring Whitehaven beach, seeing up close the stingrays and so much more. Incredible!

But after the sailing trip, what was about to happen was just as amazing. That was Hamilton Island!

Olesia and I were ready for the most fun part of our trip! On our first evening on the island we got a lift in the buggy to One Tree Hill, where we witnessed a beautiful sunset that kept calling us back until the rest of the trip!

The atmosphere, with live music and complementary ice cream were magical. The palm trees with the sunset looked out of a fairytale.

The following day we had our own buggy to drive around and in a short time we covered pretty much the whole island, taking strangers for a lift when we had the chance. Driving around in the buggy was quite an experience and filled our hearts with lots of joy and with this opportunity I’ll give a shoutout to Olesia, who did the whole driving around with a smile on her face.

Pierre, as I named our buggy , took us around the whole island and we enjoyed it so much.

We had beautiful sunsets and sunrises, saw plenty of kangaroos and enjoyed the laid back Hamilton Island style.

We were fortunate to stay 2 minutes walk from Catseye beach, where we caught a beautiful sunrise on our last day and at the cafe had our morning coffee too.

In support of our lovely travel community we also hope that we brought a smile to Harriet, who was celebrating her birthday. We don’t personally know Harriet, but in the travel community we are all friends.

I won’t lie, it was not easy to wave goodbye to Hamilton Island. And I believe I’ll be back one day and maybe, just maybe, I’ll be driving around in another Pierre.

That being said, Hamilton Island and the Whitsundays were quite a good experience, considering that in the midst of all the positive, a bit of negative squeezed in too, in the form of a bad news regarding my on going visa battle. It will be all fine, I kept reminding myself, while enjoying as much as I could, but still having this in the back of my mind…

To summarize, I’d like to leave you with this: if Whitsundays and Hamilton Island are on your list, go sooner rather than later and definitely do a helicopter tour, push yourself out of your comfort zone and don’t skip snorkeling and if you have the chance drive around a buggy on Hamilton Island – these activities will not only give you amazing memories but will stay with you forever!

Sydney’s hidden gem

July 5, 2026 by editaroundtheworld, posted in Australia, Sydney

I have a lot of favorite places in Sydney, where my soul is at peace because I’m surrounded with the silence of nature, beautiful sceneries and magnificent views. Now I’ll share one of them with you. The pictures will speak for themselves.

It’s a secret that not everybody gets to find out… Wendy’s Secret Garden! A breathtaking nature spot, away from the noise of the city, yet not too far from it. A place where one comes to rest and just be. Where bush turkeys walk around peacefully and with grace. Where time stops for a little…

Hope you enjoy it and if you ever get the chance to visit it: feel it…

Also, if you’d like to try the best garlic bread and a real good matcha, nearby, you can stop by at Amio.

Happy Sunday!

Reminiscing about gorgeous Hawaii

July 4, 2026 by editaroundtheworld, posted in Travel

It’s been three years now since my lovely friend, Dinorah and myself ventured around four different Hawaiian islands for three weeks. It wasn’t the perfect trip and not every day held something spectacular for us, but it was a meaningful trip with magnificent places that stay in my memory. Also, it was the trip that strengthened our friendship so much ad revealed a lot about it. I’m so grateful for every single moment spent there and I couldn’t have asked for a more suitable person to share the experience with. And now, three years later I’m sitting in a cafe in Sydney, before my French class, writing about our amazing trip in Hawaii

We started our journey in Honolulu and my flight there was already an adventure in itself. Three hours before landing the plane hit some sudden turbulences, so strong that at some point we felt dropping and thought we may not make it out alive from there. That being said, I was quite glad to get off that plane, a bit shattered, but excited about the trip.

On the same day, Dinorah and me did something so cool, an activity that I discovered a few months before the trip and thought it’s a must. That was flying with a gyroplane, which resembles to a helicopter but doesn’t have a roof and it’s only you and the pilot. It was a bit scary, so much like any other adventure activity especially if it involves flying, however I’m so glad we did it. We had a very knowledgeable pilot, who made sure we had the best experience. The feeling of freedom and peace I experienced while looking down at the breathtaking Hawaiian coast line are priceless. If by chance this may inspire anyone to do something extraordinary while on Oahu, I can recommend with all the confidence http://www.flyskylandair.com – you won’t regret it.

Of course, other activities on the ground such as hiking or discovering beautiful gardens is a must as well. I was the most impressed about the number of beautiful rainbows that brightened my days several times. Oahu is beautiful, Honolulu is vibrant but yet still with a calm feel to it, where people are kind in general and nature is at your doorstep.

Our second island was Maui, which has a different vibe than Oahu, but charming in other ways. That’s where I discovered the typical Hawaiian shave ice and we were lucky enough also to do a daytrip around the island.

Each island had something amazing to offer. For me on Maui the highlight was seeing turtles from up close in their natural habitat. I was casually swimming when one lady pointed out that there’s a turtle chilling in the sun on the top of a stone in the water just a few meters from me. Turtles are my favorite animals, so words can’t describe what I felt in that moment.

After Maui we did Kauai and the Big Island, both amazing in their own ways. I loved the down to earth vibe on Kauai in particular, where my beach days were in the company of roosters that were walking casually on the beach. There’s so many hiking opportunities on Kauai that I’d love to explore one day, because this trip couldn’t include a whole lot of that, maybe next time.

We did awesome day trips around the island, stayed in an absolutely stunning area where a walk around was perfectly completed with tall coconut trees and stunning coast line.

Walking around in Kauai, where paradise is on earth

We also did a doors off helicopter tour, one of those absolutely unforgettable travel experiences that I believe every human being would deserve to live once in their lifetime.

Needless to say, for me, Kauai was magical. I’d go back there in a heartbeat anytime.

The last island we explored was the Big Island, where nature should us once again how majestic it is. This where I had lots of relax time and just took each day as it came, but some exploring was still there.

As I conclude this piece of writing, I just want to say that I feel so blessed and humbled that I got the chance to experience Hawaii deeply and truly. I hope you enjoy it too when you will go! Now, I’m off to my French class, because more islands are calling my name, where the official language is French. Aloha!

Vanuatu in pictures

June 10, 2023 by editaroundtheworld, posted in Backpacking, Travel

My trip to Vanuatu has been another amazing solo trips, filled with volcano hike and beach time, but also lots of relaxing.

At the bottom of Mount Yasur active volcano

The most beautiful swimming spot on the island

Amazing Philippines

April 28, 2023 by editaroundtheworld, posted in Backpacking, Travel

I landed in Manila after an 8 hours flight from Sydney on Cebu Pacific, an airline that I definitely don’t recommend. No entertainment or pillows and blankets on the flight, very limited food that you need to pay for, however that was the cheapest option to fly and even so it wasn’t so cheap.

Anyway, after the flight as I arrived to Manila airport the first thing I did was buying a local SIM card for 1500 pesos, which turned out to be a scam, in 7 Eleven it’s much cheaper.

I took a taxi from the airport to my Airbnb in Makati, the best area of the town to stay at and hang out.

My Airbnb at least was very nice and I felt comfortable and ready to have a good night sleep.

The next day I went out to explore the city, which is just another ordinary big city with lots of traffic.

These are the places that I think are worth visiting:

Manila cathedral

A beautiful cathedral surrounded with many other historical buildings in the area called Intramurous. I explored the area by myself but there are many your options as well. A lot of Asian people in that area, assuming there were locals, wanted to take pictures with me, I guess because I look different, but still strange for a place that gets many tourists.

SEDA hotel rooftop bar: Straight up

This was my favorite place to hang out in Manila and drink amazing mocktails while watching the sunset. They have delicious food as well and you can easily spend a few hours there, above all the craziness of the city.

The rest of my time in Manila I spent swimming at the pool of the building where my Airbnb was, just chilling and looking forward to my next destination.

Puerto Princesa

Excited to be leaving Manila, I headed to the airport to take a domestic flight to Puerto Princesa.

In Puerto Princesa a kind local that I connected with on couchsurfing offered to show me around and soon after I landed we would be riding on his motorbike towards a beautiful beach located one hour away from Puerto.

But first we stopped at the PP sign and took some pictures.

On the way to Nagtabon beach we stopped at a beautiful look out and we made it just in time to the beach for the sunset. I also enjoyed a coconut whole relaxing and watching how the sun goes down.

We ended the day with a delicious dinner at a local eatery in Puerto, where mainly locals eat and the menu is many pots right in front of you, so you just lift the lid and look what’s inside. A very economical way of having dinner but I definitely enjoyed it.

The next day I was picked up at 7 am and headed to the world’s longest underground river. The van ride took around 2 hours and I was a bit sleepy, but in the same time excited to see something different. I don’t remember ever being at an underground river and especially not the longest one in the world. It’s 8,2 km long and the water is such a beautiful color. I made some Nepalese friend on the tour, who were kind enough to take some nice pictures of me.

We had to wait a bit when we arrived and soon we all sat on a boat entering the caves . It was dark inside, of course, but the tour guide had a torch and we could see thousands of bats hanging from the ceiling.

After the tour, which took around 30 minutes , we all went for lunch , which was included in our tour and it was buffet lunch, very delicious, with lots of options to choose from.

I think we reached Puerto Princesa around 4 or 5 pm.

The following day I took a van to El Nido.

El Nido

El Nido is simply beautiful. I spent 4 days in the town and I loved it. It has a good mix of nice restaurants, vibrant night life, good beaches and in addition to all this I met very nice people there.

I took tour A to visit some islands and do snorkeling. I did kayaking at the Big Lagoon, saw turtles and fishes while snorkeling and enjoyed some beach time. I highly recommend tour A. Snorkels and shoes are not included, but you can rent before boarding the boat.

Las Cabañas Beach

This beach is often referred to as Maremegmeg beach and it’s perfect to watch the sunset.

Maremegmeg Beach Bar is amazing for dinner and happy hour drinks, when you buy one cocktail and get the second for free.

The beach is beautiful and the water was warm and pleasant.

Nacpan beach

Another amazing beach just a short trycicle ride from El Nido, Nacpan beach is very nice to spend the day at.

Canopy Walk

While in El Nido a must thing to do is the canopy walk, which includes a short hike and it rewards you with magnificent views.

My favorite restaurants in El Nido

Maa’s Grill

This was hands down my favorite restaurant not only in El Nido, but in the whole Philippines. Local food with fresh ingredients and with amazing service, I ate two times at this restaurant during my four days in El Nido. That’s where I had for the first time sisig, a local dish that became my favorite food. There’s pork sisig, beef sisig and I even had the las gambas aka prawn sisig. I loved them all.

Altrove

This restaurant is amazing if you’re craving pizza like I did one of the evenings. The pizza here is really delicious and prices are decent.

And of course while in El Nido, you have to try the crepes from the vendors on the streets, delicious.

From El Nido to Coron

From El Nido I took a ferry to Coron, which took five hours and it didn’t depart at the time it was supposed to, but one hour later. I found out that that’s normal for the Philippines, ferries depart usually at least with one hour delay.

In Coron I ate twice at Levine’s restaurant, where I had my beloved sisig once again.

My stay in Coron was too short unfortunately, just one full day to do a tour and I opted for the Super Ultimate tour, which I really enjoyed , despite the weather: on and off raining the whole day.

I still did some kayaking and snorkeling and enjoyed the delicious food we had included.

Cebu city

From Coron I took a domestic flight to Cebu city, which was an adventure because my backpack ended up coming six hours later with the next flight. At least they delivered it to my accommodation so in the end it was all good.

I spent two days in Cebu city, visited the San Pedro fort, the cathedral , the Taoist temple and a few other attractions.

Overall Cebu didn’t impress me much but I liked it more than Manila and I definitely liked my massage at Cheeva Spa.

Bohol

From Cebu I took a ferry to Bohol, where I spent two amazing days with Phoebe, the English girl I met in Cebu and she was adventurous enough to drive us around the whole island on a motorbike.

Phoebe and me about to go on an adventure

We rented a motorbike for 350 pesos a day, filled up full tank for 200 pesos and we hit the road.

We went to Busai Dreamfalls and enjoyed a coconut there, we drove through the Manmade forest, visited the cute tarsiers at the Bohol Tarsier Conservation Area and we had a look on the Chocolate Hills while being soaking wet because the rain caught us.

It was a full day of adventure and good laughs.

We stayed in Panglao area and we hit the beach as well, which was very nice and relaxing.

Siquijor

After Bohol I took a ferry to Siquijor island, my last destination and probably the best one. Not very touristy, but gorgeous and enjoyable, Siquijor was the place where I saw the most beautiful sunsets while in the Philippines.

The sunsets at Paliton beach will stay for a while in my memories.

I also visited the 400 years old balete tree and treated myself to a foot spa, where the fish bombarded my feet.

Siquijor has lots of beautiful waterfalls, probably the most famous being Cambugahay Falls, which opens at 8 am and there’s a small fee to pay before you enter.

Lugnason Falls is another beautiful waterfall that the locals recommended us and it was indeed beautiful.

But my favorite Siquijor attraction remains Sambulawan underground river which was very different to the Puerto Princes one. Here the caves are small so you have to swim through the river. It was a unique experience that I highly recommend.

My favorite restaurants in Siquijor:

Bucafe

Picturesque little brekky place with delicious ice latte with the perfect view.

Aroi Mak Mak Thai Station

Absolutely delicious Thai food and drinks.

Marco Polo

Amazing pizza place. Go for the sunset.

Luca Loko

I just ate some potatoes here, but the detox drink based on carrots and ginger was very refreshing and delicious.

After Siquijor I returned for one more day to Manila, but I was so tired by then that I spent the whole day just chilling at my Airbnb.

Favorites from the supermarket

I like going to the supermarket in different countries and I did that also in the Philippines and I discovered a few products that I really liked. I attach a picture of them, maybe you will like them too.

And if you decide to visit the Philippines I hope you’ll have an amazing time, just like I did! Thank you for reading!

My ten days Queenstown holiday

December 20, 2022 by editaroundtheworld, posted in Backpacking, Travel

Day 1

I landed at around 7:30 pm, so after checking in at my accommodation the only thing left to do for the day was dinner. I read everywhere that I must try the famous Fergburger so that’s exactly what I did. And it was just as amazing as everybody claimed it would be .

Day 2

I had an early start of the day, woke up around 7 am and went to the lake and admired its beauty.

After that I met up with a fellow traveler and we headed to Queenstown gardens, then hiked Queenstown Hill, two of the main attractions in the city. We saw beautiful sights and a few wild goats as well. The view is magnificent and the hike is not too hard.

For late lunch I decided to get another Fergburger and eat it by the lake, where the too friendly ducks surrounded me eager to get a bite from my burger.

On Saturdays there’s a market by the lake with local produce and hand made jewelry.

Day 3

On my third day I ventured out of the city and went to Wanaka, which is aprox 1 h drive from Queenstown and it’s a calm little town with friendly people and good vibes. The aim of the trip was hiking Roy’s Peak, a quite serious hike that took us 6 hours to complete. When we started it was a bit raining but once we reached the summit it all cleared up and we had the beautiful view that was worth it all the hard hike and the early wake up.

We saw many sheep along the way and a lot of hikers already returning because they went up for the sunrise which must have been amazing.

After the hike we spent some time by Lake Wanaka, saw the famous Wanaka tree and grabbed some lunch from one of the many cafes in town.

On the way back to Queenstown we made a short stop at the Wanaka Lavender Farm, where apart from the amazing lavender products you can purchase, there’s also lavender ice cream which tastes amazing.

Day 4

Day 4 was my birthday, so I decided to take a tour to Milford Sound, a must visit location if you’re in Queenstown. It’s however aprox 4 hours drive from Queenstown, but we made some stops along the way. The first stop was in the town called Te Anau, a cute little town with a lake and a few cafes, where I got myself a coffee and enjoyed it while walking along the lake.

The next stop we made was at Mirror Lakes, which I wasn’t very impressed by, but was still nice.

The following stop on the other hand was very nice, Monkey Creek, where you could see the mountains covered in snow.

At some point we even saw a kea bird, which is apparently a very clever bird, with the intelligence level of a 2 year old toddler.

Once we reached Milford Sound, we boarded the boat and cruised for aprox 2 hours. I let the pictures talk for themselves.

Even though it was cloudy, the views were spectacular. I really enjoyed the cruise and met some nice people.

The drive back to Queenstown seemed much longer but the day was not over yet.

Once we got back to Queenstown I was determined to have a nice dinner and a glass of wine for my birthday. A local recommended me the restaurant Public, just by the lake, so that’s where I went with my new friends. Had a lovely dinner and a glass of wine and happily ended the day with a big smile on my face.

Day 5

Another day, another hike. This time it was Ben Lomond hike, which included the Tiki Trail – this one you can skip if you take the gondola , but I’d recommend hiking it, it’s not very hard.

This hike took me 9 hours to complete but with long stops at the summit and shorter ones along the way. The weather was amazing and the views breathtaking. I really enjoyed this hike.

In the evening I went to one of the Ice Bars in town – there’s three of them in total – for a delicious cocktail served in -7 degrees. Needless to say that after that one cocktail I returned quickly to the warm and left the cold behind for good.

Day 6

My favorite breakfast place was Fergbaker, they make amazing coffee and it’s the perfect place to start your day.

On the agenda this day was a daytrip to Glenorchy. Glenorchy is aprox 45 min drive from Queenstown and it’s another cute little town with a lake and beautiful surroundings.

Not only Glenorchy, but also the whole way to there is beautiful, a really nice drive.

For dinner I’ve chosen Caribe Latin Kitchen, where I also found my favorite Brazilian soft drink: Guarana.

Their nachos were very delicious too.

Day 7

It was time to take it easy and just relax, so I went walking along the lake all the way to Sunshine Bay, which took me around 50 min walk. It was the perfect sunny weather for it, some people were even swimming in the lake, which I considered quite brave because the water was still very cold.

For lunch I went again for a fergburger and I promised myself it’s gonna be the last one. For dessert I had a giant ice cream from Patagonia, which is another must try place, their ice cream is fabulous, it costed me $10.

I also went to Kiwi Park, which in my opinion it was a bit disappointing and too expensive, $49. Although the ticket is valid for three days, I wasn’t going to return, so I just gifted it to a random person on the street. I saw some native birds and some kiwi birds too, but overall I wasn’t really impressed.

Day 8

My second tour was to Mount Cook, which is aprox 4 h drive from Queenstown. Absolutely beautiful stops along the way, such as a bungy jumping spot and Lake Pukaki. The tour was very intimate, just a minivan, so no large groups, we all ended up becoming friends and on the return to Queenstown went for dinner together to Pub on Wharf, where I had a delicious salmon with spinach and veggies. Really good!

Day 9

It was going to be another rest day, so I walked again to Sunshine bay, had a nice meal at Blue Kanu restaurant and went for some drinks at Habana Boutique Rum Bar, then even ended up going dancing at The Bunker. It was a fun day.

Day 10

I started the day at 9 am when I checked out of my accommodation and headed to the airport to fly back to Sydney.

Looking back at my trip, all I can say is that I really enjoyed it and I’d go back to Queenstown in a heartbeat anytime. It’s a fun place where I could easily meet people and there’s a good variety of restaurants and bars, so perfect for everyone.

Short escape to paradise

October 2, 2022October 2, 2022 by editaroundtheworld, posted in Backpacking, Travel

School holiday has arrived and that meant traveling for me. Although just for a short 5 days, but I packed my bags and headed to the airport , excited to discover a new country, which is just 3 h away from Sydney.

Lucky with a window seat, I watched amazed the turquoise blue water of the sea and was ready for a few days of warm weather and beach.

The view looked quite good already from the plane.

As soon as I arrived I went to the shuttle and shortly I was headed to the capital of New Caledonia: Noumea, my home for the next 5 days.

I was between the last people on the bus to be dropped off, so the journey to Noumea lasted much longer than I expected, almost two hours.

By the time I reached the city I was starving, so my first stop was a restaurant.

Parfums d’Olive has every week food from different countries and I was there for Croatia’s turn. I paired my delicious meal with a glass of Chardonnay and I was totally enjoying my holiday.

The weather was pleasant and the atmosphere nice, people very friendly and even open to speak English.

New Caledonia is a French island, therefore the official language is French, but assuming because they get lots of Australian and New Zealander tourists, thanks to the location, people are very open to speak English and it made things much easier for me.

My first night was relaxed, after dinner I went to my accommodation and had an early bed time because the following day I had a tour booked.

Little did I know that my next day will turn out to be completely different from what I planned.

I got up early, at 6:45 to be at the meeting point for 7:40, as agreed with the tour company. I waited and waited and at some point I decided to ask for help because there was no tour bus coming to pick me up. My Australian phone number didn’t work, so I went into a hotel and asked the receptionist to call the tour company and ask why aren’t they coming to pick me up. He was very kind and helped me and soon I found out that the pick up point was actually in another place, so I missed my tour. I thanked the receptionist for his kindness and started wandering around, at first quite upset. I went to Baie des Citrons and walked around, then decided to go for a coffee, connect to the wifi and research what can I do in the area.

The day was looking to be beautiful, warm and sunny.

I found out that I was near a very nice lookout , so I decided to walk there. Along the way I met a friendly French lady, who spoke a bit of English and we ended up walking together and taking pictures of each other with the beautiful views. I especially liked the beautiful blue colors of the sea.

Ouen Toro, the name of the hill, from where you can see the city, is an aprox 30 min walk from Baie des Citrons and it’s a popular location for people who wish to start the day with sport. I saw many people walking or biking or jogging.

After completing the walk we said our goodbyes with my new French friend and we parted ways. I decided that my next stop will be Place de Cocotiers but I wasn’t sure of which way I need to go so I asked directions from a lady who was on the side of the street with a few more people, they were Jehovas witnesses. The lady that I asked for directions kindly offered me to take me there by car .

So I got a ride all the way to Place de Cocotiers, where there was some sort of musical event happening.

Cathedral Saint Joseph, near Place de Cocotiers

I hang out around there for a while , walked around, discovered The Best Cafe, where I ate a delicious crepe filled with fruits and cream and soon after that I went back to my accommodation which was very near.

The following day I decided to take a daytrip. Amedee island, where I was supposed to go with the tour, didn’t seem to be working out, the boat was fully booked, so I went to Ilot Maitre instead. Ilot Maitre is a 20 min boat ride from Port Moselle and it’s a small island, where there are overwater bungalows and the color of water is absolutely stunning.

I spent a good few hours just sunbathing and enjoying the 27 degrees. When I went back to Port Moselle I met up with two of my new Latino friends, we had dinner at Le Bout du Monde and then we headed to another little island, called Ile aud Canards, which was just a 5 min taxi boat ride.

We went there to watch the sunset and it was spectacular. Probably the best place to watch the sunset while in Noumea.

On day 3 I met up with a lovely lady from Tahiti and her local friend and we went for breakfast to Ilot Maitre. So during this trip I ended up going twice to Ilot Maitre and to be honest I’d happily go again. It’s a nice place, breakfast was amazing and the color of the sea very beautiful.

Unfortunately my trip was too short to explore more of New Caledonia, but at least I had enough time in Noumea.

Other things that I enjoyed while in Noumea were:

Port Moselle market

Port Moselle sunset

Sunset at Anse Vata

On day 5 my flight was at 10 am back to Sydney, again I was lucky to have a window seat and could watch for the last time the beautiful colors of the sea and wave goodbye to New Caledonia. Would be great to go back sometime…

My favorite hikes around Rio

April 5, 2022 by editaroundtheworld, posted in Backpacking, Travel

Already before going to Rio I knew that it’s an amazing city for outdoor lovers. Plenty of hiking opportunities and I was ready to do a few of them. Four days out of the two weeks I spent in the city I went hiking and I really enjoyed.

Pedra da Gavea

In my opinion the best hike that you can do around Rio. It’s also the hardest one, which involved proper rock climbing with ropes , which was a first for me. It’s definitely a challenging hike but at the same time very rewarding too. And the views!! The views are amazing both along the hike, but especially at the top.

The most beautiful view from the top of Pedra da Gavea

The whole hike, including the rock climbing took aprox 4 hours, luckily along the way there were people who were willing to help me because sometimes it seemed impossible to complete the hike. All sweaty and with my body shaking, I felt so proud of myself that I reached the top.

Pedra do Telegrafo

A much easier hike than Pedra da Gavea, Telegrafo is as popular. The hike itself is not too long, maybe around 1 h, but the line for the photos is at least an other hour usually. Actually that was the hardest part to deal with because it was very hot and you’re basically in the burning sun waiting to take the perfect picture. There’s a professional photographer at the spot, who I luckily hired because my hiking partner took horrible pictures.

Pedra Bonita

Translated as “Beautiful Rock”, this hike is one of the easiest ones that I did but still with very rewarding views. From the top you can see Pedra da Gavea and the beautiful coastline of Rio.

Two Brothers

Out of the four hikes that I did, this was the easiest, less than one hour hike, but in the heat it wasn’t the most pleasant, however the views were worth it. We took an Uber and then a motortaxi took us through the favela, all the way to where the trail starts. From then it’s quite straight forward.

I listed the hikes in the order of preferance for me. There’s plenty more hikes around Rio, which I’d be happy to do if I ever go again. As much as I loved Pedra da Gavea hike, I’m not sure if I’d be willing to do it ever again. I was sore for the following 3 days… In any case hiking in Rio has been one of my favorite activities. Highly recommended.

Four days in São Paulo

April 5, 2022 by editaroundtheworld, posted in Backpacking, Travel

I’ve been warned about São Paulo as being dangerous and especially intimidating city considering it’s size, however to me it didn’t seem so intimidating. Dangerous, yes, in some places I didn’t feel exactly safe, but quickly ubered myself out of such places. Actually there was only one sketchy place where I felt a bit out of place.

Day 1

My friends and I went to the rooftop of Unique hotel, Skye bar for amazing cocktails and beautiful views of the city. Very enjoyable place that if I ever go again to Sao Paolo I’ll revisit.

We arrived just in time for the sunset, which was not necessarily impressive but the views were still quite spectacular.

After a bit of warm up at Skye bar, my friend Vanessa and me headed to a bar, can’t recall the name, where we ended up singing karaoke after a couple of cocktails. It was a fun night, we met a very nice local couple, they even ended up giving me a lift to my accommodation.

Day 2

The day started with meeting up with Vanessa, who’s a professional photographer that came with her camera ready to capture some nice shots of me exploring her city. We went to Beco do Batman, which was just a few minutes walk from my accommodation in Vila Madalena. The murals we found were beautiful and the atmosphere very laid back. Vila Madalena neighborhood was the perfect base for me, being full of nice little restaurants and cafes, I checked out a few.

After Beco do Batman we went to the famous Avenida Paulista, walked around and had nice conversations along the way.

On Avenida Paulista it’s a must to go up to the Sesc Building for amazing views.

Day 3

This is the part where I felt a little bit strange… I went to Mercado Municipal to try the famous mortadella sandwich, which was delicious, however the area is full of homeless people and it’s just not the place where you’d like to hang out. Straight from the Uber I walked into the market, where it’s completely fine, but outside it’s just a weird vibe. The market itself is quite impressive, the vendors give you many types of exotic fruits to try with the hope that you buy some of their produce. I ended up trying at least 6 fruits that all tasted delicious.

I enjoyed hanging out at the market, but the highlight was definitely the mortadella sandwich, which basically is a giant sandwich with at least 10 layers of ham. We were three people and we shared one and all of us was full after eating a portion.

After such a treat we headed to Ibirapuera Park, a big park where people go for their work out, to ride a bike, like we did, or just to chill on the grass.

Day 4

On my last day in São Paulo I checked out the Japanese neighborhood of Liberdade. It’s a beautiful neighborhood where there are lots of cafes and restaurants. I ate a delicious crepe at Hachi Crepe&academy.

Although people say that São Paulo it’s like a jungle, to me it didn’t seem that chaotic at all. It’s busy and vibrant, so after four days I was ready to leave it and search for the sun and the beach, but it wasn’t overwhelming for me.

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