The Great Barrier Reef

I believe that self-growth is all about pushing out of your comfort zone, experiencing new things and  exploring new places. It was this belief that made me sky-dive many years ago despite no real interest in jumping out of a plane. I can't say I particularly enjoyed it but at least I know what it feels like to be hurtling down to earth from over 10,000 feet. It was the same with paragliding although that was much more pleasant (as it was Switzerland rather than A1/fenland with my skydive). My feelings about scuba diving were not dissimilar to that of skydiving but I really wanted to do it and could not think of a better place to do so than the Great Barrier Reef.

 We used Cairns as our hub for exploring the reef and stayed in a fabulous AirBnb place there too. There are *so many* options when it comes to reef exploration from Cairns and we chose a boat that wasn't too big or too slow and had good reviews. After about an hour's sail into the reef area, we stopped to get on to a glass bottomed boat and do some initial lazy viewing of the Reef's offerings.

After that, our interest definitely piqued, we were given thorough safety demos and training. I was mildy terrified ( as I'm not a good swimmer and a wimp) but decided to keep focused to complete my bucket list mission. The diving session started with us being kitted up, testing equipment and procedures at a shallower depth before heading deep into the ocean.

The diving instructors were absolutely brilliant and kept us safe whilst pointing our the wonderful features of the reef. One of my fellow divers had a panic attack and had to be taken back up so I had another instructor guide me - to be honest I was quite pleased to have kept my cool despite this other person throwing a wobbly under the ocean.

The fact is that once you relax and start taking in the magnificent underwater surroundings, you stop feeling terrified and are instead are awestruck but the curious aquatic life around you. My favourite bit was when a big scary fish came into our zone and all the little fish started scurrying away. We were so close to all the action - it was super!

In between diving sessions, we stopped by a little island in the middle of the ocean for a bit of a rest.  It was stunning wee place but the hot Australian sun was beating down mercilessly and our Scotland acclimatised bodies couldn't sun bathe for very long. So we headed back to the boat for another round of snorkeling and diving before calling it a day.

Unlike my skydiving experience, I loved scuba diving ( even if I was hardly a pro) and would highly recommend it to anyone!

Have you sorted out new year resolutions for 2016 and how much of them are about pushing boundaries? I'd love to hear about them! Ann x

To get in touch and see the latest on all my adventures, follow me on Bloglovin, Twitter,Instagram or Facebook.

Exploring Sydney

I must start this post with a apology of sorts - this is written from the perspective of someone who had an incredible 10 days in Tokyo and Japan before landing in Sydney. We were prepared to be underwhelmed - few places in world are as 'out of the ordinary' as Japan. But, that does not mean they are not just as special in their own unique way. So forgive me if I do not ooze with the kind of enthusiasm  I've displayed in the past whilst writing about Japan, The Outer Hebrides and East Africa. Sydney is a very cool place too - big and gutsy -  it is just that bit more familiar than the others mentioned despite being so far away.

Whilst in Sydney, we stayed in a stunning AirBnB property in the Petersham neighbourhood. It was handy for getting to and from the airport and an interesting area too. Many of the suburbs in Sydney have strong European links.  Petersham, for example, is very Portuguese with houses that were beautiful and had ornate architecture. Even the local supermarkets and what they offer seem to vary depending on the locality. It felt very cosmopolitan. Plus, the transport links across Sydney are very good.

 We spent an afternoon in Manly beach catching up with an old friend and that was very pleasant. Not the most spectacular beach but it was lively and had a friendly vibe. We were told that Bondi is usually teeming with tourists and so we gave that a miss. The journey by boat from Sydney Harbour to Manly and back is well worth doing (on a clear day) for the spectacular views of Sydney Harbour.

Sydney is great for shopping too but I had only one shopping agenda on my mind - heading to the Bloch flagship store and stocking up on ballet flats at half the UK price. And I did just that as I know they will last me absolutely ages - I wore my last pair almost daily and in all kinds of weather and they looked reasonably good even after a year of heavy use.

Other things we did in Sydney included a trip to the Bally outlet (but we didn't buy anything), numerous pit stops in town for coffee and cake (Gumption coffee is well worth checking out), catching up with friends and checking out some local restaurants. City is even more stunning by night  and a walk around the Harbour area and The Rocks is a great way to finish an evening.

Hope you are all having a lovely holiday season! Ann x

To get in touch and see the latest on all my adventures, follow me on Bloglovin, Twitter,Instagram or Facebook.

Kyoto Highlights

Historic, mysterious and magical - Kyoto is a very special place. It is steeped in culture - you cannot go far without passing by a temple or few. Each of these temples is unique in its architecture, philosophy (although largely Shinto or Buddhist in terms of religion) and its history. There's also the famed geisha district, still very much preserving its culture the old-fashioned way. Then there's the beautiful countryside - Arashiayama and its bamboo groves being a huge favourite. Kyoto also has great food scene and is renowned for its kaiseki (or Japanese haute cuisine) restaurants. With so much to do, we weren't sure where to begin!

We stayed in a Ryokan not far from the city centre and figured the simplest thing to do would be to work our way through a few temples nearby. Kiyomizu Dera was the quickest to reach from our 'inn' and so we started from there. We happened to get there just in time for the a prayer ceremony which was fascinating to watch. Other temples we explored, in between matcha and kakigori breaks, include those within walking distance of the Kiyomizu Dera in the Higashiyama district.

In between our temple hopping we were accosted by a bunch of school kids who were on a school trip and part of their homework was to interview English speaking people. Ed and I dutifully answered their questions and we were rewarded with a photo with the group which will now no doubt be on some Facebook page or school noticeboard in the Kyoto area!

The most magnificent of these temples was the iconic golden temple - Kinkaku-ji, a zen Buddhist temple that exudes calm and opulence, two qualities that don't often go together. You will find many Kyoto temple photos on my Instagram page- this blogpost will be incredibly long if I added them all here! Worth mentioning that we bought a day ticket for the buses which meant you could travel around Kyoto's numerous temples inexpensively and efficiently.

Of all the places in Kyoto, Gion was the one I was most excited about. Having read the Memoirs of a Geisha many years ago and watched the movie (both more than once, which is unlike me), I was very keen on seeing the places and characters described in the book first-hand. I didn't realise that geisha spotting was actually quite rare and a sport of sorts - there were cameraman with the biggest lenses I've seen waiting outside the geisha houses for a glimpse of one as they headed to one of the many tea rooms for an evening entertainment session.

We decided to walk down one of the quieter alleyways and were lucky to spot a beautiful young maiko ( apprentice geisha) scurrying past us. It was so fascinating to watch! A lot of serious business (big business and political deals) happens within these tea houses and 'managed' by the geisha. We happened to see a very expensive car with tinted windows in one of these alleyways...I wondered who was in that car and why?!

The lesser known geisha district is Pontocho, a short walk from Gion. We weren't quite as impressed by it - quaint as it was, it was also a little bit seedy and noisy. We walked up and down the streets of Pontocho a few times and then headed over to the river bank - popular hangout for young couples and teenagers, before making our way back to the Ryokan.

I must also mention our fabulous kaiseki meal in Gion but that needs a blogpost in itself. As does Arashiyama and Fushimi Inari. Our Ryokan experience was also very interesting but unfortunately for my super tall husband, it was a wee bit challenging! That said, we were both pleased we did it!

So there we are, a few snapshots from our Kyoto trip!

Hope you are all having a lovely weekend! Ann x

To get in touch and see the latest on all my adventures, follow me on Bloglovin, Twitter,Instagram or Facebook.

Tokyo Highlights

You've heard this before but Tokyo truly is a fascinating place.  It is the most populous city in the world and yet so well-synchronised and calming. It also felt surprisingly familiar - a very Asian sense of respectfulness combined with a very British-like sense of order. In fact, they put the British to shame here with their penchant for perfect queues, with positions precisely mapped out outside every train and subway door. I've battled rush hours in Mumbai and London, and both places have a lot to learn from the Japanese. Tokyo is uber quirky, quiet yet in-your-face at times, and so very interesting!

We stayed at AirBnB studio apartment in Shibuya which was a great location to start our Tokyo exploration. I remember waiting at one of the travel offices at Shibuya station on our first day and observing how everything was so well organised and every interaction so perfectly polite and serious. But on these very desks, there were soft toys of all kinds (Japanese cartoons, I think) clamouring for attention. Sort of yin and yang, but both with equally positive connotations.

Tokyo is mostly very very busy. For example, Shinjuku station was mind boggling with its people and a zillion exits and I felt dizzy despite my aforementioned experience of Mumbai and London rush hours. And we didn't event step out of the station complex! The Shibuya Scramble is also an experience (we did it nearly every day we were there). However, neither of these experiences were loud or offensive in anyway - just staggering in terms their sheer volume and fascinating to watch. Yet on our way to Asakusa (to visit the Sensoji temple), we serendipitously stopped by the area near Asakusabashi, an area that felt like a small Japanese town and completely distant from the hub!

Over the last several decades, the Japanese have adopted the best of what the rest of the world was developing and bettered it. So you have the best-in-class transportation, engineering automation and electronics on offer here. In doing so, it has not discarded tradition. The Sensoji Temple at Asakusa was heaving with worshippers in traditional kimonos, praying and offering incense.

There are some ancient Japanese traditions that are now more popular that ever and I'm talking about Kakigori (shaved ice) which dates back to the 11th century. We walked a long way to find kakigori (on a hot Autumn's day) in Asakusabashi but when we did find it, we were impressed by its perfection. We've had many more kakigoris since but none of them rivalled that first experience.

Food has been a key part of our Tokyo ( and Japan experience) and I am hoping to write more about this separately. I've also posted a lot of foodie photos on my Instagram page- ramen bars, izakayas, teppanyaki places, fish bars and kaiseki restaurants. All I can say is that food in Tokyo is incredible, exciting and great value- don't believe the myth about Japan being expensive! We've had some amazing meals here for not a lot at all.

Other incredible experiences included taking in a Kabuki performance at the world famous Kabuki Za in Ginza where despite my many Japanese lessons, I struggled to follow very much at all! Ed's colleague Noriko was talking to us over a meal about Kabuki and how it is considered a bit elitist due to the inaccesible price of tickets and how there are moves to try and change this a little. We only bought a one session ticket queuing up that morning which was cheap but the full performance can be very expensive. We stayed in a fab AirBnB Apartment next to the Kabuki Za which was also a great location for our last couple of days in Tokyo.

We happened to be in Tokyo around Fashion's Night Out which was a great time to be exploring Harajuku and Omotesando areas. Many fab shops had champagne and canapés on offer which made our experience even more pleasant. My favourite shopping haunt was RagTag, a fabulous pre-loved store (set of stores, actually) that stocked Yohji, Sacai, Comme De Garcon and plenty of other Japanese designers for a fraction of European  prices.

Ed's favourite and my second favourite place was Akihabara, the electronics district. I've used this word far too many times now but it was again, fascinating! Many multi-storey buildings selling electronics and electrical goods of every imaginable kind and at cheaper than UK prices! My favourite item on sale was the Washlet and if we weren't feeling so broke from all our travels, I'd like to have taken one home!

Finally, there's Roppongi Hills district which is a popular hangout place for the young, fashionable and the expats. We went up to the Mori Tower for views of Tokyo by night and it looks a wee bit like Paris due to the lit up Tokyo Tower.

I know I said "finally" but I've only shared a small fraction of my Tokyo experience so far. There is so much more to say and share about this wonderful place and keep an eye on my Instagram page for more pictures. I simply cannot wait to go back!

Hope you are all having a lovely Sunday! Ann x

To get in touch and see the latest on all my adventures, follow me on Bloglovin, Twitter,Instagram or Facebook.

Palace of Holyroodhouse

The Palace of Holyroodhouse (or Holyrood palace), as many of you probably already know, is the queen's official residence in Scotland. And whilst it is a 30 odd minute walk from home, up until recently we did not get around to exploring it properly ( other than walking past it every so often). My mum's visit over the summer finally gave us a reason to do so.

Holyrood Palace is a stunning piece of baroque architecture and beautifully symmetric. We started our exploration of the palace at the quadrangle with perfectly manicured lawns where we stood and observed the different levels (floors) of the palace and learned about their significance. The Royal accommodation is on the second floor as was the place where Mary Queen of Scots took residence during her eventful stay here.

Photography was not allowed inside the palace but the Queen's chambers, the royal dining room as well as the chambers occupied by Mary Queen of Scots were fascinating to see and learn about. Mary Queen of Scots lived here for about six years until the murder of David Rizzio and her forced abdication. The listening guides we borrowed were very useful in bringing to life the rich and sometimes dark history of the palace.

After our tour of the palace interiors, we were led to what is left of Holyrood Abbey. Despite the ruins, the abbey is a beautiful place and what remains of the architecture is very impressive. It was built in 1128 as per the orders of King David I of Scotland. A lot of early Scottish history is closely linked with this Abbey.

The palace is surrounded by beautiful  gardens that are also well worth exploring but as we were happening a typically Edinburgh weather day with light drizzle and cool winds, we cut short that part of the tour. We hope to be back on a drier day to walk around the gardens some more.

All in all, I think the palace is great place to explore some European and British history. As we managed to get a year along entry pass when we bought our tickets ( I'm not sure but I think its what happens with all tickets), we will be back to explore it some more.

For more of my photos from the day, check out my Instagram page. Hope you are having a lovely week! Ann x

Wearing: Petit Bateau dress, Muubaa jacket, Bloch ballerinas, Wolford tights and Longchamp bag

To get in touch and see the latest on all my adventures, follow me on Bloglovin, Twitter,Instagram or Facebook.

Exploring Scotland: Isle of Arran

Good morning folks! No, I have not given up on the blog yet! As with many of the previous hiatuses, this last one was due to yet another case of work and life not quite being balanced. However, I promised myself that I would make time to write this weekend ( and spurred on by an email asking 'where are your blog posts, Ann?!'). 

Back in July, we took off to the Isle of Arran to mark a special weekend- our wedding anniversary, our being approved to adopt (!!) and my mum's visit. Arran was close enough and warm enough enough (relatively speaking) for my mum to enjoy the trip without turning into a tropical icicle.

I did prepare her for the worst on the weather front and we pretty much got that. As we drove to Androssan, a combination of torrential rain and gale force winds threatened ferry cancellation. We were booked on the last boat to Arran but we luckily made it to our holiday cottage without too trouble.

Our long weekend commenced with a quick recce of the island. Arran is tiny and so you can drive across and around it many times in a day. It is a popular destination for cyclists who take the ferry across the Clyde on day trips to the island. Arran is often referred to as a mini Scotland -agricultural low lands in the South, beautiful beaches along the west and the east and rugged hills to the north.

We were staying on the very south of the island near Kilmory and we started our exploration driving westwards and heading north to Lochranza. We hoped to explore the standing stones at Machrie Moor but the weather wasn't suitable for making my mother walk a long way. We came back the next morning (in the rain) to check the place out. 

Lochranza is beautiful and the castle is set against the rugged mountainous backdrop. From Lochranza we drove south east wards, stopping by the golf course for a quick lunch followed by a quick stop every so often to admire the scenery.

My favourite view of all is the one of Ailsa Craig from the south of the island. Ailsa Craig has a bird sanctuary and also serves as a granite quarry. It was up for sale (by the Marquess of Ailsa) a few years ago but I'm not sure if it did sell. If there are any canny investors amongst you, do check it out!

We also visited Brodick Castle, a beautiful red sandstone building with stunning gardens. Unfortunately, given the weather, we spent more time indoors than outdoors here. The castle serves a decent lunch too.

The beaches of Arran are great for families. The areas of Brodick (more touristy) and Lamlash are popular as there are number of things to do with small kids and family groups. As for us, we chose to simply crisscross the length and breadth of the island several times over, exploring areas that looked interesting and stopping for spectacular views. 

We also visited the Arran Distillery, the Arran Cheese Company and Arran Aromatics, all of which were very interesting. Ed likes his whisky and was impressed with what we tasted at the distillery. My favourite place though was Creelers, the seafood restaurant next to Arran Aromatics which serves fantastic fresh oysters!

There is so much to do and see in Arran-I've only just skimmed the surface in this post. For more of my photos from the weekend, check out my Instagram page. 

Hope you are having a lovely Sunday! Ann x

Wearing: Chinti and Parker cashmere top, Uniqlo trousers, Marni for H&M jacket, Bloch ballet flats, Tom Ford sunglasses, ASOS raincoat and Longchamp Neo bag

To get in touch and see the latest on all my adventures, follow me on Bloglovin, Twitter,Instagram or Facebook.