Travel | GlobalSalsa: travel writer Belinda Jackson

Apr

The five places that made me: Ray Martin

I love the fact that top Australian current affairs journalist Ray Martin was scared, lost and happy in Istanbul – after all, isn’t that true culture shock? He name the Turkish capital in a list of his top five places that made me, for Traveller.

“I was culturally and physically out of my comfort zone and I loved it,
from the incessant bargaining and arm-twisting of the Grand Bazaar to
the Muslim mystique of the Blue Mosque, down the grimy side alleyways
and into smokey coffee shops,” he says.

To read more about his top five places, which range from Launceston, Tasmania to New York City, click here for the article, which appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers’ Traveller section.

Apr

Expat: Tips from Long Island City/Manhattan

Australian expat Denise Green is originally from Brisbane, and has been living in NYC and working from her Long Island City studio for four decades.

The artist suggests strolling around Columbus Circle. ” I am deeply interested in how we collectively and individually remember historic events, and explore it in my exhibition at Gallery 9 in Sydney this month at gallery9.com.au,” she says.

Denise will be in Sydney for the opening of her exhibition at Gallery 9 on April 18, 2018.

Click here to read Denise’s insights into her stomping ground, published in the Traveller section of the Sun-Herald and Sunday Age newspapers.

Apr

Expat: Long Island City/Manhattan

We’ve got a great series of interviews at Traveller now: I get to chat with expat Australians all around the world, who share their tips and tricks from their adopted hometowns.

This week, it’s artist Denise Green from Brisbane, who has been living in NYC and working from her Long Island City studio for four decades.

She suggests strolling around Columbus Circle. ” I am deeply interested in how we
collectively and individually remember historic events, and explore it
in my exhibition at Gallery 9 in Sydney this month at gallery9.com.au,” she says.

Denise will be in Sydney for the opening of her exhibition at Gallery 9 on April 18, 2018.

Click here to read Denise’s insights into her stomping ground, published in the Traveller section of the Sun-Herald and Sunday Age newspapers.

Mar

Lindenderry Red Hill review, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria

Picnicking by the lake amidst bushland.
Photo: Belinda Jackson

An hour from Melbourne down the M1, Red Hill is prime real estate on the
Mornington Peninsula, and Lindenderry, owned by Australian family
company Lancemore, has held its 12-hectare spot on the ridge for the
past 20 years. It’s in the news for its recent deft, “multi-million
dollar” renovation.

I’m a sometimes-resident on the Mornington Peninsula, so I’m very pleased to see this old-timer get such a swish makeover. Every room looks out over structured courtyards with fresh lime trees, Australian bushland or the vines that the estate turns into its exceptional wine.

Inside, there are crisp sheets, moody walls, a touch of whimsy in the Ukrainian-babushka cushion. The Lindenderry has banished its placid plaid for a grown-up country style in Red Hill.

Even if you’re not staying, you can drop in for a glass of wine and – hot tip – order the picnic hamper and wander through the vines for an afternoon well spent.

Click here to read my review of the revamped Lindenderry in the Traveller section of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers.

Feb

Expats: tips from Chiang Mai, Thailand

I’ve been on the hunt for Aussie expats around the world to share
tips from their adopted home towns for a column in Sydney’s Sun-Herald
and Melbourne’s Sunday Age.

Melburnian Chris Chun is a fantastic artist and illustrator living in
Chiang Mai, in Thailand’s north, so I tapped him for some great places
to eat, drink, see and what to avoid (He says: “keep your shirt on,
men!”)

Click here to read about Chris’ Chiang Mai, on the Traveller website.

You can see Chris’ beautiful work here.

Feb

Mystic river: cruise along the hidden waterways of the Murray

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]”Why isn’t the Murray promoted as an icon, like Uluru or the Great Barrier Reef?”

If you’re not Australian, you probably don’t know the mighty Murray River (the ‘mighty’ is an unofficial sobriquet). It is Australia’s longest river, at 2,530km (about seven times longer than the Thames, but who’s counting?) It runs through four states, and is even a state border for 1880km and is estimated at about 60 million years old.

In short, it’s a pretty impressive natural formation, and it’s damned pretty, as well.

So you can see why I didn’t have an answer to the question above, asked by Rick Edmonds, a proud Riverlands man and owner of the luxury The Frames property, which perches over the river near Renmark, in South Australia.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”3658″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]

Perhaps we should adopt a French word, instead of “back creeks”, to describe this labyrinth of creeks, lagoons and inlets that cobweb the strong, flowing River Murray, here at the corner of three states.

Click here to read my story about pootling along the Murray, spotting emus, kangaroos and kingfishers, with Rick, his wife Cathy and Captain Willow (pictured above).

The story was published in the Traveller section of the Sun-Herald (Sydney) and Sunday Age (Melbourne).

Belinda Jackson was a guest of The Frames.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Feb

Mystic river: cruise along the hidden waterways of the Murray

Captain Willow keeps an eye on our glam tinnie
while we pull in for a cuppa on
one of the backwater creeks of the
Murray River, near Renmark, South Australia.
Photo: Belle Jackson

“Why isn’t the Murray promoted as an icon, like Uluru or the Great Barrier Reef?”

If you’re not Australian, you probably don’t know the mighty Murray
River (the ‘mighty’ is an unofficial sobriquet). It is Australia’s
longest river, at 2,530km (about seven times
longer than the Thames, but who’s counting?) It runs through four
states, and is even a state border for 1880km and
is estimated at about
60 million years old.

In short, it’s a pretty impressive natural formation, and it’s damned pretty, as well.

Perhaps we should adopt a
French word, instead of “back creeks”, to describe this labyrinth of
creeks, lagoons and inlets that cobweb the strong, flowing River Murray, here at the corner of three states.

Click here to
read my story about pootling along the Murray, spotting emus, kangaroos
and kingfishers, with Rick, his wife Cathy and Captain Willow (pictured
above).

The story was published in the Traveller section of the Sun-Herald (Sydney) and Sunday Age (Melbourne).

Belinda Jackson was a guest of The Frames.

Jan

Walking in Palestine: make hummus, not war

The turn of each year always calls for contemplation, and looking back at last year’s travel, Palestine definitely wins as the most dramatic of the destinations I visited in 2017, which included Jaipur (India), Bali (Indonesia), Egypt, Greece, a brief fling in Qatar and plenty of lovely Australian destinations.

Upload FilesIt’s been a while since I entered a country with such trepidation and so many questions (Will they stamp my visa on a piece of paper? (Yes) Will I find beauty? (Yes) Will I starve (An emphatic no) Will I cross borders easily? (No bother until I departed Tel Aviv airport at the end) and, most importantly, Will I be safe? (A resounding yes to feeling safe in Palestine, especially compared with the state-sponsored gun-fest that was, for me, Jerusalem).

On my week-long hiking tour through Palestine’s West Bank, I walked with just one other hiker – another woman – and our guide, the fabulously patient, deeply knowledgeable and supremely courteous Anwar. Just the three of us, wandering remote valleys and sunbaked hilltops.

We slept in Bedouin camps, in people’s houses and in small, family-run hotels, drinking an inordinate amount of sweet, thyme-scented tea and eye-poppingly strong coffee, while eating our bodyweight in fresh dates that melt on the tongue like brown sugar.

Highlights include adding our own Banksy-designed graffiti onto the towering concrete walls that separate the West Bank from Israel, wandering ancient markets buying spices and baklava, and visiting remote monasteries hidden in the ravines and valleys that mark the countryside.

DISCLAIMER: In Palestine, I was a guest of Crooked Compass tours, and would recommend them thoroughly for their wildly adventurous destinations and experiences.

Nov

New groove in ancient Athens

A magnet around which the city revolves, this is the view of the Acropolis from the top floor of my hotel, New Hotel in Athens.

It’s ironic that the more I travel, the less I post on my poor blog. I’m just back from nearly two months in the Middle East, working from my base in Cairo.

Cairo’s my second home: I’ve lived here, and return most years to watch it race toward change – some good, some absolutely dire. This year, I also took a walking tour through Palestine’s West Bank and a brief island hop in Athens and the beautiful island of Hydra, about 90 minutes by ferry from the main port of Piraeus.

I got a lot of love from the @Traveller instagram account, and just spotted this clip in the weekend papers of my shot of the Acropolis, which I took from the top floor of New Hotel, Athens, a chi-chi little design hotel.

Sure, you can book the penthouse to soak it up, but the breakfast room is also currently on the top level, so we can all enjoy one of the world’s great landmarks.

Nov

Get out of town: Discover a Mornington Peninsula drive

Polperro Winery, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia Photo: Belinda Jackson

It’s an hour from Melbourne, and when you’re among the leafy vines of one if its fine wineries, with an overflowing picnic basket, the Mornington Peninsula is a whole different state of mind.

I had my first holiday here on the peninsula (aged 5 months), and still return to Safety Beach for my weekend getaway.

So it was an easy task to share my suggestions of great shopping strips, natural hot springs, and how to find that winery with picnic basket.

Click here to read my recommendations on where to shop, eat, stay and play on the Mornington Peninsula for Mercedes Benz owners.

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