Coogee Beach

Coogee beach has to be one of, if not my favourite place in the world (I will reserve judgement until I have seen all of the world, but for now...).

We stayed in the Coogee Bay Hotel, the only hotel that we picked for the whole trip, just so that we could get over our jet lag a few steps away from the beach.  It is a great hotel, but can be a bit noisy if you like an early night, which is the only bad thing I can say about it - as who can fault a hotel that's right on the beach with an Ice cream shop just over the road?

We had a slight glitch a few days in, when our door wouldn't lock, however, after a quick call down to reception they upgraded our room straight away and gave us free internet for the duration of our stay for the inconvenience. Our upgraded room as beautiful too - so we were very very happy customers. 

While we were in Coogee, we were mostly trying to get over our jet lag, but we also did the Coogee to Bondi coastal walk (and back again), which I highly recommend.  There are some beautiful beaches and views to be seen along the way - so make sure you bring your camera with you and a bottle of water, as it gets pretty hot and you will be walking for around 2 hours one way.

Here are one of the photographs that we snapped along our way...

We also walked the other way along the coast and found a little rock climbing challenge which was fun and then made our way back to Coogee again for a spot of sunbathing.

As it was Christmas, we were there for Carols on the beach, which was ok - but really set up for kids.  The fireworks at the end were brilliant though, so it is definitely worth sticking around for those at the end around midnight.

If you aren't a confidant swimmer, but want to dip more than your toes in the sea, then there is a nice little rock pool around to the left of Coogee, which if you take a little detour on the Coastal walk you will be able to find very easily just past the memorial.

Other tips:

• Catch a bus to Coogee from Central Station in Sydney - you can jump on a 373 or a 372
• If you are back packing and want to stay in Coogee on a budget, I have heard good things about Surfside Backpackers and it's right on top of the beach too.  
• Woolworths is just up the road too, so avoid the 7/11 on the corner opposite the beach and go buy 5 bottles of water for the price of one!

Thailand is finally booked

It has been a long time coming, as I have wanted to go to Thailand ever sine I heard stories about it my first time travelling - and on the weekend I booked my flights, ready for two weeks with Holly travelling around Thailand.

It's been an amazing 7 years

I can't believe it has been 7 years, since I met these crazy kids and we are even closer now than we were back then.

Who knew that just a few days into meeting, Tom would be sitting in a hospital making sure that Jenny was ok after all of us having our drinks spiked?  Then 5 years later, after I completed my degree (which back then I was determined I wasn't going to do), I would move in with Tom, Harry and the latest edition to the crew... Martin.

So seven years later, here we are again, back in Australia!

Today is the day...

Today is the day and I literally cannot contain my excitement!  Jackie and I are finally off on our adventure back to Australia.  We have all stayed friends for the last 7 years, when we all met in the Side Bar, in the Basement of Wake Up.

See you at New Year boys...

This is how I imagine our New Year together will look (this is the actual boat we will be on)

I am sure that it will be just as amazing as the last time...

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On your doorstep

At a loss of what to do because of money?  Here are some ideas that cost slightly less than a slight to somewhere exotic...

Local pubs, this is in Wapping just around the corner from the station and overlooks the Thames

Mint Polo for the day - makes a nice change from Ascot

Day festivals - here I am at Love Box with my team from work

NFL game in London - look out for events and sign up for Groupon, where you can get some amazing discounts

Traditional events in your local area are always cause for celebration - here we are at Bonfire night

Exploring the West End, me at the base of Nelson's Column

Get in the festive spirit, there is always something happening in Covent Garden

Get lost and find somwhere new to explore

Find out key event dates, this is Trooping of the Colour in London this Summer

Check out any Royal Events, they are normally pretty good

Do you have any other ideas?

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Documenting your travels

Like most people who are travelling and seeing new things, I want to keep a memory of everything and show everyone what I have seen when I get home.  However, how much of what I am seeing am I only seeing through a lens?

Have you ever been to a concert, gig or festival where you feel like you are watching the majority of it through other peoples cameras or phones?  I have recently become an Instagram addict, however, if this new social media platform has taught me anything, its that you need to be selective about the images you are sharing and in turn taking pictures of.

It's been a long time since I went travelling, nearly seven years to be exact and in those months I was away I took over 1000 pictures.  Since coming home I a lot of these pictures, as they do, have made their way into the world of Facebook (luckily) as just over a year ago the laptop I had everything stored on was stolen. 

Yesterday I bought my very first DSLR - so I will no longer have to carry around my retro SLR, my crummy old digital camera or worry about my iPhone running out of battery.

I have now seen my fair share of places around the globe, but the one thing that I have never been able to photograph are the stars and there is something magical about them no matter where you are in the world.

I can remember the very first time that I saw real stars in the sky too (as I live in London you can never really see the stars).  It was on Rotnest Island, Perth and they were beautiful.  It was like someone had taken a cave full of diamonds and thrown them up in the sky.  The sparkled beautifully.

source: davemorrowphotography.com

This time around, I want to learn how to photograph stars before I go so that I can put some of the learning's into practice when I am out in Australia and shortly after Thailand. So I am going to have to go on a bit of a road trip to find some with no light pollution. 

I have been having a look around the web at how I can do this, and have found this article, plus another here.  But any other tips are welcome (please), I am sure I will spend my first night in Australia suffering from jet lag, so I plan to use this to my advantage with a late night photographing the stars on the beach at Coogee.

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Only two weeks to go...

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