Aussie bound

We had talked about a return trip to Australia for some time and thought this year would be the year, though originally we talked about travelling there later in the year. But an opportunity came up to join a special celebration in March that helped seal the deal. The plan was to explore a couple areas we had not explored on our trip 11 years ago and then head to Sydney to join the celebration festivities. We had booked a direct flight into Brisbane, rented a car and planned to drive over to the Gold Coast to explore the surrounding area, then head back to Brisbane for a couple days before flying down to Sydney. The night before we were set to leave, we discovered a weather system that was hanging off the coast of Brisbane and threatening the area to make landfall as a cyclone during our time there. This made us rather concerned as it would put a huge damper on our plans but more importantly could be devastating for the locals and cities affected. Being a tourist there while this was going on seemed irresponsible. So, we made the last minute decision to revamp our entire first week and a half of our trip to avoid the cyclone. Thankfully everything we had booked had cancellation options and it was low season, so outside of the stress and extra work to cancel and rebook everything that we had planned for a couple months, we (let's be honest here, Z did all the work) managed to rejig our entire front end of this trip. The only unchanged part was our red-eye direct flight to Brisbane. 

The advantage of this flight is arriving in the morning so you can get time zone adjusted quickly. The flight itself, while long, was quite good. We both got a decent amount of broken sleep which helped and the time did seem to go by quickly. Arrival in Brisbane was smooth and going through immigration was pretty quick and very easy. The late summer heat was noticeable immediately after deplaning and was very welcome. We quickly got on our way to the hotel and thankfully our room was ready when we arrived. This makes a huge difference after a long flight. After a quick refresh we started our exploration of Brisbane on foot. We had a couple days in Brisbane before heading north and we were fortunate that Cyclone Alfred decided to continue its pause off the coast and not create a disturbance while we were here. There was plenty of coverage and news trying to prepare people for when Alfred was expected to make landfall; some locals considered it scare tactics, but it’s better to be safe and prepared than not. All estimations had Alfred make landfall a few days after we would move on. We did notice the wind increase though over our couple days in Brisbane. 

Brisbane is a multi cultural city situated along the Brisbane River. We stayed at the W Brisbane, a funky new hotel situated along the river’s boardwalk. We had a beautiful river view from our one bedroom suite. The city is quite walkable with numerous bridges connecting north and south Brisbane. There is a water taxi service that costs $0.50 per ride that is very efficient. Their larger sized ferries are called City Cat, a smaller one called Kitty Cat, and one called City Dog. You can guess how these ferries are painted. Also available everywhere are scooters for rent, again an easy and convenient way to get around. There are lots of parks and green space throughout the city and in the south bank neighbourhood you can also find a city beach call Streets Beach in the middle of a park. We found plenty of great eateries, including a Columbian restaurant which we really enjoyed, and coffee shops which didn't seem to stay open much past mid afternoon. 

The city is filled with old and new architecture, mostly skyscrapers. The recently completed Brisbane casino precinct at Queen's Wharf is worth a visit. This is a mixed-use development that includes the Star Brisbane casino, a hotel, shopping, and many restaurants. But the highlight is the arc-shaped sky deck that offers 360-degree views situated 100 metres above the Brisbane River, is free to access and has several restaurants and bars. The city is amazing to see at night as well as all the bridges are lit up in different vibrant colours and many of the buildings along the river are donned in lights too. Taking the water taxi at night is a great way to see the city lights. We felt quite safe walking around the city at times of the day and night. We felt we got a good sense of Brisbane in our three days there. 

Algarve to Lisbon

After exploring the Duoro Valley for a couple days, it was time to move on to our next destination, the Algarve, Portugal's southernmost coastline region. Our journey took just over 7 hours driving through the middle of the country. To break the drive up a bit we stopped in at the university town of Coimbra, the "Cambridge" of Portugal. Coimbra is a riverfront city and is the former capital. The town is home to not only the university but also a preserved medieval old town with a maze of narrow streets lined with shops and eateries. Situated atop of hill is the university campus. It was here where I finally made a deal with Z that if I agree to have lunch at Burger King that he'd stop mentioning it every time he saw a sign or location (and unfortunately for me there are a lot of them). Deal accepted and honoured for the rest of the trip!! 

From here we continued our rather scenic drive to the Algarve. We arrived late afternoon at the W Algarve and were warmly welcomed by the staff. We scored an insane upgrade here and found ourselves in a corner two bedroom suite with a wrap around balcony with ocean view; yea low season! The room even came with a little wine fridge which was awesome seeing as we brought some wine with us that needed chilling. The time leading up to our arrival in the Algarve was quite packed with activities and a lot of driving so arriving here our plan was to mostly relax. What we hadn't realized prior to arriving is that the Algarve was experiencing a sargassum problem while we were there. This was rather unfortunate because the few beaches that we attempted to visit were impacted making it undesirable to go into the ocean despite seeing in the not too far distance from the shoreline that the water seemed to be clear. So instead we mostly relaxed by the hotel pool when not exploring the area by car. The hotel grounds were quite nice and it appears there are plans to expand the property in the future. The beach right by the property is fairly small and rocky at the shoreline but would be nice if it hadn’t been for all the seaweed. The hotel has a shuttle to another beach about a 5 minute drive away and it is much larger with lovely white sand and a beach restaurant; unfortunately the seaweed had taken over here too and we skipped hoping in the water. 

We had not planned any tours in this part of Portugal, but after a very strong recommendation from one of the hotel staff saying we had to see the Benagli caves, we booked ourselves a last minute (day before) catamaran boat tour that explored the Algarve coastline. The tour started at the Marina de Portimão, about an hour's drive from our hotel. Our tour group in total was about 15 people which was great because it wasn't crowded and gave us plenty of space to comfortably relax on board; we chose to chill out on the netted trampoline area at the front of the catamaran. The tourgave us great views of the rugged coastline and the many beaches that are not accessible by any way other than by ocean. The coastline cliffs were stunning with their multi coloured layers of rock with random villages dotted along the coastline. There are numerous caves along the cliffs with some leading to a hidden beach; the most famous in the Algarve being the Benagli caves. These are only accessible by kayak or small boat so our catamaran wasn't able to get right inside, but we got close enough to get a good glimpse of the hidden beach inside while also maneuvering around all the ocean kayaks. Before heading back to the marina after exploring the coastline, we anchored so we could swim or partake in some water activities like stand-up paddle board. The water was so frigid that I didn’t last very long. Following the catamaran tour we enjoyed a lovely beach front dinner. 

After a relaxing 4 days in the Algarve, it was time to move on and head back towards Lisbon. To break up our stays still even more, we spent a night at the Penha Longa Resort located in the Natural Park of Sintra-Cascais and situated on the outskirts of Lisbon. The hotel had recently been renovated and provides a blend of modern and contemporary design with the picturesque hills of Sintra. There is a world-class golf course situated in the park along with lush gardens, hiking trails, and an old monastery. This was the second hotel we stayed at on this trip that was hosting a wedding. The resort has several restaurants onsite providing different exquisite culinary experiences, boasting two Michelin star restaurants. We didn't eat at either, however the head chef at the restaurant we did eat at, Arola, was the same chef as one of the Michelin starred restaurants. We had a lovely dining experience to explored a contemporary twist to some traditional Portuguese foods. Staying at this resort made it easier for us also to explore the town of Sintra and the National Palace of Sintra called Pena Palace. This is the only palace in Portugal and is a Romanticist palace originally built as a monastery in the 1400s before it was transformed in the early 1800s to a palace to serve as the summer residence for the Portuguese royal family (that no longer exists). We arrived too late to be able to explore the interior of the palace, however walking around the grounds and exterior was most interesting with the incredible views overlooking Lisbon and the ocean. The architecture of the palace was fascinating with numerous towers and turrets, all painted in bright colours giving it a very "playful" look. We also spent some time exploring the charming town of Sintra walking through the labyrinth of narrow streets lined with little shops, restaurants and wine tasting places.

From the Sintra area we drove to our final destination, Lisbon. Traffic definitely got busier the closer we got to the city centre. Before dropping off the car, we stopped in at the Belėm waterfront area. This beautiful area of Lisbon is also home to the famous Pastéis de Belém, a must visit when in Lisbon. The cafe was established in 1837 and is the most popular place to get pastéis de nata. With how popular this cafe is, the tarts are extremely fresh as they keep making them all day long to make sure they don't run out. These delightful custard tarts are Portugal's traditional desserts topped with a dusting of either icing sugar or cinnamon and melt in your mouth and it's easy to want to eat more than one. We may have indulged ourselves a few times over the course of this trip. The Belém area has quite a few sites and monuments to see including the Jerónimos Monastery, and the Monument to Discoveries. From the boardwalk you can also get a good view of the Cristo Rei statue (which resembles Rio de Janerio's Christ the Redeemer), which was constructed as a symbol of gratitude to God for sparing Portugal during WWII in which Portugal remained neutral. 

Lisbon is Portugal's hilly coastline capital city. It boasts several distinct neighbourhoods, all which have a unique history of how they came to be. We choose to stay in the centre of Lisbon for ease of convenience to explore the city. We stayed at a funky, boutique hotel called The Ivens. The hotel and its decor was inspired by the explorers Ivens and Capelo and has a jungle vibe to the lobby and rooms providing an oasis feel within the bustling city. The restaurants within the hotel are a destination even for those not staying at the hotel. It's a very unique hotel, but very fitting with the explorer theme throughout. 

We started our Lisbon exploration with a private tuk tuk tour and this gave us a great introduction to the various different neighbourhoods and different sites to perhaps go back and spend a bit more time seeing. Lisbon is a relatively walkable city if you are prepared for its hilly landscape. It's also easy to get around via Uber, tram, or tuk tuk taxi. There are quite a few pedestrian only streets, a lot of squares often with street entertainment, and incredible viewpoints from the higher points of the city. There is no shortage of restaurants and cafes and shopping. The Time Out Market is a collection of different restaurants and bars with universal seating in the middle of a market style building. The city is rich history and culture and a vibrant nightlife. We felt quite safe walking around in the different neighbourhoods and even at night.   

All in all we had a great time on this adventure experiencing so many new things, amazing food and wine and the warmth of the Portuguese culture. 

To travel is to live, until next time.... life is good!!