SKYWATCH FRIDAY - ABSEILING IN BRISBANE

Abseiling in Brisbane, Queensland, one bright sunny day.

Lovely to join SKYWATCH FRIDAY. Looking forward to seeing lots of gorgeous photos.

Denise

I've Been Everywhere, Man...well, not quite, but I'm working on it.

There was a clunky, funky hit song on the radio when I was a kid -- "I've Been Everywhere, Man" (I think it was originally released, like, in the sixties, man...but was picked up by Johnny Cash of all people at a later time.) Well that song sums it up -- Aussies are intrepid travellers, probably because as one of our Prime Ministers said, "we inhabit the "'a?r**se' end of the world". So we jump on planes with great regularity and meander through the delights of Asia, the mind-boggling history and architecture of Old Europe and exotic African and Middle Eastern lands etc. As the plane fares to just about anywhere are atrociously expensive (takes about 21 hours to get to Paris from Brisbane!), when we hit the ground we go like blazes and eat it up, a bit like Crocodile Dundee in New York, hahahah.

So I've travelled to many lands, and hopefully I will travel to many more. I've been to the UK several times, Western Europe even more times, and Africa once, but have never put my feet into the good ole USofA, sorry Donna. Those Homeland Security guys scare me big time, haha.

Let's face it some of us probably had our 'honeymoon' many moons ago -- I got married at 19, yes, I repeat, 19 -- and am still married to the same fella. We grew up together and have had several honeymoons, but the first one was low-budget travel up and down the Queensland coast. Well, many of the Great Barrier Reef islands we visited now have very ritzy resorts for well-heeled honeymooners, but back in the day, we had all that paradise to ourselves. Queensland is a big state, so we travelled 4,000 miles in our classic Customline.



A long way from...

France or Italy, two of my favourite places...

A pretty French village with trips to Paris thrown in, (La Roche Guyon is a favourite -- 6 kilometres from Monet's Garden and 1 hour from Paris). Driving through country France is delightful. A sunset stop at Chartres is memorable as you'd swear the cathedral was crafted, as is a walk through the bottom of town to see where ladies once washed the clothes in the river.

The River Eure in Chartres, France, where the washer ladies once did their laundry

What a delight to see Monet's Water Lilies out of the frame - Monet's Garden is magical no matter what the season. I've been there in both winter and summer.

La Roche-Guyon - friendly locals to play petanque with, stunning setting along the Seine, best  regional food in France at the hotel/restaurant we stayed at overlooking the river, IMHO

How about visiting Juliet's garden and standing on her balcony or writing her a letter  in the gorgeous Verona, Italy. Such an under-rated destination.

My husband and I have had fabulous trips to Italy, completely fascinated by the gorgeous medieval hill towns and all that history. Remember, Australia was not even discovered until late medieval times. Who can ever forget seeing Ancient Rome, seeing Verona, Romeo + Juliet's hometown, or boating to some of those gorgeous Italian islands like Capri?

Capri, Italy, a short boat ride from wild Napoli (Naples) We wintered there once and it was still magical.

Oh, how about an island off Italy for that first, second or third honeymoon? Sounds good to me. I've found an island which is simply a fantasy waiting for fairy dust. It was good enough for Napoleon, so it's good enough for me.

I often choose travel destinations according to books I've read -- I visited Tuscany before Frances Mayes wrote her Under the Tuscan Sun, but I went back and visited Cortona just because of her gorgeous descriptions (which describe hundreds of Italian medieval hilltowns), but it added a little fillip to the trip.

Cortona, a medieval hill city, full of history and great coffee

But how about visiting a place made famous in a spy novel for a change -- The Isle of Elba, a small Mediterranean island famous as Napolean's getaway and as the setting for John le Carre's The Constant Gardener (Ralph Fiennes).

THE ISLE OF ELBA

Honeymoon heaven. Lovers strolling hand in hand, cyclists with wobbly legs pumping up and down cliff-like paths, old ladies hanging washing out of windows and absolutely gob-smacking scenery -- wine and olive estates running down to the sea below the ruins of a medieval fortress. Cool. The perfect hideaway. Maybe you could find a spot to curl up with your laptop and write?!

John le Carre's reluctant hero hid out here in a beautiful old estate called La Chiusa di Magazzine. There are a few cottages to rent. If you're lucky enough to find the other cottages empty, you will be in seventh heaven if you like rustic quarters with grapes ripening in the sun, birdsong in the morning, a limpid blue sea and the sound of waves lapping on a pebble beach (well, I prefer golden sand, but I'd be happy to slum it just one time). There are glorious sunsets over the ancient fortified harbour of Portoferraio, and you must wonder why Napolean ever left for St Helena. Crazy little guy.

When to go. This island is at its best in spring and autumn, with hills swathed in chesnut and pine,  throbbing with colour. Everyone is languorous (love that word) and you can spend your days walking up a thirst which you can slake at the restaurants and bars lining quiet quays and beaches.

Ah...sounds idyllic, doesn't it? But, really, we don't all have the desire to travel to exotic places, do we? Some of you may be happy in your own little paradise...or perhaps you'd like to travel, but due to commitments or lack of funds, it's out of the question...for now. Reading about exotic places can transport us to places we'd love to see, watching videos can also bring places to life. But wherever you honeymoon, or would choose to honeymoon, a loving partner by your side guarantees a wonderful experience. A sunset in Capri is best shared with someone you love. (I have so many gorgeous photos of this experience but they're on another computer.)

So just this morning my good fella and I finalised our planning for our  next Grand Tour for the end of 2013 beginning of 2014 -- Paris, Crete, Spain and Portugal. How about you? Any trips planned?

Travel to another time, another place - Steampunk and Victorian England.

Hi there!

It might sound dumb of me, but I haven't understood "steampunk" -- what it is, who are famous "steampunk" writers, and how is it currently developing?

To answer many of my questions, a wonderful book, full of gorgeous illustrations and "steampunk" history, landed on the desk at my local library.

Buy on Amazon: 

What I've learned so far...

• Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction and fantasy literature, primarily concerned with alternative history, especially an imaginary 'Victorian era' when steam power and mechanical clockwork dominated technology. 
• Earliest literary works of Steampunk chronicled a future that never happened, one in which the Industrial Revolution took a different direction.
• Steampunk stories feature the technology and at times the attitudes of today filtered through the past, hence the 'punk' appellation.
• Steampunk has grown to encompass film and television, graphic novels and computer games, music and fashion.
• The word "steampunk" was coined by writer K.W. Jeter who suggested the label when submitting a story to Locusmagazine.
• Victorian fantasies a la Jeter, Blaylock and Powers lay the groundwork for a huge explosion of the genre across all media. These authors drew on the classic science fiction of Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Edgar Rice Burroughs and Arthur Conan Doyle.
• There is no one definition that encompasses everything given the label -- the adventures of mad scientists travelling the world in airships, steam-driven robots and pseudo-Victorian or at times Edwardian settings. 

So, Steampunk is in the eye of the beholder. It can take readers to worlds of land leviathans and cannon-shots, to the moon, to lost civilizations. It provides alternate histories in which the British Empire never fell or the atom was never split.

No wonder there are so many "steampunk" fans out there. 

• How about you? Do you read Steampunk? Do you have any questions? 

TRAVEL TIPS: Washing your clothes when you travel...do you use the hotel washbasin?

We've all been there: your business trip gets extended by a few days, and you're a day or two short of clean clothes. Since very few hotels offer an overnight laundry service, it's time to spend the evening washing your clothes in the sink.

But there are a few things you can do to speed the process up and make it less of a drag.

Play some music while you're washing

Even if all you have is your phone, you can take advantage of hotel bathroom acoustics to make music sound less tinny. Place the phone's speakers facing a tiled corner, and the reflection of the sound will amplify the small speakers to something that sounds much better.

Don't bother with washing powder

You're probably in a situation where you didn't know in advance that you'd need to be washing your clothes in the sink, and we don't reckon there's a lot of point carrying around special washing powder "just in case". Some hot water in the sink, a good squirt of hotel shampoo or shower gel, and a vigorous scrubbing will get your things clean.

Start with the largest and heaviest piece first

Always start your wash with the thickest piece of clothing you're getting clean. For us, that's usually a t-shirt or undershirt. While you're washing everything else, it'll get a head start on drying.

Fill up the tub with clean water for rinsing

If your hotel room has a bath, fill it up with clean water for a final rinse of your clothes after getting most of the suds out in the sink. An extra rinse in a large volume of water will get all the bubbles out.

Wring, wring, wring… and then hang

Give each piece a good wringing once it's washed and rinsed, and then hang it as vertically as possible to let the water drip down through the garment before giving it a final wring. We find it's useful to let each piece drip while we're washing the next one. 

Squeeze out water in a rolled up towel

Once you've finished wringing, put a large towel on a flat surface. Place the still-damp garment on top of the towel, then fold the towel over (or use another towel) to sandwich your piece of clothing between layers of towel. Give it a good roll one way, then swap towel sides so the dry sides of the towel are on the side of the damp clothing.

Use the iron to dry things out quickly

If you're washing natural fibres, a good hot iron is a great way to speed up the drying process, and it's especially useful for collared shirts. Try ironing on top of a towel placed on the ironing board, otherwise the board's fabric cover will get damp. Make sure the iron's clean, though -- try it out on a towel first to make sure you don't get grubby marks on your clean clothes.

Hang clothes from the air conditioning vent

To get things dry, hang them on a coat-hangerin front of the air conditioning vent so that they catch the force of the fan. That way they'll dry faster. Bear in mind that this is probably a bad idea for white shirts, since the vent could be dusty. Hanging them from the curtain rail inside an open window (in places with relatively clean air) also works well.

How often do you end up hand-washing your clothes? Got any particular tips for your fellow readers? Share them in a comment below!

Thanks to the Australian Business Traveller.