One of my favourite ways to prepare for travel to a country, particularly one that is off the beaten track, is to read the country’s literature and newspapers. So before heading to Cuba earlier this year, I downloaded Everyone leaves (Todos se van), by contemporary Cuban author, Wendy Guerra. The book was set between 1978 […]
One of the most glorious ways to spend a day in spring is to drive to the National Rhododendron Gardens in Olinda, just outside Melbourne. 15,000 rhododendrons bloom in brilliant colours across 100 acres of hillside. The vista is breathtaking, whichever direction you gaze. The paths meander up and down the hills and you are enveloped in […]
We tend to forget that Melbourne is only 179 years old. Founded by colonial settlers on the traditional lands of the Kulin nation, the new city’s great good fortune came about not only from the gold that fueled its growth, but also from the vision that drove its planners. They built Melbourne according to a […]
“Oh, that’s impossible, I can’t do that!” This is what I would have said, if I had known what I was about to embark on beforehand. But I didn’t know. And so, when my daughter asked me to go with her to Patagonia, I agreed. Although this remote part of Argentina and Chile had never […]
It is rare to find a winery and a distillery located in the same vineyard. It is extremely rare to find that this winery is producing chardonnay that is then transformed into cognac by the distillery. But this is exactly what is happening at the Darling Park vineyard on the Mornington Peninsula. In this wine making […]
WomanGoingPlaces is Australia’s website for every woman from 30 to infirmity seeking information and inspiration for travel, activities and adventure. We set up the WomanGoingPlaces website because we recognize that there are many women like us. Women who want breaks from our everyday lives, or who want to do and see things we’ve put off while working […]
Why are women terrified of dining solo? When Australian women travel overseas on our own, we know that part of that experience means eating out alone. But when home in Australia, a woman dining out alone is considered a rarity, and may even be treated as an oddity. We seem to view it as an uncomfortable if not […]
WomanGoingPlaces went for a walk into a 60 million year-old Australian rainforest. This forest is so ancient, it existed even before Australia was a separate continent, when it was still part of the massive land mass of Gondwana. So it’s remarkable, that by simply driving one hour out of the city of Melbourne, we were […]
WomanGoingPlaces drove deep into a forest to film cheese being handmade by one of the leading artisan cheesemakers in Australia. Burke Brandon recently won 2 Gold and 3 Silver medals at the Royal Sydney Cheese & Dairy Show. And he was also recognised as the 2013 Outstanding Farmer of the Year by The Weekly Times Farm Magazine. […]
Like an Empress Dowager, the National Gallery has reigned over art in the state of Victoria for 152 years. This bluestone building, standing like a fortress behind a moat of water, has been a revered institution but also a very conservative one. Contemporary art was rarely exhibited here. But now, in a dramatic […]
