Tag: Food and Drink

Highlights of the Hinterlands

Over 85% of Australia’s population lives within 50KM of the coast. The area beyond is called hinterland. In the three months since landing in Queensland, Australia, we’ve driven into the hinterlands and explored a few times. These are our highlights of the hinterlands.

Driving to the Hinterlands

Getting to the hinterlands has been easy, as they aren’t far from the big cities and the coast, and on well traveled roads. By now, we’re used to driving on the left side of the road and the right side of the car. Australia has plenty of highways leading between cities and into the hinterlands. The main concern is driving at night because kangaroos come out of nowhere.

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Eating in New Zealand

One of the best parts of visiting a new place is trying the food, and in New Zealand it ended up being one of the highlights. Our experiences eating in New Zealand were overwhelmingly positive. Over six months, we sampled delicious food, local craft beer, and wonderful wine. Here’s some tips if you find yourself in this beautiful country looking for something good to eat.

You Won’t Go Hungry in New Zealand

After years cruising in barren habitats from The Bahamas to Tonga, I will never forget our gleeful first visit to a New Zealand supermarket. We felt like celebrating when we spotted the range of produce and the selection of foods we wouldn’t even eat! Our first visits to grocery stores, farmers markets, and specialty shops in New Zealand were much the same, impressing us with the variety of fresh, high quality food of all groups. We saw more fruit, veggies, bread, cheese, etc.etc. than anywhere we’d sailed the boat in a long time. From produce to dairy to meat and seafood, eating in New Zealand includes the widest choice of the best ingredients.

produce aisle supermarket, eating in New Zealand
Produce aisle in a New Zealand supermarket

Popular New Zealand Foods

New Zealand food covers a wide range of cuisines, with a mixture of influences, especially British and Asian. It’s truly global, with lots of Indian and Thai restaurants, which is good for vegetarians.

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A Weekend in Brisbane

Brisbane is not nearly as famous as Sydney or Melbourne, but we loved Australia’s third largest city. Known as Brissie for short (Aussies love nicknames), it has a great climate and lots to do. With amazing outdoor spaces, and a huge selection of restaurants, we thoroughly enjoyed our weekend in Brisbane. We want to go back!

About Brisbane

The capital of Queensland, Brisbane is the third most populous city in Australia. It’s the biggest city we’ve sailed to in our five plus years living aboard, and we loved being anchored in such a cosmopolitan place. The population is more than 2.5 million, way more than Auckland’s 1.6m, our previous biggest port.

Brisbane city sign, weekend in Brisbane
The Brisbane City sign along the park filled South bank

Brisbane has everything a city should have. It’s got tall buildings and bridges, lots of public art, great dining, and outdoor parks. The population is big, but compared to North American cities, didn’t feel crowded. In fact, everything feels spacious and spread out. Even the bars and restaurants have loads of space.

Felons Brewery
Felons Brewery, a huge brewery on the river in Brisbane
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