You are in for a real treat in this Episode.  We are still in northern Italy, but this episode we are taking you to a city that isn’t as popular as some of the others -and I can’t understand why, and you won’t either after listening to this episode.

Trieste is a gorgeous city on the Italian Riviera and it offers so much to visitors.

This week we will tell you all about the unique history which is linked to Austria.  We take you up to the highest point of the city and then walk back down to the main plaza which is one of the biggest and impressive in Europe.

We wander along the marina and find a very nice rooftop bar. 

Then we take you to Trieste’s jewel of the crown and national treasure the Miramare Castle. Listen as we were totally gobsmacked at the interior and then even more so with the gardens.  It was absolutely amazing.

Listen to the end as we take you walking along the waterfront and find some cafes and bars on the Italian Riviera and also in this episode we share a lovely review we received from a listener who tells us how we helped him plan his holiday.  Oh, and I have a bit of a rant about a cancelled tour – which left me very disappointed.

Trust me – this episode will have you wishing you were on the Italian Riviera in Trieste – and will definitely have you adding it to your bucket list.

See all the show notes with links and pictures here www.beachtravelwine.com/podcast/54/trieste

See all our Italian episodes here www.beachtravelwine.com/italy

or visit our website here www.beachtravelwine.com

This week we are back in Venice. 

These buildings are absolutely incredible with amazing history, artwork and some fascinating stories.

We tell you all about the secret police and their secret mailboxes all over Venice as well as the secret doors and tunnels in the Palace.  Lots of secret squirrel business that went on, including how the most famous prisoner held in the palace (Casanova) escaped in the middle of the night.

Listen to the end to hear the dreadful thing that happened to the four bronze horses that sit atop of the Basilica in the main square.

Oh, and also something else that involves horses – that you won’t believe and will make you go “that’s disgusting” (here’s a hint – blonde

Enjoy episode 53 all about the fascinating and sometimes gross history of Venice.

You can see the show notes and all the pictures here www.beachtravelwine.com/podcast/53/venice

Or visit our website here www.beachtravelwine.com

Welcome to Episode 52 and the beginning of a whole series of podcasts all about Italy.

For our first episode we are in the magical city of Venice. This was my first trip to Venice and I was so excited to visit.

We begin with our water taxi ride across the lagoon into the Grand Canal to our accommodation at the Foscari Palace.

We stroll through the cobblestone streets, crossing over many bridges with canals full of gondolas into St Mark's Square.

Then we take you on a gondola ride through the canals, under bridges and past many stunning ancient buildings. It was just as incredible as I thought it would be and was one of those pinch me moments that will stay in my memory for ever.

Lastly, we share a food and wine tour that we did visiting four very unique wine and cicchetti bars that only the locals know about.

Stay listening to the end to hear how much it costs to buy a gondola and our favourite places to enjoy a

See all the shownotes with links and pictures here. www.beachtravelwine.com/podcast/52/venice

Visit our website www.beachtravelwine.com

Hello and welcome to episode 51 of our podcast.  In this episode we are having a bit of a show and tell. 

We have hit some incredible numbers with our podcast and wanted to take the time to share with you and also reflect on our first full 12 months of podcasting.

We tell you our downloads stats, the countries that listen in and the most popular and least popular episodes.

We also share how our process has changed from our first episode in Paris up to now, as we are planning for our next series which we have coming up.

As this episode is published (May 2023) we are off to Italy and will be doing lots of episodes as we go – in our usuall style of fun, informative and of course sharing the best places to enjoy a glass of wine in each city.

Listen to the end where we tell you our itinerary and the very exciting reason we changed our plans from going to Milan and are now having a weekend in Bologna (think fast cars).

Also listen to find out how you can help us with our travel plans in Italy - and also, we give you 11 ways – yep that's 11 – that you can show support and help us grow the podcast – and none of them involve money.

Oh, and if you want to receive a digital postcard each week from Italy – then I will tell you how to do that as well.

The show notes for this episode are here www.beachtravelwine.com/podcast/51/italyplans

You can visit our website here www.beachtravelwine.com

Sign up to receive a digital postcard from each city we visit in Italy here www.beachtravelwine.com/email

Enjoy this wrap up episode and get excited for our Italian series.

Arrivederci until next week.

Hello there, today is an unusual episode because I have left Lyle at home and have a special guest host. I wonder who that could

Today my guest host and I will be sharing all about a “girl's” weekend the two of us had in the hinterland of the Byron Shire in the cute little village of Bangalow.

Ok ok, I'll tell you who the guest host is - it is Mikaela from Easy Family Adventures who is actually my beautiful daughter – Miki.

We try and have a mother-daughter weekend once a year together, but it has been a little difficult the last couple years.

We chose Bangalow for our weekend for quite a few reasons – which we share in the podcast and I’m sure you will agree it was a great decision.

We went on adventures into national parks, on very narrow windy roads to the top of a 100m gorge and waterfall.

We explored the local village and many of the cafes, bars and restaurants and the famous Bangalow markets.

It is a stunning part of NSW and only 15 minutes from the famous Byron Bay – so there is a lot to share.

Stay listening to the end to hear where you can find out all about Mikaela’s Easy Family Adventures and also hear her advice about the best places to go in the area if you have kids.

Oh, and also, find out who or what is Saint Kevin and why we got a bit over seeing Saint Kevin several times a day. 

I hope you enjoy this episode all about our fun girl’s weekend – sorry Lyle – I’ll let you back on the next episode.

Visit Easy Family Adventures website www.moderndaymamas.com/easy-family-adventures

Go to show notes and pictures here www.beachtravelwine.com/podcast/50/bangalow

Visit our website at www.beachtravelwine.com

This is the final part of our road trip doing the lap of Tasmania. 

Wow what a trip it was!

In this episode we tell you all about the most visited tourist attraction in Tasmania – the Port Arthur historic convict site. This was one of the harshest convict penal colonies in all of Australia.

We take you all around this world heritage site.  We go through the buildings that housed all the prisoners, the asylum, the guard towers and the commandant’s house that overlooks the whole site and the town with its gardens, houses and churches that are all part of the site.

We share the lovely and very convenient place where we stayed and how we came to have the biggest oysters of the whole trip – thanks Lyle.

You will hear just how indulgent I was at the lavender farm with its 16,000 lavender plants – I think I must have consumed at least a whole plant myself.

We tell you how nervous we were (or I was) on our way to a gin distillery as the trees got taller and road became narrower.

Finally, we share one of Australia’s darkest days that happened on 28th April 1996 and the emotional memorial that remembers the 34 people who lost their lives that day.

Stay listening to the end to hear our wrap up of our road trip and what we loved most and of course our favourite places in all of Tassie to have a glass of wine.

Thanks for listening and please enjoy the final part of our road trip doing the Lap of Tasmania.

You can see the show notes and all the pictures that are part of this episode here: www.beachtravelwine.com/podcast/49/portarthur

Or visit our website at: www.beachtravelwine.com

All our Tasmanian episodes, information and pictures can be found here: www.beachtravelwine.com/tasmania

Would you like to know about the place on Tasmania’s east coast that the Lonely Planet calls one of the world's hottest destinations?

Well keep listening and all will be revealed.

But first we start in St Helens on Georges Bay which is the game fishing capital of Tasmania and where we had one of the best meals, with the best views we have ever had.

Then we take you with us to the famous Lonely Planet location of Binalong Bay and The Bay of Fires.  We describe just how spectacular this area is with its white powder sand, beautiful blue water and fire orange rocks and boulders. Lyle shares just how those boulders get their colour.

After St Helens we drive to Bicheno which is best known for its penguins, fish and chips and of course the blow hole.

We tell you about some of the amazing wineries you can visit in this area, and one of our all time favourites.

And finally, we share the most spectacular views of the Great Oyster Bay and the world famous Wine Glass Bay in the Freycinet National Park.

We tell you about the hikes you can do and the superb luxury accommodation nestled in the trees, right on the edge of Great Oyster bay.

Listen to the end where you hear what a stupid mistake we made at Freycinet Lodge and the pretty graphic reason Wine Glass bay got its name.

Enjoy Episode 48 as we continue our lap of Tasmania.

You can see the show notes and all the pictures here www.beachtravelwine.com/podcast/48/bayoffirestofreycinet

or go to our website here www.beachtravelwine.com

We are still road tripping around Tasmania and you guys are listening in record numbers – so thank you.  This week’s episode is a fun one as we take you on our trip to Launceston via Penguin, Deloraine, then on to the Tamar Valley Wine Region (yum Tasmanian wines!!).

Our first stop for brekkie was at the cute little town of Penguin – and we tell you why it’s called that.  Then we drive on to one of

Finally, we reach our overnight accommodation in the city of Launceston.  We take you to the most popular tourist

Then we travel on to the small town of Grindewald, which is a replica of a Swiss village with the same name full of Swiss chalets and pristine gardens.

We stay in a tiny hotel room – my fault when booking- but it was cheap and the facilities were amazing like an indoor heated pool and putt putt golf – which I kicked Lyle’s butt in.

Then we go on a full day wine tour all around Tamar Valley.  It is such a beautiful area of Tasmania and the wineries were fabulous.  We visit Marion’s

Listen to the end to hear where our favourite place to have a wine was and about the really cool Mixed Dozen program that allows you to buy a couple of wines at each participating vineyard and have them all sent home together – what a great idea! And your holiday can continue when you arrive home – perfect.

Please enjoy Episode 47 which is part 3 of our road trip around Tasmania.

You can see all the pictures, links and show notes that go with this episode at https://www.beachtravelwine.com/47/launcestontotamarvalley

Or visit our website at www.beachtravelwine.com

In this episode we are continuing our road trip doing the Lap of Tasmania. 

We start off by discovering Tasmania’s highest waterfall, and we tell you about the unique

Our lunch spot was one of those places that you can only discover on a road trip. Lake

Finally, we found our way to our accommodation in the world famous Cradle Mountain

If there is one place that people have heard of in Tassie – it is Cradle Mountain.  It is almost too beautiful to describe with

We share which walks and hikes to do, how best to explore the national park, where to stay and

In fact, I share my favourite Aussie animal, and how excited I was to see some and a very,

Lastly, we head north to Stanley and the famous "Nut" – which is very unusual looking large rock

We take you up the nut, tell you how it was formed, and wander around the top to see the

One of our favourite things about Stanley was the seafood – and no wonder as all the local

We hope you enjoy episode 46 which is Part 2 of our Tasmanian road trip.

You can see the show notes/ blog and pictures here www.beachtravelwine.com/podcast/46/cradlemountaintostanley

Or visit our website at www.beachtravelwine.com

For those of you who don’t know me, I don’t like driving much especially on windy roads, I certainly don’t like getting lost and I am not keen on navigating somewhere I haven’t been before – so what could go wrong? Oh, and also, we won’t be using the “C” word on this road trip – camping – nope, no tents or campervans to be found.

We start off in Hobart and drive through New Norfolk where we first encounter a large group of motorcycle riders. Not like your stereotypical “bikie gang” more like the John Travolta Wild Hogs vibe.

We continue on our windy road to the beautiful Lake St Clair, but not before we tell you about the incredible 100m x 3m wooden sculpture that you can’t take pictures of and how we came across one of those Wild Hogs who had come off his bike.

Lake St Clair wilderness area and national park is spectacular, the lake is the deepest lake in the wilderness in Australia and is surrounded by walks and hikes of all levels and terrains. We share the ones we did and also where you can access the “60 great short walks of Tasmania”

We splurged a bit on our accommodation, and we tell you why we were pretty disappointed with it and also how I ended up on top of an anthill the morning we left.

We cover the next part of the journey to Strahan on the wild west coast. We stop on the way at one of our favourite little spots in Tassie – Nelson falls. It is just so pretty.

Then we arrive in Strahan, and just love this quaint little place which is the gateway to the Franklin Gordon River National Park.  We take you on a sunset cruise to Hells Gates, the convict settlement of Sarah Island and the amazing Gordon River National Park as the sun is setting.

I save a very special and interesting fact about Strahan (that even Lyle didn’t know) to the end of the episode – so stay listening to hear that – you won’t be disappointed.

So please enjoy the first instalment of our Lap of Tasmania.

You can see the show notes here www.beachtravelwine.com/45/lakestclairtostrahan

Or visit out website here www.beachtravelwine.com