23 Tuesday Jul 2013
Since Mrs. Selfish and I were visiting Tasmania during Australia’s Winter, we decided to hit Tasmania’s East Coast. Not only is the weather rather temperate for winter (we only experienced temperatures reaching the mid-40’s), but the coast is full of many naturally gorgeous sights.
Like the Bay of Fires.
So beautiful.
22 Monday Jul 2013
Tags
Australia, Beauty Point, Launceston, Narawntapu National Park, Oceania, Platypus House, Rosevears, Seahorse World, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Tasmania
Mr. Selfish and I spent a wonderful six nights in Tasmania, which is the little island off of the southern coast of Australia. We loved Tassie the most out of all the areas that we visited in Australia.
To get to Tassie, we took a short flight from Sydney to Hobart. We then rented a car since it’s difficult to get around otherwise. Here’s our six day itinerary, which was well-suited for the rainy winter weather we had at the time: Hobart to Launceston to St. Helens (near the Bay of Fires) to Swansea (near Wineglass Bay/Freycinet National Park) to Port Arthur to Hobart.
Next time, we’ll definitely hit up Cradle Mountain and some of the western portions of Tassie. And we’ll make sure that we go in the summer, instead of the dead of winter.
Upon our arrival in Tassie, we immediately drove to Rosevears, which is a little town outside of Launceston and about a 2.5 hour drive from Hobart. We spent two nights at a wonderful airbnb rental.
Our primary reason for staying in Rosevears was to visit Narawntapu National Park. The park is known as the “Serengeti of Tasmania” due to its abundant wildlife. I especially wanted to see wombats, which are stout little marsupials resembling teddy bears. I was not disappointed.
21 Sunday Jul 2013
Tags
Australia, Cairns, Great Barrier Reef, Mossman Gorge, Oceania, Port Douglas, Queensland, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Wildlife Habitat
Mr. Selfish and I dove for two consecutive days at the Great Barrier Reef. We then had to spend another day in Port Douglas in order to decompress for at least 18 hours.
I had heard that Queensland was one of the few states in Australia that you could hold a koala, as opposed to just standing next to one. I learned that you could indeed cuddle with a koala at the Wildlife Habitat (Port Douglas Rd, Port Douglas QLD 4877, Australia), so I dragged Mr. Selfish there.
20 Saturday Jul 2013
Tags
Agincourt Reef, Australia, Cairns, Calypso, Great Barrier Reef, Oceania, Opal Reef, Poisedon, Port Douglas, Queensland, Selfish Years, The Selfish Years
Mr. Selfish and I became scuba certified in March 2012. One of the primary reasons for our certification was so that we could dive the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. It is practically every diver’s dream to dive at the GBR.
We took a short flight from Sydney to Cairns and then immediately rented a car to drive to Port Douglas, which was our home base for the three days we were in the area. The drive from Cairns to Port Douglas took about an hour and was lovely.
19 Friday Jul 2013
Posted in Accommodations, Food & Drinks, French Polynesia, Hilton, Oceania
Editor’s note: This is the third of three posts on the Hilton Bora Bora. Check out our other posts here:
Like the rest of French Polynesia, Bora Bora has a rich food tradition with heavy French and Chinese influences. Unfortunately, the Hilton maintains the brand’s tradition of serving very average food at marked up prices – so what’s a hapless foodie supposed to do?
The Hilton Bora Bora has three restaurants:
After reading flyertalk posts, I figured the hotel food would be mediocre and over-priced. As it turns out, the prices were fairly reasonable (at least by hotel standards).
Mrs. Selfish and I ended up eating a few meals at the Tamur Grill before we got wise. Since the menu is the same for lunch and dinner, I’ll post ‘em all here.
The Fish of the Day (2900 XPF – about $31) – a firm white fish served on top of a bed of vegetables with a side of fries and a vanilla sauce. Mrs. Selfish was excited to try the vanilla sauce, which was supposed to be a specialty of the region. Unfortunately, the hotel’s version was simply too sweet – the fish itself was decent, but at $30+ this was pretty disappointing.
VERDICT: Pass
18 Thursday Jul 2013
Posted in Accommodations, French Polynesia, Hilton, Oceania, Travel Hacking
Tags
AXON award, Bora Bora, Hilton, Hilton Bora Bora, Oceania, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Tahiti, Travel Hacking
Editor’s note: This is the second of three posts on the Hilton Bora Bora. Check out our other posts here:
Today is a continuation of yesterday’s post on the Hilton Bora Bora. Whereas yesterday I was talking about how to get to this amazing resort, and how beautiful Bora Bora is, today I’ll be discussing what you can actually do there – other than the usual relaxing, eating, and napping, and taking long walks on the beach.
I jest of course, though there are plenty of beaches for strolling if you like that kind of thing. Not those shelly beaches either – these are powdery sandy white beaches!
Since Mrs. Selfish and I are both certified divers, we decided a dive in the crystal blue-green waters of Bora Bora was a no-brainer. Unfortunately, options in Bora Bora are pretty limited, with only 4 companies. The 2 larger ones felt a little crowded and impersonal to us, so we ended up going with Dive N’ Smile, which was a one man operation run by Patrick.
Patrick picked us up promptly from the Hilton and suited us up. Not only was his equipment brand new (and very nice!), but he also had steel tanks, which is not something we’ve never seen before.
Although the reefs around Bora Bora are dead, thanks to a hurricane that ripped it up a few years, there is a ton of wild life! We ended up spotting half a dozen lemon sharks, a giant school of blue-spotted eagle rays, and a couple of very active eels.
Visibility was great, the animals were amazing, and the equipment and instruction were on point. Overall this was definitely one of our better dive experiences and I would highly recommend Dive N’ Smile. If anyone is thinking of going, shoot Patrick an email at: diveNsmile@mail.pf.
17 Wednesday Jul 2013
Posted in Accommodations, French Polynesia, Hilton, Oceania, Travel Hacking
Tags
AXON award, Bora Bora, Hilton, Hilton Bora Bora, Oceania, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Tahiti, Travel Hacking
Editor’s note: This is the first of three posts on the Hilton Bora Bora. Check out our other posts here:
After our evening of cold croque monsieurs in Tahiti, Mrs. Selfish and I awoke early the next day and boarded a plane for Bora Bora, one of the most beautiful (and expensive) places on Earth.
Having read good things about the Hilton Bora Bora, I was anxious to check out our new home for 5 nights – an overwater bungalow in some of the most magnificent waters I’d ever seen. I booked the stay before the Hilton Honors great devaluation using an AXON award and an extra night, so the total came to 195,000 HHonors points.
Getting to Tahiti itself can be quite difficult on miles and points, though flyertalk has several threads devoted to the topic as I mentioned yesterday.
Once you’ve reached Tahiti the intra-island flight from to Bora Bora is costly at roughly ~$450 round trip. Air Tahiti Nui has multiple flights a day starting in the early morning and ending mid-evening, but unfortunately none of these accept points or miles, just cold hard cash.
Pro-tip: Sit on the left side of the plane for stellar views of Bora Bora
After landing, you have two options for getting to the Hilton Bora Bora: a) take Hilton’s fancy speedboat to the property for roughly $125 per person round trip, b) take the boat into Viatape (the main town) and then catch Hilton’s boat from there for roughly $8 round trip. While we chose option B, we ended up giving our bags to crew of Hilton’s speedboat, which they brought to the hotel for us. I highly recommend this option.
Getting to Bora Bora proved more difficult than most destinations: with 2 flights to Tahiti, a plane to Bora Bora, a shuttle boat to Viatape, and a boat to the Hilton Bora Bora, but man is it worth it.
Bora Bora is easily the most beautiful beach destination we’ve ever been to, beating out Koh Samui, Bali, Danang, and Cancun. Since Mrs. Selfish and I wanted to maximize our time at the resort, we took a late-morning flight in, and an early evening flight out and boy was I glad we did, the Hilton Bora Bora is gorgeous.
16 Tuesday Jul 2013
Posted in Accommodations, French Polynesia, IHG, Oceania, Travel Hacking
When Mrs. Selfish and I originally planned our Selfish Year of travels, we had no intention of visiting the South Pacific. That all changed in March when Hilton announced a massive devaluation in their HHonors Award Program. Hotels that once cost 50,000 points a night we’re suddenly going for as much as 95,000 points – an almost 100% increase!
Having acquired a taste for the Hilton’s nicer properties after staying at the Conrad Koh Samui, I started looking into other places to burn Hilton points. So when my cousin in Sydney proposed we meet up at the Hilton Bora Bora, I jumped at the chance.
Especially after seeing pictures of Bora Bora.
Aw yeah.
Unfortunately, getting to Bora Bora is quite difficult. Only a limited number of airlines fly to Tahiti, and once there you have to catch one of the inter-island flights, which are quite expensive.
To make things even trickier, you’re more or less required to spend two nights in Tahiti as well. Fortunately, Mrs. Selfish had a number of Intercontinental Hotel Groups points saved up, so we ended up booking two nights: one for the flight in, and one for the night before our morning flight out.
15 Monday Jul 2013
Posted in Accommodations, Australia, Hyatt, Oceania, Sydney, Travel Hacking
Mrs. Selfish and I visited Sydney a total of three times during our Selfish Year of travels, since Sydney is the major airport in the Oceania region. During our first stay, we stayed with family in the Manly area. For our second stay, we rented a flat downtown – in the seedy red light district.
Our third and final stay was different, however. Having booked us flights to Cairns to dive the Great Barrier Reef I was having a heck of a time finding a flight that would connect us through Sydney in time to catch our flight to Tasmania.
Finally giving up, I decided we’d have to spend one more night in Sydney. And we’d have to do it in style.
At the Park Hyatt Sydney.
Aw yeah.
14 Sunday Jul 2013
Posted in Australia, Food & Drinks, Oceania, Sydney
Tags
Australia, Bankstown, Food & Drinks, Gelato, Malay, Mamak, Messina, Oceania, Pho, Pho An, Restauran An, Sydney
Looking back on our time in Sydney, I will remember all of the good food fondly. This post is dedicated to some of our more yummy bites in Sydney.
Mr. Selfish and I started queuing up for Mamak (15 Goulburn Street, Haymarke) around 4:55pm. The restaurant opens at 5pm, and the line was already around the block. It was worth the wait though because the food is authentic and delicious.
Mamak is known for its fresh roti and satay. We tried the plain roti canai ($5.50), the murtabak, which is roti filled with spicy chicken or lamb, cabbage, egg, and onions ($11.50), and the beef satay, which is served with a sweet and spicy peanut sauce (1/2 dozen for $9.00). Everything was delicious but the standout dish was the plain roti canai. It was freshly made, crispy on the outside, and fluffy on the inside.
13 Saturday Jul 2013
Tags
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of NSW, Australia, Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Oceania, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Sydney
During our stay in Sydney, Mr. Selfish and I visited two museums – the Art Gallery of New South Wales (NSW) and the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. While we enjoyed ourselves at both museums, the reason for our enjoyment differed between the two museums.
The Art Gallery of NSW is located in Sydney’s central business district. The Art Gallery has four different levels with each level having a very eclectic collection. Mr. Selfish and I truly enjoyed viewing all of the different collections here.
12 Friday Jul 2013
Posted in Australia, Food & Drinks, Oceania, Searching for the Best . . ., Sydney
Tags
Aussie Pies, Bourke Street Bakery, Harry's Cafe on Wheels, Oceania, Pie Face, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Sydney
One of the true Aussie specialty foods, Aussie Pies are like miniature chicken pot pies – a little bit of joy that fits in the palm of your hand. Aussie Pies come in a ton of varieties, though the most common types we encountered were Steak & Pepper, Chicken & Leeks, and Steak & Kidneys. You can find them at pretty much any bakery, pub, or grocery store. So good.
After our first encounter with an Aussie Pie Mrs. Selfish and I were hooked, so we set out to find the Best Aussie Pie in Sydney.
Our first introduction to Aussie Pies, Harry’s Café on Wheels is a mainstay in Sydney, having been in the city since 1945. Mrs. Selfish and I decided to try the Tiger, which is beef pie with mash & mushy peas.
The Tiger had excellent flavor, with the beef flavor blending sublimely with the gravy, mash and mushy peas. More mountain of food then hand-sized pie, I was surprised at how well the pie’s crust stood up to the gravy and peas – maintaining its crunch through the course of the (albeit short) meal.
VERDICT: Decadent & delicious, the Tiger was loaded with flavor – and mash & peas. We later tried the curry variation, which was excellent as well, but for a starter pie I would try their classic Tiger.
SCORE: 9.5
11 Thursday Jul 2013
Tags
Blue Mountains, Katoomba, Oceania, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Sydney, Three Sisters, Wentworth Falls
After spending two weeks in Sydney, we were slowly but surely running out of city activities. With that in mind, Mrs. Selfish and I started researching quick day trips – something that would take less than 2 hours to drive to, given the limited sunlight during Australia’s winter season.
The Blue Mountains quickly rose to the top of the list. Only a 1.5 hour drive from the center of the city, the blue mountains are quite literally blue from a distance thanks to some freaky optical illusion.
We did a quick search for rentals, and managed to snag a medium-sized car from Budget for ~$35 a day. We left at 9am, and around 10 we hit the information center, where we grabbed a map.
The biggest local attraction is the Three Sisters, a geographic formation that local legends claim is three sisters turned into stone by their overprotective father. Unfortunately he died before we could turn them back.
Fortunately for the local tourism business in Katoomba, the three sisters is a crowd pleaser. The information center repeatedly tried to sell us on Scenic World, a tourist trap that boasts “free parking” and a $35 ride to and from the plateau to the valley via a glass-bottom gondola.
The Three Sisters are pretty, but be prepared for crowds!
10 Wednesday Jul 2013
Posted in Australia, Food & Drinks, Oceania, Sydney
Tags
4 Pines, Australia, Brew Pub, Food & Drinks, Four Pines, Lord Nelson, Manly, Oceania, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Sydney, The Rocks
Mr. Selfish and I are so glad to once again be in a country with a brew pub culture. At first, we were a bit skeptical as to the microbreweries in Sydney but were quickly won over by two brew pubs – 4 Pines and the Lord Nelson Pub.
During our first nine days in Sydney, we stayed at my cousin’s apartment in Manly. In order to get to Manly from Sydney city center, you have to take the Manly ferry, which takes around 30 minutes and costs $5.80 per single trip. Although taking an hour trip and paying $11.60 to go to a brew pub seems a bit much, 4 Pines (29/43-45 E Esplanade, Manly) is worth the trip, especially on a day with a beautiful sunset.
09 Tuesday Jul 2013
Tags
Manly is a quiet suburb on the outskirts of Sydney, ideal for surfing, swimming, and long walks on the beach. Since Mrs. Selfish and I don’t really do any of those things, we decided to make the most of Manly and try the famed Manly Walk.
The walk is roughly 11 kilometers in length if you go to Shelly Beach then Spit Bridge, and can easily take the better part of a day. It’s also home to some of the more beautiful sights in Manly.
The manly walk starts from where you pick up the ferry and heads through Shelly Beach before looping back.
The cliffs past Shelly Beach were quite epic. Shortly after the path hit the ruins of an old fort.
The Selfish Years 