Accidentally Cultured is a notoriously bad cook!  His cooking specialty is the ‘removal of flavour’.  But when it comes to eating, he is an expert! I should have taken note of early courting day warnings.  This was the ‘hippy’ era and he sported a goatee beard accompanied by long hair and headband.  One particular day, working in room 308 in the Chemistry School at University of Sydney, he smelt particularly shocking.  At first I suspected the Organic Chemistry experiments on the fifth floor, but towards the end of the day I realised the smell was coming from the goatee. ‘Oh!’, he said, ‘I licked my ice cream plate last night!’ […]

About Accidentally Cultured For many years I have travelled extensively with my husband, Paul, who has earned the nick-name, Accidentally Cultured. This is because he never discusses where we are going or why! He just wants to be pointed in the direction of a motorway to get to a nice hotel quickly. As a result, his crazy antics and reactions to the ‘culture’ of foreign destination has well and truly earned him his title. Accidentally Cultured was never intended to be a luxury travel blog.  But for many reasons it is! Firstly, we never budget, but somehow end up in luxury accommodation at very reasonable prices. Secondly, we have indulged in fine […]

Bath in a Flash After the big flight from Sydney, we arrived in London at 7 am, hired a car and headed to Bath. Our visit to Bath was very brief and we left for Beeley around 3 pm. Off to Bealy Despite the pleasure of google maps blue dot on the iPhone I was longing for a paper map. Even more so as the phone’s charge began to plummet towards 5%. AC was nervously twitching in his seat and constantly erupting into various types of rages and fiddling with everything on the dashboard and console. “Where is it?  Where is the f…g thing?  Have you taken my shit again?” […]

“I refuse to eat that Gruyère cheese!’  In other words, Accidentally Cultured (AC for short) will only eat Australian Bega cheese. This was his constant complaint all the way from Le Châble to Gruyères, along with, “I’m going to freeze my balls off!” or “I want my thermal underwear!” I’m not sure which he feared the most, the cheese or the cold. But I had to admit, there was a very nasty chill in the air. And, a very cold wind ruffled the golden autumn leaves. Gruyères Castle The approach to Gruyères Castle is stunning! The medieval, fortified Castle stands high above the surrounding village, glowing golden in the autumn foliage. Nevertheless, […]

  Driving to Mont Blanc Today was the first snow fall of the season! The road from Martigny in Switzerland to Mont Blanc in France was mesmerising. The entire landscape was coated in soft, glowing white sun-lit powder.  It was sheer magic! ‘Gareth, I really want to go up there in the cable car!’ I had just caught sight of the Mont Blanc massif. And my photographer’s eye was gleaming. “Not on my radar!” said Accidentally Cultured (AC for short) trembling with fear. It’s a photographer’s paradise to ascend to the peaks in the cable car.  Having a little jest I suggested we do this. But, even Gareth, champion skier […]

  We arrived in Heathrow at the early hour of 6 am after the long haul from Australia. And, our plan for the day was to drive to Beeley in Derbyshire.  To my amazement, Accidentally Cultured announced that we would drive via Bath. Somehow he was oblivious to the perils of driving 7 hours, without maps and with full on jet lag. Firstly, we had to hire a car at Heathrow. Taking the keys, he glared angrily at the tiny car Avis gave him. And in true Basil Faulty style, he nearly took a hammer to the innocent little blue Mercedes Benz. Clearly, the tiny vehicle did not deserve all […]

  Long, long line to Bruny Island Bruny Bruny  brown and boring Long lost lonely land Water water everywhere Long long lines to freedom Ferries come and ferries go ever so slow Waiting waiting lines so long Cars come and cars go ever so slow   Bruny Bruny brown and boring Beautiful sand! Beautiful rocks! Get thine arse out of thine chair! Great Bay over there!   Captain Cook Adventure Bay What a place to stay And share A Captain cooked ham sandwich there!   Ismuth Bay Is the place to stay Bye Bye Bruny   Missed the ferry! Go to the sheepery and cheese farm!