After a two week spell as lifestyle and documentary photographer for Aston Martin, I was joined by David for a week long holiday in the region of Catalonia where we based ourselves in the beautiful medieval village of Begur.

Begur is a stunning hilside village, it’s steep on the way in and steep on the way out and is surrounded by luscious landscape, mountains and the sea. Long gone were the Aston Martin Rapide’s and soon we were settled into the lazy days of the Catalonian way of life! Although this wouldn’t be a Notworkrealted post without some kind of activities going on.

Based on the wonderful world of Trip Advisor we found our lovely guesthouse; The Aiguaclara, which is located in the heart of Begur. Thanks to all the raving reviews we had no question as to whether this would be the right place for us to base ourselves during our stay. Straight away there was a warm welcome by the hosts Clara and Joan who rennovated this colonial-style built in 1866, and they’re personality is all over the place with vintage decor, quirky objects and antiques scattered throughout. It’s a considered design across 4 stories, with each room unique from the other.

Happy with our choice of accommodation we then went on to explore the village, which in 1 evening is easy enough to do. We ate in the restaurant at the hotel “Fet Amb Love” which basically sums this place up and then walked up to the Castle. Which at night with a full moon is very rewarding.

On our first day as tourists we ventured out on a coastal walk thanks to a walking trails map provided by the hotel. From Begur we took the downhill route to Sa Tuna, greeted by many locals enjoying the escape of the city, we explored a path off to the right and up to a viewing point at Mirador de St Josep, before turning back down to the bay and taking the coastal path along to Sas Vaques and before long Aguafreda. At this point it was a little unlcear as to where the path was leading us but we cut inland on the road and then found the path again a little higher up en-route to Sa Reira. Eventually the signs re-appeared and so it wasn’t difficult to navigate. We continued the walk to Sa Riera, at which point we stopped for lunch in a local Tavern before enjoying a quiet moment on the beach. From Sa Riera we took a pleasant forest trial leading back up to Begur by which point it was 4pm and we’d hiked about 11km. It was a lovely walk lots of steep ups and downs but on a clear day some beautiful bays to take in.

For days 2 and 3 of our time in the area we hired a car through the hotel from a local car-hire company based in Palafrugell. It cost us 101 Euros for 2 days including insurance and 2 drivers. Fuel is pretty cheap in Spain so we only spent 40 Euros in 2 days.

We drove up to Figueres once we had received our little Chevrolet Matiz which from Begur took about an hour. Once in Figueres we managed to find free parking a little away from the Dali museum and we joined the ever-growing queue to get into the museum, it took a further hour before we were paid the 12 Euro entrance fee and were inside!

We hadn’t really anticipated the Easter vacationers coming into the area from Barcelona. The Dali Theatre Museum cost 12 Euros each to get in but this is like no other museum either of us have visited before! Described as being the largest surrealist object in the world, the theatre is home to ideas, dreams, sketches, objects and just about everything Dali ever imagined brought into real life. It’s really interesting, fun and engaging. A little bit like stepping into a circus allowing for the imagination to gather and grow. The only problem for us were the hundreds of other visitors muscling their way in and out of each space, oh and not to mention those using flash on their cameras to document it all! Why?!
We were on a Dali-fueled mission and drove out to Cadaques and Portlligat, which is a lovely drive over the hills and down to the coast. Portlligat is where Dali lived and his home is now a museum, the only problem being that we didn’t have tickets to get in and it was fully booked until Easter Monday. So we wandered around the quiet bay, enjoyed some patatas bravas and then drove to Cadaques. This place is definitely worth a visit on a sunny day. Again it was packed full or visitors but it really is a stunning coastal town. Much bigger than Begur, oozing character and every corner holding a link to Dali.

We found a small gallery ran by local legend and photographer Joan Vehi who houses hundreds of photographs taken during his lifetime. Draws listing from the 1960′s through to modern day and famous reportage shots of Dali in the area. Really worth a peek if you are ever there. We finished our evening with a walk up to the castle and Paella at one of the local restaurants in the village.

On our second day with the Matiz we ventured further afield, I wanted to share a few places with Dave that I had taken in on launch with the Rapides. Although the Matiz isn’t quite up to scratch with an Aston Martin we managed to get to Besalu where lots of Easter celebrations were taking place. This is a really stunning medieval village again built up around churches and with a large characterful square in the centre. It’s a great place to explore, lots of cobbled walk-ways, cafe’s and bars as well as views across the river towards the bridge built in 1066 or there about.

We followed our sightseeing tour out towards Ripoll and after another hour of driving we landed in Fibes De Freser where lunch was booked up in Ventola at Anna’s mountain restaurant. You can’t get a better authentic Catalonian mountain hut than this for food and service. They took Dave and I under their wing and were fantastic hosts for the afternoon, only reassuring further their gratitude at being the Aston Martin lunch stop of choice for the Rapide launch. This time with no Aston’s in sight the restaurant was packed to the rim of tourists, locals, hikers and skiers all following their noses to this legendary restaurant. Owned by Anna, a former Olympic skier, and ran by her loyal staff they run up and down the stairs with hot plates of food, sweat on their brow there is never a rest at this place! We enjoyed a great lunch and vow to go back their one day. With 3 meals in one we didn’t need to eat out that night! So it was a DVD back in our Aigua Clara home and a glass of Esmeralda white wine.

On our final day in Begur it rained! It was very misty and we didn’t have a car, so we simply spent our day in and around the hotel, walked a little, read, edited some photographs and enjoyed food with friends later on. We really loved Begur as a place to base ourselves whilst exploring the depths of the Catalonian region and the comforts of the Aigua Clara Hotel meant we had a home from home to relax at in between the sight seeing.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, Nikon D600, Nikon 50mm f1.4, processed in Lightroom 3)

Through Nirwa Homestay we found out about a cooking class ran by one of their close friends, the Payuk Bali restaurant which seemed like a good option for us. We were picked up after breakfast at around 8.30am. From the start we knew we were going to be having a really good laugh, the owner was very funny and we he understood us well.

Our first stop was the local market in his home village, he took us around the various market stalls showing us the different vegetables, herbs, spices and fruit that are all grown throughout Bali. It was a pretty dirty market and very local which was a nice change from the busy tourist markets in Ubud. The stall owners again were really accommodating and happy for us to be there, we were the only westerners in the area which again was a nice change.

He’d already picked up the vegetables fresh that morning at 4am and so there was no need for us to pick anything up they just wanted to show us around. Our next stop was a pleasant surprise he took us into the elementary school in the village, the same school that he attended when he was a child. It was lovely to be there and to interact with the children’s plus it was no problem for the teachers for us to be there looking around. He then explained about the rice that grows in Ubud, the main crops and how the community help to harvest the rice together for no payment other than a portion of the rice crop.

When we arrived at his family home compound he explained to us about the family temple, why they do offerings and we also learned that due to the relaxed life of the Balinese his grandmother was still alive at 111! It wasn’t her who helped Helen with the making of her offerings perhaps his mother but it was really nice to take the time to make the traditional offerings together and she even planted a few Indonesian flowers in Helen’s hair.

We watched a display of coco-nut oil being reduced down for the production of their weekly cooking oil and we also learned about the roasting of Bali coffee following this with a cup of the freshly ground stuff and some deliciously fried bananas in palm sugar honey. This was enjoyed at the back of the family compound where they have a stunning location for a restaurant with an open kitchen, this is where we would be learning to cook.

Here’s what we learned to cook:

• Base Gede – the multi-purpose spice made into a paste from ingredients such as ginger, galangal, turmeric, chilli, garlic, shallot, nutmeg, lemongrass and so on. The list of ingredients for this paste is long. We had to grind it all together using a motor and pestle.

• Sup Timun – or cucumber soup as we would know it, including black eyed peas, red beans and coconut milk along with the main base gede paste.

• Nasi Kunung (yellow rice) The method of making yellow rice using coconut cream, lime and bay leaves and the base gede. We were particularly drawn to their original-looking rice cooker/steamer.

• Gado Gado – one of the all time traditional Indonesian dishes, a vegetable salad with peanut sauce. The vegetables are all blanched in preparation for the salad and served with a boiled egg plus tempe fried in coconut oil. The peanut sauce was a little like making the paste but with pre-fried peanuts, garlic, shallot, aromatic ginger, brown sugar, fresh lime and chilli.

• Sate Lilit – minced fish on a skewer. We see this all the time on the street stalls, fish satay as we may know them to be called. We had to really mince the fish using a large scale mortar and pestle and long piece of coffee tree branch. By hand the tuna fish was mixed in together with the base geed, an egg, lime juice, fried shallot, palm sugar and coconut milk. We then cooked them lightly on the barbecue. They were better tasting when first cooked.

• Pasen be Pasih / Pepes Ikan (grilled fish in banana leaf) Again with tuna fish, base geed, bay leaves and 1 tomatoe, the mixture was bound together and steam cooked in banana leaves.

We also cooked a Balinese style chicken dish which was perhaps our favourite of them all, and a sweet desert in the form of braised banana in palm sugar sauce. All the dishes were cooked collectively so we would each have a part in the final piece. We could taste the flavours along the way and decide whether more salt should be added and so on. And at the end we were more than happy to sit in their restaurant overlooking the tropical jungle and enjoying the fine food.

The only other thing left to complete our cultural experience in Ubud for us was to go and watch a traditional Balinese dance. We didn’t have to look very far as our home stay hosts recommended that we go to the fire dance taking place at the temple next door. It cost 80,000 IDR each per ticket and without going into too much detail we thoroughly enjoyed it. From having seen bits of the show at the Royal Palace, this show was much less of a grand affair and the main soundtrack was provided by a large group of men all acting as monkeys in the story.

As with all of these things there is a plot and a romance and death, a little like their own version of Romeo and Juliet. It was very well done though and at the end of the performance there was a trance dance using piping hot coconut shavings for the performer to kick through and dance within. It was totally bizarre and like nothing we had seen before. It was way better than we thought it was going to be.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4, 90mm Tele-Elmarit f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

Still feeling pretty tired from all the excitement and very late night after the tennis we had a couple of slow and easy days. However we also needed to do some training for the Nepal hike so we filled our Osprey trekking bags with cans of dog food, dumbbells and books, Dave’s pack came in at 19kg for some serious workout weight! We walked to Glen Waverley and back again with a few hills thrown in for good measure in total around 7Km. During the evening we caught up with our hosts Jane and John who kindly offered to cook us an evening meal which was lovely. After a few glasses of wine and tales of being hosts and travelling the world we retired to bed.

More exploring of Melbourne was required therefore we headed into town and proceeded on foot. We visited Fitzroy Gardens, walked around the outside of the Melbourne Museum, found some nice bookshops and a funky bathroom warehouse. Eventually we arrived at Brunswick Street which has lots of cool shops (Helen was on the look out for a new floaty skirt) and cafe’s to keep you busy. As it was a Wednesday we decided to head to the Victoria night market with Jo and Ellie, to be joined later by Vic and Dave.

The Victoria night market starts at 5pm and it is definitely worth getting there early as it quickly fills up and any chance of a table and chairs vanishes. Food ranging from Nepalese to Spanish and Fish & Chips to Kangaroo burgers is on offer all around the $10AUS dollar mark. Yellow Tail wines were also offering free tasting samples so we did the right thing and tried each one, some of us more than once, just for good measure of course! We finished the evening in a great pub called Prudence just up the road from the night market. It has a good little atmosphere as well as rear outdoor seating and a cosy upstairs section. All in all a great day with Aussie, adopted Aussie’s and UK friends.

The 2nd Feb was to be our last day in Melbourne as we were due to fly to Perth on the 3rd. Therefore we headed for the National Gallery of Victoria which has an eclectic collection as well as interesting spaces inside and outside gardens. The Melbourne Botanical gardens offered some peace and quiet in an outdoors environment and is worth a visit. As it was our last night in the City we enjoyed food at one of the many popular restaurants in Federation Square and later on we organised to meet with Vic and Dave one last time in the awesome bar Section 8 which is tucked away down a side alley. A hip crowd gathers in this old car park nightly and it is a real gem of a place. We had a drink and then said our goodbyes to Vic and Dave. Good-luck to them in their new lives in Oz.

Next stop Perth to see Dave’s sister and boyfriend for a week before continuing with our Eastern travels in Bali.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4, 90mm Tele-Elmarit f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

Toast and jam for breakfast. Destination today: to re-visit the Harajuku and Shibuya district and delve deeper into the backstreets. We have both agreed that our favorite places to visit in Tokyo so far were the fish market and Harajuku. The fish market is so different from anything we have ever seen or had the pleasure to document, you could spend a whole week there, if your stomach can handle it! You really get to know the local tradesmen and atmosphere that goes with such a busy market place. Harajuku in contrast offers current trends in fashion and art. There are some great little backstreets to explore and plenty of coffee-shops where you can watch the passers-by. In search of a cafe recommended in the Lonely Planet we found that the Bape cafe is not longer around! Not to be disappointed we settled for the Freshness Burger Company, Dave had a good ole cheese burger whilst I opted for a veggie one. You can’t eat Japanese food everyday…can you?

Following lunch we found one place that really stands out for us s a highlight so far; the Design Festa Gallery quietly positioned away from the main hustle and bustle of the Harajuku area. An artist’s studio complex, something that looks like it should belong in Berlin. Graffitied walls, personalised art studios, illustrations that spill onto the stairways and lovely white spaces with which to exhibit your work. We love these kind of places, somewhere that really gave a real feeling of what is happening in the Tokyo art and design scene.

Moving on from the Design Festa we walked down to Shibuya crossed the famous Shibuya crossing (several times) just so we could get loads of photographs of people crossing, it’s a pretty cool experience actually (photography geeks!) Deciding that we’d had enough of the pizazz going on in this area we once again resided to the friendly Sakura Hotel before going out in search of Sushi. With so many food choices it’s really difficult deciding on somewhere to eat that we know will offer the food we like and at a good price. Noodle bars, Japanese pubs, conveyor-belt style, street vendors and so on. We can safely say that we haven’t always made the best choices in this department with a 50/50 success rate! Settling on an underground sushi restaurant we were faced with food that we would never encounter back in the UK and tasted a few things we would not want to go through again! Helen’s stomach was turned upside down and Dave almost gagged! All part of the experience.

Tomorrow we are leaving the Tokyo metropolis behind to seek out a slightly more peaceful guesthouse based in the Mt Fuji area.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)