Announcments

Travel Explored Week 19 Round Up

Posted on May 13, 2018
Travel Explored Week 19 Round Up

For over 20 years now I have owned a camera, both film and digital. In more recent years I am very rarely without a camera close to hand when I leave home. But at the same time rely on the DSLR for capturing a photo and not even looking for a photo if I don’t have the camera with me.

So it was time that I put myself to the test and decided to head out with just the phone to see what I could capture on a bike ride. The results you can see in my post on Saturday listed below. It is a topic that I will definitely be writing a little more about in coming weeks, and how to get away from the reliance on the best gear. In fact starting to realise that you do not need the best gear for the job, the gear you have right now is the best gear for right now. I am sure that I will find a more eloquent way to word that when I write about it soon but hopefully you get the idea.

The week has been a little bit of a mix of weather as well. It started with a rainy day and forecast for other rainy days through the week. While this only impacted my time on the bicycle one day, other factors made this more challenging as well. Including one of my least favourite conditions to ride in which is the wind. But with that overcome, I did come up just under my target, which is not to bad.

On to the content though, there is I hope a good mix in there this week for you. A little discussion mixed in with a little bit of photography. As usual, I would love to hear your feedback on what I am writing and sharing as I would hope to be able to share what people want to read. There is a little change to the what I am reading section this week so hopefully you enjoy that change.

New Content

Monday 7th May 2018
Coffee, Espresso Yourself – Week 18, 2018

Coffee - Barcella, Victoria Point

The week got started with your regular dose of coffee shops with the featured image from Barcella at Victoria Point. There was a good range of cafes also included in this week which included Vast Cafe, Little Bloomfield Cafe, Coffee Nature, Oliver Browns, Manly Kitchen and Compound Surf & Espresso. Don’t forget to drop me a message or leave a comment if you know of a cafe in Brisbane or the surrounding area that I might like to visit.

Tuesday 8th May 2018
Why I Started A Travel Blog

Why I Started A Travel Blog

I took things back to early 2010 with this post and went into a little of why I started a travel blog. It was a fairly simple reason and a somewhat lazy one at the time. But I think that over the time when I have travelled it has become a little more than what it started out as.

Wednesday 9th May 2018
A Visit to the Nice Flower Markets in Nice, France

Flower Market, Spices - Nice, France

Although I had been hoping to have a photo like this with the wide range of vivid colours that you sometimes see. I end up settling for two photos at the Flower Markets in Nice, France. The one above was spices and also in this post is a photo of the range of flavoured sugars that were available.

Thursday 10th May 2018
Considering The Right Time For Travel

Considering The Right Time For Travel

Finding the right time to travel for both yourself and your destination can sometimes be a little bit of a balancing act. I have tried to put together a few of the considerations in this post. The easiest considerations to face though are those that are related to your destination. For the most part they generally just require a little bit of time and research to pin down the best time.

Friday 11th May 2018
On This Day: 2014 at Wivenhoe Dam, Queensland

On This Day: 11th May 2014 - Wivenhoe Dam

I have enjoyed looking back at some of the more random and varied dates on the calendar to share some of the photos I have captured. The idea definitely brings me to some collections of photos that I may not have gone back to otherwise. There have been a number of days that I have spent in or near Wivenhoe Dam and the 11th of May 2014 was one of them.

Saturday 12th May 2018
Bicycle Ride Along Redland Bay Waterfront

Redland Bay Waterfront

Trying out something a little different this week and this post was the result of that. The photos in this post are not taken with a professional camera like many of the other photos I share. They were all taken with my iPhone 6, something much smaller and easier to carry when getting about on the Bicycle.

My Recommendations

Instead of just focusing on what I read online I thought I would change this section up a little. Primarily because I consume a lot of different types of media from podcasts to books, websites to Youtube. So I thought I would share a couple of different things each week from all different areas.

Tom Bilyeu’s Health Theory, Impact Theory

Impact Theory is a podcast and video show that I have been listening to for some time now. One of the newest shows that is part of the podcast is a series called Health Theory. The episode that I listened to this week was with Naveen Jain, called Making Illness a Choice. There was some rather insightful information in this particular episode and all I can see is I am looking forward to a future where this is true. You can watch the video below or the episode is available in the podcast is available here.

Book: Your One Word – Evan Carmichael

I have only just started listening to this book but can see that the principle could hold some real value. The basic idea is that you need to discover the one word that is essentially your guiding light. For Evan the author his word is ‘believe’ and he says once I started bringing this into everything he does it made big changes. There are dozens of examples of this at the beginning of the book and I am maybe about a third of the way through. I am listening on Audible, but you can also pick it up as a physical book or on Kindle at Amazon. Your One Word – Evan Carmichael (Affiliate link)

Thank You

I just wanted to say thank you for taking some time out of your day for visiting and exploring the blog. I hope that you have enjoyed the posts that I have shared this week and if they seem relevant you were able to share some with friends. If you have any suggestions for posts or questions I might be able to answer please leave a comment below or get in touch.

Around Brisbane Feature

Bicycle Ride Along Redland Bay Waterfront

Posted on May 12, 2018
Redland Bay Waterfront

If you have been reading along over the past few months, you might know I have been working on a bike ride target for 2018. That target is to ride 5,000km this year on my bicycle. So a few days ago as part of this challenge, I decided to get out and take a ride along a route I used to ride on occasion.

Although the whole ride for the day turned out to be just over 23 km, there is a specific section that I wanted to share with you. That section takes in the Redland Bay Waterfront which goes from the Redland Bay Golf Course through to Torquay Road at Point Talburpin. The section of the ride that this covers is right around 5 km and offers some beautiful views out to Moreton Bay and the bay islands.

Capturing The Photos

Even though I left home knowing that I wanted to get some photos for this post on the day I left the cameras at home. I captured all of these images on my iPhone 6. While they are not the best quality images, you could they still convey what I got to see and where I was. It was a purposeful choice to convey a point that I will be expanding on in another post shortly. That is that gear does not always matter, you sometimes don’t have the best gear, but you can still capture an image.

Redland Bay Bicycle Ride

I particularly wanted to share the portion of my ride that takes in the Redland Bay Waterfront. Starting at Redland Bay Golf Club, I was around 4 km into my ride at this point. Although I have been around the golf course here before and it is quite a nice location I have not played golf here.

Redland Bay Golf Course

The views back to Victoria Point from the edge of the road near the golf course are quite nice as well. Victoria Point is mostly to the left of the image beyond the water here.

View to Victoria Point from Redland Bay Golf Course

Around The Waterfront

The first section of this ride that I enjoy is a large sweeping bay. At the time of my ride, the tide was on the way out, but it can be rather nice here on a calm day at high tide.

Redland Bay Waterfront

Sel Outridge Park

There are numerous parks along the waterfront at Redland Bay. One of the biggest that is purpose-built for sport is Sel Outridge Park. You can see the Basketball half court, cricket practice net, and AFL goal posts. There is also plenty of open space here as well as picnic facilities and some play equipment for the kids.

Redland Bay - Sel Outridge Park

Nev Stafford Park

Not much further on is Nev Stafford Park. This park is much smaller but is also the location of the ANZAC memorial at Redland Bay. Recently on ANZAC day (25th April 2018), there were an estimated 4,000 people attended a dawn service here.

Redland Bay - Nev Stafford Park, Anzac Memorial

Additionally, Nev Stafford Park is located between the ferry terminals to access the Bay Islands. To the north of the park is the car ferries and the south end the passenger ferries.

Orchard Beach

After leaving Nev Stafford Park you need to head inland a little to get around a small inlet. You come back to the waterfront at the beginning of the Orchard Beach estate. The area directly behind this structure here is called Ruster’s Reserve and includes a swimming area that is enclosed.

Redland Bay - Orchard Beach Estate, Bay Views

The views to the bay from the pathway along the waters edge at Orchard Beach estate are quite nice. In the photo below you can see both a passenger and vehicle ferry returning to Redland Bay from the islands.

Redland Bay - Bay Views

The pathway that you follow does vary a lot throughout the ride. There are some parts that you must go off track without taking some larger detours. But the majority of the trip is along nice wide concrete pathways like the one below.

Redland Bay Waterfront Pathway

Point Talburpin

The final stop along the waterfront was at a small park that I could not find a name for at Point Talburpin. It is not too far past the Point Talburpin Dog Park and has a small grassy area with a small section of sand. Quite a nice spot that I did discover a few years ago, but it has been a long time since I have been in the area.

Redland Bay - Point Talburpin

The last spot I stopped for a photo was Point Talburpin Park. I did not remember that this was here, but when I arrived did remember visiting it before. It was actually at night at the time to find a new Geocache that had been hidden in the park. It is still in the same location, but did not think to take a look when I was here to check on it.

Redland Bay - Point Talburpin Park

Use The Gear You Have

I hope that you have enjoyed this post and did not mind the photos from my phone. But I also hope that it encourages you to take photos with what you have and not think so much about having the right gear. It will be a topic that I hope to cover again in another post in the near future. Of course, if you have any feedback please feel free to drop a comment below or get in touch via the contact page.

Feature On This Day

On This Day: 2014 at Wivenhoe Dam, Queensland

Posted on May 11, 2018
On This Day: 11th May 2014 - Wivenhoe Dam

I had set out today as being a day to share with you another of my “On This Day” posts. But as I was looking back over the past few years I almost thought I was going to have to change the day. You see I had to go back to 2014 again to find a day that I actually used my camera. Now it is possible that I have something from a more recent year, but it is also very likely to be in an archive drive. Which means it is from a job for a publication which probably means it is not something easily sharable.

A Visit To Wivenhoe Dam

Thankfully on the 11th of May in 2014, I did do something quite interesting, which was to take a little drive west. I headed out to the west of Brisbane and made a visit to the dam that is the primary water source for Brisbane. That dam is Wivenhoe Dam and it can be a rather nice spot to visit.

On This Day: 11th May 2014 - Wivenhoe Dam

The location that I am at here is around 1km from the main spillway of the dam and looking slightly north of east. That is from memory and looking at the map of the terrain. If anything that is one thing that I wish I had taken more time to consider and record just where and how I captured some photos.

Looking back at the historic reading from SEQ Water on this day the dam was recorded at 91.5% of capacity. The full supply level of the dam is 1,165,238 ML of water and there is flood storage capacity for another 2,080,000 ML of water. Either way, if the dam was at 100% of full supply I would not be able to stand where I am for this photo.

Take a Drive

Wivenhoe Dam can be a great spot for both locals and tourists alike to make a day trip from Brisbane. The drive is around 70 km and takes you out near Ipswich along the motorway before heading towards Esk. Alternatively, you can pass through the area of Mount Nebo and D’aguilar State Forest for a more scenic route with a number of stopping points along the way.

 

Coffee Feature

Coffee, Espresso Yourself – Week 18, 2018

Posted on May 7, 2018
Coffee - Barcella, Victoria Point

Even though I find my way to a cafe for an Espresso Coffee every day, this is not the only way I enjoy coffee. A few weeks ago I was visiting a place and finally found a cold brew jug to buy for use at home. The jug is the Hario Mizudashi Cold Brew Coffee Pot and was a great purchase to make cold brew coffee at home.

I knew about the concept of cold brew coffee for some time. But all the suggestions seemed clumsy and potentially messy to do it yourself at home. Finally, I decided to do a little searching and discovered the Hario Mizudashi. Finding the product was great but finding somewhere to buy one was a little more challenging. Although I will give you a link below to the product on Amazon, I do also prefer to shop locally if possible.

In the end, I found the jug available when I visited a local coffee roaster in Brisbane called Simply Beans. They had two sizes available, 600ml and 1000ml. It took a little consideration but I decided on the 600ml. It worked out to be the perfect size for home. There are two of us that drink the coffee and the 600ml makes essentially four serves of 130ml (you lose a little liquid in the coffee grind) enough for two days. The biggest downfall is that there is no simple immediate instruction on how to use it. The premise is fairly simple and a quick look at Youtube gives you some ideas. But I will probably share another post soon outlining exactly how I do it.

Getting a hold of the Hario Mizudashi Cold Brew Coffee Pot can vary in difficulty. To date in Australia, I have only seen one on the shelf in a shop once, and I bought it. That was at Simply Beans in Underwood, QLD, but they are also listed on the Campos Website here. I do prefer that if possible you would support a local store that might stock Hario products. But if you cannot find them anywhere else you can also find the Hario Mizudashi on the Amazon Website (600ml or 1000ml Disclosure: these are affiliate links and I will receive a small payment if you make a purchase).

But of course, we are here to see just what coffee I have been sharing this week. There are a couple of my favourite spots in there this week, including Manly Kitchen and Barcella at Victoria Point for the view. I also have a great spot from when I recently headed north to the Sunshine Coast in Compound Surf & Espresso.

Monday, 30th April 2018

Vast Cafe

Location – 3525 Pacific Highway, Slacks Creek QLD

Coffee – Campos Coffee

Coffee - Vast Cafe

The concept that Vast Coffee uses is one that I do very much like the idea of. Instead of being just a furniture store or just a cafe they have combined the two together. Not only that they do have some rather good coffee from Campos for the cafe. I think in the future we will see more cafes that take this approach of combining the cafe with some other product range. In a way, it works to help stabilise both customers coming through and cash flow.

Tuesday, 1st May 2018

Oliver Browns

Location – Westfield Garden City Shopping Centre, Logan Rd & Kessels Rd, Upper Mount Gravatt QLD

Coffee – Own Brand

Coffee - Oliver Browns

Oliver Browns is the sort of cafe that very much captures my attention. They are not just a cafe for coffee but also have a decent focus on another of my favourite things, chocolate. Yes, that might be a few little chocolate buttons you see on the spoon in front of the cup. Unfortunately, that has been the extent of the chocolate that I have tried here. Primarily because I am here to early to eat with my intermittent fasting schedule.

Wednesday, 2nd May 2018

Barcella

Location – Victoria Point Lakeside Shop D02, 3/22 Bunker road, Victoria Point, QLD

Coffee – Merlo

Coffee - Barcella, Victoria Point

Barcella at Victoria Point is the closest cafe to home in there this week. You can probably see one of the big draw cards for me is that lovely view over the lake. The coffee here comes from Merlo, but the view is what pulls me to visit a little more than anything else.

Thursday, 3rd May 2018

Manly Kitchen

Location – 50 Cambridge Parade, Manly QLD

Coffee – Dramanti Artisan Roaster

Coffee - Manly Kitchen

Manly is a great spot to visit for a little walk and some great coffee, check out “Take a Walk at Manly Harbour Village” for more about the area. But Manly Kitchen is a great spot not far from the marina for a coffee with some great coffee from Dramanti Artisan Roaster. A nice spot to sit and relax while you enjoy the coffee.

Friday, 4th May 2018

Compound Surf & Espresso

Location – Shop 23B/15 Heathfield Rd, Coolum Beach QLD

Coffee – Slide Coffee Roasters

Coffee - Compound Surf & Espresso

One thing that I love to do when travelling is to check out coffee shops along the way. I discovered Compound Surf & Espresso a spot that you might have guessed it combines coffee and surfing. They are located at Coolum Beach and I made the stop when heading south from Noosa to Caloundra. They are serving coffee from Slide Coffee Roasters and it was quite good, one that I had not got to taste before.

Saturday, 5th May 2018

Coffee Nature

Location – 48 O’Keefe St, Woolloongabba, QLD

Coffee – Mocopan

Coffee - Coffee Nature

In some respects, Coffee Nature is not in the easiest location to get to. But it is a good spot to stop for a coffee or to take a little walk if you happen to be visiting at the nearby hospital and need a break. They are serving up coffee from Mocopan, a brand which I seem to be seeing in a couple of spots recently.

Sunday, 6th May 2018

Little Bloomfield Cafe

Location – 21-31 Bloomfield St, Cleveland QLD

Coffee – Merlo

Coffee - Little Bloomfield Cafe

When it comes to location Little Bloomfield Cafe seems to have one of the better spots in Cleveland. They have a good selection of seating either inside, out on the deck with a view or under the big trees in front. You definitely don’t get the street noise that you do in some of the others cafes around the area.

Coffee

Thank you for taking the time to have a look at the coffee I have been enjoying. If you have a moment, why not leave a comment below with any feedback or cafe suggestions.

Announcments

Travel Explored Week 18 Round Up

Posted on May 6, 2018
Travel Explored - Week 18 Round Up

For the most part, I try to keep this blog positive and upbeat. Of course, there are times when you are talking about travel that you have to move away from that idea a little. Not to bring the mood down but to make sure that everyone who is travelling is aware of the realities of travel.

It is very much similar when you are doing anything I think, business, blogging, Instagram, or any number of things. By and large, you want to be positive and upbeat. But the reality is that there are some negative sides to the whole thing. One of these is something that I seem to be experiencing for some time now. That downside is that I find, myself very much running in catch up mode.

The first clue for me that this is very much a reality at the moment is that I am writing this intro to this post at 8.45 pm on Sunday. My goal is to have this particular post published on a Sunday at around 4.00 pm. In some ways, I wonder how I have managed to make it to 90 days as you will see in my post on Wednesday below. I have been doing a lot of posting just in time, instead of being in the position to schedule days if not weeks in advance. I was doing this over a month ago, but have somehow let things slide a little.

Hopefully, nothing to worry about long-term, just have to fix up a few things in the mindset and we should be back on schedule. The biggest thing I need to get sorted is a car, that has been taking up some time. But in reality, it is probably more likely the numerous games that I have been playing a little too much of.

Anyway, there are a few interesting posts in there this week. A couple of updates about where I am at with the bike riding and writing and sharing my content, plus a reminder for everyone who uses a camera. I hope that you enjoy the content and look forward to any feedback that you might have.

New Content

Monday 30th April 2018
May Your Coffee Be Strong – Week 17, 2018

Coffee - Mi Casa Cafe

The week kicked off with the regular dose of coffee for your Monday morning. The featured image this week was at Mi Casa Cafe in Underwood, a great new spot I discovered. Also featured this week were a couple of local cafes for me in Jeppo Gelato and Harvest Cafe. Along with a number of other cafes from around Brisbane including Bungalow 4171, Hello Garry, jak+hill and Coffee Anthology.

Tuesday 1st May 2018
Update: My 2018 Bike Ride Progress

Update: My 2018 Bike Ride Progress

As the month of April came to a close I thought it timely to share an update on the progress of riding 5,000 km this year. In the post, I share a few numbers and statistics as well as a couple of the ways I have continued working towards my goal.

Wednesday 2nd May 2018
Writing & Sharing on a Daily Basis

Writing & Sharing On A Daily Basis

Like my target on getting out and riding my bike through 2018, I am also working writing and sharing more often. It turned out that I met the milestone of 90 days in a row posting. So I decided to share a little bit about getting there and some the challenges that I faced along the way.

Thursday 3rd May 2018
A View of the Danube Canal in Vienna

Vienna -Danube Canal

One of the first waterways that I came across in Vienna was the Danube Canal. Unfortunately, it was right around the time I was getting lost finding my hotel. Good news I did get to my hotel in the end, but I did not come across the Danube Canal again until the day before I was leaving the city. I go into the story a little deeper in this post.

Friday 4th May 2018
On This Day: Creative Minnippi Parkland Sunset

Minnippi Parkland Sunset

Sometimes when you are a photographer you get stuck in a rut doing the same things over and over. But sometimes such as this day in 2014, I got a little creative and took a different approach to photographing the setting sun.

Saturday 5th May 2018
Multiple Memory Cards & Batteries

Multiple Memory Cards & Batteries

When it comes to memory cards and batteries it is something that is always worth having a spare. Memory Cards get full at the most inopportune moment, just like batteries going flat. So having a spare at hand can be very useful especially when you are travelling.

What I am Reading

5-Hour Rule: If You’re Not Spending 5 Hours Per Week Learning You’re Being Irresponsible

It is an interesting concept, that you need to be spending time each week learning. I will let the article convey the most important points. But the ultimate take away is that you need to be learning constantly to ensure you remain relevant in the future job market. A rather interesting read.

Thank You

A big thank you for stopping by and checking out this week in content at Travel Explored. If you are enjoying the content what I am sharing I would very much appreciate it if you could share it with a friend.

Feature On This Day

On This Day: Creative Minnippi Parkland Sunset

Posted on May 4, 2018
Minnippi Parkland Sunset

As a photographer, it can be rather easy to find yourself stuck in a rut. You end up returning the same locations over and over again. This is something that I have found for myself over the years when I keep going back to Cleveland Point to capture the sunset. Of course, there are times when you might capture something that stands out. But the vast majority of the time you find that the results are rather similar.

Getting Creative

As a result, there are times that I do like to try and change things up. Not just with a change of location, but also with a change of perspective. It is when you get stuck in those ruts that you sometimes find a lack of creativity. Those creative juices are not quite flowing as freely as you would like, so what are you to do?

There are generally two ways that you can sort of kick-start the creative process. The first is to purposefully make yourself head to different locations. That is something that is easier said than done at times because if you knew where to go you would have already been, right?

The second and the one that I have relied on a little more is that of making use of just where you are. That is how this photo came about. When I realised I was somewhere different at the right time of day and decided to see how it played out. Sometimes this can work out and other times not so much, I will leave the decision to you.

Minnippi Parkland

The location I found myself in on the 4th of May in 2014 was Minnippi Parklands. I was here more so for a hobby that I partake in called Geocaching. However, with it quite late in the day and the sun quickly going down I decided to grab the camera. There are a few other views in the park that I tried but the one that turned out the best was getting down in the weeds. Not the angle that I always consider for photos, but that is what creativity is, trying new things sometimes.

Minnippi Parkland Sunset

Do you remember or have a photo from your day on the 4th of May in 2014? I would love to know what you were doing or see a photo from the day if you have one. I hope you have enjoyed this post and look forward to seeing you again tomorrow.

Announcments Feature

Writing & Sharing on a Daily Basis

Posted on May 2, 2018
Writing & Sharing On A Daily Basis

At the beginning of the year, I decided to make a more concerted effort to share more frequently on Travel Explored. The result of this decisions saw me share 10 posts through the month of January. That turned out to be more posts in a single month than the previous six months.

In February I decided to try something that I had not considered before, except when I was travelling. For the month of February, I decided to share a post every single day. What started as a post each day for 28 days, has turned into a daily post for the past 90 days. While there have been some struggles and challenges along the way, some of which I want to share with you today.

What The Last 90 Days Have Been Like

Writing and sharing a post every day for 90 days is definitely one of the more challenging things that I have done. Even on my last trip which was around 80 days in length saw me with a couple of days that I did not post. I have found it even more impressive considering that in the past I have struggled to publish 2 to 3 posts per week.

So over 90 days that is 90 posts and while I did have a couple written before the start of February, the majority have been written within this 90 days. When I look at the word count statistics that is 80,051 words published in the past 90days, on average 889 words per post.

Overcoming Past Challenges

There are a number of different problems that I have come across in the past which I have had to overcome over the past 90days. The biggest one though is not travelling and seeing where I live in a slightly different light.

No Travel

The biggest challenge that I have had in the past is writing content when I am not travelling. When I am on the road and visiting different places I seem to find plenty of interesting things to write about. But when I am at home, I find that everything appears to be plain and ordinary.

In saying that I have had a little travel, it was just a very limited amount of time totalling five days. The trip did help me to craft a little bit of content to share in this period. But in total it was six posts, which still leaves a rather large gap in 90 days.

One aspect that I have tried to bring into the blog a little more is talking about coffee. Coffee is something that I started out the year sharing my weekly experiences. The result has been one fairly standard post each week that helps to build consistency into the posting cycle. The coffee posts over the past 90days have contributed 16 of the 90 posts. I don’t mind including coffee with the travel blog as it is something that I would include in my travels in the future anyway.

Reframing What To Share

Over the past 90 days, I have had to look at just what I do share. Often in the past, I have been far too picky about what I write and share. I would look at the blog and say it is about travel, so everything I write must be about travel. The reality is that there are many aspects of life that can fit under the banner of travel.

The first example I already covered above with bringing the topic of coffee into the blog. I might be at home right now, but when I travel I would look to share about the coffee I find anyway. Likewise, when I am out and about I look at the places that I visit with a slightly different perspective. I look for what I can share about an area, that may see people wanting to visit that area. A great example was my post about Manly Harbour Village, I was there for coffee but could see the potential for why other people might like the visit the area.

Essentially, I have also reframed how I see the area that I live in like a destination that I might travel to. The reality is that everywhere I have travelled and found interesting, is just someone else’s hometown. Whether that is Seattle or Hong Kong or a small town in Mexico. So if they are interesting why not approach Brisbane and the surrounding areas in the same way.

The Challenge of Daily Writing

The biggest challenge I have had to overcome though is that of writing on a consistent daily basis. A challenge that I still find myself facing some days when the rest of life just seems to get in the way. But one thing that I can say is that I am getting better at overcoming this challenge.

Although I still do have some way to go to achieve a truly daily habit. Some days I will find it a struggle just to write a short 100 word Instagram post caption. With other days where I might get into the flow of things and be able to write over 3,000 words without even realising.

I was tracking my writing for a while but found that in some ways it made things more difficult for me. At times I will write posts from start to finish in one sitting, but other times I will write segments of a post over a few days. Tracking all the small bits and pieces of writing can become rather time-consuming and in a way counterproductive.

Future Writing & Sharing

Moving forward from here I do hope to continue both the daily writing and sharing of posts. I am always open to feedback and would love to hear what you think about the writing that I share. Of course, I am also open to any suggestions that you might have for what I can write about. But what I hope is that I will be able to share some more travel posts in the near future as well.

Bicycle Feature

Update: My 2018 Bike Ride Progress

Posted on May 1, 2018
Update: My 2018 Bike Ride Progress

Today marks the 100th day since I decided on the 23rd of January that I would ride for 5,000 kilometres this year. Even though I might not have been on the bike every single one of those 100 days, I am still very happy with my achievement so far. I will get into a little more detail below, but to basically sum it up I am 100% on target at the moment for hitting my goal.

I might have set the goal myself, but it is one of those things that I half expected would go by the wayside. That is the way many goals like this end up. But at the same time by putting it out publically on the blog here I saw some added accountability for myself. Which of course is why I am sharing an update here, to be accountable beyond just myself.

Progress Update

I was going to share this update last week, but when I realised how close I was to 100 days, held off a little. My Current total distance on the bike is 1,351.9 km. That is around 27% of the total 5,000 km goal that I want to achieve. Based on my calculations as long as I average 15km per day for the rest of the year I will be a little ahead of my goal.

Getting into this position of being on target only occurred around a week ago. It has been the result of a more focused push to be on the bike every day throughout April, with a minimum of 10km per day. Plus I have also had eight days through April where I have exceeded 20km and even a couple of 30km days.

April Bike Summary

By far the month of April has been my best month yet, riding a total distance of 537 km and being on the bike every day. Across the month this has given me an average daily distance of 17.9 km with a low of 10.3 km and a high of 30.6 km. The result of this concentrated effort has been to decrease my required daily average from 15.2km per day to 14.9 km.

To give a little context to the above numbers, I will share some of the numbers from the previous months below.

  • In January I was on the bike a total of 9 days and covered 124.6 km. My lowest day on the bike was 7.2 km and my highest day was 18.7 km.
  • In February I was on the bike a total of 26 days and covered 389.9 km. My lowest day on the bike was 5.0 km and my highest day was 33.4 km.
  • In March I was on the bike a total of 19 days and covered 300.5 km. My lowest day on the bike was 6.0 km and my highest day was 25.6 km.

As you can see the results in April have pushed well beyond those of the previous three months. There have been a couple of reasons why this has happened I think.

Making The Effort

After a couple of months that saw me achieving below what I would need to achieve my goal, I knew something needed to change. I made four changes to try and help me achieve a little higher than I had been in previous months. These included being on the bike every day for a minimum of 10km, setting a weekly target and splitting my time on the bike if I had to.

On The Bike Every Day

When it comes to being on the bike there are plenty of things that can get in the way. Through March I had a week of bad weather plus another five days away from home. Being away from home can be difficult to get around, but a bit of rain should not stop me being on the bike. So my goal is to be on the bike every day that I am at home.

It can be a downhill slope if you decide to skip a day just because of how much it pushes over onto your future daily targets. Besides that skipping one day often makes it feel much easier to skip the next day or another in the future. That is not to say that you do not need to take breaks at times, but they need to be approached with a plan, instead of randomly.

Minimum 10km Each Day

At the moment to achieve the 5,000 km goal I need to be riding on average 14.9 km per day. Every full day that I do not get on the bike increases this future daily average needed by a little bit. But if you were to miss one whole day every month for the rest of the year on average that is 119.2 km. At this point that is like an additional 0.5 km per day to make that up.

On the other hand, by looking to stick to a minimum of 10 km per day, I have a much smaller deficit each day I am short. Worst case I need to make up 4.9 km, but it is rare that once I get to 10 km I am on the doorstep of home. It is much more likely if I make 10 km I will land somewhere between 10 km and 14.9 km.

Split The Ride If I Have To

The reality is that there are times where it might be a challenge to fit 10km in one stretch. But I might be able to get on the bike for 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the afternoon. In these cases, it helps to break the potential excuse of not having time. Even on days when it is bad weather maybe three or four 10 minute stints will get me there between showers. While I might not get the maximum results from shorter stints it helps to achieve the goal and avoid excuses.

Weekly Goals

Finally, I have started to set myself a minimum weekly target. Currently, at 14.9 km per day required to reach my target, this would work out to 104.3 km per week. However, I have set my weekly target so far at 110 km per week. Part of this choice started with dividing the distance left by the number of weeks ahead. Since I was a little behind at the start of April that is where the slightly higher target came from. But it seems like a nice figure to aim for each week as well.

Enjoying The Ride

I think that sums up where I am at with this goal, at the 100-day mark. I am still deciding if I will update on a monthly basis from here out. The alternative would be to update at day milestones such as 100, 150, 200, etc. I will see what I have to share at the end of May and go from there.

Coffee Feature

May Your Coffee Be Strong – Week 17, 2018

Posted on April 30, 2018
Coffee - Mi Casa Cafe

There is one topic that often comes up when you start talking about coffee and it is what strength you prefer. Everyone seems to be a little different in how they like they coffee and some people can be very particular. For me I always like it strong, at least to what a standard serve is.

When coffee is made to the normal strength is when I find that it has the most distinct flavour. In a well-made cup of coffee, you will get to taste the flavours and experience the coffee as it is meant to be experienced. On the other hand, when you put in less of the coffee, you will often find it difficult to pick up individual flavours. That effect can be even more heightened when you drink coffee with milk, as it gives some flavour itself.

However, at the same time, I can understand that there can be reasons beyond flavour that motivate people to go stronger or weaker in their coffee. There are some people that need to drink coffee on the weaker side to limit their caffeine intake. It can be a personal choice or a choice made for medical reasons. When it is a medical reason I do feel for these people as they cannot experience the coffee fully.

But as with each week, I am here to share with you a little insight into the coffee that I have shared this week. I hope that you enjoy the selection this week.

Monday, 23 April 2018

Bungalow 4171

Location – 1/134 Hawthorne Rd, Hawthorne QLD

Coffee – Genovese

Coffee - Bungalow 4171

I have found my way to Bungalow 4171 a couple of times now and the coffee never disappoints. The first time was quite a while ago, and the one thing I remembered was the nice brownies that they had. So it was a little disappointing that they had run out of brownies on this day. But that was no big problem as they still had some great coffee from Genovese. A nice quiet little spot to stop if you are in Hawthorne and want to avoid the crowds elsewhere.

Tuesday, 24th April 2018

Jeppo’s Gelato

Location – 109 Bloomfield St, Cleveland QLD

Coffee – Dramanti

Coffee - Jeppo Gelato

Now one thing that I do like is when two of my favourite things get combined in some way. In this case, Jeppo Gelato brings together coffee and gelato. I do very much enjoy stopping by for a coffee which I believe comes from Dramanti Artisan Roaster. I am still to get a chance to try the gelato, I am just never in the area at the right time of day due to my choice of intermittent fasting.

Wednesday, 25th April 2018

Hello Garry

Location – 1a/112 Bennetts Road, Norman Park, QLD.

Coffee – Genovese

Coffee - Hello Garry, Norman Park

Hello Garry is a little spot that I have wanted to visit for some time, but getting there and finding a table at times has proved a challenge. The cafe itself is rather small with only a couple of tables inside and most of the tables situated on the footpath. Maybe I am just a little too picky about where I sit to get a photo to share with you. But finally got there on a quiet day and was able to enjoy a coffee with coffee from Genovese.

Thursday, 26th April 2018

jak + hill

Location – 40 Astor Terrace, Spring Hill, QLD

Coffee – Allpress

Coffee - jak + hill

It seems to be a common theme that the cafes I specifically want to visit often take me a couple of tries to get there. I had spotted jak + hill come up in a few different places and added it to my list of places to visit. But the first time I tried to visit just happened to be over the Christmas period on a day they were closed. I finally found a good day to get in and try the coffee and also got a sneaky brownie to enjoy.

Friday, 27th April 2018

Mi Casa Cafe

Location – 4/3245 Logan Rd, Underwood QLD

Coffee – Campos

Coffee - Mi Casa Cafe

In the past, I had visited the spot where Mi Casa Cafe is in search of another cafe. However, at that time the cafe that used to be here had closed and moved on. So I was somewhat happy to see that another cafe had opened in its place and stopped in to try the coffee. The cafe does have a nice look to it and they are also serving some great coffee from Campos. So if you are in the area near Underwood why not stop in for a look.

Saturday, 28th April 2018

Coffee Anthology

Location – 126 Margaret Street, Brisbane, QLD

Coffee – Maker Coffee + Rotating Blends & Single Origins from various roasters.

Coffee - Coffee Anthology

The Brisbane CBD is scattered with so many spots for good coffee that it is hard to know where to start. But I would say one of the best spots to start would be Coffee Anthology. If you enjoy coffee you will definitely enjoy a visit here. There are plenty of options for your coffee, made in a choice of different ways. They are not located exactly in the centre of the CBD but it is worth the time to venture down to Margaret Street to give them a go.

Sunday, 29th April 2018

Harvest Cafe

Location – Victoria Point Lakeside, 1 High St, Victoria Point QLD

Coffee – Merlo

Coffee - Harvest Cafe

Taking some time to stay local to home is a good option at times and Harvest is another local cafe for me. Harvest does often seem to be one of the more popular cafes in Victoria Point as well. Especially on a weekend morning, you can find the place jam-packed with people enjoying their coffee and breakfast. They are serving up Merlo coffee and while not on this day, they do have some nice brownies in the cabinet if you are so inclined.

Coffee

In the comments below, let me know how you take your coffee, weak or strong? Is this a choice or driven by other factors?

Announcments

Travel Explored Week 17 Round Up

Posted on April 29, 2018
Travel Explored Week 17 Round Up

When it comes to writing and travel they are something that I love to bring together. Over the years if you were to look back through the archives of this blog I have not always been able to do that consistently. There are many periods of time when I was not travelling and subsequently did not manage to write all that much.

Over the past three months even though I have not been travelling much, I have been trying to change that track record. Today as I publish this post it marks the 89th day in a row that I have published a post on this blog. I know that I will make 90-days as well because that post is ready to publish in the morning.

If there is one thing that I can say about this experience of publishing a post every day is that it can be challenging. There have definitely been times that I would have happily let it go, but in many ways, that is the easy way to give up. Even over the past two weeks I have contemplated and mentioned in these posts the idea of dropping back the posting. Something which I may still do, but at the same time, I would also like to see how far I can take this daily posting.

So let’s take a look at what has come up this week in the posts. There is the regular Monday coffee post to kick-start your week and maybe inspire you to head out and find some good coffee. I have tried to balance the rest of the week with some tips and some photo posts. I do always like to encourage you to share some thoughts with me either in the comments or via the contact page about what I am sharing. Do you feel that you enjoy what I share or is there something else you might like to see as well. So please feel free to let me know.

New Content

Monday 23rd April 2018
Coffee, Life In A Cup – Week 16, 2018

Coffee - The Anchorage Cafe

The coffee this week comes from an interesting range of cafes spread between Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Featured above is The Anchorage Café which is hidden away near Jacob’s Well, with Frigg Cafe also in there this week from the Gold Coast. There were a couple of Cafe’s in Redland City this week as well including Bean & Leaf at Redland Bay and Crusoes in Cleveland. To round out the week there was 3 Giraffes, Caffeination Station, and Pourboy.

Tuesday 24th April 2018
On This Day: Mooloolaba Beach Sunrise 2015

April 24th 2015 - Mooloolaba Beach Sunrise

I decided to trial a new type of post this week, where I share an image from the same date, but taken in a previous year. To kick this series off I found this beautiful sunrise that I captured on the 24th of April in 2015.

Wednesday 25th April 2018
Consider What You Wear On Travel Days

Consider What You Wear On Travel Days

For many of us when we travel the most difficult thing is fitting everything into the suitcase at times. However, with a little thought about what you wear when in transit you might be able to save a little space and/or weight in the suitcase. Whether it is wearing your heaviest pair of shoes or carrying your jacket instead of packing it in the suitcase.

Thursday 26th April 2018
The View From The Top Deck in San Diego

Point Loma - San Diego

I have been looking back recently at some of my photos from my travels. Especially looking for photos that I did not have a chance to share at the time or that I just did not have space to share at the time. Here is a stunning view from the top deck of the cruise ship as I was departing San Diego on my first ever cruise.

Friday 27th April 2018
What To Expect At The Airport When Travelling Overseas

What To Expect At The Airport When Travelling Overseas

Travelling overseas can be a challenging task, to begin with. But that first step is getting to the airport and through to board your plane. Sometimes having a little knowledge of what to expect can be a good thing to help you on the way.

Saturday 28th April 2018
A Sunrise In Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - Sunrise

Arriving into the port of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico as the first port of call on my first ever cruise. It is not a destination that I specifically would have selected to visit if not for the cruise. But in saying that it is a place that I am happy to have had a chance to visit and explore just a little.

What I am Reading

Phat Fudge Recipe

Here is one that is not only worth reading but also taking the time to try preparing a batch. It might not be for everyone, but it is a great option for a snack. The best option is to read about it on the page above, it might not be for everyone that it is something I am going to try some different things with.

Thank You

Thank you for taking the time to stop by for another week of content here at Travel Explored. I would love to hear your thoughts or suggestions in the comments below or drop me a message on the contact page.

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