I was extremely excited to be heading up to Far North Queensland to dive the Great Barrier Reef again. It was on bucket list as done, but if you don’t write a blog post about it, it didn’t really happen, right? Plus, it had been about eight years since I’d last been to the Reef and […]
Barcelona in the Summer
For my partner’s birthday I decided I’d take him to Barcelona in the Summer. I love giving holidays as gifts, because I get to go too! Although I live in Oslo and it’s summer there as well, I was excited to feel the heat that only 30 degrees can give you. I hadn’t realised I’d […]
Cross-country skiing or should I say falling
There’s a definite change in the air when Easter arrives in Norway. You get the feeling that the long dark winter is over, the sun begins to shine and everyone emerges from their homes to enjoy the outdoors. Time to try cross-country skiing! Although it was a fairly early Easter this year, the sun sure […]
Snowboarding in Norway
What’s the point of spending a winter in Europe if you’re not going to go skiing. There’s a reason I hoofed my snowboard all the way from Australia – I was super excited about my first trip to go snowboarding in Norway. Finally I got the chance to carve up some of that white powdery […]
Walking the Cinque Terre, Italy
It was a clear and sunny day in August, perfect for walking the Cinque Terre trail. We had been staying at a friend’s family’s place, a vineyard called Buranco in Monterosso. To start the day, we had breakfast in the vineyard. What a beautiful landscape to wake up to. From the mountains, we headed down […]
Bucket List #4: Hike to Everest Base Camp
Something I’ve been wanting to do since I was a teenager was to hike to Everest Base camp before I was 30. I’m happy to say, that two months before my 30th birthday, along with five of my friends, made it. Most of us shared the same level of excitement, but by far, I was the […]
Bucket List #77: Cycle Through Vietnam
In an adventurous 2006, a good friend of mine and I decided to cycle through Vietnam. The tour took us basically from top to bottom. We cycled around 550km of the route, the whole experience was an eye-opener into another culture. This was a typical day: Wake up early Have a big brekkie Ride for […]
Bucket List #69: Go to the Top of the Eiffel Tower
Paris in the summer – what a beautiful place to be. This was my first visit back in 2010 as part of our little European adventure. We were only there for a long weekend, but saw quite a lot of what the “City of Love” has to offer. First up, go to the top of […]
Bucket List #62: Drink Champagne in the Champagne Region
We had a couple of days in Paris one summer. It was our first trip to France and we couldn’t resist the urge to head into the countryside. So booked a TGV fast train to Reims. The aim: to drink champagne in the Champagne Region. One of many items on my bucket list. I booked […]
Paris in the Summertime
While September is technically not summer, with the magnificent weather, I was happy to say it felt like Paris in the summertime. We checked in to the hotel (La Manufacture) in the Latin Quarter early on Thursday morning. While waiting for our room, decided to explore the “Leftbank”. Full of cafés and boutique stores.Then on to the […]
A night in Berlin
What to do when you have spare time? Find a last minute flight and spend a night in Berlin! At 8.30am we were at The Circus Hotel, a really fun and central place who put a lot of thought into their guests stay. The reviews were pretty good and had mentioned how friendly the staff […]
Bucket List #42: Skiing in the Alps
Since moving to Norway I’ve decided to take up snowboarding again. I had my first run down the slopes in January 2013, which is about eight years since the last time I strapped in to my board. When the opportunity to go skiing in the Alps in Austria, I was really pumped. We flew into […]
A rainy weekend in Prague
Taking advantage of some cheap flights, we headed off for a weekend in Prague. Up until recently, Prague had always been warmer than Oslo. But, as (bad) luck would have it, we arrived to a top of 13 degrees and rain. At one point it was just 6 degrees. I did not pack for that […]
A visit to the Czech Beer Festival
As with most trips, I like to see what’s happening in the city. so I don’t miss out on something really cool. On my recent trip to Prague, I’d read that the Český Pivní Festival aka Czech Beer Festival was on. While I don’t usually drink a lot of beer myself, the Czech Republic is known for […]
First day of summer in Oslo at Musikkfest
It was the first of June, the day Oslo hosts Musikkfest. The sun was shining and even better, the temperature got above 20 degrees, which, as an Aussie living in Oslo, I was really happy about. I didn’t realise how much I had missed the warmth of the sun. What better way to enjoy the […]
Beers, Beaches and Vineyards, Perth
Over the years, I had seen a lot of Australia but never ventured over to the West Side (feel free to pronounce that “west siiieeeede!”, I know I just did). Only when I started to date a Norwegian did I put the plan in place to visit. People are surprised at how big Australia is. […]
Hello world!
Welcome to Planet Lew! I’m updating my website, so bear with me and soon you’ll see a great new site.
A Vineyard in Cinque Terre, Italy
A few hours on the train and we had left the city of Milan behind, through the Italian countryside and arrived in Monterosso – the biggest village in the Cinque Terre. We were greeted by a friend from work’s sister, Melina, who now lives in Monterosso and her in-laws own a vineyard in Cinque Terre, […]
I heart NY
Nothing like a historic blizzard to delay your travel plans. But we finally arrived a day and a half later. Note: be prepared for 20 questions at every step of the way when flying in to the U.S. But at the end of the day, it’s still a city that makes you say “I heart […]
A Snowy Australia Day
In a year of firsts, I hosted an Australia Day BBQ indoors, as it was -17 and snowing outside. But that didn’t stop me putting on a good Aussie spread: sausage rolls, mini party pies, potato salad, coleslaw, sausage sandwiches with grilled onions and for dessert… lamination cake and mini Pavs. Yum! Trying to make […]
Manta Rays, Moray Eels and More in Similan Islands
I’ve been lucky to be a qualified SCUBA diver for half my life. Most of my dives have been along the East Coast of Australia. In 2007 I first visited Koh Tao and enjoyed a couple of dives while my partner finished his Advanced Course. But it wasn’t until 2010 did I hit the jackpot […]
Celebrating Norway’s National Day, 17th May
I’ve celebrated Norway’s national day or “syttende mai” (17th May) in Sydney with a few hundred Norwegians before, but in 2013 I celebrated in the capital of Norway with many, many thousands of Norwegians. Originally I thought Norway’s national day was a type of Independence Day, but it’s actually their Constitution Day. On the […]
Norwegian Ice Sliding
It’s Spring in Norway and the snow has begun to melt. The temperatures are still below zero during the night and a morning stroll for a foreigner means having to confront the Norwegian ice. I moved to Oslo, Norway in August 2012. An opportunity to live overseas (which happened to be on the top of […]
Cycling Around Amsterdam
As a birthday present I flew to Amsterdam for the weekend (lucky me!). Some friends live there and were kind enough to let us stay in their apartment while they were traveling about. So basically, a really cheap weekend for me. The first thing we did was jump on a bike and start cycling. I […]