Walkabout Gourmet Adventures

 

Darmaraland Namibia

Walkabout Gourmet News  European Autumn 2017

Dear Walkabout Walkers and Friends,

It's snowing in Provence! A definite sign that autumn is coming to an end and Christmas is just around the corner. I love this feeling of being cosy inside in front of a warming fireplace, reflecting on this last busy season and catching up on all the loose ends.

Newsletter Print Version - PDF

December 2017
Forcalquier under snow

A Place in Provence

 

We are happy to announce that our apartments Beatrice, Sancie and Eleonore will all have a "facelift" over winter and Blanche had some final finishing, including completion of the staircase with white polished concrete, which looks beautiful. In the making is also a new laundry. All apartments will be available again from the 15th of March 2018, ready for Spring in Provence.

Guided Walking HolidaysThis is an incredible apartment! From the charming courtyard, to the very clean and well equipped kitchen, to the warm welcome from Gabriella, this was the highlight of my trip to France. Forcalquier is very quaint and quiet village that has amazing natural beauty. The tips from Graeme and Gabriella were very helpful, and they gave me detailed instructions to find the highlights of the area. The best part is having your coffee or wine on the grape vine covered terrace. You will love this apartment and never want to leave!" 
Sarah from Chicago, USA [July 2017]

 

walking Provence Holiday Apartments | From March 15 2018

 

Forcalquier at Christmas

 walking tour Forcalquier Citadelle at Christmas

 

Our courtyard in the old Forcalquier

 walking tour Our apartments' courtyard

Cala Galdana Menorca

The Balearic Hidden Gem


Gabriela and Nastassja have just returned from their reconnaissance in Menorca and were enchanted by this beautiful island, continue reading what they discovered...

Guided Walking HolidaysWe didn't know quite what to expect while adventuring onto foreign ground, and had no idea about its wonderful diverse corners, but during our week of exploring this delightful Spanish island, we kept falling further and deeper into its wild and wonderful charm! Being off season was an absolute blessing and we could really connect with the natural and local aspect of the island. Our days were greeted by the warmth of the sun and the down to earth vibes of the local community made us feel right at home. We decided to base ourselves in the historical center of Ciutadella - a peaceful port town with meandering medieval streets - full of magic and character. Our boutique hotel "Tres Sants" is set in a magnificent multi levelled 18th century mansion and tastefully decorated with artistic touches around every corner. Not to mention the local sweet treats, wonderful music spa facilities and a rooftop terrace, overlooking the old town were great additions to make it a pleasure to come back each evening! We immediately spotted our new favourite morning coffee "Bar Imperi", which had a friendly local vibe with great cappuccino and delicious homemade Menorcan sandwiches and amazing sweets, such as the famous "ensaimadadas" (a light flaky pastry that soon became a morning necessity!). Our days were filled with the unknown! It is always such an adventure to explore a new part of the world and to slowly uncover all its secrets. Our first day greeted us to a warm 21° which was a pure blessing in mid November! We decided to follow a section of the "Camí de Cavalls" an ancient path of 186km that encircles the entire island... Read more
Nastassja Clarke [November 2017]

walking  Jewels of the Balearic Islands | Next departure from Palma: April 27 2018

Lighthouse of Point Nati Menorca

 walking tour Lighthouse of Point Nati Menorca

 

Es Grau Menorca, Spain

 walking tour Es Grau Menorca, Spain

 

Cami de Cavalls Menorca

 walking tour Point Niti Menorca, Spain

Dune 45 Sossusvlei Namib Desert Namibia

Surprised by Namibia


Meanwhile Graeme and Serjosha have finished the African Walkabout and had a wonderful journey with their group. Here are some impressions from David who was one of the guests…

Guided Walking HolidaysGreat trip. Surprised, especially by Namibia. Vast deserts, long roads, few people. And the animals! Really well looked after, realising how long some of the days were. Everyone remained calm even after hours of corrugations, dust and desert. Dry river beds. Startling horizons and outstanding sunsets. People seemed at least happy and yet there was no doubt they were poor in our terms." 
David from Sydney, NSW, Australia [2017]


Serjosha Clarke who joined Graeme on this tour as the official photographer took all the photos. Our next African Walkabout will start on the 15th October in 2018 and we have made some changes to the itinerary for next year.

We shall begin the tour in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, which guests can fly to from Cape Town or Johannesburg. This beautiful country has some of the best wildlife viewing opportunities in Africa so we are excited to be able to spend more time here in the future.

We have also found some wonderful new lodges so after a day of game drives you can truly relax and enjoy the comfort and delicious food that these new lodges offer.

 

 

walking  African Walkabout | Next dep. from Windhoek, Namibia Oct. 15 2018 [21 days]

 

Surprises in Namibia

 walking tour Surprises in Namibia

 

Etosha National Park Namibia

walking tour Etosha National Park Namibia

Safari Etosha National Park Namibia

walking tour Safari Etosha National Park Namibia

Information Evenings 2018

We are coming to you, save the date!



Information Evenings are back in February & March 2018

Starting in February through to March we begin our annual Information Evenings in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.

Our presentation will include a 30-minute video showing you a typical day on a Walkabout Holiday. We shall then introduce our range of tours for our 2018 season and then guests will have time to ask questions. Afterwards we shall offer drinks and aperitifs - this is an opportunity for guests who haven't travelled with us before to talk with us privately or more importantly chat with other guests who have previously travelled with us.

As nibbles and refreshments will be served and seats limited,
please register your attendance below and feel free to bring along any friends who you think may be interested in our Walking Holidays.

QLD Customs House Brisbane Mon. 12 February 2018 | 6.30 pm
Customs House, BRISBANE

Eventbrite - Walking Holidays for Food & Wine lovers | Brisbane Evening | 2018
NSW Royal Automobile Club of Australia Tue. 13 February 2018 | 6.30 pm
RACA, SYDNEY

Eventbrite - Walking Holidays for Food & Wine lovers | Sydney Evening | 2018
ACT Hotel Realm Thu. 15 February 2018 | 6.30 pm
Hotel Realm, BARTON

Eventbrite - Walking Holidays for Food & Wine lovers | Canberra Evening | 2018
VIC RACV City Club Mon. 19 February 2018 | 6.30 pm
RACV City Club, MELBOURNE

Eventbrite - Walking Holidays for Food & Wine lovers | Melbourne Evening | 2018
SA Adelaide Mayfair Hotel Tue. 20 February 2018 | 6.30 pm
Mayfair Hotel, ADELAIDE

Eventbrite - Walking Holidays for Food & Wine lovers | Melbourne Evening | 2018
WA Adelaide Mayfair Hotel Wed. 14 March 2018 | 6.30 pm
Hyatt Regency, PERTH

Eventbrite - Walking Holidays for Food & Wine lovers | Perth Evening | 2018

 

Tongue Point Wilson's Promontory

Closing the season in Australia



Graeme has finished his long season with his favourite walks in the Grampians, Great Ocean Road and Wilson's Promontory. Here is his news…

Grampians, Great Ocean Road

Once again we enjoyed beautiful weather for our tour in the Grampians and the Great Ocean walk.

There were lots of lovely wildflowers still out in the Grampians and our walks to the Pinnacle and Mt Stapleton region in the North were outstanding. Along the Great Ocean Walk we enjoyed the rugged coastal scenery around Port Campbell and one of the nicest sections was the walk beside the coast from Apollo Bay towards Cape Otway.

On our final night we savoured both the view and the delicious food prepared at Chris's tree top restaurant at Beacon Point.

walking  The Grampians & the Great Ocean Coastal Trail | Next walk: Nov. 17 2018


Wilson's Promontory

Our final tour of the season was our Explore Wilsons Promontory - as always it never disappoints! It is certainly one of the most beautiful places in the world.

It is hard to imagine that you can have such pristine beaches all to yourself - the combination of breath taking coastal scenery and cool temperate rainforests, which grow right to the coast is quite unique. One of the highlights was the discovery of Fairy Cove at low tide on our last walk!

Each evening we returned to the comfort of our beautiful accommodation overlooking the coast near Walkerville where Juneen would spoil us with her delicious and healthy dinners.


walking  Explore Wilson's Promontory | Next walk: November 26 2018

Koala Wilsons Promontory

 walking tour Koala, Wilsons Promontory

 

Lavender Fields near Aurel Provence France

 walking tour 12 Apostles, Great Ocean Road

 

The Pinnacle Grampians

 walking tour The Pinnacle Grampians NP

Goddafoss Iceland

Availability for Iceland 2018


Just a little update on our Iceland Explorer and some good news to let you know that we have now some places available on the tour, starting 10th August next year, and the same dates will also apply in 2019.

Please contact us for further details if you are interested.

Guided Walking HolidaysIceland is full of amazing landscapes - thundering waterfalls, steaming (and stinking) geothermal areas, tiny communities sandwiched between cliffs and fjords, beautiful glaciers and more. We loved the hikes over ridges and down green misty valleys, alongside old lava flows and through 'Game of Thrones territory'. And puffins are impossibly cute! It was great to hike again with Graeme and Pascal and the local guides who joined us were also terrific. Another first class experience with Walkabout."
Jane from Canberra ACT, Australia [2017]


Guided Walking HolidaysThis was an excellent round trip of Iceland, with experiences of the vast grasslands, lava and volcanic areas, impressive waterfalls, ice and the beautiful coastline. Plus we had the unexpected bonus of the Northern Lights twice. Staying in quaint little towns, such as Siglufjordur and Seydisfjordur was fantastic. The walks were very good, particularly over the pass from Siglufjordur on a glorious sunny day. The local guides were excellent and their local knowledge, including the folk-lore greatly enhanced the joy and value of the trip."
Graeme from Shepparton VIC, Australia [2017]


walking  Iceland Explorer | Next dep. from Reykjavik: July 27 and Aug 10 2018 [14 days]

Leirhnjukur volcanic fields

 walking tour Leirhnjukur volcanic fields

 

Krafla volcanic field

 walking tour Krafla volcanic field

 

Namafjall geothermal area

 walking tour Namafjall geothermal area

 

The Goddafoss, Iceland

 walking tour The Goddafoss, Iceland

Namafjall geothermal area Iceland

In brief...


Upcoming 2018 Brochure

The brochure is finished and will be mailed to you this week. This is once again much later than we would have liked but we think the delay was well worth it because not only have the apartments gone through some changes but the brochure as well!

You will receive it shortly and we hope you will like this fresh approach of our new 2018 brochure.

2017 Tour Videos

Gilles has been busy copying all the videos and we are happy to say they are all ready to be sent in the next few days to reach those guests who have travelled with Gilles or Gabriela in 2017.

Serendipity House at Byron Bay

Now that the most urgent work is out of the way, Gabriela and Nastassja are also looking forward to their approaching journey to Australia where they shall join Graeme and Serjosha, spending some time together in their holiday rental at Byron Bay for a well earned rest before the next season.

walking Serendipity House in Byron Bay - from March 15 2018

2018 Brochure

 walking tour Preview of our 2018 Brochure

 

Cape Byron Lighthouse

 walking tour Cape Byron Lighthouse

Food and Wine Festivals Australia

Upcoming Festivals for Foodies


There are plenty of events in Australia from Food & Fine Wine Festivals to Gastronomy Expos throughout the year. These Events bring together Australian and world-renowned winemakers, chefs and industry insiders to entertain, educate and inspire, you may also visit farm gates and cellar doors, meet with local producers, attend degustation dinners, taste regional products or even attend cooking classes! We have put a list of local and overseas gourmet events together, here is what's coming near you:

Australian events


welcome 28/12

The Taste of Tasmania [7 days]

Hobart, TAS
welcome 12/01

So Frenchy So Chic in the Park [1 day]

Adelaide, SA
welcome 14/01

So Frenchy So Chic in the Park [1 day]

Werribee, VIC
welcome 20/01

So Frenchy So Chic in the Park [1 day]

Camperdown, NSW
welcome 26/01

Crush Adelaide Hills W&F Festival [2 days]

Lobethal, SA


Overseas events

 

welcome 26/01

The France Show Food & Wine [3 days]

London, UK


See all Gourmet events for 2018



If you haven't had a chance to do it yet, please tell us your thoughts, memories of little details that made your day and your personal highlights by signing our guestbook so we can continually improve our services for you.

After a busy season, we will all take a well-earned rest over our winter and look forward to meeting with you again in February or March for the Australians Information Evenings.

Until our next newsletter or our next walk with you somewhere around the globe, we wish you a Peaceful Christmas Time!

Gabriela, Graeme and the WGA team

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PS: Remember that you can follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Taste of Melbourne

 walking tour Taste of Tasmania


The France Show Food & Wine

 walking tour French Show Food Wine, London


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