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“Karin Rae Matthee’s jewelry line Dear Rae is often a simple play on basic geometric shapes. Her delicate rings and necklaces went on display at local markets like the weekly Neighbourgoods Market and drew attention. She next exhibited at Design Indaba, one of South Africa’s premier trade shows for creatives. Her business has grown into a showroom/studio in Woodstock at The Foundry. For timeless charming pieces or a bespoke design, you’ll want to seek out her stand at the market or visit her showroom while you’re in Cape Town.

What started in 2002 as a little café tucked into a Newtown laneway, Campos has become one of the biggest household names in Australian specialty coffee. The company’s success stems from its simple but ambitious mission: to buy, roast and serve the finest quality coffee. Today, the Campos menu rotates more than 10 direct-trade coffee varieties grown in nine regions around the world. The café continues to experiment with beans, machines, and barista techniques to maintain its order pace of hundreds of coffees per hour. Now operating in Queensland and Melbourne as well as Sydney, Campos has recently introduced cupping classes Thursday through Saturday held in a dark upstairs lounge above the Newtown location. Customers pay $30 to compare five coffee varieties from different regions and learn the different processing and preparation styles. Sydney’s newest Campos café in the Alexandria neighborhood features a siphon bar that only serves select single origin coffees.

Me Wah is considered one of the best Asian restaurants in Australia, and lucky for travelers there’s a location in Launceston as well as in Hobart. The cuisine is Cantonese-Australian fusion—think prawn chow mein, lamb pancakes, ginger scallops served in the shell, trevalla dumplings, and fried ice cream. Diners can also find specialties that are quintessentially Tasmanian such as deep-fried Bruny Island oysters. Banquet options and modern desserts add to the exquisite setting (that’s what me wah means in Chinese). The ambience is old-school with impeccable service to match. Savor the smiles; you’ll never see this many at an Australian restaurant again.

A little gem of a store located on a cobbled brick side street in Ballard, Horseshoe has a fun, casual hipster-boho-chic aesthetic and beautiful clothes and jewelry, whether you’re shopping for a professional work look or a wedding outfit. Their flattering clothes feature graphic prints, bold colors, and edgy, asymmetrical details, and if you’re feeling spendy, you can top off your look with timeless Frye western boots or a beautifully worn-looking leather tote. Want to represent your home state? They also carry Kris Nations’ charming state-name necklaces in gold and silver — a thoughtful present for a friend.

I happened upon this moment at a night market in Jaipur, India, which has some of the best shopping for beaded crafts, jewelry, ceramics, carpets and textiles. This jewelry stand in Johari Bazaar was crowded with women interested in the necklaces, bracelets, and trinkets on offer in abundance. Markets all over India are fascinating, colorful places and provide a great sense of nearly every aspect of the culture, whether it be the degree of religious devotion, the styles of dress and adornment, or the delicious gastronomy. Soak it all in, but give yourself plenty of time....

Two of Tasmania’s most abundant wine regions ripen within a 20-minute drive from Hobart. With a similar latitude to the famous wine regions of France and Germany, the Derwent and Cole valleys produce wines more like those of Europe than mainland Australia. Sip a wide range at such wineries as Stefano Lubiana Wines—the first Tasmanian winery to achieve biodynamic certification—and Frogmore Creek, a pioneer of organic wine and artistic cuisine. There’s also hand-pumped beer (try one of the seasonal sours) and cider at the Two Metre Tall Farm Bar Wednesday through Friday and on Sunday afternoons; award-winning whiskeys at Sullivans Cove; and probably the best paddock-to-plate dining in all of Tasmania at the Agrarian Kitchen Eatery.

I had one goal for the trip to Australia: hugging a koala. This was a little more difficult than you might think; it’s only legal in Queensland province, and there are strict rules about how long the koalas can work per day and how much rest they’re permitted away from the affectionate public. My dream came true in Brisbane’s Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, which has 130+ koalas as well as kangaroos, wallabys, wombats, platypus, Tasmanian devils, kookaburras, and many other exotic (to us) animals. Presentations and demonstrations happen all day long, but don’t forget to set aside a few minutes for the extremely popular koala-hug photos. My koala was a smallish, woolly female who rested comfortably against my chest and calmly looked at the camera like a true pro. Lone Pine is absolutely a must-do day trip if you’re in Brisbane — as the Aussies say, you can’t go past it!

No beer company has left more of an impact on Australia than XXXX, established as Castlemaine Perkins Brewery in 1878. Since then they’ve become a national icon, creating some of the most clever advertisements. You can visit their Brisbane brewery, where all of their selections are made before ending the tour in the Ale House. In addition to their famous XXXX Gold, try the XXXX Summer Ale and XXXX Bitter, as well as more craft selections from James Squire.

Brewery tours at XXXX are 90 minutes long and end with a beer tasting with four beers. The brewery recommends visitors make an advanced reservation, due to COVID safety measures. The tour costs $32 AUD per adult and are available Friday, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Silo is one of the newest coffee spots in Berlin, opened by two Australians. The atmosphere inside is one of the best (and most spacious) and their beans are among Berlin‘s finest. Filter coffee specials and blends are among the most popular choices.

South Mumbai’s 3.5-kilometer-long (2.1-mile-long) waterfront promenade is a popular spot for walking and jogging. Flanked by palm trees and the Arabian Sea on one side and Art Deco buildings on the other, the busy road culminates at its northern end in Chowpatty Beach, famous for its bazaars, fairground rides and food stalls. The best time to walk the boulevard is at sunset, when the twinkling streetlights resemble a string of pearls, giving the promenade its nickname: the Queen’s Necklace.

Gallery director Adrian Newstead sources bark paintings, sculptures, and ceremonial artifacts from Aboriginal artists throughout Australia and curates works for local and international shows.

A region of dramatic mountain peaks, ancient rain forest, deep river valleys, and spectacular gorges, this park is most famous for the pristine rivers that twist their way through the wilderness. The Franklin River itself has become synonymous with Australia’s largest conservation battle—a fight that lasted from the 1960s into the ‘80s to save the Franklin from a proposed hydroelectric dam and power plant, which would have flooded several natural features and lakes. The legendary waterway, which Outside named one of the world’s best white-water journeys on earth, was the impetus for the establishment of the Wilderness Society as well as the Green Party (both founded by Tasmanian conservationist Bob Brown) and continues to inspire awe and action among locals and travelers today.

One of the most stunning natural sites in Tasmania, the Freycinet Peninsula is most famous for a short but steep hike to the perfect white-and-turquoise horseshoe beach known as Wineglass Bay. It’s hard to believe the name comes from a gruesome whaling history that once dyed the bay the shade of red wine. Travelers on an expedition with Freycinet Adventures can kayak the electric-blue waters of Coles Bay and stay in a private camp on secluded Hazards Beach, where they’ll wake up to views of the rocky shoreline, sheathed in orange lichen, and the zigzagging Hazard Mountains, circled by sea eagles. No trip to the Freycinet Peninsula is complete without freshly shucked oysters from the Freycinet Marine Farm.

Parreirinha is a favourite amongst Portuguese South Africans living in Johannesburg and serves some of the best seafood around! A small, former jail is the home of the restaurant, which makes use of one of the jail cells as one of the dining rooms. As you walk into the restaurant you’re welcomed with a tavern like ambiance and entering the court yard you’re treated to a sea of neck ties hanging from the rafters... remnants of an old tradition that required patrons to leave their ties behind. The tradition no longer applies these days as there’s simply no more space, but if you feel like you want to leave a tie behind as a sign that you’d been there, then they’ll gladly take it off your neck! The food at Parreirinha is quite simply amazing! Heck, even the Protuguese bread rolls are divine! On this occasion I shared a Seafood kebab, meant for one, with my friend and we were both definitely full as the last scraps made their way into our bellies. If you’re stuck on something to choose, I’d highly recommend something with prawn. The prawns are great! If you’re not looking for a meal, you can always take up a spot at the bar and enjoy the drinks on offer.

Travelers should visit Taronga Zoo as much for its harbor views as for the 4,000 resident animals (who get to see them all day long). Ferry 15 minutes from Circular Quay and take an optional Sky Safari cable car, included in the ticket price, and you’re in an exotic land of giraffes, elephants, and bongos as well as native echidnas, wombats, and Tasmanian devils. Wildlife tours, zookeeper talks (including impressive bird shows), and special events such as the Twilight at Taronga summer concert series are on the calendar, and a tented camp accommodates overnight guests who help feed select animals before a sunset dinner set against the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Tent cabins feature decks that lure campers out of bed for sunrise.