If you want to be down with the kids, Williamsburg in Brooklyn is where it's at.

Bedford Avenue, the epicenter, is accessible from Manhattan on the L subway line, or the ‘Hipster Line’ as it’s sometimes known (cringe).

It’s where New York’s art/music types congregate with the fashion victims and try-hards; if you intend to fit in, make sure you’re wearing a lumberjack shirt and thick-rimmed glasses. Or alternatively, a fedora and peyot – Williamsburg has a sizeable Hasidic Jewish community

If you’re looking for some tucker, avoid SEA on N 6th - it’s the worst Thai restaurant I’ve ever been to. Right across the street is the Sweetwater Tavern (105 N 6th St) - a pub-style affair with a mahogany bar, Guinness on-tap and good bistro food (the eggs benedict is delicious), all reasonably priced.

In fact, N 6th St is probably my favourite part of this district. Head east down this slightly barren, industrial urban chic street towards the river, and you’ll find multi-coloured spandex emporium American Apparel, a nifty indoor thrift market, a couple of pricey clothes boutiques selling local designers’ wares (the mark-downs during sale time are well worth stopping by for though), art spaces, and a gorgeous antique furniture store called Golden Calf. You’ll also find Williamsburg Music Hall and some great street art down here.

Two things you should know about Williamsburg before visiting:
1) it’s the home of Peaches Geldof
2) it’s ‘the most toxic place to live in America’, due to its higher-than-average incidence of cancer

I’ll leave it to you to decide which is worse...

Subway: L line (Bedford Ave station)

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Head to Russ & Daughters (179 E. Houston St) for a true taste of New York. This historical deli, which specialises in bagels, cream cheese, caviar, smoked salmon and pickled herring, was opened on the Lower East Side by Jewish immigrants 95 years ago and it’s been in the Russ family ever since. It’s a downtown institution with the feel of a friendly, family-run, neighbourhood deli.

Be sure to try the Schmear (a made on site bagel with a choice of cream cheeses – I recommend the chive), for around $2.50, or the Classic (smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel – voted the best bagel in NYC by New York Magazine, and deservedly so), which is around $8-$9 and wash them down with deli favourites – a cup of cwawffee, a New York egg cream or a Dr Brown’s soda.

179 East Houston Street, New York, NY 10002

T (212) 475.4880
www.russanddaughters.com

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The Great Ocean Road, or the B100 to give it its official and less romantic name, is a 151-mile stretch of coastal highway between Torquay and Warnambool in Victoria, Australia. Hire your preferred mode of road trip transport in Melbourne and allow at least three days to do it justice.

The vividly picturesque route snakes around sheer cliffs and bypasses sandy beaches, including Bells Beach made famous in the film Point Break (although the Bells Beach scenes were actually shot in Hawaii). If you want to surf, Bells’ neighbour, the fabulously named Winkipop Beach, has better waves according to a local in a wetsuit.

The Great Ocean Road does exactly what it says on the tin; but don’t be fooled by the name – it’s not all sea views, beaches and cute seaside towns (of which Lorne is the nicest, so base yourself there if you’re looking for a place to stay), parts of the route head inland where you’ll drive through rainforests, past waterfalls and over green hills covered in sheep.

The main tourist spots on the route are situated at Port Campbell National Park – home to the majestic Twelve Apostles and other rock formations formed by years of sea erosion. You can also take the Gibson Steps down to a secluded beach and visit the graveyard at Loch Ard Gorge, which houses the victims of a 19th Century shipwreck. All well worth a pitstop.

Another highlight is the straight-out-of-a-storybook lighthouse at Aireys Inlet where 1980s kids’ TV series Round The Twist was set. Don’t let the resident cockatoos pilfer your cream tea though!

But the real magic of the B100 is its population of non-human inhabitants. It’s the perfect setting to spot some of Australia’s native wildlife, without having to go to a zoo. If you head to the Golf Club in Anglesea in the late afternoon/early evening, you’ll be privy to the sight of hundreds of kangaroos feeding on the greens. But don’t get too near, unless you want to be growled at! Koalas can be found in the Great Otway National Park forest area. Your best bet is to take a quiet side road and look up – you’ll see lots of white, fluffy bottoms in the gumtrees. If birds of paradise are your thing, stop for tea at the café in Blackwood Gully where you’ll be treated to raibow-coloured parrots flit ting around the gorgeous landscaped garden. Whale watching is also possible between June and October.

Great Ocean Road (B100)
btwn Torquay and Warnambool
VIC, Australia

www.greatoceanrd.org.au

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