About Briar
Briar Jensen is a Sydney-based freelance travel writer. Her blog covers travel tips, reviews, insights and inspiration, travel accessories and gadgets.
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Love this sculpture called Waitukei, by Lyonel Grant in the Government Gardens @rotoruanz depicting the melding of Maori and European cultures. The male and female figures took over two years to craft from bronze. @purenewzealand @escapesnaps #rotoruanzMud volcanoes, sulphur pools, boiling water, bubbling mud and spitting lakes @hellsgatenz in @rotoruanz has it all. It’s not surprising it is named #hellsgate and it’s important to stay on the path. However, you can experience the ‘health-giving’ mud and healing waters at their Mud Spa. #rotoruanz #geothermal #astw_inc @escapesnapsWhen you fly to White Island, New Zealand with @volcanicairnz for an extra $100 you can include a stop on Mt Tarawera too. This mountain was split open in the 1886 eruption, leaving gaping wounds in the harsh, dry mountain top. Barren and beautiful, it is pretty windy up there! @rotoruanz #rotoruanz #mttaraweraWhite Island, off shore from New Zealand’s North Island, is an active volcano (apparently there were 183 earthquakes recorded in a 24 hour period last week) that you can visit by air or sea. Today I flew out to #whiteislandnz from #rotoruanz with @volcanicairnz in a helicopter. We landed on the island and spent about an hour wandering around the stark sulphur encrusted landscape and steaming crater lake. What an incredible trip, and remarkable topography. #activevolcano @rotoruanz @purenewzealand @escapesnaps #astw_incZip lining guides have a knack of pushing your boundaries. Here I am before the gorgeous girls at @rotoruacanopytours had me plunging backwards off this platform to zip backwards through the forest! (I look way calmer than I felt.) What I love about this tour is the conservation aspect. Between zipping through the trees they teach you about the forest and the native birds, along with their pest eradication program. An exhilarating and educational few hours. @escapesnaps @rotoruanz @purenewzealandWhat is this? Looks a bit like a flying saucer from a Sci-fi movie. But it is one of many art installations st @treewalknz in #rotoruanz Nightlights light up the redwoods for a magical experience in the forest after dark. If you don’t like heights, it’s a good time to visit, as you can’t see how high the suspended walkways are above the ground! @rotoruanz @escapesnaps #treewalknz- My Tweets
Category Archives: Hawkesbury
Do Sydney’s Great North Walk one leg at a time
Fancy tackling the Great North Walk from Sydney to Newcastle, but don’t have the time to do the full 260km in one thru-hike and/or a bit nervous of getting lost along the way? That’s exactly how I felt. Billed as Australia’s … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Events, Great North Walk, Hawkesbury, National Parks, New South Wales, Travel, Walking
Tagged Day hikes, day walks Sydney, Great North Walk, national parks
5 Comments
Postcard of the week – Hawkesbury
I was eagerly anticipating the television mini-series of Kate Grenville’s bestselling novel The Secret River, a story of conflict between the First Australians and early European settlers, which recently aired on the ABC, both to see how the story played out … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Hawkesbury, National Parks, Postcards, Sydney, Travel
Tagged Australia, Cowan Water, Hawkesbury, Hawkesbury River, Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, sydney
2 Comments
Gift an experience: 10 Sydney experiences to inspire, excite and thrill
Can’t think of a gift for that special someone? Then give them an experience they will remember long after the Christmas tree has dropped its needles. Here are ten Sydney experiences for the grandkids to the grandparents, the adventure-lovers to … Continue reading
Posted in Adventure, Animals, Australia, Hawkesbury, New South Wales, Segway, Sydney, Travel, Travel Accessories & Gadgets
Tagged animal parks, family fun, Hawkesbury, jet boating, sailing, Segway, sydney, travel
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Sandstorm of Fairytales & Fables in Windsor
The Pied Piper of Hamelin, Narcissus, Gollum, Icarus and other fabled creatures have come to life under the shady jacarandas, oaks and pepper trees on the banks of the Hawkesbury River at Windsor, in Sydney’s northwest, for the 2nd Hawkesbury … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Hawkesbury, Sydney, Travel
Tagged family fun, Hawkesbury, sand sculpting
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Ballooning in the mist
It might be the middle of winter, but getting up early and rugging up for a hot air balloon flight has its rewards as my son and I found out this morning on a flight over the Hawkesbury Valley with … Continue reading
Posted in Adventure, Hawkesbury, Sydney, Travel
Tagged family fun, Hawkesbury, sydney, travel
4 Comments
Pick me! Bite me! (Hawkesbury Farm Gate Trail)
‘Bite Me!’ screams the shiny red gala as I pluck it from the tree. I oblige, crunching into the crisp white flesh, juice dribbling down my chin. The flavour is far sweater and fresher than any store-bought apple I’ve tasted recently, … Continue reading
Posted in Food & Wine, Hawkesbury, Travel
Tagged Farmgate, Food and Wine, Hawkesbury, travel
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Sleeping with pioneers
I love it when people are passionate about what they do, and there are plenty of passionate people in the tourism industry. But there are some people whose personal commitment outshines others and Joyce Stepto is one of them. For a start, she … Continue reading
Posted in Accommodation, Hawkesbury, Travel
Tagged accommodation, Bed and Breakfast, cancer, Hawkesbury, travel
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