About Briar
Briar Jensen is a Sydney-based freelance travel writer. Her blog covers travel tips, reviews, insights and inspiration, travel accessories and gadgets.
Follow me
- Follow Briar's Travel Beat on WordPress.com
Subscribe
-
Recent Posts
Top Posts & Pages
-
Instagram - BriarsTravelBeat
I love a hotel with character and the eclectic @so_auckland has it in spades. Ritzy communal spaces, comfortably elegant suites, a cheeky sense of style thanks to collaboration with @worldbrandinnz and genuinely cheery and engaging staff. A hip luxury Kiwi hotel. My story in the latest issue of @signatureluxurytravel (swipe left). #soauckland #signatureluxurytravel #hotelreview #nzmustdoHow good is this Cape York sunset? Taken from my accommodation at @capeyorklodge in Bamaga, the best quality accommodation option close to The Tip, the northernmost point of mainland Australia. And the great thing is, it is owned and operated by Bamaga Enterprises, which is a social enterprise that supports the community, so you know your dollars are staying within the community. #capeyork #bamaga #sunset_pics #exploretnqPearl farms always seem to be in picturesque locations, and this one is a stunner. Located on tiny Roko Island in the Torres Strait, they will pick you up from Seisia or Pundsand Bay on the tip of Cape York and transfer you to the island (a 20-minute boat ride) for a lesson on pearl production. The business is family owned and son Jason, a pearl technician, demonstrates how the pearls are cultivated, before giving us a sample of pearl meat (seasoned with salt and pepper). They also offer overnight accommodation in a couple of glamping tents, and who wouldn’t want to stay here with this view? Pity I was only on the day tour. @rokoisland @tropicalnorthqueensland #rokoislandpearlfarm #pearlfarm #capeyork #capeyorkpeninsula #islandvibesThere are always extra special moments in travel, and reaching the Tip of Cape York, the northernmost point of the Australian continent today was one of them. Thanks to @capeyorklodge for the tour from #bamaga to the tip, where you have the Arafura Sea on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other and the Torres Strait in front. #thetip #exploretnq #capeyork #capeyorklodge #hostedHow clear is the water at Fruit Bat Falls in Cape York’s Northern Peninsula Area? I could see little black tadpoles nibbling algae from the rocks and tiny fish swimming by. I swam across to the falls for a back pummelling under the falls and climbed to the top for a lie in a rivulet for a fresh water spa. Simply awesome. To get there you can book a tour with @capeyorklodge in Bamaga or hire one of their 4WDs and drive yourself, but I recommend the former, as the sign to the falls is not easy to spot when you are concentrating on driving through corrugations and sand drifts. #capeyorkpeninsula #thisisqueensland #exploretnq #bamagaWhere the reef meets the rainforest is the catch cry of @tropicalnorthqueensland and what a fantastic perspective on the rainforest from @skyrailcairns a 7.5km Cableway in Cairns that travels above the forest, thereby not disturbing it. The shades of green are too many to count, with old and new growth and different textures catching the light in different ways. There are even palms growing out of the treetops, their seeds dropped up there by birds. #cairns #skyrailcairns #rainforest #exploretnq- My Tweets
Category Archives: National Parks
Kakadu Bird Week 2019
Like me, most visitors to Kakadu National Park in Australia’s Northern Territory probably don’t come purely for the bird life. But it’s impossible not to be awed by the park’s proliferation of feathered friends, from a tiny, brightly-plumed azure kingfisher … Continue reading
Postcard of the week – Glorious gum trees
Sometimes nature blows me away with its beauty. Like this magnificent gum tree, whose subtle colours were given a vibrant makeover by summer rain (actually a summer downpour that turned our walking track in a mini riverbed). Rain gives the … Continue reading
Posted in National Parks, Postcards, Sydney, Travel
Tagged gum trees, Ku-ring-gai Chase NP
Leave a comment
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 – furry cuteness
I just love wombats. There is something about their short, squat shape, their waddling walk and their super cute faces that make me smile whenever I see them. So I was thrilled to see so many in the wild on … Continue reading
Posted in Animals, Australia, National Parks, Postcards, Tasmania, Travel
Tagged Maria Island, Maria Island National Park, wildlife, wombat
Leave a comment
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
Postcard of the week – Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
With Parks Week starting on Monday 9th March this week’s photo is from Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, just 25km from the centre of Sydney. Covering 15,000 hectares the park offers both bush and water-based activities as it surrounds Cowan Water … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, National Parks, Postcards, Travel
Tagged boating, family fun, hiking, kayaking, Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, national parks, New South Wales, Refuge Bay
Leave a comment
Connect with nature during Parks Week 9-15 March
The piercing call of whip birds penetrating the bush, the scuttle of an echidna fossicking in the undergrowth, the damp smell of leaf litter and the subtle fragrance of wildflowers. Fossils exposed in the desert, Aboriginal rock art by the sea, crabs scampering among … Continue reading
