The Sunshine Coast did very well in the Australian Good Food Guide Awards, with 16 restaurants picking up ‘hat’ awards. We are so proud of our restaurant team who have worked so hard over the years to keep the Spirit House on this prestigious list.
If you know the history of the owners of Spirit House, you’d know Peter and Helen Brierty started the first restaurant in Montville, Misty’s, back in 1972. Misty’s literally put Montville on the map way back then and it’s with this in mind that we feel a special fondness for Long Apron restaurant in Montville which won two hats in this year’s awards – we are already planning a lunch there soon.

Spirit House is embarking on one of their popular tag-along food tours in July 2012. If you’re into Thai food, love adventure and excitement and wanting to see a side of Thailand that most tourists never get to see, then this tour is for you.
You can find all the information, booking forms and itineraries on the Spirit House tours page.

This short video explains the tag-along concept and gives you a taste of what the tours are all about:

tag-along2 from Spirit House on Vimeo.

Concierge.com have a great listing of the world’s best street food. Food plays such a big part in a country’s culture and street food should be top of your list of things to see and do in any country.

I know a traveler’s main concern is getting sick, but sometimes it’s worth running the risk.While in India I saw people flocking around a Lassi vendor – I lined up (which doesn’t help in India) then shoved my way to the front and was handed a terracotta cup with chilled foamy liquid. My friends looked in shock as I took my first tentative sip – which tasted like heaven. Drinking the rest of the lassi I gave my ‘covermore insurance card’ to my companions (who wouldn’t even try it) and said if anything happens to me tomorrow they could call the number on the card and get me to a hospital.

What was more surprising to my cowardly traveling companions was the next day I was absolutely fine – sure, we all saw the Taj, explored the ruins of Fate Puhr Sikri but my lassi was the highlight of the trip.

Learn the quiet art of fly-fishing with Tie ‘N’ Fly. Did I say quiet? … the folks at Tie ‘N’ Fly became a bit of an internet sensation as they fly-fish for tuna. When the tuna schools come close to the shore you can join Tie ‘N’ Fly and fly fish for tuna just a few hundred meters from the beach.

Tie N fly arrange fly fishing excursions for fresh water species as well as salt water fish. They teach all aspects of fly fishing which can become quite addictive.

The coast offers some great adventures that don’t necessarily involve you jumping out of an airplane, though having said that, a tandem skydive with Ramblers does give you a unique view of the coast with the bonus experiences of terror and exhilaration.

We all have our share of travel stories but none are as funny as what happened to this Welsh comedian’s bag when he came to Australia. I never would have thought such a simple event could be so funny and not a swear word in sight.

On our tag-along tours we often pass semi-completed sky scrapers that have been abandoned after the money dried up during the Asian financial crisis. With no money to complete the buildings (most are structurally unsound due to exposure to the elements) and costs of demolition too high, these buildings dot the skyline. Here’s an interesting video taking you on a tour of these ghost structures:

In planning our tagalong tours I often get asked about discount Asian airlines, similar to Virgin or Jetstar in Australia. Most of the carriers I’ve found, fly out of Singapore, Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur. Here’s a list of the best and cheapest Asian airlines I’ve found so far:

• Air Asia flies to a huge range of destinations… more choice if you fly from Kuala Lumpur but you can fly fron Singapore to Krabi in Thailand for around 30 bucks… which is cheaper than any airline flying out of Bangkok!
• Jetstar Asia, also known as Valueair, flies from Singapore to Indonesia including Bali… so you could fly to Singapore, zap up to Bangkok on airasia and then down to Bali to finish your holiday on jetstar asia.
• Tiger Airways fly to similar destinations as Air Asia but uses Singapore as its main hub. I like this airline because they also fly to Darwin, Australia. So this airline might really suit people flying from Europe or USA to Singapore and then want to travel Asia and China and then finish up in Australia.
• Bangkok Air fly into all the groovy destinations in and around Thailand like Luang Prabang, Siem Reap for Angkor Wat. Not the cheapest airline but it certainly goes to some interesting places from Bangkok.
• 1 2 GO Air is a domestic Thai discount carrier flying to unusual towns and cities in Thailand.

There are more airlines that fly into other destinations in Asia but these airlines service Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia at a very reasonable price

You get wrecked on an Hawaiin Island… you’re hungry and you need to cook your dolphin steaks but you have no matches. Here’s a great site that will teach you how to cook with LAVA. It doesn’t show you how to catch dolphins but the lava cooking lessons are part of the Dolphin Bay Hotel.

Murray has just sent me to a great site/blog by an Aussie living in Vietname blogging about all his bizarre Vietnamese food experiences. A great source of knowledge if you’re thinking about travelling to Vietnam and want to eat like a local.
Stickyrice