I'm home in a week and the first thing on my to do list is buying an off road motorbike. Will be sticking to Aus for a while with a quick trip to Usa.

Jasin wrote on Oct 20^th, 2018 at 9:14pm:


I'll mostly be either around Bondi or somewhere west of Dubbo.
Which region is that?

I really loved NZ.

So close but a little like a mini European Alps or Canadian Alpine region.(South Island especially.)

No long haul flights involved and the Aussie dollar goes far. 

South Western Australia if I had to choose 1. In reality though, there are some simply stunning places around the globe and I'd follow my own Aussie biased preference with a number of places around the meditarranean (Cinque Terre) and parts of South America.

I think I'm drawn back to SW WA for temperature and climate reasons as much as anything. I vaguely remember a study from somewhere listing the most ideal latitude for average human comfort/temperature and weather was x latitude south or north of the equator (I can't recall what it was precisely/ might have been 33 degrees). From memory not that many actual towns/cities lined up on the exact latitude but Margaret River was pretty close just coincidentally. I struggle with excess humidity myself and likewise with excess cold so for mine the SW WA is ideal. I love the area around Pemberton/Walpole in particular. Magnificent forests, some of the largest trees in the world, yet just a short hop to some truly magnificent beaches and if you know the area well enough, some beautiful river/crossing/camping spots. It really is hard to beat.

Mediterranean was all about Italy really for me. South of France was nice to but for some reason I fell in love with places like Riomaggiore, Vernazza. Probably the people as much as anything but the drive in and along this area is pretty spectacular as well. Had some awesome experiences with travelers and locals. Nights up on rooftops with locals who took a shine to us  stirring huge vats of boiling something or other we were making using a bloody boat oar for stirring the pot it was so big for the whole town and most of the locales out on the streets. I mean who does that anymore? Beautiful weather, food, wine, scenery, what more could you ask for.
South America is by virtue of stories relayed and photos shown only by so many I know who've been there. They go on about weather and value for money, coat of living etc. I know Lake Atitlan gets mentioned a lot. Once again it's all about climate and I think it's position and altitude combine for some kind of rare "perfection" apparently in this regard.