Links
These are some of my favourite websites and blogs. They are my personal recommendations – none have paid to be listed.
- Bizzy Lizzy’s Good Things food blog: www.bizzylizzysgoodthings.com
- Canberra-based Karen Goldspink offers wine tours, wine courses, wine marketing and cellar consultancy: www.winewisdom.com.au
- Convivial Times has a great program of gourmet providoring days, produce workshops and escorted food tours in Australia and overseas: www.convivialtimes.com.au
- Edible Events organises boutique food and wine tours throughout regional Australia, New Zealand and beyond: www.edibleevents.com.au
- Educational trips to France. PROMÉTOUR is an international group tour operator dedicated to customized group travel: www.prometour.com
- Helen Wong’s Tours. Expertly organised, value for money tours of China and Indochina: www.helenwongstours.com
- Interlude Tours provides small-group tours to fascinating historic and cultural destinations in Europe, USA, Canada, Asia and Morocco: www.interlude-tours.com
- La Combe en Perigord, a residential cooking school in France: www.lacombe-perigord.com
- Food and wine tasting calendar. Spirits and beer events as well. Post your own event or sign up to be notified when new events are posted to your area: www.LocalWineEvents.com
- Nat Decants Free Newsletter: Wine picks, articles and humour from Natalie MacLean. There are no ads and all e-mail addresses are kept confidential: Sign up at www.nataliemaclean.com
- Online guide for Australian wines, wineries and wine information: www.winediva.com.au
- Outdoor Travel specialises in interesting and exciting holidays involving walking, cycling, boating or barging, sailing, painting, horseriding and more: www.outdoortravel.com.au
- Paris-based Britt Karlsson, of BKWine, produces a free monthly newsletter on wine and travel, organises wine tours to the French wine regions and holds wine tastings: www.bkwine.com
- PS News is a free weekly e-mail distributed to public servants around the country. It contains news and features in a newspaper/magazine format. Don’t miss the recipe column by Christine Salins which appears in the Out of Hours section of PS News each week: www.psnews.com.au
- Slow Food Canberra has a great range of activities in and around the National Capital: www.slowfoodcanberra.com
- Small Swiss Homestead, a fabulous homestay in Alishan, Taiwan, run by a terrific English-speaking host, Charlies Liu. It’s a great opportunity to experience Chinese culture in a private and very comfortable home, and he’ll also show you the beautiful scenery of the Alishan area: http://smallswiss.higogo.com.tw
- Wine Directory and Winery Search: www.winedirectory.org
- Zest Food Tours does excellent tours in and around Wellington, New Zealand: www.zestfoodtours.co.nz
And some personal ones:
- A website for rail enthusiasts: www.ghverhoeven.com
- My cousin’s website: www.oranjekade.nl


An easy vinaigrette: whisk pomegranate juice with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, crushed garlic, salt and black pepper.