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Eliza’s Table and Trails, Golden Beach (2026)

22/03/2026

Sometimes travel isn’t just about the places you go but the unexpected turns along the way. Our month in the UK (what was meant to be pop in for a few days!) began with sudden changes, uncertainty and difficult news. We said goodbye to someone dear, navigated shifting plans and faced more than a few moments of anxiety and disappointment.
But in between, there were moments of connection, time spent with family and simply being present when it mattered most. We also made space to explore meaningful places and felt truly grateful for the time we had.
The journey home from Gatwick, Casablanca, Marseille and Shanghai to Melbourne… a very long journey 😅 Our hearts are a little heavier but also fuller in ways we didn’t expect. And the warmest welcome home from Cody made it all the more special ❤️🐕

19/03/2026

After a few day trips, including London, we’re saying goodbye to Portsmouth — a town filled with Kevin’s childhood memories and family history connected to the Royal Navy…❤️

17/03/2026

Wi******er, what a city! 🌟
I had no idea it was once England’s capital, long before London. Walking through Wi******er Cathedral was breathtaking — centuries of architecture, history and quiet majesty. I was moved by Jane Austen’s resting place in the church itself and a beautiful tribute on the wall🧡 Then I discovered a special tribute to the Gurkhas, which brought back a vivid memory of me staying a night in a Gurkha mountain hut in Borneo⛰️

The story of King Arthur and the Round Table at the Great Hall really resonated🥰 Back in Melbourne, my kids went to Camelot Rise Primary School and the streets there are named after Arthur and his knights. Kevin and our running group run along those streets few times a week😅 history and legend in every step!🏃🏃‍♀️✨

******er

16/03/2026

Kevin and I visited Osborne House on the Isle of Wight yesterday, which happened to be the UK’s Mother’s Day.

What struck me most was how much this royal residence was also a true family home for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Queen Victoria is the great-great-great-grandmother of King Charles III, the present King of England.

The modest Swiss Cottage was built for their nine children to learn practical skills. It had its own vegetable garden, play areas with forts and cannons, large bushland with red squirrels 🐿️ and a short walk to the beach overlooking the Portsmouth naval base. Queen Victoria and Albert truly created a place where their children could learn and explore, a little world of independence and adventure for royal children.

Inside the house, the beautifully decorated Indian-style Durbar Room shows the grandeur of the empire, while the many paintings and statues of Queen Victoria’s beloved dogs reveal a more personal side of her life.

What I admire most is that she was already a reigning queen at 18 while raising a large family👑🥰

08/03/2026

York sits where the River Ouse meets the River Foss, making it a perfect location for both a military base and a trading hub right from day one. It began as a Roman fortress in AD 71 as they expanded their invasion north from Kent and they called it Eboracum. After the Romans left, the Anglo-Saxons named it Eoforwic, roughly meaning “boar town.” I suppose if wild boars thrived there, it signified a fertile, productive ecosystem. It’s therefore not surprising that later the Vikings conquered the town, calling it Jórvík, which became one of the major trading cities in Europe and remained under Viking rule for about 100 years. After the Norman Conquest, the name York has been used from the 1100s onward.

What makes this city truly special is the surviving 4 km city wall that surrounds it, with layers of history preserved and restored, so we can still walk or jog on it today. I’m amazed that many of the city gates, important buildings, shops and even the little laneways (known as “snickelways”) are still in use.

York on Saturday was next-level busy, even though it was cold and gloomy. We had to squish through people in the bars, walked amongst the crowds to find delicious pork pies and ate them as we walked along because most cafes had long queues and even had to turn up early at a restaurant since we couldn’t get a booking. York was a prominent city centuries ago and its vibrancy continues on the same streets today, unbelievable! ❤️

06/03/2026

We explored Hadrian's Wall, visiting the ruins of Housesteads Roman Fort, the excavation site of Vindolanda and museums. Built around AD 122 by the Roman Emperor Hadrian, Hadrian’s Wall once stretched about 117 km across northern England, marking the northern frontier of the Roman Empire. Interestingly, much of the wall is no longer visible today, many stones were taken over the centuries to build houses and churches, some sections are buried under soil and in places later roads were built directly on top of it. What impressed me most was the level of comfort and organisation in these remote frontier forts. Nearly 2,000 years ago they already had Roman bathhouses, underfloor heating, toilets with running water, a hospital and well-supplied food rations including meat and even alcohol🍻 Life here was tough but the Romans clearly knew how to build a functioning community on the edge of the empire. One discovery at Vindolanda especially touched me was over 5,000 Roman shoes have been found preserved in the soil. Among them are tiny children’s shoes and women’s footwear. Seeing them makes the past feel incredibly human knowing families living their everyday lives here nearly 2,000 years ago. With the sunshine, sweeping landscape and fascinating stories from our incredible knowledgeable and passionate archaeologist guide, Alex from Iles Tours, who truly brought the ancient world to life😊🥰

05/03/2026

We were in Hexham, a medieval town with a big history close to Hadrian’s Wall. One of the most prominent structures here is the magnificent Hexham Abbey, first built in AD 674. Beneath the abbey is an ancient crypt built with Roman stones, likely brought from nearby Hadrian’s Wall.

It’s hard to imagine she has survived raids, battles and centuries of history for more than a thousand years, including Viking raids that once devastated the town. Yet thanks to generations of people who repaired and cared for her, she’s still standing strong today. The bell is still ringing and services are still going, just as they have for well over a thousand years🤩😍

28/02/2026

When it rains here, it really commits 🙈
After more research at the public records office in Matlock the day before, we braved the Mansfield drizzle to visit Kevin’s great-great-grandfather’s grave — the man behind his middle name.

We then ducked into the local museum and library to learn more about him and escape the wet and bitter cold weather🥶 Thank goodness it wasn’t windy 😁

27/02/2026

We went out for a jog this morning in the midst of a light drizzle, down the valley into the Cromford Mills site. We attended a guided tour yesterday and found it fascinating. Apparently it was one of Britain’s most important industrial heritage sites, Cromford Mills was built in 1771 by Richard Arkwright, a key figure of the Industrial Revolution. It was the world’s first successful water-powered cotton spinning mill and it changed manufacturing forever.

The Cromford Canal, opened in 1794, once carried cotton, coal and textiles to the mills and now a peaceful waterside walk. Further up the river, closer to Matlock Bath, Masson Mill shows how the original mills expanded, all powered by the River Derwent, how amazing😍

History, engineering and riverside beauty all in one valley, we love this place! 🥰

26/02/2026

Took a bus to Bakewell to tick an item off my bucket list — to try a Bakewell tart… or is it pudding? 🥰

It turns out the original, created by mistake in the 1820s, is actually a pudding!😁 We stopped by The Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop after a lovely walk around town. Apparently, the shop was once the residence of Mrs Wilson, who acquired the recipe and began selling the pudding in the 1860s.

The pudding itself was created by Mrs Ann Greaves after a miscommunication with the cook in the kitchen of the Rutland Arms Hotel (formerly the White Horse Inn), which is just across the road from Mrs Wilson’s cottage. The pudding looked beautiful and tasted absolutely delicious — fruity jam blended with a caramelised, soft and nutty almond filling. Nothing like anything I’m familiar with, so I’m really glad I came this way to try it🥰 And the ploughman’s lunch, my first time seeing one! Such an interesting combination of items on a plate, the pork pie is absolutely delicious eaten cold😋😍

To justify the lovely treats we’d had, we were told to take a walk along the old Midland Railway trail (Monsal Trail), beautiful pastual fields and little villages in a distance, through the magnificent tunnel and out to the famous Headstone Viaduct, which was built around 1860. The view was breathtaking 🤩 We were a bit slow in converting miles into kilometres, before we knew it, we were committed and determined to see the sight… close to 16 km round trip to Headstone Viaduct and back to Bakewell! 😅

25/02/2026

We visited the little village of Elvaston and the surrounding areas — the Richardson family’s stomping grounds in the 16th century. Pam spent decades tracing the Richardson family tree and she would have been so proud of her little brother 🧡

24/02/2026

We’re staying at theme park resort but all the rides and activities are closed for the off-season, feels like we arrived 50 years too late 😂. We’ve been given the “Ratty” room, themed around The Wind in the Willows, with gorgeous character illustrations on the doors and frames.

Matlock Bath is a tiny Derbyshire village with a surprisingly big story. Back in the late 1700s, thermal springs turned it into a fashionable spa resort, where visitors came to “take the waters” for their health. By Victorian times, the railway brought crowds who nicknamed it “Little Switzerland” thanks to its dramatic cliffs and river valley views. Today it’s all about riverside walks, arcades, fish and chips, gelato and fairy floss, bikers on weekends…

The Matlock Bath Aquarium and Arcade houses the original Victorian thermal pool, now home to large carp and koi in naturally warm spring water. There are also quirky light and holographic displays, plus a traditional penny arcade…

Such a quirky little place with so much character 😊

Eliza’s Table and Trails

22/03/2026

19/03/2026

17/03/2026

16/03/2026

08/03/2026

06/03/2026

05/03/2026

28/02/2026

27/02/2026

26/02/2026

25/02/2026

24/02/2026

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