Banana Berry Smoothie Bowl

This smoothie bowl is quite the regular on my breakfast menu, and for good reason. It's completely delicious, and of course completely good for you. Are you surprised? Nope, good. I just want all the self-lovin' up in here! It's super easy to make and also super versatile, so feel free to add or subtract anything you please. Sometimes I'll add a big handful of greens into the mix, which is a great way of sneaking in some extra nutrition to your morning!

What you need:

4 frozen bananas (or 2 or 3 or 5 or 6 or however many you please)
1 cup of frozen mixed berries
1 heaped teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of maca powder
A splash of almond mylk/water/coconut water

What you need to do:

Blend. It. Up. Real good. That's it! Transfer it into a bowl, and top it with whatever you please. My usual toppings are:

Loving Earth Caramelised Buckinis (activated raw buckwheat)
Coconut flakes
More fruit, such as banana, plum, peach, berries
Cacao nibs
Goji berries
Chia seeds

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A summery raw lemon coconut "cheesecake"

Yesterday was a perfectly warm, sunny, cloudless Summer's day here in Sydney, and I spent it by the seaside at Nielsen's Park in Vaucluse, with good friends and good food. I wanted to make a deliciously summery but nutritious dessert, and lemon and coconut are basically a match made in heaven (kind of like banana and PB… mmm that's next on my to-make list). So here is the recipe for the lemon and coconut raw vegan cheesecake that some of you may have seen on instagram. Grab your loved ones and a picnic blanket, this cake is calling you.

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Design Inspiration: Geoffrey Bawa

Geoffrey Bawa is without a doubt the most renowned, influential and celebrated architect in Sri Lanka, and whilst I was in Sri Lanka, I learnt exactly why. Bawa was born in 1919 and spent his childhood in Sri Lanka, before moving to England for college, followed by many years of travelling and working around the world. It wasn't until 1948 that he returned to Sri Lanka, and it was then that he bought an abandoned rubber estate at Lunuganga which would later became his country home, and, arguably, the birthplace of "tropical modernism".

Now a boutique hotel, Bawa's country house at Lunuganga is made up of various small buildings scattered across the grounds, almost like little farmhouses, surrounded by exquisite gardens. In perfect harmony with its natural surroundings, each room is opened out to maximise and invite in light and air. Peaceful, tranquil, organic are all words that spring to mind whilst wandering the grounds of the property. It was somewhat of a spiritual experience, even, to witness such perfect unity between man and nature, and the incredible simplistic and natural approach Bawa took in his work.

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Caramelly banana mango chia breakfast smoothie

During summer, I crave nothing more than fresh fruit smoothies for breakfast. Aside from being a completely delicious and refreshing brekky option, they're incredibly versatile and they pack a serious nutrition punch. I'm constantly playing around with my smoothie ingredients - so many different fruits, different combinations of fruit, coconut water or almond milk, different powders, greens or no greens… I could go on. But I won't. Instead I'll leave you with this morning's creation, which turned out deliciously caramel-like and super-satisfying.

You'll need:

3 frozen bananas
1 mango

Blend these two up together, so they're nice and creamy (it may be tempting to just eat it all like this… I won't blame you)

1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp maca powder
1 tsp mesquite powder
1 tblsp chia seeds
Coconut water/almond milk/water (entirely up to you, all are delicious)

Add all these tasty, super body-lovin' ingredients and blend it up. Add as much liquid as you want, until you reach your desired consistency - if I'm having a smoothie bowl, I'll use less liquid so it's nice and thick, but otherwise I probably add a cup or so of liquid.

I topped my smoothie with some raw buckwheat groats, which added a tasty crunch, but the possibilities of toppings are also endless (coconut flakes, more chia seeds, berries, cacao nibs… Get experimental!)

Sip away!

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Sri Lanka

From India, we headed down to Sri Lanka, flying into Colombo where I met with my parents and two siblings. Michelle and Charlie left us here to begin their own adventures, and after one night at the beautiful Galle Face Hotel in Colombo (a must-stay, simply to sip a gin and tonic as you watch the sun go down over the Indian Ocean!) we made our way to the town of Anuradhapura. Here we explored the ancient Buddhist ruins, dagobas (or stupas), and saw the Bodhi Tree and its surrounding temple.

We made our way to Sigiriya, where we climbed the famous rock fortress. Dating from the 3rd to the 5th century, this elaborate fortress palace was built into the rock at the top of a mountain, and still has beautiful rock fresco paintings which are marvellously in tact. We also went on a fabulous, although very wet and rainy, elephant safari and saw many, many elephants in the wild. What was probably the most poignant happening of all, however, was the night we were invited to have dinner at the little mud hut of a local family, who made us the most amazing traditional Sri Lankan meal on their clay stove (complete with eating with our hands!) and sang us Sri Lankan songs.

Our next stop was Kandy, where we visited the Sacred Temple of the Tooth, and then on up into the mountains and tea country, where we stayed in Nuwara Eliya. Here we drank lots of delicious ceylon tea, and did a magnificent 9km walk (for which we had to wake up at 5am for!) in Horton Plains National Park to World's End - a breathtaking look-out across the mountains and valleys and forest. Our next stop was Udawalawe, and here we went on another elephant safari where we got ridiculously close to some very noisy young elephants!

Our final stop was Hikkaduwa, a famously hippy beach town along the east coast of Sri Lanka. Here we spent four wonderful days relaxing, seeing wild sea turtles, swimming, surfing and snorkelling. We also made the journey to the famous architect Geoffrey Bawa's house, which I fell in love with (and which I haven't included photos from in this post as I'm planning on doing a separate post for it). From Hikkaduwa, we made our way back up to Colombo where we departed for home.

Here are some of the photos I took on my iPhone 4s of the wonderful Sri Lanka.

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India

Despite having spent a very significant portion of my year last year overseas, I was blessed enough to be eased back into real life very slowly upon my return with the opportunity to go to India and Sri Lanka. A family friend was going to India for the birthday of a close friend and was taking her daughter Michelle, a year younger than me, and Michelle's friend Charlie, and asked if I wanted to come too. Six years ago, I travelled to India with my family, and I have the fondest memories of that holiday - India was like nothing I had ever seen before, it was the most amazing cultural learning experience, and ever since then I've intended to return. So, of course, I said yes!

Straight after Christmas we set off, and after an initial (major) hiccup involving flight stuff ups we arrived in Mumbai, where we spent the majority of our time. We also spent time in Madhya Pradesh, around Jabulpur, where we stayed in a tiger sanctuary, went on safari, and took a boat ride in the village of Bhedaghat, down the Narmada River, which is lined with magnificent limestone cliffs.

We were in Mumbai over New Year's Eve, and man was it a party! The group of people we were with, mostly from the States, knew people who lived in Mumbai, and so we spent the night dancing on the rooftop terrace of their friend's apartment, drinking and feasting, and honing our Bollywood dance skills. Mumbai was filled with much drinking, a huge amount of delicious eating (ah, authentic Indian food…), lots of shopping, with a bit of culture thrown in. We visited the famous Gateway to India, as well as the former Prince of Wales museum, which had a wonderful collection of not only Indian sculpture and historical artefacts, but also Nepalese and Tibetan displays.

From India, we made our way down to Sri Lanka, which I'm in the process of making a post about! In the mean time, here are a few of the photos that were taken on my iPhone 4s in India.

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The home stretch: Berlin

I write this from the warmth of a sunny spot in my backyard, a world apart from the fast-approaching European winter that these photos were taken in. Somehow four months hurricaned past me, and this post is the last of the adventures of my wonderful, whirlwind time backpacking around Europe.

The endlessly fascinating and multilayered city of Berlin was my final stop. The first couple of days I was there, I was blessed with sunshine and not-completely-freezing weather. The sun was going down at around 4pm and then the icy cold would set in, so I spent the short daylight hours that I had walking everywhere. I visited the Berlin Wall memorial site, the absolutely impressive Jewish museum, the victory column and the wonderful surrounding park, the Brandenburg gate, soaked up the festivities of the Chrismas markets, and hunted down lovely cafes to hide away in with tea and soup.

The past four months were some of the greatest months of my life, and included some of the highest highs and lows that I've ever experienced, from which I have come away from stronger, wiser, and more self assured than I could have ever hoped to be.

Here is the final installment of my European photos, taken on my iPhone. Stay tuned for future travels; I've got some pretty exciting adventures planned for January.