Exploring the Small Shops of Brisbane

Coming Up Roses. Photo by Felicity Loughrey

Shop small, shop local and shop with curiosity. Here are some of Holiday Goddess favourite northside, southside and in-between bijoux Brisbane boutiques for hand-selected vintage, gifts and trinkets.

Thrifting the Light Fantastic: Fashion Tours with a Conscious

One of the best things about shopping with Marguerite was she got me looking at clothes and accessories in new ways. There was a gold belt with a buckle that featured a frog on a lily pond found at Vinnies. Marguerite suggested wearing the belt as a necklace (which I’ve since done).

Agnes Water: The Queensland Getaway You’ve Possibly Never Heard Of

View from 1770 lookout by Felicity Loughrey

For the past twenty years the buzz has been that Agnes Water will be the next Noosa. Lucky for us that hasn’t happened (sorry Noosa). Agnes Water and Seventeen Seventy are just a bit too remote and still feel like authentic beach holiday towns: think beach cricket, bushwalks and ice cream.

Hobart’s Best Retro and Vintage – A Gigantic Lucky Dip

The Tip Shop is located at McRobies Gully Waste Management Centre. Photograph by Jessica Adams

Hobart’s Tip Shop is a gigantic lucky dip, but you are sure to find something special for a fraction of the price that you’d pay in a vintage shop or on eBay. There are generally no price tags; take your treasure to the counter and they’ll suggest a low, low price.

Stageit Bringing Live Music Gigs Direct to Your Home

Image by Wes Hicks via Unsplash

House concert Live Streams are not repeated or recorded – like a real gig. Some shows are intimate, from the musician’s sitting room. Type into live chat to other fans, pay for a one-off gig and watch it on your computer or phone – that’s Stageit.

Vivier: the Queen’s Shoe Designer

The Queen was the Frenchman’s most famous client, but this gifted creator (who gave us the stiletto heel) also produced shoes for Jackie Kennedy and Elizabeth Taylor – and The Beatles.

Take Me To Cradle Mountain

Walking track at Cradle Mountain, photo by Felicity Loughrey

Tasmania’s Cradle Mountain has the kind of vista that appears on billboards and in beer commercials. It’s a glamorous, all natural spot. We travelled to Cradle Mountain from Hobart via Queenstown in a hire car. The road is winding and can be icy so don’t necessarily take the Google Maps estimate of travel time. Accommodation […]

Lake Derby’s Floating Sauna in Northeast Tasmania

Exterior of floating sauna, photo by Felicity Loughrey

Unlike health club saunas that are usually a pine box, this sauna has one transparent wall. As you sit in the sauna, you can see the sunlight on the dark lake, the eucalypt hills behind and the daytime crescent of the moon against a blue sky. It’s truly beautiful.