So you are in one of the most scenic places of Australia ie Victoria. And the one must do activity in Victoria is to drive along the Great Ocean Road. The mighty Southern Ocean on one side and the gorgeous cliffs and vegetation on the other makes this drive one of the most picturesque in the world. Although every turn on this road has something to offer in terms of natural beauty or a landmark, there are particularly few stops which you simply can't avoid. Since we completed the 243km stretch in a single day, we stopped only at the must visit places. Still we got late as we reached the last leg of the drive and it got dark.

 So I am listing the must visit stops that can be done in a single day which are absolutely not to be missed!

1. Bells Beach: This is the first stop of the drive. It's located in the town of Torquay. Although you would come across lots of beaches on this road ( the entire drive is along the ocean) this one is quite important. The sunrise from here is spectacular. Also the wooden stairs that lead to the beach is so postcard like. We also saw kangaroos for the first time here. Since you would visit this place early in the morning, it's bound to be chilly and windy here. So be prepared.

Also read: Bells beach..the first stop on the Great Ocean Road.

2. Aireys Inlet: According to me, this is the prettiest stop on the GOR. I mean how beautiful is this light house that overlooks the Southern Ocean (the first picture at the top). Not to forget the creek and the river flowing into the sea.

 Huge chunks of limestone on the ocean. Since we visited during spring, there were vibrant blooms all around... making the place all the more picturesque. Also the cute Willow tea cafe deserves at least a photo of..if not Breakfast or a cuppa!

Also read: Aireys Inlet: the most beautiful stop on the Great Ocean Road.

3. Memorial Arch: The GOR was built by the army to connect the small towns and villages in this part of the country. Therefore an arch has been built in the memory of those 3000 soldiers who worked for this coastal road. You need just a few minutes here to get clicked with the arch.

4. Lorne: For Indians it's shocking how a population of 1000 people can qualify as the most populated village of a particular region! I mean more than 1000 people reside in my parent's apartments! Anyways Lorne is the biggest and the most populated village on the GOR. It's an excellent place for a night stay in case you are covering the trip in 2 days. Lorne is self sufficient with a market, lots of cool restaurants, cottages for tourists, the cute Eskine river, a hundred year old suspension bridge, a pier and a really wide beach. Also there is Teddy's lookout, which offers jaw dropping views of the GOR.

Also read: Lorne: the best place for a night stay on the GOR.

5. Port Campbell or Apollo Bay: This is quite a drive from Lorne. If Lorne is for having breakfast then this place is for lunch. There are lots of cool eateries and supermarkets to replenish your car munching snacks. This populated stop comes 100 kms after Lorne. The surroundings are pretty picturesque too.

Also read: The area with the Kangaroo signs and picture perfect valleys.

6. Kennett River: Never in my life I could have imagined to spot and gawk at adorable koalas lazying in the wild. Yes, you can spot as many as you want! All you need is patience and sharp eyesight!

Also read: Where to find koalas in the wild?

7. Gibson Steps: As the GOR comes to its conclusion, so does the beauty of the ocean multiply many folds! This stop is 200 km from Melbourne and you reach there at around 5pm. This is the best place to see the 12 Apostles up close and personal and rave the in their awe. But mind you, you have to brave 84 rickety stairs for the same.

Also read: The best place to see the 12 Apostles

8. 12 Apostles: This is undoubtedly the most famous stop on the GOR. Although there are just 8 apostles remaining now. It's easier to photograph the two apostles on the East side. The remaining ones on the West has the setting sun above and hence incapable of being captured perfectly. Those who have a lot of time or exclusively visit for photography, make this stop their first in the morning. You can do the road trip backwards i.e start from the London Arch.

Also read: Why are the 12 Apostles called so?

9. Loch Ard Gorge: This is probably one of the most fascinating landforms in this area. Stalagmites and stalactites on one side and a gorge on the mighty Southern Ocean on the other.

Also read: Why should you visit the Loch Ard Gorge?

10. London Arch: This is the farthest stop from Melbourne. This particular stretch of the Southern Ocean is so erosive that it has enormous chunks of limestone in it carved into peculiar shapes by its consistent corrosive action. The London Arch is a few kilometers ahead from the London Bridge.

This 243 km (one way) drive was definitely the most fascinating road trips of our entire life. If you plan to visit Australia, this should top your list!

The Great Ocean Road stretches along a distance of 243 km. However the scenic road trip along the magnificient Southern Ocean is quite a journey if you plan to cover it in a single day. It's just not 243X2 ie 686 kms because there is a lot to be drove from Melbourne or depending on the area you start from Victoria. Also there are at least 12 major stops on the road. So even if you devote half and hour on an average at each stop, it's quite a daunting task to drive home back at midnight. We were short on time (like always) and covered it in a single day (started at 4 30 AM and reached Melbourne at 11 45 PM). However I strongly suggest to divide the road trip into two parts so as to reduce the stress on driving and be able to savour the experience fully. The best stop to do so would be Lorne, the largest village on the Great Ocean Road. Lorne is situated on a bay named after Captain Louttit, who sought shelter there in 1841 while supervising the retrieval of cargo from a nearby shipwreck. 

Lorne maybe the largest village but is tiny as per Indian standards. The population is of 1000 people (which is even lesser than the apartments in which my parents reside; forget an entire village). 

However this place is fully equipped with motels and apartments, supermarkets and restaurants and has a LOT of sightseeing to do. It is 142 km from Melbourne and definitely worth a two hour stop if you are in a hurry.

We made Lorne our breakfast stop. We were carrying baguette and cheese and fruits from Melbourne and we could not have possibly found a prettier place to dine than on the wooden pier on the Erskine river, swinging our feet over the water and the cold breeze in our hair.

We visited Australia during October end; which is spring season but cold nonetheless. Also the water of the Southern Ocean was biting cold and the breeze left us shivering early in the morning. 

If you are halting for the night at Lorne, you must definitely visit at least three spots:

1. Teddy's Lookout: We could have definitely done this in our rushed itinerary but lacked guidance. It's quite a hike then climb from the centre of Lorne but the views of the Great Ocean Road offered are to die for.

2. Erskine Falls: The Erskine river starts from the Erskine Falls and follows a winding path throughout the Otway National Park. The ripples on the water felt so soothing and the breeze was too refreshing. Although it was DEFINITELY chilly. The residents did not seem to mind the nip in the air though as they all were out to catch the spring sun. We crossed the river through the bridge (built 150 years ago) to go to the Lorne Beach. There are few surfing huts here (surfing is the religion of Australians) which are too cute not to click a picture with.

The Erskine falls is worth the hike from the centre of the town. The topography is really enticing. 

 The beach is huge and the ocean is gigantic. Everything in Australia is humongous...from the sizes of the stones to the animals and trees. The ocean could just devour us with only us two on the wide beach.

The Lorne Pier: The pier is one of the best places for fishing lovers as fishes like  barracuda, whiting, and trevally are worth the catch. Also one can spot giant whales from here as they traverse along the coast and lots of other aquatic creatures.

3. Otway National Park: There are several national parks along this coastal drive and the Otway national Park happens to be embracing the cute town of Lorne. You can hike along the trails or set up a camp. Camping is altogether another experience on the coast of the Southern Ocean; I have heard. So much charm in the wilderness.

With just two hours to spare, what did we do?

We had breakfast over the Erskine river, crossed the bridge to explore a surfing hut and then walked to the beach where we had the entire ocean to ourselves. We had a swim in the icy cold water but the glaring Oz sun burnt us black. After the swim we strolled in the market area and then played with some giant cuckatoos in the parking lot. Told ya..everything is mamoth in the Land of Oz :D 

 

We have always loved staying in 'real homes' for the past 5 years during our travels ever since we tasted local hospitality in Istanbul, Turkey. With each following trip, we got all the more hooked to experiencing indigenous cultures. I have two large reasons for doing so:

1. We get to savour the native lifestyle up close and personal.

2. I look forward to picking up decor tips from the homes we stay. It's such a fun way to incorporate our travels into our homes.

3. The third and the most exciting part is co habiting/meeting the host. Everytime we have met some really interesting personalities.

4. Since my husband is a pure vegetarian, we need a kitchen so that I can cook him one Indian meal per day. Lest he won't be able to survive. And we love to whip up soups and coffee whenever we retire after a long day of exploration.

 Well we reached Vienna quite late at night from Bratislava, Slovakia. It was a Sunday night and our host Anna was hanging out with her friends at the foyer. We were warmly welcomed with fumes of smoke! We said good night quickly and went to our room after she showed us the apartment. 

The next morning we got to chat with her before we set out for the city tour. Anna was really tall (around 6') and huge with dark kohled eyes. We knew immediately that she wasn't a native/Austrian. Turned out she was from Azerbaijan. We had one more host, who was really submissive. He was a feeble looking guy and he was French, Paris to be precise. He said that there was no job in his country so he came to Austria for the same. According to him, his favorite city was Budapest, Hungary but he found Hungarian to be an extremely difficult language, hence he chose learning English and German over Hungarian. We get to learn so many things when we stay in apartments. This is definitely one of the best parts of traveling. Too bad we could not get a picture with our hosts. I was five months pregnant and we were in a rush to do everything!

This apartment was located in the city centre of Vienna (Wien in local language), right on the main road from the metro station. There were huge buildings on both sides of the street, a big park for kids as well as big supermarkets nearby. Ours was on fourth floor. Given the strategic location, we were extremely lucky to have rented such a big space. Cues that I picked up from this stay:

1. Animal prints look good on upholstery.

2. Sheer/White curtains feel far more relaxing than heavier/dark coloured drapes.

3. My favourite wooden floor pattern has to be herring bone.

4. Nothing looks cleaner and crisper than white sheets.

5. I would love to have a lucite chair one day.

6. Wainscoting and chandelier combo gives a Victorian look to the place.

After coming back, I got a set of zebra print cushions. I have always had sheer curtains and I am definitely getting herring bone pattern wooden flooring during our next renovation. (whenever that happens after lockdown). White sheets have to wait till my husband and kids grow up.

Are you fond of picking up interior decor cues from travelling? What have you learnt the best?

We were on the last leg of our Great Ocean Road trip. We were on our way to the Loch Ard Gorge from the 12 apostles. It's in Port Cambell only and a five minute drive from there. However our GPS had stopped working. There was no signal! There were a couple of roads which looked quite confusing. We didn't want to get lost as it was getting dark. I hate twilight pictures! There wasn't even anyone on the road too. A meagre number of cars swooshed by. We followed my husband's instincts (as we always do) and thankfully we reached there. The stairs to the beach were steep but the view totally worth.

On the opposite side of the gorge was a limestone cave with lots of stalactites and stalagmites. The golden sand was incredibly soft and felt therapeutically soothing beneath my heels worn bare feet. We went towards the gorge site and it was breathtaking.

The place had been named after the ship Loch Ard which travelled from England to Melbourne. However all the passengers had died barring two. The two rocks had been officially named Tom and Eva since then after the two survivors.

Etymologically Loch means Lake and Ard means arch in Irish. There was an arch that connected the two cliffs. But the erosive Southern Ocean had destroyed it and now these two stand as separate rocks.

Many movies have been shot here including the Pirate movie and TV series Journey to the Center of the earth.

Our last stop was the London Arch and it was already twilight. We somehow raced to the place to capture before visibility became bare minimum. Although the ocean had a picturesque hue during dusk.

Now the major task was to drive back to Melbourne without any GPS. What if we got lost in the dark? There was no soul in sight who could direct us... neither any signs or milestone! We drove blindly for about 200 kms and finally got a signal for the main highway. Kudos to my husband's internal GPS skills for bringing us safely to an inhabited land. We stopped at the first gas station (where we learnt to fill petrol by ourselves), bought a cuppa and finally heaved a sigh of relief before we started for Melbourne again. We reached the city at half past eleven in the night. What a day!

Title: The Art and Science of Real Wealth

Author: Bollachettira Dhyan Appachu

Genre: Finance, Non fiction

Pages: 103

I have already been impressed by Bollachettira Dhyan Appachu when I read his Magnum Opus 'Arya Dharma' 
So when he came out with his new book on wealth, I knew I had to devour it.


Firstly he is such an inspiration that he made so much money at the age of 30 which most of us would never make in a lifetime. But not without blunders. That is why he is such an ideal person to advise about making moolah and not committing the same mistakes which he did. The book is very thorough and I learned a huge deal of things. I would like to list some takeaways here. I am a lay person with a medical background and have no knowledge of finance so I am enumerating all the things that I would like to remember for future.

His biggest inspiration had been Harshad Mehta, yes the Mega scamster who inspired a huge crowd to dive into the stock market and invest. Also I learnt about Jesse Livemore,  the greatest speculator in modern history. 
By the age of 15, he earned $1000 ($28000, Rs 18,00,000 in 2017 value). 
He made $100,000,000 ($1.4 billion, Rs 9100 crores in 2017 value) in the crash of 1929. 

His favourite book on speculation is Reminiscences of a Stock Operator which is about Jesse Livermore. Here are the key points:

1.Cut your losses. 
2. Let your winners run. 
3. Nothing new ever occurs in the business of speculating or investing in securities and commodities. 
4. Money cannot consistently be made trading every day or every week during the year. 
5. Don’t trust your own opinion and back your judgment until the action of the market itself confirms your opinion. 
6. Markets are never wrong – opinions often are. 
7. The real money made in speculating has been in commitments showing in profit right from the start. 
8. As long as a stock is acting right, and the market is right, do not be in a hurry to take profits. 
9. One should never permit speculative ventures to run into 
investments. 
10. The money lost by speculation alone is small compared with the 
gigantic sums lost by so-called investors who have let their 
investments ride. 
11. Never buy a stock because it has had a big decline from its previous high. 
12. Never sell a stock because it seems high-priced. 
13. I become a buyer as soon as a stock makes a new high on its movement after having had a normal reaction. 

14. Never average losses
15. The human side of every person is the greatest enemy of the average investor or speculator. 
16. Wishful thinking must be banished. 
17. Big movements take time to develop. 
18. It is not good to be too curious about all the reasons behind price movements. 
19. It is much easier to watch a few than many. 
20. If you cannot make money out of the leading active issues, you are not going to make money out of the stock market as a whole. 
21. The leaders of today may not be the leaders of two years from now. 
22. Do not become completely bearish or bullish on the whole market because one stock in some particular group has plainly reversed its course from the general trend. 
23. Few people ever make money on tips. Beware of inside information. If there was easy money lying around, no one would be forcing it into your pocket.

Well I could go on and on but would like to conclude with his golden words: Never put all your eggs in one basket.
Never go for “All or Nothing”, because most times you will end up with nothing. 
This does not just apply to investing, but to any aspect of your life.

If you are in stock market, this is a must read. If you are a layman like me, then you definitely should read this book to enlighten yourself and for future investments.

Do you have hairfall? I bet yes! Is it alarming? I bet you are not so sure!

First of all let me enlighten you when to consider hairfall alarming. Being a physician who deals with hair and skin mainly; I know how much confused people actually are. Some think that hair strands while combing and washing is hairfall. Well no.

Our hair are not permanent. They grow, mature and eventually fall off. For girls 50 to 100 strands falling is normal. Normal said being hairfall during combing, brushing and other rigorous activities. If its more than that, its time to wake up!

Apart from choosing the right products for your hair, its important to make changes in your lifestyle. Add more fruits and veggies to your diet, laugh more and fret less; apart from other vital changes.  However some physiological conditions like post pregnancy can shoot up hairfall and you may find it difficult to gain that back.

I have been having severe hairfall for the past three to four years. First it was stress and unhealthy lifestyle which got coupled with post partum hairfall. I had been looking for changes in my hair care regime when I came across Nature Sure Jonk Shampoo. I have been using the Jonk Hair Oil for quite some time now so was pumped about giving this hair cleanser a shot.

What does Nature Sure Jonk Shampoo do?

Nature Sure Jonk Shampoo helps prevent dandruff, restores shine and strengthens hair with regular use

100% natural ingredients including amla, aloe vera, shikakai, neem, aritha, baheda and other herbs

Nature Sure Jonk Shampoo is totally free from sulphates and parabens

Helps cleanse scalp from infections and deeply nourishes roots and hair follicles

Recommended for use the morning after applying Nature Sure Jonk Tail Leech Oil overnight

What is Jonk Shampoo made of?

Aloe Vera, Amla, Baheda, Shikakai, Aritha, Harad, Methi, Neem, Shampoo Base.

How to use?

Apply sufficient quantity of Nature Sure Jonk Shampoo onto wet hair. Massage and lather enough to cover the entire scalp and hair strands. Rinse with water.

Price: 371 INR for a pack of 300 ml bottle. Bottle comes with a pump. Nice packaging. 

Available at https://naturessure.com/ and all major e commerce sites. 

PRECAUTIONS

Keep away from sunlight. Seal cap tightly after every use. Wash with plenty of water if it enters eyes. Do not ingest.

However one cannot ignore the importance of lifestyle changes and diet for fighting hairfall. If you eat healthy, stay happy and exercise, this shampoo will do the rest.