my carribean crush

The Caribbean sea is hypnotising. You could spend all day trying to keep count of the shades of blue and turquoise that extend between the powder white sand to the horizon.

I'll admit I had some scepticism about Cancun before we arrived. I imagined it would be your typical tourist mecca and I wasn't half wrong. Yes it's full of mega resorts, shopping strips, souvenir stores, tour buses, tacky nightclubs and American spring breakers, but once you get past all that it truly is postcard perfect!

The mexican people really are a lucky bunch and it's no wonder they always had a smile on their face. I'm not ashamed to say...  I think i'm in love with Mexico.

papaya playa project

Pop-up stores and restaurant's have been coming and going for a while now but Design Hotels have stepped it up a notch with the first large scale 'pop-up hotel' concept.

The Papaya Playa Project is a camp of 99 rustic cabanas situated smack bang on the white sands of the Caribbean Sea in Tulum, Mexico. Originally abandoned as a luxury resort development during the global financial crisis, Design Hotels and a group of like minded players in food, hospitality and design have teamed up to convert it into a communal playground of simple eco-luxury. The project also includes a regular line-up of international music acts to keep the party going until doors close on May 5, 2012.

Better add this to the list for when I arrive in Mexico - 63 days and counting xx

endless summer with soludos

To coincide with their recent arrival in Australia, US espadrille brand Soludos have teamed up with Oyster Magazine for their Endless Summer competition in search of the perfect photo capturing chilled summer vibes.

With a summer trip to NYC and the Hamptons up for grabs I couldn't miss out on my chance - so here's my entry below - taken on New Years Eve at Bagnalls Beach on the NSW mid-north coast.  Best friends, corona's, sand, surf and the last sunset of 2011. Perfect.

Help me get to NYC by voting for my entry on the Soludos tumblr here, and check out the stiff competition while you are at it.

tallow - sands of solace

While over at Studio Home I discovered these amazing images for Tallow's Spring 2011/12 range.
Shot on the mid north-coast of New South Wales, Tallow's collaboration with artist Jim Denevan and photographers Justin Crawford & Samual Lindsay has resulted in the surreal.

While they may look like crop circles on the beach, these are actually free-hand temporary drawings created in the sand by Jim using a rake and driftwood which are eventually erased by waves and weather.
Jim currently holds the Guiness World Record for creating the largest artwork in history.

aquabumps

I've probably been a little slow to jump on the Aquabumps bandwagon but for those of you in the same boat as me, here's the deal.
Aquabumps is a website and daily email dedicated to beach life through the lens of photographer and Bondi local Eugene Tan. Whether it be the regular posts from Bondi or sometimes even internationally, each day at around 11am I get my fix of surf, sun and sand to remind me of life outside my office cubicle.

The photos are so popular you can purchase prints online at the Aquabumps Gallery in Bondi.
Or if you can't pick a favourite, all 208 pages of Eugene's A Day At Bondi book might tickle your fancy.

santa monica beach cruising

Image by JNicole Photo

The first thing I do when I touch down in Los Angeles next year is hire a beach cruiser (baby blue of course) and hit the bike path between Santa Monica Pier and Venice Beach. My legs will probably hate me for it the next day but I just can't get the ultra cool images from the current MTV Travel Co TV spots out of my head. Hopefully I look just as cool as Erin McNaught.