SKI > Mount Hotham

Those who choose to ski regularly at Mount Hotham, are often zealots as to why 'Hotham is so much better than any other mountain in Australia'. It is not that they are critical of other Australian Ski Resorts, its just they are certain that Mount Hotham is the best. Perhaps it is because…

ByAl ManakJune 27, 2023

TRAVEL TRAVEL > SPAIN

TRAVEL > San Sebastián Donostitia

San Sebastián Donostitia is the heartland of Basque country and in just a few days it will be the starting point of the 2023 Tour de France. Well actually Bilbao is going to be the starting point and stage 1 will weave its way through San Sebastian and back but it got me to thinking…

ByAl ManakJune 19, 2023

EAT EAT > MELBOURNE

EAT > No. 100 Flinders Lane (15/20)

Melbournes Flinders Lane is full of fine dining options so there is an incredible amount of choice available and No. 100 is possibly the newest option that is just a little different from the usual choices. Firstly it is small - there are only 20 seats in the restaurant and while there are…

ByAl ManakJune 15, 2023

DESIGN DESIGN > TECHNOLOGY

TECH > Klima from Boldr

The Klima is a wireless smart controller that transforms your existing air conditioner or heat pump into a smart home device through mobile phone control, that means you can replace the remote to your split system air conditioner (you train the device to emulate the signal, so you no longer need the remote) with…

ByAl ManakJune 13, 2023

DESIGN DESIGN > TECHNOLOGY

TECH > Walkie Talkie time

Communicating can get hard when you are in the midst of adventure sports and there have been a few attempts to get a really good walkie talkie alternative going for couples or groups out skiing, biking or kayaking. Out Door Technology (ODT) Chips had a software solution for phones that was supposed to…

ByAl ManakJune 13, 2023

RIDE RIDE > SNOW

DESIGN > BOA fit – A ski boot revolution – bring on the comfort

One thing that snowboarding has always had going for it was not having to deal with the pain associated with badly fitting ski boots, which lets face it most of us have boots that are not a perfect fit all the time. Our feet swell, shrink, get injured and all of that means the boot…

ByAl ManakJune 13, 2023

DRINK > WINE DRINK > WINE > Chardonnay

WINE > Yeringberg Chardonnay 2020 – (95/100 points)

At lunch at Melitos in the Yarra Valley over the weekend I had the pleasure of ordering the Yeringberg Chardonnay, a wine that I had tried before but not had the opportunity to enjoy over food. Yeringberg a winery with incredible pedigree (one of the first in the Yarra Valley) makes excellent wines and…

ByAl ManakJune 6, 2023

DESIGN DESIGN > TECHNOLOGY

TECH > Thinking about a drone, what about the Hover Camera X1?

Drone technology has evolved massively over the last 15 years and most certainly that has had a lot to do with military applications, but this is not an article about unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), rather it is about consumer drones that are largely used by instagram influencers, hobbyists and real estate agents (sometimes those people…

ByAl ManakJune 6, 2023

TRAVEL

TRAVEL > A stylish designer hotel in the middle of a beautiful European winery – yes please.

The Loisium group have taken the concept of wine travel to new levels with incredible modern architecture in their designer hotels (built in the winery), outstanding cuisine, stunning furnishings and design in some of the worlds most beautiful wine regions. As you can imagine that has ticked a whole lot of our boxes (already in…

ByAl ManakMay 15, 2023

DRINK > WINE DRINK > WINE > Cabernet Sauvignon

WINE > Petaluma Coonawarra – Evans Vineyard 1985

Recently I had the opportunity to collect a few vintage magnums of the classic Petaluma Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon Merlo blend, I was interested to see how well the wine was holding up especially in at the magnum format - I always recall some years back wine writer Phillip Rich saying to me "wine always tastes…

ByAl ManakMay 15, 2023

Al Manak

Best Choice for Creatives