Coffee Bay - East Coast South Africa

Tucked away from the bore of the well trodden path and see-sawing on the edge of secrecy sits a three point stretch on the East Coast of South Africa where the rural African countryside collides with the beachside sands. Dividing the rolling hills and the Atlantic Ocean are steep rocky cliff faces dropping into jungle-like shrubbery and fading into pebbled beach.

Here lies the Transkei, a small state negated for the Xhosan people during apartheid which has surprisingly managed to avoid the mass tourism disease and retain its welcoming vibe. The Transkei is home to the trio Port St Johns, Coffee Bay and Mpande which sit together quietly on the Wild Coast, enjoying simplicity, silence, and the rhythm of the waves.

Kept as a traveler’s secret and in a tourist's oblivion, the Transkei’s gem is Coffee Bay. Its degraded road of potholes and roaming animals prevents pompous sports cars and any preconceived notions of souring its natural beauty.

The Queen Victoria Building, Sydney, Australia - A Royal Promenade of History & Culture

Boasting the most extravagant of Sydney’s old English charm, The Queen Victoria Building sits smugly on an entire block of the Sydney city. Bound by George, Market, York and Druitt Streets, and sitting in high-Victorian fashion, the regal building is crowned in copper domes and dressed in golden sandstone. Affectionately known as the QVB by Sydney siders, it is guarded by a glorious statue of Queen Victoria herself throned at the entrance, looking somewhat disapprovingly out over Sydney’s new metropolitan style.

Erected in 1898 as a mark of honor of the Queens jubilee, The QVB’s construction brought relief during the Great Depression, giving craftsmen a step out of unemployment (a somewhat grander version of Peter Garret's Insulation Scheme). Over the span of its life, it has hosted a library, a concert hall, shops fronts and offices. The fortress’ charming columns and stained glass arch windows are lucky to still be standing as the city council seriously entertained the thought of replacing it with a parking lot! Yet in 1982 it was restored and leased on a 99 year agreement by the Malyasian firm Ipoh Garden Berhad, and continues to retain its former glory. Its original spiraled cast iron stair cases run up into the ceiling and the crafted railings still stand, framing the voids of the top three floors. However, there are a few modern features such as elevators and contemporary bathrooms bringing the building into the Twenty-first Century.