• The Fat Duck (Melbourne, Australia) - British food wizard Heston Blumenthal was at the forefront of neurogastronomy and multi-sensory dining before either concept had a name. His three-Michelin-starred restaurant, The Fat Duck, left its longtime home in the English village of Bray this year and leaped to the antipodes for a six-month stint at the Crown Towers hotel in Melbourne's Southbank. Blumenthal promises the same "multi-sensory phantasmagoria" diners have come to expect from him, "taking you on a journey of history, nostalgia, memory and emotion." Dishes include salmon lollies, snail porridge and his signature "Sound of the Sea," a sculptural plate of seafood, seaweed and panko "sand" that comes with an iPod tucked into a conch shell. The Fat Duck will return to its Bray, Berkshire, location in the latter part of 2015.
• Havana Coffee Works - Wellington, NZ

A weathered minty-green facade lets you know you’ve arrived at Havana Coffee Works, a staple on the Wellington coffee scene known for its strong roasts and eclectic interior. Instead of grabbing a coffee and dashing off, do as the Kiwis do and stick around awhile to sip your drink while soaking in the city’s creative and down-to-earth spirit. Besides serving top-quality espresso, Havana is also a roastery that ships its sustainably sourced and well-loved beans to cafés and restaurants throughout the country.

• Flight Coffee Hangar - Wellington, NZ

If you’ve somehow grown tired of New Zealand’s coffee options and are after a bit of variety, head to The Hangar, where you can bask in a perfectly presented tasting flight, which lets you try three separate single-origin coffees or blends. Served in colorful Acme & Co. cups, the flat white sampler may be one of the most aesthetically pleasing café offerings you’ll ever set eyes on. Owned by a trio of self-described coffee nerds, this café is all about experimentation, and there’s always something interesting to try.

• Maranui Cafe - Wellington, NZ

Situated at Wellington’s picturesque Lyall Bay, Maranui Cafe is a bit of a local institution that’s located right on the beach just above a surf lifesaving club. The best way to experience Maranui and take in some of Wellington’s beachy character? Order your coffee of choice, grab a window seat and fantasize about a move to Wellington while watching surfers catch wave after wave just a few sandy steps away. Minutes from the airport, Maranui is a solid choice if you’re looking for a quick caffeine hit after landing or a farewell flat white as you head out of town.

• Caffe L'Affare - Wellington, NZ

Sitting in its current location for more than 25 years, Caffe L’Affare is an old favorite as far as Wellington cafés go, serving 150,000 or more coffees every year. With more than 120 seats, you shouldn’t have any trouble finding a place to perch in the sea of mismatched chairs and tables. Pair your coffee with poached eggs on toast, and you’ll be well fueled for all the Wellington escapades that await.

• Hike the QUEEN CHARLOTTE TRACK - New Zealand
• Attica - Melbourne

What is Australian food? It’s a question that gets asked a lot, and there’s rarely a satisfying answer. But if I could employ the show-don’t-tell method of explanation, I’d take the asker for a meal at Attica. Through his thoughtful and playful tasting menus, chef and owner Ben Shewry explores myriad aspects of Australia’s culinary personality, from avocado toast to emu liver. Yes, there was at one time a take on avocado toast on the menu (a nod to Melbourne’s most ubiquitous cafe culture dish): a cracker topped with avocado cut in an impossibly tiny and perfect dice, garnished with finger lime and mint. Shewry also plays on the country’s nostalgia with versions of the cheesy Vegemite rolls that every Australian child ate as a snack and the iconic teatime dessert, lamingtons. But the lamingtons come coated in black ants instead of shredded coconut, and what comes off the barbecue here are things like saltwater crocodile ribs. Shewry is one of the chefs leading the charge on incorporating native Australian ingredients into almost every dish. The restaurant resides in a storefront in Ripponlea, a historically Jewish suburb to the southeast of the city center. The neighborhood’s past is explored in a dish called “An imperfect history of Ripponlea,” which comprises three small tarts representing the three eras of the area. Over the years, the backyard has served as a garden for the restaurant and then — when the kitchen’s needs outgrew the space and the garden was shifted off-site — a souvlaki stand where diners were taken for a taste of Melbourne’s iconic late-night snack along with beer poured from pitchers. (A wink to the city’s Greek population, one of the largest outside Greece.) Recently, the outdoor space was transformed again, this time into an art installment meant to transport diners 100 years into the future. While the menu and backyard and dynamic wine list change regularly, the constants are even more impressive: This is some of the best service you’ll find anywhere. And Shewry’s dedication to finding ingredients and dishes that are — above all else — Australian is a blessing. In doing so, he allows the diner to fully explore the unique terroir of this wide country.

• The Milford Sound

Experience New Zealand's Fiordland region via kayak, on foot and by air. Visitors are awestruck by the scenery of Milford Sound, including the tumbling waterfalls, ancient rain forests, sparkling lakes and granite peaks that capture the heart and the imagination.

• Sutherland Falls

Sitting on the southwestern tip of New Zealand near Milford Sound, the Sutherland Falls are best seen via helicopter tour or small plane. A high-volume waterfall, it features three steps in very quick succession along the Arthur River, which spills from a pair of sizable lakes carved into glacial basins high on a mountainside in New Zealand's Fiordland National Park.

• New Zealand Recommendations:

Glow worm cave Hobbiton Omanawa falls Lake Pukaki Abel Tasman National Park Elephant Rocks Near Duntoon The Blue Pools Southern Lights Zorbing Coromandel Peninsula Cathedral Cove Mt. Mauganui Hot Springs in Taupo Penguins in Dunedin Whangamata - Donut Island Wanaka Mt. Cook Christchurch Wellington Coramandel Rotorua Queenstown Lake Taupo Milford Sound Aoraki National Park - Mt. Cook Hot Water Beach Matapouri Beach Lake Tekapo Raglan Beach Bridal Veil Falls Hamilton Gardens Blue Spring Putaruru Cornwell Park Aukland Domain Mount Manganui Hike Wenderholm Waiheke Island Devonport - Hike Mt. Victoria Tawharuni Beach Pohatu Marine Reserve in South Island (Blue Penguins) Hamner Springs Josef Glacier Nelson Arthurs Pass Waipu New Regent Street - Christchurch Walter Peak Farm Tour Lake Matheson Golden Bay Waitomo Caves Walter Peak Farm

• Restaurant recommendations in NZ:

Kohu road - ice cream Fergburder - Queenstown Le Garde Manger french restuarant Hokey pokey flavor ice cream Giapo ice cream Bespoke kitchen - Queenstown Magnolia kitchen Captain Kerrs Cookie Time cage Cove cafe Odettes Eatery in Aukland Fleurs place

• Tongariro National Park, New Zealand

Tongariro National Park on New Zealand’s North Island has earned two UNESCO World Heritage designations (geological and ecological) and is also the oldest national park in the country. Within the park lies the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, a 12-mile hiking route that takes you past the Emerald Lakes of Mt. Tongariro, which get their gorgeous green color from the dissolved volcanic minerals in the water.

• OROKAWA BAY, NEW ZEALAND

'Surfers flock to Waihi Beach on New Zealand's Coromandel Peninsula. It's a pretty spot, but there's something even more special hidden nearby. At Waihi's northernmost point there's a walking trail, tucked away, poorly sign-posted, and only accessible at low tide. It takes you over a hill and through overgrown brush to a completely untouched, utterly deserted beach in the Orokawa reserve with golden sand and a thick fringe of palms. Take a picnic and spend a few hours entirely cut off from the rest of the world.

• Marrickville, Sydney

The sheer diversity of offerings is the key to Marrickville's success in Sydney, says Time Out. "A true melting pot," it boasts what might just be Sydney's most eclectic food scene, where you can pick up world-class Vietnamese food along Illawarra Rd, tuck into plant-based pizza at Pizza Madre, then wash it all down with a brew from one of the district's many, many craft beer companies.

• Maybe Sammy - Sydney
• Cantina OK! - Sydney
• Uluru Base Walk: North Territory, Australia

Walk length: 10.5km; 3.5hrs

According to the indigenous Anangu, Australia's iconic Uluru was created by spirit people at the dawn of time. According to geologists, however, it was formed around 600 million years ago, when sandy deposits condensed below a long-gone sea. Either way, a circumnavigation of the mighty monolith reveals an unexpected array of cracks, crevices, formations and fissures that aren’t visible from a distance, caused by aeons of erosion (or ancestor snakes, depending on your beliefs). The Base Walk is also the most respectful way to appreciate Uluru – the Anangu consider the rock sacred and the path up it dangerous, so ask you not to climb.