Travels with Katie Quinn Davies (What Katie Ate)

Who? Katie Quinn Davies:  Photographer, food stylist, cookbook author

She first piqued the interest of culinary-obsessed Australians with her beautiful food blog, What Katie Ate. Here, Sydney-based Katie tells us about her favourite Aussie travel experiences, past and future.

As a child growing up in Dublin, our family holidays were…
spent with my Mum and Dad in north Wales, and Manchester and Kent in England, where a lot of my relatives lived. We would get the ferry over from Dublin and travel around the UK by car. My aunt owned the most beautiful 13th-century farmhouse in Kent and I used to adore spending time there as all the floors were wonky and there were hidden staircases. It was magical, apart from the fact that a lot of spiders resided there.

Now when I have spare time, I head straight to…
the Barossa, without a doubt, because of its amazingly friendly, warm and welcoming people. I have made so many close friends there. And there’s the food and wine, of course! Barossa shiraz (6) is my favourite wine. I also really respect their support of local food producers.

The one thing I always pack is…
a hairdryer. As sad as that sounds. My fringe never co-operates without one. And on a less vain note, my Bose mini sound system (3).

My last holiday read was…
I rarely get time to read when I’m on holiday; I tend to opt for larger cities, and I prefer to get out and explore what these amazingly vibrant places have to offer.

My roadtrip essential is…
a decent playlist on my iPhone, I can’t travel without music, or my cameras.

I’m definitely a…
city sort of person, but I do like escaping to the country, too. Melbourne (5) is my favourite city to spend a three- to four-night break. It has an incredible array of bars and great restaurants.

My most memorable Australian food experience…
was dinner at Orana (1) in Adelaide. It’s one of the most incredible gastronomic experiences I’ve ever had! Mainly due to their use of Aussie ingredients.

I’ll never forget the time…
I was invited to qualia on Hamilton Island (2) to cover one of its ‘Great Barrier Feast’ weekends. I headed up a day or two earlier and was jetted off to a private island in the Whitsundays, where I was able to spend all afternoon on my own, along with a bottle of Champagne, a sun lounger, fresh seafood and my camera to capture it all.

My next Aussie holiday will be…
Uluru (4). I have always wanted to go ever since watching the Beds are Burning music video by Midnight Oil when I was about 14. I became infatuated with it, I would love to see more of the Red Centre.