Donna Hay: My life in travel

Sydney is a really easy place to live.

It has a really balanced lifestyle. I can come home from work and, when my children have done their homework, we can surf or swim. It’s the only place where I can manage to strike that work-life balance.

London is my favourite city.

I’m always surprised by something new when I’m there, whether it’s a window display at Selfridges or an exhibition at the V&A. It’s such a traditional city but it’s also so changeable and modern. I’m happy just wandering, looking at things, getting lost. I put a map in the bag and when I feel like it’s time to go back I look at the map and try to work out where I am.

I’m such a beach girl.

There’s a really beautiful beach on the south coast of New South Wales called Hyams Beach. Beautiful white sand, not many tourists.

My tip for first-time surfers …

… start on a small board. A lot of people like to start on a bigger board because of their fear of falling off into the water but it’s good to start small. And go to a surf school; there’s a great one at Bondi. Byron Bay is good for surfing, too. I’ve just come back from a surfing trip off the coast of Queensland with my boys, who are aged nine and 12. They’re much better than me.

You beauty: Bondi is a favourite, ‘except in the tourist season’ (Getty) Bondi Beach is as good as everyone says.

I don’t love it at the height of the tourist season but outside of that I do. As soon as the water gets cold people won’t surf so you can put on a wetsuit and get all the waves to yourself. There’s something quite beautiful about being in the water in winter. And there’s a great walk from Bondi around the cliff to Bronte, which takes in all the little beaches.

There’s more to Australia than barbecues.

We have all the best Asian food – Thai, Vietnamese. The food is really sophisticated, really fresh and the seafood is amazing. We have a great coffee culture, too – people only realise once they get here.

Once I did a television interview in soaking wet clothes.

I was flying to New Zealand to film but I didn’t realise the plane was delayed and they’d just left our bags on the Tarmac in a really bad storm. When I finally got to the hotel it was 3am and my call-time was at 5am. When I unzipped my bag everything was sodden, including the dress I was going to wear for filming. So, I just stayed up trying to dry it with a hairdryer. And the next day I had to film in wet underwear, wet shoes, and a wet dress. You couldn’t notice because it was black, but it was warm and soggy.

I get a little bored when I travel.

It would be good to travel with somebody entertaining and funny, like a comedian. Maybe Jennifer Saunders – she’d be hilarious. Or Catherine Tate. My boys can already do a lot of her characters, so it’s sort of like travelling with her anyway.

Donna Hay is an Australian chef, author, and magazine editor (donnahay.com.au).

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