The Block judge Shaynna Blaze has switched room reveals for a European adventure, sharing some of her travel tips after a "mind blowing" adventure on Nine's Getaway . She boarded a 15-day river cruise along the Rhine, Main and Dubine rivers, and visited cities such as Amsterdam and Budapest. The places she visited were like a "fairytale picture book" come to life, she shares with 9Travel.
Watch the video above. READ MORE: Beyond the beach: exploring the other side of the Whitsundays "Because you've got the open decks, you get to see all the towns that you're coming into to," she tells us. "Every town has a castle, two or three churches, it's that fairytale picture book that you can experience.
" Before the trip, the closest Blaze had got to a cruise was a notoriously rough crossing from Melbourne to Tasmania on the Spirit of Tasmania. This was nothing like it. In fact, she loved the small Emerald river cruise vessel and is keen to go on more smaller-ship cruises.
One of the other benefits was the fact she only had to unpack once – especially as she admits she's well-known for always leaving something behind. "If I do put something away I always have to have the drawer open or the door open to make sure I don't forget it," she tells 9Travel. Another packing gamechanger for her has been the invention of packing cubes.
READ MORE: Norwegian Cruise Line has a brand new ship coming - take a look onboard There is one other valuable lessons she has learned over the years after continually packing too many toiletries. "Always look at the smaller travel sized ones, they really are the thing," she says. "If you take larger sizes they can leak they take up to much room and you don't need as much as what you think.
" After doing this cruise, she also says it is so important to do your research. "Google the areas that you're going to go to," she says. "In Budapest what sounded like a really cool bar we turned up and it was a heavy metal place with a tattoo parlour across the road.
.." Meanwhile, back in Australia she has a home in Kyneton, Victoria, which she restored on Country House Rescue.
She also loves to spend time in regional Australia. The town of Bright in the High Country is "absolutely stunning". Plus she heads to Wilsons Promontory National Park in Gippsland for its "hiking and for its beauty".
READ MORE: These are the world's best airline rewards programs, according to Point.me She has also spent a of of time in the Murray area. "I do love Ballarat, for the historical buildings, that's really stunning too," she says.
As for where her next holiday will be, she is keen to visit Thailand, where she plans to explore some of the islands. And her bucket-list trip is to see the Northern Lights. "I'd love to take my kids and grandkids kids an go to Greenland, the north pole," she says.
Watch the second episode of Shaynna's European adventure on September 28..
