Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2017 - January 2018 i Australian Traveller

I KNOW THE STEREOTYPES that go along with working for a travel magazine; upon hearing what we do, people instantly assume that our day to day consists of nothing more than reclining in business class and staying in five-star hotels. Far be it from me to try and convince you that working at Australian Traveller is anything but a complete blast, but we do often go above and beyond in our pursuit of a story. That’s how our intrepid digital editor Steve Madgwick ended up standing in a council garbage dump on a muggy Queensland afternoon in pursuit of the majestic yet annoyingly elusive cassowary (Mission possible, page 112) and why our deputy editor Daniel Down reached some approximation of nirvana while hurtling down a perilous slope in the wilds…

From National Park hikes and stand-up paddling on calm waters, to beachfront breakfast, riverside picnics and sunset cocktails, Noosa knows how to relax! Horse ride on open beaches, mountain bike on forest tracks, float under blue skies, take a river cruise or hire a motorbike and explore the hinterland. Take in 50 shades of relaxing blue in Noosa’s beautiful waters – from open surf and point breaks to Laguna Bay’s protected waters and the Noosa River that winds through the heart of this gorgeous natural playground. Book a heavenly massage, hike across ancient sand dunes or find a beautiful boutique or gift shop. Wander through Noosa’s ambient villages, each with their own style, dining, shopping and artistic flair – from the seaside cool of Peregian Beach and Sunshine Beach, to…

FROM WHITEHAVEN BEACH with its seven-kilometre strip of squeaky silica sand, so fine you can use it to polish your jewellery, to Snapper Rocks’ pro-surfer training ground, and Fraser Island’s infamous beach highway where 4WDs cruise the line between waves and dunes at 80 kilometres an hour, Queensland’s famous favourites are as well known in Biarritz as they are in Bendigo. But if you prefer throwing down your towel where the only footprints to be found are your own, there are plenty of beaches that fly under the radar but are just as swoon-worthy. From the NSW border to the pointy tip of Australia, we’ve uncovered our favourite lesser-known beauties. PLAN B NEAR A-BAY: WINCH COVE, SUNSHINE COAST WINCH COVE (pictured left) , just short of ‘A-Bay’ (see below),…

I FEEL LIKE I’VE BEEN shrunk, and it’s a strangely wondrous experience. Miniature me is gaping up at the ceiling where insets of giant, leather-like plaits resembling a luxury handbag puzzle the brain. What on earth are they for? If simply to impress, they’re nailing it. As are nearby feature chandeliers made from 20,000 metres of ball chain, each weighing three tonnes. The polished travertine floors beneath my feet – covering 8500 square metres across the entire hotel – are cut into a pattern of cartoony Australia shapes. Textured, tactile surfaces are everywhere I look. The lobby at Perth’s one-year-old Crown Towers is breathtaking in an ‘is this for real?’ kind of way. Yet there’s no Alice in Wonderland potion at the door; seven-metre-high walls and a bone palette are…

Uluru, NT It is no surprise that ‘the rock’ took top honours in so many categories, but it is heartening to know that Uluru is not some abstract icon worshipped from afar; you love getting up close and discovering all of its nuances and hidden wonders, from cave paintings dating back tens of thousands of years to the vivid wildflowers that sprout at its base come spring. “Visiting Uluru with my baby daughter, she was mesmerised by the changing colour of the rock at dawn,” says AT reader Ellie. The Best Outback Destination RUNNERS UP Alice Springs, NT The Kimberley, WA Kakadu, NT Broome, WA The Best Outback Adventure RUNNERS UP Kakadu, NT The Kimberley, WA Alice Springs, NT Northern Territory The Best Guided Tour Going RUNNERS UP Port Arthur,…

The Carpe Diem is the kind of vessel you’d trade your own house for. A LACK OF SAILING experience and my love of creature comforts have always cast a feeling of trepidation over a particular dream of mine: that of slowly making my way down the Murray River’s serene, gum-lined shores by houseboat, mooring where I please, and taking in the surrounding beauty with the occasional flick of a wheel. It’s always seemed like a wild flight of fancy. But there are houseboats, and then there are houseboats. Ultra-luxe, fully appointed and with thoughtful architectural details, the Carpe Diem , my home away from home for the next few nights, is the kind of vessel you’d trade your own house for. “The idea was to give…

AKUBRA HAS A FASCINATING HISTORY, BUT YOU CAN TAKE IT FOR GRANTED. You don’t think about what it means to an outsider looking in because you are doing it every day. YOU DO GET MOMENTS WHEN YOU REALISE. On the occasion where you get interviewed, like now, and people are asking questions – talking about the history and they’ve done their research – you do. You feel a bit humbled by it all, really. It’s a good feeling. It’s hard work but it’s what we do and it’s all I know. FIVE GENERATIONS LATER, IT’S STILL THE SAME THING. Benjamin Dunkerley was a fur-cutter in Tasmania, and my great-grandfather, Stephen Keir I, was a hatter from England. Benjamin wanted to get into hat-making and my great-grandfather started working for him…

UNTIL FEBRUARY 4 GERHARD RICHTER: THE LIFE OF IMAGES GOMA, BRISBANE, QLD GOMA hosts the first major Australian exhibition of German painter Gerhard Richter, one of the greatest living artists. qagoma.qld.gov.au 6–28 JANUARY SYDNEY FESTIVAL VARIOUS VENUES, SYDNEY, NSW Sydney Festival director Wesley Enoch returns for his second year at the helm, with events taking over the city from the CBD to Parramatta. sydneyfestival.org.au 12–22 JANUARY MONA FOMA HOBART; LAUNCESTON, TAS Dark Mofo’s summery counterpoint, and the original festival spawned of the Mona camp, Mofo gets freaky in Hobart and – for the first time – Launceston. mofo.net.au UNTIL 12 NOVEMBER POP-UP GLOBE SIDNEY MYER MUSIC BOWL, MELBOURNE, VIC With performances including Othello and Henry V, Pop-up Globe is a full-scale replica of Shakespeare’s famous theatre. popupglobe.com.au NOVEMBER 16…

WHY DID YOU CREATE N››/›R››N? I wanted to create a product that would appeal to people all around the globe who are on the go, who start their day with a walk, a swim or by going to yoga or the gym. It’s for people who need an accessory that takes care of the essentials, their phone, keys, cards and cash, and withstands sand, sunscreen, long-haul flights and weekends away. WHAT WAS THE DESIGN INSPIRATION BEHIND THE RANGE? I wanted it to feel like summer all year long and have a sense of playfulness and fun. I wanted it to have a purpose, to be practical and provide a solution. NEO/PREEN can be used in a number of ways every day. HOW DID YOUR EXPERIENCE IN FASHION HELP (OR HINDER?)…

Tyrian Melbourne Joining its Fitzroy offering,Tyrian Melbourne is located close to the heart of the city and the green expanses of Albert Park. Each of the room classes, from studio to three bedroom, offers luxe apartment living with kitchen facilities, designer toiletries and lots of room, and guests have free run of the gym, spa, sauna facilities and a stunning rooftop pool terrace. tyrian.com.au SOFITEL SYDNEY DARLING H A R B O U R New-build five-star hotel Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour is attracting attention and rightly so. Rising like a gleaming metal-and-glass beacon at the CBD’s western edge, 590 luxuriously appointed rooms are tucked into 35 storeys along with a Champagne Bar, lobby bar, fine dining restaurant, outdoor infinity pool (complete with…

 I CAN’T REMEMBER the exact moment I was adopted. I didn’t sign any paperwork, nor was there ceremony or fanfare. And, because my birth parents are still very much alive, and I actually quite like them, I’m pretty sure it might have broken a handful of laws and could have me disowned one day too. Over the following week , I listened to and learned from more than 400 collective years of wisdom. It started as a blatant act of pity; a mercy-adoption, if you will. I was a wretched sight; nervously twitching, not sure where to sit or which way to look. Utterly alone at a ‘spare’ table, I quaffed all the all-inclusive Portuguese wine I could quaff, in the hope that Dutch courage would somehow launch me onto…

THE SCHOOL DISCOS OF MY childhood provided chaotic delight: a scout hall full of ra-ra skirts shaking to the tune of Agadoo while budget lighting and smoke machines worked overtime. I loved those smoke machines. While girlfriends were dipping a toe into the labyrinthine world of flirting, I’d be busting a move towards the wandering fog. I was reminded of my smoke machine predilection recently when Alex&Co. dished up the adult version. When my entrée – young kingfish tartare, sea grapes, watercress, tomato granita and green olive – arrived, it was closely followed by a chef armed with tomato consommé and liquid nitrogen. As he prepared the granita tableside, a familiar mist swirled around us. Gimmicks aren’t often my bag, but this one impressed. And I really wanted to be…

THERE’S AN ARMCHAIR in the lobby nicknamed Kim Kardashian. Once sighted, no one needs to ask why. It’s voluptuous in a cartoon-like, plus-size massage chair kind of way, with firm curves accentuated by stripy rouge upholstery. A calling card at Aloft Perth’s entry, it signals to guests this may be a 19-storey, 224-room hotel, but that doesn’t mean it’s typically mainstream. Aloft is Marriott International’s youthful, misfit brand and this is its first Australian venture. The glassy skyscraper looms over the Great Eastern Highway, a six-lane arterial that could be invasive were it not for thick, soundproof windows. There’s a lot Kimmie K would like here: the illuminated hoops hovering over the circular reception island like frisbees frozen in motion; the surprisingly spacious rooms, bucking the trend of matchboxes, and…

The lone wilderness of Dirk Hartog Island is as spectacular as it is desolate, the land’s chalk dryness tempered by the seagrass-mottled ocean’s expanse of blue. NINE HOURS’ DRIVE NORTH of Perth, across the ocean from Australia’s westernmost point, is an unlikely place for a love story. Seemingly in the middle of nowhere, the lone wilderness of Dirk Hartog Island is as spectacular as it is desolate, the land’s chalk dryness tempered by the seagrass-mottled ocean’s expanse of blue. Its long, thin form sees the meeting of wildflower speckled scrub with motionless turquoise bays. Sahara-like dunes lead to rugged cliff edges; crimson saltpans preface watery horizons that whales seem to bounce along. And our lovebirds? What makes this tale even more serendipitous is that neither of them intended to be…

“It can be infuriatingly hard to see them; their colours dissolve into the undergrowth. They become the rainforest.” I SHOULD HAVE JUST GONE to bloody Mitre 10 or the tip, like a landslide of locals told me to do. Instead, blood oozes from my lacerated right earlobe, after a tangle with some lawyer cane (a.k.a. Hairy Mary), a particularly vindictive spiky climbing palm endemic to Far North Queensland. “Get them off, get them off me now!” shrieks photographer Elise, followed by an unrepeatable medieval curse damning leeches past and present to a torturous and heinous afterlife. A scarlet rivulet flows down her ankle as the tropical-strength rains wash it onto the rainforest floor. I panic-swipe off a leech from my own ankle, seconds before it uncorks me too. OK, time…

WIN A $1000 GIFT VOUCHER TO USE AT ANY BEAR RENTALS DEPOT FOR 4WD CAMPER VAN HIRE Bear Rentals runs fully kitted out Land Rover 4WD camper vans. They come equipped with everything you need for that dream Australian road trip (fridge, stove, pots and pans, cutlery and crockery, as well as bedding and towels), so all you need to do is bring your sense of adventure and some food, jump in and hit the road to see this amazing country. With depots in Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns, Perth and Broome there are endless possibilities to get out and explore! You plan the adventure and Bear Rentals provides the gear. bearrentals.com.au Q. IN 25 WORDS OR LESS, WHICH NATIONAL PARK WOULD YOU TAKE A LAND ROVER TO AND WHY? WIN A…

Watching a blood red sun sink slowly into the orange dirt of the Australian bush is worth picking up a 4WD for alone, and getting as deep as possible into this land of ours. This shot was captured while photographer Elise Hassey was on assignment with Australian Traveller’s digital editor Steve Madgwick in the vast stretches of Arnhem Land, 97,000 square kilometres of wilderness that belongs to the Yolngu people. The Yolngu constitute many remote communities, one of which is centred on the small town of Bulman. Thirty bouncy kilometres from town is Bagetti Homestead, where Steve and Elise took part in a hunt for wild bullocks for a feast at a ceremony (meet up) that evening and a traditional Welcome to Country. “The ceremony was at their sacred spot…

A soundtrack of birds flittering above harmonises with the tinkle of the spring-fed stream. THERE IS something undoubtedly special about Fraser Island. Not a simple special but ‘touch-your-soul life-affirming’ special. The philosopher du jour, Alain de Botton explores this particular type of ‘special’ in his book The Art of Travel . The Swiss-born scribbler takes himself off to the Sinai desert to ‘feel small’. He is so touched by the landscape as it “provoked an identifiable feeling that was both pleasurable and morally good”. He defines this feeling as the sublime. Yep. That’s Fraser Island: pleasurable and morally good. Perfect, then, not just for a family holiday, but an intergenerational family holiday. The island’s mystical powers of wellbeing and providence are somehow entwined with the remarkable yet unexpected nature of…

A COMPELLING BUT little known Australiana story is that of early Aussie Christmas cards. Large-scale production of Christmas cards began in the UK in the 1870s, and before long they were being shipped for use in the Australian colonies. But the incongruities between the snowy scenes depicted and the reality of Christmas in Australia were as glaring as the southern hemisphere sun; and naturally local cards emerged that offered a truer representation. It is believed that the first such examples were 12 beautiful prints of native wildflower paintings produced by the artist Helena Forde, nee Scott, in 1879. The following year, Helena’s sister Harriet Scott produced a similar set (the Scott sisters were renowned for their botanical illustrations). These images, overlaid with festive wishes, would have been reproduced as single…

FORGET FLINDERS LANE, there’s a new dining precinct emerging in Melbourne’s former camping supplies quarter. Within a short stretch, Little Bourke Street (between Elizabeth and Queen) has triumphed over the puffer jackets, day packs and tourist-trap tackiness of nearby Hardware Lane to spawn some of the city’s best dining, with names like Kirk’s Wine Bar, Tipo 00 and French Saloon leading the charge. For fans of Tipo 00 – that most revered of backstreet Melbourne Italians – the recent-ish arrival of its next-door sibling Osteria Ilaria comes as good news indeed. With some of the best pasta in town and seating for just 40 diners, Tipo was always gonna break a few hearts. But sophisticated big sister Ilaria – which houses 90 and welcomes walk-ins for drinks and/or snacks at…

“YOU’RE OUR YOUNGEST guest to date,” an elegantly dressed staff member says. Though I would like to think I’m fresh-faced, I’m afraid she’s talking to our seven-month-old son. We’re checking in to the new Spicers Retreats property at Potts Point, a 20-room boutique hotel housed in three heritage-listed terraces. Its 19th-century Victorian façade has been restored, sitting charmingly among other historic buildings in the affluent tree-lined neighbourhood, while the interiors are the epitome of modern sophistication. After check-in we sit back and enjoy (a very good) coffee in The Garden Room. It’s a tranquil little space. There’s light flooding in from high windows, crisp white walls, splashes of rich greens and calming blues in the soft furnishings and tableware, and hanging greenery. On the back wall is a large Martine…

“WE’VE RUN OUT OF COFFEE,” the dreaded words ring through our catamaran. How six people could consume an entire jar of Nescafé in one day, I don’t know, but there are more pressing things to worry about. Namely, where will we find more? “I’ll just go and ask the neighbour,” my friend jumps into a kayak, which is bobbing behind the boat where we’ve woken up, just offshore from arguably Australia’s most beautiful stretch of sand – Whitehaven Beach. We laugh and watch in anticipation as she paddles over to the yacht anchored nearest and a salty captain wearing nothing but black Speedos and small thick-lens glasses leans over to greet her. This friend could charm her way into anything, so I’m not surprised when she returns victorious, bag of…

Such is the quality of the terrain, its perfect mud and the beauty of the forests, that it’s started attracting the best in the world. THERE’S A SWEET SPOT in any sport – a time when everything comes together. For a brief moment you experience nirvana; it could be a perfect stroke in a tennis match when ball, racket and body become a single entity for a blissful fraction of a second to set up a sublime shot. Up in the hills around Tasmania’s quaint town of Derby, 100 kilometres north-east of Launceston, there’s a way you can achieve this feeling for a protracted period, grinning from ear to ear as you hurtle through ancient forest. It’s called ‘flow’, mountain biking’s holy grail – a meditative state that will take…