A dream destination portfolio: the Editor’s Pick
How do you mend a broken heart? If you are Wendy Whiteley you find solace in nature and a shovel. How often is it that overseas visitors tip the locals off about treasures right on their doorstep? That happened this week as German friends enthused about the “secret garden” Wendy Whiteley has spent two decades…
24 hours in Bangkok: how to spend them? Try a mash-up of road, river, retail and rooftops In Bangkok you need to hit the ground running. There’s no time to waste. Metropolitan by Como sends a car to meet the late afternoon flight from Sydney to Suvarnabhumi Airport for speedy luxe transport to the check-in…
My imagination is bigger than yours! In department store windows around the world, every picture tells a different Christmas story… Wizard of Oz creator L Frank Baum first imagined his tiny, fantastic worlds in the Christmas windows of department stores. Generations later, they continue to enchant. Michael Stahl and Susan Skelly press noses against the…
With Abercrombie & Kent, Geoffrey Kent pioneered a style of luxury travel that now takes thousands of trekkers to the planet’s wildest frontiers. In this extract from a new memoir, Safari, he reflects on the journey. When my parents [John and Valerie Kent] and I went into business in 1962, to most people in the…
The Port City is the perfect pit stop for those who like food, fun and sun. Susan Skelly had it on her radar when in WA recently. Here’s her hit list. Where to eat & drink in Fremantle Bread in Common 43 Pakenham Street This bakery, cafe and wine bar epitomises the West’s new food culture….
The Atacama Desert, in the north of Chile, is one of the world’s must-see landscapes, with its compelling colours, contours, wildlife and culture. Susan Skelly reports on a once-in a-lifetime experience. Navigating the compacted, deeply rutted sand of northern Chile’s salt flats in a perky red Jeep calls for a special kind of soundtrack. Pierre…
Seeking solitude and a true blue Australian break? A working farm in the Upper Hunter Valley has it in spades. Along with a unique honeymoon eyrie. Remote is travel’s new black. Out of mobile range, out of sight, out of this world … add to that exclusivity and a quintessential Australian experience, and a long weekend…
Art vs shopping ? Tough call. If you had just one day in Paris … The Paris shopping playground that is Galeries Lafayette came to Sydney this week to spruik its “nouveau chic” makeover and new customer treats over pastries and smoked salmon at the Sofitel Wentworth. In the hands of one family group for…
When two earthquakes hit the city of Christchurch on New Zealand’s South Island within five months of each other, historic buildings were among the casualties. But luck and dedicated custodians were on the side of the 115-year-old manor, Otahuna. Over martinis in the sophisticated lobby of Sydney’s Langham hotel last month, Hall Cannon introduced a…
As Sydney travel and food writer Carli Ratcliff reflects, researching bespoke travel experiences is full of unexpected finds – from olive-oil obsessed princesses to epic Scandinavian landscapes, gourmet ingredients … and a milliner’s mile of ribbon! Seeking out behind-the-scenes experiences is all in a day’s work when foraging for travel articles or putting together itineraries…