“Willkommen,” my genial teacher, Dr Billy Badger, greeted me as I entered the lecture room to join a dozen or so new classmates. We’d all come along – a motley group of two youngsters not doing so well in their secondary school language studies, a dedicated young teacher’s college graduate, a couple of active seniors, a Goth, a guy planning a trip to Munich, two total beginners, me and several assorted others – to brush up our German language skills at the Goethe Institut’s annual residential school. Dr Badger’s friendly eagerness to help us learn, and to enjoy the process along the way, was to prove beyond any I’ve ever encountered in a lecture room setting.  We learned lots, but we had enormous fun as well. The main UTAS campus is set high up on 100ha, much of it in natural bushland with Hobart’s imposing Mount Wellington as a backdrop and overlooking the Derwent River, quite close (five minutes by taxi) to the city centre. We were billeted in self-contained apartments with four bedrooms, two bathrooms, sharing a fully-equipped kitchen, common room and balconies with superb views at night down to the Wrest Point Casino and by day up into the wooded foothills. Our meals were provided in the campus restaurant but we also enjoyed nights out, self-catering if we wanted, and heaps of excursions – walking, hiking, nature-spotting, and so on.

For me, Tasmania ranks right up at the top of Australia’s best scenic destinations, matched only by Broome, Darwin and the Great Barrier Reef. I enjoyed romping about on a range of water-based tours, along the close-lying waterways (where our guide pointed out Princess Mary Donaldson’s old school on the banks of the Derwent), on a state-of-the-art naval-style vessel down to the edge of the Southern Ocean, close-up whale-spotting and mingling with seal colonies. In keeping with the nautical theme I’d set myself I spent quite some time enjoying the many quality seafood eateries, both casual and formal, between Constitution Dock and Salamanca Square (Tassal my favourite!) and, when I’d said ‘Auf Wiedersehen’ to my German school, I even checked in to the five-star (but laid-back) Henry Jones Art Hotel – the 200-year-old sandstone heritage hotel right on the Hobart waterfront. Tassie’s such a wonderfully simple place to get around: easy to drive around, quick-to-reach attractions, few queues, uncrowded fishing spots, it was easy for me to catch up with friends who live in the island State.

Of course, there are summer schools all around the nation, and other language institutions such as Italy’s Dante Alighieri Society and the Alliance Francaise, both of whom I’ve spent some happy times with. Not to mention, of course, wonderful language schools beckoning from overseas: if you want to travel to the renowned language school for foreigners in Perugia in Italy, for example, or attend a live-in ‘ecole’ in France you’ll also enjoy the cooking schools inevitably held in conjunction with them as well as the wonderful attractions of those nations in your extra-curricular time.

Closer to home, though, and for far less freight, or for those with less free time, there are all sorts of schools – for art, cuisine (Sydney Seafood School runs terrific classes if you’re visiting the capital), sailing, music and more. Not too far from home, for example, is Maison de St Claire [inset pic], located in 12 acres of subtropical rainforest with spectacular valley views in Upper Crystal Creek, near Murwillumbah. Not only will you enjoy French language lessons from an expert, croissants and a baguette for ‘petit dejeuner’, cooking classes and French music and dancing, you’re certain to enjoy a wonderfully relaxing break. Sure, it’s fine to indulge in nothing more physically or mentally energetic than lazing about on a sunlounge.

But it also can be immensely satisfying to broaden the mind, as well as the behind.

Susie Boswell was a guest of Tourism Tasmania.

See discovertasmania.com

www.maisondestclaire.com

traveleditor@live.com.au

Photos: Tourism Tasmania – John de la Roche and Maison de St Claire.

The closest I’ve come in Australia to my favourite holiday spots, Bora Bora and the Maldives, is Palm Cove in tropical north Queensland. The bonus: holidaying at home means saving thousands of dollars in airfares and precious days otherwise eaten up by long-haul travel and jetlag. At Palm Cove – just 15 minutes from Cairns’ new international airport to martini, bikini and poolside sun lounge – I spent a week in the exotic surrounds of three beautiful resorts, all dotted along the cove’s Esplanade beachfront with its sandy shores and ocean-side boardwalk winding through groves of tall swaying palms.

Palm Cove’s exclusivity reminds me of the old TV series, Fantasy Island: an intimate, very special, holiday experience. I lazed by the pool, sipped cocktails delivered to my steamer chair and dined at open-air restaurants – each one set right at the edge of the Coral Sea – watching the passing promenade and the ocean vista by day, under fiery gas-flamed beacons at night. I’m told that, shortly before she passed away in April, former PM’s wife Sonia McMahon chose to spend some idyllic days at these tables ordering up “a bucket of prawns, please!” and a beer. Perfect. Palm Cove, she knew, is a place that indulges the senses: subtle, without the bustle of Port Douglas; sexy, with its appeal to eye and palate; soothing, with its aura of privacy, couples’ sunbathing nooks and lapping of the waves by night.
“We created Palm Cove as Australia’s true romantic destination,” architect Leigh Ratcliffe tells me. I’m being spoiled with eggs Benedict and fresh watermelon juice, both of us are relaxing ourselves gently into the day in the soft morning sunshine on the deck of Reef House. Ratcliffe, his practice in Melbourne’s fashionable South Yarra, is the latter-day “Mr Palm Cove”. “Palm Cove is where my heart is,” he declares. The real father, though, of this unique pleasure spot is the now elderly former Brigadier David Thomson. The debonair veteran of Raj-influenced Pakistan created Reef House as a stylish retreat back in the ’70s when civilisation as most knew it ended at Cairns. Thomson discovered the then six-room guesthouse with its perfect location on the beach just as he was about to retire from the Army. He developed it into a sought-after destination with understated chic, capitalising on a mysterious aura that typifies Palm Cove, still, today. Early Reef House guests included PM Gough Whitlam but later, when Thomson became Nationals’ Member for Leichhardt, patrons came from the other side of the political fence. One thing hasn’t changed: the Brigadier’s honour system, borrowed from the officers’ mess, of recording one’s drinks from the bar on chits, still operates today.

The perfect romantic getaway.

Ratcliffe snapped up Reef House with its unique reputation and appeal a decade later, laying the foundations of the modern-day experience. “We expanded it,” he recalls, “and marketed it in Europe and the US. They love it here because it’s exactly as they imagine an Australian tropical oasis: love the esplanade, promenading up and down, the little shopping village …” Up the road, Chris Skase was changing Port Douglas’s village atmosphere forever, while Ratcliffe moved more sensitively in Palm Cove, next taking on Jewel of the Reef which, under Banyan Tree group, became Allamanda, now Angsana; then creating Peppers on the same beachfront stretch. Ancient giant paperbarks were protected, height/density controls established and environmental design elements installed.
His style is lots of white; plantation shutters; private poolside sundecks off individual suites, sheltered from neighbours with hibiscus and frangipani; intimate garden/poolside outdoor kitchens for each guestroom, equipped with barbecue, wet bar, furnishings. My favourite things:
The Sebel Reef House & Spa: private BBQ terrace/balcony spa tub; 3 bougainvillea-draped pools, 2 spa pools, waterfall; Brigadier’s bar, candles lit at twilight, complimentary punch; drop-dead superb restaurant. www.reefhouse.com.au; freecall 1800 079 052. Sister hotel: Sebel Cairns freecall 1800 079 100.
Peppers Beach Club & Spa: my apartment with multiple different spaces to rest and relax in, private poolside BBQ sundeck; exotic complimentary canapés at the bar. Sister hotel, Peppers Beach Club Port Douglas with direct guestroom access to lagoon pool. www.peppers.com.au; central reservations 1300 987 600.
Angsana Resort & Spa, Great Barrier Reef: welcome fruit plate, sensuous oil-burner; house-sized suite, huge loft bedroom, dressing room, poolside balcony; Miele kitchen, laundry (easy family holiday housekeeping); exclusive guest sunlounges on the absolute-beachfront lawn/sand. www.angsana.com; 07 4055 3000.
Overall: Cracking crab claws, other fantastic food, budget outlets too; chic atmosphere; superb day spas; heaps of reef/rainforest activities (or none: why spoil that serenity?); friendly service by all, from GMs to the porters. Tip: Virgin Blue has daily flights Port Macquarie-Sydney-Cairns at lowest fares or choose Premium Economy. See virginblue.com.au for specials, bookings.

Email: traveleditor@live.com.au
Story by Susie Boswell.

The countryside around is as easy on the eye as anywhere in the world – all graduating shades of green, from the lightest of lime-tinted roadside tufts of grass to a deep green forested mountain escarpment soaring high above my valley.
I’m at Jaspers Brush, next door to Berry, on the upper South Coast of NSW. The area’s part of the Shoalhaven region less than 150km from Sydney. Berry itself is next to coastal Gerroa and Gerringong, and east of Kangaroo Valley, just below Kiama and a whisker above Nowra, a short drive from Seven Mile Beach.
To our north-west lie the Southern Highlands settlements of Mittagong, Moss Vale and Bowral, long popular as chi-chi weekend getaways for wealthy Sydneysiders. But now the profile of Berry and its neighbouring hamlets is starting to eclipse the long-standing highlands as magnets for those from further afield. Guest houses, boutique hotels, B&Bs, cabins and cottages, caravan and camping parks, houseboats, eco resorts and health retreats, and backpackers dorms offer every accommodation style to welcome visitors across a wide range of wallets.

Organic and wood-fired breads

Your own vehicle is indispensable for getting around such a vast area with diverse attractions from bush to beach, but the region can easily be reached by rail from the Mid-North Coast and a car hired locally. This evening, we’ve a designated driver to cover the 10-minute drive back to our digs from Silos Estate Winery. These vineyards, winery, art gallery, restaurant and accommodation cottages are set in beautifully picturesque surroundings among lush former diary pastures, first farmed in 1870. The cellar door leading to the oak cask room features original sandstone flagstone floors and roof beams so low you can knock your head on them – fortunately, the roof’s been raised and the heritage beams have become a charming architectural feature. It’s in this cool interior at a polished hardwood bar that our host Rajarshi Ray offers us tastings of the full range of his wines from a delightful methode champenoise (“sparkling”, we’re supposed to say) through whites and reds to some terrific dessert wines. Normally I eschew sickly dessert styles, but these are en entirely different and delightful experience.

Old silo towers

We move on to the adjacent restaurant through the property’s magnificent restored grain-feed silos where restaurateur-chef Rob Salmon sets out a superb feast that includes sensational olive bread and dips, a vodka-cured salmon gravlax/capaccio, Viet duck rolls, slow-cooked beef and lamb, and Turkish delight crème brulee with dark chocolate ice cream. The view across the undulating paddocks and over the rows of vines is superb and we watch the sun go down behind the Great Dividing Range across the way and a new moon rise into the starry sky. We regret we haven’t booked into one of Silos’ cottages or its farmhouse just steps away … but we take home a bottle of deep mulberry estate shiraz to enjoy later as a consolation.
A lot of the Berry experience is about food. Another spot we visited and enjoyed immensely was the popular Sourdough Bakery with its organic and wood-fired breads, pizzas, pastries and cakes, a great spot for a light breakfast, lunch or brunch. And, these smart venues aside, I hear the local bowling club does a terrific roast for $15.
The bakery is adjacent to Berry’s main street – which is in fact, the highway, yet hosts a charming enclave of shops featuring unusual homewares, gifts, fashion, trinkets, antiques and collectibles … a good opportunity to while away a few hours, browsing or buying, chatting to shopkeepers and strangers, and fitting in a coffee or a snack. There are flea markets and village markets, lovely trees, parks and gardens, pretty traditional architecture to admire, as well as fishing, bushwalking, rural drives and more than 100 beaches within easy reach.
For more info: see www.visitnsw.com/zone/South_Coast, www.shoalhaven.nsw.gov.au and www.thesilos.com.
Susie Boswell was a guest of Tourism NSW and Silos.
Pictures: Susie Boswell and Raj at Silos.

Story by Susie Boswell.

The Winter Olympics are over – let the fun and games begin! The billions of dollars spent by the Canadian Government and private enterprise to stage last month’s winter sports extravaganza – based on one of the world’s best ski resorts, Whistler – is now required to pay dividends. The TV spotlight’s faded to black and now’s the time Canada hopes to capitalise on the worldwide exposure the Games delivered. Let’s hope they do better than Sydney: despite staging “the best Olympics ever” Australia’s premier city is considered to have failed to benefit fully from the heightened, welcoming, profile it gained from holding the friendly summer 2000 Games. Vancouver, capital of Canada’s westernmost province British Columbia, was “Games central” and has focused much attention on B.C. and its neighbouring province, Alberta, the country’s winter sports capital.
There’s plenty to see and experience right across Canada, the world’s second biggest country, with no language barriers (even in French-speaking Montreal, with English the dual national language) and a currency that’s nearer than any other to parity with our own dollar. (At time of writing, the Australian dollar bought around 94c Canadian). The main drawback is the extensive flying time to Canada: the best part of 24 hours for most flights ex Sydney, and via LAX and San Francisco. (It’s also immensely tiresome, if reassuring, to have to endure rigorous and lengthy US customs and immigration checks mid-journey: even though you’re merely in transit you’re temporarily entering the US, hence the checks. The same applies on return, airside in Canada). And when you arrive at your forward destination your body clock is completely inverted: a good many travellers find they need a day or two more of downtime (read: lost time) to get back in sync. Watch also for accurately-quoted tour durations, ignoring the vagaries of crossing the international dateline.
And so, of course, it pays to stay away as long as you can afford. Air Canada does have non-stop flights Sydney-Vancouver that cut the flight time to 15 hours or so but, well … let’s just say it’s perhaps preferable to fly an airline you know.

The stunning Niagara Falls

Naturally, travelling literally half way round the world – let’s say some 15,000km one way – is expensive. A proper holiday in Canada is way beyond the order of a week in Fiji; it’s a major life purchase for most of us with, as a yardstick, no change from a minimum $10,000 each – and upwards – for a decent tour. For this money, though, it’s also a major life’s experience. Also note that, at present, international airfares are competitive, thanks to the GFC, and our currency’s purchasing power is significantly greater than it was six months ago. One thing’s almost certain: if you choose Canada for a big event such as a wedding anniversary or retirement trip, you won’t come away disappointed. Granted, the odd customer service, meal or airport incident might grate at the time but, overall, Aussie visitors return a high satisfaction rating for their Canada tours.
Planning, to make the most of your money, is essential. Do your internet research by all means, noting any codes for special offers or discounts, but then take a broad plan to a helpful travel agent to flesh it out. Making an outlay of the size a Canadian holiday demands is not an occasion for DIY. One tour company I’ve been impressed by is Scenic Tours, operating in Australia for more than 20 years: I’ve toured Canada with their guides whom I found mature, friendly, knowledgeable and interested in giving clients a quality experience. Sure, they have to make a profit on top of the aggregated string of companies that provide the tour but they do make use of some economies of scale and bulk discounts. Then again, if you’d prefer to save on tour company overheads a travel agent can put together a good airfare, tickets for a cruise or a ride on the Rocky Mountaineer and a comprehensive free-ranging itinerary to ensure your trip runs as smoothly as possible – AND uses reliable operators with built-in insurance and refund safeguards.
Planning could indeed be the hardest part, choosing which of many temptations to explore. The epithet True North derives from the country’s national anthem, O Canada – and the song refers accurately to Canada’s stunning scenery: “where pines and maples grow, great prairies spread and lordly rivers flow”. Famous Niagara Falls is merely one must-see natural attraction … the wildlife is truly amazing and leaves zoos in the shade for life … the majesty of Canada’s topography is never-forget-it thrilling … the folks are friendly and the food nearly as good as at home.
As they cried at the Winter Olympics: Go Go Go!
Info: Scenic Tours -1300 72 36 42 (local call cost).

Story by Susie Boswell.

HOBART, January 2010 – This is one happening town! From my heritage hotel overlooking Constitution Dock I’ve waved farewell to the last of the returning Sydney-Hobart yacht fleet. And I’ve inspected the navy-hulled $25m three-masted luxury vessel berthed nearby (with grand piano in the salon!) belonging to an Italian multimillionaire, his crew awaiting his next nautical whim. She sits rather conspicuously alongside hundreds of tour cruisers and working fishing and cray boats tied up at this bustling port – that make for an entertaining stroll around the waterfront.
I flew in to town along with Australia’s cricketers and the Pakistani Test team bound for Bellerive Oval, just across the Derwent from the docks. Jelena Dokic, fresh from the Hobart International, flew out to the Open in Melbourne. And Kevin Rudd dropped in to dine at our restaurant here in the Henry Jones Hotel, winner of “best hotel” Australian and international tourism awards.
Rudd declared Tassie a “tiger” economy. (Hopefully not a Tasmanian “tiger” economy, as Tassie tigers are extinct!). He’s been here twice in four days, talking up Tassie, aiming to boost Labor for the March State election.
The PM made a big deal of the fact that he chose to holiday with his family in the Apple Isle this new year. And in this aspect, at least, he was up there with the avant-garde: Tasmania is enjoying renewed popularity as a truly fantastic family holiday destination.
My tour of southern Tassie has been a delight not least because of the agreeable summer temperatures the region enjoys while the rest of Australia swelters. I’ve feasted on delectable Tassie oysters and other seafood at smart restaurants like Smolt, on Salamanca Place, and on budget fresh fish and chips from eateries here at the docks. At Tasmanian Salmon’s – Tassal’s – HQ, next to Smolt, I enjoyed complimentary tastings of delectable marinated salmon chunks prepared by a visiting chef giving free cooking demonstrations, one of many drawcards of the famous Saturday Salamanca Markets. Darwin’s Parap and Mindil Beach markets aside, Salamanca’s are some of the best around … although I feel they’ve declined a little in the fresh food department in recent years. I bought mostly turned wooden souvenirs and gifts, purportedly from timber from Tassie’s great forests (although who can tell if it’s Tassie or Taiwan these days?).
Central Hobart offers wonderful historic sights to occupy a full day’s walking, but it was the forests and the southern State’s other natural and historic attractions that really had me spellbound. I can’t think of an easier, more arresting, visually satisfying, destination anywhere in Australia. And it was a delight to see children revelling in nature: not a DSi, no duelling texts, anywhere in sight! Kids actually totally absorbed in forests, animals, and heritage sites.
The architecture of the Henry Jones Art Hotel makes it one of the most agreeably laid-back hotels anywhere. It’s the converted sandstone warehouse of Henry Jones’s IXL Jams factory and as a result offers spaciousness and a relaxed, homey ambience that purpose-built hotels never achieve. My premium room was superb and put me at ease like few other guest rooms I’ve experienced. (The laid-back vibe extends to pretty much everything in Tassie: don’t expect things to happen at the pace of mainland capitals).

Ruins at Port Arthur

This easy-going attitude extends to the roadways in the State’s deep south: they’re a pleasure to drive and tempt the motorist to stop off frequently to take in a variety of lovely views and attractions. There are magnificent vistas of mountains and waterways. There’s the Tassie Devil sanctuary, quaint shops and produce stalls, sandy beaches and striking blowholes, apple farms, berry farms, oyster farms, cheese makers and vineyards. Best of all there are B&Bs at every turn: I suggest a driving foray out of Hobart, stopping off as the mood dictates in the southern countryside in affordable family accommodation.
PORT ARTHUR: A truly stunning complex of restored ruins that captivates young and old alike. I recommend seeing the convict settlement over two days (tickets valid for two days), staying locally. There’s a lot of walking involved and plenty to occupy two visits of, say, five hours or more each. (Complimentary golf buggy service for elderly, disabled). Definitely take the audio tour.
HUON VALLEY: A magnificent skywalk and swinging-bridges walk in deepest southern Tassie – under 90 minutes’ drive from Hobart – high among 65m stringybarks and re-emerging Huon pines, over the top of the raging Huon River. A beautiful drive into the fern-laden rainforest and plenty of exploring to do for two or three days.
BRUNY ISLAND: Head into the boiling Southern Ocean and make like a Navy Seal in a 48ft rigid inflatable vessel that can do tricks on water and yet is so comfortable and safe. Visit real seal colonies cavorting just metres from the boat, marvel at rock formations more fascinating than Uluru, wave to dolphin outriders (and occasional whales) and feast on fresh farm produce, picking up berries, oysters, cheese and wine en route.
MORE: www.discovertasmania.com
Photos: Susie Boswell & Tourism Tasmania & O’Neill Coldwater Classic. Susie Boswell was a guest of Tourism Tasmania.

Story by Susie Boswell.

Despite being installed in the spiffing Les Orangers Beach Resort, standing on golden sand on the south-west Mediterranean, I was none to happy with the hotel just at that moment.
“What happened to my wake-up call?” I inquired grumpily of Reception, having woken and realised I’d missed the dawn departure of the Sahara Desert tour.
“Madame,” the desk replied gently, “we called your room many times. No response.” Oops. Red face. Sorry, err – thanks!
Well if you will dine languorously and late, murder the Bee Gees’ First of May in the disco long into the night and laugh and play in the balmy blue pool with newfound Austrian friends till the wee small hours (equally assaulting the German language), you are almost certain to sleep through an early morning summons.
Pas d’importance, as the French-speaking staff advised me: in fact, the Sahara tour is a very long dry dusty trip not ideally combined with a beach holiday, they confided. And so I dragged myself from the bed, crawled into my bikini, struggled a few paces to poolside again, fell horizontally onto a sun lounge and accepted the mint-and-hibiscus mid-morning mocktail presented with a flourish by the pool service waiter.
Ahh, delicious! After all, les Orangers (Orange Trees) is named for the sun-kissed juicy citrus abundant in the region – and the hotel’s equally ubiquitous and wholesome flavour-packed orange, watermelon and pineapple drinks are one of the delights of a holiday in Hammamet, in fascinating, intoxicating (watch that word!) Tunisia.
Les Orangers is all about sun and fun. Set on a sandy beach, the resort boasts a fabulous, vast swimming pool; great Moorish architecture – white stucco draped with cascading bougainvillea; fragrant orange blossom and jasmine on the breeze; airy, open, tiled-floor rooms ideal for the Mid-East climate; a fabulous nightlife, good food and friendly multi-lingual staff. Although 99 per cent of the country’s 10 million people are Muslim, the compound is excluded from Islamic religious observances, and is also a safe haven from some of the hazards for tourists in a number of north-east African countries – yet handy for forays out into authentic souks (bazaars) and the short trip to the capital itself, Tunis (formerly the site of ancient Carthage, and an intriguing centre of Arab and early Roman history) to visit incredible sites such as its medina, or old city. And although the hotel has much in common with any beachside resort anywhere in the world … it, too, breathes the unmatchable exotica of the Middle East, mixed with the chance to mingle with a United Nations of tourists, mostly from Scandinavia and the Continent. After all, Tunis is merely the equivalent flying time of Brisbane-Melbourne from major European ports such as London or Paris and even closer from Rome. As well, fares right now are both low and competitive: from Rome, as little as $150, often less. It’s the ideal time to plan to leave a few days spare in your northern hemisphere trip to free-range to destinations like Tunisia, formerly off the beaten track or out of economical reach. The Tunisian dinar is worth about 85c.

Wonderful sights in the Mediterranean.

I found several days in Hammamet were immensely refreshing, way our of proportion to the length and cost of my stay, and an entirely unique experience. (Note, though: Les Orangers is not the place for a quiet holiday!).
Similarly, neighbouring Malta – some 400km across the sea at the centre of the Med – is a small, often-neglected but distinctive nation well worth a brief visit. Here, Christianity is the dominant religion expressed in the country’s famous catacombs – fantastic subterranean burial chambers carved deep into the honeycomb-coloured rock typical of the capital, Valetta, its surrounds and its magnificent fortified harbour.
Malta is an eclectic melange of cultures, a tiny strategically-placed nation influenced by its numerous invaders over the centuries. Sadly, its cuisine is more reminiscent of its most recent occupiers – i.e: British stodge – than of its proximate neighbour Italy, or even of fragrant African tagines.
But never mind the food, at least it’s edible, more than can be said in many places. Let’s enjoy the other British legacy: official language – English. Malta is a sightseer’s delight – paramount impressions are of narrow cobbled streets, fountains, churches and cathedrals. It’s an “easy” destination – handy for punctuating an energy-sapping itinerary around other more robust lands.

Story by Susie Boswell.

Mamma Mia! What a show! The stage musical has returned to Sydney by popular demand, following the success of the Meryl Streep film version in spawning a whole new generation of ABBA fans. Opening night in October was a wild success, with stars strutting the red carpet, champagne flowing, and patrons from eight to 80 dancing and singing in the aisles – some of the more overly enthusiastic in the dress circle in danger, it seemed to me, of toppling over the balcony.

This 10th anniversary (of the opening of the Benny and Bjorn-backed musical’s opening in London’s West End) reprise performance is as good as the earlier Australian production that ran across four years from 2001 to 2005 … and is more vibrant, exciting – and features far superior singing – than the movie. The costumes are fantastic, the staging and dancing is colourful and amusing and the entire cast appears to be having FUN.
It’s a perfect extended-family treat and a highlight of the cavalcade of arts and entertainment that have come to typify Sydney in summer.
It’s an affordable venture, too, with accommodation packages at two central Sydney Mantra hotels offering rooms from $174pp a night including an A Reserve ticket to the show. By my calculation, that means you’re paying just $59.50 for the room, and travel by rail would be a budget transport solution that could suit many local families during the holidays. See www.mamma-mia.com.au or www.ticketmaster.com.au or call 1300 79 52 67. If you’re not buying accommodation, have a look at the Dinner on Us promotion: with the price of a ticket, dinner is free at two restaurants close to the Lyric Theatre, in the Sydney Casino complex at Darling Harbour, where Mamma Mia is playing. Parking underneath the casino is from $17 for 4-5 hours.

Across in downtown Sydney, Wicked the musical – the story of the Witches of Oz – is also playing to enthusiastic packed houses at the city’s best venue, the Capitol Theatre. The colour, song and staging of this production are outstanding: we had the best seats in the house – centre front, dress circle – and felt, several times, like the dragon’s head (a big feature of the show) was actually about to swallow us whole! It’s a “thrillifying” show that’s broken Australian box office records: “greenificate” a group of friends and see it: the sets are stunning, even the tiniest tots should be spellbound, and fans of Bert Newton will enjoy his turn as the Wizard. Accommodation packages available: see the full-on website at wickedthemusical.com.au or Ticketmaster or call 1300 72 30 38. Meanwhile, the annual Sydney Festival, offering about $10million worth of free entertainment, opens on Saturday January 9 with a free festival First Night of music. Cars, skateboards, roller blades, glass and BYO booze will be banned for a safe night out as performers right across the city’s landscape transform the streets, plazas and parks into a vibrant summer playground, starting from 2pm.

Björk concert at Sydney Harbor.

Hyde Park will become a spice garden for the afternoon, where families can learn to juggle, dance or hula, watch daredevil performances at the outdoor circus or enjoy please-all music by Kasey Chambers, Poppa Bill and The Little Hillbillies. As dusk falls, a magical world will come alive in the park’s glittering avenue of trees and 43 Rajasthani musicians will take the stage. Nearby, Qantas’s Domain Concert opens with an inspirational message of hope and understanding by indigenous supergroup The Black Arm Band, then legendary soul and gospel singer Al Green takes the stage in his first Australian performance. Down in Martin Place, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy heads a swinging lineup and at Chifley Square Uber Lingua’s global urban sounds will play across a cluster of stages. To find the massive list of bands that will play at various venues throughout the festival you’ll need to check the festival website at sydneyfestival.org.au/2010, or music sites.

As has become traditional, Carols in the Domain is on Saturday, December 19; New Year is heralded in with the traditional free fireworks displays on the harbour; in January the annual free Domain concerts take place: African percussion and electric guitars (Sat Jan 16), Symphony in the Domain (Sat Jan 23), Opera in the Domain (Sat Jan 30) – and open-air cinemas around the inner-city (including Flickerfest on the sand at Bondi Beach) are a budget-priced way to enjoy a midsummer night’s picnic under the stars. Big Day Out is on Jan 22 and 23 at Sydney Olympic Park and the Australia Day holiday falls mid-week, on Tuesday Jan 26, with plenty of outdoors events. Also check out the Sydney Opera House forecourt’s pirate and sea shanty concert, Rogue’s Gallery, on Thursday, Jan 28.

ABBA tuns up again at Taronga Zoo’s popular summer event, Twilight at Taronga – a series of concerts to suit all tastes running from the end of January to the end of March. Choose unreserved picnic-style or theatre-style tiered seating with magnificent harbour views as you enjoy music styles including Lennon-McCartney, Neil Diamond, Kylie, Elton John, Billy Joel and Woodstock tributes, Bjorn Again, choir, orchestra and James Morrison swing. Call 1800 675 875 for a free series brochure or see the site, twilightattaronga.com.au. BTW, Team Edward, Team Jacob: no new moons fall during these concerts. But older revellers might like to note the heavens will turn on the romantic atmosphere of a full moon around the time of the Jan 30, Feb 28 and March 27 (finale) concerts.

Story by Susie Boswell.

The mid-morning refreshments I enjoyed in the restaurant at upmarket Coconuts Beach Resort on the south coast of Samoa’s main island were welcome on a steamy tropical day. Our host, owner Barry Rose, leased the land for the resort 20 years ago this month. After a tour of his new over-ocean bungalows, known in Samoa as fales, and a stunning honeymoon villa, we drove across the way to Sinalei Reef Resort for a seafood lunch and cool drinks, to inspect its superb oceanfront presidential suite, honeymoon fale and new beauty spa. A notable feature of Coconuts was its robust stonework, much of it volcanic lava rock (pictured, in an alcove at the restaurant entry). At Sinalei the quality of hardwood construction was remarkable in a country where the buildings in general are often, typical in the tropics, flimsy: simple backpackers’ accommodation, for example, is merely a thatched roof over an open wooden platform on sand at the water’s edge.

It’s hard to believe the buildings we stood in were wiped out by the massive tsunami that struck Samoa a month ago, horrible to reflect on the terrible loss of lives of so many locals, some just infants, as well as Australian women visiting the two resorts, and on the terrible effects on so many souls.
I was a guest in Samoa of Polynesian Blue, Virgin Blue’s sister airline. We stayed at the famous Aggie Grey’s – at the original hotel and at its newer lagoon resort; we drank and dined with charming young Aggie Grey, grand daughter of the original hotelier, who hosted the likes of Marlon Brando and James Michener in the room we stayed in; we toured Robert Louis Stevenson’s house, climbed to mountain waterfalls, cycled on the neighbouring isle, Savai’i. One paramount impression was of Samoa’s narrow winding roads and the fact that a huge immovable pig was often standing in the middle as we rounded a bend. Another was of a deeply religious people with big families and their common custom of erecting crypts in their front gardens, where dead relatives repose … ever part of the family, as it were. (Still another impact was the preponderance of German tourists: western Samoa is a former German protectorate and many Germans still visit here).

Samoa’s the best part of a day behind Australian eastern time: it was just before dawn here when the earthquake and tsunami hit, shortly before 8am local time when the thundering tidal waves belted the stuffing out of the Samoan shoreline and all in their path. Sose Annandale, gm of Sinalei, our host there, lost her sister-in-law Tui, the owner’s wife, in the tragedy.

Villa Vailima

But let’s not write off Samoa as a destination.
Located close to the equator with an equable year-round climate, it’s a politically stable country where English is widely spoken, neatness and cleanliness are the order of the day and smiles, normally, the lingua franca. A flying time of around four hours ex Sydney makes the journey a comfy hop.

Why suggest Samoa when it has just been so devastated? For one thing, news reports indicated to me that the resorts I’d visited were laid flat, never to rise again – yet when I visited their websites to send a goodwill message I found courageous postings by management updating visitors on the exact extent of the damage, advisory notes for intending guests, and promises that the resorts would be operating again as soon as possible. The information I’d got via the TV news was not completely correct.

This is one of those times when travel agents come into their own. If you’re looking for a budget-priced honeymoon or holiday and want to help our Pacific neighbours get back on their feet, keep an eye out for special Samoa deals. Tsunami aside, I’d recommend anyway confirming with an agent that the accommodation you choose offers a standard of food you’re happy with. Some of the taro selections I tried at some budget hotels didn’t suit me, but other travellers found the indigenous menus fine. Samoa doesn’t have the same experience with internatonal tourists as, say, Fiji … but it certainly has the friendliness and charm – and it would nice to see those Samoan smiles spread wide again.

Story by Susie Boswell.

Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, I had to walk in to this one. After all, it’s a tourist’s “must do” to visit Singapore’s historic Raffles hotel, for a cherry-topped Singapore Sling, sipped beneath its trademark punkahs – rows of horizontal-bladed ceiling fans swaying lazily in the tropical warmth.

Even more tantalising was my stay in a Peranakan suite at Singapore Intercontinental. Normally, hotel rooms are for sleeping, showering and slipping out to taste the exotica of a foreign destination. But this Exquisite hotel opens the door on a unique ethnic history. The Peranakan culture is a hybrid of language, food, fashion, architecture and lifestyle born of the blend of Chinese émigrés and Malays.

The well-known sarong kebaya – long slim skirt and embroidered blouse, is Peranakan. Nonya food – a fusion of Chinese cuisine with south-east Asian spiciness, is Peranakan.

The Intercontinental’s Peranakan suites, reincarnated original Chinese Shophouses – commercial premises at ground level with living quarters attached – are a wonderful accommodation experience. (In Sydney, the Hotel chain blends modern rooms with the preserved façade of the convict-era sandstone treasury).

In Tahiti, it gives upmarket spin to the islands’ traditional thatched fales).

Terrific food, a throbbing upbeat vibe, an outdoors lifestyle and an overwhelming array of architecture and décor styles make today’s Singapore swing.

The city-state’s buildings and recreation precincts offer constant surprises: explosions of colour, and a wealth of gold jewellery, in little India; immaculate satay and noodle stalls at every turn; fascinating temples and mosques. Fashion, from luxury labels to cheap Asian casual, is vibrant and, along with electrical goods, a bargain-buyer’s delight 24/7.

Menus run the gamut from fragrant curries in the Indian quarter, Chinatown specialties, gleaming Japanese Sushi and Peranakan fine dining to delicious laksa for a few dollars from a hawker stand: supremely fresh, remarkably good.

The locals’ genial nature, outdoor dining, a great climate and Singapore’s seductive culture made my visit a pure pleasure trip.

Even “Singlish”, a mangled patois that tumbles all over itself, emerges eventually in a modicum of comprehension all round.

Every July, the Singapore chilli crab festival is a gourmet extravaganza: endless flows of succulent crustaceans, and tiger beer.

There’s a sensational Social-history museum, exotic zoo, fabulous spas, odd discoveries at every turn.

Keep an eye out for future Specials on the world’s best tourism information site at www.visitsingapore.com

Story by Susie Boswell.

He always made a beeline for the Lonely Planet section, reading avidly about far-off holiday places.
At the same time, the investment bank’s high-profile traders no doubt discussed multimillion-dollar deals dining on prime beef and pinot at swish harbourside restaurants.

The young turks putting together dynamic projects would not have guessed they might soon spend their bonuses escaping high-pressure jobs at a luxury South Pacific resort … like the one being quietly planned by their humble bean-counter colleague.

Today the accountant, Tony Pittar, and his wife Louisa have swapped the 9-5 life and city traffic snarls for the pleasures of Vanuatu’s seaside. Four months ago they opened Eratap (“Hidden Village”): their own South Pacific resort, a boutique enclave of just 12 luxury villas built from scratch, set on golden sands just outside the capital, Port Vila. The couple, both only just nudging 40, made the move while their sons, Nelson, 6, and George, 5, can enjoy growing up in a more gentle environment.

Vanuatu, formerly New Hebrides, blends Melanesian, French and British culture, lying due east of Cairns-Townsville in line with Fiji. Eratap is already said to be Vanuatu’s finest resort. It’s set on golden sands and turquoise sea, the villas – around a swimming pool – carved in natural hardwood timbers with rendered exteriors, thatched vaulted roofs and designer appointments.

Configurations are one, two or three bedrooms, free-standing, air-conditioned, with screened windows. Each villa has uninterrupted beach and ocean views, spacious deck and sun lounges, separate living and sleeping pavilions, modern bathroom, private outdoor shower, bar fridge, tea/coffee making, DVD/CD, wi-fi and safety deposit box.

When your flight touches down on the main island of Efate it’s just a short road transfer, or a scenic 10-minute helicopter ride, landing on the beach outside your villa! Tariffs cover land transfers, breakfasts, snorkelling directly off the beach, kayaking, and shuttle to Vila – a town of more than 30,000 – for markets and sightseeing in the French Quarter and Chinatown. Boating and fishing at Eratap is rated superb; visits to the village community offer a fascinating insight into its Melanesian heritage.

Go for luxury as a couple, or on honeymoon. Or enjoy a villa for six for around $115pp a night. Never more than 30 people at most will share your paradise. First visit www.eratap.com and click the Rates/Packages tab. For inquiries email info@eratap.com. Visit your travel agent to tie up flights via either Qantas/link or Virgin/Pacific Blue.

Along with Kate Winslett and Keanu Reeves, Keith and Katherine Dawn have escaped from Sydney concert gigs and movie launches to an exclusive retreat known for its exquisite surroundings – Rae’s, on Watego’s Beach at Byron Bay.

Rae’s is sheer luxury, sought by superstars for respite from the paparazzi and the public. You won’t read about their stay at Rae’s while they’re in-house: discretion is a byword. The powder-pink stucco mansion has only seven grand, individually-styled suites and prides itself on secrecy, offering a peaceful sojourn in a relaxing hidden haven.

But Australia’s most easterly holiday house, nestled just below the Byron Bay lighthouse, isn’t reserved solely for stars: for Mother’s Day, for a sweethearts’ weekend away, or just anyway, it’s the perfect hideaway for guests seeking an unforgettable break.

For me and my companion, the seclusion appealed. We arrived in the evening and dined on the open-air terrace over the ocean. Service was attentive but discreet, the supper the best we’ve had ever, and the atmosphere incredibly indulgent and romantic. I loved the white linen and fine crystal stemware counterpointed as it was with the casual al fresco seabreeze atmosphere.

Rae’s seduces guests into revelling in splendid isolation. Our suite was like a squillionarie’s Mediterranean-Moroccan beach house: glorious sitting room with all appointments, decadent sunken bath under a skylight, draped four-poster, exotic coffee and Champagne, smart private dining room, balconies open to the sea and the sound of the waves washing the shore. I defy anyone to want to leave this space.

Yet we did – but only to slide into the superb swimming pool and the sanctuary of the spa, both set in a lush tropical enclave. The intimate cave-like spa is entirely lined in shimmering gold mosaics and smells sublimely of soothing perfumed oils. Recently named one of the world’s finest, its atmosphere was designed by spa genius Marionne de Candia, commissioned by Vincent Rae to provide Australia’s most elite experience in spa treatments. Marionne insists on using rare imported Spanish unguents from the Germaine de Capuccini range of lotions and potions, especially tender on the skin.

This mansion by the sea begs you to stroll the nearby sands, linger in the fragrant garden, daydream on a sunbed, lunch on soft-shell crab and chardonnay, and generally spoil yourself for a moment away from the world.

Men who want to impress (or say “sorry”) should head for Rae’s. For weddings/honeymoons, it’s an incomparable entree to married life. Rates at Rae’s are so exclusive they’re provided only on application. But be assured, they’re worth it!

The good news is that you don’t have to be a house guest to enjoy the restaurant or visit the spa, by appointment. See www.raes.com.au or call (02) 66 855 366.

It’s a wonderful spiritual experience.
The whitewashed timber church with cherry-red windows is among the South Pacific’s most beautiful, a gift from the island’s owner, Canadian multi-millionaire David Gilmour, built in memory of his only child, a daughter who died at 21. The Sunday morning service is a fascinating insight into the twin ethnic and western influences that created The Wakaya Club, Fiji’s most exclusive and expensive resort.

Wakaya villagers form the welcoming staff of the superbly appointed adjacent resort complex with its exquisite furnishings, silk sheets, open-air showers, seaside spa, waterside dining gazebos, tropical gardens, waterfalls and manicured lawns running down past towering coconut palms to raked-sand beaches, set with sun lounges and braided hammocks and tumbling into the lagoon.

Gilmour bought the island in 1970 for around $1million. A philanthropist with a fortune from ventures including hotel chains, gold mining and the Fiji Water brand, he pays for the education of Wakaya villagers and for blind children in the Bahamas and serves on other world charitable foundations.

His Club guests have included Bill Gates, Spain’s Crown Prince, Celine Dion, Tom Cruise and the Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards (reportedly injured in a fall from a Wakaya coconut tree!) They include many anonymous international visitors who travel for up to 24 hours to seek out the style and seclusion of one of Wakaya’s eight spacious thatched timber bungalows. Each has a wide deck overlooking the water, private sun garden and individual stretch of beach.

From around $2350 a night the food, all beverages, and service are excellent. There are also three super villas accommodating up to three couples, including the 1200sq.m Vale O (“House in the Clouds”) at around $9400 a night. Among diversions are golf, gym, croquet, beach picnics and BBQS, diving, snorkelling, private cocktail and supper parties, beachfront and poolside dinners. Nearly everything, including personal laundry, is covered in the tariff; fishing and spa are options. Guests arrive by private executive jet, descending over magnificent sheer cliffs, and are swept by 4WD through stunning rainforest to the resort.

There are no early morning/late afternoon check-in/check-outs. Your villa is vacant the nights before and after your stay: guests arrive in time for breakfast and leave around 4pm, equal to two extra days over other resorts.

Aside from enjoying chilled Taittinger and fresh-caught tuna sashimi at will, the price of a stay on Wakaya buys guests a sensationally peaceful experience with the very best both Nature, and mankind, can provide.

Best of all, it’s run by Aussies, now seeking more compatriots to take advantage of short, budget flights to Fiji. Pacific Blue has up to three flights daily ex Sydney. Internet fares from $279. one-way include taxes. www.pacificblue.com.au and www.wakaya.com.

This energetic dynamo, keen to show me her hometown’s highlights, bustled me into a waiting limo. Bouncing in alongside, she directed the driver to our first scenic stop.

In just a few days, Wee Tee Wong truly proved my guiding star. We darted around the major sights and diverted to Chinatown, to a tandoori diner in the Indian quarter, to backstreet Peranakan neighbourhoods, to a day spa and a fascinating heritage shop-house museum. Cheap CDs? She knew the outlets. Chilli crab? At her fingertips. Wee Tee’s logistics saw us cover maximum territory without backtracking or idle moments – creating the luxury of time to spare, to linger when the whim arose.

I enjoyed similar treatment by guides Jana, in Turkey, and Chizuko, in Japan, eager to share their native culture. They also shared my passion for sprinkling sightseeing with shopping, leading me straight to the bargains.

As a travel writer I’m often offered personal guides courtesy of local tourism entities. But retaining a guide is worthwhile for regular travellers too, especially on brief stopovers, and for the elderly or inexperienced. Any concierge can recommend high-priced restaurants: a personal guide knows value-for-money leisure haunts off the beaten track.

Specialist guide fees are ultimately economical when your requirements are catered to exclusively – no bad itinerary choices; no wasted spending money; no obscure monument overlooked.

In Istanbul, Jana negotiated long queues at Topkapi Palace, saving ages of tedium. When the Blue Mosque was closing to new visitors for the day, she slipped us through before the gates shut. Her official guide status saw us ushered direct to a table in packed restaurants, and parking officers turn a blind eye. She knew which backstreets offered the best view of the Bosphorus Bridge linking Europe and Asia, avoiding an expensive official tour.

In Tokyo, Chizuko’s English skill pierced the language barrier, her local knowledge of road labyrinths sped us around traffic jams, and her contacts won us entree to a sake tasting.

From mysterious medinas in Dubai to remote Tahitian fishing communities and in dicey Rio favelas, guides have helped me do twice as much in half the time, offering insights I’d otherwise have missed. They don’t spoil the thrill of exploring a foreign culture or prevent chance encounters but, rather, enhance the experience, alerting against unsavoury situations and rip-offs.

A guide is a walking, talking Lonely Planet companion brimming with expert travel tips who offers a friendly greeting in a foreign land, getting your visit off to a flying start.

Personal guide services can be arranged by travel agents pre-departure, or contact embassies listed at dfat.gov.au for information on how to book.

It’s fascinating to visit Port Arthur, south of Hobart, and marvel at the inhumanity of early colonialists who confined prisoners to cells like horse stalls.

An expanded display just opened tells the convicts’ miserable story: allocated a number, their names no longer used, they spent 23 hours a day in frigid or steamy cells. Outside, they were masked to prevent contact with other inmates. Sometimes they suffered even grimmer punishment, held in total darkness and silence for up to 30 days.

Tourism Tasmania is proficient at highlighting the island State’s historic locations and demonstrates its inventiveness again with another new tour opening next month, the Beaconsfield Mine and Heritage Centre: a display telling the story of the dramatic 2006 rescue of trapped miners Todd Russell and Brant Webb.

Russell and Webb spent an astounding two weeks trapped a kilometre underground after a rock fall; the world held its breath as their extraordinary saga unfolded. The new, much larger, heritage centre is adjacent to the working mine where the pair was trapped. It mixes old and new features, incorporating a museum and two National Trust buildings more than a century old that extracted ore from two shafts between 1877 and 1914. Before 2006, the museum attracted 20,000 visitors a year. Fascination with the mine cave-in and the miraculous outcome has since seen figures double to around 40,000 – and many more can now be expected from next month.

Visitors will be able to see a faithful replica of the rock fall area where the caged miners waited for rescue. But to reach it, they’ll have to crawl through a tunnel underneath rocks! Half way through the tunnel visitors can stand up in a viewing space and look into the cage – for an amazing 14 days, Webb and Russell’s own Tasmanian “prison”. Visitors gain an insight into what conditions underground were like during the rescue.

The two miners worked closely with the display designers, whose credits include work for Canberra’s National Museum. Todd Russell says he’s impressed, and his kids are looking forward to seeing their dad’s ordeal graphically explained.

The display also portrays a wider underground mine environment and recognises the people involved in the rescue and innovations used in retrieving the two men. There are stories of how the community united in crisis and coped with an intrusive media influx, and its journey to recovery after the traumatic event. The official opening’s scheduled for early next month with modest entry fees for adults, pensioners and children of $11, $9 and $4; family entry is $28.

Tasmania has many other events planned for the coming spring school holidays, see www.discovertasmania.com and www.eventstasmania.com

The parkway is a ribbon section of more than 200km of Canada’s Highway One that carves for the greater part of the year through craggy snow-clad mountains, glaciers, fir forests cloaked in white and shimmering frozen lakes.
On my way to ski Jasper late in the season, I wrote in my travel diary: “A guide accompanied me on what easily lives up to its reputation as the world’s most scenic drive, the Icefields Parkway. The road branches off from the Trans-Canada Highway near Lake Louise, following the Saskatchewan River and traversing the high country parallel to the Continental Divide, tracking lofty wide glaciers and crossing mountain passes and countless avalanche paths, all visible as we travelled along. We not only marvelled at the unbroken vista of soaring snow-clad mountains, sheets of sheer shimmering ice suspended from jagged rocky outcrops and vast frozen lakes, but at elk, moose, caribou, goats, bighorn sheep and smaller mammals. Wolves and grizzly bears roam the region, too”.

Since then I’ve read a better description: it said, simply: “God’s postcard”. Words seem superfluous anyway: I was stunned into silence, awestruck by the beauty of travelling by road high up in the Rocky Mountains bridging the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta.

One of the thrills to be had en route is a trip across the frozen alpine meadows and glaciers – surrounded by a snow and ice palace – riding in the all-terrain Ice Explorer, a purpose-built enviro-friendly tour vehicle that runs on six “terra” tyres measuring more than a metre by a metre and a half … placing less weight proportionately on the ice than a woman in high-heeled shoes, say Brewster Tours, the operators.

The pressure is just 14psi and the tyres provide the necessary traction to mount gradients of 1 in 3. The voyage, “through the remnants of the last Ice Age, as it meets the Space Age” takes passengers across the surface of the magnificent Athabasca Glacier next to Athabasca Falls: the experience of a lifetime. Prices are just C$38 adults and C$19 children, possibly the world’s best value tour. Other tours are available, picking up from Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper.

And then there are the dogsled rides – a terrific once-ever thrill (and bumpy!). In fact, there are many ways to get around this frosty territory: snowshoeing is vigorous fun, and then there’s ice skating, sleigh rides, snowmobile scenic tours, guided walks through steep, glistening icy canyons past frozen waterfalls, ice-climbing for the brave, and ice fishing trips. Afterwards, one of my favourite indulgences: bathing in open-air natural hot springs while snowflakes float all around.

For details on planning a trip, check seasons and information at www.brewster.ca and www.columbiaicefield.com