The name Cambodia evokes contrasting images: of the magnificent Angkor Wat temple, and of the misery the nation known as Kampuchea suffered under Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge regime. But Cambodia has returned to stability and its tourism industry’s gradually growing beyond the popular Angkor pilgrimage, joining neighbouring Thailand in the north-west and Vietnam to the east in enticing Aussie travellers to its tropical climate, beautiful beaches, scenic countryside, exotic cuisine and smiling people. No less a contrast with the poverty still afflicting much of the land is a new luxury resort opening in February. Hopefully, an inflow of international tourism dollars will boost local living standards. The resort, Song Saa Private Island in the Koh Rong archipelago, claims to be “setting the benchmark for luxury that treads lightly” in Asia. An intimate retreat, it stands on a pair of twin islands known together locally as Song Saa – “The Sweethearts” in Khmer.

Scattered across the sapphire waters of the Gulf of Thailand, most of Cambodia’s islands remain undeveloped, boasting virgin rainforests, tropical reefs and pure white beaches. Guests at Song Saa, say hosts and former Sydneysiders Rory and Melita Hunter, will experience this untouched world, reminiscent of Thailand’s islands before the boom. The resort spans the two islands, Koh Ouen and Koh Bong, connected by a marine reserve safeguarding dugongs, seahorses and exotic fish. A group of 27 villas is being created on the first island in “rustic chic” design, inspired by fishing villages and featuring thatched roofs, rough-hewn natural timbers and driftwood furnishings. Each overwater, beach or jungle villa with private plunge pool offers a sanctuary where guests will shower looking out over the ocean, sip cocktails watching the sunset from a private deck, and have a chef prepare fresh seafood under the stars. A world-class restaurant and lounge spectacularly positioned over the ocean takes in dramatic sunsets, seascapes and starry nights. Spa and “wellness” and yoga and meditation centres occupy the adjacent island. Guest activities include kayaking freshwater estuaries, hiking rainforest, snorkelling with marine biologists, Khmer cooking lessons and visits to local villages. A two-bedroom Royal Villa offers even more exceptional luxury and privacy, for those in search of a discreet hideaway … honeymooners, perhaps?

Song Saa’s pricing policy is an all-inclusive tariff typical of the world’s top resorts. For one price per person per night guests indulge in everything on offer: from a foot massage and welcome drink on arrival to lazy in-villa breakfasts, romantic beach picnics, and fine dining in the world-class overwater restaurant presided over by executive uber-chef Neil Wager, formerly of the Seychelles’ acclaimed six-star North Island. The range of cuisines includes Khmer-French inspired dishes and surprises from the kitchen such as fresh-made tapas and a glass of crisp white wine as a sundowner. Guests enjoy 24-hours’ unlimited house wines, spirits, beers and other drinks, including mini-bars restocked daily. Also included is use of kayaks, sailboats, snorkelling gear, kite boards and windsurfers, plus speedboat transfers to/from the resort, high speed internet, satellite TV, international phone calls, unlimited laundry services and guided tours of protected marine and wild life around the twin islands. Rates from US$668 – let’s say around AUD668! Song Saa is open for bookings for stays from February 13 2012. See www.songsaa.com. Consult travel agents for a smooth connection: Asian carriers have daily flights to Siem Reap (Angkor Wat) and Phnom Penh from Bangkok, KL and Singapore hubs but check to arrange a seamless same-day arrival. Song Saa operates private plane transfers to the resort from Phnom Penh (45 minutes), US$200 pp one way, and from Siem Reap (75 minutes) for US$300 pp one way. Sihanoukville is a three-hour drive from Phnom Penh: private car transfers are US$150 each way. Song Saa is a 30-minute private speedboat ride from coastal Sihanoukville, US$90 pp per trip.

traveleditor@live.com.au

It’s worth remembering Queensland is beckoning Rugby supporters for its inaugural Gold Coast Sevens “Fever Pitch” tournament later this month.
The two-day event at Skilled Park, Robina, kicking off the HSBC Sevens World Series 2011-2012, will feature seven sides from the Pacific region, four from Europe, two from the Americas, two from Africa and one from Asia. Along with golf, Rugby 7s – for men and women – will be included in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games (15-man teams competed in the Olympics until 1924).
This year’s 7s is the event, on home soil, that travellers have traditionally rushed to see at, notably, Hong Kong, and also in Dubai. Sixteen teams – from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, England, Scotland, Wales, France and South Africa as well as the US, Argentina, Kenya, Samoa, Japan, Tonga, Papua New Guinea and Niue – will make the trip to Queensland, on the Gold Coast on Friday 25 and Saturday 26 November, with the aim of claiming the inaugural Fever Pitch title.
The event is the first round of the nine legs of the worldwide HSBC 7s series that moves on to Dubai on December 2 and 3, Nelson Mandela Stadium in South Africa’s Port Elizabeth on December 9 and 10, New Zealand (Wellington) on February 3 and 4, the US in Las Vegas from February 10 to 12, the celebrated Hong Kong event from March 23 to 25, Tokyo on March 31 and April 1, at Edinburgh in Scotland on May 5 and 6, and culminates on the hallowed ground of Twickenham on May 12 and 13, 2012.
In fact, Fever Pitch – supported by the IRB, Tourism Queensland and Gold Coast Tourism – is the second of two Rugby events being held over eight days on the Gold Coast. The action opens on the first weekend with the Hyperion Paradise 7s 2011 on Saturday November 19 and Sunday November 20. First staged in 2009 at Albert Park, Surfers Paradise, the Paradise 7s have been invited this year to run the competition from the state of the art Carrara Sports Complex. As well as international teams competing, Australian teams from WA, NSW and Queensland will take part. The Hyperion 7s event will also host a women’s tournament and a newly created local Gold Coast club competition.
Accommodation is affordable. Peppers, Mantra and BreakFree are the festival’s official accommodation partners, with the chain’s Broadbeach hotels located just 10 minutes from Carrara and 15 minutes from Skilled Park. Peppers Broadbeach is the pick, a great base for the events from $265 a night in a one bedroom suite with complimentary in-room parking, movies and internet. Peppers offers one, two and three bedroom suites and three bedroom “sky homes” with first-class facilities such as private cinemas and lap, plunge and resort pools. Call 07 5635 1000 or visit peppers.com.au.
Mantra Phoenician special rates are from $137 a night in a one bedroom suite (minimum three-night stay). Call 07 5585 8888 or visit mantra.com.au. At BreakFree Diamond Beach, Broadbeach, rates are from $150 a night in a one bedroom suite with four nights’ accommodation for the price of three. Call 07 5570 0000 or visit breakfree.com.au. Broadbeach has excellent pavement cafes, a great beach and is home to Jupiters Casino, open 24/7.
If you’re quick you can still enter Tourism Queensland’s Rugby 7s promotional competition to win seven nights’ accommodation, for seven friends, tickets to the 7s Festival and visits to seven Gold Coast attractions at www.queenslandholidays.com.au (closes Friday November 4). Otherwise, why not take advantage of Virgin Australia’s new schedules from Port Macquarie direct to Brisbane? Fares are around $99 one way at www.virginaustralia.com – or see a local travel agent to book and for links via hire car or rail to the Gold Coast.
traveleditor@live.com.au

The vessel’s voyage around the continent will see the biggest ship ever to visit our shores call at eight ports in five States and the NT. She’ll call at Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Fremantle, the Whitsundays, Cairns (Yorkey’s Knob) and Darwin, with a quick detour to Bali, in a 28-day program. Arriving from Cape Town, she departs Freo on February 8, Adelaide on February 11 and Sydney on February 14, then circumnavigates the country (so visiting Freo, Adelaide and Sydney twice) before embarking ex Sydney for Singapore on March 7.

Jointly, the cruising industry aims to roughly double its Australian manifest to a million passengers a year within the next decade, but if you’re thinking of helping out by jumping aboard QM2, forget it: her program this time is entirely sold out – a good measure of our enthusiasm for mucking about in boats. (I was planning to fly Sydney-Freo to make the return cruise, but dates clashed. No doubt I’ll regret it when QM2 fever’s at its peak in 2012!) You can, however, see if you can yet squeeze in on Princess Cruises’ “Best Sale Ever” packages, open till October 14. Deals include 13-night New Zealand holidays from just $1399pp twin share. The NZ itineraries are for departures from this month through to March, visiting eight Kiwi ports including Dunedin, Wellington and Napier. Despite Christchurch’s misfortunes, NZ’s enjoying renewed popularity too, thanks to focus on the Rugby World Cup running up to Auckland’s Eden Park final on Sunday October 23, and the All Blacks’ blinding play. (The Wallabies, generously, have been visiting Christchurch this week to raise funds for the community after the earthquake-prone city was further depressed when its scheduled Cup matches were cancelled).

Meanwhile, some stats to whet the appetite: the $800m QM2, launched 2004, the world’s longest vessel, carries 2620 guests, 1253 crew, has 10 restaurants, five pools and the biggest ballroom afloat. At 345m long, the 151,400t ship is over double the size of QE II and two-thirds the length of Sydney Harbour Bridge. She hosts 11 restaurants, 14 bars, eight shops including Chanel and Hermes boutiques, four outdoor swimming pools (one with retractable glass roof), golf simulators, a basketball court and usual games such as bowls, croquet, shuffleboard, quoits, and a giant chess board. Wi-fi’s in every stateroom. One of the most technically-advanced ships ever, she has three thrusters allowing her to turn in her own length without tugs, simply manoeuvred by a joystick on the bridge. Stabilisers reduce the ship’s roll by 90%. Her 17 decks rise the height of a 23-storey building above the waterline. Stood on her stern, she’d be 40m taller than the tip of Sydney Tower. Over an estimated 40-year lifetime, she’ll travel the equivalent of 12 times to the moon and back. She uses and washes 87,000 pieces of china and glassware daily.

The line was founded in 1839 by Samuel Cunard, mainly to carry mail between Britain and North America. Near a century later, it acquired the transatlantic fleet of its rival White Star Line (quite some time after White Star’s Titanic disaster. A Cunard liner, Carpathia, rescued some Titanic passengers). QM2’s sister ship, the Queen Victoria (2014 passengers), debuted in late 2007, a year before the departure of the famous QE II from the fleet in late 2008. Then a new Queen Elizabeth (2092 passengers) was launched in late 2010.

Info: The keen uptake of its 2012 local program has seen QM2 schedule a 12-night circumnavigation of New Zealand in March 2013. Departing Sydney, from $3329pp, the ship visits Auckland, Wellington, the Bay of Islands, sails through the waters of Milford Sound and makes her maiden call at Christchurch.

Princess Cruises (a sister line to Cunard and P&O) has its Northern Explorer (Australia’s Top End) with fares for the 17-night voyage starting at $2999pp, departing Sydney or Fremantle in April and July 2012. Itineraries take in scenic cruising through The Kimberleys and calls at ports including the Whitsundays, Port Douglas and Broome.
See your travel agent, www.princess.com or call

13 24 88.

traveleditor@live.com.au

The still-firm snow crackles and breaks like a fresh-baked crusty loaf under your skis (or board) and is far more forgiving of error than winter’s hard-packed surface, and the weather’s welcoming, encouraging flinging off of anorak or parka and skiing in short sleeves, acquiring a glamorous snow tan along the way!

Lunchtimes in mid-winter can mean a mere quick stop for some much-needed nutrition to keep up the energy levels, but a reluctance to linger – because you get so cold if you don’t keep moving. By contrast, lunchtime in spring is an invitation to indulge, to laze back on the forecourt of a mid-mountain restaurant-chalet enjoying hearty pastas and hot chocolate, taking in the clear air, and regrouping for the afternoon’s attack on the piste. You needn’t worry about all those carbohydrates; they’ll soon be expended by a few vigorous runs.

Spring skiing is acknowledged as a distinct sporting pleasure in Europe and should be regarded similarly here too. There are fewer hard-running cowboys to contend with than in deep winter, road access is easier with no need for tyre chains or engine anti-freeze concerns, parking is more plentiful, the risk of injury is lessened, and the days and nights are far kinder to climate-timid souls, beginners and kids.

The best attraction in spring, however, is far more agreeable prices for accommodation, hire equipment if you need it, and lifts. Starting September 5 through to season’s end on the October long weekend and taking in the school holidays, Thredbo’s adult lift passes are around an affordable $70-$75 a day – great value, and your skiing day is essentially a longer one too, with fewer harsh weather conditions to deter long days on, usually, the same number of runs. There are many special offers and packages to be had at www.thredbo.com.au

My favourite spot to stay is at Banjo Apartments on Banjo Drive, ideally located in the centre of the village and with great views over the main mountain activities. The Thredbo bus stops right near the door and drops you at the valley terminal or the gentler slopes of Friday Flat where tiny tots from toddlers up can enjoy special kids’ club events. Our apartment at Banjo, two bedrooms plus a loft third bedroom and two cosy bathrooms, has a great wood fire, comfy lounge, full-length sunny deck, ski equipment storage and a dedicated car park right at the front door. The timber townhouse has a great alpine atmosphere and a terrific, spacious, fully-equipped kitchen for budget catering as well as great in-home party nights. There are flat screen TVs, CD player, microwave and dishwasher, washer and dryer – everything to make it a perfect retreat. Call booking agent Kasees Lodge next door on (02) 6457 6370 or 0408 633 992, speak to Ann or Cees Koeman and ask for the Crane apartment, or see www.kasees.com.au/banjoTownhouses.html

And what happens if the snow suddenly fails? It’s unlikely, with the excellent falls received this year plus state-of-the-art snow-making going on through the season but, if the worst happens, there’s heaps more to do than there is if you’re housebound by winter blizzards. There are scenic chairlift rides, cross-country skiing or snow-shoeing, self-guided tours and hiking, heated indoor swimming pool, massages, barbecues and horse riding, to name a few, and not to mention some great dining and fun gluhwein nights and dancing, entertainment and nightclubbing at Thredbo Keller.

Yes, babysitting is available.

traveleditor@live.com.au

The variety of organised tours of the world’s best locations and attractions is countless, from the rite-of-passage Contiki formula for 18s to 30s to large-group special packages offered by operators like Scenic Tours and top-drawer luxury experiences. At the upper end of the scale the touring tends to be more elaborate, extended and in first or business class. Operators offer selective itineraries to remote and exotic destinations with everything laid on. Tour escorts are not mere timetable and luggage coordinators with a knack for leading the group singalong but experts in the field – park rangers on Kruger safaris, historians or naturalists on expeditions, horticulturalists at Chelsea, gourmets on culinary tours.

Port Macquarie’s fortunate to be home to the founders of Australia’s elite international luxury tour operators, John and Helen Ross, who operate J&H Tours. The pair’s had around 20 years in the upmarket travel game, starting out as the originators of Captain’s Choice Tours: famous for chartering an entire Qantas jet for a single select group and travelling around the world, or to Antarctica, on tailor-made itineraries. Since 2000 the Rosses have refined the art even further, reducing numbers in their J&H touring groups to, say, around eight to 20 travellers and homing in on ever-more elegant, opulent and interesting locations to create a portfolio of “guaranteed-success” boutique tours of France, Italy, Spain, Croatia, India, SE Asia and New Zealand, on board the six-star Silver Sea and on Orient-Express’s stylish canal barges. The couple themselves has travelled to some 130 of the world’s 195 countries so they certainly know their stuff and make perfect hosts of their latest Classic French Collection tours. These are personalised all-inclusive tours featuring extended stays in each region with a preference for smaller villages and with all guest arrangements, and baggage handling, put in place by the organisers.

“Staying for an extended period in one location avoids constant packing and unpacking,” the Rosses say, “allowing more time for in-depth exploration of an area.” Amen to that. And single travellers are well catered for, welcomed into the small groups, for a reasonable single supplement fee. Air travel may be booked in any class or you can use your own points and link up with the tours at Charles de Gaulle airport. Optional tours may be added ahead of a tour or your holiday extended at the end of the trip. Good value is a hallmark of the itineraries which include some welcome free time for relaxation and independent exploring, all meals and premium accommodation and transfer coaches: the only extra is your own spending money. For the Classic Loire Valley tour coming up on September 22 the twin-share price is $6990pp and the single price just $8990 for the 11 days to October 2. Some highlights are visits to half a dozen castles, one designed by Leonardo de Vinci; art and history tours; immersion in villages and towns including Joan of Arc’s battleground of Orleans; wineries of  the famous Chenin region and Michelin-star dining. Accommodation includes spending the second five nights of the tour at Chateau de Marcay, a stunning hotel in a 15th century castle built on the ruins of an 11th century fortress.

Coming up from October 8 to 18 is J&H’s Classic French Riviera and Provence with gardens, markets, restaurants, wineries, art, architecture and historic villages. The tour opens in Nice with Michelin-star dining and moves on to famous centres such as St Paul de Vence, Aix-en-Provence, Marseille, the Pont d’Avignon and Arles, where Van Gogh painted Starry Night and The Irises. My own six-star experiences include travelling aboard a Bora Bora Cruises’ yacht with its crystal staircase, Tahitian butlers and fine cuisine, but I must say I’m taken by J&H’s invitation to top or tail their tours with a week-long luxury barge cruise on a four- or six-cabin vessel with private facilities and gourmet fare.
traveleditor@live.com.au

Bye bye to the backpacker/budget billet. And you can keep your caravan/camping. Mid-range hotels? Mediocrity!

OK, I’m kidding: every level of holiday accommodation has its merits. But when it comes to spoiling ourselves, when we want nothing but the best … the choices are sparse. Peppers Bale Salt at Kingscliff, on the far NSW north coast, is one of just three top-notch hotels anywhere between Brisbane and Sydney. And it’s the only one built right on the sandy oceanfront.

My family, friends and I are celebrating a rite of passage taking place on the Gold Coast but we don’t want to endure the traffic congestion, noise and late-night revelry. We don’t want the superficial glitz, the drunks, the fights, the sirens, the sometimes dodgy food, narrow one-way streets, stop lights, the frenetic after-dark atmosphere. Enough!

Peppers Bale is ideally located just minutes via the excellent Gold Coast Motorway from the s-e Queensland coast’s attractions (not far via freeway from Brisbane, for that matter) so it’s easy access to the theme parks for youngsters, casino shows if you must, and – the shopping!

Meanwhile, we enjoy the peaceful ambience a holiday is all about, including superb amenities such as the elite Golden Door Spa, free tennis and the opportunity to hire a bike (optional kiddie seat) or, for seniors, an open carriage with comfy bench and awning that can be pedalled by two. Here, the swimming pools don’t resemble bathing in the Ganges; there’s an adults-only pool, and heated, lagoon and wading pools for kids to enjoy, in cleanest crystal clear water. The meandering uncrowded golden beach is patrolled, its surf mostly gentle. The beach slopes gradually to the ocean, allowing tiny tots a safe spot to play in the shallows and offering leisurely walks along the sand when the tide’s out.

But we were delighted by more material things. A chilled lime cocktail, fresh fruit, macaroons and entertainment lounge on our exclusive check-in by a VIP concierge and free bright-lit underground security parking with numbered spaces right next to swift-arriving lifts for instant access with luggage to our apartment. (Mistakenly, I left a Gladstone bag on the ground there overnight, with camera, computer and personal items. I found it next morning hung over the rear-view mirror, $1000s-worth of contents intact.)

Our apartment, though, was the highlight: spacious (make that huge), sunlit, with full-length picture windows in two aspects over the ocean and a big protected balcony for sunbathing and entertaining. Excellent sound-proofing meant we didn’t have to keep the entertainment systems low and, isolated from any intrusive noise from outside, we felt this wasn’t an apartment as much as a private beach house. Walk-in wardrobe, big study with free efficient WiFi, laundry, fully-equipped luxury kitchen, digital TVs with complimentary Austar in sitting room and bedrooms and the best immaculate double spa bath with fragrant L’Occitane toiletries replenished daily. Yes, someone to make beds, change towels, put away the ironing board, renew the Twinings tea and hot chocolate and unstack the dishwasher daily, but arriving unobtrusively, like unseen fairies, whenever it suited us. And leaving behind a welcoming calming scented candle burning in the evening, or a basket of warm cookies. (Many hoteliers underestimate how these simple measures impress.)

Excellent dining is a feature of a stay at Bale, notably at the famous Fins, now installed here amid a bank of restaurants offering great variety of  menus and price. A few kilometres away Kingscliff township offers lovely sidewalk café dining spots. Everything you want is on hand next to Bale, however, including a general store/IGA for forgotten items/self-catering supplies. Yes, there’s much more to say about Kingscliff-the Gold Coast than just the accommodation ; but it’s an essential of a successful break, above all, to be comfy with where you stay.

Susie was a guest of Mantra Resorts, operators of Peppers Balt Salt, Peppers Salt and Mantra on Salt on the NSW Tweed Coast, 15 minutes from Gold Coast/Coolangatta Airport. Reservations: 1300 737 444.

www.peppers.com.au/bale-salt 

traveleditor@live.com.au

The King is dead. Long live the King! In this case, Noosa, an hour’s drive north of the Queensland capital, has been popular for a generation as the leading elite coastal retreat for well-heeled and discerning visitors from Brisbane, northern NSW, Sydney and Melbourne. But now a series of misfortunes – from the GFC and repeated tidal erosion of its main beach to a formula that’s simply become tired and boring – has made Noosa seem sooo last century … substituted as the region’s most desirable leisure playground and holiday destination by a new place in the sun: Kingscliff, 10km inside the NSW northern border.

Kingscliff lies on NSW’s Tweed Coast, beautifully accessible by road on the six-lane divided freeway once you reach the new Ballina bypass opened last month. Its big bonus attributes are – unlike Noosa and the Gold Coast – its pristine, uncrowded beaches and the absence of overdevelopment: a nicely laid-back environment for holiday relaxation.

Yet the glitzy attractions of the Gold Coast and its theme parks for kids, along with its big shopping centres and casino, are just a half-hour’s drive away via the Gold Coast Motorway. The equable climate, naturally, is similar to the Gold Coast’s, around a mean average of 24 degrees. Byron Bay – another resort town where a bit of refreshment wouldn’t go astray – lies a half hour to the south.

The Tweed Coast stretches along a golden sandy coastline from Fingal in the north to Cabarita to the south, its gentle, patrolled beaches ideal for swimming, surfing, waterside ball games, sunbathing and fishing. A range of fresh holiday attractions has sprung up, including river cruises, canoeing and a day in the countryside at the wholesome, family-oriented theme park Tropical Fruit World.

Kingscliff is a food-lover’s paradise. Chiefly, it’s the new home of Steven Snow’s famous Fins restaurant. Originally located at the bridge at Brunswick Heads, it first moved north to Byron and then still further north, now at the Peppers resort complex at Kingscliff, fronting 1.2km of unspoiled ocean beach (pictured). If you’ve never eaten at Fins, it’s a must-do: a sensational seafood restaurant that’s won chef’s hats for excellence every year since 1998. As well as a wide variety of other independent beachside restaurants – Thai, seafood, pub bistro among them – lining the avenue alongside Peppers resort, there’s a smorgasbord of other restaurants and interesting casual cafes lining  the pavement in the open air along the ocean-side main thoroughfare of Kingscliff township. There’s a local winery, fish and chip eateries – or you can easily discover your own pretty secluded picnic spot. A range of local clubs welcomes visitors for budget dining too.

Exploring the Tweed Coast, Tweed Valley rainforests and Gold Coast hinterland provide plenty of great options for the odd cloudy day. Also on the entertainment menu are scuba diving, jet ski hire, snorkelling trips, whale tours (great vantage points here), ballooning, scenic flights, scenic trekking, parasailing, golf, tennis, bowls, antique shopping at Bangalow, catch-a-crab family days out, art galleries, country markets and clubs offering free live entertainment. Salt Village holds annual events including Opera in the Park and hosts the famous Golden Door Spa.

Susie Boswell and family were guests of Peppers Bale Salt. Bells Boulevard, Kingscliff. Tel:  6674 7777; peppers.com.au/bale-salt

traveleditor@live.com.au

Queenstown’s magnificent mountains and cosmopolitan vibe are the perfect setting for the festival, an added extra for ski tourists. Revellers take to the streets and slopes for a program featuring live music, fireworks, glamorous balls, crazy races, comedy, charity punch-ups and family fun. Over the years the Winter Festival has “snowballed”, earning it an international reputation, ranked among young travellers as a must-do for its free and ticketed events. From the Mardi Gras on the town’s streets to novelty events on the mountain, there’s something for everyone. Destination Queenstown’s Jen Andrews sets the scene: “WinterFest is much loved”, she tells me. “There are big-ticket events like the masquerade ball, ‘Thriller in the Chiller’ charity boxing, Jazz Night up the Skyline and the comedy gala and free community events like opening night bands and fireworks and Mardi Gras – but there are also crazy community events on and off the snow. They include the Birdman competition where people build contraptions to try to fly into the icy cold lake and jetboat sprints. Some of the adrenalin-stirring on-mountain events are Mountain Bikes on the Snow and Mountain Mayhem, involving a variety of fun events – like sliding down the mountain on a suitcase, in a costume!

“In the Dog Derby, dogs are required to demonstrate their stamina by staying to heel while linked to their owners who race down a ski slope, sometimes on their bottom. Coronet Peak’s packed with high-country farmers racing from the top to the base with their faithful hounds in tow, and townies and their pooches also get in on the action. It’s always a recipe for hilarity – in reality, total confusion, barking, shouting and much ‘rustic’ language. Later in the day the fun moves downtown for the Dog Barking Competition. Anyone in the vicinity of the Village Green, or in fact Queenstown, can’t help but hear the cacophony! If the dog won’t bark, owners have to fill in – much to the delight of the crowds.”

New Zealand is home to the 2011 Rugby World Cup in September-October and Queenstown hosts four of the teams for 22 nights for training: England, Ireland, Georgia and  Romania. The Super 14 2010 champions have been training there; half the South African Bulls squad of 26 are slated for the Springboks team. Bulls Captain and most-capped Springbok Victor Matfield loves Queenstown’s “high energy” levels.

For winter, 32 direct flights are scheduled weekly between here and Queenstown. On sale to end May, Virgin Blue offers return economy air and seven nights at the Heartland Hotel for $899pp twin share ex Sydney, $879 ex Brisbane with morning departures from Australia and afternoons ex NZ, in both directions on five days a week. Call 131516 or book at virginblue.com.au/Holidays/Specialsoffers/SkiQueenstown/index.htm. Package wholesalers include Value Tours, Ski Max and Stella/Newmans Holidays: see travel agents and queenstown-nz.co.nz.

traveleditor@live.com.au

Six Senses, a resort management and development company, manages resorts under brand names including Six Senses, Soneva and Evason. I consider them the world’s most beautiful resorts, notable for their “rustic chic” décor and atmosphere, created in the most exotic and serene tropical locations … like the Maldives, and the oceans of south-east Asia.

You really need to visit one of these magnificent resorts and experience them first-hand to appreciate the philosophy, but Six Senses describes it variously as the “slow life” and “intelligent luxury”. Catchwords are sustainable, organic, wholesome, inspiring. A hallmark is that its villas are fantastically spacious and have a unique, captivating, style.

For example: Soneva Kiri, on the island of Koh Kood, south of Bangkok, with its treetop dining in the Treepod, at a top ocean vantage point. Guests board a rattan “bird’s nest”, with sumptuous cushioned seating for four, at ground level and are lifted 6m high up into the trees. As the pod climbs skywards, host Khun Lek simultaneously flies through the air towards diners on a zipline, from a platform on an adjacent hill. Once he’s served the meal, he zips away, leaving guests to enjoy true “bird’s eye” views over the clear, peaceful waters, soothed by breezes in the treetops and with just a passing squirrel or butterflies – surely one of the most memorable meals of a lifetime. Breakfast in the Treepod is an utterly peaceful way to start the day, lunch offers a shady respite, and breathtaking sunsets or a candlelit dinner in the intimate haven are sheer delight. “Canapés in the Canopy” and other menu choices feature produce mainly from the resort’s organic gardens. The Treepod has been built without any bolts or attachments into the trees, and now its clever designers are looking into meeting guests’ requests to be able to fly on the zipline through the jungle themselves.

The developers’ newest resort, stunning Six Senses Con Dao, in Vietnam, opened on December 20 last year. Located 45 minutes’ flying time south of Ho Chi Minh City, it had already won a “World’s Best” international architecture award even before its first guests checked in. Con Dao’s 50 villas stretch along a 1.5km golden sandy beach, lying beneath green forested mountains and the heart of the resort is designed to resemble a traditional Vietnamese village. The island sits amid a 16-island archipelago, most of it protected as a national and marine park, sheltering many endangered species.

Next month, Six Senses Laamu opens in the Maldives after meeting strict environmental standards: at a remote, but accessible and outstandingly beautiful, location, with a pristine reef and surfing wave and a focus on nightlife. It’s a short 40-minute flight and 10-minute speedboat ride from Male airport, with 97 villas set on the beach among the lush tropical vegetation or over the clear blue lagoon. Alongside peace and rejuvenation, Laamu boasts an amazing coral reef for diving, swimming, jet-skiing, snorkelling, or picnicking on a sandbank. At night, Six Senses Laamu will really rock: the Chill Bar is built over the water on several levels, with a world-class cocktail list. Once the sunset dims, visiting artists and DJs will provide the vibe. There’s a wine “cellar” housed in a tower of spun glass rising high out of the sea, restaurants, a chai  bar and an ice cream bar.

Whet your appetite at www.sixsenses.com. For details, see local travel agents.

traveleditor@live.com.au

On the eve of the FIFA World Cup final in Rome in 1990, an outdoor concert was held that was to spark countless other open-air events at remarkable venues around the globe over the next two decades.

Outdoor entertainment was hardly new, especially in Italy where for centuries citizens had taken advantage of balmy summer days and nights to enjoy gathering for spectacles – beginning way back at the ancient Colosseum, with the battles between lions and gladiators. Even earlier, the Greeks had long held the Olympic games in open-air stadiums, drawing crowds today’s promoters would envy.

But the FIFA celebration event marked the debut of The Three Tenors, who went on to popularise classical opera to wide international audiences and boost the popularity of outdoor venues. Italy’s Luciano Pavarotti and his Spanish confreres Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras were a remarkable trio that – two decades after Woodstock’s audience of a half-million concertgoers established the outdoor pop concert as a modern phenomenon – appealed to a mixed mass demographic. Equally alluring as the artists was the venue: the historic Baths of Caracalla – an imposing stone cathedral weathered and decayed into ruins over the years … to become even more majestic in its archaeological decadence. Lit up at night, the amphitheatre is especially breathtaking.The overwhelming popularity of the tenors’ Caracalla concert entrenched the modern notion of the venue as an equal “star of the show”.

I have to say that of all forms of entertainment, I most enjoy movies, concerts, films, markets – anything – staged in the open air. Memorable occasions include watching movies seated in a canvas deckchair on a Bora Bora atoll – the “screen” a bed-sheet slung between two palms – and at cinemas open to tropical skies in Darwin and Broome. But for me, Sydney in summer does it best. There are numerous open-air cinemas at scenic spots, from Farm Cove on the edge of the Botanic Gardens to Centennial Park and more, with tickets at modest prices. Outdoor events are the hallmark of the annual Sydney Festival every January: concerts, bands, performance art – many of them free. The standouts are the Domain concerts, like last week’s Sydney Symphony.

In recent years, promoters have got on board with Taronga Zoo at Mosman and established the Twilight at Taronga concerts, extending Sydney’s open-air summer season right through into April, to take us up to Easter. With their magnificent setting overlooking Middle Harbour and the lights of the city, this venue and these events have become my favourite. For us county folk, they offer an affordable, memorable experience.

The remaining program is: Abba tribute Bjorn Again on Friday, Saturday and Sunday February 4, 5 and 6; Broadway and West End musical star Caroline O’Connor Fri-Sat Feb 11-12; ’80s hits by Culture Club, the B52s, Duran Duran, Pseudo Echo and The Bangles Fri-Sat 18-19 Feb; Salute to Van Morrison Fri-Sat 25-26 Feb; Stones tribute Sat 5 Mar; Forever (Neil) Diamond Fri-Sat 11-12 Mar; Cliff Richard & Dusty Springfield Fri-Sat 18-19 Mar; tribute to Fleetwood Mac Fri-Sat 25-26; and James Morrison Fri-Sat 1-2 April. Take a picnic and wine.

See twilightattaronga.com.au. For packages at Rydges North Sydney from $344 a couple including two concert tickets and transfers, room, parking, breakfast.

Call 1800 446 383 or visit twilightaccommodation.com.

traveleditor@live.com.au

This year marks half a century since geopolitical events at the close of the Kennedy era exploded from an ominous post-World War II build-up into what became the full-blown ’60s and ’70s war in Vietnam.

We’re in the Pacific hinterland between Byron Bay and Nimbin, visiting Crystal Castle (nirvana for seekers of spiritual enrichment in the mystic arts of crystals, aura photography and tarot and horoscope readings!), already headlong into a day of exploring the furthest reaches of the NSW north coast. A warm welcome at Ramada Ballina greeted me when we flew in last night, soon installed in an spotless top-floor room overlooking the Richmond River, soon relaxing in the hotel’s roof deck pool. With Oz, Italian and Indian restaurants on its doorstep, Ramada’s ideally placed on the main route to Lennox Head, a good spot to break a road trip with all you need on site. We set out next day at 6.30am, winding into the hills in our rented Kluger, marvelling at lush emerald landscapes around every bend. The national park’s one of a chain of an amazing 50 reserves that make up the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia lying between Newcastle and the Queensland border, home to the continent’s most ancient vegetation. After a stroll in the Castle’s garden labyrinth, a “blessing” from its 14tonne Buddha, and some aromatic oil purchases from the gift shop, we headed for Byron, where the lighthouse beckoned us for a tour.

An Aboriginal National Parks guide offers a traditional didgeridoo welcome on the headland before visitors climb the lighthouse’s winding interior staircase to inspect the lantern itself and magnificent views from the gallery at the top of the beacon. (You can stay in lighthouse keeper’s cottages here but I suspect passing tourist traffic up the hill might negate any sense of peace). The newly-declared “Legendary Pacific Coast” merely applies a theme to the coastal road from Sydney to Tweed Heads-Coolangatta. With government industry development funds, it’s hoped to boost domestic travel suffering a downturn versus overseas tourism. NSW’s east coast is certainly a historic stretch of territory; It’s worth exploring roads less travelled, retracing early maritime and overland explorers’ paths, rediscovering its natural beauties.

There’s man-made beauty to admire too. We examine it from the deck of The Byron at Byron Resort where we lunch as guests of hosts Lyn and John Parche. The Parches have welcomed me here numerous times, yet I never tire of their clever marriage of the best of nature with the finest mankind can deliver. Pre-lunch, wander the resort’s forest boardwalks via bridges, ponds and pagodas through 20ha of oceanfront bush boasting 90 native bird species, then enjoy local produce like Yamba prawns, Bangalow pork, oysters and asparagus fit for the angels. Casual visitors are accepted when space permits at the restaurant or spa here, also located on the coast road en route to Byron.

By mid-afternoon I’m totally inspired by this laid-back touring environment, thirsting for more tomorrow. For now, though, I pull the shutters down on nature … for some indulgent nurture … in the elegant sophistication at Byron’s ultimate, intimate hideaway, Rae’s on Wategos Beach. Gold-lined beauty spa, private pool, deep luxury bathtub, waves washing the adjacent shore: I’m soothed by a fragrant water world, before dining on the ocean terrace at the finest, chicest, most “legendary” restaurant anywhere on the coast. Here too, casual bookings are accepted for restaurant and spa and I suggest: jump at it! There’s no other boutique hotel – just seven discreet apartments – like Rae’s, just ask guests Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Hudson, Richard Branson, Tom Cruise, Woody Harrelson, Keanu Reeves, Paris Hilton … and me.

Travel broadens the mind, they say, and no more so than when we take a trip away to enjoy new sights and a new environment … coupled with the new horizons that come with learning fresh skills.Recently I enjoyed visiting one of the most beautiful parts of Australia Tasmania – for its scenic delights, while pairing the break with some lessons. “Back to school” for me in this instance was a week-long residential at the University of Tasmania (UTAS) in Hobart’s Sandy Bay district, paired with some wonderful forays into the beautiful natural Tassie countryside.

“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.