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WORLD OF WONDER N OVE M B E R 2 0 2 3

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WORLD OF WONDER

Contents November 2023

132

Lauren Kallen

The People SHARED VALUES Top architects talk about the public spaces they’ve designed that reimagine cities of the future.

KEEPERS OF THE REEF Meet the guardians of Australia’s vast national treasure, the Great Barrier Reef.

REBUILDING A DREAM How determination and courage saw Southern Ocean Lodge on Kangaroo Island rise from the ashes.

FIRST FOODS FIRST Get acquainted with the vast range of native ingredients that have been grown in Australia for millenia.

COVER: Illustration by Anna Manolatos/The Illustration Room

CALL OF THE WILD Hear from the CEO of Taronga Conservation Society about its efforts to protect wildlife. MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE Look under the cap to find the South Australian invention putting the stopper in wine fraud.

Contents November 2023

WORLD OF WONDER

The Experiences GATHER ROUND Whether it’s a celebration of First Nations in the Top End or a music event in Oslo, festivals are evolving. 118

COMMUNITY MATTERS Three Australian country towns that are being transformed into must-visit destinations. 122

SCIENCE OF THE SEA Come aboard the expedition ships that double as scientific research vessels, without forgoing the luxuries. 126

OPPOSITES ATTRACT From the mountains of Italy to the Chilean desert, off-peak travel can be more than escaping the crowds. 132

IN THE MOMENT Why Queenstown in New Zealand will be as famous for its eco innovations as its bungee-jumping. 140

FRONTRUNNER Revel in Brisbane’s revival as the flourishing Queensland capital gets ready for the Olympics. 148

CABIN FEVER There’s no need to rough it at these tiny houses, which offer tranquil, off-grid experiences in regional areas.

162

154

CHANGING ROOMS The cutting-edge technology and latest guest experiences making hotels even more exciting. 162

FEEL THE CONNECTION See the land, food and culture through the eyes of the First Nations peoples of Vancouver, Canada 72

GREAT OUTDOORS Immerse yourself in rewilded landscapes restoring nature’s balance from Scotland to South Australia. 80

LIFE IN COLOUR Climb the Andes in Peru and get to know the villagers keeping the history of their Inca ancestors alive. 90

COMES WITH THE TERRITORY Move to the rhythms of the bush at a remote conservation lodge on the edge of Kakadu National Park. 100

STAY AWHILE Check in to these inclusive accommodations that go beyond.

SHOW STOPPERS Taste the future at a multisensory dining event in Dubai, where eating out has been reinvented. 174

On Board

108

STAR POWER Be struck by the glorious beauty of the cosmos in the Dark Sky reserves of New Zealand. 114

185

Entertainment

190

Health, safety and security on board and when you land

194

Games

Anna Manolatos

The Places

123

GEMS AND ICONS

Silversea welcomes the curious to our New Voyages Collection. A medley of places, peoples and stories, it features 206 voyages across 60 countries and 6 continents, including 409 destinations and 24 ports never visited before by Silversea.

Contact your travel advisor, call 1300 306 872 or visit silversea.com

NEW VOYAGES COLLECTION | MARCH - NOVEMBER 2025

EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief

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Qantas magazine is published for Qantas Airways Ltd (ABN 16 009 661 901) by Medium Rare Content Agency (ABN 83 169 879 921), Level 1, 83 Bowman Street, Pyrmont, NSW 2009. ©2023. All rights reserved. Printed by IVE Group. Paper fibre is from sustainably managed forests and controlled sources. No responsibility is accepted for unsolicited material. Articles express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of Qantas Airways Ltd or Medium Rare Content Agency. ISSN 1443-2013. For a copy of Medium Rare Content Agency’s Privacy Policy, please visit mediumrarecontent.com.

Beloved treasures. Eternal memories.

From the Editor A one-of-a-kind collection.

Lovers in the Kimberley #6

Travel is about dreams. And it’s about dreamers. When I went to Kangaroo Island (Karta Pintingga) in 2015, I was kicking myself that I’d never visited before. Only about 5000 people live on the island, a 30-minute flight from Adelaide, and they are overrun by roos (65,000-plus), koalas (about 8500 remain after the tragic bushfires of 2020 wiped out 80 per cent of the population) and the rare Cape Barren geese (more than 7000). And then there’s the landscape. Deserted beaches strewn with gem-like shells (or, if you visit Seal Bay, resting sea lions). Gigantic russet boulders hunched over the turquoise sea. Clumps of tiny, baby-pink heath myrtle vying for attention on the rugged coastline. KI’s dramatic beauty is what makes it special. But back in 2002, when hoteliers Hayley and James Baillie looked at a site above the limestone cliffs of Hanson Bay, the idea of building a luxury lodge there seemed outlandish. “We were really up against it from the start,” James has said. “Southern Ocean Lodge has a remote, difficult location, where the next stop south is Antarctica.” Would people pay thousands of dollars to stay on an island in the middle of nowhere? As we all know, the answer was yes. The Baillies put KI on the map and two decades later, KI tourism contributes $187 million to the South Australian economy. But importantly, the island has retained its natural beauty and sense of remoteness. As the Baillies prepare to reopen Southern Ocean Lodge after fire ripped through their vision in 2020, we are celebrating the people who are rethinking how we travel; those who want to protect the globe’s most pristine destinations and, despite the challenges, keep on dreaming. I hope you enjoy the issue.

Kirsten Galliott Editor-in-Chief kirstengalliott

Argyle Goddess #7

Our writers are not armchair travellers. Rest assured any assistance we accept from the travel industry in the course of preparing our stories does not compromise the integrity of our coverage. LINNEYS.COM.AU

A one-of-a-kind collection.

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The Artisan Series consists of 50 one-of-a-kind pieces to commemorate each year of Linneys’ storied history. Hand-crafted using incredibly rare Argyle pink diamonds, this collection celebrates the unique natural beauty of WA’s most prized gems. Each piece not only offers the owner an item of exceptional rarity and value, but also the privilege of becoming the custodian of one of nature’s most exquisite gifts.

Unearthed Bangle #15

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Travel Hack

Packing light 1

Invest in a lightweight suitcase. Many older travel bags can tip the scales at more than three kilograms, which will eat up a good chunk of your baggage limit before you’ve even packed anything.

Travel Insider takes you places with expert guides, destination dining and inspirational ideas.

Swap your laptop for a tablet. Even the slender MacBook Air weighs 1.25 kilograms, while other laptops can be more than twice that. Better yet, travel with a smartphone and leave everything else at home.

Purchase a readily available digital or manual luggage scale and you’ll know exactly how heavy your bag is before you get to the airport – just hook your suitcase onto the strap for an exact reading. Scan the QR code above or go to qantas.com/travelinsider. Follow us on Instagram @qftravelinsider

Connect to Qantas Fast and Free Wi-Fi

Enable Aeroplane Mode and select the “Qantas Free Wi-Fi” network in your Wi-Fi settings.

Once onboard, connect your own device to Qantas Free Wi-Fi on domestic flights in three simple steps:

Follow the prompts on the “Welcome Onboard” screen to connect. Once you’re connected, you’re ready to access the internet and start exploring.

Having trouble connecting? Make sure you’re connected to the “Qantas Free Wi-Fi” network and go to wifi.qantas.com in your preferred browser to start the connection process. To ensure an enjoyable flight for everyone, keep flight mode activated, switch your device to silent and refrain from voice and video calls.

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We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work, live and fly. We pay our respects to Elders past and present and are committed to honouring Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ unique cultural and spiritual relationship to the land, water and sky.

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Travel Inspiration

Go-karting through the city streets, flaming cocktails and robots that create your make-up while you wait. Qantas travellers share highlights from their recent trips.

Victoria Plagakis Bronze Frequent Flyer FLEW QANTAS FROM ADELAIDE TO TOKYO (VIA SYDNEY) “Japan was my first overseas holiday and it surprised me in the best way possible. I was travelling with my partner and four friends and we’re big Harry Potter fans so sampling butterbeer at Universal Studios in Osaka was a big deal. I loved snowboarding in Hakuba and while you’re there, visit Sakulala Bakery in the Kitaazumi District for their milk doughnuts. Monkey Kart Shibuya was the absolute highlight – where else but Tokyo can you go-kart around a city dressed in a onesie?”

Julieta Lopez Bronze Frequent Flyer

Anthony Durning Bronze Frequent Flyer USED QANTAS POINTS TO FLY FROM SYDNEY TO SEOUL “My wife made an epic to-do list for our getaway to Seoul. The city has cool suburbs like Ihwa-dong, a neighbourhood that’s covered with murals and overlooks the city, and Bukchon Hanok Village, which is full of traditional houses. On a rainy day we visited Starfield Library, an Insta-famous Gangnam public library, and the Laneige store in Myeongdong, where a robot made my wife’s foundation. Gwangjang Market has delicious tteokbokki (rice cakes) and Namdaemun Market is dedicated to hand-cut noodles. Michelin-starred Mingles serves refined Korean food such as Hanwoo beef and bibimbap. Be sure to book two weeks ahead – it’s worth it.”

Explore more of Asia with Qantas. Fly to destinations including Seoul, Tokyo, Manila and, from 29 October, Shanghai.* Book now on qantas.com

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FLEW QANTAS FROM SYDNEY TO MANILA “My partner and I spent five days eating and drinking our way through Manila. The day we left I was rushing to get myself sorted but the Qantas check-in at Sydney Airport was easy and the flight was perfect. When we touched down, we headed to the vibey Agimat at Ugat Foraging Bar and Kitchen in Makati, where there was live music and cocktails on fire. We loved Gallery by Chele, a beautifully designed restaurant where we had a 10-course tasting menu inspired by regional Filipino cuisine. Make sure you visit the Croissant Lady in Makati to try the Croissaymada, a combination of ensaymada, sweet pastry with cheese and croissants – it’s a hidden gem.”

THE JOY COLLECTION

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Bondi Icebergs Pool

WORLD OF WONDER

THE CHANGE MAKERS, THE TRAILBLAZERS, THE

PFORGING EOPLE

A NEW PATH…

KEEPERS OF THE REEF

These change makers are devoted to protecting our national treasure, the Great Barrier Reef.

Story by Kendall Hill Photography by Marnie Hawson

Being a custodian of the world’s largest living structure is a tremendous responsibility. More than 2000 kilometres long and spanning an area the size of Italy, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef contains 10 per cent of the planet’s coral reef systems, more than 900 islands and phenomenal biodiversity – including more than 1600 types of fish and dozens of whale and dolphin species. Yet its ecological importance goes far beyond marine life. Without it, coastal communities would be more exposed to extreme weather, we’d miss out on 28 pharmaceutical discoveries (reef compounds have already yielded treatments for asthma, heart disease and more) and lose a valuable carbon dioxide sink. Economically, the reef supports 64,000 jobs and adds an estimated $6.4 billion to the nation’s annual accounts. More than two million tourists visit each year to marvel at the wonders of this World Heritage-listed treasure. Fortunately, there are brilliant people at the forefront of research and conservation – guardians who are dedicating their life’s work to protecting the Great Barrier Reef.

THE CORAL GARDENERS

Jenny & John Edmondson Wavelength Reef Cruises

It was Jenny Edmondson who convinced her husband, John, to buy Wavelength Reef Cruises (wavelength.com.au) in 2014. If they hadn’t taken on the Port Douglas-based tour operator, the two British-born marine biologists might never have tackled the vital work they do today. The Edmondsons are key members of the Coral Nurture Program (coralnurtureprogram.org), which unites commercial operators and scientists to find solutions to reef threats. Wavelength is one of nine tourism collaborators in the Cairns and Port Douglas area and the Whitsundays. Central to their work is replanting corals in popular but depleted reefs. Since the program’s inception in 2018, more than 100,000 ocean corals have been established. Jenny reckons she’s personally planted most of Wavelength’s 72,000 corals and John even invented an ingenious device called the Coralclip (a spring-loaded clip that holds coral fragments to the reef and makes planting faster), which has revolutionised reef gardening around the world. Additionally, Wavelength takes researchers from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) out for testing and monitoring, and is involved with the federal government-funded Tourism Reef Protection Initiative, conducting surveys and predator removal. Involving tour operators in the scientific rescue effort makes excellent sense when, as Jenny says, “We are out there every day. We can keep an eye on stuff.”

THE TRAILBLAZING CARETAKER

Larissa Hale

Queensland Indigenous Womens Ranger Network

Yuku Baja Muliku woman Larissa Hale brings a critical weapon to reef conservation – 60,000 years of Aboriginal knowledge and stewardship. Australia’s First Nations people know the reef’s vicissitudes better than anyone. “Before the sea level rose, we were on those areas, living and thriving,” she says. “Ancient knowledge passed down from generation to generation is used to observe whether our Country, which includes mangroves, seagrasses and coastlines, is healthy.” As managing director of the Queensland Indigenous Womens Ranger Network (qiwrn.com.au), Hale has spearheaded efforts to boost female First Nations ranger numbers from just a handful in 2008 – when she was the state’s sole female ranger coordinator – to 124 today.

Their jobs combine traditional knowledge with technology, using drones to monitor everything from corals and mangroves to land degradation. “Work that would have taken days can now be done in hours.” The network’s pioneering efforts were recognised last year with a £1 million (about $1.9 million) Earthshot environment prize, which rewards “groundbreaking solutions to the world’s greatest challenges”. Hale hopes the prize money can create a universal network of First Nations women rangers and inspire future generations. “When we realise that we are more than our roles as mother, daughter and sister – that we have a special role in taking care of our planet – that’s when great things happen.”

Sam Thies

THE ISLAND CUSTODIAN

Peter Gash Lady Elliot Island

At the southernmost tip of the Great Barrier Reef, just north of Fraser Island (K’gari), Peter Gash and his wife, Julie, have transformed a former guano mine and goat farm into a model of mindful tourism. In 2005 they signed the lease on the badly degraded Lady Elliot Island (ladyelliot.com.au), famous for its dive sites and 1200-plus marine species, setting out to upgrade the “rundown, tired resort” and revive its habitat by planting native trees and removing invasive ones. “Eighteen years on, it takes my breath away,” says Peter of the island’s transformation. “I look at it in disbelief at times. It would have been easy to say ‘it’s too hard’ but we were determined to find a way.” Forty per cent of the 42-hectare coral cay has been fully revegetated, with more than three-quarters of the area transformed at least in part. Solar panels and batteries power most of the 44-room, 40-staff property and its fresh water comes from desalination. Despite hurdles along the way, Peter says they’re now “way in front” financially. “We need to challenge our peers and our colleagues to do the same sorts of things, to prove that we can do better.”

Beau Brummell Introductions founders Vinko Anthony and Andrea Zaza, photo by Sealeybrandt.com

THE RESILIENT RESEARCHER

Dr Emma Camp Marine biologist Dr Emma Camp has won a slew of international accolades from the likes of the United Nations and Time and National Geographic magazines, as well as prestigious awards including a Eureka Prize in Australia. Her research into “super corals” – specifically mangrove corals that thrive in warmer waters – and what makes corals resilient to environmental forces has been a game changer for coral conservation. “We know corals can recover if given time between different stress events,” she says. “But these are becoming more frequent and we’re reducing the ability for the reef to naturally recover.” Team leader of the UTS Future Reefs Program, which established the Coral Nurture Program and studies how corals might function and survive into the future, Camp is focusing on active interventions – from propagation and larval reseeding to genetic modifications and microbial manipulation. Though the work is still in the research and development phase, Camp is optimistic: “We have a duty to the next generation to not give up.”

THE INNOVATIVE HOTELIER

Laureth Rumble Elysian Retreat and Pumpkin Island

A year after buying 10-suite Elysian Retreat (elysianretreat. com.au) in 2018, Laureth Rumble, along with her husband, Wayne, and brother Charlton Craggs, turned it beyond carbon neutral. “We wanted Elysian to be the first 100 per cent solar-powered luxury island resort on the Great Barrier Reef,” says Rumble, who sold Elysian last year but still operates the more humble, also beyond carbon neutral, Pumpkin Island (pumpkinisland.com.au), off the coast of Yeppoon. “That way, we could show others it was possible. Builders, other tourism operators – they all said we couldn’t do it.” But they did and Elysian, located in the Whitsundays on Long Island (and now owned and operated by the Smyth family), proves that luxury and sublime relaxation can come with eco-credentials. Guests enjoy comforts such as coffee machines, horizon pools, a small spa, air-con, fine dining (excellent grilled squid; earthy mushroom risotto with chicken saltimbocca), plus a free-flowing selection of Australian beers and wines. And spirits produced in a zero-waste distillery from Rumble’s new project, Reef Distillers (reefdistillers.com). Even the staff seem delighted to have found their vocations in paradise. Now other island resorts, such as Lady Elliot and Orpheus, are following suit. Rumble puts her approach to change simply: “I’ve always been of the mindset that if everyone does a little bit then a lot gets done.”

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Stay at a hotel built by a Hollywood actress or plant colourful coral off the coast of a Fijian island. Your next great escape is calling – and you’ll find it at Qantas Hotels and Holidays.

Save your money, use your points

BOOK A HOLIDAY THAT’S MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Nanuku Resort, Fiji Guests can plant coral and mangroves with a marine scientist. The Garland Hotel

Spotlight on: Los Angeles With a cutting-edge arts and culture scene, hotels you’ll never want to leave and community-minded restaurants and cafés, LA is having a moment right now. Here’s where to go on your next trip. STAY: Located in North Hollywood just a stone’s throw from Universal Studios, the newly renovated The Garland Hotel (qantas. com/hotels/thegarland) was built by actress Beverly Garland in the 1970s. Vintagedecorated interiors are finished with pops of orange throughout and all the rooms come with a private balcony and LA-based LATHER amenities. Don’t leave without visiting the pool, which hosts dive-in movies.

EAT: Santa Monica’s La La Land Kind Cafe (lalalandkindcafe.com) has great food and good vibes. The eatery offers an eight-week paid on-the-job training program for young people leaving foster care. Go for breakfast and order a La La Latte and the m.a.k.a toast with almond butter, bananas, strawberries and honey drizzle.

Alila Villas, Uluwatu, Bali Features an on-site Sustainability Lab that turns waste into high-value, reusable bioproducts.

DO: A series of biennial exhibitions, Made in L.A. at the Hammer Museum (hammer.ucla.edu) spotlights emerging artists working in the greater Los Angeles area. This year’s show, Acts of Living (until 31 December), showcases how art and creativity are inextricably linked with everyday life. Choose from more than 500,000 of the world’s best stays at qantas.com/hotels

As of April 2023, you can use 20% less points with Qantas Luxury Holiday stay-only packages.* For this month’s hottest deals, visit qantas.com/luxuryholidays

Crystalbrook Byron, Byron Bay Menus feature locally sourced food and waste goes into on-site compost.

Bundle your flight and hotel and use points to save money on your next holiday. Earn 3 points per $1 spent plus Status Credits on flights. Visit qantas.com/holidays

You must be a Qantas Frequent Flyer member to earn and redeem points. Membership and points are subject to the Qantas Frequent Flyer program terms and conditions. *20% less points is based on the value of a Point when using Points Plus Pay for Qantas Luxury Holidays (stay-only) bookings through qantas.com/luxuryholidays as compared to the value of a Point using Points Plus Pay for Qantas Luxury Holidays (stay-only) bookings made prior to 27 April 2023.

The fire that razed Kangaroo Island’s Southern Ocean Lodge was no match for the passion of its creators. Story by Di Webster

REBUILDING A D R E A M

Southern Ocean Lodge before the 2020 bushfire

George Apostolidis

James and Hayley Baillie

Nick Cubbin

James and Hayley Baillie will never forget where they were on 3 January 2020, when they learnt their globally acclaimed Southern Ocean Lodge (qantas.com/hotels/southernocean lodge) on South Australia’s Kangaroo Island (Karta Pintingga) was about to be swallowed up by a raging bushfire. “It’s seared into our brains,” says James, who founded luxury accommodation outfit Baillie Lodges with Hayley in 2003. The couple had been diving off Lord Howe Island – home of their “firstborn”, Capella Lodge – when they received a message that “Southern Ocean Lodge is evacuating”. All through that night, until the mobile phone towers collapsed, the couple talked to six staff members, including long-time lodge managers Alison Heath and John Hird, who had sought refuge in a bunker below the hotel’s lobby. “It was incredibly stressful,” recalls James. “We lost [all communication] and it wasn’t until later that evening that we knew they were safe.” James chartered a flight to the island, a “zoo without fences” seven times the size of Singapore that sits 14 kilometres off the SA coast. From the air, the scene was apocalyptic. Almost the entire western half of the island was – or had been – ablaze, claiming two lives, destroying homes, farms and some tourism facilities and killing tens of thousands of animals. “I remember the smell of smoke as I came through the clouds,” he recalls, “and seeing that the lodge was still on fire.” With the exception of some random items and part of the staff quarters, the 21-suite monument to the Baillies’ famed “relaxed luxury” ethos was razed to the ground. “There was so much of us in the lodge,” says James, who in the aftermath of the fire found himself bursting into tears on lone morning jogs. “Its DNA was us.” When the shock wore off, the conviction to rebuild kicked in. Next month, almost four years after it was lost, Southern Ocean Lodge will once again welcome guests to its exquisitely untamed corner of the world. At $60 million, the cost is three times what it was for the original build. While the footprint is largely the same, the Baillies and Kangaroo Island-born architect Max Pritchard, who also designed the original lodge, have added another four guest suites and orientated them all to maximise the outlook. “Now, instead of them all having incredible ocean views, they have incredible ocean, clifftop and pounding-wave views of the beach below,” says James. Another addition, he says, is a four-bedroom Ocean Pavilion that stands alone on a “windswept but incredibly dramatic” clifftop. “One of the decisions we made very early on was not to be arrogant but to go, ‘What was great and what wasn’t so great? What could we do better?’” Out of that process emerged a no-brainer: the gloriously curved Great Room, with its original Gyrofocus fireplace (salvaged from the ash) and sweeping vistas across the Southern Ocean, will look “uncannily the same as it was”, says Hayley. Even Sunshine, a locally sculpted metal kangaroo that survived the fire, “goes back into his pride of place” in the room, she says. “His eyes melted but he’s had new ones made on the island.” From practical help after the blaze to restaurant produce and décor, locals feature heavily in the property’s story.

BRISBANE

SYDNEY

MELBOURNE

PERTH

GOLD COAST

View the Remarkable Rocks on a scenic guided hike from the lodge

“So many of our suppliers – the honey, the lamb, the wine, the gin – are excited about the lodge coming back,” says Hayley. Award-winning KI artist Janine Mackintosh spent days amid the rubble after the fire collecting objects for a large installation and she’s also made mandalas, using island flora, that will hang in each guest suite. Southern Ocean Lodge did, after all, help put Kangaroo Island on the international travel map (in January, The New York Times listed the island at number seven on its top 52 places to visit in 2023). “I think the local people have, for many years, generally understood the importance of Southern Ocean Lodge,” says James, “both in terms of its pin-up status for Kangaroo Island tourism and the trickle-down effect.” Tourism Australia managing director Phillipa Harrison agrees that the retreat “has icon status among the global luxury travel community”. Its rebirth, she says, “puts not only Kangaroo Island but also Australia on luxury travellers’ must-do lists”. The Baillies first opened Southern Ocean Lodge in 2008, straight into the GFC meltdown. They both had backgrounds in tourism – Hayley, daughter of businessman Dick Smith, created immersive experiences for international travellers and James ran P&O’s Australian resorts – and this was their second venture after Lord Howe Island’s Capella. Friends thought they were crazy to build a high-end stay on a wild and remote part

of the island. “‘Where’s Kangaroo Island? Why would anyone want to go there?’ But we built it and they came,” says James. “They” included Australian travellers drawn to the concept of all-inclusive “soft-adventure” and an influx of overseas guests, such as tech billionaire Bill Gates and his philanthropist then-wife, Melinda. What followed for Baillie Lodges was a suite of prestige properties including Longitude 131º at Uluru-Kata Tjuta, Silky Oaks Lodge in Queensland’s Daintree Rainforest (Kaba Kada) and, more recently, The Louise in the Barossa Valley. Just over a year before the fire, Hayley and James sold Baillie Lodges to United States private-equity firm KSL Capital Partners but remain creative directors of the company. They’ve since acquired Chile’s Tierra Hotels group for a portfolio that also includes Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge on Canada’s Vancouver Island and Huka Lodge in New Zealand. And now there’s Southern Ocean Lodge. James still has the boots he was wearing when he reached what had been the couple’s field of dreams two days after the property was wiped out. The soles have melted but they are a reminder of “the resilience of so many other people and the hard work and passion” that went into the first Southern Ocean Lodge, the efforts to save it and the sumptuous near-replica that, like Kangaroo Island itself, has risen defiantly from the ashes.

George Apostolidis

The HE ART of the MEDITERR ANE AN E N J O Y, I T ’ S A L L INCLUDED

ROMAN FORUM, ROME, ITALY

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MONACO

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Barcelona

Madrid SPAIN

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MEDITERR ANE AN ODYSSEY Barcelona to Venice or vice versa

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Corfu (Kérkyra) GREECE

Overnight in Por t

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*Conditions apply. Prices are per person, in Australian dollars, based on double occupancy, subject to availability, includes all advertised discounts, and correct at time of printing. A partially refundable deposit is required at the time of booking. Mediterranean Odyssey based on 26 July 2025 departure. Ancient Adriatic Treasures based on 24 July 2025 departure. Mediterranean’s Iconic Shores based on 10 July 2025 departure. Included flight credits are to be used towards flights booked by Viking, are subject to availability and are only valid if booked in conjunction with selected Viking Ocean cruises. All oﬀers only valid on new bookings made between 01 September and 30 November 2023 unless sold out prior. For full terms and conditions including flexible deposit and flight credit oﬀer visit viking.com.

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The regeneration of Australia’s native produce offers a unique opportunity to care for our land and its people. Story by Alexandra Carlton

FIRST FOODS FIRST Native rock oyster with Davidson plum sorbet and seablite from Karkalla, Byron Bay

Most Australians have tried some of our country’s native ingredients: Davidson plum jam, wattleseed ice-cream or a cocktail spiked with the tart jewels of a finger lime. But when there’s about 6000 varieties of native produce growing in our soil and seas, why don’t we see more of it on restaurant menus? And why don’t we take pride in what grows here naturally, like they do in France and Japan? “We’ve failed to open our eyes and really connect, not only with the country and the culture but with the incredible foods we have right on our doorstep,” says Mindy Woods, a Bundjalung woman of the Widjabul Wia-bul clan, who is both a chef and food activist. Beyond demand and availability, the issue is complex and intersectional, tying in with industrialisation, land rights and, in many cases, lack of knowledge. Somewhere between 4 and 13 per cent of the general Australian population experiences food insecurity, which climbs to 22 to 32 per cent for First Nations people, so how could regenerating native crops and produce redress the disparity? And how can we hero these ingredients in a way that’s ethical and benefits the people who have nurtured them for millennia? These three leading First Nations voices demonstrate that, with knowledge and generosity, Australian plates have a chance to change for the better – and for everyone.

The Chef: Mindy Woods

OWNER AND CHEF, KARKALLA, BYRON BAY “We come from a nation of travellers. We have this rite of passage where we travel all over the world, seeking out experiences and food and culture but what we fail to recognise is that we have the oldest thriving civilisation on earth right here,” says Mindy Woods. “Part of that is our rich and abundant food culture.” Why, she asks, do so many of us then seemingly ignore the delicious, nutritious and environmentally harmonious produce that’s all around us? It’s a question she tries to answer at Karkalla (karkalla.com.au), her 30-seat restaurant in Byron Bay (Cavanbah), where she serves modern interpretations of the foods that First Nations Australians have always eaten, such as Ooray (Davidson plum) Martinis, crispy saltbush and stir-fries made with seablite and samphire. Woods says she’s seen the transformative power of her food culture. Recently, she cooked a dish of native succulents for a guest, who tasted it and began to cry. “She said, ‘I can’t believe I haven’t tried this before. I can’t believe it hasn’t been on my radar.’” This is the kind of excitement Woods would love to see all over the country. She wants to live in an Australia where everyone has native ingredients in their kitchens and grows them in their backyards or on their balconies. “Know what traditional Country you live on,” she advises as a starting point. “Know the names of the tribes or clans who live there. Connect with your native food landscapes and know what is endemic to where you are. And then start growing these beautiful plants. You will have access to these incredible native foods for your own kitchen and you will start a movement in your own community.”

The Producer: Caley Callope

YUMBURRA PROGRAM MANAGER, BLACK DUCK FOODS There’s a moment towards the end of The Dark Emu Story, the documentary about the controversy that surrounded Yuin man and author Bruce Pascoe’s bestselling 2014 book Dark Emu. The rest of the program debates the semantics of whether Pascoe’s claims about Aboriginal Australians using “agricultural” techniques in the Western sense were accurate. But then we meet the team from Yumburra and Black Duck Foods (blackduckfoods. com.au), a social enterprise initiative started by Pascoe and run by First

Nations people. Haggling over the minutiae of the past shifts to looking towards the future. In 2018, Pascoe purchased Yumburra (below), a 56-hectare property on Yuin Country in East Gippsland, Victoria, with the aim of regenerating damaged land, preserving native produce and the stories behind it and, perhaps most importantly, making sure that the farm’s proceeds remain with Aboriginal communities. Currently the farm grows 40 native food species, including four native seed grasses that can be milled into flour. “Foods have a story and those stories belong to certain people,” says Caley Callope (below, top), a Badjala, Anguthimire woman with ties to Bindal and Wakka Wakka

Country who works alongside farm manager Chris Harris to ensure the property respects cultural protocols. One of the farm’s grasses, for example, belongs to Gamilaroi people so the team asks permission to grow it and makes sure that the economic benefits flow back to its Traditional Owners. Black Duck Foods has good stores of flour made from Mitchell and button grasses, has supplied eateries, such as Melbourne finediner Attica, and is in talks with various cafés and restaurants about getting it onto plates. “The native foods industry is booming but currently only 2 per cent of its profits go back to Aboriginal communities,” says Callope of the importance of their work.

Presented by Panerai

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The case In a fully polished cushion case, the Annual Calendars both measure 45 millimetres in diameter and feature a diamond-shaped crown that sets the time, month and date. The PAM01432’s case is made of Platinumtech, Panerai’s platinum alloy that is more scratch-resistant than regular platinum. The PAM01363 is rendered in Goldtech, a combination of gold, copper and platinum for durability.

One of Panerai’s latest timepieces comes with an invitation to Rome. The Radiomir was the watch that started it all for Panerai. The timepiece, originally commissioned by the Royal Italian Navy, was launched in 1935 and became famous for the radium-based substance that illuminated the dial markers in the dark. Legibility is still at the core of the watchmaker’s design codes, seen in the brand’s first Annual Calendar. The Panerai Radiomir Annual Calendar is available in two versions, the PAM01363 and the PAM01432, with both displaying the seconds, minutes, hours, days and months of each year with precise readability. The PAM01432 style is an “experience edition”, limited to only 24 pieces globally, and is accompanied by an exclusive invitation to Rome.

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The dial Both references are fitted with luminous Arabic numerals and hour markers, and Goldtech-trimmed second, minute, hour and month indicators. The PAM01363 features a sun-brushed blue dial while the PAM01432 is finished with sun-brushed burgundy.

The strap Panerai’s adjustable buckle and coordinating alligator straps feature on the two references.

The price PAM01363, $59,700 PAM01432, $134,300

The Storyteller: Nakkiah Lui

HOST AND CO-PRODUCER, FIRST EAT PODCAST

Throughout Nakkiah Lui’s new podcast, First Eat, the Gamillaroi, Torres Strait Islander actor, writer and producer asks herself and her listeners a succinct question: “What would a plate of food look like if First Nations people still owned the land?” Curiosity set Lui off on a storytelling journey that took her to all corners of the country and across the world, including New Zealand (Aotearoa) and California, to find out what food systems are like – or could be like – if they’re led by First Nations people. “We spoke to people who we don’t necessarily look to when speaking about food,” says Lui. “Talking to First Nations women led to so much knowledge, so many stories.” It’s these First Nations women who are reviving, preserving and sharing the traditional ingredients of their ancestors, in ways that nourish both the people eating them and the land on which they grow. “Maybe it’s blue-sky thinking but wouldn’t it be incredible to have free community gardens everywhere with native fruits and vegetables that embrace First Nations knowledge?” asks Lui. “How much would that change a city?” As she travelled, Lui had lightning-bolt moments and felt both grief and hope as she tackled questions of health, community, sovereignty and environmentalism. “I hope what I’ve made is friendly, intimate… and generous and kind in its provocations,” she says. “It’s not about going, ‘Hey, I want more than you.’ It’s about thinking, how do we create a world in which we can all share a meal and no-one goes without? And maybe we don't know what that looks like yet. But isn’t it great if we talk about it?”

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SHARED No longer just places where people gather, public spaces are reinvigorating cities. Four architects talk

VALUES about designing the libraries, avenues and event sites of the future.

Story by Rachel Lees

Tadao Ando

TADAO ANDO ARCHITECT & ASSOCIATES

Portrait: Kinji Kanno, courtesy of Tadao Ando Architect & Associates

“In all of my projects, I imagine the life of the building decades, centuries after construction,” says Tadao Ando. “Great buildings that have survived millennia do so because they were cherished by the people and retain the spirit of the past.” One of Japan’s leading contemporary architects (tadao-ando.com), Ando is known for his minimalist concrete buildings that rethink the relationship between nature and people. The Pritzker Prize winner’s portfolio includes the Chichu Art Museum in Naoshima, which is suffused with natural light despite most of it being underground, and Paris’s 18th-century Bourse de Commerce (left), which he recently reimagined as an art museum. His work can now be seen in Australia for the first time at annual design festival MPavilion (mpavilion.org), after Ando was invited to design the host structure (below) on Eastern Kulin Country, in Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Gardens. “The site is vitally important as my work is a dialogue between architecture and nature.” Architecture should connect people with landscapes. The design for MPavilion began with “a desire to find a scene of eternity”, says Ando. “Eternal, not in materials or structure but in the memory of a landscape that will live on in people’s hearts.” Built from concrete and comprised of two interlocking squares around a large circular canopy, the structure evokes Japan’s traditional walled gardens while engaging in a dialogue with Australia’s native landscape. “The living environment is profoundly connected with the climate in Australia so I imagined an open-air structure. It provides the same comfort you would find in the shade of a tree and the same hardship you might experience when it rains.” Smart spaces can frame and mirror a changing world. Horizontal openings run the length of the north and south walls of Ando’s pavilion, framing views of the park and downtown Melbourne. An internal reflecting pool mirrors the building’s canopy, the surrounding trees, sky and city skyline. “Within the circle and square, emptiness is given a form. This emptiness engenders dialogues between individuals, resonates with the environment, becomes one with the garden and blossoms into a microcosmos of infinite creativity.”

56 PCA-STREAM

As the man charged with redesigning the Champs-Élysées in Paris, French architect Philippe Chiambaretta understands the importance of longevity – and adaptability. “We used to view architecture as something we build and then whatever happens, happens,” he says. “Now we need to look at the whole life cycle of a building and what it will become 50 years from now.” Cities like Paris will have to evolve in the next 10 to 20 years. “In the future we won’t demolish buildings, we will renovate them,” says Chiambaretta, who founded PCA-Stream (pca-stream.com), a multidisciplinary research and architecture agency that has a team of 75 people. “We’re going to be building over the city [of Paris] again.” Even the Champs-Élysées has to adapt to a changing world. Once considered the world’s most beautiful avenue, the Champs-Élysées has fallen out of favour with Parisians due to pollution and over-tourism. In devising a plan to “re-enchant” the precinct in a way that is sustainable and inclusive to all, Chiambaretta considered the environment. “People will increasingly look for a cool place to go in summer. There’s

a 13.7-hectare park at the bottom of the Champs-Élysées. To reduce the temperature of the city, we need to redesign and replant this garden.” As well as planting 1000 trees, the architect intends to allow more pedestrian access, create a cultural walkway that links the Louvre to museums such as the Grand Palais and add restaurants and sporting facilities. Sustainable, adaptable architecture is the way forward. “In the coming years, we will face a real estate crisis,” he says. “And with interest rates and construction costs going up, many office buildings may never be completed or find tenants. We must ask, ‘How can we adapt buildings for another use?’” It’s an issue the architect is already tackling with projects such as The Cloud – the transformation of four 20th-century buildings into one 38,400-square-metre business centre with internal courtyards, restaurants, a gym and green rooftop. Another of Chiambaretta’s projects, The Link, is the result of 15 years of research into sustainable architecture and “reinvents the code of an office tower”. Currently under construction, the high-rise has two wings connected by 30 platforms, each with a hanging garden. Designed with adaptable layouts and workspaces, it will use half the energy of current skyscrapers thanks to a double-skin façade (fitted with solar panels) that provides thermal insulation. And while The Link has no car park, there are 350 square metres of bicycle parking in the basement. “In every project we do, we consider that the use planned for a building today may not be the one that’s needed tomorrow. We make sure a building will be able to have several lives and not become obsolete.”

Previous pages and this page: Jimmy Delpire for PCA-Stream

Philippe Chiambaretta

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Mark Loughnan HASSELL

“The built environment is a big component of our impact on the natural environment,” says Mark Loughnan, a principal, board director and head of design for Hassell (hassellstudio.com), an award-winning international multi-disciplinary design studio. “It also has a big impact on the way we live, feel and engage with ourselves and our communities.” With a portfolio that spans university campuses, major infrastructure and cultural institutions, one of the Melbourne-based architect’s most recent projects is WA Museum Boola Bardip (below), in cooperation with global architecture and design practice OMA. Collaboration is key to reflecting ancient culture in modern design. “Traditional Owner culture is fundamentally sustainable and ties into ambitions of resilience and inclusion,” says Loughnan, who met with Whadjuk Elders when designing Boola Bardip and ensured that their connection to Country is invoked before you even reach the museum’s doors. In the square outside the entrance, a mist installation nods to traditional smoke ceremonies, while soundscapes feature crackling fire and the voices of Elders. Even with the Old Perth Gaol at its centre, the design has transformed what was a Sorry place into one where First Nations peoples gather.

Site-specific design means structures withstand the elements. “For a building to last 50 to 100 years, the approach to materials, construction and how the building is integrated on the site is very important,” says Loughnan. At Boola Bardip, this meant the adaptive reuse of five historic buildings, having shaded verandahs to allow natural ventilation and using thermal mass to reduce the need for heating and air-conditioning. These time-honoured techniques stand alongside significant advances in material technology. For example, an interstitial layer of woven mesh was laminated into the double-glazed windows to reflect WA’s harsh sun while still being transparent. “People and Country are equal so projects need to be respectful of place.” Natural materials make buildings more adaptable. Designed in partnership with First Nations cultural design and research agency Djinjama, Hassell’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Facility (AMRF) First Building hopes to rewrite the standards for public spaces. “This project is landscape-led urbanism so it’s very connected to place,” says Loughnan. The building will begin its life as a manufacturing space and visitors’ centre showcasing the progress of Bradfield, a high-tech city to be built in Western Sydney as part of the 11,000-hectare Aerotropolis precinct around Western Sydney Airport. The site is home to the city’s longest freshwater stream and extensive regeneration work will be done and rainwater captured and stored for greywater use and irrigation. “We have this idea of a circular economy for the building. Its timber structure has modular components that are mechanically fixed together and can be disassembled, expanded or even relocated.”

Michael Haluwana

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With its soft timber and sandstone finishes, Sofitel Spa is a soothing sanctuary that goes beyond the traditional hotel spa. Cecilia Ferreyra, Sofitel’s director of spa and wellness, describes it as “a skin destination where a lot of wellness concepts overlap”. Sofitel Spa is the only hotel spa in Sydney that partners with science-based French skincare brand Biologique Recherche. “Their methodology is focused on personalised skincare protocols. These bespoke facials comprise three stages: assessment, initialisation and treatment.” Following a welcome drink and introduction to the space by a spa concierge, a highly trained therapist will use the latest technology from Biologique Recherche to diagnose the guest’s skin requirements and customise their treatment accordingly. “We have more than 90 products, which are mixed and matched to create the perfect facial. We tailor each treatment to what the skin needs right now because it changes constantly.”

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For some, spa sessions are all about the journey, not the destination, and pampering is its own process. The Sofitel Spa’s collaboration with Waterlily, an Australian skincare brand founded on aromatherapy principles, is focused on creating sensory treatments that are more than skin deep. “Sometimes people prefer the treatments to be about the scents of the oils or the textures of the scrubs. They can have a significant effect on someone’s mental state.” Guests can book the five-hour Wellness Journey, which covers the key pillars of movement, nourishment, care and rest. The components of this spa experience change every season, including massage, body treatments, yoga, seasonal meals, meditation and facials. “Everything is based on what the season has to offer. We put so much love into this co-creation and collaborated with the founder of Waterlily, who is an aromatherapist, to create products that are exclusive to us.”

60 CIVIC

“You cannot use virgin materials anymore,” says Ingrid van der Heijden, co-founder and partner at Civic (civicarchitects.eu), an Amsterdam-based global firm specialising in public architecture. She’s often asked to design “circular” buildings that are sustainable and can be adapted for other uses. The catch? Clients want to build them with new materials. “We tell them, ‘No, you have to start [being aware of your impact] now.’ As designers, we have an important task.” When asked to construct a public library for Tilburg, the Netherlands’ sixth-largest city, van der Heijden turned the project into a masterclass in adaptive reuse, transforming a 1932 locomotive shed into LocHal, a “library of the future”, and winning World Building of the Year at the 2019 World Architecture Festival. Libraries are no longer just places to borrow books. Beyond the book stacks, van der Heijden’s design speaks to the myriad ways people now acquire knowledge, by incorporating an auditorium, co-working facilities and nine “labs” where visitors can learn new skills. “Instead of dividing the space like, ‘This is for the library; this is for the convention centre,’ we made it completely open.” Comprising a former

warehouse with a footprint of 11,200 square metres, the library’s entrance hall contains reading tables, an exhibition area and a kiosk and folds up into “a landscape of staircases” that can be used as event seating for more than 1000 people. “It’s an old building and the glass façade is an important part of how you experience the space.” Modern heating and cooling systems can be old-school, too. While the abundant natural light reduces electricity usage, it did present a challenge in terms of climate control. Working with Braaksma & Roos Architectenbureau and Arup, the solution was to introduce five climate zones made to “heat people, not the building”, says van der Heijden. “The staircase landscape is heated like a car seat so that when the weather’s cooler, it warms your butt.” Some zones are completely climatised, others offer blankets and skylights open to release hot air during summer. “In the old days, people would sit around the kitchen stove to keep warm. This is not a new concept but in the time we live in, it’s seen as quite revolutionary.” Honouring the past can inform the future. Tilburg was built on two industries: trains and textiles. In homage to the latter, Petra Blaisse from interior architects Inside Outside created six enormous textile walls at LocHal. “They’re like flexible curtains that are motorised so we can close off spaces,” says van der Heijden. “Flexible spaces do not mean neutral spaces. It’s making sure they have an atmosphere with a character that attracts people and are constructed so you can adapt its use in the future.”

Stijn Bollaert

Ingrid van der Heijden

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As the chief executive of Taronga Conservation Society Australia, Cameron Kerr oversees two zoos, 964 staff... and 4500 animals. Interview by Kirsten Galliott Photography by Alana Dimou

CALL OF

THE WILD

Your passion is conserving wildlife. Has the world made any progress in the past decade? I’m on the board of the International Rhino Foundation and we’ve seen a decline in poaching and an increase in rhino numbers on the African continent. That was a very serious issue five or six years ago. In Indonesia, things have gotten worse rather than better but in India and Nepal, they’re doing a really good job in turning the tide. They still have huge challenges and no-one is out of the woods yet but society is now recognising the economic value of biodiversity and protecting wildlife. In my 24 years in wildlife conservation, this is a real moment. Despite that, you’ve got some concerns for the future. What’s your greatest fear? We end up with small, isolated populations of wildlife. People can still see them and think they’re going to be fine but genetically the quality is not good – there’s not a lot of genetic diversity and the exposure to human encroachment or catastrophes like disease, flood and fire can wipe them out. What can you do about that? It’s no longer a situation where we can let nature take its course. It requires an intensive response, such as translocating animals. That means pulling them out, breeding them, managing the genetics carefully, creating habitats and educating communities because it’s no good putting animals back if the communities around them aren’t part of the solution. Then it’s putting those animals back, monitoring them and bringing new genetics in so that when a disease outbreak occurs, they don’t all get wiped out. They need to be able to run faster, swim or fly when a fire or a flood comes. It requires systems thinking, which is something that’s used

Zoos have had a fraught history on animal welfare but they’ve changed so much, haven’t they? The zoo of the future has to be at the leading edge of animal management and welfare and also be engaged with the community. It’s not only about the animals; it’s about providing a service for people. That can take many forms, from studies in a vet course right through to attending a concert or staying a night at the zoo. But every single dollar goes back into the work we do for wildlife. Sometimes people will say, “Has the modern zoo become too commercial?” I don’t think we can be too commercial. The crisis that we’re working on is bigger than all of us. So if we can generate income that increases our capacity to save wildlife and create habitat then I don’t see any conflict between the two “C words” – conservation and commercial.

64 a lot in weather, meteorology and understanding organisational and societal behaviour. We need to apply that to the complex world of ecosystems. So what’s Taronga doing to contribute? I know you’ve had great experience reintroducing the greater bilby, which was presumed extinct in NSW. We’re so pleased with that – the population has flourished. We’ve also done a number of bird releases with regent honeyeaters and we’re learning every time. The last couple of times we released some bird species, we had increased predation – other birds or feral animals attacking them – and you learn from that. What training mechanisms or other things do we need to do in preparation? There are so many risks. You want to learn a lot about increasing the probability of success and that’s where the science is important. How do you get your message across when there’s so much noise out there? Communication is at the core of social change. At Taronga, we can’t afford to only have people that have good keeping skills or veterinary skills. We need people who are powerful communicators and technically great at working with animals because they’re in the most powerful position to change mindsets. When people come to a zoo, they’re open-minded. We have this unique opportunity to talk directly to more than two million people a year. Not many corporations get to do that. We want to inspire people to think about how they behave and what they should advocate for.

You’ve rallied half a dozen CEOs from zoos around Australia and New Zealand to act as a sort of “senior management team”. How has that made an impact? When we attend world zoo and aquarium conferences, they say we punch way above our weight. It’s because we’re all aligned in our thinking. We don’t see each other as competition – sometimes we compete on various things, probably ego more than anything [laughs] – but we’re proud that we work together for a common purpose. If there’s an issue, we’ll ring each other. I always say it’s not the resources and infrastructure that make your organisation great, it’s the way you work together that sets you apart. How can you create an environment for people to work together effectively, communicate well and solve problems for each other? It makes a massive difference. When things go wrong, from lions on the run to workplace issues, how do you deal with those things? We do a lot of preparation for incidents, whether it’s fire, escapes, injury or violence. We’re a community; we see it all here. And we do drills all the time, which is pretty old-fashioned and not rocket science but on the day, in the crisis, it takes out as many variables as possible. In the other issues we deal with, you have to go back to your values. When I have difficult decisions to make, it gets a hell of a lot easier when I ask, “How does it align with our values and ethics?” Sometimes that makes a decision a bit more expensive or painful in the short-term but I want to be able to look back and say, “With the information we had at the time, we made the right decision.” You’ve raised $40 million for Wild Futures, an $81-million project to build two wildlife hospitals and a reptile conservation centre. What’s your secret in securing substantial funds like that? Trust and having an inspiring vision. Our vision is not just about the infrastructure – it’s to significantly increase the capacity of this country to deal with the wildlife crisis. It’s not only about creating two specialist wildlife veterinary hospitals but teaching the next generation of vets, vet nurses and wildlife

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carers. It’s building capacity and knowledge across the nation. We’ve got the only zoo nutritionist in the Southern Hemisphere – she’s an expert in wildlife nutrition. That might be seen as a bit of a luxury but when we’re looking after 4500 of the most precious animals on the planet, it’s not a luxury. You’re obviously a great storyteller. Is that helpful? It’s mandatory. You can have the best idea or the most critical issue to deal with but if it doesn’t get the attention of those with decision-making power – and power can be money or decisions about policy – then you’ve failed as a change agent. In 2019, Taronga opened Wildlife Retreat, which is luxury accommodation within the zoo. How important are those immersive experiences? We get two million visitors a year and we’ll probably have about 70,000 overnight visitors [at Wildlife Retreat and glamping experience Roar and Snore]. It’s small by comparison but we want those people to be inspired to be change agents and advocates. The retreat also has a strong First Nations element and we want people to be proud of our country’s culture. One of our strategic pillars is our commitment to Country. So many Australian animals are totems and First Nations peoples have the strongest, closest relationship with the environment and sustainable living so we see real value in partnering with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. You use satellites to track how visitors are interacting with the exhibits. Are you using AI to further that? We’re not using AI yet to track our visitors but we’re starting to use it in our animal welfare by tracking behaviour and

looking for patterns. We’ll apply this to people eventually. We want to have a good understanding of the behaviour of an animal in the wild and what their day looks like. A day is not having a big meal in the morning then sleeping all day and having another meal at night. There are social tensions with other animals and there are challenges. So we’re using AI to look at the animals’ behaviour and how they use the spaces they live in here at the zoo. It’s early days and it looks a bit clunky on the screen – a giraffe might look like an orange pole moving around – but the exciting bit is we can use the data to change the way we challenge the animals, feed them and interact – or not interact – with them. You’ve been working for Taronga for 23 years, 14 as CEO. How do you stay motivated? I’m learning all the time. It’s a very dynamic sector and I’ve never been bored – not one single day. It also comes back to purpose. Unless you’re willing to perform at 110 per cent, give the space to someone else – the work at Taronga is too important. I can’t go for a ride here but I also don’t feel like I’m working at 110 per cent because I’m so excited and passionate about it. Finally, who is your favourite resident at Taronga? There are a couple. Animals that lay eggs and suckle their young, which is what echidnas and platypuses do, are very, very cool. And female Australian sea lions are the supermodels of the planet. They are the most beautiful, streamlined creatures that fly through the water, with great big eyes. They melt your heart. But they’re also so naughty, like the naughtiest puppy you’ve ever had.

An enterprising innovation out of South Australia is keeping a lid on counterfeit wine.

Story by Jane Nicholls Illustration by Anna Manolatos

MESSAGE

IN A BOTTLE

“We’re in a beautiful part of the world with warm sunny days and clear nights, which gives us this unique fruit quality and the ability to make wines that taste quite special,” says winemaker Jeffrey Grosset. Since starting Grosset Wines in South Australia’s Clare Valley in 1981 he’s had his four vineyards A-grade certified organic and biodynamic, won plenty of awards and led advances in the industry, including the introduction of screwcap wine bottles to Australia in 2000. Now he’s pioneering the use of technology that guarantees wine-lovers are drinking what they paid for. One of the state’s original wine regions, Clare Valley is home to dozens of wineries, including renowned names like Knappstein, Taylors, Kilikanoon, Pikes, Sevenhill, Tim Adams and Grosset. Last year, almost 200,000 domestic visitors stopped by to stay at least one night. It’s a reasonable assumption that many made a purchase from at least one cellar door. “When people come here, taste the wine and buy it, they take it with them or have us ship it to them – that’s the ideal,” says Grosset. “It’s an old-fashioned reinforcement of trust because it hasn’t been bought from a third party but that’s not the way of the world now.” It’s estimated that counterfeit wines, spirits and beers cost the European Union about $5.1 billion in sales each

year. A common ploy is for an everyday drop to be rebottled or relabelled as a lauded vintage from an award-winning winery and sold at a much higher price – potentially in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. “If you’re buying our wine in New York or Shanghai – even from a reputable outlet – it may have gone through many people and the chances of fraud are much higher,” says Grosset. He points to the documentary Sour Grapes, which tells the cracking yarn of Indonesian-born fraudster Rudy Kurniawan’s multi-million-dollar dupe fest in the United States. “In Australia, 95 per cent of wine is bottled under screwcap, which makes it more difficult but not impossible to fake,” says Grosset. In our neck of the vineyards, usually the scam involves riding off the reputation of a region or celebrated winemaker via label fraud, by making false claims of origin or grape varieties or mimicking the authentic product with a similar name and design. Hunting for a solution to thwart this criminal trickery, Grosset and Clare Valley grapegrower David Travers returned to the cap for inspiration. In 2019, the pair won the SA government’s inaugural Blockchain Innovation Challenge with their idea to store inviolable information in a wine bottle’s all-important closure. With a mostly Australian team, led by industrial

designer Andrew Rogers, they got to work solving the technical challenges. The resulting innovation is Enseal, which uses near-field communication (NFC) technology embedded in a specially designed chip in the screwcap. It works in tandem with blockchain identity platform Entrust to hold immutable records about the wine. “Simply hold any smartphone over the cap and the record pops up on the screen, assuring the provenance, authenticity and seal integrity of that wine,” says Grosset. “There’s also a marketing opportunity – you could have a link to a video of the winemaker telling you about the wine or any other information you want to offer.” In 2020, in conjunction with Wine Australia, 15 Clare Valley winemakers successfully trialled the Enseal system, which is now protected by international patents. Grosset says they’re having conversations with European closure manufacturers, as Enseal could be the chance to finally elevate the use of the screwcap there, too. “We’re really proud that we worked on this in little old Gilbert Street in Adelaide,” he adds. Back at his winery, traditional techniques still rule. “We handpick our grapes and we still rack manually,” says Grosset, referring to the process of separating the clear wine from solids. Now he’s on a mission to disconnect fraudsters from the precious liquid, too.

Presented by Pilloni

Sweet Sardinia The smoky flavours of the Italian island star at this Brisbane trattoria. Here’s what to order. The island of Sardinia, off the western coast of Italy, is home to white sandy beaches, crystalline waters and a cuisine unlike anything you’ll find on the mainland. Bringing its dishes to Brisbane’s West End is Pilloni (pilloni.com.au), offering up fire-grilled Sardinian fare that heroes Australian produce. “The menu is so different to people’s ideas of Italian food,” says Valentina Vigni, who co-owns Pilloni with partner Andrea Contin. The 70-seater is modelled after a traditional farmhouse and features a private 16-seat function room, Cantina (above), adorned in wine and traditional Sardinian Mamuthones masks. “That regional experience is what we want to share with people.”

Linger over lobster spaghetti

“Seafood is a massive part of Sardinian cooking,” says Vigni. “And the lobster in Australia is exceptional.” The Pilloni team sources its lobsters from Tasmania and grills them over the fire before adding to spaghetti with shaved bottarga – both of which are made in-house by head chef Pietro Segalini. “They cure the mullet roe for the bottarga over a smoking fire and let it dry slowly over weeks. It creates a contrast between the saltiness of the bottarga and the sweetness of the lobster.”

Find out more at pilloni.com.au

Savour slow-cooked suckling pig

Meat is also central to Sardinian cuisine and there’s none more prized than pork. “The porceddu showcases the impact that Spanish rule had on the island,” explains Vigni. “A quartered pork is covered in a layer of salt, rinsed and then left to dry-age for a week. This dries out the skin, which, once it’s roasted over the wood fire for five hours, becomes like glass.” Pilloni sources its pork from Schultz Family Farms in Toowoomba and it’s served on the table with a pork-bone reduction, much like a demi-glaçe, and a herbed salt.

Dine on a traditional dumpling

“There’s hardly a dish more Sardinian than culurgiones,” says Vigni of the pasta dumpling filled with potato and pecorino. At Pilloni, they’ve added mint and served the culurgiones in a house-made tomato sauce that’s flavoured with garlic and chilli and topped with olive oil imported from Sienna. “It’s a simple dish but is emblematic of the island and important to us.”

WORLD OF WONDER

THE JOURNEY, THE DESTINATION,

P L AC E S

THE INSPIRING US BY DOING THINGS DIFFERENTLY…

FEEL THE

CONNECTION Seeing Vancouver through the eyes of its First Nations people reveals the ancient roots of this youthful Canadian city.

Story by Kendall Hill Photography by Grant Harder

Totem poles at Brockton Point in Stanley Park

From the air, Vancouver seems more liquid than solid. The city of glass shimmers against a dramatic backdrop of mountains, forests and ocean as I lift off beside the white sails and cruise liners of Canada Place with Gulf Island Seaplanes (gulfislandseaplanes.com), looping over the gentrified Shipyards of the North Shore to the seaside mansions of West Vancouver. Below us, the busy blue Pacific is parked with container ships, fishing fleets and marinas; ferries and motorboats trace white arcs on the water. Vancouver is a surprisingly young city, founded only in 1866. But beneath its shiny modern veneer lies another, much older story. The landmark twin peaks known today as

The Lions are, to the Squamish First Nations people, The Two Sisters, an everlasting symbol of the peaceful alliance between the Coast Salish tribes of the Pacific Northwest. False Creek, now home to the popular Granville Island market and the distinctive dome of Science World, bordered the Squamish village of Senakw, renowned for its huge potlatches or ceremonial feasts, where chiefs would disperse their wealth to forge social bonds. The Ice Age fjord of Indian Arm was the summer village of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation and their red-ochre paintings still decorate its rock faces. On descent the seaplane skims low over the massed treetops of Stanley Park, a remnant patch of rainforest at the

(Clockwise from above) Howe Sound with Gulf Island Seaplanes; anthropologist Candace Campo; Talaysay Tours guide Patrick Canning; medicinal Pacific crabapple

manage intricate inter-tribal relationships. In their matrilineal societies, women could choose to perform any role and every child was believed to be born with a gift. “There was universal housing; people had access to clothing, food and shelter, medicine,” she says. “It was a good way of life.” On an afternoon tour of Stanley Park with Talaysay guide Patrick Canning – or Hooyisgum Ganaaw, to use his Nisga’a and Haida names – I glimpse the landscape through his eyes. The “wilderness” the British found in the late 18th century had been managed by First Nations people for thousands of years. There were orchards and berry fields, controlled burning to keep ecosystems healthy and productive, and a natural pharmacy. Pacific willow was used as aspirin, red alder soothed coughs and sap from the ubiquitous Douglas fir was an antibacterial salve. “Kind of like a liquid Band-Aid,” says Canning as we sip berry and rosehip tea in a fir glade carpeted with lush mosses. Campo tells me these walks offer “a friendly space to tackle misconceptions of some of the more challenging parts of our history”. Specifically, the dispossession and discrimination First Nations people suffered at the hands of the British and, later, Canadian governments. “We hope to give our guests another way of being and another way of thinking.”

western edge of downtown that’s one of the more accessible portals to Vancouver’s pre-colonial past. Beneath the dense canopy lie buried middens, traces of cedar-bark harvesting and memories of Xwayxway, a First Nations village where the Squamish lived in vast, multi-family houses more than 60 metres long. “Stanley Park was a year-round village, winter and summer,” says Shishalh anthropologist Candace Campo who, with her Squamish husband Larry, founded Talaysay Tours (talaysay.com) to share their Indigenous culture. “My husband’s family and my children, that is their village. When we look at any feature of the land, we are looking at our strong connection to our ancestors.” Campo, the consummate cultural go-between, details the complex pre-contact societies that existed among the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam peoples, ancestral owners of the unceded lands on which the British built Vancouver. The average citizen spoke three to five dialects to

On West Broadway later that day, I savour the flavours of the Pacific Northwest with Nuxalk woman Inez Cook at her restaurant, Salmon n’ Bannock (salmonandbannock.net). It’s Vancouver’s only Indigenous-owned eatery – she opened an outpost at the international airport early this year – and a meal of many firsts. I taste spring elk and wild boar salamis, warm bannock bread rolls doused in bison gravy, sablefish (black cod) and sliced elk steak with peppercorn sauce, which Cook insists I try. “It tastes like heaven,” she says, grinning. Even the wine and beer comes from Indigenous-owned vineyards and breweries. Apricus Cellars’ Daybreak is a fresh, fruity blend of pinot gris, riesling and ehrinfelser – a winning match with the candied salmon. I’m also dining with Paula Amos from Indigenous Tourism BC, who tells me that Indigenous-run businesses in the province have grown from 15 to 170 in less than two decades. In the Vancouver region these include tours in replica 11-metre canoes that retrace the ocean “highways” of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation (takayatours.com) and, in the mountains at Whistler, the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre (slcc.ca), where guests are welcomed with drum songs and guided tours of artefacts and a traditional longhouse. “There’s a big demand for Indigenous-run tourism experiences,” says Amos. “Visitors want to have a deeper experience and learn about local people.” I catch a SeaBus ferry across the harbour to MONOVA, the Museum of North Vancouver (monova.ca), to discover more First Nations stories. Some are confronting – Canada is still actively grappling with its treatment of Indigenous peoples,

Inez Cook (above) serves local, wild-caught produce at Salmon n’ Bannock; Wild Man of the Woods by Squamish artist John August at MONOVA (opposite)

Alison Evans from Gulf Island Seaplanes

remembered annually on 30 September with the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation – but there are also tales of great dignity. I learn about Squamish chief Sahp-luk, known as Joe Capilano, who took the fight for Indigenous rights all the way to London and an audience with King Edward VII. Indigenous art is everywhere in Vancouver, from vibrant murals and a stunning assembly of totem poles at Brockton Point in Stanley Park to the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art (billreidgallery.ca) in downtown. But for an inspiring and authentic entry point to First Nations creativity, visit Skwachays Lodge (skwachays.com), an Indigenous social enterprise run by the Vancouver Native Housing Society. This six-storey building on the edge of Chinatown offers residential accommodation for artists, providing shelter, security and a space to create as well as a co-operative gallery featuring works exclusively by in-house talents such as Mike Alexander, a Swan Lake man from south-west Manitoba. For Alexander, who began his residency here at the start of 2022, Skwachays has been “absolutely life-changing”. We sit in the dedicated studio space as he speaks frankly about his past; how he was part of the Sixties Scoop, the Indigenous children forcibly removed from families into foster homes or state care. “It caused an awful lot of problems for me,” he says. “Life became unmanageable not knowing anything about myself… But when I got here, that’s when everything changed.” He follows the Woodlands School pioneered by Ojibwe artist Norval Morrisseau, a style he describes as “very bright scenes of animals and the natural world depicted in 2D like an X-ray”, often drawn from visions and dreams. He shows me an arresting self-portrait depicting a crane, his clan symbol, in pale blue against a red sky, with bullrushes rising from salmon-filled waters. Three golden suns behind the crane, a signature of his, represent the passage of time. It’s one of a series of family portraits he’s been doing since reuniting with his sister, aunts, uncles and cousins four years ago. “I want to honour them. I’m so proud to meet these folks. I want to tell the world that I’ve never been happier.” And he’s never been more successful. Alexander has commissions from buyers as far away as the United Kingdom, an upcoming joint show at the Bill Reid Gallery (“which I’m thrilled about”) and he’s been asked to paint a series of murals at BC Place, the city’s main stadium. “Things got out of control a little bit,” he says, smiling. “It’s sort of turned into this career.” Starting next northern spring, Gulf Island Seaplanes plans to make Vancouver’s First Nations culture even easier to discover. Owner Alison Evans is incorporating the oral histories of elders into onboard narration of stories and landscape so passengers not only see Vancouver but also Kemkemelay, the place of many maple trees. “Our goal is to link those sites and landmarks to stories of resilience and strength in the First Nations people of this area,” says Evans, who’s from the Hagwilget Nation. “We have a unique opportunity to show people what was here before Vancouver was here. It was a thriving, beautiful community.” And one that enriches the city to this day.

Photo credit: ©PONANT: Ian Dawson; Olivier Blaud; Mike Louagie.

G R E AT Around the world, an ecological restoration movement aims to supercharge biodiversity – and your next holiday.

80 Story by Kendall Hill

Tanveer Badal

OUTDOORS

Suján, Rajasthan, India

Cairngorms National Park, Scotland

Wilderness Scotland

Humans share a universal love of the natural world. Increasingly, we’re seeking out travel opportunities where we can immerse ourselves in nature and experience landscapes teeming with flora and fauna. Perhaps that’s partly because we are more aware than ever of its ephemerality. A landmark 2019 United Nations report compiled by 455 scientists across 50 countries warned that one million plant and animal species – one-eighth of the earth’s total – face extinction within decades. Enter “rewilding”, the growing global movement to restore nature’s balance. The most famous example is Yellowstone National Park in the United States, where grey wolves were reintroduced in 1995, long after the last wild wolf had been hunted to extinction. The effect was immediate – invasive red deer populations shrank, the forests recovered and near-vanished species, including beavers, badgers and many songbirds, returned. This dramatic change in the ecosystem is known as a trophic cascade and it’s the core motivation behind rewilding efforts taking place from Rwanda to Romania. Thankfully, most of these destinations encourage visitors to see what’s possible when we let landscapes recover naturally.

Akagera National Park, Rwanda

Suján

RAJASTHAN, INDIA

Jaisal Singh is descended from tiger royalty: his parents and uncle were the driving forces behind the establishment of Ranthambore National Park, one of India’s premier tiger sanctuaries. Singh and his wife, Anjali, have continued that legacy of preserving and protecting India’s wild places and cultural heritage as the founders of Suján (thesujanlife.com), a collection of luxurious tented camps with conservation at its core. On the edge of Ranthambore, guests at 12-suite Sher Bagh have dress-circle access to big cats, sloth bears, antelopes and monkeys. Suján Jawai, the beautiful 10-suite bivouac south-west of Jaipur, has one of the world’s highest concentrations of leopards thanks to an India-first model combining private landholding, conservation and anti-poaching.

The result is a refuge for wildlife and economic opportunities for the neighbouring villages – and genuine thrills for animal-lovers. Both properties pamper guests with Relais & Chateaux-sanctioned cuisine, lavish accommodation and the services of some of the country’s best naturalists. Guests’ tariffs finance animal protection and research as well as community outreach programs. “We believe conservation has to be at the heart of tourism,” says Suján’s director of wildlife experiences, Yusuf Ansari.

Cairngorms National Park GLEN FESHIE, SCOTLAND

The Scottish Highlands, still renowned today for their natural beauty, were once so much grander. Logging, farming and introduced

pests, such as deer, have decimated the old-growth Caledonian forests that once blanketed the United Kingdom’s north. But the fightback is on, led by feisty campaigners and conscientious landowners. Adventure travel company Wilderness Scotland (wilderness scotland.com) leads guests deep into the Highlands on five-night expeditions, staying in the rewilded valley of Glen Feshie, one of the country’s bonniest glens. Owned by Danish billionaire Anders Povlsen, Scotland’s largest private landowner, the 4000-hectare holding is part of the ambitious Wildland plan to restore Cairngorms National Park, the UK’s biggest, to its original state over the next 200 years. Expert-led itineraries involve vigorous walks past waterfalls, through glacial valleys and one of the largest surviving tracts of Caledonian pine trees, with bonus sightings of restored

Presented by SAP

Consolidating to the cloud How this corporate food franchisee took just 10 months to install a company-wide way of working. With more than 493 stores and 11,900 staff, Restaurant Brands New Zealand has grown rapidly over the past 10 years, primarily through the acquisition of new franchises and restaurants, surpassing NZ$1.2 billion in revenue for 2022. The business manages KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and Carl’s Jr. in New Zealand, together with KFC and Taco Bell in Australia and California, plus Pizza Hut and Taco Bell in Hawaii. It was experiencing growing pains, using a number of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software systems across its regions and lacked a company-wide way of working. The company looked to SAP and partner Lagom to implement a suite of solutions – including cloud-based SAP S/4HANA Cloud – to overhaul its ERP. “We wanted a system that would be able to grow and evolve with the business,” says Restaurant Brands group ERP systems manager Thuy Le-Kim (above). “The ability to consolidate, streamline and standardise operations across multiple geographies is enabling

Reimagine automation. Visit SAP.com

Restaurant Brands to adapt to change faster and freeing up more resources across the organisation to focus on opportunities for growth.” The new systems, which delivered a singular cloud ERP to the company, went live in April 2022. The result is increased automation, allowing for faster payment runs, month-end processes and consolidated reports. The new-found automation has also released resources across the regions, enabling greater knowledge sharing and solutions to supplychain issues.

It also meant Restaurant Brands New Zealand could implement a global best-practice strategy, which gives consistent insights into how the whole organisation is working. “Having laid the foundations to support continuous improvement over time, there was a lot of rigour around the decision-making to ensure the organisation could maintain ongoing changes. Significant work was done to ensure there was minimal variation from standards, resulting in a system upgrade across all divisions within three months and a reduced cost of ownership over its lifetime.”

Arkaba, Flinders Ranges, South Australia

species, such as beaver, badger and osprey. Hikers stay at Ballintean Mountain Lodge on a 50-hectare rewilded estate and dine on local fare, including king scallops and sustainably sourced venison.

Akagera National Park RWANDA

The African Parks Network (africanparks.org) is a non-profit NGO that partners with governments and communities in some of the continent’s more volatile countries – from Chad to Congo – to rehabilitate habitats and wildlife. It took the reins at Rwanda’s Akagera National Park (visitakagera.org) in 2010, transforming the 1100-square-kilometre area, at the time plagued by poaching and rogue cattle farmers, into a haven for native animals – and travellers.

The reintroduction of threatened species has increased Akagera’s biomass from 5000 to 12,000 animals, including elephants, lions, black and white rhinos, buffalos and Rwanda’s only giraffe population. The leopard viewing is also excellent. Accommodation in the park is mainly in tented camps and what they lack in five-star finishes is more than compensated for with wildlife encounters and access to the largest protected wetland in eastern-central Africa and the enormous Lake Ihema, a sanctuary for hippos and rare shoebill storks.

Arkaba

FLINDERS RANGES, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

In the ancient sandstone folds of the Flinders Ranges, an 1851 sheep

station anchors one of Australia’s most acclaimed rewilding projects. Conservationist entrepreneur Charles Carlow bought 25,000-hectare Arkaba Station (arkabaconservancy.com) in 2009, removed the sheep and let the landscape – “the most beautiful outback property I’d ever been to” – do its thing. The changes since have been heartening. The red kangaroo population exploded and western quolls, reintroduced to Wilpena Pound in 2014 after a century-long absence, are now breeding at Arkaba. Meanwhile, native plant species, such as the Sturt’s desert rose, are being nurtured back to life. Guests can witness the transformation firsthand on multi-day guided walks, bedding down at the handsomely refurbished homestead and two bush camps, where fireside dinners of saltbush lamb and South Australian wines segue into starry nights filled with the chatter of nocturnal creatures.

Richard I’Anson

Discover how Restaurant Brands consolidated operations globally to drive agility and innovation, and unlock new efficiencies with intelligent automation.

Misool Resort, Raja Ampat, Indonesia

Misool Resort

RAJA AMPAT, INDONESIA

Our oceans need rewilding, too. Seawilding, if you will. In far eastern Indonesia, Raja Ampat is an archipelago of 1500 islands, one of which, Batbitim, has become an archetype for marine stewardship and responsible tourism. Divers Marit and Andrew Miners arrived here in 2005 to find a shark-finning camp plundering the seas so they stayed to do something about it. Lobbying local chiefs to support a marine refuge (since tripled in size to 120,000 hectares), they employed rangers to patrol the waters and built a stunning, 20-bungalow resort (eight of which sit on stilts over a lagoon) to finance their conservation aims. Today, Misool Resort (misool. info) is a magnet for marine enthusiasts keen to explore Raja Ampat’s epic dive sites and thriving biodiversity. Among

Misool’s many successes to date: reef shark populations are 25 times denser within the no-take zone; manta ray numbers have doubled; reefs are being restored; and endangered zebra sharks have just been reintroduced as part of the ReShark initiative. The enterprise also funds local libraries, kindergartens and recycling programs. Asked to describe an ideal day on Misool, Marit says, “Wake up over the water, morning dip with sharks, mango for breakfast, snorkel, paddleboard, massage, birdwatching, hammock time, food, sleep, repeat.”

Tahi

NORTH ISLAND, NEW ZEALAND

Since Suzan Craig took over what she calls a “dilapidated” 316-hectare coastal patch of Northland cattle farm

20 years ago, she’s replanted 430,000 indigenous trees (and counting – her goal is one million) and restored 38 hectares of wetlands. As a result, bird species have increased from 14 to 71, including more than 22 that were rare or endangered, and other habitats have returned. Visitors can explore Tahi’s (tahinz.com) transitional landscapes of dunes, forests and lakes on guided or self-guided walking trails (horseriding can also be arranged at extra cost) or on overnight stays in three seaside bungalows, all with private access to Pauanui surf beach. In summer there’s an on-site café for breakfasts and light lunches. All the profits from Tahi’s accommodation and its flourishing Manuka honey and skincare businesses are ploughed back into conservation and the local community. As with so many rewilding projects, it’s a virtuous circle.

Alex Lindbloom

FAR FROM

NORMAL The thrills are naturally phenomenal in Churchill, Manitoba. Speed through a forest by dog sled, kayak among beluga whales and watch polar bears in their own environment. At night, things get even better – you’re under the Northern Lights.

Dave Daley wakes to the sound of 43 panting dogs. As the sun rises in Churchill, Manitoba, beams come through conifers and water shimmers on either side of the small peninsula. Inside a four-by-five-metre cabin in the woods, Daley gives his dogs a cuddle. “Dogs are very energetic beings and no matter if it is the summer or 30 below, I always touch them with my bare hands because that is how our energy flows.”

The crew at Wapusk Adventures prepare a dog team in Churchill, Manitoba

A long-distance dog-sled racer, Daley is the owner of racing kennel and tour operator Wapusk Adventures (wapuskadventures.com). Here, visitors experience a thrilling sled ride while learning about the culture of the Métis, a group that emerged in the late 18th century as Europeans in the fur trade integrated with Indigenous people. Daley has lived his entire life in Churchill, which lies 733 kilometres south of the Arctic Circle. A proud Métis man known across Manitoba as the “Northern Adventurer”, he’s travelled by dog sled seven times across the ice to Arviat in Nunavut, a distance of about 260 kilometres. He once made the 20-day journey from Churchill to Winnipeg – 1200 kilometres – by sled.

Dave Daley, sled-dog racer and owner of Wapusk Adventures

Most of Daley’s dogs are rescues. “There are lots of retirees in my yard,” he says. “I believe all animals have souls like we do and are to be respected. There’s no other animal that has a relationship with humans like dogs do.” Churchill is home to wolves and wolverines and Daley’s not comfortable leaving his dogs alone at night. “This is a pretty wild place,” he says, pointing out that three different species of bear are known to roam the outskirts of town. Once part of an Indigenous trade route, this area is the junction of distinct ecosystems, where forest meets tundra and the vast Hudson Bay. With the right guide, this is the place to experience some of the world’s most stunning and unique natural phenomena. Between July and November, about 1000 polar bears migrate here – hence the region’s nickname, The Polar Bear Capital of the World. In the summer months (mainly July and August), up to 4000 beluga whales come to the river estuary. It’s also one of the best places to see the Northern Lights, with an average of 300 nights of activity each year. As a result, it’s possible to see polar bears roaming amid magenta wildflowers, kayak near a pod of mating whales and watch green swirls colour the sky all on the same visit. A tour with Daley begins with storytelling. He might recount experiences from his races or pass on wisdom from two 80-year-old Elders, with whom he shares a coffee most days. After that, it’s time for a ride. Each sled is typically pulled by six Northern Huskies and Daley knows which ones work best together. Rea is a guest favourite – a lead dog with icy blue eyes, a white coat and playful nature, she’s been with Daley since she was three months old and her chatty barks and sighs almost sound like she’s talking.

keepexploring.com.au

T R AV E L I N S I D E R | D E S T I N AT I O N CA N A DA

More unique ways to take in Canada’s natural beauty Travel in a Tundra Buggy Ride in a purpose-built, all-terrain Tundra Buggy across Churchill’s ice and snow to see polar bears in the wild from the safety of the vehicle. Or head to Dan’s Diner – a fine-dining experience in a remote forest with ideal conditions for viewing the Northern Lights. frontiersnorth.com

Tour Lake Louise on a horse-drawn sleigh Get cosy in the back of a fairytale sleigh as your route hugs the shores of frozen Lake Louise, passing between trees dripping in icicles. Tours depart from Fairmont Château Lake Louise. fairmont.com

All of the dogs are brimming with excitement as they pant, bark and shuffle, raring to move. When it’s time to go, they take off like Olympic sprinters. The sled speeds through the forest, with white spruce and tamarack trees on either side and the dogs bounding in front. This experience isn’t long – you’ll cover only about two kilometres – but the sensation will linger well into the evening, when green tendrils across the sky herald nature’s next performance.

Fly over Virginia Falls Witness water cascading down a vertical drop twice the size of Niagara Falls with a flight over the Nahanni National Park Reserve, Northwest Territories. spectacularnwt.com

Go arctic diving in Nunavut Kayak and snorkel among grounded icebergs while watching for polar bears, seals, whales and even narwhals off the coast of Baffin Island near Pond Inlet, across the bay from Greenland. arctickingdom.com

Chase frozen waterfalls in Ontario The cliffs and slopes of the Niagara Escarpment combined with an extensive system of lakes and rivers means Ontario has an abundance of waterfalls – there are more than 100 around the Hamilton region alone. In winter, see the impressive ice curtains of the frozen torrents at Devil’s Punchbowl, Tiffany Falls or Ball’s Falls, all within two hours of Toronto. tourismhamilton.com

Bike back-country trails in the Yukon Originally built in 1899, the Yukon’s first wagon road has been transformed into a 33-kilometre trail outside Dawson City. Hike or cycle across forested alpine landscapes as they burst into bright yellow and fiery red autumn hues around late August. The trail is open from June to mid-September. travelyukon.com

Discover great year-round fares to Canada with Qantas and our partner airlines. Book now at qantas.com

Your next joy ride is...

The people of the Andes have banded together to create immersive travel experiences that showcase the real Peru.

LIFE IN

COLOUR Story by Mark Johanson Photography by Lauren Kallen

A fierce sun shines down on four dozen women who’ve gathered together in the secluded Peruvian town of Ccaccaccollo, in the high Andes, to weave stories into textiles. All are dressed in scarlet jackets (embroidered in floral designs), black skirts (which balloon from their waists) and soqque hats (which flop up or down over lengthy pigtails denoting marital status). Some sing traditional folk tunes set to the whistling melody of quena flutes. Others prepare a feast centred on the surprisingly chicken-like guinea pig, an Andean delicacy. One talks me into purchasing a soft alpaca blanket that’s so big it’ll never fit in my suitcase. The women of Ccaccaccollo are a local success story. Two decades ago, Francisca Qquerar Mayta (bottom left), founder of the Women’s Weaving Cooperative, was intent on helping the women in her community achieve financial freedom. So she approached international small-group tour operator G Adventures (gadventures.com) with an idea. Tour representatives had stopped by her home in the Sacred Valley, not far from the famed “lost city” of Machu Picchu, looking for male porters to work on the Inca Trail. She proposed something different: what if she gathered all the women of her community to teach travellers about Andean textiles and the motifs that hark back to the age of the Inca? Travellers had long bypassed towns like hers in the Sacred Valley en route from Cusco (the former Inca capital) to Machu

Picchu (the empire’s greatest achievement). Qquerar Mayta wanted them to stick around. She gathered 15 then 20 then 45 of her peers and trained those who hadn’t been taught by their mothers how to tint llama and alpaca wool with natural dyes – including lupins (purple) and ch’illca leaves (forest green) – and weave that yarn into hats, shawls and blankets. “We are weaving our life experience,” says Qquerar Mayta. “This is our history, it’s our inheritance, so we are going to keep teaching our children and improving our techniques to make sure we never forget.” Her idea has spawned a string of similar community tourism projects across the Sacred Valley. I’ve come to check them out, exploring this long-time transit zone where you can not only marvel at the legacy of the Inca but also meet the people living it every day. “In the early 2000s, there was no industry for these people,” recalls Bruce Poon Tip, founder of G Adventures. Its non-profit arm, Planeterra, has been instrumental in funding and supporting community tourism. “Hundreds of thousands of tourists just passed by to get to Machu Picchu,” he says. “Now some people spend more time in the Sacred Valley than they do in Cusco.” Later that day, we stop by the nearby village of Pampallacta to visit the “Potato Park”, a 9500-hectare community project created in 2006 to protect the genetic diversity of potatoes, which have their ancient origin in Peru. Local farmers grow about 1430 varieties here, most of which are on display in a small museum (left). Some are black and bulbous; others reddish and wormlike. It’s as if the common spuds have all dressed up for Halloween. Educator Lino Mamani offers me a Potato Sour, a cocktail made from fermented potato instead of the beloved national brandy, pisco. We later tour the property’s vast seed bank, which is vital for global food security, and learn about the various ways Indigenous communities use these native tubers, including dehydrating them under the aggressive Andean sun to preserve them for up to 35 years. I dine on more native potatoes that evening at La Casona de Yucay (hotelcasonayucay.com), a charming hotel in the Sacred Valley with a hacienda-style building that dates back to the late 18th century. The next morning, I wake before sunrise and return to the village of Ccaccaccollo for a 16-kilometre hike into the Andes. Our destination? The remote and little-visited Inca site of Huchuy Qosqo. My breathing becomes long, raspy and deliberate as we rise above 4000 metres. The air at this cloud-hugging altitude is so thin I can hear my brain beating. In time, I morph into a less capable version of myself; a healthy man prematurely aged. The Indigenous Quechua farmers we encounter greet me – “Hola, papi” – as they sow quinoa and corn in terraced fields that spill down the Andes toward the emerald-green

96 Urubamba River. We hike onward across straw bridges, through a narrow ravine and down ancient stone steps to a camp site beneath the towering Incan ruins of Huchuy Qosqo. This royal estate – with palaces and stone-hewn irrigation channels – was cleaned earlier this year by the Peruvian government to diversify tourism away from Machu Picchu. “Can you believe this place?” asks my guide, Alexander Nuñez, beaming as the setting sun silhouettes the molar-like peaks on the western horizon. If we were on popular trekking routes, like Lares or Salkantay, we’d be sharing this view with noisy crowds. “Here,” says Nuñez, “it’s just for you and me.” That night, rather unexpectedly, I’m rewarded for the day’s efforts with smoked trout and Pisco Sours. I scan the shadows of the Milky Way for a celestial llama (revered among Andean cultures) and fall asleep in a tent fitted with a camp light, full-sized pillow and puffy mattress. I awake at dawn, high on mountain energy. Or maybe it’s the three cups of coca tea, a mildly stimulating herbal infusion used to fight altitude sickness. Either way, I’m all abuzz on the eight-kilometre descent down dusty cliff walls to the town of Lamay. It’s a steep and serpentine route but we plod on, knowing that a highland feast awaits below.

Parwa Community Restaurant is another tourism project supported by Planeterra, the Inter-American Development Bank and G Adventures, which sends 1500 travellers here each month. The glass-encased restaurant, launched in 2014, is now 100 per cent community owned through the Huchuy Qosqo Association, operating as a training kitchen for aspiring chefs. I refuel on a soup made from rehydrated moraya potato, followed by corn tamales and spicy rocoto peppers stuffed with fresh cheese and mincemeat. All the ingredients, I learn, are sourced directly from Sacred Valley farmers. The day finally arrives when a navy-blue train car from Peru Rail rocks us down a rickety track into the dense cloud forests of the lower Andes and deposits us at Machu Picchu (above). I’ve seen it in a thousand photos but they don’t prepare me for the shock and awe of being there myself. The “lost city of the Inca” spills down a frightfully precipitous mountain, with giant lumps of jungle rising above it in either direction. Cicadas hum and parakeets chirp. I lose myself amid a maze of temples and gates, assembled together like Lego. It’s entirely improbable and utterly brilliant. Yet I can’t help but feel that after everything I’ve seen in the Sacred Valley, this soaring citadel is merely the cherry on top.

L U X U R Y A S N AT U R E I N T E N D E D With only a handful of eco-certified safari tents mere metres away from the World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef, Sal Salis is the ultimate off-grid escape. As a Luxury Lodge of Australia, you will enjoy exceptional service whilst you spend your days exploring the reef, swimming with gentle giants and connecting with nature. Nights are spent under a blanket of stars with good company, good food and good memories while ocean waves lap against the shore. It truly is life at its most sublime. 2024 SEASON NOW SELLING

Presented by Renault

Charging ahead Efficient engineering sees the all-new Renault Megane E-Tech 100% electric take a comprehensive approach to design before the first panel is even pressed.

Whether it’s the smoother acceleration, the whisper-quiet cabin or the untold joy of driving straight past every petrol station, there are many reasons for choosing an electric vehicle. In addition to the more obvious virtues, there’s the design, materials, manufacturing and lifespan of the car to consider. Enter Renault Megane E-Tech 100% electric: the latest EV from the French marque that delivers all the perks of electric vehicles you expect – and several you don’t.

Design-conscious from start to finish

While most electric vehicle motors are built using rare-earth metals, such as neodymium and praseodymium, Renault’s innovative power systems don’t require them. Instead, it harnesses a patented magnet-free, rotor-winding process that replaces rare-earth metals with copper coils. The result? A smaller, lighter and more sustainable motor. The battery is cleverly constructed so its components can be recycled in Australia, where Renault has partnered

Renault Megane E-Tech 100% electric Price: Power: Torque: Acceleration:

From $64,990 (MSRP) 160kW 300Nm 7.4s (0-100km/h)

Battery: Range: Charging:

60kWh 454km (WLTP) 130kW DC fast charging, up to 300km in 30mins

with a battery-recycling provider. From next year, those components will be used in the production of new lithium-ion batteries. Renault Megane E-Tech’s story plays out as the first panels are being pressed. Any offcuts are crushed and sent back to Renault, where they are turned into new parts, creating a build process with almost no wastage. Inside the car, the seats and dash are covered in a soft-to-touch cloth trim made from 100 per cent recycled plastics. In total, 28 kilograms of recycled plastic is used in every Renault Megane E-Tech cabin, while 90 per cent of the materials in the vehicle can be recycled when they reach the end of their life.

Created to prioritise your space

Renault Megane E-Tech’s EV-specific chassis has allowed the brand to design the car around its passengers, instead of a petrol-powered engine. The ultraslim battery positioned under the floor means passengers sit lower and are afforded more headroom. An extralong wheelbase, with the wheels positioned on the outer edges of the car, adds to the roominess. There’s spacious seating for five and the flexibility of a hatch-style boot which offers between 440 and 1332

litres of storage, depending on whether you have the rear seats up or folded flat. Two high-definition screens are angled towards the driver. The nineinch central touchscreen offers wireless smartphone replication for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto where drivers can create their own profile. Also included are wireless device charging, customisable ambient lighting and multi-sense driver mode selection. The second, 12-inch screen is the driver’s display, where they can view key information such as speed and energy consumption.

Cruising in substance and style

Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover. Renault Megane E-Tech’s sporty, compact silhouette, large 20-inch alloy wheels, optional black or grey roof and rear LED lighting signature make the EV distinctive and distinguished. Its geometric shapes on the front and rear bumpers are softened by the curves of the quarter panels. There’s also a new badge, displayed prominently where you’d expect, along with a puddle-light projection on the ground, visible when the door is opened using its flush handles, which extend automatically when you approach the vehicle.

To discover more about the innovations in the all-new Renault Megane E-Tech 100% electric, visit renault.com.au

Power to play, with range to roam

With potent power and a significant driving range, Renault Megane E-Tech is one of the most enjoyable EVs to drive. The electric motor produces a sizeable 160kW and 300Nm, and delivers all of its torque instantly, providing a sprint to 100km/h in just 7.4 seconds. The use of lightweight aluminium for much of the exterior, sleek aerodynamics and an ultra-slim 60kWh battery means the car can reach a driving range of 454 kilometres between charges. And plugged into an appropriate DC fast charger, you’ll accrue up to 300 kilometres of driving range in as little as 30 minutes, putting long-distance road trips well inside this innovative EV’s capacity.

COMES WITH

A conservation lodge nestled beside Kakadu National Park surrounds its guests in the age-old rhythms of the bush. Story by Sam McCue

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T H E T E R R I T O RY 101

Helen Orr

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It’s 3pm and I’m basking in my private infinity pool overlooking a vast shimmering floodplain. I’m completely alone... apart from the buffalo lumbering in the middle distance, white cockatoos screeching overhead, three wallabies who stand motionless checking me out and who knows how many other creatures that I’m too unskilled to detect. On the 30-minute charter flight from Darwin, soaring over mangrove-fringed waterways, tidal flats, paperbark and monsoon forests and the serpentine Mary River, my husband spots a huge crocodile on a creek bank, just before we reach the airstrip. As we land, I ask the pilot about the two sizable birds observing our arrival. “I don’t know what they are,” he tells me, “but they stole my parking spot.” Guide Rufus, aka Roo, a Brit in his mid-20s who cut his teeth in Africa’s safari lodges, is waiting to take us to Bamurru Plains (bamurruplains.com), on the traditional lands of the Limilngan people, in an open-top LandCruiser. “Oh, yeah, they’re Australian bustards, also known as plains turkeys.” We drive past the buildings of Swim Creek Station, whose owners still raise cattle and buffalo, and alongside ranks of

solar panels that provide 75 per cent of Bamurru’s power. Then the lodge reveals itself: a cluster of mesh-walled timberand-steel buildings raised slightly above the land, in all the muted colours of the bush. A cheery woman greets us inside. “Welcome to Bamurru,” she says with a smile. Turns out she’s actually a guest, clearly feeling right at home. Behind her there’s an enormous deck, a swimming pool, firepit and several seating zones to maximise views, comfort and privacy. And beyond all that, the 300-squarekilometre Swim Creek floodplain, studded with termite mounds and scattered with spiral pandanus. Roo briefs us in the main lodge, which is filled with First Nations artworks and a library of reference books. We’ll join the other guests – only 26 at any one time – for meals and the guides will share the next day’s plan, usually an airboat ride and safari drive. “Oh, and don’t walk alone in the dark” (buffaloes roam the grounds after sundown). “And don’t get between a mama buffalo and her baby.” Right. “Sharing and educating our guests about the local environment and conservation challenges is key to our experience,” says Amanda Byrne, general manager of Wild Bush Luxury, Bamurru’s parent company. It applies a 4Cs framework (Community, Conservation, Culture and Commerce) at all of its destinations, which include Arkaba Homestead and Arkaba Walk in South Australia’s Flinders Ranges and Tasmania’s Maria Island Walk. “We invest in field guide training and offer guided activities to support this so our guests come away with a deeper understanding and connection to the landscapes,” she says. “If initiatives are to be implemented then we’ll review them with the 4Cs lens to ensure it fits our core philosophy of contributive tourism.”

Helen Orr

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Presented by Australian Native Products

Lemon myrtle’s citrus power and functional properties are now capturing the attention of a global audience.

Anything else is a lemon

Lemon myrtle is the highest known natural source of citral, the compound responsible for the plant’s fragrance, flavour and functional benefits. Citral makes up more than 90 per cent of lemon myrtle essential oil, compared to lemongrass, which has between 65 to 85 per cent and lemon with only 4 per cent. Packed with antioxidants, lemon myrtle has been the ideal choice for a citrus note in the global tea industry. It’s also been infused into gin products from Victorian-based distiller Four Pillars and featured on the menus of many fine-dining restaurants around the world.

Botanical wellbeing

An increasingly popular addition to cleaning and personal care products (thanks to its preservative, antimicrobial, antifungal, antiseptic and antibacterial properties) and cosmetics, lemon myrtle is also moving into new nutritional territory. The plant is becoming a favoured ingredient in brain-boosting nootropic beverages (to help with mental clarity and memory), adaptogenic formulations (to assist with reducing stress) and a healthy flavouring (such as in Swisse Earth’s Collagen Boost powder).

From home to the world

While native to Australia’s subtropical rainforests, word of lemon myrtle’s versatility and benefits is reaching new shores. The humble plant is now used in tea, gin, seasoning, disinfectants, laundry detergents, candles, skincare, cosmetics and more, both locally and internationally. In 25 years of pioneering work, Australian Native Products – the world’s largest grower and commercial supplier of lemon myrtle – has watched the native botanical rise in popularity and take on new formats. It’s available in dried leaf, powder, essential oil, hydrosol and extracts as global demand for lemon myrtle continues to build.

Unearth the power of lemon myrtle. Learn more at australiannativeproducts.com.au

Our visit is towards the end of the dry season and we’re staying at Jabiru Retreat, which opened in May and brings Bamurru’s number of dwellings to 12. The suite comprises a pair of spacious rooms linked by a long elevated walkway, with a roomy deck, living and dining areas, and a minibar stocked with alcoholic and soft drinks and a cheese platter. Plus, there’s the infinity pool and wild views. “We’re led by the distinct seasons of the tropical Top End and the radical changes in the landscape in wet and dry seasons,” says Byrne. All the rooms are cooled by ceiling fans, with mesh walls that don’t get in the way of breezes or vistas. A low-impact approach also informs meals. German-born head chef Matthias Beer, who honed his craft at El Questro Homestead in the Kimberley and Uluru’s Longitude 131º, aims to showcase Australian produce “so the environment is reflected on the plate”, he says. Barramundi is smoked with paperbark from the surrounding area and served with desert lime compote. “We let guests know where the produce is from, to share our love for Australian producers. We’re looking to introduce more local meats and more native flavours to our menu.” Our fellow guests – mostly Australians, a Dutch family and a Swiss couple – share our enthusiasm for the food. One pair, Kiwis via Sydney, are training for the New York Marathon. Already full from this gastronomic adventure, they tell me that perhaps the prep can wait.

Following another meal (a light lunch of pasta with chicken and rocket and a dry Clare Valley riesling), an airboat trip is like a magic carpet ride over a watery meadow. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of plumed whistling ducks fill the sky as we pass countless dark-purple swamphens and magpie geese (bamurru in Gaagudju, one of the local Aboriginal dialects). A brown-and-black snake-necked darter spreads its wings to dry them in the afternoon sun before taking flight. Water buffaloes emerge slowly like massive rocks from the reeds, bellies full, unperturbed by our presence. Our guide, Sam, steers the boat through spikerush and swathes of miniature snowflake lilies, mauve-and-white native lilies and Barbie-pink lotuses, until we reach a light-dappled paperbark-fringed lagoon. Above us is an armchair-sized eagle’s nest and the white-bellied sea eagle herself. I’m updating the booklet I found in our room, Bamurru Plains Species Checklist: Birds, Mammals, Reptiles, Frogs and Trees, and I’ve already identified 17 species. At aperitivo time, Sam produces a tray of natural oysters on the shell with lime wedges, one-bite quiches and lime-saltsprinkled watermelon skewers to go with cold beers and an Adelaide Hills white. But can he produce a crocodile sighting? He brings the boat smoothly to a spot where we see a head and the hint of a body belonging to an estuarine croc. About two metres long, Sam reckons. I add another tick to my book.

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* The rate of return on your investment is current at 1 October 2023. The rate of return is reviewed and determined monthly and may increase or decrease each month. The applicable distribution for any given month is paid at the start of the following month. The rate of return is not guaranteed and is determined by the future revenue of the Credit Fund and may be lower than expected. An investment in the Credit Fund is not a bank deposit, and investors risk losing some or all of their principal investment. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Withdrawal rights are subject to liquidity and may be delayed or suspended. La Trobe Financial Asset Management Limited ACN 007 332 363 Australian Financial Services Licence 222213 Australian Credit Licence 222213 is the responsible entity of the La Trobe Australian Credit Fund ARSN 088 178 321. It is important for you to consider the Product Disclosure Statement for the Credit Fund in deciding whether to invest, or to continue to invest, in the Credit Fund. You can read the PDS and the Target Market Determinations on our website or ask for a copy by calling us on 13 80 10.

Amilla Maldives

S TAY

AWHILE The new way forward for luxe accommodation is exclusive, inclusive and designed to give back. Story by Alex Greig

Amilla Maldives MALDIVES

Redefining what it means to escape to paradise, this inclusive resort is truly a place to reset.

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A tropical-island escape of dreams, Amilla Maldives (qantas. com/hotels/amillamaldives) is located on the Baa Atoll, a 35-minute seaplane journey north of Malé to Hanifaru Bay. Here, the sun shines, the sand glitters and turtles paddle near the feet of diners eating Maldivian tuna sashimi and lobster miso thermidor at Feeling Koi, one of seven on-site restaurants. It looks exactly like a Maldivian paradise should but there’s more to Amilla than just aesthetics. Resort activities include kombucha making, coral frame planting and visiting endangered birds, while organic kitchen gardens, a banana plantation, coconut processing facility and waste treatment centre are among its sustainability initiatives. And wait until you spy the giant transparent glamping bubble. But the most impressive accomplishment is Amilla’s commitment to inclusion. Each member of staff undergoes extensive training to ensure all guests feel comfortable and accommodated, regardless of ability. Last year, the resort attained Inclucare total-guest inclusion premier accreditation. All rooms (except Treetop Villas) and restaurants are on the ground floor – the Sunset Water Villa affords direct lagoon access, an over-lagoon hammock and an in-villa wine cellar. There are sensory touch, aroma and sound activities for vision-impaired guests, as well as dedicated calming spaces for those with neurological conditions. De rigeur resort activities, including yoga, swimming and snorkelling, are also offered for guests with special needs. There’s a certain lightness of being that comes from being completely looked after – and here, everyone gets to experience it.

Hotel Brooklyn

Cedar Peak

This forward-thinking, Brooklyninspired bolthole is upskilling staff for an extra-warm welcome.

A handcrafted white cedar chalet that champions the breathtaking surroundings and local community.

MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM

A photogenic lobby, a fun, cocktail-and-burger-focused dining and bar scene, and a Portland Street location within easy reach of galleries, city-centre shopping and Manchester’s lively Gay Village – Hotel Brooklyn (qantas.com/hotels/hotelbrooklyn) ticks all the boxes for a millennial’s city bolthole. There’s even a stoop (it’s inside but so what?) on which to sit and sip a Brooklyn Heights (Chambord, prosecco) and shoot the (non-existent) breeze. Manchester’s streets have stood in for those of NYC in films (Captain America: The First Avenger, Alfie) but visitors will find the city has a romance all its own, with cobblestones, canals and that Northern gregariousness. Opened in 2020, the hotel’s 189 rooms begin at Snug and progress through to Club rooms, king-sized Governors and Uptown Suites with their extravagant lounge areas. All the categories have king-sized beds and a 36-square-metre footprint, and there are 18 Liberty rooms that come in a variety of different layouts to suit a range of needs – without ever compromising on the design: a mix of patterned carpet, bold fixtures, fabulous wall-sized artworks and pops of bronze and pink. It’s not only the guestrooms that are adapted to be welcoming to all guests. New team members attend a training session with Pure Innovations, an organisation that supports the differently abled or people with health-related issues. “Our president, Robin Sheppard, has a dream that all guests should feel welcome at any Bespoke Hotel around the world,” says the hotel’s Kostadin Dimitrov.

CAPE BRETON ISLAND, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA

The structure looks simple: a timber A-frame sitting winsomely on a hilltop. But Cedar Peak (airbnb. com.au) is anything but basic. Owner Geoffrey Gillstrom spent four years designing and building the home that overlooks the small community of Grand Étang, the Breton Highlands and the Atlantic Ocean on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia. The chalet is constructed from local white cedar and each detail, from the furniture to the kitchen cabinetry, was made onsite. Local artists’ work adorns the walls but for the most part the interior is an uncluttered space bathed in natural light during the day, thanks to the vaulted ceiling and four-metre windows. Gillstrom, who you may spy on the property doing maintenance or landscaping, is happy to espouse the virtues of nearby attractions and advise guests on the best places to explore and dine. There are two bedrooms – the Master is capacious, with a king-sized bed and lots of room to manoeuvre; the cosier Nook has a queen-sized bed built into a snug, cedar-lined alcove. Airbnb’s Adapted category, launched at the end of 2022, now features more than 1100 barrier-free listings. These include treehouses, log cabins and houseboats – styles of accommodation some guests might have previously struck off their list of possibilities. One of the finest is Cedar Peak. Sunk into a bucolic valley between ocean and highlands, the chalet’s views are arresting, especially from its boardwalk patio. It’s the kind of landscape that invites quiet contemplation, a stay that could lead to something life-changing.

Kate Glicksberg

Hotel Brooklyn in the United Kingdom (above); Cedar Park, Canada (below)

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Los Monjes Winery at Castilla Termal Monasterio de Valbuena, Spain (above); Àni Private Resort, Sri Lanka (below)

Philippe Degroote, Ben Richards

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Castilla Termal Monasterio de Valbuena SAN BERNARDO, VALLADOLID, SPAIN

A historic gem drawing on the benefits of mineral-rich waters has restorative wellness at its core. Since the 12th century, deep in the countryside of Castilla y León, two hours north of Madrid, the massive stone walls, soaring cloisters and sunny courtyards of the Monasterio de Valbuena (qantas.com/hotels/ castillatermal) have stood on the banks of the Douro River. No monks have resided here since 1835 but in still moments there’s a resonance – almost as if their chants are echoing across the centuries. Of course, this is a very different place to the one the Cistercian monks (a particularly austere order focused on manual labour) inhabited for 700 years.

Àni Private Resort

DIKWELLA, SRI LANKA This stunning retreat on the south coast comes with a side of artistic inspiration. The only exertion you’ll experience upon landing in Colombo is getting to the air-conditioned van for the three-hour chauffeured drive to tiny Dikwella on Sri Lanka’s south coast, where Àni Private Resort (qantas.com/hotels/anisrilanka) awaits. With its five-kilometre stretch of sparkling Indian Ocean, a buffer of jungle on three sides and more than 30 staff on hand, Àni is exclusively yours for the duration of your stay. Accommodating a minimum of six

These days, life here is entirely less self-flagellating; in fact, it’s downright decadent. The retreat is famed for its Valbuena Spa, one of only three Clarins spas that utilises thermal waters. There are 16 treatment rooms, an enormous thermal pool and an outdoor heated pool. Using a combination of relaxing and decontracting jets, water curtains, water cannons and rest areas, a visit to the spa is said to aid circulation, boost metabolism and relieve stress – medical consultations and physiotherapy sessions can also be arranged. For the ultimate decompression, the Chapel of San Pedro Experience, set among Gothic frescoes, promises “absolute tranquillity”. The property’s commitment to innovation has prompted a raft of changes, including the phasing out of single-use plastics, the creation of its own natural cosmetics range, the use of organic waste in its vineyards

and kitchen gardens, and the implementation of a responsible water management program. Wine and gastronomy are further strings to the retreat’s indulgent bow. Winemaking is an ancient occupation in the Ribero del Duero region and 20,000 bottles of the hotel’s own Converso tempranillo crianza are produced each harvest. Among the three dining options (including the fabulous Los Monjes Winery), Converso Restaurant, with its rough-hewn walls golden in candlelight, is the place to order a bottle of that exceptional red.

and a maximum of 30 guests, 15 suites are linked by pathways to two infinity pools, living and dining pavilions, tennis courts and a wellness spa. It’s all a bit White Lotus, except everyone’s too relaxed to scheme. Àni Private Resorts founder Tim Reynolds discovered art later in life. He established the nearby Àni Art Academies Sri Lanka in the Matara District to help locals develop income-generating painting skills. Works by students hang on the walls of the resort and every piece is for sale, with all proceeds going directly to the artists. Guests can also visit the Art Academies, a beautifully landscaped campus dotted with pavilions, where they can observe the artists at work and learn about their lives.

Each day at Àni is a languid progression from your chef-made breakfast to the meticulously choreographed extravaganza known as dinner (a bonfire barbecue by the beach; a feast on floating trays in the pool; a tiki torch-illuminated clifftop indulgence) via snacks, alfresco lunch and poolside cocktails. Interspersed are yoga, personal training sessions, cooking lessons and Ayurvedic massage. The resort is all-inclusive and excursions can be organised, too. There is one downside, though, and it’s quite serious: this place will ruin you for future holidays.

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S TA R POWER Gazing at the galaxy is a sublime experience under New Zealand’s jet-black night skies. Story by Kirsten Galliott Illustration by Anna Manolatos

In Lake Tekapo (Takapō), a pretty speck of a place on New Zealand’s South Island, it pays to look up. The sky here is rightfully famous for its nightly transformation into a vast patchwork of diamonds. There’s Proxima (Alpha) Centauri, one of the closest stars to the sun (and a hefty 4.36 light years away). There’s the red dot of Mars, 225 million kilometres in the distance. The Milky Way preens before us, unencumbered by light pollution. New Zealand is hoping to become the first country in the world to be certified as a Dark Sky Nation by the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), a not-for-profit organisation based in the United States that aims to protect the world’s skies. “It’s never been done before but we are unique,” says astronomer Nalayini Davies, a member of IDA and president of the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand. “You can see the Milky Way from 96 per cent of the land area. If you’re prepared to drive half an hour from anywhere in New Zealand, you’ll find very dark skies.” Five areas of the country have already achieved designation as parks, reserves or sanctuaries (depending on their level of darkness), including the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve, which is the largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere. The reserve encompasses Lake Tekapo and the University of Canterbury’s Mount John Observatory, home to the biggest optical telescope in New Zealand. “In a place like Tekapo, tourism has grown at a rate of 15 per cent per annum. It’s been an absolute boom.” Astrotourism is trending for good reason, says Davies. “When you look at the stars, you’re looking into the universe and you get a sense of our place in the world. It’s a magical experience and should be on everyone’s bucket list.”

Dark skies, bright lights

The best places to see the stars in New Zealand.

Aoraki Mackenzie

This 4367-squarekilometre dark sky reserve includes Aoraki (Mount Cook) National Park and the Mackenzie Basin. One of its highlights is The Summit Experience at Mount John (darksky project.co.nz), which offers visitors the opportunity to tour the observatory with astronomy guides and revel in the constellations. Want a more languid experience? Sink into Lake Tekapo’s hot pools (tekaposprings.co.nz) and indulge in stargazing of the floating variety.

Great Barrier Island (Aotea)

One of only 17 dark sky sanctuaries in the world and offering blackas-ink skies, Great Barrier Island is a 4.5-hour ferry ride from Auckland. The off-grid isle is powered by solar, which means there is no light pollution and

the stargazing is, well, stellar. Good Heavens (goodheavens.co.nz) will give you a moon chair on a sand dune (along with a blanket and hot chocolate) and talk you through the mysteries above.

Stewart Island (Rakiura)

You can’t get much further south than Stewart Island, which is 30 clicks below the South Island and accessible by ferry (via Bluff). About 85 per cent of the island is national park and it has 280 kilometres of walking trails.This is NZ’s only other dark sky sanctuary so the stars are epic and may include the Southern Lights (aurora australis) between March and September.

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Presented by Tauck

Tour a Bavarian castle flanked by alpine peaks, sip wine in a romantic French château or dine inside a private Viennese palace. If exploring Europe’s most enchanting riverside cities sounds tempting, Tauck has a cruise to suit. Discover Bavaria and a Beethoven-approved palace

Riverboat through the rolling hills of the Wachau Valley (Austrian wine country) and fall in love with Mad King Ludwig’s Bavarian castles on the Danube Kingdoms: Bavaria, Austria and Hungary expedition. Scale Germany’s highest summit, the 2962-metre-tall Zugspitze, via cogwheel train for spectacular views of more than 400 peaks. Then, don black tie and dine in the private Viennese Palais Pallavicini while listening to a soundtrack of Beethoven (a past luminary here) performed by a chamber orchestra.

Follow in the footsteps of royalty in Frankfurt

Journey from Amsterdam (above) to Regensburg, or the reverse, on the Three Rivers: Danube, Main and Rhine cruise. Glide down Germany’s Romantic Road, a 350-kilometre stretch from Würzburg to Füssen, with its colourful medieval walled towns and castle-studded valleys, then take a food tour of Frankfurt, sampling specialities such as Frankfurter Würstchen (sausage) and apfelwein (cider). You’ll also feast like royalty at the city’s Schlösshotel Kronberg, which was built in 1893 for Empress Victoria Friedrich (Queen Victoria’s daughter) and is still adorned with her antique paintings.

Visit landscapes that inspired Van Gogh

Embark on the eight-day River Seine: Châteaux, Impressionism and Normandy tour and visit the charming hamlet of Auvers-sur-Oise, which influenced 76 of Vincent van Gogh’s paintings, and witness the majestic cliffside monastery of Mont-St-Michel. You’ll also visit Giverny, where Tauck guests get early access to the home and gardens of Claude Monet, and dine at the 16th-century Château du Taillis in Duclair (left). Expect a candelit dinner of lobster ravioli in Sauternes cream, tender beef, crème brûlée and macarons.

To learn more, visit tauck.com

WORLD OF WONDER

THE EVENTS, THE HAPPENINGS, THE

E XTHAT P E RGOI BEYOND ENCES THE EVERYDAY…

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From Barcelona to Arnhem Land, cultural events are changing for the better – and it’s not just the line-up. Story by Bek Day

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G AT H E R

ROUND

Garma Festival, Arnhem Land, Northern Territory

Been to any good gigs lately? If you travelled for them, you’re not alone. Between March 2022 and March 2023, 3.4 million Australians went away for a night or more to see a sporting or cultural festival, spending more than $3.5 billion in the process. These figures, surpassing even pre-pandemic levels, are reflected in broader global trends: internationally, demand for cultural tourism is predicted to rise at an annual rate of 14.4 per cent over the next decade. And along with it comes an improved way of doing things.

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Øya Festival

“Garma” is a Yolŋu matha term for “two-way learning process” and ever since the festival was conceived in 1999 by Yolŋu leaders Yunupingu and his brother, Dr M. Yunupingu, frontman of rock band Yothu Yindi, that’s precisely what the event (yyf. com.au) has strived to foster. “I was there at the very first Garma,” the musician’s daughter, Dhapanbal Yunupingu, recalled in a speech during the 2018 festivities. “We were only little. There were five white fellas who came. There were no tents, two cars and a barbecue.” Today, more than 5000 festivalgoers are immersed in traditional Yolŋu storytelling, miny’tji (art), manikay (song), and bunggul (dance), as well as the Garma Key Forum, where community leaders, politicians, First Nations people and guests on Yolŋu land can come together for four days in the spirit of truth-telling and change. It’s this last concept that holds the ability to bridge the gap between life in remote communities and the policy decisions that influence it. “What unfolds at Garma reverberates around the country,” says Denise Bowden, Garma Festival director and Yothu Yindi Foundation CEO. Important business deals are brokered here, such as the agreement between the Gumatj Corporation and Rio Tinto in 2017 that would see the first Aboriginal-owned and -operated mining venture on Traditional Custodian land. Garma employs more than 160 Yolŋu people and delivers about $15 million in economic benefit to the Northern Territory, much of which stays in the local community. Crucially, as Dhapanbal explained, the festival is about the passing on of cultural knowledge. “People will come every year and go back to their homes with their stories, with their experience, with their love, with their joy, with their happiness – with what they have learnt here.”

During summer in Norway’s capital, the sun doesn’t set until well after 9pm. At Øya Festival (oyafestivalen. no), a four-day musical extravaganza held in a tree-lined field on a hill overlooking the city, sunset is a signal that the party is just getting started. While impressive, the festival’s pedigree (in its 24-year history, acts such as Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, The Cure, Kanye West and Lorde have performed) plays second fiddle to its aim of being close-to-zero-impact. A 2017 report from Waste 360 found that Coachella festival in California produced an estimated 1600 tonnes of waste per year (though it has since made some strides towards sustainability). In contrast, Øya has been heralded by the A Greener Festival Awards as one of the greenest events in the world and boasts a slew of other accolades, including the 2022 Eco-Lighthouse National Award. The fossil-fuel-free festival has been running on renewable energy since 2009 and machinery used to construct the grounds – where 70,000 punters party each year – run on biofuels. Waste is hand-sorted (about 60 per cent is recycled for new products) and single-use plastic is banned so beer cups are washed and reused and a raincoat rental system replaces the emergency poncho. Organisers hope that by proving it’s possible to tread lightly with an event of this magnitude, they might inspire others to do the same.

ARNHEM LAND

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Ability Fest

MELBOURNE

Describing itself as a “gleaming benchmark for the wider event industry”, this joint project from the Dylan Alcott Foundation and Untitled Group was initially launched by Alcott in 2018 to raise money for children with disabilities (abilityfest. com.au). Fast-forward to 2023 and just shy of $500,000 has been raised. Accessibility is the linchpin of every behind-the-scenes decision organisers make: there are earbuds for blind patrons that guide them around the event space; quiet areas for those with sensory needs; a ground that is entirely floored for those with mobility issues to navigate with ease; Auslan

interpreters on every stage; and custom vibrating suits for the deaf and hearing-impaired, which allow people to feel the music throughout their bodies. In addition, carers of people with disabilities can enter for free, solving the prohibitive cost issue for patrons who are usually required to buy multiple tickets. “We want absolutely every single event around the world to be like Ability Fest,” Alcott has said. “The way to do it is to listen to the lived experience of people with disability. We know what we need.”

Primavera Sound BARCELONA

There’s more to the 50/50 gender split in the line-up at Primavera Sound (primaverasound.com) than feminist ideals. Equity is baked into this event’s ethos. “When you have a lot of women and people from diverse backgrounds in your company, it’s probable that they have felt unsafe and have felt scared going home afterwards. When they are able to work on the other side of the business, they think about that and create the kind of festival they want to attend,” Marta Pallarès Olivares, head of press at the Barcelonabased music festival, told a 2023 United Kingdom parliamentary committee examining misogyny in the music industry. The commitment to equal representation of male and female artists has made headlines but there’s ongoing work within the event to scaffold that decision. Since 2019, Primavera Sound has partnered with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Campaign, which seeks to improve a number of social and environmental responsibility metrics. The Nobody is Normal campaign, also launched in 2019, includes installing educational touchpoints around the event, as well as ensuring there are avenues for reporting gender-based violence or discrimination. The Primavera organisers say they’re acting to “raise awareness of and take precautions against aggression and harassment towards those people who challenge gender stereotypes”.

Previous pages: Melanie Faith Dove

Garma Festival

Pål Bellis

Øya Festival in Oslo, Norway (above); Primavera Sound in Barcelona, Spain (below)

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When it comes to transforming quiet country towns into must-visit destinations, some enterprising Aussies are leading the charge. Story by Dilvin Yasa

If there’s one thing that’s more Australian than meeting friends at the pub for a drink, a natter and a saucy chicken parmigiana, it’s working to create the kind of environment in which locals – and visitors – can gather, celebrate or unwind. Across the country, visionary Australians in regional and rural towns are rolling up their sleeves and taking charge of community-led tourism, building a drawcard to attract visitors to their town in a move they hope will help kickstart or bring money into the local economy. Here are three of the finest country venues for a drink, a bite to eat or, in the case of Carcoar’s inn-turned-boutiqueaccommodation, a place to rest your head before doing it all again the next day.

Carcoar

Tim Bean

NEW SOUTH WALES

With its concentration of 19th-century buildings, quirky museums – such as the Carcoar Hospital Museum and the 20th Century Toy Museum – and quiet Central West location in a valley beside the Belubula River, it’s easy to see why locals refer to Carcoar as “the town that time forgot”. But when TV presenter Edwina Bartholomew visited with her husband, Neil Varcoe, earlier this year, she could only see its future. “There were plenty of amazing drawcards, from spectacular dining

at Antica Australis (anticacarcoar.com) to fun boutiques such as Tomolly (tomolly.com.au) and The Rustic Flamingo (@therusticflamingo_ carcoar),” she says. “We saw the potential to showcase Carcoar as a tourism destination in its own right.” The couple’s decision to buy The Victoria Hotel (@thevictoria1846), a boutique 177-year-old guesthouse, and renovate it into a chic accommodation offering comes at just the right time. The town’s schedule of festivals and events (including the popular Carcoar Show) is picking up steam and

Penguin, Tasmania

The Carcoar Royal Hotel (carcoarroyalhotel.com) has reopened to great fanfare. But every mustvisit destination needs somewhere to stay. “We aim to open in 2025, with offerings for families and pets, as well as space for functions,” says Bartholomew. “Ultimately we want people to rethink Carcoar as a side-trip destination and say, ‘I’m going to holiday in Carcoar… and maybe I’ll do a side trip to Orange’.”

Since opening in mid-2021, the taphouse’s promise of craft beer and food on a deck with direct beach access has drawn visitors in droves, marking a big change for the small town. “Plans are underway to redevelop the local caravan park into a beach resort, the foreshore is being upgraded and new shops, such as Village Wine Store, have opened. It feels like the town is on the verge of a massive phase of growth.”

Penguin

Maffra

For Scott Seymour, who owns the Penguin Beer Co. (penguinbeerco.com. au), with his wife, Tara, it was all about the name. “You can’t drive past a town called Penguin and not have a look,” he says with a laugh. Enchanted by the region’s stunning coastline and scenic walking trails, the couple moved their family from Bendigo, Victoria, 12 weeks later – a 2020 seachange that inspired their beachfront taphouse and diner. “We wanted a fun place for locals to gather but we also knew it was the kind of space that could attract visitors.” To be fair, Penguin wasn’t without its attractions. Located on the north-west coast of Tassie, it’s home to a three-metre-tall Big Penguin, sports the state’s largest covered markets and, yes, has a penguin rookery nearby. But the Seymours’ move paid off.

Ask Lashay Tricker to describe her hometown and she launches into an ode to its homesteads, oak-lined streets and rich farming heritage. “We’re right by the mountains yet close to beaches and we have all these original shopfronts.” Stop in at the historic Gippsland town situated some 220 kilometres east of Melbourne and you might spend a morning browsing Johnson Street’s charming stores and cafés (don’t miss The Pickle Pot or The Book Shoppe), an afternoon wine tasting at Blue Gables Vineyard (bluegables.com. au) or testing your legs on one of the region’s cycle trails. According to Tricker, the town of about 5000 people was missing just one trick. “What we didn’t have was a key attraction to put Maffra on the foodie map,” she says, “which is a shame considering the number of stellar producers we have in our region.”

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VICTORIA

Earlier this year Tricker, a secondary college teacher, teamed up with beef farmer and stock agent Nicky Reeves to buy and transform a century-old derelict milk factory into what has become Maffco Brewery & Taphouse (facebook.com/ maffcobrewery). The three-storey building with a 14-metre-high ceiling – a combination of restored brick and reclaimed timber – is now a focal point for premium Gippsland

products, including local craft beers, cheeses and hearty pub meals utilising local lamb and beef. Expansion is already in sight, with the duo planning to add a paddockto-plate restaurant. And new spots, such as café The Beet Baristas, are opening up. “Maffra’s seen a huge increase in visitor numbers in the past 18 months,” says Tricker, “and we’re looking at ways to get them to stay in the local area a little longer.”

Chris Crerar

TASMANIA

Crew prepare to launch a weather balloon from the Viking Polaris on a voyage in Antarctica

Adam Hillier

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OF THE SEA Barrier-breaking cruise expeditions are providing a more meaningful way to experience the world’s oceans. Story by Alexandra Carlton

Eric Laignel

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In January 2022, a small submersible, known as a U-Boat Worx Cruise Sub-7 MKII 300, was lowered into the icy waters off the coast of Rongé Island in Antarctica from the expedition ship Viking Octantis. When it reached depths of about 87 metres, a strange, sinewy creature waved silently into view. Looking like a cross between a giant ribbon and a stubby parasol and measuring at least 4.85 metres in length, it was an example of the extremely rare giant phantom jellyfish (Stygiomedusa gigantea) and its appearance was cause for great excitement. “Its few observations previously have been in deep waters,” explains Dr Damon Stanwell-Smith, head of science and sustainability at Viking. This sighting in shallower water was unprecedented. Its appearance – along with two more that season – was so remarkable that one of the ship’s chief scientists, Dr Daniel M. Moore, published the findings in the journal Polar Research. “The synergy of having the platform to explore and the personnel to scientifically interpret what is found embodies our scientific approach,” says Stanwell-Smith. Cruise ships that nod to science aren’t new. Almost every expedition vessel has programs onboard where guests can learn more about the region they’re exploring and perhaps even get hands-on when they go ashore. But Viking Cruises (vikingcruises.com.au) takes its scientific commitment to a higher level, specifically on voyages to Antarctica, Patagonia and the Great Lakes in the United States and Canada. The line has partnerships with Scott Polar Research Institute at Cambridge University, The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other scientific centres, which match researchers and educators to relevant journeys, giving them access to remote and vulnerable areas that would otherwise be too costly and difficult to reach. The two flagship expedition ships – Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris – have laboratories, oceanographic instruments and special operations boats and submersibles in a distinct section to the aft of the vessel. And the guests on board help to fund the important work. “Marine research normally requires substantial external funding from government grants or philanthropic foundations,” says Stanwell-Smith. “On Viking’s expeditions the research is enabled by the guests’ fares, which in return provides a unique opportunity for them to experience how the research and science is conducted in these regionsIn order for the back of the vessel to exist, we need the front of the ship.” A fairly recent player in the expedition space, Seabourn (seabourn.com) launched its first expedition vessel, Venture, in 2022, with Pursuit following this year. Like Viking, the line’s scientific secret weapons are its submersibles. Each ship is equipped with U-Boat Worx Cruise Sub 7 submarines, which have been deployed to parts of the ocean that have been minimally explored – or not explored at all – with great effect. On a recent voyage around Greenland, one of Venture’s submarine pilots, marine biologist Dr Merel Dalebout, was taking guests beneath the waves near Hvalsey, a UNESCO World Heritage-listed former Viking church, when something anomalous on the seabed caught her eye. “I was joking with

A submersible in the aft of the Viking Octantis

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Every Hurtigruten expedition ship has a dedicated science centre onboard

my passengers about the chances we’ll find a Viking longboat and I’m suddenly like, ‘Wait, what is that?’ It was a bone-like thing, about 30 centimetres, hollowed out and with holes drilled into it.” Both Dalebout and the guests were agog with excitement, though the scientist had the presence of mind to photograph the artefact and record its location. A few days later, she made her way to the University of Greenland to tell it about the find and not long after received emails from various scientists and archaeologists intrigued by what she’d seen. Though other divers had scoured the area before her, none had found this item. “No-one knows what it could be just yet, though there’s speculation that it’s Inuit rather than Viking,” says Dalebout. It’s just one example of the scientific and historical education possibilities that the subs present. “When I saw the bone I thought, ‘Wow. That’s something different.’ I don’t think I realised how cool the find was until I got to the surface. It’s really exciting.” Expedition line Hurtigruten (hurtigruten.com.au) also takes its science seriously but the cruise company’s guests lead the endeavours. It operates more than 10 citizen-science programs worldwide, including bird population surveys, phytoplankton sampling and recording cloud formations. On a recent mission to Greenland, passengers and onboard science collaborators were able to record a sighting of a significant sperm whale and report it back to the citizen-led Happywhale project, which aims to document individual whales around the globe. “We believe it was a big male that often visits Maniitsoq,” says Emily Baxter, head of guest experience at Hurtigruten. “We’re the only ones who have ever submitted

photos of him to Happywhale – the shape and marks on the tail fluke provide a unique ID. Our team was also able to deploy a hydrophone to record his clicks so guests could listen to his vocalisation and echolocation.” On a trip to the Norwegian fjords, guests made a record-breaking (at least for Hurtigruten) 1329 observations of 457 flora and fauna. In 2022, a total of 938 cruise nights were offered to scientific collaborators, which include biologists, astrophysicists and oceanographers. The fact that the vessels return to the same spots regularly means fluctuations in populations can be better monitored over time. “As we travel to the same locations, year after year, there’s a very high value in our data,” says Baxter. Of course, it’s a rare traveller who takes an expedition cruise to somewhere as extraordinary as Antarctica or the Arctic just to contribute to scientific knowledge. Viking, Hurtigruten and Seabourn are known for their low-key elegance, commitment to exploration and specialised service, meaning that once you’ve documented whales and rare jellyfish you can kick back in a luxurious lounge area for champagne and chats with your fellow passengers or head out on a Zodiac to gaze at the landscape for its beauty alone. But there’s something uniquely satisfying about knowing that your journey is both life-changing for you and potentially world-changing on a larger scale. “If we’re at the front of the ship travelling as a tourist it’s important that we not only avoid doing harm but proactively try to do good,” says Stanwell-Smith. On-board scientific projects, says Baxter, “offer guests a deeper understanding and appreciation of the areas they visit. Our guests help us change the world, one adventure at a time.”

Clara Tuma

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Presented by Monash University

Old challenges, new horizons The documentary The Endangered Generation? spotlights the humanitarians, scientists, artists, academics and First Nations and Indigenous groups working around the world to ensure better outcomes for the years ahead.

Walkley-winning filmmaker Celeste Geer (left) was grappling with questions about the many crises facing the world – from climate change to the unequal distribution of wealth – when she was asked to make a documentary about how humanity can secure its future. “Humans are smart enough to have made it to the top of the food chain, yet we seem to be engineering our own demise,” says Geer, whose films include Then the Wind Changed, about the aftermath of the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires. “I was excited to explore some of the most critical issues facing the planet in this documentary.” Narrated by actor Laura Dern, The Endangered Generation? takes viewers on a journey across continents, from the frigid expanses of the Antarctic to the jungles of Panama. Along the way we meet artists and climate activists such as author George Monbiot, Guna woman and Indigenous leader Agar Tejada and academics like Dr Steven Chown, Professor of Biological Sciences at Monash University. “As a scientist working on environmental change in the Antarctic, the data is worrying. How can we convey the change and concern

The Endangered Generation? is available to watch on the Qantas Entertainment App now. theendangeredgeneration.com

clearly?” says Professor Chown. “When Celeste approached me about the film I saw the power of her approach immediately. I hope the audience comes away with the sense that the changes are dramatic, urgent action is required, but time remains to change our future.” Collaboration and connection between civil society and scientists are key to shifting the future. The intersection of issues surrounding environment, race and equality are revealed in the film by Associate Professor John Bradley, from Monash University, and Butchulla songman Fred Leone, who work to preserve First Nations languages and knowledge, and Dr Daniel Hikuroa, a New Zealand earth systems scientist who weaves his Māori knowledge of the landscape into his scientific practice. “I think people can feel that the scale of these problems is too big and they have no agency,” says Geer. “But those people we see in the film are at the forefront of these solutions and are from all walks of life. Action is the antidote to despair – it’s within all of us to do something while we still have time.”

OPPOSITES

Ivan Kmit

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Forestis retreat in the Dolomites, Italy

AT T R AC T Flexible work schedules, changing weather patterns and a desire to see the world without the crowds are a few of the reasons why off-season travel is on the rise. But off-peak travel takes on new purpose when it leads to a mutually beneficial relationship between locals, visitors and the environment. Story by Bek Day

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One insight from this year’s frenzied European summer tourist rush is that infrastructure in holiday hot spots can struggle under the weight of their own popularity. With the season frequently breaking its Gregorian confines due to ever-increasing heat waves (Sicily and Sardinia reached a blistering 47ºC in July), the cooler months (September to May) have taken on a tantalising new appeal. If the snow-dusted Dolomites are on your list, you can experience their vistas as early as October. Nowhere will it feel more dramatic than through the spruce-framed windows at Forestis (qantas.com/hotels/forestis), a new ecoluxe alpine resort that sits eye-to-eye with the Geislergruppe massif. Its zerowaste kitchen, CO2-neutral design and renewable energy supply earn the “eco” in Forestis’s title, while the spa – a sprawling, 2000-square-metre complex set over two floors – is responsible for the “luxe”. Co-owner Teresa Unterthiner says guests can witness the phenomenon of the “burning Dolomites”, where the angle of the autumn sun and the transforming foliage tinges the entire site in shades of flaming red. “There are so many activities that are exclusively available in the area at this time of the year,” she says. “The Törggelen is one of them, when many farms open their gates and welcome people to try freshly harvested food and wine.” While mornings promise an array of walking trails to fill your lungs with fresh air, an afternoon spent alternating between the resort’s outdoor Finnish sauna and glacier-fed cold-plunge tub will cure you of any real-world tensions. Three-and-a-half hours south, in Italy’s Lake District, many resorts shut up shop when summer ends. While this means fewer dining options, it ensures deals on private rentals, minimal traffic and, best of all, the sight of Lake Garda’s sapphire surface offset by glowing foliage.

Nick Dale

Northern Italy in autumn

Kenya and Tanzania in summer

Swahili Beach Resort, Diani Beach, Kenya

An African safari in summer won’t take in the spectacle of the Great Migration (that usually begins in July) but it will provide a very special alternative. By January, when waves of pregnant wildebeest have funnelled out of the Masai Mara in Kenya and down into Tanzania’s southern Serengeti, mothers start bringing their young into the world. By February, there are about 8000 wildebeest born each day; by March, the zebras join the party. Majestic as the sight of one half of the circle of life may be, the other side is on display as well, with lions, cheetahs, leopards and hyenas taking full advantage, all but guaranteeing predator-on-prey action. Fewer safari vehicles clustered in one place not only means there are better opportunities for close animal encounters but also allows you to witness the most authentic expressions of wildlife behaviour. Rutundu log cabins (rutundu. com), set on the northern slopes of Mount Kenya, offer rugged seclusion amid the clean mountain air (and a guest book featuring a comment from then Catherine Middleton, written just after Prince William proposed to her here). For travellers who prefer the sea and sand with their African sun, Swahili Beach Resort (swahilibeach. com) sits on Diani Beach in southern Kenya. Considered to be one of the most pristine stretches of sand in the world, its reefs are usurped only by our own Great Barrier Reef. Visit in early March and as a reward for enduring afternoon showers that herald the beginning of the rainy season, you’ll have unfettered access to crystalline waters and the chance to spot visiting whale sharks, turtles and humpbacks.

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Iceland’s Golden Circle in spring

“There is an openness there, a subtlety and ephemerality in the light and the way it changes throughout the day,” author Hannah Kent once said of the country in which she set her debut novel, Burial Rites. “There’s such an atmosphere in Iceland. It completely captures your imagination.” With opportunities to see the Northern Lights often lingering well into the northern spring (between March and May), planning your trip for the stilldefrosting shoulder season will reward you with a front-row seat to all that atmosphere, minus the crowds.

Take Mount Esja. The volcanic range that stands sentinel over the Reykjavik skyline is covered in snow and ice for much of the year. And during the summer, the ice is replaced by hikers. Picking a path to the summit in spring – when trails are less busy – leaves the peak’s wild beauty largely undisturbed. Bunk down in one of the 25 turfcovered huts of Torfús Retreat (torfhus. is), 90 minutes from Reykjavik in the heart of the country’s Golden Circle. The rocky theatrics of The Great Geysir, only 15 minutes from your door, are more easily accessed without the tourist throngs, while hiking, horse-riding and even midnight golf will fill the lengthening days. Then you can retreat to the calm of your cabin – with its own basalt hot tub – to watch a raging storm lash the green wilderness outside.

Presented by Irvine Wines

PICK OF THE BUNCH

Altitude Primitivo 2020 Youthful, juicy and full-flavoured, this ruby-red drop (also known as zinfandel) is a match for barbecued T-bone and lamb or a bitey cheddar. You’ll pick up pomegranate, strawberry and orange peel with a finish that’s silky soft.

Raising a glass With six vineyards producing some of the Barossa’s finest grapes, Irvine Wines’ signature style is an ode to terroir. South Australia’s Eden Valley is justifiably famous for riesling but when Irvine Wines was established in 1983, it first championed merlot.

To find out more, visit irvinewines.com.au

“The property is up higher and in a cooler area than the rest of the Barossa Valley,” says Lachlan Duncan, winemaker at Irvine Wines. “It adds elegance and finesse to our wines.” In 2014, vigneron Peter Miles acquired the Irvine property in partnership with the Wade family. Although merlot remains at the heart of the vineyard – with award-winning wines, such as the Grand Merlot, still the label’s flagship – Irvine Wines is intent on highlighting the region and making the finest possible expressions of cool-climate wines. This means riesling is back in the picture, alongside cabernet sauvignon, shiraz, chardonnay and pinot gris grown across Irvine Wines’ six vineyards in the Barossa and Eden Valley regions. “Aromatic styles, like our riesling, really showcase the minerality of our terroir,” says Duncan. The Miles family has a viticultural lineage that stretches back to 1867. “All the fruit used in Irvine Wines is estategrown,” says Duncan. “It makes my job easier because the Miles family know what they’re doing and I know that my one grape grower is going to bring me a great product to make great wine.”

Old Vine Shiraz 2019 Made with grapes from history-laden, low-yielding vines, this intense, full-bodied wine is an homage to the style and the Barossa terroir. Expect hints of plum brandy, cherry, tart plum and savoury dark chocolate on the palate.

Grand Merlot 2018 Irvine’s flagship wine is smooth and full-bodied. It’s rich with raspberry jam, fig and prune and has hints of cedar and spice, with a bouquet of plum and black cherry. In 2006 it was judged Best New World Red Wine at Germany’s Mundus Vini competition.

Chile after dark

The Atacama Desert is “probably the best place in the world to observe the distant universe”, says Professor Jonathan Bland-Hawthorn, director of The University of Sydney’s Institute for Astronomy. Stretched like a pink-and-orange canvas across the salt flats and lunar landscapes of northern Chile, the Atacama is splendid in the sunlight. At night, though, under a blanket of stars so distinct that the Milky Way looks like spilled glitter, it’s arguably one of the most spectacular places on the planet – particularly in July and August, when tourism in most of Chile is at a low ebb. “It hasn’t rained here for centuries,” says Bland-Hawthorn. “No rain means no clouds and no moisture, which means

the night sky is clear and the air is very stable so the stars don’t twinkle as much, which leads to sharper camera images.” The Atacama is home to half of the world’s land-based astronomy projects (including the US$1.3-billion Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array). The village of San Pedro de Atacama is 2400 metres above sea level and is the ideal base to explore the desert. On the edge of town, Nayara Alto Atacama (nayaraaltoatacama.com) is a high-altitude haven with adobe walls, where star-gazing dinners, excursions to the Valley of the Moon and the otherworldly El Tatio geysers can all be organised. Warm, unpretentious service ensures the kind of experience that stays with you long after you check out.

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IN THE

MOMENT Already one of the most picturesque places in New Zealand, Queenstown is now vying for the most innovative. Story by Kirsten Galliott

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It’s 2030 and you’ve just flown into Queenstown, the adventure capital of New Zealand. You travel to the centre of town via an electric gondola. The hotel you check into is a zero-waste property that runs on solar energy. And your transport while you’re here? An autonomous vehicle or, if you’re on the water, an electric hydro ferry. It sounds ridiculously futuristic but Mat Woods is betting his career on it. “It just comes down to how fast we can make it happen,” says the CEO of Destination Queenstown, who has announced that the Queenstown Lakes region, which also includes Wānaka, will be a carbon-zero visitor economy by 2030, the first tourism destination in the world to set such a lofty goal. “This is a brave, innovative industry and community. They want to do something good and they want to be a part of it.” With three million visitors a year – and just 50,000 locals – tourism is the “main game”, says Jo Finnigan, general manager of Hotel St Moritz (q a n t a s . c o m / h o t e l s/s t m o r it z queenstown). She points to Lake Wakatipu, shimmering before her. “This is what we’re protecting. We’re all passionate about our place.” Local tourism businesses are already trialling different initiatives. Ngāi Tahu Tourism (ngaitahutourism. co.nz), which is owned by the Māori people of Te Waipounamu (the South Island), has converted one of the petrolrun boats it uses on the Shotover Jet experience (above) to be fully electric. Sherwood (sherwoodqueenstown.nz) is a 1980s motor inn that has been repurposed as boutique accommodation, with recycled furnishings, 248 solar panels and an extensive kitchen garden. “Travel is meant to be transformative,” says Woods. “We travel to relax and get away from it all but at the same time, our minds are open to new things.”

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See the lake via e-bike

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Shay and Ksena Muddle launched their e-bike business, Ride to the Sky (ridetothesky.co.nz), with just four bikes on the cusp of the COVID pandemic. Now they have 25 bikes and offer three, fully guided tours: for beginners (Ride to the Lake); experts (Ride to the Sky); and justshow-me-the-wine cyclists (Ride to the Vines). The lake tour, their most popular, is three hours of cycling through farms and over bridges to speccy Lake Wakatipu, accompanied by Shay’s practical guidance and lyrical storytelling (“The Māoris describe the lake as the beating heart”). It’s a fun-filled immersion in the Queenstown landscape and the state-of-the-art bicycles are not only easy to get the hang of, they’re also the source of much gratitude every time a hill appears.

Zip through the treetops

Have you really experienced Queenstown if you don’t feel your heart thudding in your chest at least once? At Ziptrek Ecotours (ziptrek.co.nz), which bills itself as Queenstown’s first carbon-neutral tourism business, you’ll swing through the trees, fall backwards towards the ground and, if you’re up for it, hang upside down, all attached

to a (heavy-duty) cable in the forest on Bob’s Peak. Choose between two, four and six ziplines, knowing that the adrenaline will be offset by chats at each treetop platform about how Ziptrek is doing its bit, from creating its own energy using solar to trapping predators, such as stoats and possums, on the peak. “And if we have to cut a tree down for safety, we do replace it,” says Cait, one of the guides. “We’ve planted about 10,000 native trees since 2009.”

Fly down the slopes

There are many reasons why Queenstown is a ski-lover’s paradise. There’s the compact town centre, full of aprés-ski bars and inviting restaurants. There’s the lake-meetsmountain scenery, which will prompt you to talk in clichés. Jaw-dropping! Gobsmacking! Breathtaking! And then there’s the imposing peaks themselves. Queenstown has four ski fields on its doorstep – Coronet Peak (about a 25-minute drive), The Remarkables (40 minutes), Cardrona (50 minutes) and Treble Cone (95 minutes) – which each offer terrain for newbies through to powderhounds. And they’re doing their environmental bit. NZSki (nzski. com), which operates Coronet Peak, The Remarkables and, further north, Mt Hutt, has reduced its emissions by 50 per cent this year by using renewable energy, a hybrid groomer and targeted snowmaking. Staff at The Remarkables are also working with The Kea Conservation Trust to monitor the endangered parrot and create a safe haven for it on the mountain. “We’re so excited and

proud,” says NZSki CEO Paul Anderson. “We’ve had an amazing level of buy-in from staff, who are really motivated.”

Go wining and dining

Chris Scott, executive chef at the Sherwood, has a motto that he and his team live by. “If we can’t grow it or forage for it, we buy it locally.” So while the golden beets and yellow turnips are from the hotel’s large organic garden, the salmon is out of Big Glory Bay (off Stewart Island) and the lamb is Lumina from the Great Canterbury Plains. Expect to eat everything from persimmon with goat’s curd, hotel honey and almond to Blackfoot paua bologna with casarecce and native spinach. And know when you’re enjoying it all with a glass of New Zealand’s finest, you’re supporting a bar that bottles more than 60 per cent of the wine in-house and a kitchen that composts 100 per cent of its organic waste. Another restaurant that scores high on popularity and sustainability is Blue Kanu (bluekanu.co.nz). This Pacifica-meets-Asian spot is working with a local fisherman, Dwane Herbert, who has the only licence in New Zealand to spear marari (butterfish). “He goes out with a spear gun off Stewart Island and catches them for us,” says Grant Hattaway, who runs Blue Kanu. “People want to know where their fish comes from and this is as fresh as it gets. It doesn’t sit on a net or a slurry for several days.” The marari is steamed and served with coconut gel and lemongrass broth. “We don’t muck around with it much. It’s such a beautiful fish.”

Dan Childs. Patrick Fallon. Miles Holden

Five experiences to put on your itinerary

Presented by RealNZ

Experience the untapped nature of Pioipiotahi Milford Sound’s ice-capped mountains and thundering cascades on New Zealand’s South Island. Choose how you cruise through these remote waters with RealNZ.

For the social traveller

Brace yourself for a daytrip of epic scenery and wildlife habitats on RealNZ’s brightly styled vessel Milford Haven. The boat’s 360-degree rooftop beer garden is just the place to take in forested cliffs while keeping an eye out for bottlenose dolphins and Fiordland crested penguins. Head to the onboard café and bar, where you’ll find a seafood Fiord Board offering Pāua salami, smoked salmon, marinated mussels, saffron hummus, seaweed butter and more. There’s also barista-made coffee, stylish lounge seating and all the ambience of your favourite brunch spot – with better views.

For the slow traveller

Set course for a leisurely overnight experience of Milford Sound aboard the traditional wide-beam sailing vessel Milford Mariner. Drop your bag in your private ensuite or bunk-style

For more information, visit realnz.com

accommodation before making your way to one of the ship’s two viewing decks to absorb the raw wilderness of the fiord, or hop in a kayak and paddle to the shoreline, watching for lounging seals. Back onboard, position yourself for the perfect snapshot as the sun slips behind the mountains. A chef will prepare your three-course dinner and a hot or continental breakfast for you to wake up to.

For the luxury traveller

Match the sights with culinary delights on RealNZ’s MV Sinbad. You’ll be welcomed aboard the daytrip adventure with a glass of bubbles as you take your allocated seat and settle in for the ultimate nature show. An expert is with you for the voyage and will guide you through the flora and fauna of the fiord, while you enjoy a selection of canapés from a locally sourced and curated menu.

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Stay at an eco lodge

Let’s start with the toilets. Yes, they’re compostable. But no, they don’t smell. “People are shocked when they come and find that they’re actually quite sophisticated,” says Debbi Brainerd with a laugh. “There’s a solar fan so when you sit on one, the fan goes on and the air gets sucked down. You never smell a thing.” Debbi and her husband, American tech entrepreneur Paul Brainerd, created The Headwaters Eco Lodge in Glenorchy (theheadwaters ecolodge.com), 46 kilometres north of Queenstown, in 2018. Although it started as a simple idea – a general store that led to a campground that morphed into a “couple of cabins” – Headwaters now has 14 luxe chalets. It’s the first accommodation in the world to be recognised by the Living Building Challenge, a rigorous

assessment that rewards regenerative, self-sufficient buildings that have a positive impact on the natural environment and the people who interact with them. It’s the impact that most interests the Brainerds, who are renowned philanthropists and funnel some of their donations into a local community trust that has funded everything from a travelling nurse to a dark-sky working group. “We’re always trying to support initiatives that are driven by the community,” says Debbi, adding that future profits from the lodge will also go to the trust. On the environmental front, all of Headwaters’ power needs are supplied by the energy created onsite, thanks to its enormous solar farm and smart building design. Used water is turned into grey for irrigation. And the buildings themselves have been constructed with upcycled materials, including remnants from the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. “We also had local farmers call us and ask if

we’d be interested in recycled wood or corrugated metal,” says Debbi. “They were taking down woolsheds. When you’re in the lodge, you see that all the walls are different colours and nothing matches. That’s just because it’s from three different woolsheds.” It works. For all its green credentials, Headwaters feels like an indulgent escape. It helps that the in-house restaurant is excellent, offering a seasonal set menu that may include a goat’s cheese sorbet with dates and a vanilla crumb or a wild venison tataki with artichoke crisps. It also doesn’t hurt that the property is in Lord of the Rings territory. The sublime beauty of Lake Wakatipu and Dart River competes with the jagged, towering peaks and glaciers of Mount Aspiring National Park. There’s nothing middle about this earthly vision, which is why the Brainerds have conjured up their next trick – a set of bespoke experiences appropriately called Adventures in Paradise. Sign us up!

After years spent looking to its big-city southern sisters, the Queensland capital is coming into its own. Story by Bryce Corbett

FRONTRUNNER

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Supernormal

“Brisbane is one of the most exciting places to be right now,” says Melbourne restaurateur Andrew McConnell, whose celebrated eatery Supernormal (supernormal. net.au) will open its first outpost in Brisbane later this summer. “The dining scene is so sophisticated but more than that, there’s an energy to the place. A really enthusiastic and receptive clientele primed

to be taken on this gastronomic journey that the city is on.” Surely only the brave would bring lobster rolls to a region where the Moreton Bay bug reigns supreme but McConnell is confident Queenslanders will take to his iconic crustacean creation with the same gusto as southern diners, at the new primo CBD riverside location.

Night Feast

With a pedigree that includes turning Tassie’s Dark Mofo into a major tourist attraction and a long history with the Adelaide Festival, Kate Gould has been lured back to her hometown to transform the Brisbane Powerhouse (brisbanepowerhouse.org) into a contemporary art space of national significance. And she’s

David Chatfield

The Meccano-set cranes poking up through the Brisbane CBD skyline mean more than heavy construction; they signify a city that’s finally embracing the belief that the only way is up. Demographically speaking, the growth spurt was driven by the great northern migration – in 2022, a whopping 34,545 people moved to Queensland from interstate, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in a pandemic-inspired population shift. Then, of course, there’s the five-ring circus that’s coming to town. Barely a conversation in Brisvegas takes place without the 2032 Olympics coming up. There are underground metro lines being dug, inventive inner-city and riverside developments powering ahead and a veritable flourishing of the already vibrant hospitality scene. Every new restaurant and hotel now appears expressly designed to take advantage of the capital’s seemingly endless summer. It’s a whole-of-city effort to look towards the light, pull the dining chairs out onto the footpath and savour life under subtropical skies. “You can feel the wave of excitement and people being proud of the city they live in, no longer apologising for the fact that it’s not Sydney or Melbourne,” says Adam Flaskas, whose inspired revival of the Howard Smith Wharves precinct (howardsmithwharves.com) has placed him firmly at the epicentre of this renaissance (dare we call it a Bris-aissance?). “Brisbane has always had the natural assets of climate, lifestyle and location on the river but it feels like it’s only recently that the city has leaned into them.” So much so that Flaskas hints he’ll soon be announcing another major hospitality venture in his hometown. Just one more on the growing list of reasons Brisbane is hotter than ever. Here’s what to look out for…

Short Grain

Joining the list of renowned southern chefs beating a path to Brisbane is Martin Boetz of famed Thai restaurant Longrain, which ruled the innerSydney dining scene until closing its doors in 2019. It’s something of a homecoming for the Brissie-raised restaurateur, whose new Fortitude Valley eatery and fresh produce store, Short Grain (left, top; shortgrain.com.au) will once again show off his skill with spice.

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betting the fastest way to any art-lover’s heart is through their stomach. Night Feast, a bi-annual showcase of Brissie’s best restaurants, is set to run for four weeks in March and September, featuring dishes from Donna Chang, E’cco Bistro, Gerard’s, Southside and more.

Vertigo

Another Powerhouse denizen and billed as being “Australia’s first vertical

restaurant”, Vertigo (vertigobrisbane.com.au) offers diners a chance to whack on a harness and eat on a platform suspended four stories above the ground. It’s a heady mix of what Gould describes as “adventure tourism meets experiential dining meets adrenaline rush”. Not least because once you finish the skyhigh three-course meal from the Powerhouse’s Italian fine-diner, Bar Alto, you’re invited to wrap up

With the Olympics and Paralympics only nine years away, there are infrastructure projects in progress across the city and new bridges popping up all along the Brisbane River (aka The Brown Snake). One such structure is the Kangaroo Point Green Bridge, a pedestrian thoroughfare connecting the dramatic cliffs of its namesake to the Botanic Gardens. That same bridge will be home to a new steak and seafood spot from Brisbane restaurateur Michael Tassis, from the end of next year. When it opens, Bombora – an Aboriginal word for the place where waves crash over a submerged reef – will seat 120 and lean into the Tassis family’s long history with local fishermen to source what Tassis says will be “only the freshest seafood”. It joins Fosh (foshportside.com.au), the fourth seafood offering from the Tassis Group, at Hamilton’s food nucleus, Portside Wharf, which serves everything from freshly shucked oysters

to your favourite childhood dinner of fish fingers (left, below). At the Botanic Gardens end of the bridge, another Tassis-managed venue, Mulga Bill’s, will be a casual café serving breakfast, woodfired pizzas and takeaway hampers that are ready-made for a picnic in the park. “We’re attracting some real stars to Brisbane. It’s like the secret is out now,” says Tassis of the influx of world-class competition to the city’s dining scene. “It lifts the standard for everyone.”

Queen’s Wharf

No account of the burgeoning Brissie hospo scene would be complete without a nod to the biggest of them all: the Queen’s Wharf precinct. Anchored by The Star Casino and the soon-to-open The Star Grand (star.com.au) – a 340-room five-star luxury hotel – the entertainment complex is like a behemoth in the city. It’s hard to overstate the impact this single development is going to have on Brisbane and its metamorphosis from sleepy country capital to cosmopolitan city. Suffice to say $3.6 billion buys you a lot in terms of amenities: from the biggest local event and ballroom facility to a leisure district the size of 12 football fields with cafés, celebrity chef-helmed eateries and sunset cocktail bars. The jewels in the Queen’s Wharf accommodation crown will be the RitzCarlton, Rosewood and Dorsett hotels. Together with The Star Grand, they’ll add another 1027 high-end hotel rooms and suites to the booming accommodation landscape, which already includes The Westin, Emporium, W Brisbane, Crystalbrook and The Calile.

David Chatfield. Ellen Moran

the entire experience by repelling 17 metres down the building (or you could just take the stairs).

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CABIN

FEVER Off-grid, serene and luxurious, tiny houses are the future of regional travel. Story by Alexis Buxton-Collins

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Hidden Cabins’ Florence, south of Perth

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Michael Lamprell (top); CABN X Seppeltsfield in the Barossa Valley (above)

Michael Lamprell was at a career crossroads when he enrolled in a Harvard Business School leadership course in 2016. The founder and (at the time) CEO of Emporium Sales & Marketing, who had spent 25 years helping build brands as diverse as Crocs, Caterpillar and Fox Racing, had nothing left to give. “I was burnt out,” he admits. “I just wasn’t happy.” Instead of work, Lamprell found himself dreaming of idyllic childhood camping trips beside the slow-flowing Murray River in South Australia. So when he discovered Getaway, a tiny house startup with a collection of self-contained cabins hidden in the woods outside Boston, “it resonated with me instantly and I knew that’s what I wanted to do”. Lamprell took a leap of faith and launched CABN (cabn. life) in 2017 with the goal of creating “sustainable off-grid accommodation experiences in regional Australia”. Almost immediately, he discovered a growing community of people just like him. “Whether it’s glamping or high-end luxury travel, there’s an emerging trend of people looking to experience nature without having to pack a tent or a swag. These are people who are conscious of travelling lightly and responsibly.” Accessibility is also a prime consideration so CABN properties are regional but not remote. And despite most of them being within two hours of Adelaide, the locations are strikingly varied. From misty pine forests and native bushland in the Adelaide Hills to lush biodynamic vineyards in McLaren Vale and a spectacular promontory on the western tip of Kangaroo Island, the advantage of the off-grid cabins is that they can be placed virtually anywhere. That flexibility (along with a low barrier to entry compared with traditional hotels) has fuelled an influx of tiny houses around the country. But rather than being threatened by the competition, Lamprell is thrilled. “It validates the sector as a whole and shows that this is a future form of travel that a broad base of people are embracing.” An investment of $7.85 million from Intrepid Travel has helped CABN triple its number of properties in the past 12 months. By the end of this year it will have 50 in total, with a plan to increase that number tenfold and expand to every state and territory, plus New Zealand, by the end of 2026. The rapid expansion is being managed thoughtfully. You won’t find any single-use plastic amenities in any of the cabins, which use sustainably sourced Biowood, solar energy and rainwater harvesting systems. CABN’s newest property is located just minutes from the avenue of Canary Island palms that welcomes guests to the western Barossa Valley. Five freestanding glamping tents (dubbed CANVS) and four premium CABN X buildings provide convenient access to the region’s many wineries. But Lamprell still wants guests to feel immersed in nature and is rewilding the property by planting 1600 native trees. “I started CABN because nature is my best therapy and I want other people to have that same experience. It’s a chance to wake up in nature, breathe in that fresh morning air and feel your stress levels lower instantaneously.”

Other tiny houses to try

Unyoked

VICTORIA

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In a world where the office is only ever an email away, sometimes the greatest luxury is disconnecting completely. There’s no wi-fi at Anant (unyoked.co), a fairytale cabin about three hours south-east of Melbourne, but there are plenty of other ways to connect. Unyoked properties always begin with a walk from car to cabin that creates a physical barrier between you and the outside world. A 400-metre stroll through towering gums on the traditional lands of the Gunaikurnai people means you’ve already had a chance to switch off by the time you hear the bubbling creek flowing by. The analogue approach extends to a firepit with outdoor cooking equipment, including an old-school jaffle maker, but there’s also a kitchen inside if you prefer. With no devices to distract you, you’ll be able to admire intricate spider webs decked with beads of morning dew and spend the afternoons lying by the creek and finding shapes in the clouds.

Tiny Away

NEW SOUTH WALES

Tiny Away’s flat-pack cabins are designed so they can be shipped anywhere and assembled by hand within a few hours. There are now almost 200 across the country and the

hosting model has led to many being located on working farms. If you’re dreaming of an escape from the city but don’t fancy being left alone in the wilderness, Kawal (tinyaway.com), on the outskirts of Wollombi in the Hunter Valley, is a good compromise. Situated on an escarpment covered in dense native bush, it’s still within shouting distance of the property’s main residence and the Hunter wineries are close enough for a quick tasting or long lunch. And when you come back to the cabin, you’ll be able to enjoy the simplicity that is the essence of the tiny house experience.

Into The Wild Escapes QUEENSLAND

The concept of human rewilding – the philosophy of returning natural spaces to a state where they can regenerate and take care of themselves, informs all Into The Wild properties. Guests are encouraged to apply similar principles to their own lives. Spending as little as 30 minutes in nature has the power to reduce cortisol levels significantly; linger a bit longer and you’ll feel your blood pressure going down by the minute. Tucked into the subtropical rainforest of the Sunshine Coast hinterland, Ikigai (intothewildescapes. com) lets you swap the sounds of traffic for a chorus of birdsong and breezes rippling through

Unyoked’s Anant, south-east of Melbourne

the bush. The two double beds in separate loft areas expand the tiny house concept and make it suitable for a family getaway. And to start the day, you can choose a refreshing dip in the plunge pool out the front or follow a timber walkway to a claw-foot bathtub that’s hidden among the trees.

Hidden Cabins WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Proving that good things do come in small packages, Florence (hiddencabins.com.au), an 18-square-metre peaked roof structure, frames the bush around it with windows on four

sides. Its secluded location, on Pinjarup Country 90 minutes south of Perth, means the only neighbours you’re likely to encounter are emus wandering among the flowering marri and tuart trees at dusk. And for a change of scenery, it’s only a short drive to a dazzling white-sand beach. The impeccably designed interior is furnished with ecoconscious Australian brands that match the owners’ philosophy – think handcrafted Winterwares ceramics and flax linens from Bedtonic on a king-size Eva mattress. Plus, solar power, rainwater tanks and a woodpile that feeds a small burner named Meg mean the property is entirely off-grid.

Bold colours encapsulated in a trilog y of timeless jewels.

Presented by

ASK A LOCAL

Singapore Co-founder of Singapore ice-cream café Creamier and dessert destination Sunday Folks, Wan Chin Khoh answers your burning questions – and shares the neighbourhood restaurant with the best Singapore crab. We’re heading to Singapore – where should we base ourselves?

Lavender Street is an excellent place to explore. It used to be full of funeral parlours and hardware stores but it’s become a hip neighbourhood with cafés and artisanal pastry shops. Tiong Bahru is another really cool area full of heritage houses that are now bookstores, cafés and restaurants.

What’s the best thing to do with kids? Where will we find the best chilli crab?

I live in the Toa Payoh estate, where Mellben (211 Lor 8 Toa Payoh, Block 211) is famous for chilli crab. It’s no-frills, you wear a bib and everyone gets their hands dirty. They serve lovely golden buns to eat with the crab.

Singapore is known for its cocktail bars. Where do you recommend?

Try Jigger & Pony (jiggerandpony.com) at the Amara Hotel – it’s number two on Asia’s 50 Best Bars this year. It’s run by a husband-and-wife team and they’re always creating new drinks.

If we’re only in Singapore for a stopover, where should we go?

Head to Chinatown Complex hawker market to fill up on everything from traditional porridge to bean curd desserts. You can sample lots of different foods at a reasonable price.

Pay like a local with Qantas Travel Money Before taking off, load Singapore dollars directly onto your Qantas Travel Money card. You can then shop, dine and pay like a local, plus earn 1.5 Qantas Points for every AU$1 spent in foreign currency.1

And if you’re in the mood for ice-cream, pop in to Creamier, of course! You can taste a lot of local flavours in ice-cream form, like Sea Salt Gula Melaka – it’s the Asian salted caramel made with fragrant palm sugar – or Pulut Hitam, inspired by a traditional sweet black glutinous rice porridge with a drizzle of coconut cream.

Photography: Creamier Handcrafted Ice Cream and Coffee

Singapore Zoo is a must – even without kids. There’s a new park called Bird Paradise and a Night Safari where nocturnal animals come out to play.

Pay like a local with

Qantas Travel Money The only prepaid travel card that earns you 1.5 Qantas Points for every AU$1 of eligible spend in foreign currency.1 Buy 10 foreign currencies or load AUD to make purchases in over 100 foreign currencies.

Keep your money safe worldwide with access to 24/7 Mastercard® Global Support.2

Save on fees with no international transaction or currency conversion fees.3

Qantas Travel Money You must be a Qantas Frequent Flyer member to earn Qantas Points. A joining fee may apply. Membership and points are subject to the Qantas Frequent Flyer program. See terms and conditions. Qantas Travel Money is a prepaid Mastercard payment facility available to Australian resident Qantas Frequent Flyer members aged 16+. Issuer: Heritage and People’s Choice Limited trading as Heritage Bank, ABN 11 087 651 125 (AFSL 244310). Consider the PDS and TMD available at qantastravelmoney.com. Mastercard and the circles design are registered trademarks of Mastercard International Incorporated. Conditions apply. 1 Membership and the earning and redemption of Qantas Points are subject to the Qantas Frequent Flyer Terms and Conditions. Eligible purchases exclude, but is not limited to, money orders, traveller’s cheques, gambling chips or purchasing foreign currencies in cash. See qantasmoney.com/travel-money-card or contact Mastercard Qantas Travel Money Global Support for full details. Qantas Points are earned as follows: 1.5 Qantas Points per AU$1 equivalent spent in foreign currency and 1 Qantas Point per AU$4 spent in Australian dollars. Qantas Points are calculated using the Qantas Travel Money Daily Rate as defined in the PDS, and may vary daily. 2 Terms and conditions apply. Visit mastercard.com.au for details. 3 A foreign exchange rate will not apply on purchases when you load your Qantas Travel Money with one of 10 foreign currencies supported by the product and transact in that same currency. A foreign exchange rate will apply to foreign exchange transactions in accordance with clause 7 of Part B of the Qantas Travel Money PDS which can be found at qantasmoney.com/travel-money-card. Some merchants and ATM operators may charge their own fees and set their own limits.

CHANGING

ROOMS

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The latest technology, fresh ideas and evolving guest expectations are shaping the new breed of hotels.

Story by Noelle Faulkner Illustrations by Anna Manolatos

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A hotel used to be a place simply to rest your head after a long day sightseeing. But now they offer a reason to travel – the best hotels are a destination in themselves – which means our expectations of what they offer continue to grow, especially in a post-COVID landscape. It’s no longer about thread counts and quality room service (they’re a given). We’re looking for hotels that are less homogenous and more representative of the neighbourhoods around them. And we want our experiences to be customised. As futurist Michelle Newton, head of cultural forecasting at Fiftyfive5, points out, a new value paradigm is underway. “A sociocultural reorganisation is taking place, as evidenced by ‘the greats’: the great resignation, the great frustration, the great reset. We expect wellbeing, particularly mental wellbeing, to be incorporated in our travel. People want to feel intense emotion.” All of this is pushing the travel and hospitality industries forward, making hotels more innovative, exciting and appealing places to stay, now and in the future.

Robo porters

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Ever since Silicon Valley’s Aloft hotel and Nagasaki’s famous Henn-na Hotel pioneered the first robotic workforce in 2014 and 2015, respectively, things have been surprisingly quiet on the hospitality robotics front. That was until labour shortages and new technologies led to fresh opportunities. Cute, friendly and fast (and requiring no gratuities), robots are being enlisted to perform a range of guest-facing duties, from delivering robo-warmed towels to in-room midnight snack services. The AC Hotel by Marriott in Escazú, Costa Rica, is one of many stays across Central and South America that has new robotic hires. Its mechanical trio – KettyBot, CC1 and Flashbot – each have specific roles that take the load off the human guest services team. KettyBot has the ability to recognise faces, perform waiting duties, function as a host and guide a multilingual tour. CC1 roams the hotel, cleaning up to 1000 square metres per hour. Flashbot’s cargo hold and UV sterilisation system can make swift trips to guests’ rooms. Assistive robots are already helping to give many people greater independence in other areas of their lives. In a hotel setting this could mean acting as in-room mobility aids, translating foreign languages, checking an area for obstacles and monitoring environmental

are sleep therapists on call, for guests to consult in the same way they might a personal trainer. For its one-bedroom Sleep Suites, Park Hyatt New York has made use of advanced AI and multi-sensory smart-bed technology. Bryte Balance beds play soothing audio and actively control temperature, relieve pressure points and shift their contours throughout the night to lull guests away from the beeping horns and flashing lights of the city below.

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Spirited away

noise, temperature and light for guests with sensory needs. They can also offer real-time captioning services, providing information to vision-impaired guests about their room, and even reduce the loneliness some people feel during travel. Best of all, they won’t judge if they catch you in a bathrobe.

Sleep tourism

According to a recent global study by Philips, only 53 per cent of people feel that they have a good understanding of what factors hinder a good

night’s sleep. Most of us are aware of the negative impacts that inadequate shut-eye has on our mood, cognitive and physical health and lifespan. For this reason many hotels are now offering “sleep tourism” programs – a wellness-centred movement that assists guests to achieve highquality REM and improve their sleep hygiene. At The Cadogan in London, hypnotherapists and sleep expert-guided meditations are now part of the in-room experience, alongside weighted blankets, aromatherapy and bedtime tea. At Six Senses properties there

“We are one of the most burnt-out and anxious cultures. The antidote to that is inner discovery and experience in travel.”

“We’ve never been more unhealthy and more obsessed with quantifying it,” says Fiftyfive5’s Michelle Newton. She worked on a recent Australia Pulse survey, which found that 25 per cent of respondents are not content with their wellbeing. “We are one of the most burnt-out and anxious cultures. The antidote to that is a combination of inner discovery and experience in travel.” Tapping into alternative therapies, traditional medicines and groundbreaking technology, wellness in hotel spas is undergoing a complete overhaul. Considering the World Health Organisation estimates that about 3.8 per cent of the global population experience depression, we can soon expect more resorts and

Presented by Veolia

The race to end waste Creating a circular economy – where products and materials are reused or regenerated – is central to Australia’s decarbonisation efforts. Environmental engineer and circular economy academic, Veolia ANZ CEO Dr Richard Kirkman (above), explains how the waste management company is prioritising people and infrastructure to fast-track change. Why is developing a circular economy so important?

“Waste is a valuable resource and the country needs to realise its value. When we recycle, we create less carbon than we would producing new materials. For example, every time Veolia recycles a tonne of plastic, we save a tonne of carbon because we use less water and energy to create it.”

To find out more, visit veolia.com/anz

How is Veolia helping to recycle waste back into our economy?

“We’ve been operating our EarthPower facility at Camellia in Western Sydney for a decade. We take in food waste from supermarkets and restaurants and turn it into non-fossil-fuel biogas to generate electricity and produce fertiliser pellets, which go back to food-growing land. It’s a circular economy where we extract energy on its way through. We’re investing $20 million to revamp the facility and develop more like it around Australia as we have an increasing number of local councils coming on board.”

How is Australia doing on the road to decarbonisation?

“We’re a bit behind but the benefit is that we can see what other leading

nations have done – particularly in Europe – and pick the best technology and deploy it. There’s a huge number of methods and technologies available to help us create a circular economy and decarbonise Australia.”

What impact will the circular economy have on jobs?

“Based on research in Europe that we remodelled for Australia, we believe the transformation to a circular economy will create about 25,000 jobs. I’ll be recruiting 1000 people with a wide range of skill sets over the next four years and investing millions of dollars across the whole waste supply chain. I believe you need three things to make change: technology, people and the business case to do it. In Australia, we’ve got all three.”

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hotels to offer mental wellness services. House of Rituals in Amsterdam is the first hotel in the world to create a “mind oasis” in its spa, where treatments blend ancient techniques, such as breathwork, sound therapy and meditation – with

technology that includes brainwave therapies and devices that stimulate the effect of zero gravity. Speaking to the interest in longevity, biohacking, preventative medicine and the quantifiable self, Adler Spa Resort in the Dolomites, Italy, features genetic and

“The more personalised our online lives become, the more we expect that to carry over to all touch points in our lives.”

DNA testing for its guests. The tests examine a broad range of health metrics, such as metabolic, bone health, cardiovascular, inflammatory, ageing and weight control. Guests can then work with doctors and other experts to design a treatment plan.

“Australians already recognise the growing prevalence of artificial intelligence,” says Newton. “Consumers don’t live in a vacuum so the more personalised our online lives become, the more we expect that to carry over to all touch points in our lives.” It’s still early days but the coming era of customer-facing AI in hotels will likely combine the classic loyalty program with an understanding and anticipation of each guest’s needs – such as an AI-enabled Les Clefs d’Or concierge. It might be an “AI booking”, which has prior knowledge of your favourite art, musical tastes, theatre productions and cuisines, as well as your itinerary, and can suggest personalised and timely activities during your stay. Early versions are already emerging. The Marriott Bonvoy app now has a feature where guests can chat with a concierge about their preferences and make specific service requests ahead of their arrival. “AI is an excellent enabler for hyper-personalisation and always-on service models,” says Newton, pointing out that this innovation’s success hinges on data privacy, comfort levels and customer experience. “Democratising the concierge will also enable accessibility for people previously unable to afford the services, so AI can be seen as an equaliser.”

Presented by

Protecting the world’s largest coral reef is a challenge of epic proportions. The Great Barrier Reef Foundation collaborates with governments, communities, scientists and philanthropists all over the globe to raise funds and awareness for its vital work.

Let your business fly “To deliver conservation on this scale, we need to build the biggest team in the world. Qantas Business Rewards savings help us take our message around the globe.” Anna Marsden, Great Barrier Reef Foundation

“The Great Barrier Reef is a global wonder – it’s the Amazon rainforest of the oceans and the jewel of ocean conservation,” says Anna Marsden, managing director of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation since 2016. “There is huge interest from around the world about what is being done to protect it. Connecting with this global community is increasingly important, to make sure that the

Reef’s still there for our greatgrandkids and beyond.” The foundation’s team travels both internationally and domestically – predominantly around Queensland, where their ambitions include planting 10 million heat-tolerant corals a year. In addition to government funding, the organisation has raised more than $310 million for conservation projects since 2018 –

a mammoth task that involves constant nurturing of relationships with donors, businesses and other conservation agencies. “It’s vital to share knowledge widely and swiftly,” says Marsden. “As great as virtual meetings are these days, building these partnerships requires the power of face-to-face. We have to unlock and scale solutions on our watch, right now.”

* A business must be a Qantas Business Rewards Member to earn Qantas Points for the business. A one-off joining fee of $89.50 applies, is inclusive of any applicable GST and may be varied by Qantas from time to time, without notice, at its absolute discretion. Membership and Qantas Points for business are offered under the Qantas Business Rewards Terms and Conditions and earning thresholds apply. For full T&Cs, see qantas.com/businesspassport

Are you turning your business travel into points and savings? With Qantas Business Rewards, save on travel costs by accessing flight savings and turn your business’s points balance into your next flight.

VA N C O U V

BRISBANE > VANCOUVER

“Building personal connections lets us share knowledge” “The 5th International Marine Protected Areas Congress in Canada this year brought together First Nations leaders from around the world. People from our conservation projects and our Traditional Owners Partnerships team represented the foundation. For many, the congress was the first time they’d met and it would never have had the kind of openness and collaborative spirit if it had been virtual. You need that human connection and one-onone meetings to form friendships then foster those relationships. We don’t hop on planes every day but when we do, we make sure travel helps deliver impact. Booking through our Qantas Business Rewards Account is seamless and we know we’re getting good value for the foundation; it allows us to access flight savings and our organisation’s Qantas Points all in one place. It’s important for us to work efficiently and economically, to maximise every dollar from donors.” N YC

BRISBANE > NEW YORK CITY

“This trip was about unlocking new support from the United States” “Our sister charity, the Great Barrier Reef Foundation USA, was established about four years ago. Prior to that, we

were receiving donations from the US every week via our website. Last year, GBRF USA raised US$5 million and we apply to them for grants. The US has always been a really important friend to the Reef and our respective marine science communities are strong collaborators across a lot of projects. I recently had two weeks of meetings with American philanthropists and the corporate sector and took part in Climate Week NYC. I flew home on Qantas from JFK via Auckland, which was a more efficient way to get home – plus we earned points for the foundation, which will be used to fund future trips.”

BRISBANE > PROSERPINE, ROCKHAMPTON, CAIRNS

C A IR N S

“The Reef is our frontline – getting there efficiently is essential” “We support an amazing network of tourism operators in the Whitsundays, working together during the annual spawning season in November. Since 2016, the Boats4Corals restoration project sees boats that would normally take tourists out to the Reef instead go out to collect coral spawn, which is incubated and then planted on target reefs. It’s known as Coral IVF. This whole region is a regular destination for our team to deliver and check on projects and, of course, we have a lot of supporters there. We fly from our headquarters in Brisbane to Prosperpine, Rockhampton and Cairns. We rely on Qantas Points redemptions and the Qantas network across Queensland to make our regional travel efficient and convenient.”

Save on travel costs with member deals Qantas Business Rewards members save up to 10% on the base fare of flights to more than 1,300 destinations across the domestic and international network with Qantas, oneworld and partner airlines.*

Unlock more travel for your business The more points your business earns from flying, the more you progress through the three membership levels, unlocking bigger rewards and greater savings.*

Reinvest the points into your business travels Redeem your business’s points on flights, seat upgrades and additional baggage directly from your Qantas Business Rewards Account.*

Discover how other members unlock more for their business at qantas.com/businesspassport

High-tech table settings, ingenious storytelling and multi-sensory tasting menus. Dubai is leading the world in immersive dining experiences. Story by Jenny Hewett

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S H O W STOPPERS

The Seven Paintings dinner at the Hyde Hotel Dubai (this page and opposite)

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The glass plate of ceviche under my nose looks like it’s moving, rippling along the table slowly like a jellyfish atop a current of swirling graphics and light. The effect is all part of the experience. I’m at concept restaurant Krasota Dubai and digital art projected onto the table makes it appear as if the first course is in motion. The multi-sensory dining trend is taking off in the bold-thinking emirate, where the appetite for entertainment and luxury is almost a national sport. As well as a steady flow of visitors, Dubai has an affluent population with high disposable income and attracts talent from all over the world. Venues here are offering a new dimension in eating out, using elaborate sets, technology and AI to reinvent the concept of “dinner and a show”. Here’s where to taste the future in the jewel of the Middle East.

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Seven Paintings

HYDE HOTEL DUBAI

Those taught not to play with their food will need to reconfigure their manners at the mind-bending, seven-course interactive experience Seven Paintings (sevenpaintings.com). In the ballroom of the Hyde Hotel in Dubai’s Business Bay, you’re invited to paint edible colours onto chocolate to recreate your own Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh and add mock “tears” from a dropper bottle to the Picasso dish of chilled poached prawn, mango and passionfruit. This art-focused meal was conceived by Nadine Beshir, CEO and show producer of Dubai-based Dinner Time Story, and chef Omar Sartwari, who regularly pops up as a projected miniature of himself on the table. The venture, which employs multimedia art, technology and projectors, is Beshir’s fourth. She recently launched a Message in a Bottle experience from the JA Hotel & Resort in Jebel Ali, which takes place aboard the family-friendly boat, Sirene, and has a strong message about climate and sustainability. The dishes at Seven Paintings are tied back to artworks by Leonardo da

Sergey Melnikov

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Krasota Dubai

A course of the Escale menu at Ossiano restaurant

Vinci, Banksy, Picasso, Salvador Dali, Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol and Vincent van Gogh. For the Pollock dish, where guests are encouraged to create an artwork with salad dressing, “we wanted guests to not only understand the art but also to experience it from the artist’s point of view”, says Beshir. “Pollock was about translating movement with music into abstract art. The natural colours of foods like capiscum, beetroot and spinach represent paint and we give our guests the chance to use a paintbrush, listen to jazz and paint on the table.” For extra irreverence, the consommé that accompanies the beef short ribs arrives in a Coca-Cola bottle in a nod to the Andy Warhol era. There’s something underground and a little bit rebellious about this dinner and that’s part of its appeal.

Krasota Dubai

DOWNTOWN DUBAI

“I’ve always looked at a restaurant as a theatre,” says Vladimir Mukhin, head chef of Russian-born concept Krasota Dubai (krasota.art). Marrying food with visual art from co-owner Anton Nenashev’s digital art studio, the gastronomic theatre opened in April with a grand, interactive immersion that magically brings to life the works of eight renowned 19thand 20th-century Russian artists, including Marc Chagall. The restaurant seats just 20 guests on a large circular table in a round room that has the effect of a diorama and plays on every human sense. Mukhin uses texture and complex flavours, such as the tart prickly sea-buckthorn berry, to create sensory moments. The

soft crunch of young almonds in the crab with limoo amani (dried lime) animates the crystallised texture of Mikhail Vrubel’s painting technique. Thanks to 20 projectors (one for each diner), a suite of industrial cameras and optical trackers, dishes such as scallop, finger lime and sea asparagus sit under a whirl of moving digital graphics. Meanwhile, masterpieces, including Ukrainian-born Russian painter Ilya Repin’s All In the Details, are projected around the room. The Krasota team trained in AI for months to distinguish plates from other objects. “No matter where the guest moves their plate, the effect moves along with it,” says Mukhin. This is no amateur production. There are also costumes to help convey the narrative. Our waiter, Abdul, changes his outfit nine times, at one point

Maxime Casa

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ELEGANT HANDCRAFTED WINES FROM THE YARRA VALLEY

TAKE THE MEMORY WITH YOU...

Ossiano restaurant

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appearing at the table wearing a sculptural, iceberg-esque headpiece. The new show, Imaginary Future, which launched in October, explores eight scenarios of human development to come in the next 30 to 50 years, such as life underwater.

Ossiano

ATLANTIS THE PALM HOTEL

Chef Grégoire Berger’s “11-wave” experience begins with a slap, albeit of the edible variety. The emulsion-like amuse-bouche, presented in a clear, dissolving sachet and aptly named Slap of the Ocean, is eaten in the total darkness of the “plankton” room. “Don’t be scared,” says the hostess with a laugh as she swirls glowing liquid in a glass

orb while an automated recording explains the experience. The scene is being set. Next to Atlantis The Palm’s Lost Chambers Aquarium, Michelinstarred Ossiano (atlantis.com) is the closest you can get to dining in the sea without scuba gear. Berger’s latest menu, Escale, which translates to “stopover” in French, charts the 37-year-old chef’s seaside travels from childhood to now, taking in flavours and anecdotes from Brittany to Japan and Morocco, with bursts of olive wakame and yoghurt and mushroom with dashi. After the amuse-bouche, we’re led to the dining room for the 10 remaining seafood courses. A humpback whale and ethereal crimson-red Spanish fighting fish are giants among the 65,000 other sea creatures in the aquarium in front of us, which comes courtesy of

a cleverly placed large-scale digital animation at the back of the room that’s reflected onto the glass. At one point, the server decants a homemade mulled pinot noir and lights a candle to detect sediment. “I’ll be serving you this candle for your dinner tonight,” he says, snuffing out the flame and chopping the deceptive log of foie gras into four pieces to be spread with sour fruits on brioche. The surprises don’t stop there. A code is required to unlock a treasure chest containing uni (sea urchin) and seaweed and guests are led to the bar for the mid-meal palate cleanser, a nonalcoholic tequila shot chased with pop rocks and sorbet instead of salt. At the end of the meal, we take home gifts of housemade Japanese dashi in a jar and a booklet capturing chef Berger’s coming-of-age through food.

Est. 2005

A very “Melbourne” Italian restaurant spanning 3 levels in a historic warehouse setting (former site of the CBD RSL). Our easy going and professional team welcomes walk-ins and reservations, whatever shape or size. 91 Flinders Lane Melbourne 3000 | tazio.com.au | 9654 9119 Kitchen open all day from 12pm (Mon-Fri) & from 5pm (Sat)

Win a luxury trip to France valued at up to $30,000

Prize for two includes: • Return flights for two people • Eight nights accommodation • Historic tours, food and wine experiences • Michelin Star dining experience with Moët & Chandon pairing • AUD $3,000 spending money To enter, purchase any Moët & Chandon Champagne product from Qantas Wine for one entry.

Shop at qantas.com/wine

Promoter: Qantas Airways Limited. Promotion Period: 12.01am (AEDT) 19 October 2023 to 11:59pm (AEDT) 10 December 2023. Eligible Entrants: Australian resident Qantas Frequent Flyer members (excluding NT), aged 21 years or older. Entry: Eligible Entrants must purchase any Moët & Chandon product from qantas.com/wine. Multiple entries permitted. Draw: 10:00am (AEDT) on 11 January 2024 at MDSA, Level 16, 1 Denison Street, North Sydney NSW 2060. Prize: A trip to France for the winner and one (1) guest valued at a maximum AU$30,000. Winner notification: By phone and email within 2 business days of the draw and their name will be published on wine.qantas.com/win from 18 January 2024 and the Prize winner will be announced in The Australian newspaper on 18 January 2024. View full terms and conditions at wine.qantas.com/terms-and-conditions-competitions. Liquor Act 2007 (NSW): No alcohol can be sold or supplied to anyone under 18. It’s against the law. Licence Number: NSW LIQP770016736, NT IRL0201, SA 57900154. Authorised under NSW Permit No. NTP/07785, ACT TP23/01935, SA Licence No. T23/1494. Qantas Frequent Flyer Operations Pty Limited ABN 22 132 484 210 of 10 Bourke Road, Mascot, NSW 2020 (telephone number 02 9578 4184).

ON BOARD

On Board

Movies Kick back and catch up on the latest releases

The Adults Michael Cera, well-known for playing skittish boy-men in comedies such as Superbad and Barbie, delves into his more sombre side in this hipster dramedy about family connections and secrets. Cera is Eric (above), a youngish man who plans to spend some time visiting his two sisters, world-weary Rachel (Hannah Gross), who’s still living in their deceased mum’s house, and the younger, playful Maggie (Sophia Lillis). But his visit takes a pivot when he becomes involved in a neighbourhood poker game. This gentle tale plays in the key of Zach Braff’s Garden State. Rated MA15+

186 Meg 2: The Trench

more compelling than a gigantic fish, ready to leap out of the spray with all the terrible glory of a T.Rex? The first Meg grossed more than $530 million worldwide so it should come as no surprise that there’s a sequel. The trench, by the way, is an ancient ecosystem, located 25,000 metres below sea level. Which means, yes, there aren’t just gigantic sharks but also giant squid and even dinosaurs swirling in the dark depths of the ocean. While the premise seems serious (it’s based on Steve Alten’s book of the same name), the movie, under the direction of English film-maker Ben Wheatley, is self-aware enough to have some fun with it. Starring Jason Statham (above). Rated M

Red, White & Royal Blue When Alex (Taylor Zakhar Perez), the son of United States President Ellen Claremont (Uma Thurman), attends the wedding of the grandson of the King of England, he gets into a messy altercation with Henry, the younger prince (Nicholas Galitzine, above right, with Perez). Forced to spend time together to reassure the media that all is well, their spite soon turns to unquenchable love in this romantic comedy from director Matthew López. With Stephen Fry and Jemma Redgrave. Rated M

Words by Natalie Reilly

Ever since Steven Spielberg’s Jaws broke box-office records in the summer of 1975, movie-makers have tried to mimic the dreadful thrill of seeing that giant great white’s mouth, full of razor teeth, leap up out of the water to open wide around its prey. Flash forward to June 1993 and Spielberg’s Jurassic Park featured ancient predators being resurrected and effectively blew Jaws out of the water in terms of box office. But it wasn’t until 2018 that screenwriters Dean Georgaris, Jon Hoeber and Erich Hoeber dared to combine both of Spielberg’s cinematic threats – sharks and dinosaurs – in The Meg, a movie about a megalodon, a prehistoric species of shark. For what could be

The Miracle Club

Academy Award winners Kathy Bates (Misery) and Maggie Smith (best known for her turn in Downton Abbey) join Laura Linney (Ozark) and newcomer Agnes O’Casey (right centre, with Bates and Smith) to play workingclass Dublin-born women looking for divine intervention in 1967. The quartet, who are linked by family relations, win a competition to visit Lourdes, a French town millions of Catholics visit every year in search of a miracle. These women are no different, each of them hoping for a breakthrough cure or panacea for their grief when they make the pilgrimage. It has all the hallmarks of a religious drama but The Miracle Club, adapted from a story by Jimmy Smallhorne (who loosely based it on his Irish childhood) is filled with light-hearted humour. And a wee bit of sarcasm, too. Rated PG

187 Theater Camp

If Molly Gordon looks familiar, it could be that you’ve seen her as head chef Carmy’s love interest, Claire, in the hugely popular series The Bear. Gordon also used to perform in an amateur theatre troupe with close friend, actor Ben Platt, when they were teenagers. Which might help to explain why Gordon directed this movie and stars opposite Tony-Awardwinning Platt. It’s about a bunch of precociously talented, earnest kids giving 1000 per cent to every performance at a summer theatre camp. Gordon (left, with Platt) plays Rebecca-Diane, a perfectionist drama teacher and director at the camp, who, like her fellow teacher, Amos (Platt), has impossibly high standards for the children under her care. Rated M

On Board

Television

Awkwafina is Nora From Queens

The best shows to binge this month

Before Crazy Rich Asians, comedian Nora Lum (below, whose stage name is Awkwafina) starred in this autobiographical series about Nora Linn, a young woman in Queens, New York, trying not to compare herself to her overachieving cousin. Rated M

Derry Girls In 1990s Northern Ireland, during The Troubles, five high-school girls navigate the challenges (and joys) of being a teen. Starring Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Nicola Coughlan (below), Louisa Harland and Jamie-Lee O’Donnell. Rated MA15+

188 Warrior

From the director of The Fast and The Furious and the writings of Bruce Lee comes a crime-thriller series expertly tailored to people who love high-octane martial arts, with a bit of history thrown in. Set during the Tong Wars of San Francisco’s Chinatown in the late 1800s (the term tong means “gathering” and loosely translates as Chinese organised-crime gangs), the show is focused on a mysterious Chinese immigrant (Andrew Koji) who journeys to San Francisco and quickly rises up the ranks. Starring Olivia Cheng (above, with Koji). Rated MA15+

The Inspired Unemployed (Impractical) Jokers Based on the same show in the United States, social media stars and lovable larrikins Jack, Liam, Dom and Falcon slip into public locations for practical jokes and lots of laughs. Rated M

The Real Housewives of New York City The show that made Bethenny Frankel a multi-millionaire now has a new cast, including model Ubah Hassan (below) and the former head of J Crew fashion herself, Jenna Lyons. Rated M

Audiobooks Listen in to these great stories

I Give My Marriage a Year After an especially fraught Christmas, it’s crunch time for Lou and Josh’s 14-year marriage. For the next year, they manoeuvre their way through a series of self-inflicted tests to decide their union’s staying power: is it worth the effort or is it better for both of them to call it a day? Sydney-based writer Holly Wainwright’s novel paints a true-to-life portrait of a contemporary Australian relationship with all its unspoken regrets, everyday frustrations and complicated emotions.

No Friend but the Mountains In this lyrical memoir, Kurdish refugee and journalist Behrouz Boochani writes of the six years he was incarcerated on Manus Island. His firsthand account of the trauma suffered in offshore processing centres proved to be an act of survival. Winner of the 2019 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Literature and for Non-fiction, this book bears witness to the human cost of detention and gives voice to those still in exile.

Connect to Qantas Free Wi-Fi and Entertainment App Once onboard, connect your own device to Qantas Free Wi-Fi on domestic flights in three simple steps to access the internet and Qantas Entertainment App.

189 The Art of Growing Up In an increasingly complex world, how do parents nurture and guide their children into adulthood? Bringing everything he’s learnt from decades of working with and writing for young people, bestselling author and educator John Marsden presents his manifesto on parenting and childhood in the 21st century. He offers insights into a range of topics, from the role and importance of education to what he defines as a “problem parent” and a “problem child”.

STEP 1 Enable Aeroplane Mode and select the “Qantas Free Wi-Fi” network in your Wi-Fi settings. STEP 2 Follow the prompts on the “Welcome Onboard” screen to connect. STEP 3 Once you’re connected, you’re now ready to access the internet and the Qantas Entertainment App.

News Enjoy unlimited access to theaustralian.com.au, afr.com.au and themonthly.com.au when you are connected to Qantas Wi-Fi onboard and in Qantas lounges

Having trouble connecting? Make sure you are connected to the “Qantas Free Wi-Fi” network and go to wifi.qantas.com in your preferred browser to start exploring. Inflight entertainment varies by route and aircraft. Voice calls are not permitted inflight.

On board

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Inflight workout

Foot pumps (foot motion is in three stages)

These exercises are designed to provide a safe way to stretch and enjoy movement in certain muscle groups that can become stiff as a result of long periods of sitting. They may be effective at increasing the body’s blood circulation and massaging the muscles. We recommend you do these exercises for three or four minutes every hour and occasionally leave your seat to walk down the aisles. Each exercise should be done with minimal disturbance to other passengers. None of these exercises should be performed if they cause pain or cannot be done with ease.

Start with both heels on the floor and point feet upwards as high as you can.

Put both feet flat on the floor. Lift heels high, keeping the balls of the feet on the floor.

Repeat these three stages in a continuous motion and at 30-second intervals.

Knee to chest Bend forward slightly. Clasp hands around left knee and hug it to your chest. Hold for 15 seconds. Keeping hands around the knee, slowly let it down. Alternate legs. Repeat 10 times.

Forward flex With both feet on the floor and stomach held in, slowly bend forward and walk your hands down the front of your legs towards your ankles. Hold for 15 seconds and slowly sit back up.

Shoulder roll Hunch shoulders forwards then upwards, backwards and downwards in a gentle circular motion.

Ankle circles Lift feet. Draw a circle with toes, moving one foot clockwise and the other counterclockwise at the same time. Reverse circles. Rotate in each direction for 15 seconds. Repeat if desired.

Knee lifts Lift leg with knee bent while contracting your thigh muscle. Alternate legs. Repeat 20 to 30 times for each leg.

In the air Mobile phones and electronic equipment: All transmitting electronic devices, including mobile phones, tablets and laptop computers, must be switched to flight mode* prior to departure. Smaller devices such as mobile phones, e-readers, electronic games, MP3 players, iPads and other small tablets may be held in your hands or stowed in a seat pocket. Unless otherwise directed by the captain, these devices may remain switched on and used in flight mode during take-off, cruise and landing. Larger electronic equipment such as laptop computers may only be used from when the aircraft seatbelt sign is extinguished after take-off until the top of descent. After landing, the cabin crew will advise when flight mode may be switched off. Headsets: Do not use a personal single-pin audio headset in the Qantas inflight entertainment system unless it is supported by a two-pin airline headset adaptor. Personal headsets that connect via a cable

Neck roll With shoulders relaxed, drop your ear to your shoulder and gently roll your neck forward and back, holding each position for about five seconds. Repeat five times.

to a handheld device can be used at any time from boarding until arrival. Headsets and other devices that connect via Bluetooth must be switched off for take-off and landing but can be used during cruise.

Inflight: The aircraft configuration, including the seats and galley, act as a natural barrier, and people are not seated face to face. The direction of inflight airflow is ceiling to floor.

*Flight mode enables you to operate basic functions of your mobile phone or personal electronic device while its transmitting function is switched off, meaning you cannot make phone calls or send an SMS.

Enhanced cleaning: Our aircraft are cleaned with a disinfectant effective against coronaviruses, with a focus on the high contact areas of seats, seatbelts, overhead lockers, air vents and toilets. Our people are trained in the latest hygiene protocols.

Fly Well

Face masks: Some destinations require you to wear a mask during your flight or at the airport. Ensure you check the latest government requirements before you travel. Your face mask needs to cover your mouth and nose, fit securely and must be worn unless you’re under 12 years of age or have a medical exemption.

Your wellbeing is our priority. Our Fly Well program brings together a number of measures to give you peace of mind during your flight. Cabin air: Our aircraft air conditioning systems are fitted with hospital-grade HEPA filters, which remove 99.9% of all particles including viruses. The air inside the cabin is refreshed every few minutes, ensuring the highest possible air quality.

Your inflight health: When flying, passengers can be seated and inactive for long periods of time. The environment can be low in humidity and the

cabin pressure equivalent to an altitude of 2440 metres above sea level. The following advice helps you stay healthy during your journey. The importance of inflight blood circulation and muscle relaxation: When walking, the leg muscle action helps return venous blood to the heart. Sitting in the same position for a long period of time can slow this process and, in some people, leads to swelling in the feet. Some studies have shown that immobility associated with travel of longer than four hours (by air, car or rail) can also lead to an increased risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), or clotting in the legs. Personal factors that increase the risk of DVT include: Age over 40 years Personal or family history of DVT or pulmonary embolus Recent surgery or injury, especially to the lower limbs, pelvis or abdomen Cancer Inherited or other blood disorders leading to clotting tendency Pregnancy Oestrogen therapy (oral contraceptive pill or hormone replacement therapy).

Go out in the daylight and do some light exercise Try to eat meals and do other social activities at appropriate destination times to adjust to the new time zone Cabin humidity and hydration: Humidity levels of less than 25 per cent are common in the cabin, as the outside air that supplies the cabin is very dry. The low humidity can cause drying of the surfaces of the nose, throat and eyes and it can irritate contact lenses. If normal fluid intake is maintained during the flight, dehydration will not occur. We recommend: Drink water and juices frequently during the flight Drink coffee, tea and alcohol in moderation Remove contact lenses and wear glasses if your eyes are irritated Use a skin moisturiser to refresh the skin

There are a number of ways to help reduce the possibility of DVT, including the following: Avoid leg-crossing while seated Ensure adequate hydration Minimise alcohol and caffeine intake before and during your flight Wear comfortable, loose-fitting clothes During your flight, move your legs and feet for three to four minutes per hour while seated and move about the cabin occasionally Do the light exercises we recommend here (see above) and through the inflight entertainment system. If you have concerns about your health and flying, or you feel that you may be at risk of DVT, Qantas recommends that you talk to your doctor before travelling. Additional measures such as well-fitted compression stockings or anti-clotting medication may be recommended for high-risk individuals. Jet lag: Unlike other forms of transport, air travel allows for rapid movement across many time zones, which can disrupt the body’s biological clock. This is commonly known as jet lag. This disruption can affect various body rhythms such as the sleepwake cycle and the digestive system, leading to symptoms such as tiredness and lack of energy and appetite. In general, the more time zones crossed, the more disruption of the body clock and the more symptoms experienced after the journey. We recommend the following to minimise the effects of jet lag.

Cabin pressurisation: During flight, aircraft cabin pressure is maintained to a sufficient density for your comfort and health. As the aircraft climbs, the cabin may reach the same air pressure as at an elevation of 2440 metres above sea level. Cabin pressure does not pose a problem for most passengers. However, if you suffer from obstructive pulmonary diseases, anaemias or certain cardiovascular conditions, you could experience discomfort at these altitudes. These passengers should seek medical advice before flying, as some may require supplementary oxygen. Qantas can arrange this but requires at least seven days’ notice before travelling. The rate of change in cabin pressure during climb and descent is also carefully maintained and does not usually cause discomfort. However, children and infants, and adults who have sinus or nasal congestion, may experience some discomfort because of pressure changes during climb and particularly descent. Those suffering from nasal or sinus congestion because of a cold or allergies may need to delay travel. The following advice may assist: To “clear” your ears, try swallowing, yawning or pinching your nose closed and gently blowing against it. These actions help open the Eustachian tubes, equalising pressure between the middle ear chamber and throat. If flying with an infant, feed or give your baby a dummy during descent. Sucking and swallowing help equalise pressure in an infant’s ears. Give children something to drink or chew during descent. Consider using medication such as nasal sprays, decongestants and antihistamines 30 minutes prior to descent to help open up your ear and sinus passages.

Before your flight: Get a good night’s rest During your flight: Eat light meals Wear loose, comfortable clothing and sleep when you can Stay hydrated – drink plenty of water and avoid excess tea, coffee and alcohol At your destination: If possible, give yourself a day or two after arrival to adjust to the new time zone

Motion sickness: Air travel, especially if turbulence is experienced, can cause motion sickness, as it leads to a conflict between the body’s sense of vision and its sense of equilibrium. Maintaining good visual cues (keeping your eyes fixed on a non-moving object) helps prevent motion sickness. When the weather is clear, you should look out at the ground, sea or horizon. If the horizon can’t be seen, closing your eyes and keeping your head movements to a minimum will help. While over-thecounter medications are available, we recommend

you consult your doctor about the appropriate medications. More information can be found: At qantas.com.au/info/flying/intheair/ yourhealthinflight Through the onboard entertainment system On our information leaflet available from Qantas or your travel agent Smoking: Government regulations prohibit smoking on all flights operated by Australian-registered aircraft. The use and charging of all e-cigarettes and other personal vaporisers are not permitted on board an aircraft. There are smoke detectors in all toilets and penalties for regulation breaches. Travelling with children: Please ask cabin crew for help if required. Baby food and nappies (diapers) are available on most flights, while some washrooms are fitted with baby change tables. Please dispose of nappies etc. in the waste bins.

When you land Leaving flights: On international flights, the cabin crew will distribute the necessary Customs and Immigration forms. If you are stopping en route, you will need your boarding pass to re-board the aircraft. If you’re travelling as a domestic passenger on an international flight within Australia, retain your boarding card with the large D sticker. This will be required to clear Customs at your destination. Transferring from Australian domestic flights numbered QF400 and above to international flights: At check-in you will be issued with your international boarding pass. Your international boarding pass and baggage will be tagged through to your final destination. There is no need to claim your baggage or attend check-in at the transfer airport. Follow the signs for international transfers passengers to the complimentary transfer bus (not necessary in Melbourne and Darwin). Transferring from international to domestic flights numbered QF400 and above: On arrival at your Australian transfer port, go through Immigration and collect your luggage. Proceed through Customs and follow the signs to the domestic transfer area to re-check your luggage. A complimentary transfer bus (not necessary in Melbourne, Adelaide and Darwin) departs at regular intervals for the domestic terminal for your connecting Qantas flight within Australia. If your connecting domestic flight is numbered QF1-QF399, there is no need to clear Customs and Immigration. These flights depart from the international terminals. Customs and Immigration clearance will be completed at your final destination. Transferring to a Jetstar domestic flight: If your next flight is with Jetstar (JQ) or a Qantas codeshare flight operated by Jetstar (QF5400-QF5999), you will need to collect your baggage and follow the signs to the Jetstar counter to check in for your flight and re-check your baggage.

191

On board

What you need to know about your onboard security, safety and health

Qantas security policy The Qantas Group has a strict policy of denying boarding, or off-loading any passenger who makes inappropriate comments or behaves inappropriately inflight or on the ground. Qantas will not accept any inappropriate comments as “jokes”. It will also seek to recover all costs incurred, including diversions as a result of security incidents, from those involved.

Group-wide security

192

Security screening is subject to the laws and regulations of the country of operation. The Qantas Group ensures that its passengers, staff and aircraft are safe and secure through an outcome-focused, risk-based approach to security management. Qantas security standards apply across the business, including QantasLink and Jetstar. A dedicated operations centre monitors global security events 24 hours a day.

Security advice Pack your own luggage Do not carry any items for another person Carry valuables, approved medication and keys in your carry-on baggage All knives, sharp objects or cutting implements must be in checked baggage Security measures can include random frisk search after consent is obtained. Passengers may request privacy and must be searched by a screener of the same gender Important note: Security screening is subject to the laws and regulations of the country of operation.

Restrictions on powders and liquids, aerosols and gels (LAGs) On all international flights to and from Australia: Each container of LAGs in your carry-on baggage must be 100ml or less All 100ml containers must be placed in a single transparent one-litre plastic bag Plastic bags containing LAGs are to be screened separately from other carry-on baggage All powders must be screened separately with restrictions on the carriage of inorganic powders over 350ml (350g) Passengers may still carry prescription medicines or baby products sufficient for the flight If departing, transiting or transferring on an international flight at an Australian

international gateway airport, duty-free powders and LAGs must be sealed, with receipt, in a security tamper-evident bag issued at the time of purchase

Full-body scanners The Australian federal government has introduced full-body scanners at international gateway airports: Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, Perth, Melbourne and the Gold Coast The Australian Federal Government has commenced introducing full-body scanners at major domestic airports: Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Canberra, Darwin, Gold Coast, Hobart, Launceston, Melbourne, Newcastle, Perth, Sunshine Coast, Sydney and Townsville At international gateway airports passengers refusing to pass through the scanner will be banned from entering the sterile area or boarding an aircraft for 24 hours Exemptions apply for people with serious medical conditions, infants and small children, and people in wheelchairs As per advice, the energy exposure is comparable to that from a mobile phone several metres away There are no known safety concerns for people with pacemakers and metal implants or for pregnant women

Dangerous goods Common items used every day may seem harmless but on an aircraft they may become dangerous. When the aircraft changes altitude, variations in temperature and pressure may cause items to leak, create fumes or catch fire. Items that are forbidden on aircraft or have carriage restrictions include lithium batteries, other battery types, camping stoves, fuels, oils, compressed gases, aerosols, household cleaners, matches, lighters, paints, explosives (including flares, fireworks, sparklers and bonbons), emergency position-indicating radio beacons, radioactive material, biological and infectious substances and fuel-powered equipment. This list is not exhaustive so please carefully consider what items you pack for your next flight. If you’re unsure about an item in your baggage, ask a member of our friendly cabin crew. For further information, go to qantas.com or email dg@qantas.com.au.

Automated immigration clearance Several countries are introducing automated immigration clearance procedures to cope with growing air-travel numbers. The goal is to provide a faster, smoother immigration experience to eligible passengers without compromising border security. Please note that some automated clearance options may not be available due to COVID. Countries providing facilities across our network:

Australia SmartGate: e-passport holders of Australia, Canada, China, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Macau, New Zealand, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and US China e-Channel: citizens of China Hong Kong e-Channel Residents: citizens and residents of Hong Kong Hong Kong e-Channel Visitors: frequent visitors that are visa-exempt, including Australians Indonesia Autogate passport gates: citizens of Indonesia Japan Speedy Immigration: citizens and foreign nationals with re-entry and special re-entry permits New Zealand SmartGate Plus: e-passport holders of Australia, New Zealand, UK and US Singapore enhanced-Immigration Automated Clearance System (eIACS): citizens, permanent residents, work permit holders and APEC cardholders UAE eGate: UAE citizens and residents UK ePassport gates: e-passport holders of UK, Switzerland and European Economic Area (EEA) USA Global Entry system: US citizens and permanent residents, Dutch citizens, South Korean citizens and Mexican nationals. Canadian citizens and residents with NEXUS membership

Travel advice

USA Automated Passport Control: for US, Canadian and Visa Waiver Program passport holders

Qantas is a partner in the Australian government’s Charter for Safe Travel. Travellers may obtain the latest travel advice for their destination by visiting smartraveller.gov.au.

Fee applies Pre-enrolment required

Explore over 130 destinations across North America with *

*The number of destinations is correct as at 12 September 2023 but is subject to change.

Games

Cryptic clues

11 12

14 15

Across 20

10.

11. 13. 23

14.

16. 29

28 30

18. 32

20. 22. 23.

26.

30. 36

31.

34.

40 41

35. 36.

38. 41. © Lovatts Puzzles

194

Quick clues

42.

Down 01. 02. 03.

Across 10. 11. 13. 14. 16. 18. 20. 22. 23. 26. 30. 31. 34. 35. 36. 38. 41. 42.

Free rein (4,6) Apologetic exclamation (6,2) Generating plant (5,7) Allergy symptom (6) Purple light (11) Substantiate (7) Resistant to wear (7) Partiality (11) Prophesied (8) With tips adjacent (3,2,3) Make mutual concessions (4,3,4) Inscription on tomb (7) Alleviate (7) Bridal jewellery (7,4) Final additions (6) Non-passenger rail service (7,5) Desecrates (8) Assessment materials (4,6)

Time to hide if you’re game (4,6) Damn rope tangled! Sorry! (6,2) Source of current supply (5,7) Cold blast? (6) Rival outlet creates a wave (11) Ratify corporation following scam (7) Bad rule may be long-lasting (7) Tendency to make list (11) Fought old declaration as predicted (8) In a row about where the playing field sideline should be marked (3,2,3) Grant & Bear’s compromise (4-3-4) Details set in stone? (7) Free from anxiety that is part of wild revel (7) It signifies the end of the engagement (7,4) What summers provide (6) It will deliver the goods (7,5) Breaks the law by having instrument set out (8) Exam question sheets based on trial documents (4,6)

Down 01. 02. 03. 04. 05. 06. 07. 08. 09. 12. 15. 17. 19. 21. 23. 24. 25. 27. 28. 29. 31. 32. 33. 37. 39. 40.

Crosswords and puzzles compiled by LOVATTS

04.

Exacerbate (8) Brine (3,5) Callous opportunist (4) Supplementary (job) (4-4) Longing for the past (9) Sandbank (3) Somalia’s Gulf of ... (4) Uncertain (10) Purposeful (10) Touch (7) Movement (6) Mediate (9) Close call (4,5) Flying saucer (1,1,1) Metaphorical (10) Rotation (10) Soup servers (6) Snooze (3) Out of control (7) Top news stories (9) Sobriquets (8) Spirited (8) The second H of HRH (8) Shakespearean king (4) Shipbuilding wood (4) Animal doctor (3)

05. 06. 07. 08. 09. 12. 15. 17. 19. 21. 23. 24. 25. 27. 28. 29. 31. 32. 33. 37. 39. 40.

Sort of interest shown in a prison enclosure (8) A sweater ruined by saline solution (3,5) Websites name addict (4) Casual hours spent in role (4-4) Fond remembrance gains a lot in the rewriting (9) Graduate claims right to join legal profession (3) An embracing of French in Yemen port (4) Are there no limits applied to this kind of article? (10) Decided to be stubborn (10) Someone who can help with electrical connection (7) Start performing or there’ll be a lawsuit! (6) Settle for a Brie tart, perhaps (9) Earn night out – a lucky escape! (4,5) Spacecraft ignores odd outflow (1,1,1) Figure seen outside at four is symbolic (10) Uprising comes full circle (10) Strange sale – about 550 spoons (6) A little schnapps induces sleep (3) What’s used to secure fodder bales has gone awry (7) “They’re on the front page! That’s disturbing,” said Helen (9) Is the pet confused by nicknames? (8) Lively like a Disney film (8) Loftiness of royal title (8) Private jet used by people arriving (4) Take out timber for garden seat (4) Screen shows James Herriot, for example (3)

Sudoku

Wheel of words

Tough puzzle, simple rules: each row, column and 3x3 box must contain the numbers 1-9.

Create as many words of four letters or more as you can using the given letters once only but always including the central letter. Don’t use proper nouns or plurals ending with “s”. See if you can find the nine-letter word using all letters.

10 15 20+

T E

Good Very good Excellent

G R

5 9

6 7

1 5

1 8 5

6 3

5 9

6 © Lovatts Puzzles

Easy

8 3

8 4

7 4

2 5

5 4

Match-ups – March birthdays Work out the missing parts of these names and find them in the box of letters. The letters leftover will spell out two categories by which you might define these people.

Ewan

3 © Lovatts Puzzles

Moderate

A G P

M A H

9 8

7 3 5

1 8

3 6

1 6

7 9

2 © Lovatts Puzzles

A R G L

S U R M W

J U S

T N

A O O

B O R

Y C N

Y H C N O

S N L

A B H

D D

A R

S C R

Y E L

U R

H R

Hard

John Longoria

1 6

Céline Chuck

Bryce

Eckhart McQueen Willis Howard Cranston

A E N G

S R R

T B D

V E

T O Y A S E M A

E A

O O E N

O L

A L

E N N R E D N

A X E

A L

A H K

R L

E D

Y A L

E O O R R N

M A

M C G R E G O R

A C S O S © Lovatts Puzzles

Sinise Hunter Van Der Beek Biel Jessica Bon Jovi Bieber Kurt L. Ron Gaga Lauren Liza Lupita Mariah Gorbachev Nat King Wilde Isaac Reese Lowe Shaquille H. Macy

More puzzles over the page; solutions on page 197

195

Games

Quiz By Hazel Flynn

196

01.

Of the five “big cats” (Panthera genus), which species is the largest?

02.

And which is the smallest?

03.

What is the longest side of a right-angle triangle called?

04.

Elphaba and Glinda are the lead characters in what musical?

05.

Schiphol airport serves which capital city?

06.

Mackenzie Arnold played in what position for Australia’s Matildas in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup?

07.

Kismet, meaning destiny, comes from which language?

08.

What does the Mohs scale measure?

09.

What is the world’s second-most southerly national capital?

Spot the difference

10.

Bisque, leather-hard and raku are terms used in what craft?

Can you spot the seven differences between these two images? Circle what’s changed on the image below.

11.

To within five years, in what year did the world’s first drive-in movie theatre open?

12.

A lake in what country has the world’s most lightning flashes?

13.

What is the more common name for identification using a dactylogram?

14.

What 2009 movie featured 20,622 animated balloons?

15.

Australia owns one of four known copies of the 1297 edition of which document?

16.

Getting out without scoring on the first ball faced has what name in cricket?

17.

What river flows into the Dead Sea?

18.

Where in Australia is the Staircase to the Moon?

19.

In IT security, what does 2FA stand for?

20.

What was the stage-name of the singer born Farrokh Bulsara?

Solutions If you’ve filled in the answers, please take the magazine with you so the cabin crew know to replace it with a new copy.

Follow us on Instagram Get your daily dose of travel inspiration as we share the latest and greatest tips on where to go, things to do, what to eat and drink, and more.

Sudoku

Crossword

3 8

Easy 3

M A H

A R G L

H R

U R

A O O

B O R

Y C N

Y H C N O

S N L

A B H

D D

A R

Moderate

qftravelinsider

U C S D I B A P N O P E N S E A S O N P A R D O N M E S C M T R A E D R E S N E E Z E P O W E R S T A T I O N O A R A A N F T U L T R A V I O L E T C O N F I R M G N T I E E A N R M D U R A B L E I N C L I N A T I O N O E A R T F T I F O R E T O L D E N D T O E N D I H E H A H A R G I V E A N D T A K E E P I T A P H U O P Y I A N N L T R E L I E V E W E D D I N G R I N G U S A T I H L M T O T A L S F R E I G H T T R A I N I E E E I E V N T E V I O L A T E S T E S T P A P E R S S S S E N K T D R

Match-ups

A G P

A L

T B D

V E

T O Y A S E M A

E A

S C R

E O O R

R N

Hard

Wheel of words Ague, Drug, Duet, Rude, Rued, Taut, True, Urea, Urge, Adieu, Argue, Audit, Auger, Guard, Guide, Urged, Utter, Argued, Guitar, Gutted, Gutter, Rutted, Trudge, Turgid, Gaudier Nine-letter word: GRATITUDE

Spot the difference 01. Bird enlarged 02. Extra bird in the water 03. Extra plant 04. Bird looking the other way 05. Extra ducks 06. Purple bird added 07. White bird removed

S R R

Y E

T N

A L

O O E N

E N N R E D N I

S U R M W

J U S

A E N

E D

A H K

O L

A X E

A L

M A

M C G R E G O R

Aaron Eckhart, Alexander McQueen, Bruce Willis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Bryan Cranston, Céline Dion, Chuck Norris, Elton John, Eva Longoria, Ewan McGregor, Gary Sinise, Holly Hunter, James Van Der Beek, Jessica Biel, Jessica Chastain, Jon Bon Jovi, Justin Bieber, Kurt Russell, L. Ron Hubbard, Lady Gaga, Lauren Graham, Liza Minnelli, Lupita Nyong’o, Mariah Carey, Mikhail Gorbachev, Nat King Cole, Olivia Wilde, Oscar Isaac, Reese Witherspoon, Rob Lowe, Shaquille O’Neal, William H. Macy Solution: Pisces or Aries

Quiz 01. The tiger 02. The snow leopard 03. The

hypotenuse 04. Wicked 05. Amsterdam 06. Goalkeeper 07. Turkish 08. (Mineral) hardness 09. Canberra 10. Pottery 11. 1933 12. Venezuela 13. Fingerprinting 14. Up 15. The Magna Carta 16. A golden duck 17. Jordan River 18. Broome (Roebuck Bay) 19. Two-factor authentication 20. Freddie Mercury

197

09:30

Qantas Domestic Route Network

SEA ARAFURA ARAFURA SEA

Melville Island

GOVE (Nhulun GOVE (Nhulunbuy)

Maningrida

Effective 1 November 2023. Routes shown are indicative only

DARWIN

TIMOR SEA

Oenpelli Jabiru

Batchelor

08:00

ARNHEM LAND

Daly River

KAKADU

Pine Creek

Wadeye

Kalumburu

Groote Eylandt Groote Eylandt

Katherine Ngukurr

Oombulgurri Wyndham

INDIAN OCEAN

KUNUNURRA

KIMBERLEY

Daly Waters

Derby

McArthur River

Gu Carp

Borroloola

Newcastle Waters

Kalkarindji

BROOME Halls Creek

Dooma

NORT H E R N

T E R R I TORY

COUN

Tennant Creek

PORT HEDLAND Dampier

GREAT SANDY DESERT

KARRATHA

MT IS Marble Bar

Onslow

Exmouth

Camooweal

Tanami

Barrow Creek

Pannawonica

LEARMONTH

Telfer Solomon PILBARA

Tom Price

NEWMAN

PARABURDOO

GIBSON DESERT

Jigalong

ALICE SPRINGS

CHAN

Areyonga

Kaltukatjara

Carnarvon

ULURU (AYERS ROCK)

W EST E R N AUST R A L I A Meekatharra

COUN

Uluru Warburton

Amata

Finke

Wiluna

Oodnadatta GREAT

VICTORIA

DESERT

Mount Magnet Laverton

GERALDTON

Leonora Three Springs

Coober Pedy

Menzies Dalwallinu

Maralinga

Moora Coolgardie Southern Cross Merredin

Northam

Karonie Boulder Kambalda

NULLARBOR

Widgiemooltha

Fremantle

Andamooka Andamooka Leigh C LeighDam Creek Olympic Dam Olympic Lake Torrens Lake Torrens Parachil Woomera Parachilna Woomera

Wynbring

PLAIN Lake Everard

Eucla

Coorabie

Norseman Brookton

Kondinin

Lake Gairdner

Penong Ceduna Smoky Bay

Bunbury

Harvey Collie

BUSSELTON

Wagin Katanning

Margaret River

Newdegate

Hopetoun Northcliffe Walpole

Port Augusta

WHYALLA Peterb

WHYALLA

Port Pirie

Port Pirie Ravensthorpe

Cowell

Great Australian Bight

Esperance

Manjimup

Augusta

Haw

Hawker Port Augusta

Streaky Bay Narrogin

Marree

AU ST R A L I A

Cook

KALGOORLIE

PERTH

Mandurah

L Grego

S OU T H

Morawa

Lake Eyre

Yalgoo

Mullewa

Ernabella

Cue

Kalbarri

SIMPSON DESERT SIMPSON DESERT

Mount Barker Denmark Albany

Cowell Burra

PORT LINCOLN

M ADELAIDE ADELAIDE Victor Harbor

KINGSCOTE KINGSCOTE

T Victor H M

Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Island

ROUTE KEY Qantas and QantasLink route Jetstar hub and port QantasLink hub and port Ports serviced by other airlines for Qantas Qantas Club and Qantas regional lounge locations Qantas Group international gateway port National capital International and Domestic flights remain subject to Government and Regulatory approval.

Qantas Frequent Flyer domestic partners and codeshare airlines

Qantas

Jetstar

Airnorth

MOU

HORN ISLAND

Thursday Island

nbuy) WEIPA CAPE

T EA GR

CORAL SEA

Gulf of Carpentaria

Cooktown

Laura

Mossman

CAIRNS

Atherton

Karumba Normanton

Doomadgee

IER RR BA

Burketown

Port Douglas

Mareeba

Mungana

Tully

Croydon

Georgetown Forsayth

GULF

Ingham

TOWNSVILLE

COUNTRY

Ayr Kajabbi

MT ISA

Bowen

Charters Towers

Hughenden

Richmond

CLONCURRY

MACKAY EF RE

AT GRE

QUE E NSLAND

Dajarra

HAMILTON ISLAND

PROSERPINE (WHITSUNDAY COAST)

Julia Creek

MORANBAH Winton

Saraji Blair Athol

Boulia

Yeppoon

EMERALD

LONGREACH

ROCKHAMPTON

Blackwater

BARCALDINE

CHANNEL

GLADSTONE

Springsure

Bedourie

Biloela

Moura

BLACKALL

Yaraka

Monto

Theodore

COUNTRY

BUNDABERG HERVEY BAY

Windorah Augathella

Birdsville

Maryborough

Gayndah

Injune

Gympie

Charleville

Quilpie

Mitchell

Kingaroy

Roma

Noosa

MILES

MAROOCHYDORE (SUNSHINE COAST)

Dalby

BRISBANE

TOOWOOMBA

Moonie Thargomindah

Moomba

GOLD COAST

St George

Cunnamulla

Goondiwindi Dirranbandi

L Gregory

Texas

Mungindi Tibooburra

Lightning Ridge

MOREE Inverell

Milparinka

Coonamble Cobar

Wilcannia

Olary

ING

NE W SO UTH Ivanhoe

Peterborough

WA L ES Burra

ORANGE

Parkes

MILDURA

Ouyen

SYDNEY

Tocumwal

VICTORIA

Horsham Kingston South East

Hamilton

Batemans Bay Cooma

Narooma

PA C I F I C OCEAN

Bombala

MERIMBULA

Seymour

Ballarat

Eden

Alexandra

MELBOURNE

MELBOURNE (AVALON)

Portland Warrnambool

CANBERRA

Mt Kosciuszko 2228m

BENDIGO Ararat

Millicent

Wodonga Wangaratta

Shepparton

Naracoorte

MOUNT GAMBIER

ALBURY

Birchip Bordertown

Gundagai

Deniliquin

Meningie

Kiama Nowra

Yass

WAGGA WAGGA

Swan Hill

EA T

Pinnaroo

Gosford

Wollongong

Goulburn

Narrandera

Tailem Bend

NEWCASTLE

Bathurst Katoomba

GRIFFITH

Hay

Murray Bridge

Maitland

Lithgow

West Wyalong

Renmark Berri

Geelong Colac

Sale Traralgon

Moorabbin

Wilsons Promontory

Bass

Strait

King Island

Flinders Island

Smithton

BURNIE

Georgetown

DEVONPORT

Savage River

LAUNCESTON

Longford

Rosebery Strahan

LORD HOWE ISLAND

Taree Forster

Scone Muswellbrook

DUBBO

Menindee

PORT MACQUARIE

Gilgandra

BROKEN HILL Yunta

TAMWORTH Kempsey

DIVID

wker

Gunnedah

NORFOLK ISLAND

COFFS HARBOUR

Coonabarabran

Nyngan

BALLINA BYRON

ARMIDALE

RAN

Narrabri Lake Frome

Lismore

Grafton

Glen Innes

Walgett

Bourke

Casino Tenterfield

L Blanche

lna

Harbor

10:00

PENINSULA

Creek

Coen

YORK

Queenstown

TASMA N IA

St Helens

Bicheno Campbell Town Orford

HOBART

Strathgordon Huonville

Port Arthur

TASMAN SEA