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travel destination food.&.drink
NeW YoRK fReNCh LuxuRY oBiKA & CANTeeN
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feature 10
Scott’s Lost Dream To commemorate the centenary of Captain Scott’s death, Nick Smith asks what went
The Rise of The ‘LuxpLoReR’
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wrong on Scott’s last quest to the South Pole Adventure Temples has set the trend this year for inspirational holiday experiences, combining adventure and luxury
n a survey conducted by Adventure Temples, when it came to the type of holiday they prefer, 82 per cent of respondents answered: “I love a challenge by day but at night, give me luxury”. In answer to this, Adventure Temples has managed to blend two elements for a holiday which, up until now, seemed oxymoronic: luxury and exploration. The company offers weekenders, short breaks and long breaks, as well as trips designed to challenge your body, inspire your mind or rejuvenate your spirit. One of the latest trips is to the remote Indonesian island of Sumbia where,
for one week at £2,295 per person, holiday makers can live out their own adventure story from the comfort of a luxury villa set in a 400acre tropical estate. Founder Rob Pendleton says we should no longer settle for run-of-the-mill holidays: “Five star plus spa is becoming ubiquitous. The best hotels are therefore seeking to differentiate themselves by showcasing unique local features; the natural environment, community, culture and history… the sort of cultural immersion Luxplorers love.” n www.adventuretemples.com
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collection interview
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collection
A Truly English Affair Annabel Harrison meets Nick English, cofounder of British watch brand Bremont
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Annabel Harrison meets Nick English, one half of the dynamic English brothers and co-founder of British watch brand Bremont
The Height of Sophistication
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Ensure you’re as smart and stylish as your
he engine purrs, revs and roars into action and before I know it, I’m soaring through the air, 1,000 feet above the English countryside (Epping Forest and Chelmsford, to be exact). I’m not in a Boeing 747 or an Airbus 380, though – my preferred, and standard, method of airborne travel but one passenger of a total of two in a tiny, toy plane which is, I am told, an RV4. Initial trepidation at travelling in what, quite frankly, has less interior space than a Mini is swiftly overtaken with the thrill of feeling like a character in Top Gun (although more like Goose than Maverick). The pilot expertly steers us to the optimum cruising height and asks me, casually, over the headset if I’d like to drive for a bit. After a moment’s hesitation, I take over control and experience the sheer joy of feeling the plane dip and tilt exactly as I command, before the pilot resumes control to flip us over into a few, 360º barrel rolls. This is but a glimpse into the life of a Bremont brother – Nick, this time round (although I had met the equally charming Giles at SalonQP in November). I’d like to say that I was composed enough to conduct my interview with Nick whilst airborne but unfortunately the noise was prohibitive and instead we chatted in the cosy Squadron at North Weald Airfield.
A truly
surroundings at 45 Park Lane with this
English affair
season’s most sophisticated ensembles
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calibre 58
travel
Life Behind the Lens
The Ultimate
North & South
Richard Brown gets a close up with celebrated wildlife photographer Doug Allan
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The Ultimate North and South All images: Nick Smith
and comfort
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From Humble Beginnings Richard Brown meets founder and chief executive of RationalFX, Rajesh Agrawal
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hey’re the last great wildernesses on earth: the Polar Regions. A century ago only a handful of the greatest explorers had been anywhere near them and their names are the stuff of legend; Shackleton, Amundsen and, of course, Scott. Today, as we celebrate the centenaries of the Heroic Age of Polar Exploration, it’s easy to forget that these intrepid men were going where no man had set foot before. It’s extraordinary to think that if you have the time, the money and the spirit of adventure, you can now follow in their footsteps as a tourist. On the one hand, you can, literally, blast your way to the Geographic North Pole in a nuclear icebreaker, while on the other, there are ships that – while they can’t take you to the South Pole – will at least transport you alongside mainland Antarctica, where you can marvel at the same frozen scenery that Scott and his men did before their epic marches to the interior. I was lucky. I did both in the space of a year.
GOING SOUTH With a neat symmetry, my trip to Antarctica started at the world’s southernmost city. At Ushuaia at the tip of Argentina’s Tierra de Fuego, I board Plancius, a refitted navy vessel commissioned by World Expeditions. As we depart the lonely quayside, we sail for the fearsome Drake Passage, past the weather-beaten Cape Horn and straight for the Antarctic Peninsular. The Drake has a reputation for a reason; for three days Plancius is relentlessly tossed about on the Southern Atlantic swells. As we watch the horizon soar and plummet, we can only guess at how Scott and Shackleton survived the elements in their tiny wooden tubs. After passing through the Convergence, where the Atlantic and Southern oceans meet, finally we find calmer seas and with them our first icebergs, cobalt blue skies and, best of all, penguins. It never gets truly dark during the austral summer and you’ll spend a lot of time on deck at night, camera in hand, watching the changing colours of the sky, gazing at the incredible mountain ranges and glaciers, and being hypnotised by the albatrosses, skuas and ever-present pintada petrels. As we approach continental Antarctica, calm seas become glassy lagoons and we board Zodiac inflatable boats to tour among the Weddell seals and penguin rookeries. Finally at our destination, we cruise at leisure, making a couple of landfalls a day, hiking, bird watching and visiting deserted research stations. There’s also the much hoped-for, but never guaranteed, continental landing at the Almirante Brown Argentine base where, among ever-inquisitive penguins, we pose for our ‘hero’ snaps. Those used to the more frivolous luxury of Caribbean cruises will find Plancius Spartan. But it’s warm and comfortable and this is what you’re paying for after hours spent outside on the observation deck in the biting polar chill. In the evening, the ship’s lounge transforms into a lively bar, where there are plenty of experts on hand to tell tales of Antarctic heroism over a glass of Argentine wine. Our final landing is at Port Lockroy, an old British science base that’s now one of the world’s southernmost museums. It’s a ghostly experience to wander around the restored sleeping quarters, radio room and laboratories where the scientists worked for months on end with only Gentoo penguins for company. There’s even a shop where you can buy polar souvenirs, get your passport stamped and send a postcard home, although you’ll arrive weeks before it. n
Victory carves Through The pack ice wiTh rumbles, creaks and deafening explosions
My epic journey to the ultimate North started in Murmansk in Russia, the world’s most northerly city. This is where I joined the 50 Years of Victory, a nuclear-powered icebreaker that for a few brief summer months is taken over by travel company Exodus for specialist polar cruising. Powered by two nuclear reactors, Victory makes the round-trip using only 200 grams of heavy isotopes, making it one of the most environmentally friendly ways to travel. As the engines purr into action, the captain points the ship’s prow north and we’re off to the top of the world. We’re navigating using natural sea-lanes in the multiyear ice, although often there’s no option but to call on the full force of the 75,000-horsepower vessel. With its steel-reinforced prow and submerged ‘ice-tooth’, Victory carves through the pack ice with rumbles, creaks and deafening explosions. At dinner, wine bottles take a tumble and walking around the ship is a hazardous undertaking. But it’s worth it, because before long you’re watching polar bears and walruses in the wild. In just one short week Victory reaches the Pole. It’s hard to believe we’ve made it but the GPS says 90-00-000 N, so there’s no further to go. Standing on a thin membrane of moving ice, with 13,000 feet of sea beneath me, is a strange feeling, but it’s not as odd as taking a short hike around the Pole itself, crossing every time zone. “I’ve just walked around the world in five minutes!” shouts one excited passenger, and that’s nowhere near as bizarre as knowing that whichever way you look, you’re facing south.
On his trips, Nick Smith travelled to the North Pole with www.exodus.co.uk and to the Antarctic Peninsular with www.worldexpeditions.co.uk
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regulars 9 editor’s letter
65 sport
15 watches & jewellery
83 travel
A First Bite of the Big Apple
39 fashion
93 food & drink
Richard Brown tests the theory that New York
49 health & beauty
96 the directory
never sleeps
53 interiors
99 property
connoisseur 84
Enjoy the ultimate polar experience… the easy way. Anyone who thinks that travelling to the Polar Regions can’t be done in style and comfort should think again. Nick Smith sailed to both ends of the earth to prove this theory
HEADING NORTH
Nick Smith travels to the Polar Regions in style
calibre