Blog

Dec

Escape the office

The Sukosol, Bangkok

Be it shopping, flopping by the pool, an island sojourn or a city break, the neighbours can assist.

Thailand

Go for the food, people and direct flights to Bangkok and Phuket. The newest hotel in Bangkok, The Sukosol, is celebrating flinging open its doors with happy-hour cocktails, free dinner at its restaurant, Patummat, late checkout and wi-fi. Choose a Club Siam deluxe room and save $120 on stays until March 30. Costs from $320 for two nights. +66 0 2247 0123, sukosolhotels.com.

Koh Samui, on the Gulf of Thailand, can be reached from Bangkok, Singapore, Phuket or Pattaya. Book a two-night Escape to Samui package in the top-of-the-line sanctuary pool villa at the Banyan Tree Samui and save on the best rate. You’ll get a set dinner at the Banyan’s Saffron restaurant, hydrotherapy sessions for two, a honey and milk bath, daily breakfast and transfers. Costs from 82,150 baht ($2560) a villa, which sleeps four, for two-night stays until March 31. 1800 050 019, banyantree.com.

Trisara, a resort about 15 minutes’ drive from Phuket’s airport, is where eight people can stay in a four-bedroom ocean-front suite with chef, butler and driver, food and beverages, transfers and unlimited spa treatments. There’s a helicopter tour over Phuket and a day’s sailing on a private yacht through the beautiful Phan Nga Bay, too. Available until April 30. Costs from $25,110 for eight people for two nights. +66 76 310 100, trisara.com.

Fiji

Jean-Michele Cousteau Resort

Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort is set on the northern island of Vanua Levu. The resident marine biologist will help you explore the beauty of Fiji’s underwater world on snorkelling trips, night dives and seashore walks. Stay six nights, pay for four in a garden-view bure, and receive six dives and three massages as well. Bures can accommodate up to two adults and two children under 13. The package includes all meals and the resort has a kids’ club. Save $3110 on stays from now until December 21 and January 7-March 31. Costs from $4296 for six nights. 1300 306 171, fijiresort.com.

Likuliku Lagoon Resort, voted Fiji’s top resort this year, is modelled on a traditional village – if villages had over-water bures, plunge pools and private bathing pavilions. Stay five nights and get the sixth night free, until March 31. Costs from $2271 a person. +679 672 0978, likulikulagoon.com. *Please note: Likuliku Lagoon Resort was badly damaged by Cyclone Evan and will not be reopening until March 2013.

Samoa

Sinalei Reef Resort and Spa has a 30 per cent discount on seven-night stays, with breakfast and a massage thrown in, if booked by December 25 for travel until March 31. Samoa is heading into the rainy season. Costs from $1666 a villa. +685 25191, sinalei.com.

Phuket, Thailand

Cook Islands

The Little Polynesian Resort in Rarotonga is the place from which to throw your watch into the turquoise waters and relax. The resort’s ares (villas) are by the beach and usually cost from $460 a night. Stay three nights, pay for two, if booked by December 10 for travel until May 31 (excludes stays from December 21 to January 13). Costs from $920 for three nights. +682 24280, littlepolynesian.com.

Bali

Villa Kubu is down a quiet gang (laneway) in the heart of Seminyak. Stay four nights, pay for three, or stay seven nights and pay for five, until March 15 (excluding December 15- January 8). Costs from $US245 ($235) a night for a one-bedroom villa with a plunge pool. +62 361 738 905, villakubu.com.

Hawaii

The Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa. Stay each fourth night for free, with free daily breakfast, when booking the hotel’s Sunshine on Sale deal (excludes December 26- January 4). Costs from $US1035 for four nights. 13 12 34, waikiki.hyatt.com.

Vanuatu

The Warwick Le Lagon resort in Port Vila has a four-night deal. The package includes return economy airfares with Air Vanuatu, breakfast and spa discounts. Book now for travel until December 14, or from January 16 to March 13. Costs from $1445 a person, twin share. 13 13 81, holidayspecialists.com.au.

Japan

Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka are on the itinerary of a seven-day Raw Japan tour that usually costs from $1520 a person, twin share. Book by December 31 for a January 20 departure into Japan’s rather chilly winter and the tour costs from $1064 a person. Tour begins and ends in Tokyo and includes taking the Shinkansen bullet train to Kyoto and two days spent in Osaka. 1300 791 485,geckosadventures.com.

Malaysia

The Hard Rock Hotel, on Batu Ferringhi beach on the resort island of Penang, has 250 rooms, wi-fi, iPod docks, CD and DVD players and satellite TV. The hotel also has a kids’ club and club for teenagers, pool, spa and gym. Batu Ferringhi hosts a lively night market, is a popular site for parasailing and windsurfing, and has street eats and upscale dining venues aplenty. The Hard Rock’s Rockin’ Internet Deal is a discount of up to 40 per cent on the standard room rate. Costs from $167 a night. penang.hardrockhotels.net.

Hong Kong

One of the hottest shopping destinations on the planet, Hong Kong is on the boil, while little sister, Macau, makes for a perfect side trip. The Mandarin Oriental’s Christmas Extravaganza package includes a two-night stay in the oriental presidential suite at its second-tier hotel, The Excelsior, and a third night free at the Mandarin Oriental, Macau. Includes massages, transfers, champagne and hampers, gift cards and bathrobes. Normally $9753, save up to 35 per cent when staying between December 20 and January 1. Costs $7173 for three nights. 1800 123 693, mandarinoriental.com.

Sri Lanka

Deep inside, you’re a surf goddess and yoga goddess, too. If in doubt, head to Sri Lanka to make it happen. Surf Goddess Retreats is running two eight-day programs (from January 4 to 11 and January 14-21) that include daily yoga sessions, surf lessons, all equipment, six hours of spa treatments, cultural exploration, accommodation and meals. Costs $US2595 a person, save $US500. The retreat’s villa is near Unawatuna, about five kilometres south of Galle on Sri Lanka’s south-western tip, and is a short tuk-tuk ride from several beaches (for beginner surfers) and reef breaks (for advanced surfers). Galle Harbour was the island’s key southern entry point, and its fort, built by Portuguese and then Dutch colonisers in the 16th and 17th centuries, is a World Heritage site.surfgoddessretreats.com/srilanka.

Nepal

You’ll rarely be outdone in, say, a dinner party conversation when you say you spent the Christmas break trekking remote mountain paths, crossing glaciers, traversing valleys and climbing passes to arrive at Everest Base Camp. This 15-day journey begins and ends in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, and includes a flight to Lukla, before participants trek between teahouses and monasteries to the base camp. Save $216 if booked by December 24 for travel on December 29. Costs $1219. Maximum group size is 12, minimum age of trekkers is 16 and accommodation includes 12 nights spent at teahouses. 1300 018 871, intrepidtravel.com.

Source: Belinda Jackson, Sun Herald

Dec

Wheels of fire and ice in Gippsland’s great bike ride 2012

www.bicyclenetwork.com.au

Gippsland was on high alert this weekend – and we’re not talking gale-force winds or the opening of Wonthaggi Plaza (which saw traffic congestion at 8am today).

No, it was the 29th RACV Great Victorian Bike Ride.

The ride is an annual event that moves around the state, with cyclists spending eight days in the saddle. The 2012 route went from Lakes Entrance in the far east to finish at Philip Island, a total of 591km. So I scrubbed up the bike and joined for the idyllic stretch from Inverloch through Cape Paterson to Dayleston.

There were roughly 4000 cyclists on the road, with 350 volunteers and 150 support staff, from medics on motorbikes to marshals on foot, bike mechanics on call and WAMRBYs (We Are Right Behind You), super-fit cyclists trouble-shooting in the pack, fixing bikes and calling the sag wagon, which relieves weary riders of their bikes, to whisk them off to camp for some R&R.

The stats men tell me there were 40 semitrailers lugging showers, loos and the 3000 tents that were put up each night (though you can opt for the motel option), not to mention the food: we’re talking 30,000 bananas, 12,500 apples, 1800 kg of rice and 40,000 bread rolls. No surprise when you saw the school groups go past. There were the nice girls of Geelong Grammar (extremely well trained and terribly obedient, to the road marshals’ delight), groups from the high schools from the cycling-mad Mornington peninsula, even a team from an inner-city Melbourne primary and a bunch of Western Desert kids from Wiltja, a part of Woodville High School in Adelaide. There were kids riding tandem behind their dads, even a few in little wagons behind their cycling parents.

That’s not to say it’s a children’s affair. There were plenty of MAMLs (Middle-Aged Men in Lycra) and I spotted a police bike squad. The speed freaks were reputed to have left shortly after dawn each day, finishing the day’s course by 11am, with plenty of time to shoot espressos and discover Gippsland’s villages, such as pretty Mirboo North and seaside San Remo. There was another gang who stopped for two pots in each pub, and stat-trackers bent on beating their personal bests. The oldest rider clocked in at 85 years, the youngest at 15 months.

The day I joined was sunny and bright, with a headwind. Naturally, it was the first wind the riders had encountered the entire journey. But no complaints; the pack had cycled on the day it hit 39 degrees in Melbourne, yet hundreds had been carted off in the sag wagon while turning blue from the cold as they crossed the Grand Ridge.

A medic told me the key is to pack for all weathers – not just shorts and light jerseys, but arm warmers, wet-weather jackets and boot socks are key essentials.

The ride has been going 29 years. Next year, the 30th ride will go the classic route, 610 km along the Great Ocean Road, through the Otways, past the Twelve Apostles, and along Lorne, Torquay and the iconic Bells Beach, starting from Mt Gambier in South Australia to finish in Geelong. They’ve capped the riders at 6000, which will sell out quickly when tickets are on sale in May 2013.

If you don’t have a week free, you can do the 3 Day RACV Great Vic Getaway from Gellibrand to Geelong or the 1 Day RACV Great Vic Community Ride from Torquay to Geelong.

The RACV Great Victorian Bike Ride 2013
Saturday 23 November – Sunday 1 December 2013

Ride Facts: · Entries open in May 2013 (limited to 5000 9 day, 800 3 day and 200 1 day tickets)
· The nine-day ride is a fully catered, tent-based holiday. There is extensive back up including luggage transport, a licensed cafe under canvas, massage, full medical team, and bicycle repair facilities.

More information: greatvic.com.au
Twitter: #GreatVic

Dec

Places in the Heart: Pat Rafter

Forget lounging by the pool: tennis champion Pat Rafter’s holidays are action-packed adventures on Sunshine Coast beaches and in the hinterland.

My family moved to the Sunshine Coast from Mount Isa when I was eight. I’m one of nine kids, and someone was always playing sport at weekends, so we just had little adventures, such as going camping, and we were always big swimmers.

When we lived in Mt Isa, we’d drive to Sydney, stopping at beach caravan parks along the way.

From about age 10, I got right into tennis, which pretty much takes over your life. I travel overseas two or three times a year, but I don’t feel the need to go anywhere else when I’ve got time off. When I’m away, I want to go home, for the surfing, golf and beaches. My home is right on the beach and I love it.

I’m a really active person: a holiday is not piña coladas and reading a book. I try to exercise a couple of times a day and I go for a surf first thing.

I took up surfing for a bit of fun after I finished my tennis career. I’ve got a mountain bike and there are great tracks in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. It’s pretty full on. I fall off — I’m bloody hopeless.

I go hard and do all the adventures with my kids, teaching them new skills such as kayaking or exploring marine life. The kids swim and surf, and they’re in the local nippers club — they’re living one big holiday. Hey, the kids have got it easy!

They’ll say, “I don’t want to go down to the beach.” That’s the way kids are.

You just tell them, “Put your shoes on and put your hat on.” And they get on the beach and have a ball.

– Interview: Belinda Jackson. Source: Good Weekend

Dec

Animal antics in Africa and Adelaide: travel deals 25 November 2012

Discover the Way of the Panda in Adelaide, go gorilla-tastic in Africa, or hitch a ride on a camel in Broome in this week’s best international and domestic travel deals.

TASMANIA

Stepping into summer, it’s shaping up as peak walking
time for Tasmania’s hills and mountains. Yes, you can camp, but it’s so much
nicer to fall into a hot tub after a day trekking the highlands. Cradle
Mountain Chateau is knocking its rates almost in half until December 20, quote
booking code ‘PT004’. Normally from $105 a person, costs from $65 a person. 1800
420 155 www.puretasmania.com.au

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL
TERRITORY

Canberra celebrates its centenary in 2013, with a
year-long calendar of events, with indigenous cultural explorations, art
exhibitions and sporting face-offs, canberra100.com.au. Stay at the 4½-star Pavilion on
Northbourne in a deluxe room with the
big buffet brekky, and save up to $286 a night. Valid for stays until February
2013, quote ‘Canberra Sale Special’. Costs from $140 a night. 1300 88 7979, wotif.com/hotelW6953.

WESTERN
AUSTRALIA

Where else can you ride a camel along the beach but
in Broome? Soak up that golden WA sun on Cable Beach and save up to 30 per cent
off your room at the 4.5-star Oaks Cable Beach Sanctuary, curled around a
lagoon-style swimming pool. Book by November 30 for travel until April 30,
2013. Costs from $139 a night for two in a studio room or stay five and save 40
per cent, from $595 for five nights. 1300 888 180, zuji.com.au.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Let Wang Wang and Funi show you ‘The Way of the Panda.’
Adelaide Zoo’s two pandas are one of the city’s great drawcards for kids and
adults, set in eight hectares of botanic gardens. The zoo is a pleasant walk
(ok, five minutes in a cab) to BreakFree Adelaide, in Hindley St, which is offering
the fourth night free for families who stay three nights in a two-bed apartment
until March 27, 2013. On top of that, stay before January 18, 2013, get a
two-for-one Gray Line Barossa Valley tour. Costs from $615 for three nights. 132 007, breakfree.com.au.

VICTORIA

The few weeks before Christmas is when bargain hunters
slip in a sneaky getaway: take San Remo,
for example. Just over an hour south of Melbourne, the sleepy town is
the gateway for Phillip Island, and the place for fish and chips on empty,
windswept beaches, visiting tiny cellar doors and shopping the weekend produce
markets. Stay two nights, get 10 per cent off, or stay three or more and get 20
per cent off at Silverwater Resort on stays until December 20 quote code
‘Santa12’. Costs from $278 a room, for two nights. 1800 033 403,
silverwaterresort.com.au

TRANS-AUSTRALIA

It’s time to break out the iconic Aussie songs,
Gangagang’s ‘Sounds of Then (This is
Australia)’ and
of course Icehouse’s ‘Great Southern Land’ – you come over all patriotic when
you’re crossing our country’s Red Centre.
Save up to $611pp on The Ghan, travelling from Adelaide
to Darwin or vice versa. Book before December 24 for travel until March 31,
2013. Was $2116, costs from $1505 a person, Gold Service, and was $3210, now
$2259 a person, Platinum Service. 13 21 47, greatsouthernrail.com.au.

The Dipan Resort Villa & Spa, Seminyak, Bali

BALI

Seminyak is
Bali’s hip and beating heart, with the best boutiques, bars, spas and
restaurants on the island. Stay in The Dipan Resort Villa and Spa, a
22-suite hotel in the pinnacle of Seminyak hip, Petitenget, for half the price,
but still get breakfast, wi-fi and a welcome massage. Stay four night and get a
dinner in the resort restaurant as well. Book now for travel until July 3,
2013. Costs from $130 a night in a hotel room, or $241 a night in a one-bedroom
villa. 1300 85 95 65, cantikbalivillas.com.

Flamingoes on Lake Nakuru, Kenya.

KENYA

Kids travel free
when they’re with two adults on an eight-day Kenya Highlights package. Each
couple can have one child under 12, who stays in the same accommodation and the
deal includes all meals and sightseeing. Highlights include meeting the Maasai
and the masses of flamingos on Lake Nakuru. Costs from $1895 a person, twin share.
1300 195 873, benchinternational.com.au.

CHILE & ARGENTINA

With a BMW F650 GS between your legs and the panorama of
snow-capped volcanos before you, is there any more beautiful place in the world
than the Andes? This nine-day tour by road bike starts and ends in Santiago and
covers 2100km, travelling south into Patagonia, where you cross the Andes to
Argentina and beautiful Bariloche. Compass Expeditions is offering US$800 off
for the rider and $400 for co-riders. Tour departs 28 December, 2012. Includes
bike hire, fuel and 10 nights’ accommodation. Costs from $3490, $2190 for
pillion. 1300 887 327, compassexpeditions.com.

AFRICA

Spend 20 days visiting the gorillas of Africa in some of
the continent’s most spectacular scenery, including Masai Mara, Victoria Falls
and Tanzania’s Lake Manyara and the Serengeti. There’s mountain gorilla
trekking in Rwanda, game drives, a boma dining experience beneath the
stars. Travel Associates is offering one free return economy flight with South
African Airways when two people book together. Book by December 31 for travel
on May 31, 2013, includes all internal flights and up to eight game park
drives. Costs from $16595 a person, twin share. 1800 044 066, travel-associates.com.au

TOURWATCH: SWEDEN

The low Swedish coastline was surely designed for
kayaking, and the new West Coast Sweden: Bohuslän Archipelago journey with
Southern Sea Ventures is a girl’s or boy’s own adventure writ large. The
itinerary includes beach camping and stays in snug lodges, paddling through
thousands of granite islands while observed by seals and seagulls. You’ll be
led by Swedish seakayaker Ulrika Larsson, who started her paddling career in
the Stockholm archipelago and has paddled the Swedish coastline solo. The
10-day trip includes eight days’ kayaking, and has a moderate grading, so some
paddling experience is necessary, and it helps if you’ve seen the inside of a
tent before. Departs August 25, 2013 from Gothenburg, in southern Sweden, and
includes all kayaking equipment. Costs from $2250 a person. (02) 8901 3287, southernseaventures.com.

Source: Belinda Jackson, Sun Herald

Dec

Home of the island gods

Candi Kuning temple at Lake Bratan, Tabanan. Photo: Getty Images

Belinda Jackson swaps the noisy demands of the south for a slice of serenity amid temples and hillside rice terraces.

The main road through the beautiful Balinese village is blocked by a parade of about 100 people, led by women in glittering costumes bearing offerings on their heads and men playing percussion instruments.

It’s a pretty event, and I wind down the window of my car and take plenty of pretty photographs. Everyone smiles and waves.

They’re happy, I’m happy.

Eventually, the parade is over and we start on our way again. “What’s the occasion? I ask my guide, Nata.

“It’s a cremation ceremony,” he explains, still smiling.

There are 17,508 islands in the Indonesian archipelago and we all go to just one, Bali. But while southern Bali heaves and pumps, there is a slice of serenity less than an hour’s drive west of the choked roads of Denpasar, in the Tabanan regency, as “states” are known in Bali.

Tabanan is a quiet state of farmers and royal dwellings, the rice bowl of Bali, and famed for its traditional dancers and plays. It’s also home of the extremely well-loved sea temple, Pura Tanah Lot and, blending rusticity with glamour, Alila Villas Soori hotel, which is set between the ocean and rice paddies.

Jatiluwih in northern Tabanan is the site of Bali’s famous terraced hillsides of rice fields that recently made the UNESCO World Heritage list, but there are plenty of examples of the traditional farming techniques in the south of the regency.

There’s no need to ask the driver to slow down so I can photograph the terraces; we’re inching between a string of potholes masquerading as the road. Nata snaps photos to send off to the government to plead for repairs.

“It would normally take about 15 minutes to drive from Tanah Lot to the hotel, but we allow about 45 minutes,” he says, as we lurch, teeth crunching, into yet another crater.

Fighting cocks ready for action.

On either side of us, field workers wearing their caping – conical hats made from leaves or grass – bend down to tend their muddy rice paddies. The fields are dotted with little shrines and Mount Batur is just visible through the haze.

The villas of Alila Villas Soori overlook either the rice paddies or face a black-sand beach, where tourists ride sedately trotting ponies. A local zips past on the wide beach, the noise of the old motorbike’s engine dwarfed by the rolling surf. It’s not a swimming beach, it’s a beach for dipping your toes, walking along and admiring from the comfort of an overstuffed sofa, with a large tropical drink in hand.

Alila is a home-grown success story, an Indonesian-owned group whose Uluwatu property has cleaned up the world’s architecture awards and a new Seminyak hotel is in the making.

We check into our villa, guided by our host Iyu, and head straight back out for a sunset dinner on a platform jutting out towards the ocean.

If you’re up for action, hunting for the next club, this is not the hotel for you. In fact, you may even rule out the entire regency.

“Why would you go to Tabanan?” a smug Ubud resident asks. “You get there, then there’s nothing to do.” I guess it depends on who you’re there with.

The hotel is buzzing with a large wedding, and darkened corners are the scene of much hand-holding and long gazes. There are also a few families with small children who are being cooed over by the staff.

The night is quiet, save for the crash of the surf, and the next morning we’re up with the sun. The full-length windows of the villa open out to the ocean and our pool, so it’s with great delight that I jump from the lounge room into the water for a frolic before breakfast is served in our cabana.

I enjoy fresh tropical juices, beautiful eggs hollandaise and, to end, a petite, perfectly chewy almond croissant with a cup of kopi luwak, Bali’s famed “civet coffee”. You know the one: Where the beans have been eaten by a small mammal, passed through their digestive tracts and popped out the other end, where they’re collected, dried and ground to make an oh, so smooth coffee. You just have to banish the idea of civet poo from your mind while you’re enjoying your cuppa.

Today, I’ll journey with the gods, through a few of Bali’s 20,000 temples (puras), with Nata as my guide. He is dressed in a white-collared shirt, a sarong over his trousers and a udeng – a cloth – knotted around his head. A woman ties a cotton sarong over my trousers, and we are declared suitably dressed to visit the temples.

Nata at Pura Timan Agung

Pura Penarukan is the main temple in the nearby village of Penarukan and, unusually, the three deities are all here – Vishnu, Brahma, Shiva: the creator, the preserver, the destroyer. We cleanse our hands with fragrant incense smoke, wave a flower through the incense and hold it in cupped hands, tearing off a small piece that we tuck behind the right ear. Three times the temple’s priest pours water into our hands, and three times we sip it, then splash a few drops on our heads. We place a few grains of uncooked rice on our forehead and at the base of our throats, where they stick as though glued, and leave an offering at a shrine.

The canang sari is an offering of fruit, flowers and food, with fire from the incense stick and water, the universal symbol of life, sprinkled on top. Rice signifies life and prosperity.

“We consider rice as a goddess,” Nata says. Dewi Sri is the goddess of rice, “padi” is the name for unhulled rice, “baras” is uncooked rice and “nasi” (think nasi goreng) is cooked rice.

“You have only one word for rice, yes?” he asks, looking at me sorrowfully. I struggle to think what we Australians have a multiplicity of words for: tax?

Back in the four-wheel-drive, we weave through the regency to five temples. It’s only the ornate stone gates that indicate where one village ends and the next one starts. The roadsides are lined with upside-down woven baskets covering roosters, ready for a bout of cock-fighting. “They’re fed a special diet of vitamins, eel, slugs, corn and beef,” Nata says.

Each village we pass has its own speciality: Penarukan for its stone and timber sculptures, Kerambitan for is its magical tektekan orchestra and 17th-century palaces that line the main road that runs through the town. Pejaten is best known for its ceramics and terracotta tiles, and the village is dominated by mountains of coconut shells, which fuel the flames to fire the tiles. The rich orange afternoon sun spills over a busy courtyard where newly pressed roof tiles are laid out on the earth.

At Kelating, the village is preparing for temple celebrations, and the local orchestra has its instruments unpacked and ready. Some gongs are more than 100 years old, their metal notes scarred and aged, and the men sit among them, cross-legged, barefoot and smoking.

If you thought Tabanan was all country roads and quiet villages, you’d be forgetting two of its biggest temples – Pura Alas Kedaton and Pura Tanah Lot – which are also two of Bali’s biggest drawcards. Alas Kedaton sits alongside a state forest dripping with monkeys. To get into the hugely popular temple, you run the gamut of souvenir-sellers who double as guides: there’s no getting around it – no guide, no go to the monkeys.

After the shops, you pass a bat show, where you can hold a furry little fruit bat by the tips of its wings, if that takes your fancy. The demo bat looks bored, and I bypass it to see the temple guardians. From every tree, dozens of sets of eyes stare out at us. Fangs, tails, eyes and limbs – all are working overtime. Tiny babies cling to their mothers while bullish teens box each other and try, with fairly serious intent, to get a leg over. They’re draped over the temple’s stupas, and scamper along its walls.

Equally mobbed by the crowds, Pura Tanah Lot, on Tabanan’s coastline, is the classic case of having been loved too well. Come sunset, it is besieged by sightseers waiting to catch the sun setting over the island temple, which is linked to the mainland by a small isthmus. The walk down to the water is fraught with decisions: Hold a snake? Eat suckling pig? Buy plastic frangipani hairclips? Spiritual, it is not.

The last stop of the day is an anathema to the crowd-pullers – it’s a simple temple five minutes’ walk along the beach from my hotel. Nata tells the story of a journeyman whose body was stolen by evil spirits on this beautiful headland. His brother built Pura Timan Agung to protect future travellers, and his descendants, from the faraway village of Pandak, still care for the pura today.

The views are every bit as dramatic as those at Tanah Lot, but we are alone on the headland. The beach ponies are in their stables, the farmers have gone home; there’s just the thunder of the surf and the call of the night birds. A black-and-white temple cloth flutters and a yellow parasol twirls as the night air rises and the little temple casts a shadow as the sun dips down over the ocean.

The gods are resting and the south Balinese coastline disappears into the sea spray and sunset.

FAST FACTS

Getting there Garuda has a fare to Denpasar from Sydney and Melbourne for about $950 low-season return, including tax. Fly non-stop from Sydney (6hr 25min) and from Melbourne (6hr 10min); see garuda-indonesia.com. Virgin Australia and Jetstar also fly from both Sydney and Melbourne. Australians need a visa for a stay of up to 30 days; obtained on arrival for $US25 ($24).

Getting around The one-day Journey of the Gods costs $106 a person, including lunch, transport and guide, alilahotels.com.

Staying there Alila Villas Soori has 44 villas, including a 10-bedroom residence. A member of Design Hotels, it costs from $US510 plus taxes for a beach pool villa, alilahotels.com.

Belinda Jackson was a guest of Alila Villas Soori.

Nov

You can can can in Canberra: travel deals 18 November 2012

The Toulouse-Lautrec exhibition opens
14 December, Canberra

You can can can in Canberra, oh yes you can. You can also go ethical in Melbourne’s Fed Square or go camel, houseboat or rickshaw riding in India, in this week’s international and Australian travel deals.

VICTORIA

Love it or hate it, Melbourne’s Federation Square is the
city’s centre. Check out Australia’s largest fair-trade and ethical festival,
Fair@Square, from November 30-December 2, then discover the world beyond the Square with a
Laneways of Melbourne tour. You’ll find tiny galleries, boutiques and some of
the world’s best street art, and snack along the way. The tour includes
chocolate, lunch and a goodies bag. Normally $69 a person, costs from $49 a
person until December 31, 2013 (excluding public holidays). 0407380969, meltours.com.au

TASMANIA

Eat regional food, breathe pure air: where else but our
own Tassie? Upcoming attractions on the island include the makeover of the
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery and MONA FOMA, the music and art festival
curated by Brian Ritchie (ex Violent Femmes) from January 16-20, 2013. The
4-star Mercure Hadleys Hobart hotel is in the centre of the city, a National
Trust-listed building that dates from 1834. Book until November 30 for stays
until March 31, 2013. Costs from $112 a night. 1300 888 180, zuji.com.au .

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

Work your frou-frou when the Moulin Rouge comes to
Canberra, at the National Gallery of Australia’s Toulouse-Lautrec
exhibition, which opens 14 December. French artist Henri de
Toulouse-Lautrec painted the seamy side of fin
de siecle Paris – and we’re not talking just stocking seams here. Stay at
the Mantra on Northbourne from December 14 – January 31, 2013 and they’ll
include the breakfast buffet and two adult tickets to the exhibition. Costs
from $199 until January 31, 131 517, mantra.com.au.

NSW

Concert goers and NRL
fiends have a new pad to stay at when they attend events at Sydney’s Olympic
Park with the opening of the new 4.5-star Quest at Sydney Olympic Park, which
has 140 studios, one, two and three bedroom options. Each has a fully equipped
kitchen and laundry, there’s an on-site gym and local restaurants are happy to
charge back to the hotel. Normally from $349 a night for a studio apartment,
snap up an opening rate until November 30 from $219. 1300 334 033, questatsydneyolympicpark.com.au.

QUEENSLAND

The Sunshine Coast hinterland is a hotbed of galleries,
cafes and boutique food, best discovered from the town of Montville. Stay three
nights at the couples-only 4.5-star Falls Rainforest Spa cottage, pay for just
two. You’ll also get a bottle of sparkling wine and cheese on arrival, as well
as breakfast daily, on stays until March 25, 2013 (Monday-Thursday, excludes
Christmas). Costs from $279 a person, twin share, three nights. 1800 044 066, travel-associates.com.au.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Perth marks the start of a tour of southern WA, through
Margaret River down to Cape Leeuwin lighthouse, Albany and Esperance before
turning inland to pan for gold and oogle Kalgoorlie’s Golden Superpit. The 9-day
Southern Wonders tour includes lunch showcasing the best indigenous ingredients
at Palandri winery and takes time to stop and smell the wildflowers. Save up to
$150 a person when you book and pay for six months in advance. Costs from $3009
a person, 1300 228 546, aatkings.com.au.

MACAU

Currently enjoying a hotel boom, Macau is great for a
flutter, and is also ramping up its cultural gems and family entertainment. Stay
in a deluxe king room at the new Conrad Macao, in Cotai Central, and get either
a room upgrade to a deluxe suite or a complementary buffet breakfast – featuring Portuguese-inspired Macanese
cuisine – for each night of your stay. Costs from $236 a night. +853 8113 6055,
conradmacao.com.

FRANCE
The French Riviera hotspot of Cannes has been the star of the show, with
its film festival luring A-listers for decades. Fittingly, the InterContinental
Carlton Cannes hotels’ 39 suites are named after stars including Sean Connery,
Grace Kelly and Sharon Stone. The Belle Epoque hotel now turns 100 and the
hotel is having a party until March 31, 2013. Normally from $252, costs from $215
a night. 1800 007 697, ichotelsgroup.com.

FIJI

Sonaisali Island Resort, Fiji.

Schoolies alert! Sonaisali Island Resort is staging what
it describes as the ultimate schoolies week, with seven-night packages at half
price. The island has been chartered exclusively for schools for two weeks,
starting December 4 and December 11, and packages include return airfares,
transfers, all meals, activities, and nightly entertainment including DJs and
themed parties. There is extra security and an experienced crew who will meet
you at the airport, just 25 minutes away, and be on hand 24 hours a day. Save
$1000, costs from $999 a person. 1800 981 320, unleasedschoolies.com.au

THAILAND

The holistic heaven of Thailand is encapsulated in the
luxury health resort Chiva-Som, which is luring lovers of spa lusciousness with
bonus treatments between December 1-19. Stay five nights, receive seven spa
treatments, stay seven, get 10 treatments at the much-awarded resort, located
in Hua Hin, 185km south of Bangkok. Costs from $3400 a person, five nights.
1300 857 437, traveltheworld.com.au.

INDIA

Travel by camel in Shekhawati, by luxury houseboat on
Kerala’s backwaters, and by rickshaw in Jaipur on the 23-day Colours of
Mystical India tour. Journey through the southern states of Tamil Nadu and
Kerala, discovering the historic tradition maritime town of Kochi and the
French flavour of Pondicherry before heading north to Rajasthan, Delhi and
Agra. Book before March 31, 2013 and get free return flights to India with
Singapore Airlines. Costs from $12,995 a person, twin share. 1300 723 642,
scenictours.com.

TOURWATCH

Step into an unexplored world, just 500km north of
Australia, into West Timor. This new 14-day walking tour launches from Denpasar,
Bali, flying in to the West Timor capital, Kupang. Local guides will lead you
to old Dutch hill stations, markets and traditional farms, staying in local
hotels or thatch and bamboo homes in the villages, including, in one instance,
the royal family compound. The journey takes you from tropical beaches to
mountain villages, and local host Will Kadati helps with interactive
discussions with the West Timorese. Suitable for medium-level walkers, the trip
includes two days’ walking to the Biboki kingdom, discovering each region’s
unique textiles and crafts, cuisine and religions. Departs June 28, 2013. Costs
from $2865, per person, twin share, ex-Denpasar. 1300 783 188,
activetravel.com.au.

Source: Belinda Jackson, Sun Herald newspaper

Nov

The art of relaxation: Noosa

Flat out in Noosa, Qld

When we’d talked
about a girls’ weekend away, the plans were laid for lovely spas, lazy brekkies
and dips in Noosa’s warm waters. I hadn’t factored in toads or fisticuffs
but, hey, I’m flexible.

Girlfriend Mel and
I pile way too much luggage for three days into a lipstick-red Kingswood
V6 hire car at Maroochydore airport and hit the road, ready for beaches, art
classes and too much eating.

The roads are slick with rain, and you know you’re
in Queensland when you feel that special sensation beneath the wheels: the
popping of cane toads. It’s deeply satisfying to know we’re doing our bit for
the environment.

The deadly sins of
greed and sloth are not the only thing egging us on down the road. What is it
about the locals? Are they taught hairpin-bend-tailgating at school? I take a
leaf out of my grandmother’s book of driving and wind down my window to shake
my fist at a woman who glues herself to the Kingswood’s backside as we wind
uphill through dark, damp rainforests into the Sunshine Coast hinterland, for a
day of art and spa at the Natural Beauty Retreat.

Eating at XO

The hamlet of
Dulong is where Tina Rossiter has set up a series of art-meets-spa days. It
sounds delicious: a small group meets to paint and, in between, each artist is
whisked off for a facial.

It’s been years
since most of us wielded a brush, but Sabine, a willowy blonde Austrian and a
successful artist in her own right, has photocopied photographs of nudes that
we will draw freehand with charcoal, then transfer on to the canvas to paint
with acrylics.

At Tina’s sprawling
house, our easels are set up on the deck overlooking a pool and Balinese hut
lined with absurdly green palms and bamboo, which kookaburras flit between.
Occasionally, rain drums on the corrugated iron roof, and Sabine sets about
coaxing out our inner berets.

As we work away, Tina steals us away, one by one.
Each lucky girl emerges smiling and fresh-faced, smelling of Tina’s luxurious,
organic, handmade cosmetics following a relaxing facial, with hand and feet
massages for good measure.

By the end of the
day, I’ve painted what obviously is a masterpiece, my take on a photograph
reminiscent of Max Dupain’s Sunbaker, while Mel’s saucy girl should be snapped
up by Sotheby’s soon.

The drive back down
to Noosa is spent window shopping: we could buy local honey, bags of avocados
for $2, get a psychic reading or purchase a pure-bred droughtmaster bull from
$1100. Funds permitting, we could buy an entire hobby farm, such is the
diversity of the handmade signs. Roadside commerce is thriving in this neck of
the woods, even though the Sunshine Coast has more roundabouts than Canberra.

Noosa Main Beach

Our bed for the
night is the Outrigger in Noosa, which recently opened new villas and
penthouses. It’s not to be confused with an older property in the Noosa area
that snagged the Outrigger name some years ago. This is the real deal of the
Hawaiian resort group: a five-star, $300 million resort with 197 suites, villas
and penthouses, three pools and all the trimmings, from gym to sauna,
conference facilities and, of course, the Brisbane institution Stephanies Spa,
which has hung its plaque here.

Stephanies Ocean
Spa is one of those places you wish you could transplant into your bathroom –
coastal scents and zen music that doesn’t sound corny. Despite the name, there
are no coastal views but the flotation tank looks out on to a wall of
rainforest, so Mel and I strip to bikinis and spend an hour letting go, as the
salt water buoys us in the closest approximation to an Aussie Dead Sea. It is
deeply weird, as we keep bumping into each other, like ships in the night, in
the long pool. A therapist later tells me that when you are truly relaxed, you
stop sailing about, and one hour equates to a night’s deep sleep.

The Outrigger is
set in the rainforest just above Noosa’s happening Hastings Street, with its
Italian fine-dining restaurant Berardo’s, but Noosaville’s where it’s at for
new food, and we head there for dinner the next two nights. The old River
House, former home of Sunshine Coast chef David Rayner, has been revived as the
River Cottage Restaurant, where the spanner crab risotto is legendary and degustations
are on the menu.

David himself has
moved around the corner to Thomas Corner Eatery. A hot tip: skip the meaty
mains and order up big on the entrees to share – charcoal-grilled octopus,
Moreton Bay bugs, clams and pork and rabbit rillettes, which our French waiter
says are “better than the French ones”. Oh, and ask for table No. 20,
the garden table set apart from the masses, which backs onto a wall of ferns,
with great street and kitchen views. Sitting at the high bar tables or the shared
timber tables, we spot plenty of thongs and shorts on show in the open-air
restaurant, which is flat-chat doling out Bowen mango daiquiris and limoncello
cocktails.

Outrigger Litle Hastings St Resort, Noosa

If I’d had the time
and ability, I’d have eaten yet more spanner crab at Pitchfork in the
jam-packed Peregian Beach shops, and followed with lycheetinis at Embassy XO’s
secretive, glam little upstairs bar in nearby Sunshine Beach after a good
rummage through the chic shops. Then I would have sampled the Franco-Thai
bistro menu at Gaston (50 Hastings Street) or headed down to Q Place, a new
food precinct led by Noosa staple Rickys and Japanese eatery Wasabi, formerly
of Sunshine Beach, now with a fabulous water view and wearing a hat, thanks to
the new Queensland Good Food Guide.

The last we can
manage is a pre-flight morning coffee at Aromas cafe on Hastings Street.
“Soooooo Noosa, darling,” says the friend who tips me off about the
cafe, with its menus designed by beloved Brisbane chef Philip Johnson. “We
all sit in the European-style tables on the footpath and see who’s in
town.”

Let me tell you
who’s in town: massive brush turkeys, who perch on the backs of the seats,
preening themselves ’til the staff chase them away with fluttering dishcloths.
They’re a bit wild, a bit vain, very cheeky and they know the best table in
town – that’s Noosa in a nutshell.

Five
more outdoor things to do

1 Amble along the Sunshine Coast nature
trail. The classic Noosa walk is the Noosa Heads coastal walk. There are five
tracks — ranging from one kilometre to eight kilometres — which will take you
through rainforests, up to lookouts and along the beaches. You can do an
hour-long circuit, spotting koalas on the way, or a one-way walk down to the
spectacular surf beach, Sunshine Beach, for a swim and a brew at the excellent
Costa Noosa Espresso cafe.

2 Wander through the bushland setting of
the fabulously massive Eumundi Markets to admire clever street performers, buy
up local cheeses and produce, fondle cheesecloth and snack on street food every
Wednesday, 8am-1.30pm, and Saturday, 7am-2pm. For a fashion hit, local
designers gather on the beach at sleek Peregian Beach’s market on the first and
third Sunday of the month, 7am-12.30pm. Stick around afterwards as local bands
provide the soundtrack for lunch.

3 Take a cruise down the Noosa River for
afternoon tea amid the pristine wilderness. Snappers take note: it’s estimated
that nearly half of all Australia’s birds hang here at some point during the
year, more than in Kakadu. To experience the wetlands’ impossible stillness,
extend the day by taking a canoe through the waterways before cruising back to
busy Noosa. Costs $75 adults cruise only, $119 canoe and cruise. (07) 5449
0393, noosaevergladesdiscovery.com.au.

4 “Nature is your playground,”
says fitness goddess Nikki Fogden-Moore, who knows all the best local spots for
bushwalks, road biking or, hey, even a triathlon following Noosa’s famed
course. Fear not, those looking for a little light exercise are just as
welcome. Join a sunrise yoga session at Little Cove, just beside Noosa’s Main
beach, or up at the Boiling Pot lookout in the Noosa National Park, from $25.
Or go all out with your girlfriends and hire a personal trainer for an ocean
swim and run through the bushland or whatever exercise your body desires. Costs
$75. 0428 198 911, lifesagym.com.

5 Learn to surf in the warm waters of the
Sunshine Coast. Beginners, try Tropicsurf for 1½-hour private lessons, costs
$180 a person, or $360 a family, or book a full-day trip to Double Island Point
for a family day of surf lessons, sandboarding and barbecuing with the local
roos. Costs $720. (07) 5455 4129, tropicsurf.net.
Otherwise, focus on your core and find your abs with stand-up paddleboarding
queen Donalee Halkett. 0423 869 962.

Trip
notes

Getting there Virgin
Australia and Jetstar fly Sydney-Sunshine Coast daily. Otherwise, fly to
Brisbane and drive 90 minutes to Noosa.

Staying there Outrigger
Noosa starts at $279 in a one-bedroom apartment including breakfast, Little
Hastings Street, Noosa. 1800 726 591, outrigger.com.au.

Painting there Art
Spa parties at the Natural Beauty Retreat cost $220 a person. thenaturalbeautyretreat.com.

Relaxing there Mineral
flotation colour therapy costs $89, Stephanies Ocean Spa, Outrigger
Noosa. stephanies.com.au.

Eating there River
Cottage Restaurant, rivercottagerestaurant.com.au. Thomas
Corner Eatery, thomascorner.com.au.

Aromas, 32 Hastings Street, Noosa.

More information visitsunshinecoast.com.au, visitnoosa.com.au

Nov

Peace in Bali, bustle on the Bund: travel deals 11 November 2012

Cinque Terre, Italy

Peace is found in Bali’s Tabanan district and in a Tuscan villa. Or find fabulousness on Shanghai’s Bund and Hobart’s Salamanca market in this week’s Australian and international travel deals.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Named one of the state’s top pubs by the AHA, the 4.5-star
Walkers Arms Hotel is spitting distance from the CBD, in happening Walkerville.
The hotel has a huge beer garden and there are gigs on Friday nights, DJs on
Saturdays and live acoustic music on Sundays. Save 20 per cent on stays until 28 February. Costs from $135 a night. 130
130 483, travel.com.au.

QUEENSLAND

Budget hotel aficionados know the Traders hotels: owned by the luxe Shangri-La gang, they’re aimed at 4-star corporates, with the benefits and panache from a glam big sister. Australia’s first Traders Hotel has opened on Brisbane’s Roma St, with prices starting from $289 weekdays and $159 weekends, always with free wi-fi. It’s celebrating the opening with a ‘Stay Connected’ package that includes one night’s accommodation in its recently, 34sqm renovated rooms, and a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, all for the retail price of the tablet, $459. (07) 3238 2222, tradershotels.com

Sofitel Melbourne

VICTORIA

The acclaimed play ‘War Horse’, about a man and horse’s journey through World War I, makes its Australian debut at Melbourne’s State Theatre Art Centre in December. Well that’s a good excuse to head south. Usually, a night at the Sofitel on Collins costs from $260. The ‘stay and see’ package includes a five-star sleep for two and one ‘A’ Reserve ticket, worth $124, from December 23 – February 10, 2013. Costs from $269 a night. 1300 306 341, showbiz.com.au/warhorse.

NEW SOUTH WALES

It could well be the best deal in town: stay in one of
the Sheraton on the Park’s 48 suites, take home a Boucheron diamond. Between
November 17-25, and you’ll be on a treasure hunt for a diamond pendant and a
diamond bracelet hidden in the suites, but could be consoled with other surprises
including a splash from Moet, bath butler service, Polynesian spa treatments by
Thalgo or a sparkling midnight swim – it’s a surprise, people. Costs from $599,
includes access to the Sheraton Club, with pre-dinner drinks, canapés and
breakfast on Level 21. (02) 9286 6000, sheratonontheparksydney.com/sparkle.

The Tarkine, Tasmania

TASMANIA

Hobart’s been cosying up with San Fran, Amsterdam and
Beijing, all named in Lonely Planet’s top 10 cities to visit in 2013. The new
Unknown Wilderness itinerary from Inspiring Journeys travels from Launceston to
Hobart, visiting the mountains, lakes and rivers in between, not to mention
dishing up your fair share of wine and cheese. Departs from January 31 to April
28 with more dates pending: book six months in advance, save $190. Costs from
$3750 a person, twin share (excluding flights) 1800 467 747,
inspiringjourneys.com.au.

NORTH-WEST
AUSTRALIA

Play spot the croc along Australia’s remote north-western
coastline. This 22-day adventure travels in coach-style 4WDs from Darwin to
Perth, crossing the Kimberley until the Coral Coast. Includes cruises on the
Ord River and through Katherine Gorge at sunrise and four nights at Bell Gorge
and Bungle Wilderness Lodge. Save up to $575 a person when booking six months
in advance, until December 31, for travel May 1-September 30, 2013. Costs from
$10,920 a person, twin share. 1800 044 066, travel-associates.com.au.

Palais Amani, Fez, Morocco

MOROCCO

Your home in the open-air theatre that is Fez is a riad;
those perfumed, inward-facing homes beloved by Morocco’s old merchant class.
With only 14 rooms, the luxury riad,

Palais Amani, is set within the medina. Normally from
$169 a night, save 33 per cent on stays until January 31, 2013, excluding
December 20 – January 1, 2013. Includes a traditional Moroccan breakfast, and a
spa with hammam and rooftop showers for those hot summer nights. Costs from $125
a night, minimum three nights’ stay. 1300 896 627, mrandmrssmith.com.

CHINA

Shanghai’s promenade the Bund has another swanky
resident, the Banyan Tree Shanghai On The Bund. Its 130 rooms overlook the Bund
and the Huangpu River. Check out the three-floor spa and 150-minute hot stones
therapy, made more delicious by a 30 per cent discount. Until February 28, get
your second night free and half-price on all subsequent nights, breakfast and
free non-alcoholic minibar on stays in the riverside retreats. Costs from $460
a night. +86 21 2509 1188, banyantree.com.

INDONESIA

Alila Villas Soori, Tabanan, Bali, Indonesia

Bali’s Tabanan district is famed for its traditional
dancers and gong (gamelan) orchestras, and private viewings can be arranged by
Alila Villas Soori, a collection of villas set between beach and rice paddies.
Save 20 per cent off the internet rate when you book one of their newly
relaunched Mountain Pool villas, when booking seven days in advance for stays
until December 19. Costs from $490++. +62 361 894 6388, alilahotels.com/soori.

ITALY

From your base in the spa town of Salsomaggiore Terme,
you’ll explore Bologna, Milan, Cinque Terre and then Lake Maggiore in this
eight-day Hidden Treasures of Northern Italy tour. Book before December 27 to
get an early-bird fare of $1475 for return flights with Cathay Pacific to Rome,
and book four months in advance to save 2.5 per cent on the tour cost. Costs
from $1134 a person, twin share. 1300 230 234, cosmostours.com.au.

EUROPE

A Contiki tour through Europe is a rite of passage for
first-time travellers. Tick off all the biggies – Paris’ Eiffel Tower, Rome’s
Coliseum, Athens’ Acropolis, Amsterdam’s red light district – in one fell swoop
on the 33-day European Explorer. You’ll also get into the boat in Venice, shake
it in Mykonos and dream on the Isle of Capri. Book before December 27 for
travel from April to September 2013 and save up to $620. Costs from $5154 a
person, twin share. 1300 266 845, contiki.com.au.

TOURWATCH

Cycling, yoga, Italy: the recipe for perfection. Throw a
little hiking in, as well as a 17th-century country villa near Lucca, Tuscany, and
it’s music for the soul. This seven-night retreat sees you practising yoga each
day, with views of the villa’s olive groves and peaceful panoramas, and cycling
through quiet country lanes. Yes, there is eating. This is Italy, after all.
There’s one completely free day in the midst of the retreat for guests to do as
they please, and non-cycling friends and spouses are welcome. “It’s a retreat,
not a boot camp,” says organiser Virginia Slevin, and there are no
super-humans, the 14 guests require just a general level of fitness. Runs from
June 8-15, 2013 (yoga & cycling) and June 15-22, 2013 (yoga, cycling &
hiking). Costs $2450 a person, twin share with a shared bathroom, or $2855 with
a private bathroom. 0407 788 600, soulfitadventures.com.

Source: Belinda Jackson, Sun Herald

Nov

Twenty reasons to visit Seminyak

Surfers on shore at Legian beach. Photo: Getty Images

1 Kopi luwak

“Civet coffee, where cherries are passed through the native cat”, is a very nice way to describe the natural process of creating Bali’s special kopi luwak (or civet coffee). By passing through the civet’s digestive tract, the coffee beans are mellowed out, creating what’s arguably the world’s most expensive coffee. Cruise homewares and sip kopi luwak at Becik (Jl Dhyana Pura 4, +62 361 737 816) or pull up a chair, poolside, and sip at Anantara Seminyak hotel (Jl Dhyana Pura, +62 361 733 7773, anantara.com). Expect to pay about $9 a cup. (PS: jalan, abbreviated to Jl, is Balinese for “street”.)

2 Bodyworks

In a land of cheap spas, Bodyworks has the edge. It’s cheap, efficient and the 80-plus staff will try to squeeze you in for that urgent facial/pedicure/hairdressing fix. Expect to pay about $20 or less for most services. “And you’ll always get a reliably good treatment every time,” Bali-based Australian fashion designer Penny Pinkster says. “I opened my second boutique next door so I could pop in when it’s quiet.” (Jl Kayu Jati 2, Petitenget, +62 361 733 317, bodyworksbali.com) Jari Menari (“dancing fingers”) also gets a guernsey for its yoga-influenced stretching massage, from 300,000 rupiah ($30) (Jl Raya Basangkasa 47, +62 361 736 740, jarimenari.com).

3 Rooftop dining

Seminyak is having a love affair with rooftops. And why not, when the weather is this good? SOS Supper Club, on the roof of Anantara Seminyak hotel, is the leader of the pack, with nightly DJs and unfettered views of the Indian Ocean. Book a table under the stars for a steak dinner or flop on a day bed to snack and watch the stars come out with a Bali Classic in hand (strawberry, lime, cranberry, lychee with pomegranate juice and sparkling wine) or a pitcher of SOS punch. Of course, they do bottle service, too (Jl Dhyana Pura, +62 361 737 773, sosasupperclub.com).

4 Beach sunsets

South Bali is blessed with sunsets over the water and the cheapest entertainment in town is a walk along the long stretch of Seminyak beach at 6pm. On the way, you can buy drinks, hire a surfboard, rent a sun lounger or just park on the sand to watch the golden sun dip down over the Indian Ocean. Sunday is the day off for most workers in Bali, and everyone heads to the beach. Pop down late afternoon to see a slice of local life, from kite flying to beach soccer and plenty of perambulating.

5 Pura Petitenget

In a land of temples, even Seminyak’s crazed real estate scene pauses for religion. Pura Petitenget is just beside the beach, and the quiet, well-maintained Hindu temple gives respite from the traffic below. Don your sarong, wrapped over trousers, and visit just before sunset when the light catches the mossy sculptures for a quintessentially Balinese moment.

6 Boutique fashion

The island’s best fashion is found in Seminyak, with beautiful, often handmade clothes at a price you’ll never find in Australia. Fondle a soft charcoal jersey at Buddha Wear (Jl Oberoi 15X, buddhawear.com) and see what the Brazilians are up to at chic and sexy Lulu Yasmine (Jl Oberoi 100, luluyasmine.com) and Lily Jean (Jl Oberoi 102X or Jl Mertanadi 73X, Kerobokan for the sale shop, lily-jean.com). For Parisian “Bourgeois Boheme”, visit Magali Pascal (Jl Oberoi, 177X), and Animale is a good stop for understated menswear (Jl Raya Seminyak 31, animale.com). For accessories, check the gorgeous strappy flats at Kumuru (Jl Raya Seminyak 67) and TropicSurf’s Jack Chisholm suggests you check out Drifter for classic surfboards, imported surf clobber and good Indonesian coffee (Jl Oberoi 50, driftersurf.com).

7 Petitenget

Move over, Jl Oberoi (aka Laksmana or Kayu Aya) and Jl Dhyana Pura (aka Abimanyu), Jl Petitenget is the hottest dining strip at the top of Seminyak, with Metis and Sarong firmly on the faves list. The hot new ticket is the Petitenget, next door to Pura Petitenget, which serves “modern bistro” for breakfast, lunch and dinner. At the latest venture of restaurateur Sean Cosgrove of Corner Store fame, sit on the terrace and order the poached chicken salad with pistachio and celery with a mandarin Bellini, or seek respite from the heat in its cool, chic lounges (Jl Petitenget 40X, +62 361 473 3054,petitenget.net).

8 Surfing

It doesn’t have the wild reef breaks of Uluwatu and west Bali, but the long straight beach at Seminyak is a beginner’s paradise, says Bali surfer Jack Chisholm of TropicSurf, who teaches families and beginners out the front of Anantara Seminyak. “Anantara’s beach also has fun, peaky waves out the back that will keep even advanced surfers happy.” Other reliable locations include the stretch in front of Ku De Ta, popular with intermediate Europeans looking for an easy ride to practise their skills, and at the end of Double Six Road. The surf season runs from April to November, and is best in the mornings before the trade winds kick up. The big beachfront hotels have their own lifeguards, too (tropicsurf.net).

9 Tailors

Forget the $100-and-six-week turnaround of Aussie sewing shops, Bali’s tailors are fast, cheap and obliging. Say hi to tailor Ipong at Tidy Tailors for quality fabric and experience (Jl Kayu Aya 8, +62 361 736 603), while super-fast nips, tucks and copies can be squeezed in at busy Mode Kara: bring your beloved clothes for remakes or repairs (Jl Oberoi 88, +62 361 735 788).

Biku PIC: Belinda Jackson

10 Interiors with a Balinese twist

Seminyak’s interior shops are a haven of treasures for stylist, creator of the Fashion Assassin label and 37-time Bali visitor Alex Zabotto-Bentley (azbthecreative.com). His top five interior faves comprise Horn Emporium, where owner Anita scours Jakarta for early Dutch antiques, while Namu is worth a stop for its very modern, very chic decorative arts from resin. He also lists Kody & Ko for its 2Pac timber effigies, while Carga pulls apart Balinese designs with a Western treatment (Jl Petitenget 886, +62 361 847 8173). “And Geneva is the craziest warehouse on Earth, with beautiful cut coconut-wood tapas trays to bizarre bronze owls,” he says. “Absolutely mental.” (Namu, Jl Petitenget 234X, +62 361 279 7524; Carga, Jl Petitenget 886, +62 361 847 8173; Horn Emporium, Jl Petitenget 100X, +62 361 4738 330; Geneva, Jl Raya Kerobokan No.100, +62 361 733 542; Kody & Ko, Jl Kayu Cendana C002).

11 Biku

Pull up a pew for coffee and a tarot reading at the fantastical joglo (teak house) that is Biku, a gorgeous destination cafe. Fifteen-minute tarot readings cost 80,000 rupiah. The only downside is that everyone knows it’s fantastic. Phone ahead to reserve a table and order the Asia High Tea for two (170,000 rupiah), in which tiers of samosa, Vietnamese spring rolls and ayam sisit (Balinese shredded chicken) are served with green tea, oolong or perhaps masala chai. Yes, they do scones, and the signature cocktail is the Biku coconut martini (Jl Petitenget 888, +62 361 8570 888, bikubali.com).

12 Snakeskin accessories

Vegans, look away, but for the rest of you, dyed snakeskin accessories are a hot buy from Seminyak’s fashion stores. Find gorgeous clutches, belts and ballet flats, all handmade in Bali from Indonesian python skin, and a steal from $50. Try Naputo or sister shops Prathivi (Jl Raya Seminyak 16, Jl Kayu Aya 15, naputobali.com).

13 One for the kids

Until you travel in Bali with kids, you have no idea how kid-friendly it can be. Seminyak is chock-full of beautiful villas, with separate kitchens, big bathrooms and pools, making travel with kids a no-brainer. Nannies booked through villa complexes or hotels cost about $8-$9 an hour, with even better day rates negotiable. Cute kids’ boutiques include French designer Clara Mia‘s divine little costumes (Jl Oberoi 43, +62 361 733 893).

14 Sensational seafood

Mamasan restaurant
PIC: Belinda Jackson

Pull up at smokin’ Mamasan, the cooler little sister to Seminyak dining stalwart Sarong, and order the snapper dumplings for a taste epiphany (Jl Raya Kerobokan 135, +62 361 733 072, mamasanbali.com). Those in the know earmark Sundays for a spectacular seafood buffet at the W Seminyak’s beachside Starfish Bloo, which costs 475,000 rupiah a person (Jl Petitenget, +62 361 473 8106, starwoodhotels.com). Ubudphiles stranded in the craziness of Seminyak should head to Sardine for seafood and organic produce while overlooking the rice paddies (Jl Petitenget 21, +62 361 843 6111, sardinebali.com).

15 Beach bars

A long-time Bali fave, the pouty Ku De Ta, has a rival: the hottest place in town to watch it all go down is Potato Head, a beach club-cum-restaurant on the sands of Seminyak beach. Big and busy, the potential madness is tamed by groovin’ Marvin Gaye or perhaps some Curtis Mayfly. Order from the casual menu, from its pan-Asian restaurant Lilin or Tapping Shoes‘ French fine dining after 6pm. There’s a minimum spend on the beachfront sun loungers (about $50), but get in before the 6pm pre-sunset rush. Kids are welcome, and there’s even a kids’ pool. No Bintang singlets, 11am-2am daily. If you’re into keepin’ it real, grab a beanbag and a jug of sangria at the ultimate beach bar La Plancha for sunset (Potato Head, Jl Petitenget, +62 361 473 7979, ptthead.com; Ku De Ta, Jl Oberoi, +62 36 173 6969, kudeta.net; La Plancha Double Six Beach, +62 361 890 0000, laplanchabali.com).

16 Made’s Warung

Don’t be expecting the usual dingy tiles and rickety tables at the island’s most famous warung (restaurant). Made’s is all-singing, all-dancing, with a cute little Balinese dance show each night. Noisy and fun for first-time visitors, order the Balinese plate for a taste of the warungs (or go the Japanese menu, the Italian, the Western – you get the picture). The shops within the Made’s complex make for surprisingly good, upmarket browsing (Jl Raya Seminyak, madeswarung.com).

17 Ethical shopping

Stylish indi vie is one of a handful of sleek retail outlets selling environmentally sound homewares, locally designed ceramics and jewellery and ethically produced Balinese handcrafts, with profits going to charities such as those helping the island’s street children in Made’s Warung shops (Jl Raya Seminyak, +62 361 730 927). Find similar products in retro-cool Press Ban cafe (Jl Oberoi 50, +62 361 730 486). For a totally Balinese souvenir, grab a beautifully made, locally designed Bali Towel, complete with handmade tassels. The towels are found in top resorts, Lily Jean and uber-emporium Word of Mouth (Kunti Arcade, Jl Kunti, wordofmouthbali.com). The “Nyoman” is modelled on the classic black-and-white saput poleng temple material, from $40 (balitowel.com).

18 Kangkung

If you’re iffy about eating meat abroad, Bali doesn’t disappoint. The king of vegetables, kangkung, is water spinach tossed with garlic, chilli, tomato, galangal and shallot and served with rice: a powerhouse on a plate. Hit the lunch buffet at Warung Kolega (Jl Petitenget 98A), Warung Ocha (corner Jl Raya Seminyak and Jl Dhyana Pura) or the highly rated Warung Sulawesi (Jl Petitenget).

19 Cocktail hour

Indonesia’s crippling taxes don’t encourage wine binges. If Bintang beer isn’t your bag, you’ll just have to drink cocktails stuffed with tropical fruit. Hot spots include upstairs at Mamasan for Lychee Banshees (Jl Raya Kerobokan 135), the low tables at the front of Chandi for a spiced, herbed Mojito (Jl Oberoi 72), buzzy Cubana (Jl Petitenget 12B, cubanabali.com) and old fave La Lucciola (Jl Petitenget, +62 361 730 838) or any of the beach bars mentioned above. Finish with a glass of pop at the Champagne Bar (Jl Oberoi 42C, +62 361 737 889).

20 Luxe-tastic villas

Ombak Luwung Villa

You may be in the crush of Seminyak, but those tiny gangs (Balinese for “lanes”) hide lush, sprawling villas. Those on a budget should check out Maca Villas, from $138 a person, creativeholidays.com), Serene Villas‘ one-bed villas from $212 a night with early-bird and last-minute specials (serenevilla.com), or the fully staffed three-bedroom Villa Natura, which is $US295 ($284) a night, (privatevillasandhouses.com). For a villa with the buzz of a hotel, try the Elysian, from $US385 (theelysian.com), or Royal Seminyak MGallery Hotel’s one-bedroom villas start at $620 (mgallery.com). The four-bedroom Jaja-Liluna, comprising three self-contained pavilions around the pool, costs from $925 a night (marketingvillas.com), while the oceanfront Ombak Luwung starts at $1500 a night (privatevillasandhouses.com).

SOURCE: Belinda Jackson, Sun Herald

Nov

Gangnam style and buffalo stations: travel deals 4 November 2012

Bamurru Plains, Northern Territory, Australia

Let’s talk Victoria’s (shopping) secrets, Gangnam Style in Seoul and, for a complete wildcard, buffalo stations in the Territory, in this week’s best Australian and international travel deals.

VICTORIA

Melbourne’s shopping scene goes into overdrive during the
Spring Racing Carnival, throughout November. Stay in the thick of it all, in a
studio deluxe suite at the new Fraser Place Melbourne aparthotel, near Carlton
Gardens. They’ll add in internet and continental breakfast for two on stays
before December 30, and the hotel is on the free city tramline, so you don’t
even have to buy public transport tickets. Costs from $160 a night. 1800 372
7377, frasershospitality.com

The main lodge at Pethers Rainforest Retreat, Qld

QUEENSLAND

Tambourine Mountain, an hour south of Brisbane, is lush
rainforest on the appropriately named Scenic Rim, best viewed from the Rainforest
Skywalk. The adults-only Pethers Rainforest Retreat is celebrating a decade in
the business with a midweek romantic getaway. Stay two nights in a luxury treehouse,
get a cheese platter and bottle of wine on arrival, daily continental breakfast
basket and late check-out. And romance at a discount is always sweeter: save
$250 on stays Sunday – Thursday until February 28, 2013, quote code
‘celebration’. Costs $450 for two people, for two nights. (07) 5545 4577, pethers.com.au.

NEW SOUTH WALES

Sydney is a playground for kids big and small. Stay in a superior room at the 4.5-star Grace Hotel, on the corner of King & York Sts, and they’ll include entry passes to either the Sydney SEA LIFE Aquarium, WILD LIFE Sydney Zoo or Madame Tussauds. Normally $400 room only, until December 20, costs from $230 for two adults and one child. (02) 9272 6602, gracehotel.com.au.

TASMANIA

The quiet beauty of Corinna, Tasmania

The Tarkine Wilderness, in Tassie’s far north-west, encircles
the last traces of the ancient forests of Gondwana. Spend three nights in a
queen bed eco cottage in nearby Corinna and get all meals including a Tasmanian
cheese and wine platter and three-course dinners, a day cruise on the Pieman
River, guided and self- guided walks and kayaking on a Wilderness Discovery Eco
Experience Holiday. You’ll also get a coffee table book, ‘The Tarkine’ and you
get to take all your rubbish home with you, too! Save 30 per cent on stays
until April 31, 2013. Costs from $1355 a couple, (03) 6446 1170,
corinna.com.au.

NORTHERN TERRITORY

Stay in a buffalo station in one of Australia’s great wild
places, the Mary River floodplains, west of Kakadu National Park. The
safari-style Bamurru Plains is named for the wild geese who nest here each
year, and taking a fly boat over the waters in the early morning is a
heart-lifting experience (and they even stop to make you coffee). Stay two
nights with a fully-inclusive deal that sets you up in a safari bungalow,
supplies all meals, open bar and daily guided activities including 4WD safaris.
The deal includes return flights from Darwin, saving $980 a couple, until November
30. Costs from $3720 a couple, two nights. 1300 790 561, wildbushluxury.com.

GERMANY

Train
across Germany this winter, with free stops at 13 historic towns and cities
where great events helped shape world history.
Save 20 per cent on German Rail passes when booked by November 30 for travel
November 15 – December 31, 2012. Passes also get you 10 per cent off at select
hostels and hotels in Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. Normally $264,
costs from $211 for a five-day second class pass. raileurope.com.au.

Gangnam style, Korea

KOREA

If
you’re completely clueless as to what Gangnam Style is, check in to the Novotel Seoul Ambassador, in the Gangnam
district. The deal includes accommodation and breakfast for two, a half-day local
tour, a 20 per cent discount at the nearby Art Performance Centre and shopping discount vouchers so you can
hit COEX, the largest underground shopping mall in Asia. They’ll also throw in
a great cup of coffee: don’t get it? Listen to the song. Costs from $260 a
night until January 31, 2013. (+82) 2/567 1101,
novotel.com/korea_gangnam.

NEW ZEALAND

Walkers and cyclist are sure to flock to Queenstown for
its latest attraction for the active, the new 100km-Queenstown Trail. Soften
the blow of all that hardship with three nights’ stay at the plush Hotel St
Moritz MGallery, with a three-for-two offer. Its picture windows, overlooking
Lake Wakatipu to The Remarkables mountain range, will keep you connected with
the great outdoors. Costs from $408 a room, three nights, including breakfast until
March 31, 2013. (+64) 3 442 4990, mgallery.com.

Sri Lanka

SRI LANKA

Visit old British hill stations, admire Dutch
architecture and savour the craziness of Colombo on this 13-day tour of Sri
Lanka. There’s also beach time to be had and spices to savour. Save 15 per cent
when booked by November 23 for departures until March 31, 2013, quote promo
code 1274. Normally $1640, costs $1394. 1300 854 444, geckosadventures.com.

SOUTH AFRICA

Spas and safaris – they’re a natural mix when you’re a
Travelling Diva. The tour includes private wine tastings, an insiders’ tour to secret boutiques and local designers in Cape
Town and three days on safari staying at Kwandwe
private game reserve. Book by November 16, get an additional night
in Cape Town and a personal tour of a diamond supplier (and tax free diamond
shopping!) Tour departs May 12-25, 2013. Costs from $6999 a person, twin share.
0408 721 569, travellingdivas.com.au.

TOURWATCH

You could be one of 100 million people watching the 2013
SuperBowl on TV, or you could live the dream and watch it live, in New Orleans’
Superdome, on February 3, 2013. Choose from the silver, gold or platinum
packages, each one getting you closer to the action on the Loge level, between
the 20 and 50-yard lines, which Mr Aristotle co-founder Paul Kent says is the
best viewpoint for some of the biggest action of the 2013 Super Bowl. “It’s a
case of first in, best dressed,” warns Kent. Costs from US3835 (silver), US6825
(gold) or US11,050 (platinum) a person. 0423 538 593, mraristotle.com.

SOURCE: Belinda Jackson, Sun Herald

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