Blog

Dec

Australia’s newest ‘Great Walk’ goes to Flinders Island, Tasmania

The warm turquoise waters are so clear that every ridge in the white sand floor is visible. Tea trees line the shore for a distinctively Australian look. Is this the Whitsundays? Maybe Rottnest Island? The dead giveaway is the orange lichen garnishing the granite boulders. Yep, it’s Tasmania. And that’s me, swimming in Bass Strait – the strip of treacherous water between mainland Australia and Tasmania. Flinders Island is not so cold, not so barren.

An hour into my week-long walking holiday, Flinders Island has kicked the stereotype of the Bass Strait islands being cold and barren.

“It’s the jewel of Tasmania,” the pilot shouts as our eight-seater Airvan chugs noisily away from Bridport, on the state’s north-eastern coastline. Below us stretch the low islands of the Furneaux Group, remnants of the mostly submerged plain that once linked Tasmania and Victoria.

On the west coast of Flinders Island, my guide Matt describes the land as “the Bay of Fires on steroids”. On this trip, we climb Mt Killiecrankie (fun to say, almost as much fun to climb) and I swim every day bar one, in spectacularly turquoise seas, making this a walk-swim-walk expedition.

https://www.smh.com.au/traveller/inspiration/australia-s-newest-great-walk-truly-lives-up-to-the-name-20241129-p5kunw.html

Dec

Travels in mainland Greece with ABC Radio

Whenever anyone talks of holidaying in Greece, the islands tend to get all the glory. But what about the mainland?

Athens has everything to offer as a global city and holiday destination, but to my mind, the real story is Greece’s second city, Thessaloniki. The home of souvlaki, bougatsa and the frappe, Thessaloniki has done the impossible and makes instant coffee taste good! It’s the birthplace of Kamal Ataturk, and has been corralled into empires from the Hellenic to Ottoman, so expect great history, fantastic food and a waterfront location designed for post-prandial perambulation.

I joined Philip Clark on ABC Radio‘s national evening program, Nightlife, to tell of the wonders of mainland Greece. You can listen to our chat here, and tune in to ABC Radio every Monday night for his Monday Night Travel segment, which goes out to the world from 10pm.

To listen to the interview, visit this link: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/nightlife/nightlife-travel—greece/104675428

On this trip, I drove from Athens airport south to the Peloponnese peninsula, to stay at the new Mandarin Oriental Costa Navarino – I’ll post a review here shortly. Then I drove back up to Athens (Athens traffic – ayeeeee!) and from there, joined Eurail, the European rail pass company, using their tickets to travel from Athens north to Thessaloniki, then crossed the border into Bulgaria, on to the capital, Sofia and then to its second city, Plovdiv. I have stories coming up in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers, which I’ll post here as they’re published. To learn more about Eurail, visit eurail.com

Nov

Luxury v rusticity: the two faces of Dubai

All that glitters is (most likely) 24-karat gold in the party town of Dubai, but flip the shiny coin and you’ll discover the traditions and history deep in its Emirati heart.

Some people say Dubai has no soul, that it has no history, but in this piece for Dream by Luxury Escapes magazine, I stay at two Dubai hotels at opposite ends of the spectrum, to show how broad its appeal is.

The first hotel is the crazily luxe Atlantis the Royal, the new sister to the postcard-perfect pink Atlantis the Palm. Dress up, folks! This is one fancy hotel. From the sky-high Cloud 22 beach club to the more laid-back Nobu Beach Club on the ground floor, that bleeds into the hotel’s beach, the innumerable restaurants headed by Michelin-starred chefs, the shopping arcade dominated by collaborations with the likes of Dolce&Gabanna and Louis Vuitton. You get the picture; this is serious bling. Costing US$1.6 billion to build the Jenga-like building, stays cost from about $800 in low (summer) season, skyrocketing in the peak winter season, when Dubai is warm and sunny.

The second hotel is what I’m calling Dubai’s best bargain – the rustic Al Seef Heritage Hotel Dubai, Curio Collection by Hilton. I love its design, with raw beams on the ceilings, the red, black and white Bedouin weaves found throughout the Arabian Gulf, the mudbrick walls and the retro telephones (rotary phones!), lamps and furnishings in the rooms. The rooms are set in bayt (houses) scattered throughout the Al Seef district, a new build designed to emulate a traditional souq. Here, you’ll find plenty of fun souvenir shopping, but also restaurants serving genuine Emirati cuisine – not as easy to find as you’d expect – and plenty of cafes to enjoy a qahwa (coffee) scented with cardamom, as the locals have it. Low season sees stays at this Dubai hotel as little as $100, doubling in the peak cooler months.

To read my story, The Golden Child, in Dream by Luxury Escapes, and jump to page 108.

https://issuu.com/dreambyluxuryescapes/docs/issue6_october2024_master_dream-by-luxury-escapes_

Cloud 22 pool bar at Atlantis the Royal hotel

Nov

Pilgrim route at 300km/hour: on the bullet train to Mecca

Once, you had to ride a camel over stony deserts to reach Mecca, the holiest of holy sites in Islam. Today, you can catch a bullet train and be there in couple of hours.

On my last trip to Saudi Arabia, I caught the high-speed train from Madinah to the port city of Jeddah – the train then continues on to Mecca, on a route covered by pilgrims for centuries.

With soaring train terminals designed by architects Foster + Partners, trains built by Spanish manufacturer Talgo and train tracks laid by Chinese companies, Saudi Arabia has tapped into global expertise to create the Haramain High-Speed Railway line.

If you’re reading this, I’m sure you’ve a few questions:

No, I didn’t have to cover my hair in Saudi Arabia unless I was entering a mosque. No women have to cover their hair anymore, neither Saudis nor foriegners.
Non-Muslims are not allowed to visit the two holiest mosques that bookend this train in Medinah and Mecca; however, you can visit the city of Medinah, but are not permitted to visit the holy city of Mecca.
Yes, the whole bullet train experience was incredibly safe, clean and respectful, as I have found all my time spent in the country.
And very welcoming of non-Muslims; spot the pic of the cheery female train attendants, who proffered hot coffee and sweet dates to all passengers boarding the train.

I travelled business class, which included a full meal, but the economy section also looked spacious and clean. And it ran like clockwork; no Middle Eastern approach to time (which I admit I do love), we’re talking Swiss-levels of timekeeping here, but with an overlay of classic Arabian hospitality.

I wrote about the train journey for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age’s Traveller section. To read my review, visit https://www.smh.com.au/traveller/reviews-and-advice/top-speed-300km-h-on-board-the-middle-east-s-first-high-speed-train-20241104-p5knlh.html

Oct

Best places for stargazing, aurora hunting & dark sky sanctuaries

When was the last time you really soaked up the night sky? Went stargazing? Spotted a full moon? Admired the Milky Way? Saw an aurora?

Marnie Ogg joined me on The World Awaits podcast to talk about astrotourism – where people travel the world to see the best dark skies and celestial phenomenons.

Marnie designs and leads stargazing tours, and she is also the founder of the Australasian Dark Sky Alliance, which educates people about light pollution.

She loves going into the long polar night in Scandinavia, we talk about the Atacama Desert in Chile, which is renowned for its clear, dark skies with little light pollution, and her own pet project back here in Australia.

So stay with us to learn the best places on Earth to go stargazing, aurora hunting and spotting all sorts of celestial bodies. See darkskytraveller.com.au

We also reveal the best little town in Australia: it’s official, with the winner of the Top Tourism Town Awards, and we’ve got some tips about how to make the best memories when you travel. See toptourismtowns.com

To listen, visit https://www.theworldawaits.au/

Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-world-awaits-travel-tales-to-inspire-your-wanderlust/id1689931283

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/5RcDD9u7ZyvBmA3yFxJAGv

Oct

Should I swim with whales? An ethical debate

A few months ago, I jumped in the chilly waters to swim with whales, as a pod of over-excited humpback whales were tearing up the NSW South Coast on what’s known as the humpback highway.

Swimming with whales in Australia is still a fledging tourism activity – should we even be doing it?

This swim with whales is run by Jervis Bay ecotourism company Woebegone Freedive, and we also had whale scientist Dr Vanessa Pirotta on board, and together, we teased out the ethics of whale swimming and interaction, for this feature in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers’ Traveller section.

For some whale background, every year, thousands of humpback whales migrate from the chilly waters of Antarctica to southern Australia, where the split around the continent – some going to the western coast, and others up the east coast, where they find their favourite creche to nurture and teach their babies about life on the humpback highway.

Interestingly, one of those creches is near Fraser Island, where I also spent my childhood. We never knew anything about whales, because by the 1960s, we’d killed most of them for a lucrative whaling industry.

Thankfully, Australia banned killing these marine giants, and the population has begun to swell again. Some scientists put the population at about 40,000, so now we can see them in places like Fraser Island, Warrnambool in Victoria and Albany in Western Australia which, ironically, was the site of Australia’s last whaling station. It now makes its money from tourism, as people come to see the majesty of the animals we used to slaughter.

The trip was hosted by Bannisters Hotels, which offers a stay-and-swim Mollymook Migration package https://www.bannisters.com.au/mollymook-migration/

To read my discussion about whether we should swim with whales, jump to https://www.smh.com.au/traveller/inspiration/i-swam-australia-s-humpback-highway-but-should-i-have-20240917-p5kbb7.html

Sep

Southern Spain by train for fino & flamenco – Seville, Jerez & Cadiz

It’s standing room only at the bar, glasses of the golden, dry sherry called fino and plates of tissue-thin jamon at our elbows.

Low stools are huddled closer to the small stage for those who like to book ahead, but the rest of us stand; it’s a loud, friendly scene while the flamenco musicians warm up. Then Maria bursts through the crowd to demand our absolute attention.

And she gets it.

The cantaor (singer’s) voice cuts into my heart, even though I’ll understand his words only much, much later, his voice is wrought with melancholia. As the late flamenco documenter Pierre Lefrance wrote, flamenco singing sees “deep grief … simultaneously expressed and controlled”.

Maria, on the other hand, is defiant and proud, a fury that lets her crash her shoes onto the timber floor, in time with the rapid hand clapping from the musicians.

I undertook a six-day tour, travelling Spain by train between Seville, Jerez and Cadiz to explore flamenco and sherry, both which claim their origins are here in southern Andalucia. A solo traveller, I found myself standing at bars to snack, to listen to flamenco, to shoot morning coffee and sip evening Oloroso, a dark, sweet sherry that is just one of the iconic sherries form this region.

Travelling with British slow travel experts Inntravel, they booked the hotels and train tickets, and issued me with a series of suggested walking tours, leaving me to guide myself through these three wonderful cities. My hotels were Las Casas de la Juderia, Seville, Casa Grande in Jerez and the 18th century Hotel Argantonio in Cadiz.

You can read my cover story about fino and flamenco in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers.

See https://www.smh.com.au/traveller/inspiration/this-southern-spain-train-odyssey-is-ruled-by-two-f-words-20240822-p5k4cs.html

Spain by train

Tour
Inntravel’s self-guided six-night Fino & Flamenco tour travels between Seville, Jerez and Cadiz by train. Includes pre-booked train tickets, six nights’ bed and breakfast and suggested walking tours. The trip starts any day of the week from Seville. From $1300 (excludes flights). See inntravel.co.uk

Qualified sherry educator Annie B runs tapas and tabanco tours through Jerez and Cadiz (anniebspain.com)

The writer travelled as a guest of Inntravel.

Sep

Best airfares to Europe & the US, top Aussie towns & pre-travel checklist

Want to get the best airfare to Europe or the US? We’re going full #avgeek, as flight booking expert Mark Trim shares insider secrets on airlines to watch, alternative routes and the best time to buy. He also shares tips on booking in shoulder seasons, round-the-world tickets and the Asian gateways offering great lie-flat deals.

The co-founder of the Complex Travel Group, which specialises in round-the-world fares, adds that the ‘best’ airfare may be the most wallet-friendly, or it could also be the one stuffed with fabulous destinations for a memorable adventure, see complextravel.com.au

Also, Airbnb releases its list of the best tiny towns to visit in Australia, and there are some crackers in there! And finally, tick off your essential pre-travel checklist with smartraveller.gov.au, from vaccinations to passport checks.

Aug

Wildlife safari in South Africa & best holidays on a budget

Spot the Big Five on a South African wildlife safari…and then really start seeing what the Greater Kruger National Park has to offer.

This week on The World Awaits podcast, I interview Jacques Smit of Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve, who takes us on a tour of the fence-free reserve within the Greater Kruger area.

Listen via our website at https://theworldawaits.au
Via Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-53-safari-in-sabi-sabi-best-budget-destinations/id1689931283?i=1000663977425
Via Spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/6qCYPTcIWmHDYnJ9yvjZg0?si=5409c5290cdd45e0

Take a birding tour, a walking safari, visit local communities; then soak up the luxury trimmings – think spa, sundowners and stylish villas. Jacques shares some great travel tips on the best time to go on safari, how to combine it with other attractions in southern Africa and what to pack. Maybe, not a bright red puffer (like I did on my last wildlife spotting trip, to see pumas in Patagonia, in southern Chile. See sabisabi.com

Also, the countries that give the best bang for your buck, according to Expedia. The Philippines is on the list, which I agree is a beautiful, budget destination often overlooked. And health or travel – which would you spend to spend your retirement nest egg on? See expedia.com

Jul

Travel greats of G Adventures & Lonely Planet on The World Awaits podcast

This week on The World Awaits travel podcast, we bring you interviews with two of the biggest entrepreneurs in travel, @gadventures founder, the super-inspirational Bruce Poon Tip and then travel trailblazer Tony Wheeler, founder of Lonely Planet @lonelyplanet

To listen, find us on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-world-awaits-travel-tales-to-inspire-your-wanderlust/id1689931283
Spotify https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theworldawaits
or listen via our website https://theworldawaits.au/home-2/episodes/

Social entrepreneur, New York Times bestselling author and G Adventures founder Bruce Poon Tip talks about his decision to take his company into the luxury space after three decades – and what it means to you, the traveller. “The beautiful thing of travel [is] you have the opportunity to transform lives if you step out of your comfort zone,” says Bruce Poon Tip, gadventures.com

Anyone who’s ever used a Lonely Planet guidebook will have read the story about how Tony and Maureen Wheeler wrote and published their first guidebook, Across Asia on the Cheap, on their kitchen table in 1973, finally selling the Lonely Planet behemoth in 2011. Tony talks about counting countries, flying with carry-on only, his favourite country and the art of travel. He also shares what he’s reading now, tonywheeler.com.au

We also have a gorgeous giveaway from another travel entrepreneur, Tracy Morris of @theblondenomads whose @gypsealoop is an innovative gold or silver hair tie bangle.

To win, email us at hello@theworldawaits.au and tell us where you’d like to wear the bangle. Bonus entries if you like and follow on instagram at @theworldawaitspodcast and tag a friend!

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Spain by train