By John Rozentals.
Magnify … turning the vision to Sydney’s west. Image: Anna Kucera.
Experience the rich artistic talent within Sydney’s often-maligned Blacktown area in a brand new way this August and September with the premiere of Magnify festival.
Magnify will activate sites across Blacktown with music, theatre, dance, film and installations.
Local artists and communities will share stories of the region through eight new creative experiences in intimate and distinct settings.
Unique art experiences, embedded in unique spaces, will provide an exciting backdrop to the premiere of eight new works with activations taking place in laneways, showgrounds, restaurants, nursing homes, libraries and The Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre.
Magnify will run across seven weeks from August 3 to September 15.
Visit www.blacktownarts.com.au.
Astonishing adventures … all in the beauty of northern Australia.
El Questro Homestead in the Kimberley has joined forces with Wild Bush Luxury’s Bamurru Plains in the Top End to offer stay-six-pay-four package.
For a limited time this spring, guests can stay in the trappings of a luxury lodge experience, including gourmet dining, premium beverages and adventures in Australia’s extraordinary northern territories.
Guests will spend the first three nights at Bamurru Plains exploring the savannah bush, an unforgettable adventure in the northern wetlands, with its teeming populations of birds and animals.
The following three nights are spent at El Questro Homestead in the Kimberley’s tropical landscape, with the Chamberlain River flowing beneath dramatic gorges.
Astonishing adventures await, from helicopter tours to secret waterfall hikes and a chance to unwind in the Zebedee thermal spring.
The ‘Wild Frontiers of Northern Australia’ experience is on sale now for travel from September 1 until October 20.
Rates for the six-night package start at $3167 per person twin-share.
Visit www.luxurylodgesofaustralia.com.au.
Metro Gladstone … from $104 per night for a one-bedroom apartment.
Metro Hotel & Apartments’ Gladstone property is offering a Friday-to-Sunday-night rate from $104 per night for a one-bedroom apartment.
The rate includes early check-in (after 10am), late check-out (until noon), free wi-fi and free car-parking, plus a maximum of two children, aged 11 years and under, using existing bedding, stay free.
The offer is valid for stays until October 28, is based on minimal servicing, and applies to stays of two or more nights.
Visit www.metrohotels.com.au.
Heart Reef … the Great Barrier Reef’s most recognisable landmark.
Escape the banal and take off to the Great Barrier Reef’s most recognisable landmark — Heart Reef — on a James-Bond-style experience with Hamilton Island Air.
The luxury tour starts with a 30-minute scenic helicopter flight over the islands of the Whitsundays before landing on a floating pontoon aptly named Heart Island.
Located only a flipper kick or two away from the pontoon is Heart Reef where guests can explore the reputedly most photographed bommie in the world before drinking in (with a glass of champagne) the vast, turquoise views.
The three-hour adventure costs $999 per person aged 14 years and above.
Visit www.hamiltonislandair.com.
Hopkinson Smith … reputedly the world’s leading exponent of the lute.
Swiss-American Hopkinson Smith, reputedly the world’s leading exponent of the lute, will play his only recital in Sydney as part of his national ‘Mad Dog: The Elizabethan Lute’ on Friday 29 November aboard Captain Cook Cruises’ MV Sydney 2000.
He will combine his one-hour performance with a three-course dining experience, all set to the glittering backdrop of Sydney Harbour.
The concert will feature Elizabethan masterpieces by Dowland, Holborne and Johnson and more.
The cruise is priced at $199 per person and guests will be seated at shared tables of 10 people.
It will depart from Darling Harbour at 7.30pm returning at 11pm.
Phone 02 9206 1111 or visit: www.captaincook.com.au.
The Kimberley at its most beautiful … a series of stark baobab trees.
A rich variety of writers and storytellers, many with deep local connections, are heading west to Kununurra for the Kimberley Writers Festival from September 6-8.
They include novelist and playwright Steve Hawke, who brought his stage play Jandamarra to Kununurra in 2011, Raewyn Caisley, who visited Kununurra three years ago and has since co-written a book featuring Aboriginal kids living in remote communities, and Kimberley doyenne Frauke Bolten, whose inspiring autobiography Diamond in the Dust features Kununurra.
The program features a much-anticipated Ord River champagne brunch cruise.
Phone 08 9169 1227 or visit kwf.writingwa.org.
Palace of the Winds … a Jaipur treasure.
Take a cultural, culinary and spiritual journey with Abercrombie & Kent’s ‘Essential India’ itinerary through the country’s famed Golden Triangle.
Explore the wonders of Delhi, the bustling lanes of Agra beyond the Taj Mahal (plus the Taj itself of course) and the handmade treasures of Jaipur.
In Delhi, for example, travellers will discover the city’s secrets on foot and by cycle rickshaw, exploring Humayun’s Tomb, sampling traditional street food and strolling through Asia’s largest spice market.
For travellers with extra time there are optional extensions to Ranthambore National Park for tiger viewing, the lake city of Udaipur and spiritual Varanasi.
The journey is priced from $2220 per person twin-share and includes accommodation in Taj hotels throughout, breakfast daily and extensive private touring.
Phone 1300 590 317 or visit www.abercrombiekent.com.au.
Akaroa … New Zealand’s only French-founded community.
Treat yourself to an ultimate Christmas present with Ecruising’s 12-night New Zealand holiday cruise.
Departing Sydney on December 23, the itinerary offers an opportunity to experience some of the best of the Land of the Long White Cloud, on board Celebrity Solstice.
The Solstice features the distinctive Lawn Club — a half-acre of real grass perched at the very top of the ship.
The journey begins with a two-day sailing across the Tasman, including Christmas Day at sea, with all the festive trimmings, inclding wreaths, holly, mistletoe and, of course, a chance to help decorate the Solstice Christmas tree.
Destinations in New Zealand include stopovers at the charming seaside town of Picton at the head of Queen Charlotte Sound, Napier in Hawkes Bay, home to the largest gannet nesting site in the world at Cape Kidnappers, and the nation’s capital, Wellington — the centre of the country’s burgeoning film industry.
Guests will also have a chance to discover the charms of New Zealand’s only French-founded community at Akaroa and the majestic Fiordland National Park.
Then it’s time to ring in the New Year at sea as Solstice sets sail for its return voyage to Sydney, via Newcastle.
The journey is priced from $3199 per person twin-share including all accommodation and meals on board Solstice. Even better, for an extra special Christmas bonus, spend an extra $49 per day or book a suite and receive a range of fantastic extras including free drinks, unlimited wi-fi and up to USD600 spending money. The offer applies to bookings made before September 4.
Phone 1300 369 848 or visit www.ecruising.travel.
North-west Portugal … filled with ancient and beautiful villages.
Australians can book an On Foot Holidays’ self-guided walking tour in popular Portugal for 2020 and pay 2019 prices until October 31.
Hidden away in the country’s north-west are ancient and beautiful villages, linked by old paved tracks and footpaths.
The route takes walkers along these paths into the lush green valleys of the Peneda-Geres national park with its spectacular granite hills, where locals continue a lifestyle that is centuries old.
During their journey, guests will stay in family-run inns, charming village cottages, restored farmhouses and the Pousada Santa Maria do Bouro, a magnificent hotel originally built in the thirteenth century as a Cistercian monastery.
Highlights include visiting the medieval Lindoso Castle, and walking along ancient paved footpaths which date back to the time of the Roman Empire.
Guests’ luggage will be transported from inn to inn.
The walk is graded medium-hard in difficulty, with three-to-six hours of walking per day.
Including seven nights of accommodation, all breakfasts, six picnics and all luggage transfers, the walk costs from £705 (approximately A$1264 depending on exchange rates) per person twin-share.
Visit www.onfootholidays.co.uk.
The Rees Hotel’s True South dining room … a piece of New Zealand luxury.
The Rees Hotel, in New Zealand’s Queenstown, is offering two special packages specifically designed for couples or groups going to the city for this year’s LGBTTI+ Winter Pride festival which will be held from August 30 to September 8.
The festival encourages locals and visitors to come together and celebrate diversity, while featuring music, dance parties, skiing, boarding, and mountain walks.
The cheaper of the two packages is priced from NZ$342.83 per night based on two guests for three nights in an Executive Lake View Apartment, sharing a bottle of Surveyor Thomson Pinot Noir.
The package also includes a 60-minute in-room couples massage and bubbles and chocolates before and after the massage, plus return airport transfers, shuttle service around Queenstown, parking and late check-out.
Visit www.therees.co.nz.
