Australian Traveller

I KNOW THE STEREOTYPES that go along with working for a travel magazine; upon hearing what we do, people instantly assume that our day to day consists of nothing more than reclining in business class and staying in five-star hotels. Far be it from me

Watching a blood red sun sink slowly into the orange dirt of the Australian bush is worth picking up a 4WD for alone, and getting as deep as possible into this land of ours. This shot was captured while photographer Elise Hassey was on assignment wit

WHY DID YOU CREATE N››/›R››N? I wanted to create a product that would appeal to people all around the globe who are on the go, who start their day with a walk, a swim or by going to yoga or the gym. It’s for people who need an accessory that takes c

Chin Chin has opened in Surry Hills’ landmark heritage-listed Griffiths Teas building. Combining modern Asian food with seriously well considered drinks, Chin Chin Sydney features GoGo, a 100-seat bar, along with the 160-seater restaurant, and Chii T

IRONICALLY, I LEARNED how to be a minimalist packer while working at a fashion magazine. I was in charge of organising trips to picturesque locations, both in Australia and around the world, in order to shoot page after page of images of lithe-limbed

Joining its Fitzroy offering,Tyrian Melbourne is located close to the heart of the city and the green expanses of Albert Park. Each of the room classes, from studio to three bedroom, offers luxe apartment living with kitchen facilities, designer toil

I CAN’T REMEMBER the exact moment I was adopted. I didn’t sign any paperwork, nor was there ceremony or fanfare. And, because my birth parents are still very much alive, and I actually quite like them, I’m pretty sure it might have broken a handful o

THERE IS something undoubtedly special about Fraser Island. Not a simple special but ‘touch-your-soul life-affirming’ special. The philosopher du jour, Alain de Botton explores this particular type of ‘special’ in his book The Art of Travel . The Swi

From National Park hikes and stand-up paddling on calm waters, to beachfront breakfast, riverside picnics and sunset cocktails, Noosa knows how to relax! Horse ride on open beaches, mountain bike on forest tracks, float under blue skies, take a river

HISTORIANS BELIEVE that the game of lawn bowls originates from ancent Egypt. Somewhat more recently, the first bowling club in Australia was founded in 1846, and the rest was history. That is until traditional membership began to dwindle, and communi

A COMPELLING BUT little known Australiana story is that of early Aussie Christmas cards. Large-scale production of Christmas cards began in the UK in the 1870s, and before long they were being shipped for use in the Australian colonies. But the incon

FROM WHITEHAVEN BEACH with its seven-kilometre strip of squeaky silica sand, so fine you can use it to polish your jewellery, to Snapper Rocks’ pro-surfer training ground, and Fraser Island’s infamous beach highway where 4WDs cruise the line between

THE SCHOOL DISCOS OF MY childhood provided chaotic delight: a scout hall full of ra-ra skirts shaking to the tune of Agadoo while budget lighting and smoke machines worked overtime. I loved those smoke machines. While girlfriends were dipping a toe i

FORGET FLINDERS LANE, there’s a new dining precinct emerging in Melbourne’s former camping supplies quarter. Within a short stretch, Little Bourke Street (between Elizabeth and Queen) has triumphed over the puffer jackets, day packs and tourist-trap

THERE’S AN ARMCHAIR in the lobby nicknamed Kim Kardashian. Once sighted, no one needs to ask why. It’s voluptuous in a cartoon-like, plus-size massage chair kind of way, with firm curves accentuated by stripy rouge upholstery. A calling card at Aloft

“YOU’RE OUR YOUNGEST guest to date,” an elegantly dressed staff member says. Though I would like to think I’m fresh-faced, I’m afraid she’s talking to our seven-month-old son. We’re checking in to the new Spicers Retreats property at Potts Point, a 2

STRAHAN FISHING VILLAGE looks postcard-perfect across the placid early morning waters of Macquarie Harbour. We ignore it. We’re over at Strahan’s charmingly retro Regatta Point railway station (1899). We ignore that, too. Instead, all eyes and iPho

THERE WAS A TIME when you would have had absolutely no reason to stop as you drove through Palm Beach. Sitting like the forgotten middle child between Coolangatta – on the Gold Coast’s southern border with New South Wales – and its hip older sister,

“WE’VE RUN OUT OF COFFEE,” the dreaded words ring through our catamaran. How six people could consume an entire jar of Nescafé in one day, I don’t know, but there are more pressing things to worry about. Namely, where will we find more? “I’ll just

I FEEL LIKE I’VE BEEN shrunk, and it’s a strangely wondrous experience. Miniature me is gaping up at the ceiling where insets of giant, leather-like plaits resembling a luxury handbag puzzle the brain. What on earth are they for? If simply to impress

It is no surprise that ‘the rock’ took top honours in so many categories, but it is heartening to know that Uluru is not some abstract icon worshipped from afar; you love getting up close and discovering all of its nuances and hidden wonders, from ca

NINE HOURS’ DRIVE NORTH of Perth, across the ocean from Australia’s westernmost point, is an unlikely place for a love story. Seemingly in the middle of nowhere, the lone wilderness of Dirk Hartog Island is as spectacular as it is desolate, the land’

IT MIGHT BE MUSHROOMS on toast but there’s nothing ordinary about these sautéed local pine mushrooms tossed with cress and served with poached eggs and a soft Parmesan pudding on wholegrain Zeally Bay Sourdough. On the side is not just any fruit sala

I SHOULD HAVE JUST GONE to bloody Mitre 10 or the tip, like a landslide of locals told me to do. Instead, blood oozes from my lacerated right earlobe, after a tangle with some lawyer cane (a.k.a. Hairy Mary), a particularly vindictive spiky climbin

THERE’S A SWEET SPOT in any sport – a time when everything comes together. For a brief moment you experience nirvana; it could be a perfect stroke in a tennis match when ball, racket and body become a single entity for a blissful fraction of a second

NAME: NO. 19 LOCATION: ASCOT VALE, VIC DESIGN FIRM: BIASOL A NON-DESCRIPT shopping strip in the Melbourne suburb of Ascot Vale seems an incongruous setting for somewhere like No. 19, the highly stylised yet timeless cafe owned by Domenic and Diana

A LACK OF SAILING experience and my love of creature comforts have always cast a feeling of trepidation over a particular dream of mine: that of slowly making my way down the Murray River’s serene, gum-lined shores by houseboat, mooring where I pleas

AKUBRA HAS A FASCINATING HISTORY, BUT YOU CAN TAKE IT FOR GRANTED. You don’t think about what it means to an outsider looking in because you are doing it every day. YOU DO GET MOMENTS WHEN YOU REALISE. On the occasion where you get interviewed, like

Bear Rentals runs fully kitted out Land Rover 4WD camper vans. They come equipped with everything you need for that dream Australian road trip (fridge, stove, pots and pans, cutlery and crockery, as well as bedding and towels), so all you need to do

LUXURY DIGS in the Utah desert, jewellery designer SAMANTHA WILLS shares her TRAVEL LOVES. 1. AS A CHILD, OUR FAMILY HOLIDAYS WERE ALWAYS TO... the mid-north coast of New South Wales in the caravan. We would stay at a lot of the little coastal town

GOMA hosts the first major Australian exhibition of German painter Gerhard Richter, one of the greatest living artists. qagoma.qld.gov.au Sydney Festival director Wesley Enoch returns for his second year at the helm, with events taking over the cit