Australian Traveller

To get your bearings at Rolling Seas in Bilinga, just walk barefoot onto your balcony and inhale the salty air. Pack your rose-tinted glasses as this luxury Mediterranean-inspired estate faces due east, so you can take note of when the day-trippers d

WHILE THE RESURRECTED Southern Ocean Lodge is in the same position as its predecessor, the airy Ocean Pavilion is something else entirely: a new addition purpose-built for even more of an ultimate getaway. The sprawling four-bedroom Ocean Pavilion is

Rolling Seas is a chic shack mere steps from the sand at Bilinga Beach on the sun-drenched Gold Coast. Bring your entourage to stay in the sprawling beachside mansion, which includes two spacious villas and accommodates up to 12 guests. The property

Diners are in for a treat at Nico, tucked away amid an unassuming strip of shops in Sydney’s Cammeray. To take your seat in the dining room, all terracotta, saffron and rich blue hues, is to be transported to Italy’s Amalfi Coast. Expect intelligent

“IF YOU’RE GOING TO do a tour of somewhere new, absolutely do it on the first day to discover the best of [the place],” is the sage advice of effervescent Adie Chapman, founder of Perth-based tour group Oh Hey WA. It’s my first visit to the historic

A FEW YEARS BACK, WHEN ROTTNEST ISLAND set itself a goal of welcoming 800,000 annual visitors to its sandy shores by 2034, it seemed like an optimistic gaze into the crystal ball. But it turned out those expectations were a tad low: it surpassed that

Sydney-based design studio CHADA seems to have flipped through its Pantone Colour Chart to find the most vibrant shades to rainbow over the walls and surfaces of Melbourne’s new hotel, The Motley. The boutique hotel is in Richmond, once the epicentre

AS SOMEONE WHO LIVED around the corner from Hurricane’s Grill & Bar Bondi Beach when it launched in the mid-1990s, I have a few questions. How did the chain that bowed so deeply to the appetite of carnivores go from being a restaurant known for its s

BEFORE I EVEN ARRIVE at The Motley Hotel, I know it’s close to the MCG and has a rooftop bar with views over Richmond. But what I am unprepared for is the glamorous entrance and striking fashion portraits of artist Mohammadreza Rezania lining the foy

BEFORE HAVING CHILDREN, I never knew how fortifying a margarita could be. As I rock back in my chair and adjust my eyes to the ravishing of greenery popping from every hanging basket and pot around our table, the combination of a full belly, tequila

THE SUN IS JUST CRESTING the curves of the Blue Mountains when the Nepean Belle chugs into view from my vantage point on the grassy banks of the Nepean River. Pink streaks of light and cloud are stretching across the sky and back towards the city. Te

“WE’VE GOT TWO MALES WITHOUT A CALF, let’s go!” Captain Grant McCaffrey shouts just as lunch is served onboard M.V. Arcadia, Hervey Bay Dive Centre’s whale swim vessel. I drop my sandwich and start running from the upper deck to the back of the boat

I’M TAKING MENU SUGGESTIONS from owner Katrina Myers moments after arriving at luxurious Lost & Found retreat in Barham, NSW. She’s just recommended the pork at Ivy Joyce, the hip restaurant I’m headed to later that night. “And if you like that, you’

Metung Hot Springs is notched into the earth on a natural undulating site overlooking the Gippsland Lakes. It’s one of a handful of hot springs that will be laced together along the Great Victorian Bathing Trail. This 900-kilometre-long bucket list f

FROM A DISTANCE, Ngarrabullgan (Mt Mulligan) looms large, like a giant crouching on the grassy plain. The monolith is starting to glow golden as I floor the accelerator of my all-terrain Kubota, impatient to arrive at its southern end, known as The B

DISTANCE IS NOT MEASURED in kilometres onboard the Great Southern that travels between Brisbane and Adelaide. Instead, vignettes of rural Australia serve as waymarkers: A white mare flicking its tail on the emerald slopes of the Byron hinterland; A l

A series of highly stylised photographs composed by visual artist George Byrne will be on display as part of the Synthetica exhibition at Sydney’s Olsen Gallery. The exhibition features images drawn from natural and man-made environments using blocks

WE’RE HURTLING ALONG Larapinta Drive, a wide, open stretch of road that winds west of Mparntwe/Alice Springs towards Hermannsburg. A blur of colour rushes past: the powder-white trunks of ghost gums, deep reds of the MacDonnell Ranges and a wash of p

Take a musical trip around the world from Adelaide’s Tainmuntilla/Botanic Park with tunes from all corners of the globe. The family-favourite festival returns with a line-up that includes Grammy-nominated Senegalese musician Baaba Maal, who sings in

NAME: VENUSTUS LOCATION: PADDINGTON, SYDNEY, NSW STEPPING OFF OXFORD Street – the busy thoroughfare linking Sydney’s CBD to the eastern suburbs – and into Venustus comes as a total surprise to the unsuspecting. This is no ordinary salon, and in fact