Oceania

Travellers to South Australia looking for environmentally sensitive accommodation devoid of mobile phone reception yet rich in old-fashioned Outback hospitality, should look no further than 29,000 acre Rawnsley Park Station. Renowned for the introduction of their award-winning luxurious eco villas, Rawnsley Park is located in the heart of the Flinders Ranges only 400 km from Adelaide, overlooking Wilpena Pound, the 83 square km amphitheatre formed 640 million years ago.

This former sheep grazing estate offers great food and wine in its Woolshed restaurant and luxury eco villas that are contemporary in design and décor. The villas boast the latest environmental features including rendered straw bale walls for insulation, polished timber floors over suspended concrete slabs, and overhanging eaves and wide verandas which provide shaded walls. Other unusual features include retractable fabric ceilings which provide a magical night viewing panel from the bedroom, allowing guests to lie back in bed and gaze up at the stars in the clear southern skies above.

The first four eco-villas proved to be so popular since their introduction in 2006, that a further $1 million was invested in four additional villas, which were completed in April 2009.   Each one of the eight eco-villas (six one-bedroom and two, two-bedroom) offers the same stunning views, secluded location, stylish interiors and quality facilities.

An insight into Tahune Airwalk, one of Tasmania’s best-known attractions.

Catherine Leech has worked in luxury travel for more than 25 years. She started in PR before becoming European Director of the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism, then Managing Director of luxury tour operator, Caribtours. After the tsunami of 2004 she moved to Sri Lanka where she worked for two years, mostly as a volunteer, to develop sustainable tourism projects in affected communities. Catherine is now director of a new travel website, 101 Holidays.

What is it that  you do exactly?

No two days are ever the same. In the last few months, I have been focused on bringing 101 Holidays to life. We launched it in January after an intense period of planning, designing, testing and liaising with the two editors (travel writers David Wickers and Mark Hodson).

I am based in a chocolate-box village in south-west Dorset where I take daily walks on the hills with the next door pub’s springer. I make occasional trips into London for meetings, client briefings, etc. In the past month, I’ve written an outline proposal for an emerging new destination, completed a client benchmark survey for a PR agency, moderated a weekend conference of independent travel agents in Warwick and organised a client event for an alliance of luxury tour operators called Seven Wonders.

London is 2hrs 40mins away by train. There was a time when I would have viewed that as too far but after the six-hour car journeys to get to each of my project sites in Sri Lanka, the train ride goes by in a flash and I keep in constant touch with my iPhone.

What do you enjoy most about what you do?

I relish being involved in the industry I know and love but, especially, I value the variety and being relatively removed from the day to day office run, staffing issues, office politics, etc. In fact, I think it is my distance from the daily drag which allows me to cut through some of the BS and see solutions, come up with ideas and work with people to find new ways of moving forward. I also love not having to doll up in heels and make-up every day.

What would you say are the 3 best places you’ve ever stayed?

My “life-changing place” was Huzur Vadisi in Turkey, on a week’s yoga retreat where I bared my soul amongst 22 strangers and changed my life (resigned from my job and moved to Sri Lanka).

For romantic bliss, it is definitely the Koyao Island Resort close to Phuket where I had a week with the dishiest of boyfriends – yoga on the beach at sunrise, breakfast, dive, Jenga, lunch, swim, massage, backgammon, dinner, backgammon etc.

For ultimate luxury, it was joining my gay best friends’ honeymoon at the Plaza Athenee, just weeks after returning from Sri Lanka. The sheer hedonism was dizzying but such a treat and a delicious reminder that you can take the girl out of the luxury tour operator but…

What’s been your most memorable dining experience to date?

It was my 46th birthday in Sri Lanka. I asked my new-found friends to join me at my favourite spot, Beach Wadiya, just outside the centre of Colombo. It will never win awards for interior design (it’s a shack on a beach across a railway track) but I loved the warm sea breeze, toes in the sand, haphazard but charming service, devilled prawns dripping from sticky fingers, baked crab backs, grilled fish and an ice-cold beer or two – all for about £6. Of the 14 people around the table, I counted 10 nationalities, seven religions and not one over-inflated ego.

Have you rubbed shoulders with the rich and famous, either through your work or your travels?

I don’t suppose I can count the evening I leg-wrestled with Oliver Reed in the Malta Hilton? I’m not a great celebrity spotter but I did share a lift at the Waldorf Astoria with Tom Berenger and dived with Jean-Michel Cousteau for a week in the Cayman Islands.

What currently ranks highest on your travel wishlist?

The Isles of Scilly, snorkelling with whale sharks on Ningaloo Reef and a return to Sri Lanka to see how the various communities I worked amongst are getting along.

Thank you, Catherine. I’ll be watching 101 Holidays with interest to see how it progresses.

Melbourne’s Hotel Windsor has announced a $260 million development proposal aimed at securing the future of the city’s only 19th Century grand hotel.  The proposal  aims to re-establish the property as the leading hotel in Melbourne. Highlights of the plan include:

• Refurbishment of the original hotel building and its key historic features. The exterior will be restored more faithfully to its original appearance, including the reinstatement of the Spring Street colonnade.

• A slim and elegant 25-storey tower – set back 25 metres from Spring Street and Bourke Street – that acts as a “curtain” draped behind the original historic hotel building it presents a distinctive form and finish that acts as a backdrop and “frame” for the hotel.  The tower will include additional guest rooms and suites, meeting rooms and health and leisure facilities.

• A new corner building to replace the 1960′s north wing addition. The ground level would be fully glazed with retractable openings, allowing al fresco dining and refreshments. The upper levels will include new banquet and function facilities, meeting rooms, guestrooms and an indoor pool.

This week Forbes Traveler has run a feature entitled “10 Gorgeous Glaciers“. It caught my eye not only because of the beautiful pictures but also because I have a particular  interest in this subject. Few of you will know this, but my  PhD was in glaciology.   Alas, Greenland – where I worked – doesn’t get a look-in; instead, the following make the shortlist:

Slideshow of amazing beach huts from across the globe including Tahiti and Maldives.

The Radisson Resort Fiji Denarau Island has another star to its name.   Not content to be a just another five star resort, it’s scooped up a green star  endorsement from AAA Tourism. This new accolade is to recognise the resort’s environmentally responsible business practices.

A favourite destination of discerning travelers, the islands of Bora Bora have long attracted visitors in search of the world’s most luxurious and private accommodations, majestic views and, according to author James Michener, “the most beautiful lagoon in the world”. The opening of The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort in June 2006 marked the legendary brand’s first resort in French Polynesia and introduced an unrivalled dimension of luxury and hospitality to the South Pacific.   The magnificent 44-acre property offers the most sumptuous accommodation in the region combined with St. Regis’ personalised services and amenities, including 24-hour concierge, room service and the  renowned St. Regis Butler Service.

Featuring 100 exquisitely designed over-water and beach villas, many with terrace whirlpools or private swimming pools, the one-, two- and three-bedroom villas range in size from 1,550 square feet to the resort’s ultra-luxurious 13,000-square-foot Royal Estate, fittingly set apart in a secluded cove.   The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort’s magnificent accommodations showcase exotic woods and regional art and pamper guests with private outdoor showers, Pratesi linens and Acqua di Parma amenities.   Guests also enjoy 42-inch plasma televisions, Bose DVD/CD players and high-speed Internet throughout their villas.

The resort features a number of firsts for French Polynesia, including five over-water villas with private swimming pools suspended over the lagoon, two secluded beach villas with access to a private helicopter pad and the unmatched Royal Estate, the largest and most luxurious villa in the South Seas.   Guests of the resort will enjoy three world-class restaurants, including Lagoon, the resort’s signature over-water restaurant by Jean-Georges, as well as Sushi Take, French Polynesia’s first sushi restaurant.   Spa Miri Miri, the 13,000-square-foot world-class spa is located on its own island in the lagoon, accessible by a foot-bridge, and features Tahitian and Pacific Rim treatments in seven treatment rooms.   The use of natural herbs and extracts from the island will create an unforgettably sensual experience.

Set amidst lush unspoiled surroundings and pristine waters, guests enjoy spectacular views of the main island of Bora Bora as well as the mystical Mount Otemanu, towering over the Pacific Ocean, with the remote islands of Tahaa and Raiatea on the horizon.

Chocolate lovers’ wildest fantasies are now coming true with the launch of the largest chocolate waterfall in the world.   Made from 400kg of chocolate descending in a mere five seconds and 4.5m wide, the new sweet attraction is part of Panny’s Amazing World of Chocolate, the world’s first interactive chocolate exhibition on iconic Philip Island, 90 minutes south of Melbourne. In addition, Panny’s Amazing World of Chocolate features a Chocolate Art Gallery, including a two-metre chocolate statue of Michelangelo’s David and a chocolate painted version of Edward Munch’s expressionist piece The Scream, as well as a 4.8m village coming complete with buildings, street houses and landscaping, all constructed out of chocolate.

Chocoholics will also be able to savour a multitude of quirky sweet treats such as Vegemite (the Australian version of marmite), Wasabi and Cola flavoured chocolate delights, while those interested in the processes of chocolate making, an educational exhibition on cocoa plantations and trees; a demonstration on the whole deliciously sinful process is also on show.

The Sofitel Bora Bora Marara Beach Resort and Sofitel Bora Bora Motu Private Island have merged to become Sofitel Bora Bora Marara Beach & Private Island. Guests can now choose to split their time between the resort’s luxurious bungalows situated along Bora Bora’s lavish beach or on Muto, Sofitel’s pristine private island.

Located on a stretch of stunning white-sand beach, along one of the most beautiful lagoons in the world, the Sofitel Bora Bora Marara Beach & Private Island elegantly combines rustic and contemporary styles. Private island guests arrive to the isolated garden location via a short two-minute boat ride and, upon arrival, they discover a world-class romantic resort amidst the wild and protected surroundings where they can enjoy unrestricted 360-degree views of the lagoon and unparalleled French Polynesian sunsets.