A Covid-19 Boom in Australia’s Historic Mudgee

By Anabel Dean

“Zest me a lemon?” she asks. “Peel me a potato?” “Roll out the dough?” 

We are sitting at a kitchen counter waiting for Tamara Howorth to make lunch, but the artisan chef who runs The Little Cooking School in Mudgee is not just here to share her culinary expertise, she is making us work. In the nicest possible way.

There’s not a wine glass in sight. There’s an apron. And nine classmates are springing to prepare a feast that will soon garnish the long table under a budding wisteria in the courtyard. 

The family from Sydney are old hands: “We’ve done paella in Spain,” says the woman. Her husband is looking into his coffee cup. It’s empty. “What about the wine?” he asks, nodding at bottles of red provocatively out of reach on the sideboard. 

“Shortbread biscuit?” suggests Tamara.

We get back to our tasks, strangers united by an epicurean adventure that will reveal the secrets of three-ways gnocchi and lemony ricotta cake, kept simple.

“A recipe that’s got nine billion steps or 20 million ingredients is not my favourite thing,” Tamara declares, cracking eggs with one hand into a bowl. 

Our creation is to be an alchemy of potatoes, cheese and butter melded with garlic, prosciutto, hazelnuts, pumpkin, mushroom, spinach, nutmeg and sage. Did I mention cream? It’s only 11 degrees but we will stay warm for a long time with calories wrapped stealthily around waists after eating so many little dumplings. 

Winter in Mudgee is the time for wine by the fireside but the therapy of a dining table suits every season. “Good food changes dynamics among people,” expounds Tamara. “It fills my cup doing this for a living.” 

The man with the empty cup too, apparently, since he is now inhaling the intoxicant of chopped sage. “Don’t forget this bit,” he says to the woman slopping cream over a jigsaw of sliced pumpkin. 

Meanwhile, Tamara whisks around the kitchen, dolloping and dicing, firing up pots on the Ferrari of stoves that has, in fact, turned out to be a lemon. “It’s as if I’m cooking over an open fire and I’m a pioneer every time.” 

It’s a good analogy for an entrepreneur living in a central western NSW town settled by pioneers in the 1820s. Mudgee has always been an extraordinary place: the centre for goldfields that peaked at Gulgong and Hill End in the 1870s and, when the precious metal ran out in them ther’ hills, it prospered as a wine and wool producer of the finest quality. 

A pinch of this, a touch of that. Beef, wheat, fruit, honey. A kilo of wagyu will always do better with a recipe picked up somewhere along the way. “It’s a recipe for life,” Tamara says.

Born in another country town, Tamara started learning the food trade at the age of 16, progressed through hospitality management and commercial catering in Sydney, before opening The Muse Brasserie in Gulgong. 

She was the chef who hated working nights and, with a growing family, soon recognised that “I wasn’t being a very good Mum and I wasn’t being a good restauranteur”. So, she and her husband Richard - an electrician who works in the mines - found a red brick bungalow on the outskirts of Mudgee. 

The early 1900s building had good bones, perfect for a cooking school, once Richard had put his renovation skills to work. “He’s a good tiler,” Tamara laughs, “and we used quite a lot of white paint.” 

Business is brisk and guests book several months in advance for accommodation in the four-bedroom house while signing up for the cooking school out back. 

“It was a fluke of good timing,” Tamara concludes. “A bit like making a Yorkshire pudding. Everything must be just right – hot oil and cold batter - and then it's just magic.”

Everyone makes hay when the sun shines and, on a chilly morning, Mudgee cafés are full of latte-sipping cosmopolitans chowing down on smashed avocado sourdough, in what can only be described as a Covid-19 boom. The food and wine hub has struck it rich again. 

There’s a socially-distanced crowed of pandemic escapees from the city waiting for the only tour guide in town to emerge from the mist under the clock tower.

Ned Dickson is a teenage pied piper who leads visitors through 199 years of history on the Mudgee Heritage Walking Tours that he founded in 2018. He’s taking a break from HSC studies to retell stories unearthed from years of reading books in the local library. 

Enchantingly, Ned neglects to mention that he was awarded the Young Citizen of the Year Award on Australia Day this year, preferring to get straight to the point about the town that’s been home - on and off - to five generations of his family. 

“Back in the day, it took three and a half weeks to come from Sydney to Mudgee, as opposed to three and a half hours today,” he begins, leading his flock along a line of picturesque shops on Market Street. “This is one of the oldest, most intact, completely heritage-listed streetscape in Australia,” he says, stopping to point to the spot where his ancestors opened the first department store. 

“It went broke around 1900. And that’s pretty annoying.”

Not nearly as annoying as the local council decision to modernise Mudgee in the 1960s by removing the gorgeous iron lacework verandas along the main street. Thirty years later, council officers decided to reinstate the original features, and drove to a property outside Mudgee. 

‘Do you have the verandah from the Post Office Hotel?’ they asked. They walked into a far paddock and found the original cream-coloured Lyrebird lacework from 1852 had been repurposed in the cattle yards. The verandahs are now back where they belong on buildings that line Mudgee’s bustling main street. Ned’s dad says it’s a far cry from the 1970s when ‘you were lucky to see 10 cars’.

Now, every weekend, there’s a tussle to find a car park or a restaurant table, but hang on, where is Ned? 

He’s walked on to 1840s shoe shop that still “to this day” sells shoes. 

“You could have your shoes made out of your cow here. You’d have it slaughtered out back, the hide treated in the little tannery, then fashioned into leather.” Ned knows this because the ol’ shoemaker Mr Thomas was a hoarder who buried every receipt in a lead lined box in the courtyard. 

It was nearly 100 years after Mudgee was established before people figured out they needed to look after their teeth. 

“I interviewed a lady who remembers sprinting around this corner in the 1940s because she used to hear the screams of people upstairs having their teeth ripped out of their skulls,” Ned recalls.

And so it goes, glinting nuggets reclaimed all the way to the banks of the Cudgegong River, where our escapade with Ned draws to an end.

He leaves us standing beside Jamie Sargeant’s sculpture - Seed Memory - at the edge of the superb Lawson Park Sculpture Walk. It looks like a slice of lemon. Skewered on a toothpick.

—————————————————————————————————————

LENS ON THE GOLDFIELD

In the spring of 1872, photographer Beaufoy Merlin and his assistant Charles Bayliss followed the rush to the nearby town of Gulgong, but not for the gold. 

They wanted to capture life in a gold rush town.

So, they compiled roughly 500 images on glass plate negatives and, in the process, caught the eye of Hill End's famous goldminer, Bernard Otto Holtermann, who commissioned a photographic assignment to document Hill End and other towns all over New South Wales. 

Holtermann purchased all the plates from Merlin's widow and thus saved them for posterity as a record like no other town in the world at that time. The vast glass plate collection that was a complete snapshot of life (in the 1870s) disappeared until it was discovered perfectly preserved in the garden shed of Holtermann's daughter-in-law in Chatswood, Sydney, in 1951.

Late last year, just before the pandemic hit, The Holtermann Collection was given a permanent home in the historic Greatest Wonder of the World building in Gulgong (about half an hour’s drive from Mudgee). Don’t miss it.

WHEN YOU GO:

The Gulgong Holtermann Museum https://holtermann.museum/

The Little Cooking School https://www.littlecookingschoolmudgee.com.au/

The Heritage Walk: ned.dickson@mudgeehighschool.net

Sculptures in the Garden: https://www.sculpturesinthegarden.com.au/

The Lawson Park Sculpture Walk is a lively showcase of winning artworks from the largest regional outdoor sculpture exhibition in NSW. Sculptures in the Garden is held every year (for the last decade) in the gardens at Rosby Wines. It will take place again this year at Rosby Wines vineyard - https://www.rosby.com.au/ - from October 10-25.

Anabel Dean is a Sydney freelance journalist formerly with The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, The Bulletin and Medical Observer magazine. http://www.anabeldean.com

Great Southern Highlands New South Wales

By Anabel Dean

It’s a frigid winter afternoon in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales and the Wingello Village Store is closing.

“Come back tomorrow,” calls a chirpy adolescent through the diminishing space in the door jam. “We serve good breakfast.” Then he’s gone. 

The warmth inside is palpable even through the window. There’s a wall papered with newspaper clippings: local celebrities and feats of heroism. Shelves are crammed with kitsch teapots, homemade biscuits in glass jars and an open fire flickers in the book corner. There are postcards picturing children in green meadows under homespun slogans: ‘Wingello – Where summer walks are a short step away’ and ‘Wingello – Where the grass is greener’.

The grass is only just green again. This was ground zero in the apocalyptic ‘Black Summer’ bushfire season which - through a combination of record-breaking drought; the hottest year on record; dry winds and fuel on the ground – incinerated vast swathes of Australia. 

Nothing was going to stop the Currowan Fire. It roared like a freight train through the dense bushland of Moreton National Park. Then, on January 4, the sky went black, and red, like hell. The fire split, one flank hit nearby Bundanoon and Exeter, the other cracked into Wingello, where the inferno burned down nearly a dozen houses, sheds, cars, everything in its path, until the Wingello Fire Brigade bolstered resources to defend the cornerstone of the community.

“Not on my watch,” the captain had declared, and the Wingello Village Store (circa 1883) was saved. 

This little curiosity shop – the only business in town - is the heart of a small community half way between Sydney and Canberra. And it’s the closest thing to civilization from Wildernest, where I’ve retreated for a few days of city isolation, with a friend. 

Our tiny house lies at the end of a red dirt road in a clearing, past a few well-fed cattle, on the edge of Wingello State Forest at Tallong. The forest is so abundant here that it accentuates the smallness of Tiny House One (T1), the itsy-bitsy housing equivalent of a Swiss-army knife, all folded up in pocket-sized practicality and almost harmless to the earth. 

A Lilliputian experience like this fits neatly into today’s world, where vast book collections can now be stored on hand-held devices and yet, there’s something that harks back to frontier times. It’s the modern-day counterpart of the bark hut – a simple life – without all the clutter. 

A tour around the micro-cube takes less than 20 seconds. A large window peers into a stand of towering gums and a field pockmarked with kangaroos. There’s a kitchen and living area with a sleeping loft above. The ceiling is within arms-length of the mattress so no sitting up suddenly, unless it is to pop a head out of the skylight, which opens to a crescent of moon by night and birdsong by day.

We are alone. Close to nature. It would feel like camping in a tent were it not a whole lot more comfortable – linen sheets, designer crockery, house-made lemongrass-scented soap, hot shower – but this gem comes at a price. Addiction. Immediate. Irrevocable. 

I may never camp in a tent again.

A sort-of breakfast nook can be ingeniously created, let’s see, by moving a stool. It might be necessary to flatten against a doorway to get to the fridge at the same time but the house is an off-grid energy sipper, not a guzzler, with reliance upon tank water and solar power. There’s an oven, cooktop, BBQ and fire-pit for cosy star-spangled chit-chat.

Escaping the city affords a nice opportunity to explore the daisy chain of Southern Highland towns that I have known, but not really known, all my life. This is tweed and knit territory, an elevated place for the horsey set, children in boarding schools and movie stars on acreage, pine-scented breezes and fire-side brews. Dig beneath the surface though, and the villages that line up like red galahs on a tin roof - Mittagong, Bowral, Moss Vale, Burrawang, Exeter, Bundanoon and Wingello - are vastly different in character. 

Every town, of course, has its share of good butchers, bakers, grocers, providores and farmers. Bundanoon, about 10 minutes’ drive from Wingello, is well-known for the annual Brigadoon highland gathering that triples the town population in one day. Nature lovers have long been drawn to the stringybark and banksia encrusted gullies of Morton National Park while foodies shuffle in and out of nice cafes on the main street (Delilicious, Jumping Rock, Potter’s Pantry). The Village Grocer is a plain brick building with a plentiful supply of condiments and charcuterie for the obligatory picnic.

Further along the road, morning lights up a forest of ghostly gums, eerie white sentinels on the outskirts of Exeter. The English-pretty village has been fortified by a social distancing buffer from Sydney but now that COVID-19 restrictions have been eased, the demands of welcoming hordes of out-of-towners has proved challenging at times. 

Exeter General Store is a busy post office collection point for locals who return daily, if not hourly, for best-baked, just-picked produce for fridge and pantry. “I love cooking: it’s my therapy,” offers store owner Lauren Johnson. “Mine too”, I say, stuffing her notoriously scrumptious, whisky, herbed, honeyed porridge into my mouth, while insolently jotting down the recipe. It would be easy to while away the hours in this renovated 1900s outpost of gourmet and homemade foods, with a whole wall of books, but there’s no time.

Ten kilometres further on, Moss Vale has transformed itself into a sort of lifestyle store destination (Mossy Store, Made by Others, Suzie Anderson Home), and now with a super-cool tap-house. Bernie’s Diner has been here forever. Well, three generations in present ownership anyway, making sure the hot house-made pastrami is a staple. Along with the onion rings. And the milkshakes.

The core of the highlands, of course, is typically thought to be Bowral. Some businesses are still takeaway-only or in the stages of a reopening. It’s a proud pastry town and dolloped in the midst of an excellent bunch, South Hill Kitchen is a rustic foodie favourite, with fruit and veg harvested daily from owner Tory Bevan’s farm. The Sydney girl bought the place in April 2019, got it just right by November, then the fires hit. Her life enriching carrot, candied apricot and walnut muffins - with globules of butter cream frosting - are worth a road trip from anywhere. 

Once fortified, it’s essential to visit the funky mix of creativity that is Mittagong. Sturt Craft and Design Centre at Frensham School has been a Southern Highlands destination since the 1940s and visitors are unlikely to walk away without a hand-crafted something-or-other. The same goes for Twisting Vintage - an authentically eclectic vintage clothing store on the Bowral Road – famous among the film-making crowd for quality curation of the mid-century. 

The constantly evolving capacity for creativity is inescapable in Robertson too, a not-too-far-away town spectacularly perched on the top of craggy Illawarra Escarpment. The SHAC – a new artist and designer creative space with exhibitions that display and sell work – and The Moonacres Kitchen - which comprises an organic farm café and, soon, a cooking school – are two important new reasons to stop.

An escape to the country has always brought a heightened awareness of surrounds and, these days, the incidental conversations with strangers seem to count for a lot. 

It’s icy again when I return to Wingello Village Store before it closes on my last day. 

“Yes it’s cold,” agrees Arial, one of six Bruggeman children who run the store. “The daffodils and tulips bloom two weeks earlier in Bundanoon yet it’s only 10 minutes away.” She hesitates. “… but it’s always a lovely day in Wingello.” And the grass is greener again.

For more information:

Wildernest: https://airbnb.com/h/wildernest-t1

Destination Southern Highlands: https://www.visitsouthernhighlands.com.au/

New Zealand: Can Nature Get Better than This?

By Anabel Dean

There are probably more beautiful landscapes packed into the relatively confined geography of New Zealand than anywhere else in the world.

Pondering the endless possibilities of North and South Island - the beaches, rivers, plains, peninsulas, valleys, marshlands, gorges, hillsides and mountains - can induce a paralysis of planning. So, we’re opting for a simple way out, casting aside decision-making for six days to follow, more or less, a road northwards from Auckland. Let freedom take the lead.         

The information desk attendant at Auckland airport approves, apparently, but cannot provide a printed roadmap beyond the fringe of New Zealand’s largest city.

“Sorry,” she says. “We don’t have pamphlets for getting to other places.”

We make our way to the edge of the only map on offer, through Auckland’s fraying suburbs to a ferry terminal on Half Moon Bay, where the person at the Sealink ticket desk is even more animated.

“Awesome! A road trip anywhere,” she enthuses, instantly discounting tickets to the second largest island in the Hauraki Gulf.

Waiheke Island

Waiheke Island is not just anywhere. It’s a floating green rampart about 45-minutes out to sea. We disembark at dusk and notice a sign: ‘Slow Down. You’ve Arrived.’

The road meanders along sandy coves and clapboard cottages, through the bayside hamlet of Oneroa, past pohutukawa trees red with blossom. The native Christmas trees are a riot wrapped around one of New Zealand’s more unlikely hip hotels.

The Boatshed is a luxurious base camp of the sort not to be found on Booking.com or Trivago.com. There are no online reservations and no infinity edge swimming pools. Its 10 crisply furnished rooms, each blessed by ocean vistas, are discovered by strictly word-of-mouth recommendations.

We arrive in time for dinner en terrace. The dress code is high-tide casual and guests are busy with an array of candle-lit sensations prepared by a chef whose offerings bend to the seasons with the help of a terraced vegetable garden to rival Chateau de Villandry. 

Long-stemmed lilies adorn a table with, quite possibly, the best coffee book selection of any small hotel in the world. There’s a perpetually filled jar of homemade muesli biscuits in the bedroom and a beach-ready bag with towels, hats, sunscreen and insect repellent.

“Welcome,” says host, Jonathan Scott. “There’s no need to dress for dinner.”

Jonathan Scott came to the old hippie colony of Waiheke Island as a barefoot child on family holidays. Things changed about a decade ago when the London Financial Times exposed the island as one of the top 10 places on the planet to buy a house. 

“You’d be amazed at the number of people who literally took that for gospel and flew here from the United Kingdom to look for property,” he recalls.

The travellers keep coming, drawn to the promise of 30 boutique wineries dotted over the island, or just the passing of an afternoon in seclusion. 

“Pretty much every tourist who comes to Auckland now comes for a day trip to Waiheke,” admits Scott. “It’s an easy commute for the 10,000 people that live here but with a small community feel and some of the best beaches you’ll find anywhere.”

One of those beaches is a crescent of sand beneath our bedroom window. It entices us to a stroll after dinner into artsy Oneroa, where galleries sell locally produced knick-knackery. We travel further next day, circling the island on roads sometimes unsealed, often deserted. There are gorges where splinters of wild are tucked into the tame and, in the sheep-cropped hills at the north-eastern end of the island, an abandoned network of wartime gun emplacements at Stony Batter Historic Reserve.

Eventually, in a vineyard down an isolated valley, we stumble upon a feasting crowd. They are gathered at tables laden with melting mozzarella, garlicy sausage and eggplant tart. The scent of truffle oil hangs heavy in the air. Al fresco Sundays at Poderi Crisci are legendary as long lunch day and the resulting experience is impossible to review here.

Trust me. Just do it.

Leaving Waiheke takes fortitude but, nonetheless, we are ferried over water and soon on State Highway 1, heading through the winterless north to The Bay of Islands. 

History runs deep in the safe harbours along this Northland coast and especially in the township of Russell - once ‘the Hellhole of the Pacific’ - about three hour’s drive away.

Russell

As New Zealand’s first European settlement, Russell was such a magnet to fleeing convicts and drunken sailors in the mid 1830s that Charles Darwin described the roughneck town as full of ‘the very refuse of society’.

The only refuse in sight, after a night at Russell’s Eagles Nest retreat, is the discarded packaging of the smorgasbord that stocked the fridge. A provedore’s stash comes as part of the package here with a private beach. The pebbly seashore is obscured by sub-tropical foliage but we know it’s there beneath the mezzanine bedroom with a floor to ceiling glass shower.

Eagles Nest is an impeccable lover’s retreat with champagne, a jacuzzi, and 144 islands to gawp at through wrap-around glass walls. It’s immediately clear, however, that all the big game fishing, scenic cruising, sailing, diving, kayaking, walking, biking, picnicking and helicopter-flight-seeing will take another day. We must move from this nest for lovers.

Launching into Russell with gusto, we check into the century-old B&B Arcadia Lodge, perched on a hillside above Matauwhi Bay.

It’s about now that our itinerary is hijacked by hosts whose generous recommendations are rooted in a concept that plays a pivotal role in the lives of the indigenous people. The Maori word Manaakitanga means providing hospitality that is genuine and uplifting, supporting travellers with kindness as part of the community. Arcadia Lodge embodies this concept. Hospitality has been enjoyed here since the 1920s by a smattering of international guests with no intention of leaving.

“But you can’t come to the Bay of Islands without going onto the water,” says co-owner Peter Gillan, rushing off to find a spot on a yacht.

Phantom is moored at the town jetty next morning: a 50-foot sloop with elegant waterlines under the command of a husband and wife team, Rick and Robin Blomfield, who have sailed the world for decades. Even on this day, with the biggest rainstorm in New Zealand’s history brewing down south, they sail us to quiet anchorages in crystal bays.

There’s a pod of miraculous dolphins frolicking in the shallows at Endeavour Bay. The sight of their rounded grey dorsal fins carving water is a rarity these days, even for Phantom, and we are reverential.

“Romance is anytime that you’re awed by nature,” reflects my companion.

The Bay of Islands is all about romance but it’s time to hit the road again. Our Arcadia Lodge host urges us to forgo the sweeping dunes and wind-lashed shore of the west coast and head instead for the east coast town of Mangonui.

“It’s famous for its ‘fush’ (fish) and chips,” concludes Peter. “Stay at the Old Oak.”

Mangonui

It’s about two hours further northeast to Mangonui but grey clouds are tearing at the land and the tide is out on Doubtless Bay. My companion gives me a glance of disbelief. “This is where we are staying?”

The best moments in travel are serendipitous and a night in Mangonui’s reputedly haunted kauri inn is one of them. Unusually, we are the only guests at the popular Old Oak, a boutique hotel with six rooms built in 1861, but the only spooky chill is from the drop in air temperature.

Morning yields an entirely different aspect across a cottage garden with harbour views. There’s a bustle around the historic waterfront buildings retaining the character of the tiny fishing port that was once a centre of the whaling industry. 

The excellent Little Kitchen on the Bay is filled with breakfast chatter over oven-baked goodness. There are books, honey jars, healing balms and keep cups. I order the pumpkin and turmeric granola with warmed cinnamon apple and now claim this place as New Zealand’s ‘Best Northland Secret’.

An impromptu remark from a friendly waiter prompts us to motor towards the nearby Karikari Peninsula. “It’s epic,” he says. “Go for Maitai Bay at the end of the peninsula down an unsealed road.” He scribbles a map that, an hour later, leads us into rugged landscape, windy and remote with noisy birdlife in the dunes. These are Maori ancestral lands where we cannot roam but, anyway, time is ebbing away.

We head back to Auckland, stopping at Tutukaka, where the Poor Knights Marine Reserve is one of the world’s top 10 diving spots.

Tutukaka

It’s easy to get a crick in the neck on the scenic drive into Tutukaka. The marina is a beauty spot with a pearl string of shops, but first we must settle into accommodation, and Lodge 9 will do nicely.

It’s nestled into a green valley, an easy walking distance from the marina, where we join the Perfect Day Ocean Cruise to the remarkable underwater arches, caves, cliff faces, sponge gardens and kelp forests of the Poor Knights Islands.

The islands were named by Captain James Cook in 1769, either after a popular English pudding, or because they looked like a reclining knight. It’s a pristine environment and, to protect unique species, only those with special permits are allowed to set foot on land. Anyway, it’s tapu – forbidden - since a raiding party massacre by the Te Hikutu tribe in 1825 wiped out the resident Ngai Wai tribe.

“Even from the water it can be an eerie place,” admits our host, Kate Malcolm, co-owner of Dive!Tutukaka. “It’s the land that time forgot where species evolved differently: insects and plants grow larger there.”

What lies beneath is revealed after 45 minutes of ocean cruising. 

The cliffs from the two main volcanic islands drop steeply to the sandy bottom; sheer walls are encrusted with life, seaweeds and sponges, eels and rays. Fish varieties not seen in other NZ waters are submerged in the warm sub-tropical current of the Coral Sea.

I slip into a vast school of blue maomao and tiny two-spot demoiselles. They tip my mask in salutation, and float fearless around my flippers, an organza curtain blocking out sunlight. It’s just me. Silent. Grateful.

There’s time for further exploration on a kayak and a stand-up paddle-board before we cruise back to port.

Suddenly, on the way, the sea boils in a huge plankton fish feeding frenzy, seabirds swooping down like cruise missiles. Thousands of silvery trevally are flipping over the surface, transformed into the gleaming cobblestones of some ancient highway, leading us back to shore.

It’s just another reminder. You don’t need a map to discover the sublime light and scenic beauty of New Zealand.

More Information -

Waiheke: The Boatshed: https://www.boatshed.co.nz/

Russell: Eagles Nest: http://www.eaglesnest.co.nz/

Arcadia Lodge: https://arcadialodge.co.nz/

Mangonui: The Old Oak: https://theoldoak.co.nz/

Tutukaka: Lodge 9, Dive!Tutukaka: http://diving.co.nz/

Living on the Edge (Literally) in Vanuatu

By Anabel Dean

It takes a leap of faith to enter the Blue Cave. 

“You can’t see under the opening because it’s dark,” Wayne Fitzgerald confesses breezily over breakfast, “but it only takes four or five fin kicks and you’re in.”

The resort manager of White Grass Ocean Resort & Spa is disconcertingly short on detail about the cavern concealed within the limestone coast on the northwest tip of Tanna island in Vanuatu.

It’s sounds alarming - diving from the base of a high sea cliff through the dark into an iridescent pool inside a subterranean grotto - but there is no time for equivocation. “Your crew is waiting,” Wayne declares, pointing to a small boat moored at the water’s edge beyond a tussle of garish pink bougainvillea. 

Within minutes, we are speeding into salty headwinds on turquoise water, colour ebbing into a distant deep blue. Along the shoreline, a few palm-thatched bures peep through greenery and there is a hotchpotch of human activity, figures frozen in motion as we skitter past. 

The journey from jetty to cave takes about half an hour. Anchor secured, we flip overboard then glide to the ragged rock wall that, the boatman reassures us, is the entrance to the cave. There’s nothing to see. We have only his word for it. Following directions, we plunge beneath rocks into sunless depths and sure enough, seconds later, heads pop out of water into a compact universe crowned by ethereal blue shafts of sunlight. 

It’s an unearthly realm, cathedral quiet but for the drip of droplets, and the slapping of waves outside the watery void. How much time passes in this exalted dome of serenity? I cannot say for sure, but the Blue Cave is a surreal introduction to the little-known surprises of Tanna, an island redolent with customs and legends harking back to a distant era.

Looking Into the Eyes of Our Ancestors

Day Two. It’s breakfast again. I am absorbed in a set of complex tasks - draining a chilled coconut shell of its tonic; admiring the delicate flesh tones of a pink grapefruit; toying with the manioc pancake drizzled with honey - when Wayne materialises at my table. 

“You’re never going to be the same after Mount Yasur,” he proclaims. 

‘That’s a bit clichéd,’ I think, until a few hours later, when I’m trudging up a higgledy-piggledy pathway without safety rails on the brim of a volcano that translates in the local language as ‘God’. Wayne is right. There can be no quick recovery from crouching on all fours before God in a savage gale, about 150 meters from the belching core, defended by nothing more than a plastic hard hat tied under my chin with string. 

A man standing beside me, clearly unhinged, is defiantly thrusting his torso towards the fiery bowels of the earth with arms outstretched as if on the bow of the Titanic. He is transfixed by the selfie mode on his iPhone. My plastic hat keeps getting caught by gusting wind, either yanking backwards with strangulation force, or slipping forwards over my eyes. Meteor-sized boulders of yellow, red and black lava are exploding noisily into the air, then somersaulting heavily onto the crater flanks, sliding back again into the steaming abyss. 

This is Level 3 on the danger meter: there is no higher category that allows for visitor interaction. 

I scurry downwards to the guide who, sensibly, crouches away from the black lava ash that’s pelting into the faces of those still rooted to the rim of Mount Yasur. 

“How do you feel looking into that volcano?” I ask Silvie. 

“We are looking into the eyes of our ancestors,” she says, as if I had just asked for a weather report. 

Somewhere deep beneath us, the tectonic plates that created this 361-metre-high pyroclastic cone are shifting, but that, of course, is just science. There is another explanation. 

“Long time ago - in about the 1500s – old man volcano was moving around the island from north to south looking for a better place to stay,” Silvie explains. “He saw two ladies sitting here cooking ‘lap lap’. Old man volcano asked for water because he was thirsty. The ladies had some in a bamboo bucket but would not share. The volcano grabbed it, drank it all, made a fiery tornado and the ladies melted. He stays here now.”

That’s that, then. Just one of many tribal tales on an island lost in time. 

A Lost in Time Island

The clock stops seconds after we began our teeth-rattling journey by 4WD to Mount Yasur, along narrow dirt roads, through fertile forests of lush tree fern, over lunar plains of thick volcanic ash. Along the way, there’s a passing parade of villagers emerging from hillsides embroidered with cassava and coffee. Some have the distant look of revellers not yet recovered from an all-night circumcision ceremony with kava. Hot pink and malachite green-feathered headdresses are flaming skywards and cheeks are painted with fluorescent stripes. 

In Yakel, one of the world’s last tribal societies, villagers embrace traditional life according to their belief in ‘kastom’, just as they’ve done for 100s of years. The women are dressed in grass skirts, the men in penis sheaths. Their bamboo walled huts have thatched roofs and bare dirt floors. Livestock are part of the furniture. Bows and arrows are still used to hunt game and children wander about wielding huge machetes (‘bush knives’) against leaves shaped like paddles. There’s not a mobile phone in sight.

At Sulphur Bay, next to the village of Ipelukel on the eastern side of the island, there are hot springs on black sand. The water temperature, in parts, reaches 60 degrees. This bay is Port Resolution, where Captain Cook came to explore Mount Yasur in 1774. 

The village people worship a God called John Frum (as in ‘John from’ America). It’s a curiously disjointed story about a man who was stationed nearby in WWII, stumbled into Ipelukel, and suggested greater prosperity would follow those who threw away their bibles and returned to the old ways. The people did as they were bidden but still wait for the prodigal to return.

A village girl called Mary appears by my side to offer services as guide. “What are you chewing?” I ask. “Lap lap,” she answers. 

Lap lap is a gluey ricey thing stuffed with marinated meat and wrapped in banana leaves that are buried in a hot lava stone oven. I’m thrilled to find it on the following day, lined up on tables amidst the whirl of colour that is the Lenakel town market. 

It’s Saturday and my guide has woken early to stock up on resort kitchen supplies. Philemon is a heroic figure, the grandson of Chief Tom Numake, with dreadlocks that fall to the earth as if they are the roots of a giant banyan tree. His hair, like Sampson, is a personification of manhood. 

“The girls are asking always to lie with me but I don’t do that,” he says emphatically. “I am with my wife.” Marie is his treasure. She works as a nurse at the local hospital. “So you can see why she cost me so many cows,” he laughs.

Philemon was meant to marry within the blood line of Chief Tom but it didn’t work out. He met Marie in a kava bar in Port Vila. “I tried really hard to get her,” he confides. “I took her to my place after about six months but I had first to give four big pigs, and one cow, and some fish like tuna, to her family.”

“Wow, she must have been some looker,” my companion jests. 

Phil is laughing too as he finishes stuffing a pile of earthy brown taro into a bulbous woven palm basket. He loads the jeep with tropical fruits and leafy vegetables. There’s a dead bat that’s slung from the low-hanging bough of a tree but resort guests do not eat bat. Another marketeer grabs the corpse quickly, snaps the wings for easy stowage, then hands over wads of notes. “It’s good,” says the man.

We head back to the resort where Phil works as dive master. Employment is a family affair here: his mother is a chef; his two sisters work in the restaurant. Connections run deep and community is lore.

A Corner of Paradise Struck From a Kava Deal

“I love the people in this place,” confesses John Marsh, the Australian who owns the resort. He had dreamed as a young teenager of owning an island, sailing around the South Pacific, “girls in every port”. He ended up with eight acres of leasehold land on Tanna after a kava deal clinched with Philemon’s grandfather - Chief Tom - 20 years ago. 

Kava is a drug made from the roots or stump of the kava shrub. It is known to cause such unsavoury side-effects as apathy and skin ulcers, and it’s not permitted at the resort. Anyway, who needs a depressant that tastes like old socks when you have a largely untouched coastline, studded with some of the south Pacific’s best-preserved coral gardens?

“I woke up about 10 hours after the kava ceremony,” John recalls. “I couldn’t lift my head: it was like a brick tied to the pillow.” 

The Marsh family were regular holiday-makers in Vanuatu from the 1980s, but John came for the first time to Tanna on a tourism conference, venturing out from Port Vila in search of the volcano. The distance necessitated an overnight stay in one of three thatched bures near the airport. Over dinner, the local Ni-van people who ran the ’resort’ restaurant asked John if he would like to buy the land. 

“I don’t know what got into me,” John remembers. “The place had a nice feel but it was all just coral rocks here. It was a good price and, eventually, I bought the leasehold for 75 years.” By then, John had only one girl in port, his wife Robyn.

Today, the resort is the biggest single contributor to the Tanna economy, employing 50 people. It’s a shady palm-tree pad, criss-crossed with whitish coral pathways. 

Hibiscuses flank my spacious family-size villa set back from the beachside bures. The quiet forces you to notice wind clacking through palm fronds and distant bonfires with smoke curling upwards. Days dawn to the sounds of village life - kids, dogs, cockerels going off, sometimes accidentally around midnight.

My family bungalow has two rooms, including a lounge area simply furnished with coffee table and cane chairs, and an open kitchenette. No TV or Wi-Fi but the simplicity is splendid. The guests are low key, early-to-bed types who prefer to avoid hype and hyperbole. 

White chairs for books or snoozes or sunsets sit beside a nice pool that seems barely used. Eileen, the receptionist, spots me paddling in the chlorinated water before lunch one day. “Oh,” she says, ever so slightly chastising, “there is the ocean there.” She is gesturing towards a sub-aquatic wonderland extending kilometres along the coastline to the north of the island. 

This is my first experience of an archipelago uncontaminated by hotel chains, fast food outlets, reality television and legal liability clauses. Somehow, charmingly, Tanna has been overlooked by mass tourism in spite of being only 45 minutes by air from Port Vila. How heartening it is to land at an airport without a baggage carousel but with a sign that reminds passengers: ‘Time you travel you mas putum on slipper or shoe’. 

With and without slippers, island life on Tanna hints at what the world might have been, had we not stomped about so much on the natural order of things. It's an education in the simple traditional values of people, language and culture; a place of green peace where every day is a new adventure.

Whether it is a Jules Verne journey to the centre of the earth – to one of the world’s most active and accessible volcanoes – or swimming with the slow-motion turtles along a 200-metre drop zone at the reef edge, this visit might be one of the most memorable of my life. 

Madagascar: Beyond Breathtaking

By Phumi Nkosi

With the number of countries I’ve visited it's often difficult to identify my Number One destination. I’ve got to say Madagascar is close up there.

The first time I traveled to this amazing country I was introduced to Nosy Be - an island off the northwest coast. From the time you arrive at their small Fascene International Airport you become invigorated by the tropical and warm air.

Nosy Be is originally volcanic, which endows it with crater lakes. This is a sleepy place with sugar cane plantations, rum distilleries, ylang ylang bushes and lounging lemurs.

I was pleased to discover few tourists and friendly locals. I loved the density of the forests, the tranquil calmness of the ocean - ahhhhh take me back please! It is hot and rainy from November to April and less hot and dry from May to October. The ecosystem and beaches make Nosy be an incredible place to visit.

The climate is sunny year-round and Nosy Be caters to those who love water sports - from diving and snorkeling to sailing. For those who love adventure, as I do, there are dirt tracks accessible by foot or quad bikes.

Here are examples of things to do in Nosy Be:

1. Nature reserve exploring

2. Bars and clubs

3. Boat rentals

4. Helicopter tours

5. Site seeing tours

6. Sailing around the islands

7. Horseback riding

8. Whale watching

This island has incredible resorts and the best part is exploring the nearby islands by boat. Who could possibly say no to island hopping in this paradise? The entire coastline is filled with a great number of gorgeous bays and deserted beaches lined with palm trees. All you have to do is lay down on the lounges under the trees with a cocktail. There are also a number of islets and rocks, which were by far the best part for me as you could visit them if you need some privacy. So if you plan on going with your baby, grab a picnic basket, some bubbly and kiss under the skies.

I always want to know if my destinations have great nightlife - well Nosy Be does not disappoint! You can choose between pool bars, dancing, clubs, pubs in a dense forest. I opted to visit a club that required to be driven by 4x4 for about an hour but I must say - it was worth it!

Try their local restaurants and open markets - and don't forget to indulge in the awesome seafood and local rum.

Definitely an island worth visiting - beyond breath taking!

Happy Savvy traveling

Five Great Reasons to visit Mexico’s Oaxaca City

By Jennifer Jedda

A six hour bus ride away from Mexico City is Mexico’s food and artisan capital of the country, Oaxaca City. It also happens to be as charming as a Mariachi boy band. Having just wrapped up 4 days and 3 nights in this fair city, I have started a list of all its delights.

Here are 5 of them:

Cuisine

I came to Oaxaca to shop for some of the best handicrafts the country has to offer, but was pleasantly surprised that is has the most renowned cuisine in the country as well. I delighted in mole (a dark, complex sauce made with dozens of ingredients – often including chocolate -that takes several days to make), tlayudas (thin Oaxaqueño “pizzas”), mescal (a liquor like tequila but made only in Oaxaca from the rare maguey agave) and tejate (a non-alcoholic maize and cacao beverage traditional to Oaxaca and once the drink of Zapotec royalty). A true foodie heaven.

Casa Oaxaca had a wonderful atmosphere and the meal was delicious, but the best part of all, besides my bottomless glass of wine, was meeting another solo traveler from NYC. We spent the better part of the evening sharing our crazy Oaxaca travel tales. He, Michael, was also nice enough to stay with me when I was locked out of my hotel at midnight (the doorman fell asleep  ).
 

Handicrafts

Shopping until I dropped was definitely part of the plan, and Oaxaca didn’t disappoint.  The town itself has many colorful markets full of artisan work that is prized around the world plus there is a variety of shops that showcase artists’ works from the surrounding villages. Colorfully painted wooden figures of real and surreal animals called alebrijes brighten shop windows as well as vibrant swaths of finely embroidered textiles and traditional rugs. My favorite part was hunting for the popular filigree jewelry made of .925 silver and gold that was worn as part of the original Tehuana attire (also Frida Kahlo’s attire of choice). A highlight was visiting the taller of an artisan and his father who are recognized nationally for their filigree talent. They allowed me in their modest workshop for a glimpse into the painstaking and exacting work they do on a daily basis. The results are incredible, beautiful and completely one of a kind (some of the pieces will be in the shop soon!).
 

Hiking the Sierra Madres

Feeling a bit of concrete fever from all my big city hopping, I found the best hike and bike tour company in town, Zapotrek, to get me out into the countryside for some fresh air and exploration.

My guide, Eric, selected a 13km hike in a region known as “Pueblos Mancomunados” – a community project made up of six towns connected by hiking and biking trails. The views of the Sierra Madres during the hike were remarkable and I was able to learn much of the history of the native Zapotec culture. My $110 all day tour included pick-up, breakfast in one of the villages, snacks, water, traditional lunch in an other village and an incredibly informed guide who loves his culture and wants to share it. It was definitely the best value tour I have ever been on and, above all, a wonderful day.

Eric was particularly interesting to me not only because he is a native Zapotec, but because his story includes being smuggled into the USA as a child in 1989.  His dad was unable to support his family of 6 on Mexican wages so he put his faith in the fabled land of opportunity and found a “coyote” to get them across the border into California illegally. Eric’s family did indeed prosper in the USA, but the plan was always to return home. In 2004, as an adult, Eric recrossed the border back into Mexico.  He appreciates his time in America and the education he received, but his passion is his homeland, teaching tourists about his rich culture and striving to improve his community by creating job opportunities through his small business. He is a true success story and a tribute to two great nations.

I couldn’t recommend Eric and Zapotrek more! When in Oaxaca be sure to take one of his wonderful day or multi-day trips. It will likely be the highlight of your stay.

Culture and History

Oaxaca is the most diverse and indigenous region of Mexico, and it was a treat to see the women of the different regions in their traditional garments as well as sometimes hear the different dialects.

Unlike other parts of Mexico, the pre-columbian Oaxaca never assimilated into Aztec or Mayan rule, but instead was governed from mighty Monte Albán. It was the pre-eminent Zapotec socio-political and economic center for over a thousand years (500 B.C. to 750 A.D.). While I never went to see these nearby ruins, I did enjoy witnessing the ornate treasures that were discovered in its “Tomb #7” back in the 1930s. Those and many other artifacts and historical information is found at the Museo Regional de Oaxaca.

People!

People are always the heart and soul of any destination, and Oaxaca introduced me to some of its finest. From my exceptional guide, Eric, to my patient hotel staff who upgraded me into their largest suite after I voiced my concern of feeling over-exposed on the ground level to my new friend, Pablo, who surprised me at the bus station to say goodbye, I was always treated like a Zapoteca princess.

After my Sierra Madre hike, Eric took me to a small village to see a 2000 year old tree famous for its trunk size (it circumference is equivalent to 35 men holding hands in a circle). While he headed to the bathroom he grabbed one of the nino guias to practice their English with me by pointing out animal figures that are created by the branches and bark. Jesus, with his laser pointer took me around the tree periodically stopping to point out, “Elephant. Do you see it?” Usually as I would start to say, “Well, I am not…” he would say, “Let’s go!” and laser point to the next animal.  “Dolphin. Do you see it? Let’s go.”  I believe I only was able to decipher 50% of the animals…however, I did finally decipher that Jesus did not really know English. He just was taught the words of the animals, a question he didn’t really care to know the answer to and “Let’s go.”  He can do the same in French. 

If you need more reasons to visit Oaxaca, I got them too…but this should be enough to whet the appetite.  Well, maybe the grasshoppers didn’t, but the rest should.

Vaya con Dios!

Visit Jennifer Jedda's blog at www.onegirlsadventures.com

Where Are You Jetting Off To This Summer?............ A la Cote D'Azur!

By Alana Amber

With the close of Cannes Film Festival and Grand Prix Monaco just a few weeks ago, the high summer season has just sparked in the South of France. Yaaayyy! I have been over here in Europe for a few weeks now and figured I ‘d share some of the thoughts on the region.  I’ve been going to the French Riviera or as the French say “Cote d Azur” for a few years in the spring and summer. I actually lived in Cannes a few years back. Now I just go in the spring or summer. There are many different exotic towns in the Riviera for everyone to enjoy. I personally looove Cannes! Its such a gorgeous quaint town with a mix of cosmopolitan luxury and high glamour. Being a New York City girl with a home in Miami, Cannes is a sure mixture of sun and beach fun as well as an amazing destination for restaurants, shopping and partying! My other personal favorites are Monaco and St. Tropez. I also love Antibes, Saint Jean Cap Ferrat and Villefranche Sur Mer.

Antibes for its historical Picasso Museum, Fort Carre’ d’Antibes and local restaurants. The boat port, 16th-century ramparts and narrow cobblestone streets festooned with flowers, lovely Antibes is the quintessential Mediterranean town. Make sure to stay at Hotel du Cap Eden Roc, the home of many fancy galas such as the Amfar Gala during the Cannes Film Festival. This hotel was made popular by guests Elizabeth Taylor, Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. As a young adult, John F. Kennedy summered here, hence the namesake of the winding road leading up to the resort. Saint Jean Cap Ferrat and Villefranche Sur Mer are neighboring towns with a natural harbor separating the two. If you are up for a long walk you can visit both in one day. Start the day eating a fromage pizza for an early lunch at one of the seafront restaurants in historical Villefranche Sur Mer, then head to the pebbly beach for a quick dip or relaxing stroll along the shore. Then head up the rocky staircase toward Saint Jean Cap Ferrat to view the beautiful hilltop villas. The pink Rothchild mansion is there and open to the public. If your tired by now, take the bus down to Sean Jean Cap Ferrat port for an evening dinner. The area contains quaint French towns, sparkling Mediterranean beaches and a host of natural wonders; it is well known in international circles as the playground of the rich and famous.

Here are some tips to keep in mind before embarking on the world renown party scene of the South of France…

The South of France contains the legendary French Riviera, known for its pristine beaches. This area of France is also known for being a celebrity travel destination. Visitors are advised that traveling through this region is very expensive.

Cannes, the home of the Cannes Film Festival brings thousands of visitors but the high season starting in late June brings tons more. Cannes is known for its resorts and beachfront hotels. If you like the more city feel, stay in the  Intercontinental Carlton Hotel or Hotel Martinez. I used to live in a beachfront apartment off Avenue Dr Raymond Picaud. Every morning I would wake up to the sight of a blue Mediterranean Sea through the floor to ceiling glass  wall and would have my morning tea and croissant on my balcony. On a relaxed day I would take a dip in the pool underneath my balcony, or walk through the gardens of flowers to the beach and have prosciutto, cheese and wine as I watched locals fish off the nearby sea rocks and nude sunbathers catch some breeze. I would take trips to a different town each day along the Cote D’ Azur and party in the Casino, Gotha Nightclub or Le Baoli.

Nice is a much larger town then Cannes or Antibes. In Nice, guests find four miles of uninterrupted beaches covered with huge rocks and pebbles. I personally do not prefer this beach, its quite uncomfortable to walk - never mind sunbathe. The city of Nice has a more city feel, I prefer Saint Jean Cap Ferrat and other neighboring towns of Nice. I had such a crazy experience in Nice. I was rushing back to the train station one evening and the train had left 3 minutes earlier. OMG! I missed my train back to Cannes and the next train was not until 6 am the next morning! I had to walk around the city all night. I had to protect myself from men who mistook me for a prostitute.  I could see how I could be mistaken as I saw scantily clad transvestites leave a customer’s car and promptly pull his dress up and relieve himself standing up. I would have taken a picture but  I did not want to get beat up. I took the picture as they walked down the block.

Monaco is a city state. France borders the country on three sides while the other side borders the Mediterranean Sea. Also another playground for the rich & famous. Monte Carlo for me was like a weekend hangout mainly Fridays and Saturdays. I love to hangout at the Buddha Bar for amazing drinks and tasty sushi or dinner at Nobu in the Fairmont Monte Carlo Hotel.  Twiga or Jimmy’z are great clubbing spots. Twiga is a cavernous club opening into the sea. A lot of people who stay in nearby yachts take small speed boats to enter the club from the club’s dock. Ive done it! Jimmy’z is a staple and a late late night club. You can leave there well into the morning when the sun has already been up for hours. On some weekends I would have lunch at the chic and stylish see-and-be seen Café de Paris with my Italian playboy friends and then watch them bet at the baccarat table in Casino Monte Carlo.

Explore the town of St. Tropez, located on an inlet of the Mediterranean Sea. Mega-yachts pack into the harbor, Maseratis, Ferraris and Bentleys prowl the cobbled streets, gazillionaires arrive by helicopter at music-pounding beach clubs, and Middle East royals and Asian industrialists shell out tens of thousands of dollars on Champagne in celebrity-packed nightclubs. Many of the jet setters stay in Hotel Ermitage. If you prefer to party during the day while catching a tan, head to La Plage de Pampelonne hotspots Club55 and Nikki Beach-St.Tropez.  Port Grimaud is a must see destination for a day trip or an evening dinner. Built with channels in a Venetian manner, Port Grimaud mainly a traffic free town is popular with boat owners & is known as the “Venice of the South of France.” You can take a boat ride during high season late into the evening to get back to St. Tropez just in time for a party at  Les Caves du Roy, VIP Room.  Graniers, one of St. Tropez’s most popular beaches, features beach-side playgrounds, shallow waters for new swimmers and a family surf beach. Visitors from America must realize that many French beaches are nude or topless.

The south of France contains several cities perfect for the urban explorer. Marseille, located in the heart of Provenance, features some of the oldest architecture outside of Paris. Known for its terracotta roofed buildings, Marseille blends classic French culture with that of nearby North Africa. Must-see Marseille attractions include Algerian-style bazaars, the Musee des Docks and the Cathedral of the Major. Carcassonne features architecture echoing the medieval history of this French city.

Those are some of the hot-spots along the Cote D’ Azur . There is many more places to visit along the Riviera. Happy Summer !

One Night in London

By Kiran Gill

We started the evening with a walk to Oxford Street. Plans were fluid as we had no specific restaurant in mind - other than it needed to be chic and atmospheric. As luck would have it, my friend was wearing incredibly high high-heels so that needed to be taken into consideration. I’m a big time foodie but ambiance, people and location are mandatory for me to have a full experience, especially on a Saturday night in London!

Our senses served us well. We stumbled upon a family-owned, North African Moroccan restaurant called Ayoush. It has two levels, with the upstairs serving coffee, drinks and sheesha. The Ground Floor level is the main dining room - very beautiful, cozy, lively and exuberant. It features Moroccan decor and is dimly lit.

We arrived at approximately 7:30 pm and the host said they were fully booked for the evening and that if we wanted to dine we would have to eat upstairs. I didn’t know what the dining room looked liked so I asked to see it anyway - even though we were told that we would not be accommodated. I insisted on seeing it, the host was not pleased with me. It's a good thing I did because the bartender saw us looking around and instructed the host to seat us at the bar (which apparently is not done at this restaurant).

By 9:30, two hours after our arrival, the place was packed. The DJ had arrived and a belly dancing show commenced at 10pm.

Here is a lesson in tenacity! We had promised to leave by 10pm because the host didn’t like that we were staying downstairs and that we were going against convention and eating at the bar. Thank goodness the bartender was awesome and gracious: we ended up trying every drink he made, lingering until 10:30. The bartender took a mixologist approach to all the drinks, making them very current and trendy. All were made with the finest ingredients, with us occupying a front seat to it all. At some point I also became a bartender assistant!

As for food, I had the Chicken Tagine and my friend the Lamb Tagine. Amazing! Very flavourful and tender, I also ordered a side of Moroccan vegetable rice and we shared the calamari.

Next, we headed to the nearby and iconic Sanderson Hotel, on Berners Street, with its famed Long Bar. The crowd was mixed, the service good and prompt, the drinks were tasty but pricey - but worth the experience. 

After this we stumbled across the street  to, what I now call, the sexiest bar. I loved it! Berners Tavern at the London Edition - with its ornate ceiling, captivating back-lit bar and art. I had a glass of chardonnay and Judy had a cocktail, which she described as really good and strong! (Berners is presided over by London's own, Michelin starred Executive Chef Jason Atherton. It features a "contemporary British menu).

One night in London - unforgettable!

Visit Kiran's blog about fashion, food and all the things she is passionate about: Baroque Beauty

The 'Silicon Valley' of India

By Claire Korionoff 

Bangalore! They call it the “Silicon Valley of India” – but Bangalore has so much more to offer than just office buildings. Corporate conglomerates can be found here such as Dell, Convergus and Bosch – as well as visiting businessman who frequent this city to enjoy some of the most luxurious hotels in the world.
 
The Leela Palace is considered a seven-star (yes, seven!) hotel in India.  It is about 1.5 hours from the Bengaluru Airport.  How does one really gauge a top notch hotel?  How about a Menu for pillows? Hard, soft, flat, down? Almost everything is served on a silver platter – when I say everything – I mean tea, towels, money exchange. Bathrooms are made of marble. There are staff at the entrance of the gym that present you with a towel and a bottle of water when you walk through the door. Already impressed?  Well – try losing your luggage. A traveller called the front desk to advise that his airline lost his luggage and would they please point him to the nearest pharmacy. He wanted to buy deodorant, a shaver and shaving cream.  The front desk gave him the information and – within minutes – all the toiletries he was looking for – on no less than a silver platter.  Additionally – the traveler presented the paperwork for his lost luggage to the front desk and they called the airlines on his behalf (that’s right – your own riot crew) to follow up on the status.
 
Savvy Quickies

The Leela Palace – 360 (what is around the hotel circumference – ie 360 is the abbreviation)
Restaurants – CITRUS – this restaurant offers international cuisine such as Italian and American dishes. If your Asian tastebuds are yearning for a workout – ZEN restaurant has Dim Sum, Thai Dishes and Sushi.  Of course – delectable home grown Indian food is also offered at JAMAVAR.  Leelas also has a cigar bar and a cake shoppe for your sweet tooth.

The Palace of Mysore – Mysore, India
Also known as the Amba Vilas Palace – The Palace is about three hours drive from Bangalore and situated in the city of Mysore in southern India. There is a cave style restaurant in the city of Mysore and some of the most majestic, ornate rooms found in the Palace. One side note  – you cannot take pictures inside the palace as it is forbidden. There is beautiful old banyan trees and old churches to see in Mysore; if you love history and architecture those are worth seeing.

Bharachukki Falls – Karnataka, India
The falls are approximately a two-hour drive from Bangalore. There are two falls to see (although the bigger one was closed upon the visit in January). The Gaganachukki and Bharachukki Falls are twin water falls, Gagana Chukki (90 metres) and Bhara Chukki (69 metres), located near Shivanasamudra in Malavalli, Mandya,Karnataka, India.  You can wade in the water and feel the exhilaration of the refreshing cold water after a long walk in the sun.

Dealio (great shopping deals in the country - either indigenous to the country or offered very cheap):  What are some of the best deals in India? I have three:  Silk, Saffron, Jewelry.  Lots of markets that offer great spices, beautiful bracelets, earrings and necklaces, Silk Scarves for women; cotton shirts for men.  Chanel and Gucci and more high end stores are also found in Bangalore if you need to get your "Designer" Fix.

Enchanting Bequia: 'Island of Clouds'

By Sasha Exeter

Bequia (pronounced Bek-Way), which means “Island of Clouds” is the largest of the islands in the Grenadines – a string of islands that stretch roughly 60 miles between St. Vincent and Grenada. The island is only 7 square miles with a population of around 4,300 and is relatively quiet for the majority of the year, with the exception of the annual International Easter Sailing Regatta, which draws visitors and yachtsmen from all over the world during that long weekend.

If you’re looking for nightclubs and casinos, sorry this is NOT the place for you. Local officials are so keen on keeping the island water clean and free of unnecessary noise pollution, you won’t find jet-skis or sea-doo’s speeding around the harbours as they are banned. I always refer to the destination as a location for the “well-heeled” traveler (no pun intended) as it’s very far off the beaten travel path, doesn’t have any commercial flights coming in and out of the airport or any gargantuan all-inclusive hotels. But what you can expect is extreme luxury, privacy and some of the warmest people you will ever meet in your life.

A few friends and I shacked up with my parents in their 12,000 sqft rental digs, Amitabah Villa, overlooking Lower Bay which included a tennis court, gym, infinity pool, pool table, six bedrooms and seven bathrooms, full house staff including butler, maid, chef and house manager. During our family vacays we usually steer towards renting private villas rather than staying in hotels. To be honest, once you have a good villa experience, its so hard to go back to hotels. I really enjoy the enhanced privacy of villa life and love that whatever you want to do is on your own terms.

Booking a villa in Bequia is a lot easier and sometimes can be cheaper, than what you may think. In my opinion, I can’t think of a better type of accommodation when traveling with a group of people. You can find plenty of options for any budget ranging from as low as $1,500 to $20,000 per week.  The best variety of property choices can be found on www.grenadinevillas.com and www.grenadine-escape.com. 

Although we enjoyed fresh and delish food prepared by the villa chef, its always nice to venture into town to experience some local food and restaurants. Jack’s Bar has always been a favourite of my family. It sits on the water at Bequia’s most famous beach, Princess Margaret, where many yachtsmen anchor their boats and the view is beyond amazing. The architecture is really unique and open with no walls enclosing the space and a makeshift ceiling made to resemble the sails on a boat. Open day and night, its offers an extensive menu with Mediterranean influences. Although a bit on the pricey side, they have the best burgers around and the beach side eating and drinking, doesn’t get any better than this.

Another foodie fave during this trip was the Thursday night Frangi BBQ and Jump Up at the Frangipani Hotel, Restaurant and Bar. Their phenomenal buffet features your choice of either an 8 oz striploin steak or fish with unlimited sides that literally seem to go on for miles. Make sure to try Frangi’s famous lime pie. The recipe has been a guarded secret for over 35 years…if you have a sweet tooth you would definitely appreciate the smoothest limey filling, fluffiest of meringue and it’s mouthwatering shortbread crust. I am 100% certain I left that evening a type-two diabetic after eating multiple slices. The buffet is more than reasonably priced at just $35 USD/person. Reservations for dinner are required.

So people keep asking me what the highlight of the trip was and without second guessing it, it had to be taking the group on a 60ft catamaran on a sailing trip through the Tobago Cays in the Grenadines. The Cays, pronounced Keys, is an archipelago of five small islands sheltered behind a horseshoe reef…far from civilization and only accessible by sea - meaning it is never overrun by an influx of annoying tourists. Our friends and owners of Fantasea Tours, Kim and Earl Halbich, took us to our first stop which was in Canouan. I swear it has the whitest of sand and the bluest water known to man. We then proceeded to eat, swim, drink copious amounts of rum punch and dance on our very own private beach for the day -  Salt Whistle Bay. Fantasea Tours has always done a superb job with private chartered land/sea tours and have a variety of boats to suit any need; a 28 ft Bowen, 38ft Bowen, 42 ft custom built snorkel/dive boat and of course the 60 ft power catamaran.

If you’re heading to Bequia or any other island in the Grenadines, this is an experience that cannot be missed. One would think that after traveling to the island so many times, the novelty would eventually wear off for me, but let me tell you, the views never get old and to be able to experience it with people who are seeing it for the first time during this trip, made it that much more exciting.

How to get there

Due to the size of the island and its teeny tiny airport, commercial airlines cannot fly directly into Bequia and must connect through Barbados – this is probably the only reason why this island is still lush and untouched. Most airlines from North America and Europe fly to Barbados and you will need to purchase connecting flights on www.mustiqueairways.com.  Just a heads up, because Mustique Airlines is a tiny operation, your travel agent will not be able to book you straight through to Bequia and will have to be booked separately on their website. There are only two flights that depart Barbados each day for Bequia and really only one that makes sense for connecting passengers. If you are traveling with a group of people, it actually makes sense to do a private charter. Mustique Airways has aircraft that can accommodate 9-19 passengers for private charters.

This was no doubt a trip of a lifetime for myself and everyone who joined me. It is forever etched in our memories…see you next year Bequia! Big thanks to Fantasea Tours, the entire house staff at Amitabah villa and Grenadine Villas. For more information on Bequia and the Grenadines, head to www.discoversvg.com.

This is an abridged version of an article that first appeared on www.SoSasha.com

Lviv, Ukraine

Historic, Charming, Visitor-Friendly

After many visits to western Ukraine's most popular destination over the years, it is not difficult to explain why we love the city of Lviv. Charming cafes, many pedestrian-only streets, astounding architecture and beautiful churches, hospitable people and sumptuous food are just some of the reasons.

Judging by the multitude of languages we hear on the streets these days it is clear that word about Lviv is getting out. In recent visits we overheard tourists chatting away in Polish, Russian, German and Turkish. With its cobblestone streets, neighbourhoods seeped in history and amazing cuisine, many people say current-day Lviv is what Prague used to be like in the 1990s. Yet here you will find, thanks in part to a progressive city administration and just plain, old civic pride, an innovative spirit that has sprung charming boutique hotels, world-class restaurants, eclectic bars and cafes - all at a fraction of the cost of popular destinations in western Europe!

The centre of the city is anchored by the historic Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet (built in the late 1800s), which serves as the terminus of the wildly-popular main boulevard, itself bordered by the statue of the Ukrainian poet and bard, Taras Shevchenko. Lviv is a city for wandering: many of the narrow streets emanating from the centre lead you to undiscovered gems such as quaint wine bars and pastry shops with shelves groaning under piles of sweet delicacies that bring back visions of Vienna - apple strudel anyone?. In fact, Lviv's coffee culture is alive and well, with no lack of delightful sidewalk cafes (great for people watching) and popular kavarnyas such as Svit Kavy (6 Katydralnya Square). Lvis is for chocolate-lovers too - and a local enterprise is now opening outlets in other major centres of Ukraine. Lviv Handmade Chocolate can be found in Lviv at Serbska, 3.

Even we are challenged to shortlist our favourite eateries in Lviv, as the choices are endless. One place we do try to fast for as long as possible before visiting, is the curiously-names Meat and Justice (Перша львівська грильова ресторація м'яса та справедливости). Hidden away behind the Church of St. Andrew the First Called, you will find a covered terrace where you can get your fill of grilled meat and beer in a medieval torture room setting. There's even a small chamber which carries miscreants to a basement room. On Staroyevreiska (near Serbska) you will fine at least two wine bars that produce their own wines and serve platters of meat and cheese - a superb way to start an evening!  Speaking of food, the Veronica Confectionery and Restaurant (Shevchenka, 21) is regarded by locals and visitors alike as a landmark: if anything, come here to sample some of its mouth-watering pastries.

In this city of churches, do make time to visit St. George's Cathedral (Собор святого Юра) - a baroque-rococo cathedral constructed between 1744-1760 on a hill overlooking the city. This is the third manifestation of a church to inhabit the site since the 13th century. During 19th and 20th centuries, the cathedral served as the mother church of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (Eastern Rite Catholic). 

Getting to Lviv has become much, much easier since the UEFA Euro 2012 tournament, when major infrastructure upgrades were made in Ukraine - including a gleaming new airport terminal and high-speed rail link connecting Lviv with Kyiv. Taxis are cheap and the trams are a wonderful way to see the city. We even spotted a foot-propelled tram that seats about a dozen people and serves cold beer! The tournament also widened Lviv's accommodation choices and one of our favourites - not least because of the on-site wine bar - is the Vintage Hotel on Serbska and in the heart of the historic city centre. Vintage is a boutique hotel, housed in a renovated historic buildings with 29 rooms - and extremely friendly and professional staff. The regional hotel chain, Reikarz, has a property on  Horodotskoho near the central train station, which is very clean, efficient and affordable. And you cannot get any closer to the action than a small boutique hotel on Rynok Square - Площа Ринок - (opposite City Hall) called On the Square Guest House. It happens to be on the second floor of the same building housing one of our favourite bars, Kryjvka. Lviv even has late night venues - such as Fashion Club facing Prospekt Svobody, complete with a dance floor, separate bar lounge and beautiful people.

Zambia: The Real Africa

By Muloongo Muchelemba

I've invited my San Francisco-based, tech savvy and well-travelled mentor, Mike Rose, to visit Zambia next year and have the seemingly impossible task of justifying why my sleepy, Third World birth country is worth the long trip. 

Zambia has the unfortunate luck of being so close to South Africa - Johannesburg is two hours away - that it sets the expectation that Sandton's chic shopping, trendy bars & restaurants and urban sprawl extend across to other southern African cities. Sadly, no. For many years, Zambia's tourism slogan was ‘the real Africa’ because that is what we offer: African culture; unspoiled, natural habitat for wild life; and the crown jewel -  the mighty Victoria Falls.

My top five things to do in Zambia are:

1. Whistle stop tour of the capital, Lusaka

The entry point for many visitors is the capital city, Lusaka, which is serviced by international carriers such as British Airways, KLM, Kenya Airways, Emirates, Ethiopian Airways, South African Airways, among others; with direct flights from major hubs in London, Dubai and Amsterdam. A whistle-stop tour of Lusaka is all that is required as a prominent columnist, @spectatorkalaki, remarked recently: "100 years ago Lusaka started as a village. It still is." 

Lusaka offers fascinating insights into life in an urban African city. From the latest Range Rovers and Toyota VXs to overcrowded commuter buses, there are now more cars than people on the potholed roads and traffic jams will soon rival that of Lagos and Nairobi. A visit to Lusaka is best done at the weekend to avoid the traffic. Any itinerary should include a drive around the city to glimpse our few tourist attractions: the Freedom statute on Independence Avenue which is the centre of many national events; Findeco House which is the tallest building in Zambia with just 23 floors and has the dubious hint of a tilt; the Central Business District, where street gawkers sell everything from clothes (even wedding dresses) to food and stolen electronics; and the markets, particularly the Donchi Kubeba (translated as 'Don't tell’) market which the Government has deliberately turned a blind eye to despite being constructed next to a railway track. 

My favourite eating place is Sugar Bush farm, which is perfect for Sunday lunch and popular with expats and locals with lots of space for children and pets to play. Run by an English couple who settled in Zambia, customers can browse through their leather goods store offering everything from weekend bags to jewellery and is a good place to pick up quality gifts for friends. Other popular places to hang out include Portico on Friday nights which has live music and a good local/ expat crowd (30s and over). Among the famous people who have been to Portico and whose pictures are proudly displayed at the entrance is my fellow Rhodes Scholar, Bill Clinton. Portico allows you to smoke your shisha but if you don't carry your own, always good to Chicago at Manda Hill shopping mall which has great music and is more popular with the 20 something set. A weekend should also include a game drive at one of two popular spots: Chaminuka, located in Lusaka East, near the Airport, offers lunch and game drives. Chaminuka is owned by Andrew Sardanis, the former CEO of Meridien BIAO, whose demise was the Lehman of its day.

After a weekend in Lusaka, its best to head out of town.

2. The Victoria Falls

When David Livingstone first saw the crown jewel of Zambian tourism on 16 November 1855, he described it as "... scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight" and named the Falls after the British Queen Victoria. The locals call the Victoria Falls by its local name Mosi-oa-Tunya or the Smoke that thunders which best describes the Falls at its most intense in April. Following the rainy season (December-March), the Zambezi river is swollen and discharges 1.5 million litres of water per second at its peak. The jaw dropping experience includes hearing that volume of water tumbling down 108m (the tallest falls in the world) and getting completely drenched as the mist envelopes you in all of nature's wonder and rainbows adorn the skies. 

June is a good time to visit for many Western tourists - the falls are still spectacular though less intense and the weather is cooler which is perfect for walking across to the Zimbabwean side. Victoria Falls town across the border  is a must see: from the crocodile farm to the Baobab tree that's over 1,500 years old, a quick one hour of the town can be completed with a drink on the terrace of the amazing Victoria Falls hotel.

To my surprise, I found a different take on the Victoria Falls when I spent my birthday weekend last November in Livingstone. Unlike April, there is nothing more than a trickle of water on the Zambian side as the Zambezi river water is diverted to power generation. The Falls resemble the Grand Canyon - allowing you to admire the rock formation and walk across the Falls if you're brave enough. The dry season is also the best time to see wildlife as the animals are drawn to the river.

The Falls are spectacular all year round!

3. Zambezi rapids

The Victoria Falls and Zambezi river now offer more than just tourism: from sports to festivals, the potential of Livingstone grows each year. One of the biggest event is Zambezi Man. Elite sports men and women descend on the Victoria Falls to take part in a three day event that involves water rafting 50km on the first day, a mountain bike race of just under 100km on the second day and a trail-run of approximately 35km on the third day.

The other big event is the Zambezi International Regatta which showcases crews from Oxford, Cambridge and South African universities. Brown university participated in 2007. Not quite the Thames and Boat race but nonetheless offering much needed excitement! The race has recently been reborn and I hope it becomes a regular feature bringing more crews to Zambia.

Lastly, as part of the David Livingstone bicentenary celebrations, Livingstone played host to an International Cultural Arts Festival in June 2013 with the street carnival featuring dancers from Zambia, the UK, Zimbabwe and the Seychelles.

4. South Luangwa National Park

Call me patriotic but I do believe that South Luangwa national park is one of the best in the world and gives Masai Mara and Sabi Sabi a run for their money. Covering an area of 9,050 square kilometres, this national park offers guided walking safaris and sights of Giraffes, elephants, leopards, lions, hyenas, buffaloes, zebra, wildebeest, crocodiles and hippos. It offers over 60 different animal species and over 400 different bird species. The national park is so spectacular that it was the location of the former presidential retreat - Zambia's Camp David - which is now one of the best lodges in Zambia, Chichele Presidential lodge. The best time to visit is between June to September though the closer it is to the dry season the better it is to see the wildlife. I'm spending my birthday there this November.

5.  Kuomboka ceremony

Kuomboka means "to get out of water" and refers to a traditional ceremony the Lozi people of Western province hold at the end of the rainy season (typically in March or April) when the Lozi King, also known as the Litunga, makes his annual pilgrimage from his summer palace in flood plains of the Zambezi River to  his winter place on higher ground. The ceremony is preceded by heavy drumming of the royal Maoma drums, which echoes around the royal capital the day before Kuomboka, announcing the event. The King's state barge is called Nalikwanda and is painted black and white, like Zambia's coat of arms. On the barge is a replica of a huge black elephant, the ears of which can be moved from inside the barge. There is also a fire on board, the smoke from which tells the people that the king is alive and well.

Zambians have a reputation in the region for being friendly and peaceful people. It is this warm hospitality that will welcome you and yours to our beautiful land.

Muloongo Muchelemba is a proud Ambassador for her birth country Zambia despite a nomadic upbringing as a diplomat's child living in the UK, Belgium, Italy, Japan and Mozambique. She recently returned to Zambia after studying and working in the UK for 10 years where she explored her passion for travelling and has visited over 25 countries around the world. Her dream job would be to showcase the beauty of Africa in a television series similar to Inside Luxury travel with Varun Sharma. But for now, she works as a Corporate Banker by day whilst pursuing her dream of writing and starting her own marketing business.

Sardegna: A Rustic Side of Italy

Little known, little explored and with no tourist crowds. Just over an hour by air from Milano and Roma, Sardegna is a destination that offers spectacular uncrowded beaches, friendly locals, low costs, and great food and wine. The average cost for accommodation and dining are far lower than major destinations on the mainland. However be prepared to have some basic knowledge of Italian if visiting smaller towns. Some of the best eateries and lodging options appear in no tourist books.

If the high-end Costa Smerelda in the north or Cagliari in the south are too congested, try basing yourself in the centrally-located and very quaint town of Guspini.

Within 20-50 minutes you of Guspini you can reach ancient ruins of the Phonecians, Romans, castles, nuraghi, tombs of the gigantic, and tombs of the fairies; there are wonderful hiking and trekking in the mountains with beautiful terrain and waterfalls, Add to that streams, rock formations and magnificent views. The close proximity to Costa Verde and wonderful unspoiled and not crowded beaches are very much some of the best kept secrets in Sardegna. And along the beaches – Torre del Corsari has a lovely long beach area and small sand dunes for hiking and views from the top. Beautiful beaches are found in and around Capo Pecora, Buggerru, Marina di Arbus, Porto Palma, and the famous beach and sand dunes of Picinias – one of the largest, if not the largest, in Europe !

Historical buffs will find pleasure in exploring the some 7,000 Nuraghi - hilltop fortresses built from the middle of the Bronze Age (18th-15th centuries BC) to the Late Bronze Age. Some historians claim the Nuragic civilization produced the most advanced and monumental architecture of the period in the western Mediterranean. Some are in good condition, but many are decayed almost beyond recognition. The nuraghi lend the landscape an aura of archaic melancholy, in which all attempts at progress seem out of place.

One of the largest uncovered sites is Il Nuraghi “Su Nuraxi” – located in Barumini, about 35 minutes from Guspini and about 45 minutes from Cagliari. This site is centered around a three-story tower built around 1500s BC. This site was recently made a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Nuraghi Losa stands in peaceful timelessness on a small rocky eminence just a few dozen yards from the noise and frenzy of the traffic on the Carlo Felice superstrata below.

Near Torre Grande (Oristano) the ruins of Tharros draw many tourists. The complex is open after lunch in and late into the day in summer. A snack bar is available for drinks and also has clean lavatories. A stroll to the top of the nearby hill at sunset is a must! Rumour has it that more ruins are buried under the sea - an invitation to snorkeling buffs in summer.

- Destination notes by Karen Wheelhouse

Tip: Ryan Air, EasyJet and other discount carriers fly directly to major cities in the north of Sardegna - a fast and affordable link for travellers originating or flying through the UK and other major European hubs.

Tip: Try locally-made wines in Sardegna. Our favourite are the reds, most of which are organic and low in sulphates. Many locals buy wine in enormous plastic jugs!  Wild boar is popular on the island - try it with pasta!

Sunset Hill Resort in Thailand's Magical Koh Phangan

By Zehra Fattah

Arriving at Koh Samui airport, I could straight away feel the island’s atmosphere. The airport reminded me of a little deserted cottage. Accompanied by the soft music in the background, I am ready for my vacation.

Even though, considering the size of the airport, I was able to find everything I was looking for. In just a few moments after arriving, I managed to arrange a taxi to the port. A short while after, I was already on Thailand's most famous ferry, the Lomprayah overlooking the Gulf of Thailand). The moment the ferry arrived in Koh Phangan, I got into a taxi with 3 other travellers: sharing rides is apparently very common on this island. Driving through the suburbs of Koh Phangan, I could already get a feel for this island, so tranquil. After a 25 minute car ride, my stop was the last one, and I finally arrived at the resort that I was so curious to see.

Based upon a hill, surrounded by mountains and greenery, this resort already exceeds my expectations when entering it. I must admit that thanks to my intuition and (Trip Advisor of course), I usually make the right choices when booking a hotel, and this time again, I am happy that I trusted my gut feeling. Actually, it is some kind of relief I still feel every time I travel to a new place. My first impression at the reception is very positive as the receptionist welcomes me with a very warm smile and genuine Thai hospitality. She offers me a fresh ginger drink while she explained the hotel facilities to me.

Upon entering the "Ocean View apartment", I have to stop for a moment to admire the beauty of the view. It had a large balcony overlooking the ocean. Breathtaking was the only word that came to mind!

Tastefully furnished with dark wooden floors and furniture, beautiful lamps and delightful art, I instantly felt peaceful and at home. For the rest of the evening, I had diner on the porch watching the amazing scenery of the sun going down. These moments that are truly priceless.

Other than watching the amazing sun rise on the porch of this inviting apartment complex, I start discovering that this island has so much to offer for the mind, body and soul.

Upon my arrival, I signed up at the Agama Yoga school for daily classes. Topped up with regular Thai massages and additional spa treatments, it didn't take me long to feel completely rejuvenated.

Having deliciously classy diners right on the beach as well as shopping for a variety of fresh Thai dishes in the island’s famous Thongsala market were culinary experiences I certainly wouldn't have wanted to miss.

Fishing at night was one of the experiences I enjoyed the most during my stay. Upon requesting for a traditional Thai experience, the lovely receptionist organised an authentic fishing trip to Chalok Lum Bay, a fisherman's paradise. From catching a fish to the preparation of it I experienced each step first hand. After this one of a kind experience, a lovely local fisherman's family invited me to enjoy a variety of delicacies which we then enjoyed under the stars on the ocean.

A specially tailored day trip included a visit to the wildlife park. The Eco forest and authentic Chinese temple visits were organized by the hotel manager. The morning started with a visit to the wildlife park, where we fed elephants and played with monkeys - followed by a walk through the Eco forest and visit to the temple. The afternoon was spent at Mae Had beach, probably one of the most relaxed beaches I have ever been to. Travellers from all around the world were gathering here in a very peaceful atmosphere. Snorkeling and being massaged under open air, a feeling so divine.

Whether a day on the beach or engaging in one of the various water sporting activities, this island certainly has attractive options for all sorts of travellers. Overall, it was a very beautiful and unique experience, and I highly recommend the island of Koh Phangan as well as Sunset Hill Resort for your next vacation. Thank you Kaaah!:-)

81/15 Moo 8, Haad Chaophao, Koh Phangan 84280, Thailand. Ph: +66 89 973 3205. info@sunsethillresort.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sunset-Hill-Resort-Koh-Phangan/114103191978471
http://www.sunsethillresort.com

Rooms start at about US$50/night.

By Anabel Dean

It’s a frigid winter afternoon in the Southern Highlands and the Wingello Village Store is closing.

“Come back tomorrow,” calls a chirpy adolescentthrough the diminishing space in the door jam. “We serve good breakfast.” Then he’s gone. 

The warmth inside is palpable even through the window. There’s a wall papered with newspaper clippings: local celebrities and feats of heroism. Shelves are crammed with kitsch teapots, homemade biscuits are shoved in jars and an open fire smoulders in the book corner. There are postcards picturing children in green meadowsunder homespun slogans: ‘Wingello – Where summer walks are a short step away’ and ‘Wingello – Where the grass is greener’.

The grass is only just green again. This was groundzero in the apocalyptic ‘Black Summer’ bushfireseason which - through a combination of record-breaking drought; the hottest year on record; dry winds and fuel on the ground –vast swathes of Australia were incinerated. 

Nothing was going to stop the Currowan Fire. It roared like a freight train through the dense bushland of Moreton National Park. Then, onJanuary 4, the sky went black, and red, like hell. The fire split, one flank hit nearby Bundanoon and Exeter, the other cracked into Wingello, where the inferno burned down nearly a dozen houses, sheds, cars, everything in its path, until the Wingello Fire Brigade bolstered resources to defend the cornerstone of the community.

“Not on my watch,” the captain had declared, and the Wingello Village Store (circa 1883) was saved.

This little curiosity shop – the only business in town - is the heart of a small community half way between Sydney and Canberra. And it’s the closest thing to civilization from Wildernest, where I’ve retreated for a few days of city isolation, with a friend.

Our tiny house lies at the end of a red dirt road in a clearing, past a few well-fed cattle, on the edge of Wingello State Forest at Tallong. The forest is soabundant here that it accentuates the smallness of Tiny House One (T1), the itsy-bitsy housing equivalent of a swiss-army knife, all folded up in pocket-sized practicality and almost harmless to the earth. 

A Lilliputian experience like this fits neatly intotoday’s world, where vast book collections can now be stored on hand-held devices and yet, there’s something that harks back to frontier times. It’s the modern-day counterpart of the bark hut – a simplelife – without all the clutter. 

A tour around the micro-cube takes less than 20 seconds. A large window peers into a stand of towering gums and a field pockmarked with kangaroos. There’s a kitchen and living area with a sleeping loft above. The ceiling is within arms-length of the mattress so no sitting up suddenly, unless it is to pop a head out of the skylight, whichopens to a crescent of moon by night and birdsong by day.

We are alone. Close to nature. It would feel likecamping in a tent were it not a whole lot more comfortable – linen sheets, designer crockery, house-made lemongrass-scented soap, hot shower – but this gem comes at a price. Addiction. Immediate. Irrevocable.

I may never camp in a tent again.

A sort-of breakfast nook can be ingeniouslycreated, let’s see, by moving a stool. It might be necessary to flatten against a doorway to get to the fridge at the same time but the house is an off-grid energy sipper, not a guzzler, with reliance upon tank water and solar power. There’s an oven, cooktop, BBQ and fire-pit for cosy star-spangled chit-chat.

Escaping the city affords a nice opportunity to explore the daisy chain of Southern Highland towns that I have known, but not really known, all my life. This is tweed and knit territory, an elevated place for the horsey set, children in boarding schools and movie stars on acreage, pine-scented breezes and fire-side brews. Dig beneath the surface though, and the villages that line up like red gallahs on a tin roof - Mittagong, Bowral, Moss Vale, Burrawang, Exeter, Bundanoon and Wingello - are vastly different in character. 

Every town, of course, has its share of good butchers, bakers, grocers, providores and farmers.Bundanoon, about 10 minutes’ drive fromWingello, is well-known for the annual Brigadoon highland gathering that triples the town population in one day. Nature lovers have long been drawn tothe stringybark and banksia encrusted gullies of Morton National Park while foodies shuffle in and out of nice cafes on the main street (Delilicious, Jumping Rock, Potter’s Pantry). The Village Grocer is a plain brick building with a plentiful supply of condiments and charcuterie for the obligatory picnic.

Further along the road, morning lights up a forest of ghostly gums, eerie white sentinels on the outskirts of Exeter. The English-pretty village hasbeen fortified by a social distancing buffer from Sydney but now that COVID-19 restrictions have been eased, the demands of welcoming hordes of out-of-towners has proved challenging at times. 

Exeter General Store is a busy post office collection point for locals who return daily, if not hourly, for best-baked, just-picked produce for fridge and pantry. “I love cooking: it’s my therapy,” offers store owner Lauren Johnson. “Mine too”, I say, stuffing her notoriously scrumptious, whisky, herbed, honeyed porridge into my mouth, while insolently jotting down the recipe. It would be easy to while away the hours in this renovated 1900s outpost of gourmet and homemade foods, with a whole wall of books, but there’s no time.

Ten kilometres further on, Moss Vale hastransformed itself into a sort of lifestyle store destination (Mossy Store, Made by Others, Suzie Anderson Home), and now with a super-cool tap-house. Bernie’s Diner has been here forever. Well, three generations in present ownership anyway, making sure the hot house-made pastrami is a staple. Along with the onion rings. And the milkshakes.

The core of the highlands, of course, is typicallythought to be Bowral. Some businesses are still takeaway-only or in the stages of a reopening. It’s a proud pastry town and dolloped in the midst of an excellent bunch, South Hill Kitchen is a rustic foodie favourite, with fruit and veg harvested daily from owner Tory Bevan’s farm. The Sydney girl bought the place in April 2019, got it just right by November, then the fires hit. Her life enriching carrot, candied apricot and walnut muffins - withglobules of butter cream frosting - are worth a roadtrip from anywhere. 

Once fortified, it’s essential to visit the funky mix of creativity that is Mittagong. Sturt Craft and Design Centre at Frensham School has been a Southern Highlands destination since the 1940s andvisitors are unlikely to walk away without a hand-crafted something-or-other. The same goes for Twisting Vintage - an authentically eclectic vintage clothing store on the Bowral Road – famous among the film-making crowd for quality curation of the mid-century.

The constantly evolving capacity for creativity is inescapable in Robertson too, a not-too-far-away town spectacularly perched on the top of craggy Illawarra Escarpment. The SHAC – a new artist and designer creative space with exhibitions that display and sell work – and The Moonacres Kitchen - which comprises an organic farm café and, soon, a cooking school – are two important new reasons to stop.

An escape to the country has always brought aheightened awareness of surrounds and, these days, the incidental conversations with strangers seem to count for a lot.

It’s icy again when I return to Wingello Village Store before it closes on my last day. 

“Yes it’s cold,” agrees Aerial, one of six Bruggeman children who run the store. “Thedaffodils and tulips bloom two weeks earlier in Bundanoon yet it’s only 10 minutes away.” She hesitates. “… but it’s always a lovely day in Wingello.”

For more information:

Wildernest: https://airbnb.com/h/wildernest-t1

Destination Southern Highlands: https://www.visitsouthernhighlands.com.au/