Transitory Traveller

La belle France

2015-11-16T09:35:00.000+11:00

At a time of unfathomable horror, with Paris in tears, I think it worth posting a reminder of France at its best and most beautiful - a perfect example of which is the exquisite garden of artist Claude Monet at Giverny.

Time spent in such glorious surroundings is a sublime, tranquil experience. Nature truly can heal the soul ....

Claude Monet (November 1840 to December 1926) was a founder of the French Impressionist movement and reckoned to "the most prolific practitioner of that philosophy".

He and his family settled in Giverny in 1883, where he began landscaping his property to incorporate features that would become the subject of some of his most famous work.

"Monet wrote daily instructions to his gardener,
precise designs and layouts for plantings,
and invoices for his floral purchases and his
collection of botany books.

"As Monet's wealth grew, his garden evolved. He remained its architect, even after he hired seven gardeners ...."

In 1893 he purchased the neighbouring plot of land on which the water garden is now based.

Half a million people visit this garden during the seven months of the year that it's open. Many would say that this delightful creation is itself a living work of impressionist art - one in which we may have the good fortune to enjoy the play of light and the passing of the seasons.

ALL ABOUT VISITING GIVERNY

A Swiss sojourn

2015-11-09T15:18:00.000+11:00

Driving out of Geneva I have deep waters and snow-tipped Alps on my right. To avoid the motorway I steer toward the lake shore taking a route that dials me back in time as I probe the history of the Canton Vaud.

The tidy, attractive villages of Lac Léman are set in a surrounding landscape of steep slopes covered in serried ranks of grapevines. It's a summer landscape of bright flowers, sparkling water and sunshine. I can't get lost while hugging the lake shore but with such a choice in diversions on land, water and by rail along the way, there's a paucity of time available to throughly enjoy all that lies ahead.

The Vaud region of Switzerland has played a pivotal role in European history, a story that's reflected in the many castles and expanses of ancient and elaborate property in the vicinity of the lake. It remains a seat of power to this day.

The western shores of Lac Léman have long been a favoured habitat of the powerful and rich. Many opulent homes belong to Geneva-based bankers. Celebrity residents have included Charlie Chaplin and Audrey Hepburn. The former grand prix race ace Michael Schumacher has a home at Vufflens near Morges.

Regional history is richly mined at museums, churches, abbeys, temples and other monuments that are open to visitors. It's less than 100kms between Geneva and Villeneuve, so a lot can be done in a day. Conversely, an entire day can be spent exploring one village. Expect surprises. I discover that Morges hosts an annual festival of illusions and a festival of humour.

Germaine de Staël

At Coppet, I visit the stately family pile where Madame de Staël once held court. She inherited the chateau on the death in 1804 of her father Jacques Necker, finance minister to the French King Louis XVI. Exiled from Paris by Napoleon, the liberal-thinking Baroness turned Coppet into a centre of literary influence. You don't have to know much about her life to surmise she gave the grandest of parties. The Copper Museum contains local arts and crafts, ancient musical instruments, furniture and assorted weaponry in a period setting.

Nyon was founded during the reign of Julius Caesar as Noviodunum. It became an important Roman centre and the local museum is located underground within the foundations of an ancient basilica. Roman columns beside Lac Léman are floodlit by night. The annual Paleo Festival in late July is a major youth event and Nyon's "Pleasures of Life" festival mixes museums with a diet of local wine and chocolate.

Rolle is set in the midst of the La Côte vineyards. It has a lovely castle by the lake and the prettiest of Leman waterfronts with a small marina, shaded lawns, flower beds and small, sandy beach. A seasonal speciality, lake perch, is served at local restaurants. Close to Rolle but set back from the lake shore is the hamlet of Perroy oozing olde world ambience with its narrow lanes, well-preserved homes, old barns and vineyards.

Audrey Hepburn

Audrey Hepburn lived in the village of Tolochenaz, near Morges. Her grave is a place of pilgrimage and there's a small museum of photographs, posters and other memorabilia. A percentage of the entry fee goes to the Audrey Hepburn Foundation for underprivileged children.

Morges is all about flower power and stages its annual Tulip Festival in April, transforming the Parc de l'Independence into a landscape of tulips, narcissus and jonquils. Then it's the turn of the iris, at their best in the splendid gardens of the Chateau de Vullierens above Morges from where, on a fine day, you might glimpse Mont Blanc. And dahlias dazzle along the Morges waterfront from July to October.

In September, La Nuit des Epouvantails (Scarecrow Festival) sees costumed performers from nearby Denens - the scarecrow "capital" - make their way along the road to Morges. After a torchlit procession and son et lumière in the court of the château, the King of the Scarecrows is then burnt to signal the start of the grape harvest.

Beyond Lutry, I leave the lake edge and take the Route de la Corniche to the wine village of Chexbres, a impressive scenic drive through and above terraced vineyards clinging to precipitous slopes. The dominant white grape is chasselas. Local reds are gamay and pinot noir, plus a local blend of the two called salvagin. Grape harvest celebrations in late September and October include parades, street dancing and tastings.

The Lavaux wine region between Lausanne and Vevey has a 32 km wine route suitable for both walkers and cyclists. It starts at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne and ends at Chillon Castle near Montreux. It covers the seven "appellations" of Lutry, Villette, Epesses-Calamin, Dezaley, St-Saphorin, Chardonne and Vevey-Montreux. Infomation panels en route give insight into local traditons of grape growing and wine making.

A Wine Train operates between Vevey and the wine hamlet of Chexbres-Puidoux, providing easy access into the heart of the Lavaux.

Vevey hosts an annual summer festival of street performers but is best known as the former home of Charlie Chaplin. There's a little statue of the big star near the lake. While in Vevey find time to visit the Alimentarium devoted to all aspects of food and its consumption and ask the local tourist office about walking tours led by senior citizens with intimate knowledge of the surroundings.

The lakeside stretch known as the Vaudois Riviera takes me to Montreux, famous for its annual Jazz Festival in July. My Lac Léman adventure ends on a high note at the marvellous Château de Chillon, built on top of a rock beside the water within walking distance of the centre of town. The castle dates mainly from the 13th Century. As well as inspecting bed chambers and medieval long drops, inner courtyards, dungeons and battlements, I enjoy brilliant views of Lac Leman's opposite shore.

A lake steamer plies a regular service between Geneva and Lausanne, meaning travellers without private transport can easily visit the villages of Rolle, St-Prex, Morges and St Suplice.

A town like Z

2015-09-03T15:06:00.000+10:00

Peaceful arcade in Plaza Grande

How many places spelt with a Z have you visited? There are plenty “Z-towns” sprinkled around the globe according to this Weather Underground listing yet for some reason one place that I found particularly beguiling doesn’t appear on it.

I refer to Zafra in the southernmost part of the Extremadura region of Spain. This delightful town at the end of the alphabet is my final stop on a trip based loosely on the fabled Silver Route north to south from Salamanca to Seville. It's part of the extensive network of the Caminos de Santiago.

Zafra has all the hallmarks of warmer southern climes and Andalucian style: yellow and white is the primary decorative palette, the plazas are graced with palm trees and fountains, arcades and stone arches lead to network of narrow lanes and winding alleys. Zafra would be an ideal setting for a remake of the Zorro movies.

Zafra's history hails back to the mid-11th Century and the building of a nearby castle. By the close of 14th Century it was part of a feudal state called Feria. The town of the first Duke of Feria, who is believed to have been born in Zafra, is found at the Convent of Santa Clara which also has a small museum worth visiting.

Parador de Zafra photos: Turespaña

The second Duke of Feria, Lorenzo Suarez de Figueroa, ordered the town's fortification which included building the ducal palace or Alcázar, a fortress that's now the Parador de Zafra. This is my hotel for a couple of nights and I couldn't ask for more flavour sprinkled upon my visit.

An important market town for several centuries, Zafra has influences and trappings from Arabic, Jewish and Christian occupation at a time when all three cultures co-existed amiably.

Simply by wandering its medieval streets fulfilling my curiosity I'm able to uncover various intriguing facets of this multicultural history. Cultural fusion is reflected in fine Mudéjar architecture of the old quarter, a fine example being the facade of the 15th Century Casa del Ajimez in Calle Boticas with its beautiful mullioned window surrounded by ceramic mosaics and glass divided by a single column of white marble and crowned with twin arches of scrolled brickwork.

The focus of Zafra's old walled city is Plaza Grande and the adjacent Plaza Chica, linked by the Arquillo del Pan, a grand archway housing a religious shrine. On one wall my fingers can trace the outlines of the Vara de Zafra, an old measuring stick carved into the stone so customers could check their market purchases. In another wall is the ancient imprint of a foot used by the cobbler's guild to size shoes.

The court house, which was once Zafra's town hall, occupies an entire side of the Plaza Chica. A narrow laneway leads from this plaza to the Jerez Gate, one of the town's oldest entrances.

The Plaza Grande was originally the site of the old church of La Candelaria which, in the late 16th C was moved to make way for a market place and re-erected a few streets away. La Candelaria contains the famous "Los Remedios" altarpiece with 10 scenes by 17th Century Spanish artist Francisco de Zurbarán.

The heart of the matter

2015-08-12T18:35:00.002+10:00

If ever I am asked what I miss about not living in Africa, where I spent all my early years, I answer that most often I long to be out in the bush, seeing wildlife in its natural habitat.

Africa is blessed with the most glorious array of creatures. Nowhere else have I seen such a variety of magnificent beasts and birds.

The recent, well-founded global outrage over the killing of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe and the questioning about the morality of trophy hunting indicates the countless number of people who rightly and collectively give wildlife its due as a natural wonder of the world.

It is beyond comprehension why any person would want to take the life of any beautiful creature purely to boast about doing so.

There's much to love about Africa, but what I don't miss at all - with a couple of exceptions - are its cities. This applies particularly to Zimbabwe where my old home town, Bulawayo, has steadily and regretfully fallen into a state of decrepitude thanks to a lack of government care and civic funding.

As so often is the case about issues in Africa, the prime cause for this particular malaise is largely tribal. Whatever money there is to spread around is spent mostly in the capital Harare, the base of the Shona-speaking president Robert Mugabe and his cronies. But Bulawayo is the urban heartland of the Matabele-speaking people, historical rivals to the Shona.

So it bears the brunt of Shona scorn and government miserliness and neglect. This is why in local parlance Harare is known as Bambazonke - take it all - and Bulawayo is Funazonke - wants it all. It breaks my heart each time I return there and see the ravaging of the years.

But I have digressed. The one thing I most definitely miss about not living in Africa is having ready access to its game reserves and national parks to witness the outstanding selection of animals living at large in what's left of the wild.

I trust this brief portfolio from my travels illustrates why I feel the way I do ....

This is well worth reading: Exposing the Safari Club International

Beijing - like a local

2015-07-30T18:04:00.000+10:00

Hardly a day passes without my hearing or reading something about the ongoing jousting between hotels and Airbnb or between taxi companies and Uber.

Say what you will on behalf of each case, it's obvious that customers are voting with their feet and it's highly unlikely that either Airbnb or Uber are going to disappear any time soon off the travel map.

I've used Airbnb on my travels for several years and each time, despite all the naysaying over insurance black holes and other "dangers", I've had only good experiences. I'll go a step further to suggest that my using Airbnb has impressively enhanced my travel experience. And nowhere more so than in Beijing.

Living like a local at Cindy's hutong haven in Beijing

Knowing precious little about stay options in the Chinese capital, I turn to the oracle of the Internet where unexpectedly I find a traditional hutong homestay on Airbnb, an enticing prospect because given the thrust of modern development Beijing's hutongs (narrow streets or alleys) are a fast-diminishing ancient aspect of the city.

I'm further surprised and delighted to discover this hutong homestay is run by Cindy Xia, a graduate of Macquarie University in Sydney. Any possible barrier of language or understanding is immediately lifted.

After her Australian studies Cindy returned home and inspired her parents to open their traditional courtyard home to travellers. Her mum and dad have lived at this Dongsi 8th Alley address since 1948. Their home has survived intact through immense historical events and great cultural change.

Entrance to Cindy's

Long before our arrival Cindy provides us with a comprehensive dossier that includes detailed maps of the area with directions, a wealth of local knowledge about attractions, shopping and recommendations on local eating plus pearls of wisdom about what to expect and how to cope with the daily push and shove of her hometown. Her advice on the buffeting of Beijing life includes gems such as "for many people queuing is a bigger torture than a liquid diet" and her sage and succinct advice, "don't take it personal".

By choosing her homestay we end up really living like a local, albeit only for a week. Good fortune has blessed us with all we need as strangers to make the most of the surrounding neighbourhood. I doubt a tourist office or hotel could have offered the equivalent.

Ancient transport in our hutong alley

Our room is one of several that face onto linked courtyards, this inner complex accessed from the street via a security coded door. We have double bed with Chinese strength hard mattress, an ensuite shower room and separate Western toilet. We use the Wi Fi but ignore watching TV or DVDs. There's plenty of live entertainment all around us.

After breakfast, put together in the communal kitchen, we step out into the hutong to be engulfed in the swirl of early morning business. In a couple of days we begin to recognise the friendly faces of neighbours and local shop owners. They're getting used to seeing foreigners.

Cindy gives her guests a mobile phone so they may contact her if need be while out in the city. We are within easy walking distance of bus stops and the metro network, which has grown exponentially in recent years.

So it's an easy journey to reach Yuanmingyuan Park, the former imperial gardens surrounding the ruins of the Old Summer Palace on the north western edge of Beijing. The park serves as a leafy, tranquil antidote following the mad scramble that's the hallmark of visiting the nearby popular Summer Palace.

Local restaurant

With Cindy's comprehensive guide in hand we roam along nearby hutongs, enjoy a surprisingly varied choice of meals in neighbourhood restaurants, ranging from Uigher to Italian cuisines, and generally soak up our brief opportunity to see Bejing from an alternative side of the street, so to speak.

See for yourself: Our Beijing lodgings

A Tasmanian seduction

2015-07-21T14:17:00.000+10:00

The best advice I ever got prior to a hike was the simple command: Use it or lose it!

The Freycinet Peninsula from Mt Graham Photo: John de la Roche

I’d bought with me from Sydney more than twice the suggested weight for the pack I'd be carrying.

“You’ll thank me later,” said the hike manager in Hobart as she quickly rifled through my gear, tossing out trainers, T-shirts, shorts and a book. “No time for reading, you’ll be too weary,” she said.

What she really meant to convey is that after each day spent in awe of Tasmania's natural beauty, I would then be so finely wined and dined that on reaching my bed I'd be fast asleep before turning a page.

The Freycinet Experience Walk is a well-oiled guided experience of the gorgeous Freycinet Peninsula on Tasmania’s east coast.

The walk is purposely designed as a “take-it-as-you-can” experience set amid pristine natural beauty. As such, the Walk does not demand great physical fitness, strenuous effort or steely resolve.

This amble through a southern island paradise was initially developed in the 1990s by Joan Masterman and Tasmanian architect Ken Latona, They had earlier pioneered the award-winning Cradle Mountain Huts adventure walk in the centre of the island. When it came to fashioning their Freycinet walking adventure they had to literally forge paths through untrampled bush.

The original concept was a three-day hike, starting at the southern tip of the peninsula and at the end of a day's hike staying overnight under canvas at seasonal camps. The walk has since morphed into something far more luxurious.

These days, participants are based at Friendly Beaches Lodge (left) designed by Ken Latona as the original hike's end point.

From here, each day walkers explore different sections of the peninsula, everything conducted at an agreeable pace with copious information on the local flora, fauna and history provided by expert guides. And there's the prospect each evening of divine dining at the lodge, your meal accompanied, of course, with fine Tasmanian wines and beer.

Highlights of this exemplary four-day experience include visiting Wineglass Bay, the ascent from Cook's Beach to the summit of Mt Graham, a coastal walk from Bluestone Bay and visiting Schouten Island in the peninsula's south. This is Tasmania at its most seductive.

All about the walk

Trifling with truffles

2015-07-08T21:03:00.002+10:00

There is no such thing as the humble truffle. Everything I've read or heard about this earthy gourmet gem has been encased in a swirl of hagiography and hyperbole.

Opinions are steeped in reverence, sentences spiked with sensationalism. There's just so much fuss over a fungus.

It could be this formulated mystique derives from our apparent inability to agree on what a truffle actually tastes like, or accurately and equally articulate their distinct flavour and aroma. Everyone has their own take on the truffle's elusive charm. For some people the truffle is an esoteric experience; others can hardly be bothered to trifle.

I've read that "musky sulphides" provide a key to this edible tuber's unique fragrance. But it's hard to believe this hallowed fungus shares a chemistry with the notorious durian, a tropical fruit so noxious on the nose it's been banned from Asian hotel rooms. To my knowledge no such prohibition has ever been extended to truffles, black or white.

Extreme delicacy is required in using truffles, particularly when cooking with the most pungent specimens. Restraint is crucial. As the Divinyls so memorably reminded us, it's a fine line between pleasure and pain.

Truffle heaven in Alba

The white truffle or "trifola d'Alba Madonna" is the star produce of Italy's Piedmonte region, especially those fungi that grow in the countryside around the towns of Cuneo, Asti and Alba. The latter lays claim to being the white truffle capital of the world and local restaurants do brisk lunchtime tourist trade in scrambled eggs liberally sprinkled with the white stuff.

Castello Grinzane de Cavour

During the Fiera del Tartufo, in October and November, totally giddy prices are achieved at the world white truffle auction held in the castle of Grinzane de Cavour, deep in Barolo country. These prized fungi have become so valuable that these days they are being micro-chipped for identification and tracking.

For insight into the heady reality of dealing with this famous foodstuff, I heartily recommend reading this hilarious history of the white truffle wars being waged globally among billionaires, set against a backdrop of Italian TV glamour. Priceless!

Most Italian white truffles are harvested from the central regions of Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna, Marche, Umbria, Lazio, Abruzzo and Molise. Tuscany produces the most white truffles, while only about 15% of Italian white truffles are from Piedmont. Outside of Italy, white truffles occur only in Istria (a peninsula across the Adriatic Sea from northern Italy in Slovenia-Croatia).
Early in the 20th century, the town of Alba in Piedmont was established as the centre for important food products for high-quality cuisine and the biggest truffle market in Italy. Truffles from Piedmont also developed an international reputation as the best, and certainly the most famous. To benefit from this commercial importance, white truffle harvesters from the other regions of Italy sold through Alba to obtain the best price. By the end of the 20th century, the first world auction of white truffles was held in Alba. The record prices reached in auctions are well above their market prices.
- See more at: http://www.delectations.org/auction.html#sthash.5L4WVN3k.dpuf

Friends in high places

2015-06-15T14:01:00.000+10:00

I find myself in Serra. If you're not sure where exactly that might be then you've touched on the whole point of being here.

I'd never heard of the place nor did I know about the miniscule Italian community of Pamparato of which Serra is part, it being the hamlet located on a ridge immediately above the Piedmonte village.

From the balcony of our sixth floor apartment in Serra di Pamparato I am blessed with stupendous views. These postcard vistas include the snow-tipped Antorotto mountain range and, in another direction and many kilometres distant, the outline of the mighty Alps on the border with France.

Being spring, the Mount Alpet ski slope is a swathe cut through greenery on a hillside immediately opposite. All around us is an undulating landscape of densely forested valleys and vertiginous slopes, on some of which I can see the outline of other remote villages.

The view from our balcony in Serra

This splendid visual panorama is the reward of having friends in high places. This grants us the pleasure of travel to parts lesser known which, in this particular instance, is the serendipity of discovery in rural Piedmonte.

The apartment is a bolt hole for our friends who, being resident in Monaco, escape the cacophony and chaos of the annual Grand Prix week by seeking the tranquility of these mountains. Invited to join them, it's immediately clear to us why they make this choice.

When the giant Fiat Lingotto factory in Turin, 90 kilometres to the north, operated at its peak this region of Italy was a favoured haunt of holidaymakers escaping to the mountains for fresh air adventure and exhilaration. Those days are sadly long gone.

Serra today consists of a few infrequently occupied apartment blocks built during those heady days of the 1940s to the 1960s. Today there remains the forlorn ruin of a once-spectacular 1920s mansion that was built opposite the local church. This was later transformed into several private apartments but has since slid into rubble-strewn decay.

But Serra's church still functions and its bell signals the passing of the hours. There's a cafe oppposite the church and down the road is a solitary store, which just so happens to sell the most splendid mountain cheeses. Below in Pamparato (estimated population now about 300) there are a couple of hotels and perhaps a shade more activity at times. But that's about it.

A small church above Pamparato

Pamparato seen from a forest trail

Being in Serra is all about serious downtime, enjoying the simple life of the countryside. This includes leisurely walks along trails leading through thick forests predominate with chestnut trees, plucking wild berries along the way, following the lazy meander of a river, discovering remote churches tucked into hillsides, crossing meadows filled with bright spring flowers as our ears resonate with spring birdsong - all the while admiring views of the surrounding snow-cloaked mountain peaks.

Serra also provides us with a perfect base for making visits to Piedmonte's best known regions which include the famous winelands around the town of Barolo and time spent in the white truffle capital of Alba. But that's for another day ....

London calling

2015-05-14T21:27:00.001+10:00

London continues its perpetual transformation. Massive cranes punctuate the skyline, hovering like tall birds of prey. Scaffolding smothers the streets, massive holes dug deep within in the city indicate the relentless progress of the Crossrail project.

North of the city, in normally more tranquil surroundings, even prestigious The Bishops Avenue has been transformed into a building site as proud ambassadorial mansions are being reduced to rubble and being replaced with grandoise apartment complexes.

Flicking through an entertainment guide I see that Eric Clapton is playing tonight at the Royal Albert Hall. It's the first in a series of seven concerts to celebrate his 70th birthday and mark the 50th anniversary of his first appearance at this famous venue. The guitar god has played the Hall 198 times to date, 171 of those appearances as the headline act.

Many moons ago I was at one of those concerts. Nostalgia prompts me to search Ticketmaster only to find out just how dramatically the price of the blues has changed. There are a couple of tickets left, costing £297 or £395. So I surf over to Seatwave only to find similar slim pickings there, unless I fancy a re-sale seat in Block A Stalls priced at £2500 plus hefty booking fee. This is scalping taken to another level. No wonder Eric has the blues!

Any personal blues about not making the concert are banished completely at Collect 2015, a fascinating annual art fair of contemporary objects held this year at the wonderful Saatchi Gallery on the King's Road, at which I overdose on the colourful creativity of established and emerging artists represented by 35 international galleries. This fair lasts just four days. I'm lucky to find myself in the right place at the right time.

Work by Adelaide artist Kirsten Coehlo at Collect 2015

And I'm surrounded by natural glory on a London summer's day during a visit to the Isabella Plantation in Richmond Park to witness the fabulous annual display of azaleas and rhododendrons. Once again, this time thanks to the suggestion of friends, I find myself blessed by being able to make the most of a brief window of opportunity. The blues be damned.

The Still Pond, Isabella Plantation

The pulse of Perth

2015-05-06T10:35:00.000+10:00

With only one night to spend in Perth I was fortunate to fall under the influence of Two Feet & a Heartbeat and enjoy a brief walking tour of city hot spot Northbridge. This gives me a taste of the action happening around the Central Institute of Technology campus on Aberdeen Street as well as revealing what's tucked out of sight down the neighbourhood's alleys.

The most obvious visual impact is the area's many knockout wall murals. Street art in this city is being actively promoted rather than persecuted and the results are splendid - as you can tell from these photos.

But the main talk of the town among the locals I meet is not so much about the impact of these vibrant additions but of a more visceral nature, concerning he current project to place underground the railway line that's been a divisive feature of the city since who knows when.

A frisson of excitement injects discussion about the creation of large new civic space being constructed over the tracks between Roe and Wellington Street. It's hoped its completion will render city centre whole at last.

From an elevated vantage point of the Horseshoe Bridge I gaze west to the Arena sports stadium trying to imagine the end result.

Already, however, there is evidence of new office buildings encroaching at the edges. I trust this commerical hegemony can be curtailed, leaving as much open public space as possible. Otherwise I fear the proposed smooth pedestrian flow fusing the two halves of town will remain a chimera.

Meanwhile other new development is evident everywhere. The buzz around town is the 74-room Alex Hotel in James Street, expected to open any day with rooms ranging in size from Nook through Snug and Cosy to Roomy.

Without yet opening its doors the hotel has already made Australian Gourmet Traveller's Hot 100 list. This is trend spotting speculation at its finest.

The bar Lot Twenty opposite the Alex is typical of the constantly evolving Northbridge food and drink landscape. But I'm more intrigued by what's not so readily apparent.

By this I mean the semi-secret "knock three times" dive bars hidden down narrow alleys and epitomised by Sneaky Tony's in Chinatown, a bar famed for rum-based cocktails and which, at weekends, you need to first get a password off it's Facebook page to gain access beyond a heavy industrial steel door.

Such shenanigans are an essential part of the Northbridge zone's twilight mystique. Given this current pulse I find it hard to imagine the time past when this bit of town was filled with market gardens feeding the populace.

Northbridge bars of note include the Dominion League in Beaufort Street, The Standard in Roe Street, trailblazer Ezra Pound in William Lane, going strong since 2009, Mechanics Institute Small Bar in William Street and Frisk Small Bar, a gin specialist in Francis Street.

Any visitor wishing to gauge the rhythm of Perth should do like me and opt for a walking tour with local specialists. They're just a heartbeat away.

Take a guided walking tour of Northbridge

An amber glow in the west

2015-04-30T17:57:00.000+10:00

At last I can say I've been to the Margaret River region, albeit all too briefly. Somehow, until now, this beautiful, bucolic southwest corner of the country had eluded my travels. How and why did I leave it so long?

And all this time, here I was, thinking the Margaret River was essentially all about wine. I stand corrected. Now I know it's almost just as much about beer!

Wine tourism reigns supreme without doubt. Tucked among tidy green pastures and reached via a network of country roads shaded by tall gums is a seemingly infinite choice of vineyards with cellar doors great and small where visitors may assess an outstanding selection of reds and whites.

But sitting along the shores of this local wine lake is a clutch of small craft breweries - so far 10 and counting - busy pumping out individually-fashioned hand crafted ales, lagers, pilsners, porters, ciders ... and the rest. Any traveller wishing to slake a thirst between Busselton and Albany never had it so good.

The password to pleasure is loud and clear

I'd been sitting at The Goose bar-restaurant in Busselton only a few minutes when I was introduced to Bootleg Brewery's excellent Prohibition Pils. Bootleg is the oldest of this new wave of brewers.

I use the term "new wave" because, in this country, WA has always led the way in craft brewing and the boutique brewers who today carry the flag represent a "revival" of the craft beer tradition pioneered in the mid-1980s by Phil Sexton and others at the Sail and Anchor pub in Freemantle, subsequently carried forward by the Matilda Bay Brewing Company and later by Little Creatures.

Bootleg began small in Wilyabrup in 1994, brewing just one beer. It's since expanded its range and become a loved tourism landmark with brewery, bar and restaurant set beside a small lake. At the other end of the scale is the newest arrival on the Margaret River map, the interstate upstart Young Henry's from Sydney's Newtown, currently making beer in a farm shed at Metricup.

At Bootleg it's probably sensible to take away a six pack of the 7.1 per cent Raging Bull bold ale for safe consumption far removed from a steering wheel. In comparison, Tom's Amber has half the potency.

The obvious drop for visitors to the Cheeky Monkey Brewery is its mid-strength red ale called Travelling Monk. And like Bootleg, the Monkey also makes a couple of tasty ciders. At Eagle Bay Brewing in the region's far north I sip a tasting flight of five beers while enjoying a sweeping view of Bunker Bay. My favorite brew is the Vienna lager.

The Bush Shack Brewery hedges bets in a way, crafting a chilli beer and a chocolate beer in addition to a dark amber ale and dark roast wheat beer as well as offering flavoured wine-based spritzers. Sparkling Mango Madness anyone?

A quick guide to the craft brewers

Visit the Margaret River tourism website

Time out in the Forbidden City

2015-04-15T09:22:00.000+10:00

Each day tour groups from throughout China and all over the world plus hundreds of individual travellers converge on the Beijing Imperial Palace in the heart of the Chinese capital. Visitors to the city can hardly ignore such a spectacular attraction.

Home to a succession of 24 Emperors between 1368 and 1911, it's "the world's largest ancient palatial structure" and the best preserved imperial palace in China, Also known as the Imperial Palace Museum or more colloquially as Gugong (Old Palace), foreign visitors usually call it the Forbidden City - which is a bit rich seeing the pulsating throng that's gathered at opening time, preparing for the daily charge through the Meridien Gate off Tian'anmen Square.

You are never alone within the Forbidden City

I take the easy way in, by making a 10 minute detour on foot to reach the Gate of the Eastern Flower where there's no crush whatsoever.

In populous China it so often seems that everyone wants to do the same thing at the same time, whether it be boarding a bus, buying a train ticket or entering a museum. Daily life is forever slightly chaotic and involves plenty of push and shove. Yet by simply by opting for an alternative approach, luck has it that I often find myself a bit of space.

It's no different once I'm inside the Forbidden City, where I watch the river of tour groups surging shoulder to shoulder along the central spine of the palace grounds, beating a path from the Meridien Gate to the Gate of Supreme Harmony and on to the three Halls of Harmony. From there this writhing human anaconda, with tour party identity flags waving and megaphones bleating, will proceed through the Gate of Heavenly Purity into the northern Inner Court and eventually culminate at the Hall of Imperial Peace.

By stepping away from this central tourist highway and descending a few steps I find myself almost alone in a sunken paved courtyard from where I can assess my next move.

There are 90 palaces and courtyards within the Forbidden City, so it's not that difficult to find places where the pace of life is relatively tranquil.

On one quiet veranda I find merry youngsters dressed up in ceremonial finery for a photo memento. One toddler looks for all the world like an infant Pu Yi, the last emperor of China, 12th and final ruler of the Qing dynasty, as he was depicted in the sumptuous Bertolucci film.

During my effort to explore the palace I also take much needed time out in a most literal sense. In the Hall of Clocks and Watches is a stupendous collection of grand ornate timepieces and I spend a quiet hour here, far from the madding crowd, taking a close look at what must have been the glorious obsession of an emperor or two.

I've read that this collection consists of about 200 ornate timepieces of which perhaps there are 50 to 70 on display. Most of the clocks were made in Europe, England and America although there are a few made in China, including the massive late 18th Century Chime Clock and a huge water clock, also from the Qing Dynasty.

It's a fascinating diversion, offering some relief from the otherwise exhaustive task of seeing as much of the Forbidden City as is feasible in just one visit. This monumental complex demands far more respect but the reality is that most visitors spend only a few hours within its walls.

A quick look inside the Imperial Palace's wonderful museum of time:

Medieval mayhem in Portugal

2015-04-07T12:12:00.000+10:00

Width was not an issue for medieval stonemasons who didn’t have to think beyond the horse and cart. But I need pinpoint precision to avoid scraping our hire car on ancient stonework while gingerly threading my way through a narrow dogleg gap in the wall surrounding the Portuguese town of Obidos.

Once within this wall we plunge headlong into a time warp. Obidos is celebrating its mercado medieval, a three-week fair of period-costume mayhem. A swarm of jesters and jugglers, troubadours and court dandies surround the car, gaudy faces press against the car windscreen leaving smudges of powder and rouge.

Medieval musicians, Obidos

This annual festival lures medieval enactment troupes from all over Portugal, professional actors who fill the narrow streets with costume and colour. The entertainment includes theatre, much music and dance as well as jousting tournaments, the general merriment fuelled by the steady consumption ginjinha, a sour cherry liqueur dispensed in tiny chocolate cups.

Being swept up in medieval madness is more than we’d imagined when planning our Portugal road trip. But it well suits our chosen accommodation in the Pousada do Castelo tucked into a corner of the town. This pousada occupies an old castle and has nine guest rooms described as “luxurious”, although ours is barely big enough for the queen-size bed and has a microscopic bathroom. But what the heck, it's massive on historic flavour!

Obidos seen from the pousada

From the castle ramparts we have outstanding views of the surrounding countryside while harkening to the wail of bagpipe, crumhorn, dulcian and shawm wafting up from the street festival below.

Pousadas are the equivalent to Spanish paradores. There's a countrywide network of some 40 hotels, many occupying restored historic monuments. We choose pousadas in old castles, fortresses, convents or monasteries, each within easy driving distance of notable attractions. And we take advantage of a Golden Age Passport for mature travellers that shrinks costs (see below).

From Obidos we visit Gothic marvels at Alcobaça and Batalha as well as the jaunty seaside town of Navare. The Alcobaça monastery's 12^th Century church is the largest in the country. The Dominican abbey of Santa Maria da Vitória in Batalha is an unfinished symphony of seven chapels, all roofless, set around an octagonal rotunda that's used for fair-weather concerts.

In Ourém we stay in a pousada beneath a crumbling hilltop castle overlooking the modern city. From up here we can just make out the famous pilgrimage town of Fatima. The Pousada de Ourém is three medieval houses linked and modernised and has a separate terrace and swimming pool.

Convent of Christ, Tomar

We spend a day in Tomar beside the Nabão River. Tomar’s crown jewel is the Knights Templar fortress above the town, a 12^th Century citadel protecting the fabulous Convent of Christ with its unusual Templar charola, a round church fashioned so knights could worship there on horseback.

In Evora in the Alentejo region we sleep in the shadow of Roman ruins. The Pousada dos Lóios is a fusion of quasi-monastic restraint with creature comforts. Our room is converted monk’s cell with an en-suite bathroom with wobbly old tub. A breakfast buffet is served in the ground-floor cloister.

Interior, Pousada Dos Loios

Roman temple, Evora

Evora’s most important historical relic is a Roman temple with 14 intact columns that stands in the square beside the pousada. Nearby is the Chapel of Bones, a dimly lit ossuary lined with human skulls and skeletons beside the Church of St Francis. This admittedly rather ghoulish attraction turns out to be far more memorable than the lacklustre art and furniture we find on display in the fusty Dukes of Cadaval palace.

Before leaving the Alentejo we drive east practically to the Spanish border where, in the whitewashed hilltop village of Monsaraz over lunch on a sunny terrace, we start planning our return to Portugal to further explore the pousada circuit.

Pousadas of Portugal offer a range of promotional "passports". The Golden Age Passport is available as long as one guest is over 55. Visit the website to see current offers and availability.

Towers at Ourem Castle

The case for instant gratification

2015-03-31T07:30:00.000+11:00

There was a time no intrepid adventure traveller would head off to distant lands without packing a trusty instant camera. The Polaroid was the proven key to breaking the ice with anyone met while wandering the world.

Handing over a photograph instantly on the spot as an intimate keepsake was a sure fire way to win hearts and minds. Far better than displaying a photo on the back screen of a digital camera and promising to email or post a copy sometime.

In terms of instant gratification, Polaroid film and cameras reigned supreme for 60 years until 2008 when, engulfed by a digital tsunami in the shape of ever more sophisticated smartphone cameras, coupled with the corporation's fraught legal history, the company pulled the plug on its production of instant film.

Polaroid Express 600

This seemed to mark the end of an era. Or did it? Before long a subsequent grassroots revival of the technology, dubbed the Impossible Project, began pumping out new instant film and soon, hey presto, now we not only have a new array of Polaroid-branded instant cameras but also serious immediate competition from Fujifilm.

It's like instant gratification never really went awol. And this "snapshot renaissance" has meant the choice is better than ever.

Today the Polaroid-branded range includes, just for old times sake, the retro-looking Express 600. But the latest models such as the Polaroid Socialmatic incorporate all the whiz-bang technology expected and demanded by digital nomads, namely an Android operating system, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, a web browser and email client. There's even something called a "mood assistant".

Fujifilm Neo 90

Fujifilm's brightly-coloured Instax Mini 8 cameras are designed both to catch the eye and caress the pocket. Deliberately cute, these little snappers are put to excellent use in Australia by the Portrait Equality project - see my blog about The gracious act of instant giving and visit the Portrait Equality website.

However, I'm not sure that I'd feel all that relaxed toting a hot pink or bright blue bulbous object that looks more like it belongs in a Hello Kitty shop than around the neck of a photographer. I'd be far happier shooting with the Mini 90 Neo Classic which actually looks like it packs the right stuff. I'm not alone in this attitude judging from various Top 10 lists propagated on the Web. The Fujifilm range of five models includes two wide angle cameras.

The freshest-faced kid on the block is the Lomo Instant which uses Fujifilm Instax Mini film and was funded by a Kickstarter campaign. It pumps out credit-card sized photos, has a built-in wide angle lens and comes with attachments for fisheye, portrait and close up. Lomography is an aesthetic lending digital images a low-fi look and feel of analogue film so you can expect interesting retro results.

Lomo Instant

With all instant cameras you need to keep an sharp eye on running costs. Film can prove expensive, especially if compared to the zero factor when shooting with a smartphone. What needs to be weighed is the fun you'll have and the sheer delight involved in presenting someone with a photo at the time it's taken. That's a priceless experience.

Which instant camera would you buy?

City of dragons

2015-03-24T08:00:00.000+11:00

I'm strolling through a city of dragons. This has nothing to do with Daenerys Targaryen and Game of Thrones.

The mythical fire-breathing winged beasts I encounter are fashioned from copper, oxidised over time to a patina of rich green. They crouch with teeth bared at the four corners of Zmajski most (Dragon Bridge) on Vodnik Square in the heart of the capital of Slovenia. (photo by A. Fevžer)

These dragons are the symbol of Ljubljana, a intriguing small-scale city in which the comfortable dovetailing of ancient with modern conjures many a pleasant surprise for the first time visitor.

The axis of activity for the tourist is the atmospheric Old Town, a maze of stone arches and narrow cobblestone alleys linking the decorated doorways of red-shingled roofed houses bunched against the hill beneath impressive Ljubljana Castle.

Ljubljana was a regional centre that blossomed into a capital due to its propitious location in the centre of the country. For while, in the early 1990s, Slovenia enjoyed being known as "Europe's youngest country" and I still sense a youthful self assurance among its inhabitants as I mingle with them on the streets.

The easy fusion of old with new is evident in former palaces and wealthy aristocratic homes, some blessed with Renaissance and Secessionist architectural flourishes and facades, that today are part of the city's extensive university campus or serve other civic functions.

A statue of the country’s most beloved poet, France Prešeren (right) holds pride of place in central Preseren Square beside the Triple Bridge (Tromostovje), designed by architect Joze Plecnik to span the Ljubljanica River as it flows through the city. I stop to eavesdrop as a tour guide spouts a yarn of unrequited love between the poet and Julija, then points out the figure of a women in a window painted on a nearby building. Julija gazes yearningly, eternally, at Prešeren's statue.

Across the Triple Bridge I step into the Old Town Square (Mestni trg) and pause to admire Francesco's Robba's Fountain of the Three Carniolian Rivers before beginning my ramble through the precinct's narrow winding alleys.

During summer the banks of the Ljubljanica and streets of the Old Town are alive with outdoor cafes, tea-rooms, bars and restaurants. I count 38 teas on one menu along with "upside down coffee" (obrnjena kava), the local term for a cafe latte.

Further upriver the Cobbler's Bridge spans the river canal beside the lively central market where fresh produce creates a colourful display in stalls beside the canal and perishables are sold undercover in an adjacent food hall.

I reach the castle by following a footpath up the forested hill above the Old Town. From these heights I enjoy the view of ancient Baroque church spires puncturing the sky above the Ljubljana' skyline. With a dash of imagination I picture myself in a long-gone century, perhaps even in a time of dragons.

Why not drop in on this fascinating city, courtesy of this video by Ljubljana Tourism?

Make the most of a visit to Ljubljana

Exotic bargain for solo adventurers

2015-03-17T13:19:00.001+11:00

Once in a lifetime experiences are, by definition, rare and unique. A few years ago I enjoyed what I'm sure will prove to be my "voyage of a lifetime".

It was aboard the copra trader and cargo ship Aranui 3, sailing north from Papeete in Tahiti to cruise through the magnificent islands of the Marquesas archipelago. You'll find my blog about my trip in the June 2011 archive.

Such a memorable adventure to such a far-flung exotic destination obviously does not come cheap. Which makes now the right time to act for any solo travellers who might fancy undertaking this remarkable journey.

This year, Aranui 3 is waiving its single supplement on six voyages between April and August. Axing this fee saves nearly $3000 on a typical 14-day cruise.

Aranui 3 departs Aakapa Bay on Nuku Hiva's north coast

The six voyages include the line's 30th anniversary cruise from April 25 to May 8 with special gala dinner show and an on-board credit of about A$173 (15,000 Polynesian Francs) for each passenger - presumably to get the party started. The dates of the other five cruises are April 4-17, May 16-29 , June 27-July 10, July 18-31 and August 8-21.

"Not everyone has a plus-one to travel with," says Laurent Wong, the shipping company's representative for Australia and New Zealand. "We're delighted to make it more affordable for solo travellers to experience the ultimate South Pacific adventure."

The Aranui 3 visits the French Polynesian archipelagoes of the Marquesas, the Tuamotus and the Society Islands. The freighter carries a maximum 200 passengers in 63 standard cabins, nine deluxe staterooms and 14 balcony suites. The new Aranui 5 is scheduled to come into service in November.

Read my earlier article about this fabulous cruise adventure

Aranui Cruises: Compagnie Polynesienne de Transporte Maritime, P.O. Box 220, Papeete, Tahiti. Reservations: +689 426 242, e-mail: aranui@mail.pf

In Australia: phone +61-3-9449 3778, e-mail: info@aranuicruises.com.au

Download the company brochure

California dreaming ....

2015-03-10T08:30:00.000+11:00

A difference of opinion over directions can so easily develop into argument. Who doesn't know this? I believe it's an intergenerational issue. I recall certain moments on holidays, long before technology rode to the rescue, when my sisters and I kept schtum in the back seat of the family car while Mum and Dad fumed over our exact whereabouts. Mum believed firmly in maps. Dad had a more cavalier approach.

Nowadays it's easy to believe that many a relationship suffering from acute travel stress has been saved by GPS. Nevertheless, all relationships require a little bit of give and take, even those between man and machine.

This I learn while touring California with Cynthia. She spends the entire trip embedded in the dashboard and is named for her voice, which is synthetic, evenly modulated and insistent, sometimes to the point of exasperation.

Cynthia brooks no argument, yet never becomes hysterical. She simply tells me where to go.

Unlike a human travelling companion, whenever I misconstrue or ignore her instructions she patiently and quickly recalibrates herself and offers up new possibilities.

Cynthia reigns supreme in navigating the tangled network of city streets. Her steady, reassuring voice allows me to focus on avoiding any unfortunate brushes with the press of traffic all around me. In truth I have no need really to know where I am going in order to arrive unscathed at my destination.

Um, where am I ...?

But Cynthia isn't entirely flawless. Out in open country she displays an inbuilt capriciousness, or so I assume. Between California's Sonoma and Napa valleys I think she has purposely led me astray.

Rather than roll down the highway to Napa I find myself negotiating a narrow, tree-lined road leading through a landscape of rolling green hills. How have I got here? Where have I gone wrong? Have I been California dreaming?

As I drive deeper into unknown territory Cynthia offers not a word of advice. Her silence is haunting. So I stop beside the road in the hope she'll catch up. But she seems she has forsaken me.

What's wrong?. Is this electronic pique? Is my faithful digital travelling companion actually capable of sulking? Whatever the reason, with no map in the glovebox as backup, technology has left me adrift. The only thing left to do is reboot.

Yountville's finest restaurant

Thankfully this last resort works and, once resurrected, Cynthia swiftly sets about calculating our location.

I am on Dry Creek Road and I am not lost. Not at all.

Before her unexpected blackout Cynthia has managed to point me to a shortcut snaking between the two valleys. This is fine news for sure, yet this confirmation of location is also a touch mystical, in the whimsical sense. This is California, after all.

Somehow, from somewhere deep within her circuits, Cynthia has managed to deduce my inner desire to follow the fastest route possible to reach Yountville in time for my much anticipated Friday lunch at Thomas Keller's word-famous gastronomic temple The French Laundry.

And just for old times sake .......

Finding perfect balance in the Peak District

2015-03-04T11:03:00.001+11:00

Visiting friends and relatives involves its peculiar logic and demands. Ever conscious of Benjamin Franklin’s adage that "guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days", we choose to stay in near proximity rather than impose.

As luck has it, following a lengthy search I find superb accommodation via Airbnb, albeit indirectly. While following up a most appealing England listing I find myself talking directly to the property owners. We establish such good rapport that I decide to finalise plans directly with them.

A week spent at Bents Farm Cottages at Totley, a working farm located within a pastoral community on the green fringes of Sheffield, sees us placed equidistant between family and the many outstanding attractions of the Peak District. This truly is the best of both worlds.

Here we are on the edge of the city yet completely in the country. Our 19th Century three-bedroom "cottage" is a gem, being extremely comfortable, furnished with rustic flavour and thoughtfully equipped.

Within 15 minutes or so we can be strolling the vast Chatsworth House estate or, conversely, drive into Sheffield and be socializing with family. And there's an excellent bakery and general grocery shopping a short walk away in the village of Dore.

Each morning I throw open the curtains to gaze across green fields enclosed within ancient dry-stone walls. Having greeted the cows grazing placidly beneath my window I then head downstairs to the modern kitchen to brew coffee and make breakfast.

The house has a cosy corner sitting room with TV and a central dining room with substantial wooden table that becomes hub of the house when friends from London visit for a couple of days.

Lunch and dinner is too easy. We’re staying less than 300 paces from The Cricket Inn, one of the district’s finest gastro pubs. During our week here in Totley we are sorely tempted to work our way through the choice menu, to entertain our relatives here and generally fuel our engines for exercise on the surrounding moors and visits to historic locations.

One afternoon we drive to Eyam, the famous “plague village” . It's only a 25 minute drive, a journey that includes the exciting descent down the long, winding hill cut into Froggatt Edge. We also explore Chatsworth extensively and visit Haddon Hall, most fortuitously on a day of medieval re-enactment.

Throughout or week in Totley the weather remains sunny and warm, ideal for walks on open moors smothered in purple heather and for venturing down gullies thick with bracken.

An easy option is up Penny Lane which passes our farmhouse door and leads eventually onto Blacka Moor. But nothing beats local knowledge and the finest outings are with my sister-in-law who's well-versed in the myriad outdoor pleasures of the Peak District.

Here's where you'll find Bents Farm on Airbnb

A quite royal experience

2015-02-23T21:33:00.000+11:00

Never discard whim when travelling. Often it's the unplanned, abrupt decision that reaps great reward.

And so it is in Melbourne, on a screamingly hot Friday afternoon, when I go in search of something cool.

In Carlton Gardens people are lunching in the dense shade cast by the park's stately trees. At the Melbourne Museum I discover that the IMAX cinema is closed for repairs.

There's no special exhibition currently being staged at the museum and I'm somewhat ambivalent about making another visit to the regular displays.

Then I glimpse the small sign offering a guided tour of the adjacent Royal Exhibition Building. It departs in 15 minutes. So I make a snap decision. It turns out to have plenty crackle and pop.

I've wandered past this grand building on previous occasions and read the plaques in the gardens giving an intimation of its rich history.

I'm aware the first Federal Parliament met here in 1901 and that it's been the location of many splendid, spectacular events down the decades. But until now I've never seen inside.

I join two Canadians, four Japanese and one other visitor from Sydney and follow tour leader Travis through the rear entrance into the building. Travis has endless anecdotes to enliven our visit, although the sight of the magnificent interior is wonder enough.

With its long central naves and glorious round arches I feel like I've stepped into a monumental European cathedral.

And every inch of wall that I can see appears to be covered in exquisitely executed opulent design. The architecture culminates in the central dome (top photo), inspired by Brunelleschi's 15th century cathedral in Florence and soaring 30 metres. "The same length as a blue whale," says Travis.

It beggars belief that during its 135-year history this imperial building has been saved from destruction by the scarcest of margins - not once, but twice - and that both times the plan was to replace it with a car park! Sydney's Queen Victoria Building almost suffered a similar fate. What were those early city planners drinking?

Let my photos do the talking. Should you ever have the chance, do the tour. ($10 adults, $8 concession)

Visit the REB website

Putting a premium on it

2015-02-09T07:30:00.000+11:00

We all dream of flying up front but for most of us air travel is a compromise. Unless someone else is paying for the ticket, generally we accept the trade of short-term discomfort for hefty savings in the pocket.

The introduction of premium economy subtly altered this equation and a growing demand for this 'in-between' option - with Air New Zealand's award-winning example below to tempt us - has seen most major airlines quickly jump on board with, until now, one glaring omission.

Highly regarded Singapore Airlines will now finally join the pack. The first SIA premium economy flight, on 9 August this year, will be to Sydney. This is welcome news but does SIA's late arrival on the PE landscape put the squeeze on other airlines? How does it stack up in comparison, in comfort, in perks?

Generally speaking, premium economy offers wider seats with more legroom, aka pitch (the distance between the back cushion of your seat and the seat back in front). Depending on the aircraft used, most PE seats have a pitch of between 36 to 38 inches. Air New Zealand has a generous 42 inches on one aircraft but the really "wide boy" is the 46 inch pitch of Turkish Airlines.

SIA will join the club with seats "up to" 19.5 inches wide, a 38 inch pitch and 8 inch recline and leg rest. So nothing remarkable here. Admittedly the photo below is an uninspiring stock shot compared to the Air NZ promotional offering above.

Singapore's premium economy seats

Flying PE means you'll likely get better quality food served more efficiently as cabins are smaller, separate and thus more restful than economy class. You may also get priority check-in, boarding and baggage handling. SIA ticks these boxes but adds nothing new. A few PE tickets also offer lounge access. There's no word from Singapore on this but their premium economy passengers will earn KrisMiles at 110% of actual miles flown.

Its PE cabin will have seats in a 2-4-2 configuration compared to 2-3-2 on others (Qantas, Cathay). Entertainment will be screened on a 13.3 inch seat back HD monitor and other creature comforts will include an adjustable reading lamp, in-seat power supply with two USB ports and Wi Fi connectivity. All of which is to be expected these days although Ernest Rapeneau Champagne on tap throughout the flight can be considered a perk as perhaps is the ability to pre-order in-flight meals.

How about cost? Advertised return fares between Sydney and London for August and September currently start from $3105, which is about $1000 more than economy and compares favourably with a mid-year QF1-QF2 fare secured last September. However, if I try booking for those months a lack of availability sees my requests bumped up to Business Class on one leg, resulting in fares between $7500 and $8000. A search covering later dates returns a PE fare of $5863. So good luck hunting.

Air New Zealand was judged to have the Best Premium Economy of 2014 with Virgin Australia hot on its heels. But the Skytrax Best W Class poll begs to differ by giving Qantas the gong. Here's a comparison of these two airlines culled from the Web. To see the full premium comparison comparison chart visit Seat Guru

Set for a truly 'appy' 2015

2015-02-02T14:10:00.000+11:00

In recent years I've downloaded merrily a multitude of phone and tablet apps. Lately, however, I've been looking at those that hardly ever get used. At last count I had something like 260 apps downloaded, about 40% of which I've actually installed but, at a wild guess, less than 20% that are probably used quite frequently.

This means that the precious storage space on my handy devices - I have an entry level 16Mb phone and similar tablet - are essentially clogged up with useless software. So I'm now attempting to whittle down these downloaded duds to a sensible proportion. But almost as soon as I send an app into the digital twilight zone I discover yet another 'much better' or 'more useful' one has just been released! The myth of Sisyphus springs to mind.

Nevertheless, my culling and browsing has highlighted a few recently released apps for iPhone and Ipad that seem ideally suited to iTravellers. I list some of them. All being well I look forward to a happy appy 2015.

Being such a hopelessly clumsy thumb-typer I welcome anything that facilitates easier use of the smartphone keyboard. Swiftkey is the most popular keyboard-replacement app on Android and has now sensibly made the giant leap across the great divide to iOS 8. Apparently this app is able to learn my writing style and then make smart predictions on what I am about to say. This sounds rather intimidating but, with any luck, Swiftkey will greatly assist in making my messaging that much swifter and far more legible. We shall see ....

Change being constant it's the curse of any printed travel guide. So any source of travel information that literally moves with the times is welcome.

Seasonal Cities is a travel app that's updated every three months using content written by travel writers who actually live in the cities. It currently covers 11 cities, including my home town Sydney, but no doubt will grow like topsy.

Another neat feature is the app can offer up suggestions related to the local weather predictions over the coming few days, such as museums when its inclement and parks to visit on sunny days.

Speaking of popular cities, I note that this week sees the release of a new I Love New York app providing fingertip information on the city's myriad attractions, events and dining out options. What's not to love about getting a bigger bite of the Big Apple?

Replay is an easy to grasp video editor that should quickly enhance whatever you choose to shoot and no doubt post on the net. You simply add photos or video clips then choose a range of styles and themes and perhaps also embed music to give a professional looking touch to your work. Watch this review for a sound rundown and assessment of its capabilities.

Lingualy is a language learning app based on a user's particular interests. It's creators claim that it understands your vocabulary and finds articles from the web to read that suit your level of language skill and interests. You can also play word games to enhance your vocabulary and create flash cards to prompt your memory.

And for a slice of sheer escapist fun I might download the game 80 days that re-scripts Phileas Fogg’s circumnavigation in that short time span with, so it says, "an added layer of steampunk culture and technology". Harmless surely? But there goes that precious storage space!

Byron beyond the pizza

2015-01-27T17:57:00.000+11:00

Local markets are filled with fine produce

Wherever I may be I seek out local enticements and, in particular, especially enjoy the anticipation about what might turn up on the local menu. So I'm nonplussed to discover that the most popular Byron Bay restaurant listed on TripAdvisor is a pizza joint.

As satisfying as this Italian staple may be, it hardly represents a meal choice reflecting the fertile feeding options in such a diverse locality such as Byron. So while I'm in town I make a point of seeking out more interesting tasty alternatives.

I don't have to walk far beyond Bay Lane's squeeze of eateries to find one. Just around the corner in Fletcher Street is Orient Express with its enticing array of Asian dishes from a chef who's really on his game. The food here is imbued with flavour and delicately suffused with spices. There's plenty of vegetarian and gluten free options and enough variety spread across the menu to warrant return visits. Plates are generous so order lightly.

Despite its unenviable location in the car park "plaza" beside Byron's main supermarket, O-Sushi runs the best sushi train in town - evident in the lunchtime crush scooping up a crafted assortment of plates priced between $3.50 and $7.50. O-Sushi also has a dining room and is open every day of the week from 11am.

Surf's up! Byron activities are guaranteed to stimulate the appetite

We venture out of town to lunch in tiny Federal, tucked among the rolling green hills of the lush Byron hinterland. The popular Federal Doma Cafe serves up delectable Japanese-based fare using local produce wherever possible. The real surprise are the outstanding daily sushi specials ($18-$20), prodigious servings that can satisfy two. Customers eat in a pleasant garden setting and enjoy live music at weekends.

If you can't eat well in Byron you just aren't trying

Another champion of local produce is the Harvest project at Newrybar beside the M1. It consists of a fine dining restaurant, a bakery and a store selling locally-made pickles, nougat, chocolate and coffee. Our dinner includes beef and pork, delicious fresh local greens and an exquisite dessert of elderflower and blueberry parfait with white chocolate and macadamia. I have one quibble: why not offer diners complimentary bread with their meal, particularly as it's baked in-house? A lost promotional opportunity in my view.

I've saved until last the finest in locavore dining. Karl and Kristina Kanetani honed their skills at a brace of Sydney's top restaurants including Quay, Est and Tetsuya's and now run a casual cafe called Town on Bangalow's main street. But on Thursday, Friday and Saturday they shift gear and transform the room upstairs into UpTown where the Kanetani's create a fabulous six-course degustation as good as any I've enjoyed elsewhere.

Take a look at the degustation menu which at $85 a head, and given the quality of the whole experience, I consider to be superb value. I strongly recommend bookmarking Uptown as your fine-dining experience during a Byron break. As Uptown seats only about 24 guests my advice is to book well in advance.

Bumper crops are a Byron byword

Sweet Aussie downtime

2015-01-05T13:03:00.000+11:00

I’m enjoying an archetypal Aussie holiday. While majoring in consummate laziness I'm staying at home in a city blessed with sun-splashed beaches and washed by cooling ocean (as spruiked in glossy vacation brochures) and peppered with options to maximise pleasurable idleness.

My happy "staycation" is all the more appealing as my town is temporarily relieved of its usual traffic hell. For a few weeks in December and January enough residents exit the city to render its streets almost tranquil. It's much easier to zip across town and find parking.

Making my homespun downtime even more delightful are two quintessentially Australian gifts that have been balm for my ears, eyes and mind.

The first is the superb double-CD The Australian Suite, written by guitarist Tony Barnard and recorded with the International Jazz Collective - a cipher for a bunch of closely-knit jazz buddies at the top of their game.

The Australian Suite is energetic and spirited, colourful, whimsical and, most of all, a whole lot of fun in its musical sketches of iconic wildlife, embodied in delightful tunes such as “If Kangaroos could dance”, "Possums on the roof" and "Bilby waltz".

Recorded in London and Sydney the Suite embraces a variety of styles; in Tony's words, "straight-ahead swinging jazz, a touch of bebop, ballads, a bit of humour and some very evocative pieces that I find hard to pigeonhole."

Two of the latter are "Eucalyptus Dream" and the closing piano solo "Hymn for Australia". My advice is simply this: don't hesitate to add this superb Australian soundscape to your collection.

Where to get The Australian Suite (Disclaimer: Tony and his wife Erika are friends of mine. They live just outside London but as often as possible get back to Bondi to spend time with Tony’s mum Pat, as they did this December.)

Another holiday blessing has been Michael Leuning’s The Lot, a collection of musings by the prominent cartoonist which, although published in 2008, doesn't seem to have aged a jot, being equally as acerbic yet poignantly life affirming as are Leunig's splendid cartoons.

I've been dipping into the book at whim, which seems the best way of really appreciating his divergent intelligent commentary. It says a lot about the contemporary clout of The Lot that it was on the syllabus for Victorian schoolchildren in their recent VCE English Exam.

Small change, huge effect

2014-12-15T12:40:00.000+11:00

A dollar a cruise. You read that right: not a dollar a day but one dollar from each passenger per cruise.

Such a tiny impost hardly seems worth mentioning within the context of the overall cost of a holiday afloat. Not until you see the results that such charitable small change can effect.

A prime example is the new medical clinic on remote Aneityum, sometimes called the "last island of Vanuatu".

This much-needed new facility cost $270,000 and it's the biggest project to date that P&O passengers have helped build with their $1 contributions. The new clinic replaces a time-worn pre-1970's health amenity.

Aneityum is the home community to nearby Mystery Island, which is one of the most popular destinations on the P&O Pacific schedule.

The $1 per cruise program was begun in 2012 by P&O Cruises in partnership with Save the Children. The aim is to raise $1 million over four years to help fund community health and education projects in the various ports of call visited by the cruise fleet. Passengers have already donated $500,000, which is a sparkling reflection of the red hot popularity in taking a Pacific holiday at sea. *

Three other Vanuatu projects funded by this $1 a cruise program have already been completed - a kindergarten school (above) for the Talwa community in Pangi, South Pentecost, a second kindergarten in the northern region of Sanma, and the Surossa aid post in Malafaune in northernmost Torba province, which has the most remote of the Vanuatu islands.

All of which shows how a simple act of giving can reach across vast distances and, to quote Carnival Australia commodore Ann Sherry, "how we get a much bigger bang for our collective buck".

Watch this video to learn more about about the program:

# The $1 a cruise donation program is part of Carnival Australia’s ongoing charity program, Carnival Cares, which also supports Lifeline Australia.

* The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) says 833,348 Australians took a cruise last year, up 20% on 2012. It's predicted this figure will leap past one million by 2016 thanks to an influx of new and bigger ships sailing in Australian waters.

Crowded House

2014-12-09T14:04:00.000+11:00

There's no limit to discovery in London. Wandering through the City's hallowed legal precinct I find myself in a crowded house in which I literally - and unavoidably - rub shoulders with an outstanding collection of architectural artefacts.

It's no wonder that visitor numbers at any one time are strictly limited at Sir John Soane's Museum at No 13 Lincoln's Inn Fields. Or that bags must be left at the door and photography is not allowed, not even with a smartphone.

The museum spreads through not one but three adjoining houses with various levels linked by spiral staircases. As I negotiate my way through this atmospherically-lit labyrinth there are moments when I need to squeeze myself past other visitors.

Throughout my visit I take extra care not to bump a statue or knock a painting askew and generally do my utmost to avoid any possible mishap involving the decorative impedimenta stuffed into every corner, nook and cranny of the building. The word intimate fails to fully convey a sense of this experience.

View along South Passage.

John Soane lived from 1753 to 1837. While Professor of Architecture at the Royal Academy he negotiated the Act of Parliament that, following his death, has preserved his home as an "academy of architecture".

Between 1792 and 1824, Soane demolished and rebuilt three adjoining houses to house his unique and massive collection. My visit here nearly 200 years later suggests to me that he might quite easily have filled several more.

A few facts provide some insight into his accumulated cornucopia. The museum contains nearly 6000 Greek, Egyptian and Roman artefacts and antiquities, 495 pieces of sculpture, 24 bronzes, 162 architectural models, 442 plaster casts, 104 stained glass panels, more than 300 paintings and drawings .... and so on.

Meanwhile, the library holds more than 2,500 Soane drawings bound into 37 Volumes as well as 8000 loose drawings, together with the archive of his business and personal papers. In addition the library also has thousands of other books.

Dome area

Serendipity has it that I visit No 13 at an opportune moment and find myself in the right room at the right time - when the eight paintings that constitute William Hogarth's Rake's Progress are on view and being explained by one of the museum staff. When not on show these eight panels fold back into the wall of the Picture Room at No 13 and thus might so easily be missed.

It's obvious that there's far too many objects of great interest stuffed into the Saone to fully appreciate in just one visit. The good news is that entry to this marvellous museum is free, which certainly inspires a second and perhaps even a third look.

For added value you could time a visit during the run of one of the special exhibitions. Just don't wear padded shoulders and leave your camera at home.

Museum corridor

# The Soane Museum is open, free of charge, from Tuesday to Saturday, 10am-5pm (last entry 4.30pm) and also on the first Tuesday evening of each month for candlelit visits, 6-9pm. There is no advance booking for these popular evenings.
More information available on the website

Photos by Derry Moore, courtesy of the Trustees of Sir John Soane’s Museum