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Have you ever wanted to go inside Burj Al Arab Jumeirah? Now you can. Start exploring any one of our 22 hotels and resorts worldwide at jumeirahinside.com ABU DHABI | DUBAI | KUWAIT | MALDIVES | SHANGHAI | BAKU | BODRUM | ISTANBUL | FRANKFURT | LONDON | MALLORCA

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PRESIDENTIAL SUITE

U LT R AT R AV E L S U I T E E X C L U S I V E Book a suite and you’ll enjoy complimentary: • Bespoke Wine Tasting experience for two • In-suite check-in and check-out • In Room Bar (selected drinks) • In-house movies and more.

F O R F U R T H E R I N F O R M AT I O N A N D R E S E R VAT I O N S : e: reservations.verdura@roccofortehotels.com t: +39 0925 998001 w: roccofortehotels.com

A ROCCO FORTE HOTEL

Valid for May travel. Minimum length of stay 4 nights. Email reservations for Terms & Conditions.

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ORTUGAL S PORTFOLIO OF WORLD CLASS ATTRACTIONS SEE PAGE WILL BE BOLSTERED THIS SUMMER WITH THE OPENING OF -ISBON S .USEUM OF "RT

$LOSER TO HOME A STOREY EXTENSION OPENS AT 5ATE .ODERN IN +UNE A PYRAMIDAL STRUCTURE DESIGNED BY )ERZOG DE .EURON THAT WILL

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PROVIDE THE GALLERY WITH PER CENT MORE EXHIBITION SPACE "ND IN

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$APE 5OWN THE &NGLISH DESIGNER 5HOMAS )EATHERWICK HAS TRANSFORMED

FIRST MUSEUM IN THE WORLD TO EXPLORE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ART

A FORMER GRAIN SILO INTO THE ;EITZ .USEUM OF $ONTEMPORARY "RT

ARCHITECTURE AND NEW TECHNOLOGY "ND ITS UNCONVENTIONAL APPROACH

"FRICA 0PENING AT THE END OF THE YEAR THE MUSEUM IS DESTINED

EXTENDS BEYOND THE EXHIBITS ITS SINUOUS WATERFRONT HOME HAS A SLOPING

TO BECOME ONE OF 4OUTH "FRICA S PREMIER CULTURAL ATTRACTIONS

ROOF THAT CAN BE CLIMBED FOR STRIKING VIEWS OF THE DE "BRIL #RIDGE 5HE OPENING AND REOPENING OF OTHER WORLD CLASS MUSEUMS WILL ALSO

*N "BU %HABI MEANWHILE THE +EAN /OUVEL DESIGNED -OUVRE "BU %HABI IS EXPECTED TO OPEN AT THE END OF THIS YEAR TO BE FOLLOWED BY

ENHANCE THE CULTURAL CREDENTIALS OF CITIES ELSEWHERE NOT LEAST 4AN

THE /ORMAN 'OSTER DESIGNED ;AYED /ATIONAL .USEUM 'RANK (EHRY S

'RANCISCO WHOSE .USEUM OF .ODERN "RT j CLOSED FOR RENOVATION

(UGGENHEIM "BU %HABI PLUS A PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE CONCEIVED

SINCE j REOPENS IN .AY WITH A 4N HETTA DESIGNED EXTENSION THAT

BY ;AHA )ADID 5HESE FLAGSHIP BUILDINGS WILL ALL FORM PART OF THE

WILL MORE THAN TRIPLE ITS EXHIBITION SPACE 5HE NEW ANNEXE WILL HELP

$ULTURAL %ISTRICT OF THE AUDACIOUS SQ MILE 4AADIYAT *SLAND

ACCOMMODATE SOME NEW WORKS GIFTED TO THE MUSEUM AS WELL AS

FT OFF THE COAST OF "BU %HABI WHICH WILL ALSO FEATURE #EACH

THE NEWLY INAUGURATED +OHN AND -ISA 1RITZKER $ENTER FOR 1HOTOGRAPHY

AND .ARINA %ISTRICTS AND IS DUE TO BE FULLY OPEN BY

ultratravel 21

RFC_LCVR_!(&_3'(-& /"563"- )*()4 $HIC ELEGANCE COMES AS STANDARD AT "MANEMU +APAN THIS PICTURE 5HE #EEKMAN IN -OWER .ANHATTAN BELOW

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5HE IMPLICATIONS ARE INNUMERABLE

/ & 8 ) 05&- 01&/*/( 4

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8HEN NOT EXPLORING THE

BEACH OR CHARTER THE RESORT S

4HANGRI -A AT THE 'ORT .ANILA

COULD ASSIST TRAVELLERS WHO WISH TO fTRY

SURROUNDING *SE 4HIMA /ATIONAL

YACHT TO SAIL THE "NDAMAN 4EA

OPENING THIS MONTH GUESTS

BEFORE THEY BUYr *F YOU RE DELIBERATING

1ARK GUESTS AT +APAN S "MANEMU

.ORE URBANE PURSUITS AWAIT

WILL OCCUPY ONE OF THE TALLEST

BETWEEN A /AMIBIAN AIR SAFARI OR AN

HOT SPRING RESORT OPEN THIS

AT 5HE #EEKMAN IN /EW :ORK

AND MOST ADVANCED BUILDINGS

"MAZONIAN CRUISE A RECCE VIA 0CULUS

MONTH WILL HAVE PLENTY OF TIME

FROM .AY ONCE HOME TO ONE

IN THE 1HILIPPINES "MONG THE

3IFT COULD MAKE THE DECISION EASIER

TO TAKE THINGS EASY IN THE PRIVATE

OF THE CITY S EARLIEST THEATRES

AMENITIES AT THEIR DISPOSAL

4EVERAL COMPANIES ARE EAGER TO

ONSENS IN EACH SUITE AND VILLA

NOW A RENOVATED .ANHATTAN

WILL BE RESTAURANTS AND BARS

CAPITALISE ON SUCH OPPORTUNITIES

&LSEWHERE FROM NEXT MONTH

HIGH RISE WITH A NINE STOREY

AND AN SQ FT FITNESS

5HE "MERICAN START UP :OU7ISIT IS

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FACILITY COMPLETE WITH /#" GRADE

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WILL BE ABLE TO LAZE ON A PRIVATE

RESTAURANT .EANWHILE AT

INDOOR BASKETBALL COURT

CLAIMS USERS OF ITS APP WITH A COMPATIBLE 73 HEAD MOUNTED DISPLAY WILL BE ABLE TO EXPLORE OVER DESTINATIONS INCLUDING HOTELS RESTAURANTS AND

+ -#(-&_ '.8

LANDMARKS " COMPETITOR +AUNT OFFERS

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5

TO EXPLORE THIS BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY "ND

fCINEMATIC 73r WITH AN APP THAT PUTS

MOST REMOTE INHABITED ISLANDS

WORK CONTINUES AT +APAN S .OUNT 'UJI

USERS IN THE MIDDLE OF DOCUMENTARY

TRAVELLERS HAVE TRADITIONALLY HAD TO

4HIZUOKA "IRPORT " NEW TERMINAL ITS

FOOTAGE OF INACCESSIBLE DESTINATIONS

UNDERTAKE A FIVE NIGHT VOYAGE FROM $APE

ARCHED BARREL ROOFING DESIGN INSPIRED

SUCH AS /ORTH ,OREA AND 4YRIA

5OWN ABOARD THE 3.4 4T )ELENA 5HAT

BY +APANESE TEA PLANTATIONS SHOULD

CHANGES THIS SUMMER WHEN A NEW AIRPORT

GREATLY ENHANCE CAPACITY AND MAKE

73 TRAVELLERS ARE FREE NOT JUST TO EXPLORE SPACE BUT ALSO TIME 5O

OPENS ON THE ISLE ALLOWING VISITORS TO MAKE ACCESS TO .OUNT 'UJI EASIER FOR VISITORS

CELEBRATE f YEARS OF PROGRESSr LAST

THE TRIP FROM +OHANNESBURG IN FIVE HOURS

0CTOBER "UDI DROVE 73 HEADSET

5HE ROUTE COULD BRING UP TO NEW

WEARING PASSENGERS THROUGH 4INGAPORE

VISITORS A YEAR TO THE ISLAND j WHICH HAS

WHILE THEIR DEVICES DISPLAYED PASSING

JUST INHABITANTS j A SIGNIFICANT

CITYSCAPES AS THEY APPEARED IN

INCREASE ON CURRENT NUMBERS

"ND AT THE f%ISNEY "ND %ALÈr EXHIBITION

/EW AIRPORTS ELSEWHERE ARE MAKING OTHER REMOTE AREAS MORE ACCESSIBLE 5HE RECENT DEVELOPMENT AND EXPANSION OF ;IMBABWE 7ICTORIA 'ALLS *NTERNATIONAL "IRPORT FOR EXAMPLE IS A PROMISING SIGN THAT VISITORS ARE AGAIN BEING ENCOURAGED

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2, 13_,.5$2 8HETHER YOU RE CYCLING WORKING OUT OR PLAYING CHESS .ARK 8ILSON HAS A CLUTCH OF CLEVER GADGETS THAT CAN KEEP UP <CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT> 5"/(3". 4."35 301& "S IT ROTATES THE -&%S IN THIS SKIPPING ROPE LIGHT UP AT DIFFERENT TIMES MUCH LIKE FILM CREATING THE APPEARANCE OF A SINGLE DISPLAY FLOATING IN MID AIR %ATA DISPLAYED INCLUDES NUMBER OF JUMPS AND CALORIES BURNED WHILE A SMARTPHONE APP CONNECTS VIA #LUETOOTH TO LOG WORKOUT DATA ` TANGRAMFACTORY COM ,01*/ 40-04 "DAPTED FROM TECHNOLOGY USED IN FIGHTER PILOT HELMETS THESE CYCLING GLASSES HAVE A BUILT IN OPTICAL DISPLAY FOR SHOWING REAL TIME DATA SUCH AS SPEED CADENCE AND HEART RATE WITH MORE AVAILABLE VIA AN APP %UAL MICS AND SPEAKERS PROVIDE VOICE CONTROL AND AUDIO ALERTS ` FROM SUMMER SOLOS WEARABLES COM 53&'&$5" %35 " FOLDING ELECTRIC BICYCLE MADE FROM AIRCRAFT GRADE ALUMINIUM THE %35 CAN REACH MPH *TS IMPRESSIVE MILE RANGE CAN BE TOPPED UP WHILE CYCLING THANKS TO ITS REGENERATIVE BRAKING SYSTEM " HANDLEBAR MOUNTED COMPUTER SHOWS TRIP DATA AND CAN SYNC WITH A SMARTPHONE IN ITS WATERPROOF DOCK FROM Ư ` TREFECTAMOBILITY COM -&*$" 9 6 -EICA S FIRST RUGGED CAMERA THE 9 6 IS WATERPROOF TO FT AND HAS AN OPTIONAL FLOATING STRAP TO ENSURE IT STAYS BUOYANT 4HOCKPROOF AND DUST SEALED IT HAS A .1 "14 $ SENSOR AND SUPER FAST F LENS FOR SHOOTING OUTDOOR ADVENTURES DAY OR NIGHT AND CAN ALSO SHOOT P VIDEO ` LEICA STOREMAYFAIR CO UK

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26 ultratravel

CAYMAN BRAC LITTLE CAYMAN GRAND CAYMAN

You never know when you will bump into one of the locals.

3 of life’s little luxuries

ca ymanislands.co.uk

!+..,(-& 42$%4+

"/%3&8 58035 803%4 #: -*4" (3"*/(&3

6-5 3" "$$& 440 3:

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5)3&& 05)&3 $07&5"#-& 53"7&- #"(4

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"/:" )*/%."3$) ."9* ;*1 4"5$)&"N OVER SHOULDER BAG THAT HAS BEEN CLEVERLY DESIGNED SO THAT TRAVEL ESSENTIALS CAN BE EASILY LOCATED IN A FRONT POUCH JUST BEHIND THE ZIP "S WELL AS A DETACHABLE KEY FOB THE POUCH CONTAINS A PHONE POCKET A CARD HOLDER AND A ZIPPED COIN PURSE 5HE SHOULDER STRAP CAN BE SWAPPED FOR A CROSS BODY STRAP TO MAKE THE BAG EXTRA SECURE WHEN TRAVELLING ` ANYAHINDMARCH COM

4.:5)40/ #63-*/(50/ #"$,1"$, .ADE FROM DEERSKIN THIS SOFT PADDED BACKPACK HAS A ZIPPED INTERNAL POCKET FOR VALUABLES AS WELL AS A HANDY EXTERNAL POCKET FOR EASY ACCESS 4TURDY ZIP PULLS HAVE EXTRA LARGE HOLES SO THEY CAN BE LOCKED TOGETHER FOR ADDED SECURITY ` SMYTHSON COM

ultratravel 29

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*--6453"5*0/ +"40/ '03%

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h, what a friend we have in cheeses.â€? I can’t remember who said it or where I saw the quote – on a greetings card or a tank top? – but right now the words are suspended in a thought bubble above my husband’s head. We’re standing in HĂ´tel Crillon le Brave’s mind-blowing 17th-century wine cellar, halfway through a marathon cheese-and-wine tasting, and nobody is saying a word. My husband, Piers, France’s leading maĂŽtre fromager, Roland BarthĂŠlemy, and the hotel’s sommelier, Benoit Liebus, are locking eyes across an upturned barrel laden with stinking gems in what appears to be a non-hostile cheese-off. “Do you know, I think Le Secret de Ginette is superior both to the Picodon Fermier and the 18-week-old Picodon MĂŠthode Dieulefit?â€? Piers eventually announces. “Give me a slab of that and a glass of Château La Nerthe and I’m happy. I mean, what else could a man possibly want in life?â€? There’s a nervous clearing of throats from the French. “Oh, her?â€? my husband chuckles, raising an eyebrow in my direction. “Don’t worry: she knows her place in the pecking order.â€? That I do. Which is why, from the moment we pull up outside the Vaucluse hotel set on a hilltop overlooking olive groves east of Avignon, I decide not to view cheese as a rival but rather a cursory acquaintance that I was finally going to get the chance to know a lot better. Because although the hotel is a favourite with walkers, cyclists (who like to have a go at the “GĂŠant de Provenceâ€? nearby) and antiquarians (it’s a short and very pretty drive to L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, which holds

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a giant antiques and flea market every Sunday), there’s scarcely any need to step outside the cobble-stoned confines of this self-contained village with its three very different restaurants. Alberghi diffusi – historical villages turned into hotels – have been springing up across Italy for decades, but aside from the famous Moulin de l’Abbaye in BrantĂ´me, Crillon le Brave is the most notable in France. A more ambitious project than the Moulin (which is made up of only three buildings), the hotel is made up of eight grand 17th- and 18thcentury homes, many bearing the names of former inhabitants. Although not as old as the medieval Castelvetere in Campania, or as sprawling as Tuscany’s Borgo Giusto, Crillon has much of the same appeal, feeling more like a discreet community than a hotel. Our suite – situated opposite the beautiful church of Saint Romain – feels so like a cosy and unpretentious rented Provençal cottage that we’re happy to spend the (admittedly short) spells in between eating, digesting and planning our next meal there. In a traditional hotel, no matter how luxurious, there’s something suffocating and demeaning about the reminders from above, below and next door (the TV and plumbing noises and fiddling with keycards) that you are one of many visitors, probably engaged in not dissimilar things. Whereas, scattered in a village, you feel as if you’re among only a handful of people staying. Granted, this is probably because we are the only ones who have checked in with the sole intention of laying down fat reserves. Certainly, the only ones who

choose to forego day trips to Gordes or the LubĂŠron, Châteauneuf-du-Pape or Vaison la Romaine to see the Roman antiquities, in favour of sitting on the terrace, looking out at the vineyards and breathing in the scent of lavender. While my husband wades, knee-deep, through a series of semi-liquid cheeses, I accompany my daughter down a few steps to see her first real castle, the privately-owned Château de Crillon, before planning my next meal. The problem, and the beauty, of such sumptuous alberghi diffusi is that you’re disinclined to explore some of the real functioning villages around (the ones without room service and five-star spas). We do once manage a quick trip to the truffle market in nearby Carpentras (where Piers also buys up most of cheesemeister BarthĂŠlemy’s famous fromagerie, Vigier). But every other pleasure and indulgence is available at the hotel: our daily game of boules by the pool, our massage at the Spa des Ecuries, housed in 18th-century stables. “Do you think we should have been more adventurous?â€? I wonder aloud on the final day. “I mean, there basically isn’t a dud town within 100 miles – and we didn’t even manage to drive 10 minutes to the quarries in Bedoin.â€? “If adventure is what you’re after,â€? my husband retorts, looking up for a second from the menu, “we could always nip back to the cheese shop and get a few more of those Petit Chèvres de Provence. It’ll mean we’ll have to check our bags in on the way back, though,â€? he warns. One eye on his abdomen, it occurs to me that the excess baggage I’m most concerned about won’t be going in the hold.

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32 ultratravel

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. y r a u t c n a s A private . t r a e h e h t r o f e A hom Closeness is the joy of being together. An unspoken bond, delighting in each other. Nature invites with her breathtaking beauty, promising endless happiness every day in paradise. Life as it is meant to be. Moments Enriched at The Residence.

tunis | mauritius | zanzibar | maldives

cenizaro.com

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or guests who want not just all the luxuries of a five-star hotel, but total privacy in a tropical paradise, Cheval Blanc Randheli resort in the remote Noonu Atoll last year devised the perfect solution: a four-bedroom villa on its own two-acre island. Accessible only by dhoni, and five minutes’ boat ride from the main resort, the new Owner’s Villa has a first-class pedigree, managed by the luxury-goods giant MoĂŤt Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) and designed by one of the world’s leading hotel architects, Jean-Michel Gathy. Freed from the need to conform to the normal hotel footprint, Gathy has created a spacially extravagant modernist villa that is more palace than beach pad. Framed by a pair of canary-yellow pots, the villa’s simple entrance leads into a cathedral-like interior, with a three-storey-high thatched roof and three capacious living areas linked by glass walls that can be completely removed to bring in the wide open spaces of the surrounding Indian Ocean. The architect – the king of theatrical swimming pools – has managed to trump even his own achievements with an 82ft pool, complete with a proscenium arch and stage-sized brise-soleil. But then the scale of the villa throughout is impressive – in one reception room a grand piano looks like an ornament in a doll’s house. “Heavenly, heavenly, heavenly,â€? chants my companion, as she wafts through a palette of greys, taupe and yellows, and out into the greens of the tropical gardens. Situated on a soccer-pitch-sized island, with beaches front and back, the villa has a personal overwater spa, a detached villa for friends, a private jetty and several outside dining areas. Days drift by as guests are attended to by a dedicated team of valets and butlers who arrive discreetly by boat. The pinnacle of private treats? Having fresh Maldivian lobster and seafood delivered to a moonlit beach by our own chef and enough culinary staff to service a sizeable restaurant, and who magically disappear after coffee and cognac. Even on the most perfect islands, though, there are downsides. The villa’s vast upper floor is furnished in metropolitan-loft style, which is more Miami than Maldives – and is double the height of most buildings in the Maldives. And while the views from the master suite are sensational, it becomes apparent just how close the island is to the main resort’s spa. Staff assure me that absolute privacy is guaranteed as long as guests use the side of the island facing away from Randheli’s spa. Wild parties restricted to the south beach, then‌ It isn’t a place for snorkelling, either – in order to build this artificial island a lot of the local coral has been disturbed. Hopefully, this will be repaired, with time. Judging by the footnote in the manual which states “the shape of the island may fluctuate based on currentsâ€?, and the look of the surrounding shifting beaches, Nature is already having its say. +OHNNY .ORRIS Price on application; randheli.chevalblanc.com

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36 ultratravel

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o shoes. No news.� Gili Lankanfushi’s barefoot luxury mantra is nothing new but it still works. No sooner had we been welcomed aboard our launch with fresh ginger and lemon-grass cocktails for the short boat journey to Gili than our shoes were removed, placed in a bag and not seen again until our departure. When we arrived at our destination, our private villa was just what the ultimate Maldivian retreat should be: overwater but not over-the-top, in tune with its surroundings and built to show off the real star of the show: its Indian Ocean setting. Situated some 1,000ft from the nearest villa, The Private Reserve at Gili Lankanfushi offers privacy on a scale unequalled in the Maldives. A recent refurbishment (enlarging it to 15,000sq ft) has seen the addition of a new suite, glass infinity pool and split-level bathing deck. A small boat is yours to come and go to the main resort as you please – though most people come here and never go. The pick of the three double-bedroom suites comes with a 100sq ft bathroom partly open to the heavens, with a glass shower, a plunge pool and an oversized bath over coral gardens. The huge open-plan living area has its own library, dining room, cinema and bar, with spa, sauna, steam room and gym dotted around. Sections of glass flooring remind you that you are in an over-water villa – easy to forget in a property of this size. Day beds, sunbeds and breakout areas offer any number of options to siesta, sunbathe or curl up with a book, but the twin over-water hammocks were our favourities - happiness is surely being suspended over the ocean, warm water lapping gently at your feet, fish flitting below and no sound but the roar of the reef. Those looking for a more immersive introduction to the ocean can slip from upstairs sofa to sea in seconds on a slide specially designed for the purpose. Cheesy? Perhaps. Smile-inducing? Every time. The reserve comes with its own Man Friday, who is based at the rear of the property. Our man, Dahaa, proved to be everything you’d want from a butler: discreet and thoughtful, whether he was organising a film on the beach, with popcorn and chocolate fondue, or offering a touching parting gift of a photo of us on our jetty. On one of our few forays ashore we explored the island’s verdant interior on bamboo bikes and wandered through the island’s garden with the chef, Hari, who showed off his produce like a proud father, before we tasted the fruits of his labours at a unique treetop table. We also took our boat out to the reef to snorkel with the resident marine biologist, and encountered a kaleidoscope of colour among the coral. Then we sipped champagne on a sunset dhow cruise before dining on melt-in-themouth line-caught tuna at the restaurant, where we chatted with a couple who were staying at the resort for the 39th time. But it never took long on terra firma before we were hankering for our retreat. The roll call of guests who have sampled this slice of paradise is a list of serial over-achievers. Branson, Ronaldo, Djokovic... But the first man to stay here? Buzz Aldrin. Apt, as this really is out of this world. $HARLES 4TARMER 4MITH Steppes Travel (0843 778 9926; steppestravel.com) offers seven nights’ b&b at Gili Lankanfushi Private Reserve from £69,160, based on two sharing, including flights and transfers.

38 ultratravel

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e can do anything here provided it’s legal.” It’s a line I’ve heard from many a hotelier, but when it is delivered by a former member of the Royal Household on the jetty of a private island, you are more inclined to believe it. Paul Brown, who served the late Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, before running the household of the high-flying US television producer Aaron Spelling, knows a thing or two about high demands. He certainly has had a few out here in the Indian Ocean. Thanks to the reef that surrounds Coco Privé, the 13,000sq ft exclusive-use private island cannot be seen by paparazzi, making it a favourite with European and Middle Eastern royalty, Hollywood stars and a steady stream of high-flying billionaires (Paul, of course, is too discreet to mention any names). Designed by Guz Wilkinson in partnership with Coco Collection resorts, the four-villa layout has a touch of the James Bond about it. The split-level main residence offers a spacious dining room, library bar and gym, all wrapped around by a 196ft pool and gardens coloured with hibiscus and bouganvillaea. A natural colour

scheme upstairs in the master suite enhances a feeling of light and space that is replicated in the other villas. Intricate wooden carvings and a super-king bed combine with the latest in-room gadgetry, and everything from the temperature to the Bose music systems is controlled by iPads (even the shower has a dozen different settings). The biggest surprise is the perspective you get, thanks to the combination of the suite’s elevation (rare in this vertically challenged country), its floor-to-ceiling windows, and the fact the sun loungers are sunk into the middle of your infinity pool. While, from the villa, there’s a great feeling of height, the island is small; joggers will need to be content with the treadmill. But, with the reef a few strokes from shore, you feel anything but trapped. There are a few other surprises, too: a wrought-iron chess set, dolphins carved from driftwood, a giant wicker nest hanging from a palm (in which one guest slept so she could have the ultimate overwater experience) and even films in your own jungle cinema. Unlike most private residences in the Maldives, which usually borrow staff from the resort, Coco Privé plays it the other way around. The 14 staff are permanent, which guarantees high and

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consistent levels of service. There are no menus, no wine lists, no reception (although calls are answered within three rings, day and night). Every preference is carefully noted in advance, and your dining choices simply involve a conversation with the chef, even if Paul keeps the location of your meal a mystery. For us he chose a boardwalk-and-beach combination. As we settled back to watch the sunset, a stream of cocktails arrived, concocted by the resident mixologist, accompanied by CafĂŠ del Mar-style beats and, as darkness fell, a brazier was lit and a semicircle of coloured lights in small pits appeared out of nowhere. Beyond, a feast was laid out on linen-covered banquet tables: tuna, snapper, lobster, steak, calamari all waiting to be barbecued, with condiments from every continent. We took our seats on the beach, toes curling in the sand, with glasses of crisp chablis. If I had one meal left on Earth, this might just be the place... $HARLES 4TARMER 4MITH Steppes Travel (0843 778 9926; steppestravel.com) offers seven nights at Coco PrivĂŠ Kuda Hithi Island from ÂŁ80,115, based on two sharing with exclusive use, all-inclusive, and including flights and transfers.

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THE HIGH LIFE IN ALL ITS GUISES FROM FINE DINING AND SALT FLATS TO FLAMINGOS ultratravel 43

INTRODUCING

SILVER MUSE

SM

2017 VOYAGES NOW OPEN FOR RESERVATIONS

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To discover more about Silver Muse’s exciting inaugural itineraries or to book your ocean view suite, call 0844 251 0841, visit Silvermuse.info or contact your travel agent. All renderings are intended as a general reference. Features, materials, fnishes and layout may be different than shown.

1_ 5)& )&*()54 0' 1-&"463& $LOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT 4ALTA $ATHEDRAL SMILING STAFF AT 5HE 7INES OF .ENDOZA IN THE 6CO 7ALLEY ALFRESCO DINING IN A VINEYARD AT 5HE 7INES INDIVIDUAL WINE BARRELS AT THE SAME HOTEL

ichard Saperstein bowled in to the hacienda followed by a man holding a saxophone. “My friend is going to play to my vines!â€? he said, eyes sparkling. A gecko on the handhewn dry-stone wall eyed us suspiciously. We were in the bar of The Vines, a stupendous hotel and winery in the Uco Valley, a one-and-a-half-hour drive from Mendoza, the largest city in western Argentina. The Vines’ core business is ownership, which means customers like Saperstein purchase a few acres of vineyard, learn to be winemakers, and, hey, bring friends to play music to their very own grapes. Mendoza province produces 70 per cent of Argentinian wine, mostly in its eastern sector, which enjoys a more benign climate. A decade ago the domestic market absorbed almost all of it. Recently, however, a handful of top winemakers, including Pablo Martorell at The Vines, saw potential in the higher, western Uco Valley on the TunuyĂĄn river. New techniques of drip irrigation have already made the endeavour viable, and the vineyardownership project has allowed it to expand exponentially. Lying in the shadow of the Andes, the undeveloped Uco Valley is creepingly popular with American bankers in search of a “winter houseâ€?. For Vines “ownersâ€?, currently numbering 150, the investment is emotional as well as financial. One evening, at the swanky bar, a glamorous Californian marketing entrepreneur showed me photographs, taken that day, of her biking through her vines. “It’s an incredibly high-touch experience,â€? said a woman from Missouri, “though The Vines does the heavy lifting.â€? Forty per cent of owners sell their wine – some own restaurants – and others trade grapes back to The Vines and other wineries. The designing of personal labels is a popular topic of conversation, and owners look forward to “wine campâ€?, in which they get involved in every aspect of the harvest, in March and April.

Argentina is the world’s fifth-largest wine-producer, and to understand the complexities of high-altitude growing you have to travel to Salta province, 764 miles north of Mendoza. It is a drier, blanched landscape with a character of its own. Commercially, Salta is like Mendoza was a decade ago – entering a period of intense development as young winemakers bring in new ideas, particularly around the dusty town of Cafayate. The pioneering Grace estancia and 100-hectare vineyard already offers opportunities to purchase land and participate in the wine harvest. Its guests can attend blending and tasting sessions of young red wines. Each person leaves with their own bottle. Cafayate is a glorious relic of an Argentina long gone in the country’s western regions – modest colonial architecture painted in the pastel colours of the High Andes and old shops and bars clinging on despite the march of more sophisticated development elsewhere. It’s worth visiting Cafayate and taking a turn around the main square at the hour of the evening promenade – about 7pm – for a taste of Borges’ Argentina. One hears a tango playing faintly in the distance. At the Ultima Pulpería, a decaying general store, my nose itched with fragments of rica-rica spice mixture floating up from its wooden barrel, and in a dark corner an old man sliced hard cheese for his supper. Cruising around these old buildings, especially the salmon-pink Catedral de Nuestra Seùora del Rosario, which dominates the heart of the small town, it’s impossible not to think of the layers of history that make up pre- and post-Columbian Argentina – and then you look up and see the Andes, and you realise history is but the blink of an eye. The Grace, rather marvellously, offers a luxurious oasis right next to these simple Salteùo pleasures. I could have wandered in the Cafayate lanes all day – and did – but it was jolly civilised to know that my driver from the hotel would soon whisk me back to Jonathan Cartwright’s Muse restaurant, with its heartbreakingly good tamales – and perhaps a slice or two of roasted llama. ultratravel 45

The north-west is a long way from the capital, and even further from the tourist and skiing regions of Patagonia and Bariloche, and to get a handle on it you have to travel to its heartland, the Puna. It is one of the remotest environments on the planet (puna is a Quechua word meaning “a cold and remote place difficult to live in�), made up of an interconnected system of volcanic cones and giant lava outcrops, with the elevation of the Andes, all sliced through like hard-boiled eggs by quebradas (a particular type of Andean gorge) and Las Vegas wetlands (unlikely though it seems), the latter appearing in startling bursts of teal-green stripes between bleached hills. Over three days, I passed nine vehicles. Three hours from Salta city, at Susques, the last substantial village before the Chilean border, I turned on to the fabled Ruta 40, a 3,106-mile epic all of its own, which shadows the mountains from the top of Argentina to the bottom. The chain of volcanoes north of Susques are the highest peaks in the world beyond the Himalayas. Twisters – a kind of desert tornado – spun on the dry

glow of the rising sun appeared in the east, dissolving shadows on the Andes. There was something incontinently human about those clumsily positioned bricks. Besides vicuùa (small, wild relatives of the llama), bulky black-and-white Andean geese harvested the wetlands and chased off flocks of Puna teal. One day a group of 15 Darwin’s rhea (an ostrich-like bird) halumphed away from my car, a pair of chicks struggling to keep up. That was close to the highest point of my trip, a 15,400ft pass – similar in height to Mont Blanc, but with no snow. Elephant cactus, thickets of tussock grass and woody stands of high-altitude quinoa crosshatched the volcanic soil below. Antofagasta de la Sierra, a large-ish village in the province of Catamarca, was preparing for its annual llama show, the Crufts of the camelid world. A road sign revealed that we were 600km (373 miles) from the capital of the province, which gives you an idea of regional scale, and that was not even from one side to the other. I saw my first Puna flamingos there, teetering in the middle of a small, salt-circled lake. Then it was on to the Pumice Stone Field, a 16-mile-long desert created by the Blanco Volcano during a Plinian eruption (one of the most violent types). A harsh Puna wind freighted with grit scoured pitted pumice walls that resembled the rookeries of medieval cities. It is a bleak environment. I felt my heart beating faster at those altitudes and although, mostly, my iPhone kept beeping loyally throughout the night, I was off-grid for some of time. You know you’re in the right place when the sat nav goes blank. Few travellers to Argentina make it as far as the Puna. The idea that one might capitalise on visitors is therefore similarly absent. In the only shop in the village of Tolar Grande, I tried to buy one of two footballs hanging from the ceiling for one of my sons. The shopkeeper got into a tizz, and eventually said he could not sell me the item since the balls had been there so long he could not recall the price.

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(R_GQ_MLC_MD_RFC_PCKMRCQR_CLTGPMLKCLRQ _ 2MKC_Q?JR_DJ?RQ_CVRCLB_DMP_KGJCQ _@PMICL_ @W_?L_MAA?QGML?J_NMMJ_MD_'MAILCW_@JSC white horizon between them. Salt flats and dry salt lakes (salinas and salars in Spanish) pop up all over the Puna. Polygonal rills of salt-like sand characterise the flats, and when you kick a piece of crust it tinkles like glass, a curiously disruptive sound in the mineral silence of the Puna. It is the silence, in part, that makes this blanched wilderness moving. Some salt flats extend for miles, with salt 1,900ft deep broken by an occasional pool of Hockney-blue water. It’s a magical landscape in which mirages wobble (an optical effect of salt reflecting sky), and diamond dust skitters through the dry air, scoured from ancient clay formations sparkling with chalk crystals on the much younger Puna plateau. At night, as the temperature crashed, the sky faded upwards into weak violet heights. The figure of Pachamama – a pagan Mother Earth kind of deity dear to Andinos and which, after the conquest by Spain, was grafted on to Christianity – still flourishes up in the north-west. At a gaudy shrine to her on a Puna ridge, the familiar ornate Catholic aesthetic blended with indigenous primitivism next to the obligatory ziggurat of empty bottles. Nuns had removed the statue of Pachamama from inside the shrine, replacing it with that of a big-eyed saint. I was there as the annunciatory

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Cazenove+loyd (020 7384 2332; cazloyd.com) can organise a similar 14-day trip to Argentina, including return British Airways flights to Buenos Aires and Aerolineas Argentinas domestic flights, private transfers and private guiding, from £4,500 per person based on two sharing. The accommodation includes, among other hotels, two nights’ b&b at Hub Porteùo in Buenos Aires, three nights’ b&b at The Vines in Mendoza, and two nights’ b&b at the Grace Cafayate in Mendoza. Susques Tolar Grande

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46 ultratravel

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48 ultratravel

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shouts Gena from Las Vegas as our rooster-red helicopter touches down in the meadow grass next to Siwash Lake. The big blades come to a standstill and aproned staff rush to greet us with cooling drinks, which are followed by home-cured charcuterie and artisan goat’s cheese served on the sundeck of our log-cabin lodge. We are in cowboy country at the foot of the Cariboo Mountains on the Fraser Plateau, the sweet spot halfway between the Canadian Rockies and the Pacific Ocean. As hummingbirds dart by and chilled Okanagan Valley pinot noir is poured, it is difficult to imagine the harsh conditions that the first European settlers — gold prospectors and cattle hands mostly — endured in this remote part of the Canadian wilderness. It all feels very swish now at Siwash, as we watch the ranch’s array of solar panels fine-tune their position to get the best of the late-afternoon sunlight and fellow guests gather in the golden glow to hear news of the helicopter flight. We had just had a magnificent ride with pilot Scott Taylor over 80,000 acres of wilderness, a trip that revealed something of the scale and pristine grandeur of British Columbia. Scott had swooped into the Fraser Canyon and hovered close to the rarely visited Sacred Spires hoodoos, thousands of oddly eroded sandstone towers that cascade down a canyon wall. He had also highlighted a giant rock formation in the shape of a tribal chief’s face and landed on the banks of the mighty Fraser River to point out petroglyphs created by First Nation hunters. We had flown over bighorn rams, white-tailed deer, a pair of bald eagles, one unconfirmed moose and a carpet of alpine flowers on a dramatic 6,000ft limestone plateau. But, back at the ranch, what everyone really wanted to hear about was the outcome of “the proposal”. Gena Samanc had arranged the heli-tour as a surprise for her partner, Brian Allison, and planned to pop the question on it. By the time we took off it was a secret shared by everyone at Siwash – except Brian. To the relief of Gena, during a stroll along the plateau, he said yes, and, after a champagne picnic prepared by our multi-tasking pilot, we flew back to the ranch. The next day involved a ride of a different kind. “Ah, you’re on Gus, that’s great – he’s like riding a sofa,” shouted Derek Bendig, the chef, as I set off from the stables the following morning in borrowed fedora and cowboy boots. From the 30 or so horses at the ranch, head wrangler Miranda Urquhart had selected the steed best suited to a city slicker like myself: Gus, a cross-bred Belgian dray built like a barn and steady as a statue. Miranda led the ride and Chris Gray-Wheeler, a young cowboy from Calgary, brought up the rear. Together we made our way through wild Cariboo meadows, trembling aspen woods, willow brush and a sun-warmed pine forest that smelt like Christmas. As Chris pointed out the grizzly claw-slashes in the aspen trunks, it was reassuring to be riding high on The Sofa. Our route, the Ponderosa Trail, led us down to a birch-shaded spot by the Bonaparte River. After a few hours in the saddle in 36C heat, a prolonged

50 ultratravel

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session of wild swimming – followed by pastrami sandwiches and Canuck beers – felt like luxury defined. No cars, no crowds, no shops, no mobile phones, no computers; just nature, summer heat and the sweet smell of horses cooling in the shade. My accommodation back at the ranch was a “tent� in a forest of Douglas fir. It sounded basic, but in truth it was a spacious, airy canvas cabin with an outdoor shower, underfloor heating and a large hardwood deck overlooking our freshwater swimming pool, Siwash Lake. Best of all was the oversized bed. Getting into it with my stiff riding legs was like saddling up on Gus, but once I was up, outstretched and comfortable, the idea of dismounting drifted away with my cowboy dreams. On my last night at Siwash a trail of tiny lights led me through the trees, past the lake and the canoes by the boardwalk and up to the main house. Marie Viel, a French-Canadian ranch-hand, strummed her guitar and sang to a campfire gathering. “You and me going fishing in the dark/Lying on our backs and counting the stars.� Among the small circle of guests and ranchers singing along I spotted the guides who had taught me during my stay: Michael, the fly-fishing guru who helped me land a rainbow trout on my first day; Kent, the backwoodsman who introduced me to archery on a forest trail of life-sized replica target animals; and Marshall, who had taken me for a swim in a waterfall overlooking Crater Lake – a dramatic volcanic cauldron – and taught me the finer points of competitive axethrowing (darts for lumberjacks). At the edge of the group, patting the ranch’s Bluetick Coonhound, was Allyson Rogers, owner, manager and

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founder of the property, who built the ranch from scratch after buying the land in the early Nineties. Her lesson for me was Siwash itself. With perseverance and a respect for nature, she provided a masterclass in sustainable luxury living in the wilds way out West.

.

n his first sighting of the island that would later carry his name, Captain George Vancouver declared in his 1792 journal: “I cannot believe that any uncultivated country had ever been discovered exhibiting so rich a picture.� As I travelled from Siwash Ranch to Vancouver Island – on what Canadians consider “a short hop� in a 1961 de Havilland Beaver seaplane – I concurred with the captain. From the air the view was among the most dramatic I’d ever seen, and the journey one of the most exhilarating (and scary) of my life. The pilot, Dale Douglas, handled the tiny plane as though he were driving a classic British motorbike. Rattling along at 10,000ft we passed the ski resort of Whistler to the south, giant glaciers to the north and the rocky ramparts of the Canadian Cordillera below. All the while Dale calmly consulted his flapping paper map (yes, paper) and made a phone call to check the weather on Vancouver Island. As we descended into Tofino, having crossed Vancouver Island, mountains and lakes, I could finally breathe out again. Tofino lies at the gateway to Clayoquot Sound, a Unesco Biosphere Reserve, where rocky headlands and expansive beaches are paired with wolfhaunted islands and salmon-rich inlets. I was staying at the Wickaninnish Inn, a hotel known, among other things, as a storm-watching destination. “The Wick� is the perfect retreat for soft-shelled adventurers like myself. Its concierge service connects guests with the best local specialists for whale watching, sea kayaking and biking expeditions, but also arranges massages, fine food from a restaurant with 240-degree Pacific views and single malts and tall tales from its well-stocked bar. It’s a haven for “lumbersexuals� – the local nickname for city dwellers who love the outdoors but appreciate the benefits of good grooming. The hotel sits on Canada’s rocky western flank with nothing between it and Japan 5,000 miles to the west. Form follows function on its exterior, with angular grey cedar and concrete built to withstand the notorious storms that batter this coast. But inside it is all cosy comfort and local tradition, with First Nation carvings, artisan blankets and open fires. The 75 bedrooms have warm cedar walls and copper fittings, lit with large windows that look out on to the expanses of Chesterman Beach. Surveying the ocean from the warmth of my bath it was hard to imagine a more agreeable way to view the edge of a continent. During my travels through British Columbia, something else I began to appreciate was the Canadians’ understated modesty and self-deprecating humour. When the lodge had signed me up for “a nice boat trip to the hot springs�, I had not expected to be bouncing full throttle for four hours in an open-topped 28ft Boston Whaler, wearing a one-piece survival suit. Thankfully, I was in the safe hands of John Forde, a fortysomething skipper who is able to spot sea otters among the kelp, and who knows where all the local bald eagles live. “Bloody yakkers,� he muttered, after he had firmly ordered a pair of kayakers to back away from a family of grey whales we were observing. If the fog rolled in on Clayoquot Sound (as it inevitably does), John would be the man you would want to steer you back to harbour. When you were there, the cocktail you’d want to warm you after a day of boating and a three-hour hike would be a Cedar Sour. The combination of cedar-infused rye, lemon, thyme and egg white was so aromatic and warming that, had I not been so thirsty from the sea salt, I would have gladly used it as a balm for my tired legs. I sampled it on the first-floor deck of Tofino’s freshest and most exciting seafood restaurant, Wolf in the Fog (wolfinthefog.com), lined with warm wood and copper, and offering menus featuring local ingredients foraged by chef Nick Nutting to a hungry surfer crowd. “It started as a bit of joke for Canada Day,� says the chef about my feast of wild Tofino salmon with summer berries and chanterelles. “We thought we would try to get as many Canadian ingredients into one dish and just hoped for the best.� But he wasn’t fooling me with his surfer style, mellow modesty and stark, simple menu. Sitting on the deck looking out over the Pacific Rim, I mused that, like Nick’s food, British Columbia’s surprising scenery is many times more magnificent than the Canadians are letting on. Perhaps they should shout a little more about their stupendous mountains, forests and brilliant beaches. Yee-haw indeed.

52 ultratravel

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0'' 5)& $)"354 5HREE OF THE SIX ISLANDS THAT MAKE UP THE -IZARD *SLAND /ATIONAL 1ARK 5HE RESORT REFURBISHED IN IS ON THE FAR ISLAND ITS INNER BEACHES PROTECTED BY REEFS

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.AINLAND "USTRALIA HAS ALWAYS HAD BEAUTIFUL PLACES TO STAY #UT NOW A NEW LEVEL OF LUXURY HAS PLACED ITS ISLANDS ON THE MAP 6LTRATRAVEL EXPERIENCES THREE OF THE FINEST FOR DIVING EATING j AND NOT DOING MUCH AT ALL

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+(9 1#_(2+ -# t dusk, with the wind easing and the sun sinking towards the dark-blue horizon of the Coral Sea, Chinaman’s Ridge, a granite outcrop on Lizard Island, is busy. Most evenings, guests at the island’s only resort stroll up between cocktails and dinner to enjoy the fiery Australian sunset. The walk is only 15 minutes up the hill from the main lodge, and at the end of it, you feel like you can see all the way to Asia. But then, this island is one of Australia’s most northerly, 149 miles north-east of Cairns and an hour’s flight over impossibly turquoise seas and white sandbanks. Forty years ago it was a spot to which keen fishermen, such as Hollywood star Lee Marvin, would come to hook black marlin. Today, it’s one of the country’s most glamorous spots from which to see them, using snorkels and masks. Thankfully, in spite of the resort’s starry guestlist, ostentatious glamour has not found its way here; it has retained its simple beach-chic style throughout its 40 airy villas, suites and lodge: all whites, sands and cool blues. It has taken some work to make the island that way. Two cyclones, in 2014 and 2015, hit it so hard that even the ultratravel 55

IMMERSE YOURSELF 14-day luxury great barrier reef PORT DOUGLAS, DAINTREE & LIZARD ISLAND from £4,525 pp (based on twin share and subject to availability) Including international economy fights with Singapore Airlines, transfers, car hire, 10 nights luxury accommodation, selected meals & touring. Valid for travel from 01 Apr–14 Jun 2016. Visit wexas.com for details and booking conditions or call our team of Australia specialists on 020 7590 0602.

Fly in style with Singapore Airlines to Australia and enjoy modern cabins and impeccable onboard service. Singapore Airlines’ Economy Class cabin ofers an innovative seat design, providing more legroom and greater comfort. Choose from fve daily departures from the uk to Singapore, with seamless onward connections to Australia via the award-winning Changi Airport.

(L_RFC_,?PJGL_!?P _R?JI_GQ_MD_UFMQC_W?AFR_GQ_GL_6?RQML`Q_!?W _UFGAF_ JGQRCPQ_ ?PC_QR?WGLE_GL_RFC_TGJJ? _MP_UFM`Q_SN_DMP_?_U?JJCR @SQRGLE_@MRRJC_MD_QFGP?X trees were stripped of their bark. But, walking to the hilltop, I’d never know. En route, I pass smart, newly built sea-facing villas, with their cushioned banquettes and hammocks. I stop at the new Marlin Bar, where the talk among elegant guests is of whose yacht is in nearby Watson’s Bay, which A-listers are in the impressive Pavilion suite and villa, or who is up for a wallet-busting bottle of Henschke Hill of Grace Shiraz or a few nips of Louis XIII de RÊmy Martin cognac (which are popular,

30$,4 "/% 3&&' 7IEW FROM THE SKIES OF -IZARD *SLAND S 1AVILION ROOM TOP WHICH LOOKS OUT OVER GARDENS RIGHT -OOKING OUT OVER THE FOREST FROM A DECK LEFT

says the genial American general manager Joe Bann, even at £125 a shot). And I pass Salt Water, the open, fan-cooled restaurant overlooking Anchor Bay, and one of the 24 white-sand beaches, beyond which are pretty seagrass meadows, clam gardens and, further out, Cod Hole, home to the famous local giant potato cod. When I finally reach my destination, atop Chinaman’s Ridge, the resort looks like the sparkling charms on a necklace as it curves around the edge of a small halfmoon beach, its lights winking in the soft marine light. Out to sea bobs the gleaming 51ft Riviera used for private charters and night diving. On rocky outcrops, guests sit, soaking in the scene. And in the soft light in front of two beachfront cabanas honeymooners lounge, cocktails in hand. Later, over cognac in the Driftwood Bar, the gossip is that the sloop a quarter of a mile offshore is Rupert Murdoch’s. Who knows - perhaps he and Jerry are surveying honeymoon spots? 3ALPH #ESTIC Lizard Island (0061 7 4043 1999; lizardisland.com.au; double rooms from AU$1,699/£828 per night, including all meals and selected alcoholic drinks). ultratravel 57

4$&/*$ 4"5&--*5& 5HE #OATHOUSE RIGHT AND TOP LEFT AND 4UMMER )OUSE FAR LEFT BOTH HAVE SIMPLE CHIC INTERIORS THAT COMPLEMENT THE COLOURS OF THE SEA AND LANDSCAPE

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2 3$++(3$_(2+ -# hile travelling around Tasmania, the name Satellite Island would be whispered to me frequently, as if it were some mythical place from old seafaring times. Once, the wild and ragged island had been home to a reclusive writer, painter and poet, Ian Alstergren. But when Will, his nephew, inherited it, he wanted to give other people the opportunity to share this unspoilt wilderness, teeming with vivid sealife and an abundance of native birds. For the past couple of years, a handful of visitors have been allowed to stay, too, and fall under its hypnotic spell.

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The 84-acre whale-shaped island sits in the D’Entrecasteaux Channel, off Bruny Island in Tasmania, and feels thrillingly remote. From the moment the family workboat comes to collect you off the shores of Bruny, you can feel the weight of anticipation in the salty sea air. Life here, though, isn’t about adrenalin. It’s about chilling out and getting back to nature. Endless days are spent walking the rock shelf and getting back to basics, watching the tides beat against cliffs and the winds rustling through the trees. Activities, naturally, revolve around the seasons. The on-call-round-the-clock manager, Richard Roe, can help you shuck fresh oysters straight off the rocks, fill buckets of mussels which ring the island, and even dive for crayfish. Picnics can be arranged in the wild grasses on top of the island peak and bonfires can be lit on sunset, as you watch the herd of deer spring and dart across the plains. If you don’t fancy self-catering, or barbecuing salmon caught on Satellite’s own fish-farm, there’s a little boat to take you to Bruny, and its famed restaurants and gourmet treats. When the weather turns blustery, there is a choice of shelter: the waterside two-bedroom Boathouse or the

weatherboard-clad, three-bed Summer House, 54 steps uphill to the north of the island. Once a ramshackle old farmhouse, the latter is now a stylish, light and understated contemporary beach-style home, created by Will Alstergren and his wife Kate, who, with their three teenage sons, split their time between the island and Melbourne. Kate has cleverly brought into the décor the colour palettes of the outdoors, echoing the natural textures and colours: the greys of the rock shelf, the blues of the smooth pebbles on the beach and the pale hues of the sun-bleached driftwood. Personal touches – shells, antlers, feathers and maps – scattered around help tell the story of the location, alongside family heirlooms such as a 19thcentury Scandinavian dresser, and pretty local pottery. While the interiors are charming, it is the natural world that is the real attraction. Mussel beds encase wavewashed rocks, flocks of seabirds ride the coastal winds and crayfish clamber over ancient underwater shelves. The island brims with life. The real luxury is having the time, space and privacy to enjoy it. ,ARA 3OSENLUND Satellite Island (0061 400 336444; satelliteisland.com.au; from £2,940 a night for 12; The Boathouse, £970, for two). ultratravel 59

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On Rob’s 106-acre hillside plot cocooned by swathes of old gum trees, four spacious tents on wooden platforms provide the bedrooms, each with king-size beds. You could call it “glamping�, but that doesn’t really capture the experience, with Rob rustling up delectable fare: succulent Tasmanian lamb, Nick Haddow’s cheeses, Spring Bay mussels in a white wine and saffron cream, panna cotta anointed with herby Leatherwood honey. The chef makes a tongue-in-cheek claim to a calorieneutral break, incorporating hearty strolls to counter the indulgence. So next morning we ventured into South Bruny National Park to walk the circular Labillardiere Trail,

(R`Q_LMR_?_BGCR DPGCLBJW_ BCQRGL?RGML _@SR_RFC_ CNGACLRPC_MD_3?QK?LG?`Q_ EMSPKCR_PCL?GQQ?LAC a perambulating natural-history class. Beautiful bronzestriped skinks basked by the track, alongside earth grubbed up by ant-mining echidnas, while yellow-tailed black cockatoos daintily de-seeded banksia pods above our heads. The real treat, though, was the near-complete solitude. Bruny boasts glorious beaches with sand so fine it sings under your feet and Swarovski-clear waters off Butlers Beach, where we watched an eagle ray glide beneath us, before returning to the shore for a gastronomic picnic. More wallaby carpaccio, anyone? You should, though, never meet your meat – a lesson learnt next day when, having transferred to nearby Inala

Private Reserve, I came face to white-eyelashed face with one of Bruny’s famed white wallabies. Inala means “a peaceful placeâ€? in the Aboriginal dialect: aptly named. Again, the luxury here comes not in the form of butlers and pillow menus, but full-immersion nature therapy, with guides revealing the treasures of Inala’s 1,500 diverse acres. I was fortunate its founder, Dr Tonia Cochran, was on hand to introduce its wild inhabitants. No sooner had she arrived at my cabin than a mob of wallabies appeared to wheedle a snack of kangaroo pellets. There were Casey and Daisy, Oscar, Annie and Violet, and the unnamed white wallaby with her russetgrey joey. The guilt was overwhelming, so I was happy when Tonia led me away into the surrounding forest. There may be no spa, but delving into the trees was as soothing as the most fragrant aromatherapy: wafts of tea tree and boronia blended with sinus-clearing eucalyptus aromas. Birds love these woods, too, which are home to two-thirds of Tasmanian species, which we spotted the next afternoon with Tonia during an island tour. We roamed soft-sand beaches, spying seabirds; at dusk we watched little fairy penguins waddle up to their burrows, then on a night safari spotted wallabies and pademelons, brush-tailed possums and gorgeous eastern quolls. The final act was quintessential Bruny. Tonia’s excited “Ahhhâ€? announced a foot-high furball with twitching snout. “A long-nosed potoroo!â€? Tonia exclaimed. “It spends each night snuffling for truffles.â€? Welcome to Bruny, where even the animals are epicureans. 1AUL #LOOMĹśELD Tasmanian Odyssey (01534 735449; tasmanianodyssey.com) offers a seven-night trip from ÂŁ2,770, including two nights on the Bruny Island Long Weekend and three nights at Inala Bruny, both full-board. Etihad (0345 608 1225; etihad.com) offers return fares to Hobart from ÂŁ1,164.

'*7& 0' 5)& #&45 *4-"/%4 '03 #*( 4,*&4 'RASER *SLAND 2-% 0NE OF "USTRALIA S MOST BEAUTIFUL ISLANDS CHARACTERISED BY EXPANSES OF FOREST AND WHITE BEACHES IS PROTECTED BY 6NESCO AS ONE OF THE WORLD S BIGGEST SANDBARS 5HE EIGHT BED &LIZA 'RASER -ODGE ITS ÇžRST BOUTIQUE HOTEL OČ€ERS NATURE CENTRIC ACTIVITIES AND MEALS MADE FROM ISLAND PRODUCE ELIZAFRASERLODGE COM AU DOUBLES FROM `

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he dawn chorus on Bruny Island has an especially punchy rhythm section. “Thump, thump-thump swish,� rolled the beats, filtering through my tent’s netting. “Thump, swish thump-thump.� Gradually, the rest of the house band introduced themselves. Green rosellas parped out the brass parts, a brush bronzewing pigeon set a tenor drone and a grey shrike-thrush trilled a lilting piccolo solo. As wake-up calls go, it was hard to top. It took a more primal urge to lure me from my king-size nest, though: the aroma of coffee brewing and sausages sizzling. Peeling back crisp cotton sheets, I strolled across the clearing to a cabin where the first of the day’s feasts was being conjured by my host, Rob Knight. Another morning, another inch on the waistline. Bruny is not a diet-friendly destination. Though a mere 60 miles long and with just 620 residents, this Siamese twin of an island – North and South Bruny conjoined by a narrow spit – is the epicentre of Tasmania’s gourmet renaissance. It’s where the first apple trees and vines were planted by Captain Bligh in 1788, and today is the site of Australia’s southernmost winery, produces acclaimed Black Devil cherries, berries, oysters and salmon, and is home to Australia’s best-known TV foodies, cheesemaker Nick Haddow and pork maestro Ross O’Meara. Yet relatively few tourists explore the island – something Tasmanian entrepreneur Rob is addressing with his Bruny Island Long Weekend. Over three days of walking, talking, eating and drinking, he introduces discerning visitors to the island’s varied delights. The weekend began with a private cruise from Hobart, exploring the Tasmanian coastline en route to Bruny. An afternoon’s stroll to Cape Queen Elizabeth was followed by a beginners’s guide to oyster husbandry at Ford Bay, before traversing south via a peculiarly Australian pastoral idyll of weatherboard farmhouses, passing as many grazing wallabies as sheep.

With a nickname like ‘The Sunshine State’, you know you’re in for an incredible holiday when you visit Queensland. Nestled in Australia’s north-east corner, this iconic state – the second biggest Down Under – is famed for its glittering waters, tropical rainforests, charming towns and laid-back locals. It knows no bounds when adventure is involved. Beloved spots like Cape Tribulation, Kuranda and the Atherton Tablelands are the shining stars, but there’s one landmark that really gives it the edge: the Great Barrier Reef. Spanning over 133,000 square miles and home to over 1,625 species of fsh and 1,400 species of coral, it’s easy to see why nature legend Sir David Attenborough loves it so. In fact, it was even the star of his most recent – and fnal – BBC series. Not a bad note to end on, right? Flight Centre is all about seeing the world’s largest aquarium at its best, and in a number of different ways. Embarking on regular cruises and helicopter fights from Reef gateways like Port Douglas, Cairns and the Whitsundays, you’ll visit some of the structure’s most far-fung corals, not to mention the ‘Great 8’ – clownfsh, sharks, manta rays, Maori wrasse, potato cods, giant clams, turtles and whales – Queensland’s answer to the Big Five.

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£2465pp 16 day tailor-made holiday including fights & unique experiences

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WE’RE HERE

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You can take your pick of how to see it all too: spend the night sleeping on a reef pontoon; snorkel; scuba dive; gaze through

the windows of glass-bottom boats and underwater observatories, or see it from above on a helicopter or seaplane ride. Those seeking something a bit different can even walk underwater, with only a glass helmet separating you from the technicolour fsh safari beneath the waves.

0800 082 1680

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*N THE NORTH WEST OF "USTRALIA ALONG /INGALOO 3EEF LIVE SOME OF THE EARTH S MOST MAGICAL CREATURES j WITH WHICH IF YOU RE LUCKY YOU CAN SWIM FROM A PRIVATE CATAMARAN (RAHAM #OYNTON IS LURED UNDER BY OCEAN GIANTS

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t is the second dive on the second day aboard the Shore Thing that does it for me. A small group of us are snorkelling along Ningaloo Reef when we spot an enormous manta ray circling beneath us. Led by the catamaran’s manta “mermaid�, Hayley Mitchelmore, we dive 33ft and float alongside this beautiful creature. The manta is not only aware of our presence, but also seems to become curious, circling us several times. It is an extraordinary moment, the first time I have had a powerful sense of connection with a fish. Mantas are, I later learn from Mitchelmore, most intelligent creatures, with the largest brain-to-body ratio of any marine fish; by comparison the 30ft-long, nine-ton whale shark, the largest extant fish species, has a brain the size of a golf ball. The substantial population of mantas in these waters off Coral Bay are habituated to people and apparently seek out human interaction, which is something this one certainly does. We spend 45 minutes floating, diving and swimming alongside it before it surges onward to a distant coral garden. This manta dive was the first of a number of memorable excursions off Shore Thing, a shallow-draft 51ft catamaran

that operates from Coral Bay and offers bespoke scuba and snorkelling trips along Ningaloo Reef in three-, five- and nine-night packages. The boat has four double cabins and can take a maximum of 10 guests, so it is often chartered by extended families and groups of friends. Its owner, Luke Riley, a former investment banker who fled the big cities for this remote edge of Western Australia, calls the trips “marine safaris, because when you put your head in the water you really are entering another wildernessâ€?. Over my three-day trip I was able to explore that other wilderness forensically, swimming regularly with turtles and snorkelling through coral gardens that looked as if they had been created by alien species working with psychedelic colour palettes. Floating with the current on drift dives, I passed clownfish, raccoon butterflyfish, blue-spotted ribbontail rays, spangled emperors, lionfish, blue fusiliers‌ The interaction between species was as fascinating as their dramatic visual beauty and at a so-called shark-cleaning station beside a reef known as Asho’s Gap we hovered for a good 20 minutes above a procession of blacktip reef sharks that came to be “groomedâ€? – having ultratravel 63

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irritating parasites cleaned from their teeth and gills by swarms of cleaner wrasse. Once serviced, they moved on and made way for the others. It was a bit like a city car wash on a busy Saturday. As Riley pointed out, the 186-mile-long Ningaloo coral reef is among the best in the world and, because it is here that the cool ocean current from the south meets a warmer current from the north, the reef is able to support a unique mix of tropical and subtropical species. “I fell in love with the place as soon as I arrived,� he said. “What is also unique is that the reef is just off the shore, so easy for beginners and inexperienced snorkellers, but also rewarding for those who’ve dived a lot.� As one would expect, since Ningaloo Marine Park was declared a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2011 there has been an increase in tourism here. However, the numbers are not enormous and this vast, remote part of Western Australia is unlikely ever to be blighted by mass tourism. With the exception of the Namib Desert, I have never been anywhere that has made me as aware of a vastness of landscape and the insignificance of Homo sapiens. It is this existence at the fringes of modern society that has drawn people such as Luke Riley to the region. There are two flights a day to Learmonth Airport from Perth, and after that it is a one-and-a-half-hour drive from the airport to Sal Salis, the luxury tented camp on the beach in the northern part of Ningaloo that was my first stop, and then a three-hour drive south to Coral Bay harbour. The small town of Exmouth (population 2,200) lies in between, but along those endless two-lane blacktops the only living creatures one encounters are stray kangaroos. It is the very definition of The Big Empty. The northern end of Ningaloo Reef lies off the shore of the Cape Range National Park, an ecosystem containing an extensive cave network that hosts various stygofauna. However, the main draw here is the fringing reef. From your tent at Sal Salis, located on dunes within the park, you merely have to cross the pristine white beach and fall into the aquamarine waters with your flippers and goggles on. The coral and the marine wildlife are right there. Beyond the reefs are the megafauna that are among the region’s great draws. You can swim with whale sharks during the season (April to July), and from this year for the first time (August to October) swimming with humpback whales is also offered. These activities are carefully controlled, with a handful of licensed operators taking parties of 20 out on reconfigured crayfishing boats and, with the help of spotter planes and spotter swimmers

(_F?TC_LCTCP_@CCL_QM_?U?PC_ MD_?_T?QRLCQQ_MD_J?LBQA?NC_ ?LB_RFC_GLQGELGnA?LAC_ MD_'MKM_Q?NGCLQ (the whale-shark spotters known as the “mermaids�), 10 snorkellers at a time are dropped into the path of individual whale sharks. Most of the people living up here have been, or are still, involved in the marine world. The young women working at the Novotel Ningaloo Resort in Exmouth, for example, first came here to dive and explore the reefs; the waitresses at Whalers Restaurant have all been whale-shark mermaids, and even the owner’s wife used to be the skipper of a whale-shark boat. A word about Whalers, which in my opinion is the best rural seafood restaurant in the country. Owner-chef Paul Minniear trained in New Orleans, was head chef at Mike’s on the Avenue at the Lafayette Hotel, and has thus brought his Southern Creole gastronomic skills to

the fresh seafood that is ubiquitous here. It was the culinary surprise of my trip. If the three days of bespoke snorkelling on board the Shore Thing were the highlight of my week in Ningaloo, my stays at Sal Salis and in Exmouth and the days spent driving across this great open landscape were what made this an unusually fascinating trip. Many of the inhabitants of Exmouth, Coral Bay and the resorts are from foreign countries – Paul Minniear says that the only Australian working at Whalers is the dishwasher. They are drawn here by the extraordinary marine landscape, the ocean wildlife and by the remoteness of the North West Cape. Ironically, just as my circadian rhythms had finally adjusted to the slow pulse of this weird and wonderful place, it was time to return to 21st-century urban life. So I left wanting more. Sail Ningaloo (0061 458 822 895; sailningaloo.com.au), charges from AU$1,700/£840 for a three-night, four-day excursion on Shore Thing and from £2,225 for a nine-night, 10-day excursion. Included in the price are all meals, snorkelling equipment and trips. Sal Salis (0061 8 9949 1776; salsalis.com.au) charges £370 per person per night and this year will expand the camp from nine to 16 tents. Day-long whale-shark cruises from camp cost £200.

3&&' &/$06/5&34 $LOCKWISE FROM TOP 4AL 4ALIS CAMP SET IN THE DUNES ALONGSIDE /INGALOO 3EEF ABOARD THE 4HORE 5HING CATAMARAN THE SAFARI TENTS AT NIGHT

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taste fresh flavours with friendly locals

D I S C OV E R K A N G A R O O I S L A N D, S O U T H AU S T R A L I A AT AU S T R A L I A .C O M

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68 ultratravel

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ultratravel 69

dive into one of the world’s natural wonders

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ultratravel 71

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72 ultratravel

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ultratravel 73

FIVE AUSTRALIAN STATES IN 20 DAYS ‘Discover Australia’ is a complete escorted tour like no other. With over 85 years of expert touring experience, APT will show you the very best of the land Down Under. Pristine beaches, glittering cityscapes, lush rainforest and scorched red desert, absorb Australia’s most iconic sights and experience all the must-do attractions in one exciting itinerary.

Flights, transfers, 21 meals and premium accommodation are all included. All you need to do is sit back, relax and prepare to be awestruck by Australia’s natural beauty and the stylish cosmopolitan cities you’ll visit. Experience all this, and much, much more on one of the most comprehensive escorted tours of this fascinating land. ‘Discover Australia’ today with Austravel and APT.

Outer Reef Port Douglas 2 Cruise 2 a NORTHERN Re t Cairns ef G re r ri e Bar

Upon arrival spend three nights exploring Perth, the sun-blessed capital of Western Australia and take a leisurely cruise along the picturesque Swan River. Be enchanted by the architectural masterpiece that is Sydney Opera House and cruise around one of the most famous harbours in the world. Encounter tropical marine animals and feel the magic of the magnificent Great Barrier Reef. Watch the spectacular sunrise over Uluru (Ayers Rock) and dine in the desert Outback under a star-studded night sky. You’ll also learn about the country’s ancient Indigenous culture and meet native wildlife along the way.

Coach Cruise Flight (included) No. of Nights Stay National Park

TERRITORY

Uluru (Ayers Rock) 1

Alice Springs 2

QUEENSLAND

WESTERN AUSTRALIA NEW SOUTH WALES

Perth Fremantle 3

4 Sydney VICTORIA

Melbourne 3

APT DISCOVER AUSTRALIA 19 nights from £4,795pp Save up to £400 per couple Includes: Feature meals whilst on the tour, internal flights and return international flights Selected tours Nov 2016.

Call our expert Travel Designers on FREEPHONE 0808 163 6337 † or visit austravel.com We don’t just go there, we know there Offer is subject to change and availability and maybe be withdrawn at any time. Normal booking T&C’s apply, see austravel.com for full details. †Calls are free, mobile and other provider’s charges may apply. ATOL protected 3355.

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rnhem Land, at the “top end� of Australia’s Northern Territory, is one of the world’s last great wildernesses. It has been on my bucket list for years, and last September my dream came true. I took off one morning on a scheduled Airnorth flight from Darwin to Nhulunbuy, the main town in Arnhem Land, 500 miles east of Darwin on the edge of the Gove Peninsula. For the next hour I sat, nose glued to the window, as we skirted the northern edge of Kakadu National Park, then followed the coast. From the air, I couldn’t see many signs of human habitation, but this is Yolngu country. The Yolngu people, the sole owners of Arnhem Land, have lived here for thousands of years. A young Yolngu man met me at Gove Airport. His name, Djambatj, means “good hunter or spotter�, but he insisted that I call him “Arian�. In his late twenties, he works for Lirrwi Tourism, an enterprise owned and operated by the Yolngu. His colleague, and our driver, Terry, or Waka to give him his Yolngu name, handled our Toyota Land Cruiser with consummate skill. We headed for Bawaka, 30 miles south of Nhulunbuy. After about six miles, we turned off the metalled road on to a dirt track, which rapidly disintegrated into soft sand as we skirted beaches and coastal bays. There was a shout. Randy, the third of the trio who greeted me, was riding on the roof and had seen something in the water. He leapt down and ran along the sand, spear in hand. “He’s seen a stingray,� Arian explained. “When rays move, they churn the sand; that discolours the water.� We watched as Randy stalked his prey, hurled his spear – and missed. We were moving when he climbed back on. After a couple of hours we reached the campsite at Bawaka. Actually, it is more than a campsite. Two permanent huts with corrugated-iron roofs have been built on the beach. One for the staff; one for the guests. “You can sleep outside on the decking,� Arian said, “but you might prefer to be inside. We have our own friendly crocodile here. He likes to come up on the beach.� Terry kept an eye out while I had a pre-lunch swim. I have to admit I stuck close to the shore. That afternoon, back in the Land Cruiser, we headed for a nearby lagoon. It was low tide, with the water around 3ft deep. Arian and Randy had some serious fishing ahead; otherwise, we would be going without supper. Aboriginal spear fishers have an uncanny mathematical ability. They seem able to calculate precisely the angle of refraction as the spear hits the water, estimate the speed and direction of the target and adjust their aim accordingly.

! "*_ 31 "*(-& "RNHEM -AND IS "USTRALIA S BEST KEPT SECRET j A SPARSELY POPULATED REGION WHERE THE :OLNGU PEOPLE STILL FISH WITH SPEARS AND EVEN @RECENT ROCK ART IS YEARS OLD 4TANLEY +OHNSON GOES ON A COASTAL WALKABOUT IN ANCIENT "BORIGINAL TERRITORY

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That night, as the moon came up, we had a feast by the campfire. Our Aboriginal friends moulded the stingray flesh into fishcakes and cooked them over the embers. I spent my last two days in East Arnhem Land at the Banubanu Wilderness Retreat on Bremer Island, off the Gove Peninsula. You can land a helicopter by the camp or take a light aircraft from Gove to Bremer Island Airstrip. Once there, you can walk in the bush, watch turtles on the beaches, or sit with a glass of fine Australian wine while the sun sets and a pair of sea eagles circles overhead. The third and final stop on my brief but enthralling visit was at Davidson’s Arnhemland Safaris’ lodge at Mount Borradaile, in the heart of West Arnhem Land. The boat was waiting at the head of the billabong. Bridget – a competent, cheerful young Australian ranger – took the tiller. We headed off as the sun began to drop. “We’ve got 700sq km [270sq miles] here under lease,â€? said Bridget. “This is a place which has seen 50,000 years of Aboriginal occupation. It has everything: billabongs, wetlands, monsoon rainforest, wildlife and ancient escarpments.â€? First, we concentrated on the wildlife. I noted three types of egrets, several jabirus (a stork-like bird), whistling ducks, corellas, three brolgas and another pair of white-bellied sea eagles. And crocodiles. Lots of them. Up close. In the Seventies the Northern Territory crocodile population had fallen to 10,000 as a result of uncontrolled hunting. Today, protected by law, there are 200,000. Whenever we got out, Bridget took care that there were no crocs in the vicinity. On my last day at Davidson’s lodge we hiked to a complex of caves, many of which had been occupied over thousands of years. Inside one, Bridget pointed at a splendid rendering of the mythological Rainbow Serpent: “The more recent phase of Aboriginal rock art was developed in the last 3,000 years.â€? I raised my camera. “Please be careful,â€? Bridget warned. “Don’t photograph the bones.â€? She indicated several skulls and what looked like thigh bones stacked in a high recess. It was cool in the cave. Time for a breather. As we sat on the floor, Bridget explained, “This is still a sacred site for the Australia ‘first people’. They still come here. And they’ll be coming here long after we’ve gone.â€? Bridge&Wickers (020 3642 8551; bridgeandwickers.co.uk) offers a two-week, all-inclusive stay from ÂŁ5,757, inclusive of three nights at both Davidson’s Arnhemland Safaris and Banubanu Wilderness Retreat, guiding, transfers and flights. ultratravel 75

For the Australia of secluded beaches, unique wildlife, peaceful countryside and quality wines; it’s got to be South Australia. Located in the southern land, the state has an unassuming air about it and a reputation for the fner things in life; wine, food, festivals and some of the best wildlife sightings in the country. All within easy reach of the state’s capital, Adelaide. Wildlife is of course South Australia’s other draw-card and the region offers wildlife encounters at almost every corner: swim with dolphins in Glenelg; play with sea lions in the Eyre Peninsula; watch out for whales in Victor Harbour and keep your eyes peeled for yellow footed rock wallabies and emus within Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park.

Then head to Kangaroo Island, the best place to visit to see Australia’s truly wild side, which can be found just a short fights from the city of Adelaide and is accessible by car ferry from Cape Jervis. As a virtual zoo without fences, a third of Kangaroo Island is designated national park, complete with native bushland and a healthy population of wildlife.

The best way to combine all of these aspects into a holiday is via a self-drive itinerary of the region. Flight Centre can tailor-make an itinerary for you, but for inspiration we recommend starting in Adelaide and driving up to the wonderful wine region of the Barossa Valley where you can spend the day sipping on some of the world’s best Shiraz.

On the island you can expect to see all sorts of animals including koalas, wallabies, sea lions, echidnas, fur seals and the native Kangaroo Island kangaroo, which is smaller and darker than those found on the mainland. Remember that iconic Australia image of the kangaroos on the beach? This is where you can see that snapshot in the fesh.

Talk to a Flight Centre Travel Expert today about our Tailormade holidays to Australia.

Australia South Australia in Depth

£2085pp 14 day tailor-made holiday including fights & unique experiences

Local knowledge 24/7 Support Travel Butler

WE’RE HERE

FOR EVERYTHING THERE

From there you can then drive to the breath-taking jagged peaks of the IkaraFlinders Ranges National Park and even enjoy a 20 minute scenic fight of the region to truly take it in.For more wine tasting, en route back to Adelaide, the Clare Valley features over 40 wine estates offering several home-grown varieties of Riesling.

Prices are for specifc travel dates & are based on return fares per person & subject to availability. Prices & taxes are correct as of 26 February 2016 & the prices are subject to change at any time. All fights depart London & include prepaid taxes & fuel charges. Please call us with your preferred travel dates & regional airport & we will provide a quote for you. Seasonal surcharges may apply depending on date of travel. Airline Failure Protection & booking fees apply. For full terms & conditions, see fightcentre.co.uk. Image: Kangaroo Island, South Australia

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Deep-sea sensations Clockwise from left, go cage diving with great white sharks; enjoy encounters with dolphins; witness spectacular sunsets

The Eyre Peninsula’s big five To the west of Adelaide lies an important breeding ground for aquatic marvels. Dive in, says Max Anderson G R E AT W H I T E S H A R K S South Australia’s great whites are feared for 300 good reasons – every one razor-sharp and packed at the pointy end of an average adult. Eyre Peninsula, suitably enough, is shaped like a shark’s tooth, and 40 miles off its tip lie three small islands called the Neptunes. Here, the cold, deep, protein-rich waters host sharks that were big enough for Steven Spielberg, who needed live footage for Jaws. Today they’re still big – some more than 16ft – and attract 15,000 visitors a year for the thrill of cage diving. Three companies run shark-diving trips out of Port Lincoln, lasting one to five days. No diving licence is needed and day trips cost about A$500 (£245) to get you to the islands, into a steel cage and in the water. BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN There are dolphins all along the coast and it’s easy to see them in the shallows. Off the oyster town of Coffin Bay there’s a pod that has fascinated marine biologists since the animals were first seen sleeping. For a close encounter, head to Baird Bay. Alan and Trish Payne of Baird Bay Ocean Eco Adventures will motor you out to meet the resident pod, supplying all snorkelling gear as well as a commentary grounded in 20 years of observing the animals. Once you’re in the water, let the magic happen… SEA LIONS The Australian sea lion is as ubiquitous as the dolphin, but if you’re in Baird Bay, stay right there – because your ‘‘swim with dolphins’’ experience is always accompanied by swimming with sea lions.

The Eco Adventure boat will motor you a few hundred yards over to the colony and then you’re ushered back into the water. It’s up to the sea lions whether or not they want to interact, but they can’t resist – especially when pups are around. Sea lions are also plentiful off Eyre’s fishing capital, Port Lincoln. Half-day swimming-with-sealion experiences run all year and cost A$150 (£74). GIANT CUTTLEFISH This is a story in the making and an extraordinary one at that. Between May and August, along a tiny strip of coast off Eyre Peninsula, up to 200,000 giant cuttlefish swarm (aggregate) in the shallows to mate. It happens yards off the beaches between False Bay and Fitzgerald Bay, and visitors equipped with a snorkel, mask and wetsuit can wade out to watch

males deploying strategies to attract females, such as strobing with colours to impress a mate. It’s seen nowhere else in the world and is one of the greatest marine spectacles – so why is so little said about it? Well, in 2013-14 the aggregation all but disappeared for reasons that are not clear. Half of the number returned in 2015 and fingers are crossed for 2016. To improve your chances greatly, call into Whyalla Diving Tours in Whyalla and talk to the king of cuttlefish, Tony Bramley. He’ll also hire out wetsuits and snorkel gear at A$75 (£37) for two days. SOUTHERN RIGHT WHALES From late May to early October, southern right whales swap sub-Antarctic waters for the sheltered, warm bays along South Australia to calve. A regular haunt is Fowlers Bay. Southern rights (so-called because 19th-century whalers saw them as the “right” whale to hunt) grow up to 80 tons and reliably perform for charter boats. Fowlers Bay is a bit of a commitment, (just over 300 miles west of Port Lincoln), but the tiny community, with its bonewhite sands and turquoise waters, is magical. Closer to Eyre is the larger town of Ceduna, which runs day tours to Nullarbor to visit Marine Park Whale Sanctuary at Head of Bight. Up to 100 whales can sometimes be seen from viewing platforms on Bunda Cliffs.  Four-night Eyre Peninsula extension from £389pp, includes two nights in Adelaide, two nights in Port Lincoln and a swimming with sea lions experience. Visit flightcentre.co.uk or call 0800 188 4598.

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Chalet Pont du Cam (above) is one of the most popular ski chalets in the Firefly Collection, a hand-picked portfolio of more than 500 of the world’s finest luxury villas and chalets. The prize includes a week’s stay, for up to 14, in the designer chalet, whose facilities range from a media room to a gym, hammam and hot-tub. A private chef is on hand to cook breakfast and afternoon tea every day, followed by a fourcourse gourmet dinner, with champagne and fine wines. Beyond the confines of the chalet, skiers of all levels can find a run to suit: MÊribel is in the heart of the Trois VallÊes, the world’s largest lift-linked ski area, with 370 miles of pistes and more than 170 ski-lifts. A ski concierge and chauffeur service is included (firefly-collection.com).

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/IGEL 5ISDALL HAS ENJOYED HIS FAIR SHARE OF COMFORTS OVER YEARS AS A TRAVEL WRITER #UT WOULD HIS FIRST TRIP ROUND THE WORLD BY PRIVATE JET VISITING NINE COUNTRIES IN DAYS BE AN INDULGENCE TOO FAR n 1522, when the Spanish carrack Victoria sailed into Seville after completing the first circumnavigation of the globe, this epic voyage of discovery had taken almost three years. Only 18 of the original 260 crew were on board, and the numerous casualties included the expedition’s leader, Ferdinand Magellan. Now we are in the oh-so-easy 21st century, and I’m about to whizz around the same planet in just 23 days, flying in a sublimely luxurious private jet west from Orlando to London on a fantasy trip that will take in nine countries and make stops to see a fiesta of bucket-list sights including Machu Picchu, Easter Island, the Great Barrier Reef, French Polynesia, Angkor Wat, the Taj Mahal and Petra. Magellan and his God-fearing sailors were seeking spices, but what are my 19 fellow passengers after? Not wealth. Mostly American, these good-natured, name-badge-wearing globetrotters can clearly afford the ÂŁ77,800 ticket per person (based on two sharing) for our all-inclusive odyssey in which everything is provided, from freely flowing Pol Roger to pillow gifts to emergency purses of local currency. Nor are they seeking glory. Around half are retired (although the rich and clever never really retire). Many quietly sing of self-made success, courteous and sociable achievers 'LATBEDS IN OUR who have served their years in the #OEING WHICH NORMALLY SEATS battlefields of finance, law, health and PASSENGERS property. On this whirlwind of a trip there will be postcards sent, and Facebook postings, and Facetime with the kids back home, but no bragging. Even the natural desire to see the wonders of the world is muted by the fact that most passengers have already visited some of the destinations on our World Heritage Site-spangled itinerary. “It’ll be Petra for the third time,â€? sighs a seasoned traveller from Massachusetts who has kindly brought along some wine from his Napa Valley vineyard for us to share. No, in essence, everyone boarding our palatial blackand-silver Four Seasons Private Jet in Orlando has simply booked a good old-fashioned escorted group holiday. The formula is no different from the continental package tours pioneered by Thomas Cook in 1855, except that the top hats and parasols have given way to Tumi puffer jackets and backpacks by Kate Spade. On this journey of a lifetime we

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will be clocking up 20,000 nautical miles in a customised and garlands of flowers is taken to new heights when it evolves into a terrific floorshow with tattooed and Boeing 757 with 52 flat-bed seats in Italian white leather. plumed dancers. When we take a day cruise to snorkel Now that is space (such aircraft normally carry around on the Great Barrier Reef there are just 16 of us on 239 passengers), although there are also tours where a catamaran that normally takes 90, plus a photographer the configuration is 80 reclining seats – and if you can who follows us underwater to create a complimentary cope with that, you’ll save more than £25,000 a head. DVD of images capturing this classic voyage. Surprisingly, we only spend a total of 48 hours and But is it meaningful? That’s the question on the 30 minutes in the air flying to London the long way lips of everyone we meet, as we flit hummingbird-like round, which is a pity because this level of in-flight from one world-famous bloom to the next. Bubblecomfort is quite life-ruining. Every passenger is given wrapped in luxury, there’s a suspicion it might all be Bose noise-cancelling headphones and an iPad one long, cosseted blur, that we’ll end up feeling pre-loaded with films to keep, while the 14 allas dissatisfied as a child being rushed through British crew are the quintessence of Joanna Lumley-ish loveliness with a dash of Biggles %AYS IT WOULD TAKE TO a toy shop. That isn’t the case. One reason is and a splash of Are You Being Served?. Not TRAVEL THE WORLD BY that we’re visiting great wonders of the world, COMMERCIAL AIRLINER which in my experience always live up to everything is absolutely top class – the COMPARED WITH their hype. When bathrooms are basic, there’s nowhere to hang BY PRIVATE JET you walk down the a jacket, and the meals are unsensational Siq in Petra and see the (the thinking is that the gourmet thrills should Treasury carved out of pink happen on the ground). stone, even for the umpteenth Our trip has been devised by London and Seattletime, the wow factor is based TCS World Travel, purveyors of gilt-edged undeniable. Another crucial globetrotting for more than 20 years. They’ve certainly element is flexibility – if you learnt a few tricks about circling the world in style. We want to peel off and see a only fly in the daytime, and always west, so the travel specific work of art in is less tiring. At every stop we spend two or three nights a museum, they’ll happily fix in an as-good-as-it-gets hotel – often a Four Seasons – it. A third plus is the high while the behind-the-scenes preparations are worthy quality of our local guides. of a royal visit. We’re accompanied by two journey Visiting Machu Picchu (I’d managers and a doctor, with advance personnel paving been before), I’m concerned the way and abundant ground handlers offering an my new friends will only get unending supply of wipes, bottled water and “rest-room a superficial encounter – but opportunities”. “How will I ever do without you guys?” I’m wrong. Our enthusiastic wails an eightysomething adventuress from Des Moines. “What happens when I get home and need a loaf of bread?” Sometimes it gets too much, with so many lanyard-wearing staff hanging around I’m reminded of the royal court at guide, Diego Valle, does an excellent job lifting the lid on Versailles when crowds of onlookers would come “Mucho Picture”, as he quips, from telling the tale of its to watch Louis XIV having supper. discovery by Hiram Bingham to explaining the elaborate Why start in Orlando? Because it’s easy to reach stonework used to track the movement of sun and stars. and the climate is reliable, although no one seems to Finally, there’s the commendable fact that the notice how deliciously bizarre it is to jet from one organisers of this tour don’t skimp on a thing – and magic kingdom (Walt Disney’s) to the Inca equivalent boy, do they love a surprise. The itinerary might simply in Machu Picchu, Peru. We land in Lima then take say “beach dinner”, but it’ll most likely be followed a charter flight up to Cusco, and the jump to 11,152ft by some high-class fire-dancers and a seriously good has everyone short of breath and reaching for firework display that screams “No Expense Spared!” the coca tea. When you tear around the world this fast, into the warm night sky. “No can do” does not plunging in and out of places in a global version of seem to be in the company vocabulary. If you supermarket grab, you have to be up for it. want to bring seven suitcases, that’s fine Is it exhausting? No, because all the dreary /UMBER OF (I’m told the record is 13); if you need to call bits are removed. At the airport we use private CANDLES LIT AT THE in your own private jet to collect your shopping terminals or just march straight through SURPRISE DINNER IN halfway through, no problem; and when our the departures hall. Our bundle-of-laughs "NGKOR 8AT beloved plane hits a brief technical snag in “first lady of luggage” fills in all the landing India, three more aircraft are instantly chartered cards. Somehow, my suitcase gets beamed to ensure no one misses seeing the Taj Mahal. from my over-water bungalow in Bora Bora to my Perhaps the greatest thrill of travelling like this is that rainforest-wrapped suite in Far North Queensland it redraws all the maps. To fly by scheduled carrier from without my lifting a finger. It is like undergoing some Lima to Easter Island, our next stop and one of most ambrosial kidnapping. remote inhabited islands in the world, it would take On the ground, the level of service is regal. When almost 13 hours, going via Santiago de Chile. We do it we set off to see the Inca ruins around Cusco, there are in five while enjoying a light lunch of shrimp ceviche never more than six or eight passengers in the minibus, and passionfruit panna cotta with a chilled glass of even if it seats 18, so guests don’t feel crowded or have Puligny Montrachet 2011. to wait for the last person who’s decided to buy that For many on board, the chance to visit this mysterydivine alpaca scarf after all. In Tahiti, changing flights in rich dot in the Pacific is the deal-clincher. Our arrival Papeete, we are given exclusive use of a huge lounge, is made all the more spectacular by Captain William where the standard Polynesian welcome of live music

34

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Tupling-Prest, one of our three trusty pilots, who takes the jet down to 2,100ft then circles the island so we can enjoy exhilarating views of its volcanic craters and iconic moai (statues) – something that would never happen on a regular flight. Only 14 miles by seven, Easter Island is the world’s most fascinating sculpture park, home to some 8,000 Polynesian and Chilean residents plus 4,000 mostly wild horses. We check into the excellent, eco-sensitive Explora Rapa Nui hotel (which serves some of the freshest, most inventive food I eat on the whole trip), then do the standard tour to see the island’s strange, cartoon-like, top-knotted figures created between the 12th and 17th centuries, and visit the incredible quarry where these colossal heads, some weighing up to 82 tons, were carved. What makes our brief time here feel special, though, is the additional activities that are offered. Everywhere we go we get such optional excursions – deep-sea fishing in Bora Bora, ballooning over Angkor, a curry-making class in Jaipur. These are at no extra cost, and it means you get to clock up a whole bundle of bonus once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

(_

n this case, some of us take a sunrise hike up the extinct Terevaka volcano, others go horseriding, while I opt for a bike ride along the coast to see the mighty parade of 15 moai at Ahu Tongariki. Yesterday the island was swarming with Japanese visitors from a 960-passenger cruise ship, but now we have its bewitching landscape to ourselves. We freewheel along the empty roads, drinking in the gorgeous early-morning light, and then finally cool off in natural rock pools by the sea. “So, do you think this trip is worth six cents a second?â€? a fellow globecircler asks me close to our halfway point. I’d never thought to make such a calculation, but that’s probably why he’s rich and I’m not. After our series of life-affirming days on Easter Island, the answer can only be yes – assuming you’ve got the bucks and are happy travelling in a large group. When the tattered remnants of Magellan’s great Armada de Molucca made it home, the captain declared its greatest achievement (along with a lucrative cargo of cloves) was to have “discovered and made a course around the entire rotundity of the worldâ€?. He received a knighthood and enough riches to support two mistresses, and the entire crew were granted commemorative coats-of-arms. We, in turn, get rewarded with a gala dinner at the Four Seasons Hotel in London, complete with a bagpiper, four choices of smoked salmon, miniBakewell tarts and a Beatles tribute band, where everyone enjoys a last dance together. It’s an emotional finale to a dream trip that many will no doubt see as a sunlit plateau on life’s long journey. As the Fab Four sang so harmoniously on Abbey Road: “Because the world is round, it turns me on.â€? Elegant Resorts (01244 897515; elegantresorts.co.uk) offers tailor-made holidays by private jet in association with TCS World Travel (tcsworldtravel.co.uk). A 24-day Around the World Classic Signature Expedition, visiting 10 countries with up to 80 guests, costs from ÂŁ53,000 per person; Select Escapes, with up to 50 guests, cost from ÂŁ80,200 per person, based on two sharing, all-inclusive. ultratravel 91

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nce, Portugal was a safe bet for a hit of sunshine, sand and seafood. But in the past few years, there’s been a discernible wave of smart visitors travelling to the country to explore its medieval villages and hidden valleys, to sample the complexity of its wines and the depth of its heritage. In short, to sample some of the wonders of a place that was once home to Europe’s wealthiest court. Taking note of the swell in visitor numbers, big names in the hotel world have begun to open their doors, with Six Senses choosing the Douro Valley for its maiden foray into Europe, Viceroy Hotels selecting the Algarve as the destination for its first European property and Aman creating a resort in Comporta, south of Lisbon. Other creatives have risen to the challenge, too. Architects have built innovative buildings such as the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology in Lisbon, opening this summer, and the ultra-contemporary Boa Nova Tea House and the Casas Na Areia hotel. Chefs such as JosÊ Avillez at Belcanto in Lisbon and Ricardo Costa at The Yeatman in Porto (above) have refocused on their land’s natural bounty to create inventive cuisine. And luxury operators have taken note of the needs of those who can’t imagine travelling without a helicopter or yacht, and provided sleek vessels in which to flit. Portugal now has so many riches it’s tricky to decide which to sample first. Here we select 10 of its finest.

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THE 3OYAL /AVY IN 3ECENTLY RESTORED BY

5HERE IS ALSO AN INDOOR POOL A 1ILATES PAVILION

1IPADOURO 7INTAGE 8INE 5RAVEL IT HAS AIR

AND A RANGE OF TREATMENTS THAT USE 0RGANIC

CONDITIONING AND TWO DOUBLE CABINS WITH

1HARMACY PRODUCTS AS WELL AS UNGUENTS MADE

EN SUITE SHOWER ROOMS AND PRETTY PORTHOLE

WITH CITRUS AND LOCALLY PRESSED ALMOND OIL

WINDOWS AS WELL AS TREATS SUCH AS "NNE

4IX 4ENSES %OURO 7ALLEY

4EMONIN AMENITIES 5HE COMPANY TAILOR MAKES

SIXSENSES COM DOUBLES FROM `

TRIPS AND CAN SAIL AS FAR AS 4PAIN IF GUESTS REQUEST IT BUT IT SPECIALISES IN HALF DAY WINE

5 ) & :"$) 5

TASTINGS AT VINEYARDS ALONG THE %OURO 3IVER

'3*&/%4)*1 * %0630 3*7&3

PAIRED WITH CUISINE CREATED BY TOP CHEF AND LOCAL FOOD HERO 3UI 1AULA

0CEAN OVERSEEN BY THE "USTRIAN CHEF )ANS

1ERHAPS IT S THE MEMORY OF THE MANY TRADERS

1IPADOURO 7INTAGE 8INE 5RAVEL

/EUNER WHO CREATES DISHES OF CULINARY ARTISTRY

WHO RISKED THEIR LIVES SHOOTING THE RAPIDS TO

PIPADOURO PT EXCLUSIVE HIRE OF THE BOAT

AS WELL AS AN *TALIAN TRATTORIA AND A 1ORTUGUESE

BRING THEIR CARGO TO THE PORT HOUSES THAT MAKES

FOR UP TO PEOPLE COSTS AROUND ` FOR

ADEGA SERVING REGIONAL CUISINE ALL OF WHICH CAN

SAILING ALONG THE %OURO SO THRILLING 0R PERHAPS

A FOUR HOUR CRUISE WITH WINE TASTINGS

BE ENJOYED WITH SOME OF THE FINEST WINES IN THE COUNTRY "S WELL AS ROOMS AND SUITES WHICH FEATURE REGIONAL CRAFTS FURNISHINGS AND ART FIVE LAVISH FAMILY VILLAS HAVE BEEN ADDED WITH PRIVATE POOLS PRETTY GARDENS AND SEA VIEWS 7ILA 7ITA 1ARC VILAVITAPARC COM DOUBLES FROM `

5)& 4 1" )05 & -

4*9 4&/4&4 %0630 7"--&: 5HE NEW 4IX 4ENSES HOTEL j THE GROUP S FIRST IN &UROPE j OFFERS GUESTS NOT ONLY THE CHANCE TO DETOX IN AN ENORMOUS SPA BUT RETOX AFTERWARDS IN AGE OLD VINEYARDS )OUSED IN A TH CENTURY TERRACOTTA QUINTA OR FARM IT BRIMS WITH A SENSE OF PLACE 7IEWS OF THE GREEN %OURO 3IVER AND THE VINES THAT TUMBLE DOWN FROM TERRACES TO MEET IT FLOOD IN FROM OUTSIDE *NTERIORS COURTESY OF THE /EW :ORK BASED *RISH DESIGNER $LODAGH ARE MUTED IN COLOUR BUT STRONG ON TEXTURE AND MINIMALIST LINES " THROW OF ROUGH LOCAL WOOL TOPS THE SMOOTHEST COTTON ON THE BEDS IN THE BEDROOMS SHINY HAND PAINTED 1ORTUGUESE TILES SURROUND A GRANITE FIREPLACE IN THE DINING ROOM CURLS OF DELICATE GOLD LEAF ON THE WALLS NEAR

4*.1-& 1-&"463&4 5HE TERRACE WITH OPEN FIRE AT 7ILA 7ITA 1ARC ABOVE 5HE INDOOR POOL AT THE SPA AT 4IX 4ENSES %OURO 7ALLEY LEFT

ultratravel 97

5 ) & 8 * / & ) 05 & -

5)& 30."/5*$ )05&-

5)& :&"5."/ 10350

7*-" +0:" "-#6'&*3"

"MONG THE RED ROOFED PORT HOUSES THAT

8ITH JUST ROOMS AND EIGHT SUITES 7ILA

LINE THE RIVER BANKS IN THE 7ILA /OVA DE

+OYA STILL FEELS LIKE THE FAMILY HOME IT

(AIA AREA OF 1ORTO IS 5HE :EATMAN WHICH

ONCE WAS SET IN A GARDEN OF PALM TREES

IS DESIGNED IN A SERIES OF TERRACED LAYERS

AND BOUGAINVILLEA ON THE EDGE OF A CLIFF

&ACH OF THE ROOMS AND SUITES LOOKS

WITH CLEAR VIEWS OF THE OCEAN 5HIS IS

ACROSS THE WATER ON TO THE ATTRACTIVE

ONE OF THOSE PLACES WHERE THE RHYTHM

MULTICOLOURED FAÃADES OF THE MEDIEVAL CITY

OF LIFE SLOWS TO A CRAWL WHERE JUST

WHILE IN THE GARDENS BELOW THE BLUE

LISTENING TO THE SOUND OF THE WAVES

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5)& $6 -5 6 3 & 5 3 *1

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ON THE TERRACE WITH A GLASS OF #ILLECART

5HE $ÎA 7ALLEY IN THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTH EAST 1ORTUGAL IS HOME

3ICARDO $OSTA DELIVERS DELIGHTS SUCH AS

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TO THE WORLD S MOST IMPORTANT 1ALEOLITHIC OPEN AIR ART %ISCOVERED

SEA BASS ROASTED WITH HERBS LEMON PURÄE

WARM CRUNCHY LANGOUSTINE AND PINK

ONLY IN THE S THE ART FINELY CUT INTO THE WALLS DEPICTS

AND FENNEL SAUCE )OWEVER IT IS THE WINE

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HUMANS HORSES DEER AND FISH AND REFUTES THE FORMER BELIEF THAT

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THROUGHOUT THE HOTEL 0ENOLOGICAL ROOMS

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AND CORRIDORS ARE LINED WITH WINE BOOKS

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LINENS j ARE TURNED DOWN 3OOMS AND

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SUITES ARE A MIXTURE OF OLD AND NEW

GROVES 'LYING LOW OVER 'OZ $ÎA THE ROCKS START TO APPEAR ADORNED

HOUSE OF 5AYLOR S OWNED BY THE SAME

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GROUP AS WELL AS VINOTHÄRAPIE TREATMENTS

1ORTUGUESE TILES OTHERS FEATURE FREE

TO THE $ÎA .USEUM IS RECOMMENDED

IN THE $AUDALIE SPA %IEHARDS SHOULD BOOK

STANDING EGG SHAPED TUBS "LL HAVE

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THE SUITE IN WHICH THE CENTREPIECE

TERRACES VIEWS OUT TO SEA AND A CHARM

TRIP LASTING ABOUT AN HOUR AND A HALF RETURN FROM $AMBRES TO

IS A FOUR POSTER BED FASHIONED FROM AN

THAT IS UNMATCHED ANYWHERE IN 1ORTUGAL

'OZ $ÎA IN A #ELL -ONG3ANGER FROM ` FOR A MAXIMUM OF

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#0" /07" 5&" )064& 10350 5HIS BUILDING SET AMONG ROCKS ON THE "TLANTIC COAST WAS ONE OF THE FIRST BUILT BY LVARO 4IZA 7IEIRA A 1RITZKER 1RIZE WINNER WHO IS CONSIDERED 1ORTUGAL S GREATEST LIVING ARCHITECT -AST YEAR HE RENOVATED IT FOR ONE OF 1ORTUGAL S TOP CHEFS 3UI 1AULA *T IS A REMARKABLE PLACE WEDGED BETWEEN THE ROCKS IN AN ELEMENT DEFYING POSITION ITS RED CLAY TILED ROOF SUPPORTED BY CONCRETE PILLARS AND GLASS WINDOWS *N THE RICH WOOD INTERIORS 3UI 1AULA S DISHES COMPETE WITH THE VIEW )IS FOOD IS CHARACTERISED BY ITS HONESTY ITS INCLUSION OF LOCAL INGREDIENTS AND ITS CONNECTION WITH THE SEA DISHES INCLUDE CHARCOAL GRILLED SARDINES COD CANNELLONI WITH CHICKPEA PURÄE AND CORIANDER AND SQUID RICE 4ANDWICHED BETWEEN SEA AND SKY AND SERVING THE BEST OF THE FRUITS OF THE OCEAN THIS RESTAURANT SERVES UP A TOTALLY IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE #OA /OVA 5EA )OUSE !RUIPAULA COM SET MENU FROM ` PER PERSON

98 ultratravel

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4 nights from £759

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Luxury and calm await in this haven of relaxation, close to the famed Orchard Road. The fabulous freeform swimming pool, extensive leisure facilities, superb dining and fawless service make this hotel exceptionally popular.

Towering above the Marina Bay, boasting spectacular views and featuring a stunning infnity pool and observation deck, this unique hotel provides everything needed for a luxury stay in Singapore.

The iconic Rafes Hotel is the epitome of colonial splendour allowing guests to escape to a bygone age. Ofering exceptional service in luxurious surroundings, it is centrally located to enjoy all of Singapore’s attractions.

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Why not add an unmissable experience… Enjoy the Night Safari with Dinner £50

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Prices are per person, based on double share & subject to availability for selected May – June departures ards 2015 Aw

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For more information Call 0800 742 742 Visit sandals.co.uk | See your local travel agent *Free for certifed divers. ^ Manadatory caddies at cost

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“rocking chair safaris” – the views from the chairs are so fine that they often jeopardise planned game drives. Although 60 guests can be accommodated, because the property has been cleverly split into two 15-tent camps, it feels small and intimate. Meals can be taken in a variety of locations, from communal tables in the restaurant to lantern-lit spots in the forest; staff will also take a hamper, tartan blanket and Stanley flask to the spot where Meryl Streep and Robert Redford picnicked in Out of Africa. The camp is perfectly placed to catch the northern limits of the Great Migration, but it is equally beguiling – and quieter – off season. .ICHELLE +ANA $HAN Angama Mara (angama.com); from £585 per person, full-board. Audley Travel (01993 838500; audleytravel.com) can tailor-make a six-night trip to Kenya with four nights’ full-board at Angama Mara, from £4,722 per person, including flights. ultratravel 103

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104 ultratravel

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31 5$++(-&_+(%$ +GJW_)?KCQ "FTER ŶLMING IN THE SNOW FOR 8AR AND 1EACE THE ACTRESS DREAMS OF "USTRALIAN ISLANDS *NDIAN BEACH PARTIES AND SUNNY /EW :ORK STREETS 1LUS * NEED LOVELY PEOPLE AND A GOOD BOOK * M

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AND ONE NIGHT WE WENT TO A HUT WITH SOME YOUNG

JUMP OFF INTO THE OCEAN 5HERE WAS GREAT

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PEOPLE AND SAT IN A CIRCLE DRINKING RICE WINE AND

SNORKELLING AND A HOUR BAR

#EST TRAVEL ADVICE

#ABINGTON )OUSE BABINGTONHOUSE CO UK IN

LISTENING TO THE RADIO "LTHOUGH IT WAS AT THE OTHER

:OUR FAVOURITE CITY FOR A WEEKEND AWAY

8EAR DUNGAREES SO YOU HAVE A HANDY POCKET ON

4OMERSET *T S GOT A GREAT SPA AND YOU CAN WALK

END OF THE WORLD IT REMINDED ME OF PARTIES WITH

/EW :ORK * AM COMPLETELY IN LOVE WITH IT * LIKE

YOUR CHEST FOR YOUR TICKET AND PASSPORT * ALSO

STRAIGHT OUT OF THE FRONT DOOR AND INTO THE WOODS

MY FRIENDS SITTING AROUND LISTENING TO MUSIC AND

THE BRIGHTNESS THE SKY AND THE WATER THE FACT

TAKE MELATONIN TO FIGHT JET LAG AND TRAVEL LIGHT SO

'AVOURITE AIRLINE

PASSING ROUND THE BOOZE

IT HAS SO MUCH HISTORY AND SUCH DIVERSITY AND

* M NOT CARRYING A REALLY BIG RUCKSACK AND COAT

$ATHAY 1ACIFIC ON WHICH * RECENTLY FLEW FIRST CLASS

5HE MOST RELAXING DESTINATION YOU VE BEEN TO

CULTURE *T FEELS LIKE ANYTHING S POSSIBLE "ND

5HINGS YOU ALWAYS PACK

FROM )ONG ,ONG TO -" AND HAD CHAMPAGNE AND

2UALIA QUALIA COM ON )AMILTON *SLAND "USTRALIA

IT S A CITY FOR WALKING WHICH * LIKE

*T DEPENDS WHERE * AM GOING #UT * USUALLY PACK

CAVIAR IN THE AIR * USUALLY FLY WITH #RITISH "IRWAYS

*T S NOT OFTEN * GET TO ESCAPE AND SWITCH OFF TOTALLY

'AVOURITE RESTAURANT ABROAD

PRETTY LIGHT ALL YOU REALLY NEED IS A SKIRT A COUPLE

8ORST AIRLINE

AND COME BACK FEELING AMAZING 8E HAD A VILLA

5HE BEST BURGER * HAVE EVER HAD WAS NOT IN

OF SHIRTS AND SOME FLIP FLOPS

* D RATHER NOT GO 8IZZ "IR AGAIN * FLEW WITH THEM

THAT WAS REALLY SECLUDED WITH BEAUTIFUL VIEWS

-ONDON OR /EW :ORK BUT IN 7ILNIUS -ITHUANIA

#EST BEAUTY TIPS FOR TRAVELLING

TO -ITHUANIA TO FILM 8AR AND 1EACE

AND * PLAYED CHESS ALL DAY READ AND SUNBATHED

AT -E #UTCHER *T WAS SO GOOD THAT THE CAST OF 8AR

* ALWAYS TAKE $LARINS #EAUTY 'LASH #ALM TO

*NTERVIEW BY -ISA (RAINGER

106 ultratravel

'"#3*$& %"-- "/&4& $0/5063 #: (&55: *."(&4

WERE THERE AT THE SAME TIME SO IT WAS INSANE

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