BNE Magazine 2017 Special Edition

SPECIAL EDITION 2017

ultimate insider

travellers GUIDE

brisbane and beyond

Best places | New experiences

Discover Queensland

46

For Free spirits

52

For Luxury

56

Shopping the art of giving

52 04

20

Brisbane, neXT world city

Indigenous Escapes

06

24

Brisbane Airport

Whitsunday Coast

Best of Queensland regions

28

08

Gold Coast

Great Barrier Reef

32

12

BEST OF BRISBANE

16

37

Southern Queensland Country

For Business travellers

18

42

Brisbane Airport Corporation Media and Corporate Communications Manager: Leonie Vandeven Designer: Kate Guy, Kage Creative

Contributors: Nelson Hall, Kerry Heaney, Wendy Hughes, Natascha Mirosch, Shelley Thomas, Tonya Turner, Geoff Stead.

Cover photography: Eric Wang. Model: Anna Pembroke, Viviens; Hair and makeup: Christian Alexander, Arc Creative. Location: Streets Beach, South Bank, Brisbane.

26

Gateway to Australia

Must see cities | Sydney | Alice Springs and Uluru | Melbourne | Hobart

64

GATEWAY TO THE SOUTH pACIFIC

Fiji | Solomon Islands Vanuatu l New Caledonia | Samoa

66

MAP: destinations direct from Brisbane Airport

For Adventurers

BNE Special Edition 2017 is published by Brisbane Airport Corporation.

Managing Editor: Heather McWhinnie

62

Queensland Events calendar

Sunshine Coast

Outback Queensland

58

For Families

24 Š2017 Brisbane Airport Corporation. The contents of this publication are not for reproduction, redistribution or reuse by any means whatsoever or in any form whatsoever without express permission of the publisher.. The publication of any material or editorial does not necessarily constitute endorsement of views or opinions expressed. While every effort is made to avoid errors, some information contained in the publication may be superceded.

BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017 | 03.

Brisbane

NeXT World City Brisbane is a thriving multicultural hub with a youthful, vibrant personality and world class facilities that attract record numbers of visitors to the city

W

ith a modern history that began only in the 1820s Brisbane is a young and vibrant city, the capital city of Queensland, with a population of more than 2.3 million people. While it is well known for boasting more sunny days than any other capital city in Australia it has more recently gained a reputation as a thriving multicultural hub, praised for its “globally-inspired cafĂŠs and restaurants, great coffee, an edgy arts scene and pumping nightlifeâ€? by Lonely Planet. It has been highly praised, too, for its welcome to international visitors, given top ranking on city benchmarking reports for its travel advisories and visitor information as well as recognition for one of the fastest airport-to-city links in the world. At the airport and in the city visitors are assisted by guides who speak several languages. For example, the Brisbane Greeters program provides free, multilingual city tours led by locals, and foreign language signage allows international visitors to easily navigate the airport and the city.

Brisbane is Australia’s best kept secret now being discovered by record numbers of international visitors. A cosmopolitan business centre rises on both sides of the Brisbane River just 15km from the leisure playground of Moreton Bay – a waterway dotted with islands as beautiful as the Whitsunday Coast. In the city the South Bank of the river boasts a world class cultural precinct that hosts many exclusive performances and exhibitions in its theatres and galleries, and an appetite for good food has attracted top chefs from around Australia and overseas to open new cafés and restaurants here. The average age of the city’s population is 35, which makes the city vibrant and youthful, with a vast selection of activities to enjoy in the city centre and surrounds, from fossicking at street markets and chilling out at local festivals to exploring the many nature parks, walking trails and wildlife sanctuaries, or shopping for designer labels in the heart of the city. Brisbane is well connected to explore the best Queensland and Australia has to offer.

B

Brisbane is Australia’s closest capital city to Asia

I

f the sign of a booming economy in a city is determined by the number of cranes on its skyline then Brisbane is certainly booming. Since being the host city for the G20 Leaders Summit in 2014 Brisbane has earned the mantle as Australia’s next world city and it is the centre of an unprecedented program of new development, living up to the predictions that Brisbane is a city on the move.

It is estimated that there is more than $13 billion in infrastructure projects currently under construction and local governing body Brisbane City Council has visions for more. It has committed to provide a Brisbane Metro subway system that will provide a fast and frequent transport link across the inner city.

Meanwhile global companies are lining up with plans for major first class development projects, including entertainment giant AEG, through its subsidiary AEG Ogden, which has proposed a $2 billion entertainment precinct to be built over Roma Street train lines in the centre of the city and would make use of public transport facilities making it easily accessible to everyone in Brisbane. Taiwan-based Shayher Group is building Brisbane Quarter in the CBD which will incorporate Australia’s first purposebuilt W Hotel in a development that will cover an entire city block and Star Entertainment group, Far East Consortium and Chow Tai Fook Enterprises have joined forces to develop Queens Wharf on Brisbane River which will include five new international-class hotels, including a Ritz Carlton, and the first stage of the integrated resort complex is expected to be open by 2022.

Such demand and activity is expected to boost the local economy from $146 billion to $217 billion by 2031 as the city becomes a key Australian business hub and increases its influence as a centre for scientific innovation, technology, higher education, creative industries and the MICE market.

risbane has won accolades from travel guides as “Australia’s hippest city” (Lonely Planet) and as one of the top 10 most beautiful cities in the world (Rough Guides), which have helped attract a steady growth of visitors in recent years and led to record spending of more than $5 billion by international tourists in the city last year. Such growth shows no signs of slowing as forecasts show international passengers travelling through Brisbane set to increase at least 5 per cent each year for the next 10 years.

Locals, too, are keen travellers and Brisbane Airport figures show that resident departures have also increased steadily in the last five years, recording an average annual growth of 6 per cent, driven by new direct services, upgraded aircraft and new airlines entering the market. More than 2.8 million residents travelled through Brisbane International Terminal last year.

Brisbane is located almost midway between the southern tip of Australia’s mainland and Tropical North Queensland on Australia’s east coast, an ideal gateway for travellers to Australia to destinations in Queensland from the Gold Coast (60 minutes drive time) to the Great Barrier Reef (two hours flight time), and to key Australian tourist destinations including Sydney (90 minutes flight time), Uluru in Central Australia (four hours 30 minutes flight time) and to idyllic South Pacific islands including New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands and Fiji (from less than three hours flight time).

BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017 | 05.

Brisbane Airport ENTERS new age

A

s the winner of several prestigious global awards recently Brisbane Airport can not only take claim to being the best airport in the Australia/Pacific region it has also taken its place firmly among the world’s best. The airport was named Australasia’s Leading Airport in the World Travel Awards following a year-long voting process carried out among industry executives and global travellers, while leading international air travel rating organisation Skytrax has named Brisbane Airport winner for Best Airport and Best Airport Staff Australia/Pacific in the 2017 World Airport Awards. The airport is also ranked fourth in Skytrax’s Best Airports in the World (servicing 20-30 million passengers) and jumped up in the rankings to #17 in the list of the World’s Top 100 Airports, ahead of both Sydney and Melbourne which failed to make the top 20.

Brisbane Airport is in the middle of a $3.8 billion investment program to meet the demands of the growing number of visitors to the city The awards are a timely recognition for the airport which is in the middle of a $3.8 billion infrastructure development program being carried out to meet increasing passenger numbers that are expected to more than double by 2034. A $45 million redevelopment of the International Terminal has already been completed and won its own awards for its innovative design. The redevelopment has been the most ambitious carried out since the terminal opened and Brisbane Airport Corporation made a bold decision to break with traditional design concepts and reimagine the terminal to reflect the blending of indoor/ outdoor space that is inherent to Queensland living while still providing efficient services and stress-free processes for passengers.

The result is a departures area that includes a village green where people can ‘picnic’ or relax in casual seating made from locally-sourced timbers, surrounded by tropical plantings. An avenue of bars and restaurants provides high street quality dining options serving local produce and retail space has been significantly increased to accommodate more than 20 new stores and a massive walk-through duty free ‘minimall’ of global brands in fragrances, watches, accessories and liquor.

Airlines have followed with their own passenger lounge upgrades in the terminal and Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines and Qantas have all opened new premium spaces offering first class food, comfort and high-tech connectivity for customers. Hong-Kong based Plaza Premium Network also opened its first independent passenger lounge in Australia at Brisbane Airport for pay-as-you-go passengers. It also opened Australia’s first airport wellness spa in conjunction with locallyproduced Jasmin Organics skin care brand.

State-of-the-art technology has also been introduced to smooth the travel experience, including digital departure cards, automated passport control and the eco-friendly charge bikes that can be used to recharge electronic devices. Brisbane Airport also provides the fastest uncapped WiFi in Australia for quick and easy downloads.

The Domestic Terminal, too, has had a makeover which has brought some of Australia’s most successful labels into the streamlined

Hello Queensland

Plaza Premium Lounge Brisbane International Terminal Cairns

Construction of a New Parallel Runway at Brisbane Airport will be completed by 2020 to meet increasing demand for traffic capacity retail strip, while a new food hall has been designed like a street-food marketplace with all sorts of casual food, bars have been set up with views of the runway and a menu of Australian specialty food, craft beers and wines. The focus is on a Paddock-to-Plate philosophy embraced by cafés, bars and restaurants at both terminals to showcase the best local produce from Queensland and Australia.

A new Domestic Regional Satellite Terminal and upgraded Entry Control Point at International Terminal are among new work to begin in 2017 while outside the terminals more work continues on apron expansions and upgrading the main runway and connecting taxiways to improve efficiencies.

However, the most significant element of Brisbane Airport’s development program is taking place far from passenger view and on track to be completed by 2020. Construction of a New Parallel Runway is well underway to allow for more traffic capacity as passenger numbers grow – in the last year alone Brisbane Airport has seen its passengers increase by more than half a million people to almost 23 million across both terminals as new airlines launch services and others add services or upgrade aircraft to meet passenger demand.

China Eastern and Air Canada are the latest airlines to arrive in Brisbane, providing direct services to their hubs in Shanghai and Vancouver; Qantas has added direct flights between Brisbane and Tokyo to its services and increased services to Christchurch in New Zealand and Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea; China Airlines and EVA Air have both increased services between Brisbane and Taipei and Singapore Airlines has increased its services between Brisbane and its home city.

Brisbane Airport is a gateway airport that currently accommodates 30 airlines providing direct services to 29 international destinations around the globe and 50 domestic destinations across all states and territories of Australia.

When completed the new runway at the airport will include a 3.3km runway, more than 12km of taxiways, navigational aids, airfield infrastructure and hundreds of hectares of airfield landscaping.

Townsville Mt Isa

Whitsunday Coast (Proserpine)

Hamilton Island

Longreach

Bundaberg Birdsville

Sunshine Coast

BRISBANE BRISBANE Toowoomba Gold Coast

Brisbane Airport is the gateway to 28 26 destinations in Queensland and more than 17.2 million passengers travel through the Domestic Terminal in a year on their way to regions that include the golden surf beaches of the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast, the cool wine-growing region of Southern Country Queensland, the tropical Daintree Rainforest and Great Barrier Reef near Cairns and the red desert sands of Queensland’s outback. These spectacular regions all have a range of experiences and adventures to discover and some of the best are revealed on the following pages ...

BNE BNE SPECIAL SPECIAL EDITION EDITION 2017 2017 || 07.

07.

Gold Coast BRISBANE Gold Coast

La Costa Motel

Retro rocks on

Before the high-rises, the Gold Coast was the beach shack capital of Australia and the retro vibe is being revived by a passionate community

T

he Gold Coast has been a beach playground for Queenslanders and their southern state neighbours since the 1950s when a burgeoning tourism trade gave the coastline strip, 80km south of Brisbane, its name. By the 1960s weatherboard beach shacks were lining the shoreline and La Costa Motel at Bilinga, on the southern end of the Gold Coast, was there in its prime. Current owners Diane and John Cartmill have been able to trace the motel’s origins with the help of piles of Australian Women’s Weekly magazines they found behind the walls during a major renovation five years ago. “The magazines were used for insulation in those days and we found copies dating back to 1957,” says Diane.

The Cartmills are born and bred Gold Coast locals who bought the motel after they saw the ‘for sale’ sign by chance. Initially they bought the property as an investment but decided to make it their business five years ago and so the massive renovation began. John and Diane did most of the work themselves (with the occasional help of expert tradies) restoring the beachside veteran to her former glory over a period of almost two years.

Hardwood floors were uncovered beneath cracked linoleum, the exterior colour of the motel and the original neon light box for the sign have been retained, even the lettering on the sign is the same.

Other features have been added such as white picket fences outside street-front units and vintagestyle bicycles are available for the free use of guests which add to the retro appeal. However, there are some things a modern traveller can’t live without, it seems, and rooms have been remodelled with facilities such as ensuites, air-conditioning (and ceiling fans), flatscreen televisions, espresso coffee pod machines, microwaves, mini bar fridges and complimentary WiFi. Nevertheless, it’s Diane and John’s friendly welcome that keeps guests coming back. They are only too happy to share their local knowledge about cafés and attractions or place ‘emergency rations’ (a microwave dinner and perhaps a wine or beer) in the room for late arrivals.

As well as the bicycles to ride along the boardwalk, there are beach fishing rods to borrow and beach towels in the rooms. Some of the guests who stayed at La Costa back in the day still visit and have shared photos and stories of the motel’s colourful past, while their children and grandchildren visit now too, creating a whole new chapter in La Costa’s history. See www.lacostamotel.com.au

08. | BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017

Canteen Coffee

Retro chic

The retro motel is just one of the success stories leading to a renaissance of the southern end of the Gold Coast from Mermaid Beach to Coolangatta. Great cafés are also a main attraction and the retro leather seats that once sat in a long-gone theatre are now keeping a busy clientele comfy at Canteen Coffee, a hideaway of industrial retro chic in a lane between James Street and Park Avenue in Burleigh Heads. The décor may look retro rustic but their home blend roast is an award winner and their all-day breakfast-to-lunch menu hints of Middle Eastern flavours. See www.canteencoffee.com.au

VINTAGE GEMS QT Hotel (7 Staghorn Avenue, Surfers Paradise) may be housed in a modern era building but the vibe inside brings back what great family beach holidays were made of.

Thongs and sunscreen are provided in a net bag in the room, lolly jars are a temptation in the coffee shop, 1950s-style Acapulco chairs line up in the lobby bar and Bazaar brings back buffet dining in a good way.

Kat Creasey is behind the Gold Coast Design Collective markets

Vintage on show

Meanwhile the vintage markets created by Kat Creasey and her partner Matt Whalley have already outgrown the space they started in at Burleigh Heads and moved to the oval at Coolangatta State School, just behind the famous Kirra surf beach. Now the Gold Coast Design Collective markets host up to 80 stalls as well as street food trucks – many in retro caravans and refitted Kombi vans – and occasionally incorporate classic car shows at their events on the fourth Sunday of each month.

All the stalls showcase hand-made vintage goods, nothing imported and nothing that has appeared at other markets, and there’s always live entertainment. Kat and Matt have invested in a 1950s caravan now repurposed as a stage for bands which they pull up to every market (in their 1970s Ford F Truck) and unload retro umbrellas and chairs for their weekend audience. The Design Collective markets have become so popular that Kat and Matt are often asked to host pop-up events up and down the coast as the retro-themed festivals and fairs are proving to be a magnet for visitors from all over. See www.facebook.com/ goldcoastdesigncollective/ The biggest nostalgia festival in Australia takes place in Coolangatta and Tweed Heads each year (7-11 June in 2017) where more than 100,000 people flock to Cooly Rocks On. The festival celebrates all things ’50s and ’60s and some of the hundreds of restored classic cars on display date back as far as the 1920s. See www.coolyrockson.com

Hire a Kombi

Image: Tourism and Events Queensland

Paul Ryan, too, has turned his passion for restoring Kombi vans into a business and instead of parting with his beloved vehicles he now rents them out at Hireadub for others to enjoy a retro experience on the road. The 1970s-era Kombi’s are kitted out as a campervan with the basics for a camping holiday, including esky, tent and shade tent, folding table and chairs, available for pick-up from Beenleigh, halfway between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, ready for an ultimate retro road trip. See www.hireadub.com

The Gold Coast is approximately 80-100km from Brisbane CBD, about a one hour drive along the M1 motorway. Find out more about the Gold Coast at www.visitgoldcoast.com.au

Alfred’s Apartment (2389 Gold Coast Highway, Mermaid Beach) does not offer accommodation but it will entice visitors to stay a while. Three brothers teamed up to create this unique space which combines a street food diner, barber shop and quality menswear fashion in a shop that pays homage to the 1960s with original photography on raw brick walls, hand painted signage and an old-time record player.

Arkive Vintage (Shop 43, Centre Arcade, 3131 Surfers Paradise Boulevard, Surfers Paradise) stocks a collection of original vintage clothing for men and women from the 1930s to the 1990s, hand-picked from sources in the UK, Europe and USA. Accessories and homewares are also chosen for their retro appeal.

The Village Markets at Burleigh Heads State School oval (1750 Gold Coast Highway) is not all about vintage but there is a bohemian vibe to the showcase of local designers and artisans, and live music that entertains on the first and third Sunday mornings of each month.

Vintage Espresso (1/43 Alfred Street, Mermaid Beach) has brought a homely feel to its bright beachside location with furniture that looks like it came from granny’s flat, but the menu is thoroughly modern with sautéd kale served with bacon and egg, salted caramelised banana and ice cream on French Toast and a homemade Bircher muesli among the favourites.

Studio Fascino at Burleigh Heads is

where photographer Megan Rizzo masterminds portraits that are a work of art with props and styling authentically co-ordinated to recreate the vintage glamour of a bygone era. Sets are tailored to each individual.

- Shelley Thomas

Gold Coast BRISBANE

Let the Games begin Gold Coast

The Gold Coast is ready to play, as state-of-the-art venues and facilities prepare to welcome the 2018 Commonwealth Games

W

ith an average 287 days of sunshine every year, 50km of surf beaches, 260km of boating waterways and 20,000 hectares of parklands, it’s no surprise the Gold Coast – just an hour by car or train from Brisbane – is one of Australia’s most popular holiday destinations, attracting 12 million visitors per year.

It’s a city made for an outdoor healthy lifestyle and every day there are walkers on the beach, kayakers on the river and cyclists on the esplanade. The Gold Coast also hosts world class sports events every year, from marathons and motor racing to PGA golf tournaments, surf classics and mountain biking championships, and it’s well advanced in preparations to host the Commonwealth Games in 2018.

Queensland is investing about $2 billion to host the Games which will see 19 sports played out between 70 Commonwealth nations and territories over 11 days from 4 to 15 April 2018. Some interesting venues have been called in to service as well as the shiny new ones that have been built to world standards. For example, Sound Stage Nine at Village Roadshow’s studios at Oxenford (Movie World), which is usually the site of production for major motion pictures, will be the stage for table tennis, squash and boxing competition and Coolangatta beach, where the world’s best surfers are often catching a wave, will host the first ever Commonwealth Games beach volleyball tournament.

Some of the new venues are already being put to good use by locals and visitors alike, including the redeveloped Gold Coast Aquatic Centre on the Broadwater, the new KDV Sport centre at Carrara which is a state-of-the-art tennis and golf academy with driving range, fitness centre and family-friendly facilities for all levels of players, and the Coomera Indoor Sports Centre where gymnastics competition and netball finals will be held during the Games.

As the clock counts down towards the GC2018 opening ceremony on 01. Surfers Paradise Beach

Images 01-03: Tourism and Events Queensland

02.

02. Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games mascot Borobi 03. Beach volleyball 04. Athletes Village

03.

02.

Try It

Adrenaline Weekend 04.

Swap the beach towel and pool-side cocktails for more adventurous pursuits on a visit to the Gold Coast

Words: Geoff Stead and Heather McWhinnie.

Day One Wednesday 4 April, millions of dollars are also being poured into developments that will benefit visitors to the Gold Coast long after the Games have ended.

The $264 million athletes village (pictured above) that is being created at Parklands will become a new residential and commercial community with apartments and townhouses available to rent and buy after the Games. The development is expected to become a health and knowledge hub between Gold Coast Hospital and Griffith University, within easy access to both Brisbane and Surfers Paradise via the light rail link which will extend from Helensvale to Broadbeach by 2018.

At Broadbeach, Star Entertainment’s $345 million expansion of its Jupiters Hotel and Casino site will see a new 200-metre high, 700-room hotel and apartment tower open in time for the Games, but that is just the beginning of its $850 million plan which will see more towers built post-Games.

Pacific Fair shopping centre, across the road from Jupiters, completed its $670 million redevelopment last year and has welcomed luxury retailers including Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Michael Kors, Salvatore Ferragamo, Furla, Bulgari, Prada, Christian Louboutin and more to the complex.

Now shoppers can rest at The Resort, a green space with water features and daybeds, and dine out at restaurants and bars late into the evening.

Meanwhile established hotels have upgraded their dining options or added new ones. For example, Watermark Hotel has opened Clifford’s Bar and Grill (named after 19th century champion rower Thomas Clifford), Crowne Plaza has upgraded SiFu (a six-star Asian experience) and opened Balthazar for degustation dining at a communal table enclosed in glass and surrounded by 600 bottles of fine wines.

Registration for ticket requests to attend Commonwealth Games events will open from April 2017 for four weeks. See www.gc2018.com/ tickets For more information see www.gc2018.com and www.visitgoldcoast.com

Start the day on a high with the sensation of freefalling without hurling out of a plane. Winds of up to 280km are generated inside the glass chamber at IFly Gold Coast, in central Surfers Paradise, and soaring into the air is as simple as suiting up, getting a professional ‘flyers briefing’ then stepping into the air current to fly, guided by a professional instructor. The flight is equivalent to a freefall skydive from more than 4000 metres (14,000 feet) and first timers get two flights in an experience that lasts 90 minutes.

Drop into Paradox coffee roasters in the 4217 (10 Beach Road, Surfers Paradise) for a hearty lunch and a great (sustainably sourced) coffee, but the highs are not over yet. Stroll down to Q1, the Gold Coast’s tallest building, and suit up once more for a white-knuckle climb to the open-air deck – yes, the ear-popping lift ride up is nothing, the Skypoint Climb is outside the observation level at 270 metres above ground. The 360-degree views from the beach to the hinterland are jawdropping. It takes about 90 minutes to complete.

Back on street level there’s still time for one last adventure before dinner. Catch the light rail from Surfers Paradise station to Southport station and just across the road is Holoverse (59 Nerang Street), the world’s first hologram game centre. Kids big and small can battle dragons with swords or dodge stampeding elephants on safari in one of the 40 different VR rooms to explore.

Backtrack a couple of stops on the light rail to accommodation at Rhapsody Resort, one of the newest high rise apartment buildings to open in Surfers Paradise, minutes from Main Beach and Surfers Central. After a power nap, walk up to QT Bazaar for the best buffet dinner ever.

Day Two Rise and shine for a surfing lesson at the Spit (at the end of Seaworld Drive) with Get Wet Surfing School which provides a courtesy pick-up from Surfers Paradise accommodation. Small group classes are designed to get you standing on the board after the first wave or two and that will work up an appetite for a crab sandwich, the lunchtime specialty at the Seaway Café.

Now you’re ready to unleash your inner James Bond with Jetpack Adventures at Broadwater, Main Beach (Waterways Drive). The jetpack powers you several metres into the air from the water but be prepared for a few face plants until you get the hang of it. Before you know it the instructor will be guiding you through some cool moves above the surface.

After a couple of ‘flights’ come back to earth and head back to Rhapsody for the wine down, drinks on the balcony overlooking the beach as the sun goes down.

Find out more at www.visitgoldcoast.com and www.queensland.com BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017 | 11.

Sunshine Coast Sunshine Coast

BRISBANE

There’s Something About

Mary Valley

It’s the Sunshine Coast’s little secret but the magic of the Mary Valley is slowly being revealed, writes Shelley Thomas

I

t’s a bit of a conundrum really, says Ian Harling in a hushed whisper, pausing to inhale the dawn mist as it rises in tendrils, like magician’s smoke, off Yabba Creek. It’s so mesmerizingly beautiful that even the sun holds its breath.

“This is the best place in the world; so beautiful and quiet that you almost don’t want to shout about it too loudly …”

Once a travelling nomad who now runs adventure tours in the picturesque Mary Valley township of Imbil, Harling is the first to appreciate the irony. He wants to share the magic of this hidden gem inland from the Sunshine Coast – his family’s livelihood depends on it – but only if it’s in a sustainable, organic way.

Like so many others, the one-time plumber stumbled upon the Mary Valley, fell in love with the place and stayed – for 13 years and counting; the longest he’s lived anywhere apart from Surrey, England, where he grew up.

12. | BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017

It’s a similar story for Tanya and Tony Fisher, who moved to Imbil from Melbourne, building their dream home and B&B, Melawondi Spring Retreat, set on 12 hectares of secluded bushland.

It’s a B&B that leans more towards luxury retreat than bush cabin, with a ‘Luxury Studio’ complete with freestanding double spa and breakfast with all the trimmings: home-baked bread, muffins, wood-smoked bacon and local free range eggs, yoghurt and jams.

Like Harling, the Fishers’ philosophy is simple: do what you love and you’ll never ‘work’ another day in your life; it’s a sentiment echoed at every turn in Imbil, in the excited chatter of locals at the general store, strangers exchanging greetings on the street, or drivers honking their car horns in celebration, not road rage.

Back on Yabba Creek, enveloped in a stillness broken only by morning birdsong, Harling’s kayak tour continues largely in silence – itself a welcome break from the daily rattle and hum. On one side of the bank sits a glorious old Queenslander – a beautifully restored 1920s farmhouse moved from Brisbane to its now location by owners Jim and Sue Thrower who offer it to holiday seekers as Imbil Bridge Farm. All rooms come with a knockout view. As Jim says: “There aren’t too many other places you can sit on the veranda and sip

chardonnay and see platypuses playing.”

Holidaymakers are still slumbering in the grand old home as we pass and a smile dances across Harling’s face. He points to the water and

There aren’t too many other places you can sit on the veranda and sip chardonnay and watch platypuses playing it becomes apparently clear why he’s been talking in a hushed whisper. There, just as Jim might have predicted and literally within arm’s reach,

02.

Images: Tourism and Events Queensland

01.

the most peculiar of all Aussie icons cuts a wake in front of my kayak, resplendent with duck-bill and beaver tail.

Within five minutes of launching from Imbil Bridge, in the middle of town – the first stop for James Nash who discovered gold in the Gympie region in 1867 and started the gold rush that saved Queensland from bankruptcy – we’ve paddled with four platypuses, including one that plops up almost touching my kayak. Now, that’s ‘gold’!

It never ceases to impress guests on his Ride on Mary Kayak and Bike Bush Adventures who come from as far afield as America, Singapore, the UK, Europe, New Zealand and South Africa and are always blown away when they see platypuses.

“Rock wallabies also come down to the creek occasionally for a drink and, on one tour, we saw an echidna on the bank as well as platypuses in the water! Sometimes you even see dingoes. I still get so excited every time I go out on the water.”

While platypuses can be spotted all year round, Harling says winter (July to September) is the best time to spot them. Why? It’s their season to find a mate. “They like to cuddle up when it gets cold,” he says.

For those wanting to cuddle up or simply get off the grid, Imbil (the jewel of the Mary Valley

and its main ‘business hub’) promises a couples’ getaway or family holiday that won’t leave you wanting. Neighbouring towns are equally welcoming, but Imbil has a vibe that gets under your skin, packed with gourmet cafés, artist studios, a classic country pub and buzzing Sunday markets – all a stone’s throw from a network of state forests and national parks boasting waterfalls, swimming holes, towering hoop pines, sub-tropical rainforest, deep gorges and camp grounds.

Just two minutes from Imbil’s town centre, Miranda Downs, owned by local William Greer (also the town’s policeman), features Susquehana Lodge, a fully self-contained cabin designed as a secluded getaway for couples, complete with barbecue facilities and a wide deck to take in the sunset.

There’s no check-in. Simply book. Roll up. Unwind. The hardest part is saying 03. goodbye. The property is also perfectly situated close to The Packing Shed, a café with the best coffee in town and delicious home-made chutneys. But for the ultimate escape in the heart of Imbil, look no further than Elsie of Imbil, a modest worker’s cottage turned holiday home that oozes warmth from its overhanging eaves to wide back deck. The pencilled height marks of growing grandchildren are still on the walls, a feature that adds to the ambience of this ‘home away from home’.

The marks belong to Brisbane-based sisters Karen Phillips and Donna Dunn, now fully grown.

The cottage, built in the early 1900s, was bought by their grandparents, Ted and Elsie Zillmann, in 1945 and remained in the family until the 1990s.

The sisters jumped when the property came back on the market in 2012 and lovingly restored it as a

01. Mist over Yabba Creek 02. Melawondi Spring Retreat 03. Yabba Creek 04. That Place in Pomona

04.

family vacation home, also available for holiday rental. In the main bedroom, ‘Pampa’ Ted’s favourite chair takes pride of place, together with a restored antique sewing machine stand that doubles as a bedside table. You can almost smell Grandma Elsie’s signature Russian caramel fudge cooling in the kitchen and the strains of Pampa Ted playing his accordion.

“What makes us the happiest is that everyone who stays at Elsie of Imbil tells us they feel like they’re staying in a warm and loving home,” says Phillips. “Our Grandma would love that.”

Imbil is about 160km north of Brisbane, about two hours drive.

For more information about the Sunshine Coast see www.queensland.com/, www.visitsunshinecoast.com and www.visitgympieregion.com.au

Hot Stops The Packing Shed Café, 3360 Mary Valley Road, Imbil One2One on Yabba café, 121 Yabba Road, Imbil Melawondi Spring Retreat’s Tanya Fisher is known in the Mary Valley as a ‘foodie’s foodie’, and she will launch cooking classes in 2017.

Guests at the retreat can also order picnic or barbecue hampers, gourmet dinners, fireside dining, even a chocolate fondue for two.

04.

The Blue and White Teapot café, 10 Busby Street, Amamoor That Place in Pomona, 18 Reserve Street, Pomona, is an eclectic venture that brings together a licensed restaurant, microbrewery, permaculture demonstration garden and boutique tattoo studio.

BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017 | 49.

Sunshine Coast Sunshine Coast

BRISBANE

A taste of paradise Kerry Heaney follows a food trail on the Sunshine Coast and discovers a wild range of taste sensations

C

hef Peter Kuruvita holds the fish with tender reverence, nursing it like a new born babe, and describes a meal that will be hard to forget. I’m standing opposite the kitchen servery in Noosa Beach House while Kuruvita creates magic with a coral trout purchased from the Noosa Farmers Market just an hour before. The striking, coral-coloured skin peppered with tiny bright blue dots smells like mineral water, the gills are red and the flesh firm, evidence the wild-caught fish is a fresh catch.

We are at Kuruvita’s restaurant in the main street of popular beach getaway Noosa, about 140km north of Brisbane, and the popular chef is creating steamed coral trout with ginger and shallot in a Cantoneseinspired dish (a recipe featured on his SBS TV show Coastal Kitchen) and everything he uses is sourced from the Sunshine Coast region.

The morning has been a whirlwind tour of some of the best food producers in the area through the farmers market, where locals love to mingle every Sunday under the gum trees, squeeze a few avocados and indulge in a buttery almond croissant from aptly named French Sin. The warm climate, rich soil and teeming ocean make the Sunshine Coast a bountiful food bowl of produce including avocados, ginger, pineapples, strawberries, feijoas, macadamia nuts, tomatoes, passionfruit, lychees, seafood, lemon myrtle, beef, dairy products and even snails.

Kuruvita moved to the Sunshine Coast from southern city Melbourne three years ago and now calls Noosa home. He shops at the markets regularly for his family meals picking the best Noosa Red vine-ripened tomatoes, organic beef and buffalo mozzarella, all while chatting with the stallholders who have become his friends.

“The Sunshine Coast is synonymous with good food. It was a great dairy region and now we have some of the finest cheesemakers. Buderim Ginger was an early pioneer and now there is an incredible range of Asian-inspired cooking schools. The coast, of course, is a fishing haven and Mooloolaba and Tin Can Bay prawns and Noosa mud crabs are favourite menu items for chefs around the world,” says an enthusiastic Kuruvita.

Mooloolaba is, in fact, the biggest swordfish port in Australia and is one of the busiest ports on the eastern seaboard. The wharf is a hive of daily activity with trawlers bringing in boatloads of fish, Mooloolaba prawns, 14. | BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017

lobsters and spanner crabs so one of the best places to grab a catch of the day is on Parkyn Parade in Mooloolaba, where a range of fish markets and takeaway shops serve up fresh local seafood.

There’s also a huge variety of ethical and organic produce grown within minutes of the towns, ranging from nomadic chickens, macadamias and Indigenous bush tucker to camel milk. Yes, there are some more surprising local specialties, including camels bred in the hinterland of the Glasshouse Mountains to produce milk which is known as ‘white gold’. It tastes delicate and light with a mild flavour and has body without a fatty after taste. Live it Tours takes visitors to Q Camel farm and on my tour we tried canapés made from fresh camel milk.

“Vibrant markets such as Eumundi and the Noosa Farmers Markets have allowed specialist producers to blossom, and with that has come a wide range of ‘hatted’ restaurants, wineries, breweries, coffee roasters and food attractions,” says Kuruvita.

Backyard beekeeping is a hobby growing across South East Queensland, drawing more visitors to workshops hosted by apiarist Paula West, also known as Queen Bee, at her Peachester honey bee sanctuary. West has also set up an Adopt a Beehive program to support more beehive sanctuaries and encourage more people to set up beehives of their own. Just a mouthful of Kuruvita’s Banana and Honey soufflé is enough to encourage more supporters to the cause (search food and recipes to find the recipe at www.sbs.com.au).

West is not the only one happy to share her knowledge with others.

The Sunshine Coast is dense with top class cooking schools helping amateur chefs sharpen their skills. Award-winning Wasabi Restaurant on Noosa Sound serves Japanese-themed dishes with food sourced from the restaurant’s farm and chef Zeb Gilbert shares his passion for cooking with local produce at The Cooking School. The treat is devouring the creations at the end of the class overlooking the aqua-tinged water of the

Try It

DRIVE THE BEACH HIGHWAY Queensland’s Great Beach Drive stretches 380 kilometres from Noosa on the Sunshine Coast to Hervey Bay on the Fraser Coast and extends across to the World Heritage-listed Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world, recognised for its beach highways, world-class fishing and barefoot getaways.

Jump in a 4WD to explore the surf and sand between two UNESCO Biosphere Reserves

01.

02.

03.

04.

01. Chef Peter Kuruvita 02. Peter’s Coral Trout 03. Q Camel farm 04. Farmers Market 05. Tamarind Cooking School 06. Mooloolaba prawns

05.

06.

Day One Take the vehicle ferry from Noosa North Shore to Teewah Beach then drive 50 or so sandy kilometres on a leisurely drive to Rainbow Beach.

Stop at the Double Island Point headland to spot dolphins, whales (in season from July to November) or turtles.

Rainbow Beach is named for its iron oxide-coloured sand dunes and the tiny village community has a laid-back vibe on the edge of an unspoiled coastline. See the auburn sunset differently from a kayak tour and drift alongside pods of playful dolphins often seen in the crystal water (see www.epicoceanadventures.com.au).

Have a low-key dinner at Arcobalena – the gluten-free pizza is a hot pick – and have an early lights out at Plantation Resort (1 Rainbow Beach Road) or Rainbow Beach Ocean Palms, both offering one, two or three bedroom apartments with front row views of the water.

Day Two Wake up with the sun and have an early morning surf, swim or stroll, take a boogie board to the ‘moonscape’ mass of the Carlo Sand Blow and toboggan down the dunes or just walk to the top and marvel at the view of the coloured sands. Back in the car head to Inskip Point and the barge across to Fraser Island.

It was once home to a logging community of more than 100 people in the 1920s, but it’s got almost as many freshwater lakes as Tasmania, several perched above the dunes. Lake Boomanjin is the largest perched lake in the world (200 hectares), the highest is Lake Bowarrady (120 metres above sea level) and Lake McKenzie, fringed by white silica sand, has water so clear it looks like glass.

For a real Aussie beach shack-style stay check into Fraser Island Beach Houses on top of the dunes at Eurong, within coo’ee of the main lakes and a playground on site for the kids.

Images: Tourism and Events Queensland and Visit Sunshine Coast

Day Three Noosa River. Other cooking schools led by masters of their craft include Spirit House at Yandina, Tamarind at Maleny, Red Hot Chilli Pepper at Caloundra and Amytis Gardens at Kiels Mountain.

Craft brewing is also taking a creative turn on the Sunshine Coast as brewers such as Maleny’s Brouhaha Brewery go beyond traditional flavours and experiment with local ingredients to come up with their own unique brews – the tart spritz of Raspberry Saison, the fruity Passionfruit IPA and the sweet and creamy Milk Stout are delicious examples.

The Sunshine Coast is less than two hours driving time north of Brisbane. Find inspiration to create a selfguided food trail at www.visitsunshinecoast.com/

At the northern end of 75 Mile Beach is Indian Head, a natural lookout point and access to a trail to the most easterly point on the island. Cool off in the foaming water of the Champagne Pools at Waddy Point and dive into crystal rock pools right by the sea. Visit the landmark wreck of S. S. Maheno, beached in 1935 after being swept up in a cyclone off Osaka. The neighbouring Eli Creek pours four million litres of freshwater into the ocean every hour, a cool spot where beachgoers bob up and down on blow-up tubes.

Drive your own 4WD or hire one from Noosa2Fraser 4WD Hire (see www.noosa2fraser.com.au). For more information and itinerary guide see www.queensland.com/en-US/journey/great-beach-drive BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017 | 15.

Southern Queensland Country BRISBANE Toowoomba

02.

01.

Why the west is cool

03.

04.

Toowoomba is the gateway to Queensland’s fertile southern country farmland, but a community with a creative spirit is also flourishing

T

oowoomba has long been known as Queensland’s Garden City, home to the annual Carnival of Flowers that announces spring every year with a festival of flora, food and entertainment that lasts for 10 days and draws visitors from across the state.

It’s also one of the state’s coolest cities – and not just because temperatures can plummet to below 10°C in winter (record lows have seen that drop below -4°C). The city is now the largest outdoor ‘art’ gallery in Queensland, displaying 57 murals which have rejuvenated laneways and streetscapes into thriving social hubs.

Local artists Ian McCallum and Grace Dewar, co-directors of creative space Kontraband Studios, have been instrumental in the change, organising Queensland’s first street art festival ‘First Coat’ three years ago in conjunction with Toowoomba Regional Council. So far the festival has attracted some of Australia’s leading graffiti artists such as Sofles, Fintan Magee, Matt Adnate and Vans the Omega as well as others from the US, the Netherlands, UK, New Zealand and Italy.

While the city has not lost any of its country charm, it has found a new lease on life as businesses utilise previously overlooked

16. | BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017

spaces in the heart of the city, providing a colourful backdrop to a flourishing café and bar culture.

First Coat’s map of murals (see online at www.firstcoat.com.au) provides an ideal guide for a walking tour of Toowoomba’s inner city, turning up hidden gems such as Ground Up Espresso on the colourful Searles Walk (just off Ruthven Street). What started as a storeroom espresso bar is now a favourite local haunt for all-day breakfast and delicious pastries washed down with a Toby’s Estate brew.

Lindra and Josh Budeman also started small, with a food stall at a local festival which was so successful they decided to take the leap to open a permanent diner last year in Club Lane (off Margaret Street). The pair, who moved to Toowoomba from Melbourne, transformed a nondescript warehouse into Skewers where they serve up their signature Indonesian street food accompanied by local wines, craft beers and cider.

The taste for Asian food is booming in Toowoomba and Club Lane in particular has become quite an eat street with Skewers flanked by Royal Asian and Thai Majestic, adding to popular Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese restaurants in the city. But the newest neighbour in Club Lane has become

an instant hit – The 3rd Monkey is a sweet treat open every day until late, and has been recently voted Toowoomba’s best dessert bar.

Also open late is Muller Bros (25 Bell Street), a café, restaurant and rooftop bar in a rejuvenated Federation building that was once home to a gun shop and hardware store, motorcycle workshop, second-hand retail and a book store. It’s food specialty is another surprise – Brazilian barbecue – perhaps a subtle reference to the explorer who ‘discovered’ Toowoomba, English botanist Allan Cunningham who arrived in the area after an expedition to Brazil and named the rich farming land bordered by the Great Dividing Range ‘Darling Downs’.

Cafés like Firefly (100 Russell Street), established in a converted workshop with exposed brick walls, a mural (naturally), eclectic furniture and trailing plants (and there’s a herb garden out the back), are champions of the local farming community, choosing locally sourced, ethical and sustainable produce for seasonal menus made from scratch.

Fiona May has been a driving force behind Rex Airlines flies direct between Brisbane and Toowoomba. Flight time 40 minutes.

Drive time from Brisbane is one hour 45 minutes. See www.rex.com.au

01. Street art by Vans the Omega 02. Muller Bros rooftop bar 03. Sweet treats at 3rd Monkey 04. Cool brew at Groundup Espresso 05. Cosy up in a country cottage 06. Visit Paddock to Potager for a farm experience

Try It

On the wine trail Day One

05 06.

From Brisbane, head west towards Warwick. On the way, take a short detour through Ipswich, Queensland’s oldest provincial city. Allow time for a heritage walking tour to see graceful colonial homes, historic churches and sandstone buildings and browse antique shops and craft cottages along the heritage trails in the surrounding area.

Continue on from Ipswich to Aratula on the Cunningham Highway and stop for the best home-made scones fresh from the oven at the roadside café before continuing over the range to Warwick. Stop at the top of the range at Cunningham’s Gap for a short rainforest walk.

Arrive at Guy House in Warwick, a charming guest house, in time for a twilight happy hour on the veranda overlooking Leslie Park.

Day Two After breakfast at Bluebird Kitchen (130 Palmerin Street, Warwick) head south to Stanthorpe in the heart of the Granite Belt, Queensland’s premier wine region, boasting more than 45 wineries. It’s also prime fruit growing country for grapes, stone fruit such as peaches, apricots and nectarines, as well as apples and berries.

Drive on to Golden Grove Estate at Ballandean, one of a handful of wineries in the region that have been given a five star rating by wine aficionado James Halliday. Following an afternoon of cellar door discovery, retreat to the Diamondvale Cottages for some country hospitality.

Words: Nelson Hall and Heather McWhinnie

Day Three bringing the farm experience closer to the city, establishing the Toowoomba Farmers Market (twice a month) and opening up her farm for the Paddock to Potager experience where visitors can collect eggs, harvest fresh food, have close encounters with farm animals, attend workshops and learn about farm life, about 30 minutes drive from Toowoomba (176 Merritts Creek Road, Pechey).

Jondaryan Woolshed, the largest operating woolshed in the world, also about 30 minutes drive from Toowoomba, has been preserved by the local community to offer a glimpse into farming life the way it was in the pioneering days of the 1840s. In its heyday it was a massive pastoral station where 250,000 sheep were sheared each season. Today the Woolshed plays host to old time dances and special events and visitors can take self-guided tours of buildings, see demonstrations, eat damper and ride carts.

Travelling south from Toowoomba towards Warwick, Rudd’s Pub in Nobby serves up steaks as big as the plate and a good bit of memorabilia with a few schooners.

This is the pub where village local and writer Steele Rudd (real name Arthur Hoey Davis) came up with the characters ‘Dad and Dave’, writing comic tales of shenanigans of the Rudd family in On Our Selection with the help of a few pints. The stories have since been adapted for radio, television and film and today there’s an impressive collection of Steve Rudd memorabilia lining the walls – photographs, posters, newsletter clippings, paintings and the author’s books from floor to ceiling.

Find out more about Queensland’s southern country region at www.southernqueenslandcountry.com.au and sample drive itineraries at http://tcof.com.au/visitor-information/drive-itineraries/

Start the day with an energising walk through the Girraween National Park and see dramatic granite boulders amidst the forest. There are 30km of walking trails so it’s easy to spend a whole day here but after a couple of hours you’ll feel like lunch, a good excuse to head back to Ballandean Estate winery, where the Puglisi family has been making wines since the 1930s.

Today chefs Travis Crane and Arabella Chambers from Brisbane have joined the team and run the award-winning Barrelroom restaurant serving lunch and dinner Thursday to Monday and a seven-course degustation menu with wine matches.

Plot a wine trail that includes Symphony Hill Wines (Ballandean), then Summit Estate at Thulimbah, north of Stanthorpe. To get a taste of other brews in these parts, Ernie Butler’s Brass Monkey Brewhouse (south of Stanthorpe at Severnlea) and Suttons apple farm and café (also at Thulimbah) should be added to your itinerary. Allow time for a leisurely drive back to the city via Killarney, the Falls Drive and lunch with stunning views over the ranges at Spring Creek Café and Cottages before travelling back to Brisbane.

Outback Queensland

Mt Isa Longreach Birdsville

Bundaberg Windorah

01. Fred Brophy’s Boxing tent 02. Big Red dunes near Birdsville

BRISBANE

01.

02.

The show goes on From Barcaldine to Birdsville Brophy’s Boxing Troupe keeps crowds entertained in an age-old outback tradition

F

red Brophy, Australian icon and fourth generation showman, steps onto the stage in his trademark red silk shirt and bangs on a drum to introduce his fighters and call for local challengers. “This is where boxing champions are discovered,” Big Fred tells the crowd that he holds in the palm of his hand.

Challengers are invited to spend three, one-minute rounds against Big Fred’s boxers in the tent for a grand purse of $30 a minute if they can defeat his fighter. There is no ring and no ropes, just a canvas mat in the middle of the tent and when the fighting is over the boxers and the locals forget the ringside grudges and join each other for a few ales and a friendly yarn.

Tent boxing started in England and took off in Australia in the late 1800s, with professional boxing troupes following shows and carnivals in mining and outback towns. There they would set up big top tents and take on all-comers for cash. In its heyday there were more than 40 boxing troupes travelling around Australia.

Brophy started boxing at age 5, continuing in the sport for 20 years before crossing over to run his own troupe. His dedication to boxing has now spanned 40 years, during which time he has written a book (The Last Showman, published in Australia by Penguin), been inducted into Queensland’s Boxing Hall of Fame, and awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for services to charity and to the entertainment industry in keeping old-style tent boxing alive.

Fred Brophy’s is now one of only three remaining boxing tents in the world and Fred remains passionate about the importance of keeping such traditions alive. His tent continues to travel around outback Queensland and is a major drawcard of the annual Birdsville Racing Carnival.

Despite his many accolades, Big Fred says it’s the love of the outback and its people that motivates him more than any award. “We are a big family and we do it for the people. We need events like this, and others like

18. | BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017

races and rodeo. It’s a social outing for the locals in remote areas. You know you’re in the outback when people wave to you when you’re driving; they stop and help you when you need it. This is the outback spirit that we love being a part of.”

Big Fred’s colourful life – which has involved surviving rounds with venomous snakes, poisonous spiders, shotguns, baseball bats and knives – has seen him as the subject of a two-part documentary about his boxing tent, Outback Fight Club, which shows regularly on Qantas domestic and international flights.

As well as touring with his troupe, Big Fred and his partner Sandi run the Cracow Hotel in central Queensland, 200km west of Bundaberg, as close to the middle of nowhere as you’re likely to get. The story goes that Sandi always wanted to visit a ghost town and they found it in Cracow, a gold mining centre that had long ago lost its lustre, current population 18 people, 29 dogs and about 150 broken down cars.

Sandi fell in love with the grand old hotel and it’s been their home ever since. They have turned it into a country pub that’s not easy to forget with walls packed to the gills with weird and wonderful memorabilia – and all of it has a story, true or not! True to form for a country pub, there are comfortable rooms for an overnight stay and hearty meals, often cooked by Brophy himself.

For more information about experiences and itineraries to tour Queensland’s outback see www.outbackqueensland.com

Qantas flies direct between Brisbane and Bundaberg. Distance 01.

361km. Flight time 55 minutes. See www.qantas.com

Outback Adventures

Travel out back of beyond for events that are truly one of a kind Julia Creek Dirt ‘n’ Dust Festival

Over three days of action-packed adventure at Julia Creek, 1627km north west of Brisbane, the brave and the brawny compete in a triathlon, bog snorkelling and the Dirt ‘n’ Dust bull ride and everyone else can join in the Red Claw Luncheon of locally-farmed crayfish. From 7-9 April 2017. See www.dirtndust.com

Birdsville Big Red Bash

Right in the middle of the Simpson Desert, more than 1800km west of Brisbane, the Big Red sand dune is host to an annual camping and concert gig which this year will see Aussie talent Kate Ceberano, Lee Kernaghan and Missy Higgins on the playlist.

Between shows it’s fun to go sand surfing on boogie boards, cardboard or esky lids down the Big Red. From 4-6 July 2017. See www.bigredbash.com.au

Bedourie camel races and camp oven cook-off

It’s not horses but camels that reign supreme at this annual event in Bedourie, almost 2000km north west of Brisbane, supported by a program of pig racing, wood chopping and novelty events you’d only hear about in the outback. Anyone can join the traditional camp oven cook-off to bake bread using provided ingredients. On 8 July 2017. See www.queensland.com

Mount Isa Mines Rotary Rodeo

More than 1800km north west of Brisbane Mt Isa hosts the richest rodeo in Australia, and the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, where the best of the best men and women compete in bronc and bull riding, roping, wrestling and barrel racing. Away from the arena, live music, sideshow alley and Fred Brophy’s boxing tent keep the crowds entertained. From 11-13 August 2017. See www.isarodeo.com.au

Windorah International Yabby Races Visitors to Australia are most likely to see yabbies on a restaurant plate, a freshwater shellfish that makes a delicious entrée, but at the Windorah Yabby Races the crusty little critters are auctioned off and cheered to the finish line to help raise funds for the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), a perfect pit stop about 1200km west of Brisbane for anyone driving out to the Birdsville Races. On 30 August 2017. See www.outbackqueensland.com.au

Image 2 and bottom right: Tourism and Events Queensland

Birdsville Races

This is the Melbourne Cup of the Outback which attracts a crowd of 10,000 to enjoy two days of racing and entertainment more than 1800km west of Brisbane. A tent city is set up to accommodate the jockeys, trainers and spectators who come to help raise funds for the RFDS. Fly or drive to Birdsville from Brisbane. From 1-2 September 2017. See www.birdsvilleraces.com

- Shelley Thomas

Fly direct between Brisbane and Mt Isa with Rex Airlines, Qantas and Virgin Australia and between Brisbane and Birdsville with Rex Airlines. Plan a road trip at www.queensland.com and www.outbackqueensland.com.au

Try It

Back in time

A journey from Longreach to Winton uncovers a lot about Queensland’s early days

Day One Explore Queensland’s outback history in Longreach, starting at the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame, Qantas Founders Museum and Powerhouse Museum. Find out how country kids do their schooling through one of the largest classrooms in the world at the School of Distance Education then take a Cobb and Co. coach ride. Just before sunset step aboard the Thomson Belle paddle wheeler cruise to spend an evening on the Thomson River for dinner and a show, and get a good night’s sleep before setting off on a country adventure.

Day Two to Four Hire a 4WD in Longreach and head to the Lochern National Park on the Thomson River, an important natural habitat of more than 24,000 hectares with many lagoons and waterholes that provide refuge for birds including cockatoos, emus, kites and stately brolgas. The Lochern Habitat Drive (approximately 40 kilometres return), takes two to four hours. Fishing in the waterholes is permitted (size and bag limits apply) and barbecue your catch for dinner at a bush camp at Broadwater Waterhole.

Drive to Stonehenge, signing the visitor’s book on the way – Stonehenge style – by writing your town name with stones – a quirky tradition started years ago by the then mailman. Stop in Stonehenge for morning coffee, then drive on to John Egan Pioneer Drive to view magnificent landscapes sculpted over millions of years into amazing rock formations.

Enjoy the views from Swanvale Lookout, particularly at sunset, and arrive in Jundah in time for happy hour and some old fashioned outback hospitality at the Jundah Hotel (and a bed for the night).

Day Three to Six Drive on through red mulga country to see the best example of dinosaur running tracks in the world that have been preserved for 95 million years and take a guided tour of the Dinosaur Stampede site at Lark Quarry Conservation Park. There are more than 3000 fossilised footprints scattered over the rock face. Continue on to Winton to see the world’s largest collection of Australian dinosaur fossils at Australian Age of Dinosaurs, but this is also the birthplace of ‘Waltzing Matilda’ and the Waltzing Matilda Centre is the only museum dedicated completely to a song.

Qantas flies direct between Brisbane and Longreach.

Flight time 2 hours 50 minutes. See www.qantas.com

Indigenous Escapes

Cairns Tully Townsville

BRISBANE

In the footsteps of THE

Rainforest people Visitors flock to the Daintree but there’s another patch of lush rainforest in Queensland’s tropical north where Shelley Thomas discovers one family’s mission to share their Aboriginal heritage with others

E

02.

01. Jirrbal Elders 02. Kayak Tour, Bulgan Creek 03. Murray Falls in Girramay National Park

04. Sonya Jeffrey and father Dr Ernie Grant 05. Jungle Perch on kayak tour 06. Alligator’s Nest swimming hole

Images: 1+5, Ingan Tours; 4, Kate Duffy; 2, 3, 6, Tourism and Events Queensland

01.

verything has a name … every rock and river bend, says Sonya Jeffrey, her eyes dancing as she talks, punctuated by ripples of laughter. Her laughter is genuine and infectious, buoyed by the simple joy of telling her family’s story and, in doing so, keeping it alive. “That rock, over there, is where a couple of family members get their names from,” she says. “It relates to the story of how the dingo got tired of chasing the grey kangaroo, lay down and turned to rock. Everything here is special and a part of who we are.”

Sonya, a proud descendant of the Jabanbarra Jirrbal rainforest people, intends to keep it that way leading Ingan Tours, the Aboriginal tourism experience owned and operated by her family, in Tropical North Queensland’s Tully Gorge, more than 1500km north of Brisbane.

It may be Australia’s wettest corner, recording the third highest rainfall in the world, but that shouldn’t dampen expectations as it’s also one of the lushest spots you’ll ever see. With a strong heritage as a banana and sugar cane growing hub the region around Tully is also home to vast tracts of World Heritage-listed rainforest, as magical as the Daintree Rainforest, halfway between Townsville and Cairns.

Sonya started the culturally-immersive venture five years ago with her niece Caroline and father Dr Ernie Grant, the last living member of his generation to be brought up the traditional Jirrbal way.

“Dad was raised in the rainforest and lived there until he was about nine, camping along the river. He’s the last of the elders who’s actually been taught by the old people. I learned from him and every tour we run gives people a totally different learning experience about who we are as Jirrbal Aboriginal rainforest people.”

For visitors, that translates into a life-changing journey from river walks and traditional clay face painting to rainforest adventures that take in waterfalls, bush tucker and a ‘healing’ swimming hole, the art of boomerang throwing, basket weaving, fishing and must-do kayak tours complete with rapids, a resident ‘Old Man’ platypus and hundreds of curious jungle perch.

No matter how many times she’s done it, Sonya still reckons the kayak tour is “out of this world!”

“As kids, we’d all get tractor tubes, pump them up and float down Bulgan Creek,” she says. “Then Caroline and I were sitting up the backyard one day and we started thinking, why don’t we invest in second-hand kayaks? So, we bought

A local’s guide Sonya Jeffrey has five more top tips for the best places to explore in and around Tully...

03.

Murray Falls in Girramay National Park, 36km south west of Tully.

Cardwell Spa Pools located in the Girringun National Park. Cardwell Forest Drive features 26km of scenic loops, swimming holes, waterfalls and a spectacular spa pool (actually a natural depression on the creek bed that causes water to bubble and swirl like a jacuzzi).

04.

Alligator’s Nest day-use area (it was named after a local boy scouts group, so there are no alligators there!) in Tully Gorge National Park and walking trails through the park.

Bingil Bay Café, Mission Beach, a

colourful beach shack with home-made food and occasional live music.

Mount Tyson Hotel (on the main street of Tully) offers budget accommodation in refurbished rooms in a historic 1926 pub.

06.

four different kinds of kayaks and off we went.

“There’s eight kilometres of creek and we’d never travelled right through.

The old tractor tubes only got us so far but in the kayaks you can see it all and we couldn’t get over how beautiful and pristine it is, everything is so quiet …

Beautiful areas in our own backyard that everyone has taken for granted or just not known about. The landscapes are incredible and there are small rapids which add a bit of adventure and fun, without being dangerous, so everyone can do it.”

Fishing, however, is off limits at Sonya’s favourite ‘hidden gem’ location – a

We found a spot to stop for billy tea and damper where there is a heap of fish swimming around and they come as close as they can or follow the kayak

bend in the creek with a sandbank and deep water hole at the halfway point (four kilometres into the kayak tour). A place where her ‘babies’ gather – hundreds of freshwater jungle perch, measuring a whopping 30-40cm each.

“We found this spot as a stop for billy tea and damper where there is a whole heap of fish swimming around. They come as close as they can or follow you in a kayak. People love that kind of connection with a fish!”

Other wildlife regularly spotted on the tour include sea eagles, kingfishers, cormorants, kookaburras, satin flycatchers and butterflies (Ulysses and the Cairns Birdwing varieties).

On every trip, Sonya delights in shaking the ‘concrete jungle’ out of visitors: “We’ve seen so many people so tensed up when they come. When you get them out into the rainforest, it’s amazing to witness the complete change in

05.

body language. Everyone who comes off the kayak tour – whether they are from Australia or Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands or Norway – they come to us and say it was the highlight of their life. They’ve never seen anything like it. A crystal clear creek that’s beautifully rainforest-edged.”

As well as giving visitors a unique experience, Sonya and her family are proud the business also provides support and employment for the local community. In 2017 Ingan Tours HQ, which occupies heritage-listed Tully railway station, will expand to include a museum and café featuring a ‘secret’ bush tucker menu.

The café will be named after Sonya’s grandmother, Chloe, a feisty woman who side-stepped an arranged marriage and eloped to the Tablelands for a period with her ‘true love’, also leaving her legacy as the main informant for rainforest Aboriginal languages recorded by a visiting linguist in the 1960s.

“We’ve tried to incorporate a lot of Grandma’s legacy into what Ingan Tours stands for today. A lot of what people are hearing in our interpretations and our stories actually comes from her – and we’ll be playing the old recordings in the museum.”

Sonya is also working with local artists to showcase their work and exploring her family’s dream of opening up a network of walking tracks that run through the Misty Mountains, old Aboriginal trading routes that start at the bottom of Tully Gorge and wind up and over the mountains to Ravenshoe on the Tablelands, since damaged and partly hidden by a series of cyclones.

There’s also the important work of testing and adapting bush tucker recipes for Café Chloe. “There’s a particular fruit in the rainforest that we use to make jam and it just melts in your mouth on scones with cream,” Sonya says. “We trialled it with a group and they demolished it! I also want to test sauces and ice creams with it. The rest is a secret!”

For more information see www.ingan.com.au Fly direct between Brisbane and Cairns with Jetstar, Qantas, Tigerair and Virgin Australia which operate a total of more than 90 services each week. Flight time two hours 20 minutes.

BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017 | 21.

Indigenous Escapes

Cooktown Cape Tribulation Port Douglas Cairns Ingham Townsville

BRISBANE

Gold Coast

Go walkabout There are many ways to see the world through Aboriginal eyes on tours across Queensland Walkabout Adventures explore the beach and the rainforest between

01.

Port Douglas and Cape Tribulation, led by Juan Walker and his uncle Percy who consistently receive high praise for their engaging tours. The Walkers belong to the Kuku Yalangi mob that calls the region home and they share stories of their families passed down through generations. However, these tours are not all show and tell. Juan is adept with a spear and shares his skills in the shallows of Cooya Beach where everyone has a go and a successful morning’s catch could mean mud crab on the menu for lunch.

While shellfish are a lunchtime staple in these parts, it’s not unusual for green ants to be on the tasting menu during a rainforest walk, and there’s plenty of activity to build an appetite, from hour-long bush walks to cooling dips in freshwater streams. Groups are kept to a maximum of 11 per tour which vary from half-day to full-day programs. See www.walkaboutadventures.com.au

Bama Way Discovery Tour traverses the bumpy but beautiful 4WD

Bloomfield Track from Cooktown to Cape Tribulation and links together three Aboriginalowned and operated tours – Guurrbi Tours (led by Nugal-Warra elder Willie Gordon from Cooktown), the Walker Family Tours of the Wujal Wujal area that includes the Bloomfield Falls (a 40-metre waterfall) and Kuku Yalanji Cultural Habitat Tours from Port Douglas. Each provides an insight to traditional Aboriginal culture from its sacred sites to bush lore and ancient rock paintings. Tours can be booked separately or in one to three-day packages and range from guided walks to spear fishing in the mangroves.

See www.bamaway.com.au

02.

Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park is set on 10 hectares next to the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway, about 20 minutes drive along the scenic Captain Cook Highway from Cairns. The park is a centre for interactive demonstrations, performances and 01. guided bush tucker walks. At the Night Fire experience visitors can join a sacred corroboree with Tjapukai warriors and become part of the Rainbow Serpent circle, learning traditional language and songs before a ceremonial night fire catapults a fire ball towards the stars. There’s a restaurant that serves food cooked in the traditional underground oven and a gallery of photographs and short films that reveal the history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. See www.tjapukai.com.au Mossman Gorge Centre is about 80km from Cairns and provides a shuttle bus

service into the gorge where you can take easy walks of 10-45 minutes through the southern part of Daintree National Park or join a 90-minute guided Ngadiku Dreamtime Walk which starts with a traditional ‘smoking’ ceremony (to cleanse and ward off bad spirits) before winding along private tracks to special places and culturally significant sites, past traditional bark shelters and over rainforest streams, followed by bush tea and damper.

See www.mossmangorge.com.au

Mungalla Aboriginal Tours start at the homestead on Mungalla

03.

22. | BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017

Station, 12km from Ingham and about 90 minutes drive from Townsville. Once a cattle property and thoroughbred horse stud, today the station encompasses about 880 hectares, almost a quarter of it restored wetlands that is a natural habitat for more than 200 species of birds. A half-day cultural tour shares the story of the local Nywaigi people and the property’s history, gives visitors a go at boomerang throwing and a deluxe version of the tour includes a ‘Kup-Murri’ dinner feast (cooked in the underground earth oven).

See www.mungallaaboriginaltours.com.au

Try It

Indigenous Escapes

04.

Journey to the heart of Queensland’s Cape York Peninsula as guests of the Olkola people, and follow in the footsteps of their ancestors, on a pioneering adventure more than 300km north west of Cairns

Day One Depart Cairns and travel to Laura, the small gateway village to North Queensland’s Cape York Peninsula and the end of mobile phone reception! Along the way enjoy a quick break at Mareeba, the last stop on the muster route that drove cattle down the Cape to be transported across Australia and overseas. Arrive at Killarney homestead which is base camp for the next four nights. Meet your Olkola hosts at dinner and storytelling around the campfire.

Jellurgal Journey and Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary Tour is a full day tour on the Gold Coast which

starts at Jellurgal Aboriginal Centre near Burleigh Heads, with Dreamtime stories, Aboriginal dance and didgeridoo performances, followed by an Aboriginal guided walk of the Burleigh Heads 04.

National Park to an ancient midden before ending with a chance to meet some of the 1000 native animals at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. See www.jellurgal.com.au

For more ideas to explore Indigenous culture see www.queensland.com/en-au/things-to-see-anddo/indigenous-culture

01. Olkola country 02. Walkabout Adventure with Juan Walker 03. Bush tucker at Tjapukai Centre 04. Sleeping under the stars in Olkola country 05. Black swans at Mungalla Station 06. Inside Jilburu Cave, Bama Way

Day Two to Four 05.

06.

Set out each day in four wheel drives to explore different aspects of Olkola country, from bird filled lagoons and waterways to escarpment country and Jungle Creek – a lush spring-fed permanent stream feeding into one of the five big rivers which rise on Olkola country and flow both east and west. See cave shelters with recently discovered rock art and stop at “the dancing grounds” where the ground below your feet wobbles above the water table. Each evening return to Killarney base camp and tent accommodation.

Day Five and Six The tour departs for Laura, through sandstone country and rainforest to Cooktown. Spend the final night at Hillcrest Guest House. In the morning visit Cooktown’s local market and the weekly meeting place for locals or explore the local museum. Visit Grassy Hill lookout in Cooktown and the mysterious Black Mountain on the way down the Bloomfield Track – arguably the most spectacular coastal rainforest drive in Australia – to Cape Tribulation, stopping at the iconic Lions Den Hotel to check out this quirky pub. The return journey includes the ferry across the Daintree River before heading back through sugar cane country and along the spectacular coastal highway to Cairns.

This is a tour offered exclusively by Intrepid Travel with only six departure dates in 2017. For more information see www.intrepidtravel.com

Whitsunday Coast

Whitsunday Coast Hamilton Island

Whitsunday

BRISBANE

dreaming

01.

04.

T 02.

03.

24. | BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017

he Whitsunday Coast is a natural phenomenon, easily recognised by the pristine white sand of Whitehaven Beach, the stunningly shaped Heart Reef and the sheer blueness of its waters.

It is the largest group of offshore islands in Australia that spans an area of almost 24,000 square kilometres off the coast of Queensland easily accessed from Whitsunday Coast Airport at Proserpine, less than two hours flight time north from Brisbane.

Named by Captain Cook in 1770, the Whitsunday Islands continue to live up to his description of “everywhere good anchorages … the whole passage is one continued safe harbour” and has become a sailing mecca for novices and enthusiasts alike who explore the region in temperate waters (average temperature 26°C) and under sunny skies (average 274 sunny days per year).

Surrounded by fringing reefs and water such a clear aqua that photo filters are not required, it’s no surprise that water sports beckon – there are more than 400 species of coral in the marine park and thousands of coloured fish can be spotted while snorkelling, particularly around the northern bays of Hook, Hayman, Black and Langford islands. Whitehaven Beach is perfect for swimming, calm waters are ideal for stand-

up paddleboarding and whale watching is a bonus during any day on the water from June to September – but the Whitsunday Coast is also 70 per cent national park, providing a wide range of hiking and wildlife spotting from the more remote Gloucester Islands to the easily accessible Conway National Park less than 10km from Airlie Beach on the mainland.

The Whitsunday Coast is rich in cultural heritage, home to the Ngaro people for more than 9000 years. Early signs of their settlement, including rock art, can be seen at Nara Inlet on Hook Island and still today the upper reaches of Hill Inlet on Whitsunday Island are considered a sacred site.

While it’s been a popular tourism destination since the 1930s the Whitsunday Coast remains largely wilderness. Of 74 islands in the Whitsunday group only four are inhabited – Hamilton, Hayman and Daydream Islands operate resorts, while Long Island, closest to the mainland, has self-catering bures – although new owners have plans to redevelop Lindeman Island by 2020 and South Molle Island has also been bought by the new owners of Daydream Island with plans to upgrade both resorts. More intrepid travellers can choose from 25 locations to go camping, where numbers are limited and facilities are few for a truly wilderness escape.

Jetstar and Virgin Australia fly direct between Brisbane and Whitsunday Coast (Proserpine); Virgin Australia and QantasLink fly direct between Brisbane and Hamilton Island. Flight time approximately one hour 50 minutes.

Fantasy Island

Found!

Long Island is a hidden gem in the heart of the Whitsunday Coast, one of only four inhabited islands open to guests.

Shelley Thomas discovers her fantasy island

C

01. Koala on Hamilton Island 02. Heart Reef 03. Hideaway Bay on the mainland 04. Serenity at Hayman Island 05. Aerial view of Long Island

aroline Murray is accustomed to dealing with upset guests – tearyeyed travellers, far from home, on Long Island. Not Long Island, New York, amid opulent mansions, vineyards and a population of close to eight million but Long Island on Queensland’s Whitsunday Coast, where the population never tips 60 and Balinese-style bures line a pristine, palmfringed cove. Here, rush-hour means more than one kayak on the beach.

“We often have guests crying when they leave because they just don’t want to go!” says Caroline with a smile, her Scottish wit as sharp as the full range of Pantone blues reflected in the surrounding Coral Sea. Palm Bay Resort – once an exclusive allservice retreat in the heart of the Great Barrier Reef – has become something of a welcome paradox, offering five-star facilities without the premium price.

Sure, there are enviable villas and bures (all with sweeping ocean views, verandas and hammocks to collapse in), a day spa, tennis

court, pool and media room. However, in place of a restaurant or room service, self-catering is the order of the day. Food is pre-ordered on the mainland before departure or some provisions are available on the island.

It’s a concept embraced by guests who have free rein to access the well-equipped kitchen day and night.

“Guests love it because it’s more sociable,” says Caroline. “People talk to each other in the kitchen and they watch what others are cooking, share ideas and favourite recipes … and many become life-long friends.”

That’s not all that’s different on this island.

Palm Bay Resort’s seven staff are helped by a vibrant and diverse group of volunteers – primarily international travellers – sourced via website HelpX.net, an online listing of hotels, farm stays, ranches, B&Bs and even sailing boats that welcome volunteer helpers to stay in exchange for food and accommodation. All but two of Caroline’s permanent staff started as volunteers and loved the experience so much they begged to stay and work full-time. Ò

Images supplied by Tourism and Events Queensland, Long Island, Hayman Island and Hamilton Island

05.

BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017 | 25.

Whitsunday Coast

Whitsunday Coast Hamilton Island

BRISBANE

01.

“These travellers can be backpackers or those taking a year out at any stage in their lives,” says Caroline, herself originally a traveller from Glasgow, who fell in love with the Whitsundays and stayed. They work for about four hours a day and we provide free accommodation and use of the resort facilities the same as the guests.

“We have a minimum two weeks’ stay for a maximum group of eight volunteers at a time, so I’m generally training a new group every two weeks. They come from all over the world: France, Germany, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Britain and across Australia and New Zealand.”

For Alain Codino, 30, a taxi driver from Marseille, France, Lisa Marie Jousellin, 32, a mechanic from Bretagne, also in France, and Mariella Tusino, 33, a ‘Jill of all trades’ from San Severo in Italy, the experience has proved lifechanging. They have discovered the wonders of the Great Barrier Reef and a new-found passion to pursue careers in tourism and hospitality.

“It is such an amazing place I now see my future career in the hospitality industry when I return to France,” says Lisa Marie, who switched to a full-time role when she finished her volunteer stint last year.

“I am learning a lot about myself and I have found a certain serenity on the island. The calm and authenticity; bungalows right at the ocean; no shops; no cars… just the sound of the birds and the ocean.”

Around 40 per cent of Palm Bay Resort

02.

26. | BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017

guests also flock from overseas, with many from Asia, Europe, South America and most recently America and Canada. The majority, Caroline says, seek an escape from high-stress jobs or are travelling on a honeymoon or babymoon.

Babymoons, it seems, extend not only to guests. Long Island’s ‘local celebrities’ – resident wildlife, from bush stone-curlews to tawny frogmouths, rock wallabies and goannas – are also raising families.

Marine life is similarly abundant around the island. The resort is located on the neck of Long Island (which is about 9km long and 2km across its widest point) sitting at the narrowest point, just 400 metres wide.

“It’s brilliant because you can walk from one side to the other and see dolphins, turtles, rays, dugongs and, in winter months, whales breaching out the front and back of the resort,” Caroline says.

“You can also watch the sun rise on the eastern side of the island and set on the western side while you’re sitting having a cocktail. Just in front of the resort there’s 300 metres of beautiful coral which is unspoiled. The colours are amazing and there is lots of marine life there.

“You can swim out from the beach or take one of the resort’s kayaks and tie it to a buoy, jump off and snorkel or take a paddle boat which people often use for fishing.”

Fantasy Island found!

STAY AND PLAY There’s plenty to do on Long Island (catering to all traveller types), from spa treatments to snorkelling and use of the resort’s paddle boats and kayaks; fishing, hikes along 13km of graded walking trails within the island’s National Park; tennis; or simply catching up on some sleep. Caroline and her staff can also book add-on tours and adventures such as a day cruise aboard a rare Australian heritage yacht (‘Lady Enid’) or a seaplane/ helicopter flight over iconic Heart Reef.

See www.palmbayresort.com.au Whitsunday Paradise Explorer has teamed up with the resort to provide intimate day trips for a maximum of eight passengers. Locals, John and Jacqui Henderson launched the business last year, using a rigid inflatable boat to easily access ‘hidden gem’ locations, including just the place to witness a sunset in view of 27 of the Whitsundays’ 74 islands, or, in winter months, be surrounded by whales.

See www.whitsundayparadiseexplorer.com

01. Long Island bures 02. Palm Bay, Long Island 03. Whitehaven Beach 04. Hayman Island Resort

Try It

sail away

in safe haven 03.

F

Beach, boats and bungalows

rom camping on the beachfront to six-star luxury villas, there is accommodation to suit all tastes in the Whitsunday Islands. There are 25 locations where camping is permitted from popular Whitsunday Island, including Dugong Beach, iconic Whitehaven Beach and Peter Bay to smaller sites on Hook Island which offer great snorkelling straight from the shore. Northern Spit on Henning Island is popular with kayakers and the Molle Islands are another favourite camping hot spot, while Planton or Denman islands cater for only one group at a time. It’s a truly wilderness experience as facilities are few and campers must be selfsufficient but there’s no risk of being crowded at any site as numbers are regulated. Bookings open 11 months in advance and the most popular sites book out well ahead.

On the mainland there’s a range of accommodation from backpacker hostels to holiday parks, hotels and apartments from Airlie Beach and nearby Cannonvale to Hideaway Bay and Bowen.

The newest hotel to open at Airlie Beach is Heart Hotel and Gallery which recreates the look of a traditional Queenslander with its high pitched roofs, timber cladding and spacious verandas. A boutique art gallery on the top floor features exhibitions of work by local artists.

Island nomads can sail the Whitsunday

04.

Passage just as Captain Cook did and drop anchor in a number of sheltered bays to sleep aboard by night and explore the islands by day.

Overnight trips are available with a crew or skipper your own yacht and create your own itinerary (see our sample at right).

On the islands, accommodation ranges from rooms in the four-star Reef Hotel on Hamilton Island to apartments and bungalows around the marina and the super-luxe and secluded Qualia which also boasts a self-contained beach house.

Guests can live like a rock star – Taylor Swift once stayed here and the late George Harrison of the Beatles used to own a home on the island – in one of the luxury houses available to rent.

Ultimate luxury is arriving by sea plane or chartered helicopter to Hayman Island at the northern end of the Whitsunday Coast and the closest inhabited island to the outer reef.

As early as the 1950s it established a reputation as a luxury getaway and following its latest multi-million dollar renovation, and under management of One & Only Resorts since 2014, it continues to offer first class accommodation from pool or ocean view rooms to penthouse suites with Diane von Furstenberg furnishings and butler service, or beach villas with private pools. Relaxing on a massage bed in the shallows of the aquamarine waters of the Whitsunday Coast is truly idyllic.

The Whitsunday Coast is Australia’s #1 sailing mecca (and the safest in the Southern Hemisphere) where even novices can explore the pristine region on a bareboat charter from as few as three nights to seven nights or more.

Day One Most bareboat charter companies are based at Airlie Beach, 30 minutes drive from Proserpine’s Whitsunday Coast Airport or, if time is short, fly direct to Hamilton Island.

Stock up on provisions and book optional extras (stand-up paddleboards, fishing gear, even super-luxe helicopter and seaplane tours).

An ideal first stop is Nara Inlet, a stunning fjord-like wonderland at the southern end of Hook Island, the region’s most protected overnight anchorage and jumping-off point to step ashore and marvel at ancient Aboriginal cave paintings dating back 8000 years.

Day Two Set sail for Butterfly Bay on the northern tip of Hook Island. A designated green zone, this area falls under World Heritage listing, making it one of the best spots for snorkelling with giant Maori wrasse, manta rays, schools of parrot fish and the full colour spectrum of reef fish. Pack a picnic lunch or afternoon tea to have ashore while gawping at colonies of butterflies. For diving enthusiasts, there’s the option to meet up with dive vessels that operate in the area (book ahead via your charter company).

Day Three A trip to the Whitsundays is not complete without setting foot on Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island. For the best views of Whitehaven Beach – a 5km stretch of pure white silica sand – anchor at Tongue Bay and take a tender across to the beach for a short bushwalk up the hill to the lookout across Hill Inlet. The seaplane chase in the film Fool’s Gold, starring Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson, was filmed here. For an aerial view you can book a helicopter flight from Whitehaven Beach (ask your charter operator for details).

Comprehensive tuition is included in a bareboat sailing package. For more information see www.gobareboating.com

Great Barrier Reef

Cairns Townsville Bundaberg

BRISBANE

WHERE the wild things are Swimming with whales, sharks and manta rays are just a few of the close encounters for adventurers on the Great Barrier Reef, as Shelley Thomas discovers

E

very year on the Great Barrier Reef the tables are turned on tourists who venture to the World Heritage-listed natural wonder of the world which Sir David Attenborough has described as “the most magical thing you ever saw in your life”.

Between June and July, the reef ’s aptly titled ‘Wild North’ precinct is believed to be the only place on Earth where wildlife deliberately seek out human contact … purely for enjoyment. In this case, a gregarious species of whale, the dwarf minke whale; an endearingly inquisitive creature that emits what scientists call the ‘Star Wars sound’, akin to Luke Skywalker firing up his light saber.

Commercial fisherman turned conservationist John Rumney reckons there’s nothing like it on the planet; an experience that tops his bucket list on the pristine outer Ribbon Reefs.

“I’ve never seen anything that comes close to the way these encounters universally affect people,” says John. “It’s just a new emotion. You could be a diver with 5000 dives with sharks but ‘wow’, this is something else!” No small praise from the ‘go-to guy’ for the world’s best documentary crews (including Attenborough’s team on Great Barrier Reef), whose coveted live-aboard Eye to Eye Marine Encounters dive trips made National Geographic Traveller magazine’s 50 Trips of a Lifetime.

Rumney has been instrumental in the development of swim-with-minke-whale guidelines, viewed as world’s best practice.

Marrying nature tourism with citizen science, John offers free spaces to researchers on his Marine Encounters trips, in turn enabling tourists to witness everything from whale monitoring to shark and turtle tagging.

In a move to better understand the biology and behaviour of the visiting dwarf minke whales, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) joined forces with researchers and tourism operators in 2003, sanctioning a world-first swim-with-whales encounter. As a result, tourism operators licensed to conduct trips are required to provide data to James Cook

28. | BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017

01.

University’s Minke Whale Project.

While the whales are often spotted during dives, Rumney says the most rewarding interaction occurs (with mask and snorkel) with swimmers hanging onto a safety line on the surface. The average encounter can last more than two hours, sometimes stretching to a marathon 10 hours with more than 20 whales!

“The whales generally swim along the line, checking different people out from four or five metres away – one out of 20 is really friendly and these whales come within three metres and sometimes a metre.

“They almost sneak up behind you while you’re

looking the other way. But it’s when you see this dark grey, almost alien shape emerging out of the blue (at a right angle to the line) that you realise it’s the nose of a whale coming straight at you … and your heart skips a beat.

“The whale might stop, check you out eye-toeye or arch its back and stick his nose up in the air and pirouette right in front of you or glide right underneath you, passing half a metre underneath your belly. I’m definitely addicted to it.”

For a list of ‘high standard tourism operations’ accredited under Ecotourism Australia’s Eco Certification Program see www.gbrmpa.gov.au

Great 8 safari

01. Snorkelling on an Ocean Safari tour from Cape Tribulation 02. Sharks on Osprey Reef 03. Up close to a Dwarf Minke Whale 04. Nemo-like Clown fish 05. 120-year-old giant clam

02.

Dwarf minke whale encounters are not the only wild things to see close-up on the Great Barrier Reef. Great Barrier Reef’s ‘Great 8’ is the underwater equivalent to an African safari, a bucket list of sea creatures to spot along the reef from Cape York to Bundaberg Shark tales: From May to September, Low Isles (15km off the coast of Port Douglas) is the place to see lemon sharks in just 30cm of water! In winter, massive groups of around 100,000 hardyheads (baitfish) aggregate just off the beach of Low Island – a coral cay (just two hectares in size), popular with families and boasting its own historic lighthouse – attracting the lemon sharks, a gentle member of the whaler family that can grow to more than three metres.

Meanwhile, for the ultimate shark encounter, hop on a live-aboard dive boat to the Wild North and witness a live shark feed on Osprey Reef, a beacon for schools of barracuda, dogtooth tuna and mackerel, alongside a stunning shiver of sharks, from white-tips to hammerheads and grey and silver tip whalers.

Manta magic: The Southern Great Barrier Reef’s Lady Elliot Island has earned a reputation as

‘Manta Heaven’. Indeed, PADI lists it in the Top 5 locations on the planet (alongside Hawaii, Galapagos Islands and the Maldives) to encounter manta rays; gentle giants with wing spans up to seven metres and the largest brain to body size ratio of any living fish.

Manta rays are known to be interactive with divers and snorkellers, and perform a fascinating mating ritual, known as the ‘courtship train’ – a bit like an underwater conga line – when males follow and mirror a female’s every move, sometimes for days. For the eco-conscious traveller, Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort is also as close as you’ll get to a carbon-neutral model.

Turtle power: The reef is home to six of the world’s seven species of marine turtles. While

Alongside sharks, whales, manta rays and marine turtles, the other big personalities to add to a bucket list are Nemo-like clown fish, 120-year-old giant clams, maori wrasse, and inquisitive potato cod weighing up to 110kg

Raine Island, the largest green turtle rookery on the planet (on the reef’s remote northern tip), is not accessible to the public, other popular mating and nesting sites can be found on Lady Elliot Island, Lady Musgrave Island, Heron Island, Green Island (the only one with a rainforest), Fitzroy Island and Bundaberg’s Mon Repos Beach (don’t miss a Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service ranger-guided turtle encounter at Mon Repos Turtle Centre). November to March is turtle nesting and hatchling season.

Find out more about Great Barrier Reef destinations and adventures at www.queensland.com/greatbarrierreef Fly direct between Brisbane and Bundaberg with QantasLink and Virgin Australia; to Cairns with Jetstar, Qantas, Tigerair and Virgin Australia; and Townsville with Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Australia for the Great Barrier Reef and islands.

Flight time 55 minutes to Bundaberg, two hours to Townsville and two hours 20 minutes to Cairns.

03.

04.

05.

Images: 1. Ocean Safari; 2-5 Tourism and Events Queensland

BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017 | 29.

Haggerstone Island Lizard Island

Great Barrier Reef

Cairns Townsville

Bedarra Orpheus Island

Bundaberg

BRISBANE

Castaway on a private island From meals made to order to camping like a survivor, there’s an island you can rent just for you and your besties on the Great Barrier Reef coast Orpheus Island This 14-room luxury private island resort, 80km north of Townsville, is blessed with a perfect beach, giant clam ‘garden’ and a spa named Gwandalan for ‘rest and peace’ that embraces the principles of Indigenous herbalism and healing. After a day out in Pioneer Bay on a dinghy adventure, or exploring the work of the marine research station, meet with the culinary crew to select a menu tailored to your own tastes to be served by lamplight on the pier, a ‘Dining with the Tides’ experience made to order. It’s all yours for … $25,000 a night (minimum three nights) for 28 guests, including gourmet meals (Dining with the Tides is extra), the finest Australian wine and beer and a daily Orpheus experience of exploring. Or not. See www.orpheus.com.au

Bedarra Island

01. Orpheus Island Jetty 02. Pumpkin Island 03. Bedarra Point Villa Deck 04. Great Barrier Reef Drive

30. | BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017

02.

Images 2+4: Tourism and Events Queensland

Billed as the “ultimate in barefoot luxury”, this private island resort off the coast of Mission Beach, between Cairns and Townsville, has welcomed a string of A-listers including Elton John, but it keeps the number of guests strictly limited as part of a passionate commitment to minimise its impact on the environment. After a sustainability study five years ago it reduced the number of guest villas to nine, each one camouflaged by the rainforest but commanding spectacular ocean views.

Other eco-friendly initiatives include solar power, grinding all glass waste to sand as part of a massive waste reduction effort, sending all laundry to the mainland, cultivating an organic vegetable garden and continually replanting vegetation to counter erosion of the foreshore.

Guests can expect the full range of creature comforts and all-inclusive activities (kayaks, stand-up paddleboards, snorkelling and fishing gear, dinghies, tennis, even gourmet picnic hampers). It’s all yours for … exclusive use starts from $13,530 a night for ‘everything’. That includes exquisite food and wine for you and your 17 closest friends. Oh, and unlimited Jacquart Champagne. Cheers! See www.bedarra.com.au

01.

Try It

Coastal Driving The Great Barrier Reef drive is a spectacular coastal route stretching 140km north from Cairns to Cape Tribulation and with so many things to see and do on the way it can easily take a week to complete

Day One 03.

Haggerstone Island Anna Turner, who jointly owns the resort with husband Roy, first anchored off the remote island in the 1970s at the age of 18, while looking for treasure with her filmmaker dad (John Heyer). It took another decade or so for her to return to carve out a life for her now grown-up family and a few lucky guests.

According to Anna, Haggerstone Island (located so far up the east coast of Australia – about 600km north of Cairns – that the nearest town, Lockhart River, is still a 40-minute flight away), is the “best place to shake the world out of people”. It comes with a 45-foot jet boat, a skipper (Anna’s husband, or son, Sam) and a mission to take you wherever you please: mainland waterfalls, the Sir Charles Hardy Islands, or spearfishing the nearby reefs.

Haggerstone is also a foodie haven. Roy is adept at cooking and his signature dish is a toss up between lobster ravioli, caught fresh and adapted from a Nobu recipe, and coral trout with curry leaves. It’s all yours for … just a touch under $7000 per night (minimum four nights – including meals, accommodation, equipment hire, tackle, bait and activities).

A prime spot for you and 11 guests to go all Swiss Family Robinson. For details see www.haggerstoneisland.com.au

Pumpkin Island A tiny gem of just six hectares located off the coast of Yeppoon, in the Southern Great Barrier Reef’s Keppel Group of islands, Pumpkin Island is something of a do-it-yourself option (no chef or housekeeping), but who’s to complain when accommodation is covered in seven self-catering, eco-friendly cottages and bungalows (all with private decks and barbecues). Paddle boats, kayaks and stand-up paddleboards are provided free of charge. It’s all yours for … $2730 per night for 34 people. See www.pumpkinisland.com.au

lizard Island Exclusively yours on this Great Barrier Reef island, 240km north of Cairns and 27km off the Queensland coast, means accommodation for up to 80 guests in 40 deluxe rooms, three gourmet meals a day, picnic hampers if desired, Champagne, premium Australian wines and use of a motorised dinghy to explore the surrounding 24 powdery white beaches. Access is only by private charter flight from Cairns. It’s all yours for ... a starting price of $229,248.80 for two nights then $114,624.40 per night after that. See www.lizardisland.com.au - Shelley Thomas

On the way out of town stop at Skyrail Rainforest Cableway in Kuranda (a quaint rainforest village packed with gourmet cafés, 25km north west of Cairns). A ride on the glass-bottomed gondola or cable glider gives an aerial view of the coastline and the rainforest below and can take more than two hours to complete the round trip with a few stops along the way to admire the sights.

Continue on to Port Douglas for lunch but don’t linger too long because no visit to the tropical north is complete without a Daintree River cruise, where you can spot crocodiles in the wild from the safety of a solar-powered boat. Celebrity guests aboard a Solar Whisper wildlife cruise have included Ed Sheeran, Lou Reed and The Cat Empire. Drive time: 50 minutes from Port Douglas.

At day’s end put your feet up, or exfoliate them, at Heritage Lodge & Spa, a cluster of 20 secluded cabins, perfect for birdwatchers and nature lovers, perched on the edge of Cooper Creek, punctuated with private swimming holes.

Day Two Soak up the peace and quiet, while keeping a look out for the musky rat kangaroo, Australia’s smallest and oldest kangaroo only found in rainforests and commonly sighted near Heritage Lodge & Spa. There are plenty of guided walks through the Daintree Rainforest but continue on to Cape Tribulation, an hour’s drive north, for a Jungle Surfing tour by zipline deep in the most ancient section of Daintree National Park, where the rainforest meets the Great Barrier Reef.

On the way, check in to Cape Trib Beach House, the only resort in the area with beachfront rooms. Jungle Surfing provides a courtesy pick up for its daily tours and visitors regularly spot rare Bennett’s tree kangaroos.

Day Three Rise early to go in search of Nemo and more than 1600 of his fish friends on a half-day Ocean Safari tour of the Great Barrier Reef, starting at 8am at Cape Tribulation beach. It’s a 25-minute boat ride to the snorkelling idylls of Mackay and Undine reefs.

Worked up an appetite? Back on land grab a spot of lunch at Turtle Rock Café adjacent to Ocean Safari’s office or, for something really cool, drive south about 30 minutes to Daintree Ice Cream Company, described

by Lonely Planet as “possibly the most scenic ice cream company ever”.

Head back to Port Douglas, about half-way on the journey back to Cairns and stay overnight to allow a leisurely drive the next day, stopping at the pristine beaches and Rex’s Lookout on the way.

04.

Just the place to experience JAN

MAR

2017

SUNSHINE COAST Noosa Festival of Surfing Mooloolaba Triathlon Festival

GOLD COAST Burleigh Pro Pacific Fair Magic Millions Polo

BRISBANE Brisbane International

BRISBANE Victoria Bitter One Day International Series Australia v Pakistan

GOLD COAST Quiksilver Pro and Roxy Pro Gold Coast SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND COUNTRY Oceania Continental MTB Championships & XCO and DHI National Series Felton Food Festival

TROPICAL NORTH QUEENSLAND Feast of the Senses

BRISBANE Mountain Bike Australia National Championships

SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND COUNTRY E&E Waste Hell of the West Triathlon Have a Go! Festival

GOLD COAST Sand Safari Arts Festival

SUNSHINE COAST Noosa Summer Swim

OUTBACK QUEENSLAND Julia Creek Dirt n Dust Festival Roma’s Easter in the Country

BRISBANE Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Conference (ARVO Asia)

GLADSTONE REGION Agnes Blues, Roots and Rock Festival

GOLD COAST Jewel World Triathlon Gold Coast and Gold Coast Triathlon – Luke Harrop Memorial TOWNSVILLE NORTH QUEENSLAND Townsville MTB Festival

BRISBANE Brisbane Global Rugby Tens

TROPICAL NORTH QUEENSLAND 14th World Rural Health Conference

GOLD COAST TOTAL BWF Badminton Sudirman Cup

Magic Millions National Sale

THE WHITSUNDAYS ADC Forum Australian Leadership Retreat

GLADSTONE REGION Captain Cook 1770 Festival and Art Show

BRISBANE CMC Rocks QLD

APR

GOLD COAST Blues on Broadbeach Music Festival

SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND COUNTRY First Coat Festival

BRISBANE Marvel: Creating the Cinematic Universe*

CMC Music Awards

SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND COUNTRY Chinchilla Melon Festival

Goomeri Pumpkin Festival

Myriad

Bleach* Festival

FEB

Noosa Ultimate Sports Festival

World Science Festival Brisbane

GOLD COAST Australian Surf Life Saving Championships

GOLD COAST Jeep Magic Millions Carnival, Sales and Raceday

MAY

SUNSHINE COAST Noosa Food and Wine Festival

TROPICAL NORTH QUEENSLAND Great Barrier Reef Masters Games Port Douglas Carnivale

JUN

GOLD COAST Gold Coast Film Festival

FRASER COAST Relish Food and Wine Festival

Surfers Paradise LIVE

Mary Poppins Festival

GOLD COAST Australian Open Lawn Bowls

CAPRICORN REGION Golden Mount Festival

TROPICAL NORTH QUEENSLAND Cape York Laura Aboriginal Dance Festival BRISBANE Qantas Wallabies v Italy BRISBANE The Planting

BRISBANE QPAC International Series – The Royal Ballet**

Scenic Rim Eat Local Week

* Adi Granov / Keyframe for Marvel’s The Avengers 2012 / © 2012 MARVEL ** © ROYAL OPERA HOUSE 2015. PHOTO - ROH JOHAN PERSSON, 2014

OUTBACK QUEENSLAND Winton’s Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival

TROPICAL NORTH QUEENSLAND Cairns Airport Adventure Festival

Australia’s best live events BRISBANE Quandamooka Festival

JUL

Coates Hire Ipswich SuperSprint

GOLD COAST Broadbeach Country Music Festival

OUTBACK QUEENSLAND Birdsville Big Red Bash

MACKAY REGION Mackay Festival of Arts

Strand Ephemera 2017: The North’s Sculpture Festival

AUG

BRISBANE BIGSOUND

SUNSHINE COAST IRONMAN 70.3 Sunshine Coast Caloundra Music Festival

GOLD COAST Australian University Games

GOLD COAST Griffith Opera on the Beach – Aida

BRISBANE XXI World Congress of International Federation of Translators

Coates Hire Coolangatta Gold Buskers by the Creek

Royal Queensland Show (Ekka)

BRISBANE Bledisloe Cup: Qantas Wallabies v All Blacks

CAPRICORN REGION Gemfest “Festival of Gems”

TROPICAL NORTH QUEENSLAND Atherton BikeFest

SUNSHINE COAST Gympie Music Muster

GOLD COAST FASAVA Congress – Federation of Asian Small Animal Veterinary Associations

OUTBACK QUEENSLAND Mount Isa Mines Rotary Rodeo

BRISBANE Ashes Test: Australia v England

DEC

GOLD COAST Gold Coast 600

GOLD COAST NetFest

Asia Pacific Screen Awards

TROPICAL NORTH QUEENSLAND & TOWNSVILLE NORTH QUEENSLAND Rugby League World Cup Pool Matches

BUNDABERG NORTH BURNETT Bundaberg Cup

TROPICAL NORTH QUEENSLAND 2017 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships Cairns

OCT TOWNSVILLE NORTH QUEENSLAND SeaLink Magnetic Island Race Week

NOV

BRISBANE Brisbane Asia Pacific Film Festival

TROPICAL NORTH QUEENSLAND Tropical Journeys Great Barrier Reef Marathon Festival

TOWNSVILLE NORTH QUEENSLAND Australian Festival of Chamber Music

Townsville 400

THE WHITSUNDAYS Airlie Beach Race Week Festival of Sailing

SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND COUNTRY Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers

queensland.com/events

BRISBANE Brisbane Festival

Toyota AFL Premiership Round 18 – Western Bulldogs v Gold Coast Suns

GOLD COAST Gold Coast Airport Marathon

TOWNSVILLE NORTH QUEENSLAND McDonald’s Townsville Running Festival

Outback Festival

TROPICAL NORTH QUEENSLAND Cairns Indigenous Art Fair

BUNDABERG NORTH BURNETT Winterfeast (featuring Heartland Festival)

SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND COUNTRY Opera at Jimbour

SEP

OUTBACK QUEENSLAND Birdsville Races

See the full events calendar at

BUNDABERG NORTH BURNETT Crush Festival Bundaberg

TOWNSVILLE NORTH QUEENSLAND PBR Iron Cowboy

BRISBANE Rugby League World Cup – Semi-Final

BRISBANE Rugby League World Cup – Final

GOLD COAST Australian PGA Championship The 2017 Asian Control Conference (ASCC 2017)

BRISBANE Queensland Ballet – The Nutcracker

BRISBANE Woodford Folk Festival

SUNSHINE COAST Wanderlust Sunshine Coast

TROPICAL NORTH QUEENSLAND & TOWNSVILLE NORTH QUEENSLAND Rugby League World Cup Pool Matches

SUNSHINE COAST Noosa Triathlon Multi Sport Festival

COMING IN

2018

QUEENSLAND HOST STATE OF THE XXI COMMONWEALTH GAMES

Event, dates and venues are subject to change without notice. Please see queensland.com/events for the latest listings.

Discover Brisbane

Brisbane is…

A

city FULL OF SURPRISES, from its man-made beach overlooking the CBD to the hole-in-thewall BARS HIDDEN DOWN LANEWAYS that pull out a list of 400 whiskies from behind the counter. It’s a city that’s EASY TO GET AROUND, by any form of transport, and it’s welcoming and friendly. A host of Brisbane Greeters are on hand to SHARE STORIES about popular landmarks on free guided walking tours that make a visitor immediately feel at home. Brisbane is a city where you can see a Broadway hit in the comfort of a WORLD-CLASS THEATRE or sit on the grass and listen to musicians share their talent and bare their souls FOR FREE. Brisbane is bursting with TALENTED CHEFS, passionate about creating menus their own way from fresh and FLAVOURSOME INGREDIENTS locally sourced ... and we’re happy to be their taste testers. In Brisbane you can SHOP DESIGNER LABELS or fossick for quirky gift ideas at market stalls. Brisbane is THE START OF ANY ADVENTURE you care to take. Let this be your guide ...

“...The ancestral home of the Turrbal people and the river has ancient songlines that live on through the music, dance, stories and painting of our people today” - Maroochy Barambah, songwoman, law woman and respected elder of the Turrbal people

“...Home between adventures. I like to spend my time relaxing or trekking around the trails of Mount Coot-tha followed by breakfast at Buzz@ Emporium, Fortitude Valley or Café 63 on Racecourse Road, Ascot” - Alyssa Azar, Everest summit record-holder and adventurer

“...An appealing mix of urban scale; a dense urban core with established neighbourhoods in close proximity. It’s also a great city for a solid 7km morning run along the river followed by a good breakfast and outstanding coffee” - Tyler Brûlé, editor-in-chief Monocle; chairman and CEO, Winkcreative

“...A city that’s shifting up a gear, where chefs and foodies are coming to make their mark” - Matt Moran, celebrity chef, owner ARIA Brisbane

“...OPEN – open minded people, big open skies, wide open spaces and open hearts that dream big and make beautiful world class art” - Katie Noonan, musician, artistic director Queensland Music Festival

“...Chinese dumplings from Sunnybank, African enjera from Moorooka, Vietnamese pho from Darra. It’s the onetime meat-and-three-veg country town that morphed into a gregarious city of the world, but where we still all remember to thank the bus driver when we get off” - Nick Earls, author

“...One of the most liveable cities in the world. I like the weather, I like the relaxing, hospitable and friendly atmosphere. I like the natural beauty with the river meandering through the city” - Li Cunxin, artistic director, Queensland Ballet

“...Supremely liveable. My home and studio is situated on eight bucolic acres surrounded by bushland that’s teaming with wildlife, but we’re only 25 minutes from the CBD and some of our country’s leading museums, galleries and cultural institutions. Brisbane can transform from a busy cosmopolitan city to a large country town in a short drive and I can enjoy the best of both worlds” - Michael Zavros, artist

Brisbane Snapshot THERE ARE

8.1

hours

of sunshine daily (Bureau of Meteorology)

Number of passengers travelling through Brisbane Airport annually

22.7 Top 5

Population of

foreign languages

Brisbane region

2.31

spoken in Brisbane (Australian Bureau of Statistics)

1.

Mandarin

>42,000

2.

Vietnamese

(Australian Bureau of Statistics)

Cantonese

2100 in Brisbane

There are more than

4.

Italian

parks

Spanish

(Brisbane City Council)

Cycle routes

around Brisbane

3712

Average cost of A cup of coffee

3.62

$

(Cappuccino Price Index)

(www.mapmyride.com/au/)

Top 5

most popular international destinations from Brisbane

New Zealand, USA, Indonesia, United Kingdom, FijI (Brisbane Airport Corporation)

>3200 cafes and restaurants (www.tripadvisor.com.au)

36. | BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017

million

(Australian Bureau of Statistics)

hotel beds

3.

5.

million

(Brisbane Airport Corporation)

Brisbane for Business

More pleasure in business travel New hotels are providing more than just technology and services to business travellers looking for a more ‘connected’ travel experience, writes Natascha Mirosch

E 01.

very week, Sydney based IT professional Andrew McConnell checks into Next Hotel in the Queen Street Mall right in the heart of Brisbane’s CBD. “It’s a great location, but it also offers a balance of business and pleasure that’s so important when you spend so much time away from home,” he says.

McConnell, who has been staying at Next about two days a week for the past eight months says he’s often to be found on the fourth level workspace. With floor to ceiling glass overlooking the pool and bar and with free tea and coffee, a library, couches and television, it eschews the traditional hotel business centre.

“It means I don’t have to be stuck in my room all day if I need to work when I’m not in meetings … and I can look out at the pool and even get a beer,” he says.

Other services easing the way for business travellers at Next include an airport pickup

02.

03.

01. Airport pickup in a Tesla 02. Sleep pods for a pre-check-in chill-out 03. Pool Terrace and Bar, all at Next Hotel

service in a Tesla car (comparable in price to a taxi) as well as a 24-hour ‘in transit lounge’ where travellers who arrive before check-in can store luggage, shower, rest in a sleep pod or catch up with work at no extra charge. There’s also a downloadable app that lets guests control their room environment, order room service, check in and out, and access more than 2000 world newspapers and magazines.

However, it’s not just location, technology and services that business travellers are looking for in hotels today. Increasingly they also want a more personal experience. “For business travellers, a hotel is no longer simply just a place to sleep, send emails and conduct business meetings,” says Michael Harry, editor of Fairfax Media’s Executive Style.

“Business travellers are looking for a ‘home away from home’ vibe. Personalised service and quirky flourishes make a big difference when you’re on the move for work.”

Spicers Balfour Suites in New Farm opened last year, an extension of the successful boutique hotel housed in a revamped Queenslander a few doors down the street.

“Our aim is to make guests feel like this is a second home,” says manager Sam Giles. “We welcome all new arrivals by their first names and personally escort them to their suites.” Giles even gives guests his own mobile number and advises them to call him directly if they have any needs or questions. While there’s no business centre, the large rooms, fitted out in art deco style, have comfortable work chairs, desks and offer fast WiFi connectivity. Once the day is done, guests can retreat to the hotel’s rooftop bar (which operates on an honesty system) for complimentary canapés enjoyed with spectacular views to the Story Bridge.

A growing number of hotels and serviced apartments across Brisbane have recognised that sometimes business travellers want a little more than just efficient business services – they want to feel part of the city, like one of the locals, even on only a brief visit.

BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017 | 37.

Brisbane for Business

01.

Brisbane’s

business hotspots With a wave of development in full swing across the city Brisbane is preparing to welcome a growing number of business travellers, writes Natascha Mirosch

01. Queen’s Wharf development 02. Brisbane Airport hotels and Conference Centre under construction 03. Brisbane Convention and Exhibiton Centre, South Bank

02.

W

orld class conference and meeting facilities, high tech infrastructure and rich opportunities for leisure time, along with a temperate climate all year, make Brisbane an appealing business destination. Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, situated in the middle of the city’s cultural, entertainment and riverside dining precinct at South Brisbane, has been named the World’s Best following an international client evaluation and independent review by the Annual General Assembly of the International Association of Congress Centres (AIPC) and since it completed its $140 million expansion four years ago has hosted events such as the G20 Leaders Summit in 2014. It’s the only centre in Australia with three stand-alone theatre-style auditoriums and its flexible meeting facilities can host up to five conventions at the same time. In 2017 alone the centre will host more than 700 events.

The city can host around 18,000 event delegates at any one time, in addition to private business travellers, and that number is set to rise sharply in the next few years as more hotels, conference and meeting venues open their doors.

According to Brisbane Marketing CEO John Aitken Brisbane is already attracting record numbers of international visitors and welcoming new and increased air services between Brisbane and important markets including Tokyo, Shanghai, Singapore, Taiwan and Vancouver.

“When Brisbane Airport completes its New Parallel Runway in 2020, this will double the airport’s capacity making it the most efficient in Australia,” he says. In the meantime building is booming in the city and surrounds as massive infrastructure projects are completed.

03.

BRISBANE CBD

Situated on the river, with fine dining, luxury shopping, business facilities and leisure activities all within easy walking distance.

Connections: The CBD has direct connections to Brisbane Airport via a dedicated Airtrain and is the centre of the local train network.

There are frequent buses around the city centre, including a free city loop bus, as well as bus services to the suburbs. A CityCat (river ferry) stop is located on Eagle Street Pier and there is also a free City Hopper ferry service connecting points both up and down the river. Taxi ranks are plentiful and clearly marked.

Facilities: There are plenty of international hotels in the CBD, from The Hilton to The Marriott. At the end of 2017, Starwood Hotels will open its first W Hotel in Brisbane at 300 George Street, a five-star 305-room hotel with over 900 metres of meeting space overlooking Brisbane River. The group expects to open a Westin Hotel at 111 Mary Street the following year. Meanwhile, a $100 million revitalisation of the historic riverside Howard Smith Wharves under the Story Bridge will see Asian Pacific Group open its second Art Series hotel in the city as part of the development in 2018. The plan for the site also includes events and exhibition spaces, open areas for markets and festivals, parkland, cycle path and riverside promenade.

By 2022 the $3 billion redevelopment of Queen’s Wharf, with added event facilities that can cater for up to 60,000 people, 50 new restaurants and bars, a unique Sky Deck and world class gaming facilities, will also add more than 1100 premium hotel rooms in five new international hotels to Brisbane’s CBD including a Ritz-Carlton and the city’s first six-star hotel.

Best business lunches: Aria, Alchemy, Esquire, Urbane, Otto.

FORTITUDE VALLEY

Eclectic Fortitude Valley supports both big and small business. It is home to start-ups and creative industries but its proximity to the city is attracting a wave of new corporate and accommodation development.

Connections: Fortitude Valley station in Brunswick Street serves all suburban lines including the Airtrain and there are frequent buses from the CBD. Taxis are plentiful to hail in the street or find at one of many dedicated taxi ranks.

Facilities: Fortitude Valley has a plethora of accommodation options, from boutique hotels such as The Emporium (1000 Ann Street) to Rydges (601 Gregory Terrace) on the edge of Bowen Hills and adjacent to the Brisbane Showgrounds and Royal International Convention Centre. The Sage Hotel (70 James Street), incorporating the historic Queens Arms pub, has just opened and is steps away from stylish boutique shopping in James Street while the new ‘urban resort’ Calile will open down the road (on the corner of Doggett Street) in the heart of James Street in 2018, bringing more retail and 178 hotel rooms to the site.

Best business lunches: Les Bubbles, Tartufo, Nickel Kitchen and Bar.

BRISBANE AIRPORT PRECINCT

More than 22.6 million passengers travel through Brisbane Airport every year and that number is expected to continue to grow as airlines add new flight services, and new hotel and convention facilities are completed in the city.

Connections: The airport’s Domestic and International Terminals are connected to the CBD via the Airtrain. The terminals are also well serviced by taxi, with travel time into the city around 15-20 minutes via the Airport Link tunnel.

Facilities: Currently accommodation is served by a 157-room Novotel at Skygate with connections to the terminals by free transfer bus. With passenger numbers travelling through Brisbane Airport expected to more than double by 2034 Brisbane Airport Corporation is investing $3.8 billion in infrastructure, including a New Parallel Runway under construction and due to be completed by 2020.

Already the International Terminal has had a $45 million makeover, the Domestic Terminal has a new dining court and the nearby Skygate retail centre has a new alfresco café strip and children’s outdoor playscape. Later this year the first stage of a new hotel and conference centre development will open and when the development is completed a five-star Brisbane Airport Pullman and 3.5 star Ibis Hotel will be connected to the Domestic Terminal by travelator and to the International Terminal by shuttle.

Nearby, as the Portside residential and restaurant precinct continues to grow around the cruise ship terminal, the new five-star 227-room hotel The Icon is scheduled to open at Northshore in 2018.

Best business lunches: Catalina at the Novotel, Skygate, Brisbane Airport; Japanese Sono and Atalanta Bar & Greek, both at Portside, Hamilton.

SOUTH BRISBANE

Just a short walk across the river from the CBD and home to the cultural, entertainment and leisure precinct of South Bank Parklands. The bohemian village of West End, full of cafés, bars and quirky shops, is walking distance.

Connections: Two railway stations service South Brisbane – South Bank and South Brisbane – there are two CityCat terminals on South Bank’s promenade and two bus stations provide frequent services between the CBD and suburbs. The CBD is within easy walking distance across the Kurilpa, Goodwill and Victoria bridges from South Bank.

Facilities: In 2018, a 238-room, 4.5 star Novotel will open across from the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, and a second boutique Emporium Hotel will open within the Southpoint development on the doorstep of South Brisbane station and across the road from the Griffith University campus.

Best business lunches: StokehouseQ at River Quay, GOMA, Julius.

BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017 | 39.

Brisbane for Business

01.

02.

EATING IN Hotel dining has followed high street trends as creative chefs take over the kitchens to serve up inventive menus that appeal to in-house guests and discerning locals, writes Natascha Mirosch

A

t Thomson’s Reserve, at the Inchcolm Hotel, head chef Anthony Hales is sieving mushroom dust over 21-day aged beef tri-tip. It will be eventually served sous vide, with charred onions, chrysanthemum petals, seaweed-infused oil and pumpkin puree. The restaurant has been awarded a coveted hat by the Brisbane Times Good Food Guide for the past three years and Hales is aiming for a second hat with his creative menu.

It wasn’t so long ago that hotel dining had a reputation for being lacklustre, and a little stuffy, but today guests are not only more than happy to dine at hotel restaurants but so are locals. Even restaurant critics are taking notice.

Celebrity chef and advocate of the paleo way of life Pete Evans is consultant chef at Asana by Pete Evans at Capri

by Fraser. Paleo followers will appreciate a menu that includes carb-less dishes such as pork belly 40. | BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017

with smoked apple puree, kraut, morcilla and devilled jus or a paleo burger with grass-fed beef, duck, egg, bacon, cashew cheese, lettuce, tomato, herb aioli and house-made barbecue sauce.

At Lennon’s at Next Hotel, prime beef like a Nolan Private Selection rib eye on the bone from South East Queensland or a 300g black onyx Hunter Valley sirloin spend time getting charry on the Parilla grill, before being served up with potato and porcini gratin and choice of sauce. There are lighter options too, such as kingfish sashimi, oysters three ways or beef tartare with traditional accompaniments.

Gambaro’s Seafood Restaurant, one of the 04 city’s oldest established restaurants in Gambaro’s Hotel in Caxton Street is the place locals go for premium Australian seafood – like the famous local live mud crab cooked with garlic or lemon butter or served spicy Singapore style. Then

03. there are sweet barbecued king prawns with salsa verde, or Moreton Bay bugs with asparagus, lemon and capers. An impressive wine list includes a collection of premium Asutralian Penfolds.

At Bacchus at Rydges Hotel, South Bank, new executive chef Massimo Speroni has arrived fresh from two Michelin-starred San Domenico in Italy but he’s not entirely new to Brisbane having been on the team that opened Pony in the city several years ago. His five and seven course degustation menus are complemented by wine matches curated by head sommelier Andrew Giblin.

From a plate of charcuterie at 3pm to a late night Darling Downs 150-day grain fed bavette steak with Café de Paris butter, The Croft House Town Kitchen and Bar at the Sebel Hotel has an all hours, all appetites menu. There’s a focus on local produce that includes locally roasted coffee and a selection of craft beer and Australian wine.

drinks out Brisbane has a reputation for its sophisticated bar scene and skilled bar staff, many of them international award winners, and small bars are opening up all over town

T

here are 87 types of tequila sourced from around the world at Fortitude Valley’s Alquimia Tequila Bar including many that have come from boutique distilleries in Mexico. The cocktail list is a selection of classic tequila-based drinks with a contemporary twist.

In 2016, Cobbler Bar in West End took out the Australian Bartender magazine award for Australia’s best small bar. The venue’s small size belies the treasures within, including 400 whiskies from the Scottish highlands, lowlands and islands (including a rare 32-year-old Laphroaig) to drops from Ireland, Japan, Australia, India, Taiwan and even Switzerland.

At Dutch Courage Officers Mess, a double-storied colonial-themed bar in Fortitude Valley, there are 120 different varieties of gin, including some hard-to-find drops from Australia and all corners of the globe. There are also a dozen or more gin-based 01. Bacchus at Rydges, South Bank cocktails to try.

02. Sixteen Antlers at Pullman Hotel, city Top shelf rum 03. Golf at Victoria Park connoisseurs should 04. Asana at Capri by Fraser, city check in to The 05. Cobbler Bar, West End Walrus Club, a 06. Exchange Hotel rooftop bar, city

cosy, secret basement bar reached via an unsigned staircase beneath the historic Regatta Hotel at Toowong. There are more than 300 types of rum and a rum cocktail list that changes monthly. They also offer 30 different types of Cuban cigars.

Brisbane’s only champagne bar is a tongue-in-cheek nod to the city’s famous pub ‘beer gardens’ of old. Set in a garden behind Baedeker bar in Fortitude Valley, the Champagne Garden Bar serves the whole range of Louis Roederer, from Carte Blanche to Cristal.

– Natascha Mirosch

05.

06.

TIME TO PLAY More and more business travellers want to be able to combine work and leisure and that’s easy to do in Brisbane

Free city tours

Brisbane Greeters, recognised by their bright red and white t-shirts, are volunteer guides who have a wealth of local knowledge to share on tours of the city. Tours last two to four hours and can be personalised to a visitor’s interests (booking required five days in advance) or Greeter’s Choice tours depart daily from the city and take in a range of popular sights. Book three days in advance to join a small group tour – maximum six people. Search Brisbane Greeters at www.visitbrisbane.com.au

Run with locals

Join thousands of locals, from serious runners to mums with strollers, as they race to beat their own personal best on a timed 5km run every Saturday morning starting at 7am. There’s a Park Run course that does a circuit from Streets Beach at South Bank across the river to the Go Between Bridge and back again. Another course follows the river from New Farm Park, past Brisbane Powerhouse to Teneriffe and back. It’s free to run, but registration is required. See www.parkrun.com.au

Free wine tasting

Cru Bar + Cellar (1/22 James Street, Fortitude Valley) offers free wine tastings every Saturday between 2pm and 4pm. There are usually around six bottles open – it might be pinot noir from all different parts of the world or

six different wines from the same Australian winery. On Wednesdays from 5.30pm there’s also a complimentary wine tasting with the head sommelier from Bacchus Bar at Rydges Hotel, South Bank. See www.crubar.com

Hit the green

Victoria Park, the closest golf club to the inner city, is a public course with no membership fees. It has an 18-hole, USGA-rated par 63 course with challenging tees and fairways. There are golf clubs and motorised buggies or futuristic ‘golf boards’ for hire. If you’re short of time, there’s also a driving range where you can hit a couple of buckets of balls from early morning until 10pm weekdays and 11pm weekends. See www.victoriapark.com.au

Lunch at the farmers market

Brisbane’s unique inner city farmers market is on all day every Wednesday in Reddacliff Place at the top of Queen Street Mall on George Street. Stalls sell a range of local tropical fruit and vegetables, fresh seafood and more.

There’s also a smorgasbord of cooked food from around the world, from Turkish pizzas to German sausages, Spanish paella and Brazilian barbecue.

The nearby City Botanic Gardens, overlooking the river, is a perfect lunch spot to picnic with your purchases.

– Natascha Mirosch BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017 | 41.

Brisbane Adventure

Access all angles

B

risbane River curls like a serpent through the city. Once the lifeblood to early dwellers, first the Indigenous tribes who lived there and found it abundant with fish for food and later as a trade route, today it’s a scene of entirely different activity. Clusters of restaurants and bars now cling to its banks, so river gazing over a sunset cocktail or perhaps share plates among mates is a popular choice. Smooth gliding CityCats and smaller cross river ferries cut through the water for the daily commute while pleasure craft cruise more slowly to take in the sights and changing landscape of the City Botanic Gardens, salt-water trees and mangroves, and skyscrapers that hug the shoreline.

Looking across the river from the CBD the heritage-listed Kangaroo Point Cliffs loom large and steeply, a slice of natural wilderness that has become a magnet for abseilers, rock climbers and serious joggers who tackle the steep stairs – 107 steps from base to top – on a daily basis.

The city view from the top of the cliffs is made for Instagram, with no two images ever the same from the morning sun mirrored in the glass skyscrapers across the water to sunset. It’s just one of many ways to see the river and some of the more energetic alternatives start at the foot of those cliffs where adventure

company Riverlife rents out fat-tyred segways to ride along the riverside paths, rollerblades and bicycles, or stand-up paddle boards and kayaks for an even closer connection to the river itself. If bobbing on the surface in the wake of CityCats and ferries flitting by seems daunting, a night-time ‘paddle and prawns’ tour with Riverlife soon sets our mind at ease when we join a group of paddlers as the sun dips down beyond the skyscrapers on a Friday night.

There is an excited banter rising up from tonight’s crowd as we take in a short set of instructions from the fit and smiling crew, who are clearly expert at keeping the mood light. One by one we descend a ladder into the darkening river and lower ourselves into individual kayaks sporting lights on poles and gradually, without fuss, we bob our way into a long line, stopping and grouping a couple of times for instructions.

Delighted onlookers shout from the shore “How far have you come?” after we’ve been on the water about 30 minutes but, who knows, I’ve already slipped into a relaxed trance on the gently rippling water. I’m in a kayak for just the third time ever but the paddling is a mild challenge and utterly enjoyable with the city lights rising up so close by and reflected in the ripples all around us.

Depending on the tide, kayakers head downstream and underneath the historic Story Bridge, or around the bend in the other direction past the city’s alfresco dining quarter at South Bank Parklands, also home to the Brisbane Wheel and Brisbane’s cultural precinct.

We paddle downstream and under the Story Bridge, the lap of water and chitchat between paddlers the only sounds

IImages: Brisbane Marketing (abseil and kayak) and Tourism and Events Queensland

Brisbane River runs through the heart of the city and there are some exciting ways to view it for adventurers, as Wendy Hughes discovers

01. Story Bridge Climb 02. Cycling the riverside paths 03. Abseiling Kangaroo Point Cliffs 04. Kayaking on Brisbane River

42. | BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017

01.

02.

noticeable, despite traffic passing overhead.

The bridge, designed by the same engineer who was behind the Sydney Harbour Bridge, provides another thrilling way to view the river – and all of Brisbane – from the top of its cantilevered frame. Story Bridge Adventure Climbs venture up several times a day from dawn to after dark on tours that take about two hours from the briefing and suiting up to the 1138 steps climb to 80 metres above sea level. Like the kayak, it appears perhaps more daunting than it is.

The first part of the climb straight to the highest point is the steepest then it follows a relatively medium gradient down to the centre and back before the climb down. From the top it’s a truly stunning view to the bay on one side and the mountains on the other and if that’s not a sufficient adrenaline charge then thrillseekers can add a 30-metre abseil down the anchor pylon to their adventure.

From our vantage point it’s also a majestic view but just past the bridge our guide tells us it’s time to turn and that the home run to those prawns back on the deck is going to be an easier stretch with the tide on our side.

We’ve been on the water about 90 minutes by the time we step back on land and meet our fellow paddlers who are a mix of locals and visitors from other Australian cities and overseas.

While my tired muscles will remind me the next day of the fun I had on our summer night’s paddle it’s still more memorable for the people we met afterwards swapping stories from the journey and sending our laughter up into the night air on the banks of a river we now know a little more intimately than before.

03.

More ways to play Barefoot bowls

Street art trail

Lawn bowls is an Australian institution, once the preserve of retirees who’d play at their local club in their trademark ‘whites’ and panama hats but the seniors have opened their club doors to young visitors and a new tradition has taken hold – starting the weekend on a Friday afternoon by kicking off your shoes, wriggling your toes in the grass and rolling a heavy ball along the green for some old-school fun with a beer and a group of mates.

From painted traffic signal boxes on street corners to specially commissioned murals on bridge pylons, Brisbane is embracing public art and many of the city’s graffiti artists (such as Fintan Magee and Sofles) have gone on to become revered around the world for their street art. Look out for Frank and Mimi’s ‘If only you knew’ in Arch Lane (they also painted the wall behind the bar at Bloodhound bar on Brunswick Street in the Valley) or Noke’s ‘The Birds’ in Dock Street and search online at blog.queensland.com to find a list of more than 50 works to seek out for a selfguided tour. The landscape is constantly changing as pieces get painted over and more pieces are popping up on walls every day. In February the annual Brisbane Street Art Festival turns the spotlight on new works, live art, music, exhibitions and workshops featuring some of the world’s best street artists.

Ghost hunting Why wait for Halloween when you can go ghost hunting any weekend at Toowong Cemetery (Australia’s largest) and Boggo Road Gaol, Annerley, where guides will share the stories of murders, crime and legends during spooky night-time tours. Boggo Road was one of Australia’s most notorious gaols, home to some of the country’s most notable criminals.

Segway this way Glide rather than walk on a Segway tour that lasts between 45 minutes and two hours on a course that mainly traverses the city, South Bank and Kangaroo Point, taking in sights such as the Story Bridge, the City Botanic Gardens, the cultural precinct and more.

cycle meetup There are many ways to see Brisbane by bicycle as there are more than 3500 cycle routes around the city and suburbs for every grade of rider but cycling with locals adds the bonus of meeting new friends while discovering the city’s best side.

Brisbane By Bicycle hosts tours daily, from a two hour ‘Essentials’ riverside circuit to the popular four-hour ‘Morning’ tour which includes a picnic.

Both depart South Bank Parklands.

04.

BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017 | 00.

Brisbane Adventure

02.

Not even Google maps will help you find some of Brisbane’s best bars but Natascha Mirosch offers a clue ...

01.

Beneath 351 Brunswick Street in Fortitude Valley is a subterranean wonderland of secret rooms, lounges and dimly lit bars, inspired by the street markets of South East Asia and the Golden Gai district of Shinjuku, Tokyo. Some of (1) Heya Bar’s five small bars have live music; others are furnished with pool tables or pinball machines. The menu, too, is based on Asian-style street eats and the eclectic drinks list covers wine, beer and cocktails.

Craft beer crawl A craft beer tour will show you the way to some of the best home-grown microbreweries in Brisbane. Brewsvegas is an annual festival held every year in March dedicated to the craft with heaps of special events over 10 days but tours happen every week somewhere in the city, taking in four or five micro-breweries with talks from the brewers and tasting paddles at each venue.

44. | BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017

Getting to (2) Greaser (259 Brunswick Street, Fortitude Valley) is half the fun. Look for the red double doors across the road from Brunswick Street station. Go in, then through the back alley, past the commercial kitchen and you’ll find Greaser, a much loved late night haunt of locals. The ambience in this gritty, graffitied basement bar is all American, including the menu.

A bar within a bar? Go up the staircase at the iconic modern country bar (3) Lefty’s Old Time Music Hall in Paddington’s Caxton Street and you’ll find The Mermaid Lounge. It’s tiny, kitschy good fun, with a replica model galleon, fishing net ceilings, a taxidermied shark and Sailor Jerry wall murals. Keeping in the seafaring spirit, the drinks list has about 60 different types of rum.

Accessed either via an internal staircase in Australia’s second oldest bookshop, Archive Books on Charlotte Street, or via a laneway on Elizabeth Street, John Mills Himself is a tiny bar with a strong ‘support local’ ethos. Beer and wine is sourced from not more than 250km away and spirits from Australian made and owned distilleries. Even the mixers and garnishes are local.

Woolloongabba’s Can you Keep a Secret (619 Stanley Street) is part vintage boutique, selling everything from retro décor to frocks, and part bar. Cosy interconnected lounge rooms are furnished with vintage velvet armchairs and faux fireplaces and there’s an astro-turfed ‘secret garden’. The drinks list includes Australian craft beer, cider, wine and cocktails and there’s no food, but you are welcome to bring your own.

Images above: Tourism and Events Queensland

SECRET BARS exposed

03.

Try It

PEAK THRILLS Head for the hills for an adrenaline-charged escape

Day One Start with breakfast at Lost Boys café (694 Ann Street) which brings the outside in with its treehouse-like decor in the midst of bustling Fortitude Valley. The menu is organic vegetarian and the café carbon-neutral. Then tour the city in the open air, seated comfortably on the back of a Boom Mustang Thunderbird trike which can carry up to two passengers. Arrange a pickup point with owner Chrissy McDonnell and choose one of the tours from her program that typically last from one hour to a full day, depending on destination. Short trips include a city sights special or heritage trail up and down the hilly streets of Hamilton, adjacent to the river, and long excursions go as far as the Scenic Rim about 100km south of Brisbane. Ask nicely and pack very lightly – the smallest overnight bag you can cleverly pack – and Chrissy can take you up the scenic twists and turns on the road to Tamborine Mountain where you can stay the night in a mountain lodge.

Day Two Hang gliders are a common sight soaring off the hillside at Main Western Road on Tamborine Mountain about an hour’s drive south of Brisbane, and while it looks like it’s for experts only, novices can hitch a ride on a tandem flight with Ken Hill or one of his team from South East Queensland Hang Gliding. This really is the closest there is to getting a bird’s eye view of the spectacular valley without a motor. The flight takes about 15-20 minutes but the journey is about two hours by the time you’re brought back up the mountain after touch-down. See www.hangglidequeensland.com.au Back in Tamborine Mountain Village stroll along Gallery Walk to browse everything from cuckoo clock shops to craft breweries and pick a stop for lunch. After the exhilaration of the morning, spend the afternoon in recovery, tasting the blends at Witches Chase Cheese and, if you’re game, the extreme beers at Fortitude Brewery, or taking a nearby bushwalk. Sleep soundly for another big day to follow. See www.witcheschasecheese.com.au

Day Three It’s the theme park you probably haven’t heard of but Thunderbird Park is a rollercoaster of thrills, powered under your own steam. It takes almost four hours to complete the Treetop Challenge – and it’s almost all climbing – over a number of graded courses (from beginner to serious ‘black’) and more than 100 challenges to complete, including ziplines, rope ladders and a Skyfall drop from a treetop platform. The Canyon Flyer Zipline Tour alone is an adrenaline charge, 60 metres above ground in the tree canopy and reaching speeds of up to 70km/h as you zig zag the canyon by way of seven different ziplines. It takes three hours to complete. See www.thunderbirdpark.com A shuttle bus can take you back down the mountain to the Gold Coast for connections back to Brisbane and the start of your next adventure.

Who to follow These are just a few sources of inspiration to help you plan an exploration of Brisbane and South East Queensland Find out what’s new where just in time for the weekend at the weekend edition. Every Thursday new content is posted in categories following food and drink, fashion, design, culture, people and events around town, making it a good pre-weekend planner. Sections such as The Street Photographer and Locals also provide an insight to the creative personality of the city. Tap in at www.theweekendedition.com.au Kerry Heaney is Brisbane’s leading food blogger and a regular contributor to BNE magazine who is eating her way around Queensland (and the world) bite by bite, sharing highlights from the the cocktail bars of Fortitude Valley to the red dust veranda of Birdsville Pub. It’s not just a guide but a dish by dish deconstruction of what’s on the menu from the cheapest diners to the smartest degustation tables, and she shares the back stories of where the food is from. See www.eatdrinkandbekerry.blogspot.com Visit Brisbane is Brisbane City Council’s guide to what’s on and things to do in the city and South East Queensland with a guide to regions from Moreton Bay to the Scenic Rim. It’s updated to include current events and offers inspiration for everything from where to dine out on the best steaks to a hot list of free things to do.

There’s also a guide to accommodation. See www.visitbrisbane.com.au Queensland.com is the site to find out more about destinations from the Tropical North and Great Barrier Reef to the Outback and Southern Country.

Plan a trip, read about experiences by others who have been there, done that, keep up with major events, be inspired by beautiful images and find out about hot deals on tours and accommodation. See www.queensland.com Weibo.com provides up-to-date information in Chinese language on Brisbane Airport services and facilities as well as inspiration for travel destinations accessible direct ftom Brisbane, a guide to shopping deals within the airport, ticket promotions, airline updates servicing Brisbane Airport and special events.

Follow the news at www.weibo.com/bnebluey Brisbane Airport’s app has a social sign-in through Facebook or Google accounts, providing access to exclusive offers, and there’s a booking section for airport parking, rental cars and hotels.

Selected content is also available in simple Chinese, Japanese and Korean languages. Available free from Apple Store and Google Play.

BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017 | 45.

Brisbane Freestyle

Heal House

Stay small Smaller hotels and guesthouses are making a big impact as travellers look for a more personal service, writes Tonya Turner

E

very day is a special event for the owners of luxury Brisbane B&B, Heal House in New Farm, just 15 minutes from the city. Lindsay Bennett and Bryce Williams (pictured above) have been the driving force behind many of the city’s most prestigious events, including an annual fashion festival, for more than a decade. These days, however, they’re just as likely to be cooking breakfast and chatting with guests on the wide verandas of their elegant boutique guest house as socialising with Brisbane celebrities.

Running Heal House, a gracious old Queenslander they renovated themselves, hasn’t been that much of a leap from their normal day jobs, Lindsay says. “It’s almost like an extension of what we do with events around Brisbane, because every guest experience is a new event for us and that’s how we treat it.”

The pair stumbled into the accommodation

46 . | BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017

industry almost by accident. They bought the house to renovate with the idea of living upstairs and working downstairs, but friends in hospitality soon convinced them to turn it into a guesthouse after they discovered it was already licensed as a boarding house.

“We thought if we were going to do a guesthouse we wanted it to be something really prestigious,” Lindsay says. Their efforts have paid off and Heal House was awarded a TripAdvisor 2016 Certificate of Excellence and named one of its Top 5 Bed and Breakfasts in Brisbane.

Queenslander homes are an iconic feature of the city’s residential architecture but a rarity in the luxury accommodation market. Heal House provides accommodation in three beautifully appointed guest rooms with ensuites and the full use of stylish communal areas.

Lindsay and Bryce run the guest house completely on their own, doing everything

from taking bookings and tailoring itineraries to cooking breakfasts with locally-sourced produce, gardening and changing bed sheets.

Offering guests an insider’s guide to dining and things to do is an important part of their service. “Brisbane has so many untapped places to go and see,” Lindsay says. “Whether it’s a local café or bar in James Street or the Fortitude Valley precinct, we give them options in order to get the true flavour of what Brisbane is about.”

Guests come from overseas, interstate or regional areas and usually stay a couple of nights, drawn to the charming and intimate setting of the guest house. Meeting new guests is one of the most rewarding parts of the job for Lindsay and Bryce. Although they work seven days a week juggling special events with their Heal House duties, they wouldn’t have it any other way. “We love what we’re doing and to us it’s not work. It’s a wonderful experience,” Lindsay says.

Boutique is booming Independent travellers are looking for personality in the places they choose to stay

1 Tryp Hotel

Street art is a feature of the hip Tryp Hotel (14 Constance Street, Fortitude Valley) outside and inside with rooms each featuring the work of world-renowned artists such as Fintan Magee, Numskull, Rone and Beastman. Some rooms have courtyards or spas. There’s a lively basement burger bar (Chur Burger) and rooftop bar called Up on Constance, a hangout as popular with locals as it is with guests.

2 THE Johnson

Brisbane’s first Art Series Hotel, The Johnson (477 Boundary Street, Spring Hill), pays homage to artist Michael Johnson, with his signature abstract works displayed around the hotel. Art aficionados can tune in to the dedicated art channel, browse the art library or arrange a free art tour.

It’s walking distance to the city and Roma Street Parklands but guests can also book a Smart car or Lekker bicycle to tour the city.

1 2

1

3

3New Inchcolm Hotel

Built in the 1920s the heritage-listed New Inchcolm Hotel (73 Wickham Terrace, Brisbane) has more recently been restored to its former glory in an elegant New York art deco style and is now part of the MGallery boutique hotel portfolio. Accommodation ranges from hotel rooms to two-bedroom suites and lofts, each designed to reflect the art deco theme, some featuring four poster beds and city views.

There’s an intimate cocktail bar and Thomson’s Reserve Restaurant is highly regarded.

4

5

4Spicers Balfour Hotel 5Emporium Hotel

You can’t get any more Queensland than a courtyard surrounded by Frangipani trees and shady wide verandas, which is why Spicers Balfour Hotel (37 Balfour Street, New Farm) could easily be mistaken for a stately mansion, so familiar in the leafy suburb of New Farm, than a boutique hotel. There are just 17 rooms and suites, furnished with a creative mix of modern and antique furniture, windows that actually open to let in the cooling afternoon breezes and an honesty bar with views of the city skyline.

As Brisbane’s first boutique hotel, the Emporium (1000 Ann Street, Fortitude Valley) paved the way for the boom that followed, bringing luxury to the edge of the Valley entertainment precinct. It has won too many awards to mention so it is no surprise it is now among TripAdvisor’s top one per cent of hotels in Australia and it is capturing global attention, named Leading Boutique Hotel in Australia at the 2016 World Travel Awards. It’s cocktail bar is a favourite stop for a glamour crew.

- Natascha Mirosch

BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017 | 47.

Brisbane Freestyle

Food IS the

new art

Tonya Turner interviews two Brisbane musos who disrupted the café culture in Brisbane and have been a great success, and they’re not the only ones

T

he Southside Tea Room is like a second home for couple Patience Hodgson and John Patterson (pictured). Although they’re most recognised as members of three-piece indie rock band The Grates, their café has become a much-loved hangout for locals on the east side of Brisbane since it opened four years ago and the couple now spends more time there than touring the rock venues of the world.

Much like the band itself, the café defies convention. The décor is eclectic and inexpensive, a mix of retro tables and chairs and kitsch wall art sourced from op shops or second-hand sites. There’s a pinball machine which plays five games for 40 cents and the café hosts events such as art exhibitions, clothes swaps and board game battles. “[When we opened] Everything else seemed like it had a lot of money behind it and it could still fail and we thought we could try to do something on the cheap and build a community around it instead,” John says.

Their plan worked and in 2015 the café expanded into the store next door to house Death Valley Bar, a beer garden and to provide space for the Red Robin Supper Truck out back.

Opening a café and bar on the fringe of Brisbane city had been a dream for the couple since their early days on the road. “When we were touring the world it was almost research for opening a bar or coffee shop,” John says, and two years spent in New York gave them an extra push. “I was

Take a bite Breakfast Naïm means ‘pleasant’ in Hebrew and serves breakfast with a Middle Eastern flavour in dishes such as spiced lamb on flatbread with house pickles and hummus, kusheri, Green Shashuka (Tunisian-style eggs baked in spicy spinach and shallots with avocado sour cream) or Belgian waffles with house-made honey ice cream, lavender marshmallow, cacao nibs and a pistachio and waffle crumble. At 14 Collingwood Street, Paddington and 111 Melbourne Street, South Brisbane.

in love with all of the dive bars we drank at all over the USA,” Patience says.

“They were relaxed, casual places that served up yummy craft beers. Apart from two bars in Brisbane, I thought the rest seemed too dressy, especially since I’d been turned away from places for not wearing high heels. I wanted to disrupt the nightlife in Brisbane badly and open a bar that would welcome anybody,” Patience says.

Southside Tea Room started with one beer on tap and a fridge full of others. It took a couple of years for locals to warm to the idea of a neighbourhood bar but, as the space changed and grew, John and Patience secured a loyal following.

Providing a multi-purpose venue is also important to them. “The café becomes a function room for the bar at night. I think of it like a community hall,” John says.

It’s also a family affair, with Patience’s brother and sister and John’s sister all working there. Even The Grates’ drummer, Ritchie Daniell, runs the coffee machine three days a week. As for The Grates, they’re still writing songs and playing shows, but since opening the café and bar, and the birth of daughter Soda, now two, John and Patience have a whole lot more to juggle.

“It turns out it takes way more time than we expected running a café and a bar,” John says.

Southside Tea Room is at 639 Wynnum Road, Morningside

NaÏM

Lunch Gauge may look like a hole-in-the-wall café in South Brisbane, but it’s more like fine dining without attitude, serving up creative dishes such as kangaroo tartare with aged beetroot and smoked hazelnut, or black garlic bread with burnt vanilla and brown butter that has even the most cynical food critics raving. At 77 Grey Street, South Brisbane.

GAUGE

Catchment Brewing Co. in West End has a menu to complement a wide range of craft beers from Brisbane, around Australia and around the world that includes snacks, tapas plates to share such as drunken yabbies cooked in almond saffron butter, ribs such as Galicia pork in burnt maple and larger dishes. At 150 Boundary Street, West End. GAUGE morning after

GOMA (Queensland’s Gallery of Modern Art) at South Bank is noted not only for its brilliant art exhibitions but also for its creative cuisine. In fact, executive chef Josue Lopez takes his inspiration for the constantly changing menu from what is currently showing at the gallery with a strong focus on local and Indigenous ingredients including the more unusual emu and quandong. At Stanley Place, South Brisbane.

Dinner

morning after

Bar Alto excels in modern Italian cuisine and their goat ragu with pappardelle is a signature dish as are the mussels. Outside there’s a wide, shady deck overlooking the river which is a busy spot for pre- or post-show drinks or dinner in summer. At Brisbane Powerhouse, 119 Lamington Street, New Farm.

Madame Rouge Bistro and Bar feels like it’s been lifted

from a Parisian arrondissement and transplanted in the Fortitude Valley entertainment precinct with its heavy red velvet curtains, candlelit tables and a menu of bistro classics, from soufflé to beignet, pissaladiere to confit du canard, each given a modern-day tweak overseen by venerated Brisbane chef Philip Johnson. At 11b/100 McLachlan Street, Fortitude Valley.

StokehouseQ seems to float over the water with floor to ceiling glass doors (usually opened) framing river and city views. A more casual bar is the hot spot to be for Sunday Sessions with DJ beats playing after 2pm and Oyster Hour, a weekend special in the summer months which serves up Bollinger by the glass, is a favourite prelude to lunch. At River Quay, Sidon Street, South Brisbane.

Drinks plus GERARD’S BAR

At Morning After the decor is Skandi-chic and sleek and the all-day breakfast menu served up by mother and son team Soula and Yianni Passaris offers some adventurous choices including key lime pie or pickled octopus with almonds, fried eggs, dill oil and a slice of sourdough alongside vanilla hotcakes and the full-blown hangover cure – breakfast carbonara with 63-degree eggs. At corner of Vulture and Cambridge Streets, West End.

Billykart Kitchen’s celebrity chef, Ben O’Donoghue,

also designs a menu that ignores traditional breakfast times and confidently crosses international borders with dishes such as spanner crab and scallop congee or huevos rancheros – the Mexican-style eggs with pulled pork, black pudding, plantain chips and salsa. At 2 Edmonstone Street, West End and 1 Eric Crescent, Annerley.

Gerard’s Bar, tucked away behind James Street in Fortitude Valley, serves up the best wagyu cheeseburger in town and premium bar snacks, from plates of Spanish jamon and salumi to smoked pork and pea croquettes.

The best seats in the house are the stools at the bar where diners can chat with the staff and see how the culinary creations are made with all sorts of high-tech kitchen gadgetry. Ar 13a/23 James Street, Fortitude Valley.

Vaquero is another hidden gem at the back of a small butchery on a busy thoroughfare at Albion. Not surprisingly, the menu specialises in aged and cured meats offering a contemporary riff on traditional tapas, from platters of charcuterie to scallop boudin with pickled fennel. At 344 Sandgate Road, Albion.

Seymour’s Oysters and Cocktails is a quirky little bar

in Caxton Street with a moody New Orleans jazz-infused aesthetic to the decor and a drinks list that also takes its cues from the deep south. Oysters come freshly shucked and served with various accompaniments. At 19 Caxton Street, Petrie Terrace.

- Natascha Mirosch BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017 | 49.

01.

Brisbane Freestyle

On with the show Brisbane is an incubator for creative talent, providing a stage for world class shows as well as intimate experimental performances, writes Tonya Turner

S

tar couple Luke Kennedy and Naomi Price came to national attention after each competing in a different series of TV reality show The Voice Australia, but both were regulars on the Brisbane stage years before that. “We met 13 years ago doing community theatre in Brisbane and we’ve been together for six years. The whole time we’ve known each other it’s been through our love of art, music and theatre,” Naomi says.

When Luke placed second on The Voice in 2013 under the mentorship of global star Ricky Martin, his star rose to new heights. Since then it’s been a non-stop ride of shows and performances all around the country, but there’s nothing quite like performing at home. “Performing in Brisbane means performing in front of family for me,” he says.

Naomi appeared on The Voice in 2015 but she’s made her own success with writing partner Adam Brunes in The Little Red Company which they formed in 2012. Their debut work Rumour Has It, based on the songs and life story of Adele, has been a runaway hit and continues to tour the country with sell-out shows. This year they will premiere a new work called Lady Beatle, based on the songs of The Beatles.

“Brisbane is thriving in terms of original creative work,” Naomi says. “We are proud to shirk off expectations and not conform. We make the art we want to make, not the art we think people want us to make … You’re more likely to find a hidden gem or an unexpected treat in Brisbane because people are making something really special.”

The Little Red Company is one of many Brisbane independent theatre companies making waves across the country and overseas. Rumour Has It played in Malaysia last year. “Circa, Hot Brown Honey, Briefs, Dead Puppet Society all started in Brisbane and have taken their work to the world. Brisbane artists aren’t only interested in playing to a Brisbane stage, they’re playing to a global stage,” Naomi says.

Luke and Naomi often collaborate on shows as well as work independently.

“Because we’re both theatre performers we get to do it together, and that’s a bonus,” Luke says.

As well as appearing alongside Naomi in Rumour Has It Luke also stars in shows Swing On This and Smooth Criminal, based on the works of Michael Jackson, and in his own intimate performances with just a pianist.

01. Naomi Price (centre) and Luke Kennedy (far right) and company on Rumour Has It. 02.

GOMA; 03. Rabbits at QPAC; 04. Pat Tierney and 05. Tenille perform free at City Sounds 50. | BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017

02.

03.

Try It

City up late Marvel at modern art

Queensland’s Gallery of Modern Art recently celebrated its 10th anniversary and continues to inspire conversation and debate through its collection of around 17,000 artworks from Australia and around the world. It has earned a stellar reputation for major exhibitions such as its flagship Asia Pacific Triennial which will return in late 2018 and the upcoming Marvel:

Sounds of the city Brisbane is so proud of its music scene that residents nominated to call one of the city bridges after seminal local band of the 1980s, the Go Betweens. The city also plays host to the largest free live music program in Australia, with both emerging and established artists playing City Sounds sessions during the day at outdoor locations around the city centre and every weekend at South Bank Parklands. See

Creative stages

04.

05.

A time-weathered 1920s power station has been reborn as a creative hub by the river at New Farm. Still bearing its original graffiti, Brisbane Powerhouse is home to (sometimes controversial) art, live music, theatre, comedy, talks, dance, film, visual arts and digital art with more than 1250 performances each year. As well as ticketed events, there are also free events, including comedy every Friday night, music every Sunday afternoon and a program of talks and workshops. See www.brisbanepowerhouse.org Named after a celebrated Australian poet, the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts in Fortitude Valley is home to a unique blend of cabaret,

Creating the Cinematic Universe (from May to September 2017) which includes original artwork, film props, costumes and more from the blockbuster movies.

It’s Up Late program that accompanies each major exhibition keeps the gallery open after hours and has found a new audience with a program of talks and live music that quickly sell out. See www.qagoma.com.au

www.visitbrisbane.com.au Fortitude Valley is Brisbane’s nightclub precinct and The Tivoli and The Zoo are a couple of the oldest venues still drawing loyal crowds to live shows.

John Collins, one-time bassist in top Aussie band Powderfinger now runs The Triffid at Newstead, a more laidback venue that inhabits the site of an old WWII aircraft hangar.

The vibe is more backyard house party than nightclub which attracts different age groups with a program that includes acoustic sessions and free events.

circus, dance, music and contemporary performance. It also houses The Institute of Modern Art (IMA), one of Australia’s oldest independent art galleries and Musica Viva, the largest presenter of chamber music in the world. See www.judithwrightcentre.com The Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) at South Bank is Brisbane’s largest entertainment space, hosting more than 1200 performances each year across three theatres and a concert hall. Backstage tours offer a sneak peek behind the scenes that tell the story of QPAC’s history, development and how shows come to life. See www.qpac.com.au

discover the lost world Day one The weekend starts on Friday night and a CityCat ride to Portside then a short walk to the Eat Street markets which is a virtual world fair of food choices served from a village of converted shipping containers. It’s on early evening so plenty of time to catch a bus back into Fortitude Valley for drinks at the Bowery, a small dimly lit bar that has stood the test of time on the main strip of Ann Street. You’re right in the middle of the Valley entertainment precinct now and clubs and bars beckon from all sides, but pace yourself for a day of discovery ahead.

Day two Hire a 4WD and head south to Canungra, a quaint rural village about 80km from Brisbane in the region known as the Scenic Rim. Drive another 8km to O’Reilly’s Canungra Valley Vineyards to explore the property, look for platypus in the creek, perhaps indulge in a high tea or lunch and view the wine selection (all named after members of the O’Reilly family) at the cellar door. Then motor on to O’Reilly’s Rainforest retreat (pictured above), a further 27km into the Lamington National Park.

Accommodation at O’Reilly’s is perched unobtrusively onto the sloping hillside overlooking the McPherson Ranges, offering spectacular views and all sorts of wilderness activities such as guided walks, animal shows and the mustdo Tree Top Walk (over nine suspension bridges). If you’ve lingered over a long lunch then you might have missed the Billy Tea History Tour that takes off at about 1pm each day to a lookout nearby but the Flying Fox Adventure starts at 2pm or, if you’re feeling lazy, even later, there’s an informal AV presentation about the area at 4pm.

Day three If you’ve booked ahead you can take an off-road twowheeled Segway tour through creek crossings to Morans Falls which takes about two hours – there are about 500 waterfalls accessible via 160km of nature trails in the area.

After that, it’s time to bliss out in the Lost World Day Spa (there’s a couples suite) and have a nap before dining on home-made pizzas in the casual Rainforest Bar or opt for a gourmet à la carte meal in the dining room including wine matches from O’Reilly’s Canungra Valley Vineyards.

BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017 | 51.

Brisbane Luxe

Ultimate indulgence Chartering a super yacht for sightseeing, shopping designer brands and creative fine dining are just a few luxurious ways to spend 48 hours in Brisbane, writes Natascha Mirosch

B

risbane is welcoming more international visitors to the city than ever before, bouyed by a low Australian dollar, well-priced airfares and new flight services added by airlines between cities including Tokyo, Shanghai, Singapore, Taiwan and Vancouver in the last year alone. All these factors are making it easier for more travellers to discover Brisbane’s best qualities beyond it’s sunny climate and relaxed lifestyle, including its cosmopolitan art and entertainment scene, luxury shopping, first class restaurants and experiences that rival any in the world.

International luxury brands have recently arrived in the city, including Gucci, Cartier and Burberry to join Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Tiffany & Co and others in the Edward Street precinct, while some of Australia’s best restaurateurs are choosing to open their next venues in Brisbane to feed a passion for dining out.

With a bay teeming with sea life on the doorstep and a hinterland of cool beauty and fine wines not far away, there is plenty of temptation to indulge in the luxuries Brisbane has to offer.

DAY one

8am Start with breakfast cooked and served in the Stamford Suite of the Stamford Plaza Hotel before a day of serious shopping.

9.30am Brisbane’s designer shopping is just

steps from the Stamford Plaza Hotel in Edward Street, so just start walking towards Queen Street. For art and antique lovers, The Antique Guild carries museum quality pieces from jewellery, such as an 18 carat Georgina mourning ring to a Chinese Kang Xi period café au lait bowl from the Imperial kiln.

Fashionistas will find all their favourite labels, including Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Max Mara, Cartier, Hermès and more on Edward Street too.

11am Stop at Marchetti Café in Tattersalls

Arcade to refresh with coffee and sfogliatelle that rival the best in Naples. Also in the arcade are brownie makers Dello Mano. Fans include actor Ashton Kutcher who had their elegantly boxed luxe brownies flown to Paris for his birthday.

11.45am Continue towards Queen Street

with its pedestrian al fresco shopping mall. The mix of shops include precious gems, both new and vintage at ‘Jeweller to the Queen’, Hardy

04.

52. | BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017

01.

Brothers. In QueensPlaza you’ll find more jewels, from brands such as Tiffany & Co. and Bulgari, as well as fashion from Burberry and Chanel.

Linking Queen and Adelaide Street is Brisbane Arcade, a heritage-listed 1920s shopping arcade with jewellery, antiques and designer clothing as well as a charming tea room on the upper level.

1pm Time for lunch at ARIA in Eagle Street

beside the river, an elegant, contemporary Australian restaurant with panoramic views and polished service. The wine list is among the best in the state, from a 2007 Puligny-Montrachet Les Enseignères 1er Cru to a 2010 Nuits-SaintGeorges Vieilles Vignes as well as premium Australian drops such as the landmark 1995

01. ARIA for lunch 02. Alchemy, fine dining by the river 03. Urbane for dinner 04. Cruising on Crystal Blue 05. Shopping at Calexico

STAY IN STYLE 02.

DAY two

8am See another side of Brisbane from the deck of a stylish super yacht cruising along Brisbane River. The luxury 80-foot super yacht Crystal Blue is designed to carry 60 passengers but even if you don’t have company this is a stylish way to travel with all sorts of features, crew and catering at your disposal. Just 14km down river from the CBD, Moreton Bay is home to a cluster of islands and underwater life includes coral reefs and tropical fish, turtles, humpback whales and dugongs. Moor at one of the small, private bays to swim, snorkel, dive or have a go at paddle boarding.

12noon Lunch on deck is catered by the

Henschke Hill of Grace. If you’re unfamiliar with Australian wine, ARIA’s sommelier will guide you towards something to your taste.

private chef – local delicacies include Stradbroke oysters, Moreton Bay bugs, Queensland scallops and huge local prawns. Or throw a line over the side and have chef cook your own catch.

The drink package aboard can include anything from local craft beer to vintage Krug.

See www.crystalblueyachtcharters.com.au

2.30pm After lunch a limousine awaits to

3pm In the afternoon, refresh with a luxury

03.

take you to the smaller, boutique shopping village in James Street, Fortitude Valley, 3km from the city. Gail Sorronda, Calexico, Scanlan Theodore, Sass and Bide, Molten Store, Gorman, Dinosaur Designs, Camilla and Zimmerman are some of the best to visit.

Just off James Street, Libertine Perfumerie (181 Robertson Street), stocks some of the most coveted, hard-to-find perfumes from around the world.

4pm Arrive at Cru Bar and Cellar (1/22 James Street) for a pre-dinner ‘happy hour’ and sit streetside at bench seats and tables next to the open windows to sip rare and special wine by the glass, from a Montrachet Grand Cru Chardonnay to a Chateau La Tour.

6.30pm As Brisbane weather is temperate

almost year around, an al fresco table at smart modern Italian Otto (480 Queen Street) boasts magnificent views of the colourfully lit Story Bridge and Brisbane River.

9pm A glass of Laphroaig 32-year-old

whisky? Or perhaps a rare cognac? Stroll around the corner for a post-prandial drink at the glamourous Blackbird Bar & Bistro on Brisbane’s riverside.

Rooms with a view are just the beginning of what Brisbane’s luxury accommodation has to offer

Stamford Suite, Stamford Plaza This top-floor riverside suite combines

spectacular city views with opulent surrounds and has accommodated heads of state, celebrities and royalty. Queen Elizabeth has stayed here and Chinese President Xi Jinping stayed here during the G20. Features include a baby grand piano, designer artwork and a spacious outdoor terrace with a direct view of the Story Bridge colourfully lit at night. Rates start from $4000 a night, but there is an even more luxurious option which includes a private dinner party for eight in the suite’s dining room, a private chauffeured limousine on call, 24-hour butler, massages, breakfast, gourmet picnic lunch and more as part of the High Life Package at a cost of $10,000 per night. Location: Corner Edward and Margaret Streets, Brisbane city.

See www.stamford.com.au

spa treatment at Stephanie’s Spa at the Sofitel (249 Turbot Street, city). The unique Opal Rasul Steam Temple is an exquisitely tiled Middle Eastern style ‘cave’ where you can indulge in mud body treatments and steam and rainwater showers. Book in for an essential oil massage afterwards.

5pm Have a pre-dinner aperitif at Mr & Mrs G, a glass-walled bar suspended over Brisbane’s riverside walkway, with uninterrupted river views. There are a range of top shelf cocktails and spirits, or ask for the cellar list from their restaurant Il Centro next door, which has a particularly impressive collection of vintage ‘super Tuscans’ and Barolos.

7pm Three-hatted Urbane (181 Mary Street, city) has been named Queensland’s best restaurant by Australian Gourmet Traveller magazine and serves up 5-course and 7-course omnivore and herbivore menus artfully created under the direction of co-owner and executive chef Alejandro Cancino using local seasonal produce.

10pm After dinner, head to Sazerac Bar, 30

floors up (99 Mary Street, city), for a spectacular view of the city and toast your time in Brisbane.

05.

BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017 | 53.

Brisbane Luxe

Heavenly escapes These special getaways are only two hours or less from the city but they all offer an unforgettable experience in another world, as Natascha Mirosch discovers Wine tour by air As Captain Mike banks the helicopter and we start our descent, a huge mob of kangaroos, many with joeys tucked into their pouches, bound off and we touch down in the paddock as gently as a petal. A few minutes later we are tasting our way through the wine list at Ironbark Ridge Vineyard in the countryside of Purga, a rural community about 40 minutes west of Brisbane. Our flight has taken just 10 minutes from the Ipswich helipad and is the first stop on just one of the wine tours organised by Captain Mike and his team at Ipswich-based Pteradactyl Helicopters.

Itineraries can be made to order, with transfers arranged from Brisbane city hotels to the helipad and plenty of opportunity to meet the local food and wine producers from Redland Bay to the Scenic Rim, the Lockyer Valley and the Somerset region. Our tour includes a visit to historic Woodlands of Marburg, once a stately homestead and now a popular spot for Sunday brunch and guided tours on the weekends. We stop for a morning tea of scones and jam before taking off for Watercress Creek olive farm at Pine Mountain, then back to the Cottage Restaurant in Ipswich for lunch served in the charming surrounds of a heritage Queenslander and one or two more wineries. You can do that when you’re travelling by helicopter!

After our final wine tasting and tour of the vines we climb back into the helicopter for a flight over gently undulating hills and herds of cattle, small lakes and green fields of crops. Within minutes we’re dropped at the door, quite literally, of our accommodation, the luxe country cottages at Spicer’s Hidden Vale where staff are waiting for us with a bottle of prosecco. Later, there’s time for a dip in the outdoor spa followed by an aperitif as we watch the sun set over the hills. Then it’s dinner at Spicers’ own hatted restaurant before strolling back to our cottage under a star-scattered night sky.

Pteradactyl Helicopters can arrange transfers between Brisbane and Ipswich. See www.pterodactylhelicopters.com.au 54. | BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017

01.

Healthy lifestyle retreat Just an hour’s drive from Brisbane in the lush Tallebudgera Valley, Gwinganna (meaning ‘lookout’) is set high on a plateau of 200 hectares of Gold Coast hinterland and rainforest where there are indeed spectacular views across the valley to the ocean beyond.

Actor Hugh Jackman is an occasional visitor – he reportedly came for a week years ago and stayed for two months, enjoying it so much he became a part-owner of the property. He’s not the only high profile person to visit but you’re unlikely to hear about any of the others as mobile reception is limited and use of technology frowned upon as guests focus on finding their mind/body equilibrium.

The trip up the steep drive to the retreat signals an entry into another world – one where the pace of life slows to a heartbeat. There are no televisions in the suites which range from secluded orchard villas, where wallabies roam outside, and purpose-built meditation suites designed to encourage mindfulness.

Gwinganna is all about health, inside and out. There are no schedules but there is a program of constant activity from dawn until dusk. The food is fresh, local and organic, some coming from the retreat’s own garden supervised by specialist organic gardener Shelley Pryor.

Menus are determined daily, prepared and served according to the principle that minimal human intervention equals maximum nutritional value. There is no alcohol, no caffeine, no chocolate and no smoking allowed, but there are plenty of relaxing spa treatments from hot stones massage to ayurvedic aromatherapy and Spirit of Sound sessions. While short stays are possible for busy people to ‘chill out’, most guests opt for at least a week-long recharge, where individual nutritional and fitness programs can be tailored to the guest.

Each day begins with a gentle wake-up knock from staff and a session of Qi Gong on the lawn as the sun rises, followed by a hike or walk before breakfast. After that it’s time for a choice of activities from yoga to boxing, creative dance to indoor cycling. There are also talks on a wide range of health and personal development topics so that by the end of the week guests depart Gwinganna with a new lease on life. Gwinganna is about 100km from Brisbane city and takes about one hour 30 minutes to drive there following clear instructions from the retreat. See www.gwinganna.com

02.

ADD TO WISH LIST Travel like an A-lister to these hedonistic destinations

Coastal opulence

01. Ironbark Ridge Vineyard in the Scenic Rim 02. Gwinganna in the Gold Coast hinterland 03. Lady Elliot Island on the southern Great Barrier Reef

To the Reef and back in a day A day trip from Brisbane to the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef takes no more effort, really, than an early wake-up call and packing (or wearing) swimmers as everything else you’ll need will be waiting at the destination – including towels, sunscreen and reef shoes. The journey begins with an earlymorning pick-up from any inner city hotel for transfer to Redcliffe Airport (about 45 minutes north of the city), followed by a flight in a small aircraft to Lady Elliot Island, about 385km north east of Brisbane on Queensland’s central Coral Coast. The flight takes about 80 minutes and a light breakfast is served on board before the plane comes in to land with a sweeping bird’s eye view over the pristine coral cay on the southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef.

Lady Elliot Island is the closest Great Barrier Reef island to Brisbane and has some of the most unspoiled reef for snorkelling with more than 1200 different species of marine life to view, from tropical fish (including all the family from Finding Nemo) and giant sea turtles to dolphins and a resident colony of manta rays.

The island lies within the Marine National Park ‘Green Zone’ and forms part of Australia’s World Heritage-listed area of the Great Barrier Reef. It is small, just 42 hectares, and can be walked in less than an hour. After a guided tour, day guests board a glass bottomed boat for supervised snorkelling and fish-spotting, followed by lunch. After that there’s free time for more snorkelling from the beach or more exploration of the island before the return flight departs in the early afternoon for Redcliffe and transfer back to the hotel in time for dinner. See www.ladyelliot.com.au

Image: Tourism and Events Queensland

03.

The Imperial Suite at Palazzo Versace Gold Coast, the world’s first fully fashion branded hotel, is described as an “oasis of opulence”. The 160 square metre suite features a balcony positioned to take in the sunset views over the Broadwater and when you’re ready for a dip in the lagoon pool there’s a private cabana waiting. Palazzo Versace’s twin bespoke Rolls-Royce Phantoms are also available for guests to be chauffeur driven to and from the hotel. See www.palazzoversace.com.au

Private island

Richard Branson’s Makepeace Island has been a private hideaway reserved for his friends and celebrities but it is now available for rent on an exclusive-use basis. The 10-hectare heart-shaped island in the middle of the Noosa River is accessible only by riverboat but is just minutes from bustling Noosa township and can host up to 20 guests. Facilities include a two-storey open air Balinese wantilan, a huge lagoon pool, full-size tennis court and pavilion, spa, theatre, office, indoor bar and the services of a first class chef.

See www.makepeaceisland.com

Lost in the Wilderness

In a relatively untouched pocket of Lost World paradise, Nightfall’s luxury tent camp sits delicately beside the crystal-clear tumbling headwaters of Christmas Creek and Queensland’s ancient Lamington National Park rainforests. The Nightfall ‘glamping’ (luxury camping) experience steps away from the excess and complications of modern life, redefining luxury through architectinspired, hand-built, permanent safari tents, sumptuous fire-cooked cuisine and the relaxed feeling of staying with old friends. See www.nightfall.com.au The Gold Coast is a one hour drive south of Brisbane, along the M1; Noosa is one hour 30 minutes drive north of Brisbane on the Bruce Highway and Nightfall is about two hours drive south west from Brisbane via Beaudesert.

Brisbane shopping Souvenir Shopping

The art of GIVING

Konig Gold collection

by Elke Lucas, $40-$50 each piece from artisan craft gallery

For creative gifts or unique personal mementoes of a visit to Brisbane, find inspiration at the city’s art and craft galleries

Kenji Uranishi’s ceramic sculptures have been exhibited at Museum of Brisbane which also stocks smaller gift size examples of his work

Museum of Brisbane showcases work by Enka Studio like the Latisha feather neckpiece $85, Tendai rope neckpiece $55 and bangles $30 each

Nicole Casella’s fun and affordable YippyWhippy jewellery from $8 at the GOMA store

Marc Harrison’s Husque Bowls are made from macadamia nut shells, at artisan

STOCKISTS: Museum of Brisbane, City Hall, Adelaide Street, city; GOMA store, Gallery of Modern Art, Stanley Place, South Brisbane; artisan, 381 Brunswick Street, Fortitude Valley 56. | BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017

Australian wool sweaters, $90 each, from Merino Collection

Shopping on departure Jabiru boomerangs, from $50 each, at Dreamtime Journey

From beautiful opals mined in Queensland and hand-crafted boots and belts to truffle oil infused with gold flakes, Brisbane International Terminal has a wealth of local and designer treasures to inspire predeparture shopping

Ugg boots, $239.95, from Merino Collection

Marcus Bree’s Little Queenslander kit house, $69.95, from Australian Way

Golden Truffle Oil infused with gold flakes, $39.95, from Australian Produce store

Furla Jelly backpack, $545, from JR/Duty Free

Boulder Opal mined in Quilpie, Queensland, set in white gold and diamond necklace, $248,688, from JR/Duty Free

Crocodile leather coin purses, $95 each, from Australian Way

Hand-made boots, $1000, from R.M. Williams

STOCKISTS: Dreamtime Journey, Merino Collection, Australian Produce Store, Australian Way, JR/Duty Free, all Lvl 3 International Terminal, Brisbane Airport. Prices approximate, not including tax-free discounts that may apply to some products BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017 | 57.

Brisbane Family Fun

10 top family adventures 1

From cuddling a koala to cooking classes in the park there is plenty to keep a family entertained in Brisbane, as Tonya Turner discovers

Cool culture

Brisbane’s cultural precinct, on the riverside of South Bank, is home to the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA), Queensland Museum, Sciencentre, State Library of Queensland and Queensland Performing Arts Centre and there’s plenty to engage all ages, including young children, from the museum’s ‘Whale Mall’ with its suspended life-size whale sculptures and ‘singing’ whale sounds to the interactive exhibits at the Sciencentre. GOMA has a permanent and dedicated art centre for kids which tailors activity programs to changing exhibitions.

2

Cuddle a koala

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary is the first and oldest koala sanctuary in the world, about 12km from Brisbane’s city centre and a 75-minute cruise aboard the Mirimar from South Bank or an hour by bus from the city. There are many more highlights in addition to cuddling a koala (pictured below), including hand feeding kangaroos and dingo and reptile encounters.

Kids can also be a keeper for a day, helping with the daily care of the animals. See www.koala.net

3

Ride a bike

Exploring the riverside by bike is easy with picturesque routes through the City Botanic Gardens, across the Goodwill Bridge (cyclists and pedestrians only), along South Bank and all the way to West End and Davies Park where busy markets are in full swing on Saturday mornings. Bikes for adults, kids and tandem bikes (plus infant seats) can be rented from Valet Cycle Hire at the Albert Street entrance of the Botanic Gardens while there are 150 CityCycle stations across Brisbane (with bikes available for rent for people over age 17).

Brisbane has more than 3700 cycle routes. To find one to try see www.cyclingbrisbane.com.au

58. | BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017

4

Go bush

Only 10km from the city walkers can go bush at Mt Coot-tha Reserve. From the JC Slaughter Falls picnic grounds, an Aboriginal Art Trail (only 20 minutes walk) reveals ancient rock paintings and stick art and offers a good view of the falls (after rain). The 2km hike up the Summit Track is steeper and a bit tougher but the reward is a bird’s-eye view of the city from the top. Further north, the Walkabout Creek Discovery Centre in D’Aguilar National Park is 12km from the city and has a wildlife centre with platypus and wombats, a 5km walking track and Enoggera Reservoir is a popular spot to swim, paddle in kayaks or canoes and build sandcastles.

5

Whale encounters

Moreton Bay becomes part of the whale highway from June to November when thousands of humpback whales travel between the Antarctic and the sub-tropical waters of North Queensland.

Tours operate from Cleveland, 29km south of Brisbane, to Redcliffe, 39km north of the city, and from Tangalooma on Moreton Island or they can be seen every day from Point Lookout on North Stradbroke Island, less than two hours by boat from Brisbane.

6

There are more than 2000 parks around Brisbane and most close to the city have playgrounds. One of the best is Riverside Green at South Bank Parklands with its giant slides, tunnels, climbing ladders, swings and a pirate ship for exploration and just a short walk from the Wheel of Brisbane for panoramic views of the city.

New Farm Park is a 15-minute ferry ride from the city centre and has plenty of lawn space for games, a children’s playground, hosts Moonlight Cinema nights in summer and is home to Brisbane Powerhouse, a contemporary theatre space on the riverfront.

The Brisbane Botanic Gardens at Mt Coot-tha is a wonderful walk through different environments in one park, including the largest collection of Australian native rainforest trees in the world and an arid zone with cactus garden. There’s a hide ‘n’ seek children’s trail, guided walking tours or minibus tours on most days and the Sir Thomas Planetarium is also open within the park for cosmic exploration of the starry Brisbane skies and solar system.

All Brisbane’s council parks have a program of free or super cheap activities that range from early morning tai chi, cooking classes, gardening workshops, circus skills training, twilight yoga, arts and crafts, live music, and more.

Search active parks and events at www.brisbane.qld.gov.au

7

Take a steam train

The Ipswich Workshops Rail Museum is Australia’s oldest railway workshops still in operation and the museum has genuine locos and vintage carriages, a model railway, train simulator, and 15 larger-than-life exhibits to explore, trackless miniature train to ride around the grounds and tours of the workshops. On the first Sunday of each month the museum also runs historic steam train rides through Brisbane departing from and returning to Roma Street Station.

See www.theworkshops.qm.qld.gov.au

8

Eat treats

Active parks

Bird’s Nest Yakitori The owners won a television cooking show and have been an instant hit ever since, serving up traditional Japanese yakitori (grilled chicken skewers) in their casual and loud restaurants at West End and Fortitude Valley where diners can sit on a tall stool overlooking the smoky grill and watch the chefs at work. At 702 Ann Street, Fortitude Valley and Shop 5, 220 Melbourne Street West End. See www.birdsnestrestaurant.com.au

Beach Burrito This is the diner with a holiday state of mind – at the Fortitude Valley café there’s sand on the floor, wooden tables and a mix of colourful beach-style chairs outdoors. The food ranges from $5 tacos and vegetarian nachos to 12-inch burritos on a menu created by a surfer dude who brought the authentic flavour of Mexican food to Bris-Vegas. At 2/350 Brunswick Street, Fortitude Valley and 100 Boundary Street, West End. See www.beachburritocompany.com

Morgans Seafood Takeaway Morgans is an institution on the Redcliffe Peninsula almost 40km north of Brisbane but it’s worth the trek to eat fish fresh off the boat with a view of the marina (pictured below) and a gaggle of expectant seagulls at your ankles. The seafood market has been open for 30 years and it’s Queensland’s biggest with almost 30 metres of counter display showcasing more than 180 fish products daily, including live crabs in tanks, freshly shucked oysters and whole fish. At Bird of Passage Parade, Scarborough Boat Harbour. See www.morganseafood.com.au

River ride

CityCat ferries cruise the Brisbane River from St Lucia to Northshore Hamilton (near the Portside passenger ship terminal) every day, running every 15 minutes between stops on both sides of the river including West End, South Bank, New Farm, Kangaroo Point, the CBD, New Farm and Bulimba. A SeeQ card allows travel for three or five days with unlimited access on bus, train or ferry services, or purchase a paper ticket onboard the CityCat which covers travel for two hours. Search timetables on https://jp.translink.com.au

9

Get wet

Brisbane is a city some way from the coast but there are plenty of places to have a splash and stay cool, from Streets Beach (pictured above left), the Aquativity water park and Boat Pool at South Bank, to Wynnum’s Waterpark on the Bay, about 20km east of the city, where there’s an enclosed wading pool that fills with seawater during high tide, soldier crabs scurry along the foreshore at low tide, and ‘whales’ spout water at shrieking children from a playscape in the park. Take a break with fish and chips and ice-cream on the jetty.

10

Saint Helena Island

Saint Helena Island is about 21km east of Brisbane and just 4km from the mouth of Brisbane River, accessible only by boat. It was once the lock-up for hardened criminals, including murderers and bushrangers, but all that remains of its notorious past are stone ruins, artefacts from the prison years from 1867 to 1932, cemeteries, an old quarry, the jetty, remnants of Queensland’s first tramway and olive trees which form the backdrop for a range of guided tours – including night time ghost tours – that depart by ferry boat from Manly on Brisbane’s southern bayside (about 19km from the CBD) or Newstead Park (about 4km from the CBD). It’s worth keeping eyes peeled on the journey through Moreton Bay’s Marine Park to spot dugong, shorebirds and turtles.

Nitrogenie This cool idea has gone global from right here in Queensland where it all began. It’s ice cream as you’ve never seen it served before – first choose a flavour (which has real food ingredients added), then watch as staff (wearing goggles and surrounded by clouds of icy nitrogen) prepare it to order. Flavours change every week but there’s usually a list of seven favourites to choose from and occasionally some Aussie specials including ‘Milk and Milo’ or Lamington. At 30BC, Stanley Street Plaza, South Bank. See www.nitrogenie.com

Cowch There is something to please all ages at this dessert diner. Young kids can go wild at the do-it-yourself-ice-cream-on-a-stick station or tuck into cookie pancake stacks, ice-cream sliders, Cherry Ripe hot chocolates and crunchy churros, while grown-ups can munch through dessert pizzas and liqueur spiked sundaes. At 2/179 Grey Street, South Bank.

See www.cowch.com.au BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017 | 59.

Brisbane Family Fun BRISBANE

Moreton Island Stradbroke Island

Island time

T

he whales are putting on a show – much to the delight of the small crowd sitting on the cliff above North Gorge on Stradbroke Island – and we’ve got front row seats for free. We’re an hour from Brisbane by car ferry across a serene and island-dotted Moreton Bay and for five months of the year it is the playground for thousands of humpback whales as they migrate north to warmer waters during the mating season from June to October. But they are not the only spectacle to watch from this perch at the most easterly point of Queensland’s coast. The water is so clear that large green turtles, languid rays and schools of playful dolphins are also in clear view. It’s such a mesmerising sight that spectators appear hypnotised, with quiet murmurs only rustling through the crowd when a whale spikes its head out of the water (spyhopping), flashes its tail (fluking) or jumps high out of the water (breaching) and splashes loudly down again.

The ferry leaves from Toondah Harbour, about

60. | BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017

30km south of Brisbane CBD and unloads its passengers at Dunwich, on the calm bay side of ‘Straddie’, as the locals call it.

The island’s traditional name is Minjerribah meaning ‘Island in the sun’ and is home to several clans of the Quandamooka people, people of the sand and water.

The island is as rich in history as it is in wildlife, and there’s a small museum not far up the road from the ferry stop and a cemetery a little further where the first burials date back to 1847. (Look up into the surrounding gum trees and you’re likely to see a koala).

It’s enough to get a potted history of Straddie’s early settlement as a leper colony, asylum and quarantine station but to find out about life on Minjerribah long before colonial settlement jump on a 4WD tour with Eva Coghill or her dad Brian, sixth and seventh generation descendants of the Dandruba clan of Quandamooka people.

As they tell stories of their ancestors they take visitors to lakes, creeks, dunes, beach and special

places most people still never see, to reveal examples of yurees (totems) and forage for bush tucker ingredients to add to a morning tea or lunch on the journey. They share long-held tips on how to collect mud crabs, how to find and cook quampie (oysters) and how to know when the sea mullet is ready for harvest (seeing great patches of silver fish rolling in the shallow surf is one of the treats of being on the beach in winter).

Amity Point, a sleepy fishing hamlet about 20 minutes from Dunwich, is on the northern tip of the island and a good place for the amateur fisherman to cast a line straight from the jetty.

Trawlers still tie up at the jetty to offload the night’s catch for local shops and restaurants and there are plenty of fish – we can actually see bream and flathead darting around the jetty’s pylons – but unfortunately none take our bait.

However, we don’t go home empty handed as Rufus King Seafoods (fishmongers on the island for 20 years) has a little shop in the garage of a fisherman’s house and we get some local snapper

Images: Tourism and Events Queensland

An island escape with crystal clear water, pristine sand and abundant marine life is closer to Brisbane than you think, as Natascha Mirosch discovers

to take home to barbecue.

By now we’re on island time and at dusk we join other holiday makers to watch the sun set spectacularly over Moreton Bay while pods of dolphins frolic just offshore.

There’s a campground at Amity Point, where accommodation ranges from tent sites (tents can be hired) to eco shacks on the waterfront that sleep six. It’s a classic Aussie summer beach holiday – just a few steps away is an enclosed swimming area that’s as good as having a swimming pool in your front yard and the morning wake-up call comes from laughing kookaburras.

There are plenty of holiday homes and beach ‘shacks’ to rent, too, within walking distance to a beach where activities range from early morning beach yoga to diving or snorkelling tours that make the most of the crystal clear water and coral reefs that are home to rays and tropical fish.

There’s a surf school based at Point Lookout where children and adults can learn to ride the waves, or there’s plenty of room for swimming at the patrolled Cylinder and Main beaches.

There are good walks too, to Frenchman’s Beach via Deadman’s Beach, where the rock pools are refreshed each day with the incoming tide and are home to crabs, anemones and tiny fish which makes for fun fossicking. The beach is towered over by a sand dune where kids trudge up and slide back down on boards or bits of cardboard as makeshift toboggans, whooping with delight.

Another walk begins at the Point and winds its way a kilometre and a half past North and South gorges to Main Beach which stretches more than 30 kilometres back to Dunwich. The views on the walk are breathtaking and it’s not uncommon to see wallabies feeding on the native grasses.

Inland, a fairly easy, flat walk (a little over 5km return) through a national park of wallum woodlands, forests of eucalypt trees eventually opens up to the freshwater Blue Lake, a haven for birds and such as honeyeaters and lorikeets and, once again, we come upon a family of wallabies.

While Blue Lake is a place of spiritual significance for Indigenous islanders and therefore not recommended for swimming, Brown Lake, closer to Dunwich and accessible by road, is a popular picnic and swimming spot where it’s not unusual for curious goannas to amble up to see what’s for lunch. The water is shallow and tinged brown from the overhanging ti-trees and a dip in the soft water makes your hair and skin soft too.

With its unspoiled surrounds, pristine water and unique flora and fauna, Straddie is an island paradise, where the locals like to keep things simple and the visitors like it too.

tangalooma adventure There are activities to do from dawn to dusk on Moreton Island, an adventurers playground just 75 minutes by boat from Brisbane

1Snorkel the wrecks

4soak in Champagne Pools

2Paddle about

5Ride a quad bike

3

6Feed the dolphins

Fifteen vessels that were deliberately sunk to form a breakwall for small boats (pictured below) also create an amazing wreck dive and snorkel site off the beach from Tangalooma Resort. Pack a waterproof camera to snap the myriad tropical fish species just below the surface.

The shallow and generally flat water outside Tangalooma Resort is a good practise ground for stand-up paddleboarding or take a kayak to explore the wrecks. Night tours in transparent kayaks turn the spotlight on an eerie spectacle of reef fish, turtles, stingrays and wobbegongs.

Hit the dunes

You have to walk up the dunes before you can come careening down on a sand toboggan, sometimes reaching speeds up to 40kmph, as part of a Desert Safari Tour of the island by 4WD.

On the north eastern tip of Moreton Island a band of volcanic rock and sandstone has formed a natural break wall from the surf and as water flows over the rocks it bubbles and foams like a spa – a fun spot for a splash and watch as waves crash up against the rocks on the ocean side.

After a cruise along the flat beach to get used to the controls, this tour snakes up the hill, through the bush and onto the twists and turns of a sand track on a mini safari behind Tangalooma Resort.

Every night at sunset a pod of friendly dolphins swims into the shallow waters next to the jetty for dinner and overnight guests of the resort can take part in the feeding program under the supervision of the Dolphin Care Team.

Find out more at www.tangalooma.com and www.visitmoretonisland.com

Find out more about North Stradbroke Island at www.stradbrokeisland.com Ferries to North Stradbroke Island depart from Toondah Harbour, Cleveland, about 40 minutes drive from Brisbane and the ferry journey takes an hour. See www.stradbrokeferries.com.au BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017 | 61.

Darwin

Alice Springs

See Australia

BRISBANE Perth Adelaide

Sydney Canberra Melbourne Hobart

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

Gateway to Australia Brisbane provides direct access to 50 cities around Australia, the gateway to the best Australian holiday you can have

SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES

01.

It takes just over an hour to fly direct from Brisbane to Australia’s largest city, recognizable for it’s harbour – the largest natural harbour in the world – the Sydney Opera House, designed to look like sails unfurled in the wind, and the Harbour Bridge which has been given the nickname ‘the Coathanger’.

There are many ways to enjoy the harbour, from 134 metres up on a bridge climb (or just climb the 200 stairs to the top of the southern pylon), through the windows of the northern foyers on a tour of the Opera House, on a ferry from Circular Quay to Manly, from the bars and cafés that line Circular Quay, from a walk around the Botanic Gardens and up the hill to Mrs Macquarie’s Chair, or from the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYC) deck on Rushcutters Bay Marina, where the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race starts.

The harbourside suburb of Double Bay is a chic shopping village, just a few kilometres down the hill from Paddington where the markets are a Saturday morning ritual and where several of Australia’s most successful designers started selling their wares. Further east, about 10km from the city, you finally reach the coast and Bondi, where beach culture rules and great restaurants and bars flourish in the side streets.

The coastal walk from Bondi Beach to Bronte Beach for lunch (and further to Clovelly if you have the energy) takes about an hour (3km) and offers a snapshot of what Australians love about the beach – sunbaking on sandy towels, picnicking on the grass nearby, surfing and wave jumping in crystal clear blue water. During Sculpture By The Sea (October/November) the walk is made more interesting with more than 100 works from Australian and international artists that dot the cliffside.

Tropfest (February), Mardi Gras (February/March) and Vivid festivals (May/June) are all bright ideas that have grown to become art, cultural and party events with a global audience, where international visitors mingle with locals and discover the bold, sometimes brash, creative spirit that drives Sydney.

01.

Melbourne is Australia’s second largest city by population, famous for the trams that still travel its main streets on the largest urban tramway network in the world, and for the lanes and arcades that criss-cross the city’s commercial heart. There is a maze of hundreds of laneways in the city centre where there is always something new to discover among covert boutiques, restaurants, hole-in-the-wall cafés and intimate bars.

Degraves Street is one of the city’s busiest lanes just minutes from Federation Square, full of cafés and boutique businesses; Flinders Lane, once the epicentre of the city’s rag trade, is today a foodie and gallery hotspot; tiny Centre Place is Melbourne’s most popular laneway with cafés crowded cheek by jowl with designer boutiques; Block Arcade is distinctive for its stunning architecture and mosaic tile floors, fashioned after the Galleria Vittoria in Milan; while Royal Arcade is the oldest arcade in Australia.

The Royal is the place to find heritage Australian chocolatier Haighs and decadent cakes at the Hopetoun Tea Rooms.

In more recent years some lanes have swapped nondescript names such as Brown Alley and Corporation Lane for more ‘famous’ names after some of the city’s more notable residents, including Dame Edna Place (off Little Collins Street), Amphlett Lane (off Little Bourke Street) for the Divinyls’ Chrissy Amphlett, and AC/DC Lane (off Flinders Lane) named in honour of the Australian rock band for their years spent in Melbourne in the 1970s and their worldwide rise to fame.

- Dale Campisi

02.

ALICE SPRINGS, NORTHERN TERRITORY Surrounded by red dirt and hauntingly beautiful mountain ranges Alice Springs, is the beating heart of Australia’s Red Centre. It’s a great base for exploring the natural wonders of the Northern Territory’s outback, including Uluru, Kata Tjuta, Kings Canyon, the West MacDonnell Ranges and their iconic Larapinta Trail, the red sands of the Simpson Desert and the haunting sight of the Devil’s Marbles. It’s also a fascinating spot to explore Australia’s Aboriginal culture. ‘The Alice’

is a centre for Australian Aboriginal art, the oldest ongoing art tradition in the world, and works are displayed in galleries across the city. Early Aboriginal stories and culture were expressed in rock carvings, body painting and ground designs, some dating back more than 30,000 years, and in more recent times local artists have translated these stories using paints and canvas.

Of course, no trip to the Red Centre is complete without a visit to Uluru, where Royals Prince

William and the Duchess of Cambridge spent a night at glamping resort Longitude 131 in order to see the sun rise over ‘the rock’ early the next morning. Uluru is sacred to Indigenous Australians and tourists are asked not to climb it out of respect for its spiritual significance. It is thought to have started forming around 550 million years ago and sits within Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, which also includes the 36 red-rock domes of the Kata Tjuta (also known as ‘The Olgas’) formation.

- Stephanie Williams

03.

04.

HOBART, TASMANIA

Flinders Street Station photography by Robert Blackburn

01. Sydney Opera House 02. Flinders Street Station, Melbourne 03. Uluru, near Alice Springs 04. MONA outside Hobart

MONA, the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart, has put Australia’s southernmost state capital on the global cultural map. It is the largest privately funded museum in Australia, described by its owner, multi-millionaire David Walsh, as “a subversive adult Disneyland” which was purposebuilt to accommodate such expansive works as Sidney Nolan’s 46-metre long Snake, a mural of 1620 small paintings which create the look of a rainbow serpent meandering around the room.

The museum is built mostly below ground and visitors descend umpteen spiral stairs to a labyrinthine network of display spaces that house more than 400 works. There are no display

cards but everyone is given a smart hand-held device (called the O), which uses an internal GPS to provide an audio and text guide to the works, based on your location in the gallery. The museum has become a must-see for its eclectic mix of art, just 25 minutes from Hobart on the Berriedale Peninsula, and is a dramatic contrast to the colonial architecture of the city’s convict days that is well-preserved in Hobart’s city centre and surrounds.

Beyond the city and spectacular views from Mt Wellington, a whisky trail leads to a handful of distilleries that are producing world-class whisky that is being served in bars all around Australia.

Fly direct between Brisbane, Melbourne (flight time 2 hours 20 minutes) and Sydney (flight time 1 hour 35 minutes) with Jetstar, Qantas, Tigerair and Virgin Australia which operate more than 580 services each week to the cities.

Jetstar and Virgin Australia operate 14 services per week to Hobart (flight time 2 hours 50 minutes) and QantasLink operates two services per week to Alice Springs (flight time 3 hours 5 minutes).

BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017 | 65.

01.

Solomon Islands

South Pacific

Samoa

Vanuatu New Caledonia

Fiji

BRISBANE

gateway to the

South Pacific

Brisbane International Airport has more weekly flights to the dream islands of the South Pacific than any other port in Australia Fiji

Less than four hours flying time direct from Brisbane are more than 300 islands in the Fiji archipelago where there are so many things to do and see that one trip is not enough to experience all it has to offer, from jet boating and natural rock-chute waterslides to rainforest walks and river rafting.

One of the most extreme adventures is the Shark School held every year at Beqa Lagoon Resort, which aims to bring people closer to sharks to understand their behaviour, lose their fear and support their conservation – and yes it includes diving among free-roaming sharks.

Beachfront resorts line Viti Levu’s Coral Coastline but for a more Cast Away experience idyllic retreats such as Vomo Island are just a boat ride (or seaplane flight) from Fiji’s main island and Nadi Airport. Vomo Island is a private island in the northern Mamanucas, the same region where Cast Away was filmed, but here there are 30 luxury bures (with complimentary WiFi and air conditioning) and L’Occitane products in the bathroom.

This is romantic heaven with a bar perched on the rocks overlooking the water and while it’s tempting to just lie back and enjoy the view, there’s a list of free activities that includes guided snorkelling tours, windsurfing, sailing, traditional kava ceremonies, daily fish feeding and glass bottom kayaking to name a few.

Fiji Airways flies direct between Brisbane and Nadi on Viti Levu daily.

See www.fijiairways.com

01. Vomo Island, Fiji 02. To Sua Trench, Samoa 03. Skull Island, Solomon Islands 04. Domo Sheraton, New Caledonia 66 . | BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017

Samoa

02.

Solomon Islands

Less than three hours flying time direct from Brisbane, the Solomon Islands is a scattered archipelago of nearly 1000 richly forested, mountainous islands and low-lying coral atolls that has attracted international visitors since 1568 when Spanish explorer Alvaro de Mendana sailed into its pristine waters.

Mendana’s legacy can be found in the islands today which still bear the Spanish names he gave them – Santa Isabel, San Cristóbal and perhaps the most recognised of all, Guadalcanal, which takes its name from a small township in Andalucia in southern Spain.

They remained mostly undisturbed until the British arrived about 300 years later, then the Pacific became engulfed in World War II. The battle of Guadalcanal is one of the most famous of the war and today it’s a popular site for World War II buffs and veterans and their families to visit. However, since the island nation gained its independence in the 1970s it has once again become a destination for travellers wanting to detour from the beaten track – surfers, birdwatchers, sports fishermen, yachties and culture-lovers.

While there are hotels in Honiara, you haven’t really experienced the Solomons until you’ve taken a motorised canoe ride to any of the surrounding islands. A short flight to Munda is a stepping stone to the volcanic island of Rendova and Titiru Eco Lodge, the only accommodation on the island and walking distance to the local village. This is a Swiss Family Robinson-style getaway where daily activities include climbing the peak, exploring the Wild Cave (for sightings of bats, crabs and snakes), night crabbing and canoeing or visiting the villages on the south west of the island which are a nesting ground for endangered leatherback turtles. See www.visitsolomons.com.sb/ Solomon Airlines flies direct between Brisbane and Honiara four times a week. See www.flysolomons.com

Less than five hours flying time direct from Brisbane is Samoa, where signs of human occupation date back 300 years. Stonework ‘pyramids’ and mounds in star formation found throughout Samoa’s islands inspire many theories from archaeologists, but local mythology and legend says they descended from the gods and heavens to inhabit the islands. Samoa’s natural beauty is indeed heavenly, with rich green rainforests, waterfalls, natural swimming pools and ‘a necklace’ of white beaches.

Adventurers will not want to miss the To Sua Trench – a challenging climb down a wooden ladder into a 30-metre crater – where the clear pool below is well worth a dip and the underwater channel that connects it to the sea is diveable at low and calm tide.

Culture vultures can explore the mansion where Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island, spent his final years, which is now a museum offering guided tours and there’s plenty of culture to absorb in the local villages.

Accommodation ranges from beach fales for the Robinson Crusoe types to luxury resorts for anyone who just can’t leave their creature comforts behind.

“Lalelei” is a word that is used a lot to describe Samoa’s turquoise lagoons and white powdery beaches, which means pretty or handsome, but we say “spectacular”. See www.samoa.travel Virgin Australia flies direct between Brisbane and Apia in Samoa four times a week.

See www.virginaustralia.com/au/en/

New Caledonia

Just two hours and 20 minutes flying time from Brisbane, New Caledonia is an eco hotspot, home to the largest marine park on Earth.

Larger than Alaska, twice the size of Texas, three times the size of Germany, the Natural Park of the Coral Sea protects more than one million square kilometres of marine ecosystem that is a sanctuary for 25 species of marine mammals, 48 shark species, 19 species of nesting birds and five species of sea turtles.

New Caledonia is also the cosmopolitan hub of the South Pacific with its French influence on food, boutique shopping on Rue de Sébastopol and at Centre Ville, and nightlife around Anse Vata Bay and Baie de Citrons.

There’s a Latin Quarter, Chinatown and morning markets selling everything from fresh croissants and coffee to papaya and passionfruit.

Stand-up paddleboarding may be the current water sport fad but New Caledonia is the windsurfing capital of the world so this is the place to learn, or try the ‘sans board’ version – kite surfing – which is an even wilder adrenalin hit. See www.newcaledonia.travel/au/ Aircalin flies direct between Brisbane and Noumea three times a week.

See http://au.aircalin.com/en

03.

Vanuatu

Two hours 30 minutes flying time direct from Brisbane is Vanuatu which lies on top of what is known as the Pacific Ring of Fire and it has several volcanoes spread among its islands and two more beneath the sea that are still active.

The most easily accessible is Mt Yasur on Tanna Island and a 15-minute hike to the summit is enough to feel the earth rumbling and the heat from mini explosions. Others can be found on Gaua, Ambae, Ambrym and Lopevi islands.

The volcanic geography means the islands are lush with tropical rainforests, mountain ranges, fresh water rivers, streams and waterfalls. Walking is the best way to see it on a guided trek that traverses plantations, dense rainforest, fresh water rivers and local villages to hidden caves, waterfalls and beaches.

Most of the accommodation on the islands has been renovated, rebuilt or refurbished in the last two years, including Iririki Resort, a 36-hectare site in the harbour of Port Vila just a 200-metre ferry ride from the mainland. See www.tourismvanuatu.com Air Vanuatu flies direct between Brisbane and Port Vila or Espiritu Santo three days a week.

See www.airvanuatu.com.au

04.

04.

BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017 | 00.

Brisbane to the World

Seoul

South Korea

Tokyo (Narita) Japan

Shanghai (Pudong)

Guangzhou

China

China

Hong Kong

Dubai

China

United Arab Emirates

Taipei

Taiwan

Bangkok

Abu Dhabi

Thailand

United Arab Emirates

Manila

Philippines

Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia

Singapore

Singapore

Port Moresby

Denpasar

Papua New Guinea

Indonesia

BRISBANE

BRISBANE

to the world

To 79 destinations direct from Brisbane and beyond

China Southern Airlines

66. |BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017

Vancouver

Canada

Los Angeles USA

Honolulu USA

Darwin

Nauru Nauru

Cairns

Apia Honiara

Solomon Islands

Port Hedland

Espiritu Santo Vanuatu

Port Vila Vanuatu

Nadi

Charleville Fraser Coast (Hervey Bay) Roma Miles BRISBANE Quilpie BRISBANE St George Toowoomba Thargomindah Cunnamulla Norfolk Island Moree Armidale Narrabri Tamworth Coffs Harbour Dubbo Port Macquarie Birdsville

Fiji

Noumea

New Caledonia

Perth

Auckland

New Zealand

Queenstown New Zealand

Townsville

Whitsunday Coast (Proserpine) Hamilton Island Moranbah Mackay Mt Isa Barcaldine Rockhampton Longreach Gladstone Emerald Blackall Alice Springs Biloela Bundaberg Windorah Cloncurry

Samoa

Adelaide

Wellington

Orange Wagga Wagga

New Zealand

Christchurch

Albury

New Zealand

Newcastle Sydney

Lord Howe Island Canberra

Melbourne

Dunedin

New Zealand

Launceston Hobart Map not to scale. Please note airlines and destinations are current at time of print.

Malindo Air

QantasLink

BNE SPECIAL EDITION 2017 | 67.