BNE Magazine - Issue 21

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Issue #21 JULY/AUGUST 2017

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TRAVELLING SOLO? YOU’RE NOT ALONE ROAD TRIP TO BIRDSVILLE WHITSUNDAYS WHY IT’S GOOD TO GO NOW

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CONTENTS

he great thing about travel is that it often pushes you out of your comfort zone – whether that’s going solo (see page 12), escaping social media (page 14), or driving to the desert (page 22) – but the good news is there’s always someone there to help you do it: guides with local knowledge. Now those ‘guides’ take many forms, from the apps that hook you up with like-minded adventurers to ‘nurturing’ travel agents and welcoming families at homestays in distant lands ... or it might be the 4WD expert who leads the tag-along tour through the outback, or the Airbnb experience host who shows you their home city their way. Whichever way, it’s all here ... happy travelling

12 22

5

6

Brisbane Airport News New route to Kuala Lumpur; bookings open for new airport hotels, and more

Brisbane Insider

Ekka style on show; fashion inspired by

Indigenous art; word power, and more

10

Coffee with Jerry Seinfeld

12

The comedian is coming to Brisbane

Going solo It’s a growing trend in 2017 and the travel industry is learning to embrace single travellers

ESCAPE 14 Lost in Vietnam

Teenager Jackson Stone switches off social media to have a real adventure

17

Win a trip to Bali

18

Enter our competition for a chance to win a holiday in Bali

Perth: a taste of then and now

FOOD & DRINK 28 Taste of Queensland

34

35

On the road to Birdsville

Escape extra

Five reasons to go to the Whitsundays before Christmas; Airbnb launches experiences, and more

42

Tour the Scenic Rim

Food, glamping and adventure awaits

20

How Brisbane Airport is helping to repurpose food for people in need

28

Tales from the Torres Strait; orchestra tries a Latin beat; virtual reality on

film, and more

Listen to the music Queensland finds its voice for music festival; treats to feed our musical obsession; best press photos and more

Events calendar What’s happening around the city

MY QUEENSLAND 36 David Peever

22 24

WHAT’S ON 32 Stories reimagined

The journey is all part of the fun

30 Food to the rescue

The Swan Valley is a step back in time

only 30 minutes from the urban cool of the city

Regional flavours on show; plus what’s trending in Brisbane now

Brisbane Airport Corporation’s new chairman

GALLERY 39 Day in the life

People in transit at Brisbane Airport

NEED TO KNOW 38 Helpful information for

40 43

visitors to Brisbane Airport Destination map Brisbane region map

24 BNE magazine is published bi-monthly

by Brisbane Airport Corporation Brisbane Airport Corporation Corporate Communications and Media Manager: Leonie Vandeven Managing Editor: Heather McWhinnie email: editor@bnemagazine.com.au Designer: Stephen Bryett Advertising sales: advertising@bnemagazine.com.au ©2017 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.

Advertising: all advertisements in BNE magazine are the responsibility of advertisers. Advertising is accepted on the understanding that it does not contravene the Trade Practices Act. Responsibility is not accepted by BNE magazine for statements made or the failure of any product or service to give satisfaction. 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.

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BRISBANE AIRPORT NEWS

BOOKINGS OPEN for new airport hotels Bookings are open for two new Brisbane Airport hotels scheduled to open their doors in October. The $150 million development includes a 5-star Pullman Hotel and a 3.5-star ibis hotel which both will be operated by Accor, and a new conference centre will also open at the site before the end of the year. The new hotels and conference centre are located at 2 Dryandra Road, within easy access of the Domestic Terminal via a high level pedestrian walkway, connection to the CBD via the Airtrain and by free shuttle to International Terminal. For hotel bookings see www.accorhotels.com

ENTER OUR COMPETITION TO WIN A TRIP TO BALI. FOR DETAILS SEE PAGE 17

NEW ROUTE TO KUALA LUMPUR

Giving Globes help fund community project When community centre Burnie Brae started Project Pantry in 2008 its aim was to provide pensioners with direct access to low cost nutritional foods but its monthly market day has grown to do a lot more since then, adding personal care products to the staples available and providing emergency food relief to families and individuals experiencing financial hardship.

The market days provide basic necessities to as many as 600 pensioners each month but also give locals a place to meet, connect with others and socialise over free tea and coffee, while Burnie Brae staff are on hand to help with other needs or concerns where possible.

Project Pantry is supported by local businesses and schools and this year Brisbane Airport has stepped in to help the program by donating funds raised through its Giving Globes over the next 12 months. The globes are located at the Domestic and International Terminals where travellers can drop in their foreign and domestic currency donations – last year that spare change, of all currencies, raised $40,000.

Twenty community organisations also received donations from the latest round of Brisbane Airport’s Community Giving Fund. Applications for the next round of donations will open in September. For details see www.bne.com.au

The world’s fastest growing airline and CAPA’s Asia Pacific Regional Airline of the Year in 2016, Malindo Air, has landed in Brisbane, launching new daily flights between the Queensland capital and Kuala Lumpur, via Bali. According to CEO of Malindo Air Chandran Rama Muthy, Brisbane is a key to the airline’s growth strategy as an important commercial centre and gateway to Australia’s leading tourist attractions such as the Great Barrier Reef.

Chandran told BNE magazine in Brisbane the company aims to have direct flights to Kuala Lumpur in the future as well as the route via Denpasar.

Meanwhile the current flights are perfectly timed for weekend getaways

with early morning departures from Brisbane arriving in Denpasar in time for lunch and in KL in time for happy hour. Departures on the return journey are at night.

Malindo is using a 737-900ER aircraft on the route, boasting extra leg room, USB chargers, inflight entertainment, meals and a 30-40kg per person luggage allowance included in the ticket price. Malindo is the 30th airline now operating flights to and from Brisbane and it provides connectivity to 43 more cities in 15 countries, including India, Nepal, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, on its international network from Kuala Lumpur. See www.malindoair.com

35 YEARS AT BNE

On 4 August 1982 the first Cathay Pacific flight touched down at Brisbane Airport – at the time, the latest Boeing 747-200 aircraft with a capacity for more than 400 passengers on board. In March this year Cathay Pacific brought the newest aircraft in its fleet to Brisbane for the first time – the A350-900 – and now operates 11 services per week between Brisbane and its home hub in Hong Kong. Happy 35th anniversary Cathay Pacific!

BNE July/August 2017 | 5

BRISBANE INSIDER

art

TO WEAR A

rkie Barton (pictured above) showed her artistic talents early, painting from the age of 6 and showing her work at exhibitions alongside her father, Indigenous artist Robert Barton, by the time she was a teenager. Since leaving university she has turned that talent to fashion design and, in the last year, has launched her eponymous label, Arkie.

While Barton has grown up in the city, her father is from the Kalkadunju people near Mt Isa in north west Queensland and stories of the Dreamtime and Indigenous art have formed the inspiration for her collections. She has been particularly influenced by the works of acclaimed artists such as the late Sally Gabori, Minnie Pwerle and others from the Utopia Women’s Art Movement who were known for the strong colour and expressive movement on their canvases. “That’s where my inspiration for colour has come from,” Barton says.

Barton’s art and fashion design have been a way for her to reconnect with her Indigenous heritage, she says, while growing up and living in urban surrounds. Her current collections reflect some of the most potent icons of the Indigenous culture: the bright colours inspired by the rainbow serpent in Dreamtime stories; the sharp contrast of black and white that

Arkie Barton, top, and an outfit from her Mirage and Spinifex collections, above right; Alisha Geary, right, aims to grow a global business in activewear using prints from original artworks such as Wendy Rix’s ‘Messenger’ design above.

6 | BNE July/August 2017

represents the spinifex she remembers seeing on walks as a child; and the blue of the waterways reflected in Mirage (pictured above). Even in the tech age Barton prefers to hand draw her prints and works closely with local makers to fashion made-to-order art that you can wear. See her collections at www.arkiethelabel.com It was artwork by another Utopian Gloria Petyarre that also inspired university student Alisha Geary to start her label, Faebella (meaning ‘beautiful story’ in Latin), a range of activewear sporting Indigenous decorative prints.

Geary was acting as a tour guide showing visitors through Bond University’s prestigious collection of Indigenous art when she had her light bulb moment. “Bond has the largest private collection of Indigenous art in the country and, as a guide, we were told all the stories behind the artworks. It wasn’t until I learned the symbolism behind them that I realised the significance of the artworks for our culture … Our history exists in those works and the artists are our historians, in a sense, so I thought it would be valuable to share because a lot of Indigenous artwork is not understood.”

Geary, a business and law student at Bond University, is Faebella’s company director but not its designer. She works with fashion interns who design the collections using prints from artwork she sources.

Geary is still operating the business while she completes her degree this year and then intends to put full-time effort into building her brand with aspirations on a global scale. The first step towards that will be a crowdfunding campaign to launch soon on Kickstarter to help raise funds to expand the business. Like Arkie Barton her collections are for sale exclusively online. See www.faebella.online

PEEK BEHIND

THE MEDIA CURTAIN

O

ne of Australia’s best-loved actors, William McInnes (above), is returning to his home town of Brisbane to appear at Storyology After Dark. McInnes became a household name in 1999 when he took on the role of Max Connors in hit ABC television series SeaChange. He went on to star in films such as My Brother Jack, Look Both Ways and Unfinished Sky, for which he has won two Logie awards and one Australian Film Institute award.

McInnes says he just “fell into acting” because he wanted to quit his legal studies at Rockhampton’s Central Queensland University. Instead, he transferred to Arts/ Economics and then went to study drama at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.

He’s also an accomplished author. His first book, A Man’s Got to Have a Hobby, is a touching account of an idyllic childhood spent with his four siblings in and around Redcliffe’s Deception Bay. The book was a hit with reviewers

and readers and since then McInnes has written five more. He’s also been a columnist and radio presenter.

Each of these new directions has been a “happy accident”, he says, and equally fulfilling. Perhaps he was a “smorgasbord of a person” or even a “slashie”, he quips, a term that describes someone who does more than one job, like actor/writer.

He says acting is hard, “because I have to watch what I eat and I think about whether I should have that extra glass of wine.”

McInnes is looking forward to returning to Brisbane, which he thinks has changed a great deal. “The three big cities in the eastern part of Australia have changed but the change in Brisbane is more dramatic, it was probably not as obvious in Sydney and Melbourne.

“The arts precinct at South Bank is the best in the country and Brisbane has always had a very strong music scene.

This came about as part of the protest movement against former Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen,” he says. “It was a crazy time then.”

But the trip he likes best is the drive from central Brisbane back to his home town of Redcliffe. “You go through all these suburbs which have so many memories. When you get to Deception Bay, it’s one of those places where you have form, that’s what I like about the home town feel, it’s more intimate.”

Storyology After Dark is just one event at Storyology, the festival of media and journalism, at Brisbane Powerhouse, 24-26 August, that also lifts the lid on topics including ‘Fake News’, ‘Queensland’s Life of Crime’, ‘The Trump Effect’ and more. Buy tickets at www.brisbanepowerhouse.org

This is Queensland

style

Travellers passing through Brisbane Airport’s International Terminal will get a sneak peek of some of Queensland’s best fashion talent in a display of designs on The Green on Level 3 during the month of August. The display will be a mini showcase, featuring more than a dozen women’s and menswear designers from across the state and giving a small preview of what’s in store for Brisbane Fashion Month in October. The fashion event is the brainchild of Carly Vidal-Wallace and has expanded this year to include a program of runway shows, workshops, a competition for emerging designers, industry forums, pop-up stores and an Indigenous arts project and fashion display. Designs by Isabella Longginou (pictured above) will feature in the gala finale. See what’s on at www.brisbanefashionmonth.com.au Mercedes-Benz Fashion Festival also returns this year from 27 to 31 August, with Old Government House providing the backdrop to the runway shows of spring/summer collections, held outside in a garden setting. Some of Brisbane’s time-honoured designers such as Sacha Drake, George Wu, Paul Hunt and White Label Noba are on the program as well as a Next Gen designer show and the popular QueensPlaza High Tea. See the program and buy tickets at www.mbff.com.au

IT’S ALL IN THE WORDS Regurgitator’s Ben Ely (left) wears many hats: musician, writer, visual artist, Marvel comic book fan! He recently showed off his DJing skills at the launch of the Marvel exhibition at GOMA, his artistic skills – and his sense of humour – at an exhibition of his latest works at Brisbane Powerhouse, and he will join an epic tribute to Leonard Cohen at the Queensland Poetry Festival at the Judith Wright Centre, 24-27 August.

More than 100 artists are on the program which includes a rare verse and drawing live performance with Michael Leunig,

Brisbane Poetry Map self-guided walks and a late-night fringe program upstairs at Bloodhound Bar in Fortitude Valley.

The festival also hosts the Australian Poetry Slam state final and anyone who fancies their chances as a wordsmith can enter the first Brisbane heat (free entry) on 29 July at Brisbane Powerhouse, New Farm. Random audience members will be asked to judge the best slammers to go on to the state final. More poetry slam heats will be held from Cairns to the Gold Coast up to 23 August. For details see www.queenslandpoetryfestival.com BNE July/August 2017 | 7

BRISBANE INSIDER

T

BACK TO NATURE AT

ekka 8 | BNE July/August 2017

he fashion parades at Ekka are as much a tradition as the iconic strawberry sundae – they’ve both been on the program for nearly 30 years – but, in keeping with the times, the fashion show has become more interactive. So, this year, not only do the parades showcase women’s and menswear in natural fibres by local designers but event director Laura Churchill will host a series of ‘Fibre to Fashion Conversations’ between shows that shine the spotlight on the source.

Churchill’s guests will discuss sustainability in fashion and natural fibres, slow fashion, upcycling, advances in fabric technology and the design benefits of natural fibres. She will also interview photographer Chantel McAlister about her project ‘The Truth About Wool’, being shot over six months to capture an intimate portrait of the people and the landscapes behind the wool industry.

The Natural Fibres Fashion Parades will include many well established Brisbane designers such as Gail Sorronda, Julie Tengdahl and Pia du Pradal but it will also be the launching pad for new labels Daughter of the Moon, Nikke Horrigan and sticks + stone.

Jacky Stickler (above), the designer behind sticks + stone, has ambitions to do more than create appealing clothes to wear. She wants to change the way we think about and consume fashion, specifically to think before we throwaway and urging shoppers to be more curious about where their clothes come from.

Sustainability is at the heart of her collection which is made in Australia from certified organic cotton and using non-toxic dying processes. Meanwhile, Ladan Ocora, designer of Daughter of the Moon, has her collection made in Africa (a skirt from her collection, pictured left) to help support small village communities.

Back to Nature Natural Fibres Fashion Parades, Royal International Convention Centre, Brisbane Showgrounds, Bowen Hills, three shows daily, 11-20 August. See www.ekka.com.au

Balga Quandamooka djagan

ALL ABOARD

SEADECK

Quandamooka country extends from Moorgumpin (Moreton) and Minjerribah (North Stradbroke) Islands to the mouth of the Brisbane River, encompassing the southern bay islands and the mainland bay suburbs in between and this year the region’s annual festival pays homage to the element that gives it life – water. In a three-month-long celebration, the Quandamooka clans say “yura” (welcome) and host a calendar of events from July to September that share their stories and culture and invite visitors not just to look and listen but to join in too.

The journey of discovery begins with the Water Trail and Dreamtime storytelling at Redland Museum and continues with exhibitions, performances, social art workshops, whale watching cultural tours, Kunjiels (corroborees), eco boat tours, bush tucker and pop-up beach dining and more. See the program at www.quandamookafestival.com.au and follow them on facebook for event updates.

Keep a weather eye on Brisbane River for floating party boat Seadeck, fresh from its second summer cruising Sydney Harbour. The 42-metre, three level Seadeck will be in Brisbane for just 11 weeks, hosting cruises on Friday night, Saturday and Sunday afternoons for three to four hours. There’s a $25 or $40 admission fee and cost of food and drinks is extra. The boat, built in Europe only five years ago, has the style of a 1940s liner, inspired by Hollywood’s Golden Age. The boat departs from River Lookout Cruise Terminal, Pontoon A, at South Bank, in front of the Wheel of Brisbane. See www.seadeck.com.au

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BNE July/August 2017 | 9

COVER STORY

COFFEE WITH

J E R RY SEINFELD 10 | BNE July/August 2017

A

Jerry Seinfeld talks to Daniel McGinn ahead of his sell-out national tour that comes to Brisbane in August

fter years as a stand-up performer, Jerry Seinfeld conquered 1990s television with his eponymous sitcom. Two decades later he’s again drawing viewers and accolades, this time for his online talk show, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee – even as a new generation discovers Seinfeld on streaming video.

Long after the show had ended it was still being called the greatest show of all time and judged the best sitcom ever, and it reportedly has generated well over $3 billion in syndication rights. But that isn’t enough for Seinfeld himself to rest on his laurels and since then he has been a writer, producer and director of books, movies and a documentary, as well as continuing to tour and perform stand-up.

He still turns up to some of the smaller comedy clubs where he began his career, tweeting out to his followers (more than 4 million of them) about impromptu performances where he will test new material.

Immediately after his Australian tour he will return to a residency at New York’s Beacon Theatre which has been so successful new shows have been added. Now 62, Seinfeld says he has no intention of stopping any time soon, telling one Australian reporter ahead of his tour, “I’ll be doing this when I’m 85. This is not like work to me in any way. I mean, if there were funnier things to do, I promise you, I would be doing them.”

profession, but you can’t teach someone to be funny. I didn’t realise how genetic it was until I saw my daughter – I couldn’t believe how funny she was. I didn’t teach her to be that way and I know my dad was funny, so now I see that there’s a huge genetic component. You just pop out with this thing.

How effective is humour as a leadership tool?

Being funny is one of the ultimate weapons a person can have in human society. It might even compete with being really good-looking.

How do you get psyched up before going onstage?

You don’t have to get psyched up – the audience will take care of that.

You walk out in front of 3,000 people who have paid $75 or $100, they’re sitting there saying, “We want to laugh right now,” and you feel that. But every comedian, like every athlete, has a little routine. Mine is to look at my notes until five minutes before the show. When my tour producer says “Five minutes” I put on the jacket, and when the jacket goes on it’s like my body knows “OK, now we’ve got to do our trick.” And then I stand, and I like to just walk back and forth, and that’s it. That’s my little pre-show routine. I never vary it. It just feels comfortable.

Seinfeld was successful because I micromanaged it – every word, every line, every take, every edit, every casting.

That’s my way of life

How much of Seinfeld’s continuing popularity stems from quitting when it was still atop the ratings?

I would love to know the answer to that.

My theory is that proportion is key to everything. You’re making this TV show, and it gets really popular, and you have to stop at a certain point or it loses the magic. I’m not comparing myself in any way, shape, or form to the Beatles but they ended after nine years when I was a kid and there was something about that single-digit number. Once a TV series is in double digits, it’s like, “God, is this thing ever going to end?” Ten seasons seemed so much longer than nine. I decided that ninth season should be the last so that the audience would feel it saw a performance that ended on a high note.

Was it hard to figure out what your career should look like after Seinfeld?

I never thought I had to do anything. I was a successful stand-up comedian for many years before I got the show. I knew that was going to be my life. The show came along and it was quite a detour. I went from being relatively unknown to getting the greatest ride you could possibly get in entertainment and feeling a certain amount of cultural relevance.

People were picking up words we had made up, like “regifting” and “shrinkage”. But I never saw myself as anything other than a professional stand-up comedian. It would have been a mistake to try to springboard into building a huge media company, making movies and TV shows.

Can you teach someone to be funny?

Nope. You can teach someone aspects of making it in the comedy Copyright © 2017 Harvard Business School Publishing Corp.

Photography by Christopher Lane/Getty Images

As a live performer, how do you improve?

You have to know how to encourage yourself to be confident and courageous when you’re creating new material and also how to be harshly critical and go, “That’s good, but it’s not good enough – take it out.” I don’t like to be so critical that I get depressed, but I get close. Managing that is the toughest part of the profession. Most of the time when comedians come off the stage and you ask them, “How was it?” they say, “I hate myself.”

How did Comedians in Cars originate?

It’s very important to know what you don’t like. A big part of innovation is saying, “You know what I’m really sick of?” For me, that was talk shows where music plays, somebody walks out to a desk, shakes hands with the host and sits down.

“How are you?” “You look great.” I’m also sick of people who are really there to sell their show or product. “What am I really sick of?” is where innovation begins.

With Comedians in Cars, do you risk running out of people to interview?

My feeling is that instead of digging down in the barrel of comedians, I want to start having people I like on again: Alec Baldwin, Larry David, Sarah Silverman. Twelve minutes of Alec Baldwin isn’t enough for me and I assume that’s true for the audience. I’m looking at the show now the way the old Tonight Show was, where you would have people who didn’t have anything to promote but were just great on a talk show – so they came on all the time. I’ll maintain the standard as opposed to the variety.

Jerry Seinfeld performs a sell-out show on 9 August at Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Boondall

BNE July/August 2017 | 11

FEATURE

GOING

It may be a leap of faith for some but more people are travelling solo in 2017 and it’s a trend that shows no signs of slowing as global tourism opens its arms to singles. Carmen Jenner reports

S

olo travel isn’t a new phenomenon, but when Elizabeth Gilbert released her travel memoir Eat, Pray, Love 10 years ago it seems she inspired a legion of women to bravely explore the world their own way, without partners or friends to lean on.

Online surveys have shown that as many as 51 per cent of Australians planning to travel this year were intending to go solo, an increase of more than 20 per cent on a survey carried out just two years earlier – and when it comes to departure, women are the most likely to take the single route.

In 2015 TripAdvisor’s Women’s Travel Survey showed that more than 80 per cent of respondents in Australia and the UK either had travelled or were planning to travel solo that year.

Brisbane-based travel writer Christine Retschlag, who also pens the travel and dating blog The Global Goddess, has spent nearly three decades observing solo travellers. “The one thing that interests me the most is that, overwhelmingly, you will find it’s solo women, across all age spectrums,

12 | BNE July/August 2017

exploring the world,” she says. “You rarely encounter solo male travellers, which fascinates me as the world is inherently safer for men.”

A poll of travel agents supports her comments with more than 70 per cent in one survey confirming that more female travellers embark on solo trips than their male counterparts, a trend that has also led to a meteoric rise in the number of travel companies specialising in women-only tours.

There’s no doubt travelling solo is adventurous, forcing you out of your comfort zone to engage with strangers while discovering new experiences.

However, while it can be a massive confidence booster, not to mention empowering, it also can be quite daunting as editor, writer and now digital nomad Deanna Romano discovered. “When I started travelling 12 years ago I worried about getting lost and, as an introvert, the thought of starting a conversation with a stranger was just about as nerve-wracking as wandering the streets at night by myself.”

Romano found she simply had to engage with strangers out of necessity,

forcing herself into uncomfortable situations that once she would have shied away from. Now she rarely spends more than three months in one place.

In the last year alone she has travelled in Thailand, Laos, Bali, London and Italy, mastering her Italian in Sienna, before moving on to Portugal where she is now. Where to next she hasn’t quite worked out yet. Turkey, Spain, Paris, India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Scotland, Morocco, New York and Nepal have already been ticked off her bucket list.

Paddy Scott, from small group travel specialist My Adventure Travel, says the national agency group has seen a large increase in solo travellers going overseas across all age groups but particularly among those from 45 to 65.

One of the biggest disadvantages of travelling without a plus one is the ubiquitous single supplement so it pays to shop around for the best deals and discounts. While Paddy Scott says most tours won’t charge a single supplement if travellers agree to share a room to keep costs down, Singles Travel Connections (www.singlestravel.com.au) offers single rooms on all its tours without any additional price supplements. Owner Judith Hards’ nurturing spirit ensures repeat business. “Many [customers] find themselves having to travel alone for the first time and not everyone has the confidence to face new countries or cultures. Even if confidence isn’t an issue, most people prefer to leave the details of the trip to someone else and spend their time enjoying a holiday.”

Meanwhile Encounter Travel (www.encountertravel.com.au) takes particular care with its roommate matching service. Director Justine Waddington says, “We do our best to match travellers with the same gender buddy and then everyone saves.”

They also try to arrange a reduced rate if a suitable ‘roomie’ isn’t found.

Waddington says they take particular care to establish their solo travellers’ needs and quirks. “We ask for honesty about their sleeping habits, such as snoring, CPAP machines for sleep apnoea, insomnia or other things that might disturb a roommate,” she says.

Last year, Encounter Travel launched a Cruise Circle for Solos range of trips for travellers who want the benefits of solo cruising without the drawbacks of travelling alone and with the option of sharing a cabin to keep the prices down.

Travel with Me (www.travelwithme.com.au) is another agency focusing on the solo travel market, which mostly includes women between the ages of 50 to 70, although not necessarily single as often they have partners who aren’t willing or able to travel. The agency also runs a Solo Travel Club where members receive deals and can join quarterly meetups in different locations, as well as get-togethers before their tours.

Travel with Me aims for camaraderie on their tours, keeping group sizes to no more than 16 people per tour. Owner Annette Porter says, “For those who choose the twin option, we will change the room buddy list at each new hotel. This gives an opportunity to get to know more people and, of course, lessen the risk of ending up sharing with someone you may not get on with so well.”

The benefits of joining a tour group, regardless of whether you have travelling companions or not, are plentiful. Tour companies take care of the logistical challenges of getting you and your luggage around, which anyone who has shown up in the middle of the night in a foreign country can appreciate. Travellers can explore the world safely as part of a small group, with the benefit of guides with local knowledge, yet still have time to make their own discoveries and, of course, new friendships can be made.

Independent travellers, on the other hand, love the freedom of being alone and having the flexibility of changing their plans when it suits them.

Apps such as SoloTraveller and Outbound (both developed by Australians and available for iPhone and android) make it easier to meet up with likeminded travellers, filtered to suit age, gender, location and interests.

Deanna Romano recommends establishing a routine if away for a lengthy period. “Whether it’s meditation, journaling, yoga or whatever gives you a sense of homecoming ... because, as the saying goes, home isn’t a place but it’s where the heart is.”

We know that having to pay for a room to yourself just because you don’t have a travel partner is a downer - Justine Waddington

ways to go solo ADVENTURE

Top choice: New Zealand – after all, it pays to be nice to the person preparing your bungee strap.

CALM POLITICAL CLIMATES AND SPECTACULAR SCENERY

Top choices: Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, Japan and Canada.

PILGRIMAGES – PHYSICAL OR SPIRITUAL Top choices: trekking in Nepal or Europe’s Camino Santiago and Margaret River’s Cape to Cape track in Western Australia; and Ubud’s rice paddies in Bali have never been so busy with spiritual endeavours.

CITY ESCAPES

Top choices: New York, Paris, Barcelona, Hong Kong and Singapore all rated in the Top 10 in TripAdvisor’s Women’s Travel Survey.

LEARN SOMETHING

Top choices: photography in Morocco, painting in the Greek Islands, cooking in the Spanish Pyrenees – just some of the tours available for solo travellers at www.golearnto.com BNE July/August 2017 | 13

ESCAPE

Lost in

VI ETNAM

Jackson Stone celebrated his 16th birthday exploring Vietnam and forgot, for a while, all about social media

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F

or a 16-year-old Australian teenager travelling overseas there are three big questions that must be answered.

Will there be WiFi? Can I charge my phone?

Will the food be ‘normal’? Questions that seem so important before departure but not the high priorities I thought they’d be on arrival.

For a start the sheer buzz of traffic and people in Hanoi is a shock as millions of bikes, of all descriptions, and pedestrians share the streets.

A waiter told me I hadn’t seen Vietnam until I’d been hit by a scooter, and it wasn’t long before I found out what he meant. While I was wandering through the chaotic old quarter, distracted by all the sights around me, I was nudged from behind by a scooter as it was weaving – very slowly – through the congested traffic. I wasn’t hurt, just my pride a bit dented and a bruise to remind me to keep a lookout while I was walking the narrow streets. I felt I had passed my first rite of passage, like getting a tattoo, something to tell my friends about later.

We had come to join a small group tour for my first adventure in Vietnam, far from my world of school, homework and going

out on weekends. Instead I was in a foreign country where English isn’t commonly spoken, at least where we were going. Trying to make myself understood in shops and restaurants was a challenge but exciting, too. I discovered communication skills I didn’t know I had, using my hands, pointing and shaking my head, finding ways to make myself understood.

If Hanoi was a test in being alert to the surroundings, then our first physical test was hiking to the hill town of Sapa, 380km north west of Hanoi by train. The first part of our two-day hike took us down into the valley, along walking trails that had been used by locals for generations, around steeply terraced rice fields and passing children and cows at their leisure on the way.

After a 15km trek that took more than four hours following our local guide we were happy to reach our homestay for the night, a large home on the hillside and a balcony with views over the valley. Cold drinks were waiting and dinner was a generously prepared feast of rice, pork dishes, soup, fried fish and sautéed vegetables prepared by our host family.

Our two-day hike took us down into the valley, along walking trails around the steeply terraced rice fields that had been used by locals for generations

Bed was a mattress over a wooden frame with a mosquito net and, as I had every night so far, I fell asleep quickly without the distractions of screens or television.

The next day was a three-hour ascent back to Sapa along slippery mud trails and a small but beautiful bamboo forest. My phone was proving good for one thing: photos!

From Sapa we travelled by bus and train back to Hanoi then buckled in for another four-hour bus ride to Halong Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of Vietnam’s most photographed destinations. The bay is well recognised for its 1,600 limestone islands, carved by the tropical climate over 20 million years and it’s filled with tourist cruise boats, all trying to find ideal anchorages for the night.

But still they couldn’t dim the wonder of it for me. We boarded a boat for a two-day cruise and, after lunch, paired off into double kayaks for a leisurely paddle on the bay’s still waters, navigating our way through a limestone tunnel that opened out into an amphitheatre of limestone peaks, the only entrance in and out.

Kayaking is the best way to see Halong Bay

Adventures in Vietnam include hiking the terraced rice fields near Sapa, north east of Hanoi, and kayaking between the limestone islands and natural tunnels of Halong Bay

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ESCAPE because you can paddle right up to the base of the limestone karsts and touch them, you can see the beautiful plants that grow along the waterline and hear the drip-drip-dripping of water as it finds its way out of their cracked interiors. We paddled off on our own for a while, enjoying the quiet and listening to every drop.

The next morning, after a night floating under the stars, we returned by private bus to Hanoi before setting off the following evening on a 680km overnight train ride on the ageing, creaky Reunification Express to Hue, then from Hue through Danang by minibus to Hoi An, a city whose cultural values, influences and beliefs have been preserved by the locals and left largely untainted by outside influences.

We were warned by our guide that you can spend a lot of money in Hoi An without realising it (a city with 400 tailors, 100 shoe stores and plenty of chic restaurants), a warning I suspected might have been directed at me, the teenage shopper of the group, but I wasn’t fazed. One of the things I loved most was the shopping. Fake Vans, Adidas and Nike goods were everywhere and perfect-looking copies cost just a few dollars. It was a once in a lifetime chance for me to stock up on my wardrobe – even create a whole NEW wardrobe – I bought shoes, shorts, t-shirts, a bluetooth speaker and a fake Under Armour bag to carry it all in. And at every store I visited I got better at bargaining!

From top: a local farmer gives Jackson Stone a ride on a water buffalo near Hoi An; Stone meets a local couple married 70 years and still farming; the streets of Hanoi are jammed with bikes of all sizes and pedestrians crowding the narrow streets

Photography top, centre and opposite page by Barry Stone

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I liked exploring Hoi An, going off the beaten track and seeing it without a plan

Knowing it wasn’t costing a lot made it even more fun (plus, it was Dad’s money)!

I liked exploring the nooks and crannies of Hoi An, going off the beaten track and seeing it without a plan. During the day we wandered the streets, dawdled around the markets and scouted out where to have our evening meal. Trays of seafood, vegetables, frogs and frog legs (grilled with lemon grass and chilli), chicken feet, entire baskets full of bugs such as crickets, and squid teeth, even hot vit lon (boiled duck embryos) are for sale at the evening street markets. Back home I’ve eaten lamb’s brains, but I couldn’t bring myself to try the hot vit lon, slurped (as we were shown) straight from the egg.

At around 7 o’clock the shutters of riverside cafés begin to open, waiters usher you in their direction and lanterns begin lighting up the streets and river with their warming glow.

One of my favourite meals was one I cooked myself. At Anantara Hoi An Resort I was given a one-on-one lesson in Vietnamese cuisine with a professional chef and produced a dish called Beef Wrapped in Betel Leaf. I kneaded minced beef with herbs, lemon grass, crushed peanuts, curry powder and shallots then wrapped it all in a betel leaf and char-grilled it for six minutes. The dish was then served to Dad and I under a cabana overlooking the Thu Bon River. I felt a great feeling of satisfaction for what I had just created.

On my birthday our group cycled for an hour

or so through rice paddies near Hoi An until we arrived at a small lake. A local farmer appeared with a water buffalo and before I knew it I was hoisting myself up onto the buffalo’s back behind its owner, then gripping him tightly around the waist while we made our way out into the middle of the shallow lake!

The buffalo’s back was smooth and slippery and tucking my feet up as far as they could go while balancing myself on its back seemed like the longest 10 minutes I’d ever spent, no easy task, but I made it out and back without falling.

Water buffalo are everywhere in the fields as we travel around – Vietnam has 3 million of them – used to plough fields for rice and vegetables and they are considered so valuable they are thought of as members of the family.

The day before we were to fly home we visited the Cu Chi tunnels, a 120km-long underground network of narrow tunnels and bunkers north of Ho Chi Minh City that the North Vietnamese used during the Vietnam War to hide from the Americans.

They form an impossible maze for anyone who doesn’t know the secrets to navigating them and some so narrow barely a single body could

fit in. We lowered ourselves down into one of the larger tunnels and, bending awkwardly, shuffled forward on our knees. With my head centimetres from the roof I managed my way through a 40-metre long section of tunnel but I saw nothing but black and it felt very claustrophobic. Every five metres or so I was aware of more tunnels going off to the left or the right and was glad of a guide ahead of me. We came out further along the tunnel into a large area used during the war as a medical room and it felt good to emerge again into the light. I couldn’t imagine fighting a war from here.

Sitting at Ho Chi Minh airport I smiled to myself thinking about the highlights of my trip; kayaking in Halong Bay, wandering the tranquil streets of Hoi An and, of course, clinging to the back of that water buffalo. Vietnam is so diverse and we had experienced a bit of everything – history from the Vietnam War, unique food and cooking, culture all around and wonderful welcoming people. I had just spent two weeks off the grid, happily ‘lost’ in Vietnam.

The writer travelled on the Best of Vietnam tour with G Adventures. See www.gadventures.com.au

Malindo Air flies daily between Brisbane and Kuala Lumpur via Bali and flies on to both Hanoi (new) and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam on its network of more than 40 international destinations. For details see www.malindoair.com

Squeezing into the Cu Chi tunnels near Ho Chi Minh City

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ESCAPE

PERTH

A JOURNEY BETWEEN THEN AND NOW

From Perth’s urban centre to the nearby Swan Valley Carmen Jenner gets a taste of old and new on a short break in Western Australia’s capital

Images, except Alex Hotel: Tourism Western Australia

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Main: Perth Arena. From top: Rooftop bar at the Alex Hotel; State Theatre Centre; Northbridge Piazza

N

orthbridge, just north of Perth railway station, and flanked by the city’s cultural centre of theatres, museum and art gallery, is an urban cultural hub with a strong arts and creative scene and the boutique Alex Hotel is a launch pad into the throng. Discreetly commanding its boutique posting on Northbridge’s busiest corner at James and William Streets, the ‘Alex’ is Perth’s queen of pared-back luxury. At check-in we discover staff casually waiting front of house rather than stationed behind some imposing front desk … and I’m certainly not complaining about the lack of an ironing board in my room; why start worrying about creases now?

Although the absence of a bar fridge is more a concern until hotel manager Alan Ford directs me to the help-yourself bar on the first floor.

“It operates on the honour system, unlike the muffins in the communal areas,” he playfully suggests.

There’s only a single lift which means the stairs are the height of activity reminiscent of European hotels, and it’s unlike any hotel I’ve stayed in Perth before. Room types range from compact suites and bunk rooms with the basics to extra-large and family options with attention to details such as luxurious linens and locallymade Sodashi toiletries.

With the Perth Cultural Centre just across the street and buzzing with year-round events it’s easy to absorb not only one of the finest collections of Indigenous art at the WA Art Gallery but also live performance and during our stay a Black Swan Theatre Production at the Heath Ledger Theatre was on the agenda.

The play, an original work called The Lighthouse Girl, was a tale about a dreamy girl who chatted with the soldiers using Morse code (no texting back then) on their way to World War I as they sailed past Albany (on the WA coast south east of Perth) before meeting their fate.

After the show Northbridge’s eating options range from Middle Eastern to Mediterranean to the Shadow Wine Bar oozing all kinds of New York cool in the converted bank next door to the hotel.

At the Hummus Club the main ingredient is made from WA-grown chickpeas with an assortment of toppings; we choose fragrant spiced beef, pomegranate and pita chips, accompanied by Zaatar Fried Chicken and crispy potatoes. In a display of unabashed gluttony, we pop next door to Whisk Creamery for gelato, served up by brothers Davide and Simon Nelva who draw inspiration from their Italian heritage and closest to the gelato found in Italy itself.

With the night still youngish, we head to the Alabama Song Bar in the laneway behind the Alex Hotel where the stage is enclosed in a cage, just like it is in The Blues Brothers movie.

Thankfully, it’s merely part of the décor and not protection for the live blues, rockabilly and soul bands. With more than 100 American whiskies, bourbons and ryes, it’s a little slice of America and downstairs is Joe’s Juice Bar refreshingly reminiscent of an ’80s nightclub.

Equally intriguing is Sneaky Tony’s in a nearby laneway, specialising in rum and so clandestine you have to ask the concierge for the password and directions.

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ESCAPE If Perth was chosen as the administrative centre of the Swan River Colony when founded by Captain James Stirling in 1829, and Fremantle the port, then Guildford, less than 30 minutes from the city, was the market town and today it’s the gateway to Swan Valley and still a charming historic village in a region brimming with wine, beer, cider, distilleries, restaurants, galleries, cheese, chocolate, nougat, preserves and fresh produce.

Even tours range from the thoroughly modern – from private limousine, a cruise via the Swan River or electric bike hire following the Swan Valley Heritage Cycle Trail – to the purely nostalgic, via horse-drawn carriage through the vineyards with Swan Valley Wagon Tours.

We take the 32-kilometre self-drive option with a pit-stop in Guildford for a rummage through its antique shops and to ponder the

The Swan Valley is Australia’s first Humane Food Region where conscientious chefs support the welfare of animals

Swan Valley and Guildford images: Tourism Western Australia

From top: Swan Valley is less than 30 minutes from Perth and Western Australia’s oldest wine growing region; Guildford is full of history, curio shops and old pubs; winemaking in progress at Olive Farm wines; the Rose and Crown Hotel in Guildford is reputedly Western Australia’s most haunted pub; Anthony Yurisich is a fourth generation winemaker and carries on his family’s tradition at Olive Farm Wines which lays claim to be Western Australia’s oldest winery. Opposite: the art deco Guildford Town Hall

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rumours about the Guildford Hotel, said to host ladies of the night during the Gold Rush days, and the Rose and Crown Hotel across the railway tracks, reputedly Western Australia’s most haunted pub.

Much is written about the Margaret River region, nearly 300km south of Perth, as a premier wine and food destination but the Swan Valley, so much closer to the city centre, is Western Australia’s oldest wine growing region, and has earned a solid reputation for its wines, ranging from Verdelho – a Valley specialty – to other white styles, full-bodied reds and some of the world’s finest fortifieds.

The Swan Valley is also Australia’s first Humane Food Region. Thirty restaurants in the region participate in the program where conscientious chefs support the welfare of animals and, as a result, produce healthier and tastier food. Mandoon Estate, Sandalford Wines, Sittella Winery and Restaurant and Fillaudeau’s are just a few of the participants using free range and RSPCA accredited meats, and seafood from suppliers who respect sustainable fishing practices.

Taylor’s Art and Coffee House is also part of the movement and general manager Caroline Taylor, who grew up in the Swan Valley, is a strong advocate for using organic, free-range and locally grown produce wherever possible.

As we pause for a coffee we also browse the collection of local printmaker Jude Taylor before continuing onto Olive Farm Wines, the state’s longest-running winery.

Anthony Yurisich is a fourth generation winemaker and carries on his family’s tradition at Olive Farm Wines which lays claim to be Western Australia’s oldest winery. First established in 1829 by an English botanist, who also planted olive trees which gave the winery its name, Anthony’s great grandfather took ownership of Olive Farm in 1933 after working in the goldfields, and tried his hand at winemaking in the style of his homeland, Yugoslavia. Their fortified wines became a signature and their latest release is a blend of the original wines along with Anthony’s own to create a fourth generation ‘special’.

A new addition is the Cheese Barrel next door, specialising in all things cheese.

Instead of choosing a platter off the menu, we select Gruyère de Comte, Truffle Cheddar, Yallingup Brie and Manchego accompanied by ham, pâté and olives washed down with an Olive Farm Shiraz.

No trip to the valley is complete without a tasting or two, and Funk Cider is aptly named for its cold pressed juices which include coconut and mango, and a chilli cider I wasn’t brave enough to try one called ‘Hot Lust’.

The brainchild of brothers Dustin and Martin Michael, Funk Cider is an alcoholic version of the Michael Brothers Traditionally Pressed Juice Company. The coffee caravan provides a muchneeded caffeine hit, and I make a mental note

it’s also open for breakfast, while the cider taps start pouring from 10am Back at the Alex Hotel their free city bikes offer a temptation to undo the day’s indulgences but there’s one last stop we have to make.

Alfred’s Kitchen has been serving burgers and pea and ham soup since 1946 and congregating around the fire pit, which is lit nightly, is a Perth tradition. However, the dining train carriage is a new addition and welcome on a cold night, especially when there aren’t free spots around the fire. I scan the menu and notice that pineapple is offered as an extra but beetroot still hasn’t found its way on to the menu and my request for it is met with a raised eyebrow. Tradition stands firm at Alfred’s!

Good humouredly reprimanded, we return to the Alex Hotel’s rooftop bar and debate whether to venture out once more and join the passing parade below.

For more information see www.visitperthcity.com www.swanvalley.com.au and www.alexhotel.com.au Tigerair is the first low cost carrier to operate services direct between Brisbane and Perth, now flying four times weekly between the two cities. See www.tigerair.com.au

Stay and Play at b r i s b a n e M a r r i ot t Soak up the sights of Brisbane as you “stay and play” in style at Brisbane Marriott.

Enjoy a night or two in a river view room and feast on a variety of dining options including our Seafood Dinner Buffet, Afternoon Tea and Buffet Breakfast.

For our latest deals visit: brisbanemarriott.com or call (07) 3303 8000

BNE July/August 2017 | 21

ESCAPE

A BIRD’S EYE VIEW OF

B I R DSVI LLE must admit, fascinators have always interested me more than form guides but the opportunity to visit Australia’s most remote outback race meet, the Birdsville Races, piqued my curiosity. As a sucker for long road trips, I wasn’t even perturbed by 1500 plus kilometres between Brisbane and Birdsville.

After all, there were plenty of vanilla slices to sweeten the journey from A to B(irdsville).

It’s affectionately known as the town in the middle of nowhere, but Birdsville equally could be described as the town in the middle of everywhere – a little blip on the map in the western-corner of Queensland, similar drive-distances – give-or-take a few hundred kilometres – from Brisbane, Adelaide and Alice Springs. But distance is no deterrent to thousands who come from far and wide on one weekend each year (1-2 September this year) to attend the legendary race that stops the outback. Well, 13 races, in fact, with a not-toodusty prize purse of $200,000 handed out over the two-day carnival. The one-pub town swells from a population of around 120 to 10,000, many of them first-timers like us.

We opted for a four-day ‘scenic route’ from Brisbane, travelling via St George, Cunnamulla and Innamincka for the opportunity to put our 4WD-ing skills to the test. But, trust me, the journey to Birdsville is all part of the adventure and building in time for stops along the way is essential – from morning tea in Toowoomba

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(home of the World’s Largest Lamington record) and lunch in Goondiwindi (best hot chips in the outback), to the Nindigully Pub, Queensland’s oldest watering hole and home of the 1.2kg beef patty served in a burger bun – and that’s just Day One.

By Day Three we reached Eulo (almost 900km west of Brisbane), Queensland’s answer to Rotorua, and an opportunity to shave years off our race-day look with a soak in 40 millionyear-old artesian mud at the Eulo Mudbaths (loaded with age-defying minerals like

We enjoyed lunch at a cute café with kangaroos in the backyard magnesium, zinc and silica). Owner Ian Pike reckons it’s so good “it could take corrugations out of iron”. Sold!

Refreshed, we pushed on to Thargomindah where we were gifted a bumper sticker that reads ‘London, Paris, Thargomindah’. The sticker is no joke, this outback town with a population of just 240, was the third city in the world to adopt electric street lights in 1893, one day after London and Paris. It’s worth visiting Thargo (as they say in the outback)

just to discover this piece of trivia. We enjoyed lunch at Coffee on Dowling, a cute café with kangaroos in the backyard, real coffee and daily home-made specials on the menu.

Continuing 275km west of Thargomindah we crossed the state line into South Australia and the territory where explorers Burke and Wills met their end. We arrived at the Dig Tree by sunset – perfect timing to capture it in the afternoon glow – but unlike Burke and Wills who returned to the Dig Tree only to find their supplies depleted, we had packed our own, enjoyed a cuppa and brushed up on Australian history with a visit to the display centre.

Our last night before Birdsville was spent at Innamincka, the smallest town on our outback adventure with a population of just 12 people and we stayed at the Innamincka Hotel, the sister property to the Birdsville Hotel. Its Outamincka Bar serves up some of the best pub grub this side of Brisbane. My pick was a steak and mushroom pie topped with a hashbrown rather than pastry. I was sceptical at first but the potato top was a nice, textural touch.

Arriving in Birdsville is something of a culture shock, joining the cavalcade of vehicles carrying crowds of punters into town after days of travelling on outback roads where peak-hour has been shared with little more than emus and dust.

You know it’s a big event when the town’s

Images: Tourism and Events Queensland

I

Hannah Statham ticks off the Birdsville Races from her bucket list and finds half the fun is getting there

An age-defying soak at Eulo

You know it’s a big event when the town’s caravan park goes through 48km of loo paper in two days caravan park goes through 48km of loo paper in just two days and Dusty Miller, Birdsville’s only baker, quickly sells out of his famous curried camel pies.

Camping is the (only) accommodation of choice during race week. Powered and unpowered caravan and camp sites are available at the local caravan park on a first-in, firstserved basis, while the banks of the Diamantina River (where camping is free) transform into a gypsy camp of tents and caravans, exploding out from the gates of the race track as far as the eye can see.

For anyone without BYO accommodation, pre-booked Rent-a-Tents in the pop-up tent city (from $499 for a two-person tent for four nights) are the go. We checked in to these ‘luxury’ digs – twin-share tents decked out with two single stretchers, mattresses and lanterns. Bed linen and other add-ons such as portable shelf units, eskies and more are available at extra cost. The staff on site do a remarkable job of keeping the showers and loos spotless – a portable set-up on the back of a semi-trailer, packing enough water pressure to wash the red dust (and remnants of Eulo mud) out of our hair.

It’s not just the remote location that’s novel about the Birdsville Races; the claypan track set against red sand dunes is a world away from the green turf and champagne bars of Eagle Farm, Randwick or Flemington. As

The team is race-ready

the horses jump out of the barrier, the dust mushrooms and the sound of hooves hitting dirt is deafeningly good. Track-side the enthusiasm among punters is contagious, the sun warm and the beer ice-cold – a winning trifecta even before placing a bet.

Anything goes in the dress code department (the more kooky and colourful, the more highly praised), but I would recommend sandals over stilettos and fashionistas, take note: in Birdsville, orange really is the new black. I started the day in a floral dress but ended it like everyone else, in a bright hue of burnt orange from top to toe.

In between races, there’s plenty of entertainment, from cocktail parties to fashions on the field and gourmet food options. Food trucks and the ‘Birdsville Barista’ roll in from around the country, serving up everything from chicken Chow Mein to wood-fired pizza.

When the outback sun gives way to a sky full of stars, Fred Brophy’s Boxing Tent takes centre stage. Fred, himself the son of a side-show operator and trapeze artist, is the last boxing tent showman on the planet. Also not to be missed is Birdsville’s iconic watering hole, the Birdsville Hotel, where racegoers and local characters kick up their heels.

However, by Sunday afternoon the town is drained, as though someone let the plug out, and punters disappear in a puff of dust. On the way out we detoured to Big Red, the biggest

sand dune in the Simpson Desert, about 30km out of town. At about 30 metres high it’s a popular spot for sand tobogganing and boogie board surfing, but the best time to go is to watch the sun set as it lingers on the horizon, bathing the desert in a warm and ruddy glow.

After that we made only two stops on the way home, overnight in Quilpie, home of one of the largest deposits of boulder opal in the world and Mitchell, known as the gateway to the outback and 568km west of Brisbane.

There we had a dip in the Great Artesian Spa fed by water from the Great Artesian Basin, one of the largest underground water sources in the world, which lies beneath an area of more than 1.7 million square kilometres of Australia’s outback, most of it in Queensland, and has supplied the town’s water since 1927.

It had been a long and not all winding road, a journey where my fascinator had taken a back seat to an Akubra but next time my goal is to tackle the form guide.

Find out more at www.birdsvilleraces.com, www.rentatent.com.au and www.queensland.com/ events. Search online for tag along tours to selfdrive to Birdsville in convoy.

Rex flies between Brisbane and Birdsville. For flight details see www.rex.com.au

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ESCAPE EXTRA

5

REASONS TO VISIT THE WHITSUNDAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Diving into the pristine waters of Whitehaven Beach it’s hard to imagine a cyclone ripped through the Whitsundays less than four months ago as the waters are as calm and sparkling blue as ever. While Hayman Island and Daydream Island Resort & Spa are closed for renovations and will reopen in 2018, the rest of the Whitsunday Coast is open for business as usual and the next three months are packed with events, from the Airlie Beach Running Festival (July 16) to Run the Great Whitsunday Trail (September 24). Here are five reasons to visit the Whitsundays before Christmas: 1. Camp on the islands. Scamper provides equipment and boat transfers to island camp sites from Henning Island to Hook Island and including Whitehaven Beach.

See www.whitsundaycamping.com.au 2. See Bowen, less than 80km and about one hour drive north of Airlie Beach, home of mangoes and mud crabs, sheltered bays and an angler’s heaven. The Offshore Superboats roar into action at speeds up to 240kph in a round of the Australian Championships (22-23 July). For details see www.tourismbowen.com.au 3. Whitsunday Reef Festival is Airlie Beach’s biggest street party (3-6 August).

4. Airlie Beach Festival of Sailing (10-17 August), and Hamilton Island Race Week (19-26 August) are as much fun on land as on water with a packed program of food, wine and entertainment as well as yacht racing. For more see www.abrw.com.au and www.hamiltonislandraceweek.com.au 5. Snorkel by ‘underwater scooter’ on a Seabob adventure with Cruise Whitsundays. Find out more at www.cruisewhitsundays.com Tigerair now flies between Brisbane and the Whitsunday Coast four times weekly 24 | BNE July/August 2017

Airbnb launches NEW EXPERIENCES Airbnb has changed the way people want to stay away from home when they travel and now they are providing new experiences as well. The booking site offers hosted experiences in 28 cities around the world, adding Sydney, the first Australian city on its list, earlier this year.

Like the accommodation, approved hosts offer up their ‘experiences’ instead of their homes for selection. For example, beloved chef Angie Hong (pictured left), former owner of Sydney Vietnamese restaurant Thanh Binh and mother of David Hong from SBS’s Chef ’s Line, hosts Monday dinners at her home in Newtown which have already earned five-star reviews.

The evenings are informal and interactive where everyone helps prepare some food. She also hosts ‘Cabramatta Food Odyssey’, a cook’s tour of the best places to shop and eat in this Vietnamese hub of suburban Sydney.

Meanwhile, Stephen Lanfranco (pictured right), a long-time surfer, accredited surf coach, lifeguard and Bondi local, hosts a personalised ‘Surf and Turf’ experience that includes dinner and drinks at one of his favourite haunts after the group has caught a few waves at the iconic beach.

More experiences include mixing your own music track at the Sydney Opera House broadcast studio, kayaking on Sydney Harbour or an introduction to the cocktail bars of Surry Hills and Darlinghurst. Sydney tours range in cost from $20 to $900 per person. To see Sydney and international tours see www.airbnb.com.au/experiences Jetstar, Qantas, Tigerair and Virgin Australia fly direct between Brisbane and Sydney providing 336 departures per week

ONLY IN MELBOURNE The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) houses the nation’s largest permanent collection of Australian art but in August it will host an exclusive exhibition of a very different collection when ‘The House of Dior: Seventy Years of Haute Couture’ (pictured above) showcases more than 140 garments by one of the world’s most influential fashion houses. The exhibition is open from 27 August to 7 November and the collection features work by the seven designers who have shaped Dior’s silhouette since 1947.

Visitors looking for a more intimate knowledge of the city through its art and architecture should time their travel to coincide with ‘Nite Art’ on 27 July, a one-night art show that brings together the work of more than 60 artists across 25 sites in the city and University of Melbourne. From 6pm art walks, performances and more will take place alongside installations, painting, photography and new media exhibitions in galleries, museums and hidden spaces generally not open to the public. For example, US artist John Eagles’ Illuminations projection work (pictured below) will be shown in the exhibition ‘Blood’ in a special preview space of the University of Melbourne’s new Science Gallery, which will be one of a network of only five Science Galleries in the world when completed next year.

It would be worth staying on then for Open House Melbourne which, like Brisbane’s similar event coming up on 7-8 October, throws open the doors to dozens more unique and significant spaces from elaborate historic buildings to modern sustainable design over the weekend of 29-30 July.

Or simply take a walking tour to discover Melbourne’s beating cultural heart. ‘Walk to Art’ and ‘Art Aficionado’ tours explore the city’s contemporary art galleries, artist-run spaces and public art, while ‘Melbourne Street Art Tours’ are run by street artists themselves, providing an insight to the array of spray painting, stencil art and paste-ups that have become Melbourne’s signature.

Comfortable rooms and honest, authentic service are just the start - Jen Fast, free Wi-Fi throughout the Hotel Be at the airport in 25 minutes with direct access to the AirTrain

Whitsundays images: Tourism and Events Queensland

Start the day right with Espresso coffee machines in every room In the heart of the CBD, just 5 minutes from Queen Street Mall Always the best rates on offer, visit hoteljen.com to book now

Jetstar, Qantas, Tigerair and Virgin Australia fly direct between Brisbane and Melbourne providing 244 departures each week

Hotel Jen Brisbane, 159 Roma Street, Brisbane, 4000 hjbb@hoteljen.com | www.hoteljen.com | 3238 2222 BNE July/August 2017 | 25

ESCAPE EXTRA

SKI THE CREEK

Jetgo flies direct between Brisbane and Albury four times weekly with connections by coach to Falls Creek.

26 | BNE July/August 2017

Falls Creek was busy long before the ski season opened with an action-packed ‘green season’ pre-snow falls. Mountain bikers flocked to the resort over summer to test new tracks that have boosted total trails to 40km, while about $15 million has been invested in work across the village, including renovations to luxury accommodation Astra and Elk. QT Hotel has the added treat of private hot tubs on the balconies of almost all its suites to soothe aching limbs before a night on the town and, in August, the new purpose-built $3.1 million Howman’s Gap Alpine Centre is expected to open for people with disabilities.

The centre includes 36-bed accommodation as well as year-round Paralympic training facilities, a collaboration between Disabled Wintersports Australia (DWA) which also co-ordinates volunteer guides at the mountain, the YMCA and the Victorian Government.

RUGGED ISLAND WALK The 61km Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail officially opened to walkers in October last year, allowing just 48 walkers on the trail per day to explore one of the most rugged, remote and spectacular coastlines in Australia, south of Adelaide.

The best time to tackle the walk is March to November and Kangaroo Island Odysseys has launched fully-inclusive two and three-day package tours tailored to small groups (five to 11 people) for guided walks along sections of the trail.

Each day includes more than six hours walking and highlights include Seal Bay to see the sea lion colony, followed by a gourmet picnic lunch at a heritage-listed, exclusive bushland property, the historic Weirs Cove, Cape du Couedic Lighthouse, Admirals Arch and Remarkable Rocks (pictured above).

The walk is designated Grade 4 (Grade 5 being highest in difficulty, fitness and experience required) and accommodation each night is at Kangaroo Island Wilderness Retreat. Tour departures are 16 August, 13 September, 18 October and 15 November 2017 and 14 February, 14 March 2018. Prices from $1180 per adult twin share including transfer from Adelaide. For details and bookings see www.kangarooislandodysseys.com.au/tours/nature-tours Jetstar, Qantas/QantasLink, Tigerair and Virgin Australia fly direct between Brisbane and Adelaide providing up to 68 departures per week

BUSH

TUCKER

JOURNEY

Ayers Rock Resort has launched ‘Bush Tucker Journeys’, a program of different experiences that celebrate Indigenous food and culture. For example, as part of the new free daily ‘Bush Food Experience’ guests learn about native Australian ingredients, ancient food preparation techniques and watch how to make wattle seed shortbread, while free daily bush yarns and garden walks share the stories of Indigenous hunters and gatherers.

Each of the resort’s 10 restaurants now feature bountiful bush ingredients in their menus and a signature special event is Tali Wiru, fine dining in the open air on a remote sand dune overlooking Uluru, limited to just 20 people per evening. Smoked kangaroo and kutjera crostini, pressed wallaby with fermented quandong (pictured above), pan-roasted toothfish and chocolate with Davidson plum, lemon myrtle and quandong are just a few taste temptations on the winter menu.

Quarterly ‘Uluru Feastival’ events focus on the blend of food and culture over a weekend; next events on 18-20 August and 3-5 November 2017.

See www.ayersrockresort.com.au/bushtuckerjourneys QantasLink flies direct between Brisbane and Alice Springs twice each week

Elements Insurance provides commercial solutions for your business.

Emerging risks are challenging along with the frequency of sever weather events.

Contact Marcus Hamill to assist phone 0439 720 226 or email mhamill@iaa.net.au Elements Insurance Pty Ltd Authorised Representative No. 1250559 of Insurance Advisernet Po Box 172 Stones Corner QLD 4120 Phone: 0439 720 226 EM: mhamill@iaa.net.au

YOU CAN’T MAKE AN APPOINTMENT FOR A CRISIS BNE July/August 2017 | 27

TASTE 1 RAW FLAVOUR Richard Ousby, head chef at Stokehouse Q, has made it a feature of his new menu developed with friend and fellow chef Hajime Horiguchi (Tanto, Hervey Bay), but Massimo Speroni, head chef at Bacchus, South Bank, makes raw ingredients an art form with Sand Crab, Snapper with Cucumber Buffalo Yoghurt and Osetra caviar, Salmon with mojito jelly and the classic Beef Tartare (pictured left).

Bacchus also brings new meaning to the phrase ‘plating up’ with sculptural Pordamsa tableware from Spain, sublime! See www.stokehouseq.com.au and www.bachussouthbank.com.au

5 FAB FOOD TRENDS 5 HEALTHY FOOD DELIVERED

2 ETHICAL EATING Cobia is a star of Aria’s new menu and not just because it tastes simply delicious. Cobia has been dubbed the ‘wagyu of the sea’ because of its content of healthy omega fats and chefs love it.

The good news is the growing appetite for the broad-flaked, firm flesh, sweet tasting fish is not depleting the ocean supply. Aria’s cobia comes from Pacific Reef Fisheries, Australia’s only cobia fish farm in far north Queensland and a result of pioneering local research. Last year the farm harvested 100 tonnes of cobia, all of it going to restaurants. Aria, meanwhile, posts a list of its suppliers with its menu so diners can see clearly where their food is coming from. See www.ariarestaurant.com

4 THE NEW FAST Poke bowls are the new healthy fast food, a raw fish salad staple from Hawaii. Quick and casual, the trend is catching on fast and only months after Suki opened its first poke bowl outlet in South Bank another will open in July in Bulimba (and they’re looking for more franchise partners). Suki has added its own twist, including seaweed or tortillawrapped burritos, to the menu, adding a choice of chicken, beef or tofu as alternatives to the hero ingredient, raw fish. Try it at Shop 6, 186 Grey Street, South Bank or see the menu at www.suki.restaurant

3 BAKING IS BACK No longer just something your mother used to do, now everyone at any age is having a go as ‘home-made’ is the flavour of the month.

Anzac biscuits, scones, sponge cakes and sausage rolls, apple crumble, lamingtons and caramel slice are all on the table with some new favourites as well such as flourless chocolate cake, ‘oreos’ and more worldly staples such as panforte, baklava, brioche and Barrosi sesame biscuits. If you want to bake them like a masterchef then the new Great Australian Baking Book can be your guide. More than 60 top chefs from around the country have shared recipes, from savoury snacks to saucy desserts, including Brisbane supremo Philip Johnson from ecco bistro (his banana tarte tatin, pictured right). Royalties from book sales will be donated to OzHarvest (see our story page 30).

28 | BNE July/August 2017

The business in pre-prepared meals homedelivered is booming, driven by Millennials who are too busy to cook. We’ve already seen the runaway success of 5.4 in Brisbane and now Soulara joins the local market, delivering to 65 postcodes in the city and Gold Coast, with specifically superfood, plant-based meals.

Choose plans from nine to 18 meals a week, including the Forbidden Rice and Rainbow Medley (pictured below). Prices range from $9.50 per meal. See www.soulara.com.au

TASTE OF QUEENSLAND David Kitchen and Lachy Crothers are the ‘team’ behind Brisbane’s newest boutique brewery Ballistic Beer Co. So far they’ve got four beers to their name but they’re names you’re not likely to forget such as Australian Psycho (Australian IPA) and Dirty Word (craft lager). Crothers will discuss the beers at the pop-up bar and bistro the Hunting Club on 16 July.

Clayton Donovan, the popular host of ABC’s Wild Kitchen, talks bush tucker and how, chances are, the ingredients can be foraged in your neighbourhood, or at least grown at home. Be tempted by Lemon myrtle, wattle seeds, Davidson’s plums, lillipillis and riberries to spice up salads, marinades, seasoning and desserts at his sessions on 15 July.

Enjoy the best of the Sunshine State on a plate at Regional Flavours, South Bank Parklands 15-16 July. There’s a program packed with more than 50 demonstrations, food and wine tastings, celebrity chefs, new brewers, sweet bakers, market stalls and more. See the program at regionalflavours.com.au

Jocelyn Hancock spreads the love with her tips on how to make compotes, curds and jams to dollop on fresh, crusty bread or a croissant, and how to embrace the time-honoured tradition of canning and preserving fresh seasonal fruit to enjoy yearround, 15 July. In another session on 16 July she will share her tips on how to make bite-size sweet treats.

Pictured left: Jocelyn Hancock’s lemon tart

SECRET BAR

Fit for THE QUEEN The Essence of Queensland is just that – a delicious blend of banana from Tully, mango from Bowen and pineapple from Mareeba in the state’s tropical north plus finger lime and golden raspberries from the Sunshine Coast – which is exactly why Stamford Plaza Hotel head pastry chef Eilidh Fitzsimmons created it for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on her last visit to Brisbane. It now has pride of place on the Queensland High Tea menu at Stamford Plaza Hotel, showcasing iconic regional produce, which also includes a deconstructed strawberry sundae in a glass in honour of Ekka, Redland Bay berry tart, blue pumpkin or Stanthorpe apple cider scones (with Maleny cream) and more. Available in the lobby Friday to Sunday only. For details see www.stamford.com.au

You won’t find an address for the new Legends Speakeasy Bar so if you want to try any of its fiery cocktails or choose from its list of almost 200 liquors you’ll first have to find it and then use the password to get in – which changes every week, so don’t think once you’ve navigated your way there you’ll automatically get in the next time! What you do get is a set of co-ordinates on the website – OK, so we cheated and googled them – then the password is posted to its social media accounts each Thursday afternoon. We can tell you that once inside there’s a vintage old-worldsaloon-meets-Victorian-steampunk vibe, a few theatrics behind the bar (if you order the right drinks) and a backing track of jazz and blues. See www.legendsspeakeasybar.com

BNE July/August 2017 | 29

TASTE Food collected by OzHarvest was used to create more than 2 million meals delivered to 100 charities last financial year. Special events also show people how to make delicious meals from leftovers to reduce waste

Food TO THE RESCUE Brisbane Airport has joined forces with OzHarvest to redistribute unused inflight food to others in need, writes Kerry Heaney

Brisbane Airport volunteer ambassadors help collect unused food from inflight meals for redistribution by OzHarvest to charities and people in need 30 | BNE July/August 2017

W

hen nine-year-old James misses breakfast and there’s no lunch in his school bag, he knows there will be a free muesli bar, an apple and a muffin waiting for him at school. What he doesn’t know is that this food may have just flown in thousands of kilometres from another city and, although fresh and fit for consumption, would have ended up at the tip without the collaboration between Brisbane Airport Corporation and food rescue organisation OzHarvest.

It’s the same for Lucy, who left home at 14 and has been couch surfing for a few months. When she visits the local youth service for support and stuffs her pocket with healthy treats to save for later, she has no idea they were originally intended as an inflight snack.

OzHarvest Queensland state manager Amy Cobb says the organisation began collecting food from Brisbane Airport tenants in 2011.

Recovery of unused inflight meal items began three years ago and now it’s part of a daily food collection route.

“OzHarvest typically collects many items passengers will see on their flight trays, such as sandwiches, juice, crackers, biscuits, muffins, water, chocolates, muesli bars, breakfast cereals and fruit,” says Amy. “The food is perfect for school breakfast clubs, charities that provide food hampers and drop-in centres.”

OzHarvest collects from Brisbane Airport airlines and airport catering companies including Alpha Flight Services, Virgin Australia via Gate Gourmet and Qantas Catering.

The inclusion of foods such as banana bread, which can be collected but must be distributed within 24 hours, and other initiatives have seen a growth in recovered food from 11.9 tonnes in 2014 to 41.2 tonnes last year.

“The work OzHarvest undertakes in Australia promotes the sustainability vision of Brisbane Airport Corporation,” says Maddalena Gabrielli, a sustainability engineer on Brisbane Airport’s environment team.

Working behind the scenes to sort the food

are 35 Brisbane Airport (BNE) volunteer Ambassadors who recover one to two tonnes of unused, pre-flown food a month at Qantas Catering for collection by OzHarvest’s bright yellow vans.

Jenni Greaves, manager of the Brisbane Airport Visitor Information Centre and Ambassador program, says food collected varies from crates of apples to boxes of Byron Bay cookies. Vicki Clarke, a keen volunteer and BNE Ambassador for eight years, finds it satisfying to know that she is saving the food for people who need it. “It is all unopened packages of food that often have not even been distributed,” she says.

Although OzHarvest values the excess food that they re-route to people in need, the organisation is pleased that collections from some airlines have decreased. “This is not a bad thing as far as we are concerned as it could mean that changes have been made to internal ordering and catering processes to help reduce food waste,” says Amy. According to a spokesperson for Virgin Australia, that is just what the airline has been able to achieve. “Virgin Australia is always looking at new ways to reduce our impact on the environment, including our food wastage. Over the past two and a half years we have actively been working to reduce the amount of excess food on our aircraft through a number of ways.

“We’ve been listening to our customers and changed products to better suit our guests’ needs which have, in turn, increased the consumption of food on flights. These actions have reduced our food waste by nearly 50 per cent. We are delighted to remain a partner with OzHarvest and continue to donate our unused food to support their efforts.”

More than 250 businesses around Brisbane donate excess food to OzHarvest which helps to create the 2,275,716 meals it delivered to 100 local charities last financial year.

Follow foodie blogger Kerry Heaney at www.eatdrinkandbekerry.com.au

Photography by Eric Wang

WHAT’S ON

A little Latin love

It has been said that Alondra de la Parra is in a league of her own. At 36, she is regarded as one of the most compelling conductors of her generation. Opera tenor Placido Domingo proclaimed her to be “an extraordinary conductor” and French newspaper Le Monde, wrote that “there is no doubt that with de la Parra classical music has arrived into the 21st century.”

As a guest conductor she has led more than 70 orchestras around the globe, including the London Philharmonic, and she founded her own orchestra in New York at the age of 23 to showcase young performers and composers. Yet her appointment as Queensland Symphony Orchestra’s first music director, the first woman to head a state orchestra in Australia and one of the few women in the world directing a major orchestra, has attracted international attention.

She is taking it all in stride and in her first season with QSO this year several international artists have made their debut in Australia on the Brisbane stage, including pianists Zhang Zou and Russian wunderkind, 15-year-old Alexander Malofeev playing Rachmaninov. Next up will be brother and sister Sergio Tiempo and Karin Lechner (Duo Lechner Tiempo) playing ‘duelling’ pianos in the Australian premiere of Argentinian composer Frederico Jusid’s Tango Rhapsody while Jan Lisieki will join de la Parra to play Mozart and Mahler in August.

Following her appointment de la Parra said it was a dream come true.

“They’re a wonderful orchestra, they can play anything ... perform any work,” she says.

“I believe orchestras should program with a focus on contrasts and that’s always been my style of programming – mixing and juxtaposing so that pieces don’t resemble each other but they connect. If everyone leaves the concert absolutely loving just one piece and absolutely not liking another one, well, then it’s great as it means everybody was challenged as well as satisfied.

“We have Simone Young coming back (21 and 22 July) and later in the year (25 November) we will do Carmen, our first opera in concert. … I’m very proud of this season.”

– Chris Herden Alondra de la Parra with Duo Lechner Tiempo, 4 and 5 August; and with Jan Lisiecki, 25 August, both at Concert Hall, QPAC, South Brisbane. Tickets from $97 (night) plus fees. See www.qso.com.au

SPEED THEATRE

If you’re the sort of person who is already squirming in their seat by intermission then Short+Sweet Festival is for you – a fast paced program of performances that are no longer than 10 minutes each and, on any given night, can range from grisly drama to outlandish comedy or sultry song.

Each session might include up to 10 plays or six cabaret acts by local artists showcasing new works. The audience also gets to vote for favourites who go on to gala finals. At Brisbane Powerhouse, 26 July to 5 August (Gala Finals 2-3 September). Tickets, $25 plus fees. See www.brisbanepowerhouse.org 32 | BNE July/August 2017

THE NEW REALITY FOR FILM

3D glasses, CGI, Pfft! Virtual Reality is the new age of film-making and a selection of shorts, music videos and documentaries from around the world will be screened at Australia’s first dedicated Virtual Reality Film Festival in Brisbane. Highlights include Dear Angelica (pictured below), an animated short that was the talk of Sundance earlier this year, and Easter Rising, a view of the fight for a Republican Ireland through the eyes of a witness by award-winning Australian multimedia artist Oscar Raby. At Brisbane Powerhouse, 12-13 August. Tickets from $20 plus fees at www.brisbanepowerhouse.org

UP LATE

AT MARVEL

The Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) kicks off its Up Late program from 28 July to complement the exhibition ‘Marvel: Creating the Cinematic Universe’. Every Friday night until 1 September Up Late will feature live music, pop-up bars and ‘All in the Details’ talks by local artisans, such as blacksmith Robert Everingham and make-up artist Billie Weston, who will discuss some of their favourite pieces in the exhibition now showing until 3 September. Featured bands include Art vs Science, Habits and NO ZU (pictured right). Marvel films are also being shown every Wednesday and Sunday at the gallery’s Australian Cinémathèque, The new release Spider-man: Homecoming will be shown 1-2 September. For details and tickets see www.qagoma.qld.gov.au

MEET JIMI AND FAMILY According to Queensland Theatre artistic director Sam Strong, “Jimi Bani is probably one of the most charismatic people you can see on stage” which audiences will be able to see for themselves when My Name is Jimi has its world premiere in Cairns in July, followed by a three-week season in Brisbane. The performance sees four generations of the Bani family on stage as they spin yarns of totems, traditions and childhood memories from their Torres Strait Island home in a mix of intimate story-telling, live-feed video, music, dance and stand-up. At Centre of Contemporary Arts, Cairns 12-15 July and Bille Brown Studio, Queensland Theatre, South Brisbane, from 22 July to 13 August. Tickets from $48 plus fees.

See www.queenslandtheatre.com.au

ents/galaball • (07) 3852 7519

BNE July/August 2017 | 33

WHAT’S ON

FESTIVAL

A VOICE FOR ALL Singer-songwriter Montaigne (left) will take part in at least three events during Queensland Music Festival – joining a star-studded cast to pay homage to Queensland greats the Go Betweens in ‘16 Lovers Lane’ (14 July, QPAC), giving an intimate performance as part of ‘Immersion’, a series of in-room mini concerts hosted by The Johnson hotel in Spring Hill (15 July) and singing for change against domestic violence along with legends Archie Roach, Kate Ceberano, Troy Cassar-Daley and festival artistic director Katie Noonan, as well as more than 2000 community choir singers, in ‘You’re the Voice’ at South Bank Piazza (29 July). But still that’s only scraping the surface of a program of world premieres, experimental works, new works and concerts that will take place between Brisbane and Palm Island during the festival from 7-30 July.

Queensland Music Festival is supported by Brisbane Airport Corporation. See program details at www.qmf.org.au. Montaigne will also appear at The Triffid, Newstead on 5 August.

See www.thetriffid.com.au

Mozart REIMAGINED

Voices and bodies take flight in the premiere production of Mozart Airborne, a collaboration between Brisbane’s Expressions Dance Company and Opera Queensland that combines the athletic prowess of six dancers with the power of six singers, accompanied by piano virtuoso Alex Raineri in a creative interpretation of some of Mozart’s most famous operas, such as Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte and The Marriage of Figaro. At Cremorne Theatre, QPAC, South Brisbane, 5-12 August. Tickets from $55 plus fees at www.qpac.com.au

34 | BNE July/August 2017

WHEN WHAT

WHERE

JULY 7

Wogs in Love, theatre

Judith Wright Centre, Fortitude Valley

From 7

Salvage Recycling Art Exhibition and competition

Judith Wright Centre, Fortitude Valley

8+9

Brisbane Property Expo

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, South Brisbane

13+14

After Julia, Decibel New Music

Metro Arts, city

14

Pete Murray

Tivoli, Fortitude Valley

14+15

Creative Generation, State Schools on stage

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, South Brisbane

15

Last Cowboy Standing, Professional Bull Riders

Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Boondall

15

Everly Brothers and Buddy Holly International Tribute

Concert Hall, QPAC, South Brisbane

From 15

100% Brisbane exhibition, one year on

Museum of Brisbane, City Hall

From 19

Judith Lucy and Denise Scott, comedy

Brisbane Powerhouse, New Farm

21+22

Simone Young, Ray Chen and Australian Voices choir with Queensland Symphony Orchestra

Concert Hall, QPAC, South Brisbane

BEST PRESS PHOTOS

21

My Friend the Chocolate Cake

Judith Wright Centre, Fortitude Valley

22

Blackrock, La Boite Theatre Company

Roundhouse Theatre, Kelvin Grove

Prize-winning images for the coveted 2017 World Press Photo of the Year are on display at Brisbane Powerhouse, New Farm, until 23 July, including those pictured above. Clockwise from top left: Mediterranean Migration by Mathieu Willcocks, UK (Spot News), Out of the Way by Elena Anosova, Russia (Daily Life), Caretta Caretta Trapped by Francis Pérez, Spain (Nature) and Pandas Gone Wild by Ami Vitale, USA, for National Geographic magazine. The World Press Photo exhibition is supported by Brisbane Airport Corporation. Entry, free.

22

Lawrence Mooney, comedy

Playhouse, QPAC, South Brisbane

23

Brisbane Wedding Expo

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, South Brisbane

30

Ballet Theatre of Queensland, 80th anniversary gala

Concert Hall , QPAC, South Brisbane

30+31

Hair and Beauty Expo

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, South Brisbane

4

Grace Knight

Brisbane Powerhouse, New Farm

4

Sexpo

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, South Brisbane

5

1927 and Pseudo Echo

Tivoli, Fortitude Valley

6

Brisbane Sings community choir

Concert Hall, QPAC, South Brisbane

10

Jon Stevens, Starlight Tour

Concert Hall, QPAC, South Brisbane

11

Josh Pyke

The Triffid, Newstead

11

Ten Tenors, 20th Anniversary Tour

Concert Hall, QPAC, South Brisbane

12

James Reyne

Tivoli, Fortitude Valley

From 15

Dracula

Cremorne Theatre, QPAC, South Brisbane

18

Roy Orbison Orchestrated

Concert Hall, QPAC, South Brisbane

From 18

Tastes Like Sunshine, exhibition

Museum of Brisbane, City Hall

20

Alondra de la Parra, Tangos and Dances, Queensland Symphony Orchestra

Concert Hall, QPAC, South Brisbane

21

Queen, It’s a Kinda Magic

Concert Hall, QPAC, South Brisbane

23-28

Brisbane Boat Show

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, South Brisbane

From 25

Bennelong, Bangarra Dance Theatre

Playhouse, QPAC, South Brisbane

26

Afro Night, African music

Tivoli, Fortitude Valley

From 26

Michelle Stemm, silversmith

Artisan gallery, Fortitude Valley

28

Mabo Oration 25th Anniversary Q&A panel discussion

Playhouse, QPAC, South Brisbane

30

Puttin’ on the Ritz

Concert Hall, QPAC, South Brisbane

31

Gang of Youths

Tivoli, Fortitude Valley

31

(Not) The Last Night of the Proms, Queensland Symphony Orchestra

Brisbane City Hall

MUSICAL OBSESSION

We love a musical and there’s plenty of variety on stage in Brisbane, from the satirical Joh for PM which shines the spotlight on Queensland’s longest serving and often controversial premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen (presented as part of Queensland Music Festival until 16 July at Brisbane Powerhouse) to the vivacious Boy from Oz, by now a classic of cabaret that chronicles the life of Peter Allen (from 12 August to 8 September at Brisbane Arts Theatre) and movie makeovers The Bodyguard (Lyric Theatre, QPAC, from 19 July) and Kinky Boots (pictured below), Lyric Theatre, QPAC, from 22 August. See venue websites for details.

AUGUST

BNE July/August 2017 | 35

MY QUEENSLAND

David Peever

Chairman , Brisbane Airport Corporation

Following a distinguished global career with resources giant Rio Tinto, David Peever has returned to Queensland and here the newly appointed chairman of Brisbane Airport Corporation shares his favourite things about living a coastal life, his fondest memories of growing up in the country and why he still likes to drive his old ute on the dirt roads up Kilcoy way …

David Peever photographed by Marc Grimwade

36 | BNE July/August 2017

Where do you live?

My wife Christine and I live at Cotton Tree, Maroochydore, on the Sunshine Coast, about 105km north of Brisbane. Our daughters Sara and Nerida and their families visit us here often.

getting good exercise, soaking up the salt ions and catching an occasional wave. I mostly don’t travel to surf but simply walk across the road!

Sometimes I will travel to Noosa if the Maroochy beach is blown out with southerly winds.

How long have you lived there?

We have lived here since 2014 when I retired from full-time executive life after 28 years with Rio Tinto.

What’s your favourite weekend activity – besides surfing?

On weekends, we often sail, jet ski, enjoy long beach and river walks, watch sport on television and frequent local restaurants.

What do you like most about your neighbourhood?

We are across the road from the beach and about 200 metres from the beautiful Maroochy River. Cotton Tree is a bit bohemian – a place time has forgotten. The laidback pristine beach lifestyle and the friendly people have always been attractive for us.

Any hot tips for where to get a good coffee or breakfast out?

We often meet friends for coffee and breakfast at the Beach Street Deli but really good cafés are prevalent.

What’s your favourite meal out and where?

We walk to local restaurants, Ginger (Japanese), Cenzo’s (Italian), Thai Mangoes and Swagat (Indian). We sometimes walk to Ocean Street in Maroochydore which has restaurants of many varieties.

You’re a keen surfer. What are your favourite surf spots on the Sunshine Coast and where in Queensland would you travel to catch a good surf break?

I am keen but not very good, having only taken up surfing in my 40s. I enjoy the tranquility of being on the water and watching the sunrise,

Where do you always take visitors?

Actually, we mostly go to the beach and the river. Sometimes we will go for a sail on our boat or drive up into the beautiful Sunshine Coast hinterland.

What changes have you seen on the Sunshine Coast since you have lived there?

It hasn’t changed a lot in the short time we have lived here but we have been visiting here for decades. In that time we have seen the population grow, more schools and housing developments, cafés, restaurants, shopping centres, hospitals and the Sunshine Coast University. The Coast has become self-contained and we are still only an hour or so from Brisbane … on a good day.

You have recently been appointed Chairman of the Board of Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC). What most impresses you about Brisbane Airport?

Julieanne Alroe and her team are a very professional outfit and have made Brisbane Airport best in class, as the many awards it has received attest. As a committed and proud Queenslander, its place in the Brisbane and

Clockwise from far left: David Peever; the Sunshine Coast hinterland looking towards the Glass House Mountains; Cotton Tree beach; and the old boat house on Maroochy River

Queensland economic and social landscape is what I am most attracted to.

The massive investment in Brisbane’s new runway is incredibly exciting. Queensland is a great product and Brisbane Airport is central to the state’s prosperity. The massive land footprint and the diverse uses that BAC has found for the land are exciting and impressive.

You travel a lot. What do you never leave home without (besides a mobile phone)?

My Kindle. I read a lot and reading helps me to relax when I am travelling.

I enjoy the tranquility of being on the water and watching the sunrise, getting good exercise, soaking up the salt ions and catching an occasional wave

You’re also Chairman of Cricket Australia.

Where did you first play cricket and what’s a favourite memory from your club cricket days?

I first played organised cricket in Yeppoon when I was 10. Our school teacher Marion Little (now Ilich) organised games for us and she, my father and several other parents taught us to play. I think a lot about cricket in the country, how important it was and is to communities.

I guess my favourite memories are playing first grade cricket for Eastern Suburbs in Brisbane in the 1980s, it was tough competition and we would often play current test cricketers.

The competitiveness and the camaraderie are constantly with me. I particularly remember the volunteers; Mrs Bubke and her last husband Ces put almost all of their waking moments into Eastern Suburbs.

We had a small old clubhouse and poor facilities but we loved it. In fact the clubhouse was known all over Brisbane as ‘the Crab Pot’ – once you got in you couldn’t get out! We did enjoy socialising after stumps.

You were born in Charters Towers, went to school in Kilcoy and university in Townsville – you’ve grown up and lived across the state.

Where’s a place in regional Queensland visitors shouldn’t miss?

Every part of Queensland is attractive in its own way. My wife Christine is from Winton and I know many people who love to explore the remoteness and the mystery of western Queensland. I am much more a coastal person, Yeppoon is a beautiful idyllic place, while Cairns and Mackay have their beaches and greenery.

The jungles of Cape Tribulation, the untamed nature of Western Cape York, the spectacular beauty of the Whitsundays, the history of the old mining towns like Charters Towers, the cane fields of the north, the scale of development in the coal fields, the fertile Darling Downs and, of course, last but not least, the sparkling South East corner.

What was the best thing about growing up in country Queensland?

In country towns the sense of community is very strong. People watch out for each other and you get to know others well, sometimes too well.

I loved the country so much when I was growing up, its tranquility and warmth, that I didn’t think I would ever live in a city. Having subsequently lived in Brisbane, Perth, Singapore, Los Angeles, London and Melbourne, I guess that changed.

What’s a favourite short trip?

Other than across the road to the beach I like to drive my old ute on dirt roads and, from time to time, end up in Kilcoy looking at the old school where I finished grade 12 and wondering where all the years have gone.

BNE July/August 2017 | 37

MORETON DRIVE

NEED TO KNOW AIRPORT AMBASSADORS

P2 P1

AIRPORT DRIVE

SKYWALK

Welcoming volunteers are available to answer questions and offer directions to visitors within Brisbane Airport’s Domestic and International Terminals. Look for ambassadors wearing bright blue shirts if you need assistance and our team of Chinesespeaking ambassadors wear red shirts.

DRYANDRA ROAD

PUBLIC WAITING AREA

D om

estic Termin

al

BNE PARKING

Convenient, secure and undercover short and long-term parking is available within walking distance to both terminals. For special offers and full product offering including valet, car washing, the new AIRPARK and more see www.bne.com.au

TERMINAL TRANSFERS

Passengers transferring between the terminals can travel via the free Transfer Bus which departs at regular intervals from Level 2 International Terminal and Level 1 Domestic Terminal and travels via Skygate.

TRANSPORT BOOKINGS

IMPORTANT INFORMATION Visitor Information Centres For information about accommodation, tours, transfer tickets and general enquiries, Visitor Information Centres are on Level 2 International Terminal and Level 1 Domestic Terminal (Central Area).

Currency exchange Travelex currency exchange and transfer facilities are on Levels 2, 3 and 4 International Terminal and Level 2 Domestic Terminal near Gate 23.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Baggage lockers Find small, medium and large lockers for short and long-term hire at the terminal entrance to the public car park at the International Terminal, at either end of the Domestic Terminal, or next to the bus stop at Skygate.

TAXIS AND AIRTRAIN

Tax Refund Scheme (TRS) The TRS enables you to claim a refund, subject to certain conditions, of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Wine Equalisation Tax (WET) that you pay on goods bought in Australia. Call 1300 363 263 or see www.customs.gov.au

Coach, rail, limousine and corporate car bookings can be made at the Visitor Information Centre, Level 2 International Terminal or Level 1 Domestic Terminal.

TransLink is the local bus, ferry and train public transport network stretching north to Gympie, south to Coolangatta and west to Helidon. See www.translink.com.au or call 13 12 30.

Taxi ranks are located kerbside Level 2 International Terminal and Level 1 Domestic Terminal. Airtrain provides regular rail links between Brisbane Airport, Brisbane city, Gold Coast and TransLink network as well as terminal transfers. Tickets available in the terminal or at the station.

BNE Maps + More Download the Brisbane Airport app to access important flight information, terminal maps and parking, shopping and dining options at the airport. Add your itinerary and more. Available free for iPhone and Android at Google play and App Store.

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Lost property International: enquiries to Visitor Information Centre, Level 2; call (07) 3406 3190 or email international@sqt. com.au. Domestic: enquiries first to your airline. Qantas call (07) 3867 3264, Virgin Australia (07) 3114 8150, Jetstar (07) 3336 1752 or email Tigerair at ttbne.ops@ aerocare.com.au before contacting the Visitor Information Centre on Level 1; call (07) 3068 6698 or send emails to domestic@sqt.com.au Disability access Lifts, travelators, ramps, aerobridges, rest points, accessible parking spaces and toilet facilities are in place for passengers with limited mobility or disabilities. Airlines are responsible for assisting passengers with disabilities within terminals. Passengers

BRISBANE AIRPORT has a dedicated Pick Up Waiting Area with 30 minutes free parking for drivers arriving to collect passengers from the Domestic Terminal.

While drivers are allowed to pick up arriving passengers on the departures/pick up road at the front of the terminal, the designated Pick Up Waiting Area helps avoid congestion for all travellers. It is located beside the P2 long-term car park and can be accessed via Dryandra Road (see map above) where drivers can wait for passengers who are not yet ready to be collected. When the passenger is ready for collection the driver can proceed to the pick up location. Parking in the waiting area is free for the first 30 minutes. For easy how-to use instructions see www.bne.com.au

should refer to their airline’s policies prior to booking their ticket. There is no porter service or any form of direct assistance provided at Brisbane Airport other than any assistance that may be provided by the passenger’s airline.

WiFi access Brisbane Airport has the fastest uncapped free WiFi in Australia available at International Terminal and central area Domestic Terminal.

Local amenities Skygate is Brisbane Airport’s retail and dining precinct, a short free ride on the Transfer Bus from the terminals. There are more than 130 stores, including brandname factory outlets, a 24/7 supermarket, hairdresser, gym, restaurants, chemist, medical clinic, hotel, beauty services, barber, tavern and golf leisure centre.

Prayer Room A multi-denominational prayer room is located at International Terminal Level 4.

Police For assistance at Brisbane Airport telephone 13 12 37.

Acknowledgement In keeping with the spirit of reconciliation, we respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which Brisbane Airport stands, and pay respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.

DAY IN THE LIFE

Daniel Grimes and Rory Kelly arriving home from a holiday in Japan

Ruby and Ayana Barrenechea, from Redlands, Brisbane, arriving from Peru

Lola Lucassen from Dayboro outside Brisbane on her way to Sydney

Antonia Friedrich arriving from a holiday in Frankfurt is welcomed by sister Melanie and friend Leia Mion

Colorado native Andrea Oswald arrives from a holiday in Bali in transit to Byron Bay

Amarjit Singh from Kuala Lumpur departing for Bangkok after a few days in Brisbane

BRISBANE AIRPORT is the gateway to 79 CITIES across AUSTRALIA and overseas, opening up a WORLD of adventure for almost 23 MILLION passengers every year

Photography by Marc Grimwade

Monica Kohncke and Tom McKittrick arriving from Melbourne on their way home to the Sunshine Coast

Raylea Reynish arrives in Brisbane from Melbourne on business Raylea Reynish, from South Melbourne, arriving in Brisbane on a work trip Students Diana Sulcova and Nikola Holankova arriving from a holiday in Bali

Ricki Conn in transit to Airlie Beach, north Queensland, after a holiday on the Gold Coast

BNE July/August 2017 | 39

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 Papua New Guinea

Denpasar Indonesia

BRISBANE

BRISBANE

to the world

To 79 destinations direct from Brisbane and beyond

Alliance Airlines Aircalin

40 | BNE July/August 2017

Air Canada

Air New Zealand

Air Niugini

Cathay Pacific

China Airlines

China Eastern Airlines

China Southern Airlines Fly Corporate

Emirates

Etihad

Eva Air

Fiji Airlines

Solomon Airlines Hawaiian Airlines

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

Orange

Adelaide

Wellington

Newcastle Sydney

Wagga Wagga

New Zealand

Christchurch

Albury

New Zealand

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.

Jetstar

Jetgo

Korean Air

Malindo Air

Philippine Airlines Nauru Airlines

Rex

Qantas QantasLink

Tigerair

Singapore Airlines

Air Vanuatu

Thai Airways

Virgin Australia

BNE July/August 2017 | 41

ESCAPE EXTRA The Scenic Rim is a region one hour south west of Brisbane that is a playground for foodies, adventurers and nature lovers

10

1 SOAR OVER THE TREETOPS One of the most dramatic ways to see the Scenic Rim is from above, soaring high over country farms, glassy lakes, through valleys and, sometimes, through an eery early morning mist.

Floating Images hot air balloon pilot and business owner Graeme Day honed his flying skills in France, the birthplace of hot air ballooning, and has been taking passengers from Ipswich, just 30 minutes west of Brisbane, over the Scenic Rim in view of Flinders Peak, Tamborine Mountain and the Macpherson Range for 20 years. Come back to earth with a champagne breakfast. Flights from $330 per person. See www.floatingimages.com.au

1

2 GO GLAMPING The approach to Steve and Leona Taylor’s secluded mini eco-retreat may be steep but the view from the top over the valley to Knapps Peak is spectacular. Ketchup’s Bank Glamping, near Boonah, is a bush camping experience with the added comfort of luxury bedding, plush bathrobes and an ensuite with hot shower and flushing toilet. There’s a barbecue and camper stove undercover for cooking up meals like a real outdoor adventurer. Only two eco-tents share the 40 hectares of remnant dry eucalypt forest that is a natural habitat for a variety of wildlife, including wallabies, koalas and more. Rates from $299 per tent, per night, two-night minimum stay. See www.ketchupsbankglamping.com.au

THINGS TO DO IN THE

SCENIC RIM

3 COOK WITH LOCAL PRODUCE Local chef Kate Raymont (who also runs the Vintage Pickle Deli on Tamborine Mountain) hosts monthly cooking classes at Wild Lime Cooking School, creating dishes with local ingredients – and her ‘apprentices’ on the day enjoy a three-course lunch, afternoon tea, menus and recipes to take home. Classes $130 per person. Accommodation is also available in intimate cottages or a family-sized homestead on the property at Darlington, in the Lost World Valley, for anyone wanting to further explore the surrounding countryside. See www.worendo.com

2

4 42 | BNE July/August 2017

Image, top: Peter Pocock

3

4 STAY ON A FARM Dave and Kay Tommerup are the fifth generation to work the family farm near Kerry, on the edge of Duck Creek and part of the picturesque Lost World Valley, south of Beaudesert. Guests at the farm cottage or homestead can join in farm activities such as milking cows and feeding the menagerie of animals. The property adjoins the Albert River for fishing and try some good old fashioned kite flying in the fields. Rates from $280 per night (two adults, two children). See www.tommerupsfarmstay.com.au

5 WALK THE SCENIC RIM With six national parks and World Heritage rainforest to explore there is plenty of scope to walk your way around the region, from the fourday Scenic Rim Trail from Mt Mitchell to Spicers Peak Lodge (36km) – glamping overnight – to more than 160km of walking trails in Lamington National Park. See the list of the Scenic Rim’s Top 30 walks at www.visitscenicrim.com.au 6 CREATE YOUR OWN WINE TRAIL There are 15 wineries, three breweries and a distillery in the Scenic Rim, ranging from the private Barney Creek Vineyard Cottages where the wine with dinner is the property’s own label to O’Reilly’s Canungra Valley Vineyard and James Halliday’s “dark horse” pick, Heritage Estate Wines at Tamborine Mountain, and don’t miss small family-owned Scenic Rim Brewery at Mt Alford.

7 CLIMB, BIKE, FLY Bounded by volcanic mountain ranges on three sides, the region has plenty to challenge rock climbers from Mt Barney to Frog Buttress on Mt French in Moogerah Peaks National Park which has a reputation as Queensland’s best crack climbing spot; Mt Joyce Mountain Bike trail park has 25km of trails (graded from green to double black); Tamborine Mountain is the jumping off point for hang gliders; and Boonah Gliding Club offers an Air Experience flight with a qualified instructor. That’s just the start – there’s also fishing and kayaking on the lakes, horse riding, motocross trails and dedicated 4WD trails. For details see www.boonahtourism.org.au

8 INDULGE Whether it’s the humungous chocolate eclairs (or home-made pies) at Arthur Clive’s Family Bakehouse (Aratula and Boonah), organic and home-grown ingredients on the menu at Canungra Hub Café and Deli, or the beautiful views that accompany meals at Kooroomba Vineyard and Lavender Farm at Mt Alford, the healthy choices at Poppi’s Wholefood Café at Boonah or fine dining at Spicers Peak Lodge and Songbirds Rainforest Retreat, there’s plenty to tempt the taste buds while touring the Scenic Rim. 9 BUY FROM THE FARM GATE The Scenic Rim is a food bowl for Brisbane and beyond – a bounty of fruit and vegetables like Matt and Sarah Muller’s heirloom tomatoes which they sell alongside other produce from their farm gate stall on the Boonah-Fassifern Road at Kalbar (Fassifern Valley Produce), or the gourmet cheese products the Tommerups sell from their Farm Larder at Kerry.

10 DRIVE THE RAINFOREST WAY There is a network of drive itineraries to explore the Scenic Rim and its outskirts, called the Rainforest Way, that pass through tiny country townships oozing country charm. The Scenic Rim Way is one route that connects the Gold Coast to Aratula via the Cunningham Highway, while another detours from Beaudesert to the Lost World Valley. Find a selection of route maps at www.rainforestway.com For more information see www.visitscenicrim.com.au

BRISBANE REGION MAP

Map illustration by Eun-Young Lim. Map is not to scale or exact and an indication only.

BNE July/August 2017 | 43

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