Tigertales October - November 2018

tigertales

TAKE ME AWAY

Australia | October – November 2018

PARKS UNKNOWN ➔ What role does this guy play in Parks Victoria’s battle to maintain our national parks?

C I T Y O N A P L AT E

W E E K E N D WAR R IOR S

BACK TO LIFE

Is there a must-have meal in every city?

Two different travellers take on Sydney

The small towns that are enjoying a renaissance

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WELCOME ONBOARD

Go for it with Tigerair New routes, a new menu and doing our bit for the environment

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elcome onboard and thank you for choosing to fly with Tigerair Australia.

At Tigerair our goal is to make travel affordable and enjoyable, because we want to enable everyone to “go for it” for any reason, no matter how big or small. We know booking your flight is only one part of your travel planning process, and that’s why we recently launched an online hub promoting local ambassadors across Australia to help show you some of their city’s hidden gems.

Head to our Go Like a Local page on the Tigerair website to find out the tips only a local would know about your destination to help you plan: tigerair.com.au/go-local.

We’re very excited to announce that from October there will be more options to “go for it” with the launch of year-round Hobart to Gold Coast

services. We are proud to be the only low-cost carrier to offer great value fares between these two fabulous destinations.

tempted to try a new Thai chicken salad or the popular Indomie Mi Goreng noodles. Our extensive drinks list also has something for everybody. While you’re quenching your thirst for adventure, you can now enjoy a Furphy or Iron Jack beer, or a refreshing Schweppes sparkling natural mineral water.

As an airline, we recognise our responsibility to make a positive impact through sustainable and innovative initiatives onboard and on the ground.

Recently, you may have noticed that we have removed plastic stirrers from our services and introduced bamboo stirrers.

We are committed to looking for ways to improve the environmental footprint of our operations, and one way we can do this is by reducing the amount of single-use plastic across our services.

We believe this is a small but important step in the right direction.

“We are excited to announce that from October we launch year-round Hobart to Gold Coast services” We know that when you travel you can really work up an appetite, so why not tempt yourself with our Tigerbites menu in your seat pocket? Our new summer menu features our trusted crowd pleasers as well as some exciting new additions. Australia’s culinary icon, the lamington, has been welcomed onboard, along with a homestyle lemon slice and irresistible pork crackle snacks. You might also be

Whatever your reason for travelling with us today, whether you are going for a weekend away, to see friends and family, or for a special occasion, we thank you for choosing to fly with Tigerair.

We look forward to welcoming you onboard again when you next decide to “go for it”.

Happy travels!

Merren McArthur Tigerair Australia CEO

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CONTENTS

Destination directory Inside this issue… wherever you’re going, we’ve got you covered

What is your favourite national park?

41

Splurge on the RACV Cape Schanck Resort

F E AT U R E

p a r k s v ic t or i a

Swim with wild dolphins in Adelaide

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What you didn’t know about looking after our parks

Why Parkway Drive live in Byron Bay

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37 50 F E AT U R E

city on a pl ate

18

What is the must-have dish in your city?

Editorial & Art Editor Paul Chai Designer Cynthia Lau Creative Director Stephanie Goh Sub Editor Adam Scroggy Production Manager Ian Scott

Advertising National Advertising Manager Stephanie Kavanagh (02) 8188 3668 stephanie@citrusmedia.com.au Printed by Bluestar Web

Cover photo Mukulu, from Melbourne Zoo, photographed

by Samara Clifford

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Management Financial Controller Stuart Harle Director Jim Flynn Tiger Tales is published on behalf of Tigerair by Citrus Media, PO Box 20154, World Square NSW 2002 Tel. (02) 9186 9186 citrusmedia.com.au

© 2018 All rights reserved. Reproduction or distribution in any form, in whole or in part, is prohibited without prior written permission from the copyright holder.

Citrus Media is not responsible for the views and opinions of contributing journalists. Although the advice and information in this book are believed to be accurate and true at the time of going to press, neither the authors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may have been made.

欢迎到凯恩斯国际夜市和美食广 Cairns Night Markets

ON THE ESPLANADE IN CAIRNS • Open every night from 4:30pm to 11pm •

位于凯恩斯市中心海滨大道(ESPLANADE)，每晚营业下午4:30起至11点，全年无休 * Food Court open from 10am * Best priced food in town * Night Markets open from 4:30pm to 11pm * Car parking upstairs above Night Markets $1.00 per hr * Approximately 2.5 million people visit the Cairns Night Markets each year * Come and see an amazing mix of 70 retail market stalls offering everything from a massage to a haircut or delicious Chinese self-serve

FISH FOOT SPA

美食广场每日上午10点起营业至夜间，价格合理公道

The Famous Cairns Night Markets & Food Court. Open 7 days a week

5 O C T – 1 1 N OV 2 01 8

One hundred years ago on 11 November 1918, four bloody years of brutal conflict came to an end.

Almost 62,000 Australians died fighting for our freedom and in service of our nation.

Visit the Australian War Memorial to honour their spirit on this historical anniversary of the end of the First World War. A display of 62,000 knitted, red poppies on the Memorial’s grounds is the centrepiece of commemorations, symbolically representing Australian lives lost in the First World War. For a full program of activities and events visit our website awm.gov.au/honourtheirspirit

THE POINTY END usic Week ê Dis M e cov rn er u o We b l e nd M y t a

W y's ele hit

Next-gen noodles How regional cuisines are taking over

arden ê Swim wit h ret g w sec il d do l ph

k in Sydney ê k snac l a Go on st-w o p sa a r fa o ri sf

We have your next great travel stor y

ike and a bit e e êH : t h laid eb de e st nA p l a si ce in 25 – 26

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THE POINTY END

T HE R OUND-UP W HAT E V E R YO U ' R E I N T O, T H E R E ' S P LE N T Y T O S E E A N D D O

FA MILY

E X HIBI T ION

DAR L I N G HAR B O U R F I R E WO R K S With the warmer weather coming back, it’s time for the return of the weekly Darling Harbour fireworks.

Darling Harbour makes a great spot to watch fireworks as people line the harbour and the explosions are reflected in the glass of the skyscrapers.

Sydney; Saturdays darlingharbour.com

O B J E C T S O F FA M E The lives of two of Australia’s most talented musicians of their time will be revealed in Objects of Fame: Nellie Melba and Percy Grainger, a new exhibition at the Grainger Museum. The exhibition will explore the celebrity status achieved by each.

Melbourne; until February 17, 2019; grainger.unimelb.edu.au

S U N DAY M AR K E T Every Sunday more than 80 local artisans fill the Arts Centre Melbourne with handmade gifts and great local food. And try the new jar-based menu – salads, cocktails, desserts – at Bombini Buzz for a quick pre-show snack.

Melbourne; every Sunday artscentremelbourne. com.au

S P OR T R O T TN E S T R U N N I N G F E S T I VAL Now in its 25th year, Rottnest Running Festival will be bigger than ever.

The courses are all IAAF/ AIMS Certified Accurate and it is a member of AIMS (Association of International Marathons and Distance Races).

Perth; October 21 aims-worldrunning.org

MU S IC M E LB O U R N E MUSIC WEEK November sees Melbourne celebrate its live music culture with a party in the city’s live venues, as well as some unexpected spaces. The highlight is the Live Music Safari (see page 13) Melbourne; November 16-24; mmw. melbourne.vic.gov.au

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HONOUR THEIR SPIRIT One hundred years ago, on November 11, 1918, the guns of the Western Front ceased firing after four years of continuous warfare. To mark the centenary, the Australian War Memorial will display 62,000 hand-knitted, poppies on the grounds.

Canberra; November awm.gov.au

A I R L I E B E AC H F E S T I VAL O F M U S I C You’ll see 74 bands alongside 74 islands in the heart of the Great Barrier Reef. This year’s headline acts include Killing Heidi, Ash Grunwald, Dave Dobbyn and US hit-makers Smash Mouth.

Whitsunday Coast, Nov 9-11; airliebeach festivalofmusic.com.au

T H E W E LL N E S S WALK Registrations are open for the sixth annual Wellness Walk in Sydney, which aims to bridge the gap between stigma and understanding of mental health. The event is comprised of a 2km mini-walk around the Royal Botanic Gardens and a 5.9km walk over Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Sydney; October 21 wellnesswalk.org.au

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OPEN UP AUSTRALIAN MUSIC

Forum Theatre, Melbourne, 1999. Photograph by Shellie Tonkin Arts Centre Melbourne, Australian Performing Arts Collection.

Explore your love of music, revisit big music moments, share memories and discover the stories of Australian contemporary music.

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THE POINTY END

WORDS PAUL CHAI; PHOTOS JAYDEN OSTWALD PHOTOGRAPHY

Catch a gig at Melbourne Music Week

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his year the already-raucous Melbourne music scene turned things up to 11 with renewed venues, secret gigs and major events.

The Palais Theatre emerged from a $26 million renovation with more than just a lick of paint.

The building, which has seen everyone from the Rolling Stones to Cold Chisel take the stage, was saved from being turned into flats and recommenced gigs early in the year.

MTV Unplugged (mtv.com.au) came to Melbourne for the first time ever with intimate gigs at Meat Market’s Cobblestone Pavilion by two of Australia’s biggest acts. Gang of Youths showed a quieter side on a rose-covered stage that still had room for some Dave Le’aupepe swagger, while Amy Shark kept the audience in her thrall with just a guitar and a barstool surrounded by a constellation of fairy lights. ê

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Melbourne Music Week highlights

THE POINTY END

LIVE MUSIC SAFARI On Thursday, Melbourne’s inner-city livemusic venues throw out the cover charge and throw open the doors so you can wander between venues and check out as many new acts as you can squeeze into one night.

This is the signature event of MMW. November 22; Melbourne CBD

THE DARK SPACE PROJECT A satellite event, the Dark Space Project turns out the lights at CBD bar Toff in Town for some immersive DJ sets from the likes of James Teague and Hextape.

November 18; The Toff in Town

BAD GIRLS MELBOURNE DISCO This MMW Hub event brings together some of the best female voices in Australian music including Renee Geyer, Chelsea Wilson, and part-time member of The Bamboos Kylie Auldist.

November 20; The MMW Hub

LEON V YNEHALL British DJ and producer LEON VYNEHALL will perform alongside the 10-piece Impossible Orchestra. His release this year Nothing Is Still was a huge concept album based around his grandparents’ move from the UK to the US. Expect exceptional sonic storytelling.

November 19; Melbourne Recital Centre

BLUE BL ACK BEATZ A “minifest” celebrating African beats takes over Melbourne’s Immigration Museum. It’s eight hours of music with an African heritage from beats to soul and everything in between.

November 17; Immigration Museum

ALICE IV Y IS A PRODUCT OF MELBOURNE’S WORLDFAMOUS MUSIC SCENE

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“Every night across the city, thousands of music fans go to hundreds of venues” Laneway Festival in Melbourne outgrew yet another home and announced it would move from the Footscray Community Arts Centre down the road to Footscray Park, to give fans more room and more shade. Meanwhile, Mushroom Records launched After Hours (mushroom.com/afterhours), a series of intimate gigs at Colonial Brewing Co with names like The Rubens and Wolf Alice. And every night across the city, thousands of music fans turned up to gigs at hundreds of venues.

All of which brings us to Melbourne Music Week (MMW) – a slight misnomer given its nine-day run – a celebration of the city’s live music scene.

James Young, owner of Cherry Bar in AC/DC Lane, says that, for the

DISCOVER NEW MUSIC ON A LIVE MUSIC SAFARI THROUGH THE CITY'S VENUES

venues, MMW runs for 52 weeks of the year. However, he adds that the event stops the scene, and punters, from becoming complacent.

“You’ve got to protect your live music venues. I’ve heard Paul Kelly say they are the universities for musicians – that is where they learn their craft, and we have to protect them,” James says.

“MMW has really given the Melbourne music scene a shot in the arm with the things they do – like the Live Music Safari on Thursday, where they give venues a small budget to pay bands very well and make the evening free entry. You can pinball your way around Melbourne on Thursday night pretty much all night and see an incredible collection of fantastic bands for no money. That is really, for me, one of the outstanding features of MMW.”

MUSIC WEEK CELEBR ATES ALL THAT IS GREAT ABOUT THE MELBOURNE SCENE City of Melbourne Councillor Rohan Leppert says MMW is the embodiment of everything good about music in Melbourne. “What Council is trying to do is create an environment where at every turn in the middle of the city you are having a musical experience. November is going to be the time for live music in Melbourne,” Rohan says.

The other key tenets of the event are keeping things free – or very affordable – and turning over unusual public spaces for performances. “While other festivals do attempt to do that, we’re really going to every nook and cranny in Melbourne to showcase music in all sorts of wonderful and unexpected ê

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THE POINTY END

places,” Rohan says. “It’s about the entire city being a stage for music – not just individual performance spaces. In the past we’ve turned over Flagstaff Station, and festival hubs have been in places as quirky as the basement of the former Royal Women’s Hospital and vacant buildings in the CBD.” James Young says Melbourne’s reputation for great gigs is not unfounded. “I think the Melbourne music scene is certainly the best in Australia, possibly the Southern Hemisphere,” he says. “When I speak to artists like Tom Morello – the guitarist for Rage Against the Machine – he says the Melbourne music scene is better than Los Angeles and better than New York.”

Those cities may have more people, and more international acts, but what sets Melbourne apart is its support for local acts. “In Los Angeles, there are apparently only a small amount of original LA bands playing seven nights a week,” James says. “Whereas in Melbourne, at Cherry Bar alone, we book over 1,100 Melbourne bands in a year, and that doesn’t include the number we knock back because they’re not quite ready.

It’s a very busy scene.”

THE MMW HUB WILL BE AT THE AUSTR ALIAN CENTRE FOR THE MOVING IMAGE ( ACMI)

Melbourne Music week runs from November 16-24; mmw.melbourne.vic.gov.au

t ig e r a ir f l ie s to Melbourne from nine destinations; tigerair.com.au

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THE POINTY END

THE SPLURGE

RACV CAPE SCHANCK RESORT Mornington Peninsula, Victoria

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hy it’s worth it: The Mornington Peninsula is Melbourne’s affluent playground by the sea with wineries, distilleries and farmgate producers on a ruggedly beautiful coastline. There are beachside towns, coloured beach bathing huts and so much great food. This new resort is situated on the southern tip of the peninsula, so you can head out and

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explore. However, the resort also brings the best of the region to you via local gin-tasting flights, a huge range of local wines, and food made from the finest Peninsula produce by executive chef Josh Pelham at his playground, The Cape restaurant.

Bang for your buck: It’s the position, perched high above the surrounding golf course so that nothing

can obscure the views of the peninsula’s greatest asset: the crashing surf along the area's much-loved beaches.

One side of the resort looks across Port Phillip Bay to Melbourne, whose lights you can see twinkle on at dusk; the other and you look across the choppy expanse of Bass Strait. This resort is an inclusive affair with a hammanstyle communal bath at The One spa, a massive gym and Olympic-sized swimming pool, golf pro shop, games room and outdoor play area for all ages.

Inside, the Lighthouse Bar acts as the social meeting space. It features comfy lounges arranged to take advantage of the view, and killer classic cocktails.

keep watch The view is the thing at RACV Cape Schanck.

The digs: A Superior Ocean Room has a lot of muted browns and greys and is really a kind of posh motel room; it’s comfortable, but the wow factor is all in the view across the bay. The bathroom is crazy big, though, with loads of room for a tub, and a shower built for two. The compendium is all on the TV and offers walks, wildlife tips and the up-to-date menu from the in-house dining options.

Must-do experience: Take a sip of gin flavoured with secreted pheromones from a native ant (Iridomyrmex purpureus, or meat ant) as well as indigenous botanicals. Bass and Flinders is a family-run distillery that makes Angry

Ant gin as well as the signature Ochra, an aged grape spirit in the Cognac style made from local chardonnay grapes.

They put on gin masterclasses, too.

Cape Schanck Lighthouse sits at the tip of the Mornington Peninsula National Park, keeping a slowly turning glass eye on the wind-battered seas, so a walk along the boardwalk is a must too.

The damage: Doubles from $304 per night for non-members and member rates are from $228 per night; racv.com.au

t ig e r a ir f l ie s to Melbourne from nine destinations; tigerair.com.au

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THE POINTY END

Go for a hike and a bite in Sydney

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WORDS JORDAN KRETCHMER; PHOTOS DESTINATION NSW

ydney has harbourside hikes, beach wanders and some great coastal tracks.

And if you hike hard, you can snack more, so this is our guide to Sydney’s best walks, followed by a top spot to refuel after.

HIKE The Spit to Manly This 12km bush-to-beaches walk gets top marks when it comes to beautiful vistas, and can be a heart-pumping 90-minute-long power walk or a leisurely three-hour saunter. To start you’ll stroll along the sandy shores of Clontarf, where you can admire both the natural beauty of the blue Spit waters and the architectural feats of some

seriously swanky waterfront houses. The path then navigates winding bush stretches, which reveal more secluded aquamarine beaches and sprawling native trees. In the winter you’ll spot fluffy sprigs of flowering yellow wattle – Indigenous Australians also used this bloom as a natural calendar to mark when whales are migrating. If you keep your eyes peeled once the headlands open up, you may spot some humpbacks frolicking in the distance. Indigenous Australians have also left their mark on the area via rock carvings, which you can find about one-third of the way into your journey. Eventually you’ll arrive into Reef Bay where you’ll pass Forty Baskets Beach, towering pine trees and bobbing sailing boats before arriving into the sunny Manly Wharf. ê

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THE POINTY END HIKE Eastern Beaches Coastal Walk This ever-popular stroll navigates some of Sydney’s (or perhaps the country’s) most Instagrammed locations, from the sparkling blue Icebergs pool to quiet Mackenzies Bay. Mix things up and start from Coogee so you can see glistening Gordons Bay (a protected aquatic reserve where harmless wobbegong sharks, blue groupers and sea dragons swim just below the surface), the quaint, enclosed Clovelly Beach, and the dramatic and eerie Waverley Cemetery. Bronte makes for a good halfway pit stop where you’ll find a beautiful ocean pool, the bogey hole (a naturally occurring ocean pool), some great local cafes and plenty of cute dogs.

On the final leg you’ll bypass Tamarama and rocky cliffs before arriving into the postcard-perfect Bondi Beach.

NORTH BONDI'S PORCH AND PARLOUR WILL SORT YOU OUT FOR A POS THIKE SNACK

BITE Momo Bar This tiny Market Lane shopfront steams up Nepalese dumplings and Hawaiian poke bowls. While the poke-trend has almost saturated Sydney, this place is doing them with true care and serious flavour. If you don’t feel like a rainbow fish salad, the Nepalese dumplings are truly a treat. Here, pudgy pockets come packed with pork, chicken or lamb. If you order them “Manly style” they’ll come with a slosh of garlicky yoghurt, paprika butter and warming, soupy chicken broth.

Vegans and gluten-sensitive folks don’t have to miss out on the dumpling party either – vegan lentil fillings and glutenfree options are also on the menu.

28 Market Lane, Manly; facebook.com/pg/manlymomobar

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BITE Porch and Parlour This North Bondi cafe is a perennial favourite with locals thanks to its everchanging menu, which combines healthfocused bowls with hearty, homely slow-cooked plates. One day you may sit down to a boiled egg topped with turmeric-spiked hollandaise atop pink pickled cabbage, sautéed kale and slabs of fried haloumi; the next it may be a buttery omelette with eight-hour slow braised beef, zippy jalapeños and charred corn. Either way, it’s all about combining

THE LONGER YOU HIKE, THE MORE YOU CAN EAT WITHOUT GUILT!

BITE Boathouse Palm Beach

“This ever-popular strolls ends up at postcard-perfect Bondi Beach”

G O R D O N S B A Y, A PROTECTED AQUATIC RESERVE

freshness with flavour. The coffee is also some of the best down this end of Bondi (and they’ll shake you up a mean Bloody Mary from 10am).

17-18/110 Ramsgate Avenue, North Bondi; porchandparlour.com

HIKE Barrenjoey Lighthouse You’ll find this stunning summit and heritage-listed sandstone lighthouse at the pointy end of Sydney’s Northern Beaches. Set out from the golden sandy shores of Station Beach and head up the signposted path – opt for the Smugglers track if you’re after a more challenging ascent. It’s only around 1km, but once you reach the peak you’ll be rewarded with stunning views back to Pittwater and over the curving crescent of Palm Beach (which is, yes, where they film long-standing Aussie soapie Home and Away). If you really want to amp up the active factor of the day, consider booking ahead for a leisurely paddle with Pittwater Kayak Tours.

They will provide everything you need and take you on a guided jaunt over to the secluded Great Mackerel Beach, where you can watch the sun rise over Barrenjoey Headland.

This waterfront cafe will dish you up great brunch plates, fresh seafood, carafes of smoothies and bottles of Champagne, depending on what time you rock up. It’s an order-at-the-counter situation here, but don’t be put off by the long queue – it’s a well-oiled machine and your food will come faster than you’d expect (plus it’s a pretty beautiful space to relax while you wait).

The Boathouse group works carefully with local farmers to get free-range eggs, Oxheart tomatoes and bunches of bright green herbs, and the menu changes depending on what’s in season.

Two mainstays, however, include the Boathouse burger – a juicy two-hand number packed with a well-charred beef patty, fresh beetroot and hearty tomato relish that will make every step of your morning totally worth it. Or try the fresh seafood platter, which goes down perfectly with a bone-dry rosé and a table in the sunshine.

Governor Phillip Park, Palm Beach; theboathousepb.com.au

t ig e r a ir f l ie s to Sydney from eight destinations; tigerair.com.au

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THE POINTY END

THE FEAST 1 0F 2

TASTING THE REGIONS From Cantonese to Lebanese, our taste for regional global cuisines is on the rise

ILLUSTRATION JESSICA HU

A

ustralia is a multicultural country, and one area where this is abundantly apparent is in its cuisine. But it wasn’t always this way.

For many years, Australians ate food that was distinctly British, owing to our convict past and high proportion of citizens who descended from the British Isles. Indigenous food and cooking techniques weren’t really embraced by white Australians; “meat and three veg” was the go-to meal.

The first changes came in the late 1800s, when the Victorian gold rush brought an influx of Chinese migrant workers, leading to Chinese, and in particular Cantonese, food being cooked and shared among workers on the goldfields. In fact, by 1890, one-third of all cooks in Australia were Chinese. The White Australia policy, introduced in 1901, put an abrupt end to increasing diversity in Australia’s cuisine. However, exceptions for Chinese cooks meant Chinese restaurants continued to prosper, moving from the goldfields of Victoria to Chinatowns across the country.

It wasn’t until the post-World War II influx of European immigrants that Italian and Greek grocery stores and restaurants started opening in cities across Australia. By the 1970s, Australians had really taken to these cuisines. Spaghetti and souvlaki were

embraced and have been a staple of Australian cuisine ever since. In the 1970s, Thai immigrants introduced yet another cuisine to Australia, and in the 1980s, Vietnamese immigrants put their own mark on the country’s culinary landscape.

In more recent years, Australian chefs have begun to explore cuisines not only from particular countries, but also from particular regions. Immigrants cooked the food they grew up with, from the regions they grew up in. Meanwhile Australian-born cooks dish up food inspired by their immigrant parents, or from their travels abroad. Australian diners can now choose to bypass a more generic country-level cuisine and go straight to something specific to a region without leaving these shores.

In Melbourne’s Box Hill, diners can feast on Cantonese roast duck, Chongqing hot pot, and Xi’an roujiamo.

In Sydney’s Lakemba, you can enjoy Lebanese manoosh, Hyderabadi biryani (itself a blend of Mughlai and Iranian cuisine), and Afghan bolani.

And in Perth, diners head to Victoria Park to enjoy Tibetan momos, central Vietnamese heo xao mam ruoc, and Ipoh-style laksa.

Now that your taste buds are watering and you’re ready to explore, here are five great spots to try some regional global cuisine you may not have eaten before. ê

WH AT DO OUR CITIE S TA S TE LIK E ?

Is there a signature dish of Sydney or Melbourne? Can you say there is one key dish that makes you think of Adelaide? We asked a variety of food writers to tell us the one thing they think a visitor to their city should eat.

See our “Bite club” feature on page 68.

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THE POINTY END THE FEAST 2 0F 2

Happy Boy (Fortitude Valley, QLD) The Rochester Hotel (Fitzroy, VIC) From the outside, the Rochester Hotel (rochey.com.au) looks like any other pub, but walk inside and the menu reveals something you won’t expect. Earlier this year new chef Mischa Tropp revamped the food offering, drawing on his Keralan roots to create a unique flavour journey through India’s south-west coast.

Roast chicken comes in the form of a tamarind, ghee and Kashmiri chilli curry, while roast beef is slow braised and served in a scud chilli, tomato, coriander and fennel seed gravy. Even the humble chips and gravy has been given a makeover – here it’s chips and curry.

Spring Yunnan (Haymarket, NSW) Yunnan is a province in south-west China that’s home to almost half of China’s minority ethnic groups, and is bordered by Sichuan province, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam. As you’d expect, the cuisine of the region reflects this melting pot, and features an assortment of dishes and flavours.

Spring Yunnan (facebook.com/ springyunnan) showcases some of the province’s many specialties, like Yunnan rice noodle soup; minced beef with cumin, served with mandarin pancakes and shredded cucumber; and stir-fried flat noodles with Yunnan pickled vegetables.

It’s all very tasty, and will open your eyes to just how diverse Chinese food can be.

Happy Boy (happyboy.com.au) opened in Spring Hill in 2014, before moving to a larger space in Fortitude Valley in 2017. This has allowed owners Cameron and Jordan Votan to expand upon the restaurant’s premise of offering authentic, provincial Chinese cuisine that challenges Western preconceptions about what Chinese food should be.

Rather than focusing on the food of one region, it focuses on lesser-known Chinese dishes from various regions.

Think flash fried lamb in Sichuan spiced oil served with yam bean, gong bao chicken with sweet spicy chilli sauce and peanuts, and hot and numbing chilled beef cheek in spicy Sichuan sauce.

Ya Kwang (Thornlie, WA) Spencer Village Food Court is the closest thing you’ll find in Perth to a Singaporean-style hawker centre, and there’s a lot worth recommending here. A standout is Ya Kwang, which focuses on Singaporean hawker dishes like hokkien mee, char kway teow, and kidney and salted mustard soup.

The seating and decor is basic, and the service can be abrupt, but once you bite into your food you’ll have no regrets about eating here.

"AUSTRALIAN CHEFS HAVE BEGUN TO EXPLORE CUISINES NOT ONLY FROM PARTICULAR COUNTRIES, BUT ALSO FROM PARTICULAR REGIONS" Cafe Chennai (Prospect, SA) As a rule of thumb, if you see a restaurant frequented by Indian diners, the food is going to be tasty and authentic. Cafe Chennai (cafechennaiindian.com.au) is no exception. It draws a devoted crowd of Indian and non-Indian customers alike who dine here for former engineer Siddharth Sundararaj’s fantastic food.

Sundararaj hails from Tamil Nadu, in India’s south-east, and his food focuses on the specialties of his home state: think chicken varuval, thigh meat in a spicy tomato-based sauce; kothu parotta, a mix of shredded flatbread, meats, egg and spicy sauce; and an assortment of oothappam, a thick, pancake-like version of a dosa served with sambar, coconut chutney and tomato chutney.

THE CITY L ANE Paul Kristoff is the editor-in-chief of food, travel and culture online magazine The City Lane, and he is one third of the craft-beer podcast team Brunswick Beer Collective.

Visit thecitylane.com and brunswickbeercollective.com to find out more.

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THE POINTY END

Take the family to The Lost Lands festival

T

he Lost Lands is a music festival for the family. It’s the brainchild of Falls Festival founder Simon Daly, who aims to bring the music festival experience to both the current and next generation of festival-goers.

The festival takes place in the palatial grounds surrounding Werribee Mansion, which is transformed into a kid-friendly – but not kid-dominated – zone of colourful flags, family theatre and cabaret, and a main stage with a not-your-average-family-fest line-up.

Tim Finn, The Jungle Giants and You Am I headline this year’s festival, which will take place on Melbourne Cup Weekend. Kids will be entranced by Baker Boy’s insanely physical performance, and you should plan to have Didirri’s

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“I Can’t Get Last Night Out of My Head” stuck in your head for hours after he comes off stage.

We grabbed Daly to get his top tips for taking on The Lost Lands with your young family...

Get to know your surroundings “By day, The Lost Lands is a flurry of colour, wonder and music,” Daly says. “By night, campers rest to the soothing sounds of lions and zebras playing at Werribee Zoo. With all the excitement, make sure you set a meeting spot if someone from the group gets separated, and make yourself aware of the first-aid tents, phone-charging stations, bathrooms and baby change stations. If camping isn’t for you and your family, you can enjoy the festival on a day pass.”

The Teskey Brothers’ family-friendly Melbourne Liam Gough from Melbourne quartet The Teskey Brothers – part of The Lost Lands line-up – tells us some of his favourite destinations to visit between tours...

T H E YA R R A R I V E R IN WARR ANDY TE

Download the program in advance “Delve into The Lost Lands festival program online and sit down with your family to discuss your favourites,” Daly says. “Our Arts & Wonder program features circus, comedy, theatre, workshops and art installations the whole family will enjoy. I’m personally excited to see Gravity & Other Myths, Randy, The Listies and Dirtgirl. Of course, there’ll be many other wonderful surprises to discover along the way.”

Plan ahead and act sustainably AMARU TRIBE (BELOW) AND JESS LOCKE ( ABOVE ) PL AY THE LOST LANDS

“Get involved in discovering new ways your family can contribute to a singleuse-plastic-free event,“ Daly says.

“Bringing this change is really important for the world we leave for our kids. The Lost Lands festival is working towards bringing to life a single-use-plastic-free event in 2019 and we need our patrons to help us to achieve this goal.” ê

I loved, and still do love, swimming and lazing in the sun by the river in Warrandyte, 40 minutes outside Melbourne. There are so many beautiful, secluded spots to spend the day with a picnic, family and friends.

P U F F I N G B I L LY S T E A M T R A I N I used to love going on the Puffing Billy steam train out in Belgrave when I was a kid. The region is so magical with the smell of soot and steam as you roll through the lush green Dandenong forest, legs dangling from the train.

COBURG DRIVE-IN I love going to the Coburg Drive-In for a movie. The place hasn’t changed since I was a kid.

Whenever I go, we reverse the van in, open the hatch and make ourselves comfy for the movie. The smell of popcorn always makes me nostalgic for Coburg Drive-In, and when I arrive, I might even treat myself to a traditional hot dog too!

THE MELBOURNE MUSIC SCENE In our teenage years we loved racing around Fitzroy from venue to venue to see any number of different styles of music in the same night. In my opinion, Melbourne has one of the strongest and most diverse music scenes in the world. You can find great local and international music around Fitzroy, Brunswick and Collingwood just about any night of the week.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF VICTORIA The NGV, just over Flinders Street Bridge, is always a great family outing. We all love to talk and debate about the different exhibitions, and the number of exhibitions put on from all around the world is incredible.

THE GRAMPIANS I’m looking forward to a camping trip in the Grampians this November. It’s an amazingly scenic area to explore, and it’s only a couple of hours’ drive out of Melbourne.

CASTLEMAINE I’m also hoping to get away to Castlemaine for a few days to relax, eat some of the town’s delicious local produce and maybe even see some music at the beautiful Theatre Royal.

THE FRESH FOOD MARKETS I always look forward to getting back to Melbourne for a home-cooked meal. We don’t get to do much cooking on the road, and I love getting out to Preston Market or even the Queen Vic to pick up some seasonal ingredients and cook up a storm.

While I’m there, I can’t go past a fresh-out-of-the-oven borek from the Vic Market or a warm almond croissant from the French patisserie at Preston Market.

The Lost Lands festival is on November 3-4 at Werribee Mansion; thelostlands.com.au

ST ANDREWS The band and I all love getting out to St Andrews whenever we can. We used to play at the pub, and every time we visit we make time for a meal at a spot called A Boy Named Sue. It’s the best!

It has great vibes and is home to Melbourne’s best wood-fired pizza. It’s a cosy place to hang out day or night.

CAMBERWELL MARKET Camberwell Market on Sunday is always fun. I love to rummage through the vintage furniture, clothes and knick-knacks. It’s like looking back in time; I find it so interesting and always seem to come home with something special.

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THE POINTY END Come prepared with activities – but don’t miss any of ours!

“Camping is definitely a time for card games and other activities, but don’t forget to involve yourself in the many festival activities as well,” Daly says. “Laughing Yoga, Sleeping Bag Cinema and Games of the World are just some of the fun things we have on offer. Excitingly, five of the Games of the World will be brought to us by recently resettled refugee families who now call Australia home.”

One final tip!

Pack the essentials “If you’re bringing little people, pack baby earmuffs to protect those sensitive ears.

If you’re camping, remember to bring your tent, sleeping bags, baby wipes and comfort items to make your stay cosy.

A picnic rug is great for chilling out on the grass to watch some incredible music acts together. Bring your own picnic basket or indulge in our boutique food offerings,” Daly says.

“If you are bringing little people, pack the baby earmuffs”

“Discover the Werribee Zoo in the mornings before the festival (music starts at 11am) or before you depart,” Daly says. “There’s a late checkout from the festival campgrounds for you to take advantage of to make the most of the surrounding area.”

Music acts not to miss “My hot tips for the music line-up are You Am I, All Our Exes Live In Texas, The Teskey Brothers, Clare Bowditch and The Jungle Giants. Exciting new talents Baker Boy, Didirri and Alice Ivy will also be fun.

Tim Finn is a personal favourite and his set featuring Crowded House and Split Enz hits is not to be missed,” Daly says.

AF TER THE FESTIVAL , TRY PUFFING BILLY ( ABOVE ) OR THE GRAMPIANS (LEFT)

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t ig e r a ir f l ie s Tigerair flies to Melbourne from nine destinations; tigerair.com.au

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THE POINTY END

Why I live in

b y r on b ay Parkway Drive recently finished a huge tour of Europe and the band is kicking off some ear-shattering local dates to support their LP Reverence. The LP topped the ARIA chart and proved the hard rockers are one of the biggest bands in Australia right now. We sat down with lead singer Winston McCall to talk all things Byron Bay. Tell us about the local tour.

This is the biggest tour and the biggest show Parkway Drive have brought to Australia. Over the last few years we have built the sonics and the performance to a level far beyond our home country’s expectations, and this is the first time we’re able to bring the full production to our shores. Everything about this tour is next level. Trust me when I say you have to experience it to believe it.

What was it like playing with Guns N’ Roses overseas?

We got to experience playing both before and after them over the course of a couple of festivals. It was so surreal. Not only are they the biggest band playing to the largest audience I had ever seen at Download UK, but it’s not until halfway

S E E P A R K W AY D R I V E The guys kick off the Reverence Australian tour in Canberra on October 25 and finish up at Perth’s HBF Stadium on November 6.

Guests include Killswitch Engage and Thy Art Is Murder. You can get a full list of dates at parkwaydriverock.com

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through the set that you realise just how iconic that band really is. Every single song is a hit, and they still nail them.

What makes Byron Bay a great base?

Byron is home. I don't think I can explain how special the area is. Growing up in this town has made it hard to leave when it comes to touring, but also the place I can’t wait to return to. The environment, the community, the vibe – I still feel this is a special place, and we are very lucky to call it our home base.

Any late night venue for after the show?

After the gig you can try one of the bars, or you can grab a vege dog from a food cart and see who’s busking. Much like the pubs, it’s always worth keeping an eye on the streets for the surprise busking set from bands you least expect.

Tell us something only a local would know.

Byron isn’t all about the beaches. Head out to the ranges for a drive and an adventure – the forests and valleys will fill your soul as much as the sand and surf.

Where is your favourite place to eat?

O Sushi (15/90-96 Jonson Street; osushi.com.au) is our favourite place to eat. Best menu, best venue and the most amazing staff.

Where can you catch a gig?

The Northern Hotel (35/43 Jonson Street; thenorthern.com.au), The Rails (86 Jonson Street; facebook.com/rails.bay) or the Beach Hotel (Main Beach; beachhotel.com.au) are the venues, and it’s worth keeping your eye out. Byron is the kind of place that attracts the one-off secret show by well-known artists long graduated from the pub circuit.

t ig e r a ir f l ie s to Gold Coast from Sydney, Hobart and Melbourne; tigerair.com.au

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THE POINTY END

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1 ASTRONAUTICA DE ATH VALLE Y

Written around the LA producer’s reflections while travelling, there’s little in the way of vocals here – just fabulous cuts such as ‘Can’t Remember’, ‘I’ve Never Been’ and ‘California Roll’, which wash over the listener in waves of pinging synths and shuffling beats.

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Y O -Y O M A

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For decades cellist (and Steve Jobs bestie) Yo-Yo Ma has been making classical music accessible with his interpretive style of performance.

Ma has been playing these six Bach cello suites since he was a boy and that personal connection to the music shines over two hours of intimate and meditative playing. It’s a perfect introduction to the work of Ma and Bach.

Ideal for… an escape to the Hunter Valley

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Return of the Trill initially feels like the kind of album the Texas rapper could turn out during his lunch break, but there’s a lot going on here under the surface. Big K.R.I.T.’s production is inspired and the features run from Lil Wayne to Leon Bridges. Soulful rap music for spring.

Ideal for… gearing up for the Melbourne International Arts Festival in October

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Visit Kenzan Japanese restaurant for some of the freshest sushi and sashimi dishes in Melbourne, along with Ă la carte dishes and surprising specials. The restaurant has been in its current CBD location for 35 years, and is the most awarded Japanese restaurant in Melbourne.

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with wild dolphins Temptation dolphin cruise is a must do whilst visiting Adelaide. This is an amazing opportunity to view dolphins in their natural habitat.

Whether you swim or view from the boat, you will experience a close up encounter with wild dolphins.

Address: Marina Pier, Glenelg SA Ph: 0412 811 838 www.dolphinboat.com.au

THE POINTY END

WORDS CATHERINE BEST; PHOTOS TEMPTATION SAILING

Swim with wild dolphins in Adelaide

G

o, go, go!” I slide feet first into the sea, clutching a rope line as the boat’s motion forces a cold surge of water through my wetsuit. A fin breaks the surface, framed by the aperture of the catamaran’s twin hulls, and then slips silently into a tableau of blue.

If this were a Jaws flick, I’d have about three seconds to live. But the fin belongs to a pod

of bottlenose dolphins, not man-eating sharks, and the accompanying screams are of delight, not terror.

I’m swimming with dolphins off the coast of Glenelg, and the playful mammals are putting on a grand show: silver crescents orbit the boat, performing a belly roll here, a flipper slap there and the occasional pirouette in the sky. ê

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THE POINTY END

We’d gathered at Marina Pier not long after sunrise for a 7:40am departure with Temptation Sailing. There was a short briefing on the deck while the vessel motored out of the harbour and into an ocean lit with the amber varnish of a sublime autumn morning. Don’t swim if you have a pacemaker, we were warned (you might die), don’t touch the dolphins (you might get arrested) and do pay attention (you might not see them otherwise).

Our guides Andro van der Westhuizen and Lewis Beaumont, both marine biologists, have binoculars and are bleating directions

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"THESE ARE WILD ANIMALS; WE DON'T DO ANYTHING TO A L T E R T H E I R B E H A V I O U R ," ANDRO SAYS

to the skipper: “Eleven o’clock, I can see a tail. Pod over there.”

Soon the throttle eases off and we’re mustered to the stern and seated in fours on a platform, where we grab hold of the rope and slip from our backsides unceremoniously into the water. We spread down the line, spray washing over our masks, rope tugging at arm sockets, as the boat drags us forward. I plunge my face into the water, eyes darting into a galaxy of blue. The odd wisp of seaweed whips past.

I can’t see anything except, occasionally, the toes of a fellow snorkeller. Andro waves furiously from the deck, motioning to my left: “Look there guys!” But I miss it; seconds later he calls us in and we scramble up a ladder back onto the deck.

The process is repeated several times as the crew seeks out new, more playful pods, mindful of not imposing our posse of humans on any one group for too long.

“These are wild animals; we don’t train them, we don’t bait them, we don’t do anything to alter their behaviour,” Andro says of the dolphins, which are inquisitive by nature and attracted to the sound and movement of the boat. Temptation has a 100 per cent success rate (up to 400 common dolphins have

The details TEMPTATION SAILING offers dolphin cruises from September to May. Prices from $98 for adult swimmers and $68 for non-swimmers.

Kids are $10 cheaper. dolphinboat.com.au

SEAWALL APARTMENTS offers stylishly restored family and couple’s accommodation in a row of ocean-facing, heritagelisted buildings on the esplanade. Once home to a posh boys’ school, the complex now boasts waterfront balconies and luxurious spa baths overlooking the sea.

One-bedroom apartments from $199. seawallapartments.com.au

THE DOLPHINS ARE CURIOUS ENOUGH TO CHECK SNORKELLERS OUT

“A pair sidles up, greeting me in a squeaky salutation“

been spotted during the summer migration) and we’ve seen plenty of bottlenose above water, but I’m hankering for an underwater encounter. It comes soon enough. Two adults and a baby glide past – bodies rolled inwards towards us, eyes sizing me up, rostrum in a permanent smile. They’re so close I can see the abrasions on their skin.

Later, a pair sidles up, greeting me in a squeaky salutation that roughly translates to: “You’re a funny-looking seal, what are you doing out here?” The below-surface theatrics take my mind off the fact that I’m bitterly cold and quite vulnerable floating in open water off a coastline renowned for its great whites. There’s a Shark Shield in between the two swimming lines that emits an electrical field to repel any unwanted predators (hence no pacemakers are allowed). Lewis says he’s never seen a shark out here during a dolphin swim, but I’m grateful for the precautions.

As the catamaran nears the marina, two dolphins leap out of the water, serenading us with a finale of aqua acrobatics.

t ig e r a ir f l ie s to Adelaide from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne; tigerair.com.au

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THE POINTY END

THE PASSENGER

TRAVEL & PARKS

1 0F 2

A round-table chat with three different travellers.

This issue’s topic: favourite national parks

ILLUSTRATION JESSICA HU

Paul Chai, Mungo National Park, NSW I was lucky enough to work on the NSW National Parks brochure a few years back, meaning I was sent to most of the state’s inland national parks from near Broken Hill to “Corner Country”, where the states of NSW, Queensland and South Australia meet.

All the parks are amazing, from the Mutawintji Gorge walk that I did with an Aboriginal elder to the scar trees

of the Paroo-Darling that sit in the water of Peery Lake. These parks are a reminder of what a great gift national parks are to travellers. However, it’s the overwhelming sense of history at Mungo National Park that stayed with me after my month-long job was over.

Mungo National Park is most famous as the home of Mungo Man and Mungo Lady, Australia’s oldest human remains dating back over 40,000 years. They were discovered in the lunette at

Mungo National Park, which is the ancient shoreline of the long-sincedried-up lake at the centre of the park.

The lunette was used by Aboriginal people to bury their dead, hence the remains, but if you take an Aboriginal Discovery Tour you can walk along the lunette with a guide who will point out campfires that are tens of thousands of years old, among other relics.

Back at the visitors’ centre you can walk in replicas of the 20,000-year-old ê

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THE POINTY END TRAVEL & PARKS

2 0F 2

THE PROM WILL ALWAYS BE MY FAVOURITE NATIONAL PARK, EVER SINCE GOING THERE WITH MY FAMILY AS A KID AND BEING AMAZED BY THE EMUS, WALLABIES AND ECHIDNAS... A STRONG MEMORY FOR A CITY KID

footsteps that were also uncovered in the Mungo lunette and listen to the area’s elders discussing Mungo and its significance in an interactive display.

There are few places in Australia where you can feel so close to the ancient history of this country, and the sweeping sands are beautiful to boot.

Conner McLeod, Wilson Promontory, VIC Seeing emus in the wild just over an hour from the centre of Melbourne? The Prom will always be my favourite national park, ever since going there with my family as a kid and being amazed by these giant birds, as well as spotting wallabies and echidnas – a strong memory for a city kid.

It doesn’t hurt that the Prom has some serious coastline and great walks as well.

You can take a short walk, but I like to spend the day taking the Darby River to Tongue Point wander, which takes in killer views across the peninsula. You can stop along the way at the hidden Fairy Cove, or grab a bite to eat at Cotters Beach, a stretch of sand surrounded by mounds of weathered rock with channels of fresh water run-off carved into the sand.

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If you’re camping you can join the throng at Tidal River campground that is well-located at the peninsula tip; however, it can get a bit crowded for my liking. That’s why I tend to opt for a day-long amble, and then I can be back in the pub before nightfall.

Which pub, you ask? Well, it’s hard to go past an early fish-and-chips dinner at the Fish Creek Hotel (fishcreekhotel.com.au), a newly tarted-up Art Deco pub in the town of Fish Creek that now has a huge silver fish sculpture perched on top. They’re big meals, and in the winter the open fire is blazing and it’s a great end to a long walk on the Prom.

Sarah Mitchell, Litchfield National Park, NT As tempting as it is to go for the rock art, waterfalls and swimming holes of Kakadu, my vote for favourite national park goes to Litchfield National Park just outside of Darwin.

Litchfield does have attractions like waterfalls and watering holes; it’s home to the rather epic 39-kilometre Tabletop Track and a plunge pool at Tjaynera Falls.

But, for me, it’s the secretive-sounding Lost City that is the big draw. It’s a bumpy track that requires a four-wheel drive, but it’s worth it.

The Lost City is a haunting collection of eroded sandstone towers that appear from a distance like misshapen tower blocks. But pull the car over and take a walk amongst the discoloured piles of rock and they take on all sorts of shapes.

I could see a person running, totem poles, and huge Jenga games all carved out of ochre-and-black rock.

If you’re lucky enough to be the only car there, as I was, there’s also the feeling of isolation and the quiet (save for the buzzing of a million flies).

This will always be my favourite Australian national park, for that feeling of aloneness and peace.

THE POINTY END

CHEERS TO BEER FESTS T he ol Barsto

I

t seems anywhere with a postcode nowadays has its own beer festival, and with no shortage of themes or reasons to celebrate beer, the trend of getting together and pouring the finest of local brews is here to stay. It’s great news for beer fans, because somewhere along the line, someone decided a week simply isn’t enough time to celebrate local beer. So, like a baker’s dozen, there are beer weeks across the country that stretch beyond seven days. Maybe that’s what you call a brewer’s week?

As the list of beer festivals grows, here are a few we reckon you should mark down on the calendar.

Sydney Beer Week Sydney’s biggest and best celebration of beer is nine days of beer events in October each year. With over 130 events across the city and beyond, there’s no shortage of great ways to explore what’s new in beer. This year sees the first beer experience hosted by a hatted restaurant, the return of the grandopening gala, and an educational hub for beer fans – to name just a few festival

No matter what you’re into, you’re likely to find it mixed and matched to beer at a festival somewhere across the country

highlights. A wealth of free-entry events rounds out the festival program, which is jam-packed and growing every year. sydneybeerweek.com.au

responses to their sometimes wacky brews. Kicking off in Melbourne at the end of Good Beer Week each year, the GABS team (and their beers) then move to Sydney and Auckland. GABS wets the palates of more than 42,000 beer-curious drinkers each year. gabsfestival.com

Good Beer Week

Brewsvegas

Heralded as the first beer week in Australia, Good Beer Week’s program is unmatched and is all-encompassing, embracing all that good beer and the local community has to offer. It’s where Melbourne turns it on for beer.

From beer degustation menus (which perfectly match malts to meat and beer) to fashion parades and beer block parties there’s no finer way to delve deep into Melbourne’s beer scene. goodbeerweek.com.au

The week that kicks off the beer-event calendar each year, Brewsvegas is 10 days of all things great about local beer in Brisbane. It’s a communityminded celebration of Brisbane’s craft beer scene as the city comes alive to showcase the best of the local beer community and opens its arms to locals and visitors who want to explore and taste it all. With the March weather to match, Brisbane entices beer fans to the city with an expertly curated festival of beer events that has beer fans lining up. brewsvegas.com

Great Australasian Beer SpecTAPular GABS, as it is more commonly known, is an amazing travelling beer festival where beer explorers can taste a staggering 170 specialty beers and ciders brewed for the festival. Not just for the beer fans, it’s a favourite for the breweries too – once a year, they get to brew the crazy beer recipe they’ve been dreaming of and watch the fans’

MEET THE AUTHOR Dave Phillips is a drinks travel expert and the Dave in Dave’s Brewery Tours.

When not touring local drink production houses, he’s surfing; daves.com.au

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THE POINTY END

Find inspiration in Wendy Whiteley’s secret garden

WORDS EMILY HUTCHINSON; PHOTOS BOHEMIAM HARBOUR

S

ydney’s harbour views are spectacular from most standpoints, but one very special spot to soak in the sparkling sight is at Wendy Whiteley’s Secret Garden in Lavender Bay. The lush garden is at the foot of Wendy’s home, into which she moved in 1970 with her late husband, renowned Australian artist Brett Whiteley.

Brett found the view so inspiring – looking out to the bopping boats on the harbour – that he included it in many of his famous artworks including Lavender Bay in the Rain, Dawn, and View From the Sitting Room Window.

Wendy’s Secret Garden was recently heritage listed by the NSW State Heritage Register. That was

a very happy moment for Wendy, who is now 77.

“It is heartening to know the garden has protection for the future and that the public and government think it is worth protecting. Brett would have loved the garden and its protection,” she says. “It’s public land with wonderful views over a uniquely beautiful city, so it should be able to be enjoyed by all, now and forever.”

Wendy began work on the garden after Brett’s passing in 1992 as a way of overcoming her grief.

The landscape, which was a valley of piled-up rubbish on unused railway land, needed a lot of love, and Wendy worked tirelessly on her new project. There was a lot of rubbish to get ê

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Bohemian Harbour

THE POINTY END

The exhibition Bohemian Harbour – Artists of Lavender Bay celebrates some of the waterfront enclave’s best creative talents. Artist Peter Kingston gives us his top spots in the area...

T H E D E V I L’ S D R O P S L I P P E R Y D I P IN CONEY ISL AND The Devil’s Drop in Coney Island dates from 1935 when Luna Park opened in Lavender Bay. It’s an almost-vertical-drop timber slippery dip with rope mats to slide on – you can’t beat old-fashioned fun.

THE LUNA PARK ALFRED STREET GATE The miracle is that it fell into disrepair for many years and some local town houses and businesses wanted it demolished, but somehow it came back in all its glory.

T H E W O R K S H O P I N T H E R A I L W AY A R C H This is in Lavender Bay, where the Gordon family is still building wooden boats. Bob Gordon built many wooden boats in the archway under the railway. When he passed on his son Rob took over and he is now building wooden boats there. Look out for the giant wooden doors being open; that means Rob is there, and he is a very friendly soul.

THE HERITAGE CONVENIENCE We saved the 100-year-old brick public conveniences from being demolished and a beautiful garden now surrounds it. This is the start of the famous Comic Walk for kids with all the favourite Aussie comic characters from the 50s cast in bronze – such as Sam Sawnoff and Ginger Meggs.

HARBOUR BRIDGE L ANTERNS Peter Mann works in “The Castle”, which is the pylons of the Harbour Bridge. From there he is lovingly remaking the Bradfielddesigned bronze lamps that used to hang on both sides of the bridge. The originals were removed and disposed of in the 50s – look up and you will see them.

Bohemian Harbour – Artists of Lavender Bay is on until November 25 at the Museum of Sydney; sydneylivingmuseums.com.au

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PETER KINGSTON'S BEUL AH, SENSE AND SCRUBBER OF L AVENDER BAY

rid of including old mattresses, rusty abandoned fridges and hoards of plastic and glass bottles.

Once the rubbish was cleared, Wendy began to design the garden, and it truly became a work of art. You’ll find a huge Moreton Bay fig tree, Arkie’s Bangalow Palms (a gift from her late daughter), natives and exotics, multilayered greens, clivia, ginger, bromeliads and crimson iresine. There are also several artefacts to be found throughout the garden; some are donated by local artists, while others are part of Wendy’s collection. Over the years, Wendy has spent millions on her masterpiece, and she hopes it will be protected and enjoyed for years to come.

PHOTOS (OPPOSITE BOT TOM) TAWNY FROGMOUTHS AND BAT PL ANTS IN TREE FERNS, PETER KINGSTON, 2018; (OPPOSOTE TOP) HENRI’S A R M C H A I R , B R E T T W H I T E L E Y , 1 9 74 - 7 5 ; A R T G A L L E R Y O F N S W , C O U R T E S T O F E L I Z A B E T H M . E V A T T A N D L E U R A T O Y & R A I L W A Y M U S E U M

WENDY'S SECRET GARDEN; BEL O W : L AV ENDER B AY, ROL AND WAKELIN, 1948

and, of course, the stunning harbour.

The garden is beautiful year-round and offers a different experience depending on the season. “On calm autumn days, when the colours deepen, the bay looks beautiful from the western clifftop heights,” Ian says. “Cold southerly winds aren’t felt in the sun trap on the central area, which is protected by the old railway embankment, and relief from hot summers is possible under the shady subtropical rainforest canopy.”

Each twist and turn offers a new view of Lavender Bay and more of the Secret Garden to get lost in. Of course, Ian and Wendy both have their go-to destinations. “I just love being anywhere in it,” Wendy says. “But the bamboo arbour is like a childhood cubby, while other areas with plants given by treasured people are also special.”

“For me, it’s the path that winds below the rim. You get views over the harbour and also shady tree ferns,” Ian says.

It may have been a secret for many years, but the cat’s out of the bag, and Wendy’s Secret Garden is inviting everyone to come and explore.

BRETT WHITELEY'S SEAGULL OVER L AV ENDER B AY, 19 7 9

Of course, the upkeep of the garden isn’t a one-person job. Wendy works with some amazing volunteer gardeners – there are currently more than 90 people who offer their time. Ian Curdie is one of them – he coordinates the volunteers.

A retired accountant, he had no previous experience as a professional gardener, he learned quickly how to care for the landscape and says he loves the thought that he is contributing to the preservation of the space for future visitors.

After a hard morning of watering, planting and trimming, one of the gardeners, Corrado, often makes delicious pizza for all the volunteers to enjoy while overlooking the fruits of their labour –

“Each twist and turn of the garden offers a new view of Lavender Bay”

t ig e r a ir f l ie s to Sydney from eight destinations; tigerair.com.au

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Parks unknown Did you know that the team at Parks Victoria use militarygrade thermal imaging technology to spot animals? How about that they patrol marine parks by deploying underwater drones? Read on for more you probably didn’t know about Parks Victoria – including how they help feed this guy...

PHOTO SAMARA CLIFFORD

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PARKS VICTORIA

“I say I have the giraffes’ lunch on board the truck, and people laugh“ “I use big Mukulu as a quality controller. He is the first one there, sticking his head over the gate, when I arrive at the giraffe enclosure. I can see his mind ticking over saying, ‘What have you brought for us today, Rob?’ and licking his lips – so I bring him a sample and he gives me a yes or a no,” Rob says.

The sallow wattle is less popular in summer when the giraffes have access to deciduous species like willow, ash, elm and poplar, but in the winter, the Acacia longifolia is always a hit.

When Rob is down at The Pines Flora and Fauna Reserve, he and his team can attract a bit of attention. “It’s a very well-utilised park by cyclists, joggers, dog walkers, bird watchers, the whole lot – but we’ve got a process we follow so we respect the other stakeholders,” Rob says.

“People love it. They see the [Melbourne Zoo] logo on the truck and say, ‘What are you doing here?’

And you say, ‘We are cutting trees for the elephants at Melbourne Zoo, and they just light up.

V

ictoria has some secret weapons when it comes to the war against weeds: Mukulu, Twiga and Nakuru – Melbourne Zoo’s family of giraffes – who are mad for Acacia longifolia, otherwise known as sallow wattle.

Less crazy about this wattle is the team at Parks Victoria. “These ‘woody weeds’ have become totally out of balance with the other indigenous species,” says Sam Pollard, Parks Victoria ranger team leader.

But one man’s weed is another giraffe’s lunch, and Rob Boekel, browse coordinator – horticulture at Melbourne Zoo, spotted an opportunity to form a fruitful alliance. Twice a week, Rob and his team jump in a truck and head out to The Pines Flora and Fauna Reserve in Frankston, an outer suburb of Melbourne, where they cut down the sallow wattle. They can get 12 cubic metres (around 100 pieces) of vegetation on board, which will feed the giraffes and elephants for about three days.

Sam, Rob and I are sitting in the Melbourne Zoo Lakeside Cafe talking about this unusual but highly practical team-up. We’ve just come from the giraffe enclosure where we fed long strips of sallow wattle to the enthusiastic ungulates. And the giraffes aren’t the only ones to benefit – the zoo’s elephants get feed and logs to play with, and the hippos and primates also line up to help chow down on the woody weeds.

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A PHASCOGALE: THE CUTEST THING YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF

PARKS VICTORIA

FROM ALPS TO STREAMS AND GUSHING WATEFALLS, VICTORIA HAS IT ALL

“Even when I am distributing the material through different departments here at the zoo I often have to drive very slowly on busy days. So what I do is I disarm people by saying, ‘Sorry, I’ve got the giraffes’ lunch on board, and they hate getting lunch late.’ And people laugh instead of thinking, ‘What’s this noisy truck doing here?’”

This alliance shows no sign of slowing down.

Sam says Parks Victoria now employs zoo vets to help check the health of the local koala population in places like Victoria’s French Island, and there is no danger of running out of woody weeds.

“The clearing is strategic to preserve other native plant species in the park, including an array of native orchids,” Sam says.

“We could go there twice a week and get two truck loads of weeds for the next five years,” Rob adds.

Of course, feeding the giraffes is just one small item on Parks Victoria’s very long to-do list. Few people truly realise the scope of what it takes to protect our natural wonders. In fact, the agency looks after over four million hectares of parks, or 18 per cent of the state. Victoria’s parks are home to more than 4,300 native plants and around 1,000 native animal species.

“The geography is pretty amazing. We go from deserts to snow-capped mountains, from ancient rainforests to kelp forests and sea grass meadows, so we’ve got a really nice mix in the state,” says Dr Mark Norman, chief conservation scientist at Parks Victoria. “We had a regional manager the other day marvel at what an interesting and diverse place the state is. In one day at her patch of eastern Victoria she was managing flooding in Gippsland, bushfires on the coast, and avalanches in the alps.”

Turn the page for seven more things you probably didn’t know about Parks Victoria... ê

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PARKS VICTORIA

Wild wildlife

Victorian wildlife you’ve likely never heard of

B R U S H -T A I L E D P H A S C O G A L E You’ve heard of squirrels and chipmunks, but did you know Australia has its own native equivalent?

Meet the phascogale. This tree-dwelling, spidereating marsupial curls up in tree hollows during the day and by night it leaps through the bush, searching for insects to eat. The cute little grey marsupial has a cream-coloured belly and black, bushy tail. Sadly, it’s endangered.

WEEDY SEADRAGON The weedy seadragon enjoys a life among kelpcovered rocky reefs, and is known to explore waters as deep as 50 metres. Perhaps the most unique thing about these creatures is that the males carry the eggs throughout the eight-week gestation period. A single brood can hatch up to 250 young!

They protect an army of crabs Each year around May or June, thousands of giant spider crabs invade Port Phillip Bay for their annual winter moult. “We’ve had David Attenborough telling the story of the spider crabs right on our doorstep,” Mark says. “A football field’s worth of crabs crawl up the channels to a shallow sand area and pick their one moonlit night to quickly shed their hard skeletons.”

Parks Victoria’s marine rangers keep a close eye on the crabs with the use of underwater drones, but for punters, the best way to see them is to go diving near the town of Rye. Alternatively, you can stand on the jetty and watch what Mark describes as “a big black stain” as it moves across the water.

“There is nothing more sensational than laying on the ground as a wave of them walk towards you. Each one has a body the size of a football and their arms get to about 70cm across. They just black out the light as they crawl over the top of you. It’s pretty spectacular fun,” Mark says.

They rock military-grade thermal-imaging tech Forward-looking infrared, or FLIR, is basically next-level night-vision goggles that detect heat sources.

“I used a vehicle-mounted one and we could see the exhaust of a car about 300 metres away that had been turned off six hours before,” Mark says.

Parks Victoria also makes use of a helicopter-mounted military system called MX-10 that combines super high-resolution video and FLIR. “As soon as you see something that is four degrees above the base background temperature it stands out brilliantly ê

“A football field’s worth of crabs crawls up the channel to moult“

SEA SLUGS Also known as nudibranchs, these guys can be much more beautiful than their name might lead you to believe.

MICROBAT As the name implies, these bats are tiny, often with disproportionately large ears. They use echolocation to navigate, can hibernate in cold temperatures and often roost in tree hollows, under bark, or in caves.

R AINBOW BEE-EATER The rainbow bee-eater displays green, blue, orange and yellow plumage. Bee-eaters eat flying insects and research shows a marked decline in the East Coast region, where reporting rates for this species have dropped by over 50 per cent since 2001.

LEATHERBACK TURTLE SEA SLUGS: PRETTIER THAN THEY SOUND

Migrating through Victoria, leatherback turtles can be the size of a small car – up to 2.5 metres long and weighing up to 700kg. They can dive down over 1km deep to get jellyfish.

GIANT EARTHWORM Gippsland’s giant earthworm is one of the rarest on the planet and has also starred in one of David Attenborough’s documentaries. These megaworms grow up to two metres long with burrows up to an inch in diameter.

N A T I V E C R AY F I S H While we’re all familiar with the yabby, not many people know Victoria has over 12 other species of freshwater crayfish, making it one of the most diverse places in the world for these quirky animals. Some live in free-flowing streams, like the Central Highlands spiny crayfish; while others, like the East Gippsland burrowing crayfish, live deep below the ground.

R E D -T A I L E D W O R M - L I Z A R D Is it a snake? Is it a worm? It’s actually a lizard that has lost its limbs through evolution to allow it to slither under the ground with ease. When it does come to the surface, its brightly coloured tail looks like a worm and distracts any predators away from the head.

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PARKS VICTORIA

PINK L AKES AND PINK SALT FL ATS

white,” Mark says. “It shows us things that were previously impossible to spot through the tree canopy; now you can see this brilliant white shining through the trees, and you go to the high-resolution video and you can see what type of animal it is.”

The tech is helping Parks Victoria get a better understanding of both the native and feral populations. On the Murray River, locals thought there were about 150 feral horses in the region; it turns out the number is actually closer to 1,000.

They have weed sniffer dogs In the alpine region there is a team of dogs that search for hawkweed, a small plant that is difficult to spot, but which can take over whole hillsides if not managed correctly.

“We also have some programs in the Great Otway National Park where the dogs are trained to look for evidence of the endangered native cat, or quoll, that is under pressure there from foxes and feral cats,” Mark says. “Some of these endangered animals have only hung on by being so hard to find, so we have to use our best tools to sniff them out.”

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The details PARKS VICTORIA For the latest national parks news or to check if lakes have turned pink; parkweb.vic.gov.au

MELBOURNE ZOO To visit Mukulu and friends and keep an eye out for Rob Boekel on his lunch run; zoo.org.au

SNIFFER DOGS WORK THE ALPINE PARKS

“The infra-red shows us things we would never see through the tree canopy“

They use DNA testing The latest DNA technology is so accurate that Parks Victoria can detect marine predators from miles away. “You can take a sample of water and analyse it and find the DNA of what has been in that water. We use it to search for pests around Wilsons Promontory,” Mark says, and adds that they know a Sydney octopus has been heading south.

“Other groups check for platypus in rivers, so they check the water and say, ‘Yes, a platypus has pooed here in the last few days.’” Parks Victoria will then be sure to keep an eye on the elusive native.

They look after pink lakes A few Victorian lakes turn a vivid shade of pink under certain conditions, including the pink lakes at Murray-Sunset National Park and the lake in Westgate Park, right under Melbourne’s

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PARKS VICTORIA

Ranges; or the parks in far east Gippsland, Croajingolong National Park or Snowy River National Park, have wonderful Gondwana rainforests with lots of mountain ash,” Mark says.

They provide seaweed for your glass of wine

W I L S O N S P R O M O N T O R Y, A DESTINATION FOR HUMANS AND OCTOPUSES ALIKE

Westgate Bridge. “They need the right saltiness and the right warmth to make that pink strawberry milkshake look. It’s a mix of bacteria and little single-celled plants,” Mark says. “It’s the colour that makes pink flamingos pink. We don’t have flamingos in Australia, but where these lakes occur elsewhere in the world, and they have flamingos, it’s these single-celled organisms and plants that give the flamingos their colour.”

Check the Parks Victoria website for news of this quirky and time-specific natural phenomenon.

They have the world’s tallest flowering plant The mountain ash is the tallest flowering plant in the world. “You can see them in the Dandenong

Ribbon weed grows up to four metres in length in Albert Park Lake. It is rich in nutrients, but it also gets stuck in rudders. Parks Victoria aims to harvest the nutrient from the water to help maintain usability for boats, sailors and rowers.

The harvest occurs in November and February.

A contractor comes in with what could be described as an “underwater mower” that harvests 110-120 tonnes of the aquatic plant approximately one metre below water level. It’s then loaded into a compactor truck, squashed down and taken out to Brown Magpie Wines on the Surf Coast to be recycled and used for open-air composting of the vines.

Owner Shane Breheny is constantly on the lookout for organic solutions for wine production and says ribbon weed contributes to producing a better grape. “It creates an organic, balanced compost that improves soil by introducing more carbon, which reduces the need for water and improves the PH, which reduces the need for artificial fertilisers and prevents weeds, which reduces the need for herbicides,” he says. “Ultimately, it improves the fertility of the soil, which means better production and a better drop of wine.”

t ig e r a ir f l ie s Tigerair flies to Melbourne from nine destinations; tigerair.com.au

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Connect with Natureâ„¢

CERTIFIED VEGAN

CERTIFIED ORGANIC

CERTIFIED VEGETARIAN

New Zealand DISCOVER YOURS AT: David Jones, Priceline, Chemist Warehouse, National Pharmacies, Malouf Pharmacies, Myer, Great Earth stores, Adorebeauty.com.au, independent pharmacies and health stores nationwide.

DESTINATION SYDNEY

DE S T IN AT ION S Y DNE Y L E NN Y

is on his first trip to Sydney and is determined to experience everything. He also gets hangry easily, so knowing where his next meal is coming from is important. @lennywollensky

weekend warriors ONE

DESTINATION, TWO DIFFERENT THRILLS VS CHILLS

ADVENTURES

SAMARA

is a Melbourne photographer – and friend of Lenny’s – who hasn’t visited Sydney since childhood. She also wants to see the sights, but at a slower pace. @samaracliffordphoto

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WEEKEND WARRIORS

BRE WHOUSE L UNCH

H A RBOUR CIT Y HOME First, I drop into Novotel Darling Square (novotelsydneydarlingsquare. com.au). With Darling Square in one direction, Darling Harbour in the other, and the city just there, it’s not a surprise that the hotel has just won the Metropolitan Superior Hotel of the Year from the TAA (Tourism Accommodation Australia). It overlooks the Chinese Gardens, and everything in the city is in walking distance.

FREE WHEELIN’ A Sydney Sidecar Tour (sydneysidecar.com.au) is the best way to see the city – feeling the wind in your hair and the sun on your green, felty skin. Pat, my guide, will customise a tour for you, and his knowledge is invaluable. At one point, I’m so busy admiring the view that I bump my head. Luckily, the folks in Kings Cross Pharmacy patch me up and send me on my way.

The Pump House (pumphousesydney.com.au) is a heritage-listed microbrewery that offers over 100 craft and premium brews. I try a Newtowner in the hope that a bevvy and some food would help my headache and fill my belly. And it does!

L E NN Y

hits the harbour, goes on a sidecar tour and ends up in a speakeasy

f r id ay

10:00

12:00

13:00

CIT Y WA NDERING

B AG DROP I arrive for a quick bag drop at Ovolo Darling Harbour (ovolohotels.com.au). An old wool store, Ovolo has been converted into a modern boutique hotel with a really welcoming vibe. Everything is made easy by being inclusive.

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I walk through the city towards Circular Quay and stumble upon historical monuments at every turn.

This anchor from the first fleet sits unassumingly in a little park near circular Quay.

The small triangular park was one of the few open spaces in the early days of the colony.

B AY S TROL L ER The Kiosk at Rushcutters Bay (rushcuttersbaytennis.com.au) sits in the middle of a large green space facing a heap of yachts.

It’s a great place to sit with a coffee and a sweet snack. It seems to be the walking place for all the doggos of Sydney. Sitting here, you’d never believe the city is just around the corner.

DESTINATION SYDNEY

SIGHT SEEING TIME

NE W GL A SSES I pop over to nearby Steam Mill Lane, Darling Square to check out the shops and find this natty shop, Dresden Optics (dresden.com.au).

They whip me up some new glasses in 15 minutes (for real!), and they’re Australian made too – but now I want a pair in every colour.

15:00

I rendezvous with Samara and we catch a ferry together from Circular Quay to Milsons Point. All of the things in one place! Bridge! Opera House!

Luna Park! At Milsons Point, I head to Luna Park, and Samara goes walking.

B A R HOPPING Down an alley into a basement, through a boxing gym, into a secret speakeasy!

By the time I arrive at Palmer and Co (merivale.com),the party is well and truly under way. Many G&Ts are drunk while I make lots of new friends and have a bit of a boogie to the live band. I feel a bit wonky on the way home.

17:00

19:00

SAMARA

wanders the city and finds a secret garden and a harbourside pool

FERR Y NICE TO SEE YOU

POOL BY THE B AY I walk to Murray Rose Pool (woollahra.nsw.gov.au). Is this place even real? I practically have it to myself. It’s incredibly peaceful. And, for bonus points, The Red Leaf Cafe (no website) is just there, so, you know, it would have been rude not to have some lunch while I’m there.

I catch a ferry from Watsons Bay back to Circular Quay to meet up with Lenny. Then we take a ferry north again to Milsons Point, and I go to Wendy's Secret Garden (see story on page 47).

QUIE T NIGHT IN I’m exhausted from walking, so I have the world’s longest shower and don the hotel robe and slippers... then Lenny appears! He drinks from my mini bar, eats my whole loot bag, and then disappears into the night (how rude!).

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WEEKEND WARRIORS A CUT A BOV E SURF ’S UP Let’s Go Surfing at North Bondi (letsgosurfing.com.au) offers twohour surf lessons for beginners.

I arrive and meet my instructor Dom, who kits me out with a rashie and a nice easy foam board to learn on. And I manage to stand up! Okay, admittedly, it takes me a while, and I get there almost as my board hits the beach... but still.

CLIFF TOP L UNCH Lunch is at Icebergs (icebergs.com.au), possibly the most Instagrammed pool in Australia. This club welcomes the general public for swimming and into the licensed bar and restaurant above. The bar upstairs has a beautiful view of Bondi and non-members just have to sign in as guests.

I have a lovely cold beer and revel in my newly acquired mad surfing skills.

I feel like I’d better smarten myself up after my day at the beach, so I book in for a clean shave and haircut at Bondi Barber Lounge (bondibarberlounge.com.au). This barber has a beautiful vintage vibe, and Janneke, the stylist and owner, is the brightest ray of sunshine I have ever seen. I sip on another bevvy and hang out with the local cats (and dog) while I’m styled and freshened up.

L E NN Y

learns to surf, goes to Icebergs and ends up on a post-dinner stroll

S AT UR D AY

08:00

10:30

12:00

COA S TA L TREK I follow Lenny to Bondi, but while he surfs and sunbathes, I hit the coastal walk from Bondi to Bronte.

Sun, crashing waves, buns of steel – I feel alive!

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BOOK S AT BONDI Back in Bondi, I pootle about the shops and find this gorgeous bookshop/cafe Gertrude & Alice (gertrudeandalice.com.au). And they sell beer! I forget to photograph it before I bolt it down. It’s great place to browse some books and have some lunch.

A R T TIME Now for the Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art at Circular Quay (mca.com.au). Open daily with free entry, not only does this gallery house some fabulous contemporary art, but it also has a bonus rooftop cafe with sculptures, food and incredible harbour views.

DESTINATION SYDNEY

CIT Y LIFE I meet up with some good friends to hit the city and see the inside of the stunning Queen Victoria Building. Completed in 1898, it was originally built as a concert hall, but is now a fantastic shopping destination. Make sure you go up the top to see the glass dome and incredible stained-glass detail.

OUT FOR A WA L K To end the day I take a post-dinner walk through the city to Hyde Park, where I meet some local wildlings. They’re cute and friendly.

I L OV E THE NIGHT LIFE Next I’m off to The Grounds for dinner and cocktails (thegroundscity.com.au) – an espresso martini, of course.

This is the city offshoot of The Grounds of Alexandria in the nearby inner-city suburb.

14:00

17:30

20:00

SAMARA

goes to the beach, visits the MCA and shops at The Rocks market

GE T TING COS Y The Rocks Markets (therocks.com) is full of locally designed fashion, handcrafted jewellery, textiles, homewares, and art, and I accidentally discover the best Devonshire tea I've ever eaten (off the Queen's face, no less) at The Tea Cosy (theteacosy.com.au).

It catches my eye thanks to its granny rugs hanging off the backs of chairs and baskets of communal knitting on the tables.

BRIDGE TOO FA R After that little refreshing stop I cross under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, past the piers along Hickson Road and around the walking path of Barangaroo (barangaroo.com).

H A PP Y TO BE HOME I make it back in time for Happy Hour at Ovolo.

Hotel guests drink for free and there are cheap drinks for my guests. A refreshing bevvy is welcome.

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WEEKEND WARRIORS

POOL PA R T Y Nothing like a pre-breakfast swim to blow out the cobwebs and work up an appetite. I have the Novotel (novotelsydneydarlingsquare.com.au) pool to myself on Sunday morning in the hotel, so I bust out some laps.

TO M A RK E T TIME TO GE T BUFFE T Did someone say buffet brekky? Yes please! I enjoy a cooked breakfast at the Novotel, plus all of the coffee, cereal, muffins, juice, fruit salad and toast. That should keep the hangry at bay, right?

Paddy’s Market (paddysmarkets. com.au) is right near my hotel and a really great place to nab some last-minute Sydney presents and souvenirs for my friends.

L E NN Y

does some laps, goes to the markets and has lunch at Tramsheds

S UND AY

09:00

11:00

12:00

N AIL ED IT Everyone needs a holiday treat, right? I go to Nail Pop Art (nailpopart.com.au) in the city. Hidden in a basement arcade, this salon is super cute and has some talented nail artists. I can’t help but get a tribute to my buddy Lenny.

G A RDEN S TROL L A gentle stroll through Darling Harbour’s Chinese Gardens (darlingharbour.com) first thing in the morning is a relaxing way to start the day – as is watching the group out the front practising a very slow tai chi-like exercise.

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ON YA BIK E I head to Newtown for a little shopping and lunch. There’s a quirky cafe called Rising Sun Workshop (risingsunworkshop.com) down a side street. It’s a mechanics’ workshop, with a lovely cafe/ramen bar sitting over the top.

DESTINATION SYDNEY TR A MMING IT IN I go to lunch at Tramsheds (tramshedssydney.com.au). Just 5km out of the CBD, the Rozelle Tram Depot has undertaken a dramatic renovation since it was built in 1904 and is now a dining destination. I pop in for lunch (although I think I ordered breakfast), sample some of the freshly baked goods and jump on an old tram (Melbourne habits die hard).

HEL L O H A RR Y ’S I may have just eaten, but I hit up Harry’s Café de Wheels (harryscafedewheels.com.au) in Woolloomooloo, which has been serving late-night fare at the same spot since 1938. Frequented by many a celebrity, with a view onto the battleships and fancy apartments on the pier, it seems like the perfect spot for a late-night hot dog.

Open (almost) all day, I’d just had breakfast, so I grab a photo and crack on.

14:00

IT ’S CHIN ATOWN It has been an action-packed weekend alright, and I finish by wandering back through China Town and checking out the neon, before heading off to the airport.

16:00

19:00

SAMARA

gets her nails done, hits Newtown and visits a cemetery

FLYING HIGH It’s time to fly home on our Tigerair flight – and look who I see onboard, already making friends with the crew! Bye bye, Sydney!

GR AV E DECISION Just a five-minute walk away is Camperdown Cemetery.

Established in 1848, after 18 years it had to be closed after being filled with around 18,000 souls. A large part of the grounds were reclaimed to become public parks and the headstones were relocated into the remaining cemetery grounds and positioned wherever they could fit. Tours of the Cemetery take place on the first Sunday of the month (tours@neac.com.au).

KING FOR A DAY I wander around the main drag of King Street and check out the very Boho shops like Cream on King Street, as well as some of the old pubs along the busy stretch of road.

FANCY AN ADVENTURE? If you want to be one of our Weekend Warriors, get in touch.

tigertales@citrusmedia.com.au

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Bite club The challenge: you are visiting a city but have time for just one meal – a solitary chance to find out what that city really tastes like. We asked four food writers to tell us the one thing a traveller needs to eat in their town...

ILLUSTRATIONS KEV GAHAN

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CITY ON A PLATE

Sydney on a plate Salt and pepper squid is as ubiquitous as it is tasty – you’ll find it on the menu at your local pub or fish and chipper, right through to high-end fine diners. It takes cues from Sydney’s love affair with Italian, Chinese and Thai cuisines alike, and showcases the tender fruits of Australia’s beautiful oceans.

Much like Australian cuisine itself, its origins are hard to pinpoint, but Sydney has great affection for a well-battered piece of squid.

That’s why we’ve crowned Queen Chow’s salt and pepper squid the regal heir to the title of “Sydney on a plate”.

Each bite puts every average, bouncy nub of squid you’ve had to shame – the texture of the flesh is soft and delicate, contrasted with the crisp, just-peppery batter. It comes topped with a smattering of fresh chilli, coriander and crunchy puffed rice. It’s nostalgic, fuss-free and delicious. The guys that cook it are also a great snapshot of Sydney talent – Britain-butnow-Bondi’s Patrick Friesen is the head chef, and he’s joined by his young and passionate Hong Kong-born sous chef, Sam Young.

And it’s not just the dish – this Manly wharfside diner knocks it out of the park ê

SYDNEY IN A GL ASS B U S H T O N I C G & T AT P S 4 0 In a day and age where “smallbatch-artisanally-produced” is usually more of a gimmick than a truism, it’s hard to cut through. But PS40 (2/40 King Street, Sydney; ps-soda.com) manages it, thanks to their hard-working little soda shop and cocktail bar.

The drink to have is a PS Bush Tonic G&T. From the moment they put down a brightly coloured coaster to when you have a chat about what you’re going to be drinking, you’ll experience what the Sydney hospo scene is all about. The corner-dwelling, laneway-accessed bar doubles as a production site for PS40’s other offering – housemade sodas that are crafted like cocktails using natural, local and native ingredients.

The Bush Tonic takes native lemongrass and myrtle along with quinine, lemon and lime.

To take it into cocktail territory, the citrus fizzy drink gets spiked with gin, which results in one of the freshest and tastiest G&T’s you’ll find in Sydney.

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WORDS JORDAN KRETCHMER

Queen Chow Manly’s salt and pepper squid

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CITY ON A PLATE

as the place everyone wants to dine. The opulent dining room is packed with round tables where families dig into a 50-dish-strong list of Australian-tinged Cantonese delights.

It walks between fine-dining regality and a casual family affair – you can order up a whole lobster from one of the gleaming live seafood tanks or keep things simple with fried rice and delicate dim sum. And have you ever seen a Chinese restaurant do a wine list like this?

It all showcases Merivale’s ability – love or hate the hospitality juggernaut and its ability to snap up prime real estate like Monopoly cards – to capture the Sydney spirit and channel it into a seriously slick but ultimately fun dining destination.

Manly Wharf, 22-23 East Esplanade, Manly; merivale.com

Second helping Sydney’s a brunching town, and A1 Canteen (2/10 Kensington Street, Chippendale; a1canteen.com.au) – Clayton Wells’ second outpost in Chippendale – represents all that is excellent about doing a morning repast in the Emerald City. Here the simple scrambled eggs and sausages get spiced up with softly folded curried scrambled eggs, and housemade pork snags from the nearby LP’s Quality Meats. There’s nothing extravagant about this delicious and hearty breakfast plate, and it’s the antidote to every finicky sugar-fuelled acai bowl out there. Add in seriously slick service, freshly baked pastries and well-tapped-out coffees, and you’ll see why this day-to-night diner is the dining go-to at the top of most Sydneysiders’ lists right now.

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WORDS DANIELA FRANGOS

ADEL AIDE IN A GL ASS CHARLOT TE DALTON’S 2017 LOVE ME LOVE YOU SHIR A Z Forget what you think you know about South Australian shiraz.

Charlotte Dalton’s 2017 Love Me Love You (charlottedaltonwines. com.au) defies the stereotype of the big, bold red. This natural beauty from the Adelaide Hills – a region known for a more refined shiraz – is elegant and expressive; a deliciously fruity drop that smacks of red berries.

The new-gen producer (whose surname is actually Hardy, but that name’s already spoken for in SA wine circles) is part of the natty wine troop of Basket Range – a thriving little pocket of the Adelaide Hills that’s home to an inordinate number of trailblazing winemakers.

Adelaide on a plate Africola’s tea sandwich The sandwich is having a moment. From A1 Canteen’s much-photographed muffuletta to the Reubens and katsu sandos stuffing your news feed, the once modest union of protein, condiment and carb has risen to the upper echelons of Australia’s dining sphere. Crustless white bread, once relegated to school lunches, now sits proud on restaurant menus around the country. And nowhere is it more at home than Africola, Duncan Welgemoed’s high-octane, no-nonsense African-ish diner.

Pull up to the vibing kitchen bar for one of the Great Australian Snacks. Welgemoed’s now-famous tea sandwich is a riff on Bar Liberty’s Kosher GLT (gribenes, lettuce and tomato). But it also owes a nod to winemaker Steve Pannell, who urged the chef to add it to the menu after sampling an impromptu prototype of white bread and chicken drippings. “I was like, ‘How do you sell drippings and white bread?’” says Welgemoed.

The answer, it seems, is adding layers of crisp chicken skin (Welgemoed roasts the skin for hours between two heavy metal trays to achieve the wafer-thin shards), flat-leaf parsley

and peri peri mayo for a little kick. Extra points for the accompanying serve of hot drippings – the juices from Africola’s roasted peri peri chicken – to mop up. It’s the indispensable sidekick to a hero dish. “The drippings are the gold dust,” Welgemoed says. “But people are too polite to finish it once the sandwich is gone.” The maverick chef has been known to single out diners to knock it back with a shot of booze.

4 East Terrace, Adelaide; africola.com.au

Second helping It’s no overstatement to call Parwana (124B Henley Beach Road, Torrensville; parwana.com.au) an Adelaide institution.

The singular suburban restaurant is one of the few places in the southern city that requires a booking mid-week. Even after an expansion earlier this year, the buzzing inner-west eatery is crammed with diners.

It’s little wonder. Chef Farida Ayubi’s all-star line-up of home-style Afghan dishes can pull crowds from across the globe. Ask anyone to pick a favourite, though, and they’ll wax lyrical about the banjan borani, Parwana’s signature slabs of tender eggplant simmered in rich tomato sauce, drizzled with tangy garlic yoghurt and fresh mint. It’s a plate-licker of a dish on a menu brimming with hits. ê

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FUN

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CITY ON A PLATE

Melbourne on a plate Croissant from Lune Croissanterie

WORDS PAUL KRISTOFF

In Melbourne, a must-try dish has to be a croissant from Lune Croissanterie, a place lauded for making some of the best croissants in the world.

Founder and pastry chef Kate Reid was an aerodynamicist for Formula One team Williams before switching careers and moving to Paris to learn how to bake viennoiserie (the category of pastry under which croissants fall) with award-winning baker Christophe Vasseur of Du Pain et des Idées. Reid opened Lune in a hole in the wall in Elwood in 2012, before moving to the current Fitzroy premises in 2015.

The reason the croissants here are so good is because the utmost attention is put into every step of the process. To give you an idea of this, the eggs are free-range from Villa Verde, the flour is from Laucke, the Jersey milk is from Sungold, the butter for the dough is from Pepe Saya, and the laminating is from Beurre d’Isigny of France.

The pastry is then prepared in the Lune Lab, a glass cube that’s climate controlled at a consistent 18°C, and the temperature of each ingredient in each batch of doughnuts is measured individually.

Each croissant takes three days to prepare, and the result is a dish that lives up to the hype. These are truly among the best croissants in the world. There are traditional options like plain, chocolate and almond, and more modern creations like yuzu, miso caramel and cauliflower.

Reid and her team are constantly researching and trying new things, all with the aim of furthering the art of baking

MELBOURNE IN A GL ASS FOUR PILL ARS BLOODY SHIR A Z GIN There are plenty of fantastic places to grab a drink in Melbourne, and if you look behind the bar of the best places in town, you’ll probably see a bottle of Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz Gin. Four Pillars is a distillery in Healesville (2A Old Lilydale Road, Healesville; fourpillarsgin.com.au) with a philosophy based around “four pillars” of distilling: quality stills imported from Germany; high-quality Yarra Valley water; a mixture of native and international, dry and fresh botanicals; and a love for every aspect of what they are making.

Their Shiraz Gin was created in 2015, when they steeped Yarra Valley shiraz grapes in high-proof Rare Dry Gin for eight weeks.

The result was a fantastic, unique gin that has been created every year since. Think aromas of pine needles, citrus and spice, and notes of pepper and raspberry.

The Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz Gin is great in a variety of cocktails, but for your first taste, try it neat over ice – it’ll change the way you think about gin.

viennoiserie. If you’re interested, you can book a session in advance at the Lune Lab. Sessions are one per day with a maximum of nine people (there are only nine stools available) and feature three courses of pastries, including two off-menu experimental pastries, and bottomless coffee.

119 Rose Street, Fitzroy; lunecroissanterie.com

Second helping Keeping with the French theme is another must try: the macarons at Melbourne’s LuxBite (CBD and South Yarra; luxbite.com.au). It’s owned by Bernard Chu and Yen Yee, trained chefs from Malaysia who were inspired by luxury patisseries in Europe and Japan.

The macarons at LuxBite get all of the basics of a macaron right. The shells are light and crispy on the outside, with a dense, but not too dense, spring on the inside. The balance between filling and shell is spot on, and the flavours are always well-balanced.

Classic flavours like chocolate, raspberry, and salted caramel are fantastic, but the Asian-inspired fillings that draw upon Chu and Yee’s Malaysian heritage really excite.

Think pandan and coconut, rose and lychee, and coconut and calamansi. ê

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CITY ON A PLATE

Brisbane on a plate Detour’s Kentucky Fried Duck

No discussion of Brisbane’s busy craft-beer scene is complete without mentioning Green Beacon (26 Helen Street, Teneriffe; greenbeacon.com.au).

And the beer that arguably put this Newstead brewpub on the map is the Windjammer, a heady, hoppy IPA that slips down so easily you might not notice it’s a six per cent blockbuster. Best enjoyed in the afternoon in Beacon’s handsome open warehouse.

duck, crisp fried and served with gluten-free jalapeño cornbread and sour cream. But you can’t skimp on the preparation. Brining the ducks overnight in saltwater and rosemary is important, Amos says. As is the thyme, ginger and paprika that gives the meat a fragrant, peppery tang. Then, you deep fry with respect: “You need to have clean, dedicated oil just for [the duck], at just the right temperature,” Amos says. “You can’t chuck chips in there, or fish, because it will take on those flavours.”

The secret weapon in the recipe is the cornbread. Fluffy and with the spice of the jalapeño, it helps offset the richness .

Take all this with a bottle of Ochota Barrels gewürztraminer in Detour’s striking wood and copper dining room and you have one of the best dining experiences in Brisbane right now.

11 Logan Road, Woolloongabba; detourrestaurant.com.au

Second helping Ask any Brisbane ramen aficionado where to go for Japanese noodle soup and they’ll invariably throw just one name at you: Taro’s.

For eight years, Taro Akimoto has been peddling fragrant bowls of broth, pressurecooking his tonkotsu ramen for hours using Bangalow pork and finishing it with housemade noodles, spring onion, nori and egg.

It’s perfect for either easing a winter cold or party-starting a Friday night out. Be sure to lead with some of Akimoto’s gyoza, and wash it all down with pilsner poured fresh from specially imported kegs of Suntory beer.

t ig e r a ir f l ie s to Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane; tigerair.com.au

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WORDS MATT SHEA

BRISBANE IN A GL ASS GREEN BEACON IPA

You know a dish is iconic when it winds up at the centre of an intellectual property debate.

When chef Damon Amos departed Brisbane fine diner Public to open his own restaurant, Detour, he expected to take his recipe for Kentucky Fried Duck with him. Public’s new owners had different ideas. What followed was a very public discussion about chefs and restaurants and who owns what.

The restaurants have since settled into a truce over the dish, meaning Brisbane now gets a double dose of the duck. We win.

Still, for the authentic KFD experience, most local foodies will tell you to head to Detour – because, well, Amos invented the dish, but also because it’s so close to his heart.

When he was a boy, Amos’ mother bought a special quarterly edition of Belle magazine dedicated to food. Inside was a recipe for New Orleans-style southern fried chicken.

“I remember one Saturday night she recreated this recipe,” Amos says. “It was the best thing I’d ever eaten in my life.

Once Amos became a chef he wanted to perfect the dish. By his early 30s he’d created ‘about 20 iterations of the recipe,’” he says.

“I wanted to add more prestige to it, and duck seemed like an easy swap.”

In some ways, it’s gastronomy at its most brutally effective.

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REVIVAL TOWNS

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REVIVAL TOWNS

Back from the brink Everyone loves a good comeback – a story of an underdog who comes out on top against the odds. All over the country there are small towns doing just that, experiencing a renaissance after years of neglect. Ricky French takes a look at five.

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verywhere you look, Australia is littered with the remains of forgotten civilisation – former thriving towns long buried by the bush or desert, left to crumble and decay once the party was over until nothing remains but rusty nails in the dirt. But some have risen from the ashes.

Led by passionate locals, visitors, artists, business owners and volunteers, many Australian towns have initiated projects to revive the glory days and bring the past alive again.

Walhalla, Victoria

PHOTO SHUTTERSTOCK

The first thing that strikes you about Walhalla, an unlikely town jammed up a mountain gully 180 kilometres east of Melbourne, is how un-Australian it is. On the surface, it ticks all the boxes for an old Aussie ghost town: dried-up gold mines, timber shacks, stone foundations of ruined pubs.

But it’s the town’s European-like geography and climate that has helped to champion a revival.

At its peak in the late 1800s the population was 4,000, but when the gold boom ended the town literally packed up shop, with residents dismantling their homes and shipping them off on the train, destined for anywhere else. It was cold, damp and stuck up a narrow valley – which is precisely what makes it so appealing today, thanks to some clever ideas by locals.

In the last decade over 500 deciduous trees were planted to bring autumn and spring colour.

The colour brings over 140,000 people to the

WALHALLA: A LITTLE BIT OF EUROPE IN VICTORIA

town every year – quite a change from the depressing days of yesteryear when the most it would attract would be one or two intrepid Sunday afternoon drivers.

Michael Leaney kick-started the town’s rebirth in the late 1990s by rebuilding the Star Hotel, which had burnt down in 1951. He thought, rather astutely, that it might be nice if visitors had somewhere to stay. Leaney’s commitment to honouring the town’s history has been infectious.

The latest revamp has been to repave the road in brown bitumen, to make it appear like a gravel road. The renovated shops and museum, clean gardens, stone walls, old rotunda, campgrounds and bustling pub all combine to make Walhalla just about the prettiest thing you’ll see in Victoria.

As Leaney’s partner Russell Wright says, “It’s like Switzerland in the alps – Australian bush surrounding English gardens and a European streetscape.”

Don’t miss out on the after-dark ghost tour, either, run by sixth-generation Walhallian Brian Brewer, where the dark underbelly of the pretty town is revealed. starhotel.com.au ê

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REVIVAL TOWNS

Corinna, Tasmania If Walhalla is a little bit of Europe in Australia then Corinna is a slice of the Amazon. The wild west of Tasmania deserves to have tourists flocking, but it remains a guarded secret. The town of Corinna, at the edge of the stunning Tarkine wilderness, dipping its toes into the broad and stately Pieman River, is unlike anywhere else.

Its former life as a remote gold mining and logging hub is reflected in the restored log cabins and dirt tracks running off into the rainforest. For such a sedate place, it was a rough and bawdy township back in the day. You can rent the cabins (the pick of them is the historic old pub) where you’ll feel like you’re living 100 years in the past.

Luckily, there’s a warm and inviting restaurant and bar within the reception building, staffed by a seasonally rotating team of European backpackers.

Cosy camping is also up for grabs at the water’s edge, and you can fish and watch sunset turn the river red. Adding to the isolated, jungle-like feel is the “Fatman” barge that takes you and your car across the river on your way in or out of town.

To really experience the Tarkine you have to get outside, and Corinna offers no shortage of

incentives here, including a trip along the Pieman to the river’s mouth on the famous Arcadia II, a handsome boat built in 1939 out of huon pine.

Exploring the Pieman is a must however you do it, and hiring a kayak and paddling to the mouth of the Savage River, where you can have a picnic lunch and explore a shipwreck at the old wharf, is a day you’ll never forget.

If bushwalking is more your thing then a day trip to the summit of Mount Donaldson will reward you with views across the Tarkine and out to the coast.

Corinna may have receded into the rainforest after its industry left, but thankfully it stuck around to remind us of how life used to be. Like most westcoast Tasmanian towns, its future lies in eco-tourism; and with a town as captivating as this, the future is as bright as the gold once dug from its hills. corinna.com.au

Yerranderie, New South Wales There’s a lot you should know about Yerranderie, but probably the most important thing is this: don’t trust Google Maps to get you there. This secluded former silver-mining town may only be 100 kilometres from Sydney, but there’s no way to approach from the east – not since they drowned the Burragorang Valley in the 1950s to create a dam for Sydney’s water supply. It means a good oldê

CORINNA HAS REVIVED ITS GOLD RUSH FORTUNES

“The wild west of Tasmania deserves to have tourists flocking”

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Barcaldine, Queensland

fashioned road trip through the Blue Mountains via Oberon is called for. Nothing wrong with that.

The flooding of the valley effectively sounded the death knell for the small township, which had its heyday in the early 1900s when a farmer digging a fencepost looked down at the hole in the ground and realised he was staring at silver ore, or so the story goes. It sparked a boom, but by the start of World War One the demand for silver had plummeted and the town wound down.

Today, it’s a campers’ paradise, a gorgeous forest and woodland retreat with many surviving houses done up for accommodation. Divided into two sections, known as government town and private town, there’s a picturesque campground with luxuries such as hot showers, flushing toilets and space for camping, as well as more unique accommodation, such as the old post office.

Meanwhile, scattered in the remains of the old town are several original houses, lovingly renovated and blooming through the trees like wildflowers. Fantastic photo ops await at St Senan’s Church, the old courthouse and the old police station. There are also privately owned holiday houses that get rented out, so check the usual websites and you might find a gem there.

Geographically, it’s a wondrous region.

Sandstone cliffs tower above and hiking tracks lead off into the wooded hills. It’s a bird-watcher’s paradise, and you might just catch a glimpse of the critically endangered regent honeyeater.

To book, ring the caretaker on (02) 4659 6165.

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THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE LIVES AGAIN IN ART FORM

“We quite enjoy the sea breezes here,” says Barcaldine mayor Rob Chandler. “We’re only 650 kilometres west of Rockhampton. It’s just a lazy 14-hour return drive for a dip in the ocean.”

The enigmatic mayor grew up on the land in western Queensland and knows a thing or two about a thousand things, including how to turn the fortunes of a declining town around. Barcaldine was a typical rural town with one unique feature – it was home of the “Tree of Knowledge”. The tree is a ghost gum in the middle of town that was the meeting point for the famous shearers’ strike of 1891. “It was the first Labour Day parade anywhere in the world,” Rob says. “Those times really set about changing the political landscape in Australia.”

Not everyone liked the old tree, though, or what it stood for. In 2006, murder most foul was visited upon the sleepy town of Barcaldine. The old tree was poisoned in the middle of the night. The culprit was never caught.

But that was only the beginning of the story.

The stump was removed and shipped to Brisbane for embalming in a preserving chemical. Three years later it was reinstated back where it had always been, and an enormous artistic memorial was built around it. The project cost $8 million and features 3,600 timbers hung from a 19-squaremetre structure around the tree, in various lengths and forms, styled to recreate the canopy as it ê

“The new Tree of Knowledge cost $8 million and features 3,600 timbers”

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REVIVAL TOWNS

would have appeared in the late 1800s. At night, the canopy is illuminated by green spotlights, and the effect is magical. It wasn’t just a tree that came back from the dead – it was an entire town.

“It increased visitor numbers by over 50 per cent,” says Rob, who reckons the murder inadvertently did the town a favour, turning the place into a tourist destination. He was also instrumental in restoring the old Globe Hotel into an art gallery, visitor centre and history room.

“People don’t want to come here to see a brick retro building,” Rob says. “They want to see a historic pub that’s been done up in line with how it used to be.”

Trees and buildings may draw visitors in, but it’s the people who are the heart of the town. “This is pure outback. The people are genuine,” Rob says.

“The best thing you can do is pull up a chair at the pub and say to the person next to you, ‘What’s going on, mate?’ We need to instil an affinity with the bush in the hearts of city people. It would be a tragedy if we lost that.” barcaldinerc.qld.gov.au

Farina, South Australia A former railway town on the edge of the hostile South Australian outback, Farina was settled in the 1880s when the original Ghan train passed through.

It grew to around 300 people around 1900, then began to decline as roads became established and cattle stopped passing through. By the 1950s it was abandoned like so many other outback towns.

That might have been where the story ended were it not for a group of people who took it upon themselves to preserve what was left of the place.

Bob Brownlee is part of the Farina Restoration Project. He has been coming to Farina for nearly 20 years to work on maintaining what’s left of

“Today the permanent population is two, but the place swells with campers“ FARINA WAS SETTLED IN THE 1880S WHEN THE GHAN ARRIVED

the 10 iconic buildings. They’ve marked out the old railway lines and restored the famous underground bakery. “Retired bakers come out and run it. We bake everything from bread to rolls to sweet treats to cream buns. If you don’t like our pies you can go across the road – it’s only 400 kilometres away.”

Today the permanent population is two, but over winter the place swells with caravaners and campers flocking to stay at the campground, soak up the outback atmosphere and stroll around the stone relics of the town. Brownlee says towns like Farina shouldn’t be condemned to ruin. “I’m passionate that future generations should see what an inland town was like. This town is part of our heritage. You drive up from Adelaide and see all these old buildings falling down. It’s sad. If we hadn’t come along, Farina would be rubble too.”

From Farina, visitors often head off into the Simpson Desert, to Birdsville or Marree, or to drive the Oodnadatta Track – all to get a taste of Australia’s magical interior. Farina, with its barren, golden streets, story boards and proud, crumbling glory, is part of that legend, and is well worth more than just a pie-stop. farinarestoration.com

t ig e r a ir f l ie s to Melbourne, Sydney, Townsville, Adelaide and Hobart; tigerair.com.au

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$36 $22

ROUTE MAP

Where to next?

Tigerair Australia serves 12 destinations right across the country

tigerair bases darwin

cairns

whitsunday coast

brisbane gold coast coffs harbour perth

sydney canberra (act) adelaide

FOR AN UP-TO-THE-MINUTE LIST OF OUR DESTINATIONS, VISIT TIGERAIR.COM.AU

melbourne (tullamarine)

hobart

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TIGERAIR NEWS

Tigerair uncovers all the local secrets New campaign helps you plan your trip with the help of some local knowledge

TIGER BITES WELCOME THE L AMINGTON New summer menu has an Aussie icon, and some new warm-weather refreshments Tigerair Australia has today launched its new inflight summer menu, Tiger Bites, street eats at 30,000ft.

Australia’s culinary icon, the lamington, has been welcomed on board, along with a homestyle lemon slice and irresistible pork crackle snacks.

Customers will also be tempted to try a new Thai chicken salad and crowd favourite Indomie Mi Goreng noodles.

New summer refreshments are also available for selection such as Furphy and Iron Jack beers and Vickers gin, lime and tonic.

Tigerair’s new seasonal offering also features the return of popular merchandise products including a Tigerair stubby holder and a “Sky to Sand” kit featuring a Tigerair sarong wrap, inflatable neck pillow and an eye mask in a reusable drawstring bag.

Tigerair Australia General Manager of Customer Journey, Hope Antzoulatos, said Tigerair is continually looking at ways to enhance the customer experience.

“We are really excited to announce our new Tiger Bites, street eats at 30,000ft summer menu, which continues to provide our guests with an extensive range of affordable food and beverages that cater for every taste and budget,” said Antzoulatos. “Our menu, merchandise and entertainment options further showcase our commitment to providing significant value for money when you choose to fly with Tigerair. From light snacks to something more substantial, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.”

T

igerair put the call out across Australia for locals to share their city’s best-kept secrets. From hidden beaches to hole-in-the-wall bars, the team at Tigerair reviewed thousands of entries from Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide and Perth.

Tigerair has now chosen its team of local legends to feature in the #golikealocal video series.

The videos uncover another side of

some of Australia’s favourite holiday destinations, with knowledge that only a local might know. Watch these local legends as they journey through their home cities and find out how you can “go like a local”.

For more information head over to the website, tigerair.com.au/go-local – and you can check out our very first Tigerair local, Gold Coast resident Skip Sterling, on page 91. meals served on tray tables, not in eskies. crockery and seagulls are not provided at 30,000ft.

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please do not remove this menu from the aircraft – there will be other customers who are hungry today.

we’d love to hear more about your flight today and anything you’d like to see featured in our menu, please email tigershop@tigerair.com.au

A PROBIOTIC STORM IN A TEACUP

Henry Blooms Bio-Fermented Lychee with Green Tea is the perfect tummy-happy summer drink, packed with six strains of raw probiotics, plus superfoods and antioxidants that aid digestion and boost immunity. Just add 15ml to still or sparkling water, and enjoy!

There’s nothing artificial either, nothing tricky. No gluten, no alcohol and 99% sugar-free.

Just 33 servings of the best quality, natural ingredients in one delicious liquid concentrate. Find the Henry Blooms range at your pharmacy or health food store.

Cheers!

www.henryblooms.com.au

#GOLIKEALOCAL

GO LIKE A LOCAL GOLD COAST From hidden bars to secret stretches of sand, plus some great food and nightlife – discover the Gold Coast that tourists rarely see

GO LIKE A LOCAL WITH TIGERAIR

MEET THE LOCAL

Skip Sterling Skip Sterling loves living on the Goldie. As an avid surfer he is always looking for his next wave, but you won’t find him on the main breaks.

“I love the waves here,” Skip says. “But I’m not much of a point break surfer just because the crowds get too much, so I just like my quiet little beach breaks when I can find them – places like the Lavarack Road entrance at Nobbys Beach.”

Skip wasn’t always a Gold Coast guy. He has travelled a lot and lived in a variety of places. “I’m a bit of a nomad. I’ve lived in Port Macquarie, Sweden, the Sunshine Coast, lots of different places in Europe. But when I was over in Europe, I was always wanting to get back to the Gold Coast, so I feel like this is home now,” Skip says.

The Gold Coast may be known for surf beaches and theme parks, but there’s much more to this oceanside city than meets the eye. From boutique cafes to sunset lookouts, we’ve teamed up with local legend Skip to shine a light on some of the city’s top hot spots. If you’re planning a trip to the Sunshine State, check out Skip’s tips in our local’s guide to the Gold Coast over the next few pages.

We put the call out across Australia for locals to share their city’s best kept secrets.

From hidden beaches to hole-in-the-wall bars, we reviewed thousands of entries from Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide and Perth. We’ve now chosen our team of local legends to feature in our #golikealocal video series. The videos uncover another side of some of Australia’s favourite holiday destinations, with knowledge that only a local might know. Watch our local legends as they journey through their home cities and find out how you can "go like a local".

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#GOLIKEALOCAL

G O L D C O A S T

L OC A L C A F E S Catch up with mates at Little Mermaid For brunch with a view, round up your mates and grab a table in the beachside dining room at Little Mermaid. The menu may be short and sweet, but with everything from smashed avocado to char-grilled barramundi, you’ll be sure to find something that catches your eye. If you fancy something to drink, go for one of their signature sangria jugs, which are available with your choice of rosé, red or white wine.

Grab a coffee at Alfred’s Diner Tucked away near the Gold Coast Highway, Alfred’s Diner is a funky backyard cafe with coffee that’s widely considered to be the best in town. Their house blend features a combination of local and international beans, which work together to create a sweet, buttery flavour that sets it apart.

If coffee’s not your thing, they also have a wide variety of organic soft drinks available to help you beat the heat.

Snack on something healthy at BSKT From protein shakes to vegan ice cream, BSKT is the go-to spot for health food near Mermaid Beach.

For a nutritious start to your day, give their brekky bowl a go, which comes fully loaded with fresh seasonal fruit and creamy coconut yoghurt. Or, if you’re on the move, juices and smoothies are available to take away and enjoy on the sand.

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E S T. 1 9 9 9

www.shopmadeinearth.com MELBOURNE • LOS ANGELES • SAN DIEGO @madeinearthofficial

#GOLIKEALOCAL

G O L D C O A S T

L OC A L B A R S Unwind at Seascape Restaurant & Bar

Get creative at Mo’s Desert Clubhouse

Enjoy panoramic views without the crowds at Seascape Restaurant & Bar. Hidden in plain sight on the Surfers Paradise Esplanade, this fancy cocktail lounge offers an escape from the hustle and bustle of the city's hectic nightlife. Kick off your night in style with something fancy from their signature cocktail menu, or if you’re with a group, grab a bottle of bubbles to share on the balcony.

A community hub for local artists, Mo’s Desert Clubhouse doubles as a late-night venue that hosts some of the hottest live acts from across the Gold Coast. Between gigs, the team run a series of DIY workshops where guests are encouraged to bring a bottle of wine and learn more about a craft, from life drawing to macramé. If you’re keen to try something new, stay up-to-date with upcoming events to see what’s on during your trip.

Discover the city’s hidden bars The Gold Coast may be known for its buzzing nightclubs and rowdy beach pubs, but in recent years, a growing number of hole-in-the-wall bars have popped up around the city. From Soho Place to The Cambus Wallace, these local hangouts are where locals go for a drink in town. For the ultimate speakeasy experience, head to Lockwood Bar in Burleigh Heads – but beware, even when you find the front door, you’ll still need to send them a text for the secret code.

Local hotspots

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#GOLIKEALOCAL

L OC A L HO T SP O T S Meet local artists at Justins Park Held on the last Sunday of every month at Justins Park, the Art and Craft Beachside Markets are where local artists go to show off their stuff. And, with over 150 stalls, you’ll be sure to find something that tickles your fancy.

Once you’ve had a wander, be sure to stick around for the live entertainment, which kicks off at 10am.

Ride the waves at Burleigh Heads Whether it’s your first time learning to surf or you’re a seasoned pro, Burleigh Heads is a versatile beach with good conditions to suit all skill levels. If you need some pointers,

G O L D C O A S T

head down early for a beginner lesson with Paramount Adventures.

Once you’ve picked up the basics, be sure to get in touch with Gold Coast Surfboard Hire, who offer some of the cheapest rates in the city.

See the sunset at Snapper Rocks SkyPoint may offer panoramic views of the city, but for sunset views without the price tag, head south to Snapper Rocks. Nestled between Palm Beach and Currumbin, this local lookout point is one of the Gold Coast’s best-kept secrets. Before heading back to the city, be sure to stop by JFK Woodfire Kitchen & Bar for a bite to eat in their picturesque outdoor garden.

L OC A L S E C R E T S Burleigh Hills viewpoint This is one of the best places on the Gold Coast to get a coastal view.

Currumbin rock pools A natural swimming hole that has rope swings and places to have a picnic.

Springbrook National Park This area has loads of stunning waterfalls and hiking trails.

F LY T O T H E G O L D C O A S T W I T H U S Ready to explore the Sunshine State like a local? Book a cheap flight to the Gold Coast today and discover the city’s best-kept secrets with Tigerair.

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THE TALE END

Let your pictures tell a story We want your photos on the Tigerair Australia Instagram feed.

Add the hashtag #tigerairau to your travel snaps and they could appear as part of Tigerair’s social media.

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#tigerairau We would love to see your pictures, so use this hashtag when you travel with us!

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