World Magazine - issue 25

World World PEOPLE & PALACES World magazine

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FROM THE PUBLISHER

Welcome to Issue 25 of World Magazine.

Number 25! It seems like yesterday that we were preparing to launch the first issue. It was a bold venture back then: a luxury lifestyle magazine, written, designed and printed to the very highest standards, showcasing excellence wherever we found it.

Looking back over those early issues, I was delighted to see how good they still look. And as I continued to browse through the years and editions towards 2013, I was proud to note how the magazine has evolved, with a new format that looks and feels great and content that has become richer in its range of subject matter and the quality of stories and photographs.

I’m happy to say, though, that one thing hasn’t changed: our quest to bring our readers the best of the best from around the world. Not everyone can own a superyacht or stay at The Ritz, but isn’t it fun to dream? And maybe one day…

World 25 is a special issue for us and our carefully chosen content reflects not only where we are in 2013 but how we got here. With

DON HOPE

World World World World World

that in mind we’ve included a number of stories that have stood out for us over the years. You’ll find them in the Travel section, including one of my all-time favourites from Issue 4 – Hotel Caruso Belvedere, an Orient-Express property on the Amalfi Coast that embodies the kind of quality, refinement and beauty we at World have always aspired to.

Elsewhere in the magazine you’ll find plenty of tempting stories, from cutting-edge fashion and design to food and wine, fabulous cars and boats and interesting characters.

Thank you for joining us in our special “silver” edition. And a special thanks, too, to our loyal advertisers: without you there would be no World Magazine today!

I’ll leave the last word to someone you might know, whose letter I came across while looking back through my stack of past magazines.

It reads: “… again, your magazine is absolutely first rate and you should be very proud”. It’s signed: Donald J. Trump.

Thank you, Donald. We are.

Publisher ~ Don Hope Ph: +64 9 358 4080 Email: donhope@paradise.net.nz Advertising ~ Debra Hope Ph: +64 21 930 717 Email: debrahope@paradise.net.nz Advertising Co-ordinator ~ Holly Norriss Ph: +64 9 909 6855 Distribution ~ Netlink Distribution Company Printing ~ PMP Limited

Creative Director ~ Mark Llewellyn Features Editor ~ Thomas Hyde Travel Editor ~ Patrick Smith Wine and Food Editor ~ John Hawkesby Timepiece Editor ~ Bani McSpedden Motoring Editor ~ David Linklater Boating Editor ~ Jeni Bone Proofreader ~ Frances Chan Prepress ~ Debbie Curle Production Manager ~ Sara Hirst

World is published quarterly by Fairfax Magazines, a division of Fairfax Media, 317 New North Rd, Kingsland, Auckland, New Zealand (PO Box 6341, Wellesley Street). Advertising within this publication is subject to Fairfax Magazines’ standard advertising terms and conditions, a copy of which is available online at www.fairfaxmedia.co.nz or by calling 09 909 6800.

Fairfax Magazines: General Manager – Lynley Belton, Circulation/Research – Liz Badenhorst.

Subscriptions: worldsubs@fairfaxmags.co.nz Phone: +64 9 926 9127. ISSN - 1176 9076 © 2013 Fairfax New Zealand Limited. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.

Website: www.worldmagazine.co.nz

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Talking Hats – Patrick Smith meets British milliner to the stars Stephen Jones and watches a parade of wondrous headwear.

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Champagne Style – Leading French cabinetmaker Grange’s special relationship with the champagne house of Veuve Clicquot.

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Legacy of Design – A world leader in contemporary French home furnishings began four generations ago making walking sticks.

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The Art of Textiles – We meet Matthieu Frey, scion of a famous French fabric house.

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Red Carpet Watches – Designed for the limelight: stunning creations that give fresh bloom to the timepiece as treasure.

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The Eyes Have It – Fashion designer Alber Elbaz has collaborated with Lancôme to produce a unique make-up line.

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Blue for Hope – IWC’s limited-edition timepiece helps support Laureus Sport for Good Foundation projects worldwide.

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A Family Affair – The 50th Ermenegildo Zegna Wool Trophy acknowledges the history and quality behind a world-leading menswear brand.

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A Signature Drop – A well-loved member of the New Zealand wine industry adds his name to a very special Australian vintage.

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Sweet Dreams – FISH restaurant head chef Shane Yardley finds inspiration for his culinary creations in his sleep.

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www.dior.com – Auckland (09) 356 6920

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Simple Pleasures – Producing great food need not involve technical wizardry, Botswana Butchery chef Stuart Rogan tells Thomas Hyde.

Showcase of Dreams – The best of Europe, on the floor and still to come, in the Continental Cars showroom.

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White World – From Queenstown to Chamonix to Vail, here’s our guide to 10 of the best winter resorts in the world.

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California Heartbeat – Thomas Hyde leaves his heart in San Francisco for the food and wine delights of Sonoma and Napa Valley.

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A Place in the Sun – Timothy Morrell visits a South Seas island resort where Fijian hospitality meets style, comfort and sustainability.

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Outback and Beyond – On safari and off the beaten track in South Australia’s rugged Gawler Ranges.

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Dragon’s Treasure – Mark Llewellyn finds Vietnam’s Halong Bay a place of natural splendour on the grandest scale.

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People & Palaces – Patrick Smith feels the press of humanity and lives like a maharaja on a journey to the heart of India.

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Perfect North – Living the dream on a fabled Seychelles island that is among the most exclusive resorts on the planet.

www.worldmagazine.co.nz

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Surrender to the Senses – What happens when a Swedish fashion model falls for an Old Etonian on the French Riviera?

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A Taste of Europe – Don Hope takes a culinary cruise to Rome on one of Oceania’s newest flagships.

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Hotel Caruso Belvedere – Italian splendour – and the ghosts of Garbo and Bogart – at a gorgeous retreat on the Amalfi coast.

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A Moving Experience – Train journeys that recapture the romantic thrill of travel and offer a shifting sense of adventure.

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Concierge – A WORLD of exceptional accommodation in words and pictures.

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Taste & Whimsy – Three cool and quirky apartments offer inspired accommodation for a long weekend in Sydney.

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The Power of Three – A new book captures the essence of a trio of elite properties in New Zealand, Fiji and South Africa.

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My World – New Zealand’s first lady of fashion, Dame Pieter Stewart, ponders the role of serendipity in her life.

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talki n g hats Patrick Smith meets British milliner to the stars Stephen Jones during this year’s iD Fashion Week in Dunedin.

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Right: Stephen Jones on the runway with a model wearing a hat of gold-plated turkey feathers that featured at last year’s London Olympics.

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Photo: Chris Sullivan

tephen Jones, OBE, champagne bottle in hand, beams as he strides down the catwalk. Beside him, a tall, elegant model wears a gleaming headpiece radiating gold-plated turkey feathers. The milliner to royalty and the stars sports a hat, too – his knocked up from folded pages of the Otago Daily Times covered in tinfoil.

It’s a lovely bit of comic theatre and serves as a nice finale to iD Dunedin Fashion Week show: the short, impish Englishman in his homemade pirate’s hat beside the leggy Asian beauty smiling serenely beneath her golden crown.

Jones, a great scoop for iD Fashion Week organisers, has been a milliner for 33 years and the collection of 33 hats that has just wowed the Dunedin Railway Station audience spans his illustrious career: from a jaunty Union Jack topper made for Italian fashion maven Anna Piaggi in the 1980s, to the fabulous golden number originally created for Kylie Minogue and worn during the closing ceremony of last year’s London Olympics.

Described variously as “millinery magician”, “king of the sartorial surprise” and “maker of the most beautiful hats in the world”, Stephen Jones has decorated the heads of everyone from Boy George and Grace Jones to Lady Diana; from Mick Jagger to Madonna and Lady Gaga. He has worked with designer John Galliano since 1993 (in 2009 he became the only British milliner to run a Paris haute couture millinery studio, making hats for Galliano’s high-profile couture shows at Dior) and his hats have graced the collections of numerous other fashion luminaries, including Jean-Paul Gaultier, Vivienne Westwood, Marc

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Photo: Chris Sullivan

Decades of hats: 33 hats featured in Stephen Jones’ iD Fashion Week parade, representing more than three decades as a milliner.

Jacobs, Karl Lagerfeld and Thierry Mugler. His work is represented in the permanent collections of London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, the Louvre, the Brooklyn Museum in New York, the Kyoto Costume Institute and the Australian National Gallery. Keira Knightley wore a Stephen Jones hat in the film Atonement and Audrey Tautou reportedly said Jones’ hats helped her nail the role of Coco Chanel in the film Coco Avant Chanel.

As prolific as he is creative, Jones boasts a biography that reads like a who’s who from the worlds of fashion, entertainment, pop culture and royalty. So it was refreshing to meet a man who appears not to take his own publicity too seriously; a modest man with an easy charm and a twinkling sense of humour.

I asked him where his enduring passion for hats came from: after leaving school in Liverpool he’d gone to art school and then in the mid-70s switched to fashion design at the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London.

“I just really fell into it,” he replied. “It was because I was not very good at sewing. I was studying fashion and then my tailoring tutor said to me, ‘Stephen, you’re hopeless.’ I’d been to a boys’ school and you didn’t do sewing – certainly in those days and certainly not at my school.”

Jones’ tailoring tutor, Peter Lewis Crown, had the London couture house Lachasse and secured his student a summer internship in the tailoring workroom to improve his skills. It wasn’t long before Jones asked to join the next-door millinery department.

“I think I liked [the hat] as a constructed object,” he says. “I’d always liked making things, whether it was model aeroplanes or boxes strapped together to make a spaceship – all the things that boys did in the 60s when we were growing up. But I guess you could say hat making discovered me, I didn’t really discover it.” Jones was inspired and encouraged by milliner Shirley Hex, who ran the workshop, and between

1976 and 1979 he spent his summer breaks working for her and learning about hat-making methods and techniques.

Jones, who’d been a punk during his college years, left Central St. Martins in 1979 and became a regular at London’s Blitz nightclub in Covent Garden, haunt of the “New Romantics” and fans of New Wave music. As one of the “Blitz Kids”, he hung out with the likes of Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran and Jean-Paul Gaultier. His flatmates were Boy George and ceramic artist (and cross-dresser) Grayson Perry. Many of the Blitz Kids became his first clients, wearing outlandish Jones creations to the club. Among them, of course, was Boy George.

“Yeah. He couldn’t afford any hats, so I said, ‘Well, if you do some work for me I’ll make some hats for you.’ And so I did. But that was before he was a singer. I remember, years and years ago, I had a van and I was driving around Parliament Square in London and he was singing in the back and everybody was saying, ‘Oh, George, you’ve got such a great voice!’ And he said, ‘Yeah, but I don’t have the confidence.’ How things change!”

Jones designed a line of hats for Fiorucci in 1979 and the following year Blitz’s owner, Steve Strange, bankrolled him into his first millinery salon, which opened in a nearby basement. (His salon and workshop are still in Covent Garden – now in Great Queen Street.) It was an instant success and he soon counted Diana, Princess of Wales, as a regular customer.

“So, yeah,” he continues today, “it just sort of all fell together and I was making hats for friends and I got a shop and suddenly I had a business – not because I wanted it, really, it just sort of turned out like that. I was never that sort of focused. I was driven about it but I wasn’t evangelical about it.”

Driven? In the three decades since, Stephen Jones has produced two collections every year, as well as working for other designers and filling high-profile commissions for pop groups, musicians, actors and other World Magazine

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Photo: Justine Photography

Stephen Jones’ hats are works of art and a wildly creative imagination, but also feats of engineering. “You’re always working with stresses and strains,” he says.

celebrities, along with commercial work for the likes of L’Oréal, Cinzano, Peugeot and Pirelli.

Seeing 33 years’ worth of his hats on the runway in Dunedin the previous night was a thrill for the designer, and a trip down memory lane.

“Yes, each one tells a story. I can remember making each one – what it was made for and where it was shown and the ups and the downs of making it. Like this orange one,” he says, pointing to a luscious creation hanging on a rack across the room, “which was made for a French designer called Claude Montana in about 1986 and was worn by Yasmin Le Bon – though she wasn’t Le Bon then, but she went on to marry Simon Le Bon [of Duran Duran]… So, yeah, each one has a life.”

I’d noted that some of his hats were not only striking but must have involved feats of structural engineering.

“Yes,” he laughs, “my father was an engineer and I guess genetically I get it from him. But you’re always working with stresses and strains.

And when I was at school my favourite subject was physics. So you really use all that when you’re making a hat.”

The iD hat parade was a tribute to a wildly imaginative mind.

Where do his ideas come from?

“Just from my life, really: live your life and make a hat out of it.

But if there is one particular influence more than anything else, it’s architecture.” He chuckles: “Little houses for your head!” And Dunedin, he adds, provides plenty of inspiration with its wide variety of house styles: “You have Victorian villas, ones with the lacy fronts on, art deco houses, you have 50s ones, a few horrors from the 80s – you have the whole thing and it’s great to be here and see that variety.”

Are we witnessing a renaissance in hat wearing – apart from the beanies that are so popular when the southerly blows in this part of the world?

“Yeah, absolutely,” he says. “People do wear hats for practicality and people wear hats for dressing up, for formal occasions – and I think that was really going downhill. But, certainly, in Britain anyway, since the royal wedding the whole idea [of dressing up with a hat] has been given a boost in the Duchess of Cambridge – and that’s suddenly relevant for a new generation.”

So what the most important thing a hat should achieve?

“I think it’s to be a bit of a dream… to make you feel different, transform you. That’s the great power of a hat… it’s a costume and it doesn’t matter if you’re 13 years old and spotty and putting a baseball cap on and being a cool dude of 18, or you’re a mum and you’re putting a big hat on with a pink flower and you’re a lady of the manor, it’s equally transformative whatever you want to be.”

One final question, Mr Jones. We just have to know: were you responsible for Princess Eugenie’s – um, unusual – headgear at William and Kate’s wedding?

He gives a hoot of laughter. “No. Funnily enough, I was commentating on the BBC at the same time, so I was having to make up very diplomatic things to say [about it] as we went along.

But, you know, she loves a crazy hat – although I think it was bit misplaced and I think she got quite told off for that extravagant hat W at her cousin’s wedding!” www.stephenjonesmillinery.com

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CHAMPAGNE

STYLE Leading French cabinetmakers Grange have a special relationship with the champagne house of Veuve Clicquot.

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fter her husband François died in 1805, Madame Clicquot took over the management of the family champagne business we know today as Veuve Clicquot. But she was so unhappy with the slow process of removing residual lees (disgorgement) after fermentation that she woke one night and traipsed down to the cellar herself to turn bottles, thereby speeding up the process.

Not wanting to lose more sleep, she later sat down at her fashionable desk – an ornate Empire period piece made after Napoleon’s Egyptian campaign – to document the revolutionary remuerge, or riddling, process still used for Prestige Cuvées in Champagne.

Today, one of the most notable pieces of classical furniture produced by leading French cabinetmakers Grange is the Secrétaire Clicquot Ponsardin – an exact replica of Madam Clicquot’s writing desk. Along with its gilded bronze Egyptian-style heads and claw feet, the desk has seven small drawers above the writing surface and four large drawers below it, while an upper storage concealed behind two mirrored doors is known as “the guillotine”.

Grange represents the best in French cabinetmaking traditions.

Opposite page, top left to right: Pompadour three-drawer hall cabinet; Jacob Console Table.

Opposite page, bottom: 1904 dining table and bench combines solid oak, aged metal and cast aluminium.

Above: Secrétaire de la Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin from the Grange “Mémoire” collection. www.domoclassical.co.nz

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Each of its 18 collections has a unique and compelling story to tell – stories that typically evoke pre-20th-century travel, artisan skills we thought were long forgotten and the (still) seductive lifestyle of France’s provincial regions.

Grange furniture is all hand-finished, combining authentic design and construction with the utmost respect for craftsmanship and materials: all woods used in its pieces, for example, are sourced from sustainably managed forests.

Grange is distinguished by its wide range of colours, shades and tints that together bring an element of fun to classical styles expressed in pieces like the Jacob Coffee Table (see www.grange.fr). But no matter the colour, each finish involves one of three degrees of ageing and 15 manual operations, such is the detail that goes into every piece.

At the heart of Grange service and production is a “made-to-measure” approach that addresses each client’s individual demands. The catalogue, meanwhile, lists 80 finishes to choose from.

Above: Jacob Collection, inspired by Louis XVI. Left: Ateliers de Grange bureau.

Opposite page: Directoire modular bookcase with ladder and TV space and Pompadour coffee table.

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On that count, Shane Senne, showroom manager of Domo Classical, the New Zealand agent for Grange, told World: “If a client wishes to order a bookshelf or wardrobe, we can do it in two ways. We can do an onsite consultation to work out the best configuration and colour choice, or the client can submit their dimensions and requirements.

“Once we have all the information, we then email Grange who will, within 24 hours, provide a threedimensional scale drawing with the client’s chosen colours. Once the client is satisfied with their configuration we provide a quotation or sales order.”

So if you’re on the lookout for a writing desk, remember Madam Clicquot. If it’s something more compact you’re after, have a look at the cherrywood Louis XV desk from the Pompadour Collection, one of 18 collections from the French master craftsmen. W www.domoclassical.co.nz

Above: Directoire modular bookcase with upper unit, ladder and Jacob tray coffee table.

Bottom: Louis-Philippe wardrobe. Modular units are Grange’s response to demand for functional features and customising to suit modern lifestyles.

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legacy

of design A world leader in contemporary French home furnishings remains a family business that began four generations ago making walking sticks.

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he day furniture maker Jean Roset met designer Michel Ducaroy, the world of contemporary French home furnishings changed forever.

Jean was the grandson of Antoine Roset, who founded the company in 1860 as a wood processor making chair frames and walking sticks. In time, Antoine handed over the business to his son, Emile, who in turn passed it on to Jean. By then, World War II had ended and the rebuilding of France had begun. The company became a government contractor supplying tables, chairs and beds to public institutions.

But then, at a trade fair in Lyon in 1954, Jean Roset was introduced to designer Ducaroy.

Two significant developments followed: the designer began working part-time for the furniture maker, dramatically changing the look and feel of its products. Furnishings no longer looked and felt “institutional�. They had style and flair and, most of all, were comfortable. The second development took place when the company began making home furnishings for a resilient domestic market.

Opposite page, clockwise from top left: Contours dining table, available in multiple finishes & dimensions; Facett armchair and Cloud wall installation designed Ronan & Erwin Bouroullec; Book & Look modular unit designed by Pagnon and PelhaĂŽtre; available in multiple finishes and dimensions. Anda armchair designed by Pierre Paulin.

Top: Ava extending dining table designed by Thibault Desombre. Above: Facett Armchair designed Ronan & Erwin Bouroullec.

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Michel Ducaroy soon became the brand’s full-time designer and that led, in 1973, to another major milestone, when the brand officially became Ligne Roset (lean rah-SAY) and opened a new factory and headquarters in the town of Briord, east from Lyon.

Moreover, Michel Ducaroy developed a special interest in the use of foam and with that produced what many people today believe is the company’s single most identifiable piece: the Togo sofa.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of those developments. The Above, left to right: Nomade-Express sofa bed designed

by Didier Gomez; Ploum sofa designed by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec. Left: Togo designed by Michel Ducaroy.

Bottom left: Pumpkin settees designed by Pierre Paulin.

Togo, an ultra-comfortable and stylish soft sofa with a structure derived from three foams of various densities, is upholstered with a generously quilted cover. As the brand catalogue says, “Its tapestry is the result of the unique and precise movements that shape its identifiable folds.”

Ligne Roset was ahead of the times. It practiced sustainability before “sustainable” became a buzz word. Unused materials were recycled and about the time it released the Togo, the company hired a chemist to develop new surface treatments and finishes without resorting to toxic substances. The result was varnishes without solvents and quick-dry glosses that in one stroke improved the quality of products and the working conditions under which they were made.

It should not come as a surprise, therefore, that Ligne Roset is known not only for technical innovations but for highquality workmanship. That’s why the brand is a world leader in contemporary home furnishings and accessories today.

From one brilliant designer, the company now works closely with an impressive list of designers young and old (see www.ligne-roset. com). That helps explain why the company has garnered a host of awards for innovation and design, including multiple Red Dots for being “the best of the best”. Today the brand has 760 retail outlets worldwide, including Auckland, where it is represented by DOMO Luxury Furniture Concepts at 106 St Georges Bay Road, Parnell. www.domo.co.nz W

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Above, left to right: Togo designed by Michel Ducaroy, available as a sofa with or without arms, a loveseat, a corner seat, a chair and an ottoman; Flax armchair designed by Philippe Nigro and Alster coffee table designed by Emmanuel Dietrich.

Below: Ruché Bed designed by Inga Sempé – a harmonious union of rigorous straight lines and soft, welcoming curves.

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The Art

of Textiles

A recent visit to New Zealand by Matthieu Frey, the 31-year-old grandson of Pierre Frey, inspired us to take a closer look at French fabric. By Thomas Hyde.

P

ierre Frey, the brand, has been synonymous with the highest quality French fabrics since the company was founded

by Pierre Frey, the man, in 1935. Today the company has showrooms in Paris and nine other cities, including London, New York and Dubai, and the brand is represented in 34 countries, among them Australia, at Milgate Fabrics in Sydney, and New Zealand, at Atelier Textiles in Auckland.

Pierre Frey has a story to tell, so it was a unique opportunity to hear it told by Matthieu Frey, grandson of Pierre, who visited New Zealand recently from his base in Singapore where he is the brand’s chief representative for Asia and the Pacific.

The unparalleled history of French fabric can be traced to the beginning of the first millennium when silk and other exotic products from the East were brought to the West along the famed Silk Road. But the technical achievement that set in motion the first great period of French decorative textile production began in 1801 when Joseph-Marie Jacquard invented an automated loom.

Jacquard’s loom coincided with the reign of Louis XIV. The “Sun King” was famous (if not notorious) for his love of extravagance in all manner of ways. Accordingly, the ground-breaking ornate, colourful designs produced by Jacquard were given a royal endorsement.

Buying French fabric became a royal decree and with that the French tradition of decorative fabrics was born.

Right: Fadini Borghi collection – Baroque-inspired, Jacquard weaves, embroidery, sheers, multicoloured velvets and silks.

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Pierre Frey passed on the business to his son, Patrick, who has since brought his three sons – Pierre, Vincent and Matthieu on board. While the weaving of the finest fabrics remains the company’s foundation, its portfolio of more than 7,000 products today includes wallpaper, carpets, furniture and accessories. But, says Matthieu, “My grandfather started the company as a fabric company and that is still our main business.”

In 1991, the company bought Braquenie, the famed fabric maker founded in 1858 by brothers Alexander and Charles-Henri Braquenie. Braquenie represents the best of 18th and 19th-century French prints on Indian cotton. In 2004, Pierre Frey bought Fadini Borghi, an Italian company specialising in prints on silk, and Boussac, the fabric company founded by the late Marcel Boussac that’s known for its art deco and contemporary motifs.

“We are unique,” Matthieu explained, “because we do most of our weaving in France at our Living Heritage Mill. All our archives of fabric techniques and styles going back hundreds of years are there and in that way we can maintain complete control over the final design and quality of the fabric.”

Matthieu Frey represented the luxury liquor brand Rémy Cointreau in the Asia-Pacific region until he returned to the family fold two years ago to expand markets for Pierre Frey in this region. “I focus my attention on the countries with the highest potential for us,” he said. “We have major residential and hospitality projects going on at the moment in Indonesia and the Philippines, but, really, the Asia-Pacific region is very diverse.

“The market for fine fabric is different from country to country and even from city to city. Beijing is strong on silk velvets and satin in shades of red, while Hong Kong is more about the interplay of textures and embroidery and less interested in bright colours. Even in a small country like New Zealand, the Auckland market is different from the South Island and so on.

Above right: Shibao: The colour blue, present on all continents, is the common thread of this collection, which comprises of prints, wide-width sheers and plains.

“That’s what makes my job challenging, but because we offer 5,000 colour shades from 30,000 archives and everything from prints, embroideries, classical patterns to our current collaboration with artists, we believe we can satisfy any market.”

This was Matthieu Frey’s fourth visit to New Zealand. He spent a week here at private showings for interior designers and architects organised by Rebecca Bowering, of Atelier Textiles. The shows featured two new collections for 2013: Shibao, where the accent is on Indigo; and Himalaya, which uses New Zealand wool and where the accent is on embroidered earth tones. Both were inspired

by Patrick Frey’s travels.

As Matthieu explained, “All the collections are designed by my father with the help of his studio. The 2013 collection that includes Shibao and Himalaya relates to his travels now or in the past. Himalaya draws on that region and uses the finest New Zealand wool and, like all of our collections, they are woven in our own mill and manufactured in France.”

Matthieu’s father, Patrick, is the brand’s creative director. His brother Vincent is the company president and CEO, while his other brother, Pierre, heads up company marketing and communications. Drawing his inspiration from travel as well as working with contemporary French artists, Patrick expresses his worldly experiences in printed fabrics that altogether encapsulate the art of textiles at Pierre Frey.

Rebecca Bowering, the managing director of Atelier Textiles in Auckland, is herself an expert on Pierre Frey and the art of textiles. “I came into this business by osmosis,” she said. “My parents were in textiles and my grandmother was a milliner. My aunt was also in textiles, so that’s what I grew up with.”

Atelier was started by Peter Tatham at a time when a government quota system restricted the amount of fabric that could be imported. But as Rebecca

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noted, “The law changed with regards to quota and the like. Peter saw the opportunities and started Atelier, primarily as an indent business to enable the importation of the gorgeous brands that were available elsewhere in the world, selling the business shortly after to my mother. I took over in 1997 when we moved from a small villa in Ponsonby to here in Mt Eden where we’ve been ever since.”

Besides Pierre Frey, Atelier Textiles is the New Zealand representative for 30 other of the world’s top brands. It sells to interior designers and architects, and a few retailers such as Cavit & Co and Gracious Living, but Atelier is not a retail shop as such. Bowering travels to Paris twice a year, noting that, “I do spend a lot of time with Pierre Frey because they are a family business and they include me in their family. It’s very much a family relationship, more so than the other brands in Paris.

“But then Pierre Frey absolutely has the best prints in the world and they’ve been doing it a long time. Their prints are all so varied. Most companies do a collection and it’s a collection that tells a single story. With Pierre Frey, every single print has its own story, expressed by a beautiful design on the best cotton in the world from mills that really are superior.”

“I would add that Patrick is a great traveller who’s always looking for the next big thing, whether it’s a period like the 1920s or a destination like the Himalayas or a colour like indigo. It’s still French but it reaches beyond France to other times and places and cultures. And it’s not like he sees something and it instantly becomes a collection. The new Shibao collection, for example, took him five years to develop.”

Thanks to that royal decree of Louis XIV, the art of textiles which has since become embedded in the French way of doing things is alive and well today. “I remember being in Pierre Frey showroom a few years ago,” Bowering said, “and a

Photo Patrick Demarchelier

Below left: Shibao accessories voluntarily limited to the different varietals of Indigo, which offers a variety of captivating chromatic vibrations.

mother and her young son came in. The boy would have been no older than five but as they moved about the shop he touched fabric and felt it like an expert.

It’s just so much a part of their culture.”

“Colour is back,” according to Matthieu Frey. That is, after a period of monotones he is seeing an increasing demand for colours and patterns. “Our customers are having more fun decorating their homes in brighter colours and this is a trend happening in larger projects too,” he said.

“Customers today are also much more aware of ecological issues too. We have acknowledged that with the creation of an eco-friendly label called Pure Cotton that is 100 per cent organic. We’re also seeing more interest in vegetaltextured wall coverings.”

Rebecca Bowering added: “Artisan work is also a trend, as more and more people are going back to appreciating handmade silk and woven products.

And it’s not about being disposable. More people are spending their money on smaller, beautiful things that last.”

Personally, I found walking into the Atelier Textiles warehouse on Boston Road in Mt. Eden a daunting experience. Standing in the centre of the space surrounded by (as I learned) 50,000 samples, I wondered how a layman such as me could possibly know where to begin to re-decorate my apartment.

Answer: I wouldn’t so maybe I should talk to people who do.

“If you buy well, it’s not as simple as walking into a shop and saying I’ll have that, that and that,” Bowering said. “People tend to think professional advice is just for the rich and famous but it’s not. Seeking advice can save money and produce a much better result at the same time. Walking in here is sort of like walking into a florist, where, on first take, you love everything. But then you have to really think about what you want and where to start.”

After launches of Shibao and Himalaya in Christchurch, Wellington and World Magazine

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Above: The elegant or rustic fabrics used in the Voyages collection recall memories of the sights and smells of Asia, South America and Africa and the spice markets, rich with a thousand smells, flavours and colours.

Left: Matthieu Frey.

Auckland, Matthieu Frey was off back to Singapore. “We’ve been represented in Australia and Japan for more than 35 years,” he said. “But markets like Hong Kong, China, and Singapore have had the greatest impact on our sales in the last five years.”

Matthieu was here and gone before I had a chance to impress him with some homework I had carried out thanks to the Pierre Frey website, the only brand I have come across with a useful glossary. I wanted to ask him about the history of Toile de Jouy, that is, the story of Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf who, in the 1760s, set up shop in the town of Jouy-en-Josas from where he created monochrome prints that became so famous he was awarded the Legion d’honneur by Napoleon. Yes, that Napoleon. Today Toile de Jouy or literally “the cloth of Jouy” is a classic among the Pierre Frey collection. I asked Rebecca Bowering instead.

“Toile de Jouy is one of the most famous French patterns,” she explained. “It’s simple and very pretty and traditionally printed on lightweight cotton. There are a many different designs but generally it’s a scene. Traditional Toile de Jouy were printed on white cotton using just one colour and they tell a story, any story, about industrialisation and the coming of factories or a country scene.

Sometimes they were imaginary visions. Pierre Frey and another of our brands, W Manuel Canovas, produce the finest toile du Jouy in the world today.”

Pierrefrey.com

Inspired Interiors.

Fabrics, wallpapers, carpets, furniture & home accessories

NEW ZEALAND Atelier Textiles 55 Boston Rd Mt Eden Auckland - www.atelier.co.nz - Toll Free phone; 0800 ATELIER (0800 2835437)

REINVENT YOURSELF

RENDEZ-VOUS NIGHT & DAY Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 967A Every woman has a Rendez-Vous, with herself.

The Rendez-Vous Night & Day timepiece is entirely crafted and gemset at the Manufacture in the Vallée de Joux, Switzerland. Its automatic movement keeps pace with the constant changes in a woman’s life, as she perpetually reinvents herself. Rendez-Vous is more than a watch, it is a state of mind.

YOU DESERVE A REA L WATCH

RED CARPET

WATCHES The world of watches always has its standouts, and these stunning creations give fresh bloom to the timepiece as a treasure. Just a glance tells you they were designed for the limelight.

Bani McSpedden reports.

Jaeger-LeCoultre La Montres Extraordinaire La Rose Blooming Marvellous…

First revealed at the Venice International Film Festival, this ravishing rose lights up the room with 14 carats of snowset diamonds, 1,420 in all. Inside beats a tiny mechanical movement with hidden winding crown: pure horological art.

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azzling by definition, daring by design: the watch world is increasingly turning to stunning statements that not only tell the time but also leave a lasting impression.

In this rarified realm you’re talking creativity and cachet, workmanship and wow factor, elegance and expense.

Here, clever mechanisms are often relegated to being a support act for style, with perfection judged on the basis of gem setting as much as watchmaking.

The result is pieces exuding uncommon panache and savoirfaire.

These aren’t watches for the every day. Mostly you’d wear them for a few hours at a time. But you’d know that time was special because they sparkle, literally, by day or by night.

Red Carpet Watches Girard-Perregaux Cat’s Eye Tourbillon with Gold Bridge Snowset

Cat’s Whiskers “Our watches are distinguished by the quality of their mechanism and their aesthetic inventiveness.” Girard-Perregaux.

Daring watchmaking, dollops of diamonds, serious dollars and drop-dead looks distinguish this expression of haute horology. The tourbillon mechanism, rare in a women’s watch, is clearly visible at six o’clock. It’s a beguiling complication designed to lessen the effects of gravity on the movement, but what gives the Girard-Perregaux extra pull is the snow-set diamonds, 1,000 of them, totalling 5.5 carats. While they completely cover the white-gold case, its weight tells you you’re rocking something special.

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Cartier Panthere Divine

In the Pink “It’s the iconic animal in the Cartier kingdom; its feline form espouses the lithe circle of time.” Cartier.

What could be more fitting for prowling the red carpet than this little black-and-white number inspired by a panther? Its rhodium-plated white-gold case is set with brilliant-cut diamonds, as is the white-gold panther’s pelt, while the exotic cat’s spots are rendered in black enamel. The bejewelled beast appears to cast a haughty rearward glance at the time, which is elegantly indicated without resorting to numerals.

World Magazine

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Red Carpet Watches Chopard Happy Sport Diamantissimo

Happy Hour “For 20 years now the Happy Sport has been appealing to women with a taste for daring, contemporary timepieces.” Chopard.

To mark the 20th anniversary of its Happy Sport – a range distinguished by a brace of diamonds dancing above the dial – Chopard devoted 4,500 man-hours to this spectacular creation. It’s carpeted in 65 carats of diamonds, 958 of them baguette-cut, 1,978 brilliant-cut and all invisibly set to create an apparently seamless surface. They cover the case, dial and bracelet links, while out of sight beats an in-house self-winding mechanical movement. It’s 43mm across and comes with a seven-figure price tag: in other words, not for those shy of the spotlight.

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Louis Vuitton Tambour Bijou Secret Lapis Lazuli

Secret’s Out “With this collection, we’re subtly blending gold, precious stones and diamonds.” Louis Vuitton.

The masters of the monogram describe this playful piece as a watch and a jewel in one.

And who could disagree? With the cover in place it’s a decorative bracelet; slide it back and there’s a decorous display of the hour of day or night, here superimposed on a luscious lapis lazuli background. At just 22mm in diameter it’s as cute as a button; in this case a diamonddotted white-gold one, fittingly mounted on an electric-blue lizard strap.

World Magazine

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Red Carpet Watches Jaeger-LeCoultre Rendevous Celestial

Yes, it’s Heavenly…

“Over centuries, women have determined the aesthetic of time and ways in which it is worn.” Jaeger-LeCoultre.

Truly glamorous occasions call for a little something on your wrist that looks more provocative than practical, and what better than this dance of diamonds – 155 of them totalling two carats – framing not only the hours and minutes, but also a lapis lazuli night sky, complete with a shooting star. The tiny star rotates once every 24 hours, and can be set independently to indicate a second time – rendezvous time? – or synchronised to show just the passage of time. The case is white gold, the movement self-winding.

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Breguet Secret De La Reine

Regal Rose “We were inspired by Marie Antoinette’s world to create some exceptional pieces.” Breguet.

Another “secret” watch, this time inspired by Breguet’s celebrated client Marie Antoinette, who, in a famed 1783 portrait, was depicted holding a rose. Here the rose is sculpted “in the minutest detail” cameo-style from the surface of a shell, and serves as a pivoting cover for the piece’s white-gold casing. This is paved with 431 brilliant-cut diamond, with a further 116 diamonds on the silvered gold dial. Beneath this sits a fine mechanical movement. A final dab of 26 diamonds on the pleated leather strap’s folding clasp completes a rather regal picture.

Red Carpet Watches Chaumet Attrape-Moi Spider and Bee

Spin on Time “Gone are the traditional hands. Gone also the hours and minutes that endlessly turn round and round in a routine manner.”

Chaumet.

Paris-based Chaumet has dispensed with the ordinary and chosen a pink-gold spider and diamond-set bee to indicate time with this creative confection. “The spider moves with the pace of the hours, slowly and patiently, waiting for its prey. The carefree bee boldly tempts it by the minute, edging closer and closer until it brushes one of its legs with its wing.” The web-like dial comprises 43 motherof-pearl segments highlighted by brilliant-cut diamonds, while the movement giving flight to this fancy is a Swiss mechanical calibre.

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THE EYES

HAVE IT Alber Elbaz, one of the world’s most influential fashion designers, has collaborated with Lancôme to produce a limited-edition line of make-up.

W

hen Alber Elbaz, the talented creative director of Lanvin, the Paris fashion house, was asked why, after many years designing beautiful clothes, he agreed to collaborate with Lancôme to produce a limited-edition line of make-up, he gave more than one reply.

To one inquiry he said he had once attended a function where everything was shining but the eyes of the guests. People wore shiny watches and jewellery and shiny shoes. Even their hair and skin shone. But there was little or no sparkle in their eyes. So he thought that someday he would like to be involved in a project that made those eyes shine, too.

To someone else, he said: “I spend my time backstage at Lanvin shows and when I come out at the end all I see [in the glare of the runway lights] are people’s eyes.”

Elsewhere, he has said, “Eyes are the new fashion accessory. It’s the one thing that can really transform you the most. If you work on your brows – the eyeliner, the mascara – you can truly transform yourself, in the good sense of the term.”

For Elbaz, eyes have been a side interest for some time. He was once asked: what do the

Born in Morocco and raised in Israel, Alber Elbaz (far right) inherited his feeling for colour from his parents, an artist and a hair stylist. He applies it, along with a whimsical sense of fun, in his new collaboration with Lancôme.

It’s a remedy, he hopes, for these anxious times.

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eyes represent for you? He replied: “[The] eyes show intelligence. I love it when you can see someone thinking deeply by the look in their eyes. For me, eyes are the mirror of both mind and heart. They are a meeting point of the rational and the emotional and it’s that contradiction that makes them so fragile.”

So it was no surprise that when asked by Youcef S. Nabi, president of Lancôme, to produce a limited-edition make-up collection he didn’t hesitate. Their collaboration was officially announced in January this year and the result was a whimsical 11-piece set launched internationally in June.

Alber Elbaz was born in Morocco and raised in Israel. His style derives from his parents. His mother was an artist, his father a hair colourist. Alber was a precocious child who understood colour and applied it to his own fashion sketches long before he enrolled in a formal design course.

World Magazine

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Eyes should sparkle, too: Alber Elbaz calls his latest project the “Hypnôse Show” Because he “wanted to think about stories you can tell with mascara: a story of eyes and their shape”.

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His resumé includes a brief period working for Geoffrey Beene in New York before returning to Europe to become the creative director at Guy Laroche and then at Yves Saint Laurent, before joining Lanvin in 2001. In 2007, Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Two years later he was made a member of the French Legion of Honour.

Lancôme is part of L’Oréal, the world’s largest fashion and beauty group, whose brands also include Helena Rubinstein, Ralph Lauren and Stella McCartney. Lancôme is the world’s leading cosmetics brand, fronted by the likes of Julia Roberts, Kate Winslet, Penelope Cruz and, most recently, Emma Watson.

For Alber Elbaz, when it came to eyes, Lancôme was the perfect partner to work with because he was already a fan. Travelling home from New York in his early days, he often bought his mother a gift of Lancôme.

“Beauty,” Elbaz has said, “isn’t a question of being the right age or having the right look; it all comes down to attitude, individuality and character. For me, Lancôme is embodied by such women and by their sense of freedom.”

World Magazine

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Elbaz’ Hypnôse Show includes four shades of Lancôme Colour Design 5 Shadow & Liner Palette and the brand’s first foray into false eyelashes, “the must-have fashion accessory of the moment”.

In time, he met and became friends with Youcef S. Nabi and this project – which he calls his “Hypnôse Show” – was born.

Why “Hypnôse Show” ?

Because, for Elbaz, a show is about telling a story and, “I wanted to think about stories you can tell with mascara: a story of eyes, and their shape. So I took the three mascaras and built a story around them, with polka dots for Drama Eyes, stars for their namesake Star Eyes and hearts for Doll Eyes.

“I wanted to maintain a whimsical, feel-good style. Mascaras tend to come in just gold and black. I wanted to create a more personal touch.”

This “show” also includes four shades of Lancôme Colour Design 5 Shadow & Liner Palette in Rose Coquette, Taupe Craze, Mint Jolie and Midnight Rush and the brand’s first foray into false eyelashes, “the must-have fashion accessory of the moment,” he believes.

Alber Elbaz once said he veiled the body to unveil the woman.

That maxim could also apply to the eyes. And for Elbaz, the process is as much as anything about having fun – as evidenced by his use of red hearts, blue stars, pink dots and green eyes, as well as an animated digital film he made himself (and which can be seen on YouTube).

“It’s never just a piece of make-up,” he told style.com. “It’s something a bit deeper than that. I think that sometimes when you work on design you work on reflection. If it’s ugly, you create ugly, or because it’s ugly you try to bring back beauty.

“I think that we’re in a time today that we’re turning into an industry of power. Power creates fear. I feel it – the time and stress.

[Lancôme] wanted to go back to something that is totally happy and cheerful and colourful. I got into it and the more I got into it the more I enjoyed doing it. It’s not the reflection of the times, but W it’s maybe the remedy of the times.”

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blue

for hope Each year, Swiss watchmaker IWC Schaffhausen releases one limited-edition timepiece to help support Laureus Sport for Good Foundation projects worldwide.

I

WC is a founding partner of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and a portion of the proceeds from the sale of its limited-edition Portuguese Yacht Club Chronograph will go to help disadvantaged children in some of the most problematic regions of the world. Sport is a global language that crosses barriers and brings people together – wherever they are and whatever their circumstances.

“The Laureus Sport for Good Foundation is a cause dear to our hearts,” says IWC CEO Georges Kern, “because its sports projects open prospects for young people all over the world.”

The handsome 45.4-millimetre stainless-steel timepiece has a blue dial, since blue has been designated the “colour of hope” for youngsters who lack the privileges our own children take for granted. Only 1,000 special-edition watches have been made.

The back of the watch case is special too: it features an engraved medallion that’s a reminder of the watch’s charitable intent. The engraved design was chosen from entries in an international drawing competition for children and adolescents organized by IWC throughout all the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation projects worldwide.

The subject of this year’s competition was “Time to move” and the winning drawing came from a 12-year-old Sri Lankan boy, Hakkini Hasanga Sandumal De Silva. His picture shows a runner crossing the line and throwing up his arms in joy.

The latest watch is the seventh in the series. Unmistakable with its Laureus blue dial, the Portuguese Yacht Club Chronograph is water-resistant to 6 bar (50m) and fitted with the rugged IWCmanufactured 89361 calibre. It features a flyback function, an additional flange with a quarter-second scale for measuring periods of time up to a minute and an analogue display in a subdial for keeping track of times longer than a minute.

Designed and manufactured completely by IWC in Schaffhausen, the 89360-calibre chronograph movement and its successor, the 89361, have set new watchmaking standards, with a significantly improved self-winding system and a 68-hour power reserve.

The design, meanwhile, which kept an IWC development team busy for a full four years, was made necessary by a revolutionary chronograph display that enables the user to read off even relatively long periods of stopped times – 8 hours and 52 minutes, for example – at a glance: a circular totaliser combines the hour and minute hands as if they were a watch-within-a-watch.

It’s a masculine piece designed for elegance and high functionality, but behind the big blue face is a satisfying purpose: bringing timely hope to children whose lives are daily blighted by war and crises. W www.iwc.com/en/collection/portuguese/IW390213

Left: The big blue face of IWC’s limited-edition Portuguese Yacht Club Chronograph and, on the case back, the engraved Laureus Foundation medallion.

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A Family

affair

The 50th Edition of the Ermenegildo Zegna Wool Trophy held in Sydney served as a reminder of the history and continuing superior quality behind one of the world’s leading menswear brands.

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thousand invited guests came from all over the world for the three-day 50th anniversary celebration. They paid visits to top Australian wool farms and they gathered at the Royal Hall of Industries in Sydney for the final evening gala.

VIPs included the Italian Ambassador to Australia, the Governor General of New South Wales, Maris Bashir and celebrities such as Australian actors Chris Hemsworth, best known for his role in Thor and The Avengers, and Korean-American Daniel Henney, whose international modelling career has led to screen roles, most notably X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

The event reflected the history and importance of the special relationship between the Zegna family and the Australian wool industry: for 50 years the prestigious Wool Trophy has inspired Australian wool

growers to produce finer and finer quality wool.

When company founder Ermenegildo Zegna opened his wool mill in northern Italy in 1910, England was the world leader in sophisticated menswear. But because he had an eye for quality and a willingness to travel and personally meet and form relationships with the best wool growers in the world, England’s dominance in the market would end.

Inheriting those same attributes from their father, Aldo and Angelo Zegna transformed the brand in the 1960s by creating a men’s ready-to-wear collection made from the very best merino wool their father had sourced from Australia. By then the brand’s relationship with Australian wool growers was well established, so to honour that relationship the first Ermenegildo Zegna Wool Trophy was presented in 1963.

Today the brand is managed by grandsons Gildo

Above: The Royal Hall of Industries, Moore Park, Sydney. Right: Gildo and Paolo Zegna.

Above and facing page, bottom: Models wearing Ermenegildo Zegna Autumn/Winter 2013 Runway Collection.

Opposite page, top: The Ermenegildo Zegna Australian Capsule Collection was made exclusively for the 50th Edition of the Zegna Wool Trophy.

(CEO) and Paolo (chairman) Zegna. Recently, they acknowledged the importance of using only the very best wool fibre for their continuing success by staging this special celebration in Sydney, in partnership with the Woolmark Company, to honour the 50th anniversary of the Wool Trophy.

The Royal Hall of Industries was “Zegna-fied” with gold-hued lighting and the brand’s insignia dedicated for the 50th Edition of the Zegna Wool Trophy. Guests were welcomed with an aperitivo-style cocktail, followed by canapés and drinks. More than 5,000 canapés were served throughout the evening and sparkling Prosecco was flown in from Italy. Guests walked through a Raw Materials exhibition showcasing Zegna’s passion for not only wool but other raw materials, sourced from all over the world, including mohair from South Africa and vicuna from Peru.

This was followed by a multimedia installation that covered a complete history of the brand, including its humanitarian work, and the ever-evolving state of

fabric production. They were then ushered into an arena for a fashion show that in many respects was an impressive repeat of the brand’s Milan show earlier in the year. Only this time the runway was twice as long (the longest men’s catwalk in Australia) because of the number of people attending.

The extravagant show featured more than 60 male models, many of them from Australia, others flown in from all over the world. They were outfitted in the Fall/Winter 2013 Collection. A special presentation of the Australian Celebration Collection was a tribute to the brand’s history by using superfine merino wool in all the suiting. An Australian inspiration was further added to the show by using Aboriginal artist Dorothy Napangardi’s artwork Salt 2008 design in the ties and pochettes.

Afterwards, Gildo and Paolo Zegna stood to acknowledge a generous ovation from guests. The lights went up, a curtain was raised, and everyone’s attention turned to a stage from which the awards

Above, left to right: Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Henney; MC Megan Gale. Below: Display in the Raw Materials exhibition.

were to be presented. The Wool Trophy and a second award, the Vellus Aureum (“Golden Fleece”) Trophy were announced by Paolo Zegna, and the MC, Australian model and actress Megan Gale, who presented both awards to Windradeen Farm.

For the brand, the awards are recognition of the world’s finestquality wool and a one-year supply contract. For the growers, it’s foremost a matter of prestige, but there is a generous prize too: the weight of the winning wool bale in gold – an estimated value of $40,000.

Ermenegildo Zegna celebrated 100 years of excellence in 2010.

Today there are 543 Zegna stores (303 company owned) in more than 100 countries around the world. The total Group revenues in 2012 reached 1.261 billion Euros (around NZ$2.13 billion).

Both the Ermenegildo Zegna Australian Celebration Collection and a selection of the Autumn/Winter Runway Collection are now available in Australia and New Zealand, with a worldwide W exclusivity. www.zegna.com

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signature

drop A well-loved member of the New Zealand wine industry adds his name to a very special Australian vintage.

By John Hawkesby.

S

ince 1962, the Australian wine producer Yalumba has dedicated each vintage of its revered The Signature wine, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz, to someone who has made a significant contribution to the company.

As Robert Hill Smith, fifth generation and guiding light of family owned Yalumba, says, “We have a broad church, we like to honour people who have been longterm selfless devotees to the cause of good wine in general and Yalumba in particular.”

For the first time ever that honour has been bestowed on a non-Australian, and a New Zealander, no less: Negociants New Zealand managing director Clive Weston.

So how come the prized award has travelled across the Tasman? And what’s been the reaction of those parochial Aussies?

The affable Hill Smith laughs down the phone. “Proud, very proud… Those that know Clive love him, and those that don’t, live in fear of knowing him. He’s the quintessential gentlemancum-larrikin, with amazing stamina.”

Then, as an afterthought, he adds, “You don’t have to fit any business aspect; the honour goes to someone who embodies the emotional qualities of Yalumba… It’s about the spirit of the company.”

Obviously, Clive Weston is surprised and delighted to be chosen as the signatory for the 2009 vintage, to be released in July this year at a special luncheon in Auckland.

“It’s the pinnacle of my career regarding my involvement with the Hill Smith family,” says Weston, who found out about the honour just before Christmas last year.

“I got a phone call from Robert and he was asking how trading had gone for the year and fortunately I was able to tell him we’d had an exceptional 12 months. He said, ‘Good, now there’s just one more thing…’”

Clive’s signature will appear on the back label of The Signature, with a short story about why he’s been chosen.

Weston has been looking after Yalumba in New Zealand for 20 years and has done an outstanding job. After emigrating here from the UK in 1987, he was subsequently appointed managing director of Negociants New Zealand.

I asked Clive if he’d considered turning down the honour.

“I wasn’t really given the opportunity,” he says. “How the trade will take it, I don’t know.”

Hill Smith has a droll take on whether or not the “chosen ones” get a chance to say no.

“Yes, you do get the chance, but no one has ever turned it down when approached… After they’ve finished crying they say yes. It’s the culture of our business – everybody enjoys recognition.”

Clive is not sure what the honour actually entitles him to – some free cases of wine, perhaps?

“The word is that you do get a few free cases with the accolade,” says Weston, “but so far no official confirmation!”

I put the question to Hill Smith. “Clive will get free cases,” he says with a chuckle, “but only of his own signatory wine.

How he allocates that is up to him. He can lock them away and pretend he got nothing, or with great largesse distribute them to family and friends.”

Weston has already received numerous congratulatory calls from Australian colleagues, as well as people in the trade in New Zealand.

He got to taste the wine last Christmas and declares it to be one of the greatest vintages ever, adding that there will be a very generous allocation for New Zealand.

Retailing locally for about $55, it’s a lovely, robust wine that combines strength with elegance and rich fruit and chocolate flavours with flair and finesse.

“A bit like Clive himself,” muses one colleague, who prefers not to be named.

One would expect that having received the prestigious honour, Clive Weston will be the object of renewed respect on the domestic front. W

Opposite page top: Bottles of Yalumba The Signature ageing in the cellar; The clock tower on Yalumba’s Barossa Valley winery; Yalumba managing director Robert Hill Smith Above: Clive Weston, recipient of a rare wine industry honour.

World Magazine

75

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Sweet dreams

FISH restaurant head chef Shane Yardley finds inspiration for his culinary creations on the astral plane. By Thomas Hyde.

S

hane Yardley is a big man with broad shoulders, so I believed him when he said that if he had not become a chef he might have played more rugby. He did play at club level in the Bay of Plenty, where he was a hospitality student at the polytechnic and, given his size and creativity, he might have made more of it.

And while it’s been a long time since his rugby days, the thought of trying to tackle this chef is still scary.

Yardley left the Bay and rugby behind when he came to Auckland to take up his first job, working for Simon Gault, one of New Zealand’s best, at Gault’s on Quay. After a spell there he headed overseas – as you do – where he landed on his feet working in Alain Ducasse restaurants in London and Paris.

That rite of passage over, he returned to Auckland and hooked up with Simon Gault again. Today, after nearly 20 years standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Gault at Gault’s on George, in Parnell and Euro, on Princes Wharf, Shane Yardley is the head chef at FISH in the Hilton Auckland hotel. And he’s taken to it as much as his customers have taken to him.

Last year Roy Morgan Research named Hilton Hotels & Resorts “New Zealand Hotel of the Year” and “first in customer satisfaction”. Its restaurants like, FISH in Auckland and Bistro Lago in Taupo, played a significant role in winning that accolade: these days, a hotel without a great chef and a superior dining experience is behind in the game.

FISH is managed by Simon Gault’s Nourish Group, whose restaurants include Euro, the Jervois Road Steak House and Bistro Lago at the Hilton in Taupo. So in that way, Yardley remains associated with his first boss, yet his influences have derived from many quarters, among them Thomas Keller, of the famed French Laundry restaurant in the Napa Valley, California.

Yardley practices sous vide (or “under vacuum”) cooking – a method used by many of the best restaurants in the world. At one point during our tasting of the new winter menu, Yardley stopped by and mentioned that another influence on his approach has been Joan Roca, the head chef at El Celler de

Can Roca, the Spanish restaurant recently voted number one in the world in the 2013 World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

Yardley describes his style as “classical ingredients, always fresh on the day, delivered in a modern way”. He uses sauces sparingly, creating lighter dishes and his respect for fresh, quality produce means the menu is likely to change from day to day.

We did not order, instead leaving it to the chef to bring it on. And he did. Our degustation menu began with bread rolls baked on site, accompanied by a light sundried tomato and olive oil mousse. That was followed by four Wagyu meatloaf sliders and a glass of Nevis Bluff Central Otago Pinot Noir.

Who could have imagined even a mini “meatloaf burger” could be so light and flavourful?

Tuna and roasted beetroot with a touch of courgette, buttermilk, Japanese radish and a sprinkling of puffed rice for texture was nicely complemented by a glass of TWR (Te Whare Ra) Marlborough TORU – a truly satisfying blend of Gewürztraminer, Riesling and Pinot Gris.

The chef revealed that dish as one that woke him up one night. He keeps a notepad by the bed because, he says, “New ideas can come to me at any time, especially when I’m home and relaxed; and sometimes in my dreams. I wake up and have to write them down right away or I can’t remember it in the morning.” Certainly a dream entrée, we decided.

A bank of seared scallops, bigger and juicier than anything we’ve found in any seafood shop, appeared on a bed of cauliflower purée flavoured with chorizo oil. The sommelier suggested a glass of Dog Point Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.

One of Chef Yardley’s signatures, rump of lamb with lamb belly, was served with baby carrots and a light honey and glucose sauce. This is to say that FISH is not seafood-only.

Its “fish-free” menu includes lamb, eye fillet of beef and, for vegetarians, black pepper Tofu with slow-cooked eggplant, mushrooms, asparagus and steamed rice.

In this instance, the lamb was cooked at 54˚C for four hours and had an agreeable smoky flavour, as if cooked over

Above: Head chef Shane Yardley uses fresh seasonal produce to create light, modern dishes.

Opposite page: On the first floor of the Hilton Auckland at the very end of Princes Wharf, FISH combines fine food with sweeping views of the Waitemata Harbour.

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Photos: Mark Llewellyn

Clockwise, from top left: Bread rolls with a light sundried tomato and olive oil mousse; Wagyu meatloaf sliders; Seared scallops on a bed of cauliflower purée flavoured with chorizo oil; Rump of lamb with lamb belly, baby carrots and a light honey and glucose sauce; Chef’s own Chocolate marquis; Tuna and roasted beetroot with a touch of courgette, buttermilk, Japanese radish and a sprinkling of puffed rice.

an open fire out of doors. A glass of The Hay Paddock Syrah from Waiheke Island added to the pleasure.

Dessert was the chef ’s own yummy Chocolate marquis: ice cream with a rich chocolate slice topped with salted caramel popcorn he described as a “modern take on movie snacks”. What a nice dream that must have been.

Located on the first floor of the Hilton Auckland at the very end of Princes Wharf, there is no other finedining restaurant in Auckland quite like FISH for its food and its sweeping views of the Waitemata Harbour. FISH may appear to be posh, but it’s as casual and relaxed as a restaurant can be, especially on clear nights when seating on the timber deck (like the “bow of a ship”) is warmed by the heat and glow of the fireplace.

We were there on a Tuesday and told by one staff member: “It’s busier than usual for a Tuesday.” We were not surprised by that. Word is out, which is why bookings are recommended, especially on weekends. www.fishrestaurant.co.nz W

Simple

Stuart Rogan, newly appointed group executive chef of Good Group’s restaurants in Auckland, Christchurch and Queenstown, believes producing great food need not involve technical wizardry. By Thomas Hyde.

Pleasures

O

ne of chef Stuart Rogan’s favourite words – one he regularly applies to describe the flavourful dishes he creates – is “simple”. But when asked a simple question like, “What is your background, Stuart?” his answer is anything but.

“I was born in the UK and started cooking in a country hotel in Hampshire because a mate needed some help, and although I had never worked in a kitchen before, it was fun.

I enjoyed it so much I stayed on until I started to take cooking more seriously, so I moved to London, where I was hired by The Berkeley Hotel in Knightsbridge.

“In the late 1990s I decided to travel overseas, so I flew to Sydney, where I worked in a French restaurant. But I wasn’t there long before I was hired by Andrew Blake, a celebrity chef and high flyer in the industry at the time, to work in one of his Melbourne restaurants.

“After that I moved to the Gold Coast before heading back to Europe. Through a trade magazine I found work in Sardinia. It was a tremendous experience because it opened my eyes to another way of dining that I bring into my work at Botswana Butchery today.”

He returned to New Zealand, to Queenstown, where he was the head chef at The Bunker, owned by Al Spary. Spary founded Good Group, which owns bars and restaurants in Auckland, Christchurch and Queenstown, including the two Botswana Butchery restaurants, in Queenstown and Auckland, and Harbourside Seafood Bar and Grill, above Botswana Butchery in Auckland’s Ferry Building. (Good Group bought Harbourside last year and it will reopen soon after extensive renovations.)

Meanwhile, the chef got married and moved back to Auckland, where he worked for Glorious Food catering and then the Paramount restaurant on High Street for four years. He later became head chef at GBS in Howick and, after a spell at Sky City’s The Grill

by Sean Connolly, he was appointed executive chef of Botswana Butchery in Auckland.

Now, a year on, Chef Rogan has taken on the role of group executive chef across all of Good Group’s eateries – all this from a man who likes to “keep it simple”.

“My passion is being hands-on in the kitchen; that’s the engine room. But now I need to be doing the business side as well and I like that, because, for me, life is always about challenging yourself, not staying in the comfort zone. As a chef, you can’t keep doing the same thing over and over again. You have to test yourself and keep trying new things; always looking for ways to get better.”

Next we asked the chef to describe his signature dishes.

Spanish Whitebait “It replicates the Spanish style of cooking: instant, fresh, strong flavours. The clean, silky taste of the whitebait, the heat from red chilli, wafer-thin slices of garlic that go crisp once shallow-fried with everything in extra virgin olive oil. All three ingredients are mixed together with a pinch of salt. Then, once your pan is smokinghot, we hit it with olive oil and the whitebait mixture. The cooking takes seconds and then the mixture is transferred into a tapas-style clay pot [hot] from the oven… so it’s still sizzling when it arrives at the table. The whitebait is simply served with fresh slices of white baguette, lemon cheek and a baby cos salad. Simple, clean and well executed.”

Stuart Rogan, executive chef of Good Group, which owns the Botswana Butchery restaurants in Auckland and Queenstown.

Meat is always on the menu there, often cooked with the bone in (opposite) for maximum flavour.

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Clockwise from top left: Peking duck – the style may be Asian, but the ducks come from Cambridge; Spanish whitebait, simple, clean and well executed; shoulder of lamb, a dish to be shared by the whole table; Botswana Butchery, Auckland.

Peking Duck “Our ducks are sourced from Cambridge and have two types of marinade – a dry one and then a wet one – before we leave them for 24 hours. They are then hung in an oven and cooked for two hours at low temperature. The reason for hanging while cooking is that ducks have a high percentage of fat, so you want some of the fat to render off while cooking. Once they have finished cooking and have cooled, we strip the crisp skin and meat off the carcass. The meat is shredded and the skin is finely sliced and the two are mixed together.

We present the dish in a simple bamboo basket with the handmade pancakes, vegetable salad and hoisin sauce.”

Shoulder of Lamb “This is a simple dish where an entire table can be involved. The shoulder of lamb has the shoulder bone removed, with the shank bone left in. It’s then tied up and covered in a netting sock to keep its shape when cooking. The lamb sits on a bed of mirepoix (roughly cut vegetables) with rosemary stuck through the netting sock and all is roasted at 240˚C for 45 minutes. Out of the oven again, they are half covered with a stock made from chicken frames, red wine and more mirepoix. The lambs are then covered with foil and slowly roasted at 170˚C for four and a half hours.”

French Onion Soup “There are many ways of making it but we believe we have a nice recipe because, again, it’s simple. The secret is the amount of brown onions used and how they are cooked. Ours are finely sliced and half cooked on a high heat with unsalted butter until caramelising. We repeat the process with the other half, then the entire mixture is cooked-out with red wine, sherry vinegar, brown sugar, flour and beef stock. The result is a beautiful rich onion soup we serve in a traditional soup bowl with bread croutons and Emmental cheese. Before serving, the soup is placed under a grill to melt the cheese.”

Meat “You expect a selection of red meat cuts from a restaurant called Botswana Butchery that has two big meat cleavers for door handles. We use one of New Zealand’s best suppliers and a wide range of cuts, including ones cooked on the bone to give maximum flavour. Every breed of beef on our menu has a story: where it was farmed, its feed (grass- or grain-fed) and how many days it has been aged.” W www.goodgroup.co.nz/botswana-butchery

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World World showcase World of dreams It’s often said there are no bad cars any more. That may well be true.

But there’s still a unique sense of heritage and passion in European cars that makes them special.

A

udi, Citroën, Ferrari, Peugeot, Porsche and Volkswagen: they are some of Europe’s greatest marques, covering a vast range of market segments but always with a sense of excitement and flair.

They are often gathered together in the pages of World. But they are also gathered together under the banner of Continental Cars, a luxury dealership that is not short on heritage and passion itself.

Join us, then, for a tour through the very best of the Continental Cars showroom: new models on the floor right now and the very best of what’s to come.

AUDI

Circa 2013, the premium small-car segment is packed with talent. Audi is one the original players and still one of the strongest, with an all-new version of the popular A3 Sportback. The A3 is new from the ground up: it rides on the Volkswagen Group’s all-new MQB platform and incorporates the latest technology and equipment, including Audi’s Multi Media Interface (MMI) and tech tricks such as handwriting recognition for the satellite navigation system.

The new A3 does not disappoint if you’re looking for the model’s long-established hallmarks of quality and refinement.

But the forthcoming S3 model also redefines what kind of performance can be expected from a four-cylinder hot hatchback.

With 221kW/380Nm and quattro four-wheel-drive, the S3 can hit 100km/h in just 4.8 seconds. That was considered supercar performance just a few years ago.

High performance in an unexpected package is also the calling card for the SQ5. Based on the popular Q5 crossover model, the SQ5 represents a couple of firsts for Audi’s S-brand: never before has a crossover worn the coveted S-badge and never before has an S-car been powered by a diesel engine.

The SQ5 earns its credentials thanks to a 3.0-litre bi-turbo

diesel engine that makes 230kW/650Nm – enough to propel this high-riding wagon to 100km/h in just 5.1 seconds. Not all that high, though: the chassis is lowered by 30mm compared with the standard Q5, in the pursuit of suitably sporty handling.

The SQ5 is also notable for the sound it creates – most undiesel-like, because the diesel engine is not what you’re hearing. In the cabin, what you’re hearing comes from a sound actuator in the firewall, which transforms the engine noise into something much more aggressive. From outside the car – well, that’s covered too, with an active exhaust that gives the throbbing note of a highcapacity vee-petrol.

But when it comes right down to it, Audi can do a proper supercar, too. Consider the R8 V10 Plus: a pumped-up version of the R8, powered by a 404kW 5.2-litre engine (very close to the output of the racing R8), promising the last word in four-ringed performance.

The other major change for the recently updated R8 is the move from the old single-clutch R-tronic automated transmission to the latest dual-clutch S-tronic: similar in concept and smoothness to the gearbox you’ll find in an A3, but a whole lot stronger.

As it needs to be: the R8 V10 Plus demolishes the benchmark 0-100km/h sprint in 3.5 seconds. A true supercar.

You could never accuse Audi of being one-dimensional in its model range: among the marque’s new models for 2013 are the A3 premium hatchback (top), SQ5 high-performance crossover (below), RS6 Avant super-estate (bottom) and (opposite page) even an updated version of its R8 supercar.

www.continentalcars.co.nz

citrOËn

Clearly, there’s a common denominator: high style. Citroën’s DS range includes (from left to right) the DS4, DS5 and DS3. All stay true to the French maker’s reputation for avant-garde design, not to mention the high technology under the skin.

Citroën has been undergoing a renaissance since 2010, thanks largely to the expanding DS range of models. Almost a brand in itself – it does have its own badge, after all – the DS lineup brings back the avant-garde style and high technology the French marque is best known for.

The supermini-sized DS3 was the first of the new breed and wowed critics and buyers with its cheeky style, loud colours and excellent chassis dynamics. The DS3 gets much of its instantly recognisable visual character from the “floating” roof, a “shark fin” panel shape that extends above the waistline in profile and the large recesses in the front bumper that house the daytime running lights.

Next in the range is the DS4, a small hatchback styled to look like a five-door coupé and with slightly raised ride height like a crossover. It represents a bold combination of genres, but it really works.

Then there is the DS5, with a deliciously outlandish look that reminds one of the classic Citroën DS of decades ago.

The DS5 not only has the visual presence; it’s beautifully finished inside and out, and rides on Citroën’s legendary

hydractive self-levelling suspension system.

The DS5’s exterior styling incorporates chrome “sabres” that run from the headlights right up to the windscreen, while the rest of the body shape is highly aerodynamic. There’s still nothing else quite quite like it on the market – which is exactly the idea.

But Citroën also caters to the more mainstream market – albeit with its characteristic level of finesse. Its entrant in the burgeoning compact-crossover market is the Aircross, based on Mitsubishi’s successful ASX but re-engineered for Europe and with a substantial injection of Citroën style on the outside. Citroën says the style is intended to combine the elegance of a sedan with the more muscular stance of an off-road vehicle. In profile, the striking Aircross also carries another interpretation of the shark-fin styling detail seen on the sporty DS3.

Citroën’s car range includes the C3 (with the trademark Zenith windscreen that stretches right over the front-seat occupants), the C4 hatchback, smooth-riding C5 sedan and the C4 Grand Picasso multi-purpose vehicle.

www.continentalcars.co.nz

FERRARI Ferrari is one of the most exclusive car marques in the world. However, that does not mean its model range lacks depth.

True, the Prancing Horse deliberately restricts itself to enthusiast vehicles with outstanding performance and handling. But the brief covers everything from a folding hard-top convertible and a classic coupé to a mid-engine supercar and a four-seat, four-wheeldrive wagon.

The California is perhaps Ferrari’s most accessible model. Seen as controversial at first for features such as its folding roof and automatic transmission (actually a dual-clutch automated manual), it soon gained respect for its ability to combine everyday usability with the sight, sounds and sensations that only a genuine Ferrari can provide.

The 458 Italia is a classic mid-engined machine. It’s also regarded as one of the finest supercars ever made: exotic style, raw thrills from the V8 engine and powertrain/chassis technology derived directly from Ferrari’s extensive experience in Formula One. One of the newest models from the Prancing Horse is the F512 Berlinetta. This is a Ferrari in the classic mould: a front-engined, V12-powered coupé with rear-wheel drive. At launch last year, the

F512’s 6.3-litre V12 made it the most powerful Ferrari in the range – although it was overtaken this year by the even more exotic, limited-edition LaFerrari. The F512 is shorter, narrower and lower than the F599 it replaces, riding on a reduced wheelbase. The car’s weight distribution is ideal for high-performance driving, with 54 per cent over the rear axle for the perfect combination of traction and chassis balance.

And just to prove Ferrari can embrace the completely unconventional, there’s the FF. This four-seat, four-wheel-drive “shooting brake” type wagon is perhaps the most practical car in the Italian marque’s line-up, but the driver still comes first. It boasts a 6.3-litre V12 that’s closely related to the engine in the F512 and a unique four-wheel drive system with a completely separate gearbox at the front, which preserves the dynamic feel expected of a Ferrari V12 but also provides instant traction when required.

Amazing cars and an amazing brand. In fact, in a study completed this year by Brand Finance, Ferrari was judged the world’s most powerful brand, ahead of Google, Coca-Cola and Hermès.

It topped a list of more than 500 companies analysed annually by Brand Finance.

Ferrari 512 Berlinetta (left) is the ultimate expression of the marque’s classic V12 front-engined, rear-drive coupÊ concept.

The 458 (above) is perhaps the world’s finest mid-engine supercar, while California (bottom) makes the Prancing Horse more accessible than ever before

www.continentalcars.co.nz

peugeot

A hot hatch icon is set to return: with the new 208 supermini range now well established, Peugeot has announced a GTI hothatch version. The 205 GTI of the 1980s is regarded as one of the greatest of the breed and reports from overseas suggest the latest 208 GTI is a worthy successor.

The GTI is powered by a 1.6-litre turbo engine with 147kW: a generous output even before you consider that the car weighs just 1,160kg. It boasts a close-ratio six-speed gearbox, reworked exhaust system, up-rated suspension and special 17-inch alloy wheels.

Aggressive styling is also key to the appeal of any hot hatch.

Many details pay homage to the 205 GTI, including the chrome strip along the lower edge of the side window and the chunky exhaust.

Red highlights on the outside carry through into the cabin detailing, including overstitching on the dashboard.

But Peugeot has become as famous for high technology and high efficiency as it is for high performance, and a brace of new models on the way in 2013 break new ground. Both the 3008 HYbrid4 and 508 RXH boast hybrid power plants that combine electric power with diesel engines.

The 508 RXH sits right at the top of the 508 range – a premium hybrid with the added appeal of four-wheel drive. The RXH uses the

same basic powertrain as the 3008 Hybrid4, with a 120kW 2.0-litre diesel engine and 27kW electric motor.

Key to the RXH’s appeal is the ability for the driver to choose different modes for different driving situations. The car can be driven in automatic, sport or four-wheel-drive configurations. It can also be operated in fully electric mode, making the 508 RXH a genuine zero-emission vehicle for city running when required.

The hybrid powertrain works with a neat division of labour.

The diesel engine drives the front wheels, while electric power is delivered to the rear. The two power plants can work alone or in combination, depending on the driving conditions and the mode selected.

The RXH has a distinct visual identity that sets it apart from the rest of the 508 range, not only from its extra 50mm ride height and 40mm wider track, but also from unique detailing such as the row of daytime running lights arranged in a row of three “claws” on the front bumper.

The RXH also features unique interior trim and high-tech equipment, as befits the flagship of the range. It is fitted with power front seats, head-up display, acoustic laminated side windows and a premium audio system.

From hot to hybrid, Peugeot has the bases covered. The all-new 208 GTI (left) represents a return to form for the brand that has created some of the most exciting hot hatches in history. Meanwhile, 508 RXH is truly a groundbreaking car, combining a turbo diesel with electric powertrain to produce a unique hybrid four-wheeldrive crossover. The RXH can even be run in pure electric mode, making it a zero-emissions vehicle when required.

www.continentalcars.co.nz

porsche

Porsche’s larger, lighter 911 made its debut last year and quickly established itself as a riveting new chapter in a story that stretches back half a century (in fact, the 911 celebrates its 50th anniversary this year). Any new 911 is exciting, but the real headline-makers in the range are set to arrive late this year: the track-focused GT3 and the 911 power couple, the Turbo and Turbo S. Widely regarded as the sportiest 911 and certainly a favourite for owners who like to mix their weekly motoring with weekend track days, the latest GT3 combines the characteristic raw feel of past models with a range of new technology. Outwardly similar to the 911 Carrera on which it is based, the GT3 has been extensively redeveloped in every important area. The 3.8-litre engine, for example, shares only a few of its parts with the standard car.

For the first time, the GT3 comes exclusively with the PDK dualclutch automated transmission and features active rear-wheel steering. Both are engineered to significantly enhance driving precision and dynamics over the previous model.

The 911 Turbo also now features rear-axle steering, in conjunction with a new all-wheel-drive system, adaptive aerodynamics and up to 412kW from the 3.8-litre bi-turbo six-cylinder engine.

The Turbo also has more visual presence than ever: the rear panels are 28mm wider than those on the Carrera 4 – itself wearing 44mm-wider wheel arches than the standard model. Porsche claims there is nearly a hand’s width of level surface between the C-pillar and the outer edge of the body.

But enthusiast drivers do not necessarily have to reach so far up the range to experience the sheer driving pleasure of a Porsche.

Another newcomer to the range this year is the latest incarnation of the Cayman coupé. This mid-engined machine comes with 2.7-litre or 3.4-litre six-cylinder engines. Cayman’s mechanical layout makes it a unique driving experience and a worthy entry-level coupé for what is arguably the world’s most famous sports-car maker.

Or how about a Porsche of a very different kind? Also new for 2013, the Cayenne S Diesel boasts a 4.2-litre V8 with 281kW/850Nm – an extra 105kW/300Nm over the familiar V6-powered diesel model. Porsche says that particular attention has been paid to the sound of the new engine, to give it an imposing rumble like a petrol power plant. And the extreme amount of power and torque available in the vehicle have resulted in the Cayenne’s four-wheeldrive system being revamped for the S.

Spoiler alert: new Porsche 911 GT3 (left) is certain to be an incredible combination of road-legal performance coupĂŠ and virtuoso track car.

New Cayman (below) is more aggressive and agile than ever before, while V8 engine is set to take the Cayenne S Diesel (bottom left) to an extreme level of power and torque.

www.continentalcars.co.nz

Light-years ahead since 1963.

50 years Porsche 911.

There are more than 500,000 words in the German language. But only 3 digits can describe the legendary feeling: 911. What began 50 years ago is today sports car history. Now in the 7th generation, it’s livelier than ever. With design that makes it a style icon, and technology that was trendsetting from the very ďŹ rst second.

Still is today. And will be tomorrow.

MAG15203/W

Driving Excellence since 1967.

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Volkswagen

Here’s the biggest thing to happen in the world of Volkswagen (and indeed the automotive world) for a very long time: the all-new Golf. It’s not just that this is VW’s most important global model – it also rides on a brand-new platform called MQB, which will underpin most of the group’s small-medium models for years to come.

So it was crucial for VW to get this car right. And it has: it was named not only European Car of the Year but World Car of the Year for 2013.

Golf is available with a range of high-technology petrol and diesel engines that provide an already comprehensive range. However, there’s one iconic model that is still to come this year: the latest GTI. The new version picks up where the previous car left off, with a high-powered 2.0-litre turbo engine and twin-clutch Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG) – exciting performance but with little compromise to everyday practicality.

Golf is one of the most modern small cars on the market, but that’s not to say VW can’t go a little retro. Or a lot. The original “new Beetle” had an incredibly long production run: launched in 1998, it captured the public’s imagination in a very big way. The secondgeneration version – now known as “the Beetle” to avoid confusion – has been brought up to date and even picks up styling that’s a lot closer to the spirit of the famous original, with a longer roofline and sleeker overall look. Under the bonnet is a direct-injection turbo engine and DSG transmission. The coupé is here now, but there’s also a cabriolet on the way that retains as much retro charm as the previous model.

VW does large cars, too. Really quite well. The ground-breaking (quite literally) Touareg off-roader was recently revamped to provide a better value proposition and even provide competition for some mainstream makes. Leading a trio of repositioned models is the Touareg V6 TDI, which is now priced under $90,000.

New Volkswagen Golf (bottom right) has already been voted World Car of the Year, but the imminent arrival of the GTI version (above) will also ensure it’s one of the most entertaining.

Revised Touareg (below) offers greater value than ever before, while ‘the Beetle’ (top right) shows VW hasn’t lost its retro design touch.

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MAG15210/W

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white

world Can’t make it to Ruapehu or Queenstown this winter?

Relax: the next northern hemisphere ski season is just six months away. Here’s a guide to 10 of the world’s best winter resorts where the white stuff rules.

By Thomas Hyde.

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CANADA Banff Banff, the ultra-scenic ski town in the heart of the Canadian Rockies, is about a 90-minute drive west of Calgary. It has three primary ski areas accessible by car or shuttle. The three share an interchangeable lift ticket so it’s possible to ski or board all three in a single day. But what’s the rush? Take time to enjoy each locale for its distinct features.

Lake Louise, one of the most picturesque sites in the world, is the second-largest ski area in Canada after Whistler Blackcomb. Ten lifts, including two high-speed quads and a gondola, deliver skiers and snowboarders to a diverse terrain catering to all abilities.

Norquay (pronounced Nork-way) overlooks the town of Banff and though its steep, mogul-studded slopes are for advanced skiers only, it has beginner and intermediate runs, too. It’s a relatively small area with just five lifts, so perhaps that’s why tickets are sold by the hour.

Sunshine Village is not a village and some say it gets hardly any sun, but it does have 12 high-speed lifts covering three different mountains. It’s located on the Continental Divide, making it the highest ski area in Canada at about 8,000 metres from the top of Lookout Mountain.

Our preferred hotel is the iconic Fairmont Banff Springs, modelled as it is on a Scottish castle. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site celebrating its 125th anniversary this year with a ski package that includes accommodation, complimentary shuttle services, two lift tickets per room and treatments at its Willow Stream Spa. www.banff.ca Whistler Blackcomb Whistler Blackcomb is regarded by many as the top ski resort in North America. Located about 170 kilometres north of Vancouver, it was the site of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

It is a true snowy wonderland, with as much going on off the slopes as on.

The resort boats 200 marked runs and 16 alpine bowls with enough backcountry skiing to satisfy the hard-core purist. Other thrills include snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, ice skating and sleigh rides. The 4.4km Peak-to-Peak Gondola is a must-do even if you’re not a skier. Whistler Blackcomb boasts the longest ski season in North America. We arrived from Vancouver by train on the famed Rocky Mountaineer, a three-and-a-half-hour scenic trip along the coast and through mountain passes that’s considered one of the best train journeys in the world. No argument here.

Our hotel of choice was the grand Fairmont Chateau Whistler at the base of Blackcomb Mountain and within easy walking distance of the village. Fairmont Whistler is the largest and, in our view, best hotel in Whistler. It has five restaurants, a spa with 17 treatment

Left: Fairmont Banff Springs hotel, modelled on a Scottish castle. Banff has three main ski areas: Lake Louise, Norquay and Sunshine Village.

Above: Four Seasons Resort Vail. Vail, about 150km west of Denver, is the biggest – and many say the best – ski resort in the US.

rooms and a full-service health club with indoor and outdoor swimming pools, hot tubs, saunas and steam rooms – altogether the perfect complement to the extraordinary outdoor environment around it.

If you turn up for the early spring season, keep an eye out for black bears emerging from their winter sleep. They look cute but they’re hungry. If there is a best time to visit it might be April for the annual World Ski and Snowboard Festival, a wintry celebration accompanied by concerts, art exhibitions, filmmaking competitions, fashion shows and more. www.whislterblackcomb.com

UNITED STATES Vail Sometimes quantity does equal quality. Vail is the biggest ski resort in the US (2,140 hectares) and it’s the best, according to critics who know the range better than we do. Located off Interstate-70 about 150km west of Denver, Vail has three primary ski areas operating a total of 31 lifts, 17 high-speed quad chairs and a gondola that altogether deliver beginners, intermediate and advanced skiers and snowboarders alike to a total of 193 runs of groomed slopes, powdered backcountry trails, chutes, moguls and cornices. As powderhounds.com reports, Vail is so big “you’ll never run into your ex-wife and you’ll still discover new trails after skiing there for a week”.

Front Side, overlooking Vail Village, is the original ski area,

developed when the resort opened in 1962. Blue Sky Basin and Old West opened in 2000 and in 2007 the resort launched Back Bowls, named for its collection of seven bowls, each carrying a black diamond or double black diamond rating.

Meaning they are steep, if not treacherous, and for the most advanced skiers only.

On that note, Vail is located in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, where the degree of difficulty from one area to the next can be extreme. So it’s best to do some planning first to find out which slopes in which areas are best suited to your ability. To end up on the wrong lift in the wrong area... well, we hate to think. But each run is colour-coded for skill levels to make getting lost less likely.

The Four Seasons Resort Vail, our hotel of choice, is right in the centre of Vail Village and within easy walking distance to restaurants, bars and shops. Have a look at the website for specials like the Ski-Free Family Package that includes accommodation, three-day lift passes for two adults and two children (12 years of age and under), all hire gear and complimentary meals for kids five years and under.

For a special night out, try on-mountain dining the Game Creek Club (dinner only), reached by the Eagle Bahn Gondola.

Guests are met at the top by a heated snow cat that escorts them to the restaurant, which is famous for its spectacular night views. www.vail.com

Aspen The debate among skiers and boarders over which Colorado resort is better, Vail or Aspen, goes on ad infinitum. Vail may be more accessible from Denver, for example, because Aspen is off the beaten trail, west of Vail another 50km on I-70 and then back southeast another 60km on SH82. It’s commonly said that Vail is “less pricey” than Aspen and its slopes not as extreme. So it goes.

But Aspen is a sister city of Queenstown and Chamonix.

It was the inspiration for John Denver’s Rocky Mountain High. For snowboarders and ski dudes, Buttermilk Mountain, one of four ski areas here, along with Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands and Snowmass, is the home of ESPN’s X-Games.

Aspen, named for the aspen trees that cover the mountainside, was a silver-mining town that became a ski resort after World War II. Today it may be a winter playground for the rich and famous, but despite its association with wealth and glamour it’s a resort anyone serious about winter sports ought to experience, as they say, before they die.

Light powder, combined with clear Rocky Mountain air, is as good as it gets. More than US$100 million has been invested in ski operations in recent years, so today Aspen boasts 329 marked forested trails that are served by 43 lifts, including 13 high-speed quads and three gondolas. The longest run is 9km.

Hotel Jerome, one in the collection of stylish Auberge Resorts, offers seven types of rooms including a Presidential Suite. Its “Winter Escape” package includes three nights’ accommodation, two-day ski passes for two and two 50-minute spa treatments that employ local minerals and medicinal plants used traditionally by Ute Indians, the local Native American tribe. www.aspensnowmass.com

SWITZERLAND St. Moritz This has been the place for snowy holidays since the 1860s, when Johannes Badrutt opened his first hotel and, to attract guests in winter, made a wager with a group of Englishmen who had turned up in summer and had a fine time enjoying the alpine environment: if they came back in winter and did not enjoy their stay he would refund the cost of their stay, including their travel from London.

The challenge was getting to St. Moritz in winter – not an easy task in those days. But the Brits did return, had huge fun in the snow and went home to spread the word, thus helping to launch St. Moritz as the world’s first ski resort.

Not long after this, St. Moritz became the site of the first European ice-skating championships. Curling and bobsledding were introduced, along with horse-racing on ice over frozen Lake St. Moritz and in 1928 the resort was chosen to host the Winter Olympics, as it did 20 years later.

St. Moritz is about a three-hour drive or train trip from either Zurich or Milan. It is one of the current sites for the Alpine World Ski Championships but beginners and intermediates should not be put off, because its 56 lifts and 350km of runs offer fun for all.

Johannes Badrutt’s legacy lives on today at Badrutt’s Palace Hotel, which is still family owned and operated. Its wellness centre is considered one of the best in Europe for its natural mineral springs, and its two restaurants, Le Restaurant and Nobu (for famed chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa) draw critical acclaim. Badrutt’s Palace, closed in April and May, is a member of Leading Hotels of the World and Swiss Historic Hotels. www.stmoritz.ch/en

Top: St. Moritz, a three-hour drive or train trip from either Zurich or Milan, has 56 lifts and 350km of runs for all skill levels.

Above: Badrutt’s Palace Hotel. Below: Horse-racing on frozen Lake St. Moritz.

Above: Gstaad Palace Hotel.

Below: Hameau Albert Hotel, with its twostar Michelin restaurant, is the best hotel in Chamonix.

Right: Sledding at Gstaad.

Gstaad Switzerland is synonymous with glorious mountain peaks and when it comes to viewing the panorama from a ski resort hotel, Gstaad Palace is as good as it gets. Located in the alpine village of Gstaad, about 40km from Geneva, this historic hotel could be mistaken for a fairy-tale castle.

Since it opened in 1913 it has won more awards than any other ski resort in Europe, yet it hasn’t grown tired with age.

In 2011 the World Travel Awards named it the World’s Leading Ski Resort, while the British Sunday Times named its executive chef, Peter Wyss, Best Hotel Chef in the World.

Gstaad Palace rests in the middle of 14 skifields, with 53 lifts and cable cars carrying skiers to a total of 220km of groomed runs and 170km of cross-country trails. The degree of difficulty ranges from the double black diamond (extremely steep) Tiger Run on Mt Wasserngrat, to the mild-mannered beginner runs at Château-d’Oex – from where, by the way, you can hop aboard a hot air balloon if you’re keen to get above the Alps.

Gstaad Mountain Rides takes skiers and non-skiers alike up to Glacier 3000, the highest point in the region, for views of 24 summits, including Mont Blanc and the famed Matterhorn. Glacier 3000 comes with a Mario Botta-designed mountaintop restaurant, one of 16 mountain restaurants at Gstaad. Skiers often have lunch then spend the afternoon enjoying the second-longest downhill run, with a drop of 1,600m. The longest is 10km away, over at Mt La Videmanette.

Gstaad Palace is a member of Leading Hotels of the World and Leading Spas of the World, but it may be the GreenGo nightclub here that has captured the most attention over the years, given the famous names to have turned up here, among them Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, who brought

attention to the club in the 1970s. Check out the hotel’s website (www.palace.ch) for winter sports information and the impressive list of the hotel’s who’s-who guests. www.gstaad.ch/en Zermatt The Matterhorn is the most recognisable peak in the world for two reasons: it’s clearly shaped like a horn and it’s the most photographed. It rises to 4,478m but is just one of 38 peaks over 4,000m in this southern border region of Switzerland.

Tucked away in the middle of it all is the town of Zermatt. It’s a car-free clean-air zone, so it’s best you arrive by train.

If you do, Mont Cervin Palace (circa 1852) will pick you up from the station in a horse-drawn carriage. Mont Cervin Palace, with its view of the Matterhorn, its fine-dining restaurants and chic bars, is arguably the best five-star hotel in Zermatt, a hub for four different ski areas linked by electric cars, lifts, cable cars and gondolas.

Here, 350km of slopes, gullies, bowls and cliffs (for extremists only) stretch across two alpine peaks: the Matterhorn and Gornergrat. Ride the gondola up to the highest spot at Matterhorn Glacial Paradise and – if you’re brave enough – enjoy the thrill of a 25km downhill run.

The slopes at Zermatt are the highest in the Alps. The region gets an incredible 300 days of sunshine a year, so it’s a winter wonderland like no other, where non-skiers get their kicks from ice climbing, ice-skating, curling, or just getting up high and looking out across an incomparable alpine landscape.

Tip: If the queues are too slow for you, as they can be at peak season, hire a helicopter and circle the Matterhorn before it sets you down for a long run back. www.zermatt.ch

Chamonix Imagine this: you fly into Geneva and after a couple of days exploring the city and shaking off jet lag you hire a car and drive south for about 50km, crossing into France and entering the charming cobblestone streets of this dramatic, seductive alpine village.

You’ve done the essential planning so you know that the Hameau Albert Hotel, a member of the Relais & Chateaux group, with its two-star Michelin restaurant, is the best in town. This will be your base camp for a week of winter fun unlike any you’ve ever known.

Chamonix is a collection of five resorts stretched out and up (sometimes very high up) from one end of a valley to the other. You have a car, so that will make access to the multitude of slopes and lifts easier. But before you set out, hire a guide, if only for the first day, because Chamonix has more than 100 piste and off-piste options and as most are quite steep – some famous for extreme skiing – you’d best know where you’re going.

For experienced skiers, the ultimate is Le Grand Monets and free-riding the Argentiere Glacier. That means taking the cable car up from the village of Argentiere at the end of the valley.

In peak season the cable car has a reserved queue that must be booked seven days in advance. If you don’t book you might end up spending half the day waiting in the unreserved queue, where the only compensation is the spectacular beauty of the Alps.

Chamonix, the site of the first Winter Olympics in 1924, is at the base of Mont Blanc, Europe’s highest peak. After a couple days of full-on skiing or snowboarding, rest your legs and take the cable car up to Aiguille du Midi (“Needle of the South”)

for as close a look at the summit of Mont Blanc as you will get without crampons and an ice pick. The car provides the highest vertical ascent in the world. www.chamonix.net

JAPAN Sapporo/Niseko The flight from New Zealand or Australia to Tokyo is about 12 hours. A connecting flight from there to Sapporo adds another 90 minutes. Sapporo is the capital of Hokkaido, Japan’s northern island, and it was the site of the 1972 Winter Olympics. Since then, Niseko, about 100km from Sapporo (and best reached by train, as flying and driving in winter can be tedious), it’s generally agreed, has overtaken Sapporo as the best ski resort in Japan.

A one-week skiing itinerary in Japan might look like this: two or three nights in Sapporo, where the slopes are friendlier, where you can shake off jet lag and find your ski legs, before moving on to four nights at Niseko. Here, the slopes are steeper and the powder is consistently rated among the best in the world; Niseko has what many believe is the best offpiste skiing in Japan. It also has the largest floodlit ski area.

The longest run is 5.6km.

Where Sapporo is surrounded by different ski areas reached by one form of ground transport or another, Niseko is a string of four ski-in, ski-out areas linked by lifts and runs and with one lift ticket for all areas. Niseko also trumps Sapporo for its ski-in, ski-out accommodation like The Vale Niseko, the resort’s newest five-star hotel, with its natural thermal pools.

The Vale sits at the base of Mt Yotei in the heart of Niseko Village.

Tip: Niseko is well known for its deep, dry powder and

Above: Niseko, Japan, is a string of four ski-in, skiout areas linked by lifts and runs.

Below: Penthouse Suite at The Vale Niseko, the resort’s newest five-star hotel.

Above: Queenstown, a captivating alpine hub servicing four main skiing and snowboarding areas. It’s the perfect place to get in shape for your northern winter holiday, although there’s plenty to do here in and out of season.

The big-fun Queenstown Winter Festival is held each year at the end of June.

while that can be more fun, it’s also more demanding, so take care: the combination of deep powder snow and forested off-piste trails may look beautiful, but they are best left to advanced skiers and snowboarders. That said, Niseko has plenty of beginner and intermediate slopes to keep everyone happy. www.skijapan.co

NEW ZEALAND Queenstown While the northern hemisphere basks in lazy days of summer, the best skiing in the southern hemisphere is happening here. Queenstown is a captivating alpine hub servicing four primary skiing and snowboarding areas. If you can swing it, get in shape down here for your northern winter holiday.

The Remarkables, Coronet Peak, Cardrona and Treble Cone all have grand outlooks across the Southern Alps that make a winter holiday here as adventurous and fun for non-skiers as their ski bunny friends. Indeed, that is the message at the heart of the annual Queenstown Winter Festival, held the last week of June, that effectively kicks off the ski season.

The slopes of The Remarkables, about a 45-minute drive from town, are not nearly as treacherous as the ragged range itself appears to be. All Queenstown ski areas cater to beginners and intermediates but some will say that The Remarkables is especially good for them. With that in mind, children 10 years old and younger can learn to ski here for free.

Head out along the back road to Arrowtown and just after passing through town on the way to Millbrook Resort you’ll see the sign for Coronet Peak up on the left. “The Peak”

is arguably the most popular ski area in Queenstown as it’s equipped with a high-speed quad and six-seat lifts carrying skiers and snowboarders up to unforgettable views of the Wakatipu Basin below. The legendary Heidi’s Cafe on the mountain is a great break for lunch or snacks. You can also ski Coronet at night under lights (until 9pm).

Cardrona is about an hour’s drive from Queenstown off the Crown Range Road. We’ve heard it more than once said that Cardrona is popular because, of all the ski areas in the region, it is the most family friendly. Cardrona’s website boasts “the best facilities for kids” and while they’re being well looked after, parents can enjoy the thrills of slopes with terrific views and, for a break, a choice of five mountain cafés. While you’re there, why not spend a half day at Snowfarm, the best crosscountry facility in the country, where the whole family, can together learn a new way of enjoying snow.

Overlooking Lake Wanaka, Treble Cone is less for beginners than intermediate and advanced skiers. It’s the largest ski area in the region and many believe it comes with the most spectacular views, in so far as it looks out over Mt Aspiring National Park and Lake Wanaka. Its six-seat express lift takes you to the top of the longest run in the region.

Queenstown has a range of accommodation. For our part, we have always enjoyed Millbrook Resort. It’s away from the madding crowd, close to Arrowtown (and one of our favourite restaurants, Saffron) and when we tire of skiing because the legs aren’t what they used to be, we take a day off, hire a cart and play a round of golf. It’s rare for snow to accumulate on the Sir Bob Charles-designed course, where even a double bogey can be fun. All in all, the perfect prelude to a transformative session at the spa. www.queenstownnz.co.nz W

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heartbeat We leave our heart in San Francisco and follow the food and wine trail through Sonoma and Napa Valley. By Thomas Hyde.

World Magazine

Photo: Dedalo03/Dreamstime.com

California

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elebrity chefs rule. Each city has its star and in San Francisco that’s Michael Mina, whose trajectory since his student days in the 80s at the Culinary Institute of America resembles the flight path of a space shuttle.

Mina is Egyptian-born, American-raised and in no time after declaring his intent to create his own style of food he was named Best California Chef by the highly reputable James Beard Foundation. In 2005 his Michelin two-starred eatery at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco propelled him to Bon Apetit Chef of the Year. Today, Mina still belongs to the “City by the Bay” – where he has another celebrated restaurant, Charles Nob Hill – but he’s known in other parts, too, for he has steak houses in cities as diverse as Phoenix and Detroit. He probably has a cable TV show, too.

World writers travel the world a good deal, and San Francisco is one of our favourite cities. There is so much to do around this city, but tasting the various styles of northern California cooking was number one on our list. Food has its own history here. Few readers will know that Irish coffee, oysters Kilpatrick and the martini, shaken or stirred, are San Francisco creations.

Newcomers to the city can do no better than the Tadich Grill at the bottom of California Street for a traditional lunch or dinner in a wood-panelled dining room dating back to 1849.

It’s elegant (white tablecloths, veteran waiters wearing white aprons) without being snobby – which, come to think of it, describes the nature of San Francisco itself.

San Francisco conjurs up pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge and the Transamerica Pyramid, the Beat generation, hippies, gay rights and the Birdman of Alcatraz. There’s

Photo: photolibrary

Facing page, clockwise from top left: “Meet me under the clock at the St. Francis”; Union Square with the Westin St. Francis behind; dining at the St. Francis; the cable car stops right outside the hotel.

Above: San Francisco’s iconic Golden Gate Bridge.

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Photo: photolibrary

Lombard Street, with its eight hairpin bends. (How many times have we seen that on the silver screen?) Down at Fisherman’s Wharf tourists are paying more than they should for rather bland seafood (we who live in New Zealand are spoiled rotten) while at various stops around the city, tour buses depart for all points, including northern California wine country.

Wine country tours commonly take in Sonoma and Napa Valley, north of the city across the Golden Gate Bridge. But we’re coming to that. For now, after a direct flight from Auckland and dropping our bags at the Westin St. Francis, our immediate aim was to explore the city. Even Michael Mina would have to wait. The Westin St. Francis has been the San Francisco hotel of choice for many American heads of state. President Obama stayed here just days before our visit.

The hotel overlooks Union Square, where there is always something going on, so we headed there first.

Union Square is named for the Union army recruitment rallies held there during the American Civil War. Someone told us there was a plaque stating as much, but we never found it, sidetracked as one can become here by all the department stores and boutiques that line the square. Today, Union Square is San Francisco’s shopping hub. Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Neiman Marcus… and we we’ve hardly started. Talk about shop till you drop: we may never have to leave Union Square at all – and our hotel is right there!

Which brings us back to food. On the sixth floor of Macy’s we found Hubert Keller’s now-famous Burger Bar, where the theme is “Build Your Own Ultimate Burger”. And no matter what kind of burger you end up with, it’s very likely to be the best you’ve ever eaten. Like Michael Mina, Hubert Keller is a James Beard Foundation award winner and he does have a TV show – Secrets of a

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Photo: photolibrary

Chef – while, according to the jacket of his book, Burger Bar, he has personally made burgers for US President Bill Clinton. We highly recommend the book for its collection of irresistible recipes and tips.

From Union Square we walked up Stockton Street to Chinatown. It seems as if every city in America has a Chinatown these days, but this one is the original, the largest and the genuine article, for it was here, during the gold rush days of the 1800s, that San Francisco became home for the first wave of Chinese labourers.

Today, Chinatown is as much a vital part of the city as its great restaurants and cable cars. Chinatown Gate and the main thoroughfare, take note, is on Grant Avenue, one block over from Stockton, but if you’re looking for mooncakes or a 10-course dim sum lunch, not to mention the meaning of feng shui, Stockton is the place to go. The streets of Chinatown lead to Columbus Avenue, the main drag of North Beach, once the home of the Beat poets and still the site of City Lights Books, the best independent bookshop in town.

The Victorian and Edwardian row houses at Alamo Square Park, commonly known as the “Painted Ladies” for their bright colours, the Financial District and the hills – Nob Hill, Russian Hill, Telegraph Hill and Coit Tower – exemplify the character this city and are must-

sees on the tourist itinerary. But by now we were feeling peckish. It was time to return to the Westin St. Francis.

Luckily the cable car stops right outside the door.

The Westin St. Francis has a history that would require a very big book to document; and no doubt someone has done just that. For our part, we returned with a 34page booklet of black-and-white images celebrating the hotel’s 100-plus years on Union Square. One that caught our eye was of a man washing coins. The caption reads: “In a time when it was high fashion for women to wear white gloves, coins were a cause of soiling the gloves.”

The hotel decided to have all coins washed before recirculating them again. Like the wearing of white gloves, the practice has been discontinued.

San Francisco covered, it was time to drive north over the Golden Gate Bridge to wine country in the Sonoma and Napa Valleys. Our first stop was Buena Vista, the oldest winery in Sonoma. Founded in 1857 and located, appropriately enough, at the end of Old Winery Road, Buena Vista Carneros (Carneros being the name of the sub-region the vineyards are in) features its Carneros Quartet of award-winning Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Merlot and Syrah (Shiraz). Tastings takes place in the original winery, now a California historic landmark.

Tastings at four other Sonoma wineries completed

Facing page, clockwise from top left: The cable car to Fisherman’s Wharf; Lombard Street, with its eight hairpin bends, has featured in many Hollywood car chases; an “Ultimate Burger” at Hubert Keller’s Burger Bar. Above: The “Painted Ladies” of Alamo Street.

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Above: Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa.

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our day before we checked into the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa (the spa unique among hotels and resorts in this region for its natural thermal pools).

Complimentary wine tastings are held each evening in the lobby before guests typically move to dinner at Santé, the hotel’s Michelin-starred restaurant. (Golfers take note: the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn is also the hub for the final event of the Champions Tour, the Charles Schwab Championship, played at the nearby Sonoma National Golf Club.)

As we discovered over the next few days, Sonoma has a completely different feel to Napa Valley, its more famous sibling a short drive away. We liked Sonoma because it felt slower and less commercial; and, unlike many Napa Valley wineries where you pay for tasting, it remains complimentary throughout the Sonoma Valley.

Nonetheless, a visit to this famous American winemaking region would not be complete without taking in the Napa Valley, so we headed up Highway 29 into the heart of Napa.

Napa Valley is not one growing region but many, each a designated American Viticultural Area (AVA). The Napa Valley is itself an appellation, but within it there are 14 sub-appellations such as Howell Mountain, Stags Leap, St. Helena and Yountville. Each of these has its own unique qualities, according to rainfall, wind, soil type and sunshine hours. Our first stop was in downtown Yountville – all five blocks of it.

Yountville is so well manicured and so charming with its faux-vintage buildings, that it is, as one travel writer described it, wine country designed by Disney.

But Yountville is nevertheless the culinary capital of Napa Valley, so to pass this way and not stop to eat is like being in Paris and not checking out the Louvre.

Topping the list are the French-style Bistro Jeanty, the Pacific Blue Café and either of the two Thomas Keller sensations, The French Laundry and Bouchon.

The French Laundry, considered by some to be the best restaurant in the United States, is booked out up to a year in advance, so you might have better luck getting into the more causal Bouchon. However, should you get lucky at The French Laundry you’ll learn that each day two different and unique nine-course tasting menus are prepared. Organic produce comes from the restaurant’s own two-hectare vegetable garden across the road and no single ingredient is repeated. The wine list is a 100-page book of selections from all over the world, including New Zealand (we noted a Mount Edward Pinot Noir) and Australia.

Or you may wish to pick up an espresso from the Yountville Coffee Caboose and continue on to St. Helena, “the heart of the Napa Valley”, for a luscious picnic lunch with homemade breads, local cheeses, olives, hors d’oeuvres and wine from the Dean & DeLuca gourmet store. As others have noted, the drive up Highway 29 through the Napa Valley presents more Michelin-starred restaurants per capita than any place on earth.

A few days and nights exploring San Francisco, followed by a wine-tasting excursion through Sonoma and the Napa Valley – this, surely, is as good as any holiday ever gets. W

From the heart of Marlborough comes a truly exceptional wine

www.nautilusestate.com

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A place

in the sun Timothy Morrell visits an exclusive South Seas island resort where Fijian hospitality meets contemporary style, comfort and sustainability.

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es, Laucala Island can only be described as a tropical fantasy, but the island’s greatest luxury is the feeling that it’s all just for you.

The all-inclusive resort provides everything you could wish for in a lush, emerald setting: all leisure activities, fine dining, premium wines and spirits, health and wellness offerings and state-of-theart entertainment and technology. Energetic guests can choose from tennis, sailing, diving, waterskiing, horse riding or playing the spectacular golf course designed by David McLay Kidd. You’re free to discover a wealth of indulgent and exciting experiences. Or you can simply withdraw into a magical hidden realm.

A private beach at Laucala Island doesn’t mean exclusive to the resort, it means exclusive to your villa. Clever landscaping with rocks and vegetation gives you a small private bay, which you can stroll around or simply contemplate from your pool. Each of the 25 villas is set in its own shady tropical garden, where, beyond the patches of manicured lawn, the trees are dense enough to hide the enclosing stone wall.

No two villas are the same, and meandering through their large, organically shaped spaces instils a remarkable sense of tranquillity. Each room and each outdoor living area has a separate thatched conical roof, so when viewed from the beach this cluster of pavilions resembles your own personal village.

The island is owned by Dietrich Mateschitz, the Austrian co-founder of the Red Bull energy drink company. His vision has shaped its striking design and eco credentials. When he isn’t in residence you can move into Delana, his sprawling hilltop estate, for US$40,000 (around NZ$48,000) a night. Other villas cost from US$4,200 a night for two adults in a one-bedroom residence to US$8,800 for a three-bedroom residence sleeping six adults. Depending on the villa you choose, Laucala has allure for a romantic break for two, or a holiday with the family, or a group of friends.

Opposite page, clockwise from top: Laucala Island and its surrounding sapphire and turquoise lagoons; Beach Bar on one of the island’s sugar-white beaches; guest villa with Melanesian thatched pavilion for lounging, and its own pool.

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Clockwise from above: Hilltop Estate bedroom; Seagrass Restaurant; the living room of the spectacular Peninsula Villa; Plantation Villa and beachside pool.

For residents of the US and Europe, too far away to be familiar with Fiji as an easy option for a family holiday, Fiji has almost mythical status as the chosen hideaway retreat for celebrities seeking secluded luxury at any cost. To Australians and New Zealanders, however, Laucala Island – a member of Leading Hotels of the World – offers the most conveniently accessible experience of sublime luxury that exists in our part of the world.

Being almost completely self-sufficient, it seems like a separate country.

The main thing that reminds you of where you are is the irresistible charm of the locals who work there. They’re warm and perfectly attentive, if slightly shy. This makes an overwhelmingly refreshing change from the kind of hotel staff who seem as though they might be trying out for Broadway.

Maintaining a relaxed atmosphere while strenuously pursuing the highest standards presents the management with some challenges.

There is, for example, nowhere to wipe your feet when you enter a villa – a suburban doormat would disrupt the natural ambience – so you track sand through all your rooms. (It vanishes of course, as soon as you vacate the premises.) The nighttime lighting level in the bathrooms is very low, matching the mood created by the rock walls and massive bathtubs carved from wood or hollowed out of boulders. This makes for a thoroughly sexy cave-like environment, but turns applying make-up into a high-risk activity. You have to bear in mind that the resort is largely designed for people who live with impeccable looks and surroundings on a daily basis, so they’re probably quite relieved to let a few details slip. It takes a lot of thought and planning to create an experience that feels this simple and spontaneous. General manager David Stepetic and his wife Risako give guests the freedom to recreate paradise to their individual specifications.

Only the weather is beyond your control. The rainy season (November

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to April) lives up to its name, hence the dazzling green of the island, but you’d be unlucky not to get daily periods of intermittent sunshine. In August it rains hardly at all.

The scattered distribution of the guest villas and their imaginative variations on a basic design not only prevents them from looking like part of a resort, it allows them to cater to an unexpectedly broad range of personal preferences and budgets – from the romantic extravagance of the one-bedroom, cliff-hugging Peninsula Villa to three-bedroom residences where a group of friends can enjoy what amounts to a private resort, with each of them paying about the same as they would for a hotel suite.

London designer Lynne Hunt describes how she collaborated with the architectural firm WATG (who designed the buildings) and a local architect “to create an authentic island experience and design, whilst maintaining complete luxury”. There are sinuously convoluted strangler fig columns and elaborate joinery finely bound with traditional coconut fibre cord.

The various interior stone-wall finishes she devised are splendid displays of craftsmanship.

Her bespoke furniture for Laucala Island tends to be super-scaled and resembles softly seductive abstract sculpture. “Laucala,” she explains, “is all about lifestyle; the whole experience from arrival to accommodations, to bars and restaurants, is to feel totally relaxed and invigorated. However, it is also to offer an uncompromising sense of style and comfort.” Each villa has a distinctive personality, and may be full of ocean light or submerged in leafy shade.

The freshness of the food is guaranteed by the fact that most of it is produced on the resort. Guests can inspect the farm and commune with the animals. There are Wagyu cattle and Herr Mateschitz’s favourite breed of chickens, introduced from Austria. I felt much better about failing to get through the cake stand of freshly baked pastries served

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Top: The Pool Bar. Above: The spa sits in a hillside hollow like a glamorous little village. Below: Most of the resorts food is grown on the island, including fresh herbs.

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with my breakfast when I met the pigs that conscientiously recycle leftovers.

The hydroponically grown vegetables are, of course, flawless and exquisitely beautiful on the plate, but staff at the farm admitted to me that nothing tastes as good as produce grown in the ground. That’s where all ingredients used primarily as flavourings come from.

The island’s volcanic soil and dependable rainfall makes it one huge garden.

It’s possible to pick handfuls of aromatic plants from the farm and get them pounded into a personalised body scrub at the excellent spa, located in a nearby hillside hollow like a separate and glamorous little village. Guests are also welcome in the kitchen, to discuss menus with the chef or pick up cooking tips. The sense of enjoying a family estate is further enhanced by the option to pick and arrange your own flowers. (There’s an immense orchid house.) A buggy for scooting about the resort is parked outside your villa.

There are three bars and two restaurants where the food ranges from innovative tastes to complement cocktails, to sophisticated dishes based on the freshest local produce. The seafood is especially appealing; because wherever it’s served you can see the waters it came from.

The culinary style is generally light and delicate, but it can get heavy if that’s what you want. The coffee-vanilla pork belly with squid spaghetti is presented in a respectably small serving, but it’s still pretty decadent. Coffee for this is grown on the island and now they’re waiting for the vanilla orchids to flower.

The Plantation Restaurant is an open, airy white bungalow that makes you think of Somerset Maugham. The Seagrass Restaurant is essentially a broad platform straddling the neck of a densely forested peninsula like a big tree house. The Thai food served there is delicious but may be overly subtle for anyone accustomed to giving their tastebuds a workout at the local cheap and cheerful. Stronger flavours can easily be arranged – the Thai chef escorted me to the edge of the restaurant deck to point out the various herbs and spices he grows in the jungle. It seems that everything you might want on Laucala Island is only an arm’s reach away.

W www.laucala.com

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Out of this

WORLD Patrick Smith goes off the beaten track in South Australia’s rugged Gawler Ranges – but returns to a soft bed, a good meal and a glass of wine at day’s end.

Photos by Patrick Smith and Geoff Scholz.

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O

utback: the word evokes images of red dirt and scrub, heat and harsh living. But how did this inhospitable territory earn its name? Most of us might assume the word is short for “out the back of beyond” – which is where Australia’s Outback often begins. But if you believe Geoff Scholz, a former farmer who now runs Gawler Rangers Wilderness Safaris with his wife Irene, the truth lies elsewhere.

Back in 1865, when farmers were looking for new land to break in, a man called George Goyder, then surveyor-general of South Australia, explored the interior of the “free colony” looking for areas where farming was feasible. He did an amazing job, travelling some 30,000 miles to map a rainfall boundary based on the plants he found: to the north was saltbush, suggesting less than an average 10 inches (254mm) of rain a year and suitable only for wild grazing; to the south, mallee scrub indicated enough rainfall to raise crops.

Goyder was at first ridiculed but later proved right, as the ruins of long-abandoned farmhouses north of the line still testify.

Anyway, says Geoff, if you lived below the line you paid your dues to a district council; you were “In District”. Those above the line were basically on their own – they were “Out of District”. Out back, in other words. Outback.

Goyder’s Line starts on the west coast near Ceduna and travels southeast across the Eyre Peninsula – where you’ll find the Gawler Ranges – to Spencer Gulf and then on across the state to the Victorian border. Apparently it’s easy to pick up the line from the air by the abrupt change of flora. From the red-dirt roads Geoff travels in his big Land Cruisers it’s less apparent: lush fields of wheat slowly give way to mallee gums and yellow acacias before you find yourself surrounded by endless clumps of bitter saltbush – which the long-legged sheep grazing this parched landscape seem to like.

“One sheep to 25 acres,” says Geoff as we drive through a couple of vast stations that together run some 35,000 sheep. Ironically, the saltbush gives the meat a unique taste and it fetches a premium price.

Geoff grew up on a farm hereabouts and knows the Gawler Ranges well. He’s a man who seems comfortable on these rugged, back-of-beyond roads that are sometimes gravel and sometimes just deep sand. How on earth does he know where he is, I wondered – does he have GPS? “Yeah,” he grins, tapping his head, “Geoff’s Personal System.”

We’d met that morning at Port Lincoln, a 45-minute flight from Adelaide on the southern tip of the peninsula. Geoff was picking up guests for one of his four-wheel-drive safaris, this one the four-day Outback to the Sea experience. Waiting with me at the airport’s baggage-claim area were a honeymooning Swiss couple and a Belgian father and son. An Australian couple would join us that evening at Kangaluna Camp (north of Goyder’s Line!), our home base for the next few days. With Geoff was Kate Newman, a young South Australian with a good knowledge of the Gawler Ranges, their history, geology and flora and fauna. Kate would also prove to be a cool off-road operator and a good cook.

The weather’s fine, but chilly for this time of year in South Australia. The forecast, though, doesn’t augur well for one of the high points of the itinerary on the final day: swimming with

Sturt Lake, like vast Lake Gairdner, is a waterless white salt pan; a striking contrast between red earth and orange sunset.

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Photo: SATC

Australian sea lions off the west coast. The predicted strong winds and high seas will make that impossible, Geoff tells us, so we’ll be doing the safari in reverse. Today we’ll head up to Baird Bay, then cut back inland to Wudinna and nearby Kangaluna Camp.

The Eyre Peninsula is big – about the size of Tasmania – and distances seem great to a Kiwi traveller. But for Geoff and his team, driving 300 or 400 kilometres on dirt roads and sandy farm tracks is all in a day’s work. The Flinders Highway runs all the way from Port Lincoln up the west coast of the peninsula to Ceduna, but Geoff takes us on a cross-country route along dirt roads that slice arrow-straight through fields of wheat and yellow canola flowers. Geoff points out lumpy hills rising out of the fields, worn down to their present size over 176 million years. The Gawler Ranges themselves, he adds, have been around for 1,600 million years (the Himalayas, by contrast, are 65 million years old). Talk about an ancient land.

At Baird Bay we meet Alan and Trish Payne, who’ve run Baird Bay Ocean Eco Experience since 1992. There’s not much else at Baird Bay (which has a permanent population of six), but the Paynes’ operation is professional and popular. After changing into wetsuits, we board Alan’s boat for the 15-minute trip to a lagoon at Jones Island, near Cape Radstock, where a colony of Australian sea lions lives. On the way we’re joined by a few bottlenose dolphins that ride the bow wave and dive under the boat. When we reach shallower water we put on masks and snorkels and slip over the side to get a closer look. The dolphins come around to inspect us but then grow bored and swim away. I’m not too sorry; the water is a very nippy 15°C and if they don’t want to play I’m not hanging around.

The young sea lions that swim happily around the lagoon are a better prospect. They’re curious and playful, darting up to us and rolling over in the water to check us out with big, expressive eyes. A life belt is thrown over the side and this becomes a toy to be shunted around the lagoon. Touching the sea lions is not allowed, but that doesn’t stop them smooching us – one pup takes a liking to a crew member, Mike, and bumps a whiskery snout against his face mask before resting its head on his shoulder. Maybe the sea lions’ playfulness suggests a sense of humour. Alan says over the years they’ve developed a friendship with both sea lions and dolphins. “They are great teachers; their communication skills are excellent. Listen and you learn, no need for speech, action says it all.”

Kate takes over driving on the way back to Wudinna. We travel on long, straight roads that disappear over the horizon.

One stretch runs for more than 30km without a kink until the Gawler Ranges loom in the distance. We meet a couple of fat shingleback lizards making their slow way across the road and

Kate pulls over. She picks one up (behind the head; they bite) and cameras come out. The scaly creature is about 30cm long and its tail closely resembles its head, a feature that no doubt confuses its predators.

Although we’re close to 100km from the coast now, the final 10km to the camp is on a track through deep sand. Kate slips the car into low ratio and we slither along as though on snow.

Three wedge-tail eagles rise up from the roadside. They’re quite a sight, with their 2m wingspans and wedged tails, as they soar and dive, not wanting to abandon what we soon discover to be a dead kangaroo in the roadside bush. We leave them to their carrion supper and push on to Kangaluna.

At the camp we’re shown to our accommodation: for the couples, big tents with queen beds and en suite bathrooms beneath curved metal roofs that collect water and keep the tents cool in summer; for the solo Kiwi traveller, the “Swagon”.

This lovingly restored covered wagon contains a queen-size mattress set out as a “swag” and has a small open deck out front. In summer the canvas roof can be removed; then the Swagon becomes the “Galaxy Suite” as you lie in your swag beneath the stars. Tonight, though, will be cold and I won’t be sleeping alfresco. Behind the Swagon (Geoff has registered the name) is a funky private bathroom.

The sun is already sinking when we arrive at nearby Sturt Lake for pre-dinner drinks and nibbles. It’s a remarkable spot from which to watch the sun set. The lake is dry, and shimmering white salt covers the bed from shore to shore.

The contrast between the snow-white lake and the red land is arresting and as the sun sinks over the far shore the sky puts on its own show in reds and golds.

It’s a late dinner, eaten by candlelight in the open-sided dining room and afterwards we gather around a campfire with drinks. As I finally climb the steps of my Swagon I look up at a sky crammed with stars.

Breakfast next morning – bacon and eggs, croissants, cereals, fruit and coffee – is a leisurely affair eaten at the long table in the dining room. We watch a shining green Port Lincoln parrot drink from the hanging water bowl outside. It’s one of more than 100 species of birds that lend colour and noise to this often arid landscape.

Our first stop on today’s drive is at an ochre pit. This clay pigment has been used by Aboriginal peoples for thousands of years, for body decoration, death rituals, cave and bark painting, and preserving animal skins, different colours – such as red, yellow and white – playing various roles.

“Ochre is like gold to Aboriginal people,” says Geoff, “and South Australia has the most prolific ochre deposits in Australia.”

Above: Sunset at salt-white Sturt Lake.

Opposite page, clockwise from top left: The Gawler Ranges are home to 100-plus species of birds; Kangaluna tent; swimming with sea lions at Baird Bay; serious off-road territory; safari leader Geoff Scholz talks history and goannas at an ochre pit.

Above, left to right: Kangaroos pose for the camera; the “Swagon”, unique accommodation at Kangaluna Camp.

The site is a patchwork of red, brown, yellow and white.

Kate works a little water into a patch of red clay, turning it into finger paint. Geoff tells an aboriginal “dreamtime” story about goannas and how they came by their ochre-coloured spots.

We’re heading for the Gawler Ranges and Lake Gairdner, but Geoff wants to show us something else before then and we take a detour, passing stands of yellow acacia trees, scattered sheep, emus that high-tail it into the scrub – and one impressively long snake that slithers across the road. We jump out to take photos.

“I think we need to educate New Zealanders about snakes,” says Geoff. “Yes, we have poisonous snakes, but they’re more afraid of you and keep out of your way.”

He does suggest, however, that we stay behind this snake as we follow its sinuous progress through the bush. Apparently it’s a western brown – only “moderately” poisonous.

Our detour brings us to the Corrobinnie Depression, an ancient river system whose dry red bed stretches away into the distance.

“We don’t know when it last had water in it,” says Geoff, “but certainly not since Europeans arrived.” It’s a quiet place with an eerie calm. Again we have the sense of a land unimaginably old.

On the way out, as we cross a sprawling station called St Ive, we stop to gawk at a “submarine” half-buried in the earth.

Though it looks real it turns out to be a homemade affair – a joke by the station’s owners. It’s certainly a talking point.

Nothing had prepared us for our first sight of Lake Gairdner, which appears suddenly as we crest a sandy hill: a seemingly endless sheet of white with a shore of red earth and backdrop of dark hills. “One of the most spectacular sights to behold on the continent of Australia,” was the way the explorer Stephen Hack put it when he discovered the lake in 1857.

We eat lunch by the lake and wander out onto the salt pan.

Lake Gairdner is an incredible 160km long and 48km wide, without a drop of water in sight – the perfect venue for land speed record attempts and the annual Speed Week – next one slated for February 2014.

On the way to camp we hike down a long red track to Kolay Mirica Falls, site of the “Organ Pipes” – rock formations created during a vast volcanic explosion more than 1,500 million years ago.

Walking through the mallee gums to breakfast next morning I’m surprised by a family of emus that crosses my path on their way to drink at the trough near the dining room. We startle each other and the emus retire into the bush. A treefull of galahs, on the other hand, greets me with raucous yells.

Today we’re expecting to see plenty of wildlife and we’re not disappointed.

Soon after stopping to examine an other-worldly landscape of colourful volcanic rocks and mudstone on the far shore of Sturt Lake, it begins to rain. The rain brings out the colour of the rock. It also brings out kangaroos. As we drive away from the lake they emerge to drink from puddles in the road and to lick moisture from plants. They’re everywhere and we manage to spot all three varieties that call the Eyre Peninsula home: reds, greys and wallaroos, or euros. A big female red stands frozen in the road ahead of us and a joey pops its head out of her pouch for a look. But when we inch closer she bounds off into the bush.

“I’ve been doing this since 1988, so I know all the kangaroos,” Geoff says with a laugh.

We look out for wombats but see only burrows – and a handmade tin sign pointing to “Wombat Holes”. Another sign tells us we’re close to the Dog Fence, a dingo barrier built during the 1880s that runs for almost 6,000km across South Australia and Queensland. It’s one of the longest structures in the world and certainly the longest fence.

Salmon is on the dinner menu that night, brought up from Port Lincoln, Australia’s “seafood capital”, where tuna, kingfish, oysters, prawns and crayfish are among the daily harvest and from where they’re shipped to markets and restaurants around the world.

We head there next day – our last of the tour – but on the way we stop at Wudinna to visit Australia’s second-biggest rock monolith after Uluru (Ayer’s Rock). Mt Wudinna is a vast granite dome formed hundreds of millennia ago. It rises abruptly out of the plain and offers panoramic views from its wind-buffeted roof. No wildlife on this rocky outcrop, but soon we’ll find plenty.

At Mikkira Station, 30km southwest of Port Lincoln, Bette de la Perrelle nurtures a colony of 150 wild koalas on a pleasant property that’s open to the public. It’s dotted with manna gums – a koala’s favourite food, we’re told – and today the trees are full of these lovely creatures, which seem to be either eating, snoozing or weighing up the humans below with small, implacable eyes.

Australia’s wildlife is weirdly wonderful. And the Outback, with its vast horizons and alien landscapes, is wonderfully wild, a fact that’s not lost on Geoff’s guests.

“Somebody said recently, ‘I’m so glad I did this [trip], because I wouldn’t want to miss Australia while I was in Australia’,” he says. Then adds: “I’m going to use that in my marketing from now on: Don’t miss Australia while you’re W in Australia!” www.gawlerrangessafaris.com

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dragon’s

treasure Vietnam’s Halong Bay is a place of legendary beauty and natural splendour on the grandest scale. By Mark Llewellyn.

A

still, tropical night. No ripple on the glassy water. Sitting in a comfortable wicker chair on the top deck of the good ship Emeraude, a glass of fine wine in hand, watching the Academy Award-winning French movie Indochine on a big screen – it all seems slightly surreal. Yet it’s hard to imagine a more appropriate setting in which to watch this great movie, as much of the film was shot right here in Halong Bay. Emeraude is one of more than 700 cruise boats that ply these beautiful waters, and it’s among the best on the bay.

Designed to replicate a paddle wheeler – also called Emeraude – which operated on Halong Bay in the early 20th century, the new Emeraude was launched in 2003 as a luxury cruiser.

Modelled along those French colonial lines, she offers comfortable accommodation in 37 cabins and suites, all of which have their own en suite and air conditioning. A restaurant and bar, spa pool and a second bar area up here on the top deck completes the package.

Guests typically arrive at Ha Long City by minibus from Hanoi, three and a half hours away, and check in at the Emeraude Café for a lunchtime departure. It’s worth mentioning that while waiting for other guests to complete their documentation, you can drink a sweet, strong Vietnamese iced coffee – they make one of the best I’ve ever tasted. Soon enough, though, tender boats transfer us to the Emeraude, where we’re welcomed aboard by the friendly crew and shown to our cabins. Dark polished wooden floors and furniture are the theme and a sumptuous queen-sized bed promises a good night’s sleep.

But first, there is lunch to be taken care of, so, as Emeraude ups anchor and begins to sail towards Halong Bay’s islands, I make my way to the dining room, where other diners are already gathering for the buffet lunch. A bewildering array of gorgeous-looking food is on show, and soon enough I’m choosing between Vietnamese classics such as Hué-style fried spring rolls, sautéed squid with curry coconut milk sauce, clam with ginger and chicken cooked in lemon grass, to name but a few.

Halong Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage-listed site and covers an area of around 1,500sq km. There are close to 2,000 limestone islands, tall and thatched with dense, green, tropical bush. The name Ha Long translates as “descending dragon”. Legend has it that, long ago, when the infant country came under attack from invaders, the gods would send down dragons that spat out jade and jewels into the bay, and immediately turned into islands. Enemy ships found it

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Above: Emeraude – all modern comforts in a paddle wheeler modelled on a French colonial orginal.

Below: Sung Sot Grotto, a spectacular complex of limestone caves and pathways; children at play in a floating village.

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impossible to navigate these waters and their ships ran aground and sank.

After two hours cruising past these majestic islands, we drop anchor and board tenders that take us to Sung Sot Grotto – or Surprise Cave. Why Surprise Cave? Well, it’s enormous: 10,000sqm of vast caverns linked by pathways through limestone rock.

Later, we anchor at Hang Trong, where we’re able to kayak into caves, then watch the sun set over an aperitif or two. Following a fabulous buffet dinner, and basking in the romance of such a beautiful place, we watch Indochine. After spending a day here, the drama unfolding on screen is, perhaps, easier to understand.

The following morning, after a restful sleep, made easy by the sound of water slapping against Emeraude’s hull, we chug our way slowly across the bay back to Ha Long City. I can’t help thinking how fortunate we are to have places like this on Earth, places so profoundly beautiful that it literally takes your breath away. W www.emeraude-cruises.com

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THE NEW FRAGRANCE FOR MEN

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People palaces Patrick Smith feels the press of humanity and lives like a maharaja on a journey to the heart of India.

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ndia: you can call it many things, but never boring. It had certainly left an impression on me – one I’d carried with me for 40 years. Back then, as a young man heading west after a year in Southeast Asia, I travelled from one side of the country to the other by third-class rail, sleeping in cheap hotels or, when a train was hours late, the station waiting room. Weirdly wonderful sights and colours and a thousand exotic smells; heat, dust, frustration, elation; heartbreaking poverty, humbling stoicism and the everpresent press of humanity. Fascinating, challenging and always in your face, I loved and hated India in equal part.

Now I was going back. But this time, as a guest of a luxury hotel chain and India’s Ministry of Tourism, I’d be travelling in a style more befitting a man of a certain age; a tad less resilient but hopefully a little wiser – or not, as subsequent events would prove.

Opulent Entry I think it was Paul Theroux who claimed that luxury was the death of travel writing. I know what he meant. Feeling tired and scratchy after my overnight flight from Singapore, I checked in to the cool opulence of the Taj Mahal Hotel at 1 Mansingh Road, New Delhi. I was escorted from the marble lobby up to my suite, a set of spacious, comfortably furnished rooms with panoramic views over the misty city from an enclosed balcony. A knock at the door announced the arrival of my personal butler, Ankur. “Anything you require, Mr Smith, please do not hesitate to press the ‘Butler’ button on the telephone,” he advised me with a smile. I assured him I would, though there was nothing I wanted more right then than a shower, a spot of breakfast and to fall into the sumptuouslooking bed to sleep off my jetlag. The glories of India could wait, as Mr Theroux implied they might.

That evening I was to meet Sanjukthaa Roy, Taj’s director of public relations, for dinner in Varq, the hotel’s Indian restaurant. But first I wanted to see Rick’s, the Casablanca-style bar, the most famous – some say the best – watering hole in the city. Elegant and cosy, with a long bar and a beautiful glass-domed ceiling, Rick’s is noted for cocktails such as the Guava Berry Martini and Cosmopolitan. I was happy with a cold Kingfisher beer. The bar has live music throughout the evening and you can snack on tasty Southeast Asian treats.

Varq, on the other hand, is the place to go for Indian gourmet dining in a stylish setting. One of the city’s finest Indian restaurants, it’s the creation of chef Hemant Oberoi, who’s given a modern twist to traditional Indian street foods and regional dishes and added new ingredients like sea bass, scallops and foie gras. The food was spicy and delicious and the service flawless – in fact, wherever I turned in the hotel, men and women dressed in immaculate uniforms or saris were waiting to serve me.

I asked Sanjukthaa how many staff the hotel employed.

“Around 950,” she replied matter-of-factly. “Many of them have worked here for years and if you came back next year they would probably remember your name.”

Next morning, rested and ready to face the noisy, pulsating city (population: around 14 million), I waited in the cool,

murmuring lobby for my India Tourism guide, Naveen Kumar Singh, to arrive.

Delhi Lite Naveen proved to be good company and hugely knowledgeable about the city’s rich Mughal heritage, as well as its more recent British colonial past – represented in New Delhi by the monumental India Gate, Parliament House and other legacies of the famous British architect Lutyens.

More fascinating were the standing remnants of the mighty Mughal Empire, established in 1526 by the Emperor Babur, grandfather of Akbar the Great – monuments such as the enormous Red Fort, built by Shah Jahan in 1664; Jama Masjid, India’s biggest mosque; and Humayun’s Tomb, thought to be the prototype for Agra’s ethereal Taj Mahal.

Older and perhaps even more astonishing is the Qutab Minar, at 72.5 metres the tallest brick minaret in the world.

Sultan Qutb-ud-din Aibak, India’s first Muslim emperor, began building it in 1199AD and it was completed over the next 170 years. Nearby, a 7m-tall iron pillar stands amid the ruins of a Jain temple, confounding archaeologists with its refusal to rust during 1,600 years.

Later, Naveen took me south to Bahapur to see a modern temple, the astonishing Baha’i Lotus Temple, completed in 1986. With it white lotus-petal design – reminiscent of the Sydney Opera House – it’s an uplifting sight, while inside, the soaring, 40m-high central hall is cool and hushed. One of the most-visited buildings in the world, it attracts some 50 million people a year.

There’s so much to see in this vast, teeming city, but I had only one day to remind me of its flavour: the madness of the traffic and the constant movement of its people, its gods and monuments, colours and smells; and the weight of a history stretching back thousands of years.

By late afternoon I was bushed and returned thankfully to the hotel. That evening I dined in another of its restaurants, Wasabi, which serves delectable Japanese food devised by “Iron Chef” Masaharu Morimoto in a cool, modern setting. I sipped sake and chose Morimoto’s “Omakase” menu – a “trust the chef” selection of delicate and delicious dishes. It was all a far cry from the tasty but hazardous Indian street food I’d enjoyed – with amazing impunity – so long ago. But didn’t I say I was now older and wiser? Older, maybe… But wiser?

Lost Innocence That question was answered in dramatic fashion early next morning at New Delhi Station, a few minutes after boarding the air-conditioned Shatabdi express for Agra. It was 5.45am and I was tired. I was also complacent (the result, perhaps, of too much pampering at the Taj Mahal). Whatever the reason, I provided a thief with a tiny window of opportunity; enough to snatch my computer backpack from the shelf above my head and disappear.

But my biggest folly had been temporarily leaving the pouch containing my passport and cash in the backpack along with laptop, tickets, itinerary and other precious items. Never let your passport out of your sight for a second: it was a

lesson I thought I’d learnt decades earlier. Obviously not.

To cut a long and painful story short, I had to let the train leave without me while I filed a First Information Report (FIR) with police at New Delhi Station. An FIR is crucial when it comes to applying for a new passport or visa, or claiming insurance once you’re home.

Feeling angry, frustrated and extremely foolish, I fought down panic and tried to follow the instructions of the police in the small, dingy office outside the station.

By some miracle I had still my camera and credit cards. I also had the phone number of the hotel. The police reluctantly allowed me to use their phone and I spilled my desperate story to Sanjukthaa Roy. Lesson number two: If you’re going to lose your passport, money and faith in humanity, make sure you’re the guest of a luxury hotel chain. Taj immediately dispatched a driver to pick me up and soon afterwards he was joined by the hotel’s head of security, who intervened on my behalf to secure the vital piece of paper.

A couple of hours later I was back at the hotel, to be met by a dismayed Sanjukthaa Roy, general manager Digvijay Singh and staff. “Your suite is still available, Mr Smith. Whatever you need, please ask us. We’ll have some breakfast sent up. Use the computers in the Business Centre if you need to. Do you need money? A driver?” I was not alone. I could have cried.

I spent the rest of the day downloading e-tickets and itineraries from my web server, beginning the arduous process of getting a new passport and visas and talking to India Tourism about getting to Agra. Throughout all this – and throughout the whole of my rearranged itinerary, the folk at Taj Hotels Resorts & Palaces were brilliant.

By Road to Agra In fact, whomever I met along the way seemed appalled – often enraged – that a visitor to their country should have had such an experience. “These are bad people!” Mamouj, my driver from India Tourism, said when he came to collect me for the drive to Agra that afternoon. I assured him such things happened in large cities throughout the world. “But you are our guest!” he replied.

The Shatabdi express takes two hours to reach Agra. The 253km road trip took three times that. But at least it gave me the opportunity to re-focus on India and my reasons for Above: Entrance, Grand Presidential Suite, Taj Mahal Hotel, Delhi. Left: Built in 1199, Delhi’s 72m Qutab Minar is the tallest brick minaret in the world.

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Right, from top: Agra Fort, built by Akbar the Great in the 16th century; the Taj Mahal in Agra; Gateway Hotel, Agra.

being there. And driving on Indian roads is never boring – terrifying, perhaps, but never boring. Mamouj, though, always kept his cool.

Cars, hapless pedestrians, overladen motorbikes, auto-rickshaws, smoke-belching trucks and buses, bikes, bullock carts, ancient and hybrid tractors, cows lying across the centre line – he took it all in his stride. If there was a road code here, I decided, it was a code only locals could decipher. Everyone drove on their horns. All the time.

“You’d be stuffed here if you were deaf,” I remarked as we came up to a truck with PLEASE SOUND HORN!! Written across the back.

“Oh yes,” Mamouj replied straight-faced, “in India you need good horn, good brakes and good luck! And better if you have four eyes – two in front and two behind.”

We arrived in Agra around 10pm and I thanked Mamouj with a healthy tip. I was welcomed at The Gateway Hotel with concern and condolences; my news had travelled ahead of me. But it was not all bad. “We have upgraded you to a luxury suite,” the duty manager announced and I was shown to a large room with four-poster bed, lounge and, I discovered next morning, a hazy view of the Taj Mahal sitting on the banks of the Yamuna River 3km to the north.

The downside was that the famous monument was closed.

Because of my trials in Delhi I’d arrived on a Thursday night and now it was Friday, the one day on which the Taj was off-limits to visitors.

I consoled myself with the fact that the last time I’d visited Agra I’d seen the Taj at its very best – at night, during a full moon, when the exquisite white marble mausoleum seems to float above the ponds and gardens before it; a miraculous sight. These days the Taj is open only from sunrise to sunset, with very limited night-time access around the full moon.

The Taj Mahal, though, is the main reason to visit Agra and I’d been looking forward to seeing it. It was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to their 14th child. Thousands of marble craftsmen and artisans worked on the building between 1632 and 1653. The delicate workmanship is staggering.

“Don’t worry,” Sufi Hamid, my Agra guide, told me, “we cannot go inside but I will show you a better place to see the Taj from.”

Marble and Monkeys With a new driver, Ravi, at the wheel, we set off for the Taj, as a tiny plastic statue of Sai Baba watched us serenely from the dashboard. Closer to the Taj we bumped along narrow, pot-holed roads until we could go no further, then Hamid led me on by foot, past monkeys grooming each other in the shade, to the banks of the Yamuna. Here, bathing ghats led down to the waterline and offered a close-up rear view of the famous building – without tourists in the way but not, unfortunately, at its finest, when it’s reflected in the pools and framed by the formal gardens that lead up to it from the main Sidi Gate.

Marble can be found everywhere in Agra. Inside the sprawling sandstone edifice of Agra Fort, built in the 16th century by Akbar the Great, are marvellous examples of marble craftsmanship, including the intricate coloured inlay work that’s still practised in the city today, a craft passed down by generations of artisans.

Sufi Hamid took me to see some of them at work, using the same techniques, he assured me, employed by those who built the Taj World Magazine

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Top to bottom: Agra street scene; elephant polo, Rambagh Palace, Jaipur; Taj Mahal from the Yamuna River.

Opposite page, clockwise from top: Formal gardens, Agra Fort; goat (either eating or praying), Fatehpur Sikri; ‘wishing’ threads, Salim Chisti tomb, Fatehpur Sikri.

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Mahal. “They cannot use electric tools, they’re not fine enough,” he told me as we watched an inlaid marble platter taking shape at Cottage Industries Exposition, a sort of department store showing – and selling – everything from fine marble items to carpets, pashminas and jewellery.

My problems in Delhi had left me with limited time in Agra, so Hamid decided we should visit nearby Fatehpur Sikri, an ancient city that once served as the capital of Akbar’s Mughal Empire. At its height, almost 30,000 people lived there, but Fatehpur Sikri has been a ghost town for centuries, only the palace and mosque surviving as a magnet for tourists. Akbar built the royal city and palace to honour a Sufi saint, Salim Chisti. The beautiful Chisti tomb is visited by pilgrims, who make wishes as they tie threads to a filigreed marble window.

“Here,” said Hamid, thrusting me towards a longhaired priest in a sparkling white kurta, “take a thread and make a wish!”

My thread joined hundreds of others hanging from the window. I wished for the return of my passport and laptop. I don’t think anyone was listening.

At the midday call to prayer, Hamid went over to the mosque, leaving me in the company of a roguishlooking fellow call Mohammed, who told me about his grandfather, a master craftsman who made the most elaborate of the carved marble ornaments laid out beside him under the palace colonnades.

Despite my best intentions I left with two of Grandfather’s best pieces in my bag.

Later that day I bid Sufi Hamid goodbye and set off with Ravi for the 235km drive to the “Pink City” of Jaipur.

Soon we were in Rajasthan and I felt that my Indian journey had really begun.

Land of the Rajas Rajasthan is a sprawling state, around the same size as Germany. A good part of it is occupied by the Thar Desert, a desolate place that produced a breed of fearless warriors called the Rajputs, said to be direct descendents of Hindu heroes Rama and Krishna.

Rajput kings ruled numerous clans and 21 kingdoms and Rajasthan became know as the “Land of Kings [rajas]”, with a rich and sometimes bloody history as the Rajputs defended their land and religion against the Muslim invaders. Later, the Rajputs formed alliances with the all-powerful Mughals and cemented the bond by marrying off princesses to Mughal lords – and so the Rajas’ wealth and influence grew.

In 1135AD, so the legend goes, Kakil Dev, ruler of the Kachwaha clan, established his kingdom of Amber. The city-kingdom produced some brilliant rulers, including Raja Sawai Jai Sing II, who in 1727 founded Jaipur (naming it after himself ), India’s first planned city and now the capital of Rajasthan, with a population of around 3.5 million.

It’s called the Pink City because all the buildings in the old city must by law be painted a deep saffron-pink, a tradition dating back to a visit by the Prince of Wales in 1876, when the whole city was painted in his honour.

Royalty, it seems, is taken seriously here and the people of Jaipur, I was told, still revere their own “royal” family,

led by Maharaja Sawai Bhawani Singh Bahadur (though titles were supposedly abolished 40 years ago).

Rajasthan is littered with ancient fortresses and magnificent palaces, some of which have been turned into luxurious hotels such as the one I was to stay in for next couple of nights: Rambagh Palace. A former royal hunting lodge and guest house built in 1835, in 1925 it was converted into the official residence of Bhawani Singh’s father, the polo-playing Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II, and his stunningly beautiful wife Gayatri Devi, who died only last year. It was the only private residence in the world with its own polo field.

“The 30s were undoubtedly the glorious golden years of Rambagh,” says Gayatri Devi in a documentary made shortly before her death. “How do I describe the feeling of magic that pervades the air at Rambagh? You can sense it even today: the grace, opulence and excess that were so much a part of my life…”

Rambagh remained the home of Jaipur’s royalty until 1957, when it was turned into a luxury hotel run by the family. Taj Hotels Resorts & Palaces took over the management in 1972.

My suite was magnificent: ornate marble floors, giltand silver-framed mirrors, portraits of maharajas,antique furnishings, a sitting room with daybed, a balcony overlooking the gardens, a huge four-poster bed – and the most richly fabulous black-and-white marble bathroom. The bath had been filled for my arrival and rose petals floated on the foamy surface of the water.

That night I had dinner in the lavish dining room overlooking the gardens and courtyard. Later, tables and chairs were set up in on the lawn and we watched Rajasthani folk dancers and musicians perform against a backdrop of the illuminated palace as the moon rose behind the distant city.

Pink City The next morning, my Jaipur guide, Rajesh Bhardwaj and I set off to see the city, passing camels in colourful headgear and a large elephant carrying its lunch – a huge load of maize – on its back.

Among Jaipur’s must-see monuments is the pink Hawal Mahal, or Palace of the Winds. Lying along one side of the vast City Palace complex and facing the street, it’s really just a façade, one chamber deep, a fivestorey confection of fancy arched balconies enclosing 953 screened casements. Through these the ladies of the royal household could take the breeze and watch the outside world without being seen.

Amber, the former capital of the Kachwaha kingdom, is about 11km from the city in the Aravalli Hills. We saw the fort, sitting on a hill across a dusty plain, some time before we arrived and stopped for a photo op where a turbaned snake charmer squatted, serenading a hooded cobra in a basket. I guessed he made a living from tourists paying to take his picture against the backdrop of the fort. I came across this enterprising caper quite often – a pair of colourfully dressed sweepers in the Amber Fort, a cheerful swami outside a temple, a magnificently bearded gentleman with sword and hookah – and was always happy to donate.

A popular way to enter the Amber Fort is on the

swaying back of a brightly decked-out elephant along a path that winds through seven fortified gates – just as the maharajas must have done. But it’s a slow business and our time was limited, so we walked in.

The fort’s stern exterior gives no clue to the richness within: beautiful frescoes and exquisite mosaics, finely carved marble screens, formal gardens, an entire hall with walls and ceiling covered in mirrors and colour glass, a beautiful temple dedicated to Kali, with columns of green marble carved to represent banana trees, cusped arches and domes…

Raja Sawai Jai Sing II, who built the Amber Fort and its palace, was a man of many parts and had an overriding interest in astrology.

Between 1727 and 1734 he built the Jaipur astronomical observatory, Jantar Mantar, near his palace, complete with the very latest astronomical instruments available at that time.

It’s a fascinating place to visit, with huge stone sundials, a 2m-wide metal astrolabe (celestial map) and other arcane instruments to chart the progress of the planets. Some are still used today. “Time by the sundial varies by only two seconds each day,” Rajesh assured me. “People say the success and longevity of the royal family is due to astrology.”

In Jaipur’s bazaars you can find everything from signature minakari jewellery – made from gold and enamelled in red, green and turquoise – to soap supposedly made from the holy water of the Ganges. But Rajesh steered me into a more upmarket emporium called the Silver and Art Palace, where I watched artisans polishing gems at rustic-looking benches. The “palace” itself was alight with precious and semiprecious gemstones, jewellery, miniature paintings, and silver artefacts and jade, but I made it clear I was not a customer and we headed back to Rambagh.

That evening I ate wood-fired pizza at Steam, the hotel’s funky lounge bar housed in an antique train carriage attached to a vintage steam engine.

Early next morning I was driven to the airport for the 45-minute flight south to Udaipur.

Floating Dream The Taj Lake Palace Hotel in Udaipur must surely be one of the most romantic hotels on earth. Seeming to float like a great white ship in the middle of Pichola Lake and only accessible by boat, the Lake Palace, or Jag Niwas, was the summer residence of the rulers of the Mewar region for 200 years.

It was built in 1754 by Maharana Jagat Singh II. The story goes that the young prince wanted to take the ladies of his court to Jag Mandir, a nearby island palace, but his father the Rana refused. If he wanted to spend his time on such highjiinks, the Rana told him,

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Above: Camel taxi, Fatehpur Sikri.

Below: Rajasthani women bring colour to a desert region.

Opposite page, clockwise from top left: Private dining, Lake Palace Hotel, Udaipur; Rambagh Palace, Jaipur; City Palace view across Pichola Lake, Udaipur; Rajasthani dancer, Lake Palace.

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he’d have to build his own pleasure palace. So he did, creating a fabulous white-marble complex of elegant courtyards and pavilions and elaborately decorated apartments looking over the lake or down into lawns, ponds and fountains.

I arrived at the ornate lakeside jetty to be met by a redcoated attendant and a beautiful hostess in a turquoise-blue sari, who offered me a cool flannel and a glass of juice.

From here a canopied launch took me across the lake to the hotel, where I was once again greeted regally and ushered up the steps to the hotel beneath a tasselled parasol. As we approached the doors, rose petals fluttered down from above. How many ways are there to say “welcome”?

Inside, the palace was cool and bright, with delicate arches and shady colonnades decorated here and there with pictures made of glass and mosaics. I was led through the inner courtyard past decorative ponds and fountains and up a white-walled staircase to my suite. Behind the door was a room fit for – well, if not a maharaja, then certainly a royal guest: floors of marble spread with lush carpets; a huge carved bed beneath a tasselled silk canopy; antique brocade chairs and desks; a richly furnished sitting room leading through French doors to a balcony; classical paintings… and another stunning bathroom, this one of brown and cream marble.

Guests here are made to feel special in every way and I found the service sincere and caring. One day, feeling exhausted and with ongoing sinus pain, I asked to see a doctor.

He arrived fairly promptly from the town, examined me and prescribed antibiotics and painkillers, which were delivered to my room. That evening a bunch of flowers arrived at my door, brought by the boys who made up my room each day. “Mr Smith, sir, we heard you were not well,” said Kandarpa, who arranged the flowers in a vase on the desk. At night my room welcomed me with soft lighting and, on the bed, rose petals and a hand towel folded into the shape of a Hindu god.

One evening I watched Rajasthani music and dance performed in a marbled courtyard beneath an ornate balcony from which the Maharana himself once viewed such displays.

Later I ate dinner at Bhairo, the rooftop restaurant, and gazed across at the illuminated City Palace reflected in the lake. As I watched, rockets, set off in the run-up to the Hindu festival of Diwali, exploded over the city. I laughed out loud at the sheer improbability of the scene.

On another evening I joined a lake cruise to Jag Mandir, the original pleasure palace. Now open to the public, it’s still an exotic location, with landscaped gardens and a restaurant,

and is especially beautiful at sunset.

My only regret during my stay at the Lake Palace was that I was travelling alone. Such a enchanting place begs to be shared with someone special.

Udaipur Rana Udai Singh II founded Udaipur in the 16th century.

As a prince, so the story goes, he’d come across a holy man who blessed him and advised him to build a city on that very spot. When the Mughal Emperor Akbar razed the Mewar city of Chittogargh in 1567, the king need a new capital and remembered the hermit’s advice. Thus Udaipur was born. With water provided by Pichola Lake and guarded all around by hills, if was a perfect site.

In the early 17th century Rana Amar Singh negotiated a peace treaty with the Mughals and Udaipur blossomed.

Beautiful palaces were built beside the lake and the arts flourished.

The immense City Palace is actually made up of at least four palaces that were built over more than 300 years. Part of it is still home to the Mewar royals but most of it is preserved as a museum. I didn’t see it at its best. With Diwali (Festival of Light) approaching, the palace was packed with excited schoolchildren, whose shrieks echoed alarmingly along the narrow corridors. It was pretty impressive nonetheless, filled with lavish Mughal-inspired decorative artwork and murals, with tiled turrets and balconies looking down on the lake and city. Especially fabulous were the Moti Mahal (Pearl Palace), built in 1620 with walls of mirrors and coloured glass, and Kanch ki Burj (Turret of Glass), where ceiling, walls and floor were a gleaming mass of gold and red glass, all reflected back and forth by mirrors.

Kamal, my guide, next took me to see a 17th-century temple, Jagdish Mandir, dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu, a towering layer-cake covered with carved friezes of dancers, musicians, elephants and horsemen. Opposite the temple, a small shrine housed a fierce-looking bronze garuda. Not so fierce was the smiling sadhu sitting outside beneath a stone elephant. He seemed more than happy to feature in a photo op.

I felt a real wrench at leaving Lake Palace but I had to move on: I was travelling by road again, northwest to Jodhpur, known as the Blue City for the characteristic indigo-blue of its old homes and the second-largest city in Rajasthan. Jodhpur was also the site of my third Taj palace – Umaid Bhawan.

Hindi Lessons Another long road trip, but I passed the time learning Hindi from my driver, Lalit, who became increasingly headmasterish, insisting on correct pronunciation as my notebook filled with phonetic translations. “No – nah! No, sir – neheey sah! Yes – ha! Small – chota. Big – burra…” We progressed through greetings, food and drink, to monuments and clothing.

At each small town we would slow to a crawl as Lalit negotiated rows of unpainted speed bumps. “Sleeping policemen!” he instructed.

A band of Rajasthani gypsies came the other way, leading a caravan of camels loaded with their possessions. “They live in desert in winter,” said Lalit, “too hot in summer. Cow – ghai. Water buffalo – behanns. Eat – khana!”

Around 90km into our journey we came to Ranakpur, home to the huge 15th-century Adinatha Temple, the largest and most complex Jain temple in India. The domes and spires of its 29 halls are supported by 1,444 intricately carved pillars. No two pillars are the same and a young priest there told me there were “more than one million” individual carvings. I found gods and dancing goddesses, snakes, animals and plants among the carvings. Statues of elephants stood in the halls. At an elaborate raised shrine, I watched a yellow-clad priest attend the silver-coated figure of Adinath, an enlightened being and founder of the Jain religion. It didn’t surprise me that the temple took 50 years to build.

Back on the road, the classroom on wheels continued until Lalit pulled in to a roadside craft co-operative where colourful cotton dhurrie rugs were made and sold – the work of 85 families in the region. I watched a bit of traditional weaving on a wooden loom and walked out with a

couple of rugs. I considered it a donation to the ancient arts.

Our road trip seemed to go on forever. Thankfully, Lalit had given up on the Hindi lessons and could concentrate on the myriad driving hazards along the way – cows, camels, pigs, buffalo, tractors and trucks, to name but a few.

We stopped for a chai break at a rudimentary roadside café where the owner ladled milky tea from a huge urn and customers sat on charpais (string beds) outside or, like one brightly dressed old lady, squatted in the dust.

I was beginning to wonder if we’d ever reach Jodhpur. I asked Lalit how far we still had to go. “About 70 kilometres,” he replied. “Two hours.” Two hours to drive 70km. I settled back and closed my eyes.

Blue City It was dusk by the time we reached Jodhpur. We crawled through the busy streets of the desert city before finding our way to the palace of Umaid Bhawan, which appeared suddenly as we drove up a hill outside the town. The closer we got the more its true scale became apparent: absolutely enormous.

The last of the great Indian palaces, the 347-room Umaid Bhawan took 15 years to build and was finally completed in 1943 – a golden-yellow sandstone monument conceived on the grandest possible scale by Maharaja Umaid Singh, grandfather of the present Maharaja of Jodhpur.

It has served ever since as the main residence of the Jodhpur royal family, who, I was told, now manage with a mere 100 rooms, the rest of the palace being taken up by the hotel.

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Left: The soaring domed lobby of Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jodhpur.

Right: Umaid Bhawan, built on a massive scale over 15 years. Below: Young street performer, Jaswant Thada, Jodhpur.

Despite its vast size (it was one of the largest private residences in the world) and art deco opulence, Umaid Bhawan was started as a famine relief project by the Maharaja, providing years of work to 5,000 men.

I have to admit to feeling overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the place when I stepped into the vast circular lobby, rising 30 metres to its domed ceiling.

My suite, off the first-floor gallery, was large and divided into a sitting room, bedroom and dressing room, with an art deco marble bathroom.

It took me a while to discover the palace’s finer assets: the fabulous downstairs Zodiac Pool with its art deco frescoes, sauna and steam rooms; the Jiva Grande Spa; The Pillars terrace restaurant where I ate breakfast while being entertained by two musicians; the lovely outdoor swimming pool with its shaded pergolas and loungers; the clubby Trophy Bar; the superb Risala restaurant; the grand billiard room…

My Jodhpur guide, Jeetander Singh, met me in the lobby next morning to show me the sights. Jodhpur, he told me, had been founded in 1495 by one Rao Jodha, the ruler of Marwar, who built the great Mehrangargh Fort on a rocky bluff overlooking what’s now the city. Unfortunately, so the story goes, Jodha displaced a hermit there and the hermit placed a curse on Jodha’s descendents, saying they would be plagued by famine every three years. Spookily, so I later read, to this day Jodhpur experiences serious droughts every three to four years.

But Jodhpur holds many delights. On the way to see the fort, Jeetander took me to Jaswant Thada, the gleaming marble cenotaph of Maharaja Jaswant Singh II and other royals who have died since 1895. “His wives and concubines committed suti [suicide] on his funeral pyre,” Jeetander murmured. “The last maharaja to be cremated here, in 1952, died in an air crash – with his mistress, a Bollywood actress. It was a great scandal!”

Outside, I listened to a couple of itinerant musicians playing tabla and squeezebox. Further on, two children in Rajasthani costumes, eyes dark with kohl, jumped up to dance for the tourist.

Mehrangarh Fort, in the words of Kipling, was “the work

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of Angels, Fairies and Giants”. It’s a good description for this looming, impenetrable fortress full of delicately wrought treasures. And from its ramparts we had an angel’s view of the old city with its indigo-blue houses – the colour apparently chosen centuries ago by the town’s Brahmins (priestly caste), who found the colour warded off mosquitoes.

The Fort Museum is full of magnificent reminders of Rajput and Mughal wealth, colour, art and craftsmanship: mirrored rooms with ceilings of gold, royal palanquins and princes’ gold-encrusted cradles, elephant howdahs (seats), one made entirely of silver, beautiful miniature paintings,carved wooden, marble and sandstone, exotic weaponry and metalwork, fabulous turbans and fabrics, musical instruments – and much more.

Down in the town, the bazaar provided a riot of colour against the dun sandstone backdrop of the fort. Women in rich red, orange, yellow and pink saris moved amongst stalls selling bright fruit and vegetables, multicoloured bangles, vibrant garlands and garish religious posters, while grain merchants leaned against pink-washed walls under coloured awnings.

Tiger Safari Again, I was reluctant to move on, but I had to return to Delhi to deal with my passport and visa crisis and then fly to Nagpur, in the very heart of India and 115km from Pench National Park, where I’d be staying at Baghvan Pench Jungle Lodge.

Delhi proved to be a jungle of the bureaucratic kind and I was delighted to reach Pench. After the stately majesty of Umaid Bhawan Palace, Baghvan – run jointly by Taj and Africa’s luxury adventure travel and safari company &Beyond – possessed a rustic chic that was at once highly attractive and relaxed. The lodge itself is filled with folk art, woven hyacinth furniture and large ebony chests. There’s a small bar faced with lovely handmade Parsi tiles. An attractive outdoor pool is set amid the greenery, with comfortable day beds, tables and sun umbrellas.

Twelve very private suites line a dry riverbed (nullah), surrounded by teak jungle. Each suite is unique but all have

an air-conditioned bedroom letting onto a deck above the nullah (mine had a carved teak swing seat), a large bathroom plus outdoor shower and – fabulously – a raised, open-sided machan, or jungle platform, with bed, fan and mosquito nets: perfect for a romantic sleepout or, as I soon discovered, an afternoon nap.

My butler, Charandas, a charming young guy from the nearby village, showed me to my suite along a narrow, winding path through the undergrowth. It wasn’t a long walk, but after dark a staff member always offered to accompany you back and forth, in the unlikely event that a tiger found its way into the grounds.

I didn’t see any tigers at Pench, although I saw signs of their passing and heard the occasional distant growl during safari trips into the jungle with Vrashal, one of the lodge’s five resident naturalist-guides. But travelling in an open safari wagon along sandy jungle pathways as the rising sun sent shafts of light stabbing through the trees was pretty special in itself.

“In the early morning when it’s cool, tigers are active,” Vrashal told his guests as we sat silently in the truck listening for tiger sounds or the alarm calls of potential prey. Huge cobwebs of jungle spiders, wet with dew, glittered in the morning sun. Birds called and the occasional black-faced langur chattered. We spotted leopard tracks in a dry riverbed and heard that a tiger and her cubs had been seen walking on the track. She avoided us, but we did come across a jackal, trotting serenely ahead of us on the track before disappearing

into the bush. The trees were alive with birds and lively longtailed langurs. We saw herds of pretty spotted deer, wild peacocks, buffalo and, by the river, white egrets, herons and black drongos with their distinctive forked tails.

It would have been great to spot a wild tiger, but just being in this setting, sleeping in a comfortable bed, eating excellent food, lazing by the pool or in my machan, wasn’t a bad way to enjoy the jungle.

This was Kipling country and on my final afternoon I lay in my machan drowsily leafing through The Jungle Book. “It was seven o’clock of a very warm evening in the Seeonee Hills when Father Wolf woke up from day’s rest…”

That evening we celebrated Diwali with a candlelit ritual on the lodge steps followed by a “bush dinner” in a clearing lit by lamps strung on posts. It was a magical end to my stay at Baghvan Pench.

Above, from left: Pichola Lake, Udaipur; gardens, Jag Mandir; happy saddhu, Jagdish Mandir Temple; ornate balcony and bar, Lake Palace.

Mumbai Farewell My stay in India was almost over, too. The next morning I was driven to Nagpur, where I caught a flight to Mumbai. I’d planned on spending two nights there, but my itinerary had changed because of the need to chase down my replacement passport and Indian visa – without which I couldn’t leave the country. The process would be completed in Mumbai, but not until 4pm on the day I was to catch the midnight Singapore Airlines flight home. My final day-long bout with bureaucracy had eaten up most of my Mumbai itinerary, which should have included a trip to the caves of Elephanta Island. But I managed World Magazine

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Clockwise, from top left: Garlanded statue of Lord Mahavir in Mubai’s Jain Temple; Apollo Bunder, Mumbai, where this smiling local introduced himself to the author; candlelit dining at Baghvan Lodge; lemur, Baghvan Pench National Park; private machan, or jungle platform, Baghvan.

to fit in a stroll on famous Chowpatty Beach and through the colourful Crawford Market. I marvelled at Dhobi Ghat, an enormous outdoor laundry, and visited Mani Bhavan, a museum dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi.

And in the cool of the evening I left the splendid comfort on my room in another Taj Mahal hotel and walked across the road to the plaza in front of the Gateway of India, where I joined crowds of locals and tourists taking the air. A stocky, bearded man in a shining white shalwar kameez spotted me through the throng as I was lifting my camera and walked right up to me. Without a word he stood in front of the lens and his face lit up in a huge smile.

I’m looking at the picture right now, sitting at home in a South Island cold snap. It warms me and makes me think I’ll probably have W to return. This time, sooner rather than later…

Patrick Smith visited India with the assistance of Singapore Airlines, Taj Hotels Resorts & Palaces and Incredible India Tourism.

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L i f e c a n b e p e rf e c t

perfect north John Hawkesby lives the dream on a fabled Seychelles island that’s among the most exclusive resorts on the planet – just ask Wills and Kate.

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othing, but nothing, prepares you for the sheer magic of this place.

Fifteen minutes by helicopter from Seychelles International Airport on Mahé Island is the tiny Garden of Eden known simply as North Island.

From the air it looks like a work of art. Beaches, low mountains, open spaces, tightly woven vegetation, all with intense colours and not a palm tree or sculptured rock out of place. Despite the geometric symmetry, it exudes a tranquil sense of random abandon and has been crafted with such care and environmental consideration that not even the man-made structures seem an aberration. Wherever the hand of man is evident it is with the utmost sympathy for what nature has already provided – a barefoot sanctuary blessed with an unparalleled eco-system on an island at peace with itself and light years away from anywhere.

North Island, according to resident development officer and highly skilled landscape gardener Gregg Wepener, was farmed by a French family for 100 years from 1826. Then it became a coconut plantation until the industry collapsed in the 1970s, when the island drifted into a state of neglect. It was farmed again for a couple of decades but without much enthusiasm. When the farmers abandoned it in 2002 the island was overgrown. Wild chickens and goats roamed free, with destructive consequences to plant life.

The restoration of the 201-hectare island took several years. Wepener has 13 people in his landscaping team and has been working here since 2005. He started a native plant nursery and, after extensive efforts, the island is now pestfree: you won’t come across a single rat, but you will find a colourful array of birdlife and some large, endearing tortoises – the oldest, Brutus, thought to be 150 to 160 years old.

This is one of the few islands in the Seychelles with natural underground fresh water, so no desalination treatment is required. This also explains the impressive large market garden with a huge array of produce to provide the guests with freshly picked herbs and vegetables every day.

Any island is defined, ultimately, by its beaches and on North Island there are four idyllic spots, each with its own character.

East Beach extends off the communal piazza area and stretches along in front of the island’s 11 villas.

For indescribable sunsets you head – in your own self-drive cart – to West Beach and, as the pastel colours wash over you, the Sunset Bar will produce a relaxing evening cocktail with a slice of wood-fired pizza.

Honeymoon Cove is an idyllic hideaway (reservation required to secure this one and ensure privacy) and Petit Ause offers shelter and seclusion and the ideal picnic and snorkelling spot in crystal waters that are a tepid 31˚C. We are in Villa 10. All 11 villas face East Beach and spill out onto the sand. They are huge, with a series of decks that give indoor-outdoor seating and lounging options and with a large, circular whirlpool as part of your own alfresco cabana.

The architecture is smartly rustic, with lots of natural timbers. Carvers were brought in from Malawi and all the sculptured creativity that surrounds you

North Island has four idyllic beaches, each with its own character. East Beach stretches along in front of the island’s 11 villas while West Beach boasts spectacular sunsets.

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Clockwise from above: A 15-strong kitchen team feeds some 22 guests exquisite fresh cuisine; dine under stars or in the open-sided restaurant; cosy cocktail corner; life’s a beach.

was fashioned using only hammers and chisels. Most of the furniture and support columns are inverted casuarina stumps, dried and aged after being culled from the landscape. Roofs are thatched, with an interior combination of highly polished and bleached natural timber. The lighting is soft, subtle and sympathetic. There’s a sunken bath, an enormous bedroom with exquisite linen, a separate huge ensuite bathroom with an indoor and private outdoor shower, separate butler’s pantry and kitchen, two TVs (but only for DVDs from an extensive library) and more chairs, comfy sofas and hammocks than you could ever hope to use.

Our Indonesian butler, Luthfi, greets us at our villa and shows us around, serves us some delicious tapas and cold drinks and shows us how to operate and re-charge our own golf buggy. He is available 24 hours and will do everything from washing and ironing to preparing breakfast, snacks or any meals if we wish to dine in. He is so obliging and friendly and already anticipating our every need. We immediately plot how we can sneak him back to New Zealand.

It’s a hop and a skip to the ocean and only from here are any other villas visible: boulders and vegetation provide privacy from your neighbouring villas, giving the illusion that you’re alone on the island.

Villa 11, next door, is the most distant from the main buildings. It’s Villa North Island and even larger than all the others. It’s here that the future King of England and his new wife Catherine spent their honeymoon. The staff, ever discreet, are not about to offer up any information, but with some gentle prodding I discover Kate and Wills were the sole guests apart from their security detail and personal assistants, who occupied the first three villas. The young royals were reported to be natural, unaffected and

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interacted easily with members of the 115 staff at North Island. Favourite tipple for the honeymooning couple? Non-alcoholic fruit punch. Maybe William is erring on the side of sobriety and making up for younger brother Harry.

After a swim in the picturesque infinity pool, set among palms and overlooking the beach, I venture into the ocean. The whole beach is mine: the only person I see is the smiling barman walking across the sand with fresh towels, a plate of tropical fruit and a cold drink, all of which he places on a small table under a large umbrella drilled into the sand.

You are requested to come for dinner as casually as you like. There is only one dress code rule: no footwear of any description; barefoot only please – it’s the North Island way.

We stroll along the sand to the Piazza, which is the natural focal point of the island, gathered around and beneath a huge Indian almond tree.

The wide decks lead seamlessly onto the beach and the endless horizon, as the waves roll in with that bass-drum thud. The lounge and bar area is airy and furnished in minimalist style with a scattering of large cushions and beanbags and large, inviting sofas. The library, with its high ceiling and the ocean breeze wafting through, is a great place to linger. I especially like the open wine cellar with an eclectic international portfolio that would be the envy of any serious collector.

Dinner is served wherever you want it: around the pool, on the beach or in the library. It’s your classic star-filled tropical night, so we opt for a sunken Japanese-style table with huge cushions right by the sea.

And the food? For breakfast you can ask for absolutely anything and it will appear. At dinner I’m relieved to find there’s a menu, which makes my

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The architecture of North Island is smartly rustic. Carvers were brought in from Malawi and most of the furniture and support columns are inverted casuarina stumps culled from the landscape.

decisions so much easier – until, that is, I see the long, mouth-watering options that run from Eight-year-old takamaka rum prawns with watermelon and shaved toasted coconut salad, or Seafood Creole risotto crowned with a brochette of job fish, to Loin of slow-cooked lamb, couscous salad with hummus, olives and sweetcorn fritters. And then there are desserts…

Such gorgeous gluttony is more restrained at lunchtime with a series of lighter choices, mostly salads with wonderful fruits and various locally caught fish. And, as the chef explains, if there is absolutely nothing on the menu you fancy, tell him what you do feel like and it will usually arrive.

We found so many things to try and afterwards both decided it was all perfect.

Responsible for overseeing the island’s cuisine as executive chef is New Zealander Wayne Third, whose 15-strong team feeds at most 22 guests. Third has a local approach and sensitivity to food. “We need to be true to our food and what is available here and now,” he says. “We don’t need to over-complicate it, so we try to be sympathetic, with appropriate seasoning.”

Paying guests part with significant money to stay here and, as Third notes, every guest has specific requirements.

“We’re always trying to exceed people’s expectations,” he says. “There’s no definite style here, but classical and provincial French is my background… It’s strange, but 11 villas can often be more challenging than a huge hotel.”

On our final night we are invited to a special wine tasting, to be followed by a casual dinner-for-two at West Beach, 10 minutes by cart through towering palms and ferns from our villa. Apart from spectacular sunsets, there is a cabana and bar with an open wood-fired pizza oven, gleaming barbecues and full kitchen amenities, along with scattered loungers and low sofas. It is the perfect sundowner location and the friendly but fast sand crabs come out to play at dusk.

Our very knowledgeable sommelier that night is Cusello, a Bob Marley lookalike from South Africa. Knowing my interest in wine, he has arranged for this special pre-dinner tasting on the beach. Glasses and bottles are carefully lined up and as a sinking sun bounces off the waves we begin the tasting.

There are 14 wines, favourites of Cusello’s from South Africa, including, surprisingly, an outstanding Pinot Noir. We invite Cusello to join us for dinner: the tasting of so many wines requires food and I have to negotiate the golf cart back to our villa without hitting any tortoises.

Suddenly, a dark cloud appears from nowhere. “It will pour down shortly,” says Cusello, “but it will only last for 10 minutes.”

The night air is warm, the atmosphere loose and the three of us simply can’t be bothered leaving our spot on the sand to reach cover. Minutes later the heavens roll back and a warm, solid shower breaks over us. We have to cover our wine glasses so the contents are not diluted. Exactly 10 minutes later it’s all over, we are completely drenched; and without missing a beat Cusello pours the next wine to taste.

The chefs are grinning as our food arrives – a series of small plates of grilled seafood and barbecued meats.

It’s a memorable way to spend our final night. The warm breeze has dried our wet clothes and it’s a careful, slow drive back to our villa at one in the morning.

After breakfast, cooked by Luthfi, we board the helicopter for our flight back to the mainland and ongoing journey to New Zealand.

“How was it?” asks the young pilot.

Words fail me. I just look at him and smile.

“That good eh?” he says.

As the rotor blades roar and we lift off into the blue, he misses my reply: “Yep. That good.” www.north-island.com W John and Joyce Hawkesby flew by Emirates. They were hosted by The Seychelles Tourism Board and stayed at North Island as guests of Wilderness Safaris.

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“The Menzies is a wine that speaks volumes about Coonawarra and its affinity for Cabernet Sauvignon.” — Peter Gambetta the menzies estate winemaker GOLD MEDAL WINNER Royal Melbourne Wine Show 2011 Limestone Coast Wine Show 2011

Surrender to the senses

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E When a Swedish fashion model falls for an elegant Old Etonian on the French Riviera, it’s the beginning of a spectacular journey.

va Malmström met Eton- and Oxford-educated Sonu Shivdasani amid the supercharged glitz of the Monaco Grand Prix. They married and a languid and luxurious honeymoon followed at some of the world’s most glamorous hotels and resorts.

But as well as sealing their romantic bond, the honeymoon confirmed their desire to establish a resort like no other and in 1995 the Soneva Fushi Resort opened on Kunfunadhoo Island in the Maldives. Combining Eva’s innate style and attention to detail and Sonu’s management smarts, Soneva Fushi soon became an essential retreat for a legion of high-flying guests.

Less than 15 years later, that first foray into the world of exclusive accommodation had become a global network of almost 20 resorts, with the Soneva, Six Senses and Evason brands all bywords for the ultimate in luxury travel.

The Six Senses promise of “Intelligent Luxury, Innovative Style, Redefining Experiences and Balancing Senses” can now be experienced at resorts in places ranging from Spain, Vietnam and Thailand, to Jordan and Oman.

With such a glamorous back-story, our expectations of a visit to one of Six Senses’ newest resorts are high. Six Senses Hideaway Zighy Bay in the Sultanate of Oman opened in mid-2007, and the following year joined Condé Nast Traveler’s 2008 Hot Hotels List.

Most recently it was named the Middle East’s leading luxury resort and Oman’s leading spa resort. Our anticipation soars when our bookings are confirmed.

Dawn casts a rosy hue over Zighy Bay.

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Above and opposite page: Zighy Bay’s rusticchic design is modelled on local indigenous style – but with an added dose of comfort and cosmopolitan ambience. Far right: A day aboard the resort’s dhow, Buzbuz, includes stops for handline fishing and snorkelling.

How would we like to arrive at Zighy Bay? The options include 4WD, paraglider or boat – all three forms of transport reinforcing the promise of sublime isolation. With Iran just a strong tailwind away across the Strait of Hormuz, and a lingering paragliding memory involving Corfu and Albania, I tick the “4WD” box. Debra’s feeling braver and signs up for an airborne check-in – one once voted the world’s Most Amazing Arrival Experience by Travel + Leisure magazine.

Unfortunately, our planned 5am arrival at Zighy Bay meant that she would be paragliding in the pre-dawn darkness, so after a 3am arrival into Dubai we’re whisked away in a sparkling BMW 4WD northeast towards Oman. The resort sits amid the sculpted fiords of the Musandam Peninsula, a tiny sliver of Oman separated from the rest of the country by the vast deserts of the United Arab Emirates. Just two hours by road from Dubai, Zighy Bay is the perfect stopover if you’re travelling with Emirates to Europe.

We hum along the world’s best motorway for 90 minutes until we reach an isolated checkpoint manned by two guards wielding serious-looking machine guns. After a cursory glance at our passports, the soldiers wave us through and we climb steeply on unsealed roads into the mountains as dawn struggles to become day. Welcome to Oman.

The receding indigo dawn gradually reveals a surrounding lunar landscape dotted with goats and the odd camel.

Vegetation is totally absent, and the environment is elemental, with a beautiful simplicity. It’s the ideal blank canvas on which to create a luxury escape and a huge contrast to the exciting welcome-to-the-future megacity buzz of nearby Dubai.

The emerging Omani light slowly reveals the resort, elegantly constructed in local stone and dotted with pools shaded by rustic gazebos. Private chill-out areas fringe an intense turquoise ocean, and the shimmering beach is just 20 metres away. Arriving by boat, 4WD or paraglider would elicit the same response, combining awe and expectation.

Around us, another 78 Pool Villas, the Private Reserve and two Retreats share the same rustic-chic décor modelled on local indigenous style.

We’re introduced to our personal butler, Faiyaz Ansari. He informs us we’re on Zighy Bay time now, one hour ahead of the United Arab Emirates and Oman. It’s a special time zone for a very special place and, with a personal wine fridge and private infinity pool at hand, removing my watch seems an appropriate response. Potentially the only activity we need to be on time for is a spa treatment in our adjacent airconditioned treatment room or in the resort’s spa centre.

Two bikes wait outside should we wish to take a leisurely spin around the island. Privacy is guaranteed: the only uninvited visitors are a few curious goats.

Breakfast is served – fresh fruit and fresh, still-warm bread

and croissants – and the long haul from New Zealand is now starting to make perfect sense. With an international resort crew featuring an Australian GM, Indian butlers and chefs from Japan and France, Six Senses Hideaway Zighy Bay achieves a coolly cosmopolitan ambience in effortless style.

Zighy Bay’s restaurants showcase this marvellous diversity.

Sense on the Edge, for example, must be a contender for the most spectacular eating experience on the planet: sitting majestically on a clifftop, it looks over the entire resort. This modern fine-dining restaurant is currently being reburbished, but will open again on 7 August. The Summer House, an alfresco deli, is open throughout the day for a global selection of burgers and sandwiches. A traditional Omani fishing village lies next door and local fishermen ensure that Six Senses’ seafood is the freshest of the fresh. Spice Market offers delicacies from the culinary world of Arabia where breakfast and dinner are served in a relaxed Arabic environment from a traditional mud kitchen. Zighy Bar is an essential diversion for cocktails before or after dinner.

If you can’t make up your mind where to eat, Zighy Bay’s personal butlers can arrange a private dining experience in a range of locations that include a table setting right on the beach or atop the resort’s tower. According to Faiyaz, anything goes – there are simply no rules or restrictions.

We decide on a private dining experience in the Wine

Cellar. Six Senses Hideaway properties are renowned internationally for their wine selections, and Zighy Bay is no exception. An in-house master sommelier holds regular wine-tastings, and “Haute Couture Wine Dinners” provide stunning wine-matched dining. With a menu that includes Arabic spiced prawn and pineapple salad, lobster tail and a superb fillet of Australian Angus beef with roasted hazelnuts, asparagus spears and a sweet teriyaki glaze, we almost forget we’re in a small, remote slice of the Middle East. An artisan cheese platter served with Spanish membrillo (quince) and a white-chocolate parfait do nothing to dispel the delicious illusion.

After such a meal, an appropriate response would be to dive into Six Senses’ active menu of watersports such as snorkelling and parasailing, or to sign up for an all-day 4WD desert excursion to the wadi (oasis)-studded canyons of the nearby Hajar Mountains. More adventurous expectations are fulfilled with game-fishing expeditions, and if you get lucky with the local tuna or barracuda, there’s the option of private in-villa cookery classes. Active travellers can get busy on treks and mountain-bike rides through sublime lunar landscapes.

We forge our own combination of food and the ocean on a day cruise on the resort’s own dhow, Buzbuz. The spectacular day includes a few stops for snorkelling and hand-line fishing, while the resort’s Asian chef rustles up a Japanese meal. Fresh World Magazine

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Above, left to right: Paragliding is one of the more unusual ways for guests to arrive at Six Senses Hideaway; an oasis built of natural stone and warm woods. Right: Local fishermen ensure that Six Senses’ seafood is the freshest of the fresh.

sashimi devoured off the coast of Oman is certainly different. Isn’t globalisation wonderful?

For many guests, the Six Senses brand is synonymous with luxury spa treatments, and Zighy Bay’s holistic spa is nestled into the rugged Musandam mountainside. There are nine treatment rooms, two traditional Arabian hammams combining luxury pools, saunas and steam rooms, and a juice bar. Six Senses’ stated core values pledge to appeal to all the senses in everything they do, and Zighy Bay’s international therapists provide the ultimate proof in the areas of relaxation and rejuvenation. The spa’s signature Arabic Ritual blends basil, mint and henna in a four-hour treatment combining massage and a facial. The Men’s Journey is a deserved reward mixing an Indian head massage and hot-stone therapy.

Daily spa treatments are musts for many Zighy Bay guests, but we’re just as happy to enjoy our private pool and villa. We’re wishing our three-night stay had been six when it comes time to leave Zighy Bay and our new-found friends the goats make their final appearance. There’s no paragliding departure on offer, so we retrace our steps by 4WD back through the rugged mountains to the armed guards on the UAE border.

A romance forged at Formula 1 speed in Monaco more than two decades ago has helped produce a great travel experience. We’re sad to leave, but at least we’ve discovered an essential and surprising stopover to break the next long journey to Europe. W www.zighybay.com

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E X P E R I E N C E YO U R WO R L D The world is a treasure trove of hidden wonders, and with Oceania Cruises they are brought to you only as we can. With a flair for elegant interiors amid masterpiece art, gourmet cuisine, opulent accommodation and impeccable service, our ships are perfectly sized to visit small boutique ports and hidden harbours. Our itineraries feature many overnight stays as well as departures later in the evenings to encourage unhurried, in-depth exploration. Reserve the holiday of your dreams today and explore Your World. Your Way®.

T h i s i s a di s tinctly di f f erent s tyle o f crui s in g .

This is Oce ania Cruises.

Discover

AFRICA • ALASKA • Asia • Australia • canada • Caribbean • EUROPE • South America • South Pacific

POINTS OF DISTINC TION n Elegant mid-size ships catering to just 684 or 1,250 n Country club-casual ambiance; tuxedos and gowns never required

Finest cuisine at sea served in a variety of open seated restaurants, at no additional charge n

n Port-intensive itineraries featuring extend and overnight stays n

Extraordinarily high staff-to-guest ratio

n FREE soft drinks, bottled water, espresso, teas and juices n

FREE 24 hour room service

B E S T VA LU E I N LU X U RY C RUISI N G

For a brochure call 0800 CRUISE (278 473) To book please contact your travel agent OceaniaCruises.com

Aeurope Taste of

When Don Hope attended the steel-cutting ceremony for a new luxury cruise liner in Italy in 2008, he was determined to one day become a passenger on that ship. So it was that he and wife Debra recently joined M/S Marina on a culinary cruise to Rome…

From top: Vista Suite, typical of Marina’s cool, clean spaces; Waves Grill – a lunchtime favourite; baristas served excellent coffee, pastries and homemade biscotti; sun loungers for couples on the Canyon Ranch Spa Deck.

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hen Frank Del Rio started Oceania Cruises with Joe Watters in 2003, the passionate foodie had a vision: “We wanted to shake things up and do food in a way that no one else really has,” the Oceania chairman and CEO says today.

“We decided that the only real way to get the best was to truly do things differently. So we put a stake in the ground. We decided to actually budget more per guest for food than any other cruise company. Some spend that money on stage shows and dancing girls. We put it on the plate. We want the food to be the show, and the dining experience to be the entertainment.”

Having recently returned from a “Taste of Europe” cruise aboard Oceania’s beautiful liner Marina with world-renowned celebrity chef Jacques Pépin at the culinary helm, my wife Debra and I can only offer up a heartfelt “Thank you, Frank!”

This was not our first Oceania experience, nor my first encounter with Mr Del Rio. We’d taken an Oceania cruise in 2008 – Rome to Barcelona aboard Insignia – and it was brilliant. But the real highlight of that trip came mid-cruise, a personal invitation from Frank Del Rio to join him and a select group of 20 others on a visit to Italian shipbuilders Fincantieri at its Sesti Ponente yard outside Genoa. The reason: to

witness the “steel-cutting” ceremony that would set in motion construction of M/S Marina.

In March the previous year Frank had announced a US$1billion order for two elegant mid-sized ships. The first, Marina, would be launched in 2011 and the second, Riviera, in the first half of 2012. The Genoa visit was fascinating. Apart from the tour of the shipbuilding facility and all the day’s lavish celebrations, we were given the opportunity to visit two model cabins designed with the new ships in mind. Frank invited us to comment on everything from wardrobe space and placement to the exact positioning of the flat-screen TVs while he jotted down our opinions. “This is what you call listening to your customers,” I thought at the time.

We returned to Insignia at Portofino mid-afternoon. Frank was in a great mood, deservedly so, as this was his big day.

But I wasn’t prepared for the next invitation: to one day take a cruise on Marina, the ship that would rise from that day’s steel-cutting process. It didn’t take long for me to shake Frank’s hand and say, “What a great idea!”

Unfortunately we couldn’t make Marina’s inaugural voyage in 2011, but we determined that, as soon as we were able, we would sail on the ship we’d seen being born. And so it was that we were now boarding Marina in Dover, bound for Rome

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Above: Marina’s Pool Deck, beautiful by day, enchanting by night.

Below: Honfleur, France, our first port of call.

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and a “Taste of Europe” cruise. Ahead of us: 16 days filled with sun, sea, sublime food and drink, luxurious accommodation, service that verged on extra-sensory perception, wonderful ports of call and other pleasures you might expect from a five-star cruise.

It was quite a moment, my first glimpse of this beautiful white 65,000-tonne liner, its decks rising like the tiers of a wedding cake above the wharf. The ship I’d last seen as a blueprint. The ship described by Frank Del Rio as “the most beautiful, sophisticated and stylish ship launched in the modern era of cruising”.

Spookily, the departure date was not only my birthday but also our wedding anniversary and that night we booked into one of Marina’s specialty restaurants, Jacques, to celebrate.

And what a night it proved to be (word of warning: go easy on the pre-dinner Pear Martinis in the Casino Bar).

After our Emirates flight from Auckland via Dubai, we’d spent a couple of nights in London at what is surely one of the greatest hotels in the world, The Savoy. It was a nice way to recover from the long flight and to prepare us for the opulent delights ahead.

One of the nicest things about cruising is the lack of hassle – no airports to negotiate, no traffic delays, no packing and unpacking for the next 16 days – a fact that was brought home to us during boarding at Dover: within 20 minutes of arriving shipside we were in our stateroom and our luggage followed within the hour.

Awaiting us inside our Concierge Veranda Stateroom on Deck 10 was a cold bottle of Champagne Jacquart and an elegant birthday/anniversary cake. If this was a sample of what was to come we were in for a great holiday. The suite also contained an incredibly comfortable bed, elegant furniture, an LCD flat-screen TV, wireless laptop computer and a marble-and-granite bathroom with full-sized tub and Bulgari toiletries. Outside, looking down on the ocean, was a private veranda furnished with plush sun loungers.

Marina slipped out of Dover at six o’clock sharp, the white cliffs quickly disappearing into a grey English murk. Ahead of us, we knew, were sunnier climes: Honfleur, St Malo, Concarneau, La Rochelle, Le Verdon and St Jean de Luz in

France; in Spain, Bilbao, La Coruna, Cadiz and Barcelona; Oporto in Portugal; Casablanca (Morocco); Monte Carlo; and, finally, in Italy, Livorno and Civitavecchia (Rome).

The itinerary was printed in that day’s onboard newspaper, Currents, and we soon learnt the value of tuning in daily to a couple of TV channels devoted to shore excursions and daily updates on activities by cruise director David Shermet. Our Concierge Level stateroom also gave us access to the lounge one deck below where a concierge was always available to help with anything from organising a private onboard party to suggesting best dining spots in each port.

It takes a while to settle into the routine of shipboard life.

There’s the layout of the ship to master, restaurants and bars to suss out, activities to tag, excursions to agonise over – until you realise none of it is life-or-death stuff and the whole purpose of your cruise is to relax and enjoy.

We reached that point on day four, when we anchored off Concarneau in northwestern France. One of the country’s largest fishing ports, it’s also famous for its medieval walled town – or Ville Close – that sits on an island in the centre of the harbour connected to the mainland by a drawbridge. We took the tender to shore and walked the old town, stopping for lunch at one the many small restaurants and ending the day with a superb meal in another of the ship’s specialty restaurants, Red Ginger.

Going ashore was always an adventure and we did so at every port except, disappointingly, Oporto, when dense fog prevented us from going in. Up to a dozen different themed excursions were available at every destination, but we mostly chose to strike out on our own. Clutching an excellent port guide from that day’s Currents, we were content to soak up the atmosphere of quaint ports or Moorish cities such as Cadiz and Seville. In Bilbao we visited the impressive Guggenheim Museum; in Barcelona we simply joined the local opentopped “Bus Turistic”, a hop-on, hop-off city tour that brought us to all the famous landmarks, including Gaudi’s unfinished masterpiece, La Sagrada Familia. In Monte Carlo we behaved like international jet-setters, with lunch at the Monaco Yacht Club and cocktails at the famous Hotel de Paris.

Of course, there was never a shortage of onboard activities.

Debra availed herself of the fabulous Canyon Ranch Spa; there was a book and DVD library; a superbly equipped gym; business and internet centre; top-class stage shows and outdoor movies by the pool; deck sports – including 18-hole mini golf – and a walking track; gaming in the casino; whiskey and martini tastings; cooking classes; enrichment lectures; dancing and deck parties; boutiques… you get the picture.

Each day a schedule of activities appeared in Currents for our consideration.

And then, of course, there was food and drink (this was, after all, a culinary cruise). The ship has six open-seating restaurants by Jacques Pépin: the French bistro-style Jacques, the first restaurant ever to bear Pépin’s name; the striking Red Ginger (Asian); the Polo Grill (think prime steaks and Maine lobster); Toscana (Tuscan); the sumptuous Grand Dining Room (Continental) and the informal Terrace Café (buffet).

The poolside Waves Grill was a favourite for lunch (I can recommend the Wagyu beef Kobe Burger).

For US$250 you could hire the outlandishly decorated Privée for the evening and enjoy a private dinner, with food from Toscana and Polo Grill, for up to eight people.

La Reserve by Wine Spectator was another exclusive oasis for bon vivants.

Wherever we ate onboard, our dining experiences were universally excellent, but a couple of meals were particularly memorable: Red Ginger’s Miso-glazed sea bass and the King cut 32oz prime rib (served bone-in, seasoned to perfection,

slow-roasted and served medium-rare) from the Polo Grill.

The Bon Appétit Culinary Centre, meanwhile, was billed as the only hands-on cooking school at sea. Run by expert master chefs such as Kathryn Kelly, a dozen different classes ranged from Inventive Appetizers and Desserts to A Traditional French Feast. This brilliant innovation was hugely popular amongst our fellow passengers.

It was pretty special, too, to rub shoulders with Maestro Pépin, whose presence on the cruise constantly underlined Oceania’s commitment to fine food. He was always available to passengers, holding cooking demonstrations and Q&A sessions in the lounge, conducting premium wine-tastings or signing copies of his numerous books, while his popular US cooking show was screened on TV. The cruise was almost over. Fittingly, our final shore excursion involved wine tasting in the Tuscan hills out of Livorno and we returned to the ship with olive oil and bottles of Rosé from the lovely little town of Lucca.

On the day before we docked at Civitavecchia I’d been strolling along Deck 14 and thinking that Frank Del Rio should be very proud of his cruise ship, when, lo and behold, I bumped into the man himself. I have no idea how long he’d been on board, but there he was, tape measure in hand, checking the height of the artworks in the passageway. He remembered me from Genoa and we chatted for a while. His parting words to me took me a moment to digest. “See you W on Riviera, Don.” Watch this space.

Clockwise, from above left: Private dining in the opulent Privée room; master chef Jacques Pépin, Oceania’s executive culinary director; Red Ginger Asian restaurant; The Grand Dining Room; handson learning at Bon Appétit Culinary Centre.

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Hotel

Caruso

belvedere

Italian splendour – and the ghosts of Garbo and Bogart – distinguish this gorgeous retreat high above Italy’s stunning Amalfi coast.

By Patrick Smith.

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hen Greta (“I vont to be alone”) Garbo was fleeing from her legions of movie fans and the paparazzi in the 1930s, she took refuge in Ravello, an ancient, picturesque village perched 350 metres above the Mediterranean’s Amalfi coast. But when word got out that the enigmatic star was hiding out in the village, open season was declared and soon every beautiful woman in sunglasses became a target for the press hounds.

It was Garbo’s friend, Nina Caruso, then owner of the Hotel Caruso, who sent the paparazzi on a wild goose chase, allowing Greta to relax in peace with her anonymity intact.

Ravello and the Caruso have attracted many great names over the years, from Wagner and King Farouk to Humphrey Bogart, Jackie Kennedy Onassis and Dustin Hoffman. Writers such as Virginia Woolf and Graham Green found their muses here. Gore Vidal, brought to Ravello for the first time by Tennessee Williams, wrote Myra Breckinridge while staying in room 9 of the Caruso – and went on to make Ravello his home for the next 30 years.

Ravello is among a number of resorts along one of Europe’s most delightful stretches of coast; Sorrento, Amalfi and Positano are three of the other gems that have long attracted the beautiful set or those in the know. And chez Caruso has enchanted visitors ever since Pantaleone Caruso and his wife rented five rooms in a wing of the Marquis D’Afflitto’s 11th-century palace and opened the Pensione Belvedere in 1893.

The pensione became famous in America after a journalist wrote about his Orient-Express, which bought the Caruso Ravello in 1999, spent six years and US$30 million on its refurbishment. Today, elements of the 800-year-old palace sit beside modern additions such as the glorious infinity pool.

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Top: Panoramic heated infinity swimming pool. Above: A Deluxe Junior Suite, which is believed to have been an Arabian-inspired bathroom. Opposite page, left to right: Aerial view of Ravello; “Pezzogna”, local rock fish stewed with water, cherry tomatoes and basil.

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1903 stay there in the New York Times. Soon afterwards the five rooms became 24, occupying the entire palazzo and the Hotel Caruso Belvedere was born.

In 1999 the Caruso family sold the hotel to Orient-Express, which spent six years and some US$30 million on its meticulous refurbishment, incorporating elements of the original 800-year-old palace as it went along.

The Hotel Caruso Ravello finally opened in June 2005 to great acclaim, including being named among the authoritative Robb Report’s Best of the Best luxury hotels for 2006. Little wonder – with this elegant meeting of ancient and modern, breathtaking views, a stunning infinity pool disappearing towards the clifftop and with most of its 52 guest rooms and suites looking out from private terraces to the Gulf of Salerno, why wouldn’t it create a stir?

The hotel exudes a sense of refined elegance. Each of its spacious rooms and suites has its own unique style, furnished with pieces made especially for the Hotel Caruso and reflecting Neapolitan grace and tradition. Modern amenities include air conditioning and broadband internet, satellite TV and DVD. As well as their terraces and sea views, many of the rooms have private gardens. In-room spa treatments are also available from 9am to 8pm daily and there’s an outdoor fitness centre.

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Above: The terrace of Belvedere Restaurant, where traditional Neapolitan and regional Italian dishes are speciality.

Left: The Arcade Bar is the place to enjoy an aperitif and stunning views.

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From its shaded collonades and cascading lawns to the stunning setting of its cliffside restaurant, the Belvedere is a work of art that speaks to the history and tradition of the original palazzo and the village in which it lies. The ceiling of the first-floor Cocktail and Piano Bar, for example, is decorated with 18th-century frescoes.

Dining at the Belvedere is under the care of executive chef Mimmo di Raffaele, who gives a contemporary twist to time-honoured recipes from Naples and southern Italy. His domain is the beautiful Belvedere Restaurant with its magical dining terrace, and the elegant Caruso, the place to be during “inclement” weather. The Pool Bar serves light lunches and traditional Neapolitan wood-fired pizzas.

Outside the Caruso’s grounds is Ravello, with its winding cobblestone streets, its 11th-century cathedral and lovely Piazza Duomo, its old-fashioned trattoria and small, chic boutiques. The 13th-century Villa Rufolo boasts immaculate ornamental gardens and breathtaking views from a huge terrace – a scene only rivalled by that at the Villa Cimbrone, whose gardens have been described as the “terrace of infinity”.

Amalfi is 7km away, Sorrento 50km and Positano 18km. It’s 28km to the fabulous ruins of Pompeii and 64km to the centre of Naples.

You can catch ferries to the mythical islands of Capri and Ischia W from Amalfi or Sorrento. www.hotelcaruso.com

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Bang & Olufsen Auckland, 35 Teed Street Newmarket 1023

A moving experience

There’s something about a train journey that captures the imagination and offers a unique sense of adventure.

The Canadian Rocky Mountaineer trundles its way into a tunnel in British Columbia.

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all us old-fashioned, but travel by air or road just doesn’t deliver the same romantic thrill as a classic rail journey. Choose the right train today and you’ll travel in comfort and style through some of the world’s most compelling landscapes. Whether from the observation car of the Hiram Bingham, the piano bar of the

Orient-Express or a suite on the Royal Scotsman, we experience places in an altogether different way.

The stewards in their fine uniforms are poised now, ready to escort us to our cabin. The whistle is sounding.

The train is moving and picking up speed as it pulls away from the station.

We are off...

Rocky Mountaineer

British Columbia must offer one of the most beautiful landscapes on the planet. One of the best ways of seeing it is by any of the four Rocky Mountaineer trains.

The Whistler Mountaineer Sea to Sky Climb departs North Station, Vancouver, at 7.40am Thursday to Monday and arrives in Whistler at 11.30am. It departs again for Vancouver at 3.10pm, allowing more than enough time for a stroll through the ski village and lunch – you’ll be back in Vancouver in time for dinner.

Onboard meals are included, but food is not the attraction in this case as much as the extraordinary landscape the train passes through. Snow-capped mountain peaks, swift rivers and dramatic waterfalls, Howe Sound and the Cheakamus Canyon leave you yearning for more.

The Whistler Mountaineer’s Kicking Horse route runs from

Vancouver to Calgary through Kamloops, Lake Louise and Banff. The train passes through the Fraser River Canyon with its hair-raising drops of 600 metres or more, and Hell’s Gate, a sliver of a mountain passage named for the powerful rush of water through the gap. The train stops for the night at Kamloops, where the Fraser and Thompson rivers merge.

The Yellowhead route between Vancouver and Jasper also stops at Kamloops but then swings north past soaring Mount Robson – the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies.

The observation car is the perfect place to be as the train rolls by the Albreda Glacier, Pyramid Falls and into Jasper National Park. The Rainforest to Gold Rush route between Whistler and Jasper rolls farther north still, stopping overnight at the historic gold-rush town of Quesnel. www.rockymountaineer.com

Seat-to-ceiling windows give all passengers on The Rocky Mountaineer the very best views of British Columbia’s spectacular alpine landscape.

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Venice Simplon-Orient-Express

Orient-express chefs buy only the freshest ingredients.

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It is perhaps the most famous train journey in the world, for only here is it possible to imagine yourself living in a novel by Agatha Christie or a Graham Greene.

And, as one British reporter wrote, this train is a “magical medley of relaxation, luxury, wonderful food and fine wines”.

The Orient Express was fired up in 1883 and steamed between Paris and Constantinople (now Istanbul).

Today, the most common route for the Venice SimplonOrient-Express is between London and Venice, over two nights and in the grand, polished art deco style the train has become famous for ever since American James Sherwood spent five years and millions of dollars restoring its collection of wagons-lit (sleeping cars) he had bought at auction.

The current train of 18 carriages, including three restaurants, was re-launched in 1982. Immaculately polished brass and wood panels, white-jacketed stewards who convert each cabin into a comfortable bedroom at night, a sumptuous five-course meal and an after-dinner drink at the bar are enough to leave women feeling adventurous and men seeing James Bond in the gilt-framed mirrors.

Step onto the observation deck after dark and you might see the ghost of Marlene Dietrich, a vodka martini in one hand and a cigarette in the other – even though smoking anywhere on the train is now verboten.

London-Venice/Venice-London remains the classic route, but for readers looking for something different, the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express also has a trip from Istanbul to Venice: five nights including an overnight and tour of Bucharest and Budapest and a day tour of Vienna before arriving in Venice on the morning of the sixth day. www.orient-express.com

Eastern & Oriental Express

You wouldn’t recognise it today but this luxury train once ran in New Zealand – as the Silver Star. Gerard Gallet, the man who oversaw the splendid refurbishment on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, revamped these carriages for the main trunk line of the Eastern & Oriental Express, between Singapore and Bangkok and the inaugural journey took place in September 1993.

The three-night itinerary commonly includes a stop at Penang, where passengers disembark for a tour of colonial Georgetown. More sobering, the train also stops at Kanachanaburi, site of the River Kawai Bridge, from where guests are guided down the river on rafts to a museum telling the dark story of the 13,000 Allied prisoners of the Japanese and 80,000 Thai civilians who died building the bridge.

The Eastern & Oriental Singapore to Bangkok route may

be the most popular one, but an increasing number of aficionados are taking a new route between Bangkok and the Laotian capital of Vientiane. But no matter: the quality of service remains the same. Thirty Superior Cabins, 28 State Cabins and a Presidential Cabin with a complimentary bar beautifully complement two dining cars and an open-air observation deck – the perfect place for coffee and scones at sunrise and a drink before dinner at sunset. All cabins are air conditioned and come with a private shower and WC. Breakfast is cabin service; lunch and dinner are taken in the dining cars. Like all Orient-Express trains, this one prides itself on its cuisine, made from the freshest ingredients and prepared onboard by highly accomplished chefs. The menu is a selection of Asian and European dishes. Gentlemen, a jacket and tie for dinner, please! www.orient-express.com

The best of Southeast Asia can be experienced from the comfort of the Eastern & Oriental Express.

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Royal Scotsman

Once limited to journeys through Scotland, the Royal Scotsman now winds its way through England, too.

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Tartan-covered sofas and chairs, polished brass, mahogany panelling, white linen, silver service and an altogether Edwardian style make the Royal Scotsman, a sibling of the Venice SimplonOrient-Express, like no other train in the world. The Royal Scotsman departs Edinburgh’s Waverley station. Routes vary from two nights to four; from the east coast of Scotland through Dundee and Aberdeen, to the west coast with stops at Loch Lomond, Fort William and Mallaig. The original four-night route through the Highlands remains as popular as ever.

You can also see a good slice of the rest of the UK on the sevennight trip called the Grand Tour of Great Britain. The route circles north to Inverness with stops at the lovely Highland village of Boat of Garten and the Rothiemurchus estate, where guests can try their hand at clay-pigeon shooting, then loops back south to England, where a stop at Lakes District National Park and a walking tour of historic Chester are among the off-track excursions. The journey continues to Wales for a visit to the Gwydir Castle and back to England for guided tours of Hereford and Bath. The route continues on from there to Oxford, Cambridge, York and Scarborough before returning to Edinburgh.

The Royal Scotsman takes just 36 passengers in 16 twin and four single cabins, each with private toilet and bath facilities. Unlike most other trains, the Scotsman travels only during the day, berthing at night so all on board might have the best possible sleep. Highland venison, local salmon and scallops and haggis (of course) are among the most popular items on the menu at the two onboard restaurants.

The train carries an extensive wine list, although single-malt whisky might be more appropriate at times. www.royalscotsman.com

The Ghan Named for Afghan camel drivers who aided the exploration of the Outback in the 19th century, the Ghan began running between Adelaide and Alice Springs in 1929. That original narrow-gauge track was replaced in 1980 by a wider track and in 2004 the track was extended to Darwin.

The Ghan has become one of the most noteworthy train journeys in the world because unless you’re very fond of camels it’s the best way to experience the reality of the Aussie Outback. The Platinum Class cabins, introduced in 2009, are spacious, with a double bed, en suite bathroom and 24-hour cabin service. Meals, included in the fare, can be taken in the cabin, unlike the Gold Class, for example, where passengers dine in a dedicated restaurant car, or the Red Class, where meals are not included in the fare.

World readers should inquire about Great Southern Rail’s four private carriages, which can accommodate between six and 10 people overnight, depending on the carriage, and up to 30 for a private function, one way or return.

The Ghan rolls between Adelaide and Darwin every Sunday and on Wednesdays between June and August, stopping at Alice Springs along the way. Passengers typically use the three-hour stop there for a tour of the town or shopping. Other off-track excursions include a quadbike tour of the Outback and an exploration of the Katherine River Gorge, either by boat or helicopter.

The Ghan is one of four trains operated by Great Southern Rail.

The Indian Pacific runs between Sydney and Perth with a stopover in Adelaide; the Overland links Adelaide to Melbourne; and the Southern Spirit operates between Brisbane and Uluru (Ayers Rock). Private carriages are available on all routes. www.gsr.com.au Australia’s most famous train, The Ghan, runs between Adelaide and Darwin twice a week with a stop at Alice Springs along the way.

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Pride of Africa

Steaming between Pretoria and Capetown, the Pride of Africa is one of the best ways to see the best of South Africa.

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Operated by Rovos Rail, the Pride of Africa is not one train but a choice of trains and routes originating in Capetown or Pretoria and branching out in different directions through the heart of southern Africa.

Rovos Rail is named for its founder, Rohan Vos, a steam train aficionado who got his first train up and running in 1989. Today his six reconditioned engines pull plush Victorian-styled carriages that are altogether known as the Pride of Africa. Each train carries 72 passengers in 36 suites.

Four Royal Suites are air conditioned and include a shower and bath. The Deluxe Suites have a lounge and private shower but no bath, while the new class of Pullman Suite is a comfortable private cabin during the day and two pulldown bunks at night.

The Pride of Africa links all the major regions of southern Africa, from Capetown to Pretoria and on up to the Zambezi River and Victoria Falls, north through Zambia as far as Dar Es Salaam. One route, for example, runs from Pretoria to Capetown with stops at Kruger National Park, Durban, Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth. The “golf safari� combines five rounds of golf with visits to game preserves.

One of the longest journeys, Capetown to Dar Es Salaam, is a 13-night trip. It includes stops at the Kimberley diamond mine, a city tour of Pretoria, two nights at Kruger National Park, a night at Victoria Falls, the Rift Valley and Selous Game Reserve, before arriving in the capital of Tanzania.

Pride of Africa fares include all main meals and off-board excursions, all alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, 24-hour cabin service and laundry. www.rovos.com

Hiram Bingham

Hiram Bingham (1875-1956) was a professor of archaeology at Yale whom some claim was the model for the movie character Indiana Jones. Bingham led an expedition to Peru and found the famed Inca ruins at Machu Picchu – although some claim he wasn’t the first.

But it was Professor Bingham who brought Machu Picchu to public attention when he wrote, in his best-selling Lost City of the Incas, “I know of no place in the world which can compare with it.

Not only has it great snow peaks looming above the clouds more than two miles overhead, gigantic precipices of many-coloured granite rising sheer for thousands of feet above the foaming, glistening, roaring rapids. It also has, in striking contrast, orchids and tree ferns, the delectable beauty of luxurious vegetation and the mysterious witchery of the jungle.”

Bingham may not have discovered Machu Picchu but there’s no doubt he’s the man the train was named after.

It’s possible to hike up to Machu Picchu if you fancy four or five nights camping in the Andean foothills. But for now, our ticket is a comfortable seat and fine food on the Hiram Bingham train from Cusco. We’ll overnight at Sanctuary Lodge, close to the famous ruins, and then take the train back to Cusco next day.

The Hiram Bingham carries up to 84 passengers, who dine in one of two restaurants. The observation car doubles as the bar, which is open from the time the train departs Cusco at 9am every day but Sunday. It’s a day trip, with brunch and dinner on the train, arriving back in Cusco around 9:30pm, or you can overnight at Sanctuary Lodge. The Lodge has two suites and 29 rooms, 12 with mountain views, and two restaurants. It is the only hotel at the top of the mountain a short walk from the ruins. www.perurail.com; www.orient-express.com W

The Hiram Bingham takes its passengers up to one of the world’s most captivating sites: the Inca ruins at Machu Picchu.

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concierge A WORLD of exceptional accommodation.

Taj Lake Palace – voted one of the most romantic hotels in India.

tAj lAKe pAlAce, UdAipUr, indiA

This must surely be among the most romantic hotels on earth.

Seeming to float like a great white ship in the middle of Pichola Lake and only accessible by canopied barge, the Lake Palace, or Jag Niwas, was built in 1754 by Maharana Jagat Singh II and was the summer palace of the rulers of Mewar for 200 years.

A fabulous white-marble confection of elegant courtyards and pavilions and elaborately decorated apartments looking out over the lake or down into formal lawns, ponds and fountains, the palace is now one of Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces’ flagship properties.

Each of its 66 guest rooms and 17 elegant suites recall the era of royal Rajasthan (though with 21st-century amenities). The Chandra Prakash Suite, for example, still contains the decorative gilt mouldings, marble columns and fine fretwork screens that so

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impressed the Maharaja who held court there in the 1930s.

The hotel, a member of Leading Hotels of the World, serves superb Indian, Asian and Mediterranean cuisine in a number of atmospheric settings – perhaps the most stunning of which is the rooftop Bhairo restaurant, which looks across the lake to the lights of the vast City Palace.

Taj’s Jiva Spa offers a menu of Indian-themed treatments, therapies and rituals. For a truly memorable experience, the Jiva Spa Boat provides spa treatments afloat on the lake.

Beyond the Lake Palace’s cool and opulent interior is a rich world of Rajasthani arts and architecture, history and exotic sights. A sunset boat ride to a nearby island palace, Jag Mandir, is a highlight. www.tajhotels.com

Fit for a maharaja: A former summer palace of Mewar royalty, Taj Lake Palace hotel is a romantic confection of white marble surrounded by the waters of Pichola Lake.

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Amangiri, Utah, United States The Tattler Travel Awards described this Aman Resort as the “ultimate escape” and if you take a look at the photos on its website you’ll see why. Is there a more stunning desert hotel in the world? It’s hard to imagine, because this 34-suite resort and acclaimed spa was designed to blend seamlessly into its hostile landscape.

Located in southern Utah, in the Four Corners region, where the states of Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado meet, Amangiri is consistently rated as one of the best resorts/retreats/escapes in the world, not only for its location but for its food and its spa (which spa commonly ranks among the top five in the US). Wellness is an integral part of any stay here. Full Moon Yoga, for example, is an evening spent holding your positions on a 165 million-year-old mesa in darkness but for the light of the moon.

Who hasn’t seen a classic western film starring John Wayne riding his mount heroically through Monument Valley? Who hasn’t yet been to the Grand Canyon? Amangiri lies between both and a dozen other state and national parks devoted to preserving natural formations hundreds of millions of years old.

Dinosaurs roamed here…

The nearest airport is at Page, Arizona, about 25 minutes away. It serves Great Lakes Airlines from Denver, Phoenix or Las Vegas. It’s also from there where guests depart for scenic flights of the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Lake Powell and other iconic sites in the region. www.amanresorts.com

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Designed to blend into its desert mesa backdrop, the 34-suite resort has been called the ‘ultimate escape’.

The Governor’s Residence, Yangon, Myanmar The stories of Somerset Maugham come alive in the setting of this colonial teak mansion that harks back to a Burma of the 1920s. Now – fittingly – run by Orient-Express, The Governor’s Residence is a unique spot in Yangon’s (formerly Rangoon) Embassy Quarter and close to the fabulous golden Shwedagon Paya pagoda and other of the city’s major landmarks such as the sprawling Bogyoke Aung San Market.

The boutique hotel is set amongst leafy gardens and lily ponds and its broad verandas overlook a fan-shaped swimming pool. Inside are airy, teak-floored rooms where guests can sip cocktails beneath ceiling fans as lanterns are lit in the gardens outside.

There are three levels of accommodation, from coolly elegant rooms to one- and twobedroom suites overlooking a private lotus garden. Traditional spa treatments are available in-room.

The hotel’s Mandalay Restaurant serves local Myanmar cuisine and European dishes, while the aptly named Burmese Curry Table dishes up fragrant local curries from a charcoalheated buffet, along with fresh and spicy salads, ice-cold draught beer and Burmese tea. The open-air Mindon Lounge, meanwhile, is the place to spend a relaxing evening surrounded by night-scented gardens.

Or to make like a sahib, the Kipling Bar, named after the East’s most famous author, is a laid-back spot to recline and sample a signature cocktail or glass of wine.

See the hotel’s website for special inclusive packages. www.governorsresidence.com

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Harking back to the days of Rudyard Kipling and Somerset Maugham, The Governor’s Residence has a cool, colonial charm.

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Amanjiwo, Borobudur, Indonesia Amanjiwo translates as “peaceful soul”, and visiting souls may expect to find themselves well pacified after a stay at this bucolic retreat an hour’s drive from Yogykarta, Java’s cultural capital.

Flower girls from surrounding villages greet arriving guests and shower them with jasmine petals. Behind them is a circular limestone monolith – Amanjiwo’s central building – topped by a soaring rotunda. Inside, an airy lobby leads to the Rotunda Bar, with the Dining Room and open-air terrace beyond. The colonnaded Dining Room, with its silver-leaf ceiling, teak floors and gold-leaf murals, has sweeping views out on to the Kedu Plain and Borobudur, the world’s largest Buddhist sanctuary.

Thirty-six limestone suites fan out from the main building, 15 of which have private pools. All suites include a bale, or pavilion, for daytime lounging or private dining. Suites are cool and regal, with four-pillared beds set on terrazzo platforms, wooden screens, Javanese textiles and

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antique glass paintings. Bathrooms are equally impressive and feature outdoor sunken tubs within walled gardens. Most imposing of all is the Dalem Jiwo Suite, set in its own compound with two freestanding bedroom pavilions, a grand entertainment rotunda, separate butler’s quarters and a 15-metre Javanese-stone swimming pool.

Elsewhere, a 40m-long pool, with limestone steps and columns forming an amphitheatre behind, looks out to paddies and volcanic peaks, while the Pool Club serves up drinks, snacks and light lunches. A couple of tennis courts sit behind stone walls, but for less active relaxation the Spa Suite offers Javanese and traditional treatments.

Away from the resort, the treasures of Central Java await – many of Asia’s oldest and most important monuments are easily accessible from Amanjiwo – along with walking, golf, shopping, morning markets and village culture. www.amanresorts.com

Away from the supreme comfort of Amanjiwo, the treasures of Central Java await guests’ discovery.

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Kempinski Hotel Barbaros Bay, Turkey Barbaros Bay is an idyllic spot 14 kilometres from the ancient city of Bodrum on Turkey’s southwest Aegean coast. Here, the Kempinski hovers above its own private beach, a whitewalled complex of guest rooms, terraces and funky domes facing the sea across a vast blue infinity pool.

The Kempinski wins a host of awards each year, this year being named Most Excellent Destination Hotel in Europe and the Mediterranean by Condé Nast Johansens. Its location helps, combining the pleasures of beach and sea with its proximity to Bodrum, with its Crusader castle and one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the famous Mausoleum of Mausolus. The Greek island of Kos is a 40-minute ferry ride away.

Also named Best Luxury Resort Spa in the World Luxury Spa Awards, its beautiful Six Senses Spa includes an indoor pool, whirlpool, Turkish bath, sauna and steam rooms and offers a long menu of body and beauty treatments.

The Kempinsky’s 149 guest rooms and 24 suites all feature cool, understated décor designed to complement the view through floor-to-ceiling windows and all have terraces or balconies overlooking the sea.

Dining options include the Turkish/Mediterranean Olives Restaurant, the Asia-Pacific Rim Saigon Club and La Luce, which specialises in traditional Italian fare. At Barbarossa Beach and Seafood, meanwhile, you can watch your catch of the day grilled as you dangle your feet in the sea. Kids can pick over their own buffet at Pirates of Barbarossa.

All kinds of water sports are on the Kempinski activities menu and there are sailing classes and a dive school. The resort’s classic motor yacht ferries guests to Bodrum and offers private dinner cruises. www.kempinski.com

The Kempinsky combines the pleasures of a great hotel with sun, sea and the ancient wonders of nearby Bodrum.

Hotel Salto Chico, Patagonia, Chile Make your way to Santiago, from where you’ll connect with a four-hour flight south to Punta Arenas, the hub, if you like, of Chilean Patagonia.

There, a driver from the hotel will be waiting. After a five-hour road trip, you’ll finally arrive; but since the hotel accepts only bookings for a minimum three-night stay, there is no rush to drop your bags and rush off to explore what must rank as among the most dramatic landscapes on the planet.

Each of the 49 rooms here have picture-window views of the Paine Masif and its torres (or towers), as well as the adjacent Lake Pahoe and its bubbling waterfall. The hotel sits in the Torres del Paine National Park, with its dazzling mountains, glacier, rivers and lakes. Its exterior belies a

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beautiful, minimal interior composed of native timbers and Spanish-style rooms. There’s a set-menu restaurant and a bar.

The nearby spa includes a heated pool, Jacuzzis and treatment rooms, but the best of the action is really outdoors: the walking tracks, boat trips and horseback trails. And with that in mind, one of the regular activities here is sometimes referred to as “gaucho day” – for that is when guests are taken 50 kilometres down the road to meet and hang with genuine Patagonian cowboys. If it’s comfort together with remoteness you’re looking for, this is it. There’s no television or cellphone reception, so bring a book for those down-time moments. www.explora.com

Location, location: All of the Salto Chico’s 49 rooms have picturewindow views of the Paine Masif and its dramatic towers, Lake Pahoe and its impressive waterfall.

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Famed as the hang-out for foreign correspondents during the Vietnam War, the Caravelle is now rated the best hotel in Ho Chi Minh City.

Caravelle Hotel, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam This is the best hotel in Ho Chi Minh City. When it opened in 1959 it might have been the only hotel in the world with air conditioning and bullet-proof windows. Lying in the heart of the city on Lam Son Square and opposite the famed Opera House (circa 1897), the hotel is managed by John Gardner, a Kiwi who’s been working in Asia for some time. His personal stories (see the website) offer more information, but for now we note the hotel was the legendary hub for diplomats and journalists during the Vietnam War (or the American War in Vietnam as it’s referred to locally).

At the time, the Australian and New Zealand embassies were located here, too, so staff from those foreign offices no doubt spent time mixing with journalists and other internationals on the rooftop at Saigon Saigon Bar, as it is called today. The bar is Ho Chi Minh City’s most notable and may be the best place in town for a “beer with a view”. As John Gardner notes in one of his missives, the view from the bar down Dong Khoi Road includes the site of the famous “last helicopter” (the final evacuation of personnel from South Vietnam) photo from 1975.

The original 10-storey hotel was joined by a smart 24-storey tower in 1998 when the hotel was re-launched as the Caravelle. Following the last helicopter and the liberation of Saigon in 1975, the hotel was renamed the Doc Lap (Independence) Hotel. It became the Caravelle again with the opening of the new tower, giving it a total of 335 guest rooms with interiors that blend French and Vietnamese designs.

The hotel has six restaurants and bars. Its Kara Salon & Spa is the best in the city. This year the Caravelle was honoured with a Trip Advisor Traveller’s Choice Award. Check out special packages online. One of them, Opera Night, includes tickets to the show. www.caravellehotel.com

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Kasbah du Toubkal, Morocco

Run and staffed by Berbers, hospitality at unique Kasbah du Toubkal is of the traditional kind - with 21st-century comforts.

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Located 60 kilometres from Marrakech in the Toubkal National Park, this utterly unique hotel is more commonly referred to as a “Berber hospitality centre” because its management and staff are Berbers from the village below.

Once a feudal home, this Atlas Mountain retreat at the foot of Mt Jebel Toubkal, North Africa’s highest peak, was in ruins until it was discovered and subsequently restored by two Englishmen. But instead of managing it themselves, they wisely turned it over to local Berber tribesmen. We say “wisely” because who would know better than they about how to treat guests in the ways of Old Morocco?

This eco-lodge has won awards for its sustainable practices. Rates for its 14 en suite rooms and one three-bedroom family apartment include buffet-style breakfasts, picnic lunches for day treks and private candlelit dining at night. Such is the sophistication of Berber hospitality in the 21st century.

Take note: rooms cannot be booked. And after checking in at reception in the village, guests are required to make the short trek up the mountain either by foot or on a donkey. Consider it part of the adventure that makes Kasbah du Toubkal unique.

A portion of the hotel’s profits support local schools, sanitary and medical services, which is to say this retreat is not a business so much as an integral part of people’s lives: which may explain why the hospitality is consistently good. www.kasbahdutoubkal.com

Beauty inside and out, but the wildlife are the real stars of Ngorongoro Crater Lodge.

Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, Tanzania &Beyond (“and Beyond”) is a luxury experiential travel company operating more than 30 safari lodges and camps throughout southern Africa, including the Kruger and Serengeti National Parks. It’s been named Africa’s Leading Game Reserve Brand on multiple occasions in the World Travel Awards, so it’s safe to assume these people know what they’re doing when it comes to giving guests the best Africa has to offer: foremost, its wildlife.

From the airport at Nairobi, Kenya, guests typically catch a short connecting flight to Arusha, Tanzania, under an hour away. There they are greeted by a lodge chauffeur and though it’s about a two-hour drive to the lodge, cameras are already out and ready for action, because the entire region is home to more than 25,000 animals.

The lodge sits on the rim overlooking the crater – a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It includes three camps, two with 12 guest rooms and one with six, all with en suites and with panoramic views of the crater below. Of course, the food and overall personal service is five-star, but the real thrill – that experience of a lifetime – begins at dawn each day with the departure of Land Rovers for an all-day safari down to the crater floor. Game drives, as they are called, can be in groups or personalised: it’s up to you. What will you see? Don’t take it from us. Check out regular sightings posted on the website. www.andbeyond.com

High life: Fabulous views are guaranteed from atop the world’s tallest hotel, along with myriad restaurants and bars and every five-star amenity.

JW Marriott Marquis, Dubai Dubai has become a city of superlatives, so it shouldn’t surprise us that it now boasts the world’s tallest (though not highest) hotel. Spreading over two towers that rise from Dubai’s CBD, the 72-floor JW Marriott Marquis Hotel opened in November last year with 648 rooms and suites and some stunning views of the city, ocean and desert from its upper floors.

As you might expect, this is a high-tech zone and guest rooms and suites are fitted with latest technology: Wi-Fi, 46-inch LCD HD televisions, iPod stations and tablets that control room functions. Among the rewards of the two opulent Penthouse Suites are breathtaking city skyline views.

With 10 restaurants, the hotel offers a great array of dining options, from the casual Aqua Poolside Grill and Bar and breakfast/lunch venue Kitchen 6, through Thai, Indian, Japanese, international and French eateries to the Prime 68 steakhouse. Among its four bars and two lounges is the upmarket Vault, on the 71st and 72nd floors, which features a cigar lounge and stunning city views, especially at night.

Amenities include a spa and fitness centre and a large outdoor swimming pool.

The hotel, with its central CBD locations, appeals particularly to business visitors, but it’s handy, too, for the towering Burj Khalifa, gigantic Dubai Mall, Atlantic Waterpark and the Jumeirah Mosque. www.marriott.com

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SCAN ME

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For a brochure call 0800 CRUISE (278 473) Contact your travel agent or visit www.RSSC.com

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TASTE

AND WHIMSY Three cool and quirky guest residences created by The Country Trader founder Geoffrey Clark offer inspired accommodation for a long weekend in Sydney.

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f you’re in Sydney talking about interior design, chances are the name Geoffrey Clark will pop up. Clark’s reputation as an interiors “guru” or “tastemaker”, as he’s been described, stems from his work with The Country Trader, the extraordinary antique emporium on Young Street, Waterloo, he’s built up over 25 years.

The Country Trader specialises in “exceptional pieces based on their decorative quality and originality”. All pieces, its mission statement continues, must have an international value; a policy developed over a number of years, resulting in a collection “from the bizarre to the rare and collectable”.

Indeed, apart from the usual suspects like the Royal Botanic Gardens, the Opera House and a ferry across the harbour to Manly for lunch, a visit to The Country Trader might pass as one of Sydney’s “must-dos”. Now, Clark has now taken his approach to this remarkable retail collection and applied it to three guest residences in Darlinghurst.

As he told World: “Travel is a major part of my year and I am not a good tourist, preferring to immerse myself in a city and taste its flavour as a resident, not a guest. My experiences have been distilled to create The Guest Residences by The Country Trader. The secret is a beautifully balanced recipe full of comfort, luxury, calm, privacy

and sophistication in a brilliant location.”

Each residence is self-contained, with the amenities of a fivestar hotel suite but without the usual interruptions of overly conscientious staff. Your movements in and out are not registered with a front desk and while each residence is serviced twice weekly, guests are left to do what they like when they like, as if they were in their own home – albeit a home that’s more than likely a bit different.

The Grand Apartment This one-bedroom apartment on Surrey Street occupies an entire floor of a Victorian terrace house –the type you’ve always thought you might like to live in if you lived in Sydney. It’s lofty, with 4m-high ceilings, but even in winter the spaciousness turns cosy with the working fireplace. It is, of course, decorated with beautiful pieces from The Country Trader – Geoffrey Clark’s private collection, in fact – including a pair of Genovese crystal chandeliers, 19thcentury neo-classical plaster maquettes and contemporary art. A comfortable sitting room with feather-down sofas, 18th-century French armchairs and a dining table that once graced the floor of a casino in St. Tropez leads off into a plush, king-sized bedroom with Egyptian cotton bedding, silk curtains and roomy wardrobes.

Opposite: The spacious Grand Apartment, home-from-home living in a Victorian terrace house filled with beautiful pieces from the owner’s private collection. French doors open onto front and rear verandas.

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Floors throughout are overlaid with a collection of Persian and Afghan carpets. Other rooms include a laundry, a modern kitchen and bathroom stocked with eco-friendly products and a separate study complete with high-speed Wi-Fi. Local phone calls are complimentary. French doors open onto front and rear balconies: large outdoor living areas for relaxed summer evenings with sweeping city views.

The Boutique Apartment Occupying the top floor of the same Victorian house, this onebedroom apartment was inspired by the colour of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, decorated in a deep grey that forms an elegant backdrop to a collection of architectural objets and curiosities. A feather-down sofa, a chair from Timbuktu and a collection of parts from a 19th-century carousel mounted in a whimsical assemblage on the lounge room walls reflect the rare and bizarre nature of The Country Trader collection. The king-sized bedroom is entered through a 17th-century Italian doorway. A small study affords a view of historic Paddington, while for guests who prefer cooking for themselves, a sleek stainless-steel kitchen features large windows that open onto a loggia-style outdoor terrace. Floors are covered in soft carpet and, again, a working fireplace makes this apartment cosy and intimate on winter nights.

Top: The Boutique.

Left and right: The Contemporary.

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The Contemporary House Separate from its two siblings, this residence is tucked away around the corner in a quiet cul-de-sac at the end of Little West Street. It’s a freestanding one-bedroom townhouse with indooroutdoor living. On the terrace you’ll find a rare French slate table from Savoie and an eclectic collection of African chairs and stools.

The sitting room’s mirror, from an antique ceiling from Japura, India, reflects the 18th-century walnut farm table below. If there is a single word to describe the interior of this townhouse it is “whimsical” – as expressed in the eccentricities that surround a plasma television and sound system, an antique cane shopmannequin and three Swedish birch-framed mirrors from the 1940s.

Limestone flooring imported from Bordeaux flows throughout.

The Guest Residences by The Country Trader are located in Darlinghurst, within easy walking distance of great cafés and restaurants or a five-minute cab ride into the heart of downtown.

Yet this tasteful triumvirate together form a quiet oasis removed from the madding crowd. Please note: the apartments and townhouse are designed for a maximum of two adults only and are not suitable for children. Pets are not allowed and, due to the location and staircases, there is no wheelchair access. Rates are based on a minimum three-night stay. W www.thecountrytrader.com.au

THE POWER

OF THREE

A striking new book captures the essence of a trio of elite properties in New Zealand, Fiji and South Africa.

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ew Zealand is world-famous as a trout fisher’s El Dorado and Huka Lodge is the country’s most celebrated fishing lodge. Located on the banks of the Waikato River near Taupo, the story of Huka Lodge begins in the 1920s with its founder, Alan Pye, who accommodated anglers in simple canvas-clad, wooden-framed huts. The property was further enhanced over the years and ultimately became the superior retreat it is today after Dutch-born entrepreneur Alex van Heeren bought it in 1984.

About that same time, van Heeren bought Dolphin Island in Fiji and in 2004 he completed his portfolio of three prized retreats with Grande Provence Estate in the heart of South Africa’s Western Cape wine region.

Now, as a tribute to the unparalleled success of all three, van Heeren has produced a 304-page coffee-table book rich with photographic images that capture the spirit of each property, together with every aspect of the guest experience: foremost, their style, sumptuous cuisine, fine wine and relaxed, comfortable ambience.

Left: Alex van Heeren fell in love with Taupo’s Huka Lodge the first time he saw it. He bought it in 1984 and has since added two more exclusive properties to the Huka Retreats portfolio.

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Huka Lodge, near Taupo, has evolved over almost 90 years from a simple fishing camp to one the world’s most famous and exclusive retreats.

Its riverside setting, however, has always been sensational.

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Worlds Apart: The Huka Retreats is published in association with Worldwide Leisure. Photos are by Geoff Mason, the foreword is written by the late Bryce Courtenay and there’s an introduction by Alex van Heeren himself in which he recalls the moment he first saw Huka Lodge in the early 1980s: “Not so long after our arrival, while standing on a footbridge over Huka Falls, I saw Huka Lodge for the first time. I cannot readily articulate just how the property held me in its grasp at that moment; however, it did – and still does today.”

In his foreword, Bryce Courtenay, perhaps best known as the author of the international bestseller The Power of One, writes: “While many have attempted to match Huka Lodge as a place away from the maddening crowd where you may forget the wearisome world for a few days, it remains a truly original experience you will hunger to revisit.” The writer did return, met Alex van Heeren and the two men became lifelong friends. Call it the Power of Place.

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Dolphin Island accommodates up to eight guests, who have exclusive use of this beautiful Fijian property.

Dolphin Island, Fiji, is a 30-minute boat ride from the northern coast of Viti Levu. It accommodates eight guests on an exclusive-use basis. Writes Courtenay: “Here, silvery tides and golden-kissed sunsets will effortlessly wash away the clatter of the stock markets and the chitter-chatter-bang-crash of everyday existence and transport you to a world where time seems to stand still and you reclaim each day as your very own.�

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Grande Provence Estate sits in the heart of Western Cape wine country. The Cape Dutch-style property been named ‘one of the 10 most fabulous villas in the world’.

Meanwhile, in South Africa, Grande Provence Estate, Franschhoek, lies amid 20 hectares of vineyards encircled by dramatic mountains in the heart of Western Cape wine country, less than an hour’s drive from Cape Town. French Huguenots were the first Europeans to settle here and the story of Grande Provence Estate begins with their arrival in the 17th century. Wine was being made here before the first Europeans arrived in New Zealand.

Today, the property’s distinctive Cape Dutch architecture and its award-winning wines and cuisine complement “one of the 10 most fabulous villas in the world”, according to Harper’s Bazaar. Bryce Courtenay describes the estate as “a quiet but supremely elegant place that will take you back in time; the very essence of tranquillity under a high, blue African sky”.

Worlds Apart: The Huka Retreats is a beautifully produced photographic essay on the three sister properties, their interiors and locales, their style and hospitality. Anyone who has ever stayed at a Huka Retreat, or may dream of one day doing so, willWfind this handsome book a rich source of inspiration. www.thehukaretreats.com

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I N T RO D U C I N G

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Email info@cavitco.com | www.cavitco.com

my world Dame Pieter Stewart: Serendipity

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f you had asked me at the age of 20 how I would see my future I would never have thought I would be described as a “fashion matriarch”. Or as “New Zealand’s first lady of fashion” – as I have read since receiving, in June last year, the honour of Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to fashion and the community. My view has always been that I have simply presented a platform for New Zealand fashion – and it’s those fashion designers who really know about fashion! Serendipity has been the story of my entire professional life as I’ve been approached to do something – often something I don’t know how to do – and decided to give it a go.

Marrying 44 years ago, I left Christchurch to become a Canterbury farmer’s wife and still live in the home where we raised our four children. The last few years have been fairly disruptive for everyone in Canterbury since 4 September, 2011, but our home has been rebuilt and my family is at the heart of everything I do. My three gorgeous granddaughters are a huge joy, and with my children scattered around the country I try to be in several places at once.

I was lucky to be able to spend 12 years at home with my children, with live-in help when my fourth was born. This enabled me to return to casual work in Christchurch, after doing volunteer work locally for charities such as Plunket, to begin tutoring modelling classes and coordinating fashion shows.

I had kept my hand in a bit by doing a couple of modelling jobs a year, and compering fashion shows was good pocket money for a country girl with a professional grooming regime.

One day my friend Paula Ryan asked if I would like to buy her model agency in Christchurch. I’d never considered anything like this and began the huge learning curve of running my own business. A few years later I was asked if I would like to join the team at Fashion Quarterly magazine, based in Christchurch.

This provided another valuable learning curve and the motivation to establish my own PR and event company, which coordinated the Corbans Fashion Collection and later the Wella Fashion Report on TVNZ. I harnessed the diverse strands of my experience in media, PR and events production to set up New Zealand Fashion Week as a company in 1999.

My aim was to increase New Zealand fashion exports and grow the profile of our designers nationally and internationally. Working from my heart and encouraged by a number of our top designers, I set about making it happen.

At no stage did I consider the scale of the event it would become, with more designers showing collections each year and PR value increasing from $1.9 million in 2000 to $60 million less than 10 years later. It’s a great and positive event with an incredible energy of its own, offering a platform for our fantastic New Zealand designers to show their forward season collections locally and to the world at large.

From my point of view, though, New Zealand Fashion Week is simply a small private company that has had to adapt to external factors like the Global Financial Crisis and the growth in online media to offer the very best platform for our designers to succeed. Its longevity is not just down to me but to the many amazing people that fortune has drawn to the event and whose experience and passion for fashion have W fuelled its success.

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Rolls-Royce Bespoke The sky’s the limit Like a luxurious private jet or superyacht, you don’t just buy a Rolls-Royce, you commission one. From the smallest detail to the boldest statement, there really is no limit to what can be achieved. So whatever you dream of to create your perfect Rolls-Royce, we’ll find a way to make it a reality.

Contact us to experience a car with endless possibilities; a car bespoke to you.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Auckland, 11-15 Great South Road, PO Box 9718, Newmarket, Auckland Tel: +64 9 969 3350 Fax: +64 9 969 3354 www.rolls-roycemotorcars-auckland.com © Copyright Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited 2012. The Rolls-Royce name and logo are registered trademarks.