Upfront
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE
Not-so-flying start BY
Amelia Lester
S
D R E A M D E S T I N AT I O N
Under Canvas ZION NATIONAL PARK, UTAH, USA
Bordered by dusty red bluffs and hardy desert vegetation, the Under Canvas group’s 66-tent luxury camp in Utah’s Zion National Park opened in 2017. Guests can immerse themselves in everything the park has to offer, from horse riding and canyoning to kayaking and hot-air ballooning. The lobby in the main tent has as its centrepiece a sunken biofuel fire pit. Surrounded by pillows made from vintage textiles, it’s the perfect place to rest legs weary from a long day’s hiking. Tatyana Leonov
STEPHANIE RUSSO; JAMES BRICKWOOD; ILLUSTRATION BY SIMON LETCH
E AT / D R I N K
The Duke of Clarence is positively Dickensian, with its library, claret punches and loud lads and lassies knocking back hand-pumped ale. Inspired by the taverns of 18th-century London, the Duke also offers this little charmer, the Celery & Nettle Fizz ($21). Using Dutch Rutte celery gin, distilled nettles, celery juice, egg white, soda and black pepper, it’s deliciously clean and green. Team with a scotch egg or fish-finger sandwich. There’s even a (very British) house curry. Jill Dupleix
THE DUKE OF CL ARENCE 152-156 CLARENCE STREET, SYDNEY THEDUKEOFCLARENCE.COM
YDNEY AIRPORT has announced that it received one million more passengers this year than it did last year, and that its profit increased 9 per cent over the same period, to almost $350 million. This is great news for shareholders in Sydney Airport Holdings, but let’s be clear: Sydney is not a good airport for international visitors. Perhaps it’s not too bad if you’re coming from the US, where most major airports seem built from mismatched demountables and, for a long time, the Delta terminal at New York’s John F. Kennedy International literally did not have a roof. (The canvas top was fun, in a glamping kind of way, until you realised that pigeons and roller suitcases don’t play well together.) But if you’re coming from many places in Asia, or Europe, Sydney Airport is a jarring way to begin an Australian sojourn. The experience starts with the insistence on pushing international arrivals through a duty-free shop before they even hit immigration. Most tourists to Australia are reeling from extremely long journeys. It’s possible they’re looking for a so-so deal on a twobottle pack of Bombay Sapphire, but isn’t it more likely they’re craving a quick cab ride and a nice lie down? Is there a tackier way of greeting a foreign visitor than aisles of surgically lit liquor? Then there’s passport control. People getting off long-haul flights are tired. This is why they need to be herded, like sheep with unusually swollen ankles, through clearly marked queues. Crowd control becomes all the more important when dealing with the completely predictable rush of early morning flights. Yet I’ve been there plenty of times when there’s been no guidance at all, just a mass of smelly humanity surging towards the booths, then those biometric passport machines which can’t quite process how unrecognisably horrible you look after 24 hours in seat 47B.
Would I like to be filmed for Border Security: Australia’s Front Line while looking my bleary-eyed best at baggage claim? Do I have a choice? (Admittedly, those signs haven’t been around in a while, but they always gave me a rude shock.) Hopefully you won’t need to transfer terminals. We don’t need those high-speed trains they have in many European airports, though that would be nice. But the bus – which “operates frequently” and requires Australian currency – is not up to much. The Sydney Airport website actually suggests a taxi as a way to get between terminals, for $17-$22 one way. Or you can use the privately owned train which runs on the Sydney Trains suburban network. Except there’s no dedicated compartment for oversized luggage. Hint for those travelling from the city to the airport: commuters love sharing their already limited space with your huge suitcases.
Sydney Airport is a jarring way to begin an Australian sojourn. This sounds cranky, but running an airport in this fashion is a lost opportunity. A great airport is a chance to prove what a country can be. Think Singapore’s fragrant vertical gardens and cushy recliners, almost reasons in themselves to make a stopover. Even a just-okay airport with some thoughtful touches – a play area for kids and pay-as-you-go showers, as at Seoul’s Incheon, or an abundance of $2 massage chairs, as in many Chinese airports – shows some appreciation for travellers who have come a long way and don’t have a fancy lounge to run to. I know Sydney Airport is very proud of its new luxury fashion precinct, but how about some improvements not designed to make even more money? How about being a little more generous, in the Australian way? n
GoodWeekend
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