ISSUE 43 AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2016
ISSUE 43 AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2016
Let’s Travel THE MAGAZINE FOR CORPORATE AND LEISURE TRAVELLERS
THE MAGAZINE FOR CORPORATE AND LEISURE TRAVELLERS
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The Golden Triangle INDIA | ABU DHABI Luxury stopover NEW ZEALAND’S Forgotten Journey | Downtown LOS ANGELES
from the editor
A
lmost eight years ago three of us sat down, over a few glasses of good red wine, and made a decision to publish “The Best Travel Magazine in NZ”. We took our time; we wanted to get it right…and 7 years this month Let’s Travel was born. 2009: Michael Jackson was still alive, along with many other great souls we have lost since then. Instagram had not even started; Facebook and Twitter were in their infancy and John Key had only just become New Zealand’s 38th Prime Minister. In a day and age where everything is “instant this” and “tweet that” it’s with a huge sense of privilege and pride that we at Let’s Travel magazine celebrate our 7th anniversary. Yes, we have also embraced Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in to our portfolio of marketing options, especially when we are travelling, but almost without exception the reaction from readers and advertisers alike is the quality of the product we produce is without peer in the New Zealand market. It’s also reassuring to see that the common symbol for a 7th anniversary is copper, and that copper has long had a traditional meaning of prosperity, good luck and good fortune. But of course the three of us could not have taken this journey alone…no way! We have a team of very capable and (many) award-winning travel writers who have graced these pages, but perhaps the ones that deserve the most recognition are the design team at Element Design who have been our designers since inception. We thank you all. Now, sit back, relax and enjoy the destinations in this issue that are as diverse as ever. From my trip to Nashville, Tennessee, to Tim Roxborogh’s first time exploration of Hawai’i and Mark Daffey’s journey through the Golden Triangle of India. Read about Shane Boocock’s Tahitian stopover and Deborah Dickson-Smith’s exploration of The Solomon Islands.
ISSUE 43 AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2016
ISSUE 43 AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2016
Live long and prosper
Let’s Travel THE MAGAZINE FOR CORPORATE AND LEISURE TRAVELLERS
THE MAGAZINE FOR CORPORATE AND LEISURE TRAVELLERS
Gary Dickson EDITOR-IN-CHIEF The Golden Triangle INDIA | ABU DHABI Luxury stopover NEW ZEALAND’S Forgotten Journey | Downtown LOS ANGELES
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Taj Mahal, Agra, india
“Successful people are the ones who are breaking the rules.” - Seth Godin (1960 - )
IFC www.letstravelmag.com From the Editor
T
M contents 20
5 BEYOND
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19 ASIA 35 NEW ZEALAND 47 AUSTRALIA 59 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 73 PACIFIC ISLANDS 89 BUSINESS SECTION
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M o A
2 www.letstravelmag.com Contents
*C is b dis cru ref be by as 20
Beyond Abu Dhabi 6 Europe - AP Touring 12 Paris 14
Abu Dhabi Sheikh Zayed Mosque
Destination Abu Dhabi
6 www.letstravelmag.com Beyond, Abu Dhabi
Destination Paris, France
fotolia.com
14 www.letstravelmag.com Beyond, Paris, France
Un Voyage Gourmand (A gourmet journey) Words and image by Gary Dickson
Beyond, Paris, France
www.letstravelmag.com 15
Asia China 20 India 24 Macao 30
Imperial Palace, Beijing, Juneau, China Alaska
Destination China
Beijing by foot Words and image by Tim Roxborogh
Forbidden City
20 www.letstravelmag.com Asia, China
New Zealand Central North Island 36 Auckland Zoo 40 The Langham, Auckland 43 Queenstown 44
Australia, Hamilton Island www.letstravelmag.com 35
Destination New Zealand
Our Forgotten World Words and images by Tim Roxborogh
36 www.letstravelmag.com New Zealand, Central North Island
Australia Christmas Island 48 Elements of Byron 52 Moonlit Sanctuary 56
Australia, Hamilton Island www.letstravelmag.com 47
Destination Victoria, Australia
Moonlit Sanctuary • • • •
The closest wildlife park to Melbourne to cuddle up to a koala A huge range of up-close encounters and famous lantern-lit tours Close to Melbourne’s CBD and on the way to Phillip Island Learn about protecting Australia’s endangered and threatened species
56 www.letstravelmag.com Australia, Victoria
United States of America L.A. Downtown 60 Hawai'i 64 Nashville 68
Destination Los Angeles, USA
Downtown L.A. Confidential By Shane Boocock
I
f you’re going to arrive at the Ritz Carlton in downtown Los Angeles, then make sure you do it in style…in a limousine. It was a first for me and a nod and a wink better than an UBER cab, which I had also never used, but it’s a mode of transportation that is never out of the headlines around the globe lately. The Ritz-Carlton hotel name, however, is more than synonymous with exceptional service, and sophisticated style and their downtown L.A. property fits that category perfectly. The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles at L.A. LIVE is located amidst the spectacular revitalisation of downtown, only steps away from the STAPLES Center, home of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball
60 www.letstravelmag.com U.S.A. Los Angeles
The Broad - Jeff Koons artwork
Destination Nashville, USA
Songs of the South Words and images by Gary Dickson
I
n 1953 a good looking young man, just 18 years old, walked in to Sun Records at 706 Union Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee to record a song…for $3.98 (his own money). It was noted in the recording studio’s log “Good ballad singer: Hold”. The song “My Happiness” didn’t exactly rock the socks off Sun’s
68 www.letstravelmag.com USA, Nashville
receptionist, Marion Keisker, (Sam Phillips wasn’t even present at the first recording) but a year later that was set to change when Elvis Presley recorded “That’s All Right (Mama)” while messing around with guitarist, Scotty Moore and double bass player, Bill Black. By early 1956 Phillips had signed over Elvis’s contract to one Colonel Tom Parker (for a record
breaking $40,000) and the rest, as they say, is history. Presley was now recording at RCA Victor records in Nashville, Tennessee. Today, the RCA Studio tour is only accessible through the purchase of a Platinum ticket at The Country Music Hall of Fame in Downtown Nashville. The one-hour trip, in an air-conditioned van, to
fotolia.com
what is now called Studio B, takes you back to the halcyon days of recording music. Days when Elvis was King (when wasn’t he?), days when the likes of The Everly Brothers, Dolly Parton and Charley Pride were just starting out. With recording maestro, Chet Atkins, behind the “desk” at RCA it’s no wonder these studios put out
more hits than you and I would ever remember. Elvis was renowned for his late night recording sessions, often not even starting until he had personally had a chat with everyone and his whole entourage had been fed (with pizza usually)…then he would warm his vocals up. He was adamant the best time for recording his voice
was between midnight and 5am. In fact, the original recording of “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” was done at RCA in one take…at 4am. This and many other stories make for an enthralling hour (should be longer) at Studio B. You can sit at the same piano Elvis and Fats Domino both played: stand on the recording studio’s “sweet spot” Nashville Skyline
USA, Nashville www.letstravelmag.com 69
Pacific Islands Tahiti 74 Solomon Islands 84
Australia, Hamilton Island www.letstravelmag.com 73
Destination Tahiti
Le Taha’a Island Resort and Spa By Shane Boocock
74 www.letstravelmag.com Pacific Islands, Tahiti
Business Section Abercrombie & Kent 90 Wrapt Weaving 96 Etihad Airways 9 8 Hotel Wyndham 1 02 Royal NZ Yacht Squadron 104 Camping 106 Contributors 110 New Products/Giveaways 112
Australia, Hamilton Island www.letstravelmag.com 89 New Caledonia
Abu Dhabi First Class lounge & spa Etihad Airways has officially opened its new flagship First Class Lounge & Spa at Abu Dhabi International Airport’s Terminal 3. The spectacular new space showcases the airline’s commitment to providing unparallelled and aspirational hospitality experiences.
Inspired by the world’s most prestigious hotels, private members’ clubs and fine dining establishments, the lounge is an ultra-exclusive lifestyle environment which tells the airline’s acclaimed guest experience and hospitality story with unrivalled design, style and comfort, world class dining, and bespoke beauty and relaxation services. The lounge features 16 unique zones designed to ensure that guests can relax, re-energise and be entertained in total luxury before boarding their flight. An à la carte restaurant, showcase bar, fitness room, cigar lounge, Six Senses Spa, Style & Shave hairdresser, nail bar, TV room, secluded relaxation room, prayer room and children’s play room ensure that all guests receive a highly personalised experience and intuitive service.
Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways’ Chief Executive Officer, said: “Our new First Class Lounge & Spa is the jewel in the crown of our new lounge offerings worldwide and represents the best of our home city of Abu Dhabi. It is a showcase of
98 www.letstravelmag.com Airline, Etihad Airways
intelligent product design, innovation and superlative hospitality and service. This is not just a lounge but the ultimate airline hospitality experience and one which perfectly mirrors Etihad Airways’ evolution into the best airline in the world.
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A WALKING TOUR OF MACAU
ON THE ROAD TO MOROCCO
EUROPEAN RIVER CRUISING
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Adventures in Hong Kong The splendour of Queenstown
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Captivating Cape Town
California Dreaming
Fun on the Gold Coast Hiking the Hump Southland
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Bula from Fiji
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ADVENTURES ON MAGNETIC ISLAND
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ADVENTURES IN BOTSWANA
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Street Walking In Santiago
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HONG KONG’S BEST RESTAURANTS
JOURNEYING THROUGH INDIA
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BOLIVIA’S HUSTLE AND BUSTLE
DISCOVER AUCKLAND’S WEST COAST
Classic Coromandel
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ESCAPE TO BRAZIL
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Shooting it up in Las Vegas
Thailand’s SOUTHERN JEWELS
TALOFA FROM Samoa
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WONDERS OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA
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DRIVING TROPICAL NORTH QUEENSLAND
THE NEW FACE OF
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Queensland’s Magical Isles
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SUNSHINE COAST GOLF FEATURE
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BIKING AROUND SCENIC NIUE
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GOLD COAST TRAVEL FEATURE
LIVE LIKE JAMES BOND IN THE UK
TEMPLE TOURS OF KOREA
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WILD ATTRACTIONS IN PORT DOUGLAS
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+ India + London + Cruising + Thailand + Queenstown + Makepeace Island
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MAD HATTERS OF ECUADOR
THE MYSTERY OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA
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Cover Change the top byline to – A mile high in - Denver – delete , Colorado Swap the 2nd and 3rd bylines over as 3rd one starts to blend with orange sunset
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Spiralling down the WAITOMO CAVES
The Arid Eden NAMIBIA
AUSTRALIA Taking care of Business Ten things to do in CAPE TOWN
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THAILAND
Her best secrets
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Europe’s Jewel MONACO
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ANAHEIM Family Fun TAHITI Luxury Cruising
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Jazz, Blues and Food
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LAKE TEKAPO Under the Stars Great Barrier Reef QUEENSLAND
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On Safari In NAMIBIA
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WAIHEKE ISLAND Top things to do
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A tasty time in TAIWAN
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TAIWAN Treasures
NEW CALEDONIA A French Paradise
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Monumental Milford Sound
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Bonjour AKAROA
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Koh Samui Revisited
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NORFOLK ISLAND Revisited
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BOLIVIA’S Heavenly Gate
Silversea Discovery
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Enter our Ultimate Anaheim Competition
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HONG KONG Havens
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Cruising TAHITI
Lions of INDIA
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AUCKLAND Kawau Island
Stunning SAMOA
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Bonjour NEW CALEDONIA
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NEW YORK The Big Apple
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Waitomo Underground California Wine Country
Riding on The Ghan
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Thailand’s Top 10 Resorts
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ISSUE 36 JUNE-JULY 2015
Castro’s Cuba
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A mile high in Denver
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Taupo Adventures
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Cycling in France
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London Calling
Hiking Switzerland
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An Insight into the Czech Republic
Oman Opulence
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South Africa’s Blue Train
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Germany’s Oktoberfest
Pacific Paradise Fiji
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Let’s Travel
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Cruising Antarctica
Rocky Mountain High U.S.A
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Walking in Memphis
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Luxury onboard Seabourn Cruises
Flavours of Oman
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Stewart Island’s Natural beauty
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Foodie Heaven in South Australia
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Let’s Travel Let’s Travel
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Let’s Travel Argentina’s Iguazu Falls
N 5 EDIVE TH IT RS IO AR N Y
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EVENTS
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CORPOR ATE
WEDDINGS
Whilst we can’t bring them all to you in one issue we can showcase them over the next few issues. Showing you what makes them tick, what makes them leave their families (sometimes for weeks on end) to share with you their experiences in only the way a true travel writer can. Liz Light
Liz Light, an Auckland-based travel writer and photographer, knew she would become a global person when she was 11 years old and her grandmother gave her a book, Peoples of the World. In her gypsy years she travelled Australia’s east coast on a motorbike and spend six months sailing on a tall ship. She worked in a sapphire mine in Australia and in a cheese factory in England, sailed through the Caribbean, worked on super-yachts in France and Spain and backpacked through Central America. Liz mixed travelling the world with serious study getting an MA in history and English. She always followed her passion for photography. Finally, she had the hard-earned skills to make a living as a photojournalist. Two countries obsess her…New Zealand, her homeland, which she utterly loves and India with its ancient history, extraordinary architecture, long tradition of craft and textiles and diverse customs and culture. Now, as well as photojournalism, Liz hosts special interest tours to India. “Might as well leverage the knowledge gained in 15 trips to that incredible country,” she says. Liz has had travel stories in Let’s Travel since the beginning with India often featuring. Quality is her middle name and she has won numerous awards for both her writing and photography. Happy birthday Let’s Travel magazine and may there be many more. Contributors love and need you. www.lizlight.co.nz
Graham Reid
Travel has been in my blood since we moved back and forth between my birthplace Edinburgh and Auckland a few times before I was eight. I grew up in New Zealand with a huge PanAm map of the world on the wall and my parents looking at an atlas and discussing where to go next. My journalism years at the NZ Herald meant I travelled frequently for business (the US, Japan, Taiwan, China). In holidays I took myself off to places like Vietnam when it first opened for tourism. I have won a number of travel writing awards (some for my two books) and like nothing better than getting on an endless highway and driving through the US or the Outback of Australia. I often seek the unusual…strange people and places, odd museums, the weird Graceland Too shrine to Elvis in smalltown Mississippi, and I enjoy roads less travelled. On a three-month trip across the US my wife and I relied on 1956 maps from National Geographic. We avoided all interstates but discovered tiny towns, a few of them abandoned. Travel to me is about meeting locals (I rarely quote a tour guide or taxi driver) so I always carry a 1B exercise book. Sitting in a local bar scribbling away at the end of day is of interest to people off-duty after 5pm. It’s a great conversation starter. Most people are curious. I seldom have a laptop because it invites an immediate impression of a place or people. Hand-written notes allow for consideration and reflection before the typing begins.
For a back-catalogue of my writing – from short, humorous pieces to lengthy investigations of a place, its people and history. Have a look at my website: www.elsewhere.co.nz/travelstories My motto when out there? Be safe… and take risks. To the good people at Let’s Travel, may I wish you sincere congratulations on this significant anniversary.
Tim Roxborogh
Happy 7th birthday Let’s Travel! I’ve been incredibly fortunate to be writing for this magazine since my 2014 trip to L.A. to see Bee Gee Barry Gibb in concert. Barry was performing at the Hollywood Bowl and as a lifelong fan of the brothers Gibb I decided to combine the gig with a holiday in one of my most-loved destinations, California. Luckily for me, Let’s Travel were interested in my ideas. That was the starting point for me with Let’s Travel. From those first two articles on walking the streets of L.A. and the opulence of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Let’s Travel have helped me to explore southern India, Hawai’i, Oregon, China, Malaysia and up and down my own country, New Zealand. For me, travel is about storytelling. It’s hearing people’s stories and creating your own. It’s the fun when things don’t go entirely to plan. It’s being open to new experiences and the kindness of strangers. It’s about challenging stereotypes and misconceptions. It’s being unrelentingly curious; of wanting to know what’s down that street, what’s behind that door, what’s around that headland and what the view is like from that mountain. I’ve been travel writing for more than a decade and I haven’t come close to scratching the itch I have for exploring and coming home with new stories to share. Building a relationship with Let’s Travel has been such a pleasure. This is a beautifully presented magazine that encapsulates so much of the joy of travel. Happy birthday once again Let’s Travel! Thanks so much for helping me create and share these stories. Tim is a media professional with more than 17-years experience in New Zealand broadcasting. He currently hosts radio shows on Newstalk ZB and Coast FM, has his own iHeartRadio station ‘Soul’ and commentates on his favourite sport, cricket, in the summer. www.roxboroghreport.com
Contributors www.letstravelmag.com 111
Pub ASX Thomson Reuters Charity Race Day_A4 01/04/2016 08:13 Page 1
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