Robert Walshe is a travel broadcaster with Q Radio Network & Travel Editor for River Newspapers Ireland & Lifestyle Northern Ireland Online - www.robertwalshe.com
TRAVEL
Home & Away with Robert Walshe Northern Ireland native Helen Caters is the new GM at the 5 star Culloden Estate & Spa in Hollywood Co Down. She will take over from Stephen Meldrum who is moving to the Slieve Donard Resort & Spa. With over 20 years in the hospitality industry, Helen held roles in a range of hotels locally in Northern Ireland before moving to Malmaison Liverpool as General Manager.
Holiday Hotspot – Sydney, Australia
The cosmopolitan city of Sydney offers plenty of things to do and places to explore. Discover charming neighbourhoods lined with cobblestone streets, sample local foods and produce at weekend markets, enjoy the views from outdoor cafes and learn about Aboriginal arts and crafts displayed at many art galleries. Visit the Taronga Park Zoo, the Sydney Harbour National Park or the beaches of Mosman via a short ferry ride across the harbour. Four Seasons offering sweeping views of Sydney Harbour Bridge and the iconic Opera House has long been a favourite of visitors to one of the greatest cities on earth. Built on the site of a former colonial jail in the historic “ Rocks” district it affords easy access to
n Four Seasons
many attractions including fine dining, designer shopping and the city sights, as well a comfortable respite from the city hustle and bustle at the end of the day. All 531 guest rooms, including the 121 suites, feature mahogany furnishings, highspeed Internet access, large screen televisions with a DVD player and iPod/MP3 connectivity as well as marble bathrooms with a deep soaking tub and a separate glasswalled shower. The room we enjoyed for our two night stay was a Grand Premier Full Harbour View Room on the 26th floor with stunning views. Access to the Executive lounge has many perks including evening drinks and canapés from 5pm to 8pm, a full breakfast service, complimentary wireless internet and concierge services. The lounge is extremely spacious and wraps around two sides of the hotel, with each side offering different views. Four Seasons never disappoints and its Sydney property exudes a quality and style in one of the most sought after harbours in the
r Views.
Sydney Harbou
Pet’s Corner...
world. www.fourseasons. com/sydney Dinner cruises in Sydney offer guests the chance to catch a glimpse of Australia’s finest city from the water. You can choose from a simple trip with an emphasis on the food and view or a more elaborate night with cabaret. Captain Cook Cruisesare by far the market leader allowing consumers to book a table, a private room or an entire ship for a dinner cruise. Whatever patrons choose, they will dine surrounded by panoramic views on every deck accompanied by the best entertainment. Once guests arrive, they will receive canapés to snack on before the three-course dinner. Menus consist of the “finest fresh seafood, tender prime meats and market fresh fruits and vegetables including the best wine from the nearby Hunter Valley. The departure point is also across the road from the Four Seasons Hotel so you really are spoilt. www.captaincook.com.au The Sydney Opera House is one of the most creative and the busiest multi-venue performing arts centres of the world. The construction of the house started in 1959 and was completed in 1973. The Opera House actually contains six different performance spaces, including the 350-seat Studio and the grand 2,679-seat Concert Hall, which host entertainment ranging from ballet to Aboriginal dance, from experimental theatre to Shakespeare. The Sydney Symphony Orchestra based at is an icon of the local cultural scene, performing around 150 concerts a year to a combined annual audience of more than 350,000 has the unique privilege of having the Opera House as its home concert hall. Remember to take the hourlong behind-the-scenes tour, which traces the history of architect, Jørn Utzon’s mas-
Living
terpiece. Before or after your show, head to the openair Opera Bar on the concourse level of the Opera House overlooking the water for champagne or cocktails. www. sydneyoperahouse.com If you are like me and a culture vulture a reminder that the Art Gallery of New South Wales houses extensive art collections including Australian art from the colonial period, Asian n Relais & Chatea and European ux Sydney Gran d Chef Tetsuy art, and an exa. tensive Aboriginal collection in the Yiribana Gallery. The Art Gallery is normally open from 9am to 5pm daily. Entry windows, there’s little to dis- customers are now able to and scheduled tours are free tract them from the food. His choose from 32 Australian to the public. Visiting exhi- menu is constantly evolving, destinations to which Qantas bitions usually charge an reflecting a focus on fresh operates including Canberra, entry fee. www.artgallery. produce and his commit- Port Lincoln, Cairns and Honsw.gov.au. At any time of ment to dishes that combine bart, opening up Australia the year Sydney is one of the Japanese food philosophy to passengers from all over world’s great dining destina- and French finesse. Waku- the ever expanding Emirates tions. An ever-growing list of da’s 10-course degustation network. Emirates operate a beautiful fine-dining, restau- menus change constantly daily departure from Dublin rants means you’ll never be but are always inventive. The to Dubai daily at lunchtime short of inspiration on where only constant is Tetsuya’s with onward connections to eat. Grand Chef Relais & signature dish: the confit of to five cities in Australia – Châteaux Tetsuya Wakuda Petuna ocean trout served Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, continues to wow foodies with fennel unpasteurised Brisbane and Adelaide. Curwith his fusion cuisine. trout caviar. Tetsuya’s is rent Sydney prices ex Dublin With a limited knowledge a bit of a must for serious are eeconomy class: €1116 & of English, and of the coun- Japanese food lovers and business class: €3429 The airtry which would become make sure and get the paired line’s chauffeur-drive service his home, Tetsuya arrived wines. The Gourmet Menu is available to both First and in Australia at the age of starts Australian dollars 210 Business Class passengers twenty-two from Japan never per person (approximately across the island of Ireland. imagining he would one day £125/€ 145). www.relaischa- All Emirates’ customers can be embraced as one of the teaux.com. Earlier this year enjoy in-flight telephones, nation’s favourite chefs. Emirates and Qantas formed SMS and email and children’s Diners here (many of whom a global partnership, work- activity packs. Highly trained have been on a waiting list ing together to operate 14 cabin crews from across the for more than a month) fill flights daily between Dubai, globe, including Irish & UK the restaurant’s glassed-in Australia and beyond - along nationals are on hand to dining rooms every night; with extensive Australian serve gourmet chef prepared apart from a few Zen-style domestic flights, frequent meals. www.emirates.com artworks and the Japanese flyer advantages and shared and for all travel information water garden outside the lounge access. Emirates www.sydney.com
with Kathleen Murray
Back to school – for pets What does it mean for pets when school opens again? For many dogs it means having to adapt to being on their own for longer periods of time. This needs to be done in a way that the dog has time to adjust before the school reopens. If it is suddenly landed on them after a summer of lots of company and extra attention then it will come as a bit of a shock. It’s a good idea to start getting the dog into a routine now the same as it will have when everyone is out. If the dog lives in the house then it would be a good idea to start paying a bit less attention to it at certain times of the day
so that it can adjust to having quiet times by itself while you are still there. A dog that is suddenly left alone or pushed outside without warning, (especially a young dog) can become destructive. It can mess up your garden pretty good or find ways to escape. Escape means more fun, adventure and company but it also means risks like traffic, eating something toxic, or a visit to the dog pound. Lots of dogs are stolen and never found again so please don’t let this happen to your pet. When the school routine kicks in, there’s homework, dinner, extra activities and bed. Where does the dog
fit in? It still needs to be walked and guided so that it and the family can stay sane. A routine needs to be set up to include the dog. If it is not then the dog will make sure you will have no peace, and resentment will set in..... not the dog’s fault. Cats also have difficulties when the family routine changes. They start drifting off into neighbours gardens and sometimes away altogether. This is sad for the cat mostly because neighbours don’t want your cat, so your cat will not be getting a warm welcome. If it goes off looking for company or food then it could be killed by a car or injured by a person, or dog. Worse again
it may become feral and produce litters of wild kittens that will be a menace to wildlife, or it may die a long lonely death of pain due to medical problems as there are many disease that cats can get if they are not looked after properly. Any pet that lives at home as part of the family needs to be maintained as part of the family. If a child is starting school for the first time, or going to the dentist then parernts prepare the child for the experience in advance so that the surprise or shock is minimised, or they can judge the reaction of the child to the new experience. It’s the same for animals. If
you don’t want trouble then you need to make plans in advance for how things are going to be when you are not there all day, now that the routine is going to be changed. If a dog lives outdoors then it needs to be ignored for a spell during the day to allow it to show how it will cope with the change. If it barks a lot or digs then that’s what it will do when everyone is gone. The neighbours will not be looking forward to that. The dog needs a new routine to settle it down again. Going back to school affects the whole neighbourhood whether you have kids or not.