Experiences

Beechworth is beautiful. You’ll find it by peeling off the highway between Sydney and Melbourne, in the Victorian high country. Not far from Albury-Wodonga. It’s a town born from the 1852 gold rush and made famous by the Ned Kelly Gang trials. That era has been preserved with such respect that the Australian National Heritage…

Niagara Falls in Canada just got its first major new attraction in three years. The last – the Niagara Parks Power Station – brought new life to a disused hydroelectric plant, with nightly projections, great exhibits and access to one of the most unique views of the Falls by way of “The Tunnel”. Now, Niagara…

“Everything cool in Los Angeles is hidden,” says Jonny D’Amico, who moves through West Hollywood with the cocksure swagger of the area’s unofficial cultural czar. He never claims the title, but his confidence suggests it. I’m skeptical. Yet after walking with the firebrand up and down West Hollywood’s signature Sunset Strip, I’m convinced. This is…

With direct flights into Hawaii – at least from Australia – only taking you to Honolulu on the island of Oahu, many guests to the closest American State to our country don’t take the opportunity to explore the surrounding islands. Or at least don’t go further than Maui. In fact, it took me more than…

Even when we don’t consider the frustrating AUD to USD exchange rate, New York City ain’t cheap. But when Qantas’ direct flight from Sydney to New York set to launch next year, the city will have never been more accessible for Australian tourists. So you’re going to have even more reason to make the trip…

Since 1973, iconic Hollywood studio Warner Bros. have been offering some form of a backlot tour to the general public. When it launched, tickets cost $3, and education about film and life on the set was the name of the game; a point of difference from the “ride the movies” approach of the iconic Universal…

While we travelled around Hawaii this past December, we took in so many breathtaking sites, sounds and tastes; we truly fell in love with the island and its culture. This led to us wanting to deepen our understanding of Hawaii and its neighbouring Pacific islands. By fully immersing ourselves at the Polynesian Cultural Center, we…

Kauai, or “The Garden Isle” is a true gem of the Hawaiian Islands. It may be the state’s fourth largest island, but it hosts more beaches and hiking trails than any of the others. Known for its lush flora and fauna, it has set the scene for iconic movies such as Jurassic Park, Pirates of…

In my life, I’m constantly looking for experiences that surprise me. Montreal’s Cirque du Soleil is one such company that helps me regularly tick that box, with their breathtaking touring and residency productions all over the world. And their new production ‘Auana in Honolulu, Hawaii, is no exception. Years in the making, ‘Auana debuted at…

“There are 200 million sandwiches eaten a day in America”, according to Australia’s Ben Gollan. One might say he’s a sandwich aficionado, and he’s not shy to admit it, remarking on a beautiful New York autumn afternoon, “the Sandwich is a global dish that beings people together, which is why I do this tour and…

We’ve talked at length about how Downtown L.A. has become one of the most exciting precincts in the Californian city – a long overdue rebirth of this historic hub. But when you’ve got just 24 hours to spend here, where should you go? Where should you stay? What should you see? And perhaps most importantly:…

When The Phantom of the Opera closed last year, after almost 14,000 performances, it ended its reign as the longest running production on Broadway. While it technically still holds the crown as Broadway’s longest running show (of all time), the move passed the mantle of longest running productions currently on Broadway to the 1996 revival…

If you’ve been to a variety show in a Spiegeltent in the last decade or so, chances are you’ve been lucky enough to see a production from the cirque ensemble Spiegelworld. The organisation emerged in 2006, with their show Absinthe making a splash in a travelling Spiegeltent at Pier 17 in New York City. While…

Less than five months after it opened in Orlando, Disneyland’s iconic log flume ride Splash Mountain has received the same makeover in Anaheim, California, with Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opening today (November 15th) at Disney’s OG theme park. It’s fair to say this update has been a long time coming. Here’s everything you need to know:…

As a kid who grew up in the 90s – between the US and Australia – I was gifted with a potpourri of ever-evolving options to celebrate a birthday with friends. Since the 1970s, there’s been all-you-can-eat pizza places with arcades and playhouses, from Pizza Hut to Chuck-E-Cheese. In the mid-1980s, laser tag entered the…

If you’ve ever been looking for that storybook Halloween experience, look no further than New York State and New England in the northeast of the United States. With picture perfect communities pulled straight from the movies, the day of trick-or-treating is filled with incredible costumes, houses that go all out with decorations, and a seemingly…

For decades now, Cirque du Soleil has been the king of the Las Vegas strip – producing almost a dozen residency shows for the city since 1993, with close to 10,000 people witnessing the Montreal company’s spectacle every night. Residency shows are typically designed for the destination, usually in a room custom built for the…

This past July, I had the pleasure of returning to Las Vegas. But this time, the focus of the trip shifted in a surprising way: I got schooled in the history of the Las Vegas strip. This offered a new perspective of this vibrant city, learning about the glitz and glamour that gave Vegas the…

Dubai is only 190 years old. Yes, the famously futuristic city really hasn’t been around that long. It started as a humble fishing village in the early 18th Century and has sprouted up to be a symbol of ambition and power, offering an experience unlike anything else in the Middle East. Or the world. It’s…

The era of the climb is over, but Uluru’s array of dazzling cultural experiences has made it an even more vital destination for all Australians. It’s not every day the world’s longest surviving culture invites you into its home, but here I am. Layered-up in a laundry-load of clothes, my breath fails to cloud despite…

With the the launch of the hi-tech Sphere and a multitude of modern new experiences in Las Vegas, it may seem that the classic “Las Vegas Residency” isn’t getting the attention it once did. But the reality is, more major artists are performing in the city than ever before, each bringing in tens of millions…

Whether you’ve seen the movie Saving Mr. Banks, heard the folklore or have noticed the lamp yourself, chances are you know that Walt Disney had small apartment near the entry to Disneyland in California. Situated above the Fire Station that sits on the left hand side of the park’s entry, Walt would be able to…

At the end of November last year, Korea’s large scale digital art gallery – ARTE MUSEUM – opened their first (and still only) location in North America, on the Las Vegas Strip. It’s part of a burgeoning trend of immersive experiences in the city, and sits amongst seven locations for the gallery around the world….

With clear views of the sunset over the horizon of Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, it’s hard to argue there’s any bad place to watch the sun set here. But on my recent visit to the iconic tourist destination, I may have found the best way to watch it – Holokai Catamaran Company’s nightly Sunset Sail….

With dozens of attractions across two parks – the OG Disneyland Park and California Adventure – not to mention the wealth of dining and immersive experiences to be had, there’s good reason to book in at least a few days at the Disneyland resort in Anaheim, California. Just take a look at some of the…

From the faux Venice canals at the The Venetian, to the awe-inspiring fountain show at the Bellagio and a sky covered by LEDs on Fremont Street, Las Vegas has long immersed its audiences. These immersive experiences run from the streets right into the bars, from sitting under a replica of the Eiffel Tower, as at…

After five years of hype and construction, no less than 54,000 m2 of LED on its exterior, and space for some 20,000 punters, the ambitious venue known simply as Sphere opened in Las Vegas last September, immediately becoming one of the world’s most recognisable structures. As the largest spherical building in the world, enjoying an…

Over the past few months on AU Abroad, we’ve been taking you in and out of the West Coast Canadian city of Vancouver, from a look at the Airport’s incredible Fairmont Hotel, to reviewing our flight from Vancouver Airport back to Sydney with Air Canada. We filled you in on the airline’s expansion to Brisbane, and…