Travel & Lifestyle

Melbourne’s perfectly located DoubleTree by Hilton is in its final weeks for a special guest experience dubbed “The Mystic Chamber”, a concept that has transformed one of the hotel’s rooms in partnership with Muses of Mystery. The curated one-off hotel experience has completely taken over one room with genuine crystal balls, dreaming mist, celestial walls,…

Mother’s Day is coming up on Sunday 12th May, and as always that means some of Sydney’s finest restaurants will be putting together special menus, packages and events to help families celebrate. But sometimes it’s just best to keep it simple: great company, excellent food, and a whole lot of love. Amongst its elegant brown…

Melbourne is about to welcome a new city precinct with ELLA (where Elizabeth meets La Trobe), rolling out a whole heap of new cafes including an off-shoot of South Yarra’s beloved hatted restaurant Atlas. Promised as an ambitious 2500-square-metre food and lifestyle space, it will embrace numerous aspects of everyday Melbourne life while also channelling…

Now that U River Cruises, a dedicated millennial reimagining of the classic river cruise experience, has been firmly established amongst new-gen travellers, the company is now looking towards playful themed cruises to spice up their offering. Two themed itineraries will be rolled out later this year, both on board the company’s “The A” vessel which…

Marriott International, the world’s largest hotel group with over 6500 properties worldwide, are officially about to leap into the home rental market that has been dominated by Airbnb for the past decade. Easily one of the biggest and most surprising recent evolutions in the lodging industry, the new upscale rental property platform, simply called “Homes…

On the list of most ridiculous things that have ever happened to me, being flown to the other side of the world to play a video game for an hour and a half may take the cake. On Monday, 2K Games ANZ flew a small pack of journos and influencers to Los Angeles to be…

What has truly become one of Sydney’s most beloved annual festivals, Meatstock is set to make its triumphant return to Sydney Showgrounds for its fourth year this weekend. The two day BBQ & Music festival will once again bring in some of the world’s best known pitmasters, with U.S legends Tom Jackson and Big Moe…

For the first time in 50 years, two regular steam train services will introduced at London Waterloo, giving locals and visitors the chance to navigate the famed English countryside in true vintage luxury. The Steam Dreams Rail Co. will launch two services later this year, revealing elegant 1950’s Pullman Style Dining carriages which guests will…

The Barunga Festival is one of Australia’s most important cultural events celebrating the best of First Nations art, sport, cultural activities, and contemporary and traditional music from remote locations. Held over 3 days, from Friday June 7 to Sunday June 9, 80 kilometers south-east of Katherine, it brings together 4000 people from the Northern Territory…

As a travel journalist, sometimes you get into the habit of saying yes to things before you know what you’re getting yourself in for. In 2011, this was taken to the literal extreme when I took part in a Destination NSW campaign where I would be led on a surprise itinerary designed by Danny Clayton…

Late last year, I flew with Canadian carrier WestJet from Halifax, Nova Scotia to LA via Toronto. It’s a long journey – about as far from one side of North America to the other as you can get. And there’s no way to do it direct. You start off with a two hour flight from Halifax…

Arriving on a train into Cardiff station, it was a 15 minute walk through the heart of the busy city on a beautiful Sunday afternoon to take me to the relatively recently opened Hotel Indigo Cardiff; hidden away in the Dominions Arcade. Like many Hotel Indigo’s around the world, this hotel has been built into the…

Armed only with an I amsterdam City Card, which provides entry into almost all of the city’s iconic attractions, free public transport, and the city’s preferred mode of transport, a bike, I set out on a 48 Hour journey around Amsterdam – in particular checking out the hip Westerpark area of the city. Along the…

Etihad Airways are currently offering passengers a free stopover in Abu Dhabi as part of a “landmark global promotion”, tied to flights between 21st April and 15th July 2019. Not only that, but no less than 15 different hotels in the UAE capital have come on board to offer two free nights accommodation for guests…

As word spreads that KFC has introduced Australia’s “first ever Secret Menu”, the not-so-secret-anymore list of Kentucky fried hacks has just edged forth with a new item. In a nod to the country’s love of Halal Snack Packs, the fast food giant is now serving up “The Kentucky Snack Pack”. KSP, a serving of salted…

We might only be in April, but Illawara rockers The Pinheads have already had a busy year. Freshly returned to Australia from a scorching run of shows in Austin for SXSW, the band have dropped new single “Feel It Now” – another hint at what to expect from their forthcoming sophomore album, Is This Real,…

Sydney institution Carriageworks is doubling down on their incredibly popular food program this year, announcing a number of events and a special conversations series that will address current issues in the industry. Central to this program will, of course, be the Carriageworks Farmers Market which returns in July for a winter theme, but there will…

Every year in March thousands of spiritually enlightened individuals flock to Ubud for the Bali Spirit Festival. This 7 day event promises everything from yoga, ecstatic dance, workshops, meditation, sound healing and so much more. I was beyond excited to be taking part in such a special event, so with yoga mat in hand I…

More than just an excuse to fill up on chocolate, Easter means a long weekend filled with good food, friends and family (usually in that order). There’s no lack of exclusive Easter treats to eat around Sydney this year, both for the savoury and sweet lovers, so we’re rounded up five of the best to…

Sydney favourite Alpha has opened up a tiny new cocktail and meze bar named Baraki, carved into the ground floor of 240 Castlereagh Street with just 8 seats. The smaller-than-small bar will extend Executive Chef Peter Conistis’ vision beyond Alpha and upstairs cocktail bar Beta, channelling the Athens neighbourhood of Plaka with two backlit walls…

Created especially for this coming Easter long weekend, an exclusive three-course menu lovingly curated by Head Chef Francesco Mannelli will reiterate just how essential Mode Kitchen & Bar has become to Sydney’s discerning gourmands. Truly earning its place in the opulent lobby of the Four Seasons Hotel Sydney, the highly regarded Mode Kitchen & Bar…

Is there any source of food recommendations as reliable as a master chef? Adam Liaw, he who took the crown on the second series of MasterChef Australia in 2010, has been a beacon for good food around the world through numerous TV appearances and cookbooks over the years. So it makes perfect sense to grab…

I’ve always heard Korean Air offered one of the best in flight experiences, and last month, with my flight from Vietnam to Korea being requisite of a Delta Air Lines ticket, I got to try them out for the first time. So how do they compare to other Asian airlines in the market? Read on!…

With Singapore’s Bicentennial commemorative events in full swing, one hotel which promises to keep you in the heart of the action is the The Fullerton Bay Hotel. The hotel, which opened in 2001, sits in Singapore’s GPO building, built some 100 years ago – a tradition which will continue in Sydney later this year when the…

While wine may be the drink of choice in HBO’s phenomenal Game of Thrones, the various textures of the show’s universe are best expressed through Whisky. Diageo have recognised this, and so has HBO; which is why they’ve teamed up to officially release several expressions from different iconic brands, each making up a limited-edition collection…

When I think about taking a budget flight, I tend to fly for a maximum of 4 hours – about the length of a flight from Perth to Sydney. Anything longer than that and I’d never think twice about flying any budget carrier. But I had a 7 hour flight from Kuala Lumpur to Tokyo…

Hawaiian Airlines has introduced five weekly nonstop services between Honolulu and Boston, opening a substantial link to the New England region. It is now the longest regularly scheduled domestic route in U.S history. Clocking in at a whopping 5,095 miles, the HNL-BOS (HA90) route takes means almost 10 hours in the air for those heading…

Currently doing the film festival rounds – with its Australian premiere happening at the Gold Coast Film Festival on Monday – is Waiting: The Van Duren Story, from first time Australian directors Greg Carey and Wade Jackson. The film documents the life of Memphis based songwriter Van Duren, a much loved artist by those in…

I’ve heard a lot about the JetBlue service over the years, with the US airline often topping domestic lists for in flight experience, comfort and customer satisfaction. Though in more recent years the airline has fallen from grace on certain lists. Within 12 months I saw it sitting near the top of some lists, and…

In an exciting update, Delta Air Lines have introduced some very substantial changes on board their refurbished Boeing 777 aircraft which flies daily between Sydney and Los Angeles. The aircraft will now feature all four of Delta’s signature branded seat products, most excitedly lead by the award-winning “Delta One”, which is the first business class…