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Transcript of Autumn Ultratravel 2015
ultratravel �
ultratravelpLUS
australia
go
urm
et special
t r av e l l e r s ’ ta l e s
david beckhamiris apfel
john legend
rome alone
stanley stewart’s guide to
the finest private palazzi
high spirits
new orleans is back in business
10 years after katrina
skiing with heroes
26 luxury holidays up for grabs
in our charity auction
A u T u m n 2 0 1 5
*Flights are operated as part of our codeshare partnership with Delta Air Lines®. For more details please visit www.virginatlantic.com/americandream
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keep getting voted the best all-inclusive resorts in the world is because
only Sandals Resorts includes the best of everything. The Caribbean’s most
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pools. English Guild-trained butlers and world-class service. Premium brand
drinks at up to eleven bars, and delectable Gourmet Discovery dining at
up to 16 restaurants per resort. More land and water sports than anyone,
including golf, waterskiing, and unlimited scuba diving. It’s all included,
all unlimited, all the time … and it doesn’t get much better than that.
More quality inclusions than any other resorts on the planet.
Call 0800 742 742visit sandals.co.uk
See your local travel agent
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dubai
SAVE 30% Jumeirah Zabeel Saray3 nights fr £799pp fl ights with Emirates
Inspired by the imperial palaces of the Ottoman
era, Jumeirah Zabeel Saray sits on the west
crescent of the iconic Palm Jumeirah and offers
every luxury you could wish for including one of
the largest spas in the Middle East and world class
dining. Save 30% and enjoy FREE half board
with our offer. Valid for deps 1 - 10 Dec 2015.
SAVE 25% Jumeirah Beach Hotel3 nights fr £899pp fl ights with Emirates
With its striking wave-like design, Jumeirah
Beach Hotel is one of Dubai’s most instantly
recognisable structures and is perfect for families
or couples looking for the quintessential luxury
Dubai holiday. Save 25% plus FREE half
board, complimentary access to Wild Wadi
Waterpark and scuba diving session per stay
with this offer which includes 3 nights in an Ocean
Deluxe Room. Valid for deps 1 - 10 Dec 2015.
SAVE 15% Madinat Jumeirah3 nights fr £999pp fl ights with Emirates
Comprising 3 hotels: Jumeirah Mina A’Salam;
Jumeirah Al Qasr and Jumeirah Dar Al Masyaf,
Madinat Jumeirah offers limitless choices for
leisure including a 2km stretch of private beach,
unlimited access to Wild Wadi Waterpark as
well as an Arabian Souk with over 75 shops. Stay
in an upgraded Ocean Deluxe Room at Mina’A
Salam and save 15% with FREE half board &
club privileges. Valid for deps 20 - 30 Nov 2015.
Mina A’Salamat Madinat Jumeirah
www.dialafl ight.com
Magical momentsand memories that last a lifetimeSwap grey skies for sun-kissed beaches, sparkling turquoise
waters and unparalleled personal service at ultra luxurious
Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts in Dubai and The Maldives.
Indulge your senses with a cooling dip in the sea, feel the soft sand
between your toes and feast on delicious, innovative cuisine in
sensational surroundings whether you opt for private dining on the
beach or one of Jumeirah’s internationally acclaimed restaurants.
Jumeirah guests can also enjoy a ‘dine-around’ half board
package in selected Dubai hotels and resorts, offering dining in a
choice of over 50 Jumeirah restaurants and bars.
Stay Different™ - choose Jumeirah.
Call now for our best deals 0844•874•0882
Offers subject to availability. Prices based on 2 people sharing a room.
the maldives
1 FREE night Burj Al Arab3 nights fr £1899pp fl ights with Emirates
Upon entering the hotel’s spectacular sail shaped
structure, you’ll soon see why the iconic Burj Al
Arab has been voted the world’s most luxurious
hotel time and time again. Guests at this all suite
hotel benefi t from the services of a butler as well
as gorgeous Hermes in-suite amenties. Stay 3
nights for the price of 2 in a One Bedroom
Deluxe Suite with our offer which includes daily
breakfast. Valid for deps 9 - 30 Nov 2015.
1 FREE night Jumeirah Vittaveli7 nights fr £3549pp fl ights with Emirates
Escape to paradise staying 7 nights for the
price of 6 in a Beach Villa with Pool at Jumeirah
Vittaveli. At this island resort, each of the 89 villas
and suites feature their own private swimming
pools. For an extra treat, why not upgrade to
the new Vittaveli Elite Club. Our offer includes
1 FREE night as well as complimentary half
board and a room upgrade. Book by 30 Sep.
Valid for deps 23 Sep - 10 Dec 2015.
SAVE over £1000pp Jumeirah Dhevanafushi 7 nights fr £3699pp fl ights with Emirates
Stretched across two idyllic islands, Jumeirah
Dhevanafushi provides a luxurious hideaway
enveloped by crystal blue waters and expanses
of white sandy beach. Enjoy 7 nights in a Beach
Revive Villa on a bed and breakfast basis and
save 20%. You’ll also receive complimentary
domestic fl ight and speedboat transfers, saving
you a total of £2000 per couple. Book by 30
Sep. Valid for deps 1 Oct - 10 Dec 2015.
ultratravel 15
© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2015. Published by TELEGRAPH MEDIA GROUP, 111 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0DT, and printed by Polestar UK Limited.
Colour reproduction by borngroup.com. Not to be sold separately from The Daily Telegraph. Ultratravel is a registered trademark licensed to The Daily Telegraph by PGP Media Limited
Features
36 Sky highs Five countries, 12 days, two little Cessnas.
Lisa Grainger takes off on the ultimate flying safari
42 Back to The Big Easy Ten years after Hurricane Katrina
devastated New Orleans, the Southern city buzzes with
optimism. Douglas Rogers drinks it in
48 All roads lead to home Stanley Stewart unlocks the
secret spaces and private palaces discovered during his
three decades as a Roman resident
57 AUSTRALIA SPECIAL In our 24-page gourmet guide,
Terry Durack hails the arrival of Heston Blumenthal and
René Redzepi, and James Steen asks six chefs to pick their
top restaurants. Plus, picnicking by plane, bar-hopping by
chopper, and a chauffeured wine trip by Daimler
81 Islands of plenty Charlotte Sinclair revels in plus-size
helpings of pleasure at the refurbished North and Fregate
Islands; plus, five of the Seychelles’ finest beach retreats
Regulars
17 Editor’s letter Charles Starmer-Smith on why September is
such a glorious time to travel, given the right advice and access
19 The next big thing John O’Ceallaigh on light as art across
the globe; made-to-measure islands; and a car for superyachts
23 Ultra experts David Beckham models biking gear; plus,
world-time watches; cruisewear; James Bond-style gadgets
31 Aficionado Style icon Iris Apfel on nine decades of travelling
32 Upfront John Simpson recalls the pleasures of Crimea
35 Walden’s World All roads in the Cotswolds lead to food,
discovers Celia Walden at the new, aptly named Thyme hotel
89 Silent Auction Bid on 24 luxury holidays and raise funds
for a charity that helps wounded servicemen to build a new life
93 Intelligence An exclusive stay in Robert De Niro’s New York
penthouse; inside a £34-million jet; a handy hi-tech bag
98 Travelling life Singer John Legend on Tom Ford luggage,
the best pizza in the world and feeding elephants in Thailand
contents Autumn 2015
29
27
81
36 26
48
57
23
81
42
YOU ARE WELCOME!
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For reservations please contact +971 2 811 5888 or visit jumeirah.com
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ultratravel 17
FOR THE
LATEST IN
LUXURY
TRAvEL
telegraph.co.uk/luxurytravel
John LegendWhen he’s not penning award-
winning songs, the American singer
is on the road, touring and meeting
his wife, a model, on photo shoots.
For us, he opens his (extensive)
black book of great world
restaurants and nominates his
favourite city for food – Tokyo.
ultratravel
Editor Charles Starmer-Smith Creative director Johnny Morris Deputy editor Lisa grainger Photography editor Joe Plimmer Contributing editor John o’Ceallaigh Sub editors Kate Quill and Vicki Reeve
Executive publisher for Ultratravel Limited nick Perry Publisher Toby Moore Advertising inquiries 07768 106322 (nick Perry) 020 7931 3039 (Chelsea Bradbury)
Ultratravel, 111 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0dT Twitter @TeleLuxTravel
Contributors
S E P T E M B E R 1 2 2 0 1 5
KaT IRLInThe St Petersburg-born photographer started
her career creating images on Instagram
(where she has 605,000 followers) and has
subsequently shot campaigns for brands from
Tiffany to Belstaff, featuring David Beckham.
New York is her favourite city. “There’s so much
to shoot and it’s ever-changing: so inspiring.”
MaRTIn haaKeThe works of the Berlin-
based artist, who illustrates
John Simpson’s column for
this issue, have adorned
works from Bacardi to
Vanity Fair. To escape from
work, he heads to the Amalfi
coast. “I enjoy the beautiful
landscape and atmosphere,
and slightly chaotic way of
life. And the food is terrific.”
TeRRy dURaCKAfter nine years in London,
the Sydney-based foodie
now heads up Australia’s Top
Restaurants awards, which
sees him “hopping all over
the country like a crazed
kangaroo”. This autumn, he’s
hoping to take the legendary
outback train, The Ghan.
“The end goal is to eat
a massive amount of mud
crab on the beach.”
cover IMAGe
David Beckham on
location in Mexico,
photographed by
Kat IrlIn
Editor
IRIS aPfeLThe celebrated 94-year-old style maven
has travelled all her life, collecting objets to
decorate glamorous homes (including the
White House). She’d most like to visit Japan
next. “But that’s a long trip and I don’t like
to plan too far ahead. I never did when
I was young and I certainly don’t now.”
There’s no better month to travel than this: school’s in,
the oppressive August heat is easing, parched landscapes are
giving way to bucolic autumnal colours and the crowds are
slowly dissipating. But you need to do more than pick the
right time to unlock the door to a destination. You need
expert advice, which is what this issue is all about, from
Stanley Stewart’s guide to the Eternal City and tips from
Douglas Rogers on the Big Easy, to hints from the irrepressible
Iris Apfel on travelling in style, plus hotels that hit the right
note for John Legend. Finally, a former Soviet State that
John Simpson says would be a crime to miss.
ACCESS ALL AREAS THIS AUTUMN
Little Cayman.
Population 197.
Paradise found.
caymanislands.co.uk
3 of life’s little luxuries
GRAND CAYMAN
LITTLE CAYMAN
CAYMAN BRAC
ultratravel 19
The silvery west façade of Houghton Hall in
Norfolk has been given fresh lustre. A site-
specific installation named “The Illumination”
sees cascades of light soak the 18th-century
building in gentle washes of colour. Under
the supervision of the light artist James
Turrell, some 10,000 LEDs have been
secreted into the hall and light installations
laid across its grounds. It is ephemeral,
however – the lights go out on October 24.
Other works of art provide further
opportunity to see how casting new light
on surroundings can dramatically challenge
our sense of perception. Upon entering a
coffin-black hut on the Japanese “art island”
of Naoshima, it is the withdrawal of light
that provides a deeply discombobulating
experience. In comparison, the experience
at the Enoshima Aquarium in Kanagawa
couldn’t be more playful. Projected on to
the centre’s darkened water tank, tumbling
petals are thrown into vivid colour when
they land on the bodies of drifting fish.
At Carrières de Lumières in the South
of France, the limestone walls of this
abandoned quarry provide another
unconventional canvas and are regularly
used to display gargantuan reproductions of
works by artists such as Klimt and Gauguin.
The most transcendental of lightworks,
however, are perhaps those set in nature.
Found on a plain in New Mexico, some
400 polished-steel poles make up Walter
De Maria’s “Lightning Field”. Accessible for
just six months per year and open to only
six people per day, the installation comes
thrillingly ablaze during the lightning storms
that regularly strike the area. Turrell’s most
ambitious piece, meanwhile, is his life’s
work. Inspired by ancient sites such as the
pyramids, he has for decades been adapting
the Roden Crater, an extinct volcano in
Arizona. When finally complete, the cone
and its new chambers will form a celestial
observatory, with light beams dramatically
illuminating darkened recesses at certain
times of the day or year.
the next BIG THING
lighting-up time
From top: James
Turrell’s installation
at Houghton Hall;
artwork, Seldom
Seen commissioned
for the grounds of
Houghton Hall .
Turrell’s observatory
at Roden Crater.
What’s coming up in the world of luxury travel, from light installations and made-to-measure islands to supercars for yachts. Compiled by John O’Ceallaigh
LET THERE BE LIGHT
20 ultratravel
the next BIG THING
w a T e r w H e e l s
Aunique collaboration between Christie’s
International Real Estate and developer
Dutch Docklands looks set to offer reclusive
holidaymakers something even better than
a far-flung private-island hideaway. Amillarah
Private Islands will not just have a similar
sense of serenity and seclusion to nature’s
finest, but can be made to order and
customised for clients. These artificial islands
will also float, meaning that owners could
potentially relocate should their bedroom villa
not quite catch each evening’s sunset.
Founded in 2005, Dutch Docklands has
already created thousands of floating homes
in the Netherlands and worked with the
Maldivian government to design habitations
for the population should the nation succumb
to rising sea levels. Endorsed by the French
oceanic explorer and environmentalist Jean-
Michel Cousteau, this latest development will
supposedly be environmentally “scarless”.
By floating above the seabed, the structures
should make minimal impact; their bases will
provide a new underwater habitat for sea life.
The first location to welcome the islands
is expected to be the Maldives – 10 of them
are to be placed beside a lagoon near Malé
International Airport. Some 33 islands are
earmarked for Dubai and 30 are expected to
pop up in a 175-acre lake in Miami.
amillarah.com
After Britain’s mediocre
summer, it’s fortuitous
that this season’s most
enticing openings take
place in reliably warming
climes. Near Cambodia’s
Angkor Wat, Phum
Baitang (pictured right,
opening this month) is
a scattering of 45 villas
set in paddy fields. Spa
facilities are extensive,
but guests who wish to
engage with the
community may prefer
to accompany chefs to
local markets. Tri Lanka,
near Galle in Sri Lanka,
should be similarly small-
scale and immersive
when it opens in
November. Made from
recycled wood and with
vertical gardens, its 10
suites stand on an island
promontory, with a
treetop yoga studio.
Opening in October,
Phuket’s Keemala resort
offers guests “rustic yet
lavish” stays in one of
four villa styles: clay
cottages, tent villas, tree
houses or bird’s nest
villas. Mandarin Oriental
Marrakech is more
conventionally luxurious.
Opening this month, its
54 walled villas, or riads,
each with private pool,
are enveloped by 20
hectares of landscaped
gardens. Old favourites
return renewed, too.
Destroyed by fire in
March, Cape Town’s
rebuilt Tintswalo
Atlantic will reopen in
November, as will
Shangri-La’s Le
Touessrok Resort & Spa
in Mauritius, following a
six-month restoration.
Expect four new
restaurants and an
enhanced spa.
h ot n e w h ot e l s
F loAt I n G I D e A s
FOR THE
LATEST IN
LUXURY
TRAvEL
telegraph.co.uk/luxurytravel
It’s a given that a number of the gleaming vessels
at the Monaco Yacht Show (September 23-26) will
have helicopters on board. What they are unlikely
to have (yet) is the new supercar created specifically
for superyachts. Launched by yachting company
Camper & Nicholsons International with Briggs
Automotive Company, the Marine Edition Mono
can reach 170mph and go from 0 to 60mph in
2.7 seconds. At 1,269lb, it can be hoisted fairly
easily on to land – or just left on deck for its
owners to admire. camperandnicholsons.com
A power plant billowing plumes of smoke
doesn’t typically serve as a much-loved
tourist landmark, but Danish architect Bjarke
Ingels is so confident that the Copenhagen
facility designed by his firm BIG will capture
locals’ imagination that he is asking the
public to contribute, through Kickstarter,
towards its construction. The Amager Bakke
Waste-to-Energy Plant – expected to open
in 2017 – will produce energy by burning
waste and will have as its most unusual
feature a chimney that emits “smoke rings”
that are, in fact, made of steam. Each,
measuring 69ft in diameter, they will puff
out of the spout whenever a ton of CO2 is
burned in the plant. Although those
innocuous drifts of steam floating lazily into
the air are actually representations of
galloping energy consumption and intended
to remind onlookers of the need to be
environmentally conscientious, the building
has been constructed with pleasure in mind,
too. Its roof has been designed to be used
as a ski slope twice the length of the Sochi
halfpipe and featuring green, blue and black
runs. Perhaps it will be the first building to
train a future Winter Olympics star?
st e A M I n G A h e A D
Model of islands in the
Maldives (left); and a
Miami island (below)
RO
BE
RT
SH
AD
BO
LT
DUSI T T H A N I M A LDI V ES
Mudhdhoo Island, Maldives
I L SA LV I AT I NO
Florence, Italy
T H E L A ST WOR D LONG BE AC H
Greater Cape Town, South Africa
15_420
650 independent hotels. 85 countries. An infi nite number of unique experiences.
PreferredHotels.com #ThePreferredLife
It’s a big world. What do you Prefer?
T H E T T C O L L E C T I O N
E T T I N G E R . CO . U K
AT T H E C U T T I N G E D G E O F T R A D I T I O N . Bold simplicity of line
belies a meticulous refi nement of construction. The understated
elegance of edge-stained cut-out pockets, turn-over edges and soft,
fi ne calf leather, fashioned from eighty years of innovation. Only the
tireless pursuit of handcrafted perfection gives rise to such singular style.
E T T I N G E R . TO E AC H T H E I R OW N .
ultratravel 23
decked outDressing for a day on the water should be a breeze. Pack a pair of this season’s ultra-wide trousers, a swimsuit that can
double as a top, and sun-burnished gold accessories and you will shine from day to night, says Arabella Boyce
PH
OT
OG
RA
PH
ER
JO
E P
LIM
ME
R; M
Od
EL
An
dR
EA
KA
RO
LIIn
A, T
AR
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T M
Od
EL
s; s
Ty
LIn
GA
RA
bE
LL
A b
Oy
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; H
AIR
An
d M
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OR
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U LT R A FA S H I O N
Navy nylon-elastane
swimsuit £250,
Lisa Marie Fernandez
(lisamariefernandez.com).
White polyamide-and-silk
trousers £1,130, Antonio
Berardi (020 7235 9153;
modaoperandi.com). Gold-
plate and black-crystal
collar necklace £148, and
gold-plate Twig Flex
bracelets £88 for set of two,
both Diane von Furstenberg
(020 7499 0886; dvf.com).
Gilt-metal 1990s Chanel-logo
earrings £795, Susan Caplan
(020 7734 8040;
fortnumandmason.com).
Nappa-leather shoulder bag
£1,875, Bottega Veneta (020
7629 5598; bottegaveneta.
com). Rose-gold-tinted
framed sunglasses £495,
Cutler and Gross
(net-a-porter.com)
Shot on “La Sultana” yacht,
available for charter in 2016 in
the Mediterranean and the
Caribbean, from €225,000 per
week (lasultanayacht.com)
To discover more call 0843 373 4090, contact your travel agent or visit cunard.co.uk
Let us show you a completely diff erent world.
A world beyond the usual – where unique experiences fl ow into each other as you slip across the seas, in the peerless comfort of one of our Queens.
Cruises from 5 to 40 nights. Full World Cruises up to 120 nights.
World cruises since 1922.
Queen Mary 2, Milford Sound, New Zealand, photo James Morgan.
ultratravel 25
top gear for trail-riders
U LT R A b i k i n g
I’d never been on a boys’ trip into the
unknown, but it’s natural, when you’ve
just retired from an industry which
involves non-stop schedules, that the
first thing you want to do is head into
the middle of nowhere with your
mates. In the past few years I’ve done
two trips, travelling by bike. I loved
the speed, the sense of freedom.
Last year, journeying through the
Amazon with some friends, I slept in
a hammock, which I’d never done
before, and stayed with a tribe who
didn’t know what football was, and
who asked me, ‘What is your forest
like?’ This year, I got to film Outlaws
in the Mexican desert with Harvey
Keitel, Cathy Moriarty and Katherine
Waterston, and ride an incredible
new motorbike. These are the sorts
of adventures I will never forget.
“
“
CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT
John Varvatos “Richards” wide-zip leather boots
Handmade in Italy from black wrinkle-effect leather and
finished with a chunky gold-tone zip fastening, these boots
are destined for rugged adventure. (£645; 020 7022 0828;
matchesfashion.com)
Alexander McQueen skull-print silk-chiffon scarf
Worn by high-profile bikers including Ewan McGregor and Brad
Pitt, McQueen’s signature rock ’n’ roll motif scarf is the ultimate
accessory for real men. (£165; 0800 123400; selfridges.com)
Hedon “Hedonist” carbon fibre and fibreglass helmet
Oozing class, British brand Hedon’s helmets appeal to the
hippest bikers. They are extremely light and finished with
a calf-leather trim and the company’s signature logo plaque.
(£299; 020 8569 2967; hedon.com)
The Atacama Expedition Motorcycle Tent
The ultimate safe haven at the end of a hard day’s riding,
this three-person tent features a sleeping annexe with
enough space to sleep either cross- or lengthways, and has
its own “garage” to protect motorcycles. (€490/£351;
0031 20 822 3029; redverzstore.com)
Nannini leather and brass TT goggles
Classic Nannini leather motorcycle goggles are designed to
fit over open-face helmets and are imbued with inimitable
Italian style. They feature leather inside for top comfort,
and strong, light polycarbonate lenses that provide
a high-definition view and full UV protection.
(£73; 01992 537 546; classicpartsltd.com)
BY LAURA LOVETT
A TRiuMpHANT TRip
David Beckham, on set in
Mexico, wears Outlaw
jacket, £1,250; Fornham
T-shirt, £255; Blackrod
jeans, £255; and
Trailmaster boots, £424,
all Belstaff (belstaff.com).
His film, Outlaws, is
out on September 22 and
can be viewed at
belstaff.com/outlaws
IMA
GE
KA
T IR
LIN
;WO
Rd
S L
ISA
GR
AIN
GE
R
Bike it likeBECKHAM
26 ultratravel
Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso
Duetto Duo
Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Reverso was
designed for British Army polo
players as a watch that could be
flipped in order to prevent its
glass being smashed. The case
design has been adapted over the
years, notably in the women’s
Duetto Duo, which has a dial on
both sides of the case. Both sets
of hands run from the same
movement, but each can be set
to a different time zone.
From £8,250 (steel) to
£35,200 (white gold, gem-set);
jaeger-lecoultre.com
Chanel J12 GMT
The Chanel J12 was created by
the late designer Jacques Helleu
and went on sale in 2000 – since
when it has become one of the
most successful watches ever
made by a fashion house. The
case and bracelet, constructed
from high-tech ceramic, are
scratch-proof, hypo-allergenic,
water-resistant and remain cool
even in direct sunlight. This GMT
version also displays a second
time zone using the additional
hand in conjunction with the
24-hour outer dial.
£3,825; chanel.com
Louis Vuitton Escale Time Zone
Louis Vuitton’s Escale Time Zone
watch features a colourful,
hand-painted dial inspired by the
multi-hued “blazons” once used
to identify the luggage of
steamship passengers. It has
proved so successful that, in
addition to the original gold-
cased version, there is this more
affordable alternative with a
smaller, thinner, 39mm stainless-
steel case. The watch uses a
mechanical movement unique
to Louis Vuitton and is water-
resistant to 164ft.
£4,500; louisvuitton.com
3 of the best women’s world-time wAtChes
U LT R A WATC H E S
3 Once a city has been chosen
to show local time – which is
read using the hour and minute
hands on the inner dial in the
conventional manner – each of
the remaining 23 cities marked
on the outer ring becomes
correctly synchronised with
the 24-hour ring.
5 To add a feminine touch, the
bezel of the watch is set with
62 diamonds weighing a total of
0.82 carats, and the gold buckle
with another 27.
Watches that show the hour in two or more
time zones have traditionally been
more popular with men than with women.
But among regular female travellers,
demand is growing for these “world time”
watches, some of which have a secondary
hour hand, and others of which have
additional hour dials. The ingenious
mechanism of the Patek Philippe World Time
pictured here was invented in 1937 by
a watchmaker called Louis Cottier to show
“home time” on a conventional pair of
hands while also showing the hour in
23 capitals around the world on a rotating
disc. In 2002, a platinum-cased model from
1939 sold at auction for a record £4.3 million –
which makes the £37,000 pricetag of this
World Time a little easier to bear.
Simon de Burton
“
“
A woman’s
WORLD
2 The back of the watch is fitted with
sapphire crystal glass that allows
the movement to be seen, but the watch
remains water-resistant to a depth of 98ft.
1 The caliber 240 HU
self-winding, world-time
mechanism is identical to
that used in the 39.5mm
men’s version, but it is
contained in a more feminine,
36mm-diameter case in
white or rose gold.
4 The push-piece at the 11 o’clock
position is used to rotate the city
ring to align the relevant destination
with the red pointer at 12 o’clock.
Desert island dream Set on the pristine white sands close to Hanifaru Bay in the
Maldives, Anantara Kihavah Villas is a serene retreat of tranquil
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TAKE THEPATH LESSTRAVELLED
ultratravel 29
PREMIUM BONDSlick new technology with the cool factor? No problem, says Mark Wilson – grab one of these 007-style gadgets
U LT R A T e c h
clockwise from main picture
Quiksilver True WeTsuiTs
Need to move quickly from
boardroom to beach? This 2mm
neoprene wetsuit has waterproof
jacket, trousers, shirt and tie, with
side vents for an easy surfing
posture and blind-stitched seams
(about £1,500; truewetsuits.jp).
rimoWa F13
A replica of the Junkers F13, the
first all-metal passenger aircraft,
the F13 will be manufactured by
the luggage company Rimowa. It
can take four passengers, and will
be able to take daytime flights up
to 12,000ft (due spring 2016; price
on application; rimowa-f13.com).
lily
Pop its GPS tracker in your pocket
and this flying camera will film
your sporting exploits. Throw the
Lily into the air, and it films 1080p
video or takes 12MP photos for 20
minutes. Its top speed is 25mph,
and it hovers at up to 50ft (due
May 2016; $699/£450; lily.camera).
mando FooTloose
The world’s first chainless folding
electric bike converts pedal energy
into electricity to top up its 20-
mile range. The gears change
automatically, it can go at 16mph,
and removing the LCD immobilises
it (£3,000; mandofootloose.com).
masTer & dynamic Zero
HalliburTon kiT
This aluminium case contains
Master & Dynamic’s luxe, super-
comfortable MH40 headphones, a
stand and a boom mic for clear
Skype calls. The closed-back
design prevents sound leakage
(£600; 0800 011 9426;
masterdynamic.co.uk).
digiTal bolex d16
This digital version of Bolex’s
16mm movie camera brings film-
like video quality to indie directors.
It shoots uncompressed RAW
footage, is compatible with vintage
C-mount lenses, has a 2.4in digital
viewfinder and a “pistol grip” for a
steady shoot ($3,000/£1,925; 001
213 628 3191; digitalbolex.com).
Travel Through the Sofitel Collection
Paris, miami, marrakech, bora bora… Discover our magnifique
addresses around the world on www.sofitel.com A C C O R H O T E L S ' F R E E L O YA LT Y P R O G R A M
ultratravel 31
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the AFICIONADOIn her tenth decade, Iris Apfel has lost none of her joie de vivre – or her magpie instinct for global treasures, from Turkish jewellery to Belgian linens
Born in Queens in New York,
Iris Apfel studied fine arts
before setting up her own
interior-design business and
then founding the textile company Old
World Weavers with her late husband
Carl. Together they travelled the world,
sourcing fabrics, antiques and curios for
the White House and prestigious
households throughout America. Her
strikingly original wardrobe, composed
of haute couture, flea-market finds and
unexpected artefacts discovered on her
frequent jaunts abroad, formed the basis
of the 2005 Metropolitan Museum of Art
exhibition “Iris Apfel, Rare Bird of
Fashion”. Today, at 94, 10 years after she
became a fashion icon, the self-described
“geriatric starlet” remains active as a
model, designer and revered style adviser.
1i’m always pretty good at marrying
pieces so that they don’t look like
they were put together. When i’d
visit the grand Bazaar in istanbul
(grandbazaaristanbul.org), Carl and
i would go in to the back of jewellers,
where they’d brew us tea. i bought the
most unbelievable treasures there that
i wouldn’t sell for anything – mostly
antique pieces such as harem jewellery
made with mine-cut diamonds in
wonderful settings.
2The whole world has become
homogenised. But Naples is
somewhere where people have
always had enormous style. We went
right after the big war and in the very
early Fifties, when the people there
didn’t have anything. But they had a
zest for life and looked wonderful. It
was their attitude, not what they wore.
3When i began travelling to London
i became friendly with a lot of
the traders at Portobello market
(portobelloroad.co.uk) and went to
their homes for tea or dinner. it was
there that i started getting into church
vestments. i bought them in London
and then from some people in Paris who
specialised in antique fabrics.
4I find shopping today very
difficult. But recently I visited
the most wonderful shop in
Barcelona, a lifestyle place called
Azul Tierra (azultierra.es). The
owner has exquisite taste and mixes
contemporary with antique things.
I was really very taken with the place.
5i love flea markets. i just like
older things and think they have
much more of a soul than these
machine-made contemporary objects,
which don’t have any inner life. i look
at something old and think: “Who owned
you? Where did you live before? Were
you happy there?” it makes it much
more interesting for me.
6I’ve always been a fabrics freak
and from the Fifties, we’d go
once or twice a year to Europe
and fill a container or two. We’d go to
Belgium for linens, England for prints
(the country was always known for
chintz and prints), antique fabrics in
Paris and complicated handwoven silks
from Italy. Everybody who was anybody
came to us, from Greta Garbo to Estée
Lauder and even OJ Simpson back in
the day, who came with Nicole and
bodyguards. Oh my god, he was
drop-dead gorgeous.
7Museums are the last bastion of
civilisation and, with the way the
world is going, we have to protect
them as much as we can. i think much
of contemporary art is a case of the
emperor’s new clothes and i find it
insulting, but i love Old Master drawings
and old paintings. The Metropolitan
Museum (metmuseum.org) is one of the
greatest encyclopaedic museums going.
8I don’t think there’s another city
that’s quite as multilevelled as
New York. You find people from
all over the world there, every kind of
food, every kind of product. If you can’t
find it in New York, it doesn’t exist. It’s
true. You may have to search for it or
pay for it, but it’s there.
Iris Apfel is a curator for Rosewood Hotels
(rosewoodhotels.com). iris, a documentary
about her life, is on DVD (irismovie.co.uk).
Interview by John O’Ceallaigh
COlOurful CharaCter
Naples (right), whose
people apfel describes as
having “a real zest for life”.
an object from azul tierra
in Barcelona (below) and
an embellished vestment
32 ultratravel
the Light Brigade to stop them, while
the awful Lord Cardigan and his
equally appalling brother-in-law Lord
Lucan couldn’t see anything of the sort
and assumed that Raglan was ordering
them to charge at the massed Russian
artillery. A bugle sounded the charge –
and on YouTube you can hear a
recording of it from 1890, just as it
sounded on October 25 1854; heart-
stirring, despite the hisses and crackles.
At home I have a little wooden block
on which are displayed a couple of
broken British clay pipes and several
Russian, British and French bullets. I
bought it from a junk shop in Sevastopol,
and the objects were found on the
battlefield at Balaclava. Presumably the
soldiers had a quick smoke while they
dodged the bullets. What you don’t hear
much about, certainly from British
history books, is that everyone on all
sides felt so depressed after watching the
British light cavalrymen being mown
down that they just packed up and called
it a day. We think the battle was a draw;
the Russians said it was a victory.
Go there if you can, while you can;
the Russians plan to base long-range
bombers there and could easily block the
whole peninsula again. There are various
pleasant hotels in Balaclava, Sevastopol
and the capital Simferapol, and some
stunning harbourside fish restaurants.
The locals are so amazed to find tourists
that they’re charming. Why not download
the trumpet call from YouTube and play
it there for the first time in 161 years as
you plod across the pleasant battlefield?
Just don’t wait too long…
There are moments in
international affairs when
the clouds part, and the sun
illumines an area which has
been murky for years. They have
recently parted over the magical
peninsula of Crimea; and my advice is,
take advantage of it.
That engaging old crook Nikita
Khrushchev was born in Ukraine and,
as the boss of the Soviet Union, he
handed over Crimea, which had always
been Russian, to the Soviet government
of Ukraine as a present. This didn’t
matter much while it was just another
part of the USSR, but when the big split
came in 1991 and Ukraine and Russia
went their separate ways, Ukraine hung
on to Crimea. It wasn’t until 2014 that
Russia, by foul means, grabbed it back.
Now you can get there only through
Russia. Because of international
sanctions against Moscow, no cruise
ships stop there any more, and there’s
no legal access from anywhere else. As
a journalist, I need special permission
to go to Crimea, but tourists can do it
easily. It’s thoroughly worth the trip.
Crimea is full of pleasant little towns
with whitewashed 19th-century Russian
buildings, and in places like Balaclava
and Sevastopol you feel you’re just about
to bump into Anton Chekhov, looking
for the lady with the little dog. In the
Livadia Palace at Yalta, the chairs where
Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin argued
in 1945 are still exactly as they were.
Upstairs, the bedrooms of Tsar Nicholas
II are untouched; even the Tsarina’s
hairbrush is still on the dressing table.
But for Brits in particular there’s
another draw: the Crimean War
battlefields. For most of the 20th
century, it was extremely difficult to
reach Crimea. Sevastopol was a top-
secret nuclear submarine base, and even
Russians needed special permission
to visit. Many historians tried and failed,
which is why, when you read books
about, say, the Charge of the Light
Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava, it’s
difficult to understand exactly what
happened on the ground.
There’s a famous picture, taken by
the pioneering war photographer Roger
Fenton, of a rocky valley whose floor is
littered with cannonballs after the
Charge. That has given thousands of us,
over the years, the idea that the battle of
Balaclava was fought out over rough,
mountainous territory. Tennyson’s line
about the “Valley of Death” reinforces
this idea, though of course he only read
about the charge in the newspaper. True,
there’s a famous engraving by a war
artist of the battle as it really was, on an
open agricultural plain near the sea; but
photographs, even from the 1850s, seem
more reliable than drawings, somehow.
You get a magnificent panorama
of the battlefield of Balaclava from a
monument on Causeway Heights. When
it happened, there was only one smallish
vineyard in the valley, but now most
of the area is given over to vines and
a cavalry battle would be impossible.
You can understand why the perennially
unlucky Lord Raglan could see clearly
that the Russians were trying to haul
some British guns away and wanted
Stirring battle sites, historic palaces, harbourside cafés and charming people – Crimea has much to commend it. But get there quickly
John Simpson
UPFRONT
In the Livadia Palace at Yalta, the chairs where
Churchill,Roosevelt and
Stalin argued in 1945 are still
exactly as they were. Even the
Tsarina’shairbrush is on
the dressing table
Ill
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Ma
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In H
aa
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; H
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Id
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A home for the heart.A private sanctuary.
tunis | mauritius | zanzibar | maldives cenizaro.com
Moment
MAUR IT IUS REUNION MALD IVES CH INA U .A . E (2016) | LUXRESORTS.COM
The Team Members of LUX* help people to celebrate life with
the most simple, fresh and sensory hospitality in the world.
ultratravel 35
A weekend in the Cotswolds can do strange things to a city-dweller’s brain – like make my husband believe he could keep bees
Celia Walden
Until recently,
you couldn’t find
a decent dry martini
or competent
facialist here.
Now, there isn’t
a chef in London
able to match the
lunch at Thyme –
and there’s Soho
Farmhouse
for a debauched
night after ILL
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OR
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“Corn!” emotes my
husband in the stricken
tones of a Turgenev
hero who has just
spotted his long-lost
love from afar. We’re ambling through
the 150-acre gardens of Thyme hotel
at Southrop Manor (thymeatsouthrop.
co.uk) when he has what can only be
described as “a funny turn”. An earlier
sighting of a swan and cygnets nearly
drew him to tears (I expect she had a
similar reaction to him), and now that
we’ve reached the vegetable gardens, the
man keeps crouching down to coo over
organic legumes. “I’ve always wanted to
grow corn,” he adds as a poignant
afterthought. Whereupon I’m forced to
reiterate what I said a mere half-hour
ago, when we chanced upon the manor’s
bee houses and he wondered aloud:
“Why don’t we make our own honey?”
“People like us don’t make our own
honey,” I explain firmly, “and we sure as
hell don’t grow our own corn.”
It’s the Cotswolds effect, of course.
A few hours in this bountiful part of the
world makes you forget all that you are
and has you dreaming of a life where you
churn your own wildly creamy yoghurt in
between clay-pigeon shoots. And whilst
this bucolic part of Oxfordshire has
always provided the back-to-basics
purity city-dwellers yearn for, and has for
a decade been deemed as chic as the
Hamptons, you wouldn’t until recently
have been able to find a decent dry
martini or competent facialist here.
And, while Ye Olde Worlde
disconnection is all well and good, if you
WA L D E N ’ s W O R L D
can’t offset it with a spot of designer
shopping and a spinning class followed
by a debauched night at the hip new
Soho Farmhouse, it pretty quickly
becomes punitive.
Thankfully, Thyme country-house
hotel has got every facet of the pleasure
spectrum covered. Located in the
grounds of Southrop’s 15th-century
manor, it was previously used by owner
Caryn Hibbert for opulent parties, to
which its exquisitely renovated medieval
halls lend themselves perfectly. Today,
having remodelled the adjoining barns
into luxury cottages with their own
kitchens, dining rooms, log fires and
snugs, Hibbert has opened up the place
to couples seeking weekends away
and perhaps a class at the hotel’s state-
of-the-art cookery school.
My husband had planned to learn how
to make baba ganoush under the tutelage
of the hotel’s culinary director, Daryll
Taylor, until I kidnapped him for an
afternoon’s Cotswolds carousing. There’s
too much to do in this movie-set-perfect
land to waste time on aubergine-based
dips. For one thing, I was yearning to
revisit The Swan Inn, a few miles away in
Swinbrook, where we held our wedding
breakfast five years ago.
Since then landlords Archie and
Nicola Orr-Ewing have hosted David
Cameron and François Hollande, who
held an Anglo-French summit over
potted shrimps, rainbow trout and apple
crumble beside the Windrush river. The
garden remains as wild as ever and we
spend a nostalgic three hours sinking
Nyetimber rosé alongside the chickens.
I can’t think of anywhere else where I
would put up zero resistance to drinking
British fizz. But “home grown” is a big
deal in the Cotswolds, and Londoners
no longer have to settle for a basic
Ploughman’s lunch at the myriad of
gastropubs peppering the area. Lady
Bamford’s Wild Rabbit is still one of the
most popular eateries around, Cowley
Manor has recently opened its excellent
new restaurant and Sebastian Snow is
pulling in the celebrity crowd at his new
pub, The Plough Inn Kelmscott, but
Thyme’s light lunches and cream teas
remain unsurpassed. There isn’t a chef
in London able to match the delicacy
of Taylor’s courgette, pea and tarragon
tart, and after tasting his home-made
raspberry jam, I fear supermarket
preserve is forever ruined for me.
Just as every road leads to the beach in
the Hamptons, every 15th-century lane in
the Cotswolds leads to food, drink – and
yet more food and drink. Still sated from
our cream tea, we head to Lechlade’s Old
Swan Inn for vast scotch eggs and crab
risottos before staggering back to our
preposterously comfortable beamed suite.
Had the amorous cries of doves not
roused me the following morning, I
would have slept until Christmas. But
Piers is already up and making coffee –
pensive at the thought of our departure.
“It makes you realise everything you’re
missing out on, living in London,” he
murmurs. “You’re not on about growing
your own corn again, are you?” I sigh.
“No,” he rejoins, a mournful lilt to his
voice. “But one day I really would like to
learn how to make baba ganoush.”
36 ultratravel
BIG COUNTRY Buffalo herd in the
Selinda-Linyanti region of northern
Botswana. Insets, left to right; the
Cessna 206; a young Maasai woman;
an elephant grazes
Main photograph COLIN BELL
ultratravel 37
A tour of Africa in a Cessna light aircraft, staying in remote bush camps and private beach villas, reveals
the continent’s landscapes and wildlife in ways that overawe even the most experienced Africa hand.
Lisa Grainger soars over waterfalls, deserts, elephants and reefs on the safari of a lifetime
UnderAFRICAN SKIES
38 ultratravel
The airstrip at the Zimbabwean
capital’s second airport is
surprisingly busy for a country
whose economy is in
meltdown. The great African
tree expert, 80-year-old Meg Coates
Palgrave, is being helped out of a four-
seater aircraft returning from the Zambezi
valley. A weekly delivery of thousands of
chicks is being offloaded for Charles Davy
(father of Chelsy, Prince Harry’s old
flame). Six private planes are parked
outside the fuelling station. And coming
down the runway is a smart white
Cessna Caravan, followed by a six-seater
Cessna 206, painted in distinctive giraffe
print, out of which leaps a cheery Italian
guide and a glamorous blonde wearing
layers of African beads.
Luca and Antonella Belpietro can
normally be found in their Kenyan camp,
Campi Ya Kanzi, in the Chyulu Hills. But
last year, at the request of repeat guests
who enjoyed their company and their
African expertise, they organised a five-
week flying safari around East Africa. This
year’s trip, their second, is covering
southern Africa too, and they’re in Harare
to pick me up for the last two weeks.
Since the trip began, their seven other
guests – Swiss, American and German –
have seen chimpanzees in Tanzania,
elephant in the Okavango Delta, dunes in
Namibia, the Victoria Falls in Zambia,
Mana Pools in Zimbabwe and an island in
Lake Malawi. Together, we’re about to
journey to five countries in 12 days.
The flying, I soon discover, is as big an
attraction for each of the travellers as the
journey. The British and American pilots
of our two Cessnas fell so in love with
flying in Kenya that they moved out there
permanently, and each of the
fiftysomething Californians, who were
guests on the first trip, has bought a plane
to learn to fly at home.
“The joy of this trip,” Luca explains, as
he co-pilots us on my first leg, 50ft above
the Shire River in Malawi, whizzing past
fishermen in their dugout canoes, herds of
elephant waving their trunks indignantly
and waterbuck scattering over the plains,
“is that there is no real flight path. If we
want to go low and see something, we can.
Big jets are on a motorway in the sky: told
where to go, how high, how fast. We are
free to go where we want, how we want.
And now that air traffic in Africa has got
more organised we can explore the world
in a way that hasn’t been possible before.
This is the new 21st-century exploration,
but without any of the hitches.”
On a £32,000 (per person) trip like this,
there are no hitches at all, in fact. Every
detail has been taken care of. There are
porters to carry luggage; headsets so
passengers can listen to the pilots; menus
arranged in advance; Luca to educate us
(on subjects from tribes to birds) and the
gregarious Antonella to provide
entertainment. “It’s the best of Africa,”
as one guest puts it, “in one hit.”
DAY 1
HARARE, Zimbabwe
to MVUU CAMP
Liwonde National Park, Malawi
Flying time 3 hours
Distance 318 nautical miles
My first insight into just how much fun
flying can be comes about five minutes
after the two planes take off. I grew up in
Zimbabwe, and spent much of my youth
climbing the giant granite boulders of
Domboshawa, just outside the capital.
Until today, I’ve never seen the ancient
hills from above, their sides carved by rain
and wind and their smooth surfaces
striated with red and white minerals. “This
is incredible!” says Luca to guests over the
headsets. “I’ve been flying eight years in
Africa and never seen hills like this.”
“Nor have I, and I’ve climbed just about
every inch of them on foot!” I chip in.
From that moment, I’m glued to the
window in my comfortable padded,
leather-upholstered seat, as other guests
edit photos on their laptops or listen to
music on their Bose headsets. After three
weeks in the air, they’re used to the drill:
two days in a destination and then three to
five hours in the air, crossing hills, rivers,
deserts, national parks and endless bush.
As a newcomer, I can’t get enough of
the views as we fly between 50ft and
12,000ft above the ground: the aluminium
roofs of villages glinting in the sun; great
millipedes of water cutting through the
forested bush, their “legs” of green
splaying out into valleys; plumes of smoke
drifting into the cloudless blue sky from
bush fires; miles of nothing but grass and
trees, and then, beyond the dry hills of the
Zomba Plateau, the great Shire River in
Malawi: our first destination.
Here, both planes swoop down and
game viewing begins in earnest as we
whizz over big pods of hippo, elephant,
waterbuck, then circle the airstrip a couple
of times before landing beside three
waiting Land Rovers.
Malawi is one of the 10 poorest
countries in the world and in Liwonde
National Park there is just one camp:
Mvuu, where we’re staying. The park is
tiny (204sq miles), with a limited
population of wildlife. The attraction here
is black rhino (of which it has nine, in a
fenced sanctuary) and birds: 380 species,
of which I see 12 from my tent’s deck
within a few hours of arriving.
Having previously stayed in such
glamorous camps as Jao in Botswana, my
fellow travellers aren’t overly impressed
with the eight simple but comfortable
tents around a lagoon. But after one and a
half days, they’ve succumbed to the
charms of this tiny park: the forests and
palm-fringed river banks that look like
a set from the Bogart film African Queen;
the sights of an elephant swimming across
U LT R A A dv e n T U R e
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ultratravel 39
the wide Shire River at sunset; malachite
and pied kingfishers diving for dinner; an
enormous kudu bull grazing; 14ft
crocodiles sunbathing; and, at night,
hippo grazing 20 yards from our firepit.
Although the rhino sanctuary is home to
nine black rhino, we see none on a game
drive. Rhino horn, our guide tells us,
is now more valuable than gold or
diamonds: £15,000 per pound. “People
around here make a few hundred dollars a
year if they are lucky,” we’re told. “So you
can see why, unless we share the value of
tourism with them, it’s easy for them to
regard the animal as more valuable dead
than alive. And why rhinos stay hidden.”
DAY 3
VAMIZI ISLAND
Mozambique
Flying time 4.5 hours
Distance 532 miles
The sun has just risen as we take off and
soar over the silvery, rippling waters of the
Shire River, in which fishermen are
already casting their nets from dugout
canoes and in which elephants swim,
white egrets perched on their backs.
Today’s journey is long, traversing hills
strewn with giant granite boulders, brown
lakes rippling in the breeze and hundreds
of miles of green forest in Malawi, then
wide, flat valleys and Tolkienesque
mountains in Mozambique.
When they see the glorious sea, the
passengers aren’t complaining about the
distance, though. Mozambique’s coastline
stretches for more than 1,500 miles and in
the north it’s spectacular: a wilderness of
long, empty beaches, green woodland, an
occasional thatched fishing village and, off
the coast, islands. As we leave the browns
of the earth behind, dazzling blues take
their place: pale aquamarine near the
beach, lurid turquoise over shelves of
shallow reef, then a deep, inky cerulean
over the Indian Ocean. “It’s a pity it’s not
whale season, as we often see them from
up here,” one pilot comments. Instead,
we pass about a dozen islands, some
inhabited by fishing communities, most
still bare. Occasionally, a creamy sandbar
rises above the surface, and a couple of
wooden dhows float by, white sails
billowing in the wind. Then we spot an
island with a landing strip cut into the
mangroves, and we’re there: Vamizi.
The seven-by-two-mile island is
divided into two parts: a third for the
1,600 local fishermen and their families,
and two-thirds for seven Swedish and
British investors who created a marine
conservation area, and built (rentable)
holiday homes to fund local marine and
natural selection
Clockwise from top left: Flying over Victoria Falls;
a map showing the route of the five-week air
safari; refuelling in a remote airfield; Tartaruga
villa (left) on Vamizi Island, from which fishermen
still go out to sea in traditional dhows
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ultratravel 41
We soar above the
Great Ruaha River to
the soundtrack of ‘The
English Patient’, over
elephant browsing the
trees and pods of hippo
beacon of knowledge A guide looks across 400 square miles of Maasai land around Campi Ya Kanzi
community conservation projects. Our
group has taken three five-bedroomed
villas that must rate as among the most
beautiful remote beach properties on
earth. Mine, Tartaruga (or “turtle”) is the
epitome of barefoot chic, with an open-
sided thatched living area decorated with
Zanzibari chests, driftwood lamps, rough-
cotton, ocean-coloured soft furnishings
and contemporary African art. It has five
suites in the gardens, and a smiling butler,
Fazira Salimo, in charge.
Days are spent strolling on powdery
beaches, idly sifting through piles of shells
and watching hermit crabs do little
sideways dances, lounging under palm
trees, sipping watermelon cocktails,
snorkelling in the clear, turquoise
shallows, sailing on Hobie Cats and, most
memorable of all, spending an afternoon
with the island’s resident Mozambiquean
marine conservationist.
Joana Trindade, a turtle specialist, says
that this area of the northern Quirimbas
archipelago is, after the Coral Triangle in
the western Pacific Ocean, the second
richest marine ecosystem on our planet.
Diving at Neptune’s Arm, a dive regularly
ranked as being among the world’s top 10,
we see why she’s spent years here, tagging
turtles and sharks. Beside and above a
660ft-high walled garden of coral, swirl
shoals of thousands of fish, from rare grey
reef sharks, which come here to give birth,
to clouds of rainbow-coloured tropical
species: dotted, striped, frilled and
camouflaged. It is, without doubt, the
richest reef I’ve ever seen.
The food at Vamizi is almost as diverse
and colourful: barbecued lobsters and
varied salads laid out in the shade of a
remote thatched beach banda at lunch;
moonlit seafood feasts on the beach at
night, surrounded by flaming torches;
exotic fruit platters and delicious home-
made muesli at breakfast.
It’s a subdued group that packs at
dawn. “How am I ever going to go back to
my Manhattan apartment after that?” sighs
the New Yorker. “Man, that was paradise.”
DAY 5
RUAHA NATIONAL PARKTanzania
Travelling time 5 hours
Distance 627 miles
The flight over northern Mozambique into
Ruaha National Park almost makes up for
the loss we feel leaving Vamizi. I’m flying
with Luca in his four-seater Cessna 206 on
the agreement I know he’s going to go as
low as he can. For half an hour, we skim
the earth’s surface: wheels just above the
sand on long beaches, rising to avoid trees
and dhow masts, twisting and turning like
a soaring bird, past giant silvery baobabs,
waving children, groups of fishermen
pulling their nets out in the turquoise
shallows. Having cleared customs and
refuelled in Tanzania, we’re once again off:
over forests, rice paddies and then miles of
the wild Ruaha National Park.
We soar above the Great Ruaha River to
the soundtrack of The English Patient, over
elephant browsing the trees, pods of hippo
clumped in pools, and then, beside an
orange dirt airstrip, two safari vehicles.
Mwagusi Safari Camp, our home for two
nights, is the bush home of Chris Fox, and
is a charmingly old-school, no-frills safari
camp with, as one guest put it “everything
you could ever need, and nothing you
don’t”. Spacious thatched rooms with
polished concrete verandas are built high
on the river bank, beside enormous trees
and boulders on which hyrax sunbathe.
Hot showers are strong and solar-heated,
and tea is delivered to your bed at dawn –
a gentle wake-up call. Delicious bush
dinners, cooked by a Tanzanian who’s
worked here for 20 years, are served
beside a campfire on the riverbed
(along which, one night, a huge bull
elephant walks a few feet away). And
the guides – all from a local village and
trained in Fox’s guide school at the
camp – are knowledgeable and friendly.
Old Africa hands have often told me
that the Ruaha is not only the second
largest national park on the continent but
also one of the most beautiful. They’re
right. With just seven camps in 140,000sq
miles of bush, it’s gloriously quiet, with
none of the crowds of the Serengeti or
Ngorongoro. Great forests of baobabs,
thousands of years old, line the horizon. In
winter, big buffalo herds come down from
the hills to join zebra and giraffe on the
plains. There are so many elephant that at
one point we’re surrounded by dozens of
them, picking off tree bark with their
tusks, then stripping it with the finger-like
tips of their trunks. Although, while there,
a census was published showing that the
20,000 elephants counted here in 2014 had
been decimated by poaching to just 8,000
– a figure that one guide said was so
disastrous that in 20 years he predicted
they’d have none left. Watching these
majestic creatures, as we sip G&Ts and
enjoy the sunset, that demise seems
horrifying – but not inconceivable.
“When I was a boy, we had a lot of
rhino here,” says our guide, Geofrey
Karinga, sadly. “The last one was seen in
1984. So we have already seen one of our
great species disappear. I hope the
elephant isn’t the next one.”
DAY 7
MNEMBA ISLAND Tanzania
Flying time 2 hours 15 minutes
Distance 271 miles to Zanzibar
Having traversed the greys, oranges and
browns of semi-desert north-east of
Ruaha; a muddy, shallow lake and the
great luminous green-carpeted folds of the
6,000ft Udzungwa Mountains National
Park, we drop lower and head for the
coast. In the distance, over pale sandbars,
and luminous turquoise shallow reefs, we
can see Zanzibar: the once great Omani
kingdom, where the Sultan’s Palace still
stands, and plantations still produce sugar,
mahogany and spices for export. Just off
that is Mnemba: considered to be the most
luxurious African island resort.
On the beach, a line of 16 waving staff
clad in crisp white cotton is the first sign
of the high level of service on this small
coral atoll. With 50 staff for just 24 guests,
staying here is hardly a Robinson Crusoe
experience. Rooms – pretty, open-sided,
thatched wooden bandas floored in rattan
and cooled with whirring fans – are
immaculate, each furnished with four-
poster beds, cool linen sofas and big
bathrooms. A morning alarm is the dawn
cooing of hundreds of doves who have
made the island their home, or the rustle
of one of the 10 rare Aders’ duiker that
shade in nearby brush. And meals can be
pretty much what you want, from lobsters,
king prawns and crabs to salads, fresh
bread, steaks – and even chocolate soufflé.
We relish being beside the Indian
Ocean, snorkelling, kayaking, paddle
boarding and, late one afternoon, diving
and somersaulting with dolphins.
Leaving the next day, sailing across to
Zanzibar by speedboat, as dozens of
dhows returned from their night’s fishing,
is, one guest says, “the hardest part of the
trip. This place for me is the most
incredible beach place I’ve ever stayed.”
DAY 10
CAMPI YA KANZI Kenya
Flying time 2 hours 10 minutes
Distance 261 miles
The last leg of a trip is often tinged with
emotion. But on this leg of the air safari it
is heightened – not just because Luca and
Antonella are taking us to their home, but
because we are flying over such immense
and powerful landscapes. Their safari
camp, Campi Ya Kanzi (or “Camp of the
Hidden Treasure”) is on the side of a hill
overlooking 400sq miles (280,000sq acres)
of Maasai-owned land between Tsavo and
Amboseli National Parks. Flying into it, we
are treated not just to a great expanse of
orange desert in Tsavo (crossed by a new
wide-gauge railway linking Mombasa to
Kampala) and thick montane forest, but
great plateaus of dormant volcanoes, wide
flows of brittle black lava stone and, on the
horizon, the snow-capped peak of Africa’s
second-tallest mountain, Kilimanjaro.
When we arrive at Luca and Antonella’s
brick-built, thatched home, a line of
Maasai, colourfully beaded and clad in
bright red robes, are waiting to hug them,
along with their two adorable bushcamp-
educated boys, who run out with shrieks
of delight to greet their parents. Over the
next two days, we are hosted by the Maasai
and the Belpietros: feasting on fine Italian
cuisine by candlelight at night, and by day
being shown the land by guides from the
7,000 Maasai who own this land.
At dawn, a warrior escorts us through
thick, dripping Chyulu Hills cloud forest,
where we hear the whoop of rare turaco
and silver-cheeked hornbills, and spot
purple orchids. We ride horses among
zebra and giraffe, delighted that there is
not another camp for 400sq miles. We visit
schools, clinics and homes, which the
camp and its affiliated trust have helped
the Maasai to build. We climb boulder-
strewn hills, with views over what feels like
the entire Earth, and sit beside the camp-
fire with wine, overawed by the scenery.
And at night, I lie, listening to the
whoop of hyena outside the canvas walls,
the roar of lions in the distance, and hear
reverberating in my head the words of
Ernest Hemingway, who retreated into
these hills to hunt. “All I wanted to do
was get back to Africa,” he wrote. “We had
not left it, yet, but when I would wake in
the night I would lie, listening, homesick
for it already.”
On this trip, having seen so much of
this great continent from the vantage-
point of an eagle – traversing 2,003 miles
and five countries in 12 days – I felt his
pain like never before.
Natural World Safaris (01273 691642;
naturalworldsafaris.com) can arrange an air
safari with Luca Belpietro in 2016, from
about £13,500 per person for a two-week
trip, or £32,000 for a five-week trip.
42 ultratravel
The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina a decade ago is history.
New Orleans has not only healed, but is flourishing, with hip fashion quarters, rooftop
bars and a buzzy music scene. Douglas Rogers goes in search of the high notes
U LT R A c i T y
a return toTHE BIG EASY
Kr
is D
av
iDs
on
ultratravel 43
CHANDELIERS, MOSAICS
AND ALL THAT JAZZ
A musical brunch at Arnaud’s
restaurant in the French
Quarter (above) and Dapper
Lou keeps it fun and stylish
at New Orleans Jazz &
Heritage Festival (left)
Photograph KRIS DAVIDSON
44 ultratravel
It’s my fIrst nIghtin New Orleans and I’ve stumbled into an
argument. I’m sipping a Sazerac at The Carousel Bar in the Hotel
Monteleone (Truman Capote is said to have had his first-ever drink here)
and the Englishwoman next to me is telling her boyfriend she’s lost all
respect for him.
“Let’s get this straight – you left this city for Los Angeles? What? Are
you insane?”
“You’ve only been here three hours, what do you know?” he protests.
“Three hours is enough – I’m moving here! It’s like nowhere else
on Earth: the architecture, the gardens, the courtyards – the cocktails!”
and she raises her glass and orders another.
I glance over and realise, to my astonishment, that I recognise
the boyfriend from a television show. He’s Steve Zissis, actor and
co-creator of the hit HBO comedy Togetherness. I introduce myself. The
Englishwoman is Kelly Marcel, a screenwriter living in LA, on her first
visit to Zissis’s home town.
“Written anything I know?” I ask.
“Fifty Shades of Grey,” she mutters. “But I’ve never seen it. Oh, and
Saving Mr Banks. Hey, join us, let’s get a table; you need to move here
too! Steve, tell him he has to move here too!”
And with that we’re away, on a spontaneous
bar crawl through the French Quarter – Zissis
and his sister Maria as guides – that ends with
me stumbling back to my hotel at 5am, the sun
coming up over the Mississippi.
New Orleans gets its hook into you and
doesn’t let go.
I first visited in December 2005, just over
three months after Hurricane Katrina, and,
despite the devastation, I fell in love within three
hours too. I recall checking into one
of the few hotels open at the time, Soniat House,
a gorgeous Creole inn with wrought-iron
balconies and a palm-shaded courtyard, and
going for a walk. The French Quarter resembled
a ghost town, with a vague air of menace. There
were soldiers on the streets, talk of a 2am curfew.
Neon-lit Bourbon Street was more frontier town than fun. But then, as
the sun dipped, a strange thing happened. I turned down Toulouse and
saw a horse tethered to a vintage iron hitching post. A policeman was
smoking a cigarette with two girls under a gas lamp. On Chartres Street a
brass band – six men in white suits and top hats – was playing ragtime
tunes. I felt as if I had stumbled into another century; if Napoleon had
appeared and asked me for a light I would not have been surprised.
Addicted, obsessed, I’ve returned to New Orleans many times since, and
would move here tomorrow if I thought my liver could last.
Of course, back in 2005 the world thought this city lost forever.
Crime-ridden, corrupt, with a collapsing infrastructure before the storm
(people forget it wasn’t the hurricane but the broken levees that destroyed
the city), no one gave New Orleans any chance after it. Yet something
of a miracle has happened since. Although poor areas of the Crescent
City are still deprived, tourism is booming. More visitors come now than
ever before, there are some 1,400 restaurants (from 900 before the
storm), swanky new hotels open all the time, and neighbourhoods that
were once no-go zones are now flush with galleries, theatres, stylish bars
and loft apartments. I was here to sample this glamorous New Orleans –
its fanciest hotels, restaurants and areas – but also to ask a question: can
this sleek new cosmopolitanism co-exist with the
history, tradition and gritty authenticity that made
New Orleans unique in the first place?
“Welcome to the Old No 77 & Chandlery,” says
a uniformed bellhop.
I had made sure to check into the city’s coolest
new hotel, a converted 1854-built coffee and
tobacco warehouse in the Central Business District
(CBD), three blocks from the French Quarter. Most
New Orleans hotels fall into one of two categories:
the gilded-age grande dame (The Roosevelt,
Windsor Court) or the mass-market chain (Hilton,
Sheraton). The Old No 77 is different: all exposed
brick, hardwood floors, rustic wood tables and a
handsome open-plan ground-floor restaurant,
Compère Lapin, helmed by St Lucia-born chef Nina
Compton, famous from the hit television show Top
ultratravel 45
Chef. An espresso bar – the new staple of any hip urban hotel – flanks
the check-in desk. My second-floor room was loft-sized, with a low-
slung king-sized bed splashed with a red throw. Some kinks needed
ironing out – the light and ceiling fan went on in the middle of the
night – but when you return at 5am that matters not.
Being hungover, I dedicated my second day to food.
New Orleans has a rich culinary culture, but if someone had told
me a year ago that the hottest new restaurant in America would be that
of an Israeli immigrant making his grandmother’s baba ganoush for
New Orleans sophisticates, I would have said you were mad.
I meet the chef in question, Alon Shaya, a beanpole of a man in
computer-geek glasses, at Shaya, on Magazine Street, Uptown. If the
Quarter is known for its venerable French-Creole institutions –
Antoine’s, Arnaud’s, Galatoire’s – Magazine Street is its modish cousin,
and Shaya fits the bill: cool blue and white tones, plush seating, marble
tables and wall-to-wall beautiful people. It opened in February; three
months later Alon Shaya won the 2015 James Beard Award for the Best
Chef in the South. A wood-fired oven churned out fluffy pitta breads
the shape of rugby balls, and waiters ferried me delectable small
plates: avocado toast with smoked whitefish; a roasted-pepper and
aubergine purée called Lutenitsa; Louisiana shrimp shakshouka. This
is not traditional New Orleans cuisine, of course, but its basis – fresh
Delta farmland ingredients, abundant Gulf seafood, and immigrant roots
– is perfect New Orleans. This is a port city, after all, with a melting pot
of migrant cultures. “We have a unique food community,” says Shaya.
“The point is to embrace what’s been and move it forward.”
Magazine Street, linking the CBD with the Garden District and
Uptown, is the Rodeo Drive of the South, and I visited its chicest
boutiques. Southern belles snapped up flamboyant home décor in
Mad Men actor Bryan Batt’s store Hazelnut; debutantes cooed over the
silver fleur-de-lis necklaces of jeweller Mignon Faget; I bought a cute
posy-embroidered sundress for my daughter at Pippen Lane, a chic
children’s store owned by the wife of actor John Goodman.
The Garden District and Uptown (historically the American
Quarter) has long been for the moneyed upper classes, though.
I spent my third day in a revived neighbourhood, the Bywater,
east of the French Quarter, adjacent to the Lower Ninth Ward – the
epicentre of Katrina’s devastation 10 years ago.
Back then, when I drove down the Lower Ninth, it was an
apocalypse: houses on top of houses; Cadillacs in treetops. The
Bywater was a ghost town and I gave it little hope. Yet, on visits since,
I’ve observed its transformation. With so many cheap shot-gun shacks
available, young creatives moved in to open cool artisanal shops and
studios: corner wine store Bacchanal; glass-blowing operation Studio
Inferno; an open-air theatre, The Old Ironworks which, fittingly for the
10th anniversary of a storm, was staging The Tempest. All very well, you
say, but hardly luxe or glamorous.
But then there’s Rice Mill Lofts, once the largest rice mill in
America, empty for decades, now an industrial-chic apartment
complex with an acclaimed Italian-American restaurant, Mariza, at the
front. I was given a tour by its owner, Sean Cummings, a boutique
hotelier (he owns International House in New Orleans) and urban
design guru. A soft-spoken entrepreneur with dashing good looks,
Cummings bought the building 20 years ago but could do nothing
with it. Who wanted to be in the Bywater back then? Then came
Katrina. “Everyone thought this city was finished with the storm,”
Cummings recalled, “but I thought: ‘This is a new beginning.’”
Rice Mill Lofts opened in 2011 and affluent tenants drawn to cool
urban living (the rooftop views of the city and the crescent in the
Mississippi are spectacular) moved in. Among them was a pugnacious
New York financier, Ron Bienvenu, who relocated his hedge fund to
New Orleans after meeting Cummings. “I never looked back,” he
grinned. “In New York you lose a little bit of yourself every day. New
Orleans is the opposite – I feel more alive and joyous.”
I spoke to him by the complex’s swimming pool; giant white letters
that read “You Are Beautiful” were stencilled on the brick wall above
us. “Banksy tagged the building after Katrina,” said Ron, grinning.
“Sean made sure to keep it. We are beautiful.”
With the influx of affluent outsiders, among them celebrities (Brad
and Angelina have a house in the French Quarter; Sandra Bullock and
soon Jay-Z and Beyoncé in Garden District), it’s not surprising a VIP
tour company has sprung up to cater to wealthy tourists. I met up with
Jennifer Simpson, co-founder of Bespoke Experiences, who moved to
New Orleans in 2012 from Canada.
“Luxury is well hidden here and I noticed a demand to access it,”
‘In New York you lose a little bit of yourself every day. In New Orleans I feel more alive and joyous’
hot in the city
Clockwise from top left:
Bourbon Street, in the heart
of the French Quarter;
the chef Alon Shaya with his
fresh, fluffy pitta bread;
Crescent Park featuring
David Adjaye’s rusted-steel
Piety Street Bridge; Brad Pitt
at his home in New Orleans
46 ultratravel
she said. Simpson can arrange everything from a ride on a Mardi Gras
float to a picnic under the live oaks in Audubon Park. She got me
private access to something even better: the rooftop of the Cabildo, the
glorious 1790s Spanish colonial building on Jackson Square, site of
the Louisiana Purchase transfer ceremony in 1803. The Cabildo
houses rare artefacts, including Napoleon’s death mask, but the
highlight was access to the rooftop spire where I looked down on
Jackson Square and steamboats on the Mississippi beyond. I felt I was
stepping back to the time of Twain.
So what of my original question: what will happen to the classic
New Orleans, its traditions and exotic atmosphere? The answer,
I can report, is that it is thriving as never before. I got a glimpse of this
at the historic Sazerac Bar in The Roosevelt hotel, where a dashing
waiter in a white tuxedo and bow tie poured me a Ramos Gin Fizz as
smooth as those that Governor Huey P Long had when he drank here.
I sensed it in the birdsong and foliage of the courtyard below my
room at the Audubon Cottages, the historic French Quarter inn that
I checked into on my last night. Most of all, though, I saw it at
Galatoire’s classic 1905 Creole restaurant on Bourbon Street where I
had the famous Friday lunch. Galatoire’s is nigh impossible to get into
on Fridays: it takes no reservations, so regulars send their clerks or
servants to stand in line from 6am to secure a table. Through a friend
of a friend, I was able to dine with Melvin Rodrigue, president and co-
owner of the restaurant, and thus the most important man in the room.
And what a room. I entered a glorious museum piece of sea-green
walls, white tablecloths, antique ceiling fans and glittering lamp-lit
mirrors. By 11.30am it was packed: Houston oil men in cowboy hats,
Mississippi lawyers in white linen jackets, local politicos, chefs,
celebrities ordering shrimp remoulade and soufflé potatoes. Melvin
pointed out actress Sela Ward in Jackie O sunglasses; I noticed Alon
Shaya at a table of 10. That the city’s hottest chef dines in its most
revered restaurant says it all.
At about 4pm (it’s usual for Friday lunch to last until dinner)
something astonishing happened. A brass band appeared at the
entrance – some drunken diner had lured it in from busking outside –
and began belting out such a rousing rendition of Satchmo’s When
the Saints Go Marching In that the entire room of 160 people leapt to
their feet, waved white napkins in the air, and sang along. Melvin
looked at me with a wry grin. “Welcome to New Orleans,” he said.
“Where else in the world does this happen?”
I thought of my new friends Kelly and Steve. What the hell;
I might move here too.
THREE HOTELS
Old NO 77 & ChaNdlery
The loft-like rooms – exposed brick,
hardwood floors, ceiling fans – come with
mod cons such as espresso makers, but
the charm is in the open-plan ground
floor with coffee bar, cocktail lounge and
restaurant, Compère Lapin (comperelapin.
com), where chef Nina Compton serves
up tropical Caribbean flavours: spiced pig’s
ears and red-snapper crudo.
535 Tchoupitoulas Street (001 504 527 5271;
old77hotel.com; doubles from $107/£70)
audubON COttages
Along with Soniat House (soniathouse.
com), this 18th-century, seven-room Creole
inn is the most intimate boutique hotel
in the Quarter. I stayed in Cottage Four,
a two-room duplex filled with antiques
and oil paintings. My balcony overlooked a
lush courtyard with a salt-water swimming
pool. Only a block from Bourbon Street,
this is a sanctuary from the chaos.
509 Dauphine Street (001 504 586 1516;
auduboncottages.com; doubles from $269)
INterNatIONal hOuse
Sean Cummings’s 117-room LM Pagano-
designed property in a towering downtown
building is a study in contemporary chic.
Start with a Remington cocktail (mezcal,
Benedictine) in the Loa Bar before
taking a lift to your upper-floor room.
My penthouse had lush rugs, crystal
chandeliers, a seating area with grand
piano and dramatic Mississippi views.
221 Camp Street (001 504 553 9550; ihhotel.
com; doubles from $159)
THREE RESTAURANTS
shaya
Alon Shaya’s award-winning contemporary
Israeli restaurant lives up to the hype.
Try the sabich: fried aubergine, preserved
mango and soft-cooked egg. This is
not his first rodeo. Along with his mentor,
John Besh, he also runs the beloved
Italian restaurant Domenica (domenica
restaurant.com) in The Roosevelt,
and the acclaimed Pizza Domenica
(pizzadomenica.com) on Magazine Street.
4213 Magazine Street (001 504 891 4213;
shayarestaurant.com)
square rOOt
Sixteen diners a night get to sample
the spectacular 14-course tasting menu
of chef Phillip L Lopez at this jewellery-
box-sized space on Magazine Street.
Molecular creations include foie-gras
cotton candy and Cohiba-cigar-smoked
scallops. Allow three hours for dining.
1800 Magazine Street (001 504 309 7800;
squarerootnola.com)
galatOIre’s
What to say? One of the great dining
experiences on earth, particularly Friday
lunch (pictured below). Founded in 1905,
this restaurant’s waiters, in tuxedos, present
Creole classics such as crabmeat Yvonne,
oysters Rockefeller and shrimp étouffée, to
a Who’s Who of Southern society. Queue
from 6am for the Friday table and dress
smart (seersucker and bow ties for boys).
209 Bourbon Street (001 504 525 2021;
galatoires.com)
THREE THINGS TO DO
VIsIt hOumas hOuse plaNtatION
Up until the Civil War the land along the
Mississippi between Baton Rouge and
New Orleans had 250 sugar plantation
mansions. Most are long gone, but the
oak-fronted Greek Revival Houmas House,
bought and restored by entrepreneur Kevin
Kelly, stands strong. Order a mint julep
from The Turtle Bar in the gardens and
take a guided tour of antique-filled rooms.
40136 Highway 942, Darrow, Louisiana
(001 225 473 9380; houmashouse.com)
Walk CresCeNt park
New Orleans’s first green space along the
Mississippi opened in 2014, the brainchild
of hotel-developer Sean Cummings. The
1.4 mile-long park with landscaped gardens
connects the French Quarter with the
Bywater, the highlight being the rusted-
steel Piety Street Bridge, aka the “Rusty
Rainbow”, by superstar British architect
David Adjaye. Stand on the Piety Pier and
watch the steamboats churn the river.
dO a guIded VIp tOur
For curated tours of behind-the-scenes
New Orleans and private access to
everything from French Quarter galleries
to Louisiana State Museum collections
or local jazz station WWOZ, contact
Jennifer Simpson at Bespoke Experiences.
(001 504 534 8874; bespokeprivate
tours.com)
BEST OF THE BARS
Sample the turtle soup and a brandy
milk punch (the latter on a menu of “eye
openers”) for breakfast at the beloved
Brennan’s (brennansneworleans.com)
on Royal Street. “Breakfast at Brennan’s”
is not a catchphrase for nothing.
Savour a Pimm’s Cup at Napoleon House
(napoleonhouse.com), an elegantly
decrepit Creole building on Chartres
Street. Taste the French 75 champagne
cocktail, made to perfection by
Chris Hannah at the French 75 Bar
of the historic Arnaud’s restaurant
(arnaudsrestaurant.com). And sup on a
Sazerac at the legendary walnut-lined
Sazerac Bar in the gilded Roosevelt hotel
(therooseveltneworleans.com).
For further details on New Orleans visit.
neworleanscvb.com or discoveramerica.com
THE ULTRA GUIDE TO NEW ORLEANS
shades of cool
Clockwise from above:
tram travel; the Old No 77 &
Chandlery hotel; Warby Parker
Frame Studio on Magazine
Street, which sells glasses
WH
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OM
; TH
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48 ultratravel
A ROME OF
ONE’S OWN The Italian capital is a city of secrets that take years to unlock.
Stanley Stewart shares three decades of experience, hanging
out in private palaces and exclusive spaces
ultratravel 49
rome alone
Jep, the main character in
the film la Grande Bellezza,
takes in the Eternal City
from the ideal spot:
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ultratravel 51
There is a piazza in Rome with
no traffic, few people, and a single
mysterious door. The Piazza
dei Cavalieri di Malta sits on the
crown of the Aventine, the quietest and
most beautiful of Rome’s seven hills. The
square was designed by Piranesi, a man
who loved a surprise.
That single door is green and sits to one
side of the square. It leads into the Priory of
the Knights of Malta. There is an elaborate
keyhole, surrounded by an escutcheon, which has been
rubbed bare by many hands. If you peer through, you will
find Piranesi’s surprise – the dome of St Peter’s, almost two
miles away, perfectly framed by the keyhole. The square, the
door, the keyhole, even the garden within have been
orientated to offer this private glimpse of one of Rome’s
most famous monuments.
Given that Rome’s public face is so
spectacular and well known, it is easy
to forget that many of its best moments,
many of its loveliest treasures, are behind
closed doors. Beyond the great sights
of the Colosseum, the Forum and the
Vatican is another more private Rome, a
city of surprises and unpredictable secrets. Beyond the
grand hotels with their bustling lobbies is a more elegant and
sophisticated Rome of private villas and luxury apartments
from whose rooms you can embark on the adventure of
making Rome your own (see page 52 for the top five).
Rome is the kind of city in which tourist maps soon fade,
and a different, more personal kind of navigation takes over:
one’s own adventure within the city. This may begin with the
discovery of an old-fashioned workshop in a backstreet. It
might include a romantic pause on a bridge beneath the
silhouette of Castel Sant’Angelo. It should definitely take in
that restaurant with the wonderful straccetti con rucola.
Piazza del Popolo is central to my own private map of
Rome. When I first came to the city 30 years ago, I stayed in
a pensione just off this square. There was a high-ceilinged
room, tall shuttered windows, a door with a pediment that
I am sure included cupids, a beautiful receptionist, and the
sound of a saxophone drifting up from Via Angelo Brunetti
in the evenings. At night, when the saxophonist had gone
home and the traffic ceased, I could hear the splash of the
fountains in the piazza beneath the obelisk that Augustus
had brought home from Egypt 2,000 years ago.
Every morning I sallied forth on a battered scooter
someone had lent me. I careened between ancient ruins
and baroque sculpture and delicious meals, between
Roman triumphal arches, the soft thighs of Bernini’s
Proserpina in the Galleria Borghese and the divine
croissants in a bar in the Via Ripetta. I discovered – in those
days everything was a discovery – Santa Maria in Trastevere,
barnacled with age, its gold-hued interior freighted with
incense and prayer. I made a pilgrimage to Velásquez’s
portrait of Innocent X in Palazzo Doria Pamphilj and
another to Sant’Anselmo on the Aventine where Benedictine
monks filled the Roman dusk with Gregorian chant. I
climbed the steps of the Capitoline at night to Michelangelo’s
exquisite piazza where the equestrian statue of Marcus
Aurelius stood bathed in moonlight. I came home late to
Piazza del Popolo, hoping the beautiful receptionist might
still be on duty. I only ever managed to exchange five words
with her: “La mia chiave, per favore.” Tragically, “My key,
please” was not a gambit to arouse her interest.
More than 20 years later, I came to live in Rome,
graduating from visitor to resident. My Vespa habits have
not changed – though perhaps the current model is less
battered than that first one – but my personal geography of
Rome has expanded to include its more private spaces. The
famous sights will always be fascinating, and still come, at
the right moment, with a sense of discovery. But the Rome I
It is always a matter of knowing which doors to push,
which bells to ring, which keyholes to peer through
private view piranesi’s
keyhole in the piazza dei
Cavalieri di Malta (above)
allows a perfectly framed
glimpse of St peter’s
Basilica, almost two miles
away. Left: a vespa, still the
transport of choice in rome
52 ultratravel
explore now is a place of local streets and neighbourhoods,
of private palaces and lesser-known sights, a Rome whose
glories are often found behind closed doors.
There is no typical day in Rome – there are too many
incidents to distract me. But here is a Roman day, enjoyed
recently in the warm sun of September. In the early
market of Testaccio, where women feigned indifference to
men feigning passion, I bought glossy aubergines and
long plum tomatoes and hunks of flinty parmesan for an
evening meal. Testaccio remains a fiercely Roman quarter,
more local than Trastevere, its touristy neighbour across
the river. And nowhere is more Roman than Volpetti,
a shrine both to Roman food and to Roman excess. It
overflows with prosciutti and salami, ravioli and biscotti,
crostini and torte. White-jacketed attendants fetch plaits
of mozzarella from milky bowls and slice ricotta like cake.
Every Roman day should start and end with food.
From the wonders of Volpetti, I climbed the streets of
the Aventine to Piranesi’s square, and its miraculous
keyhole. In Rome it is always a matter of knowing which
doors to push, which bells to ring, which keyholes to peer
through – as demonstrated by the character Jep, in last
year’s Oscar-winning film La Grande Bellezza. Further
along a leafy avenue, I pushed open the colossal doors of
Santa Sabina. Virtually empty most days, it is one of my
favourite spaces in Rome: few places give such a powerful
sense of the city’s antiquity. Built in the fifth century, the
basilica’s bare, atmospheric interior feels more like a
Roman temple than a Christian church. Columns of light
slant down across the great void from the clerestory. I felt
myself alone with the ghosts of the early martyrs lurking
in the shadows.
But I didn’t linger. I had an appointment in the
centro storico at Rome’s finest Renaissance
building. The Palazzo Farnese, now the French
Embassy is normally closed to the public, but
with the right number to call and a little advance booking,
the doors swing open for a private tour. Upstairs is one of
the greatest masterpieces in Rome, the Carracci Gallery,
easily the peer of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. But while
the latter tells a Biblical story, Carracci has opted for
indulgence. He has gone back to the pre-Christian gods,
scantily dressed mythological figures who cavort across
the ceiling and walls in what looks like a delighted orgy.
I had lunch in the Chiostro del Bramante, close to
Piazza Navona – not private, but it feels secret. You enter
the church through a narrow door, climb steep, unmarked
stairs and emerge in a first-floor loggia where you find an
elegant café. From the tables in the arches you gaze down
on the perfect symmetries of Bramante’s cloisters among
the tumble and chaos of Roman rooftops. Should you
come for afternoon tea, I can recommend the carrot cake.
Back on my trusty scooter, I sailed the length of the
Lungotevere to the Circus Maximus, the venue for the
ancient charioteers, whose driving habits still manifest
themselves in modern Roman traffic. Beneath the oval
race track where Ben Hur once thundered up and down is
an underground shrine, discovered in the Thirties – the
Mithraeum of Circus Maximus. I had arranged a private
visit. Descending a stairwell in a nondescript modern
building brought me to another door. I stepped across its
threshold into the third century as suddenly as Alice
slipped into Wonderland. Beneath ancient arches, the bare
rooms were in a state of almost perfect preservation down
to the inlaid marble patterns of the floor. They were once
dedicated to the mysterious cult of Mithras. A splendid
frieze depicted the ritual that took place here: the sacrifice
of a bull. A chill emanated from the walls. Many metres
below the Roman streets, I had entered another world.
And that is why I came to Rome, to the pensione off
the Piazza del Popolo, all those years ago – to enter
another world.
Bellini Travel (020 7602 7602; bellinitravel.com) specialises
in bespoke itineraries in Rome and has access to numerous
private palaces and experiences. British Airways flies from
London several times a day, from £102 return (ba.com).
six WAYs TO sEE THE CITY BEHIND CLOsED DOORs
The SiSTine Chapel
and The VaTiCan
Most visits to the Vatican Museum and the
Sistine Chapel involve a queue, a crowd
and a disappointing multilingual crush as
you crane your neck to view the ceiling of
the Sistine Chapel. But now the Vatican
offers semi-private tours, which involve a
full tour of the museums during normal
hours followed by the opportunity to
remain in the Sistine Chapel after closing
time. To see Michelangelo’s magnificent
work in the hush of the empty chapel
is one of life’s great experiences (see
vatican.va and follow the links to Vatican
Museums). Bellini Travel can arrange a fully
private tour of the Vatican with access to
Fra Angelica’s stunning frescoes in the
rarely opened Cappella Niccolina, as well
as the Raphael Rooms and Sistine Chapel.
Price on request (020 7602 7602;
bellinitravel.com).
palazzo Colonna
The story of Rome is the story of families,
and one of the grandest is the Colonnas.
The family still lives in the Palazzo Colonna,
whose masterpieces include Poussins,
a Tintoretto, and a famous Carracci,
as well as a portrait of Marcantonio
Colonna, a victorious admiral at the Battle
of Lepanto, in a ruff that would have
strangled lesser men, and the beautiful
Vittoria Colonna, poetess, radical thinker
and close friend of Michelangelo. The
family opens the galleries and grand
reception rooms on Saturdays (from
9am to 1.15pm; €12) but private tours can
be arranged at other times.
Private tour with specialist guide from €505.
The Gallery and Princess Isabelle apartment
can also be hired for events and dinners
(0039 06 678 4350; galleriacolonna.it).
Galleria BorGheSe
With one of the most popular collections
in Rome, the gallery operates a timed-
entry system with advance bookings,
which keeps the numbers of visitors to
manageable levels and ensures time and
space to contemplate masterpieces by
Caravaggio, Raphael and Titian, as well
as Bernini’s extraordinary sculptures
(galleriaborghese.it). For more determined
visitors, Bellini Travel can arrange private
after-hours evenings with a gallery tour
followed by cocktails and a full dinner in
the loggia, accompanied by a classical
quartet or an opera singer, and all under
the steady gaze of Canova’s nude statue
of Pauline Borghese, Napoleon’s sister,
which so shocked 19th-century Rome.
Price on request, Bellini (as before).
CaSino dell’aurora pallaViCini
Still occupied by elderly aristocrats, the
doors of the Palazzo Pallavicini-Rospigliosi
swing open on the first day of every
month for visits to one of the most
enchanting spaces in Rome – an intimate
garden, a grotto and the pavilion known
as the Casino dell’Aurora, designed by
Vasanzio. Inside is Guido Reni’s 17th-
century ceiling fresco of Aurora scattering
flowers in front of the chariot of Apollo.
Reni’s star has rather fallen but in the 19th
century visitors knelt before this ceiling,
which was considered the equal of the
Sistine Chapel. And when the guide
throws open the windows of the Casino,
there is one of the great views of Rome.
Private visits can be arranged: contact the
Casino for conditions and details (0039 06
8346 7000; casinoaurorapallavicini.it).
CaSino ludoViSi
Home to the Boncompagni Ludovisi family,
this grand palace near the Via Veneto is
one of the finest examples of the elaborate
domestic style of the Roman aristocracy –
baroque flourishes, gilt decoration, chubby
mythological figures. The showcase is a
mural by Caravaggio, who appears in a
nude self-portrait as a Roman god. The
palace is open to the public on Friday or
Saturday mornings but private visits can
be arranged. With luck, you will be guided
by Princess Rita, a charming American.
Price on request; 0039 06 483 942.
The BeST of The reST
* Volpetti is at 47 Via Marmorata
(volpetti.com). The door in the Piazza
dei Cavalieri di Malta can be opened by
appointment on Saturday mornings
(0039 06 577 9193).
* Visits to the Palazzo Farnese can be
arranged via inventerrome.com; the
Carracci Gallery reopens later this year
after renovations. Chiostro del Bramante
(0039 06 6880 9035; chiostrodel
bramante.it) also has apartments to rent.
* Private visits can also be arranged to
the Mithraeum of the Circus Maximus
by Bellini (details, as before).
priVaTe Company
It is possible to
see Michelangelo’s
masterpieces (left)
in the Sistine Chapel
without the crowds,
and to take a private
tour of Palazzo
Colonna (below)
Uncommon destinations
Unforgettable moments.
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54 ultratravel
Top: Portrait Roma’s rooms
offer balcony views (top). The
gardens of Palazzo Parisi
(above). Contemporary style
at Villa Nocetta (below)
Aprivate Rome requires a private
residence – room service without
reception, a terrace without other
guests. These properties are large
enough for a family or a group of friends
to share. All of them can arrange
privileged experiences in Rome, from
helicopter flights over the city to
private tours of the ancient Mithraeum
beneath the Circus Maximus.
Portrait roma
“Shoes maketh the man,” my grandfather
used to say. Or, in the case of Portrait
Roma, some of the most luxurious
private suites in Rome. Owned by the
Ferragamo family, famous for making the
best handmade shoes in Italy, this
14-room property has nothing so vulgar
as a reception. Here, it is all about
personal service, with an adviser to
enhance your Roman experience, from
private tours of the Vatican to personal
shopping. Limed wood and dove greys
enhance the Dolce Vita vibe, along with
black-and-white prints of models and
actors from an age when stars such as
Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn
used to join the passeggiata on Via
Veneto. Stylish and effortlessly cool,
Portrait Roma’s rooms have balconies
overlooking the rooftops and one of
the best roof terraces in the city for an
aperitivo or a lavish breakfast.
Suites with kitchenettes from €459/£327
per night (0039 06 6938 0742;
lungarnocollection.com).
La SceLta di Goethe
On a visit to Rome in the late 18th
century, Goethe discovered erotic love –
though his habit of writing verses on his
lover’s naked back probably floated his
boat more than hers. La Scelta di Goethe
– or Goethe’s Choice – consists of two
sumptuous apartments on the Via del
Corso, a few steps from the Spanish
Steps. Through a private entrance you
step into a world of aristocratic Roman
taste – bookshelves of leather-bound
volumes, Old Master paintings, deep
leather armchairs, a personal butler to
lay out an elaborate breakfast on your
private roof terrace. And, for Goethe, the
gilt-framed mirror at the end of the bed
would have let him review his own work
while making love.
The Villa Medici suite, with a double
bedroom, costs from €1,280/£910 a night.
The Trinità dei Monti suite, which sleeps
four, is from €1,760/£1,251. Two suites can
be joined to accommodate six (0039 06
6994 2219; lasceltadigoethe.com).
ViLLa Lina
Just under an hour from the city, this
ancestral estate of olive groves, vineyards,
and rambling gardens has five splendid
houses to rent. The atmosphere is
informal, artistic, quirky and charming –
more bohemian farmhouse than
smart villa. A small organic restaurant
serves food from its gardens, but the
best place for dinner is the 19th-century
conservatory, with candlelight reflecting
in a hundred panes of glass.
Casa Vostra, which sleeps 10, is €550/£390
per night. Torre del Falco sleeps 10 and
costs €900/£640, while the honeymoon
pavilion next door is €300/£214 a night.
There are two swimming pools, and a
private chef can also be booked (0039
3888 274 775; relaisvillalina.com).
PaLazzo PariSi
In the hills of Sabina outside Rome,
Palazzo Parisi is a sumptuous aristocratic
villa dating back to at least the 11th
century. Owned by Arabella Lennox-
Boyd, the famed landscape gardener, this
is a fantasy villa: it has a grand salotto in
which frescoed birds fly across the vaults,
a master bedroom with a gilt-framed
canopied four-poster, labyrinthine
kitchens overseen by the gracious Rita, a
book-lined billiard room and a top-floor
passageway whose crescent window
looks into the nave of the church next
door. Undoubtedly grand in scale, Villa
Parisi is also informal, welcoming and fun.
A tennis court, an infinity pool and walks
in the Sabine Hills help the days spin by.
Palazzo Parisi sleeps 10 adults and two
children under 12 and costs from £5,000 per
week (020 7931 9995; palazzoparisi.com).
ViLLa nocetta
In the hills behind St Peter’s, in a
neighbourhood of discreet walled villas,
is one of the most civilised places to stay
in Rome. In the gardens are a sun terrace
and a heated pool beneath umbrella
pines. Indoors are lavish spaces, from a
hi-tech kitchen to a living room larger than
most London flats. There is a fireplace,
a grand piano, plus long elegant sofas and
a collection of modern art. Downstairs,
there are two options beyond the
cinema-size television: a sedate game
of billiards or a workout in the gym.
Upstairs, spacious suites are beautifully
appointed with luxury Italian bed linen.
Villa Nocetta sleeps 12 in six suites and is
available from €3,900/£2,777 per night
(0039 06 663 7119; villanocetta.com).
Five OF THe FiNeST PRivATe viLLAS
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THE MOST INCLUSIVE
LUXURY EXPERIENCETM
EXCEEDING THE LOFTIEST
EXPECTATIONS OF LUXURYat seaChalk July 2016 in your diary because that’s the date
the new ship from Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Seven
Seas Explorer – heralded the most luxurious cruise ship
in the world – sets sail on her inaugural season in the
Mediterranean.
It will be an exciting moment, the culmination of years
of planning by Regent Seven Seas Cruises, a six-star
company already well versed in the meaning of luxury.
After all, this is the cruise line that brought the world
the fi rst all-suite, all-balcony ships and delivers truly
individual cooking stations where you can learn to
create scrumptious dishes under the guidance of
expert chefs. And the Canyon Ranch SpaClub will
feature a beautiful infi nity-edged plunge pool!
Naturally there is plenty of sumptuous
accommodation to choose, from the spacious
entry-level Veranda Suites to Park Avenue-styled
Master Suites, all kitted out with the quality fi ttings
and furnishings you’d expect from the world’s most
luxurious ship. Choose a suite at Penthouse level or
above and you’ll be looked after by a private butler;
opt for a Concierge or higher suite and you’ll enjoy
unlimited free wifi so you can keep in touch with
family and friends. Step outside your suite and you’ll
fi nd many of Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ signature
dining venues, but all featuring the spectacular new
look and feel that really sets this ship apart.
There is certainly something to suit every taste,
from succulent steaks and Italian favourites to
the delicious multi-course menus served in the
Compass Rose main dining room, the ever-popular
Prime 7 steakhouse reminiscent of a London private
members’ club plus, two further new speciality
dining options, Chartreuse and Pacifi c Rim. As befi ts
a luxury ship, the restaurant has an open-seating
policy so diners are free to eat when and with whom
they wish.
The icing on the cake is that all dining, including
the specialty restaurants, is included in the price.
But then what else would you expect from the
winning combination of a cruise on the world’s most
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the world.
all-inclusive prices, from fl ights and transfers to drinks,
gratuities, shore excursions, even Wi-Fi.
But the best just got even better. Seven Seas Explorer
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terms of personal space, and quality of materials and
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56,000 tons, she holds just 750 passengers, which
gives a space ratio of 74.6, one of the highest in the
industry.
There are lots of amazing new features on Seven Seas
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inaugural season
THE MOST LUXURIOUS SHIP EVER BUILT™
SEVEN SEAS EXPLORER®
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ARRIVING JULY 2016
MONTE CARLO TO VENICE
20 July 2016 | 14-nights
VENICE TO ROME
3 August 2016 | 10-nights
ROME TO LISBON
13 August 2016 | 12-nights
LISBON TO BARCELONA
25 August 2016 | 10-nights
BARCELONA TO ROME
4 September 2016 | 10-nights
ROME TO VENICE
14 September 2016 | 10-nights
VENICE TO MONTE CARLO
24 September 2016 | 10-nights
MONTE CARLO TO ATHENS
4 October 2016 | 8-nights
ATHENS TO ISTANBUL
12 October 2016 | 10-nights
ISTANBUL TO JERUSALEM
22 October 2016 | 11-nights
JERUSALEM TO ROME
2 November 2016 | 14-nights
ROME TO MIAMI
16 November 2016 | 16-nights
MIAMI ROUNDTRIP
4 December 2016 | 14-nights
MIAMI ROUNDTRIP
18 December 2016 | 10-nights
MIAMI TO LOS ANGELES
28 December 2016 | 16-nights
FARES START FROM £3,889pp
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AUSTRALIA
EAST TIMOR
Perth
Broome
Lacepede IslandsTalbot Bay
Jar Island
Montgomery ReefWyndham
King George River
Darwin
Jaco Island
Hunter River
For full details on this holiday call us today on 020 7752 0000 for your copy of our brochure. Alternatively view or request online at www.noble-caledonia.co.uk SMALL SHIPS - BIG EXPERIENCES
SMALL SHIPS – BIG EXPERIENCES
BOOK EARLY & SAVE £500 PER PERSON
Day 1 London to Perth, Australia. Fly by
scheduled indirect fight via Singapore.
Day 2 Perth. Arrive this afternoon and
transfer to the Duxton Hotel (or similar) for a
two night stay.
Day 3 Perth. After breakfast in the hotel,
enjoy a guided tour of Perth followed by a
free afternoon before we meet tonight for a
welcome dinner.
Day 4 Perth to Broome. This morning enjoy
a cruise along the famous Swan River before
returning to Perth airport for our scheduled
fight to Broome. On arrival transfer to the
MS Caledonian Sky.
Day 5 Lacepede Islands. This nature reserve
has been identifed by BirdLife International
as an Important Bird Area as it supports up
to 18,000 breeding pairs of Brown Boobies
and Roseate Terns, possibly the largest such
population in the world. Board the Zodiacs
and explore the island’s lagoon, keeping an
eye out for many species of marine birdlife.
Days 6 & 7 Buccaneer Archipelago, Talbot Bay and Horizontal Falls. We spend two
days cruising the Buccaneer Archipelago,
made up of over 800 islands and home to
a wealth of wildlife and fascinating rock
of the river. We follow the Hunter River to
reveal the spectacular backdrop of Mount
Trafalgar while to the north Mount Anderson
rises to an impressive 480 metres. We will
drop anchor at Naturalist Island and have the
choice to join a Zodiac excursion around the
island or an optional helicopter excursion to
Mitchell Falls.
Day 10 Vansittart Bay & Jar Island. We have
the whole day to explore Vansittart Bay. First
thing we will use the Zodiacs to land on Jar
Island to see the Gwion Gwion Aboriginal
art gallery. Discovered by Joseph Bradshaw
in 1891 some of the art has been dated
back over 17,000 years and is unique to this
region. Return to the vessel for lunch and this
afternoon land on the Anjo Peninsula where
our naturalists will lead various walks.
Day 11 King George River. At dawn we will
start our 12 kilometre journey through some
of the world’s most spectacular scenery along
the mighty King George River. Millions of
years of erosion have created vertical sheer
walls that resemble stacks of sandstone. The
highlight is sure to be King George Falls, the
highest single drop falls in the whole of the
Kimberley and your Expedition Team will get
you to the cascading waters.
Day 12 Wyndham. We will arrive in
Wyndham before breakfast and have a
choice of optional excursions. Choose to join
a scenic fight over the Bungle Bungles rock
formations and a hike into Cathedral Gorge
and Piccaninny Creek. Alternatively join the
Ord River Cruise.
Day 13 At sea.Day 14 Jaco Island, East Timor. After clearing
custom formalities in Com we will travel to
uninhabited Jaco Island, part of East Timor’s,
Nino Konis Santana National Park, for a day of
beachcombing, swimming and snorkelling.
Day 15 At sea.Day 16 Darwin, Australia. Disembark
after breakfast and enjoy a full day tour
to Litchfeld National Park, famous for its
magnifcent waterfalls and where bird and
wildlife species abound. On arrival in Darwin
we will transfer to the Hilton hotel (or similar)
for an overnight stay and meet this evening
for a farewell dinner at the hotel.
Day 17 Darwin to London. After breakfast
in the hotel transfer to the airport for our
scheduled indirect fight to London.
Day 18 London. Arrive this morning.
The Itinerary in Brief
Rarely visited in any comprehensive way due to its wild and undeveloped nature, the
Kimberley is a wonderful place for the genuine traveller to explore and perfect for
expedition style cruising. There are so many highlights, it is diffcult to know where to
begin when extolling its virtues. From the tidal phenomena at the Montgomery Bay Reef to the
Horizontal Waterfalls near Talbot Bay, from the hundreds of islands in the Buccaneer Archipelago
to the gorges of the Mitchell, King George and Prince Regent. The whole vast area offers a
cornucopia of natural world delights on a scale seldom witnessed anywhere else in the world.
The Kimberley region of Western Australia has fewer people per square kilometre than almost any other place on earth
and is truly one of the world’s last great wilderness areas with a complex landscape which encompasses spectacular
gorges and waterfalls, fascinating cave systems and an incredibly diverse variety of wildlife.
An expedition cruise to Australia’s ‘Top End’ from Broome to Darwin aboard MS Caledonian Sky
26th August to 12th September 2017
formations. We will use our Zodiacs in Yampi
Sound to make beach landings and enjoy a
swim in the natural pool at crocodile creek,
an area that defes its name. We will also visit
Talbot Bay, known for its massive 12 metre
tides that create an amazing spectacle, the
unique Horizontal Falls.
Day 8 Montgomery Reef & Raft Point. An unforgettable adventure today as the
magnifcent Montgomery Reef ‘rises’ out of
the ocean as the tidal waters cascade down
in to the surrounding deep channels in an
awesome display of the power of nature. Join
our Expedition Team aboard your Zodiac to
experience this natural phenomenon up close
and discover the reef’s diverse marine life.
Over lunch we position to Raft Point and use
Zodiacs to land on the beach. Either enjoy
time to relax whilst the energetic can climb to
a secluded Aboriginal rock art gallery.
Day 9 Hunter River & Naturalist Island. The Prince Frederick Harbour is home to
some of the most spectacular scenery we
will see. Soaring red cliffs, green rainforest
and mangroves paint a beautiful canvas for
our arrival as we sail through Nine Pin Head,
the sandstone bluff that marks the mouth
The MS Caledonian Sky is one of the fnest small ships in the world. She accommodates a
maximum of 114 passengers in 57 spacious outside suites. All suites have outside views and
many have private balconies, walk-in wardrobes and some feature tub baths. The spacious and
fnely decorated public rooms include a large lounge and an elegant bar where a pianist plays
periodically throughout the day. The travel library is the perfect place to relax with a book as
is the Club Lounge on the Panorama Deck. Outside there is a rear Lido deck where meals are
served in warm weather under shade and on the top deck there is a further observation and
sun deck with bar service. There is also a small gymnasium and hairdressers onboard. With only
one sitting and a maximum of just over 100 passengers,
the cuisine will be of a consistent superior quality. The
atmosphere onboard is warm and convivial and more
akin to a private yacht or country hotel in which you can
learn more about the wonders of nature and the culture
of places you are visiting in the company of like-minded
people and a knowledgeable expedition team.
MS Caledonian Sky
Prices & InclusionsSpecial offer prices per person based
on double occupancy range from
£7995 for a standard forward suite to
£9395 for an owner’s suite. Suites for
sole use from £10795.
What’s Included:• Economy class scheduled air travel
• 12 nights aboard the MS Caledonian
Sky on a full board basis
• Wine, beer and soft drinks with lunch
and dinner onboard,
• Two nights hotel accommodation in
Perth and overnight accommodation in
Darwin with breakfast
• Welcome dinner in Perth
• Farewell dinner in Darwin
• Shore excursions
• Noble Caledonia Expedition Team
• Transfers
• Gratuities
NB. Flights schedules are yet to be released at the time of going to print and the itinerary may change on their release. Zodiacs will be used during this expedition. Travel insurance and visas are not included in the price. All special offers are subject to availability. Our current booking conditions apply to all reservations.
Before embarking
the MS Caledonian
Sky in Broome we
are offering the
opportunity to join a
seven night escorted extension discovering
the wildlife and wildfowers of Western
Australia at the perfect time of the year. Full
itinerary and pricing available on request or
can be viewed at www.noble-caledonia.co.uk
Pre Cruise Extension:
Wildlife & Wildfowers of
Western Australia21st to 29th August 2017
across the top of australia
ultratravel 57
GOURMET SPECIAL
24 PAGES OF
FOODIE WALKABOUTS
IN ASSOCIATION WITH AUSTRALIA .COm
ULTRAAUSTRALIA
n o m a g o e s d o w n u n d e r h e l i - d r i n k i n g i n da r w i n b a r o s s a b y da i m l e r
ADELAIDE, WINES& BEYOND
Fr £440PP
5-NIGHTS, 4 STAR, ROOM ONLY,
CAR HIRE INCLUDED
SAVE £100
WWW.AUSTRAVEL.COM
OR CALL 0808 163 6126
Follow your tastebuds around four of Australia’s premier wine regions and
indulge in some of the country’s most celebrated food and wine experiences.
Visit the world-famous Barossa, picturesque Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale
and the quaint Clare Valley. Stop in at cellar doors, taste award-winning
wines and feast on gourmet local produce at restaurants set amongst
sprawling vineyards.
A gourmet escape in South AustraliaSouth Australia is justifi ably known for the quality of its wines and is one of
the country’s great culinary destinations. With over 200 cellar doors within
an hours’ drive of Adelaide, farmers markets, festivals and an abundance
of restaurants and cafes, you don’t need to travel far. Enjoy the foodie
experience year-round in South Australia with this 6-day self-drive, taking
in Adelaide and the Hills, McLaren Vale, Barossa and Clare Valley.
southaustralia.com
Australia’s Great Food and Wine Touring Route in South Australia
EPICUREAN WAY
ultratravel 59
the next BIG THINGImpressive architecture in the cit, musical delights in the outback and breathtaking walks on Kangaroo Island. Here is the new, says John O’Ceallaigh
Kangaroo Island’s rugged bushland and pristine
beaches off the south coast are set to become a
touch more accessible in 2016. A 39-mile walking
route, the Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail, is being
developed and, when fully open in June, will enable
visitors to explore a terrain that incorporates wind-
sculpted rocks, tumbling cascades, soaring clifftops
and a warren of stalactite-strewn caves. The five-
day walk traverses Flinders Chase National Park,
Cape Bouguer Wilderness Protection Area and Kelly
Hill Conservation Park, with four campsites en route.
parks.sa.gov.au
Australia’s only national
orchestra, the Australian
Chamber Orchestra (below),
regularly performs at the Sydney
Opera House, but next month
music fans have a unique
opportunity to see them play
at another Australian landmark.
On October 30 and 31, the
troupe will for the first time host
a series of three concerts at
Uluru Meeting Place. There, in
the vast, still expanse of the
Red Centre, just 380 guests will
hear the ensemble perform a
carefully considered programme
that draws on the talents
of the country’s most respected
musicians and pays due
reverence to this sacred place.
Three dining events – from an
outback barbecue lunch to a gala
dinner with orchestra members
– will ensure the merriment
continues in the leisurely pauses
between performances.
Changes are afoot in Brisbane’s Queen’s
Wharf precinct: Queensland’s government
this summer approved plans to redevelop
the quarter within the Central Business
District. Among the many modifications in
store is the construction of a cluster of
curved skyscrapers that will endow the city
skyline with a gleaming new focal point.
The development will be more than
cosmetic, however: it is intended to serve
as a new visitor and investment hub, a
bridge between the city centre and river,
and a recreational area. Alongside more
than 50 new restaurants, cafés and bars,
a casino and a handful of high-end hotels
will cater to visitors. An expansive
promenade and elevated open-air Sky
Deck should prove popular meeting spots
on summer evenings, while additional
cultural spaces will include a new theatre,
a cinema and an arena that will host
nightly water and light shows.
Construction is expected to start
in 2017 on the revival of this historically
significant district, where Brisbane
originated some 180 years ago and many
of the city’s most significant cultural
attractions – the Botanic Gardens,
Cultural Precinct and South Bank among
them – are situated.
m o r p h w h a r f
Next month sees the opening of the latest of
Melbourne’s MPavilions – a series of
aesthetically exceptional temporary
structures designed by leading international
architects in Queen Victoria Gardens. This
year’s design, by Stirling Prize-winning
architect Amanda Levete and her AL_A
studio, is the second to open, and will host
talks, workshops and performances.
Levete’s design, which resembles a futuristic
forest in the centre of the city – a series of
slender columns atop which stand sleek and
sinuous translucent petals – will be open for
shade and creative sustenance from October
5 to February 7 2016 (mpavilion.org).
hop-foot It
classIc rocK
aN ENchaNtED forEst
EXPERIENCE THE ICONS
OF AUSTRALIAA perfect way to experience the land down under is by combining the icons of Sydney, the fiery red sands of the Outback and the spectacular colours of the Great Barrier Reef. Discover the famous architecture of the Opera House or head inside to enjoy one of its many concerts. Cycle across the Harbour Bridge, or for a little adventure take part in the Bridge Climb. Sail the magnificent harbour and head inland to the Blue Mountains to view the glorious Three Sisters rock formation, before travelling to the heart of the Outback for a sunset tour at Uluru (Ayers Rock), and in Cairns cruise out to the Great Barrier Reef to snorkel with majestic marine life.
SYDNEY, ROCK & REEF
8 nights from £1,649 pp
Saving £90 per couple
Includes: FREE Sydney Harbour Story Cruise, 3nts 4★ Sydney hotel, 2nts 4★ Ayers Rock hotel, 3nts 4★ Cairns hotel and return International Flights with Etihad Airways*. Selected travel in March 2016.
Calls are free from landlines, mobiles and other providers’ charges may vary. Off ers subject to change and availability.
Valid for bookings made from the 19th August to the 18th September, only one free excursion valid per person. No cash
alternative and no refunds will be given for unused free excursions. Blackout dates may apply. *Flights are priced with
Etihad airways departing London Heathrow. Prices are correct at time of going to print, for selected travel and may be
withdrawn at any time. ATOL protected.
Call our expert Travel Designers on FREEPHONE 0808 115 0879
or visit austravel.com
We don’t just go there, we know there
$%7$�1R�:����
FREE DAY TOUR
ultratravel 61
SUNNY SIDE UP IN SYDNEY
IN ASSOCIATION WITH AUSTRALIA .COm
TAmARAmA KIOSK TAmARAmA
This award-winning Lahznimmo-
designed café, set along one
side of a small scalloped
beach, is a haunt of fashionistas
(hence the neighbourhood’s
nickname, Glamarama). Favourites
include bircher muesli, quinoa and
pistachio granola, and croque
madame, accompanied by an
iced latte blended with honey
(facebook.com/kiosk.tamarama).
ICebeRgS TeRRACe bONdI beACH
Although this restaurant is best known for its
spectacular paninis, frittatas, eggs and coffees, it
also serves healthy options such as coconut water,
goji berries, kale, beetroot and micro herbs, thanks
to walkers who pound the two-mile Bondi to Bronte
trail. The popular city eating hole attracts a real mix
of Sydneysiders, from surfers and smart walkers to
a glam celeb crowd. It’s worth turning up early
when the Sunday market is on (idrb.com/terrace).
SeASALT CAfé CLOveLLy
One of the few spots at which, if you arrive
early, you can park – and then snare a
protected spot by the seawater pool. The
spot, adjacent to a narrow inlet and beach,
is popular with families and those seeking
a sheltered tanning spot after a sweetcorn
stack with guacamole, tomato relish and
bacon. The Clovelly Surf Life Saving Club
is a minute away, as is Gordon Bay for
snorkelling (seasaltcafe.com.au).
THRee bLUe dUCKS bRONTe
Up until 11.30am you can sit on a bench by the road and
watch the world drift by, or go inside and enjoy the arresting
local art. The famous black sausage with scrambled eggs
and dill tastes splendid in either spot. Just up the hill from
Bronte Beach, this cool restaurant will crack open a fresh
coconut to wash down breakfast, and serves toast with
honey from its own bees (threeblueducks.com/bronte).
WATSONS bAy HOTeL WATSONS bAy
After a breakfast of Sicilian-style baked eggs on
sourdough at this celebrated eastern-suburbs
waterside hotel you can transition seamlessly into
a typical Australian brunch of mashed avocado
with tomato and feta. Arrive early for a window-
side seat with classic harbour views. A ferry from
Circular Quay in the Central Business District is
the best way of getting here as parking can be tricky
(watsonsbayhotel.com.au).
bATHeRS’ PAvILIONbALmORAL beACH
If you’re after culinary bragging rights,
then this restaurant by the culinary superstar
Serge Dansereau is an essential stop-off.
No reservations are taken and queues form
early on weekends, when the café swells with
gourmands waiting to tuck into his vegetable
tart with poached free-range eggs and lemon
hollandaise (batherspavilion.com.au).
Whichever way you like your eggs, there will be a hip beachside breakfast spot in the city that serves them just so.
Ralph Bestic tests the waters – and several brunches – on a road trip around the coast
THe bOWeR ReSTAURANT mANLy
Located at Fairy Bower on a pathway
between Manly and Shelly beaches that is
hugely popular with dogwalkers and cyclists,
the restaurant is white-themed throughout,
a dazzling foil to the blue water that laps just
metres away below a seawall. Here, any dish
served with avocado is delicious; regulars
often then grab an iced coffee and wander up
to Shelly Beach (thebowerrestaurant.com.au).
bRONze KIOSK mONA vALe
This casual spot is in hard-core surfing
territory: boards, bleached hair and
attitude are all on show, over a black
coffee and eggs with tomato salsa.
North of the Mona Vale Surf Club,
this spot is adored by early-morning
swimmers. Breakfast, beach and a dip are
the order of the day (bronzekiosk.com.au).
Illu
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62 ultratravel
IN ASSOCIATION WITH AuSTrAlIA .COm
TheSUPeRCheFS
hAVeLANDED
Roo with bunya-bunya nuts, wagyu with
riberries – Australia’s cuisine has never
been so inventive, attracting masters from
Heston Blumenthal to René Redzepi.
Terry Durack charts the great gastro revolution
Australian customs officers are getting very used
to the top chefs of the world landing in front of
them clutching their passports and flip-flops.
If it isn’t Heston Blumenthal of The Fat Duck,
it’s René Redzepi of Copenhagen’s Noma,
both regular visitors as they juggle their new restaurants.
Suddenly, Australia is the special of the day.
This autumn Blumenthal transforms his pop-up restaurant
into a permanent branch of Dinner by Heston Blumenthal in
Melbourne – a place he rates as one of the top five food cities
in the world. He was, he says, simply following his heart.
“Yes, it’s a long way away from home,” he told Ultratravel.
“But I don’t care, because I love it. I am also in love with
Australia’s food. I’ve never seen a country explode food-wise
the way Australia has.”
In the meantime, Redzepi of Noma (named four times the
best restaurant in the world by Restaurant magazine),
ping-pongs back and forth between Denmark and Australia
in preparation for moving his entire team of chefs and
waiting staff – and even the dishwasher – to Sydney in
January 2016 for a 10-week “restaurant-in-residence”. Why
Sydney? Why Australia? Why now? “I love the country,
but I also love the breed of chefs there,” says Redzepi.
There is something also in the water; Redzepi is in awe of
the huge diversity of crabs, prawns, lobsters, oysters, scallops,
clams and wild-caught fish in the clean, cold, southern-
hemisphere oceans. His Australian restaurant will present
a menu inspired by the Australian coastline, based on salty,
crunchy sea succulents and seaweeds, foraged indigenous
leaves and berries, seabirds, wild fish and shellfish.
ultratravel 63
Aussie gold Bennelong restaurant in Sydney Opera
House, overseen by chef Peter Gilmore. With its
soaring interiors and harbour views, it’s widely
regarded as the most beautiful place to eat in the city
ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE
WESTERN AUSTRALIA, FAMOUS FOR ITS BEACHES AND SUNSHINE, HAS LONG
BEEN A NIRVANA FOR WINE LOVERS. NOW IT HAS A FOOD SCENE TO MATCH,
WITH THE SOUTH WEST OF THE STATE LEADING THE GASTRONOMIC CHARGE.
GRAPE ESCAPES WINE, SURF & SEAFOOD IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA
FROM SURF TO SAUVIGNON
Margaret River Region, Western Australia’s most
famous wine region, is just a three-hour drive from the
State’s capital city, Perth. ‘Margs,’ as it’s known to its
famously laid-back locals, frst gained popularity as a
surfng town (the waves here roll as impressively as
the scenery), but since the late 1960s its favourable
climate and soil conditions have seen it emerge as an
internationally-acclaimed wine-making centre too.
The region is now home to over 200 wineries
creating an extraordinary array of gold-medal-winning
chardonnays, cabernet sauvignons and semillon-
sauvignon blancs. Visitors are not merely welcome; they
are lavishly catered for. Drop in for a tasting, gourmet
lunch or behind-the-scenes tour at, among others,
Leeuwin Estate and Cullens (biodynamic pioneers), or
venture further south to rising star, Snake and Herring,
in the Great Southern region.
On route to most wineries you’ll also fnd numerous
stores and farm shops offering everything from artisan
cheese to chocolate, along with mircobreweries and
restaurants doing delicious things with local seafood.
Want to search for your supper? Head for the forests
near Pemberton for a spot of guided truffe hunting.
A TASTE FOR ADVENTURE
As well as being a great place to satisfy an appetite,
West Australia’s south west also offers plenty of options
when it comes to working one up. There are stunning
beaches for surfng, snorkelling and sunbathing,
spectacular tall-tree forests for exploring and climbing
and ancient caves to navigate by torchlight.
The Bibbulmun Track, one of Australia’s great
walking trails, also winds along the coast here (spot
wildfowers and migrating whales as you put your best
foot forward). Or how about an adventure by canoe?
Paddle the Margaret River on a bush tucker safari.
WHEN TO GO
The south west has a Mediterranean climate, best
enjoyed from September to May. For foodies, the
Margaret River Gourmet Escape, held annually in
November, is not to be missed.
Staged over three days it features stalls from
150 local producers and attracts a stellar crowd of
international food and wine big-hitters. Relax at a beach
barbecue hosted by Rick Stein, or head to a boutique
vineyard to feast at an exclusive dinner from Michelin-
starred greats such as Heston Blumenthal.
GETTING THERE Western Australia is closer than you think. Perth is around 18 hours fying time from the UK (four hours closer than Sydney). A range of international carriers service the city, including Etihad Airways with prices from £655 per person. Austravel offer a nine day self-drive holiday to Perth and the South West from £1,149pp – fnd out more at
www.austravel.com/australiafood or by calling 0808 163 6126*
For more information and ideas on culinary adventures in Western Australia, visit westernaustralia.com/gourmet
*Calls are free from landlines, mobiles and other providers’ charges may vary.
SAVOUR THE FLAVOURS
of the exotic town of Broome,
where the outback meets
the ocean. Try the mighty
barramundi fsh, tropical
fruits, craft beers and meat
from giant pearl shells.
CATCH & COOK a seafood
campfre supper on a kayak
adventure led by a local
Aboriginal guide in the Shark
Bay World Heritage area.
TAKE A ‘KNIFE & FORK’
WALK in booming Perth.
From fne dining to fusion
food trucks and whisky dens
to rooftop bars, Australia’s
sunniest city offers highlights
aplenty for the discerning
gourmet traveller.
THE ENTIRE STATE ...ON A PLATE
Clockwise from left: Working up an appetite in the surf; supper time on a ‘catch & cook’ adventure; exploring the
wines and vines of Margaret River; Western Australia is home to some of the world’s fnest seafood.
ultratravel 65
Mind you, Australian food hasn’t always been quite so
inspirational. Only 40 years ago, the soup of the day was
pumpkin, the Sunday roast was lamb, pud was pavlova,
and a cold beer was preferred to that fancy stuff, wine.
Its food revival has its roots in the Eighties with
pioneering chefs such as Neil Perry and Tetsuya Wakuda,
both of whom combined classic techniques with an Asian
sensibility and the best produce in the land. Tetsuya’s
confit of ocean trout – a golden arc of marbled, flesh-pink
Tasmanian fish roofed with crunchy kombu seaweed – is
still one of the most photographed dishes on the planet.
“Tetsuya was at the forefront of Australian cuisine, by
introducing Japanese ingredients with his own style and
thought process,” says Martin Benn, head chef of Sepia in
Sydney and a former trainee of Tetsuya. “This crossover of
culture and ideas inspired a generation of chefs.”
Perry, who opened the glamorous, ground-breaking
Rockpool restaurant in the Rocks, Sydney, in 1990, claims
the multicultural nature of Australia society, the
unrivalled quality of Australian seafood and the close
proximity of Asia have been the biggest formative
influences on the nation’s recent cuisine. “No other
country incorporates Asian ingredients and techniques
into their food as well as we do,” he says.
Proof of the multicultural pudding is at the darkly
glamorous Rockpool, in the 113-year-old heritage-listed
Burns Philp Building in Sydney’s financial district, where
you can eat Perry’s mud crab with silken tofu and
fermented vinegar, and abalone meunière with puffed rice
and herb salad. “We are not bound by tradition,” explains
Benn, whose butter-poached Port Lincoln squid with
miso-cured egg yolk, yuzu and sorrel at Sepia is another
local favourite. “So we have a uniqueness and a freedom
with our cuisine like no other nation does.”
The most alluring showcase for new Australian
cuisine lies in the heart of Sydney, beneath the
glorious sails of the Sydney Opera House,
designed by the Danish architect Jørn Utzon. At
the recently reopened Bennelong at the Opera House, the
hugely talented Peter Gilmore showcases Australia’s finest
produce with an intuitive sense of culinary balance.
Sitting in Utzon’s soaring, metal-ribbed galleria space
surrounded by harbour views is lovely enough; add
Gilmore’s meltingly soft smoked and confit of pig jowl
with roasted koji (a sweet, fragrant Japanese ferment),
shiitake mushrooms, kombu seaweed, sea scallop and
sesame, and the combined experience is breathtaking.
Gilmore, who also runs the acclaimed Quay restaurant,
calls the new Australian cuisine “free and imaginative”.
It’s this sense of freedom, says Andrew McConnell,
founder of the informal Cumulus Inc and stylish Cutler
& Co in Melbourne, that means Australian chefs evolve
ideas faster than they could in older cultures. “It’s the best
of both worlds,” he says, “to have native marron
[freshwater crayfish], abalone and native plants, as well
as beef and game.” McConnell nails what observers see
as the catalyst for Australia’s new pulling power as a
foodie magnet – that Australian food is getting more
Australian. The past five years have seen a focus on native
and wild food that is forming a cuisine with an
extraordinary taste. Sour, astringent native riberries, juicy
sea succulents and lightly gamey kangaroo and wallaby
have transcended gimmicky “theme” restaurants and now
inspire the most creative chefs in the country.
Small, sedate Adelaide is home to one of them. At
Orana (Aboriginal for “welcome”), Scottish-born Jock
Zonfrillo is creating an Australian cuisine from the
ground up, with native ingredients foraged from
the rainforests of Queensland to the escarpments of the
Kimberley ranges. Dishes such as Coorong mulloway with
native cherries and sea parsley, and cured wagyu brisket
with riberries, are as much about harmony and grace as
they are about provenance. “Each dish tastes, smells and
looks like an interpretation of the great Australian
landscape,” says Zonfrillo, whose mission is to establish
sustainable markets for Aboriginal communities.
In Melbourne, Attica, run by chef Ben Shewry, is the
highest Australian entry on the World’s 50 Best
Restaurants list for 2015, and with good reason. Shewry’s
evocative tasting menu includes salted red kangaroo with
bunya bunya nuts, marron with lilly pilly (riberry), and
crisp-fried Port Phillip Bay mussels with sea succulents.
Not all restaurants are high end, though. At Billy Kwong in
Sydney, Kylie Kwong celebrates her Chinese-Australian
heritage with Aussie-Chinese food that includes baked
wallaby buns with Davidson plum sauce and deep-fried
John Dory with XO chilli sauce, samphire and sea parsley.
It’s an exciting time for Australian food; one with
rewards at every level. Small wonder savvy food-lovers are
heading to Australia, eager to taste the newest – and the
oldest – cuisine on the planet.
Austravel (0808 163 6126; austravel.com) offers an 11-day
Sydney to Brisbane package from £1,589 per person
including car hire, 10 nights’ accommodation and return
flights with Etihad Airways (etihad.com).
‘We are not bound by tradition, so we
have a freedom with our cuisine like no other nation does’
IN ASSOCIATION WITH AuSTrAlIA .COm
GO NATIVE Clockwise
from top left: Alpine
strawberry meringue at
Sepia; René Redzepi picks
Australian apples; the
kitchen at Bennelong;
Tetsuya’s confit of ocean
trout; kangaroo and
pomegranate at Attica
66 ultratravel
AustrAliA, lickedTake six great chefs, place them in Australia, then ask them to choose
their favourite restaurants. The result is a mouth-watering and essential tick-list
for any foodie going to Oz. Interviews by James Steen
IN ASSOCIATION WITH AUSTRALIA .COm
Queensland
Luke Rayment
Hailed as the Rising Young Chef of Queensland in
2001, Luke Rayment has been cooking in London
since 2006, and is now executive chef at Soho House
I love everything about Cru Bar & Cellar (crubar.
com) on James Street in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane:
its drinks list, superb cocktails, chilled vibe and the
food. also on James Street is Gerard’s Bistro
(gerardsbistro.com.au), whose menu, designed
around the sharing concept, is inventive and
diverse. Beccofino (beccofino.com.au) in teneriffe
specialises in simplicity – the pizza and pasta are
as good as any in Italy. It has the perfect vibe on
a busy night. I’ll always have fond memories of
Il Centro (il-centro.com.au) as I’ve worked there
twice. It serves really good Italian cuisine, the views
over Brisbane River and Story Bridge are amazing,
the service is polished, and you know you’re in for a
good meal when it has a signature dish of sand-
crab lasagne. Frog ’N’ Toad (00 617 3371 7823) in
auchenflower is my guilty pleasure. I head there for
a “burger with the lot”. and it is a lot!
South Australia and the Northern Territory
Jock ZonFRILLo
Glasgow-born Jock Zonfrillo trained with Marco
Pierre White, among other chefs, in Britain. Then he
discovered an enduring love of native Australian
produce, which he cooks to perfection at Orana and
Street ADL, his acclaimed restaurants in Adelaide
South australia is a one-stop shop of incredible
produce, such as scallops off kangaroo Island, and
big fat mulloway fish from the coorong estuary. It’s
a celebration of seasonality. to grab its energy, hit
the Adelaide Central Market and discover all the
small producers who represent the best Sa has to
offer. I love Lucia’s: the smell of sweet, herby Italian
sugo takes me back to my Italian family – fabulous
food for the soul. adelaide is jumping with new
places, but a must-visit is my South african mate
Duncan Welgemoed’s Africola (africola.com.au).
He brings a fantastic mix of flavours from his home
town to a buzzing restaurant/bar. For coffee with
a side of sarcasm, I go to Hey Jupiter (00 618 4160
5072), which does the best pulled-pork sandwich
– christophe, who owns it, is a local personality.
In the Barossa Valley, Fino Seppeltsfield
(seppeltsfield.com.au) is beautiful, with alfresco
dining and, naturally, a pretty good wine list: it is
a place that makes amazing food in a great winery.
Hentley Farm (hentleyfarm.com.au) in mcLaren
Vale, run by Lachlan colwill, is, to me, South
australia’s best restaurant in a winery. Finally,
Osteria Sanso (osteriasanso.com.au) in kanmantoo
is a taste of tuscany; eugenio Sanso brings old-
school glamour to the area. He’s the real deal.
the northern territory also has great restaurants.
In Darwin, try Pee Wee’s at the Point (peewees.
com.au) for its banana prawns, blue swimmer crab,
kangaroo carpaccio and barramundi – and the
timor Sea view. at Hanuman in Darwin (hanuman.
com.au), check out Jimmy Shu’s jungle curry of
beef and his prawns with ginger and coconut.
Western Australia
SHane oSBoRn
Shane Osborn made his name in Britain by winning
two Michelin stars as chef patron of Pied à Terre in
London. Today he creates elegant dishes with a
Scandinavian influence at Arcane in Hong Kong
I grew up in Perth and got out of there as fast as
possible to travel and (as a young chef) taste the
seasonal produce and work in the michelin kitchens
of europe. I’ve learnt a lot, and have come to see
what was on my doorstep the whole time. Western
australia offers some of the greatest produce in
the world. michelin-starred iconic restaurants from
the French Laundry in california to the Fat Duck in
the uk use truffles from this region. the seafood is
some of the best, and my chef buddies can’t
believe their first taste of marron, a type of crayfish.
the forests and coastline offer a bounty of wild and
native ingredients; it’s a chef’s larder.
Lalla Rookh (lallarookh.com.au) in Perth typifies
australia, serving up modern Italian food using
fantastic Wa produce. For something more elegant,
try Restaurant Amusé (restaurantamuse.com.au):
Hadleigh troy’s tasting menu changes depending
on the availability of produce and the vibe in the
kitchen. It’s always a treat. In murray Street, Nao
(00 618 9325 2090) is a Japanese restaurant with
a cult following. Great hot bowls of tasty ramen
with aromatic aromas tease you as you wait. BMT
Vietnamese (00 618 6161 9049) is a surprising
little café in the newpark mall, a must for banh mi
thit (a Vietnamese meat roll): super-tasty fast food.
no trip to Wa is complete without a visit to a
winery restaurant. cullen, Leeuwin, Vasse Felix –
the region is home to many of our finest wineries.
two years ago I cooked at Voyager Estate (voyager
estate.com.au) during the margaret River Gourmet
escape food festival. this year I am honoured to be
cooking alongside tetsuya Wakuda at Knee Deep
(kneedeepwines.com.au). I can’t wait to go back.
New South Wales
Lennox HaStIe
After stints in Michelin-starred restaurants including
Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Lennox Hastie went
back to Australia in 2011, and back to culinary basics.
At Firedoor in the Surry Hills of New South Wales, he is
known as “the fireman”, as he cooks on wood coals,
using different woods for different dishes
In Sydney a favourite is The Bridge Room (the
bridgeroom.com.au), which serves exemplary
australian food with influences from asia and
europe. Ross Lusted cooks passionately, with
incredible attention to detail and clean flavours
that remain true to the ingredients. In the Sydney
opera House, Peter Gilmore’s Bennelong
(bennelong.com.au) captures where the australian
food scene is at the moment: celebrating its
multicultural diversity and the best ingredients. It’s
an iconic space and elegant room, and the menu
is well conceived. Dishes include grilled Lady elliot
Island bug, fermented chilli, organic turnips and
radishes; and Flinders Island salt-grass lamb with
broad beans, Jerusalem artichokes, nasturtiums,
kale and anchovy salt. I love LuMi (lumidining.com)
in Pyrmont for its Italian food with a Japanese
twist. It does inventive, refined food that packs a
punch – the stinging-nettle chitarra is one of the
best things I’ve put in my mouth. I also recommend
Tomah Gardens Restaurant at the Blue mountains
Botanic Garden (bluemountainsbotanicgarden.
com.au). With outstanding views, it is the perfect Be
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ultratravel 67
place to relax over lunch. Sean Moran (from Sean’s
Panorama at Bondi) has a beautiful rustic menu
using local produce such as kohlrabi with fingerlimes
and blueberry scones with honey butter. Food
cooked with fire always tastes better, and Ester
(ester-restaurant.com.au) in Chippendale nails it.
Its killer wine list and laid-back atmosphere also
make it a Sydney stalwart. In Paddington 10
William Street (10williamst.com.au) has a cracking
wine list, buzzy atmosphere and inventive small
dishes – a refreshing riff on casual Italian bar food.
Victoria
Sat BaInS
He has two Michelin stars at Restaurant Sat Bains
with Rooms in Nottingham, and is adored by his
rivals, who awarded him Chefs’ Chef of the Year 2009.
Come November, Bains will be at the Margaret River
Gourmet Escape food festival in Western Australia
I love Supernormal (supernormal.net.au) in
Melbourne. It’s large, loud and bustling, with an
open kitchen and good wine list. andrew McConnell
serves mountains of oysters, steamed pork buns,
and slow-cooked Szechuan lamb. Gazi (gazi
restaurant.com.au), owned by George Calombaris,
is always busy serving Greek “tapas”. The Town
Mouse (thetownmouse.com.au) is a small
neighbourhood restaurant – benches, stools and
good-quality, reasonably priced small eats. In South
Melbourne, The Kettle Black (thekettleblack.com.
au) is excellent for a good breakfast, brunch, lunch
and coffee (it closes at 4pm), with outside space
and relaxed service. Get there early! there’s just
one place for the finest succulent steak: Rockpool
Bar & Grill (rockpool.com/rockpoolbarandgrill
melbourne) in the Crown Complex. a ribeye on the
bone, done on the wood-fired grill, is about £30.
Pope Joan (popejoan.com.au), meanwhile, is good
for breakfast (the porridge includes parsnip, prune
and smoked maple), lunch or dinner and has an
outside area. as for bars, I like Gin Palace (ginpalace.
com.au) and Arbory (arbory.com.au) at Flinders
Street Station. Eau de Vie (eaudevie.com.au) has
no signage, but has a fabulous cocktail list and is a
cool place. Shannon Bennett’s Piggery Café (piggery
cafe.com.au) at Burnham Beeches is on a farm in
the Dandenong ranges, next to Yarra Valley, an
hour’s drive from Melbourne. It has a family feel,
with staples such as bread from Shannon’s bakery
and barramundi burgers, which you could follow by
a game of bowls. In a Windsor backstreet, Saigon
Sally (saigonsally.com.au) is a contemporary
Vietnamese restaurant, whose sharing “buffet” is
excellent value and whose kingfish ceviche is
exceptional. Proud Mary Café (proudmarycoffee.
com.au) in Fitzroy is ideal for cake and great coffee.
Tasmania
Clare SMYth
Raised on a farm near Bushmills in Northern Ireland,
Smyth says her diet always included potatoes. Now
chef patron of Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea,
London, she is the first and only British woman to hold
three Michelin stars, and has an MBE to boot
last year, on a tour of australia as part of the
restaurant australia campaign, we ate exceptionally
well at every stop. If you visit Melbourne, Vue de
Monde (vuedemonde.com.au) is a must. I fell in
love with tasmania: it is lush, mountainous and the
produce is unbelievably good. It’s mostly about
rustic eating, with the excitement of exploring
what’s on offer from artisan producers. at the
saffron farm Tas-saff (tas-saff.com.au) at Glaziers
Bay, terry and nicky noonan started with about
five bulbs and now produce the best saffron I’ve
tasted. the region’s wine includes extremely good
pinot noir, and sparkling wines from makers such
as Jansz ( jansz.com.au), whose vines thrive in the
free-draining basalt soils in the Pipers river region.
In Derwent Valley there’s the beautiful Westerway
Raspberry Farm (lanoma.com.au), run by the Clark
family. Bruny Island Cheese Company (brunyisland
cheese.com.au) produces award-winning cheeses
such as tom, Otto and nanna. Its owner nick
haddow’s story is familiar to others in tas: chefs
and food producers from all corners of the globe
head there to open restaurants and businesses.
It’s hip and, hey, there are farms that feed cattle
entirely on grass – no grain! tasmania feels like
a step back in time, with a gentle pace, but is also
“on trend”, delivering the types of food you might
expect to find only in expensive city restaurants.
hobart, the capital, has a pretty harbour with
plenty of restaurants such as Henry’s (thehenry
jones.com). at Ethos (ethoseatdrink.com),
which celebrates the region’s food and serves
home-made charcuterie, we had a fantastic feast
of small plates and craft beers.
A TASTE OF THE OLD
COUNTRY Duncan
Welgemoed’s Africola,
in Adelaide: a buzzy
restaurant and bar with
a South African flavour
WESTERN
AUSTRALIA
NORTHERN
TERRITORY
SOUTH
AUSTRALIA
QUEENSLAND
NEW SOUTH
WALES
VICTORIA
TASMANIA
68 ultratravel
In Australia, taking a flight to have a meal isn’t an extravagance – it’s often the only way to get there in time. Three correspondents sample the gourmet high
haute cuisine
ultratravel 69
life by plane, helicopter and balloon, dropping in for tastings and tipples en route
Food to Fly For
tours by private plane,
hot-air balloon and
helicopter offer a chance to
sample some of Australia’s
finest produce in a day,
from award-winning
wine to wagyu beef
IN ASSOCIATION WITH AuSTrAlIA .COm
70 ultratravel
I’m flying from a grey and breezy coast to the
sunburnt, tranquil interior. I’m flying from
mighty oceanic wilderness towards a serration of
hazy blue mountains, passing over one of
Australia’s great cities. Most importantly, perhaps,
I’m flying in this little private plane from a breakfast of
abalone and samphire canapés to a lunchtime picnic
featuring the world’s finest goat’s cheese.
It may seem the height of decadence to jump in
a plane specifically to eat and drink at my destination.
But three things make this indulgence worthwhile when
you’re Down Under. The first is distance: Australia is so
big, sometimes you have to get in a jet to find the
nearest decent teashop. The second is money: Australia
is a rich country. Miners on the Kimberley coast can
make £200,000 a year, and Sydney oozes affluence. Lots
of people can therefore afford this kind of opulence.
Third: the product. Surveys show that the main reason
visitors come back to Australia is because they loved the
tucker and grog so much the first time.
They are right. Thanks to its clear
seas, Edenic pastures, virgin
forests, pollution-free rivers, mix of
Asian and European cuisines, and
an inventive approach, Australia’s
food and wine is world class.
The oysters of Bermagui. The lamb
of Tasmania. The wines from
Margaret River. And then there’s
the abalone, fished from the
Mornington Peninsula, Victoria –
which I sampled this morning.
To be honest, it wasn’t the most
auspicious start. I woke in my bijou
chalet on the wild western coastline
of the Mornington Peninsula to skies the colour of a
discarded oyster shell, and more than a hint of salty rain
in the air. And yet it is this capricious maritime climate,
given to extremes of cold (from the Antarctic to the
south) and heat (when the north wind blows from
Australia’s inland deserts), that makes the half-
suburban, half-wild Mornington Peninsula so special for
gourmets and tipplers. The fertile soils, blessed with
ample rain and sun, are excellent for pinot noirs and
whites. Rustling orchards abound, so cider is excellent.
But what about the abalone? An hour after rising I was
out on the swell of the Bass Strait with fisherman David
Hunt, seeking out this much-desired delicacy. If you’ve
never seen an abalone in the wild, my advice is, don’t.
They look like diseased barnacles with elephantiasis.
If, as Jonathan Swift said, it took a brave man to eat the
first oyster, then it must have taken an even braver man,
probably also blind drunk and two hours from a hungry
death, to snack on an abalone.
Despite their looks, abalone fetch a high price. As we
bobbed around the chilly waters, I inquired of Hunt how
much he could make fishing them. “In the old days
$20,000 a day,” he sighed. “Now it’s barely half that.
I did say Australia was prosperous. Even the mollusc-
gatherers are millionaires.
Because we had to be in the Yarra Valley by lunchtime,
the morning’s fishing was truncated, and we briskly
repaired to the beach for breakfast, prepared by chef
Julian Hills from the Paringa Estate. Hills dived in and
out of sandy shrubs, delivering sea spinach, warrigal
greens, rock samphire, beach parsley and “pigface
succulents”. Then, as we knocked back crisp
Mornington Peninsula wines – such as Garagiste
Merricks Chardonnay – Hills turned these foraged
veggies into delicate nibbles, served with fine raw slices
of that very ugly abalone. Yep, delicious.
I then jumped in a car with Tim Wildman of Vineyard
Safaris, and headed to tiny Tyabb Airport. And here I
am, soaring over Melbourne in a little scarlet aeroplane
like a middle-aged gourmet James Bond. Wildman, who
is a Master of Wine, devised the idea of this fly-and-dine
adventure. As we descend to Lilydale
Airport in the Yarra he explains his
philosophy. “It doesn’t get much
more special than flying from one
landscape to another, sampling the
best food and wine. But I also want
my guests to meet the people behind
the products.”
After we touch down, Wildman
takes me on a viticultural and
culinary whirlwind of a tour. I meet
Sam Middleton in his vineyard,
where he creates the great Quintet
Cabernet Sauvignon blend. I try
some William Downie Gippsland
Pinot Noir with its maker. I sample gin at the Melbourne
Gin Company with genius distiller Andrew Marks.
And then we have our picnic. And what a picnic:
of Healesville olives, green tomato salad and smoked
paprika, fresh local trout, brochettes of tender
marinated lamb hearts, plus that amazing goat’s cheese
(Holy Goat La Luna, made in Victoria). And all of it
washed down with Thousand Candles 2013 red (one of
the best wines I’ve ever tasted) and all of it enjoyed on
the slopes of the Thousand Candles estate: a vast scoop
of empty valley under a flawlessly blue Australian sky.
Vineyard Safaris’ (0061 428 920 355; vineyardsafaris.com)
one-day wine tours with a Master of Wine cost from £370.
Austravel (0808 163 6126; austravel.com) offers a six-day
Melbourne Gourmet Safari package from £1,395, including
car hire, five nights’ accommodation, hot-air balloon and
wine tours and Etihad Airways flights (etihad.com).
Flights from London, Manchester and Edinburgh via Abu
Dhabi to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, cost
from £655 per person.
FLIGHT of FANTASY
Sean Thomas boards a private plane to flit between a breakfast of abalone and samphire
on the Mornington coast and a dream picnic at an acclaimed boutique vineyard
IN ASSOCIATION WITH AuSTrAlIA .COm
ultratravel 71
Snakes didn’t spring to mind when I signed up to go hot-air
ballooning at dawn. But after piling sleepily into the back of
a utility vehicle and rattling across the retreating sleek edge of the
Australian night, our briefing began. Like a crack troop, albeit a
yawning one who’d never trained together before, we were
warned that the cool fields at dawn may harbour silent slithering
foes. I think the larrikin driving us did this because he could see
that I was the only idiot wearing sandals and was also the only
person in the vehicle with a film crew for ITV’s This Morning.
Unfurling the balloon over its flame is the closest I’m ever
going to get to feeling like a toasted teacake – lovely, incidentally.
As it drifted upward, the towering balloon slowly ruffled into
shape. I clambered into the basket and, as I rose over a ghostly
treeline, the world stopped. Or rather, it began. You move with the
wind, which means it feels breathlessly still even though you
might be travelling faster than a bounding kangaroo. And, as our
captain silently pulled ropes and twisted valves, Yarra Valley
emerged beneath us in a streak of astonishing purple. Its
vineyards, row by row, stood to attention on morning parade
where some of my favourite winemakers such as Mac Forbes
tease out their treasure for the UK shelves. With the world eerily
gathering beneath us, we were the birds’ eyes over the lush Yarra
Valley and Dandenong Ranges, the pastures of Yarra Valley Dairy
and the orchards of the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie & Ice Creamery.
All too soon the spell lifted, the basket dropped and, with
a semi-dignified bump, I clambered out of my temporary wicker
sky-home and kissed the ground. On all fours, I half expected
to spot a grinning Aussie snake ready to bite the Pom. But
all I saw was Yarra Valley, bathed in golden light, and vineyards,
ripe for exploring.
Global Ballooning (0061 3 9428 5703; globalballooning.com.au)
offers a range of packages departing from Rochford Winery before
dawn. Landings can be followed with wine-tasting excursions,
gourmet tours, cider and ale trails. A day trip, including breakfast at
Rochford Wines, lunch at Yering Station, and visits to five wineries
(Coldstream Hills, Domaine Chandon, Yering Station and De Bortoli
Wines) costs A$575/£268 per person.
‘Drinking For Chaps: How to Choose One’s Booze’ by Gustav Temple
and Olly Smith, is published on October 22 by Kyle Books
the Yarra ValleY bY hot-air balloon
By Olly Smith
FLOAT ON
A hot-air balloon rises
over the hushed, misty
Yarra Valley early in the
morning. Inset, opposite:
Holy Goat cheese and
charcuterie from Victoria
SALE NOW ONFREE DAY TOURSWhether it’s your first time down under, or you’re a returning traveller to the country, you‘ll never be short of unique experiences and adventures in Australia. With four time zones, three million square miles and 22 million people, it’s not that simple to sum up a country that stretches so far and takes in so many different climates and diverse landscapes. Below are just a few of our recommended itineraries, speak to one of our Travel Designers today to start planning your Australia adventure.
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Calls are free from landlines, mobiles and other providers’ charges may vary. Off ers subject to change and availability. Free Excursion applies to selected day tours/excursions and is applicable when booking a minimum of 5 night’s accommodation or 7 night’s motor home hire and return international fl ights. Valid for bookings made from the 19th August to the 30th September, only one Free excursion valid per person. No cash alternative and no refunds will be given for unused free excursions. Blackout dates may apply. Normal booking terms and conditions apply, see Austravel.com for full details. Off ers are correct at time of going to print, for selected travel and may be withdrawn at any time. ATOL protected.
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ultratravel 73
Helicopter pub crawl
By Sean Thomas
Darwin, Australia. It’s barely 6am and dawn
is a pale blue rumour on the horizon. And
as I rub the sleep from my eyes I realise I am
fulfilling a dream: I’m waking up next to a very
beautiful Chinese television starlet.
It’s not quite how I imagined it, though. In my
fantasies I figured we’d be in the same bedroom.
Yet here we are in the same minibus,
surrounded by her television crew, who are all
similarly half-awake, thanks to the early start.
That said, there is something to perk us up.
We’re all here because we’re headed for a
ridiculously appealing adventure. A helicopter
pub crawl. Yes, a day spent choppering from
tavern to tavern.
Moments later, we park at a dusty suburban
airport, climb into two different helicopters and
flit up into the wilds. The choppers are doorless
and windowless. Only our safety belts are
stopping us from falling out of the sky and into
the sluggish, glittery, croc-infested rivers of the
coastal Northern Territory.
The day begins well. Our first touchdown is
on to an actual river-beach – and no matter how
blasé you are, it doesn’t get much funkier than
landing a helicopter on a beach and running out
under the whirling blades, just to go and drink
cold Coopers Pale Ale in an airy wooden
hunter’s lodge.
Unless, that is, the next stop is even better.
Already a bit squiffy from the beers, we peer out
of the racing choppers across the green
rainforests. Where is the next pub? Underwater?
Suddenly, we dive down from the blue, swooping
on a clearing in the jungle. Wild buffalo scatter
from the noise. I feel like a Vietnam war
correspondent – only with more vodka.
Scampering from the chopper we tramp
through rampant greenery to a beery hotel, Goat
Island, owned by a fabulously drunken
Dutchman who keeps a loaded gun on the bar
and dispenses fine sauvignon blanc to boozy
weekend barramundi fishermen.
“The gun is for the crocs,” he says.
“Sometimes they get a bit friendly.”
After that, I confess it becomes a bit of a blur.
But a wonderful blur. Hic.
A Heli Pub Tour can be booked through Airborne
Solutions (0061 8 8972 2345; airbornesolutions.
com.au) for A$895/£417 per person per day, for
a seven-hour tour, excluding alcoholic drinks.
wagyu beef adventure
By Tricia Welsh
This must be the best long lunch in Australia: flying by private jet
from Melbourne to Coonawarra in South Australia, visiting Wynns
winery, then jetting on for a wagyu-beef masterclass and four-course
lunch at Mayura Station. And for dessert? A flight back to Melbourne
over the Twelve Apostles, arriving back just in time for dinner.
John Dyer of Air Adventure clearly thinks outside the box.
This innovative air touring company, established by his late father,
Rod, has been operating for nearly 40 years in the Australian outback
and Africa. Originally farmers in Hamilton, the Dyers now farm
in Victoria’s Western District while taking gourmands out on their
increasingly popular air adventures.
It’s an hour’s flight from Essendon Airport to Coonawarra, where
we transfer to Wynns Coonawarra Estate, the oldest and largest
winery in the vine-covered region famed for its mineral-rich soil.
Following a tour of the cellars, we don lab coats and, under the
guidance of winemaker Sarah Pidgeon, create red-wine blends to
our own liking, using cabernet sauvignon, shiraz and merlot.
We fly farther south to Mayura Station, established in 1845, to
lunch on exceptional estate-grown wagyu beef. Mayura’s herd
started with just 25 heifers and four bulls imported in 1997.
Today, with 6,000 head of cattle on 3,240 hectares, it is the largest
100 per cent full-blood wagyu cattle station outside Japan.
Chef Mark Wright prepares lunch in an open teppanyaki-style
kitchen restaurant. He has two cuts of prime steak ready to chargrill:
large cubes of rump and thick slivers of oyster blade. What he calls a
“mystery box” that is already roasting in the oven turns out
to be a huge melt-in-the-mouth rib-eye that feeds all 10 of us easily.
Luscious wines, including a Rymill Shiraz 1993, Zema Estate Cluny
1998 and a 2002 “Grande Reserve” Cabernet Sauvignon by Patrick of
Coonawarra, flow freely before a dessert of vanilla panna cotta.
Before flying off, we stop by a huge barn where the pampered
cattle are grain-fed for up to 12 months. Here, we learn the secret
ingredient in their diet: 3lb of chocolate each day, which goes some
way to explaining why steak and red wine are such a perfect match.
Air Adventure (0061 3 5572 1371; airadventure.com.au) offers the
all-inclusive Great Wagyu Adventure from AU$1,000/£475 per person.
going up on board the
chopper for a pub crawl
(top left), stopping at goat
island (above left). Air
Adventure’s private plane (top)
stops at Mayura Station for
a meal of wagyu beef (above)
and a masterclass (below)
gu
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av
oip
ier
re
76 ultratravel
Porongurups
Cape Lodge
Pemberton
Albany
Leeuwin Estate
Margaret River
50 miles
AUSTRALIA
Western Australia’s southern corner is made
for a self-drive holiday, with near-empty
roads curling through vine-clad coastal
hills and forests in which some of the
planet’s tallest and oldest trees grow. It is also a region
in which to fall in love (again) with Australian wine,
from the fine rieslings being produced near Albany,
where I begin my journey, to the world-class cabernet
sauvignons and chardonnays of Margaret River, at my
journey’s end. And all along the way, there are natural
and historical highlights, fresh inventive food and, just
as importantly for the waistline, thrilling national parks
in which to walk off any overindulgence.
In the likeable seaside city of Albany, my exploration
takes me into the community’s past, as well as its
present. Founded in 1826, the town is the oldest
permanent settlement in Western Australia. Its natural
deepwater harbour provided a gateway to WA’s
goldfields in the 19th century, and it also played a
significant role during the First World
War, being the last port of call for
Australian and New Zealand troops: a fact
that is recognised in the National Anzac
Centre, which opened last year.
Unlike most museums, here each
visitor is allocated an individual soldier
from the time with whom to experience
the war. Mine was Gordon Naley, whose
story was particularly poignant. Naley, an
Aboriginal man who survived Gallipoli, was taken to
London in 1915 to convalesce from typhoid and, in 1916,
was sent back to fight on the Western Front. Eventually,
after being held prisoner in Germany, he settled back in
South Australia, dying, aged 44, of a war-related illness.
With Naley’s life reeling through my mind, I head to
the Porongurups, a succession of granite bluffs to the
north. In Porongurup National Park a trail leads up Castle
Rock to the Granite Skywalk, a suspended metal walkway
ranged around several giant tors. Fifty-five million years
ago, these peaks formed part of an island surrounded
by ocean; looking down from the walkway, over waves
of mist billowing up the hills, I could almost picture it.
There are equally dramatic views in the foothills of
the Porongurups, where an impressive wine region is
emerging, making the most of mineral-rich soils to
produce intensely flavoured cool-climate wines. The
vines straddle the slopes of a mist-filled valley in which
the 165-acre Ironwood (ironwoodestatewines.com.au) is
based. This vineyard is named after the Michigan town
at the heart of Hiawatha country from where its
winemaking owner, Eugene Harma, hails, and
mementos of his hometown and of the legendary Native
American chief litter the cellar door.
Down the valley, at nearby Castle Rock Estate
(castlerockestate.com.au), vigneron Rob Diletti can
trace his family history back to Lucca in Tuscany. The
unassuming Diletti, who makes some of Australia’s top
rieslings, is establishing a strong reputation and has
been named by the Australian wine authority James
Halliday as Winemaker of the Year 2015. “Vineyard
management,” Diletti comments, “is about getting it
right for the site, not just doing things to a recipe.” He’s
clearly got it right with a superb 2013 Reserve Riesling.
Following Albany, my next stop is the Valley of the
Giants in the Walpole-Nornalup National Park, where
ranger Julie Ewing guides visitors along an ancient trail,
which occasionally goes through the hollow buttresses
of magnificent giant tingle trees, some 250ft tall and up
to 500 years old. The path has been used for centuries
by the Noongar Aboriginals, who have lived in this area
for some 38,000 years and believe the trees hold the
spirits of their ancestors (as well as a variety of endemic
creatures, including the phascogale: a tiny
marsupial whose rather unfortunate male
dies of stress after mating). Having had
our hearts broken, we’re then led (for light
relief) on to the 131ft-high Tree Top Walk,
a raised platform that stretches like an
enormous Meccano set through the forest
canopy, offering views not just within the
trees but above them, too.
Back down to earth, and after a sublime
drive through 80 miles of sun-smudged karri and jarrah
forests, the small rural town of Pemberton comes into
view. Here, among more towering forests, the 200ft
Gloucester Tree stands out, a rickety ladder bolted into
its trunk leading to the summit. Gripping the rungs
with trembling hands, I feel like Jack clambering the
beanstalk toward the giant’s lair. How I make the
treetop platform I’ll never know, but my giddy ascent
is rewarded by views over the forest canopy all the way
to coastal sand dunes.
It’s indisputably time for calmer pursuits.
Fortunately, the Margaret River region, which produces
more than 20 per cent of Australia’s premium wine from
three per cent of the country’s grapes, is a few hours’
drive away.
Extending some 85 miles between two capes
(Naturaliste in the north and Leeuwin to the south) and
encompassing more than 200 vineyards, a dramatic
granite coastline, 150 limestone caves and more karri
forests, it’s difficult to know where to start when visiting
this region. Its wealth of sophisticated accommodation
and fine restaurants only adds to the conundrum. But,
having visited Margaret River many times, I’ve learnt
that the way to solve this dilemma is with a “less-is-
IN ASSOCIATION WITH AuSTrAlIA .COm
Meals onWHeelsSometimes the best way to sample a region’s produce is to motor through it, stopping
to snack and sip along the way. Daniel Scott gets behind the wheel from Albany to Margaret
River, while Olivia Palamountain sits back in style in the Queen’s Daimler in Barossa
G O U R M E T d R i v E
ultratravel 77
more” approach. So this time, I confine myself to two
wineries: Vasse Felix, the region’s first, set up by Perth
cardiologist Dr Thomas Cullity in 1967, and Leeuwin
Estate, another of the pioneers. Both are popular with
visitors, offering a combination of fine wine, gourmet
food, art exhibitions and concerts, as well as tours
(ultimatewineryexperiences.com.au).
The four-hour cellar experience at Vasse Felix
(vassefelix.com.au) takes in every part of the winery
and wine-making process, led by Virginia Willcock, the
2012 Australian winemaker of the year. Naturally, there
is a chance to taste the results of the picking, which is
done early in the morning to maintain the vibrancy of
the flavour, as well as to sit in the shade and enjoy a
three-course lunch. Here, treats range from charcuterie
plate and local marron (a freshwater crayfish) with
mushroom, radish and nasturtium to pork with
Jerusalem artichoke, pear and seaweed.
And there is more near-religious gastronomic
ecstasy to come, at the glamorous Cape Lodge
(capelodge.com.au). Set beside a lake and in its own
vineyard near the coast, its rooms are spacious and
stylish, and its restaurant a real winner. A change of
executive chef, to Swedish-born Michael Elfwing, who
worked with Heston Blumenthal at The Fat Duck,
ensures a sublime degustation dinner, again including
marron – this time with quail’s eggs and dill sauce,
artichoke hearts and thyme sauce.
Heading on my final day towards Perth it’s no chore
to be back on the wine trail, this time with an aesthetic
slant, at Leeuwin Estate (leeuwinestate.com.au). While
enjoying a glass of brut in the winery’s art gallery, I
admire canvases from remote indigenous communities,
some Sidney Nolan paintings and John Olsen’s “Frogs
in Riesling”. My Czech-Australian guide, Stepan
Libricky, tutors me expertly through a “flight” of five
Art Series wines, with accompanying entrées conjured
by the executive chef Dany Angove.
Libricky has a strong line in regal imagery,
introducing a $100 chardonnay as “the queen of
wines, very powerful and elegant”, and the cabernet
sauvignon as “like Prince William, the future King”.
Then, as we savour a royal feast, he pronounces the
marriage of crumbly, flaky red emperor fish and the
“queen” chardonnay to be “a match made in heaven”.
Although his phrasing is slightly over the top, I’m
inclined to agree. And, as I drive away, I’m half-inclined
to give Leeuwin Estate a monarchic wave of approval.
Austravel (0808 163 6126; austravel.com) offers an
eight-day Perth Gourmet Drive package from £1,149 per
person, including car hire, seven nights’ accommodation
and return flights with Etihad Airways (etihad.com).
perfect pitstops (clockwise from
top left) Marron at cape Lodge;
Walpole treetop walk; Leeuwin
chardonnay and outdoor restaurant;
beach at Margaret river; Michael
elfwing, chef at cape Lodge
78 ultratravel
Speak to any Australian and they’ll tell
you with fondness that Barossa
people are “different”. Take a seat in
the Daimler belonging to John
Baldwin, a local guide, and it’s nigh on
impossible not to fall in love. Not only
is his car – a restored original used by the Queen on
her 1963 tour of Australia – an absolute beauty, but
Baldwin is also a glorious eccentric, like a characterful
Aussie uncle you never realised you were missing.
With Baldwin at the helm of the Daimler (and
me doing my best regal impression in the back), we
are touring the Barossa Valley in style. This glorious
stretch of South Australia lies around 30 miles
north-east of Adelaide, and can lay claim to being
both one of the country’s premier wine regions
and one of its most beautiful.
There’s little that Baldwin doesn’t know about
this part of the world and, as we cruise through
acres of rolling countryside precisely laid with vines,
he fills me in. The first thing to appreciate about the
Barossa Valley is its food and drink. As well as its
wines – most famously its big, bold shiraz – the
valley is renowned among gourmets for its regional
produce, sold at pitstops such as Maggie Beer’s
Farm Shop (owned by Australia’s answer to Delia
Smith) and its restaurants, such as the renowned
FermentAsian. The second thing to appreciate is that,
although Baldwin is as passionate about booze as he
is about driving, he doesn’t mix the two. Thankfully.
A quick snoop in the tiny town of Angaston
confirms there’s much gastro-gold in these hills, from
Casa Carboni, an Italian cooking school and enoteca,
to the Barossa Valley Cheese Company and Schulz
Butchers, founded in 1939 and renowned for its
traditional curing and smoking methods. The Apex
Bakery, up the road in Tanunda, is another delight:
a family business since 1924, this bakery still churns
out the same-recipe sourdoughs, pies and pasties
from its Scotch oven as it did nearly 100 years ago.
These aren’t the only historical success stories of
the Barossa. The vine stocks are among the oldest
on earth, brought over by German immigrants
fleeing religious persecution some 170 years ago –
thus saving them from disease that wiped out many
European vines in the 19th century. With around 50
wineries in the region, it would be hard to know
where to start without some expert guidance, but as
it happens I do recognise the name of our first stop.
Yalumba is well known in the UK for its accessible
plonk, but this pretty estate – at 166 years old, the
oldest family-owned vineyard in the country – also
produces exquisite small-batch wines. At a tasting,
I’m immediately sold on the Paradox, an inky 2010
shiraz of mixed spice and violets with blueberry hints.
Next up on our road trip is Hentley Farm, voted
2015’s Winery of the Year by Australia’s Halliday
Wine Companion. Within restored stables dating
from the 1880s, local lad and head chef Lachlan
Colwill serves inspired, imaginative food ranging
from a mango-yoghurt pudding, designed to look
like a boiled egg and served in a real eggshell, to a
signature dish of oysters and rosemary, the scent of
which comes alive with the addition of dry ice.
Baldwin wangles us a table, but not before I’ve
tasted two of the star wines on offer, evocatively
named “Beauty” and “The Beast”. Ever the sucker for
a bad boy, I pick up a bottle of The Beast.
Although within stumbling distance of Hentley
Farm is Seppeltsfield Vineyard Cottage, a cute
couples retreat perfect for a weekend of solitude, I
head to The Louise, where each suite has a terrace,
fireplace and outdoor rainshower. Designed by a
Californian couple looking for a Napa vibe, it’s the
sort of glamorous place you might want to hunker
down on honeymoon, before wandering to its
destination dining spot, Appellation, which serves
locally and seasonally driven dishes such as Port
Lincoln bluefin tuna with air-dried ham and lemon
marmalade, and pan-fried Gawler River quail with
bitter leaves and roasted hazelnut dressing.
There’s no time for me to hang about, though.
Next morning Baldwin is ready to whisk me off to try
something extra special at Seppeltsfield. This cellar
houses the Centennial Collection, the world’s oldest
and only range of consecutive Vintage Tawny since
1878. I try both a slug from a barrel from 1985 (the
year I was born) and a nip of the 1885, watching with
awe as a phial of liquid gold is extracted, and
presented to me with reverence. It tastes ambrosial.
Later on there is less theatre to be found at the
smaller, modern vineyards, such as Torbreck Wines
(tipped by Baldwin as the next big thing), but the
produce – and producers – are no less impressive.
Indeed, the Barossa folk I’ve come across really are
a different breed: passionate, warm and more than
a little quirky. There’s definitely magic in the vines.
John Baldwin’s Daimler tours (0061 8 8524 9047;
barossadaimlertours.com.au) cost from £225 for a
half-day. Austravel (0808 163 6126; austravel.com)
offers a nine-day Adelaide food trip from £1,789,
including car hire, eight nights’ accommodation, and
return Etihad Airways flights (etihad.com).
IN ASSOCIATION WITH AUSTRALIA .COm
a bite of barossa
By Olivia Palamountain
ultratravel 79
vine, all vine
John Baldwin with one of his
two renovated 1962 Daimlers
in Barossa and outside
Château Tanunda (top left)
Photograph CinDY Fan
ultratravel 81
In the hierarchy of the world’s waters, the Indian Ocean takes some
beating. More hyperbolically described than perhaps any other, it is
outrageously exotic, a spice-scented sea whose warm waves lap at
myriad shores in Myanmar, India, Cambodia and Africa, countries
where islands crumble off the coastline and spin away into waters that
were described by Rudyard Kipling as “so soft, so bright, so bloomin’
blue”. In other words, an ocean to set the mind to travel, to dreams of
creamy sands and sapphire waves, where even the palm trees appear to
bow in submission to all that perfect blue.
Yet even here there are places more beautiful than the rest
(supermodels among beauty queens). Located off the east coast of
Africa, the Seychelles is an archipelago of 115 islands of lushly green,
granite peaks and quiet beaches that are among the most exquisite in
the world. There is an off-map, castaway glamour to the Seychelles.
Pirates, of the romanticised, swashbuckling variety, used to roam the
waters where now whale sharks are the more frequent visitors. The
wildlife here – including indigenous seabirds, jewel-toned fish that
decorate mile after mile of coral reef, and the world’s largest
concentration of Aldabra giant tortoises – easily outnumbers the
Seychelles’ human population, a balance that has seen the islands
dubbed “the Galápagos of the Indian Ocean”.
This untouched environment is part circumstance – the country only
received independence from British colonial rule in 1976 and endured
subsequent years of political in-fighting before peace was established –
and part grand plan. The latter is the slow and sustainable approach
to tourist development that is rooted in the government’s close study
of the mistakes of its mass market competitors (particularly Mauritius),
and its correct assumption that the country’s thriving ecosystem is
a commodity in itself. Hence, by design, the Seychelles aims to be a
niche destination, targeting affluent visitors and high-end hotel brands:
in the past decade, a Four Seasons and Raffles have opened on Mahé
and Praslin islands, while a Six Senses resort, Zil Pasyon, will debut on
Félicité Island later this year.
It’s no coincidence, then, that the country is the location of two of the
dreamiest private island resorts in the world – North Island and Fregate
Island Private. In a world where luxury has become a tattered, overused
concept, the accommodation on these islands – both recently refurbished,
both heavily committed to their own environmental programmes – has
set a new paradigm. Royal honeymooners and celebrity visitors aside,
North Island, particularly, is almost fictive in its allure, with a whispered,
word-of-mouth reputation among those who have been lucky enough to
experience its unparalleled charm that is at once a part of, and entirely
separate from, the considerable expense of staying here. (Anywhere can
be expensive, but charm is impossible to manufacture.)
I ponder this while sitting beneath a palm tree – helpfully denuded of
potentially braining coconuts – on North’s Honeymoon Beach, eating a
picnic lunch of chicken wraps, vegetable spring rolls and the pinkest,
most delicious macaroons this side of Paris. The wide stretch of powdery
words CHARLOTTE SINCLAIR
ULTRA ISLANDS
The SeychelleSdon’t feel wild – they feel positively Jurassic, with parrotfish the size of terriers, enormous silvery boulders
and giant Aldabra tortoises. The islands are also home to two of the world’s finest resorts, refurbished and
dreamier than ever
82 ultratravel
sand has been roped off for my husband and me for the
afternoon – a whole beach to ourselves – and we spend
the hours shell-hunting, lazing in the shade, and skinny-
dipping in the aquamarine, bath-water waves, silver fish
scattering at our ankles. As an experience, it exemplifies
how hospitality works on North, where each rarely sighted
guest is cocooned in a little slice of their own paradise.
As much as the specialness of North is down to this
careful choreography of space and privacy, it is also
attributable to the jaw-dropping loveliness of the island,
with its mangrove and palm-fringed bays, driftwood
beach bars, a spectacular pool cut into the rocky hillside,
and the thickly canopied peaks – where we walk one
morning led by Taryn, the resort’s nature guide, to a
viewpoint where the dark, swooping silhouettes of eagle
rays can be spied in the frilled waves below.
The island is preposterously pretty and just the right
side of wild, a place where giant, century-old
tortoises, with their gummy smiles and smooth,
lizard necks, crunch through the undergrowth as we zip
along sand paths on our golf buggy. Everything is bigger,
brighter, more beautiful than it has any need to be.
Snorkelling, we encounter parrotfish the size of terriers.
The white sands turn champagne pink at sunset as
enormous fruit bats slice the dusk sky. There’s not a
sound that’s not natural – the hush of waves on the shore,
the flit and jitter of birds, the wind through trees – and the
light is soft, leaf-sifted. At night, the island is lit by
flickering lantern light. North is its own Instagram filter,
a vision beyond betterment.
If luxury is a matter of context – the right thing in the
right place – and character, both are impeccably
demonstrated in North’s barefoot attitude, which extends,
equally, from the charming, chatty, dreadlocked barman
who serves wickedly strong rum cocktails at the bar to the
11 thatched beachside villas, where we have the choice of
lounging in 6,000sq feet of rosewood-floored space, an
outdoor sala, a pool within a tropical garden, and even an
air-conditioned screening room. A sense of generosity
pervades every aspect here, whether in the fully stocked
villa kitchen, or the resort’s flexible approach to menus
and meal times, or in the availability of boats and
equipment to snorkel or dive at a moment’s notice. In
interactions with the staff (150 at last count, with villa
butlers as standard), we’re addressed by our first names –
standing on ceremony being the opposite of relaxing.
“Too early for a cocktail?” asks the young, shorts-wearing
general manager, Nick Solomon, as we settle on to sun
loungers after a late breakfast.
A different but equally persuasive iteration of luxury
is to be found at Fregate Island Private. The island resort
has been managed by Oetker Collection since 2013, and
There’s not a sound
that’s not natural – the hush
of waves on the shore,
the flit and jitter of birds, the
wind through the trees
ultratravel 83
ultimate seclusion
North Island has only
11 beachside villas, each
with 6,000sq feet
of private outdoor space
84 ultratravel
its €4million (£2.8million) upgrade was used not only
to improve infrastructure (unsexy stuff such as new
generators and an upgraded water supply that make this
dot in the middle of the ocean actually work) and renovate
the 16 villas, but also to rebuild a pirate-styled cocktail
bar, marina and yacht club. Under the new general
manager, Wayne Kafcsak, Fregate now enjoys the elegance
and formidably high service that come as standard at
Oetker properties such as Le Bristol in Paris.
What this translates to in practice is a hamper
containing a white tablecloth, silver cutlery, chilled white
wine and grilled prawns being carried, valiantly, down the
80 or so steps to our beach-side lunch spot by our friendly
Sri Lankan butler. The sense of things being done well is
hugely soothing, as are the upgraded, thatched, colonial-
styled villas, set high on the hill overlooking a bright coin
of water, and which feature canopied four-poster beds
and dark, hardwood floors, as well as white sofas
positioned by a wall of windows for sunset-gazing.
Yet, for all its seamless, spoiling smartness, it is
Fregate’s environment that makes it truly special. The
majority of the island has been left undeveloped,
including several tide-swept beaches, and a vine-draped
banyan forest, where we eat breakfast in a canopy-height
tree house one morning, kept company by several
hundred fairy terns, perched still and serene as sculpted
marble in the branches.
Fregate doesn’t just feel wild but practically Jurassic.
More than 2,000 giant tortoises populate the island,
munching leaves under the cashew trees on the high,
igneous outcrops or retreating, slowly, from the heat into
mud baths. Rainbow-bright sunbirds dart from hibiscus
flowers, while Seychelles warblers and magpie robins –
both species rescued from near extinction by the island’s
conservation efforts – hop inquisitively at the edge of our
villa’s infinity pool.
At night, the presence of giant millipedes and hermit
crabs travelling across the paths create a rather crunchy
obstacle course for our drive back to our villa (golf
buggies are the millipedes’ main predator on Fregate).
At Anse Macquereau beach, which we reserve exclusively
for a breakfast swim one morning, the only prints on the
deep scoop of white sand are those of a small brown
plover, pecking at the shoreline.
After a morning spent with the conservation team,
discussing the replanting of indigenous forest and a
protection programme for Fregate’s hawksbill turtles,
I suggest to Wayne that the resort is almost secondary to
nature here. He nods. This is what tourism in the
Seychelles is all about, he says. “The consensus amongst
hoteliers is: ‘Let’s protect these islands, let’s keep this
paradise pristine.’”
For visitors here there can be no sweeter promise than
that of paradise, not lost or found but safeguarded:
perhaps the greatest luxury of all.
ITC Luxury Travel (01244 355 527; itcluxurytravel.co.uk)
offers a seven-night trip to North Island from £12,399 per
person, based on two adults sharing, all-inclusive, and
including economy flights and helicopter transfers.
North Island (wilderness-collection.com; doubles
from €5,530/£3,900 per night, including all meals, drinks
and activities). Fregate Island Private (0049 7221 900 8071;
fregate.com; doubles from €4,400/£3,097 per night, including
all meals, drinks, and non-motorised watersports).
The majority of the island is undeveloped, including several tide-swept beaches and a vine-draped banyan forest where we breakfast with fairy terns
wild at heart
A private villa on Fregate
Island Private (top). The
island is home to
abundant wildlife, such as
fairy terns (above left) and
fruit bats (above right).
One of Fregate’s
windswept beaches (right)
86 ultratravel
Indian Ocean
Desroches
VICTORIA
Four Seasons
Cousine
Deckenia
House
Praslin
North Island
Fregate
MAHÉ
10 miles
50 miles
Denis
S e y c h e l l e s
of the best SEYCHELLES hideaways for...
nature lover
Denis island (above),
on which 24 villas are
surrounded by forest
and beach. View from
Deckenia (right) on
Praslin. A turtle
(below), a regular
visitor to Desroches
5nature
DenIS
The owners of Denis Island, which is
renowned for its excellent game
fishing and diving, have been carefully
restoring the island’s ecology,
eradicating all rodents and alien plants.
One can see why: the island’s native
species are spectacular. Green and
hawksbill turtles lay between October
and December, with hatchlings
scuttling seawards about eight weeks
later. All year round there are turtles in
the sheltered lagoon. There are
endemic magpie robins, Seychelles
white-eyes and the magnificent
paradise flycatcher. No one has to be a
twitcher to be charmed by the pure
white fairy terns that lay their eggs
without any nests on an exposed
branch, or the white-tailed tropicbirds
with crazy-haired chicks that make
their home among the roots of the
spindly casuarina trees. And it wouldn’t
be the Seychelles without a resident
colony of giant tortoises.
Denis has 24 villas, which all face the
beach and offer sumptuous indoor-
outdoor bathrooms and large
comfortable bedrooms. There is a
restaurant and pool, and a jogging trail,
tennis and kayaking for the more
active. The food is superlative: 90 per
cent of it is grown or reared on the
island’s farm, making Denis its own
perfect little world.
Denis Island (00 248 428 8963;
denisisland.com; doubles from £812 per
night, full-board, in a beach villa)
PrIVaCY
CouSIne
There’s nothing like indulging the –
albeit short-lived – fantasy of owning a
tropical island. At just over 60 acres,
Cousine Island is the perfect size for
any dreamer’s tropical hideaway. It’s
not just a flat coral island, but one of
Seychelles’ inner granite islands, with
enough topography to make walkers
feel like they are genuine explorers.
With just four large villas, each with
its own pool, and a spa and restaurant,
Cousine has been designed to offer
the ultimate in privacy for those who
want to hire the entire place – for up
to 12 adults and four children. It’s an
ideal spot for a big birthday celebration
or wedding party.
Conservation is at the heart of how
Cousine has been designed, and all of
the tourism revenue is channelled into
preserving the pristine habitat that is
home to rare birds and turtles.
Cousine Island (00 248 432 1107;
cousineisland.com; from £19,000
a night, exclusive island rental, for 12
adults and four children, in four villas and
the two-bedroom Presidential Villa, all
inclusive, including all watersports and
helicopter transfers from Mahé)
dIVIng
DeSroCHeS
The archipelago’s farthest-flung private
island resort sits on a remote coral
atoll, a 45-minute flight from Mahé,
deliciously discreet and paparazzi free.
It’s perfect for families and groups of
friends, as well as couples, with bright
and airy three- to five-bedroom villas
by the ocean. Hand-crafted casuarina-
wood furniture and beds clad in crisp,
white Egyptian cotton are offset by
splashes of vibrant colour. Glass doors
open on to a wooden deck and a
Hockney-blue pool flanked by tropical
foliage. Here guests can play Crusoe
and Cousteau. There are 14 world-class
dive sites within easy reach, and
arguably the best canyon-, cave- and
tunnel-diving in the Indian Ocean,
among giant grouper, eagle rays and
shoals of sweetlips. And with the reef
line so close, snorkellers can enjoy
the aptly named Aquarium, which
teems with Technicolor fish. Or take
on the game fish from a sleek boat –
heavyweights such as barracuda and
sailfish, and the fly-fisher’s holy grail,
bonefish. On terra firma, guests
crisscross the island by bike, stopping
to picnic on a shell-strewn beach
(there are seven miles of them),
explore with a resident conservationist,
or head to the award-winning, rustic-
luxe Escape Spa for pampering
Elemental Herbology and Dr Hauschka
treatments. Creole-inspired gourmet
food is served in the restaurant, in-villa
or feet-in-the-sand. Stunning sunsets
as standard, shoes optional.
Desroches (0027 82 496 4570;
desroches-island.com; three-bedroom
beach villa from £1,760, including meals)
a VIlla holIdaY
DeCKenIa
Just 20 minutes from Praslin’s airport
is this new private villa, owned by
Seychelloise residents Jacques Le
Vieux and his wife, Aurore. Overlooking
Anse Government beach – quiet,
private and on the north side of the
island – it’s a rare find in this part of
the world: an island home that’s
contemporary, spacious and ideal for
groups who prefer to holiday in a
house, rather than a hotel. As well as
three big double bedrooms in the main
villa, there are two small villas either
side: each with its own living space,
deck and pool, and views over the
creamy beach and tropical gardens.
Named after an endemic palm,
Deckenia is filled with furniture and art
sourced from the islands: a carved
wooden palm leaf on a wall, tables
made from local tree-trunks, paintings
in vibrant tropical colours. Even the
wine cellar is lined with granite rocks
typical of the area, and recycled glass.
The decor, however, is slick: from
moulded white dining chairs and
Starck bar stools to fast Wi-Fi access
and a big modern kitchen. Best of all: a
staff of six is on hand (including chef
and butler); a 36ft boat is moored
nearby; kayaks, paddle boards,
snorkelling equipment and a pedal
boat are set by the beach; and access
is offered to the nearby Raffles spa
and Constance Lemuria golf course.
In short, if offers the best of all worlds:
hotel service, but in a home.
Deckenia (00248 250 8337; deckenia.
com; from £2,790 a night for up to 10
adults and two children, full-board)
famIlIes
Four SeaSonS
Although its beach isn’t private, the
Four Seasons Resort, set in a secluded
bay in Petite Anse on Mahé, feels like
something of a hideaway. The 67 villas
are spacious and allow for open-air
living, but are also totally private. There
are sunken baths overlooking waxy
banana palms, outdoor showers and a
reading pavilion with a day bed.
Families are particularly welcome
here, as the resort has a full range of
services and treats for children, from
babysitters to mini robes, and an
explorer programme for adventurous
teens with activities such as rock
climbing and sailing.
The food draws on local ingredients:
dishes are packed with spices such as
cinnamon, lemon grass and vanilla,
and the sashimi is made with local fish
such as mahi mahi and red snapper.
Guests can try their hand in the
kitchen, too. Dave Minten, the head
chef, will give an entertaining lesson in
how to make a delicious – and filling –
Creole coconut fish curry. A sunset
hike and a yoga session overlooking
the resort will ease the conscience.
The still waters in the bay are
perfect for a family session of paddle
boarding, and a marine biologist can
take a group on a guided snorkelling
trip. For something less active, the
spa’s 150-minute coco de mer
treatment is the perfect way to round
off the day. Even the teenagers aren’t
left out here: they can try a coconut-oil
head massage with hair braiding.
Four Seasons Resort Seychelles (00248
439 3000; fourseasons.com/seychelles;
villas from £562 per night)
Reviews by Tim Ecott, Sarah Gilbert
and Jemima Sissons
Discover the SeychellesTailor Made Journeys - Family Holidays - Honeymoons
Giant Tortoises • World Famous Beaches
Island Hopping • Gourmet Cuisine • Beautiful Golf Courses
Pool Villas • Private Islands • Vallée de Mai
Diving & Snorkelling • Manta Rays & Whale Sharks
ultratravel 89
bid for a life-changing holidayTake part in our silent auction for one of 26 luxury trips and you could support an inspiring organisation that
helps injured former servicemen learn to ski – and then to gain the confidence to start a new career
No one who attended the 2015 Ultras
Dinner at The Dorchester in May this
year could fail to have been moved and
inspired by a speech given by Martin Hewitt, a
great sportsman and a former officer with the
Parachute Regiment in Afghanistan. Hewitt,
who was shot in the shoulder by the Taliban in
2007, resulting in the permanent paralysis of
his right arm, spoke on behalf of an
extraordinary charity that Ultratravel is proud
to support this year, particularly as it relies on
activity travel to tackle the problems faced by
wounded former servicemen.
Skiing With Heroes, as Hewitt told the
audience at the award ceremony, gives
seriously injured ex-servicemen and women
several key things they need to get their lives
back on track: focus, challenge, confidence
and, most importantly, a “sense of freedom
and independence” – something that many of
these formerly active, high-achieving men and
women fear they will never experience again
in the wake of their injuries.
The problems faced by wounded veterans
of the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan after
their discharge from the Armed Forces are
well documented but, sadly, still continue.
In addition to their injuries – which can range
from multiple limb loss and debilitating
combat stress – poor confidence and few
contacts outside the military make finding
employment extremely difficult, if not
impossible. With the loss of their sense of
identity, and the protective environment of the
Armed Forces, wounded ex-servicemen not
only have to deal with severe physical
challenges, but also pain, boredom, loneliness,
anger and low self-esteem. Such issues can
damage their personal relationships, and lead
to depression and substance abuse.
This is where Skiing With Heroes steps in
with an innovative, long-term solution. The
charity aims to rebuild the lives of such
veterans through a process it calls
“skihabilitation” – or rehabilitation through
skiing. This involves a week of skiing in
Klosters, Switzerland, for 26 wounded
veterans, using adaptive ski equipment,
12 adaptive ski instructors and a team of 20
trained volunteer “ski buddies” to help them
learn, or relearn, to ski with their disability.
Not only is this a marvellous week of fun,
bonding and challenges for all those involved,
it also helps, crucially, to rebuild the veterans’
confidence and physical strength – a vital first
step towards independence. The programme
doesn’t end there. On the veterans’ return
from the skiing week, Skiing With Heroes’
extensive contacts in the business community
helps them to prepare for employment
through a personal programme of mentoring,
training and networking.
Skiing With Heroes has, in its short life,
been a spectacular success story. In 2013, its
first year, it found full-time employment for
veterans who were looking for employment
while learning to cope with their life-changing
injuries. To date, it has helped 55 veterans
rebuild their lives. One veteran, “KJ”, says:
“Skiing With Heroes allowed me to put some
demons to bed and let me achieve a dream
I never thought might become a reality.”
Skiing with Heroes relies entirely on
donations. It employs one full-time member of
staff and most of the other people who work
with the charity do so on a voluntary basis,
which means the money raised from this silent
auction will go directly where it should: to war
veterans who want nothing more than a sense
of freedom and independence again.
HOW TO BID
We are inviting you, our readers, to bid for
the 26 lots listed on the following page,
erring, please, on the generous side.
To take part, send your bid, stating clearly
which prize and lot number you are bidding
for, how much you are bidding, and your
name, address, email address and telephone
number, to [email protected].
The winning bidder for each lot will be the
highest received by Skiing With Heroes by
midnight on Saturday October 31, 2015. The
highest bidder for each lot will be contacted
and asked to send payment within two
weeks. On receipt of the cheque, each
winner will be sent the prize vouchers by
registered post.
For more information about Skiing With
Heroes, please see skiingwithheroes.com
*Each holiday is for two, and is subject to separate
terms and conditions, in addition to the general
competition conditions available at telegraph.co.uk/
silentauction or by emailing conditions@
skiingwithheroes.com. This auction is open to
residents of the UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man
aged 18 years or over, except employees of Skiing
With Heroes, Ultratravel and Telegraph Media Group
Limited, their families, agents or anyone else
professionally associated with the auction.
Rooms and flights are subject to availability and,
unless otherwise stated, all flights are economy class.
Bidders may bid for more than one lot, but may
Heroic eFFort Martin Hewitt
(above) of Skiing With Heroes at
the Ultras Dinner. An injured
veteran (below) skis at Klosters
lot 1
Kandolhu Island in the
Maldives (below). A five-night
holiday for two to the island
is the biggest prize in this
year’s auction
90 ultratravel
LOTS On Offer
TOP LOTS Bid for a stay in
Le Bristol in Paris (above),
a four-night cruise on
Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 (left),
or five nights at the
Burj Al Arab Jumeirah
in Dubai (below)
Lot 1 A five-night holiday
in the Maldives
Kuoni, voted Best Large Luxury Tour
Operator – and Universal resorts – are
offering five nights at Kandolhu Island
in a Duplex Pool Villa, including
breakfast, seaplane transfers and
economy flights from the UK.
Donated by Kuoni and
Universal Resorts, Maldives
Minimum bid £4,000
Lot 2 A week’s holiday in Dubai
Five nights in a one-bedroom duplex
suite at the Burj Al Arab Jumeirah in
Dubai – voted Best Hotel in the World
at the 2015 Ultras – including
breakfast, with return business-class
Emirates flights from London.
Donated by Jumeirah and Emirates
Minimum bid £8,000
Lot 3 An eight-night safari
in Tanzania
Two nights in Tarangire National Park
staying at Sanctuary Swala Camp, two
nights at Sanctuary Serengeti
Migration Camp and two nights at
Sanctuary Ngorongoro Crater Camp,
with a night in Arusha or Nairobi at
the beginning and end of the safari.
The prize includes all internal flights
and transfers, park fees, game drives
and full board while in the camps, and
b&b in Arusha or Nairobi.
Donated by Abercrombie & Kent
and Sanctuary Retreats
Minimum bid £5,000
Lot 4 A four-night cruise
Four nights on Cunard’s Queen Mary 2
or Queen Elizabeth in a Balcony
Stateroom, sailing from Southampton,
with the option of choosing from a
cruise to Hamburg, Guernsey or
Bruges, including all meals and
entertainment.
Donated by Cunard
Minimum bid £1,000
Lot 5 A five-night stay in
the Seychelles
Five nights at the Banyan Tree
Seychelles in a Hillside Pool Villa,
including breakfast at Au Jardin
d’Epices restaurant and private airport
transfers in Mahé.
Donated by Banyan Tree Hotels
& Resorts
Minimum bid £2,000
Lot 6 A five-night stay in Phuket
Five nights in a Pool Villa at the
Banyan Tree Phuket, including
breakfast at Watercourt restaurant
and private airport transfers in Phuket.
Donated by Banyan Tree Hotels
& Resorts
Minimum bid £2,000
Lot 7 A four-night
ski-stay in America
Four nights at Omni Mount
Washington Resort, New Hampshire,
in a Deluxe Room, including breakfast,
alpine lift tickets or Nordic trail pass
for two, and resort fee.
Donated by Omni Hotels & Resorts
Minimum bid £800
Lot 8 A one-night stay in London
One night at Corinthia Hotel London in
a Penthouse suite, including full
English breakfast and a three-course
dinner for two, with wine chosen by
Corinthia’s sommelier, in either The
Northall restaurant or Massimo
Restaurant & Bar.
Donated by Corinthia Hotel London
Minimum bid £1,200
Lot 9 A night’s spa-stay in London
A one-night stay for two guests in a
Deluxe Room at the Four Seasons
Hotel London Park Lane, including
English breakfast and two 50-minute
spa treatments.
Donated by Four Seasons Hotels
and Resorts
Minimum bid £300
Lot 10 A two-night gourmet
break in Jersey
Two nights at The Atlantic Hotel,
including English breakfast and dinner
(one night at the Michelin-starred
Ocean Restaurant and one at Mark
Jordan on the Beach, with half a bottle
of champagne) and a Group B hire car.
Donated by The Atlantic Hotel
Minimum bid £500
Lot 11 A three-night stay in Crete
Three nights at the Elounda Peninsula
All Suite Hotel in a Peninsula
Collection Suite, including breakfast.
Donated by Elounda Peninsula
All Suite Hotel
Minimum bid £500
Lot 12 A two-night ski-stay
near Aspen
Two nights at Viceroy Snowmass near
Aspen, in a Studio, including breakfast.
Donated by Viceroy Hotels and Resorts
Minimum bid £500
Lot 13 A three-night stay
overlooking the Abu Dhabi F1 track
Three nights at the Yas Viceroy Abu
Dhabi in a Deluxe Room, including
breakfast at Origins.
Donated by Viceroy Hotels and Resorts
Minimum bid £500
Lot 14 A two-night stay in
Monte-Carlo
Two nights at the Hotel Metropole
Monte-Carlo in a Deluxe Junior Suite,
including VIP welcome and breakfast
at restaurant Joël Robuchon.
Donated by Hotel Metropole
Monte-Carlo
Minimum bid £600
Lot 15 A two-night stay
in Perthshire
Two nights at Gleneagles, home of the
2014 Ryder Cup, with breakfast, dinner
and two rounds of golf for each guest.
Donated by Gleneagles
Minimum bid £700
Lot 16 A two-night stay in London
Two nights at The Ritz London,
including English breakfast, dinner in
The Ritz Restaurant on one night and
afternoon tea on the other day.
Donated by The Ritz London
Minimum bid £600
Lot 17 A two-night stay in Florence
Two nights at Hotel Lungarno,
Continentale or Portrait Firenze, in a
room overlooking the river, and
including breakfast.
Donated by Lungarno Collection
Minimum bid £500
Lot 18 A three-night stay in
the Maldives
Three nights at Per Aquum Niyama
Maldives in a Beach Studio with pool,
including breakfast.
Donated by Per Aquum Hotels
& Resorts
Minimum bid £900
Lot 19 A two-night stay on
the French Riviera
Two nights at The Château Saint-
Martin & Spa in a Junior Suite,
including buffet breakfast, or
continental breakfast in your suite.
Donated by Oetker Collection
Minimum bid £400
Lot 20 A choice of two-night stays
Two nights’ b&b in any of the 500
hotels belonging to Global Hotel
Alliance, the world’s largest collection
of independent luxury hotels.
(There are four holidays offered in
this category.)
Donated by Global Hotel Alliance
Minimum bid £300 per voucher
Lot 21 A one-night stay in
the Cotswolds
One night, between Monday and
Thursday, at Dormy House Hotel and
Spa in a Splendid Room, including full
English breakfast and £50 towards
dinner in The Potting Shed restaurant.
Donated by Dormy House Hotel & Spa
Minimum bid £300
Lot 22 A two-night stay in Paris
Two nights at Le Bristol Paris in a
Prestige Room, including breakfast.
Donated by Oetker Collection
Minimum bid £600
Lot 23 A two-night stay in
Ultratravel’s Best Hotel in Asia
Two nights at The Peninsula
Hong Kong in a Deluxe Room with
daily breakfast.
Donated by The Peninsula Hong Kong
Minimum bid £400
Lot 24 A night’s spa-stay
in Budapest
A one-night stay in a Danube River-
View Room at the Four Seasons
Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest,
including English breakfast and two
50-minute spa treatments.
Donated by Four Seasons Hotels
and Resorts
Minimum bid £300
Lot 25 A two-night stay in Davos
Two nights at the InterContinental
Davos in a deluxe room, including
breakfast.
Donated by InterContinental Davos
Minimum bid £400
Lot 26 A two-night stay in Capri
Two nights at the Capri Tiberio Palace,
including buffet breakfast in the
restaurant or continental breakfast in
your double room.
Donated by Capri Tiberio Palace
Minimum bid £400
Lot 22
Lot 4
Lot 2
ultratravel 93
dream sUITETRIBECA PENTHOUSE,
The Greenwich Hotel, New York
Pure and simPle
The penthouse has a tactile, pared-back
aesthetic, from the second living room (top)
to the rooftop terrace (above, left, and below)
and the kitchen (above, right)
The suiTe When Robert De Niro’s
Greenwich Hotel opened in 2008, it was
an instant hit: a homely yet arty brick-
built hub for moneyed hipsters looking
to stay in a grand but relaxed New York
home. The TriBeCa Penthouse suite,
which opened last year, is not just the biggest in New York
(6,800sq feet over two floors), but the most individual.
Created by the Japanese architect Tatsuro Miki and the
Belgian designer Axel Vervoordt, the three-bedroom, two
living-room pied-à-terre takes its inspiration from the Japanese
aesthetic sense of wabi, which advocates stripping everything
back to its most basic and authentic in order to achieve calm.
Each surface, object and texture is thus carefully considered.
Roughly plastered walls are coloured in earthy sands, rusts,
charcoals and greys. Floors are laid with polished concrete,
stripped wood and worn stone that echo the industrial
buildings that once lined Tribeca’s streets. Ceilings are formed
from old New York industrial beams, battered old wooden
tabletops from Union Square market, and cracked railway
sleepers. It’s a place that oozes warmth and serenity, from its
linen-covered sofas and bucolic wooden-hewn stools to the
rough-cut organic soap, and the single flowers and stems of
foliage placed in simple pottery to show off their beauty.
The sTyle Quintessential Vervoordt: an aesthete who says
he values his collection of pebbles and pieces of wood as
much as he does art, who describes feeling “a deep emotion
when I see the nobility in poor, humble objects like a
shepherd’s table carved by time… that would last generations”.
Although its interiors are unlike any other, what makes this
penthouse breathtaking is the 4,000sq feet of private gardens,
which wrap around the living quarters and continue on the
roof above. Look out of any window and there are plants, from
hedging and ground cover to a canopy of trailing wisteria
which shades the hot tub, the outdoor fireplace, the dining
table seating 20, the sprawling sofas, and the outdoor bar, with
its industrial-chic stools and barbecue. Most guests use the
space to entertain: Italian cuisine can be ordered from the
Locanda Verde restaurant downstairs, and a chef can be sent
up to create bespoke menus in the kitchen or at the barbecue.
The hoTel More like the private home of a well-travelled
aesthete than a hotel, The Greenwich features a library of
antique books, Persian carpets, Chinese cartoons and paintings
by De Niro. Hotel guests have exclusive use of a drawing room
with wood fire, as well as a landscaped, vine-covered
courtyard, Italianate cloisters with murals of scenes from The
Third Man, and a four-storey portrait of James Dean by BJ, the
American graffiti artist. The Shibui Spa, with large pool, gym
and treatment rooms, has a similar aesthetic to that of the
penthouse: housed within the frame of a 250-year-old wood
and bamboo Japanese barn, lit by delicate reed light fittings,
and featuring shiatsu treatments and wooden soaking tubs.
Who goes According to one paparazzo, one of a crowd
hanging outside on a Friday night in the hope of snapping
a well-known face, “everyone and anyone who is famous.
I’ve seen Beyoncé here, Jennifer Aniston, Katy Perry, the Olsen
twins, Gwyneth Paltrow. Celebs just crawl around this place.”
The restaurant is a hot New York hangout, serving sensational
Italian dishes from rabbit terrine with home-made pickles to
tagliatelle with lamb and mint ragù.
loCATioN A block from the Hudson River in fashionable
TriBeCa, which is near SoHo, the West Village and the
Meatpacking District, and is 10 minutes’ walk from Battery Park.
CosT $15,000 a night, inclusive of return airport transfers, two
one-hour spa treatments, four hours in a chauffeured
limousine, snacks and non-alcoholic drinks, daily fruit bowl and
flowers, Wi-Fi, and use of an iPad and iPod.
ADDRess The Greenwich Hotel, 377 Greenwich Street, New
York (01 212 941 8900; thegreenwichhotel.com)
edited by
Lisa GrainGer
intelligence
ultratravel 95
Crisis? What crisis? At Europe’s biggest private-jet show, planes were bigger and more opulent than ever. We stepped into one of the fnest
inside THe £34,000,000 privaTe JeT
the living area
The central zone (8ft 10in wide by 6ft 6in
high) is fitted with white leather banquettes
and fine wool carpets (although buyers can
choose from 700 fabrics and 60 carpets).
Extras include iPod docks, five televisions,
surround-sound speakers, four Blu-ray
players, a satellite telephone and Wifi.
Unusually, the cabin has 323 cubic ft of
on-board luggage space, and 443 cubic ft
in the hold. “It’s not big enough to take a
racehorse or grand piano,” says Wheatley.
“For that, you’d need an additional
freighter. But it can take mountains of
luggage, so is ideal for shopping trips
to Europe from the Middle East.”
If just the thought of someone spending the
equivalent of the GDP of Uruguay on a private jet
raises your blood pressure, then visiting Geneva’s
annual EBACE aeroplane market is not advisable.
Parked on a paved hangar-sized area alongside the
airport’s international runway this summer were
58 private planes and helicopters, both for charter
and sale. While most were slick little jets created
for businessmen to nip to meetings, others, like this
Embraer Lineage 1000E (embraerexecutivejets.
com), were built for what Simon Wheatley, from
the UK broker Air Partner, calls “journeys for families,
royalties or politicians and their entourages who
want to travel in style”. Although the plane costs
£8,300 an hour to charter, last year there was a nine
per cent increase in demand for these “VIP airliners”,
particularly from the Middle East and Asian markets.
“These are people who want the best in life, at any
cost,” Wheatley says, “and they don’t seem to have
been affected by the financial crisis. For instance,
there are two Boeing 747-8 BBJs currently being
fitted in Hamburg, whose bodies have cost about
£214 million and whose interiors could cost an
additional £128 million. And up to five 1000Es
are built a year. So it’s not a dying market.”
the master bedroom
The cabin of the Lineage 1000E
is divided into five areas, one
of which has a queen-sized bed
and walk-in shower: one
of the biggest luxuries on an
aircraft because of the weight
of carrying water. Up front
are two additional lavatories.
the staFF
As well as two pilots and two
stewards, to serve up to 19
passengers, for long journeys
an additional pilot is taken. The front
of the plane has a separate cabin in
which crew can rest.
the teChnologY
It’s the longest VIP jet (84.3ft) permitted
to land at small airports such as London
City and Aspen. “While there are about 500
airports for scheduled planes in the USA,”
explains Wheatley, “there are more than
5,000 that can take smaller planes, and
4,200 in Europe, which give passengers
of private and VIP jets enormous flexibility.”
Of the 40,000 charter flights taken
every month, about 7,000 are made by
a Lineage, or a similar-sized jet, such as
a BBJ, Gulfstream or Falcon 7X. “Passengers
want comfort - and they want safety. This
has General Electric engines, Honeywell
technology and is quiet and fuel-efficient.
So it’s popular.”
the dining experienCe
Seats can be swivelled so four passengers
can eat together on elegantly laminated
wooden tables with fine crockery. The
kitchen has both convection and microwave
ovens, an espresso-maker, plus a dishwasher
(the latest Lufthansa Technik aircraft-safe
model costs €50,000). Gourmet food,
usually vacuum-packed before departure, is
heated and served on board, with fine wine.
the seats
A plane of this size normally seats 90; this
carries a maximum of 19, in seats that can
be converted into flat beds, or double beds
if four are swivelled and joined.
the roUte
Although it doesn’t have the same range
as a Gulfstream 650, which could do
Los Angeles to Melbourne non-stop, the
Lineage 1000E has a range of 5,300 miles,
at a maximum speed of 543mph. Guests
chartering a plane one way will have to pay
for a return flight; London to Dubai would
cost about £125,000 for a 7.5hr flight, and
London-Geneva from £32,000 for a 1.5hr
flight (through airpartner.com).
Dubai
London
*Terms and Conditions apply. **Price is correct at time of print, based on one person aged 18– 65 travelling in Europe on a Comprehensive policy, excluding medical conditions. ***Winter sports cover up to 17 days in 1 trip up to age 70. Prices vary according to medical condition cover and individual needs. Staysure insurance is arranged & administered by Staysure.co.uk Ltd, an independent insurance intermediary authorised & regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority FRN. 436804. Staysure, a trading name of Staysure Ltd is licensed & regulated by the Financial Services Commission No. FSC1238B.
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ultratravel 97
c o r k i n g s e r v i c e
320 millionPassengers predicted to use
UK airports in 2030
5Percentage of tourists worldwide
who visit Africa
120,000Cost in pounds of protecting a
tiger for a year in India
25 millionPrice in dollars of Katafanga
Island, one of the last freehold
islands in Fiji
500Vineyards in England and Wales
T r Av e L B Y n U M B e r s
a lot of bottle
Beatriz Machado in
The Yeatman cellarsLe JuLes Verne, Paris
EiffEl TowEr, Avenue Gustave
Eiffel, Paris (0033 1 4555 6144;
lejulesverne-paris.com)
Why go? This restaurant is in an iconic
building – the Eiffel Tower, on the
second floor.
The experience Exciting, right from the
start. After bypassing the crowds and
clearing airport-style security, diners
rise in a private windowed elevator to
a platform 410ft above Paris, with
spectacular views. Though window
seats are hard to secure, diners set
slightly back perhaps enjoy a more
dramatic vista, fragmented by the
tower’s hulking girders and cogs that
slowly heave the lifts up and down.
The food Lauded French chef Alain
Ducasse heads up this sky-high
restaurant, although on a day-to-day
basis Pascal Féraud takes charge.
Though our six-course tasting menu
included some enjoyable dishes –
sautéed scallop with silky whipped
potatoes and Mont d’Or cheese,
followed by tender veal with asparagus
– it was not, we felt, Michelin standard
(the restaurant has held a star for
years, but one wonders if the judges
were dazzled by the views). I barely
touched my sickly Cold Peppermint
cocktail. But the signature Tower Nut
dessert was luscious and delicious.
The highlight The setting. From up
above we saw dusk stretch lazily over
the city and threads of streetlights
slowly setting Haussmann’s boulevards
aflame. Then, when darkness fell,
20,000 white lights danced along the
tower for five minutes each hour; from
within, it was as though a battalion of
paparazzi was making a sudden
effort to document the anniversary
dinners and hopeful proposals that are
a nightly occurrence.
The details Bookings should be made
up to three months in advance
(lejulesverne-paris.com). A three-
course lunch costs from £75; at dinner
a five-course tasting menu costs from
£135 (plus £70 with paired wines).
Where to stay The Shangri-La’s Eiffel
Tower-facing rooms offer unmatched
views. The listed 19th-century building,
originally home to Prince Roland
Bonaparte, also houses an elegant pool
and the Michelin-starred Shang Palace
Chinese restaurant (shangri-la.com/
paris; 0033 1 5367 1998; doubles from
£480). Return Eurostar fares cost from
£72 (03448 224 777; eurostar.com).
John O’Ceallaigh
dining destination gourmet spots worth travelling to
once, villa companies provided just houses –
with a housekeeper thrown in if you were
lucky. Today, as increasing numbers of
wealthy travellers opt to stay in private homes rather
than hotels, the size of villas and the range of services
on offer has improved substantially. Tuscany Now
(tuscanynow.com), which manages more than
150 high-end villas in italy, including la Tocella (below),
with a 62-acre garden, lemon groves and 32ft pool,
has seen demand for experiences grow so much that
from this month it will have an extra 30 on offer.
“People now don’t want just gorgeous houses, they
want to learn, to explore, to experience the area
they’re in,” says Simon Ball, who co-founded the
company in 1990. “we have always offered a cook,
a babysitter, a coach and, of course, a 24-hour
concierge. But now we can arrange local experts and
lessons, too: a truffle-hunter to explore forests, a
vintner to lead private tours to the $100-million
Antinori cellars, a fiat 500 in which to explore lucca,
an ice-cream expert to make gelato, a private shopper
to introduce guests to artisinal craftsmen. we can
even arrange a visit to the Pope – although, of course,
we can’t guarantee he’ll talk to you.”
As demands become more elaborate, so do
services. red Savannah (redsavannah.com), for
instance, found a 1986 Alfa romeo Spider for a guest
to drive during his stay at a villa and called on a
resident expert ornithologist to guide bird-lovers for
an afternoon. family-villa company oliver’s Travels
(oliverstravels.com) has introduced “Sandcastle
Butlers” to create sculptures on the beach for young
guests. SJ Villas (sjvillas.co.uk), which has on its books
rental homes that cost €150,000 a week, often
supplies yoga teachers, private surf coaches and
entertainment, as well as yachts and jets. “Guests
don’t just want a tennis court any more,” says the
company’s co-founder Judy Menier, “they want
a world-class coach.”
HANDY BAG
The new Gianoi handbag is a handy
accessory for those on the move, who
would prefer to see (rather than to hear)
incoming communication. While it looks
like a classic, each is implanted with a
phone charger and a gold-plated logo that
can be programmed through an app
to flash gently when a message, email
or call is received. Bags range from
a boxy snakeskin clutch to this elegant
formal model (£980; gianoi.com).
eiffel view
Looking out from
Le Jules Verne in Paris,
the Tower’s second-
floor restaurant
intelligence
98 ultratravel
Born John Stephens in Ohio, the
38-year-old singer-songwriter has
won nine Grammys, one Golden
Globe and one Academy Award.
He has sung with and played the
piano for artists such as Alicia Keys, Lauryn Hill and
Kanye West. Last year, his song “All of Me” topped
the charts in eight countries, including the US. Next
year Legend will host an 11-day Four Seasons jet trip
(thelegendexperience.com), taking 50 guests on
a series of private visits that will include wineries in
the Napa Valley, the Aston Martin factory in the UK
and Valentino’s atelier in Italy.
How many holidays do you take?
My wife Chrissy [Teigen, a model] and I usually
take at least two a year: one around Christmas
and one during the summer. We’ve been to some
beautiful places, from Italy and the South of
France to the Maldives, Thailand, and Turks and
Caicos. We often return to places where I’ve been
on tour or Chrissy has worked on photo shoots;
our business trips are good research for holidays.
Where would you love to go back to?
The magical Lake Como, where we got married.
The views are stunning, the food is delicious and
the people are warm and friendly. Villa d’Este
(villadeste.com) is the place to stay, and Il Gatto
Nero (ristorantegattonero.com) the place to eat.
Which places on next year’s jet trip are you
most looking forward to?
Lake Como, although Napa Valley will be lovely,
too. It is such a beautiful part of the country, with
some of America’s greatest vineyards and
restaurants. For people like me who love good
weather, scenery, wine and food, it’s fantastic.
Do you travel light?
A little on the heavier side, although no one likes
to admit that. My big luggage is Tumi (tumi.com),
which makes durable luggage that can withstand
my hectic travel schedule. My favourite smaller
bags are by Tom Ford (tomford.com), which have
the best zips and look so luxurious and bold.
Your favourite spots for a weekend away?
When we’re in New York, we like to get away to
the Berkshires, which are a few hours north of the
city. We stay at the Wheatleigh (wheatleigh.com):
a small hotel with a great restaurant. Or, if we go
to Napa Valley, we like Meadowood (meadowood.
com), whose Michelin-star restaurant is one of
the best in the world.
Favourite restaurants abroad?
In France, Alain Ducasse’s restaurant at Le
Meurice in Paris (dorchestercollection.com) and
in St-Tropez, La Vague d’Or (residencepinede.
com). In Italy, the Hotel Splendido in Portofino
(belmond.com), which serves our favourite pizza
in the world, or Trattoria Pandemonio in Florence
(trattoriapandemonio.it), which is a mom-and
pop-style place with great pasta and Florentine
steak. In Tokyo, which may be the best restaurant
city in the world, one of our favourites is the dim
sum brunch at Sense at the Mandarin Oriental
(mandarinoriental.com).
What’s your idea of a perfect day on holiday?
So much of our holidays revolve around eating
great food, which is why Italy is such a great place
to go. We also love to get some sun and maybe
take a boat trip, and in the late afternoon take a
stroll to go shopping and see some museums.
Then we take a nap to get ready for a perfect
dinner, then stumble into a small bar for a late-
night drink before bed.
Favourite spots to eat in America?
Meadowood in Napa Valley (meadowood.com),
Alinea in Chicago (alinearestaurant.com) –
possibly my favourite restaurant in the world –
Giorgio Baldi (giorgio-baldi.com) and Via Veneto
in LA (viaveneto.us). In New York, Babbo
(babbonyc.com), Le Bernardin (le-bernardin.com),
Del Posto (delposto.com), Frank (frankrestaurant.
com), Momofuku Noodle Bar (momofuku.com)
and Dirty French (dirtyfrench.com).
What’s your idea of luxury when travelling?
Attentive, intelligent service; tasteful design and
exceptional food and wine. We just got back from
St-Tropez, where we stayed at the Villa Belrose
(villa-belrose.com), which has incredible staff, and
the Hotel Caruso (belmond.com) in Ravello,
where we were driven along the coast on
incredibly small, twisting roads – even more
winding than where we live in the Hollywood Hills.
The most glamorous room you have
ever stayed in?
I don’t know that I look for “glamorous” when I
travel – that sounds a bit like Vegas to me.
Maybe the room with the stripper pole at the
Palms… (I’m joking).
Do you like adventure trips?
Not really. We like relaxing on holiday. The
Maldives are the most remote place we’ve been.
I proposed to my wife there, at the Anantara
Kihavah (kihavah-maldives.anantara.com).
She’d done a Sports Illustrated swimsuit shoot
there, and loved it – so I took her back, and asked
her to commit to us spending our lives together.
The toughest journey you’ve ever been on?
Hiking and riding elephants in Thailand at a luxury
tented camp in Chiang Rai was the closest we got
to camping. We fed the elephants they take care
of and took them to watering holes.
Favourite things you have bought abroad?
Some cool pottery in Marrakech. It’s so nice being
in cities that are old. Growing up in America you
are surrounded by buildings from the last century.
You Europeans are spoilt.
The best airline in the world?
Emirates is pretty great (especially the first-class
suites) although Singapore Airlines is, too. When
it comes to US airlines, I think American has the
best planes for first class, although I love the fact
that Delta has Wi-Fi on every plane.
The best places to stay in the UK?
The Corinthia (corinthia.com) in London. It’s very
classic, the service is great – and it’s near
everything you want to be close to.
Where would you next like to perform?
India, which I have never visited.
Interview by Lisa Grainger
Travelling life John Legend The American singer-songwriter on wining and dining in Napa, a hair-raising drive on the Amalfi coast, and proposing in the Maldives
‘I love old cities. Growing up in the US, you are surrounded by buildings from the last century. You Europeans are spoilt’
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