3-minute InterContinental Sanctuary Cove Resort trip
NOT all holidays have to involve a lot of travel. My last journey was to the InterContinental Sanctuary Cove Resort. It took three minutes by car from my Hope Island home.. Trips for me nearly always mean flights, long drives and a complete change of …
Mirage? No it’s real at Sheraton Mirage Gold Coast
BRIDES always manage to steal the show the Sheraton Mirage on the Gold Coast. It is Friday afternoon, the clock just a few ticks away from three, and a beautiful young twenty-something Katy Perry look-alike dressed in a white marshmallow gown has everyone’s attention. Her …
All roads lead to Tamworth Country Music Festival
The Tamworth Country Music Festival stole our bass player. I’m not sure if it happened on Friday at the Court House Hotel or Saturday night at the Family Hotel. Perhaps it was the Sunday session at the front bar of The Longyard. But we knew …
Lost in Wayne’s World driving a Bentley
IF YOU are going to get lost it might as well be while you are driving a Bentley. That’s my opinion anyway. It wasn’t my fault. Getting lost that is. I blame Wayne, my co-pilot. We were driving a Bentley from Brisbane to Noosa for …
Lord Howe really is Lord Wow
IF Lord Howe Island is not on your bucket list, then you should immediately add it. Apparently only 49 per cent of Australians are aware of this tiny remote island, which is about a two-hour flight east from Brisbane or Sydney. Put simply, it is …
Big Brother for Baby Boomers
I prefer the phrase Big Brother for Baby Boomers. But one person crudely called it schoolies for geriatrics when a group of our friends shared a house for a weekend retreat. If you think the challenges of a houseful of 20-somethings is interesting enough to …
Finding Banksy on a Melbourne street art tour
I’M STANDING in front of the 7-Eleven at Federation Square looking for Michael Fikaris, my Melbourne street art tour guide. I have his number but, rather than take the easy option and simply call, the challenge is to try to pick him out of a …
Time to fly to the Great Barrier Reef
It’s 7.30am in Port Douglas and the Great Barrier Reef awaits. Just for today, I’ve deliberately bypassed the buffet. It’s not that I’m worried about the consequences of what might happen if the flight is bumpy, it’s got more to do with another weighty issue. …
How to survive a Friend-cation
I SURVIVED a friend-cation. Perhaps survived isn’t the right word. It wasn’t at all traumatic. In fact, like Katy Perry, I liked it. I do have one guilty confession to make – but I will leave that for the end of the story. A friend-cation, …
Time for a Whitsunday Hayman Island feast!
I’M on Hayman Island sitting at the Fontaine Bench in the kitchen of one of the island’s exclusive restaurants and I’m starting to struggle. The food is the problem. Not the quality, rather the quantity. The Fontaine Bench is set so two guests can dine …