Travel

A dream destination portfolio: the Editor’s Pick

graffiti art hosier lane melbourne flinders lane pop colour photo susan skelly
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foraging in flinders lane | melbourne calling | laneway browsing

Groucho
Brainy and cheeky. Witty and inventive. Always smoking hot.

From gourmet fuel to new wardrobe staples, painted laneways to lessons from history … Melbourne’s Flinders Lane is a cultural mixed tape for the day-tripper, dedicated browser or business boffin playing hooky. These are Excess All Areas’ evergreens…. Grain Store We’ve high-tailed it down to the “wrong” end of town, where the queue for takeaway coffee…

twelve apostles great ocean road surf coast susan skelly
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Great Ocean Road | Bush meets beach | off-season getaway

Garbo
Cool, understated elegance that belies inner sparkle and sizzle.

In search of glorious bush and seascapes when the hordes have returned to work after the holiday crush, Excess All Areas heads to Fairhaven, and that portfolio of retreats on Victoria’s Great Ocean Road that also includes Bells Beach, Aireys Inlet, Lorne, Anglesea and Apollo Bay. Home to the famous sea-locked rock stacks The Twelve Apostles…

i-love-nyc-tiffany-culture-selection
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New York pain relief | Culture pill in NYC | manhattan pitstop 

Groucho
Brainy and cheeky. Witty and inventive. Always smoking hot.

Art, Central Park, jazz, Cate Blanchett, and great soup. Even in the midst of political turmoil and protest, New York delivers. Excess All Areas went looking for some cultural respite care A New York pitstop smack bang in the middle of a week of bad politics (the inauguration and all it unleashed)…? Let culture be…

the-ritz-londons-piccadilly-profile
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In bed with London | UK check-ins | Hotels from heritage to hip

Brando
Charisma and character - and just a little bit game-changing. Action!

From the Ritz London to the Ham Yard to One Aldwych … three very different sleepovers for discerning London visitors. What’s it to be? Aristocratic splendour … bold contemporary colours and folk frisson… a city hub that’s a perfect jumping off point for theatre and exploration? In London’s Big Smoke, accommodation options are plentiful. Here…

raffles-dubai-grand-foyer-water-feature-marble-skelly
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Dubai close-up | Desert city surprises | Arabian nights alfresco

Groucho
Brainy and cheeky. Witty and inventive. Always smoking hot.

From contemporary art to avant-garde fashion, gold-plated nightlife to shoes good enough to eat … Dubai plays on the unexpected. Finally, time to spend a few days in Dubai and not just wave from the airport in transit. The Arabian emirate that has spent the past few decades growing like a garden someone finally remembered to…

Milford sound new zealand ms noordam cruise entry
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The Magic of Milford Sound | Trans-Tasman voyage | Luxury cruising |

Brando
Charisma and character - and just a little bit game-changing. Action!

New Zealand bridges the great divide between ancient geography and modern gastronomy. Gliding through New Zealand’s majestic Milford Sound is the awe-inspiring highlight of a leisurely trans-Tasman cruise On a Sunday night against the electric 21st-century backdrop of Sydney, the MS Noordam is escorted out of Sydney Harbour by a flock of unruly seagulls, bound for…

Laucala fiji peninsula villa lounge sunset
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Laucala island re-opens | Escape to paradise | Fiji on the fringe

Monroe
Sexy and glamorous. Red carpet ready. Did someone say 'rescue fantasy'?

Laucala Island, Fiji’s most luxurious tropical island escape, is rolling out the red carpet in readiness for a re-opening, in the wake of Cyclone Winston. If anyone needed an energy drink in recent months it was the glamorous South Pacific island of Laucala, the private paradise on the northern fringe of the Fijian archipelago, introduced…

dinner heston blumenthal mech installation melbourne-
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melbourne on a whim | from diamonds to Dinner | choirs to Cognac

Brando
Charisma and character - and just a little bit game-changing. Action!

Why Melbourne brings out the fashionista, foodie and culture vulture in all of us… The plan for Excess All Areas’ visit to Melbourne this month was simple: there was no plan. Hop on a plane and let fate dictate for 48 hours. Here’s what was especially rewarding about a guerrilla hit on Victoria’s capital… 1….

wendy whiteley secret garden lavender bay sydney harbour skelly
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the secret garden | wendy whiteley’s lush legacy | bush magic

Garbo
Cool, understated elegance that belies inner sparkle and sizzle.

How do you mend a broken heart? If you are Wendy Whiteley you find solace in nature and a shovel. How often is it that overseas visitors tip the locals off about treasures right on their doorstep? That happened this week as German friends enthused about the “secret garden” Wendy Whiteley has spent two decades…

Copyright © Susan Skelly 2020.