Travel

By Adrian Rollins, Australian Medicine editor

I should have known when I saw a beaming Fiat driver madly gesticulating at me as he drove past in the opposite direction. I was left in no doubt when I saw the bemused looks on the faces peering out from a passing Austrian tourist coach.

No-one cycles up one of Europe’s highest paved passes the morning after a major snow storm.

Unless, that is, you are an Australian who has just traveled half way round the world to fulfill a decades-long dream to ride the fabled passes of the Italian Dolomites.

With just six days to explore the region and scale its impressive heights, I had no time to spare, and snow drifts, black ice and sub-zero temperatures were not going to deter me.

Organizers of major bicycle races try to engineer routes that take competitors – and the TV cameras that follow them – through the most spectacular terrain possible.

So it is no surprise that the Dolomites mountain range, perched just north of Venice near the Italo-Austrian border, has featured in just about every edition of the famed Giro d’Italia cycle race of the modern era.

This year’s Giro, which began – oddly enough – in Denmark yesterday Australian time, moves to Italy tomorrow and wends its way down and up the Italian peninsula in the next fortnight before a brutal final week in the Dolomites.

The area is home to some of the toughest and most famous climbs in cycling, including the Passo dello Stelvio, the Campolongo and the Pordoi, but it has been a magnet for travelers and adventurers of all types over the centuries, drawn by its wild and spectacular landscape.

It might seem incongruous to describe as wild anywhere in a country as densely populated and heavily cultivated as Italy.

But by timing my visit between the peak of the winter ski season and the height of summer, when hordes of mountain bikers, climbers and trekkers invade the area, I not only avoided the crowds but managed (like any self-respecting bargain-hunting Australian tourist) to stay at a luxurious, top line hotel for a fraction of the usual price.

The Lagacio Mountain Residence, in the small village of San Cassiano, was a perfect base from which to explore the region.

The hotel consists of very modern and well-designed, self-contained and fully-furnished apartments.

Most importantly, for a cyclist intent on torturing himself on some of the toughest climbs in Europe, the road leading to many of the iconic passes in the region goes right past the front door – as will the Giro d’Italia race later this month.

The passes I rode involved grinding my way up inclines that would last for anywhere between six and 22 kilometres, with gradients usually hovering between six and 12 per cent – though at times rearing up to an insane 18 percent.

The reward for what could be up to two hours of hard toil was an exhilarating and, at times, nerve-wracking decent through endless hairpin bends and switchbacks that tested bike brakes – and the hands that pulled on them – to the limit.

After a hard day’s cycling, there are few better ways to end it than to sit on the hotel balcony, glass of local vino in hand, watching the full moon rise over Passo di Falzarego, happy in the knowledge that you can do it all again tomorrow.

Details

Accommodation:

Lagacio Mountain Residence

San Cassiano Alta Badia
http://www.lagacio.com

Rates: shoulder season (September 8-October 13, 2012)

Start from $A230 per day for a two bedroom apartment, incl breakfast

Getting there: There are several gateways from Australia, but the two closest airports are Milan and Venice.

From these airports, the simplest and most convenient way to get to Alta Badia in the heart of the Dolomites is to hire a car and drive to Verona. From here, take E45 [A22] north through Trento and Bolzano, then take to turnoff for the SS242.

By Steve Meacham

From the helicopter, the view of the beautiful Barossa Valley was outstanding. We had taken off from the driving range of Tanunda Pines golf course, so it wasn’t surprising that the immediate fairways were well watered.

But once the chopper had risen higher, passengers were able to see just what difference recent rains had made to a landscape wizened by years of drought.

Here was a palette of greens, which cheered the soul – as if the soul really needed cheering after a few days being pampered on a luxurious gourmet tour of one of Australia’s premier wine regions.

Two years ago, the New York Times listed the Barossa as the only Australian destination in its ‘‘bucket list’’ of must-see experiences. Similarly, the world’s largest online travel community, Trip Advisor, included the Barossa in its list of the world’s top 10 wine destinations alongside no-brainers such as Bordeaux and Tuscany.

So what’s changed about an area some 60 km north-east of Adelaide that is roughly contained within a 15 km by 15 km square, was named in 1837, and still contains references to its German heritage?

Well plenty, actually. Some are among the best-established and largest tourist destinations in the country – including Penfold’s Barossa Valley Winery (home of the legendary Grange), Yalumba (the oldest family-owned vineyard in Australia, with its beautiful Wine Room in a converted brandy store) and Hensche (in the Eden Valley, but just a few minutes’ drive away from Tanundra).

But let us concentrate on some of the smaller and more intimate food and wine operations that make the Barossa such a marvellous holiday choice.

MAGGIE BEER’S FARM SHOP (Pheasant Farm Road, Nurioopta. Ph: 08 8562 4477): Already one of Australia’s best-loved cooks, Maggie won a younger audience this year with her appearances on Masterchef.

Her innovative operation combines restaurant, conference centre, and a showcase for her many fine food products.

Each day at 2pm the farm shop holds a Verjuice cooking demonstration, with members of her staff showing how to use one of her most versatile popular ingredients.

For those willing to book with friends in advance, there are more intimate demonstrations – at 11.30am or 3.30pm – which take place in the studio kitchen where Maggie films her ABC show The Cook and The Chef.

TORBRECK WINERY (Roennfeldt Road, Tanundra. Ph: 08 8562 4155): I remember going to a wine tasting evening in Sydney five years ago when Torbreck’s red wines were blind tasted against leading (and much more expensive) vintages from France’s Rhone Valley (and won handsomely). David Powell, formerly of Rockford, founded his winery in 1995 and named it after a forest in Scotland where he had worked as a lumberjack. The grapes he uses come from some of the oldest and finest vines around the Barossa, concentrating on shiraz, grenache and mataro. The cellar door operation is housed in a lovingly restored settler’s hut.

CHARLES MELTON WINERY (Krondorf Road, Tanunda. Ph: 08 8563 3606): At a time when other vineyards were pulling out their old shiraz vines in favour of more fashionable grapes, Charles Melton was one of a small group who convinced farmers to keep them, helping to retain the unique heritage of the Barossa. Since his first vintage in 1984, Melton’s small operation has won an international reputation for its fine red table wines – although it is his light red, The Rose of Virginia, that was named best rose wine in Australia by the critic of London’s Observer newspaper.

Incidentally, if you are looking for boutique accommodation, consider staying at the Melton-owned Kirche. Built as a Lutheran church in 1854, it has been turned into a luxurious and restful retreat. The vestry has been extended to contain a fully stocked kitchen, while the main body of the church is the lounge diner. Two large double bedrooms are enough to house a group of four, and you can even admire the vineyard sunsets from the bath.

ROCKFORD WINES (Krondorf Road, Tanunda. Ph: 08 8563 2720): If you are a traditionalist, this is the place for you. Visiting Rockford is like stepping back in time. You will never find Rockford wines in your local bottle shop, for the simple reason that almost all of its small but high-quality output is sold directly to restaurants or regular customers on its mailing list.

But for those who arrive at the cellar door, there is the added attraction of being able to purchase (three bottles only per person!) the Basket Press Shiraz.

1918 BISTRO AND GRILL (94 Murray St, Tanunda. Ph: 08 8563 0405): Yet another place to head to in winter for a warming red by a blazing fire. This favourite haunt of wine enthusiasts, surrounded by a lovely garden, is a converted cottage that dates back to the Great War.

In 2005, chef Christian Fletcher and his wife Melissa opened what they claim to be the Barossa’s first bistro grill, complete with a cellar that showcases the best of the local vineyards. The menu is modern Australian, with influences from Asia and the Middle East.

THE TANUNDA HOTEL (Murray Street, Tanunda. Ph: 08 8563 2030): After all that fine wine and food, you might just need to chill out. What could be better than a quenching ale at the Barossa’s best pub? Relax in the Barrels courtyard and dwell on its motto: ‘‘We have some of Australia’s finest restaurants on our doorstep so we don’t try to compete. We just serve good pub food.’’

By Steve Meacham

Few hotels around the world have a more developed sense of history and tradition than the institution known simply as L'hotel.

Its celebrity dates back to the end of the 19th Century when Oscar Wilde - in exile after his imprisonment in Reading Gaol - took up residence here, claiming to be ‘‘living above his means’’.

Wilde, who died in this boutique hotel (just 20 guest rooms) in the St. Germain-des-Prés district of Paris, was subsequently followed by such international glitterati as Salvidor Dalí, Princess Grace, Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

But a recent bulletin from French Tourism pointed out that another superstar has influenced today’s L'hotel almost as much as the author of The Importance of Being Earnest: Jacques Garcia. If, like me, you struggle to place Garcia’s reason for fame, fear not. Though the hotel’s website lists Garcia as ‘‘the legendary designer’’, few of us, who aren’t addicted to style magazines, would recognise his name.

Yet it is Garcia whose ‘‘stunning overhaul’’ of the L'hotel has helped the Left Bank institution win a new generation of fans. For example Tatler included L'hotel in its 2008 list of the 101 best hotels in the world, and Harper’s Bazaar recently awarded it the title of ‘‘best urban hotel in the world’’.

The point that the French author was seeking to get across was simple. Most of us think of Paris as having an old fashioned charm. But many of its finest hotels have also recently commissioned the world’s leading designers to reinvent them for the 21st Century, accentuating what we love about them in the first place (positions in the heart of the city, discretion, attentive service, a sense of romance) while updating the facilities and decor.

Garcia was also appointed to refashion the five-star Fouquet’s Barrière on the Champs-Élysées with its 107 guest rooms and suites and its three bars, Le Lucien, Le Diane and La Galerie Joy. Now, according to the French author, ‘‘guests rediscover a taste for flamboyant baroque reinterpreted in a pared down, futuristic and precious style of the designer’’.

Clearly Garcia has been a busy man, because the article also praised his work at the four-star Hôtel Costes, in the rue Saint-Honoré. Here Garcia has ‘‘given full rein to the Napoleon-III style he loves. The restaurant and guest rooms exude a rich and comfortable atmosphere, with strong crimson and gold colours, turning the place into an extravagant establishment appreciated by jet-setters.’’

The bulletin also cited Andrée Putman, ‘‘great dame of interior architecture and design, worshipped abroad for her very French taste’’. She has put her touch to the four-star Pershing Hall, just off the Champs-Élysées (where her ‘‘choice of guestroom furniture and the neutral and timeless colours of the décor in white and wood tones give the establishment a simple and elegant feel’’) and the Saint James Paris, between the Eiffel Tower and Trocadéro, giving the 48-room former Parisian Chateau the atmosphere of ‘‘a private English club’’.

Of course, Philippe Starck is the most internationally famous of all the French designers. He is generally credited with pioneering the fashion for design-led boutique hotels when he was commissioned in 1988 to refit New York’s Royalton Hotel by the nightclub impresario Ian Schrager of Studio 54.

In his home town of Paris, Starck was behind the partial makeover of the five-star Le Meurice on the rue de Rivoli. Though the palace hotel’s 160 guest rooms respect its established Louis-XVI style and 18th-Century spirit, Starck’s refocused reception areas add ‘‘a touch of modernity and contemporary chic’’. His sensibilities are also to be seen at the two-star Mama Shelter, a designer hotel located in the east of the capital, where he mixes ‘‘cutting edge technology, Bohemian spirit and a childlike mischief’’.

Starck’s associate Bruno Borrione decorated a new four-star hotel, Le Placide Saint-Germain-des- Prés, where each floor has a different colour. Meanwhile, at the four-star Intercontinental Paris Avenue Marceau, Borrione mixes designer furniture by Le Corbusier, Nogushi and Starck with his own creations. ‘‘Behind the Haussmannian facade of this typically Parisian townhouse, guests will find a very contemporary world,’’ writes the French author.

Not to be outdone, one of France’s most celebrated fashion designers, Christian Lacroix, has entered the hotel business, having been commissioned to dress the interiors of the Hôtel du Petit Moulin (in the centre of the Marais) and Le Bellechasse (near the Musée d’Orsay).

According to the article, ‘‘Lacroix’s latest project at Le Notre Dame hotel, in the heart of the Latin Quarter facing the cathedral, has enabled the hotel to take the lead in hotels by designers in the capital, with its 26 guest rooms designed around six different decor themes’’.

Check each of them on the website if you are planning a trip to the French capital. They all seem destinations in themselves. And remember: you read it here first.

By Steve Meacham

All the way down the east coast of Australia, people are gazing out from headlands into vast ocean looking for one of the great sights of spring - the annual migration of humpback whales south to the Antarctic.

Whale watching tours are now big business in many coastal towns, giving often struggling communities a new source of income.

But nowhere celebrates the whale - and its contribution to Australian history - more than Eden at the very bottom of New South Wales, near the border with Victoria.

By the time you read this column, it will be too late to visit this year’s Eden Whale Festival, held on the last weekend of October. But the good news is that next year’s festival is intended to be bigger than ever - and, anyway, any trip to Eden at any time of year tends to involve whales!

Last week I spent some time in the picturesque little town for a story about one of the country’s most unusual tourist attractions.

Eighty years ago, on Thursday, 18 September 1930,  - the paper for which I write (The Sydney Morning Herald) carried a peculiar report about the death of an eccentric Eden local, Old Tom. Bizarrely, Old Tom was never buried. In fact his massive carcass is displayed in pride of place as the key exhibit in the town’s celebrated museum. For Old Tom, described by the Herald as ‘‘the king of the far-famed pack of Twofold Bay killers’’ and ‘‘the last of his tribe’’, was a much-loved killer whale whose body had been washed ashore on a local beach.

For more than 100 years, Old Tom and various other killer whales based at Eden had helped the local whalers. Essentially the killer whales would trap the much larger humpbacks in Twofold Bay, forcing them into shallow water where they could be easily harpooned.

Since the 1840s, the whalers had abided by what locals call "the law of the tongue". When the killer whales had helped them with a kill, the whalers would tie the carcass to a buoy overnight allowing the orcas to take their feed. Both benefited, because the killer whales only ate the lips and the tongue - the keenest meat on a baleen whale - leaving the whalers to harvest the profitable blubber and whalebone later.

Old Tom's death led to the formation of the Eden Killer Whale Museum, which today attracts 50,000 visitors a year. Film-maker George Kee was so fascinated by the remarkable bond between human and killer whale at Eden that he made a documentary about the subject for the ABC. He’s now working on the screenplay for a feature film.

McKee says that killer whales and humans cooperated in other places around the world, but what made Twofold Bay different was that the relationship was documented for at least a century.

Once Old Tom died, the killers disappeared from Twofold Bay. McKee says there is some evidence the remainder of the pod may have been killed farther north at Jervis Bay by Norwegian whalers who thought the mammals were competing for the southern rights, humpbacks and sperm whales, which were their livelihood.

Locals say there have been recent sightings of killer whales back in Twofold Bay, presumably drawn by the increased numbers of humpbacks taking part in the annual migration. Will we soon be seeing the killers drive their prey back on to the shores again as they did in Old Tom’s day?

Eden’s quaintly named Snug Cove is still a working port full of trawlers unloading their catch. (I can vouch for the freshness of the seafood in one of the quayside restaurants.) It is also the base of Cat Balou Cruises which has been operating whale watching tours since 1990 (and boasts a 98 per cent sighting rate on its half day cruise).

Most of the whales sighted in the Eden are humpbacks, which come much closer to land on their southern migration than on their northern migration, partly because there are so many more mother and calves who frequently come into Twofold Bay for a rest. Other species that can be seen include southern rights, blue, pilot, dwarf minke and sperm whales.

While in the Eden area, you should visit the newly-restored Seahorse Inn which dates back to 1842 when the 19th Century entrepreneur and dreamer Benjamin Boyd (later bankrupt!) founded ‘‘Boydtown’’, an onshore whaling station that he hoped would one day become the capital of Australia.

He’s remembered these days by anyone enjoying Ben Boyd National Park, a 10,000-hectare coastal wilderness with superb beaches, historic lighthouses, natural features such as The Pinnacles, and white-bellied sea eagles.

By Steve Meacham

Let’s call this story ‘‘The Girl who Played with the Hornet of a Communist who Changed his Name’’.

Forget Dragon Tattoos, Playing with Fire or Hornets Nests. Lisbeth Salander, the most honestly original girl in popular entertainment for a decade (eat your heart out, Lady Gaga) owes her existence to someone whose parents gave him three Christian names, Karl Stig-Erland.

Stieg Larsson, as we all now know him following his death in 2004, is the author of the posthumously-published phenomenon The Millennium Trilogy. He was born in 1954 in Skelleftehamn outside Skellefteå, and is clearly the hero of his own books, the left-wing philandering journalist Mikael Blomqvist.

If you’ve never picked up the books, read them. If you’ve never watched the first two movies in the Swedish adaptation, do so (before the American version starring Daniel Craig as Blomqvist is finished). If you’ve never been to Sweden, consider it - despite Larsson’s depiction of his home country as a place of dark secrets, Nazi sympathisers and serial killers who hate women.

And, if you have read the books and want to visit the real locations depicted in them, you will be have to keep your wits about you. Many exist - but some are imaginary.

Take Hedestad, the eerie, incestuously-enclosed town featured in the first book/movie. Niklas Larsson (no relation!) of the Associated Press newsagency took one of the Millennium tours operating around Stockholm today. This one is operated by the Stockholm City Museum, and you can either opt for the guided version or explore the city on your own with a helpful map.

According to the reporter Larsson, don’t even think of taking the train north from Stockholm (as Blomqvist does) to the coast to find Hedestad: instead head south for 70 kms to Gnesta, which is the location for much of the first movie (complete with place names helpfully pointing out what doubled for what).

The Blomqvist-Salander tour is more real in Stockholm itself. As most people know by now, his novels were published posthumously and the author never anticipated their global success. So he happily identified many of his own favourite haunts as locations in his books without realising that they would soon be packed with autograph-hunting fans.

The two that are most celebrated are the Kaffebar cafe (Blomqvist’s drinking spot) and the Kvarnen bar (where Salander relaxes with her friends from the rock band Evil Fingers). Both are to be found on the fashionable island of Sodermalm, whose narrow streets and wooden cottages show its origins as a working class neighbourhood. Now it is home to lots of bars, restaurants, fashion stores and art galleries. No wonder Blomqvist and Salander ‘‘live’’ in the area - as did the author himself.

Blomqvist’s small apartment, in a brown 19th Century building at 1 Bellmansgatan, is one of the first stops on the museum’s guided two-hour tour. So is a small Lebanese eatery on 22 Tavastgatan, which was the inspiration for Samir’s, the restaurant where Blomqvist dines several times.

Then it’s just a short walk to Kaffebar on the wide, bustling street of Hornsgatan. Now renamed Mellqvists Kaffebar in real life, avid readers will know that it frequently figures in the books as a thinking spot for the coffee-loving Blomqvist - a passion the author shared. It is, for example, the setting for the scene where Lisbeth Salander asks Blomqvist for a loan so she can travel to Zurich.

Larsson (the author) wasn’t the first writer to be inspired by the picturesque, hilly streets of Sodermalm. The leading Swedish 20th Century authors, Ivar Lo Johansson and Per Anders Fogelstrom, also made their homes in the area and wrote about its working-class culture - as did playwright August Strindberg.

The map also locates Salander’s gloomy apartment on Lundagatan at the western end of Sodermalm, plus the Kvarnen bar on Tjarhovsgatan, which Salander regularly visits and where she kisses another woman in front of Blomqvist. Kvarnen has been an institution for more than 100 years, and is well known for serving traditional Swedish cuisine such as pickled herring, deer stew and meatballs.

Those dedicated ‘Girl’ fans who still have the appetite for more may want to visit the outer island of Sandhamn, where Blomqvist has a small cottage which serves as his refuge when the perils of being an investigative journalist and womaniser get too much for him.

You can catch a ferry from Strandvagen in central Stockholm to the outer archipelago, a journey that will take around two hours. At Sandhamn, you’ll be greeted by red fishing huts, bare cliffs and small beaches - and wonder how on earth such a peaceful spot can be associated with a trilogy of murder, mystery and madness.

By Steve Meacham

Liz Ellis, possibly the greatest netball player Australia has ever produced, is describing the sensation of arriving in India for the first time. ‘‘You walk out of the airport and go: ‘Oh my God, what incredible sights and sounds!’ There’s no denying that India is a very special country. It took me some time to get used to it, all that shock and awe to every one of your senses. But then I just loved it.’’

Ellis is now one of Channel 10’s commentators for the Commonwealth Games. Apart from the netball, the trained lawyer will also be describing the opening and closing ceremonies of perhaps the most controversial Commonwealth Games of the modern era.

Our conversation reminded me of my first visit to Delhi 30 years ago. My then girlfriend and I arrived on an overnight Aeroflot plane from Moscow. It was around 6am but already the heat of the city took our breath away. And the noise! How could anyone sleep through that cacophony?

We arrived at our venerable hotel, The Imperial - and seemed to be transported back half a century to a world of tea and tiffin, when the Raj was still in place and Gandhi and Nehru were pushing for India’s independence.

The Imperial is still (in my opinion) the finest place to stay in India’s capital because of its colonial era atmosphere and proximity to Connaught Place, the heart of the Edward Lutyens-designed commercial precinct. But for a more up to date impression of the modern, computertech India head for The Oberoi New Delhi.

Until now Delhi hasn’t really featured much as a travel destination, apart from its role as a stopover on the way to nearby Agra for the Taj Mahal or those jewels of Rajasthan - Jaipur, Jodphur and Udaipur.

Even though its history dates back to the 6th Century BC, and it contains some of the greatest Mughal monuments in the entire country, most tourists have settled for ‘one day and one night’’ to tick off the most famous sights before heading onwards to ‘somewhere more interesting’’ like Mumbai or Varanasi.

That’s something that Delhi’s image-shapers hope to change with the international coverage of the Commonwealth Games. Channel 10, which has the TV rights in Australia, knows that Delhi will be the real star of the games - and has plenty of human interest travel stories in the can to run during the next few weeks.

Certainly Delhi - like the rest of India - is in an immense state of change. The city now has a population of 22 million - the same as the whole of Australia! And, though the huge gaps between the rich and poor are as evident as ever, most commentators believe that Delhi has become a vibrant, cosmopolitan and international city of great character and history.

One of the most obvious signs of change is the new $7.5 billion Delhi Metro which will revolutionise public transport, with its 212 km of track - and make it much easier for independently-minded travellers to get around.

But you can also see the changes in the growing number of bars and nightclubs which have opened up in fashionable South Delhi. Principally, of course, these are aimed at India’s flowering and youthful middle class - so it is worth while taking a peek if only to put faces to the voices who phone you from all those call centres! The same affluent youngsters have developed a taste for both wine and (locally distilled) whisky.

As far as heritage is concerned, start with a morning tour of the world-heritage Red Fort and Asia’s largest mosque, Jama Majid - both commissioned by Shah Jehan, best-known for the Taj Mahal.

Shah Jehan’s great-grandfather, the second Mughal, has his own magnificent 16th Century mausoleum, Humayun’s Tomb, which some claim is more impressive than the flashier Taj Mahal. Afternoon is the best time to visit if you’re a photographer.

About three kms to the west, you’ll find Lodi Gardens, the shady lungs of the city, and a great place to relax.

If you are looking for something more adventurous, tiger safaris have become increasingly popular at Bandhavgarh Wildlife Sanctuary.

If you are a shopper, locals recommend Emporio Mall in Vasant Kunj for its wide range of international and Indian labels such as Tarun Tahiliani and Malini Ramani. But for a more traditional and chaotic encounter, head to Dilli Haat, an open air bazaar in the heart of Old Delhi.

As for restaurants, ask your concierge for the following fashionable establishments: Bukhara, Chor Bizarre, Moti Mahal Delux, Park Balluchi, Varq, Embassy and Karim Hotel.

But as far as I’m concerned, you can’t do better than sample real Delhi, with a curry washed down by a large bottle of Kingfisher beer at one of many restaurants around Connaught Place. Now pass the naan, please.

By Steve Meacham

Cathy Freeman, Ian Thorpe, Susie O’Neill and Fatso the fat-arsed wombat are back in the news again. Can it really be ten years since the world came to party for the Sydney 2000 Olympics?

Yes, tempus has well fugit. Which is why - having edited the Sydney Morning Herald’s Olympic coverage a decade ago - I found myself dispatched once again to spend a few days out at Sydney Olympic Park to evaluate what kind of legacy the city was left with.

To be honest, I was surprised. It’s not that I am a stranger to the park. In the past year alone I have taken my kids there for the annual Royal Easter Show, been to what was the Olympic stadium (now renamed ANZ Stadium) to watch the Wallabies, accompanied my wife to a chick-lite concert at what used to be the Superdome (now renamed Acer Arena), and pedalled my way up Olympic Boulevard to the finish line of the annual bike ride that starts on the other side of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

But none of those things involve lingering in the park. Essentially, you get there (usually by train), do what you have to do, then head for home as soon as possible.

What I hadn’t realised is just how many recreational and leisure facilities exist now at the park, making it not only a day out destination for Sydneysiders but a worthwhile tourist target for out of town Australians.

Let’s look at the hotel alternatives first. During the Olympics there were just two hotels in the park, both owned by the Accor group - the four-star Novotel and the three-star Ibis. However in the past couple of years Accor have added two more: the budget Formule1 and the upmarket Pullman Hotel, the first five star hotel in western Sydney. Soon construction will begin on 77 Quest serviced apartments, primarily aimed at the increasing number of businessmen attending various conventions - but offering value for money weekend breaks for recreational travellers.

Of course, most weekenders are drawn to the park by either elite sports events at ANZ Stadium or headline entertainment acts at the Acer Arena. Apparently the later is now the third most popular entertainment complex in the world after London’s O2 Arena (formerly the Millennium Dome) and New York’s Radio City Music Hall, and ahead of New York’s legendary Madison Square Gardens.

Not that the ANZ Stadium is the only international sporting venue. The tennis centre hosts Sydney’s only annual international sporting competition each January, and both the hockey and aquatic centres regularly stage top-flight contests. In addition, the Sydney Showground is about to be redeveloped into a 25,000 seater stadium that will be the home ground for the new Kevin Sheedy-led western Sydney AFL team, and possibly the city’s second professional soccer team.

However it is the other things on offer at Sydney Olympic Park, which make it worth considering as a short break destination.

The official figures show that 9.5 million people visited the 640-hectare site last year - more than double the 4.8 million that attended the park during the Olympic year itself?

The largest proportion of visitors (23.5 per cent) went to enjoy free access to the 430 hectares of parklands. At weekends, Bicentennial Park is now so full of family picnics, cyclists and bird watchers exploring the Badu Mangroves that Blaxland Riverside Park, overlooking the Parramatta River, is being equipped with extra barbecue facilities to handle the overflow.

Nearby Armoury Wharf Cafe is another popular destination at weekends, particularly with cyclists pausing in between pedalling the park’s 32 kms of dedicated cycle tracks. Haven’t got a bike? No worries, you can hire them here at Armoury Wharf, or several other places around the park.

For those who are into a bit more two-wheeled excitement, you can always try out the dedicated Mountain Cross and BMX course between Haslam’s Reach and the Narawang Wetland. Or take a look at one of the park’s latest additions, Monster Skatepark on Grand Parade.

Archery tuition, flying trapeze classes, golf lessons - they’re all on the menu of activities offered at Sydney Olympic Park.

As for dining choices, there are now 25 eateries, including Bacar (the high end restaurant at the Pullman Hotel), an Italian, a rump and rib bar, a newly-opened Japanese and an Indian tandoori restaurant being fitted out as you read this.

All in all, the Olympic Park is a credit to the nation - and a great place to enjoy a different look at Sydney. Bear it in mind next time you are heading to the harbour city.

More details: www.sydneyolympicpark.com.au or 02 9714 7888.

By Steve Meacham

Captain Ross Mattson is a master mariner. In his case, it is not anachronistic title but an accurate description of what he does for a living.

For Mattson is the modern day equivalent of Captain James Cook, the master and commander of the Endeavour - the British naval bark which explored much of our east coast and finally put Australia on the map.

For the past five years, Mattson has been in charge of the replica of the Endeavour, one of the most authentic reproductions of an 18th century sailing ship ever created.

His is a unique position: part professional sailor, part tourist guide and part museum curator. And all three skills will come to the fore during the Endeavour's recently announced voyage around Australia next year - which is now advertising for paying passengers.

For those who don’t know about the Endeavour, it was originally dreamt up as a Bicentennial project by then larrikin businessman Alan Bond, before his fall from grace.

Bond laid the keel for the replica Endeavour in 1988, but his business empire collapsed soon afterwards. By the time the ship was launched in 1993, Bond was a bankrupt.

Yet the Endeavour sailed on, completing two round the world voyages before coming under the auspices of the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney.

For the past couple of years, Mattson has been taking paying guests on short haul trips between Brisbane and Hobart, including five or six night adventures from Sydney to Jervis Bay, Botany Bay or Broken Bay.

But now Mattson and his team are preparing the replica for a rare circumnavigation of Australia, beginning on April 15, 2011. So I asked him what potential crewmembers might expect.

“It’s funny,” he said when told this piece would appear in Australian Medicine. “We always seem to have at least one doctor or nurse aboard every leg of a voyage. There’s something about a voyage on the Endeavour which seems to appeal to the medical profession.

The vessel sails with 16 professional crew, Mattson explains. “Then we recruit 36 voyage crew for each leg and four supernumeraries.

“The voyage crew actively help sail the ship. They don’t need any marine experience, because we train them up during the voyage. They divest a few doubloons and that entitles them to get involved in all aspects of sailing.

“They sleep in hammocks. They climb 38 metres to the top of the mast. They have a go at steering the ship.

‘”We usually get off the wharf, find a sheltered area and put them through a full day’s training before we put out to sea.”

The minimum length of voyage is five days. “That’s plenty of time to get involved,” says Mattson. “By the fourth day, the voyage crew are able to steer the Endeavour and head a compass course.”

What about the supernumeraries? “They are people who want to experience the voyage but for one reason or another aren’t sufficiently active enough to climb a mast or whatever. They usually do a watch and help steer. But they stay in one of the four gentleman’s cabins, and obviously pay more for that privilege.”

But what do the paying guests get out of such a holiday? “There are many reasons people sign up for what is a working holiday. The rewards include a 360-degree horizon, the stars at night, the whales, the appreciation of what the early maritime explorers went through.

“People who are particularly interested in Cook, get to see first hand what a master mariner he was as he charted the east coast and realise that what he did, in dangerous and unchartered waters, was an absolutely outstanding feat.

“Most of our voyage crew are people who love the historical aspect of the voyage, getting to understand what life was like on an 18th century vessel. Others are just looking for the physical adventure. And a third group just want to try something that is outside their comfort zone. We nurture all of that, and experience it along with them.”

What about gender? Is a trip aboard the Endeavour something that just appeals to men? “No, bookings for our trips are a mixture of men and women, and includes people of all ages. One of the luxuries of the Endeavour is that we have separate male and female toilets and showers.”

What about the food? Is it all authentic salt beef and rum? Mattson laughs at the thought.

“Our gallery is a commercial kitchen. There’s nothing particularly fancy about the food, but it is good, wholesome stuff - and there is plenty of it. That’s what people want. When you are helping to sail a ship like the Endeavour, your appetite goes up threefold.”

So there have been no incidents of scurvy aboard. “No, but you do have to eat your greens.”

Berths on the 13-month round Australia voyage, which begins on April 15, 2011, start from $1250 for the shortest leg as a voyage crewmember to $8000 for the longest leg as a supernumerary. For further information ring 1800 720 577 or check www.endeavourvoyages.com.au.

For a couple of days this month it seemed the British singer Robbie Williams was guilty of a charge he has rarely been accused of in a long career noted for its alcoholic excess, drug taking, womanising and fallouts with former friends.

Williams, who first came to prominence in the chart topping boy band Take That in the early 1990s, had apparently succumbed to a nasty dose of good taste!

According to newspaper reports the 36 year old singer was due to marry his suspiciously stable girlfriend, American actress Ayda Field, on the beautiful and distinguished Californian island of Santa Catalina.

The rumours lasted less than a weekend. Williams and Field actually wed at their own home in Beverley Hills in a tasteful ceremony organised by Williams’s mother, Jan, which included (thankfully) a ban on alcohol.

Yet the Williams nuptuals reminded me that Santa Catalina is one of California’s best kept travel experiences - a destination well worth adding to your itinerary if you are planning a few days in or around Los Angeles. Just ‘‘26 miles across the sea’’ from the Californian mainland, Santa Catalina - often referred to as ‘‘Catalina Island’’ or  just plain ‘‘Catalina’’ - is the largest and most famous of California’s Channel Islands, which are also the smallest and least visited of California’s state parks.

They have long been inhabited. Archaeologists shows humans have lived there for at least 7000 years, with natives mining and trading the soapstone long before the first European explorer, Juan Rodiguez Cabrillo, a Portuguese navigator, set foot on Santa Catalina and claimed it for Spain. In turn, the island became Mexican before being purchased privately by an American, James Lick, in 1864.

Within a few decades, the growth of Los Angeles opened up a sustainable future for the rocky outcrop that had become virtually uninhabited but for a few cattle herders. From 1900 onwards, Santa Catalina would become a convenient vacation destination - though the climate is much foggier and cooler than you associate with southern California.

Yet it took an unlikely visionary to turn Santa Catalina into the glamorous haunt of Hollywood’s rich and famous it became during the 1920s-1950s.

Legend has it that William Wrigley Junior, the businessman who made one of America’s largest fortunes out of chewing gum, was approached in 1919 to buy a few shares in the near bankrupt company which owned the island. Before investing, Wrigley took his wife, Ada, and son, Philip to inspect the island for himself. What he saw impressed him so much that he bought out all the other inventors to purchase Santa Catalina outright.

Having bottomless pockets and an entrepreneur’s flair, Wrigley realised the key to Santa Catalina’s success was creating an exclusive, high class resort with regular and comfortable access.

Two steamships were commissioned, the SS Catalina and the SS Avalon, each capable of transporting 1500 passengers. Avalon - the island’s main settlement - was developed into a resort, with stylish hotels and a circular Art Deco ‘‘palace of pleasure’’ which he called the Catalina Casino - though in fact it contained no gaming tables but a massive cinema and ‘‘the world’s largest circular ballroom’’.

The combination - and proximity to Hollywood - made Santa Catalina a favourite haunt of movie stars and directors.

Charlie Chaplin and his wife Paulette Goddard were regular visitors as were Clark Gable and Cecil B De Mille, who declared Santa Catalina was ‘‘the only place I can get away to work amid real inspiration’’. Errol Flynn’s yacht Sirocco was often moored in Avalon Bay, while the novelist and deep sea fisherman Zane Grey had a home on the island.

In its heyday, the Casino ballroom - which could house 3000 patrons - swang to big band music from the likes of Glen Miller, Tommy Dorsey and Bennie Goodman. And the Hollywood connection was reinforced when it appeared as a location in movies ranging from Roman Polanski’s Chinatown to  Doris Day’s The Glass Bottomed Boat.

Most tragically, it was while holidaying here with her husband Robert Wagner that the actress Natalie Wood drowned in 1981. Their yacht  Splendour was anchored in Isthmus Cove, near Two Harbours (current population, less than 300), when Wood - who was subsequently found to have drunk at least a bottle of red wine - somehow slipped overboard unnoticed.

By then, many of the holidaymakers were arriving via ‘‘the airport in the sky’’ - a landing strip built in the 1940s on a mountain top, replacing the seaplane service that had previously been used. Helicopters now run regularly from Long Beach or San Pedro.

So what is Santa Catalina like in 2010? Around one million people visit the island each year, most of them elderly Americans who remember the glory days. The way to arrive is still by boat, with ferries leaving from Newport Beach, Dana Point, Long Beach, San Pedro and Marina del Ray, generally taking around an hour and costing $US65 return.

The day I arrived a large cruise ship was in port, but otherwise Avalon itself (permanent population around 4000) is still recognisable despite the large malls that have been built behind what remains of the Art Deco hotels.

One of the attractive features about the island - particularly for somewhere so close to Los Angeles - is that there are few cars. Indeed the most popular form of transport is to hire a golf cart.

But that is unnecessary if you are a day tripper like myself. Everything within Avalon can be seen on foot or the open-air trolley that chatters along the back streets.

First stop, naturally, is an escorted walking tour of the casino. Completely rebuilt a few years ago, it retains its original Art Deco style with admirable reliefs and Tiffany chandeliers. The building also now houses the Catalina Island Museum.

Then either hike up the hill to witness the Wrigley Memorial, passing what was once the world’s largest aviary, or just relax on the Crescent Avenue promenade.

If you can afford to stay longer, try a seafood dinner on the waterfront deck of Armstrong’s Cafe followed by a drink or two at Luau Larry’s bar to sample the atmosphere. Then feel free in following days to some of Catalina’s famed wildlife.

Most of the 19,000 hectacre island is now a preserved wilderness, thanks to Philip Wrigley who helped establish the Catalina Island Conservancy, a non-profit body, in the 1960s. But wilderness is a bit misleading. Many of the species which flourish on Saint Catalina are introduced species - including around 150 bison, descendants of beasts that were brought to the island in the 1920s for a long forgotten movie.

Unfortunately the native sea otters are now extinct due to brutal hunts in the 19th Century.

Keen walkers and mountain bikers can enjoy the wilderness areas, but be warned: you first have to obtain a permit from the Conservancy’s office, indicating where you intend to visit.

Another option is to take a glass bottomed boat, or book a scuba diving tour from Avalon to sample the famously clear water, which is home to schools of flying fish and orange Garibaldi.

Sadly, Robbie Williams and his bride missed all this. But, since they live so close, presumably they can think of staying here for their first wedding anniversary! 

By Steve Meacham

“Am I a Ferrari fanatic?” repeats the elderly gentleman about to lower his portly frame down, down, deeper and down into the sleek fuselage of a F430 Spider. “Aren’t all boys?”

He’s one of eight privileged males about to embark on a $1000 midweek bonding adventure - the masculine equivalent of a woman being given all day to shop at the department store of their choice, followed by the most luxurious spa treatment, then a night sipping champagne in front of Grey’s Anatomy.

If that sounds sexist, sorry, but nothing divides the men from Mars and the women from Venus quite as much as a fire engine racing red boy’s toy that bears the name of Enzo Ferrari.

Today we’re here in Marrickville, one of Sydney’s least glamorous suburbs, at the Piccola Scuderia workshop containing around 24 Ferraris (and the occasional Maserati and Porsche) belonging to some of the richest men (presumably men) in NSW.

The luxury cars are all being serviced - and when you think the recommended Pirelli tyre costs around $1000 and last, say, 6000 kms each, that doesn’t come cheap. But the eight of us are being introduced to the four very special cars we will each drive on our 300km return trip down south to Kiama, via the Royal National Park, the Illawarra escarpment, the beautiful contours of Saddleback Mountain, and the NSW cliff bridge.

Matt Thio, a former race engineer and now partner in Prancing Horse - which claims to be the world’s only independent company offering a one day (or weekend) Ferrari driving experience - is giving us a pre-drive briefing.

Each of the four Ferraris is very different, but part of the same lineage, he explains. The oldest, the classic 328 GTS, which featured in Tom Selleck’s Magnum PI TV series, is over 20 years old. The newest? The latest Ferrari F430 Spider. Together they demonstrate the technological development of a truly world class brand. In the next nine hours we are going to drive ALL four of them - even the two with the Formula One paddlestick gear changes on the steering wheel.

Not that Thio is particularly reverential during our briefing session. On one model, he points out the LC button (for Launch Control, only to be used on a racetrack): “The LC stands for ‘Late for Coffee’,” he quips.

Another model, an F355 Spider, has a door almost impossible to open from the outside: “It’s like the G-spot,” advises Thio. “You know it’s there, you just can’t find it.”

Finally, a safety tip - Never leave any Ferrari parked in neutral: “Ferrari do all their research on the engines. They’re not well known for their handbrakes. They’re terrible. So always park a Ferrari in first gear.”

It’s quite daunting having our test drive up the short straight along Marrickville’s Barclay Street. So much to remember, in front of seven strangers. What if I crash? Or worse still, stall?

As it happens the worst thing to befall me on my roar up the 50-metre street is the withering look from the middle aged lady emerging from one of the neighbouring suburban businesses. She says nothing, but I can see it in her eyes. “Men! Don’t they ever grow up?”

Ninety per cent of the people who book a Prancing Horse adventure, apparently, are women. Not for themselves. But for their husbands, sons, brothers, fathers - anything to get them out of the house. Mainly for birthday or Christmas presents (gift vouchers are available on the website).

So in the two years since they first started trading, Prancing Horse - with very little advertising - has achieved a waiting list of several months for their day trips south of Sydney. Already it has featured prominently on TV’s Getaway and Sydney Weekender programs.

And now there are plans to expand the business. Buy more Ferraris. Transport them between Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, even Adelaide - offering Ferrari tours of the Yarra Valley, Great Ocean Road, Gold Coast hinterland, Margaret River and/or Barossa valley.

I speak as someone who is not a car nut. My clapped out (but endlessly reliable) 16-year old Holden Commodore looked a sorry addition to the shining red chassis of the fabulous Ferraris.

However, the fact that I enjoyed the nine hours I spent in the four Ferraris suggests several things:

(a) I am even more shallow than I thought.

(b) I was adopted at birth, and must have had rich, Italian natural parents who wanted me to have a Ferrari to follow family tradition.

(c) The considerate Prancing Horse team have hit onto a real winner.

I opt for the third choice.

I won’t bore you with the technical detail - basically because I don’t understand it. My fellow drivers were much more clued-up, talking over lunch in Kiama about “E-Diff”, “a  4.3, V8 engine, which delivers 483bhp at 8,500rpm and 465Nm of torque at 5,250rpm”, and “a top speed of over 193mph (where legal) and a 0-62mph time of 4.1 seconds”. Frankly, I stand a better chance of understanding the G-spot.

But, my, did we have fun! The day trip costs $990 - and if that doesn’t suffice, there’s a weekend package, staying at the Sebel Kiama, for $2980 per couple.

Don’t scoff: it’s one of those things Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman should have included in their joint “Bucket List”. Must dash - I think I saw Michael Schumacher.

More information: 1300 307050 or www.prancinghorse.com.au.