International travel to Australia is back in full swing and Four Seasons Hotel Sydney remains the luxury gateway for visitors to explore the city and beyond. Centrally located in the historic Rocks district overlooking one of the world's most beautiful harbors, the hotel is within walking distance of top restaurants, shopping, the ferry terminal and iconic sites like the Opera House and Harbour Bridge.
A multimillion-dollar renovation of 517 rooms and suites was completed just before the two-year border closure.
"We completely changed the look and feel of the rooms, bringing in lighter colors for a more residential look," says General Manager Uday Rao. "The most popular room is the Full Harbour View Suites which are corner rooms that have bay windows and full panoramic views of the harbor."
Sydney is known for its lively food, wine and spirits scene, and Four Seasons Hotel Sydney is no exception, introducing these new guest experiences:
Living it Up at Lounge 32
Located on the hotel's 32nd floor, Lounge 32 boasts sweeping views of Walsh Bay and offers interactive amenities for suite guests from nitrogen ice cream made by the hotel's pastry team to a roaming trolley of signature cocktails with evening canapes of fresh prawns and oysters.
Grain Bar pours Australia's largest selection of barrel-aged cocktails
The innovative team at Grain Bar has developed their own barrel-aged cocktail program, launching Australia's largest selection with 22 different varieties, all made in-house to expand upon the existing craft cocktails. Each cocktail is aged for around four weeks in a five-litre barrel; production is carefully managed by the bar team who explores the potential of different grains to enhance the flavor, aroma and texture of each drink.
"The magic of barrel aging is that it tames the harsher aspect of a spirit, and makes the whole drink much more cohesive and super mellow, so you enjoy the flavors more," says Grain's Bar Manager Adam Lau. He cites two examples: the Boulevardier, a whisky Negroni that's been aged in a barrel seasoned with coffee liqueur to round it out, and the Aloha, which is essentially a barrel-aged Pina Colada, but a much more elegant and sophisticated version.
Grain also created its own signature beer in partnership with Modus Brewery. The "super approachable" lager features five different grains including the drought-resistant triticale malt, sourced from local farms in regional New South Wales.
Grain Lager and the Grain barrel-aged cocktail selection are available for guests to enjoy at the bar, in-room from their mini bar, or to take home from the Retail Corner. Coming soon is Grain's very own Gin label in partnership with Bondi Liquor Co.
Tea and The Art of the Aperitivo at Mode Kitchen & Bar
Mode Kitchen & Bar has launched two gastronomic experiences. The Italian ritual of "Aperitivo" is a two-hour pre-dinner ritual featuring an expansive selection of Italian street food and antipasto. For those craving something sweeter, afternoon tea is an inspired three-tiered offering of pastries (like coconut and passion fruit mini pavlovas), scones, and savories that are all made in-house.
Why Visit Sydney Now
Australian Fashion Week, May 15-19: The 2023 schedule features 45 designer shows and presentations from the next generation of Australian designers alongside some of the industry's biggest names defining the future of Australian fashion.
VIVID Sydney, May 26-June 17: You'll want to book a corner suite for this annual celebration of creativity, innovation and technology in collaboration with some of the most boundary-pushing artists, thinkers and musicians. The city is illuminated and the landscape changes with vibrant 3D projections across the city's architecture.
FIFA Women's World Cup July 20-August 20: The US team will defend their title down under when Sydney hosts the opening and final matches.
Sydney International Boat Show, August 3-6: From paddle boards to super yachts, this is the biggest marine event in the Pacific.
SXSW Sydney, Oct 15-22: The Austin event expands beyond North America for the first time.
About Four Seasons Hotel Sydney
Sydney's best-located luxury hotel, Four Seasons Hotel Sydney delivers an unforgettable five-star experience, surrounded by the city's icons and overlooks the sparkling Sydney Harbour. Four Seasons Hotel Sydney provides a preferred address for both business and leisure travelers, and the highly personalized, anticipatory service that Four Seasons guests expect and value around the world. Recent awards and honors include receiving Top Hotel in Australia & New Zealand by DestinAsian Readers' Choice Awards.
For more information on Four Seasons Hotel Sydney, visit www.fourseasons.com/Sydney/
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Sydney hairdressers, gyms, cafés and bars reopened to fully vaccinated customers on Monday for the first time in more than 100 days after Australia’s largest city achieved a vaccination benchmark.
Sydney planned to reopen on the Monday after 70% of the New South Wales state population aged 16 and older were fully vaccinated.
By Monday, 73.5% of the target population was fully vaccinated and more than 90% have received at least one dose.
Some businesses opened at midnight due to demand from people impatient to enjoy their freedom.
More pandemic restrictions will be removed at the 80% benchmark, and New South Wales residents will be free to travel overseas for the first time since March last year.
New South Wales reported 496 new infections in the latest 24-hour period and eight COVID-19 deaths.
The infection rate will rise as Sydney residents return to work and become more mobile.
New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet said the infection rate and numbers of COVID-19 patients being admitted to hospitals were lower than modeling had predicted.
“So that’s positive and gives hope and confidence as we open up in a measured way we’re in a very good position to keep people safe,” Perrottet said.
“There’s still restrictions in place. It’s not a free for all. It is opening up in a measured way and if everyone can look after each other and respect each other, we can get people back into work, we can get businesses open, while at the same time keeping people safe,” he added.
SYDNEY — Australia’s two largest cities are moving closer to ending lockdowns as vaccination rates climb, but leaders are warning that people should remain cautious with their newfound freedoms and that coronavirus case numbers will inevitably rise.
In New South Wales state, where an outbreak continues to grow in Sydney, Premier Gladys Berejiklian has set a target of reopening on Oct. 11 once vaccination milestones are reached.
But she said Friday it would need to be done “with a degree of caution and responsibility” because otherwise too many people would end up in hospitals. Meanwhile in Victoria State, where there is an outbreak in Melbourne.
Health Minister Martin Foley said there had been a “tremendous” increase in vaccinations and there was “no shortage of enthusiasm” among people wanting to get jabs.
Health officials in New South Wales reported 1,043 new cases and 11 deaths on Friday, while officials in Victoria reported 733 new cases and one death.
Bondi from the air. The cliff walk to Bronte beach (at the left) is spectacular. Photograph: Phillip Hayson/Getty Images
From beautiful beaches to amazing brunches, cool bars and fascinating foodie suburbs – a weekend in Sydney is joyride for the senses
Paul Keating once said Sydney was the only place to live in Australia – the rest were camping out.
The New South Wales capital can certainly lay claim to being one of the most beautiful cities in the world. London and New York have a glamour, history and majesty about them, and San Francisco, Seattle, Auckland and Vancouver have gorgeous natural harbours, but Sydney manages to combine big-city polish with verdant nature and the glory of the world that is its harbour.
The CBD needs a bit of a facelift and an energy infusion – it can be fairly lifeless on weekends. But if you stick to some of Sydney’s more natural attractions, choose some of its new and exciting restaurants, try some small bars and take a trip out to some of the city’s lesser known foodie suburbs, you’ll have an incredible 48 hours.
Friday
4pm: kayaking, Point Piper
Head down to Rose Bay, towards the Point Piper end, and you’ll find the Point Piper Kayak Centre – which is essentially a shed under the shade, filled with kayaks and standup paddleboards. We are given the option of choosing fast, “racing” kayaks – easy to tip over – or the more sturdy, old-fashioned variety.
We opt for the later. It’s a gloriously sunny day on the harbour, with little breeze. We head left towards Double Bay, giving us superstar views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge (and a glimpse of the Opera House sails) and pull up our kayaks on the beach at Shark Island. There are few boats out on the harbour this afternoon and the paddling is peaceful – almost meditative.
But be warned: weekends can get hectic with pleasure crafts and you need to have your wits about you to avoid harbour traffic including ferries.
Kayaks start at $20 for the first hour then drop to $10 an hour after that.
6pm: drinks at Australian 18 Footers League, Double Bay
After kayaking, wander around to Double Bay where this small yacht club boasts a big view of the harbour. It’s relaxed, with mostly outdoor seating, and far away enough from the Friday-night city hordes to grab a good table.
The Opera Bar at sunset. Photograph: Nikki Marshall
Harbourside bars abound in Sydney and there’s none more popular than the Opera Bar in the Sydney Opera Housecomplex. If you want more of a buzz than Double Bay can offer and are happy to fight for a table, take a ferry from Double Bay to Circular Quay and follow the noise (it is noisy!) to the Opera Bar.
8pm: dinner at Acme, 60 Bayswater Road, Rushcutters Bay
One of the most unusual, and delightful dining experiences in Sydney is the newly opened Acme. It’s an Italian restaurant – but not Italian as I’ve had it before.
The team behind the restaurant promise “interesting and affordable pasta” which includes macaroni and bucatini with pig’s head and egg yolk or goat, spicy nduja and fresh mint. This is not novelty food but a wild mixture of flavours and a fusion of styles that work. We love the roasted carrots with ricotta and almonds, steamed pipis, lime, pepper and carpaccio parmigiana.
We nab a window seat so we can watch the passing parade of revellers heading into Kings Cross (if you’re there early enough you can see the fantastic sunset over Paddington) and enjoy wines from regional NSW.
9.30pm: drinks in Surry Hills
After dinner, take a cab into Surry Hills to experience some of Sydney’s classic old pubs
We drink at the Hollywood Hotel in Foster Street, Surry Hills, where there’s a mirror ball and friendly bar staff but none of the hipsters sometimes associated with this part of town.
We also drop into the Shakespeare Hotel, a fairly rough-and-ready drinking establishment that has been particularly popular with the journalists who work in nearby Holt Street and theatre staff from Belvoir. Once again, it’s unpretentious and there’s good, cheap food available upstairs.
If you feel like a late night, book a room at George Street karaoke bar Mizuya or Surry Hills’ Ding Dang Dong. Love of late-night karaoke seems to be a particularly Sydney thing – perhaps feeding into Sydneysiders’ narcissistic fantasy of being a rockstar celebrity.
Saturday
8am: Bondi to Bronte hike
Get up early and head to Australia’s most famous beach. Wear your walking shoes – you’ll be doing the spectacular cliff walk – a distance of 3.5km from Bondi to Bronte.
Starting at the south end of Bondi – near the Icebergs pool – there are a few sets of stairs, but the view across to Ben Buckler, the point at the northern end, is gorgeous. The track is crowded with joggers and ambling sightseers so make sure you stick to the unwritten protocol of walking to the left – otherwise you could find yourself jostled off the path by one of the Glamazons who run it each day.
Breakfast can be taken in Bronte at one of the many cafes on the small hill that faces the beach. They’re all good for fresh juices, strong coffee and bacon and eggs, and are happy to serve you in your swimmers and towel – the vibe is casual. If you have the energy you can stay on the cliff walk past the sprawling cemetery to Clovelly or you can turn around and head back to Bondi for a swim either in the ocean or in the magnificent Icebergs pool and gym.
A swim in the saltwater lap pool can be bracing and challenging – if there’s big swell that crashes over the sides. Reward yourself with delicious coffee from the pool’s kiosk and a peerless view.
Noon: shopping, Paddington
After the beach head to Paddington for some shopping. Oxford Street was once thriving but is now looking a little on the sad side – with lots of shopfronts up for lease.
It’s still worth a look but my favourite shopping strip in Sydney is Williams Street, off Oxford Street. There are some fantastic independent stores in refurbished terrace houses along with a great chocolatier and a deli down the end of the road.
Keep walking and allow yourself to get lost in Paddington, Darlinghurst and Surry Hills’ lovely backstreets.
3pm: Art Gallery of NSW and Brett Whiteley Studio
As well as the main gallery – the impressive Art Gallery of NSW alongside the Royal Botanic Gardens – Sydney’s art scene is home to some wonderful smaller galleries.
In the back streets of Surry Hills, Brett Whiteley Studio is a monument to one of Australia’s great artists, who died too soon in 1992. See where he worked and some of his key pieces of art.
The Art Gallery of NSW (free) is also a collector of Whiteleys. His Lavender Bay series is worth seeking out – the harbour, in deep blue hues, is quintessentially Sydney.
4pm: White Rabbit Gallery, Chippendale
The White Rabbit Gallery (free), focuses exclusively on contemporary Chinese art, with exhibitions rotating through the white, cube-like spaces. Founded by Sydneysiders Kerr and Judith Neilson, it exhibits works produced after 2000. There’s nowhere like it anywhere in Australia and there’s a really cool gift shop attached.
6pm: early dinner at Din Tai Fung in Chippendale or World Square in the city
You don’t forget your first dumpling at Din Tai Fung – for a start, it could easily take the skin off the roof of your mouth.
The Shanghainese dumplings are filled with meat and/or vegetables and encased in a velvety pouch that is also filled with scalding-hot liquid. You are meant to pierce the dumpling and let the juice ooze out before dipping it into soy and chilli then popping it into your mouth. Sadly my friend didn’t pierce her dumpling and a boiling jet of liquid shot out, causing her mouth to blister. Staff are accustomed to this and have paw-paw ointment on hand to assist with burns.
But it’s worth the pain. These are some of the best dumplings in Australia and you can eat well for under $30. Favourites include the gem dumplings of different colours and the truffle dumplings. I also recommend getting a rice dish and trying the pork noodles. Delicious!
7pm: see a show (at Opera House, Angel Place, Sydney Theatre, Golden Age cinema or Belvoir St Theatre)
You’re in Sydney. You should see a show. The Opera House is an obvious spot to see the likes of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Australian Opera or a big-name touring production. The Wharf at Walsh Bay is one of Sydney’s most picturesque precincts, while Belvoir has some of Australia’s best actors and playwrights in its stable.
The Golden Age cinema in Surry Hills has a chic bar attached and is about as far from a multiplex vibe as you can get.
10pm to late: drinks at Baxter Inn or Frankie’s Pizza
Frankie’s is all checked-tablecloth Americana with a rockabilly feel, while Baxter Inn is a dimly lit basement bar that is great for a late-night whiskey.
Melbourne has long had the edge on Sydney in terms of the small-bar scene but Sydney is fast catching up.
The Harbour Bridge and the city can be glimpsed from Nielsen Park, one of Sydney’s harbour beaches. Photograph: Alamy
Sunday
9am: Nielsen Park – swim and breakfast
Sydney is home to a gorgeous string of harbour beaches – many on the eastern side of the city. Protected by shark nets, shaded by huge Moreton Bay figtrees, with views to the national park on the other side of the harbour (or else glimpses of Sydney’s CBD), Nielsen Park is one of Sydney’s gems.
Even better, there’s a lovely restaurant and kiosk so you can have a big breakfast after you’ve swum your morning laps.
11am Cabramatta – Food tour (I Ate my Way Through Cabramatta)
Thirty kilometres west of Sydney’s CBD and a 50-minute drive or train ride, Cabramatta is the Vietnamese food capital of Sydney.
On the day of our visit, locals are in traditional costume, preparing to honour the former prime minister Malcolm Fraser whose policy after the Vietnam war resulted in a large-scale resettlement of Vietnamese to Cabramatta. In Freedom Plaza, old timers play mahjong and drink coffee Vietnamese-style – strong, thick and with condensed milk.
Our guide, Amy Ta, grew up in Cabramatta and knows all the great dishes to order and where to get them. First off is a bowl (to share) of bun bo hue – subtly different from a pho, with thicker noodles. It is fragrant with beef and lemongrass.
A fruit and vegetable store in Cabramatta, Sydney’s Vietnamese food capital. Photograph: Bloomberg via Getty Images
As we queue on the footpath with dozens of others, Ta assures us the next little hole-in the-wall place does the best crispy chicken in Cabramatta. She’s wrong. This is possibly the best crispy chicken in Sydney. Dipped in sauce and enjoyed with mint and rice, it is still lingering in my memory as I write this weeks later.
We visit several other unassuming places to try their specialty dishes until at the fourth place we beg for the tour to stop. It is possible to eat so much you can burst. We pay $99 each, with food included.
This Carnival Cruise to Australia wasn't fun but scary for 3500 passengers. Authorities prevented this Carnival ship from docking in Sydney Harbor.
Instead passengers remained on board to experience 85 violent miles an hour winds and powerful 30 foot waves slamming against the cruiseliner.
What was meant to be a 12-night cruise onboard the Carnival Spirit was prolonged by what some are calling a once-in-a-lifetime storm.
It's all part of a massive storm system barreling its way down the Australian Coast.
Carnival reported no medical emergencies onboard the stranded ship.
Representatives for Carnival said their ships were built to take the kind of punishment brought on by the powerful storm which gave Sydney it's wettest two days in nearly two decades.
Nothing ruins a good New Year's Eve like traffic jams and price-surging taxi apps (ahem, Uber). Here, a primer on navigating some of our favorite festive cities on that last night of the year.
LAS VEGAS
Taxi
The good news: Hotels can book taxis and limousines in advance. The bad news: The Strip closes to automobile traffic from about 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. Best to steer clear of the roads altogether.
Public Transportation
Hit the monorail. It runs north and south between the MGM Grand and the SLS Hotel & Casino until 3 a.m., with multiple stops along the way (unlimited day pass, $12).
Walking
Sounds good in theory—just remember that the Strip is four miles long. Know how far you’re venturing before you set out.
Photo by Goffredo di Crollalanza/Getty Images
LONDON
Taxi
Patience and deep pockets are required: Black cabs are scarce, and fares are pricier than usual on New Year’s Eve (same goes for taxi-hailing apps like Hailo and Drivr, which impose minimum fares for the night).
Public Transportation
The Underground is by far the best way to get around, and it’s free from 11:45 p.m. to 4:30 a.m.
Walking
Great if you’re staying in Central London—with one big caveat: Crowds and bridge closures make crossing the Thames a challenge from roughly 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Photo by Bertrand Langlois
PARIS
Taxi
This is the one city where you shouldn’t even try to hail a cab—and the apps will be astronomically expensive. They’re hard to find on a normal night and nearly impossible to land on one like this, especially around the Champs-Élysées or Montmartre, where much of the action is centered.
Public Transportation
If you’re near a Métro station, hop on. In fact, from 5 p.m. on December 31 until noon on January 1, the Métro, the bus, and the trains (including the RER) are free and run all night.
Walking
No question about it, walking is the way to go. It’s convenient and infinitely more romantic than the Métro.
Photo by Christian Kober/Getty Images
SYDNEY
Taxi
A taxi stand on Elizabeth Street between Liverpool Street and Nithsdale Lane will be staffed and managed between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. They may charge premiums, and brace yourself for road closures around Sydney Harbor vantage points.
Public Transportation
Extra trains will run in and out of the city—in an effort to cope with the increased demand—while the light-rail will operate regular weekday service to the city every 15 minutes.
Taxi
Stroll back to the hotel if you’re staying near the harbor. Remember that it’s summertime Down Under, so count on temperatures of around 60 degrees even after midnight.
Lindt Chocolate Cafe Australia issued the following statement on Facebook regarding the hostage situation in Sydney:
As the hostage-taking in our Café in Sydney came to an end, Lindt & Sprüngli is profoundly saddened and deeply affected about the death of innocent people. We are devastated by the loss of their lives and that several others were wounded and had to experience such trauma. Our thoughts and feelings are with the victims and their families who have been through an incredible ordeal, and we want to pay tribute to their courage and bravery.
“I’m shocked and deeply saddened by the terrible incident that has taken place in Sydney”, says Ernst Tanner, Chairman and Group CEO Lindt & Sprüngli. “I cannot believe that such an act of violence happened. I would like to express my deepest sympathy to the victims and their families. In these difficult times we all need to stand together in order to defend the values of freedom, peace and tolerance.”
Our immediate concerns are for the innocent people who were taken hostage in a place which was chosen in such a random way. We are thankful that most of the hostages who were involved in this terrible criminal act were freed by the intervention of the New South Wales Police Forces and would like to thank them for their service.
“Lindt & Sprüngli will provide any support to the victims and their families, and indeed to all our employees affected by this event. We are grateful for the support we received from the public in Australia and from all around the world”, says Steven Loane, CEO Lindt & Sprüngli in Australia.
At approximately 10 am today, Monday, December 15, 2014, police had surrounded the Lindt Chocolate Café in Sydney, Australia, along with snipers, where fifty-year-old Man Haron Monis, the gunman, was holding hostages and kept them there for over 16 hours. The self-styled Muslim cleric was also known as Sheikh Haron, and he forced the hostages to take turns holding up a black flag that said in Arabic, “There is no God but God and Mohammed is the prophet of God.”
Well into the hostage crisis, at least five being held were able to escape, which caused the gunman to become extremely agitated, as he was seen through the glass doors and windows of the café where it was also witnessed that he began screaming at the hostages.
Police ended up storming the café killing the gunman. Two hostages were killed during the standoff.
Gunman Sheikh Haron had a long list of criminal activities involving violent crimes, extremism, and mental instability. He had pleaded guilty last year for writing offensive letters to families of Australian troops and was also charged as an accessory to murder in the case of his ex-wife’s death. In that same year he had also been charged with sexual assault of a women in 2002 as well as other sex-related charges for another 6 victims. In those crimes he called himself Mohammad Hassan Manteghi and presented himself as a “healer.”
The gunman had fled Iran and was granted political asylum from Australia from where he posted his extremist Sunni beliefs on the Internet. He posted a pledge of allegiance on his website to the Islamic State terror group, and during the siege today showed his actions were in line with the symbolism of the ISIS death cult. The Australian police believe he was acting alone.
For a nation so long wed to the pale culinary shadow of the English Sunday dinner (meat and three vegetables, anyone?) Australia has come a long way. Inspired by local ingredients, Pacific-rim cultures and techniques, Modern Australian cooking (‘Mod Oz’) is about as far removed from Yorkshire pudding as you can get. This wide brown land has become a very fine place to dine.
Pin this imageSoft shell crab dish / Image by Greg Elms / Getty Images
Add to the mix a wide-awake coffee scene, celebrity chefs, stonkingly good wines and a bubbling craft-beer scene, and it’s actually increasingly difficult to walk away from a table in Australia feeling disappointed. A sweeping generalisation, of course: deep-fry takeaway joints and instant-coffee motel rooms still prevail in some parts, but most Australian restaurants are no longer places where tradition is a given. And, beyond the big smoke you’ll find cellar doors, cheese wrights, microbreweries, farm-gate wholesalers…
New South Wales and Canberra
With direct fishing-fleet access to the South Pacific, Sydney is seafood central. Swing by the Sydney Fish Market in Pyrmont and check out the catch of the day: crayfish, Sydney rock oysters, snapper, tuna, squid, Balmain bugs, whiting, abalone, prawns, flathead, blue-swimmer crabs…Take a tour, or arrive early (5.30am!) on a weekday and watch the fish auctions.
If you’d rather see your seafood on a plate Sydney’s harbourside restaurants await, helmed by chefs with big media profiles. Standouts include Neil Perry’s Rockpool, Peter Gilmore’s Quay and Matt Moran’s Aria. Inevitably, Opera House views come with a price tag: if you’re on a budget, eating fish and chips on Bondi Beach is a quintessential Aussie experience.
A few hours north Sydney, the Hunter Valley is one of Australia’s most-visited wine regions: expect stylish cellar door experiences and superb semillon. Surprisingly, the tiny Australian Capital Territory – encircled by NSW and home to Australia’s blustering politicians – also produces some top drops. There are 30-something wineries within 30 minutes of Canberra (canberrawines.com.au) producing interesting cool-climate pinot noirs and chardonnays.
Queensland is tropical Australia in all its laid-back, hedonistic glory. Given the humidity, it’s a surprise to find such a rigorous coffee culture in Brisbane. Bean roasters and baristas are as prevalent here as they are down south, keeping the city humming day and night. Check out Brew (brewgroup.com.au), an arty downtown laneway cafe/bar; and Blackstar Coffee Roasters (blackstarcoffee.com.au) in the West End, brewing up punchy cups of the black stuff.
With the tropics comes tropical fruit: pineapples, bananas, mangoes, pawpaw, coconuts, avocados, guavas, breadfruit, lychees, jackfruit… Launch your morning with a tropical fruit salad and you’ll be positively with glowing with vitamins. James St Market (jamesstmarket.com.au) in Brisbane offers a shiny selection.
Beef is big in Queensland too, sourced from the state’s vast inland cattle farms. Rockhampton bills itself as the ‘Beef Capital of Australia’: don’t leave town without chewing on some eye fillet.
Victoria
Down south, the nights are cool and so are Melburnians, shuffling between cafes and laneway bars, clutching novels and looking wan. Coffee is king here. Fuel up on a double-shot flat white and go searching for your next one (you won’t have to walk far). In the city, Pellegrini's is the quintessential Melbourne cafe, unchanged for decades.
Continuing the liquid theme, Victoria’s wine regions have serious cred. Both easy day-trips from Melbourne, the Yarra Valley and Mornington Peninsula bottle-up brilliant cool-climate wines, with particularly good pinot noir and pinot gris. There are dozens of cellar doors to wobble between here.
Hungry? Many of Melbourne’s best restaurants are in Chinatown: Flower Drum has long sat atop of the culinary tree here. If you’re on a budget, fuel-up on dumplings at a late-night, no-frills Chinese diners like Hutong Dumpling Bar.
To the east, cheeses and beef from Gippsland are show-stoppers: look for anything from Jindi Cheese (jindi.com.au) in local shops (we love that rustic washed-rind brie). Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market is a great place to load up on cheese, plus seafood, beef, sausages, breads, coffee, fruit, veg, baked goods…
Pin this imageDegraves Espresso in Melbourne / Image by Rachel Lewis / Getty Images
Tasmania
Tasmania – aka the ‘Apple Isle’ – has much more than just apples in its lunch box these days. Truffles, walnuts, blueberries, pears, plums, gooseberries, raspberries, stone fruit, honey… The whole island is one big food bowl. Travelling through the Huon Valley south of Hobart, you’ll come across roadside stalls selling bags of the latest harvest for just a few dollars.
Hops are big business here too, particularly around the Derwent Valley north of Hobart. Cascade dominates the beer taps in the state’s south; James Boags to the north. Both have been huge international marketing successes, and both run excellent brewery tours.
The craft beer scene is bubbling away: look for pilsner from Moo Brew (moobrew.com.au) or real ales and ciders from Two Metre Tall (2mt.com.au). Tasmanian cool-climate wine also demands attention: don’t go past bubbly (aka ‘Méthode Tasmanoise’) from Jansz (jansz.com.au) in the north, or anything from Moorilla (moorilla.com.au) near Hobart.
On the dairy front, a visit to King Island Dairy on King Island between Tasmania and mainland Australia is one of the more generous food experiences you could imagine: an entire walk-in cool room crammed with outstanding cheeses to sample.
Seafood from ‘Tassie’ is also top-notch: try some salmon at the Salmon Shop (tassal.com.au) off Salamanca Place in Hobart, or some oysters from Get Shucked (getshucked.com.au) on Bruny Island in the southeast. Trout (and single-malt whiskey!) from the central highlands is also worth shouting about.
South Australia
If you haven’t heard about South Australian wine, you can’t have been listening. SA’s iconic wine regions – McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, the Coonawarra and the Adelaide Hills – produce some of the world’s biggest, boldest reds (shiraz and cabernet sauvignon) and classy whites (riesling and sauvignon blanc). Most of these regions are an easy day-trip from Adelaide; all of them are expertly geared towards tourism (cellar doors, accommodation, winery restaurants, bike trails).
Short on time? Visit the National Wine Centre of Australia in Adelaide and sample the best of a good bunch. Or, if your wallet can stand the heat, try some famous Grange red on a tour of Penfolds Magill Estate just east of the city.
South Australia’s seafood is also sublime. The vast, semi-arid Eyre Peninsula in the state’s west produces amazing King George whiting, tuna and oysters. An excellent one-stop seafood shop here is the Fresh Fish Place (portlincolnseafood.com.au) in Port Lincoln, or pull into the roadside Ceduna Oyster Bar and pick up a dozen briny molluscs for $1 each. If you like the product, come back in October for Oysterfest (ceduna.sa.gov.au/oysterfest).
‘WA’ is a law unto itself in many ways. A gargantuan landmass a long way from anywhere else (Perth is as close to Singapore as it is to Sydney!), things are done a little differently over here. A seriously different WA crustacean is the marron, a large, scary-looking freshwater crayfish with a delicate taste: try some at restaurants around Perth.
A short hop south of Perth, Fremantle is a rambling Victorian-era port that’s loaded with arty cafes, bars and eateries. Grab some Indian Ocean fish-and-chips at Fishing Boat Harbour (fremantlefishingboatharbour.com), sluiced down with a pale ale from one of Australia’s best breweries, Little Creatures. The Little Creatures experience is decadent: hip staff, fabulous beer and zippy food in a cavernous waterfront space, backed by huge stainless steel brewing vats.
Not to overlooked, West Australia wine also stands out. The southwest is the place to try it, particularly around Margaret River, a town that’s irresistible to surfers, hippies and yuppie weekenders alike. Look for divine cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay from Vasse Felix (vassefelix.com.au).
The Northern Territory swings between baking deserts in the south and tropical monsoon jungle in the north. At Stuart Highway roadhouses in the desert it’s not uncommon to see camel schnitzels, kangaroo steaks, even emu burgers on the menu.
If dining on the Australian coat of arms doesn’t appeal, around Darwin you can try crocodile, which is commercially farmed here – apparently for the leather, but crocodile meat (which tastes a bit like chicken) is a delicious by-product.
Finally, you can dine out on Australian-Asian fusion treats at the Mindil Beach Sunset Markets on the Darwin waterfront. Crack open a cold something, crack into a bucket of prawns and contemplate your national culinary journey.
