A Trip News

Beneath the bush, west of Sydney, are the treasures of the world’s oldest open cave system, writes Rachel Sullivan.
Welcome to the underworld. As the metal door clangs shut behind us and we trudge down the concrete-floored passageway, I suppress a niggling doubt that we will ever see daylight again (the doors work as a series of airlocks that protect the cave from pollution).
We are at the threshold of Orient Cave, one of the most spectacular at Jenolan.
A surge of unexpected (more…)

Paradise comes with an edge on the Isle of Pines, thanks to its famous trees, writes Danielle Teutsch.
It’s not supposed to rain at luxurious island resorts. The brochures never say so, the photos don’t suggest it and we don’t even consider the possibility when boarding the plane from Noumea to Le Meridien, a five-star enclave in the Isle of Pines.
But it doesn’t just rain, it pours when we check in - big sheets of water that soak our clothing and make our feet slide in our (more…)

With the economic crisis biting, finding affordable holiday options is paramount. With this in mind, Travel + Leisure’s correspondents have travelled the globe, from the tiny undiscovered island of Holbox, on Mexico’s Caribbean coast, to the shores of New Zealand’s South Island. What we found: 25 perfect escapes for less than $300 a night. MERIMBULA, NSW
$163
Coast Resort’s (1 Elizabeth Street, Merimbula, NSW; 02 6495 4930; www.coastresort. (more…)

The wine, food and accommodation are rightly acclaimed and very close to town, writes Susan Gough Henly.
Just an hour from Melbourne the retail shopping strips fall away and the Yarra Valley’s undulating green landscape opens out before you, a patchwork of vineyards interspersed with the occasional dairy farm or orchard, framed by misty, blue mountains.
The Victorian wine industry was born here more than 150 years ago. Today, it is considered one of Australia’s premium cool-climate (more…)

Patricia Maunder takes an enjoyable journey to a guest house with old-fashioned appeal.
I feel like I’m in an Agatha Christie or P. G. Wodehouse novel (without the murders or farce). Sitting on one of the wide verandas’ big, comfy cane chairs, enjoying a pot of loose-leaf tea while the late afternoon sun casts a glow across the English-style garden, I can almost picture Strathvea’s 1920s beginnings.
It’s spring and the azaleas and huge rhododendrons are blooming; there are (more…)

Cultures combine to give Mauritius a unique identity, writes Glenn A. Baker.
Take a 10-minute stroll down a beach at Bel Ombre at the southern end of Mauritius and you just might think you’ve wandered on to a Universal Studios backlot. What meets your eyes is a combo of cultures - a sequence of styles drawn from countries that have played a role in the settlement and evolution of this lush Indian Ocean island.
This sweep of splendour begins with the spectacular Voile d’Or Resort (more…)

Where are the best places on Earth to lace up your hiking boots? Christopher Somerville makes his choices.
Travel has never been easier for those who like to hike. Guided walks and the companies that offer them have never been so numerous. Who doesn’t know someone who has hiked to Machu Picchu or climbed Mount Kilimanjaro or gone trekking in the Himalayas?
It doesn’t matter where you are in the world: walking is the way to go. It’s clean and green but, more than that, it’s (more…)

The Pinnacles Desert in Western Australia is a phenomenal natural treat, writes Andy Phillips.
Mike Newton cocks his head towards the sandy ground at our feet: “Stop right where you are.” Without another word, he falls to his knees and thrusts the tips of his fingers into a tiny ridge of sand branching out from a nearby plant. He runs the edges of his fingers along the length of the ridge as if trying to dig up whatever has caused them.
“I think it must have gone,” he says. (more…)

Andrew Stephens finds modern apartments in an old post office.
The old post office in Echuca stands proudly above the town, competing only with the splendour of the historic flour mill (now a restaurant and bar) and the damp-stained industrial workmanship of a water tower several blocks away.
Like a miniature version of Melbourne’s GPO, but whitewashed, this lovely 1879 building has a beautiful clocktower with a large timepiece. So it is with some trepidation that we book an (more…)

The geography of zinfandel is dominated by the Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma County, California. Its winding hillsides form a kind of promised land for gnarly old zinfandel vines, which produce wines that have a nobility seemingly at odds with the grape's brambly, outlier reputation.
Other regions, too, have staked a claim to zinfandel. The Russian River Valley produces lively, exuberant zins, while the Sierra Foothills offer an intense, jammier style. I've always liked the precise, (more…)