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Charis Perkins

November

HX Hurtigruten Expeditions,

10 top luxury cruises to sail away on in 2025

There’s plenty to tempt guests away from relaxing on their cabin verandas as cruise companies offer ever-more immersive, exciting and educational itineraries.

Portrait Milano in Milan, Italy

10 new and extraordinary international hotels to book in 2025

From New York City to Rome, luxury hospitality is being redefined. These city stays are destinations in themselves.

Castaway villa will be the crème de la crème of luxury Maldives.

10 country and coastal retreats to book in 2025

Get away from it all at these luxury lodgings primed for relaxation, solitude and wellbeing.

October

At these ultra-luxe Maldives resorts, you could be in for a surprise

Take up the alternative medical therapies or snorkel in transparent water with boundless reef fish. Each has its own wow factor.

June

Debbi Fields and Wade Shealy at the ThirdHome property where they stayed in Possums Creek

Do you have what it takes to join this exclusive home-swapping club?

The US-based founder of ThirdHome and his high-flying girlfriend have been in Australia to catch up with well-travelled members, entice new ones and talk to potential partners. To join you need one key asset.

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November 2023

Escape from it all at Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge on Vancouver Island during the northern summer months.

At this wilderness spa, you can swim in a glacial lake - and lick a slug

At Clayoquot Lodge in Canada, an average day might involve a glacial plunge and hauling yourself up to a waterfall through ancient forest. You won’t regret it.

November 2023

The festive rituals of six high-flyers from around the world

Family is at the heart of celebrations for these globetrotters – no matter who, or where, they are.

There are now more than 30 bison at the Wanuskewin Heritage Park near Saskatoon. They were reintroduced to the site after being driven to near extinction 150 years ago.

How a lonely cattle ranch became a contender for World Heritage status

To the unenlightened, the site outside the Canadian city of Saskatoon may not look like much. But buried below the surface is bountiful proof it’s been an important gathering place for 6400 years.

August 2023

Le Ponant under full sail.

Want to see the Kimberley the glamorous way? Try this three-mast ship

It’s easy to slip into the ebb and flow of a voyage up the coast on a legendary yacht, especially when the Aperol spritzes are made with Veuve Clicquot.

June 2023

Owners Gilbert Ponlot and Christelle Chardin say guests rarely leave their villas.

Vineyards be damned at this next-level Hunter Valley getaway

The luxe upgrade of Cedars Mount View by its new French owners has had unintended consequences: Once guests have checked in, they prefer not to leave.

March 2023

A “deconstructed” chandelier and 19- metre long bar run the length of Atria restaurant.

Getting high at the ultra-alluring new Ritz-Carlton in Melbourne

Wherever you look, there are bird’s-eye views over the city and bay through the double-height glass walls of the 80-floor sky lobby, and that’s just the start.

Tilda Swinton in Sydney in her role as ambassador for Chanel.

Tilda Swinton urges next-gen Australian creatives to just go for it

In a galvanising encounter organised by the luxury house Chanel, the actor tells students of film, theatre, art and design they need neither money nor powerful connections to create works of true worth.

The lounge club, bar and infinity pool at Cloud 22 look out over Palm Jumeira and Dubai’s skyline.

Inside Dubai’s $2.4b luxury hotel (and its 17 restaurants and bars)

The ultra-lavish new Atlantis The Royal breaks the mould in so many ways. Here are the stars behind one of the world’s most ambitious destination resorts.

December 2022

Le Commandant Charcot off the coast of Cape Colbeck.

The lifestyle stories we loved in 2022

If you missed these stories from the worlds of fashion, design, travel, motoring, fine dining and more the first time around, here’s another chance.

Charis Perkins’ Christmas conundrum.

Rushing about like mad over Christmas? Here’s why you should stop

Where once our house was festooned with cards depicting donkeys beaming down on baby Jesus and the like, now I mostly get gold-embossed ones from luxury brands.

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October 2022

Joanna Weinberg directs three community choirs in Sydney and has been creating and performing musical theatre, cabaret and film for 30 years.

Tune in to the real Fiji on this song-filled island holiday

On untrammelled Vanua Levu, singing is part of life. Next year, an exclusive and exotic tour offers guests the chance to sing along – and snorkel in between.

August 2022

The Issey Miyake Vogue Individualist pattern is still available for sale online through vintage pattern suppliers.

Issey Miyake and me

In the depths of apartheid South Africa, the Japanese designer offered me a pass into another, extraordinary world – all thanks to a Vogue sewing pattern.

July 2022

A tiny tender and paddleboards are provided for guests.

A night to remember in Sydney’s floating hotel for two

After a calamitous setback, an off-grid luxury retreat on a Pittwater pontoon is back, bigger and better than before – as long as there’s no southerly blowing.

June 2022

How to deliver haute cuisine on a cruise for weeks (in Antarctica)

Spare a thought for those who create thousands of high-end dishes for 25 days on a journey to the end of the Earth.

May 2022

The refurbished Le Ponant yacht accommodates 32 passengers in 16 cabins.

Now you can cruise the Kimberley on a three-mast sailing ship

The original vessel in French-flagged Ponant’s fleet, Le Ponant will take just 32 passengers on seven- to 14-night itineraries.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/by/charis-perkins-gvdkg2