Marta Dusseldorp, star of A Place to Call Home, reveals her secret holiday spots

SYDNEY is her Place to Call Home but Marta Dusseldorp has other hidden destinations where her travel passion lies.

ART HOUSE: Tasmania’s MONA – the Museum of Old and New Art – is one of Australia’s star a

WITH a career spanning more than two decades Marta Dusseldorp is a deft hand at sinking her teeth into complex characters, her lead role as Sarah Adams on A Place to Call Home no exception.

Despite her recent on-screen success Dusseldorp says theatre gives her the greatest thrill – she spent three years feeding off the danger of live performance with the Sydney Theatre Company.

Marta Dusseldorp says travel helped her find out who she really was.

She delights in travel, catching clever theatre productions wherever she goes.

Where’s your place to call home?

MD: Sydney. I always imagined leaving here and living in New York or London but now I think Sydney, or at least somewhere in Australia, is the best place to bring up our kids. The beach, the walks, the parks, the mountains … it’s such a vibrant, alert and open city with great galleries, artists, conversations. And my extended family are here, too.

Best theatre production?

MD: There are so many, but the ones that return to me in my dreams are Robert Wilson’s mind-bending production of The Black Rider that toured here in 2005. The miraculous Tom Waits did the music. I saw Murx (Marx in English) by Swiss director Christoph Marthale in Berlin at the Volksbuhne. It was in German without subtitles and yet I understood every moment. It was genius.

Favourite place to travel in Australia? Why?

MD: Tasmania. It is so raw and untouched and now MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) exists you can go from French artist Hubert Duprat’s first solo exhibition in Australia to wandering through rainforests and spotting echidnas on the Cradle Mountain walk.

Overseas?

MD: At the moment it’s Japan. We go as a family and explore a different prefecture each time. It is such a different culture to ours. The people are so gentle and kind towards my children (Grace and Maggie). Oh, and everything runs on time to the second, which I love (laughs).

Has anything gone wrong while on your travels?

MD: I had my passport and money stolen from under my sleeping head while travelling on a train, in Christchurch, New Zealand, in my early 20s. Some generous soul kindly gave me enough money to stay at a hostel that night and I sorted it out in the morning.

Best place you’ve ever stayed?

MD: One of the best was Kooljaman at Cape Leveque, 220km north of Broome at the tip of the Dampier Peninsula. My husband (Benjamin Winspear) and I had our first non-kids holiday there for three nights. Heaven (laughs).

Where did you go on your first trip overseas?

MD: My mum and dad took my sister and I around the canals of Holland and Germany on a barge. I remember sharing a tiny cabin at the front of our boat with my sister, wandering though fields of daisies and cobblestone streets.

What has travel taught you?

MD: When you travel you find out who you really are. Friendships and families are strengthened, memories refreshed and home is then a great place to come back to.

Marta Dusseldorp stars as Sarah Adams on A Place to Call Home, Sundays at 8.30pm on Seven.

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