Why did I wait so long to visit Athens? My 13 travel highlights of 2024

Sure, travel can have its moments of frustration, but the highs make it worth every delayed flight or uncomfortable seat. Here are the moments that really shone for me in 2024.

Best discovery

I was a late-comer to Athens.Credit: iStock

Why have I not travelled to Athens before? I have always imagined it would be historically fascinating, but didn’t realise it is so youthful and lively. In its bones a creative and politically progressive city, it is attracting young people from all over the world – it’s cheap(ish), sunny, friendly and surrounded by islands and beaches. Did I mention the food?

Best thrill

An emotional experience: Phinda Private Game Reserve.

Early one morning, at &BEYOND Phinda Private Game Reserve in South Africa, I joined trackers, veterinarians and &BEYOND’s CEO, Joss Kent, in an expedition to tranquillise and painlessly remove the horn of a young black rhino, as part of a program to save the endangered animals from poachers. It was a hugely emotional experience and a great example of lodge guests taking part in conservation.

Best meal

This was the year I licked a rock. True, it was covered with a yoghurt-wasabi-eucalyptus cream, which was palatable, and served in a lovely 1902 teahouse in the middle of Adelaide’s Botanical Gardens, but it did feel a little weird. Not every dish on the mega-course degustation menu at Botanic is delicious, but it’s all fascinating, being based around leaves, seeds and plants grown in the garden, dramatically orchestrated, and unforgettable.

Best spa

The word bliss is often bandied about, but I achieved true bliss this year wallowing about in the cascading mineral springs at Zebedee Springs, WA, during a stay at famed El Questro Homestead. Guests of the luxury lodge have the warm rainforest pools to themselves each afternoon and there are a multitude of private rockpools on offer, depending on how high you’re prepared to climb up the waterfall. Nature’s spa is always the best.

Best tour

A good food tour is my go-to way to discover any city. I joined a fabulous Istanbul tour several years ago with Culinary Backstreets, and in October, I returned to try another, through the literal backstreets of Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar, and it was equally as wonderful. I met lovely characters, learnt a lot about a part of the city I wouldn’t have accessed alone, and ate far too much.

Best stay

Bullo River Station in Western Australia’s Kimberley is a miraculous place – a working cattle station on 161,874 hectares which is being farmed with best-practice sustainable management. The restored homestead, decorated gorgeously by Sibella Court, sits in a beautiful landscape, with lakes, rivers, gorges and wetlands full of brolga and other bird life. Incredible hospitality and fantastic home cooking puts Bullo up there with the best places I’ve stayed.

Best cruise

In fact, it was the only cruise I did this year, but my journey on Explora I from Istanbul to Athens would have been a contender in any year. The destinations on this cruise, including Istanbul, Paros and Athens, were sublime, but most of all I loved hanging out onboard, on a ship that felt very much like my personal motor yacht – with a few hundred friends along.

Best guestroom

Saffire Freycinet, 14 years after I first visited, is still one of Australia’s most beautiful lodges, with its wonderful scenery, outstanding architecture, and fine dining emphasising the best local produce and wines. There are few hotel rooms in Australia that can surpass the experience of waking up to the panoramic view of The Hazards mountain range.

Best island

I found my dream tropical island this year. Adults-only Waya Island in Fiji’s Yasawa group is only two hours by ferry from Denarau. Unusually for Fiji, it has a dramatic, craggy landscape like Tahiti. I loved its no-bling simplicity, which is a kind of luxury these days. Ensconced in a beachfront bure, all I did was beachcomb, swim, nap, eat locally caught fish and read. I didn’t need anything else.

Best return

The Great Room at Southern Ocean Lodge has been recreated pretty much as it was.Credit: George Apostolidis

Southern Ocean Lodge on Kangaroo Island reopened after being destroyed by the January 2020 bushfires and I returned early this year to check out the rebuild. It’s more wonderful than ever, if possible. The first time you walk into the resort’s Great Room with its breathtaking 180-degree view of the wild coast and pounding surf is one of travel’s biggest wows. Sitting in the lounge around the fire with a glass of South Australian shiraz – even better.

Also…

Best hotel breakfast Macq01, Hobart. A Bircher muesli that’s off the charts.

Best lobby The Okura Tokyo. Original 1960s cool.

Best flight Landing on top of Champagne Falls in one of Bullo River Station’s nifty helicopters.

What were your travel highlights of 2024? Leave a comment below.