Hobart festival celebrates maritime traditions

Tasmanians love a good festival and one of the most popular - The Australian Wooden Boat Festival (AWBF) - returns early in the new year. 

The festival - held every two years - will take over the Hobart waterfront from February 5-8 with Working Boats as its central theme. 

It is Tasmania's largest free event and the biggest celebration of wooden boats and maritime culture in the southern hemisphere, shining a spotlight on the various vessels that have carried people and cargo, supported livelihoods and connected communities for generations.

Hundreds of wooden vessels will dock : from historic fishing boats and trading vessels to elegant yachts, tall ships and traditional sailing craft. 

The 2027 fleet will include visiting vessels from Bali, Sulawesi, Taiwan, Japan and New Zealand, bringing an international dimension to the festival. 

AWBF general manager and festival director Paul Stephanus said the Working Boats theme provides an opportunity to share the stories of the vessels and the people behind them.

"Our Working Boats theme celebrates the wooden boats that earn their keep, carry people and cargo, and connect communities," he said. 

"Every vessel has a story, and we're looking forward to bringing those stories together on Hobart's waterfront, whether they've sailed across oceans or just around the corner."

Returning Festival favourites include the Shipwrights Village, Noisy Boatyard, Wooden Boat Symposium, Little Sailors Village and Maritime Marketplace, alongside new exhibitions, demonstrations, performances and opportunities for visitors of all ages to experience maritime culture first hand.

The 2027 Australian Wooden Boat Festival Program and website are now live at www.awbf2027.org.au, 

Potts Point party to celebrate Beaujolais Nouveau Day

Beaujolais Nouveau Day is back baby!

Parisian-inspired Sydney wine bar La Buvette will celebrate Beaujolais Nouveau Day on Thursday,  November 19, with a street party, pouring exclusively Beaujolais wines for the night, alongside a short menu of snacks drawn from the region's traditional dishes.

Held on the third Thursday of November, Beaujolais Nouveau Day marks the release of the first wine from the year’s vintage. 

In France, it’s a long-standing reason to gather and drink, and the team behind La Buvette is bringing the tradition to Potts Point after several years in which the festival went largely ignored. 

Every glass and bottle served at La Buvette will come from Beaujolais. 

The list will span the region’s crus, alongside a few Beaujolais Blancs, a rarer white expression of the region. 

Inside, the bar will be cleared for standing drinkers, while outside diners will be served a short menu including pissaladière tartlet with Olasagasti anchovies; potato rosti with sour cream, trout roe and chives; Lyonnaise salad with frisée, hen’s egg and crispy guanciale; and coq au vin with pancetta lardons and pearl onions.

“Beaujolais Nouveau Day is one of the great excuses to get together and open a few bottles, and we’ve wanted to bring our own version of it to Sydney for a while,” says Nathan Sasi, chef and co-owner of The Goodies Hospitality. 

"La Buvette already has that spill-onto-the-street energy, so it felt like the right place to host it. We're opening some really good bottles, cooking a few classic Beaujolais snacks and letting the night roll from there."

The event will be open to all, with no bookings or tickets required. Food and drink will be available on consumption from 4pm until late, with standing room inside and table service outside.

Fiji switch: Goodbye Westin, hello JW Marriott

Marriott International's JW Marriott hotel brand will make its Pacific islands debut early next year. 

The JW Marriott Fiji Resort & Spa on Denarau Island will feature 282 keys and is expected to open in the first quarter of 2027. 

The signing marks the debut of the JW Marriott brand in the the region. 

This signing is part of a conversion deal of the existing Westin Fiji Golf Resort & Spa, which has been closed since January 2023. 

Plans for the revamped resort include premium rooms and suites, two-bedroom villas with private swimming pools, a large family pool and a dedicated adults-only pool with a poolside bar and dining. 

A new lobby and communal areas will include a kids club and a teen zone. 

Dining options will include JW Market, offering casual all-day refreshments and grab-and-go options; a specialty restaurant drawing on Japanese influences with locally sourced ingredients; a wine and cocktail-focused lounge; and an elevated dining and cultural experience rooted in Fijian tradition.

“Fiji is one of the Pacific’s most compelling resort destinations, and we are excited to work with Fiji National Provident Fund to introduce JW Marriott to the market," said said Rajeev Menon, regonal president for Marriott International.

"JW Marriott’s focus on mindful experiences, meaningful connections and holistic well-being is a natural complement to the resort’s beautiful natural setting on Denarau Island."

New Asian journeys go above and beyond for wildlife lovers

Luxe travel group andBeyond is marking 20 years in Asia by launching five Limited Edition Small Group Journeys for 2028. 

Each of the tours will be hosted by an expert whose life’s work is bound up with the landscapes, species and cultures they reveal. 

The collection will include:

# Red Pandas and Tigers, Nepal, with naturalist Harsha Jayaramaiah
# Snow Leopard Expedition, Ladakh, with wildlife scientist Dr Raghu Chundawat
# Rediscovering Monkey Kingdom, Sri Lanka, with andBeyond private guide Toby Sinclair
# From Himalaya to Kolkata, a Ganges cruise, also with Sinclair, who was an associate producer on the BBC series Ganges
# From Patna to Kolkata, a Lower Ganges cruise, with historian and author Rudrangshu Mukherjee

The journeys build on andBeyond’s Asia story, which began in India in 2006 and has since grown to include teams in Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Nepal, as well as its first owned lodge in the region, andBeyond Punakha River Lodge, which opened in 2023. 

Specialising in tailor-made, high-end travel, andBeyond says it is guided by its philosophy of “Care of the Land, Wildlife & People”, weaving conservation and community support into every immersive nature, wildlife and cultural experience.

Departures are limited, with intimate group sizes, expert expedition leaders and access "shaped by long-standing regional relationships". 

See www.andBeyond.com

Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts does its bit for the less fortunate

Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts is among my favourite hospitality brands; its hotels have a relaxed charm across the board. 

Mövenpick this week launched its 11th year of Kilo of Kindness, inviting guests, staff and local communities to come together through simple acts of generosity that can make a meaningful difference.

Running until November 27, this year's global activation will see 90+ Mövenpick hotels partner with local charities to collect the essential goods most needed by their communities, from non-perishable food and school supplies to clothing and personal care items.

Since its launch in 2015, Kilo of Kindness has grown from one simple idea - that even a small contribution can make a difference. 

Adrian Williams, Chief Operating Officer for Accor Pacific, says: “For more than a decade, Kilo of Kindness has demonstrated the incredible impact our hotels, Heartists (hotel staff) and guests can have when they come together with a shared purpose. 

"Across the Pacific, we see first hand the difference these acts of kindness make in the communities where we live and work. Whether it's donating essential items, volunteering time or supporting local causes, every contribution helps create meaningful change and reflects the spirit of hospitality at the heart of Accor.”

Across the Pacific, all four Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts will take part in this year's global activation, working with local charity partners to respond to the needs of their individual communities.

In Australia, Mövenpick Hotel Hobart will partner with the Hobart Women's Shelter for the fourth consecutive year, collecting non-perishable food, clean clothing, toys and everyday essentials for women and children escaping family violence and homelessness. 

Mövenpick Hotel Melbourne on Spencer will continue its partnership with DV Collective, while in New Zealand, Mövenpick Hotel Auckland will partner with Auckland City Mission and Mövenpick Hotel Wellington will once again partner with Wellington City Mission. 

The 2026 activation will also encompass World Kindness Day on November 13. 

How to get involved: Visit Movenpick.com to find a participating Mövenpick hotel.

Virgin Australia drops seven-hour Halloween sale

Virgin Australia is jumping on the Halloween bandwagon with some "seriously spooky-low airfares".

The Australian carrier has launched a seven-hour flash sale available to book from 4pm AEDT today with fares starting from $55 across domestic and short-haul international destinations.

Virgin says the sale includes weekend escapes and holiday getaways to international destinations like Queenstown, Bali, Vanuatu and Fiji from $388 return.

Fares will be available to book here from 4pm until 11pm,

Some of the offers include Sydney-Ballina (Byron Bay) from $55, Brisbane-Newcastle from $99, Melbourne-Gold Coast from $105 and Perth-Adelaide from $209.

International return economy lite fares include Melbourne-Queenstown from $388, Brisbane-Port Vila (Vanuatu) from $519, Melbourne-Denpasar (Bali) from $525 and Sydney-Nadi (Fiji) from $539.