Qantas launches non-stop Sydney-Cape Town flights

Australians will soon be able to bypass Johannesburg and fly non-stop to Cape Town for the first time.

Qantas has announced a new seasonal service between Sydney and South Africa’s second city, a brilliant tourism destination and home to superb wine tourism experiences.

Now on sale, the direct flights will take off in October 2027 and run through Cape Town’s summer months until March 2028.

Together with Qantas’ existing direct services from Perth and Sydney to Johannesburg, the new route will give customers more choices when travelling between Australia and South Africa.

Once launched, it will add almost 30,000 seats between Australia and South Africa and is made possible by the introduction of new Qantas 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft arriving in late 2027 as part of the largest fleet renewal in the airline's history.

The new route comes 75 years after Qantas operated its first scheduled passenger service to South Africa.

In 1952, the Wallaby Route to Johannesburg took 66 hours via Perth, the Cocos Islands and Mauritius. Next year, customers will be able to leave Sydney in the morning and land in Cape Town the same day.

More than 120,000 Australians visited South Africa in 2025, with demand continuing to grow.

“Cape Town is a true bucket-list city and Australia’s appetite to visit has never been stronger," says Qantas International CEO Cam Wallace:

"Each year, tens of thousands of customers use our existing Johannesburg services to connect to Cape Town through our partner airlines Airlink, so we know there’s strong demand for a non-stop service.

“The arrival of our new 787s as part of our historic fleet renewal gives us the flexibility to grow our international network in places we know our customers want to travel, while also creating new opportunities for our people.”

Return fares will cost from $2,470.

Meet Hobart's new sweet-tooth central

 

Hobart has a new waterfront destination for lovers of all things sweet. 

Much-loved gelateria Gelato Messina and its sister bakery Shadow Baking will open their first Tasmanian store on Saturday, November 7, at Elizabeth Street Pier. 

The combined store is only the third of its kind in Australia, following Marrickville in Sydney and North Adelaide, and brings two of Australia's cult brands to the island state for the first time. 

Like all Messina stores, the Hobart iteration will feature 40 freshly churned flavours daily, incorporating 30 classics and 10 monthly specials. They will be accompanied by Shadow Baking’s signature pastries, weekly specials, toasties, hot coffee and summer drinks. 

Both brands will offer a bespoke range of cakes with Messina serving four new gelato creations, and Shadow Baking stocking their three core cakes. 

To mark the opening, both brands have created special products harnessing the Tasmanian flavour of Miellerie’s pure cold-extracted leatherwood honey, harvested from south-west Tasmania’s World Heritage wilderness.

Messina’s “Apple Of My Isle” (above) is a leatherwood honey gelato with caramelised apple and croissant crunch, while Shadow Baking’s Leatherwood Honey & Dark Chocolate Tart is filled with Leatherwood honey caramel and baked dark chocolate custard, topped with vanilla cream, leatherwood honey jelly and dark chocolate shavings. 

Both specials are exclusively available at the new Hobart store from opening day, before the tart reaches other Shadow Baking stores from Tuesday, November 10.

Gelato Messina and Shadow Baking executive chef Tom Mitchell said: “Leatherwood honey is one of Tasmania’s great treasures, and we wanted our first Hobart flavours to honour some of the flavours unique to the island. 

"We can’t wait to share them with locals and visitors on the spectacular Hobart waterfront.”

The new store will be open daily. 8am-9:30pm, Sunday-Thursday and 8am-10:30pm, Friday-Saturday. 

# Gelato Messina has more than 30 stores nationwide. 

Dark Mofo returns: Delay can be fatal

Move quickly. Do not delay.

It is the time of the year when air tickets to Hobart get snapped up; hotels are fully booked and events sell out.

Dark Mofo, Australia’s mid-winter solstice festival, is returning for its 13th iteration next year, organisers announced today.

The 2027 edition will be held in lutruwita/Tasmania from Wednesday, June 9, to Tuesday, June 22.

Dark Mofo will expand its art and music program to include two Wednesdays in 2027, beginning on June 9 with The Gathering to herald the opening of the festival.

Programmed for the first time by Kieran Lonergan, the Palawa hip-hop artist also known as KIZ, The Gathering will be a First Nations-led celebration of culture, storytelling and connection to country.

Alongside large-scale public art installations, live performances, and exclusive musical acts, popular festival rituals will return.

Visitors will be invited to "nourish both body and soul" at the candlelit Winter Feast, purge their fears in the fiery catharsis that is the Ogoh-Ogoh procession and burning, and celebrate the end of the longest night of the year with the Nude Solstice Swim.

A strictly limited first release of tickets to Night Mass -Dark Mofo’s late-night labyrinth - will go on sale at 10am on Tuesday (November 10), available to those who have pre-registered via the Dark Mofo website.

The full festival program will be announced next year.

‘Today we begin rousing the beast that is Dark Mofo," said event artistic director Chris Twite.

"2027 will be our thirteenth iteration and we are pulling together another ambitious program of art, music, food and ritual for locals and visitors alike to plunge into headfirst.

"We are excited to extend the festival, bringing forward the opening for a night of performance, celebration and community at The Gathering. There are many revelations in store. For those who can’t wait, or don’t trust their luck, a special limited presale of Night Mass tickets will go live next week."

Dark Mofo 2026 attracted nearly 50,000 interstate and overseas visitors to Tasmania, and injected $71.8 million into the Tasmanian economy.

Tasmanian Minister for Tourism, Hospitality and Events Roger Jaensch said: ‘From arts and performances to music and food, there is something for everyone at Dark Mofo.

"We know Dark Mofo is a major drawcard for visitors to Tasmania, with this year’s festival attracting nearly 116,000 individual visitors and generating more than $71.8 million for our state’s economy."

You can subscribe to the Dark Mofo mailing list for updates.

# Dark Mofo is a project of the Museum of Old and New Art (Mona), supported by the Tasmanian Government through Events Tasmania, with additional support from the City of Hobart.

Meet a new boutique hotel brand with designs on Bali, Hong Kong and Melbourne

There is a new player in the global luxury boutique hotel space.

Portier Hotels, launched in 2023, this week introduced The Arc House, a new collection of "design-forward boutique lifestyle hotels".

The brand makes its debut with The Arc House Canggu (above), now open in Bali, and will expand to Hong Kong later this year and Melbourne in early 2027.

Arc House properties will be set in city-centre and neighbourhood locations.

Portier Hotels is a Hong Kong-based hospitality group with a portfolio of distinctive hotel brands.

"Portier Hotels was founded with a simple ambition of creating hospitality brands with a clear point of view and the discipline to deliver on it every day," says Edward McKenna, co-founder of Portier Hotels.

"Asia-Pacific is a region of very different travel cultures, and increasingly guests expect hotels to reflect that richness.

"They look for design, service and food that bring them closer to a place, rather than offering the same experience in every destination.

"That's the differentiation that Portier Hotels offers through our brands."

The Arc House Canggu is located close to Batu Bolong Beach and near to to independent dining, retail, wellness and after-hours energy.

The hotel has 19 private-pool suite villas along with a restaurant and rooftop infinity pool.

MYKAZA is an Indonesian-Japanese dining concept.

The Arc House Hong Kong (render below) will open in Central, Hong Kong, with 24 rooms.



The Arc House will continue its expansion with a Melbourne opening planned for early 2027. It will be a 43-room boutique hotel.

Further details on its location, design and guest experience will be announced closer to opening. See https://thearchouse.co/

Images: The Arc House

Australians urged to forget the beach and develop an Orange crush

The delightful Orange Wine Region in the Central West of NSW has launched a new campaign to spread the words on its charm.

The new "Enjoy the Now" campaign invites Sydneysiders to trade the crowded coast for a country summer with a little less rush and a lot more room for the moments that matter.

"Enjoy the Now" encourages visitors to disconnect, seek adventure, soak up the beauty of nature and embrace the small moments that become cherished memories.

The campaign positions the Orange Region as a place where life’s real moments of connection happen, right now.

“This is how we summer in the Orange Region,” said David Cumming, director of the region's destination marketing organisation, Orange 360.

“There’s a feeling to summer out here that’s hard to explain until you experience it for yourself. It’s the local gems, the unexpected discoveries, the conversations that linger and the people who make you feel like you belong.

"We’re inviting visitors to slow down, discover somewhere different and experience summer like a local.”

Local people and businesses are at the heart of the campaign, which was shot on location in the region and features 20+ local operators and faces.

Veteran winemaker Phillip Shaw brings crisp cool-climate wines, Hillside Harvest provides fresh seasonal produce, and Jumbled adds a burst of colour and fashion.

Together they aim to show a side of summer that the coast can’t offer: fresh produce, crisp regional wines, space to roam and time to share it all with friends.

The campaign is aimed at Sydney, Canberra and regional NSW markets and will run across digital, paid social and owned channels until January 31.

It was developed with House of Groms and you can follow along on @orange360_allyearround social channels and the dedicated campaign landing page.

To coincide with the launch, De Russie Boutique Hotel is offering “Ease into Monday” deal. Arrive on Sunday and enjoy 20% off your entire stay, until December 31.

Family friendly winery Heifer Station is offering "pay for 2 nights, stay for 3" at its Loft House accommodation through to the end of the year, making a school holiday getaway even more tempting.

You can find more summer deals here.

“This isn’t just an invitation to visit,” Cumming said. “It’s an invitation to join us out here and Enjoy the Now.”

Look out: there are dangerous lanterns about

Imagine an airport closing down at night because local residents are launching lanterns into the sky.

That's the case in Thailand, where Chiang Mai International Airport (above) has announced it will cut its daily flight operating window from around 20 hours to about 12 hours during the 2026 Yi Peng and Loy Krathong celebrations.

The reason given: mass sky lantern releases near flight paths.

Flights will be suspended during the main lantern-release period from 7pm to 1am on the nights of Tuesday, November 24, and Wednesday, November 25, news outlet Asean Now reports.

Airlines have already cancelled 108 flights, re-timed 80 and added 105 extra services for November 21-28.

Group Captain Sakan Udol, the airport's general manager, said sky lanterns, illuminated lanterns and smoke lanterns will be released in several parts of Chiang Mai during the festival.

More than 200,000 sky lanterns and smoke lanterns are expected within the airport's aviation safety zone.

Airlines have been asked not to operate from 10am to noon on November 24, and from 7pm until 1am the following morning on both November 24 and 25.

The restrictions are intended to prevent lanterns and other airborne objects from endangering aircraft and engines, while allowing the Lanna festival traditions to continue.

# Yi Peng and Loy Krathong are Chiang Mai's twin festivals of light, held together over three nights on the full moon of the 12th lunar month.

Our Thai correspondent reports that every year some of the lanterns crash to earth starting structure fires.