Western Sydney: all grown up with its party pants on

 It is Western Sydney - but utterly unlike the Western Sydney of the past. 

There's a new landmark in town after the recent opening of  Cabravale Club Resort. 

The destination comes with its own hotel and is being promoted as "Australia's first integrated Club Resort".

The venue is the result of a multi-year transformation that has reimagined the century-old Cabravale Diggers Club. 

“This opening is more than a milestone - it's a moment of pride for Western Sydney," said CEO Boris Belevski. 

"Cabravale Club Resort represents a new era for our community: a place where people can stay, play and celebrate, right here in the west. We're showcasing what this region is capable of - ambition, energy and heart - and setting a new benchmark for hospitality in Australia.”

Club president Walter Robinson OAM said the opening represented both reflection and renewal.

“Our founders were 20 returned servicemen who built this club on values of service, courage and community," he said. " Those values remain at the heart of Cabravale Club Resort. We've honoured our past while building a future that the whole of Western Sydney can be proud of.”

Located in the heart of Cabramatta, the venue boasts Novotel Sydney Cabramatta - a  140-room hotel with a pool, gym and event facilities.

Dining options include including Magma by Dany Karam, Bistro 1925, District 8, Horizon Asian dining and Poppy Café.

Cabravale Event & Conference Centre is one of Western Sydney's largest event and convention centres, with a 600-seat convention centre also scheduled to open.

Further developments are also planned, including additional restaurants and a new café. 

See www.cabravale.com. 

New gourmet destination on the Bellarine Peninsula

Oakdene is one of the standout wine producers on the Bellarine Peninsula outside Geelong.

Now the Hooley family behind Oakdene is opening a new multi-million dollar wine, art and dining destination later this week.

Quiddity Place, surrounded by vines and olive groves (above), brings together a restaurant (Hidden Frog, led by chef Dwayne Bourke, who has 25+ years of experience), a cellar door and two art galleries.

There will also be boutique vineyard accommodation overlooking Swan Bay.

The sprawling Mannerim property has 60 acres of vines and more than 6,000 olive trees producing Lighthouse Olive Oil.

The family-friendly, non smoking facility features a gift shop, electric vehicle charging point and function spaces. 

Hidden Frog will open for lunch Wednesday to Sunday, and dinner Friday and Saturday nights. 

Think small plates like pan-seared scallops with edamame puree and miso butter, or pork belly with maple caramel pears, kohlrabi and radish salad. 

Bigger plates may include baked Roman-style pumpkin gnocchi with tomato sugo, broccolini and gremolata, or slow-cooked lamb shoulder, red pepper jam, zucchini caponata and new potatoes. 

All dishes can be matched with Oakdene wines. 

See https://www.quiddityplace.com.au/

Looking for the best holiday choice for getting a good sleep?

You've heard of art tourism. Wine tourism is a thing, as is sex tourism. 

What about sleep tourism? 

Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, has been named the top European city for sleep tourism in a study of 300 cities by MattressNextDay that analysed environmental and lifestyle data across major European cities, including air quality, green space, light and noise pollution, nightlife density, rainfall and temperature.

 

In Vilnius, 61% of the urban area is green, trees cover 48% of the city, and 95% of locals live within 300 metres of greenery.

While research has shown 34% of adults worldwide struggle with falling asleep, and over half of Gen Zers list anxiety as a factor affecting their sleep, Vilnius is one of Europe’s most relaxing capitals, local tourism officials boast. 

With Lithuania already recognisedas the World’s Best Wellness Destination by the ITB Health Tourism Awards 2025, Vilnius’ accolade as the European Sleep Capital makes the Lithuanian capital an emerging hub for restful vacations.

Here are five local wellness rituals, integrated into city life, that help Vilnius locals and guests sleep tight.

Baltic five-senses ritual (PACAI SPA, Old Town)

Delivered in the vaulted cellar of the renewed 17th-century Pacai Palace, this multi-sensory ritual incorporates Lithuania’s coasts and forests into a calm treatment. The experience begins with a four-hand full-body massage and a gentle chime of Old Town bells, blended with the Baltic Sea and Curonian Lagoon soundscape. Visitors are then invited to taste natural birch sap, and smell hand-picked linden, chamomile, and clover. 

Cloud9 thermal circuit (Bokšto SPA, Bokšto Square)

Set underneath the Bokšto Square complex in restored medieval cellars, this circuit builds heat and recovery in deliberate steps. The 25-meter, four-lane pool sets the pace for cycles of classic sauna, salt sauna, and hammam, with short cold plunges in between. The signature element is Cloud9, which is a short vibro-acoustic session on a softly rocking bed that helps the nervous system unwind.

Master-led sauna ritual (Ivãnas Muša Gongã, Kalvarijų Street)

In a boutique setting just a few minutes from the city centre, groups stay small, so the sauna master can set the right tempo. Guests can expect timed garas (steam waves), traditional birch or oak vanta whisking, aroma infusions of natural smells, and simple breath-work, with contrasting cold-water dips sealing each round.

Contrast ritual (Vytautas Muša Gongã, Lukiškės Prison)

A temporary igloo-shaped outdoor sauna will open after the New Year inside the courtyard of the former Lukiškės Prison, now a cultural venue. This sauna alternates short heat sets with cold-water bath. Small groups and thick walls of the igloo make it very quiet, so the hot–cold contrast feels stronger, and it’s easy to focus on breathing and pace.

Three-hour heritage sauna (Pilaitė Mill Bathhouses)

Next to Sudervėlė stream and a 1923 windmill, three bathhouses – the Old, the Great, and the Small – host unhurried, master-guided rituals. Over roughly three hours, measured steam dosings and vanta whiskings are paired with applications of honey and salt, complete with calm intervals by the pond or river. The forest setting and preserved wooden buildings do the rest, helping guests switch off without leaving the city.

Transitioning from relaxation to science, the conversation about wellness and sleep will continue in Vilnius on November 22 at the Sleep Fest. The event will bring in international voices who turn sleep science into simple routines that everyone can apply in their daily lives to lower anxiety and improve sleep.

“Sleep Fest is about bridging the gap between science and real-life challenges," says organiser Diana Augunaitė.

"We’re trying to show that better sleep and calmer minds aren’t luxuries, but necessities anyone could have through building everyday habits that help to improve the overall wellbeing.” 

# Go Vilnius is the official tourism and business development agency of the City of Vilnius. The agency provides visitors, investors, and businesses with all the essential information about the Lithuanian capital. www.govilnius.lt

Date clash a serious stuff up for Hobart's winter tourism industry

The Tasmanian capital of Hobart is extremely quiet for virtually every weekend of winter.

Hotels have empty rooms; restaurants bemoan empty tables.

So the announcement on November 3 that crowd-pulling Dark Mofo, Australia's mid-winter solstice festival, would return to Hobart from Thursday June 11 to Monday June 22 universally welcomed.

Alongside the festival’s large-scale public art installations, will be live performances and exclusive musical acts.

Dark Mofo 2026 will also include familiar rituals: Winter Feast, Night Mass, the Ogoh-Ogoh burning and the Nude Solstice Swim.

Hotels will be full; bars and restaurants heaving.

That only leaves a dozen other weekends when Hobart's tourism operators would welcome some help from other events.

What a wasted opportunity then that after the hapless Tasmanian Government paid a million dollars for Richmond to play one home AFL game in Hobart in 2026, the AFL last week announced its fixture list.

Sure enough, the AFL chose Sunday, June 14, for the Hobart match between Richmond and reigning AFL premiers Brisbane.

Accommodation will be at a premium; many flights will be full with Dark Mofo attendees and any remaining seats will be priced stratospherically.

So who stuffed up? Jane Howlett, minister for tourism and events will plead ignorance. Dark Mofo will say it had announced its dates well in advance.

The AFL, one of the most arrogant sporting bodies on the planet, is unlikely to give a damn.

There will be two victims. The Tasmanian tourism industry. And interstate fans of Richmond and Brisbane. Just another stuff up. A shrug of the shoulders, Just move on.      

Investing in Champagne: the good, the bad and the bubbly

Australians are prodigious drinkers of Champagne - even more so over the Christmas period when a glass or two of bubbles is de rigueur for many.

Wine broker Langtons has just released Australia's largest allocation of luxury Champagne and is promoting it as an investment.

Australia is consistently landing in the top 10 markets for Champagne globally and Langtons believes "the local fine wine market is expected to mimic overseas success with Champagne making it a key collection and investment category for fine wine enthusiasts".

My advice is to always buy wine you want to drink down the track, not merely as as an investment. To my palate Champagne does not improve with age. Others disagree. 

“When it comes to cellaring, Champagne is a category that deserves more of the spotlight here in Australia," says Michael Anderson, head of auctions at Langtons.

"As we’ve seen overseas, Champagne has an impressive ageing potential which sees the wine develop with grace to place itself as a wine category regularly fetching eye-watering prices under the hammer.

"We can expect to see Champagne rise up the ranks in the secondary market here in Australia, with savvy investors already purchasing sought-after bottles to cellar away for future auctioning."

Overseas, avid collectors are displaying an ever-growing interest in rare cuvées, prestige bottlings, and late-disgorged releases and most recently, non-vintage (NV) Champagnes are also joining this list, Langtons says. 

We shall see. 

Margaret River welcomes back an 80s classic

A reborn wine business in Margaret River has gone back to the 80s for inspiration for its first release. 

Wrights Vineyard's Ian Wright has reimagined his parents' famous Wrights Winery White Port and re-imagined it in a style perfect for an aperitif over ice or cellaring for 10 years to enjoy later as a digestif.

Now known as Wrights Vineyard Fortified Chardonnay the fortified wine has been re-created by award-winning winemaker Julian Langworthy, who scientifically tested the make-up of an original Wrights white port and replicated it using grapes from chardonnay cuttings from the original vines. 

A limited release of 300 500ml bottles is now available to purchase online.

No road trip to Margaret River in the ‘80s and early ‘90s was complete without a stop by the Wrights Wines cellar door (now Juniper Estate) for a bottle of White Port. 

Starting in 1973, Henry and Maureen Wright were pioneers of Margaret River winemaking, alongside the likes of Vasse Felix, Moss Wood, Cullen, Sandalford and Leeuwin Estate.

Wrights Wines was located on Harmans Mill Road opposite Vasse Felix. 

Their son Ian launched Wrights Vineyard in 2023 on a vineyard in Cowaramup that has a track record and includes cuttings from original Wrights Wines vines.

Ian believes there is still a market for the ‘80s after-dinner favourite.

“I was surprised when researching that there other winemakers were not doing fortified whites,” he said.

“30 years on, it feels like a good time to bring it back.

“It really sits comfortably in current drinks trends. Our fortified chardonnay has white nectarine and fig nuances of Margaret River chardonnay, but as we’ve taken it into fortified territory, it feels like a spirit on the palate.

“We recommend drinking it now as a refreshing aperitif over ice or cellaring over the next 10 years and enjoying after dinner as a digestif.” 

This is floral, fruity and distinctively different. A vinous walk back in time. Try it over ice. 

The 500ml bottles have just been released, priced at $60 per bottle. Shipping commences in the first week of December.

Images: DanielaTommasi Photography

Find out more at wrightsvineyard.com.au