How to save a motza at one of New Zealand's best luxury lodges

Nowhere does luxury lodges better than New Zealand - and one of the best is Matakauri Lodge, tucked away overlooking Lake Wakatipu just outside Queenstown. 

If you move quickly, you might get quite a bargain as Matakauri Lodge has just launched a Stay Four, Pay Three offer, valid from May 1 to September 30, 2017.

 

The special offer (subject to availability) allows more time to take in the beauty of this remarkable part of the New Zealand’s South Island and to enjoy more activities, as guests stay for four nights, yet only pay for three. 

 

The new deal allows guests the chance of a day trip to experience Arrowtown’s vivid autumn colours, Queenstown’s bustling town centre or perhaps a winter getaway to enjoy the extended ski season. 

Matakauri Lodge’s offer is available in all room/suite categories at the published seasonal rates and the Stay Four, Pay Three Offer includes: accommodation (room type) of guest’s choice; pre-dinner drinks, canapes, and gourmet dinner each evening, full Breakfast each morning, complimentary non-alcoholic mini-bar and use of all lodge facilities (excluding spa treatments). 

Matakauri Lodge, Queenstown, New Zealand. +64 3 441 1008. 

reservations@matakaurilodge.com. www.matakaurilodge.com

The grand old dame of Hanoi; somewhere seriously special to stay

Truly great hotels have something special that sets them apart. 

It's not the fine wine and food; the luxurious bedrooms and bathrooms or top-notch staff; that is all taken for granted when you are laying out the serious bucks. 

The X Factor is more a sense of innate style that draws guests in; somehow suggesting that this is "THE" place to be. 

That is certainly the case with the Sofitel Legend Hotel Metropole in Hanoi, Vietnam, which is effortlessly elegant and sumptuously furnished without being off-puttingly decadent. 

The hotel, just across the road from the Hanoi Opera House in the old quarter, dates back to 1901 and has old and new quarters, both blessed with Sofitel's signature French-accented ambience. 

It is the hotel that Hanoi, arguably the most beautiful of the colonial Indochinese cities, deserves and has hosted great names in the arts and politics, ranging from Mick Jagger and Charlie Chaplin to Joan Baez and Jane Fonda along with presidents Bill Clinton and Francois Hollande. Also our own Paul Keating, Phillip Noyce and Luke Nguyen.  

There are 364 rooms in all, with 106 and three suites in the old Metropole wing and 236 in the more modern Opera wing, including 12 premium patio rooms and 18 suites. 

There is a spa that is promoted as the leading luxury fitness centre in Vietnam, executive floors and revamped Club Lounge, as well as nine meeting rooms and a business centre. 

Dining options range from the classic French cuisine of Le Baillieu, Vietnamese-accented Spices Garden and Angelina, an Italian-styled restaurant and lounge that enticed me in for a couple of late-night cocktails along with some pate and toast. Very chic.

There are several bars; and should you need a transfer, the hotel has a fleet of chauffeured BMW limousines at your disposal. 

The rooms are as you'd expect; super comfortable beds, timber floors, free broadband internet, LCD TVs and DVD players. And there are some delightful in-room gourmet goodies. 

The Metropole is an elegant grande dame that has collected swags of awards over the years; from being on the Conde Nast Traveler Gold List of the best places to stay in the world in 2017.  

Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, 15 Ngo Quyen Street, Hoan Kiem District, 10000, Hanoi. +84 4 3826 6919.  www.sofitel-legend-metropole-hanoi.com/

# The writer was a guest of Vietnam Airlines, which flies direct between Sydney and Hanoi. www.vietnamairlines.com 

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New festival celebrates a great Australian culinary icon - the dinky-di pie

A new culinary festival has been launched to celebrate an Australian food icon - the pie. 

The South Highlands in New South Wales will celebrate gourmet pies in all their guises with the inaugural Pie Time festival throughout June. 

The region claims to be home to "Australia’s best pies" and the new festival will feature a series of mouth-watering pie-themed events.

 

“We all know Australians just love a local pie," says Steve Rosa, manager for Tourism and Events at Destination Southern Highlands. 

"The Southern Highlands has a large saturation of quality pie producers with everything from your top-notch gourmet pies, to family winter warmers and deliciously sweet dessert pies. 

“What better way to demonstrate some pie parochialism than with a pie festival, pie trail, pie competition and related pie events featuring over 30 local pie sites including bakeries, cafes, restaurants, hotels and associated businesses in the Southern Highlands." 

At last a festival that everyone can afford to enjoy rather than those featuring Michelin-starred chefs flow in from around the globe at great expense. 

The Pie Time Festival, to be held June 24-25 in Bowral's Corbett Gardens will feature pie tasting, beer and pie matching, cooking demonstrations, pie eating competitions, music and more. 

The Best Pie Competition – a pie competition for professional and apprentice bakers plus a local community entry category with people’s choice awards will be held June 22-23 at the same venue, while the Pie Trail will allow visitors to tour bakeries and sample locally made pies from over 30 local pie outlets. 

Dine with a Pie will see gourmets sample the region’s signature pies at hotels, cafes and restaurants available only for the month of June. 

“Pies can be enjoyed at all of the Southern Highlands’ key attractions and spectacular locations," Rosa said. "It really will be the destination to experience, enjoy and worship the great Australian pastime of eating the great Australian pie.” 

For more information on Pie Time visit www.pietime.com.au. To book a stay in the Southern Highlands for Pie Time 2017, visit www.southern-highlands.com.au or call 1300 657 559. 

The April Fools' Day wine joke that turned out to be fact

It bore all the hallmarks of a classic April Fools' Day prank. 

The team at d'Arenberg Wines, led by winemaker Chester Osborn and brand manager Tash Stoodley, are known to be among the wackiest in the wine industry. 

From the team behind wines with exotic names as The Anthropocene Epoch Mencia and The Noble Botryotinia Fuckeliana Sauvignon Blanc came a press release dated April 1, that announced a new installation at the under-construction d'Arenberg Cube: the addition of rooftop umbrellas spanning almost the entire surface area of the glass roof.


A total of 16 umbrellas, that is, 15 black and one red, with hydraulically operated mechanical arms lifting each of them in a choreographed sequence of movement. 

Dancing umbrellas!

Ha, ha! Good laugh. Delete. 

Then, two days' later, second thoughts. Maybe it was true. 

It was.

d’Arenberg has released an updated artist’s impression of its five-storey multi-function building, which will, in fact, feature the choreographed umbrellas. Installation has commenced and is expected to be complete within the month. 

Fourth generation family member Chester Osborn, had the idea to build the d'Arenberg Cube over 13 years ago, and has been refining the plans ever since. 

"The umbrellas are being installed to shelter the building from the sun beaming through the clear glass roof,” he said. “Due to building regulations, no more that 5% skylight is permitted, and so I needed to meet regulations, while also having a bit of fun, in true d'Arenberg style.

"Each umbrella is electrically operated and retractable, enabling them to fold in and lie down when not in use. The umbrellas can also operate independently, with each set in four quarters. 

Osborn continues to work on the interior fit out, filling the building with wall to wall artwork, a wine inhalation room, two virtual fermenters, and a plethora of sensory experiences designed to "entice and excite the senses". 

d’Arenberg has received assistance from a $2 million State Government Regional Development Fund grant, which will support the core structure building construction, internal fit-out, equipment and car park development. 

A time-lapse camera has also been installed on the property by Logic Films, capturing the building progress, taking an updated photograph every 10 minutes, and can be viewed at darenberg.com.au/cube. 

Once again d'Arenberg has mastered the art of being different.     

Australia's highest-profile winemaker gets a new role

Australia's highest-profile winemaker on the global stage has a new role as South Australia and Adelaide’s Great Wine Capitals global ambassador.

Penfolds’ Chief Winemaker Peter Gago adds the role to his already onerous duties with Treasury Wine Estates.

The Great Wine Capitals is a network of 10 major global cities which, through their internationally renowned wine regions, share a key economic and cultural asset.

Adelaide last year joined the global network (Melbourne was previously a member) alongside San Francisco/Napa Valley (US), Bordeaux (France), Bilbao/Rioja (Spain), Cape Town (South Africa), Mainz/Rheinhessen (Germany), Mendoza (Argentina), Porto (Portugal), Valparaìso/Casablanca Valley (Chile) and Verona (Italy).

The network’s global ambassador program will see each member city appoint a wine and tourism leader to help increase collaboration as well as improve the profile of the network.

“South Australia's membership of the prestigious Great Wine Capitals Global Network presents so many exciting possibilities and I’m honoured to be involved as the global ambassador for SA,” Gago said.

“Elevating the state’s wine profile on an international stage increases the exposure for our premium wine labels and raises the bar for us as a wine capital – we’re now benchmarking against regions like Bordeaux and this gives us the opportunity to learn from their experience and insights.”

South Australia’s Agriculture Minister Leon Bignall welcomed Gago’s appointment in helping to promote the state’s wine region around in the world.

"Helping the wine industry build on the $2.1 billion in revenue generated in 2015-16 and maximising export opportunities in international markets is a key priority for the state government,” he said.

“South Australia is Australia’s leading wine state, producing 80% of the country’s premium wine."

A new way to get to Hanoi from Australia in style

Australians now have a handy new route to Vietnam with the launch of a thrice-weekly direct flight from Sydney to the historic Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. 

The service will be operated on a 274-seat Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, adding 85,000 seats annually between the two countries. 

Sydney Airport managing director and chief executive officer Kerrie Mather said the new service provided additional capacity as demand for travel to and from Vietnam continued to increase.

“More than 240,000 passengers travelled between Sydney and Vietnam in 2016, and we’re delighted this new service will provide more choice for this growing market,” she said.

“With about 40% of Australia’s Vietnamese-born residents living in New South Wales, the service will make an important contribution to supporting the visiting family and friends market.

“Hanoi’s colonial architecture and rich sense of history also make it the ideal holiday destination for Australian travellers.”

Vietnam Airlines general manager Hung Truong said he was proud to launch the Hanoi-Sydney service, with the airline now offering 17 flights per week to Australia. Most go to Ho Chi Minh City.

“The new service will increase capacity to meet growing tourism, business and trade demand, as well as contributing toward the development of the relationship between Australia and Vietnam,” Truong said.

“The service means better connection times to North-east Asia as well as Europe, allowing Vietnam Airlines to connect Australian travellers to more of the world.

“Passengers can enjoy our new generation aircraft, the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, on all flights from Australia to Vietnam and beyond, with the aircraft operating three luxury cabins of service, business, premium economy and economy class.”

I sampled the very roomy and comfortable premium economy on the way over, and business class on the way back. Premium economy is highly recommended with good food and service, while business offers the luxury of a lie-flat bed.

Sydney-Hanoi is the 55th international route serviced by Vietnam Airlines. 

VN787 departs Hanoi on Sunday, Tuesday and Friday at 2355, arrives in Sydney at 1315 (AEDT) the next day

VN786 departs Sydney on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 1515 (AEDT), arrives in Hanoi 2050.

For details and bookings see www.vietnamairlines.com