Komodo Island set to close

Congratulations to tourism officials in Indonesia, who are temporarily closing Komodo Island. 

While it might be bad news for anyone wanting to get up close and personal with Komodo dragons, it is good news for those who care about the environment. 

Komodo Island will be closed to tourists for a year from January 2120 to allow the habitat to replenish and ensure the island has sufficient food stocks for the flesh-eating lizards, said Marius Jelamu, a spokesman for East Nusa Tenggara's provincial government.

Park management want to return the island to its usual wild condition and keep it as natural as possible whilst providing the necessary infrastructure for visitors, Travel Mole reports.  

The Komodo dragon is one of the world's most famous mammals but is only found on a handful of tiny islands in the Komodo National Park.

Other islands including Rinca and Padar will remain open, local news outlet Tempo reports.

Komodo Island receives most of the tour groups. 

Local authorities have been considering closing the island for the past couple of years due to the unchecked increase in visitors, which has started to impact the local habitat. Smugglers who allegedly stole 41 Komodo dragons were recently arrested. 

There are about 5,700 dragons living in the wild, UNESCO says, all of them within the National Park.

The region welcomes about 150,000 visitors every year.

Technology overhaul for Sydney hotel icon

The Sofitel Wentworth Sydney is the grande dame of Sydney international hotels and is celebrating her 53rd birthday with a major technology overhaul.




The six-month project commenced in October 2018 and has just been completed, with all 436 guest rooms and suites getting a new look.

Rooms feature new upholstered bedheads, artworks, carpets and high-backed fabric armchairs with matching ottomans. Mood lighting and floor-to-ceiling curtains are also new.

The technology overhaul brings the Sofitel up to speed with the launch of IPTV including Chromecast on all guest room TV's together with an upgrade to the fastest wifi to rival any of Sydney's newer CBD hotels.




To celebrate the makeover, Sofitel Sydney Wentworth welcomes guests to experience the new facilities over the Easter break with rates starting from $613 per room based on a three-night stay,a saving up to 25%.

General manager Philip Logan says: “Every Sofitel exudes a refined and understated sense of modern luxury, and this grand old dame is no exception.

"As one of Sydney's most history-laden hotels, Sofitel Sydney Wentworth resonates in the hearts of so many, giving her a stylish makeover is only fitting, to keep her status as an ambassador of modern French style.”

Return guests will also notice that the lobby area has received a stylish refresh with new carpets throughout and new furniture in addition to new fittings and furniture in the library off the lobby.

For booking conditions visit www.accorhotels.com

Water buffalo do their bit on the golf course

One of Vietnam’s leading golf courses, Laguna Golf Lang Co, is utilising the talents of a very special group of greenkeepers: a family of water buffalo.

The Sir Nick Faldo-designed course is shared between man, machinery and beast.

“We are pretty sure it’s a first in this part of the world to have animals performing such an important role on the golf course,” said Adam Calver, Director of Golf at Laguna Golf Lang Co, of the work carried out by father Tu Phat, mother Chi Chi and their calf, Bao, tending to four-hectares of rice fields located right in the middle of the course. 

The paddies contour the third and fourth holes and reappear on the back nine between the 13th green and 14th tee and run alongside the 15th fairway.

In the early days of golf, when courses were mostly laid out on public land it was not uncommon for sheep and cattle to roam freely across fairways and greens.

Even today at some courses – notably the wilder links courses in remote regions of Scotland and Ireland – livestock play their party in trimming turf and thinning out rough.

Courses in Asia though have been less willing to let animals in on the greenkeeping act - until now that is," said Calver.

"Even on the quietest days, the water buffalo are always out wading through the rice paddies and performing their duties.

“We looked at various methods to increase the aesthetics of the rice paddies between the harvests as continually mowing the fields to maintain vast rice terraces can consume a large amount of labor.

"The water buffalo act as bio-mowers while also protecting the traditional Vietnamese landscape.”

A useful little book every wine lover should have

Remember when we all drank shiraz and chardonnay and a handful of other French grape varieties?

Those days are long gone. Nowadays we are equally likely to pick up a refreshing glass of inzolia or gruner veltlner.

In its short history of just over 200 years the Australian wine industry has undergone a bewildering number of changes. There have been booms and busts, pestilence, taxes, economic crises and rapid changes in consumer tastes.

A new book, What Varietal is That?, written by Vinodiversity website owner Darby Higgs is a most useful guide to the myriad new varieties now on offer.

The book is based on the information Higgs has collected to write and maintain Vinodiversity. No fewer than 130+ grape varieties grown commercially in Australia are described and analysed.

There are well over a thousand wine grape varieties used commercially around the world, and What Varietal is That? helps readers to understand which grapes are important - and which are likely to be important in the future. There also some useful food matches.

Higgs' tip for the next big thig? "Tempranillo is well on the way to becoming a premium variety in Australia."

What Varietal is That? is available through Amazon for $21.35 paperback, or on Kindle.

New whisky with a unique flavour profile.

Calling all whisky lovers looking for a taste that is slightly off the main stream.

Johnnie Walker has announced the latest addition to the experimental Johnnie Walker Blenders’ Batch project: Sweet Peat.

The result of over 10 years of experiments by Johnnie Walker’s team of blenders to explore what happens when different types of smoke and sweetness collide, Sweet Peat arrives at a time when the appetite for smoked meats, foods and drinks is at an all-time high.

The new release delivers a mix of peated smoke for smoky whisky fans, alongside a smooth caramel sweetness for those who prefer sweet tastes.

At the heart is whisky from the island distillery of Caol Ila, specifically chosen for its soft bonfire smoke and hidden sweetness. Speyside malts, including Cardhu, add sweet fresh fruit flavours such as apple, orange and pineapple. Whisky from Glendullan, aged in sherry casks, brings additional sweetness, rich fruity notes and balance.

Johnnie Walker is the world’s best-selling Scotch whisky, sold in over 180 countries.

Blender George Harper led the creation of the new whisky in collaboration with two-time Master Blender of the Year Jim Beveridge.

“I’m incredibly proud of this whisky," he said. "It’s the result of 10 years of experiments and has been well worth the wait. Johnnie Walker Blenders' Batch Sweet Peat is equal parts exciting, delicious and unexpected, and I think whisky fans - both those who are really into smoke and those who prefer a sweeter Scotch - are in for a treat.”

The range of award-winning Johnnie Walker whiskies includes Johnnie Walker Red Label, Black Label, Double Black, Green Label, Gold Label Reserve, Aged 18 Years and Blue Label. Together they account for nearly 19 million cases sold annually.

The limited-edition Johnnie Walker Blenders’ Batch Sweet Peat (40.8% ABV) is now available in Dan Murphy’s across Australia stores for $55 for 500ml.

Calls for boycott of Brunei-owned hotels

What a crazy world it is when Hollywood actors and musicians act as the public conscience and politicians remain silent in the face of outrage.

George Clooney is calling for a boycott of nine luxury hotels with links to Brunei after the country warned that it was to make gay sex and adultery punishable by death.

Clooney, who is married to human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin, said anyone opposing the measures, due to come into force next month, should boycott nine hotels in the Dorchester Group which are owned by the Brunei Investment Agency.

His call has been backed by singer Elton John, comedian Ellen DeGeneres and tennis legend Billie-Jean King among others. 

The hotels are The Dorchester (above) and 45 Park Lane in London, Coworth Park in Ascot, The Beverly Hills Hotel in Hollywood, the Hotel Bel-Air in LA, Le Meurice and Hotel Plaza Athenee in Paris, the Hotel Eden in Rome and the Hotel Principe di Savoia in Milan.

He did not mention Royal Brunei Airlines - but it would not be hard for unions to black ban dealing with that airline's flights. 

Writing for entertainment website Deadline, Clooney said he has stayed at the hotels in the past, not realising their connection to the nation.

"They're nice hotels," he said. "The people who work there are kind and helpful and have no part in the ownership of these properties.

"But let's be clear, every single time we stay at or take meetings at or dine at any of these nine hotels we are putting money directly into the pockets of men who choose to stone and whip to death their own citizens for being gay or accused of adultery."

He said the two US hotels in the group were boycotted a few years ago for Brunei's treatment of the gay community.

"It was effective to a point. We cancelled a big fundraiser for the Motion Picture Retirement Home that we'd hosted at the Beverly Hills Hotel for years. Lots of individuals and companies did the same. 

"But like all good intentions when the white heat of outrage moves on to the hundred other reasons to be outraged, the focus dies down and slowly these hotels get back to the business of business. And the Brunei Investment Agency counts on that."

BBC world affairs editor John Simpson is another who has said he wouldn't be visiting hotels owned by the Brunei group.

Although I have only ever stayed at the Meurice, of those on the list, I will also be boycotting - partly because of the abhorrent politics but also because the hotels in the group are far too expensive for me.