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Have a drink at Granddad Jack’s

Visiting Granddad Jack’s Distillery on the Gold Coast feels like stumbling into your mate’s shed…if your mate happened to make world-class gin and design moody, industrial-chic interiors. Family-run and fuelled by the legacy of one very hard-arse New Zealander, this distillery has turned storytelling into an art form (and an excellent excuse for day drinking).

You can just stop by for a tipple, but we recommend the distillery tour for an in-depth look at the makers behind the magic.

The tour kicks off with tales of David “Granddad Jack” Goulding – the 1919-born hustler, barber, and bootlegger-in-spirit whose life inspired every bottle here. You’ll hear how the team transformed his adventures into spirits like the juniper-punchy Two Pencils, the herbaceous Greenhouse Gin, and the fiery 65 Miles, named after the distance Jack once biked to find work.

But beyond the shiny stills and copper pipes, there’s a bar that’s dangerously good at keeping you seated. Their cocktail list is extensive – think inventive G&Ts, espresso martinis laced with their own Barbershop Coffee Liqueur, and limited-release creations that rarely last the month. Tastings are casual, the banter’s local, and the pours are generous (the holy trinity of any great distillery).

And it’s all built around community, from open nights and gin-making classes to regular small-batch drops that keep locals hooked. There’s heart, humour and just the right amount of mischief in every nook and cranny (read: make sure you check out the far right hand corner).

Sure, Granddad Jack’s is where seriously good spirits are made. But it’s also where stories are bottled, legends are toasted, and hangovers are earned honestly.

Sleep inside an art installation

Paris has always been dramatic, but this autumn, it’s officially gone full sci-fi. Le Meurice, the impossibly elegant Dorchester Collection hotel that’s been seducing artists for centuries, has teamed up with the design wizards at Things From. to create Suite 1835 – an immersive pop-up that’s both luxury stay and sensory hallucination.

Available from the 8th of October to the 31st of December, this suite isn’t just somewhere to dump your bags; it’s an interactive art installation where the furniture glows as you move, the carpet is made of aluminium, and the walls seem to hum with the future. Basically, it’s Versailles meets Blade Runner.

Guests can even wander into a neighbouring meditation room – think mirrored cube, AI-generated visuals that react to your “energy,” and a quadraphonic sound system.

Naturally, this kind of transcendental weirdness doesn’t come cheap – rooms start at AU$6,883 per night – but hey, enlightenment has never been part of the breakfast buffet. The silver lining? Some of the profits go toward scholarships at Ensaama, so at least your trip to another dimension helps fund the next generation of French designers.

If you’ve ever wanted to experience Paris through light, sound, and slightly trippy introspection, Le Meurice’s Suite 1835 is your one-way ticket to the future. Who wants in?

New Cal’s newest multi-day kayaking tour

Pack your sense of wonder (and a spare pair of socks), Aventure Pulsion has relaunched its multi-day trek along New Caledonia’s wild East Coast, and it’s called Côte Oubliée. Four days, two modes (guided or DIY), and crazy, untouched landscapes.

Stretching roughly 65 kilometres of rugged coastline around Yaté, the Côte Oubliée offers views that demand your full attention: think dramatic cliffs, secret inlets, and a flora & fauna cast that’s super diverse, even the bugs seem exotic.

And if you want total freedom, you can go solo: map, kayak, and just a ‘you vs nature’ attitude. Prefer to lean on someone who knows where the beautiful bits are before you kayak straight into a patch of stinging plants? Choose the guided option so you get local insight, safety tips, and perhaps someone to laugh with when the tides conspire.

Don’t expect five-star hotel service, though. Camping gear, food, sleeping bags? That’s on you. Kayak, safety equipment, a tribal meal and breakfast, and expert prep are included. So, bring your adventure boots and deodorant.

Whether you spend 3 days & 2 nights or go full kayaking nerd with 4–5 days soaking it all in, Côte Oubliée rewards the brave with pure wilderness and eye-popping scenery.

Bar Leone is the best bar in the world

When Bar Leone in Hong Kong was crowned The World’s Best Bar 2025 by The World’s 50 Best Bars, it wasn’t a surprise so much as a long-overdue moment.

Born in mid-2023 out of the restless mind of Lorenzo Antinori (yes, the Roman-born mixologist who’s been around enough global bars to know what sticks), Bar Leone feels like the neighbourhood spot you’ve been looking for, even if you didn’t know you were looking.

What makes Bar Leone special isn’t just its trophy shelf. Its secret is that it does little things very well. The “cocktail popolari” ethos – cocktails for the people – is no marketing fluff. Classics are treated like old friends, with little playful tweaks (hello, King Kong Negroni) that brighten without overwriting character.

And when you’re feeling a little peckish, the food is completely hunger-destroying. Try the Mortadella sandwich and smoked olives, they’re simple, satisfying, and perfectly paired together.

Then there’s the vibe: warm, unpretentious, dim-enough mood lighting, art on the walls (Roman ephemera, framed football memorabilia, vintage prints), wood panels, and booths that encourage leaning in. Studio TK’s interiors walk that balance between nostalgic and fresh, familiar and quietly surprising.

Of course, awards don’t make a great bar, the people do. Bar Leone seems to understand that. It acts like a place you drop into with friends, a place you linger.

Its ascendancy to the top feels like a reminder: you don’t always need to reinvent the cocktail. Sometimes, you just need the right spirit, the right company, and a good mortadella sandwich.

Hotel Indigo Melbourne opens

Melbourne doesn’t exactly have a shortage of hotels, but the brand-new Hotel Indigo Melbourne on Little Collins isn’t here to blend in. Sitting pretty at 288 Little Collins Street, it’s smack in the middle of the city’s action – coffee, street art, and impulse shopping sprees all just a stroll away.

Inside, it’s not your standard beige sleep box. Each room is splashed with bold design nods to Melbourne’s fashion and laneway culture, with plush beds and floor-to-ceiling windows so you can spy on the city without actually leaving your robe.

And then there’s Fern Bar & Dining, where cocktails are crafted with the same seriousness Melburnians usually reserve for flat whites. Menus lean seasonal, plates lean generous, and the vibe says “I’m on holiday” even if you’re just here for an overnight work trip.

Of course, there’s also a gym if you’re that way inclined, and spaces that are as happy hosting laptops as they are late-night catch-ups. It’s slick without being stuffy and playful without being try-hard, acting as the perfect reminder that this vibrant city does boutique hotels better than most.

Want a stay that feels like Melbourne turned down the clichés and turned up the personality? Hotel Indigo on Little Collins has the keys.

Get set to cycle NZ’s newest trail

New Zealand has gone and done it again. As if the South Island didn’t already have enough scenery to make your phone storage cry actual tears, Central Otago is rolling out the Kawarau Gorge Trail, a 32km stretch of pure wow that’s shaping up to be the newest crown jewel in cycle tourism.

Due to open in early 2026, the track will link Bannockburn to the Gibbston Valley, which basically means you can pedal straight from world-class Pinot Noir to jaw-dropping river gorges without feeling guilty about that second tasting flight.

It’s not just another bike path slapped onto some gravel, either. This one comes with cliff-hugging bluff bridges, swooping suspension bridges over the raging Kawarau River, and sections of terrain that until now have been off-limits unless you were a goat (or an extremely confident hiker).

And the best part is that the Kawarau Gorge Trail will connect into a 530km network of rides that stretches all the way from Queenstown to Waihola. That’s five of New Zealand’s Great Rides stitched together, so whether you’re a Lycra-clad speed demon or someone who considers biking between wineries an Olympic sport, you’re covered.

For now, you can sneak a preview on Felton Road, where the trail links into the Lake Dunstan track (handily, it’s also one of the finest wine roads in the country).

Stay at the revamped Twinpalms Tented Camp

If you thought camping meant wet socks, lumpy mattresses, and suspicious rustling in the bushes, Phuket’s new Twinpalms Tented Camp is here to ruin those low expectations in the best possible way.

28 swanky one and two-bedroom tents (yes, with actual walls, air-con and all the mod cons) have been pitched right on Bangtao Beach or in the lagoon gardens a short stroll away, with winding waterways wrapping around them like nature’s own infinity pools, and all we can think about is getting there asap.

Since opening, this adults-only hideaway has been whispered about as Phuket’s best-kept secret, but Twinpalms clearly doesn’t do subtle for long. They’ve just upped the ante with a wellness revamp: think sunrise yoga, lotus petal folding workshops, and a fitness studio kitted out with sleek German gear.

There’s also a Bali-sourced ice bath carved from a boulder because nothing says you need a holiday reset like voluntarily freezing yourself in paradise.

Guests can also float in a brand-new tropical pool overlooking the lagoon before wandering over to the Spa Tent for a massage so good you won’t remember you were ever stressed in the first place. And evenings wrap up around a central campfire with sticky rice and sunset stories, proving that luxury can still feel soulful (and delicious).

Twinpalms has basically redefined camping: no bug spray required, just bikinis, cocktails and maybe a brave plunge into that icy rock bath. One thing’s for sure, roughing it has never looked this good.

Eat aboard Solaré

Sydney has never exactly been shy about showing off, but now it’s really flexing. Just when you thought the Harbour had enough icons, along comes Solaré, a 150-foot superyacht that moonlights as a restaurant, cocktail bar, and beach club.

Step aboard and you’re instantly transported, if not to Capri, then at least to a sunnier, looser version of Sydney where spritzes arrive before you can ask, and the harbour views practically hurt your eyes.

Chef Pablo Tordesillas (of Totti’s Bondi fame) has crafted a coastal Italian menu that reads like a love letter to seafood and indulgence. Expect bug-stuffed pasta, raw tuna dressed up in bergamot oil, and caviar on potato crisps that would make your fish and chip shop go out of business (and fast).

But food is only half the fantasy. Solaré sprawls across three levels, each with its own personality. Down below, the Dining Room seduces you into multi-course marathons. One deck up, cocktails and share plates keep the Terrace buzzing. And up top? The Sun Deck, a Mediterranean-inspired playground where daybeds and DJs compete for your attention. There’s even a martini trolley that sidles up like a butler in a Bond film.

With interiors straight out of a retro Riviera dream and bold Aussie art splashed about, Solaré is Sydney’s new playground. All you need is a booking, a big appetite, and maybe a pair of oversized sunglasses and you’ve completed the fantasy.

Beyond the Black Stuff: Dublin’s Open Gate Brewery Lets Guinness Go Wild

Slip down the cobbled lanes behind the Guinness mothership and you’ll find a discreet little door that feels more speakeasy than brewery. No neon, no fanfare and no hordes of tourists. Step inside and you’re not in the Guinness Storehouse throng anymore, you’re in the Open Gate Brewery, the secret lair where Ireland’s most famous pint takes its tie off and gets experimental.

We got lucky, real lucky, stumbling upon a random Stout Festival. Suddenly Guinness isn’t just Guinness, it’s a technicolour freak show of flavours: chili chocolate stout that smacks you silly, peanut butter stout that makes you question life choices, and tiramisu stout that somehow belongs on both a dessert menu and a tap list.

Long tables brim with tasting paddles and strangers debating with new friends about “the one stout to rule them all,” (that’s the Konbad Imperial that crosses my eyes ata lazy 10.5%). DJs keep it loud, the kitchen keeps it stout-soaked, and the whole thing feels more underground rave than brewery tour.

Come back on a regular night and the secret door still delivers. The crowd is thinner, but the taps are no less daring, There’s a selection of saisons, sours, coffee stouts and more beers the Guinness faithful are too polite to mention at the pub down the road. The space is stripped-back and communal, the food ridiculously good (try the stout-braised beef or whiskey-cured salmon), and the vibe one of discovery, like you’ve stumbled into a Dublin secret the tourists missed.

In short: Open Gate Brewery is Guinness gone rogue. Whether you sneak in during the chaos of a Stout Festival or on a quiet Wednesday, the back-door entrance is your ticket to a side of Dublin’s most famous brewery that most never see.

Visama Explorer tented camp opening soon

Don’t like roughing it in the wilderness? Thailand’s new Visama Explorer tented camp has officially declared that camping should come with cocktails, king-sized beds, and a French press. Opening December 1st, 2025, this eco-luxury hideaway in Nan province proves that “under canvas” doesn’t have to mean damp socks and questionable instant noodles.

Set among rice fields and mountain backdrops so pretty they could have their own Netflix special, the camp keeps things small and comfortable: just eight high-comfort tents, each with air con, ensuite bathrooms, plush bedding, private decks, and minibars (a necessity when camping, of course).

But the real star might just be the Ambalama outdoor fireplace. Inspired by Sri Lanka’s old traveller resting places, it’s where guests gather nightly for fireside chatter, open-air cinema screenings, and snacks that put s’mores to shame.

And when hunger calls, head to the Monmanee creek-side restaurant, where Northern Thai specialties cosy up alongside Western classics, all paired with wine and cocktails. Yes, this is technically camping, but it’s more like ‘clink champagne glass’ camping than ‘I think there’s bugs in my sleeping bag’ camping.

Between gourmet dinners and movie nights, guests can tree-plant, workshop, hike, bike, temple-hop, and waterfall-chase. Getting here is easy too: an 80-minute flight from Bangkok, followed by a two-hour drive through scenery so jaw-dropping you’ll forget you’re in transit.