The Rugby World Cup may not be as big as other quadrennial international events like the FIFA World Cup, Summer Olympics or ICC Cricket World Cup but know this: over 100,000 overseas visitors will be in New Zealand from September 9 to October 23 to attend the seventh edition. In terms of sheer global exposure … More

When the Gondwana supercontinent split up in the early Jurassic, some 185 million years ago, it set the stage for some uncanny biodiversity down the line. The rupture of Antarctica from Australia in the late Cretaceous cemented the deal. This set-up is a slightly dramatic, roundabout way to illustrate why we hurl so much hyperbole … More

As a scatter of paradisal island goodness and paramount springboard to the mother of all reef systems, the Whitsundays simply rule. The loose archipelago off the central coast of Queensland lures over 700,000 annual visitors – a modest total, in all honesty, which keeps the prestige factor intact and saves the pristine chain from overt … More

Even prissy teetotalers need a good libation on a three-dog night. Sure, winters in the capital of New South Wales may not feel quite like Moscow or Montreal in January but when the mercury dips below 10°C in July, Sydneysiders shun pale lager for stout, Chardonnay for Shiraz, and Pimm’s No. 1 for bourbon. With … More

Can you say flower power? The Canberra Floriade is one of the premier Spring flings on the planet, let alone in Australia. The annual event signals the end of winter like no other festival Down Under and transforms Canberra and the ACT into a burst of furious colour. With less than two months left until … More

Poor Adelaide. If Australia has a black sheep city, the capital of South Australia is surely a contender. Scour the travel blogs, take random straw polls and it seems upon further analysis that, yes, indeed, Adelaide suffers perpetual character assassinations – especially Down Under. (The fact that the city was headquarters to Rupert Murdoch’s News … More