Escape travel section, Australia – June 17, 2012 Twenty minutes after seeing two hippos mating – an enthusiastic spectacle accompanied by a fanfare of grunts and snorts – we stumble across a pair of elephants at it as well. It’s hard to imagine two more cumbersome-looking creatures getting frisky but, rather than it beingContinue reading “Cruising the Chobe River”
Author Archives: Rob McFarland
Adventures in South Africa’s Northern Cape
Escape travel section, Australia – June 3, 2012 South Africa’s Northern Cape is a vast, sparsely populated region that rarely makes it on to travellers’ itineraries. This is a pity as it’s home to numerous natural wonders including the stunning red sand Kalahari desert, one of Africa’s largest national parks, and the mighty OrangeContinue reading “Adventures in South Africa’s Northern Cape”
48 hours in Dubai
Maxim Magazine, Australia – June 2012 Call it the Dubai Dilemma. To stop over or not to stop over? So many travellers fly to Europe and Africa via this tiny Arab emirate that it’s become famous as somewhere to break up the journey, rather than a destination in its own right. I decide to putContinue reading “48 hours in Dubai”
24 hours in Cape Town
GQ Magazine, Australia – June 2012 Few places can match Cape Town for natural wonders — a coastline fringed with white sand beaches, lush foothills peppered with world-class vineyards and the stunning Table Mountain as a backdrop. But what makes this city — and country — so compelling is the legacy of apartheid, abolished 22Continue reading “24 hours in Cape Town”
A night on the Great Barrier Reef
A night on the Great Barrier Reef
The World’s Best Cocktail Bar – Employees Only, New York
The Sun-Herald, Australia – May 6, 2012 Close your eyes and imagine the world’s best cocktail bar. Perhaps it’s perched on the edge of a cliff on a Greek island. Or on the rooftop of a Bangkok skyscraper. Either way it’s probably filled with a social-pages crowd of white-suited George Clooney lookalikes and statuesque supermodels.Continue reading “The World’s Best Cocktail Bar – Employees Only, New York”
Magical Jordan
Signature Magazine, Australia – March 2012 As we’re walking through the Siq, the meandering chasm of rock that leads to the ancient city of Petra, our entertaining guide beckons us over to the right-hand wall. Apparently we’re looking for an eagle’s nest lodged high in the cliff face. None of us can see it soContinue reading “Magical Jordan”
Taste of the high life in New York
The Sun-Herald, Australia – Feb 19, 2012 In October The New York Times awarded Thomas Keller’s Per Se restaurant its highest accolade of four stars, saying, “no restaurant in New York City does a better job than Per Se of making personal and revelatory the process of spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars onContinue reading “Taste of the high life in New York”
Dinosaur hunting in the Badlands, Canada
Escape travel section, Australia – Jan 29, 2012 You’d expect the place where more fossils have been found than any other single location in the world to be hermetically sealed in a giant bubble and surrounded by armed guards and tripwires. But here I am, roaming around a World Heritage site, idly poking things withContinue reading “Dinosaur hunting in the Badlands, Canada”
Dream Downtown Hotel, New York
The Sun-Herald, Australia – Dec 12, 2011 As I’m checking into Dream Downtown, a dozen beautiful, gazelle-like models sit clustered in the lobby, idly flicking through their portfolios. Sadly, despite sprinting to and from my room, I never see them again but it sets the tone for the sort of fashionable crowd you canContinue reading “Dream Downtown Hotel, New York”
Rafting the Futaleufu River, Patagonia
Escape travel section, Australia – Nov 13, 2011 Finalist, 2012 National Travel Industry Awards Best Travel Writer “Pay attention,” shouts Pedro from the back of the raft. Six panting heads snap around in unison. We’ve failed to make it to the exit on the left side of the rapid so after some furious back-paddling we’reContinue reading “Rafting the Futaleufu River, Patagonia”
The grungy charm of Valparaiso, Chile
Escape travel section, Australia – Oct 16, 2011 On paper, Valparaiso in Chile doesn’t sound all that appealing. About 120km northwest of the capital, Santiago, it’s a busy commercial port with a handful of museums and monuments. Most mornings it’s enveloped in a thick, view-obscuring sea fog and getting to most of its hotels,Continue reading “The grungy charm of Valparaiso, Chile”
Chile’s new breed of winemakers
Escape travel section, Australia – Sep 11, 2011 Everyone told Maria Luz she was mad to try growing grapes in Chile’s San Antonio Valley. The valley is just 4km from the coast and every morning gets smothered in a cold sea fog. They said the grapes would never ripen. Or they’d be killed off byContinue reading “Chile’s new breed of winemakers”
Heli-hiking in the Rockies
Escape travel section, Australia – Aug 21, 2011 I’m huddled with a dozen others on an outcrop at 2500m in the Canadian mountains. After a glorious morning of hiking along high ridges, meandering through an eerie burnt-out forest and zig-zagging down steep snow-covered slopes, the weather has turned. The wind picks up, the temperatureContinue reading “Heli-hiking in the Rockies”
Calgary Stampede
Escape travel section, Australia – Aug 21, 2011 I’m 2m away from a man with one of the world’s most dangerous jobs. A day in the office for 24-year-old J.B. Mauney involves hopping on the back of one tonne of muscle, hoofs and horns and trying his hardest to stay there for eight seconds.Continue reading “Calgary Stampede”
Marataba Lodge, South Africa
The Sun-Herald, Australia – Aug 21, 2011 “GO, GO, GO!” screams the man sitting behind me in the jeep. I look over my shoulder to see a three-tonne bull elephant approaching the back of our open-top jeep, trunk held up defiantly, ears flapping and head bobbing up and down. I brace myself, expecting Philip, ourContinue reading “Marataba Lodge, South Africa”
Chile’s Atacama desert
Escape travel section, Australia – July 31, 2011 “Go up like an old man, come down like a teenager,” advises Pablo. I’ll second that. I’m 200 metres from the summit of 5600-metre-high Toco Volcano in the Chilean Andes and I feel 108. At this altitude, every step is a breath-sapping test of physical andContinue reading “Chile’s Atacama desert”
Santiago city guide
Escape travel section, Australia – July 17, 2011 Chile’s capital tends to get a bad rap when compared with other South American cities. It might not have Rio’s party atmosphere or the style of Buenos Aires but it certainly has enough sights and attractions to justify hanging around for a few days. It’s alsoContinue reading “Santiago city guide”
Las Vegas Update
KiaOra (Air New Zealand’s inflight magazine), NZ – July 2011 Las Vegas offers much more than blackjack tables, roulette wheels and slot machines. Visitors can also enjoy wonderful restaurants, shopping and shows or even hiking and biking amid stunning desert scenery. If you’re planning a visit to the city that bills itself The Entertainment CapitalContinue reading “Las Vegas Update”
Magical Muscat
Escape travel section, Australia – June 25, 2011 When you walk through the streets of Oman’s vibrant capital, Muscat, it’s hard to believe that the country’s Ministry of Tourism was only established in 2004. Even more difficult to comprehend is that 34 years before that, the nation had only three schools, two hospitals andContinue reading “Magical Muscat”
Rob McFarland 