IT is peak frangipani season in Darwin, the huge waxy blooms gleaming white in the dusk, a scent of almonds in the warm air. We are strolling back to our ship through this modern city, capital of the Northern Territory at the top end of Australia, after a day of top moments.
That morning, we were privileged to catch an exhibition of powerful and moving work by Aboriginal and islander artists. These were the winners of this year's national art awards, each piece redolent of the stories, totems and dreamscapes of the artist's own country. And this evening, at a tiny, tuckedaway Sri Lankan restaurant called Ella by Minoli, I tasted one of the most sublime dishes in a dedicated epicurean life: cured snapper in a painterly pool of coconut cream and curry-leaf oil-together with the flakiest, most succulent and plump roti any of us had ever eaten.
We are now three days into our voyage; we have toured Lombok, fragrant with honey scents of mimosa and ripening mango, and visited the island home of the komodo dragon, largest and most venomous of lizards. Tomorrow's excitement is a trip down a crocodile-infested river. By now, however, I'm longing for what I've learnt is called a 'sea day' of sailing with no stops. I want to explore this ship thoroughly, because I've never been on a cruise before. I'm on my maiden voyage.
Veterans of life aboard are astonished: 'Oh you'll love it,' they say. When we meet again, they ask how I am liking it.
Let me count the ways: the Nordic-designed interior is civilised, elegant and thoughtfully curated; there is original art on the walls (you can do your own tour with headphones) and little niches of books—almost wherever you sit, there is something within reach to read. I worried I hadn't brought enough frocks, but it's not that sort of ship: no captain's table, no casino (the soft click of mahjong tiles is more the vibe), only a small nightspot for a late cocktail and a boogie.
Denne historien er fra September 04, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra September 04, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Give it some stick
Galloping through the imagination, competitive hobby-horsing is a gymnastic sport on the rise in Britain, discovers Sybilla Hart
Paper escapes
Steven King selects his best travel books of 2024
For love, not money
This year may have marked the end of brag-art’, bought merely to show off one’s wealth. It’s time for a return to looking for connoisseurship, beauty and taste
Mary I: more bruised than bloody
Cast as a sanguinary tyrant, our first Queen Regnant may not deserve her brutal reputation, believes Geoffrey Munn
A love supreme
Art brought together 19th-century Norwich couple Joseph and Emily Stannard, who shared a passion for painting, but their destiny would be dramatically different
Private views
One of the best ways-often the only way-to visit the finest privately owned gardens in the country is by joining an exclusive tour. Non Morris does exactly that
Shhhhhh...
THERE is great delight to be had poring over the front pages of COUNTRY LIFE each week, dreaming of what life would be like in a Scottish castle (so reasonably priced, but do bear in mind the midges) or a townhouse in London’s Eaton Square (worth a king’s ransom, but, oh dear, the traffic) or perhaps that cottage in the Cotswolds (if you don’t mind standing next to Hollywood A-listers in the queue at Daylesford). The estate agent’s particulars will give you details of acreage, proximity to schools and railway stations, but never—no, never—an indication of noise levels.
Mission impossible
Rubble and ruin were all that remained of the early-19th-century Villa Frere and its gardens, planted by the English diplomat John Hookham Frere, until a group of dedicated volunteers came to its rescue. Josephine Tyndale-Biscoe tells the story
When a perfect storm hits
Weather, wars, elections and financial uncertainty all conspired against high-end house sales this year, but there were still some spectacular deals
Give the dog a bone
Man's best friend still needs to eat like its Lupus forebears, believes Jonathan Self, when it's not guarding food, greeting us or destroying our upholstery, of course
