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Arthurs Seat Eagle has launched bespoke picnic packages to complement its sightseeing experience on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.

The basket, food, beverages and blanket are all taken care of, making it ideal for a day trip from the Dromana base station on board the Eagle’s aerial gondolas, taking in the some of the best views of the Mornington Peninsula region and across Port Phillip Bay to the city skyline.

Pre-ordered picnic baskets, with the guests’ selection inside, including wraps, hot pastries, snacks, and sweet treats such as vegan brownies and cheesecake, will await travellers at the Summit Café .

Open seven days per week, Arthurs Seat Eagle is all inclusive and caters to the disabled, elderly and toddlers.

It is wheelchair and pram friendly, and each gondola can accommodate up to eight people.

Baskets are priced at $100 per couple, which includes a return gondola flight for two adults.

Visit www.aseagle.com.au.

Oaks Casuarina Santai Resort.

Guests booking with Oaks before February 29 will save up to 25 per cent for travel before 30 June, with prices from $88 per night.

At Oaks Casuarina Santai Resort, situated in the heart of Casuarina on the New South Wales’ Tweed Coast, among palm-fringed pools and lush gardens, rates are from $152 per night.

The resort features one and two-bedroom self-contained apartments, featuring a blend of contemporary and traditional Balinese design.

Visit www.oakshotels.com.

 An artist’s rendition of Le Bellot in the Kimberley.

A French cruise line, Ponant, will introduce its latest luxury expedition ship, Le Bellot, to the Kimberley region in 2021.

Named after a 19th-century French Arctic explorer, the sleek, 184-guest expedition ship will be launched in April 2020, featuring an underwater, multi-sensory lounge where whale-shaped windows, hydrophones and video cameras enable guests to experience life underwater without getting wet.

To mark the ship’s arrival, Cruise Express is offering savings up to 30 per cent, as well as a complimentary wilderness adventure from Wyndham.

The offers are available on five 10-night expedition cruises aboard Le Bellot from Darwin to Broome between April and July, 2021.

The expedition will include multiple, guided excursions on Zodiacs, and drinks will be complimentary.

Fares are priced from $9990 per person.

Phone 1300 766 537 or visit www.cruiseexpress.com.au.

Cruise the Upper Murray and sample fine food and wine.

Captain Cook Cruises has released the 2020 departure dates for its seven-night Upper Murraylands cruise on board the paddlewheeler PS Murray Princess.

Departing once a month, the cruise explores the northern area of the Murray River from Mannum to Morgan, before returning to Mannum.

Departures in 2020 include 14 February, 13 March, 8 May, 5 June, 17 July, 7 August, 11 September and 16 October.

The Upper Murraylands cruise visits the historic towns of Waikerie, Morgan and Swan Reach where guests can enjoy a guided walk of the townships.

At Morgan a visit to the Living History Museum is a must, while at the Swan Reach Museum learn about the history of education and social history of the area from 1917.

Wine lovers can indulge with a delicious lunch and wine tastings at Banrock Station Wine and Wetland Centre, while at Caudo Winery visit the cellar door and tour the beautiful gardens and orchards.

Visit www.murrayprincess.com.au.

 The Cursed Amethyst: from ‘Treasures of the Natural World’.

‘Treasures of the Natural World’ brings together the best of London’s Natural History Museum’s collection and comes to Australia for the first time when it opens at the Melbourne Museum on May 22.

More than 200 specimens will show the marvels of the natural world, from the personal collections of Charles Darwin to a rare Martian meteorite that fell to Earth in 1911, 11 million years after it was blasted into space.

Also on display is a 200 million-year-old ichthyosaurus fossil found by English fossil collector Mary Anning when she was just 11 years old.

Melbourne Museum’s interpretation of the exhibition will be enriched by the addition of First Peoples’ narratives, which represent an important step in acknowledging the complex history of some of these objects, and respecting the deep relationship First Peoples have with the natural world.

Visit www.museumsvictoria.com.au.

 

Metro Mirage Hotel Newport: genuinely waterfront.

Summer is a fine time to visit Sydney’s Northern Beaches, with heaps of sand to comb, a stunning coastline of cliffs to walk, lots of opportunities for water sports, and the chance to jump on the ferry to Currawong, Great Mackerel Beach or The Basin.

Located 45 minutes from Sydney CBD, Metro Mirage Hotel Newport is a four-star boutique, genuinely waterfront hotel and event centre overlooking spectacular Pittwater.

The hotel has a range of accommodation options, including waterfront spa suites and executive rooms.

It has an outdoor swimming pool and spa, a restaurant overlooking Pittwater and open for breakfast, a casual poolside area, complimentary wifi, 24-hour reception and a private jetty for arrival by water.

Metro Mirage Hotel Newport is offering family-package deal priced from $239 per night, including accommodation in a family room, noon check-out, complimentary wifi, and free breakfast for kids under 12.

Visit www.metrohotels.com.au.

 A favourite with many kids: the Peppa Pig High Tea.

Peppa is a lovable, cheeky little pig whose favourite activities include dressing up and entertaining friends to the Peppa Pig High Tea at The Langham, Melbourne.

Little Piggies are encouraged to dress up as their favourite Peppa Pig character and have an oink-tastic time tasting treats such as Peppa’s shortbread cookie and muddy puddle dip cups with strawberry and marshmallow fruit skewers.

While children can eat their way through fairy bread, cheese-and-vegemite brioche, chive-and-parmesan quiche and honey-and-soy chicken skewers, parents and grandparents can enjoy the hotel’s signature Wedgwood high tea for $69 per person, including a glass of sparkling wine, coffee or tea.

The Peppa Pig High Tea is available at 10am until 11.30am and at 12.30pm until 2pm and includes a three-tiered cake stand that also features cake pop truffle pops inspired by granny’s chocolate cake and ruby rice crispies wafers.

Little Piggies will also be given a plush toy, colouring activity and Peppa Pig ears. The Peppa Pig High Tea is $69 per child.

Visit melbarestaurant.com.au.

 A glass of wine among the ice: on board the Ocean Endeavour.

Dramatic fjords, Inuit culture, polar bears, walrus, whales and Greenland’s remote fishing villages are among the highlights of Adventure Canada’s 12-day ‘Heart of the Arctic’ cruise next July.

Cruise Traveller is offering Australian travellers a deal which allows the package to be bought in Australian dollars at no more than US-dollar rates — representing a potential saving of more than $18,000 per couple.

The cruise is on board the 198-berth Ocean Endeavour, which has 20 zodiacs, multiple lounges and a top-deck observation room.

A highlight will be a day in Kinngait — a centre for traditional Inuit art, where guests will visit studios, meet artists and be able to purchase artworks straight from the source.

Guests will visit Greenland’s capital city, Nuuk, with its Danish colonial buildings, boutique shops, cafes and restaurants and the Greenland National Museum which focuses on colonial, Norse and Inuit presence in the country.

Fares are from $9690 per person twin-share if booked by February 28 and include the 12-night expedition cruise from Iqaluit to Kangerlussuaq, expedition parka, onboard presentations, all shipboard meals, tea and coffee, sightseeing, zodiac tours and charter flights from Ottawa to Iqaluit and from Kangerlussuaq to Toronto.

Phone 1800 507 777 or visit www.CruiseTraveller.com.au.

 Irish Chef Paul Flynn: has twice walked the classic Camino.

Irish Chef Paul Flynn will be guest during a special Foodie Camino in May from Vigo to Santiago de Compostela in north-western Spain.

Flynn has walked the Camino twice and fallen in love with the region, its people and its food. He will travel with the group on the wonderful Camino Espiritual, sampling Galicia’s delicacies and discovering the traditional cooking this region is famous for along the way.

Cost of the seven-night expedition is from €2200 per person, sharing a room, including accommodation in historic Paradores, dinners and food workshops and activities such as wine tasting, tapas tour, cookery demonstrations.

Visit www.caminoways.com.

The Art of Language: explores 26 unique scripts.

From Arabic and Japanese to Hebrew, Javanese and Cherokee, explore 26 unique scripts and alphabets in a book, The Art of Language,  from Lonely Planet — and learn to beautifully write a local proverb in each with the book’s calligraphy tutorials.

Accompanying insights into each language’s roots and popularity today make The Art of Language a fascinating guide into other cultures and traditions.

“As this book will show you, writing is like a slow-growing local plant whose roots are astonishingly deep,” wrote Tim Brookes of The Endangered Alphabets Project in the book’s introduction.

The paperback retails for $24.99.

Visit www.lonelyplanet.com.