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The Survivor - Derek Aitken You might be sitting­­ there swilling a well-earned post COVID lockdown Corona, watching the footy, clicking Add to Cart, doing your knitting, sipping a Martini or maybe you're wondering if there really is a virus after all. Let me tell you the true tale of a dear friend in L.A. located at the other end of the giant lap pool that is the Pacific Ocean. Derek Aitken is an innocent sigh-stander if you will, a man who may well have breathed his last breath if it … [Read more...] about The Survivor – Derek Aitken

Of sand and sea My first resort relationship was in Bermuda, I was nine and it was the Christmas of 1975. A smashing year I might add, and my ears were full of 3XY hits, in particular Carlton by Skyhooks (still my fave and if you ever care to join me on the highway, I will blare it out for you). Another cracker, Bony Moronie, was also on high rotation. Now this was not the kind of relationship you might be thinking of - crikey I was only 9 - this love triangle consisted, obviously, of three … [Read more...] about Resort Report

It’s almost two years since the tropical paradise of the Whitsundays was devastated by Cyclone Debbie. The once lush and luxurious playground was decimated by a category IV cyclone as the eye of the storm passed directly over Airlie Beach leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. Unless you have lived through it, it would be hard to fathom the intensity of wind gusts in excess 260kph bellowing at the door. In the spring of 2018, I made my maiden voyage to the Whitsundays, a group of 74 … [Read more...] about Croc & Roll

Back in my nutrition student days, circa 2000, I used to jest that it was all uptox-downtox, retox-detox. Primarily because I was still living in Melbourne and hanging with the nicest, if not the wildest people! Our late night antics seemed as though they went for days. A hangover from my former life as a publican desperately trying to understand the concept of balance that people speak of. As a hedonist, this paradigm was as foreign to me as my trip to Zanzibar, however over time and eight … [Read more...] about The science of detoxification

When you live in a tourist town it is easy to take the landmarks for granted. When it comes to cooking, you’re only as good as your last dish, or for the diner it's the memory of what you recently ate and where. Think about the last café or restaurant meal you visited and then check in with your upstairs brain to see what you recall. For me, it was my beloved tarragon chicken at The Rails last Saturday because it was the best I’ve had. It was late in the afternoon, the pub was not busy and I sat … [Read more...] about Beaching to the converted

An excerpt from my book The Healing Feeling first published 2012. My voyage across the nourishing waters toward the healing arts began when I was a teenager. I broke my leg riding my little green motor scooter on a crisp autumn Melbourne morning. I don’t really remember how the accident happened, but clearly I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or was I? Everything happens for a reason and the memory of the impact is deliberately dim. I blacked out but then I saw the light. My … [Read more...] about The Healing Feeling

We sat down with the resident chef of The Kitchens, Samantha Gowing and asked her about all things food! Sam gives two demonstrations per day on The Cooking Stage at 11am and 1pm every Thursday, most Saturdays and the occasional Fridays. So before you go see her cook up a storm, read all about the woman behind the food!  Why did you become a chef?I’ve been cooking since I was six years old. I grew up sitting around the tables of my Dad’s first restaurant in Melbourne, and … [Read more...] about The Kitchens Resident Chef Sam Gowing