travel souvenirs — part 7

I've been twice to Australia over the past four years. Nearly as large in area as the United States, its total population is about the same as Florida.

Australia offers natural beauty to appeal to all travelers. 

• The Great Barrier Reef offers some of the world's most amazing snorkeling.
• The Blue Mountains and Kangaroo Island offer abundant opportunities to witness Australia's marsupials in the wild.
• Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock), the massive natural outcropping in the very center of the continent, has an almost mystical quality if you visit at sunrise (see my photo below) or sunset. 

The souvenir pictured above is a piece of aboriginal art that our group leader gave me during our Swain Destinations tour in 2016. Claire and I had the chance to visit Uluru in 2019. Do drop in to the art shop in the Visitors Center. While there, I watched an aboriginal artist create a painting in the same style, filling her outline entirely with dots of paint.

Uluru at dawn (c) 2020 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

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copyright (c) 2020 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel,

email me

Australia needs our support

We are all aware of the ongoing bushfires in Australia. They have been all over the news, but it's important to know where they are burning. One of my travel partners, based in North Queensland, writes this:

We are totally unaffected by the bushfires currently causing havoc in the south. We are seeing clients cancelling travel unnecessarily due to media coverage.

Only two areas often visited by international visitors have been affected — Kangaroo Island and the Blue Mountains. 

Sydney, Melbourne and other major cities, Great Barrier Reef, Daintree Rainforest, Great Ocean Road, Winelands, Uluru, the Kimberley and more are unaffected. 

Affected areas — Kangaroo Island is a small island, 100 miles south of Adelaide (I have circled it on the map above). The Wolgan Valley, in the Blue Mountains, is 115 miles west of Sydney.

Unaffected areas — The Great Barrier Reef is 1200 miles north of Sydney. Uluru (Ayers Rock) is 1260 miles west of Sydney. Would you cancel a trip to Chicago, Illinois because of fires burning in Key West, Florida, 1243 miles away?

The fires have been tragic. An estimated one billion animals have perished in the blazes, and their natural habitat has been destroyed. Southern Ocean Lodge has been totally destroyed, but Baillie Lodges is committed to rebuilding.

Australia needs our tourism support to assist in its rebuilding. Don't cancel your trip at a time when it's most needed. Travel instead to areas unaffected by the fires. Australia is a vast nation, virtually the same size as the continental United States ... and a most incredible place to visit.

copyright (c) 2020 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

postcard from Lizard Island | Sunset Beach

Sunset Beach (c) 2019 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

Thursday's sunset photo was quite literally a rush job. I napped too late and nearly missed the sunset. The sun had already set behind the horizon when I arrived at the beach, but the colors were vivid, illuminating the clouds with beautiful shades of reds, oranges, and blues.

I was able to take a more leisurely approach to Friday evening's sunset photograph. We walked down to Sunset Beach, arriving 45 minutes before the sunset. I had time to explore some different compositions. Because there were clouds obscuring the horizon, the colors were not nearly as dramatic as on Thursday evening.

This was literally my last image from Friday afternoon. I had already collapsed the legs of my tripod and was walking off the beach, but my eyes caught sight of these subtle reflections on the water. It was so dark that Claire wondered why I set up my tripod again, but the darkness worked to my advantage. The long 30 second exposure smoothed out the surface of the ocean, creating this surreal image. I love it, and it's now the desktop photo on my MacBook Air.

Lizard Island is a beautiful beach resort in the Great Barrier Reef of Australia. Just 40 villas — 85 maximum guests at any time — and it's quite quiet at the moment. Claire and I were the only two guests this morning on what turned out to be our very own private snorkeling adventure on the Inner Reef... the most gorgeous coral I've ever seen!

copyright (c) 2019 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

Australia | bucket list trip

Sydney Bridge & Opera House (c) 2019 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

Australia is a bucket list destination for me. I've been once already, traveling with a group of travel advisors. I enjoyed amazing experiences — viewing hundreds of marsupials at Wolgan Valley, a koala in a tree on Kangaroo Island, sailing under the Sydney Bridge during a private cruise of the harbour. While my travel colleagues were all busy drinking wine, I was in the stern of the boat snapping photos, including the one above, one of my favourite travel photos ever.

But the Great Barrier Reef was not on my previous itinerary. As it's a place my wife has always wanted to see ... when I was presented with the opportunity to spend three nights at Lizard Island, I grabbed the chance! Here's the trip I've put together:

Cairns, the Pullman Reef Hotel — We fly from SFO to SYD, then continue on to Cairns. We're spending a night at the Pullman Reef in a Junior Suite, hopefully the one with the view down Trinity Inlet toward The Pyramid and Bellenden Ker Range.

Lizard Island — One of two Virtuoso resorts on the Great Barrier Reef (the other being qualia) Lizard Island is an adults-only 40-villa resort. Guests have access to 24 private beaches with a motorised dingy provided for complimentary use, or book diving trips to nearby Cod Hole.

Silky Oaks Lodge — a luxury eco lodge high above the Mossman River set within the Daintree Rainforest. Guests enjoy one complimentary Rainforest hike during their stay, and there are opportunities to explore the Great Barrier Reef from Silky Oaks.

Longitude 131 — I've heard amazing things about this tented camp in the Australian outback. With just 15 luxury tents, guests at Longitude 131 enjoy seclusion as well as direct views of Uluru (Ayers Rock) from their tents. I'm looking forward to photography at dawn and sunset.

Bamarru Plains — Finishing up our "wilderness" time with a safari, Bamarru Plains is found near Darwin on the northern coast of Australia. This will be my first time in the Bush. Bamarru Plains has one of the largest crocodile populations in the world, and the annual migration of over one hundred thousand magpie geese is supposed to be amazing.

Park Hyatt Sydney — Last time in Australia, I stayed at the Four Seasons Sydney in a wonderful Premier room facing the Opera House. This time, I'm looking forward to ending our trip at the Park Hyatt Sydney. Practically under the Sydney Bridge, Opera rooms at the Park Hyatt directly face the famous Sydney Opera House. Nothing is better than a room with an iconic view!

Though my trip is more than 7 months away, much of the pleasure of travel is the anticipation that builds when looking forward to a trip.

copyright (c) 2019 by Ourisman Travel LLC.  All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or

Australia | first time? many times?

I visited Australia earlier this year, but this You Tube video from Tourism Australia has me ready to go back. It's an easy trip with non-stop flights to Sydney from Vancouver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas and Honolulu. I was able to use United miles to fly business class on United's Boeing 787 Dreamliner — highly recommended. It's a l-o-n-g flight, but the Dreamliner's lie flat seats, higher air pressure, and diverse entertainment possibilities let me travel in comfort. Just one tip when flying United: bring your own travel pillow, as UA's supplied pillow is too thick and stiff for comfort.

Even better than the flight is the destination. Sydney is a gorgeous city with stunning views. At Wolgan Valley, I saw numerous kangaroos and other marsupials. And nothing surpassed the luxury and sea vistas at Kangaroo Island's Southern Ocean Lodge.

Australia is as large as the United States, and I have two outstanding items on my bucket list — (1) snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef and (2) staying at Longitude 131º to see the iconic Uluru.

We will work with you and our travel partners in Australia to orchestrate the bespoke vacation of your dreams. Just drop us an email, and we'll help you Discover More ... Down Under.

copyright (c) 2016 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell Travel. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

why luxury cruises are the best value

Nobody likes watching their wallet, but that's exactly what happens with a typical cruise. The ads headline a super-low fare, but by the time you inspect your bill at the end of the cruise, you've paid as much or more for "incidentals" as you did for the cruise itself. You've shelled out significant amounts of money for cocktails, wine at meals, soft drinks, bottled water, gratuities, etc.

That's why luxury cruises are the best value. Virtually everything is included in the price of the cruise, with some cruise lines even offering complimentary shore excursions. For instance, I just received an email blast from Seabourn advertising "unlimited luxuries for one simple fare."

• intimate ships with just 104 or 225 suites
• all-suite accommodations with ocean views
• fine wines poured at lunch and dinner
• open bars throughout the ship
• all dining venues are complimentary

Seabourn is advertising savings up to 65%*. Here are three great itineraries:

• Caribbean Hideways from $2,199 (7 days)
Visit St. Thomas, St. Martin, the British Virgin Islands, Antigua, St. Barths, St. Kitts, Prickly Pear Island


• Lisbon, Portugal to Istanbul, Turkey from $2,999 (12 days)
Explore Malaga and Alicante, Spain; Corsica; Rome; Malta; and Ephesus, Turkey.


• Thailand and Vietnam from $3,199 (12 days)
Visit Bangkok and Ko Kood (beach resort), Saigon, Danang, Hanoi, and Hong Kong.

Get to Europe in Super First Class. You get more than a sleeper seat. You get your own suite, a regular bed, and gourmet meals along the way, and you arrive with no jet lag!

• Fort Lauderdale to Lisbon, Portugal on March 18 from $2,149 (12 days)
• Fort Lauderdale to Malaga, Spain on March 21, from $2,249 (13 days)

For information on these sailings, or any luxury cruise, send us an email ... and ask about an additional $100 shipboard credit.


luxury cruises (search here on Google)

copyright (c) 2011 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
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*Fares are in U.S. dollars, for new bookings only, per guest, double occupancy and subject to availability. Some suite categories may not be available. Fares are not combinable with any other offer, may vary by sailing date, are capacity controlled, subject to change without notice, and are only available to residents of the Americas. Government fees of $32.58 to $498.66 per person are additional. Seabourn reserves the right to charge a fuel supplement for all guests, without prior notice, if the NYMEX oil price exceeds $70.00USD per barrel, and may collect such a supplement even if the cruise fare has been paid in full.