Stuck indoors and feeling blue? We don't blame you. So let us remind you of one of the best shortcuts to lifting your mood: music. Sure, it's not a particularly groundbreaking cure, but in these strange times, we've gotta grasp onto whatever small things will bring us joy (if only temporarily). We could launch into a lofty explanation as to why music is so important to us, relationships and culture, but that's probably not what you're here for. You're here because you're stuck at home and missing live music — the excitement when you find out a new artist you just discovered is playing at a local bar or the giddy anticipation as you walk into a huge concert arena or festival. Those times will come again. In the meantime, we're making do with gigs that are a bit more casual — so low-key in fact that you don't even need to wear shoes. Or even pants (just remember to shut the blinds). This year, we've teamed up with Miller Design Lab to showcase visionary musicians, designers and artists and celebrate our nightlife and its impact on culture to provide a safe space for creativity and self-expression. Grab a beer or make yourself a quarantini and get ready to boogie to some quarantunes (sorry). ARTISTS SUPPORTING ARTISTS Musician Milan Ring is one of the innovative artists to collaborate with Miller Design Lab this year. She's been making waves in the Aussie music industry for some time, having performed alongside names like Sampa the Great, Hermitude and The Rubens, and is currently working on her debut album. As a rapper, lyricist, guitarist and mastering engineer, her dynamic sound is best described as multifaceted — think elements of R&B, soul, electro and even reggae. So, it's safe to say that Milan's influences are pretty varied — and she certainly has her finger on the pulse when it comes to fresh sounds. Giving us a taste of what she's into right now, Milan recently created an extensive playlist that is jam-packed with the musical talent you should be listening to (if you don't already). Simply titled Friends, the playlist swings from the soulful sounds of Ngaiire and Silentjay to Arnhem Land rapper (and former Young Australian of the Year) Baker Boy, and is ideal for one of those lazy afternoons that ramp up to full-blown house party mode. CHALLENGE YOUR MATES TO A DANCE-OFF ON HOUSEPARTY Just because nights out are off the cards for a while doesn't mean your social life needs to go on hold, too. Hopefully, by now, you and your mates have video conference hangouts down pat and you've probably had some surprisingly fun nights indoors shooting the breeze and playing trivia. Next time, kick that competitive spirit up a notch with a good ol' fashioned dance-off. Turn your respective living rooms into your very own dance floors, stream the same playlist and show off your best moves — you'll think you're all at your favourite inner city bar together in no time. When it comes to picking the beats, everyone knows the best dance battle beats are those from your youth. This playlist, curated by British author, journalist and co-host of the pop culture podcast The High Low Dolly Alderton, delivers the goods. Aptly dubbed Pandemic at the Disco, it features a bunch of mostly 90s and 00s bangers, including 'Jump Around', 'No Diggity' and 'Work It'. Alternatively, check out Miller Genuine Draft's playlist, It's Miller Time, which features tunes from Mark Ronson, Lizzo and Bastille. LISTEN TO WHAT WE'RE LOVING Our mission at Concrete Playground is to guide you through the best cultural happenings across Australia. Usually, that includes outdoor adventures, electrifying gigs, epic art exhibitions and the latest restaurant and bar openings. Right now, we're focused on finding ways to bring those experiences to you, so your nights (and days) spent at home are anything but dull. And that includes new music. We can't point you in the direction of a local gig to check out, so we've created a playlist of what we're listening to during lockdown instead. This carefully curated list features some of our favourite Aussie musicians and it includes plenty of up-and-coming artists to fall in lyrical love with. Support them now by giving them a listen and perhaps donating to Spotify's COVID-19 Music Relief Project. Then, when lockdown's over you can get out and support them in person. PRETEND YOU'RE IN A EUROPEAN NIGHTCLUB Whether you've had to cancel a big trip to Europe this year or you're reminiscing a past vacation, a night spent imagining that you're tearing up a dance floor in a dark and sweaty European club will help you momentarily forget that it may be a while till you're actually able to travel again. To help create the vibes, crack out your disco ball or strobe machine, pop on the boating hat from that time you sailed around Croatia and head over to Boiler Room's Youtube channel. The platform has launched the Streaming From Isolation series, featuring sets from the likes of Berlin-based house and techno DJ Dixon and English electronic duo Disclosure. Most of the sets go for around an hour, but if you're in it for the long haul, check out DJ EZ's epic set that went for a whopping 24 hours. This is the second time the UK garage legend has done a marathon set (the first was back in 2016 for Cancer Research UK). He also recently pledged his fees for the festival gigs he did in Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland earlier this year to bushfire relief — what a guy. IMAGINE YOU'RE AT A REAL-LIFE GIG We get it. Going to a gig is about much more than just the very good music. The lights, the graphics, the on-stage dancers and the crowds of people singing and dancing alongside you are all part of what makes a concert such an amazing (and addictive) experience. And, by the sounds of things, large-scale concerts are likely to be one of the last things to return as we transition out of lockdown life. While you wait, you can stream some epic productions online — and they don't get much more epic than the shows at the Sydney Opera House. While the institution is closed to the public, it's continuing to deliver its stable of quality cultural content via a free digital program, which includes full-length performances, talks, podcasts and behind-the-scenes content. You can witness (or relive) the magic of The Flaming Lips' technicolour Concert Hall performance for the 20th anniversary of The Soft Bulletin, Solange's 2018 Vivid Live gig, Bon Iver's 2016 Vivid Live gig or Missy Higgin's full 2019 Live from the Forecourt concert. For something a little different, there is also Sydney Symphony Orchestra's performance of Mahler's Das klagende Lied and the Sydney International Orchestra's stellar collaboration concert with singer Sarah Blasko. For more ways to celebrate your city's nightlife and recreate its energy in your own space, head this way.
Following a rainbow by foot, and celebrating Sydney's — and Australia's — LGBTIQA+ community in the process, isn't hard around the Harbour City, no matter whether you're a local or a visitor. Darlinghurst is famously home to a rainbow crossing. In Surry Hills, the City of Sydney implemented a lengthy path in Prince Alfred Park decked out in the same multicoloured stripes, too. And Coogee also has its own cheerfully hued monument, turning part of the suburb's beachfront into a rainbow walkway. Expect those vibrant colours to blaze brighter in 2023, however — and in more places. WorldPride is coming to Sydney from February 17–March 5, taking place in the Southern Hemisphere for the first time ever, and it has dazzling plans to shower the Greater Sydney region with as many rainbows as it can. Sydney WorldPride will already boast the return of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade to Oxford Street, Kylie Minogue headlining the opening concert, plus MUNA and G Flip doing the same at the closing gig — and now around 45 free public artworks spanning everywhere from the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney to the Scenic Skyway in Katoomba are also on the list. The full rundown of floral art and installations hasn't been unveiled, but the highlights so far are impressive. Even just the 50-metre-long floral rainbow wall made up of 18,000 bright plants is, naturally. That floral rainbow wall is coming to The Calyx inside the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, and will be one of the largest living green walls in the Southern Hemisphere. It'll display during current horticultural exhibition Love Your Nature, which, fittingly, is all about diversity in plants. Up in the Blue Mountains, Scenic Skyway will be transformed giant Progress Flag, too — adding colour to its already stunning setup against the Three Sisters and the Jamison Valley's landscapes. And, back in Sydney, Coogee's rainbow walkway is expanding. Randwick Council will update the beachside path to feature the colours of the Progress Flag, to ensure that people of colour and the trans community are represented. This is a permanent feature, but will be unveiled in time for Sydney WorldPride. The 45 artworks will also include an evening rainbow mural that'll glow at the University of Sydney's Footbridge Gallery, at the Camperdown campus, during WorldPride. Designed by Dr Xavier Ho, it'll be comprised of rainbow LED lights, and will mark the 45th anniversary of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Around the city in general, the City of Sydney is set to put up floral installations, too, including planter boxes and a floral wall that'll be filled with plants and foliage in rainbow flag hues. To help Sydneysiders and folks in town for WorldPride to know what to see and where — the festival does span 17 days and 300-plus LGBTQIA+ festivities, after all, with more than 500,000 people expected to participate overall — a Rainbow City map will hit the streets in early February, plotting out where to catch this onslaught of celebratory colour. Sydney WorldPride is also open to hearing from public space holders interested in adding their own substantial artworks to the festival, as long as they're free to access and branding-free. Flowers, lights, water, sculptures, any interpretation of the rainbow: they're all welcome. [caption id="attachment_873469" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Katherine Griffiths[/caption] Sydney WorldPride will run from February 17–March 5, 2023. For more information, head to the event's website. Thinking about Sydney WorldPride's big opening gig, Live and Proud: Sydney WorldPride Opening Concert, too? General admission tickets have sold out, with only Sydney WorldPride's affordability option left — but you can still head along thanks to Concrete Playground Trips. The Sydney WorldPride package includes tickets to the Domain Dance Party and Live and Proud: Opening Concert, plus three nights at the PARKROYAL Darling Harbour Sydney.
When The Westin opened in Brisbane in 2018, it gave the city the Marriott-owned international brand's first location in Queensland. Also a first: Nautilus Pool Bar, the first swim-up pool bar in the city. Clearly, that's wonderful news for guests keen to splash around in the 300-square-metre swimming pool, grab a beverage and gaze out over views over the city skyline. Thanks to the hotel's new summery beach club, it's also ace news for Brisbanites in general. This isn't the first time that Nautilus Pool Bar has held public sessions, but this seasonal stint comes with an Amalfi theme, seafood towers, spritzes galore and DJs spinning tunes on the deck. Dubbed Nautilus Beach Club, it kicks off on Friday, December 16, and will run 11am–7pm Friday–Sunday until Sunday, April 16. Attendees have a couple of options for Mediterranean-influenced lounging by the pool, with a $29 ticket including access, a towel to use while you're there and your first spritz. If you and a date or mate are feeling like treating yo'selves, there's also a cabana experience for $239 for two, which gives you your own cabana to hang out in, a seafood platter and a bottle of rosé. On the menu in general: oysters, prawn cocktails, Moreton Bay bug rolls, kingfish ceviche, and both antipasto and seafood platters. The drinks lineup features spritzes made with limoncello, Campari, Aperol and Malfy gin, and there's also two Riot Wine Co vinos on tap. Those live DJ sets run from 3.30–6.30pm, with DJ Vicki Lee doing the honours on Fridays, and DJ Gloria Ansell taking to the decks on Saturdays and Sundays. And the pool itself? It's heated to 28 degrees, perfect for comfortable swims during Brisbane's sultry summer — and even through to mid-autumn. Updated February 9.
There's a reason that some types of meals always stay in fashion. Classic dishes like omelettes, steak sandwiches, lasagne and apple pie can evolve with the times and adapt to suit the latest trends — plus, they're always tasty. That's the mindset Paddington's Affinity Restaurant has adopted with their seasonal, modern Australian menu. There's nothing bland or boring on offer, with everything given a signature twist, but there's nothing faddish either — and almost everything is made in-house. Indeed, whether you're looking for a new weekend brunch spot, a place for a nice meal on a weekday evening or somewhere for a quick snack and a cocktail, you're certain to find something — or multiple things — that you'll want to devour as soon as possible. The breakfast bruschetta is a certain hit, the twice-cooked pork belly sounds divine, and if you can pass up the choc chip cheesecake with salted caramel, well, you've got better willpower than us. Affinity Restaurant also offers something extra special for those who think cheese is the best dessert — and who doesn't? Their cheese trolley can be wheeled to your table for you to pick three, four or five to feast on. Now that's a twist you probably won't see anywhere else.
The hole in the ozone layer might be smaller than it used to be, but that doesn't mean we're winning the war. According to this 2017–18 report, the national plastics recycling rate is about 9.4 percent. We clearly still have a way to go and everyone needs to do their share — but, the good news is that it's never been easier. Awareness of environmental issues continues to grow, and doing your part at home really couldn't be more simple. Not sure where to start? Eager to build upon your environmentally friendly choices so far? We're here to help. We've teamed up with Glad and its new Glad to be Green range to outline a list of changes that we can all make to be more eco-conscious — and, together, to do our bit to make our world just that little bit greener. BREW YOUR OWN MORNING CUPPA WITH A SIMPLE COFFEE MAKER With Australians going through over a billion takeaway coffee cups a year, the need to switch to a more sustainable alternative is urgent. Many people now take their own reusable cups to their favourite cafe, but there are a range of easy-to-use coffee makers that can give you that sweet java hit in your own home (and save you some coin, too). The classic option: the french press. Or, you could add a V60 or Aeropress to your kitchen — the latter brewing method is so popular, it even has its own world championships. For added eco-friendly points, make sure to buy your beans from a vendor that ethically supports growers. Also, those old coffee grounds make for great fertiliser or even a body scrub. KEEP YOUR LEFTOVERS IN REUSABLE STORAGE CONTAINERS Whether intentionally or not, we all cook more food than we need to from time to time. So, when you do have leftovers for lunch tomorrow, you'll want to store them in an eco-friendly way. There are a raft of green alternatives that are better for the planet, including Glad to be Green's range includes snack and sandwich resealable bags, which are 50 percent plant-based; have a lower carbon footprint; and, if you rinse them out, can be reused. Lunchboxes and tupperware are obvious choices, too, but many are still made of plastic, so make the choice to hunt down metal, glass or long-lasting silicon substitutes. WHIP UP SOME COOKIES ON COMPOSTABLE BAKING PAPER Considering the shape that the environment is currently in, it's important to try to maximise your green efforts wherever possible — even in areas that may seem relatively harmless. Everyone has a roll of baking paper in their kitchen drawer, and chances are that after you rip some off and use it, it then gets thrown into the bin. Enter Glad to be Green's new baking paper, which is compostable. So, once you're done cooking your chicken nuggets, chips, cookies, banana bread or whatever else you're putting in the oven, the non-stick paper can then go straight into the compost. START COMPOSTING YOUR FOOD WASTE Speaking of compost, do you have a compost bin? Gone are the days when all of our household waste went straight into landfill, thankfully. You might've been recycling for a long time, but your green and compostable waste could also benefit the environment by providing plant life with nutrient-rich soil. Better yet, so you're not stuck cleaning decomposing organic matter off of the inside of your bin, you could make use of a Glad to Be Green Compostable Kitchen Caddy Liner. That way, there's no mess to clear up — and the entire contents of the bin, bag and all, can then happily go onto the compost heap. WASH YOUR DISHES WITH ECO-FRIENDLY DISH SOAP Traditional dish soaps can contain a number of nasties, from ingredients that can encourage algal bloom and pollute waterways to chemicals linked to skin irritation. In short, your dishes may be clean, but they ain't green. Luckily, a range of eco-friendly alternatives have hit the shelves in recent years. You'll have seen them in your local supermarket, no doubt, so it's not hard to browse the aisles to find the bottle that's best for you, and the world around you. If you want to go the full nine yards, you can even find instructions online to make your own sustainable dish soap at home. MAKE YOUR OWN FIZZY DRINKS WITH A SODASTREAM Good news: the ultimate wishlist item from your childhood is actually great for the environment. When you were a kid, you probably just wanted to drink free soda whenever you like — as it turns out, you were way ahead of your time. Instead of buying mass-produced drinks in single-use plastic bottles, having a Sodastream in your kitchen means there's no need for water to be carbonated on an industrial scale. Let's not forget the environmental impact of transporting a product that's largely tap water, too. On top of all that, the carbon dioxide canisters Sodastreams use can be exchanged when empty, then cleaned and refilled for the next happy customer. And yes, being able to whip up your own soft drinks — or cocktails — at the literal touch of a button is mighty handy. PACK YOUR SHOPPING INTO REUSABLE BAGS When it comes to single-use plastic bags, state and federal governments as well as large retailers, like Woolworths and Coles, have started to do their bit (although there is still a way to go). So, many of us have already made the shift to using reuseable bags for our weekly grocery run. And, it's a habit that's worth getting into. Single-use plastic bags aren't exactly the most eco-conscious option. So, pick a sturdy, tote bag with a fun design, head down to the organic market and wear your self-satisfaction with pride — you're doing your bit to save the planet. Go green and visit the Glad website for more tips and tricks.
Not only home to grapevines as far as the eye can see, but also a restaurant with views over Moreton Bay, a nine-hole modified form of golf and regular concerts — Mount Cotton's Sirromet Winery also has onsite glamping within its expansive 560-acre grounds. It's also the first vineyard glamping experience in Queensland, and visitors can get cosy in one of 18 tents, with each featuring a king bed, indoor day chairs, outdoor tables and seating, bathrooms with a shower and toilet, and reverse cycle air-conditioning to cope with southeast Queensland's usually warm weather. Every safari-style abode also includes a mini-bar filled with Sirromet wine, and all bookings include complimentary breakfast at Tuscan Terrace (midweek) or Restaurant Lurleen's (weekends).
There's something whimsical and deeply satisfying about that first sip of an ice-cold, extremely creamy milkshake. The clever folk at the Southside Tea Room seem to have figured out this milkshake malarkey, serving up flavours like Oreo, Nutella, chocolate, salted caramel, vanilla, and strawberries and cream from their digs on Wynnum Road in Morningside. Kill two birds with one stone, get your shake fix and fix your caffeine shakes with a shot of espresso in your milky drink. And just a heads up: once you get a look at their menu, you'll most likely add some food to your order too. Their toasties with dipping sauce are out of this world. Image: Anwyn Howarth.
Do one thing. Do it well. That's a motto Les Bubbles has taken to heart with its signature dish: the steak frites. Don't bother asking for a menu — served with a soft leaf salad, available with three types of sauces and boasting bottomless frites, it's the only main meal on offer. Once you're done eating all the fries you can eat, move onto a six-dish selection of sweets, including crème brûlée and bombe Alaska. Then, ask yourself if you're the kind of person who waits half an hour before getting in the water, or throws caution to the wind and jumps right in. Why? Well, downstairs you'll find The Bath House, which nods to the site's sordid history (this is the Valley, after all) and includes a 15-person spa. Some of their beverages are even designed to be enjoyed in said bath.
2025 marks once, not twice, but three times in a row now that winter in Melbourne is being bookended by major arts festivals. RISING kicks off the cooler weather, then Now or Never helps farewell the frostier temperatures. As the former was as well, the latter is back in a big way this year, whether you're keen to witness one of the city's key spaces undergo a spectacular transformation just for the fest, fill 11 days and nights with live tunes, hear more about astronauts and astronomy, see where the lines between cinema and real-time performances blur, or celebrate queer Black excellence. Now or Never packs its lineup with arts, ideas, sound and technology events. From Thursday, August 21–Sunday, August 31 around Melbourne, 2025's fest will feature more than 140 free and ticketed sessions, which are the products of 285-plus local and international artists. Whatever else you head to, making a date with the Royal Exhibition Building — the venue that hosted its first large-scale live music performances in over 20 years at 2023's debut Now or Never — is a must, however, if you want to step inside a pink bubble. Free, running for the first four days of 2025's festival, and both an Australian premiere and a Melbourne exclusive, MATRIA looks set to prove quite the stunner. The installation's aim: to turn the Royal Exhibition Building, its temporary home, into a womb-like space via a recycled pink inflatable. Courtesy of Barcelona-based collective Penique Productions, translucent membrane will wrap around the venue's wooden interior skeleton — and breathe. The accompanying soundtrack, complete with a solo vocalist, will get it vibrating. Dancers will also help the installation's skin move and stretch, and you can expect to see futuristic art feature as well. Inside MATRIA, you'll be cocooned — and you'll also engage with more of Now or Never's program, because the site is still hosting shows and gigs within the installation. Dancer and choreographer Amber McCartney is teaming up with DJ Shapednoise on one, composer Alex Zhang Hungtai is in the spotlight on another, and rRoxymore is also doing the honours one evening. Or, get inhaling and exhaling along with MATRIA thanks to The Breath Haus and its meditation and breathwork sessions. For more music, Melbourne Town Hall will feature four nights of acts spanning Marie Davidson, DJ Python, DJ Logic1000, Young Marco and Yarra — plus Japanese visual and sound artist Ryoji Ikeda bringing ultratronics and its blend of minimalistic light and sound to Australia for the first time. Also engaging multiple senses in the same venue is Einder, a 20-metre-long light and sound installation by Dutch artist and composer Boris Acket. For one evening only, you can also feast beneath it, with Julia Busuttil Nishimura in charge of the multi-course menu. For a memorable outdoor installation, Dr Christian Thompson is on the case at the Evan Walker Bridge. Burdi Burdi (Fire Fire) is all about quiet reflection, and will be the Bidjara/Chinese Australian artist's largest such work. Hit up State Library Victoria instead and you'll spy DELIRI from the Barcelona-based Hamill Industries, a large-scale projection musing on understanding and deconstructing reality that's taking over the building's facade. Thinking about the cosmos is on the bill when Aussie astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg and astronomer Dr Tania Hill team up, complete with a screening of a short film commissioned by the Australian Space Agency. For more folks chatting, former Australian of the Year Tim Flannery will contemplate facing the future as the climate changes. Plus, the Charting the Future: First Nations Knowledges and Artificial Intelligence session will examine Australian innovation, not just looking at machine learning now and beyond, but also at knowledge in First Nations cultures — and neuroscientist Ariel Zeleznikow-Johnston is digging into potentially living forever. If you're all about the big screen, ACMI is presenting Rashaad Newsome's documentary Assembly, which steps behind the scenes of his installation at New York's Park Avenue Armory. With this year's Melbourne International Film Festival, it's also screening VR documentary The World Came Flooding In. Or, drop by for PARA.CINE's merging of where cinema and real-time virtual performances intersect. One world-premiere piece is giving picture palaces a zoological spin. The other boasts New York's Team Rolfes, with speeding jockeys at its centre. Over at The Capitol, you can check out First Nations film Crown and Country, and its conversations between Warlpiri philosopher and teacher Wanta Jampijinpa Pawu-Kurlpurlurnu and music producer Marc 'Monkey' Peckham. Blending performance with motion-capture, reality television and game design, Crisis Actor at Arts House in North Melbourne will get you participating rather than merely watching, all in the aftermath of a fictional disaster. From there, Moritz von Oswald is taking to the stage at Melbourne Recital Centre with a 16-person choir to perform his album Silencio, and composer, DJ and producer Laurel Halo is teaming up with cellist Leila Bordreuil. Plus, Science Gallery Melbourne's DISTRACTION wants to live up to its name via a range of local and international experimental projects, Intraconnection in Federation Square's screen will get you pondering being human, Queer PowerPoint is back and the State Library of Victoria is staying up late one night — and there's still more on the lineup. Now or Never 2025 runs from Thursday, August 21–Sunday, August 31 around Melbourne — head to the festival website for further details.
West End's massive West Village precinct continues to get bigger and bigger. While the project is still in development, it has held everything from ice cream festivals to weekend providore markets since it was approved in 2016. And, as of Saturday, October 2018, the $800 million project had some hefty new additions. The former Peters Ice Cream Factory site is now home to The Garden Pantry and The Common. The former is a casual dining precinct featuring multiple eateries, plus indoor and outdoor seating, while the latter is a 24-hour public space brimming with grass, trees, plants, a water installation and a field of lights. In short, the inner-city development has gained a heap of new dining options and a lush place to hang out. The Garden Pantry's restaurant lineup includes Cheeky Poke Bar, Mr. Bunz and Salt Meats Cheese as its first tenants, which means that West Enders can now devour Hawaiian-inspired bowls, pan-Asian baos and Italian eats. It all comes from tried-and-tested sources, with each of the three headline eateries setting up its second Brisbane locations. In SMC's case, the chain is also introducing a new tuckshop-inspired menu that focuses on ten different pizzas by the slice, rotating gnocchi specials and three frozen cocktails that nod to Italian granitas. Think jalapeno salty margaritas, Aperol spritz frozès and espresso tiramisu martinis. That's not the end of the story for SMC either — because making food is as fun as eating it, West Village will also be the site of its first Brisbane cooking school, which'll open its doors in Factory Lane in 2019. Joining the restaurant's usual array of cheese wheel pasta dishes, all-you-can-eat pizza nights and plentiful cocktails, the cooking school will host hands-on classes on how to make gnocchi, other pastas and desserts, including gluten-free options. Unsurprisingly, in terms of decor, the new spaces play up the garden theme — both in The Garden Pantry space, which is decked out tropical-style, and in The Commons' greenery-filled garden area. Later this year, West Village will open Factory Lane, and add a new arts and events studio called The Bromley Room #2. West Village is located at 97 Boundary Street, West End.
Brush up on your spells, Potterheads. Specifically, get ready to shout "accio iPhone". As first announced back in 2017, the wizarding world of Harry Potter is coming to your mobile — and the powers-that-be have revealed when as part of a new teaser trailer. Some time in 2019, Potter fans be joining the Ministry of Magic, wielding their wands and trying to contain traces of wizardry throughout the muggle world, all within Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. What else it involves is being kept in a chamber of secrets, although the game website does explain that players will enlist in the new Statute of Secrecy Task Force, where they'll be required to "hone lightning fast wand reflexes", "sniff out the faintest whiff of magical disorder from afar" and be proficient in the "advanced casting of multiple spells". Basically, it's a Pokemon Go-style step into the Harry Potter universe, giving everyone another augmented reality mobile game to get addicted to. And, it's from Niantic, the developers behind said game, who have teamed up here with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. When Harry Potter: Wizards Unite was first announced, Niantic noted that "players will learn spells, explore their real world neighbourhoods and cities to discover and fight legendary beasts and team up with others to take down powerful enemies" — in case you were wondering how it might emulate Pokemon Go. It also said the game "will leverage the full stack of the Niantic Platform while also providing an opportunity to pioneer all new technology and gameplay mechanics". That's about all we know for now — although you can check out the teaser below: It's up to you to protect the wizarding world. Enlist immediately for the Statute of Secrecy Task Force: https://t.co/b9UtoUA3gS #WizardsUnite pic.twitter.com/2NSlOpgj3W — Harry Potter: Wizards Unite (@HPWizardsUnite) November 14, 2018 For more information about the game, you can sign up for updates via www.harrypotterwizardsunite.com.
From late February through March, the Cultural Forecourt at South Bank will transform into an open-air live music venue for On the Banks, a new concert series presented by QPAC and South Bank Corporation. Framed by the Brisbane River and city skyline, the series is designed to capture that specific Queensland magic — warm nights, food and bars within easy reach, and headline acts soundtracking it all. Opening the series on Wednesday, February 25 is King Stingray, the Yolŋu surf-rock outfit whose live shows have become synonymous with big sing-alongs and bigger energy. Emerging from Yirrkala in Northeast Arnhem Land, the band fuse Yolŋu Manikay (songlines) with indie rock, creating a sound that feels both grounded in Country and built for festival stages. "Aussie crowds are the best at sing-alongs, making you feel welcome and getting across our live shows," the band says — and if you've seen them live, you'll know exactly what they mean. View this post on Instagram A post shared by KING STINGRAY (@kingstingrayband) Queensland has played a defining role in the band's journey. Bassist Campbell Messer and drummer Lewis Stiles were born and bred in the state, and the band famously played their first-ever show supporting The Chats at the Highfields Tavern in Toowoomba. Their songwriting, too, is deeply tied to place. Tracks like 'Camp Dog' draw from real-life experiences riding bikes through Yirrkala community, while 'Get Me Out of the City' was written about two aunties getting lost in the city — stories that blend humour, culture and lived experience. With album three currently in the works — and hints of "feel good funk, psych rock and genre-bending tracks" to come — their opening-night set feels like both a homecoming and a statement of what's next. View this post on Instagram A post shared by KING STINGRAY (@kingstingrayband) Beyond opening night, the series continues with a stacked cross-genre lineup: MARINA (with special guest Mallrat) brings her disco-lit electropop era to Brisbane, Grace Jones takes over the riverfront with her inimitable, high-drama stagecraft, Maoli delivers island-infused reggae and country-soul, and Sarah Blasko joins Marlon Williams for a closing-night set rich with late-night reflection. They'll appear alongside previously announced acts including De La Soul, The Streets, Bernard Fanning, Peach PRC and more — turning South Bank into a rotating outdoor stage for some of the biggest names touring Australia this season. On the Banks runs from February 25 to March 22 at the Cultural Forecourt, South Bank. Find out more and secure tickets via the website. This article was produced in partnership with Queensland Performing Arts Centre.
Maybe you've experienced the gothic charm of QT Sydney. Perhaps you've enjoyed slumbering at the site of a former cinema at QT Melbourne. At QT Gold Coast, you could've slept in rooftop cabins. At QT Newcastle, you might've bunked down in a clock tower. QT Queenstown comes with alpine views, while QT Auckland heroes the harbour. They're just some of the hotel chain's experiences in Australia and New Zealand, the two countries that it operates in so far — until it launches in Asia in September. Meet QT Singapore, QT Hotels & Resorts' first hotel beyond Down Under, which will open its doors from Monday, September 16, 2024. When it starts welcoming in quests, you'll be able to check into one of 134 rooms in the city-state's Eastern Extension Telegraph building, which dates back to 1927. You'll also be in a prime position: right next to the Lau Pa Sat hawker centre. Behind the striking facade, which is staying the same, the building has undergone a complete interior revamp to deck it out in QT's aesthetic. The brand's look varies from hotel to hotel, but always stands out from other places to stay. Interior designer Nic Graham is doing the honours, with reflecting the city-state's climate and evolution — and the building's location and heritage — the main aim of his approach to the site's decor. Holidaymakers can also expect a signature bar and grill, plus rooftop bar Rooftop by QT, which will sit alongside a sky-high pool for sips and splashes with a view. If you're keen on having a shindig on your getaway, private dining will also be on offer. "We're excited by the liveliness QT will bring to Singapore's diverse tourism landscape and ever-evolving metropolis later this year," said EVT Hotels & Resorts Group General Manager Callum Kennedy. "QT Singapore will be championed by QT's luxurious playful personality, from design to signature service and exciting collaborations, bringing the QT energy and vibrancy guests love from the world to be discovered by locals and travellers in southeast Asia." Leading on the charge on the ground will be QT Singapore General Manager Doron Whaite, a veteran of QT Perth and QT Sydney, who comes fresh from a stint at QT Auckland. Find QT Singapore at 35 Robinson Road, Singapore, from Monday, September 16, 2024 — and head to the hotel's website for further details.
Escape to Montville and bask in its close proximity to the idyllic Kondalilla National Park. One of the best ways to take in the epic scenery here is via the Kondalilla Falls Circuit. The slightly challenging but rewarding four-kilometre walking trail takes you from the eponymous waterfall through a verdant valley of lush, green rainforest to a cool rockpool at the top of the falls, before leading to the bottom of the valley where you'll get the best view of the falls. The walk back up is a little tough, but you'll be rewarded with encounters with stunning native flora like bunya pines, piccabeen palms and pink ash. Explore maps and check for travel alerts on the website. [caption id="attachment_785409" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Larissa Dening via Tourism and Events Queensland[/caption] Top image: Jesse Lindemann, Tourism and Events Queensland
Armchair economists, let alone real ones, received something of a nasty surprise today, as the RBA announced inflation figures climbed in the September quarter, with consumer prices rising at an annual pace of 3.2 percent. Considering the June quarter was measured at 2.1 percent, it's safe to say that anyone holding out for another interest rate cut (or cheaper groceries) in the near future has had their hopes dashed. Yet one piece of positive news headed our way could be the price of coffee. While it has felt like the cost has gone up and up over the last year or two, procurement experts at Proxima are predicting that coffee prices will stabilise, or even fall, in 2026. According to Proxima, arabica coffee futures have jumped 55 percent year-on-year. At the same time, the average caffeine hit in Australia has increased 37 percent since pre-pandemic lows of $5.50. Yet the "perfect storm of supply chain disruptions" is expected to ease soon. With global coffee stocks falling to 20-year lows, soaring coffee prices were partly caused by extreme weather events that slashed exports from Brazil and Vietnam by 30 percent. As Australia imports 90 percent of its beans, it's no surprise the cost at your local cafe took off. Although cafes still face major hurdles — rising rents, wages, operational costs and more — at least getting the beans in the grinder might be a little more affordable. Sure, it won't fix the cost-of-living crisis, but ordering a flat white that won't break the bank is a small win worth celebrating. Looking for a cheap meal? Check out the Ten Best Places to Dine Out Under $20 Right Now.
Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art started 2023 by musing on air, with floating mirrored spheres, volcanic mounds, and dances between light and darkness to help. When the year comes to an end, it'll turn its attention to fairy tales, complete with twisted woodlands taking over the South Bank venue. In-between, GOMA is shining a spotlight on two Australian artists, Michael Zavros and eX de Medici, in a pair of exhibitions that feature everything from cars to blood swabs. Running now until Monday, October 2, and filling GOMA for winter as well as the start of spring in the process, Michael Zavros: The Favourite and eX de Medici: Beautiful Wickedness are taking their status as major surveys of each talent's work seriously. The former covers 90-plus paintings, sculptures, videos, photos and performances by the Queensland artist, while the latter is the most extensive retrospective to-date on the Canberra-based creative and tattooist, spanning more than 100 works. With The Favourite, GOMA looks back across 25 years of Zavros' art — although Drowned Mercedes is brand new. Created for the exhibition, the sculpture fills the cabin of an original classic 90s Mercedes-Benz SL convertible with water. When attendees peer at the piece, they see their own reflection in the water. Other Zavros highlights include paintings including Man in a wool suit and Ferragamo 2000, which take inspiration from men's magazines; the Prince/Zavros, with American conceptual artist Richard Prince's late-80s Cowboy images and Marlboro Man tobacco ads an influence; architectural representations Love's temple and Unicorn in the anticamera; and a heap of portraits, with Zavros himself a frequent subject. Still-life works; equestrian paintings, drawings and sculptures; depictions of rare Japanese Onagadori chickens: they all grace GOMA's walls and halls, too. So does Acropolis Now, a large-scale mural depicting the Parthenon in Athens, which is being turned into a Greek coffee house once a month thanks to folks from Brisbane's Greek community playing backgammon and sipping Greek caffeinated beverages. "At the core of the exhibition and among the things that differentiate Michael Zavros from other artists of his generation is an unapologetic love of beauty and craftsmanship, folly, and grandeur. Audiences will enter Michael's world. They will see the rigour and breadth of his practice and how his work across multiple media reveals a subtly evolving worldview," said Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art Director Chris Saines. "His work is inescapably about who he is: his lifestyle — real or imagined — his family, his interests and values." In Beautiful Wickedness, the gallery harks back four decades, charting eX de Medici's exploration of life's fragility, death, greed, power, conflict and more. Here, visitors can peer at watercolours; intricate botanical studies; ample works featuring flowers and skulls; and even a bridal gown that takes its cues from Julie Andrews' dress in The Sound of Music. Early pieces include The Blood of Others, which is where those blood swabs come in — from eX de Medici's tattoo clients back in the 90s — while later works go large, feature moths and weapons, and explore war's pointlessness. "An avowed environmentalist and activist, de Medici's life and career has been dedicated to uncloaking misuses of power and revealing its effects on everyday lives. Exquisitely detailed and technically adept, her often large-scale watercolours seduce the viewer while seeking to expose the shadowy underbelly of consumerism and the long reach of systems of surveillance, authority, and control," said Saines. "Her artworks conceal surreptitious yet razor-sharp barbs among lush arrangements of historical and contemporary emblems of excess." Michael Zavros: The Favourite and eX de Medici: Beautiful Wickedness display at Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art, Stanley Place, South Brisbane from Saturday, June 24–Monday, October 2, 2023. For further details — or to find out more about the gallery's full 2023 slate — visit its website. Images: installation views of Michael Zavros: The Favourite and eX de Medici: Beautiful Wickedness, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2023. © Michael Zavros and eX de Medici / Photographs: Joe Ruckli © QAGOMA.
There aren't many events where the first female Australian astronaut, TikTok's marketing head, Australian screen personalities, a singer and actor who stars on Heartbreak High, a human rights lawyer and barrister, a cricketer, an Olympian, the director of Mortal Kombat, the first Australian artist to sign with Def Jam, a game about turning fruit into your own menu and a short film about a housewife trying to get a free pizza are on the same lineup. Actually, there's only one: SXSW Sydney 2024. After announcing in late 2023 that the event would return for a second year — because the inaugural SXSW Sydney was such a hit — and then getting everyone voting for its Session Selects conference events earlier in 2024, the only version of the tech, innovation, screen, music, games and culture festival outside of Austin, Texas has started unveiling its program for the year. Get ready for a busy seven days between Monday, October 14–Sunday, October 20. SXSW announces its bill in multiple drops, so this really is just the beginning for 2024. Each of the conference, music fest, screen fest and games fest have revealed details — kicking off with a heap of featured speakers. Astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg, TikTok executive Sofia Hernandez, Courtney Act, Nakkiah Lui, filmmaker Simon McQuoid, legal figure Jennifer Robinson, futurist Ryan Patel and the return of Non-Obvious trend curator Rohit Bhargava all grace the lineup so far. They're joined by Australia's eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, IBM's AI Platform Vice President of Product Armand Ruiz, Psychology of Your 20s host Jemma Sbeg and Esther Nguyen of POPS Worldwide, to name just a few more standouts. Plus, among the Session Selects panels, Hamish Blake will get chatting about social-media citizenship, David Warner and Tillie Kearns will talk athlete IP, and Australian Fashion Council CEO Jaana Quaintance-James and The Iconic CEO Jere Calmes will cover digital fashion. Other discussions will dig into designing with Country, taking film technology beyond the screen, the digital news transformation and the importance of nature. Stepping from Hartley High to SXSW Sydney Music Festival, Ayesha Madon is one of that strand's highlights. SAHXL, Nick Ward, BALTHVS, Total Tommy, brothers J-MILLA & Yung Milla, Joel Sunny, Ena Mori, Smol fish, HighSchool, Maina Doe, 404: you'll be able to see them as well. Film fans can look forward to short flicks such as the aforementioned Make Me a Pizza, plus Fish Tank, Meat Puppet and Vivie. And gamers can expect FRUITBUS, Blood Reaver, Curiosmos, Demon Spore, DICEOMANCER and Hyper Light Breaker, as well as Mystiques, No Case Should Remain Unsolved, Rose and Locket and Window Garden — some local; others from the UK, US, Belgium, China, Norway, South Korea and the Philippines; many with glorious names — at the Games Festival Showcase. "After the success of the inaugural SXSW Sydney in 2023, we are once again inspired by the overwhelming response from the creator communities to participate in the 2024 program. This is the first of many announcements as we roll out the extensive and diverse range of visionaries & creative thinkers from around the globe that make up the SXSW Sydney 2024 conference lineup," said SXSW Sydney Chair and TEG Group CEO Geoff Jones, announcing the initial 2024 program details. "SXSW Sydney is about discovery and an opportunity to be surrounded by the best and brightest minds from tech and innovation, games, music, screen and culture. This year's SXSW promises to be as inspiring as ever." 2023's inaugural SXSW Sydney welcomed everyone from Black Mirror's Charlie Brooker and Chance The Rapper to Future Today Institute founder and CEO Amy Webb and Nicole Kidman to its stages. In the process, it notched up 287,014 attendances from 97,462 unique attendees. Those figures came from 34,975 total tickets, with folks from 41 countries heading along to 1178 sessions. The full lineup spanned a 700-plus strong bill of talent, covering over 300 sessions, and featuring more than 300 gigs across 25 venues. From talks and concerts to films, TV shows and games, there was no shortage of things to see. Get ready for another round this October. SXSW Sydney 2024 will run from Monday, October 14–Sunday, October 20 at various Sydney venues. Head to the SXSW Sydney website for further details. Images: Jami Joy, Ian Laidlaw, Jess Gleeson, Katje Ford and Paul McMillan.
Hurricane Bianca is coming to town — to nine cities Down Under to liven up our winter and spring, in fact. The fabulously quick-witted RuPaul's Drag Race season-six winner heads our way on her fifth global comedy tour, fittingly called Unsanitized!. The also supremely apt tagline: "she's vaxxed, she's waxed and she has more attitude than ever". If anyone can help us all make sense of the past couple of years — and look devastating and sling cutting barbs while doing so, naturally — it's the drag queen that became a worldwide favourite back in 2013. She had fierce competition during her season of RuPaul's Drag Race, including from Australia's own Courtney Act; however, Del Rio's devilish snark and timing are clearly impossible to beat. First hitting Brisbane's QPAC Concert Hall on Wednesday, August 31, Del Rio will sling her cutting insults — and her larger-than-life persona in general — across big theatre gigs in both Australia and New Zealand. Her next stops: Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra, Perth, Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland, which'll take the Down Under leg of Unsanitized! through to mid-September. It's been a massive few years for the dimple-cheeked performer also known as Roy Haylock, with Unsanitized! following her last tour It's Jester Joke — which saw her become the first drag queen to headline Carnegie Hall and Wembley Arena. (Yes, she sold out both venues.) And, she hit the West End stage in the musical Everybody's Talking About Jamie, and also pops up in the film version as well. Watching that stage-to-screen flick, old Drag Race episodes, or 2016 comedy Hurricane Bianca and its 2018 sequel Hurricane Bianca: From Russia with Hate is obviously fantastic preparation for Unsanitized! — but, as you'll know if you've seen her live before, there's nothing like seeing Del Rio in the flesh. BIANCA DEL RIO'S UNSANITIZED! TOUR 2022 DATES: Wednesday, August 31 — QPAC Concert Hall, Brisbane Saturday, September 3 — State Theatre, Sydney Monday, September 5 — Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide Wednesday, September 7 — Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne Friday, September 9 — Canberra Theatre Centre, Canberra Saturday, September 10 — Astor Theatre, Perth Tuesday, September 13 — James Hay Theatre, Christchurch Wednesday, September 14 — The Opera House, Wellington Friday, September 16 — Auckland Town Hall, Auckland Bianca Del Rio's Unsanitized! tour heads around Australia and New Zealand in August and September 2022. For more information or to buy tickets from Friday, May 6, head to the tour website.
Feel so passionate about your Friday night pizza delivery that you want to wear it? Now you can. New Zealand fashion label YOUKNOW has teamed up with Pizza Hut to create a range of clothing dedicated to that controversial call: putting pineapple on pizza. If you're staunchly in the "it belongs" camp, you'll want to take a squiz at this limited-edition capsule collection inspired by the chain's Hawaiian Deluxe pizza. There aren't many (if any) dine-in Pizza Hut restaurants left around Australasia so this range is giving us a heap of nostalgia, thanks to the illustrations of the chain's iconic red roof and Hawaiian palm trees. The colours are all inspired by delicious pizza toppings like streaky bacon, pineapple and aioli. And now we're hungry. Designed and made over the ditch, YOUKNOW'S capsule range includes t-shirts, tote bags, shorts and bucket hats. Buy the items individually or get the whole damn 'fit for your next summer festival — according to the website, the label ships to Australia via DHS. YOUKNOW founder Joe Webb says the collaboration with Pizza Hut marks a "significant milestone" in the brand's journey. "It's a really special moment for us. It's amazing to see how this milestone translates over to the garments that we're super stoked to produce here in Aotearoa." It's not the first time we've seen a clothing line inspired by a classic takeaway feed. Who can forget this Big Mac-inspired 'fit or last year's ugly KFC Christmas jumpers? If you like to choose your clothing based on your weekend drive-thru order, you'll want to add one of these items to the current lineup. YOUKNOW's range is available to buy online now, with prices starting at $25 NZD — not including international shipping costs. Check out the full range here.
Hop onto that intrepid cruiser of the Brisbane brown snake, the CityCat, and ride all the way up to Teneriffe Terminal. Once you've arrived, alight and make your way directly to one of Brisbane's local produce havens for an early morning caffeine fix, the Sourced Grocer. These purveyors of fine food and drink also stock all manner of perfectly presented preserves and provisions to pick from as you wait for your coffee. If you're hungry, the house rye crumpets with Byron Bay Butter and fresh honeycomb go down a treat, but if you've had your breakfast, pick up a healthy, hearty sandwich for lunch on the way out. Image: @yestheodore / Instagram.
Going to a bar where everybody knows your name might be something that only happens in sitcoms, however West End's new pub, The Montague Hotel, will make you feel like that could occur. When it opened in April, it didn't hide the fact that it wants to be the area's new local haunt — and once you've been there, you'll probably be inspired to drop by the Monty quite often. Forget the drinks — a mark of a great pub is a varied menu of comforting eats. If you can see yourself eating there every day of the week, that's an ace sign. Good ol' Monty serves up three kinds of fries (potato, sweet potato and the cheese wonder that is haloumi), seven types of burgers, steaks, schnitzels, pizzas, salads and rotisserie chicken, lamb and pork, all of which is sure to get your tastebuds pumping. Oh, and who doesn't want an espresso martini ice cream sundae for dessert?
After initially revealing parts of its 2025 lineup in late 2024, Sydney Opera House's annual All About Women festival has unveiled the full program of events that'll focus on gender, equality and justice in March. Across two days, more than 50 speakers, including artists, thinkers and storytellers from both Australia and overseas, will participate in sessions that span women in sport and the influence of the Matildas, racism and sexism in the music industry, the impacts of skincare routines, and plenty more. For 13 years, marking International Women's Day with talks, panels, workshops and performances has been as easy as attending this highlight of the cultural calendar — a must-attend event not only in Sydney, but also nationally in recent years, thanks to the streaming of sessions online (which continues in 2025). For this year, Kate Berlant and Gina Chick joined the All About Women bill first, as did the return of the Feminist Roast. Kara Swisher, Rachel House, Jaguar Jonze and Grace Tame are now among the folks joining them come Saturday, March 8–Sunday, March 9. As revealed last year, Berlant is making her first trip Down Under, with the comedian and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Don't Worry Darling and A League of Their Own actor set to debut a new stand-up show. Alone Australia's first-season winner Chick is on the bill fresh from releasing her memoir We Are the Stars in October, and will chat about following your own path, grief and resourcefulness. Among the latest additions on a lineup overseen by the Sydney Opera House Talks & Ideas team — as led by Chip Rolley, alongside 10 News First's Narelda Jacobs and actor and writer Michelle Law — journalist and Burn Book: A Tech Love Story author Swisher will dig into the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter, while Heartbreak High star and The Mountain director House will chat through the importance of community and her Māori culture in her career. Jonze is on the panel discussing the present state of the music industry, as is Barkaa. And Tame is part of the Feminist Roast alongside Michelle Brasier, Nakkiah Lui, Lucinda 'Froomes' Price and Steph Tisdell. The Tillies join the roster via former Matildas goalkeeper Lydia Williams, plus Football Australia, the Matildas and the ParaMatildas Media Manager Ann Odong, with their session exploring the current situation for women in sport. Elsewhere, Dr Michelle Wong, Jessica DeFino and Yumi Stynes — plus Price again — will examine the impacts of beauty standards, especially upon younger generations. All About Women's 2025 program also spans sessions on the women who gave testimony at the Ghislaine Maxwell trial, the rise of domestic violence-related deaths in Australia, systems that are meant to protect First Nations children, perimenopause and how women's health is being commercialised, tradwives, grief, motherhood, the nation's declining birth rate, bodily autonomy and abortion, and being friends for life. "There is so much power in women and non-binary folks coming together to talk about the issues we are facing, whether that's in our workplaces and homes, throughout our country or the world," said Jacobs back in 2024, when the lineup's first details were announced. "The events I've co-curated are inspired by hot topics that dominate conversations with the women in my life — from the transformations women undergo at pivotal points in their lives, to the ways modern culture rejigs and repeats old stereotypes. We'll be having some cracker discussions that I'm sure will continue beyond the steps of the Opera House!" added Law. All About Women 2025 takes place on Saturday, March 8–Sunday, March 9 at the Sydney Opera House, and streams online, with pre-sale tickets for the full program available from 9am on Tuesday, January 14 and general sales from 9am on Thursday, January 16. Head to the event's website for more details. All About Women images: Jaimi Joy, Jacquie Manning and Prudence Upton.
Navigation sure isn't everyone's strong point, but thank goodness for smartphones and maps, right? Well, soon getting around is about to get even easier, because the folks at Google have announced a whole swag of new features set to be rolled out in Google Maps this year. The app is being pimped out with over 100 artificial intelligence-powered improvements, including tools to help you pick the most eco-friendly travel options, helpful weather insights and even more foolproof navigation functions. In good news for anyone trying to live a little greener, one new Maps feature will identify the most environmentally friendly routes you can take to lower fuel consumption, even displaying the various CO2 impacts of your different route options. The model has been built based on factors like traffic congestion and road incline, using insights and data from the US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Lab. And if the route with the lowest carbon footprint has a similar ETA to your fastest suggested route, Google Maps will default to the greener option — unless you override it. You'll also be able to easily compare different modes of transportation to find the most eco-friendly choices, with your preferred modes automatically prioritised. The updates are aimed at helping users minimise their environmental footprint, in line with Google's ambitious sustainability goals. They'll come into effect in the US on both Android and iOS later this year, with a global launch to follow. Another update will see a new weather layer added to Maps, offering a snapshot of the current and forecast conditions in the area you're travelling to — so you can avoid any surprise downpours. There's also a new layer showing air quality, which will be rolled out in Australia, India and the USA before the rest of the world. This one gives an indication of how healthy the air is, targeted at places where there can be excessive smog or smoke haze. And that sinking feeling you get when you realise you've been wandering in the opposite direction to where you want to go while moseying through an airport, transit station or shopping centre? You can say goodbye to that, thanks to the soon-to-launch 'live view' function. It uses AI scanning technology to help get a comprehensive read on your orientation. When using the feature, handy augmented reality cues and arrows will pop up on your Maps screen, showing you how to find things like the nearest elevator or bathroom. Currently available in Chicago, Long Island, Los Angeles, Newark, San Francisco, San Jose and Seattle before rolling out to Tokyo and Zurich in the coming months — with more cities planned after that — we're sure that one will come in especially handy in hectic airports when we're eventually allowed to jaunt off overseas again. The new Google Maps updates are slated to become available this year. For more details, see the company's website.
If you're exploring the Sunshine Coast hinterland you may get a bit over bushwalking, so you'll be stoked to know that the oh-so-nearby town of Landsborough is home to the largest commercial go-kart track in Australia. Whether you're an adrenaline junkie, looking for something to keep the moody teenager in the family distracted or just keen for a revvin' good time, the aptly titled Big Kart Track is sure to be a hit. The 1.2-kilometre track includes a series of wide looped turns as well as some serious hairpins, which you can take on in a cart capable of reaching speeds of up to 70 kilometres per hour. The track is open seven days a week for you to live out your Formula One dreams, at much more manageable speeds. Nighttime and wet-weather sessions are also on offer for more experienced drivers. Get your tickets here. Image: Garry Zhuang
Whether it's launching yourself off a snow-covered mountain when the stars are out, diving headfirst into a gorge on a bungee jump, exploring the depths of a cave network, or taking in the sights from a balloon in the sky, Aotearoa New Zealand is packed with experiences guaranteed to get your heart racing and adrenaline flowing. You can experience the country's most breathtaking settings on foot, by air, or in a balloon, to name just a few. We've teamed up with 100% Pure New Zealand to help you seek out some of the most exciting, adrenaline-pumping activities — plus the best time to experience them — so that your next adventure in New Zealand is one for the memory books. Flick the switch for seasonal adventures waiting for you in autumn, winter and spring. Jump to switcher
Brisbane's Premiership win over Geelong didn't just light up the MCG — it also dominated Australian screens, drawing more than 6.1 million viewers across broadcast and streaming. According to figures released by the Seven Network, Saturday's Grand Final reached a national total TV audience of 4.08 million, up on last year's numbers, with a further 969,000 streaming the match on 7plus Sport — a 48 percent increase year-on-year. The post-match presentations pulled in 5.5 million viewers, while 3.9 million tuned in for the pre-game show. The result makes the AFL Grand Final 2025's most-watched program so far, surpassing the NRL's State of Origin decider, which reached 5.7 million Australians. Seven's Head of AFL and Sport Innovation, Gary O'Keeffe, said the numbers reinforced the sport's unrivalled pull. "We want to thank every viewer who has joined us across the season. From the opening bounce at the SCG, right through to the Grand Final post-match celebrations, Australians have embraced Seven and 7plus in record numbers," he said. Chris Jones, Seven's Director of Sport, called the audience record "a fitting end" to an incredible season. With an 81.1 percent share of commercial audiences on Saturday, plus 90.9 percent in live streaming and 86.7 percent in BVOD, the AFL Grand Final sets a high bar for Seven as it moves into a stacked summer schedule that includes the Bathurst 1000, Spring Racing Carnival, AFLW Finals and a home Ashes series. You can watch the 2025 AFL Grand Final back now via 7plus. Images: Getty Images
During the past two months of lockdown, we've done plenty of solo dancing in our lounge rooms, with online nightclubs, virtual DJ sets and charity music festivals providing the tunes. But, from today, Wednesday, May 27, you can round up nine of your mates and head out for a night of dinner and dancing at your own private event at The Tivoli. In line with Queensland's recently eased restrictions, which came into force on May 15, restaurants and venues serving food have been allowed to reopen to ten dine-in customers at a time. The Tivoli doesn't usually fit that description, but it's adapting to the situation — and allowing Brisbanites to have the place to themselves for a four-course shared meal, all while listening to a live band or making shapes to a DJ set. "COVID19 has changed the way people are allowed to gather and experience live music, so instead of focusing on what we can't do during this time, we're focusing on what we can," explains The Tivoli co-owner and creative director Dave Sleswick. "For the first time ever, we're opening up The Tivoli to intimate groups for an evening of decadence, incredible food and excellent music. This is a fantastic time to diversify our offering and get creative." You and your nine pals will pay at least $165 each, which includes exclusive access to the venue for four hours, a tour of the place (including backstage), and picking your own music playlist to be pumped through The Tiv's sound system. The basic package also features a glass of champagne on arrival, then four courses of dinner with matched wines. Your meal will start with cheese and charcuterie, with truffled mushroom pâté and duck dumplings among the entree options, pork belly porchetta and braised wagyu beef cheeks on the mains list, and petit fours served up for dessert. If you're after a live band or DJ, that can be arranged as well — although you'll have to pay extra. You can also turn the occasion into a poker game or murder-mystery night, get a professional photographer to come along and get snapping, or level up your food to include caviar and oysters, too. To make a booking, you will need to have ten people. You'll also need to pay a 50-percent deposit at the time. Bookings are available from Wednesday, May 27–Friday, June 12, after which The Tivoli expects to be allowed to permit groups of 20 to enjoy all of the above — contingent on Queensland's COVID-19 restrictions easing further, as outlined in the state's roadmap. During the pandemic, The Tivoli has also launched a bottle shop and cafe, should you be looking to pick up some booze to take home — or have it delivered. Records from Jet Black Cat Music are also available, with The Tiv-themed merchandise coming soon as well. The Tivoli is open for private bookings from Wednesday, May 27, with a minimum spend of $165 per person for a group of ten people required. To make your reservation, visit the venue's website.
When you think of Tropical North Queensland, the outback probably doesn't come to mind. But if you drive 160 kilometres northwest of Cairns to Mt Mulligan Lodge, that's exactly what you'll find. As the name suggests, this boutique accomodation overlooks the immense tabletop mountain that is Mount Mulligan. Here, you can experience an all-inclusive luxury outback stay featuring hikes, all-terrain vehicle adventures, barramundi fishing, stargazing and more. The sprawling 28,000-hectare property ensures all 20 guests it can accommodate have ample privacy during their stay. Plus, each guest room gets a buggy to buzz around the property on, so you can get from your bed to sunset drinks at the bar with ease. Mt Mulligan Lodge has lots of worthy initiatives in place, too, from a waste minimisation program to a partnership with Ganbina to help local Indigenous students secure employment after school.
A terrific talent begetting another terrific talent: that's the Kurt and Wyatt Russell story. An on-screen presence since the 1960s, the elder Russell has basically done it all, from being a child actor to becoming a Hollywood legend. Since the early 2010s, the younger Russell keeps proving one of film and television's must-watch stars. Both weaved sports careers — Kurt with baseball, Wyatt with hockey — between their early acting credits. The physical family resemblance is also unmistakable. The father-son duo now play the same role in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, the initial giant step into television by the Monsterverse, the franchise that's sprung up around the recent American-made Godzilla and King Kong movies (2014's Godzilla, 2017's Kong: Skull Island, 2019's Godzilla: King of the Monsters and 2021's Godzilla vs Kong, with Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire on the way in 2024). When we say that Kurt has virtually done it all, we mean it. He kicked Elvis Presley in the leg in his uncredited debut (It Happened at the World's Fair), became a Disney teen star (The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, Now You See Him, Now You Don't and The Strongest Man in the World) and played Elvis in his first collaboration with John Carpenter. He kept working with the director (Escape From New York, The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China and Escape From LA), and acted opposite partner Goldie Hawn multiple times (Swing Shift, Overboard), including while playing Santa (The Christmas Chronicles and its sequel). He's stepped into Wyatt Earp's shoes, toyed around with Stargate, featured in Quentin Tarantino movies (Death Proof, The Hateful Eight and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), and made both Marvel (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2) and Fast and Furious (Furious 7, The Fate of the Furious and Fast and Furious 9) appearances. Entering the kaiju realm is a first, however, although sharing the same part with the Black Mirror-, Ingrid Goes West-, Lodge 49- and Under the Banner of Heaven-starring Wyatt is not. It was back in 1998 that Wyatt earned his first-ever screen credit, not by booting a music icon but as the younger version of his dad's character in Soldier. Twenty-five years later, the same dynamic exists in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, which flits between time periods to deploy both Russells as Lee Shaw. In the 1950s, Wyatt plays him as another soldier, a colonel who helps found the titular Monarch with scientist Keiko Miura (Mari Yamamoto, Pachinko) and cryptozoologist Bill Randa (Anders Holm, Inventing Anna). Kurt follows in his son's footsteps this time, playing the elder version of Shaw in the 2010s, when the world knows about Godzilla but the titular government monster-hunting outfit is conflicted about how to handle it and its fellow titans — and about its history with Shaw, Miura and Randa. If making the two Russells its biggest stars — well, its biggest human stars — doesn't immediately give it away, then getting mere minutes into Monarch: Legacy of Monsters' ten-episode first season does: this is a kaiju tale where people matter. That hasn't always been able to be said about the Monsterverse, and both series itself and the saga overall is all the better for the new show's approach. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters also happily nods to Kurt's past when it gets him battling creatures in icy surrounds, which took him back into The Thing territory. "Very much so. We flew up every day in a helicopter. And, you know, you put it all together — the helicopter, whiteout, ice, glacier — it took me back 40 years, 40 years plus, something like that," Kurt explains. It might seem like an obvious choice to enlist the Russells to share the role of Shaw. It's certainly dream casting for viewers, and it's impossible to imagine Monarch: Legacy of Monsters with anyone but them in the part. But despite previous attempts to get them to work together again since Soldier, collaborating here — working together again at all, in fact — was a matter of being pitched something different. With Monarch: Legacy of Monsters currently screening its debut season on Apple TV+ — premiering in mid-November and running through until mid-January — we chatted with Kurt and Russell about only reteaming because the right project came up and getting into the same headspace. Also included in the round-table conversation: the opportunity to do something special, what they've learned from each other and their pre-Monsterverse experiences with the monster to end all monsters, aka Godzilla. ON SHARING A PART AGAIN, THIS TIME WTH ADDED GODZILLA Wyatt: "It was the right project coming up. It wasn't ever something we looked for or actively sought out. It was the idea that came from Ronna Kress, who is the casting director of Monarch, and Matt Fraction and Chris Black [who developed Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, and also co-wrote and executive produced]. They came up with the great casting idea, but we had never really actively looked to work together." Kurt: "In fact, when we'd been asked that, we said nobody's done it before. Well, we had and we forgot about it. We forgot that we've done it before." ON EMBRACING A GREAT CASTING IDEA AND SEIZING AN INTERESTING OPPORTUNITY Kurt: "It was a chance to really do something special, and do something that had really never been done: two known actors that were father and son playing the same character. We actually recently just looked around about that — it had never been done. But we didn't even think about that. It was just like 'oh, this is an interesting opportunity and maybe we'll never get this opportunity again'. So we really wanted to go hard and try to make it work, because we didn't want to do something that we felt wasn't going to be at least as good or better than the idea itself of us playing the same person." ON EARLY MEMORIES OF GODZILLA, AND THE EXPERIENCE OF JOINING THE MONSTERVERSE Wyatt: "My earliest memories of Godzilla would have been when I was probably really young and I saw some Godzilla stuff on TV. I grew up in the 90s. I was thinking of this yesterday — I was a child of the 90s and I don't remember very many Godzilla things being around then. They didn't really start making Godzilla movies — somebody will say I'm wrong and they'll be right — but they weren't big in [US] movie theatres until a little later. I just didn't grow up with it. So this is my first real introduction to to Godzilla. I obviously knew who he was. Then joining it, we wanted to make something that was more character-based than what had been previously done, and previously the stories that have been told. Because it was a ten-part series, you could dive into characters, and that was relatively more interesting than just watching the monsters for for us. So I think that was a big, big reason." Kurt: "I was young kid, probably six or seven. First monster I remember. There was also The Blob, which was truly terrifying to me. Godzilla was just kind of like 'that's awesome, he's cool'. Then throughout the years, Godzilla was always around and stuff, but like Wyatt, I wasn't waiting for the next Godzilla movie to come out. I didn't really know much about it. I don't know much about the Godzilla lore — I learned more on this. So this was really more of understanding that with Godzilla, it was going to be a big plate. It was going to be a backdrop. And we had the sense from talking to the guys that Apple was very, very much behind it, and all that stuff was going to be great. But what we needed to do was make sure that over the ten-hour period, the people that you were watching dealing with these monsters were as compelling a story as just watching the monsters themselves in terms of entertainment." ON BOTH LEARNING FROM AND TEACHING EACH OTHER Kurt: "He has a very, very — I was always natural, but I was natural in my own way. Then when I wanted to play different characters, I would just invent them in my head, or maybe it was drawn off a little bit of somebody I'd seen or knew. Wyatt is naturally extremely real. He's just extremely real. I think that's a great quality in an actor to be able to do that. It isn't necessarily yourself, it might be a different character, but to be real in that character, it's really fun to watch Wyatt do that. I think I've learned that. Also patience. I watch Wyatt deal with certain things in a more patient fashion than generally have. In our family when I grew up, it was baseball that was the focus. And as Wyatt was growing up, hockey was his focus. And therefore our business was sort of how we made our money to run the family. Obviously Goldie and the kids all had to deal with the notoriety and whatnot. But Goldie, both Goldie and I, that wasn't a part of our home life. Wyatt didn't grow up in that kind of thing. So I tried to, I suppose, show him a world that naturally, to me, was a real one. I didn't really pass anything down to Wyatt in terms of specific knowledge or direction, and we never had any conversation in our family like that. It just wasn't the way our family was. We were just a family living our life. And yeah, we did something that people would recognise us from, but the importance of that was given very little — in fact, most of the importance of that came from the fact that we just sort of dealt with it. Sometimes, it was kind of in the way too much. Other times, you just avoided it. Other times, you understand you have to, it's time to go to work. You accept it. I guess you guys saw all of that. I mean, that's all I tried to pass — I didn't pass anything on Wyatt. Wyatt was Wyatt. He was always just Wyatt. I don't know how to say it other than that, he was just who he is. It's pretty much the same thing [now] with a beard — a five-year-old with a beard." Wyatt: "I like my dad more so as a parent, nothing with acting specifically. He's just a good, great dad and I love being around him, and we have a great time together — and we got to spend a lot of time together, more than most dads probably, because when he was working I could go to set, and when he wasn't working he was just around all the time. So yeah, it's like 'be a good person' and 'say please and thank you', and hopefully, you know, just being a good person. That's what I learned from my dad and my mum." ON GETTING INTO THE SAME HEADSPACE Wyatt: "Everything that we do is uniquely its own, and so drawing on characters of the past, at least for me, was not going to help this character. Although I guess I did characters that were similar in certain ways, but I don't think I really referenced them." Kurt: "I think that the obvious truth is you'd have to be pretending not to have seen things. You know what I mean? So I've seen a lot of what Wyatt's done, and vice versa. And so therefore, there's some things in our minds. We do know kind of where we are — I'll call them strengths. We also know our weakness. And what we wanted to do here, being in a Godzilla gigantic landscape, we didn't want to misuse that. We wanted to use it properly. So that was a focus of ours in co-creating the character, I guess you'd say, with the writer, head writer and the showrunner, Chris Black and Matt Fraction." Monarch: Legacy of Monsters streams via Apple TV+. Read our review.
This sweet little South Brisbane gem is tucked away just a few blocks from QPAC, featuring a traditional low horigotatsu table in its private dining room. Okuman spoils us with a roundup of Japan's most beloved dishes, with some bonus vegan options thrown in, too. As an appetizer, grab a pair of the crispy chicken bao, or a serving of scallop sushi with tartare sauce. For mains, try the cauliflower karaage with sriracha mayo, or the seafood ramen topped with sliced shallots. Okumen even offers vacuum-sealed home packs via DoorDash, which means you can have family-sized portions of cha siu pork, or salmon sashimi, ready for your next late-night snack-attack. Sure beats instant noodles, huh? Images: Hennessy Trill
Kerbside is definitely one of the most visually appealing bars in Brisbane. Easy and entertaining on the eyes, the graffiti decor, amazing art and comfortable pre-loved furniture has made the laneway bar a favourite destination amongst locals and the perfect excuse to head out for a coffee, lunch and/or drinks. But like all great over achievers, Kerbside are looking to give their venue a unique, arty facelift. If you're someone who can creatively and effectively douse spray paint over a blank wall, Kerbside is looking for you. This great opportunity for artist exposure is open to entries until Thursday April 18. If you're a street artist with some amazing design ideas stashed under your hat, head over to the Kerbside Facebook page and post examples of your work showcasing your ideas and methods as well as a small spiel on what you're graffiti decor plans for the place are. Don't forget to keep in mind Kerbside's current style in mind when you're planning your master piece. You never know, it might be your art that everyone is complimenting over a cider in the coming months.
Since late in 2019, when Disney launched its own streaming platform, fans of its animated classics, beloved hits and many, many super-popular franchises have been able to binge their way through the Mouse House's back catalogue from the comfort of their couch. Later this year, however, movie buffs will be asked to leave their houses to check out a selection of the company's famed titles — all thanks to the new pop-up Disney+ Drive-In that's coming to Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. Yes, a streaming service is running a drive-in. Or, to put it another way, a product designed to get everyone watching on small screens at home is now endeavouring to lure viewers out to watch its flicks on a big screen from their cars. That's a very 2020 situation, with Disney+ teaming up with Openair Cinemas to make it happen. The drive-in will kick off in Brisbane, at Northshore Hamilton — in the event space next to the Brisbane Cruise Terminal, to be specific — on Thursday, September 17, screening films every night (except Tuesdays) until Sunday, October 18. Brisbanites with a long memory might remember that the stretch along the river has been used as a drive-in before, with the Brisbane International Film Festival doing so back in 2011 and Eat Street Northshore also screening movies. As for what'll be screening, the Disney+ Drive-In is theming its various evenings, with double features on offer on most nights. That means on 'Star Wars Wednesday' you'll catch The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, The Rise of Skywalker and Rogue One; and on 'Throwback Thursday' there'll be a focus on nostalgic movies like 10 Things I Hate About You, Mrs Doubtfire, Mighty Ducks and Edward Scissorhands. Then there's 'Disney Super Fan Friday', serving up both live-action and animated versions of Aladdin, The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast; and 'Sing Along Saturday', where Moana, The Greatest Showman, The Little Mermaid and both Frozen films will screen. Next comes 'Pixar Sunday', including everything from Cars and Ratatouille to Inside Out and Wall-E — and, finally, 'Marvel Monday' will feature the likes of Black Panther, Thor: Ragnarok and Captain Marvel. The pop-up will then head to Sydney from Thursday, October 22–Sunday, November 15, with both its program and its location yet to be revealed. Lastly, it'll hit up Melbourne, too, with both dates and the venue still under wraps. Folks interested in either season can sign up for updates via the drive-in's website. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue80QwXMRHg Popcorn, snacks and drinks will be available onsite — or you can bring your own. It's strictly a no-alcohol affair, though. And, ticket-wise, you'll be paying per car; however, prices vary depending on a number of factors. For a single film, you'll pay $42.53 if there's one or two people in your car, and $52.75 if there is three or more. For a double feature, that changes to $73.74 and $84.51. Disney+ Drive-In presented by Openair Cinemas kicks off in Brisbane, at Northshore Hamilton, on Thursday, September 17 — with its season running until Sunday, October 18. It'll then head to Sydney, at a yet-to-be-disclosed location, from Thursday, October 22–Sunday, November 15. Lastly, it'll hit up Melbourne, with both dates and the venue still under wraps.
During its Sydney run, Longrain was a must-visit for fans of Thai cuisine. In Melbourne, the Victorian version has proven the same, as has the Tokyo offshoot in Japan. Brisbanites can now head to Short Grain instead, with former Longrain co-owner, founder and Executive Chef Martin Boetz setting up his latest venture in Fortitude Valley. Short Grain marks a homecoming for the Brisbane-born kitchen wiz, who had a 14-year association with Longrain in Sydney and a seven-year link to its Melbourne eatery. Since then, he's been behind The Cook's Shed on the Hawkesbury River in Sackville in New South Wales, before giving Brisbane a new 60-seat Thai restaurant inside Marshall Street's Stewart & Hemmant building. This isn't just a place to sit and eat, either. Making its home inside an old clothing factory, Short Grain also features an Asian food store, as the brick building also once housed in the 90s. So, patrons can stop by for dinner or Sunday lunch, or pick up ready-to-go meals and house-made sauces. If you're dining in, you'll find arched windows letting light into Short Grain's section of the heritage-listed spot, banquette seating and wooden tables lining the space, and art by Vicky Lee. On the menu: Thai dishes aplenty, wine to match and a small dessert selection. For now, on a lineup that'll change seasonally, think: chicken skin with smoked trout and green mango among the appetisers, plus caramelised pork hock paired with chilli vinegar on the mains list. The culinary highlights also include red chilli nahm jim oysters, hot and sour squid, salt and pepper cuttlefish, and soy-braised quail. Yes, yellow, green and red curries are also on offer, the first with beef, the second with mackerel and the third with pork belly. And for something sweet? Choose from duck egg caramel custard tart made with salted pork-fat pastry, black sticky rice with mango and coconut tapioca with caramelised pineapple. To wash your meal down with, the vino list includes four bubbly drops, six whites, one amber, three rosés and chilled reds, and nine reds — with a focus on Australian wine, but also tipples from France, New Zealand and Germany. And, for taking home, expect not just curry sauces made and bottled onsite, but condiments and dressings. Short Grain is also selling The Fermentary's wares and acting as the only Queensland spot to get Gewurzhaus' spices. Find Short Grain at 15 Marshall Street, Fortitude Valley — open Wednesday–Saturday from 5pm–late and Sundays from 11am–4pm.
You can tell a lot about a person's culinary choices by their favourite TV shows. For example, if you're a Parks and Recreation and Stranger Things fan, then we're guessing that you're also a lover of waffles. Leslie Knope and Eleven haven't tucked into red, bubble-shaped batter concoctions, however — but at Brooklyn Depot, you can. Made from red velvet batter, they come with chicken, so they're the perfect option if you've in the mood for some breakfast for dinner. Pair them with some lobster mac and cheese or cheeseburger empanadas from the burger chain's latest menu, and then go for a mosey around South Bank afterwards to ease your greasy guilt.
The climate crisis can feel overwhelming at times. There's so much critical work to be done on our quest for a more sustainable future. To alleviate some of the existential helplessness, we've teamed up with our pals in Tropical North Queensland to come up with some practical ways we can give back to our beloved environment this Earth Day (April 22) and beyond. Whether you want to volunteer for a conservation organisation or you've been meaning to move your moolah to a financial institution that doesn't invest in fossil fuels, read on for practical ways you can show the environment some love. MOVE YOUR MONEY When it comes to helping the environment, money might not be the first thing you think of. But, if you take a moment to properly consider it, where your money is invested really matters. Some banks and superannuation funds invest their customers' cash into industries that are harmful to the environment — like fossil fuels. If you've been meaning to move your money to a more environmentally friendly financial institution — or to find out what industries your money is currently propping up — Earth Day seems like a timely reminder to do that bit of life admin. Not sure what industries your bank or superannuation fund invests your money in? Find out via the Market Forces website. HAVE MEAT-FREE MEALS It's no secret that mass meat production has a negative impact on the environment. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, livestock farming is responsible for 14.5 percent of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Want to reduce your intake of animal products? Consider opting for meat-free meals on Earth Day. Or, if you want to take it one step further, make meat-free meals part of your week, every week. There are plenty of plant-based menus to try in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Cairns. [caption id="attachment_844234" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Tropical North Queensland[/caption] TRAVEL RESPONSIBLY From offsetting flights to booking eco-certified experiences, trying to do your bit for the environment while expanding your horizons is a big help. One destination that's loaded with low-impact ways to explore the natural environment is Tropical North Queensland. In the tropics, you can stay in eco-certified accommodation, enjoy the Great Barrier Reef responsibly and explore the region's lush rainforest with minimal impact activities. Want to find out how? Check out the eco-certified experiences and accommodation via the website. SHOP LOCALLY Shopping within your local community has a few benefits. Firstly, it helps to boost the local economy. Plus, if you're buying products that have actually been produced in your local area, it helps to reduce carbon emissions. When you buy produce that is grown near to where you are, the food is only travelling a minimal distance to reach you. That means it takes less resources to transport and store the food after it leaves the farm. So, next time your want to fill up your fridge, head to your nearest farmer's market and grab your goodies from a local. [caption id="attachment_829895" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Tropical North Queensland[/caption] EAT SEASONALLY Eating with the seasons is another great way to cut back the travel miles on your food. Similar to shopping locally, when you consume food that flourishes in the season you're in, the transportation and storage resources required to get the produce from paddock to plate are reduced. Want to eat seasonally on your next trip away? Make sure you check in with the locals to see what's in season. If you're planning a trip to the tropics, hit this list to find the finest local produce that's in season. Spoiler alert: there's plenty grown up in this part of the world. If you dine at a Crystalbrook Collection venue, you can even find out how sustainable your food is via its new Climate Calorie concept. The hotel group have labelled its menus to tell you when your food is locally sourced, supplied in eco-friendly packaging, whether or not First Nations People were consulted in the food production and more. [caption id="attachment_793108" align="alignnone" width="1920"] PARKS AND RECREATION -- "Recall Vote" Episode 607 -- Pictured: (l-r) Adam Scott as Ben Wyatt, Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope -- (Photo by: Chris Haston/NBC)[/caption] TALK TO PEOPLE IN CHARGE One of the most impactful ways to have the environment's back is to tell people in power what you think needs to be done to protect it. While individual action can add up, it's the government that has the power to implement policy changes that'll have a much greater impact. Think we need better emission reduction targets? Reckon the government should stop subsidising the fossil fuel sector and invest in renewable energy instead? Get in touch with your local Member of Parliament to get it off your chest into action. And, of course, ensure your votes in upcoming elections aligns with your beliefs. [caption id="attachment_844433" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Tropical North Queensland[/caption] DONATE OR VOLUNTEER FOR LOCAL CONSERVATION PROJECTS If you've been putting off donating time or money to a local conservation project, but know it's something you want to do, Earth Day is an ideal time to finally make it happen. Most national park organisations have programs for volunteers to get involved in. Or, if you're keen to send some love to the Great Barrier Reef or rainforests of Tropical North Queensland, visit this website to find out how you can help. [caption id="attachment_851154" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Tropical North Queensland[/caption] GET INVOLVED WITH CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECTS As the old saying goes: knowledge is power. So, to feel more equipped to make positive contributions to the environment, consider getting involved in a citizen science project. Wondering what that even means? Citizen science does what it says on the tin. It's all about getting everyday citizens involved in scientific projects. Our top picks to get among the action are Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef and Eye on the Reef. Want to find even more ways to give the environment some love this Earth Day? For more information, visit the Tropical North Queensland website.
Today, Friday, September 10, marks a fortnight since Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk last announced a change to Queensland's COVID-19 restrictions, and also confirmed that the rules around masks were remaining in place in many situations. At the time, the Premier advised that the new requirements would be effective for at least two weeks, and that they'd be assessed fortnightly moving forward. We've now reached that first review point — and all the current settings are staying for now, the Queensland Government has just revealed. If you live in the Brisbane City Council, Logan, Moreton Bay, Ipswich, Redlands, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Noosa, Somerset, Lockyer Valley and Scenic Rim Local Government Areas, it has been some time since you've been able to flash your smile at people outside of your own home. Since the end of June, in an effort to stop the region's recent COVID-19 cases from spreading, wearing masks has been compulsory across the region, although that mandate relaxed slightly in mid-August. The rules that've been in place since then aren't going anywhere for now, though, so you'll still be hiding that grin until at least 4pm on Friday, September 24. 📢 Mask wearing requirements will remain in place for South East Queensland until 4pm 24 September. For more information about what restrictions are in place, visit https://t.co/P0YcPprxOb pic.twitter.com/FPvOuAKKcf — Queensland Health (@qldhealthnews) September 10, 2021 Need a refresher on the rules? Queensland has a standing mask mandate for flights, airports and stadiums, so you'll always need to mask up there — and, for the next two weeks, they'll remain mandatory in plenty of other spots. That includes on public transport, in ride shares and while waiting for both; in all indoor spaces other than your own home, including hospitality businesses, unless you're eating and/or drinking; in schools; and outdoors if you can't remain 1.5 metres away from people who aren't part of your household. Also, you will still need to always carry a mask with you. Queensland currently has 21 active COVID-19 cases, with one new locally acquired case reported in the past 24 hours. Exposure sites have started being named around Brisbane again, however, so you'll need to still keep an eye on the list of places that positive COVID-19 cases have visited. And, as always, the usual requests regarding social distancing, hygiene and getting tested if you're feeling even the slightest possible COVID-19 symptoms also still apply — as they have since March last year. Southeast Queensland's current mask rules will remain in place until at least 4pm on Friday, September 24. For more information about the status of COVID-19 in Queensland, head to the QLD COVID-19 hub and the Queensland Health website.
Lately Tasmania has been at the top of our list of destinations where food, wine, spirits and scenery are at the heart of the holiday. It is, after all, home to many of Australia's finest producers and makers. In fact, we've been so inspired that we've curated a special travel package to Hobart that's dedicated to culinary indulgence — and you can snap it up now at Concrete Playground Trips. Alternatively, you can just win your way there. All you need to do is enter below right now. We're giving away this fantastic holiday for two in beautiful south Tassie and its many wineries, distilleries and farms (flights excluded). The itinerary includes a tasting experience at Ewenique Tasting House, a signature wine, cider, beer and whiskey tour of the Huon and Coal River Valleys, and a full-day tour sampling your way around Bruny Island, known for producing world-class seafood, cheese, honey and spectacular views. You'll also score four nights' accommodation at the impressive Vibe Hotel Hobart, as well as all-inclusive car rental to make getting around a breeze. Want to win a holiday in Tasmania for you and your best mate, partner or parent? Enter below. [competition]873504[/competition]
Love it or hate it, tipping culture has steadily crept into Aussie restaurants, bars and cafes. And despite growing cost-of-living pressures, you might be surprised to learn that more of us are tipping more of the time. In fact, the average tip across the nation has increased 25 percent year-on-year, now reaching $25.20. Yet some tippers are a little more generous than others, with a recent Zeller report finding that one state stands out as the stingiest in the country. That'd be New South Wales, with the average tip just $16.90. Contrast that with Victoria — where the average tip is $39.50 — and the data starts to paint a somewhat unfavourable picture. It's unlikely people from NSW are uniquely penny-pinching, so what might have caused this chasm in generosity? According to Josh McNicol, Director of Growth at Zeller, several factors must be considered. "The potential for financial pressure to dampen tipping enthusiasm, especially in costly cities like Sydney, is a logical outcome where diners feel tight budgets outweigh tipping impulse," he says. McNicol also suggests subtle differences in hospo cultures could exist, with those in Melbourne more open to honouring stellar service. He explains: "Victoria, particularly Melbourne, has long enjoyed living in the heart of Australia's dining and hospitality sector. There's an ingrained culture where diners want to reward great service, and now smarter payment technology makes it simpler for diners to leave a tip if they choose to do so." South Australia is also highlighted in the data. The average tip has increased 64 percent, with Adelaide posting a 180 percent year-on-year increase. And for those keen to split the bill — only 2.9 percent of restaurant transactions nationally involve a split, representing a 25 percent decline. That suggests fewer big group outings — or perhaps more of us have generous friends. Whether you're a tipper or not, check out our cheat sheet to the best restaurants and bars in Sydney or discover 20 top spots in Melbourne for a cheap eat.
Well folks, it turns out we've officially arrived at the future — someone has created the world's first holographic smartphone and it's set to hit the market in a matter of months. Dubbed the Hydrogen One, this'll be the first phone offering from camera company Red, and it's being launched by US telecommunications giants AT&T and Verizon. So what kind of magical functions does it have? According to a statement by AT&T spokesman Kevin Petersen, "when the Hydrogen One launches, you'll be able to look around, below and into your screen's image with a four-view holographic display, which is even better than 3D." Apparently, it'll have multi-dimensional surround sound and loads of expansion capabilities, making it a primo tool for anyone using their phone to create content. "This revolutionary smartphone will provide you with significant advancements in the way you create and view content on the leading network for entertainment," he said. The public will be able to get its first glance of the Hydrogen One on June 2 and 3, when it's shown off at AT&T's Shape exhibit at Warner Bros. Studio in Los Angeles. The smartphone will then be available to purchase in the USA by the end of their 2018 summer. Image: RED via PR Newswire.
The Cunnamulla Bushlands are perfect for a relaxed wander that puts you amongst the region's incredible natural beauty. This site is divided into ten ecological sections, with a charming one-kilometre walk that ensures you experience each one. Right at the end, you're rewarded with a peaceful place to sit in the wetlands. Here, striking native animals also run wild. You won't have any problem finding kangaroos with Cunnamulla recognised as having one of the largest populations in Queensland. Plus, the area is also known as a great place to see emus taking a stroll. Image: Mark Gillow, Flickr
Love doughnuts but don't eat animal products? Krispy Kreme has now joined the plant-based fold, launching its vegan-friendly wares Down Under. From Wednesday, November 1, the chain will be slinging round desserts made without animal-derived ingredients in both Australia and New Zealand, with two flavours on offer — and one sticking around. Krispy Kreme is no stranger to specials, whether it's giving away doughnuts for dressing up in Halloween costumes, introducing the world to duffins — yes, doughnut muffins — or making a Maxibon doughnut. But vegan-friendly doughnuts should never just be a limited-time thing. That's why the new apple custard crumble variety is joining the brand's menu permanently, although the fudge brownie doughnut is only on offer until early December. So, from now until forever — after launching to celebrate World Vegan Day, in fact — you can tuck into a shell-shaped doughnut that boasts apple custard inside, and has then been dipped in spiced icing and vanilla biscuit crumb. Or, until Monday, December 4, the fudge brownie bliss doughnut will get you eating a shell-shaped doughnut filled with brownie batter, then dunked in chocolate icing and topped with chocolate biscuit crumbs. Everyone can find the two doughnuts in Australian and New Zealand stores, online, and at 7-Eleven in Australia and bp Connect in NZ, with the fudge brownie bliss doughnut on offer until Monday, December 4. If you're wondering what vegan-friendly means, the doughnuts don't use egg or milk ingredients at all. Krispy Kreme's facilities do still handle animal products, however, so the new vegan-friendly fare is made at sites where animal-derived ingredients are present. That said, measures are taken to ensure cross-contamination. [caption id="attachment_924392" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Samuel Wiki via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] Krispy Kreme's vegan-friendly doughnut range is available in Australian and New Zealand stores, online, and at 7-Eleven in Australia and bp Connect in NZ, from Wednesday, November 1 — with the new apple custard crumble flavour here to stay and the limited-edition fudge brownie variety on offer until Monday, December 4.
It has been 12 years since RuPaul's Drag Race first premiered in the US, and its mission to unearth the next drag superstars shows no signs of stopping. Currently, the original series is reaching the pointy end of its thirteenth season, while international versions also exist in the UK — also hosted by RuPaul — plus Thailand, Holland, Chile and Canada. Next, it's finally making the leap to Australia and New Zealand. RuPaul's Drag Race already airs locally, but now it's being made here as well. The eight-part RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under will focus on Aussie and NZ drag queens battling for supremacy, and will air on Stan in Australia and TVNZ OnDemand in New Zealand. That was announced back in January; however, now you can mark your calendars for the show's debut on Saturday, May 1. While not all overseas iterations of Drag Race are hosted by RuPaul, RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under definitely is. RuPaul is also taking on judging duties, alongside show veteran Michelle Visage and Australian comedian Rhys Nicholson. If you're wondering just who'll be competing, too, that was unveiled back in March during the 2021 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Ten contenders will strut their stuff for drag supremacy, spanning seven Australians and three New Zealanders. So, prepare to see plenty of Art Simone from Geelong, Melbourne's Karen from Finance, and Sydney's Coco Jumbo, Etecetera Etcetera and Maxi Shield. Newcastle's Jojo Zaho and Perth's Scarlet Adams round out the Aussie queens, while Auckland's Kita Mean, Anita Wigl'it and Elektra Shock comprise the NZ contingent. Fans already know the format, which features fashion challenges, workroom dramas and lip sync battles aplenty. If you're a newcomer to all things Drag Race, you'll watch these Australian and NZ competitors work through a series of contests to emerge victorious, and join the likes of US contenders Jinkx Monsoon, Sasha Velour and Sharon Needles in being crowned the series' winner. Until next month hits, you can check about the RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under cast reveal video below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSLPdMi0b8U&feature=youtu.be RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under will start streaming via Stan and TVNZ from Saturday, May 1, with new episodes airing weekly. Top image: RuPaul's Drag Race.
Gone are the days when every image that flickered across the screen did so within an almost square-shaped frame. That time has long passed, in fact, with widescreen formats replacing the 1.375:1 Academy aspect ratio that once was standard in cinemas, and its 4:3 television counterpart. So, when a director today fits their visuals into a much tighter space than the now-expansive norm, it's an intentional choice. They're not just nodding to the past, even if their film takes place in times gone by. With First Cow, for instance, Kelly Reichardt unfurls a story set in 19th-century America, but she's also honing her audience's focus. The Meek's Cutoff, Night Moves and Certain Women filmmaker wants those guiding their eyeballs towards this exquisite movie to truly survey everything that it peers at. She wants them to see its central characters — chef Otis 'Cookie' Figowitz (John Magaro, Overlord) and Chinese entrepreneur King-Lu (Orion Lee, Zack Snyder's Justice League) — and to realise that neither are ever afforded such attention by the others in their fictional midst. Thoughtfully exploring the existence of figures on the margins has long been Reichardt's remit, as River of Grass, Old Joy and Wendy and Lucy have shown as well, but she forces First Cow's viewers to be more than just passive observers in this process. There's much to take in throughout this magnificently told tale, which heads to Oregon as most of Reichardt's movies have. There's plenty to glean from its patient static shots of the river and scrubby landscape circa 1820, and from the way that the director's three-time cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt shoots its leafy setting as a place of light and shadow. Most telling, though, is how First Cow constantly views Cookie and King-Lu within their surroundings. Sometimes, the outcast pair actively tries to blend in, but the film makes it clear that they're already consistently overlooked in the local fur-trapper community. Equally pivotal is the frequent use of frames within the feature's already-restricted imagery — sometimes via windows and doorways, as Certain Women did as well, or by peeking through the gaps in slats in the makeshift shack the pair decide to call home. Again and again, First Cow stresses that genuinely seeing these men, their lives, and their hopes, desires and attempts to chase the American dream, is an act of bearing witness to the smallest of details, delights, exchanges, glances and moments. Initially, after watching an industrial barge power down a river, First Cow follows a woman (Alia Shawkat, Search Party) and her dog as they discover a couple of skeletons nearby. Then, jumping back two centuries and seeing another boat on the same waterway, it meets Cookie as he's searching for food. Whatever he finds, or doesn't, the fur-trapper team he works with never has a kind word to spare. But then Cookie stumbles across King-Lu one night, helps him evade the Russians on his tail, and the seeds of friendship are sown. When the duo next crosses paths, they spend an alcohol-addled night sharing their respective ideas for the future. Those ambitious visions get a helping hand after the Chief Factor (Toby Jones, Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom) ships in the region's highly coveted first cow, with Cookie and King-Lu secretly milking the animal in the dark of night, then using the stolen liquid to make highly sought-after — and highly profitable — oily cakes. In its own quiet, closely observed, deeply affectionate and warm-hearted fashion, First Cow is a heist film. Reichardt's gentle and insightful spin on the usually slick and twist-filled genre bucks every convention there is, however. Tension is a regular part of Cookie and King-Lu's lives; they're introduced being denigrated and chased, after all. So, while the pair tests their luck during their surreptitious moonlight rendezvous with the titular bovine, the film's sense of strain only increases slightly. Here, the act of pilfering isn't the main attraction. Those midnight scenes are gorgeous — Cookie chats tenderly to the cow as he squeezes her udders, offering his condolences about the mate and calf that didn't survive the journey — but they're also brief. Reichardt is far more interested in the change that Cookie and King-Lu bring out in each other, their connection as kindred spirits in an inhospitable locale and their small-scale quest to subvert the status quo. With sensitivity and compassion, but also with an unflinching awareness of how the world regards those on its fringes, First Cow examines the home and hope that one person can find in another, too, and interrogates the ways in which America's embrace of capitalism can inspire, lift and crush as well. Bold plans, delicate subterfuge, big successes, fraught chases and sublime snatches of tranquility — all five play out in Reichardt's richly detailed and hauntingly soulful movie. Indeed, only she could've made this film sing as stirringly and bittersweetly as it does, and feel as transporting and resonant as it proves at every turn. Reichardt adapts Jonathan Raymond's novel The Half Life, co-scripting with the writer himself in their fifth collaboration. She's gifted with mesmerisingly soulful performances from Magaro and Lee, who play their parts so vividly and intricately that ten pictures about Cookie and King-Lu wouldn't be enough. But the empathy that seeps into each second is firmly one of the filmmakers's enduring and welcome hallmarks, as is the unwavering commitment to trading in the everyday and the intimate while excavating the perennial myth about the US being the land of opportunity. Reichardt's approach isn't unparalleled, though. Fellow directors Chloé Zhao and Debra Granik have splashed many of the same traits throughout their work, and have also helmed masterpieces as a result; see: Nomadland and The Rider in the former's case, and Leave No Trace and Winter's Bone in the latter's. The three share not just a willingness but an eagerness to chronicle narratives that would otherwise be overlooked, traverse more than the usual patches of land, champion oft-ignored perspectives, and challenge America's values and self-image — and they each make their films feel like their own. With First Cow, Reichardt is leisurely and loving, and also candid and devastating. She ensures that everyone watching her boxed-in frames rides those ebbs and flows, and that they're moved by every moment. Whenever she steps behind the camera, something astonishing always happens, as her filmography just keeps demonstrating — but First Cow is pure cinematic perfection. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jWZ6P1rWy4
For most folks, starring in one of the best new shows of 2022 so far would be the highlight of their resume for the year. But, of course, most folks aren't Taika Waititi. After getting streaming viewers swooning over warm-hearted pirate comedy Our Flag Means Death, he's about to unleash a little movie called Thor: Love and Thunder upon cinemas. And, based on the just-dropped first teaser trailer for his second contribution to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a director, the goofy vibes, old-school rock tunes and delight that is Chris Hemsworth firmly in comedic mode are all back this time around. In fact, if you watched Thor: Ragnarok, laughed along heartily, lapped up the looser mood and instantly wanted more of Waititi's take on the MCU, you're in luck — because he also co-wrote the script for Thor: Love and Thunder with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Sweet/Vicious). In the trailer, that results in a comic look at Thor (Hemsworth, Extraction) dealing with the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame by reassessing his future and opting for retirement. But, if that was all there was to the story, it wouldn't be a Marvel movie. As shot in Australia, Thor: Love and Thunder sees its namesake come up against Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale, Ford v Ferrari), a galactic killer with a world-changing plan: eradicating the gods. So, Thor has to give up his search for inner peace, and call upon help from King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson, Passing) and Korg (Waititi, doing triple duty) — and his ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman, Vox Lux), who is now in possession of Mjolnir. Thor: Love and Thunder marks Portman's return to the MCU after appearing in the first Thor flick back in 2011, but sitting out the rest. Given the path her character has taken, it's easy to see why she's back. As set to the sounds of Guns 'N Roses' 'Sweet Child 'O Mine', the trailer makes the most of her new ownership of the god of thunder's magical hammer — understandably. Also popping up in the initial sneak peek for the fourth Thor flick: the Guardians of the Galaxy crew (as played and/or voiced by Chris Pratt, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel), and a lightning-bolt wielding figure who it's safe to expect is Russell Crowe (Unhinged) as Zeus. When it hits cinemas Down Under on Thursday, July 7, following Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in early May, Thor: Love and Thunder will mark the 29th MCU movie overall. And, it mightn't be the last big-screen release Waititi has for us this year, either, with his documentary-to-feature adaptation of soccer story Next Goal Wins also in the pipeline. Check out the teaser trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder below: Thor: Love and Thunder opens in cinemas Down Under on Thursday, July 7.
If you've already worked your way through all the jigsaw puzzles, cryptic crosswords and Sudoku you have at home, then get ready for a new kind of problem-solving game. Australia's iconic cultural institution the Sydney Opera House has just launched a virtual escape room, The Trials of Wisdom, which — as the name suggests — is sure to put your brain to the test. Inspired by Mozart's opera The Magic Flute, the online experience is a collaboration between the SOH and Dani Siller of Escape this Podcast — and is unlike the vampire-slaying, tomb-raiding and treasure-hunting escape rooms you're used to. Instead of being immersed in a world unknown, you'll be entering a place people frequent all the time: the Opera House. Yep, you'll be locked inside the Sydney Opera House overnight — virtually, of course — and you'll have to use some serious brain power to get out. You'll be navigating your way through backstage and off-limit areas of the Opera House, such as the orchestra pit, props room, theatre and costume department. On your journey, you'll be hunting for four clues, from decoding ballerinas' dance positions and unscrambling the ramblings of an orchestra player. Ultimately, the aim is to get out, naturally, so you'll need some lateral thinking up your sleeve, plus a little music knowledge wouldn't go astray. To check out The Trials of Wisdom, head to the Sydney Opera House website. Top image: Hamilton Lund
Do you adore greenery, wish your house could be filled with blossoming petals and gorgeous leaves, but don't have the greenest of thumbs? That's a hugely relatable predicament. Now, a second question: do you firmly think that you never grow out of Lego, and also find building with the plastic bricks peaceful? The toy brand's latest range has answers to both queries. At the beginning of 2021, Lego unleashed its new Botanical Collection — part of its growing range for adults, because we're all well past pretending that Lego is just for kids. Back then, it boasted a flower bouquet and a bonsai, letting you add both to your home without worry about care, water, wilting or the expiry date that always comes with cut florals. Or, they made great gifts to your nearest and dearest for all of the same reasons. The two latest items in the range also tick those boxes. If you're terrible with keeping greenery alive, they're ideal for you, too. And no, even you can't kill these succulents or orchids — from under- or overwatering, not enough sun or too much, or the usual long list of things that can go wrong when you become a plant parent. The 771-piece succulent kit features nine different Lego cacti and the like in different shapes, sizes and hues, all in their own separate containers. Connect them together for one striking piece, or keep them apart and place them in different spots — the choice is obviously yours. As for the 608-piece orchid set, it'll see you build a towering bloom with six large flowers and two newly opened flowers, all in a blue fluted vase. And it really isn't small, measuring 39 centimetres in height. Available now in Australia and New Zealand, both kits are customisable, and also based on actual plants — so they look as lifelike as Lego succulents and orchids can. Sure, fake flowers exist, but they're nowhere near as engaging to put together as this build-your-own low-maintenance option. As well as catching the eye and adding some splashes of green to your decor, Lego's newest products are designed to help you destress and get mindful — something that the brand has been promoting for adults for a few years now. Both kits cost $89.99 each in Australia and $99.99 each in New Zealand. And if you're keen on more, the original two sets are still available, as is a bird of paradise in a pot, plus small sunflower, rose and tulip kits. For more information about Lego's new Botanical Collection, including the flower bouquet and bonsai tree kits, head to the company's website.
