Letter From the Editor, July 2015

For Americans, few countries are more pleasurable to visit than Australia. It is not so much that many of the resorts are exceptional, the food and wine can be delicious, and the landscapes are frequently inspiring. Nor is it primarily that the place is clean and organized, and things tend to work. These attributes may be undeniable, but ultimately, the consistent hospitality of the country’s affable inhabitants is the crucial element. Routinely, they give you the impression that they really are pleased to see you — which, in today’s dystopian world, is not to be taken lightly.

On a recent trip, I reacquainted myself with Australia’s sunny disposition, first in the gracious and cosmopolitan city of Melbourne — nowadays boasting an astonishing number of excellent restaurants — then at a wonderful new hideaway in the Kimberley, a remote region of the Outback. There, I hiked and swam amid a red-rock landscape of towering cliffs and dramatic waterfalls — and even managed to catch a large barramundi, a delicious indigenous freshwater fish. (I had intended to visit other eco-resorts, but was obliged to change my plans at the last minute as a result of the inconvenient arrival of a tropical cyclone.) Afterward, I spent a few days in Perth, the booming capital of Western Australia, before heading south to the Margaret River wine region. The latter proved a revelation, not just for the excellence of its wines, but for the extreme beauty of its eucalyptus forests and majestic surfing beaches. This issue also contains, in addition to hotels, resorts, restaurants and wineries, brief mentions of museums and galleries that I most enjoyed along the way.

Australia may be on the other side of the world, but, in my experience, it amply repays the effort and expense required to get there.