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THE very name of our next stop summons up mental images of serenity, beauty and a peaceful ambience at one with nature and the sea. In reality, it is all of this, and more.
Sanctuary Cove is one of those holiday destinations whose siren song entices you back time and again, eventually planting thoughts of retirement living in a mind made receptive by the blissful life style, amenities and climate.
OK it's a Utopian dream but one that many have realised: the resort has a large and growing residential community. If you find yourself watching them with green eyes you're already hooked!
Arnold Palmer worked his brand of magic at this Hyatt Regency resort that’s as serene as the name suggests. Here is luxurious accommodation in sumptuous low profile apartments with balconies overlooking gardens and a lakeside beach.
A stroll away is a village surrounding a marina with shops and 20 or so restaurants and bars. There’s gourmet dining at The Fireplace restaurant in the hotel and it’s all in a setting that’s romantic in extremis. Simply strolling around the gardens and the beach will soothe the soul.
The usual sporting facilities include two golf courses; one, The Pines, exclusively for members and hotel guests that Arnold says is among the finest he’s built.
Typically, he's too modest: it's a corker, good enough to have staged a series of televised skins games, and they have ambitions to host something major.
The other is known as The Palms, which is open to the public as well as hotel guests. They've just spent upwards of $1 million on an up-grade, so it's not too shabby, either!
OUR most northerly stop was the Hyatt Regency at Coolum Beach, one of Australia’s loveliest resorts. It reclines in some splendour alongside the Pacific near the fashionable town of Noosa Heads on the Sunshine Coast, some 90 minutes north of Brisbane airport.
Here a central hotel houses all the usual amenities but accommodation is principally in apartments and villas in the surrounding gardens. Most are within strolling distance of the resort village where there are restaurants, bars, shops and the main swimming pool complex. This is where the action takes place at night.
The apartments are a delight, spacious and luxurious in the extreme and the height of elegance. The villas are sumptuous. No other word will suffice. This is for those who like the best of everything!
Coolum is renowned for its facilities and sports – the claim is that there are 155 activities available and the girls say its spa is to die for! The raison d’etre, though, is the golf course, the venue in November for the Australian PGA Championship.
Designed by America’s Robert Trent Jones Jr., it is a blend of contrasts, with holes overlooking the ocean and others in wooded bush land. Part of the estate is a rain forest and the focal point of the course is Mount Coolum itself, a huge monolith second in size only to Ayres Rock in the pantheon of Australia's natural history.
It’s a big driving course of a melodic tempo laid over undulating, twisting fairways with water in profusion but with some lovely old-fashioned touches; sentinel bunkers and the occasional cross bunker, all redolent of Harry Colt. He would have admired the greens, too. They are beautifully configured, all tightly defended but mainly flat and very quick. Avid golfers will love this place.
Millions of trees make this without doubt one of Australia’s most scenic courses. It is virtually a bird life sanctuary and kangaroos are a common sight.
Like the resort, it is utterly serene and indescribably beautiful. A week here would be the highlight of an unforgettable holiday.
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