From Outback to Ocean: A Rare Journey Across Queensland’s Wild Edge

Experience the best of Queensland with Morris Escapes’ signature journey, spanning Mt Mulligan Lodge, Morris Nautical yacht adventures and a private island retreat on Pelorus Island.

By Brad Nash 08/01/2026

Taking in a full bounty of cliff, sea and reef, Morris Escapes’ latest itinerary spans the breadth of Australia’s tropical north stunningly.

Queensland, in all its staggering breadth and diversity, is a place people spend lifetimes coming to fully appreciate. Magisterial in size and in most parts entirely untamed, even its most polished corners convey an underlying sense of drama and adventure – the unspoken feeling that one is but a short walk away from wonders ancient and unique.

The conundrum presented to the intrepid visitor, as is to be expected in an area seven times the size of the UK, is how to take it all in (and, of course, do so in both style and comfort).

Morris Escapes Luxury Journeys Through Queensland’s Wildest Terrain

Devoted to figuring this out in new and luxurious ways is Morris Escapes, which quietly specialises in stitching together lodge, yacht, and island into a single, place-centred narrative rather than a sequence of properties. One of Australia’s leading boutique accommodation collections, the group focuses on small-scale intimacy, landscape immersion and responsible experiences, offering memorable escapes for families, couples and multi-generational groups.

Its latest adventure, which takes visitors from the heart of the Tropical North Queensland outback to the remote reaches of the Great Barrier Reef over the course of nine days, might be their most awe-inspiring yet, bookended by two properties that were named among Robb Report’s 50 Greatest Luxury Hotels on Earth. The sprawling itinery is tied in with transfers between Australian cities on Morris Escapes’ private jet expedition, a new Bombardier Challenger 604, or between Morris Escapes’ lodges with Nautilus Aviation.

Mt Mulligan Lodge. Credit: Rhiannon Taylor

Mt Mulligan Lodge: A Majestic Outback Beginning

The journey begins at Mt Mulligan Lodge, a vast estate set on 28,000 hectares of heritage bushland accessible from Cairns via either a 30-minute scenic flight or a two-hour 4WD trip. The lodge is cradled by the dramatic escarpment of the tabletop mountain that lends it its name: a geological giant that makes even Uluru feel modest by comparison, an eons-old formation of Permian sandstone whose shifting light and shadow become a kind of daily theatre out here. Below, lush greenery runs into a sparkling, barramundi-filled weir while blending into vivid sandstone and sweeping plains of eucalypt wood. It’s a showcase of the Outback in its stunning, often-surprising diversity and lushness.

History hangs over the area, and guests are invited to learn of its important role during the gold and coal rushes of the 1800s and the 37,000-year story of Indigenous habitation – while experiences like goldfield tours, ATV adventures, scenic guided hikes and low-impact kayaking expeditions are at one’s doorstep. Closer to home, rest among the splendour of the outback is at the top of the agenda. Fishing and paddle-boarding experiences are available at the Lodge’s secluded weir, while the on-site chef is at hand to prepare delicious meals and gourmet picnics that foreground local produce and the rhythms of the land.

From Outback to Reef: The Morris Nautical Experience

Moored back in Cairns, just a short helicopter ride away, any one of three Morris Nautical yachts awaits to ferry you on the next leg of your adventure. The fleet includes M.Y. Northern Escape, a 41-metre Benetti Oasis that relocated from Cannes to Cairns earlier this year—its open-aft design perfectly suited to reef life. Dusty red becomes sparkling blue as you’re whisked seamlessly from the remote tranquillity of Mt Mulligan and the splendour of the Great Barrier Reef takes centre stage for a three-night odyssey.

On board, the experience slows: meals are unhurried, and days take their cues from the reef’s changing conditions. Guests are invited to snorkel and scuba in pockets of the reef largely untouched by its throngs of tourists, while learning about the invaluable work of the Morris Family Foundation Reef Keepers Program, which provides vital funding for grassroots projects that support the health of the ocean and the Great Barrier Reef. It’s reef time experienced at the right scale: slow, attentive and guided by those who understand its seasons and sensitivities.

Pelorus Private Island - Rhiannon Taylor
Pelorus Private Island, Image: Rhiannon Taylor

Pelorus Private Island: A Private Island Sanctuary in the Great Barrier Reef

At the end of the voyage lies the latest addition to the Morris Escapes collection: Pelorus Island. Pelorus is the only luxury island residence of its kind in North Queensland, a single-residence retreat with just five suites set on a largely untouched stretch of the Great Palm archipelago. Arriving by yacht or helicopter, the first impression is one of cinematic seclusion: steep, forested hills tumble toward coral-rimmed shallows where the reef begins almost at the shoreline.

Days here unfold with a kind of quiet choreography. You might begin with a snorkel directly off the beach, drifting over coral gardens that feel almost private in their stillness, before taking a seabob or water bike further along the coast where turtles surface like punctuation marks. Afternoons are for unhurried meals, shaded decks and the peculiar pleasure of watching the colour of the water shift through a dozen blues.

Much like Mt Mulligan, Pelorus carries the feeling of a place that reveals itself slowly. Guides share the island’s ecological rhythms; chefs turn reef and hinterland produce into unfussy luxuries; and the small scale of the residence ensures that the island’s natural hush remains intact. It is, quite simply, one of the rarest ways to experience the Great Barrier Reef.

Sustainable Luxury, Immersive Experiences

Sustainability lies at the heart of the Morris Escapes experience, with concierges and planners on hand to design bespoke itineraries that immerse without invading. Private tours and snorkelling trips allow guests at the reef estates to explore the untouched coral gardens of Australia’s most precious natural wonder with reef health and seasonality front of mind, while Mt Mulligan guests are invited on low-impact hiking and kayaking expeditions that sample the rich beauty of Tropical North Queensland. At both locations, the utmost care is taken to ensure that these most pristine of natural gems remain just so.

The result is an itinerary that feels less like a string of luxury stops and more like a gradual deepening—moving from stone to sea, from outback silence to reef shimmer, connected by the soft arc of a yacht and the stewardship of those who know this part of Australia intimately.

For those chasing Australia at its purest, the path is already drawn by Morris Escapes. 

ADVERTISE WITH US

Subscribe to the Newsletter

Stay Connected

You may also like.

Omega Just Unveiled 9 Watches in Its New Constellation Observatory Collection

The line-up shows up a bevy of metals and colours, too, as well as two new calibres.

By Nicole Hoey 31/03/2026

Omega’s latest watch is in a universe of its own.

The Swiss watchmaker just unveiled its new Constellation Observatory Collection today, the next step in its Constellation lineage and the first two-hand hour and minute timepieces to ever earn Master Chronometer certification. And if you were paying attention to any of the dazzling watches spotted at the Oscars this year, you would’ve caught a glimpse of the new line already: Sinners star Delroy Lindo rocked one of the models on the Academy Awards red carpet, giving us a pre-release preview of the collection.

Developed at Omega’s new Laboratoire de Précision (its chronometer testing lab open to all brands), the collection houses a set of nine 39.4 mm watches. The watches underwent 25 days of scrutiny there, analysed via a new acoustic testing method that recorded every sound emitted from the timepiece to track irregularities, temperature sensitivities, and more in the name of all things precision. (Details such as water resistance and power reserve are also thoroughly examined.) This meticulous process is all in the name of snagging that Master Chronometer label, meaning that the timepiece is highly accurate and surpasses the threshold for ultra-high performance. The Constellation Observatory Collection has now changed the game, though, thanks to its lack of a seconds hand.

A watch from the Constellation Observatory Collection, with the Observatory dome on display. Omega

“Until now, precision certification has required a seconds hand,” Raynald Aeschlimann, president and CEO of OMEGA, said in a press statement. “The development of a new acoustic testing methodology has made that requirement obsolete. It is this breakthrough that has enabled us to present the Constellation Observatory, the first two-hand watch to achieve Master Chronometer certification.”

In addition to notching its place in history, the collection also debuted a new pair of movements: the Calibre 8915 and the Calibre 8914, each perched on a skeletonised rotor base. The former’s Grand Luxe iteration will appear on the 950 Platinum-Gold model in the collection, which offers up that base in 18-karat Sedna Gold alongside a Constellation medallion in 18-karat white gold with an Observatory dome done in white opal enamel surrounded by stars. The second Calibre 8915, the Luxe, will find its home on the other precious-metal models in the line, either made with the brand’s 18-karat Sedna, Moonshine, or Canopus gold seen across the case, the hand-guilloché dial, and, of course, the movement itself. (Lindo chose to rock the Moonshine Gold on Moonshine Gold iteration, priced at approximately $86,000, for Sinners‘s big night at the Oscars.) As for the Calibre 8914, it can be found in the collection’s four steel models.

 

Omega Constellation Observatory Collection
A look at a gold case-back from the collection. Omega

Each model is a callback to myriad design features on past Omega models. That two-hand dial, for one, comes from the 1948 Centenary (the brand’s first chronometer-certified automatic wristwatch), while the pie-pan dial (seen in various blue, green, and golden hues throughout the line) and that Constellation medallion caseback both appear on watches from 1952. The star adorning the space above 6 o’clock also harks back to 1950s timepieces from Omega. And to finish off the look, you can opt for alligator straps in a variety of colours, or perhaps a gold iteration to match the precious-metal models; the brick-like pattern on the 18-karat Moonshine bracelet was also inspired by Omega watches from the ’50s.

We’ll have to keep our eyes peeled for any other Constellation Observatory timepieces (or any other unreleased models from the brand) at the rest of the star-studded events headed our way this year—perhaps the Met Gala?

Stay Connected

Best Combustion Supercar: Ferrari 12Cilindri Spider

A modern classic in the making, combining naturally aspirated power with elegant restraint to deliver performance that feels as refined as it is visceral.

By Vince Jackson 20/04/2026

In a year when carmakers of all persuasions sheepishly extended hyperbolic electric targets, it’s fitting that the monastic puritans of Maranello—who, lest we forget, won’t finally yield to the sin of battery power until October with the Elettrica—opted to make combustion their major power play.

As an uncertain future of AI omnipresence barrels towards us, the 12Cilindri—an analogue, open-topped tribute to Ferrari’s late-’60s/early-’70s grand tourer, the Daytona—represents a defiant fade into the past, a pause for breath, a fleeting return to The Good Times when nascent technology provoked excitement rather than existential dread.

Guiding this automotive nostalgia trip is, as the nomenclature suggests, a naturally aspirated 6.5-litre V12 engine, generating an unceasing wave of power as it sears towards the 9,500 rpm redline with relative nonchalance. That’s because the 12Cilindri is not a mouth-foaming attack-dog. It scales performance heights with the refinement of the finest Italian works of art; its “Bumpy Road” mode facilitates comfy al fresco GT cruising, and even the imperious powerplant is mannerly at most speeds.

For all the yesteryear romance, progressive technologies and engineering, such as a world-class 8-speed transmission, advanced electronic aids and independent four-wheel steering, are baked into the deal. The 12Cilindri’s clean, stark design somehow toggles between retro and modern; and while vaguely polarising, one can’t ignore its magnetic road presence.

In terms of aesthetics, Ferrari describes the 12Cilindri as being “ready for space”; in many ways, a fantasy vehicle that transports users to another dimension is probably what the world needs right now.

The Numbers

Engine: 6.5-litre V12

Power: 610kW

Torque: 678 Nm

Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto

0-100 km/h: 2.95 seconds

Top speed: 340 km/h

Price: From $886,800

Photography by SONDR.
And the Winners Are:

Stay Connected

Inside Loro Piana’s First Sydney Boutique

A first Australian address brings the Italian house’s textile-led approach to retail full circle.

By Horacio Silva 26/03/2026

On the fourth floor of Westfield Sydney, near the Castlereagh and Market Street entrance—in the space formerly occupied by Chanel—Loro Piana has opened its first Australian boutique. It is a significant address change for that corner of the mall, and a meaningful one for the Italian house, which has sourced Australian merino wool for decades but until now had no retail presence here.

The facade is understated—creamy, tactile, more about texture than theatre. Inside, the store unfolds across a single, expansive level divided into distinct men’s and women’s wings. The separation is clear without being heavy-handed: womenswear leads from soft accessories and leather goods into ready-to-wear, while menswear occupies its own assured territory, with tailoring and outerwear given proper breathing room. Footwear (supple loafers, luxurious slides, pared-back sneakers) is particularly strong, and the sunglasses are a quiet standout: mineral-toned frames with a disciplined elegance that feels entirely of the house.

That same restraint carries into the interiors, where the surfaces do much of the talking. Walls are wrapped in the company’s own linen and cashmere; carpets are custom, dense underfoot, softening the acoustics and the pace. Oak and carabottino wood add warmth without fuss; marble accents introduce a cool counterpoint. The effect is a composed space calibrated around material, proportion and restraint.

The Spring 2026 collection now in store underscores that sensibility. Silhouettes are elongated and fluid; cashmere, silk and featherweight merino move in sandy neutrals, creams and muddied earth tones, with flashes of marigold and pale turquoise breaking the calm. Tailoring is softly structured and projects confidence without aggression. Leather goods arrive in buttery skins that feel almost pre-lived, as though time has already worked its magic.

What distinguishes Loro Piana, particularly in a market that has grown noisier by the season, is its refusal to perform luxury in an obvious register. There are no oversized insignias telegraphing allegiance. Instead, the status is encoded in fibre count, in hand-feel, in how a coat hangs from the shoulder. It assumes the wearer knows and, crucially, does not need to announce it.

Sydney’s luxury landscape has matured in recent years; global houses no longer test the waters but commit to them. Yet Loro Piana’s arrival feels different. It is not trend-driven expansion but material logic. For a country whose sheep stations have long contributed to the house’s fabric story, this boutique reads almost as a thank-you note written in cashmere.

 

Photography: Courtesy of Loro Piana.

 

 

Stay Connected

This Stylish, Water-Resistant Dopp Kit Might Be the Last One You Ever Buy

Patricks’s limited-edition wash bag is designed to keep liquids in and out, so it can come along wherever your travels take you.

By Justin Fenner 11/03/2026

If all you’re going to do is look at it, a leather Dopp kit from a fashion house is a fine choice. But if you take travelling seriously—and do it often, for business, pleasure, or both—such a bag will inevitably end up blemished with droplets of water or stained by errant flecks of toothpaste. Get stuck with a cavalier team of baggage handlers, and it can even get soaked in your favourite fragrance or anti-ageing serum.

But Patricks, the high-performance Australian grooming brand stocked in Harrods and Bergdorf Goodman, has a solution. Its limited-edition bathroom bag, called BB1, is purpose-built to protect everything inside and out. Conceived by industrial designer George Cunningham with brand founder Patrick Kidd, the cuboid design is executed in a water-resistant recycled nylon you can rinse clean. It’s lined with a thin layer of shock-absorbing foam to safeguard your products, but if a bottle somehow gets cracked in transit, the two-way water-resistant zippers and sealed seams (which keep liquids from seeping in or out) ensure that whatever leaks won’t ruin your cashmere. Inside, two dual-sided zippered compartments are ideally sized to fit toothbrushes, razors, and other small essentials.

And though its clean lines and rugged construction make it undeniably masculine, its greatest feature is borrowed from women’s makeup bags. Like the best of these, BB1 unzips to lie flat, giving you unobstructed access to everything inside. Well, you and the 999 other gentlemen who move fast enough to snag one. $289

Courtesy of Patricks

1. Hanging Loop 

The G-hook system isn’t just a stylish handle: You can also use it to hang the bag from a hook or secure it to your carry-on.

2. Two-Way Zipper

The closures are water-resistant in both directions, meaning liquids won’t get in or out.

3. Fold-flat Construction

BB1 opens to 180 degrees, letting you scan its 4.2-litre capacity at a quick glance.

4. Technical-Fabric Shell

The durable recycled-nylon is easy to maintain and woven to survive splashes and leaks from your go-to products.

Stay Connected

You Can Now Place Bets on the Future Prices of Rolex Models

And which models will get discontinued next, thanks to a new collaboration between Kalshi and Bezel.

By Nicole Hoey 11/03/2026

You can bet on pretty much anything these days, from when Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce will get married to who will be the next James Bond—and now that includes the Rollies on your wrist, or on your wishlist.

Prediction market platform Kalshi, regulated in the U.S., and luxe watch marketplace Bezel have teamed up on a new platform called Watch Futures that allows users to splash down cash on where they think the prices of a particular luxe timepiece are going, whether that’s a Rolex Submariner or a coveted Patek Philippe, Time & Tide reported.

You can also place a wager on which models might be discontinued, as well as any future launches from the top watchmakers on the new platform; with Watches and Wonders coming up, it’s certainly a well-timed launch that could see a lot of activity as a slew of new releases are announced at the event.

Watch Futures is all based on Beztimate, Bezel’s system (once used only internally) to help it accurately calculate the market price of a timepiece. It draws data from real-time transactions, live bids, verified sales, and other market offers to spawn its own series of independent valuation models to establish a watch’s value. From there, it’s up to bettors to place their wagers, and then the platform will showcase any price fluctuations or other updates as time goes on.

This new platform could have some pretty large implications for the watch industry.  As any horological savant would know, the internet and collectors alike are constantly chattering about which models are on the way out or when a certain timepiece of the moment’s time in the limelight will fade, of course, having a large impact on the prices of said model. And now, a Watch Futures user can have a direct stake in where a model is headed—and if they own said timepiece, it can be a protection from dwindling values on the marketplace, say, if a user places a bet on their model losing value and that actually comes to fruition.

To see Watch Futures in real time (and scope out how some pieces in your collection are faring), you can use the Kalshi app or its website.

Stay Connected