Whether you love winter or flee it, getting active will turn up the heat

WORDS CRAIG TANSLEY

Photos: Shutterstock/Michael Pemberton

SAIL AWAY
Need to escape the southern chill? Charter a yacht in the Whitsundays and, if you’re up for it, go head to head with other yachts and join in a regatta or two. Airlie Beach Race Week runs from 9 to 16 August; Audi Hamilton Island Race Week runs from 17 to 25 August. Tel: 1800 803 988 within Australia.

I SEE YOU BABY
Pole dancing is fast becoming Australia’s most popular – and sexiest – way to get fit, so grab your girlfriends and get jiggy with it for as little as AU$160. Boys’ classes are on offer too! Polestars runs sessions in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast. Tel: 1300 735 581 within Australia.

POWDER MONKEY?
There’s only one place for snow-bunnies this winter: Mt Buller. Not only is it within day-tripping distance of Melbourne, there’ll also be at least 30 percent better snow than last year thanks to the world’s first water recycling snow-making plant. Enjoy Buller’s great après-ski, night-skiing and new and improved park facilities, or catch the Freeride Festival Under Lights on August 4 or the World Industries Australian Snowboarding Championships from August 10 to 12. Tel: +61 (3) 5777 6077.

A WALK THROUGH HOBART WITH CHARLES WOOLEY

If you’re planning a visit to beautiful Hobart this month, look out for Charles Wooley’s new walking guide, A Walk in Old Hobart. Co-written with another eminent media figure, Michael Tatlow, the guide offers great pictures, interesting facts and lively insider stories. And for the full experience, you can also download the audio guide from www.walkguidesaustralia.com and get a running commentary! Book from AU$27.95, audio guide from AU$16.

A few words with Charles Wooley

How did the idea for a book on walking in Hobart come about?
It came from a mate of ours who sells books. He said one day, “Why do you guys always write books no one wants to read?” He said people want things like walk guides and they have them for everywhere, but not Hobart.

What’s so good about Hobart?
Its historical worth has been protected by the Tasmanian government’s lack of money through the years. They had no money to do much, so the city – especially in beautiful places like Battery Point – is almost entirely intact, except for a couple of cancers. I actually just bought a house in Battery Point and found some old Mercury newspapers from the 60s with stories about plans to demolish all the old warehouses and put up some glass and steel things, but of course they never had the money, and that saved Hobart and made it the city it is today.

What’s your favourite walk in Hobart?
Well, it’s hard to go past Salamanca; I marvel at the history there, as it’s World Heritage–listed. I was in Copenhagen and I looked at these horrible steel/ glass contraptions and realised they used to be old timber warehouses, and I thought, “This could’ve been Hobart.” I’m always grateful that Hobart retained its history. It’s also nice to know that places other than Australia can mess up architecture.

You travel a lot: how important has home become to you?
Incredibly important. After 13 years of unremitting travel, this is my cleansing place. I first came here when I went to uni and I’ve loved it ever since. I can sail, fly-fish – there’s everything here and it’s becoming trendy. It’s the new cool spot in these days of global warming.