Let chef Luke Mangan and Madame
Lash spice up your life with a Hilton
Provocateur package For a special treat, fly into Sydney and take up the InterContinental Sydney Insider Mini Cooper Package (AU$649, tel: +61 (2) 9253 9000) which includes a Mini Cooper convertible for 24 hours, a gourmet picnic hamper with local produce and Veuve Clicquot champagne, and directions to the best picnic spots, or the Hilton Provocateur (AU$749, tel: +61 (2) 9265 6045) with an aphrodisiac platter by chef Luke Mangan, seduction tips from Sydney sex icon Madame Lash and a feather tickler. Do take the romantic Valentine cruise on Sydney’s only historic tall ship, Svanen, with champagne and canapés (AU$99, tel: 1300 664 410).

DRAW THE CURTAINS

Get the romance fi ring with perfumed Glasshouse candles – try the soft Chelsea with tea rose and geranium, or the lustier Strasbourg with apple and cinnamon (AU$30, stockists: +61 (2) 9879 0745).
Make Your Partner Melt with the technique you perfected at a Merkas Health massage seminar (tel: 1800 777 734), then tear out a cheque from your Kama Sutra chequebook of favours (AU$8.95; major bookstores) and “cash them in” for some fun and games with your partner.

SUPER SNUGGLING SPOTS

MELBOURNE
Eureka Skydeck 88, Riverside Quay, Southbank, tel: +61 (3) 9693 8888
Head to the highest viewing platform in the southern hemisphere just as the sun sets. AU$16.50 adults; The Edge, a glass cube that juts out 3m from the building, is an additional AU$12.

HOBART

Photo: Tourism Tasmania/Geoff
MurrayCinema under the Stars, Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, Queens Domain,
tel: +61 (3) 6236 3075/6
Bring your own cushions and picnic dinner to the open-air Shooting Star Cinema. Open Thursday to Sunday until March. AU$13 adults, AU$8 children, AU$10 concession, AU$32 family.

PERTH
Kings Park, Fraser Ave, West Perth
Arrive early in the morning to watch the sun rise from behind the Darling Ranges and admire gorgeous views of Perth and the native wildflowers.

HAWAII
Lanikai Beach, Honolulu
Frequently voted among the world’s best beaches, Lanikai is the perfect spot for a picnic. Stop on the way at the Halona blowhole and Halona Beach Cove and re-enact the love scene between Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in From Here to Eternity.

REAL LOVE

A K-Y Touch Intimacy Poll conducted in 2007 reveals that two in three adult Australians are satisfi ed with the level of intimacy in their lives. We ask Anne Hollonds, of Relationships Australia (NSW), how to attract intimacy.

Finding true love is hard work in the real world. How does one fi nd a soul mate? Keep an open mind… you never know where love might be hiding. Don’t write someone off just because they’re driving the wrong car, in the wrong job or not earning enough money.

How does one keep a relationship going?
Many couples assume that relationships will be easy to maintain after they’ve fallen in love but it’s quite another thing to convert the love to a partnership. You have to learn to work together and to support each other.

What’s the most common question you get asked in your couples workshops?
How to communicate better.

What are the key concerns of couples nowadays?
Not having enough time to spend together and how to balance work and family demands.

In this month of romance, what’s more important than the flowers and chocolates?
The most precious gift is giving undivided time and attention to your signifi cant other.

What advice do you have for singletons?
Focus on being happy and become the sort of person others are attracted to.

Relationships Australia is a non-profit, community-based organisation offering counselling, dispute resolution, violence prevention services and workshops. Hotline: 1300 364 277.