Much has been said about Australian hotel quarantine. From ‘many tears‘ reviews to articles detailing how Sydney hotels are blowing their chance to impress on a world stage, it’s been quite the sore spot (and that’s before we get into whether Australia’s travel ban is even legal).

The latest development in the saga? Qatar Airways has called for a “luxury quarantine option” and “relaxed entry restrictions,” The Australian reports.

 

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A post shared by Shangri-La Hotel, Sydney (@shangrilasydney) on Aug 15, 2020 at 4:16pm PDT

This comes after public furore around the economy passenger bumping phenomenon (driven by government arrivals caps, introduced in July), which has seen a business booking frenzy and prices skyrocketing to up to $10,000 a seat for Australians looking to get home from places like Europe.

It also comes after a public announcement where Qatar Airways GCEO HE Mr Akbar Al Baker spoke about the challenges caused by passenger number restrictions, which currently limit airlines to carrying between 25 and 60 passengers per flight (compared to the 850 odd you’d normally fit on a Qatar Airways A380).

Qatar Airways GCEO HE Mr Akbar Al Baker speaks on the importance of the Australian market and challenges caused by restrictions on passenger numbers.#QatarAirways #Australia pic.twitter.com/08ooklLL0Q

— Qatar Airways (@qatarairways) August 29, 2020

“Since March 1… we have carried 180,000 passengers and over 15,000 tonnes of cargo to Australia,” Mr. Akbar Al Baker said.

“Unfortunately due to the restrictions and the second spike of the pandemic in Australia the government has restricted us from carrying additional passengers – we have very limited capacity that we can take into Australia – and we have also a huge stress covering the cost of this very expensive flight.”

“However, we are committing to continuing operating and increasing frequency to Australia. I am proud to say today we have over 35% of the Australian international market.”

Speaking to ABC’s News Breakfast on Friday, Mr. Akbar Al Baker said the airline may need to withdraw its 16-hour flights from Doha to Australia if passenger caps aren’t relaxed.

“We have between 38 and 42 seats in our business class. And because we have such a limited number of passengers that we can carry, we have no other alternative but to maximise the yield that we get because you know very well Australia is at the end of the world,” he told ABC’s News Breakfast.

“It is a very long flight and when we carry limited numbers of passengers you can see that it puts a huge strain on our costs.”

Speaking to The Australian, Mr Al Baker has also encouraged Australia to consider giving arrivals the choice of paying for three, four or five star hotels for mandatory quarantine (rather than the ‘lucky dip‘ approach currently in place).

 

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A post shared by Allana Booth (@allanabooth) on Jul 28, 2020 at 12:59am PDT

There are believed to be about 18,000 Australians stuck in various places around the world, news.com.au reports, “who are still struggling to come home due to a scarcity of flights during the pandemic.”

The cashed-up among them will surely be hoping the ‘pay to play [in luxury]’ approach will receive serious consideration by the Australian Federal government.

Though some travellers have been lucking into some awesome accommodation as it is, as DMARGE recently reported, even when you’re in nice digs, hotel quarantine throws up a lot of challenges (if not hidden horrors).

 

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A post shared by Shangri-La Hotel, Sydney (@shangrilasydney) on Jul 15, 2020 at 1:40am PDT

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The post Australia Urged To Consider 'Luxury Quarantine' For Returning Travellers appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Sydney Sweeney – actress, entrepreneur and lowkey motoring enthusiast – has celebrated her 23rd birthday in style, buying herself perhaps the coolest celebrity car we’ve seen this year.

The Euphoria, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and The Handmaid’s Tale star has swapped Porsches for retro panache, sharing shots of her new whip with her 2.1 million Instagram followers: a baby blue first-generation Ford Bronco pickup truck.

RELATED: Sydney Sweeney Reinforces ‘Dream Girl’ Status With Porsche Stunt

The first-generation Ford Bronco, one of the first modern off-roaders and potentially the coolest SUV ever made, has become particularly hot property in recent years. Sweeney’s Bronco is in particularly good nick and can’t have been cheap – especially considering it’s in the must-have Bronco colour: beautiful baby blue. It would be a sin to have a Bronco in anything else, frankly… like buying a Ferrari in any other colour than red. We applaud her taste.

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grateful for all the birthday love yesterday

A post shared by Sydney Sweeney (@sydney_sweeney) on Sep 13, 2020 at 9:57am PDT

Normally when you hear about celebrities going out and dropping bulk cash on a car, it’s usually something garish, like Kylie Jenner’s ‘tasteless’ Rolls-Royce Cullinan. Sweeney’s beautiful Bronco lies in stark contrast to the average celebrity SUV – it’s much, much cooler than the endless fleets of Range Rovers and Cadillac Escalades most American celebs fill their garages with.

It’s also refreshing to talk about a celebrity Ford Bronco and not mean the infamous low-speed police pursuit of O.J. Simpson in his fifth-generation Bronco…

Actress Lexi Simonsen also shared this great clip of Sweeney with her beloved pup Tank riding shotgun in the Bronco getting a pat as they’re fuelling up. Dogs + cool cars = a winning combination.

The Bronco, which hasn’t been in production since 1996, is returning in 2021 – an announcement which has got motoring journalists around the world frothing at the mouth. The all-new Bronco returns to its roots as a capable off-roader, with Ford squarely aiming at disrupting the Jeep Wrangler’s market dominance. Like the Wrangler (and the original Bronco), the sixth-generation Bronco features a removable roof, doors and a whole host of other fun off-roading features.

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The post Sydney Sweeney Ford Bronco: Actress Bucks ‘Clichéd’ Celebrity Car Trend appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

John Legend exudes class like few other musicians or celebrities. Not only is he an immensely talented singer-songwriter, musician and EGOT (i.e. an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony winner) but he’s also an incredibly sharp dresser.

Known for favouring tropical looks – like this ‘resort style’ suit and boat shoes combo he wore during a Good Morning America performance – he’s upped the ante again with his latest TV appearance.

Legend filled in as a guest host on Jimmy Kimmel Live and had the unique opportunity to introduce himself as a musical guest – an incredibly boss move. Performing his latest single Wild, Legend debuted a similarly wild outfit: a floral print Alexander McQueen suit and shirt combination, paired off with some classy white brogues.

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A post shared by David Thomas (@davethomasstyle) on Sep 11, 2020 at 9:43am PDT

He might look like old-fashioned wallpaper, but he’s definitely no wallflower. It’s a very summery, tropical look that’s perfect for seeing out the last gasps of the American summer.

While Legend’s more than capable of coming up with winning ensembles on his own, for this outfit he enlisted the help of David Thomas, English fashion editor and stylist to the stars. Thomas, who’s contributed to publications such as Esquire, Vogue and Vanity Fair, also counts among his clientele names like David Beckham, Chris Brown, Justin Bieber, Matthew McConaughey, Chris Hemsworth, Benedict Cumberbatch and many more.

Also of note was the slim yellow-gold watch perched on his wrist: his ~100,000 AUD Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph (ref. 26320) that was first spotted on his wrist back in March when he and wife Chrissy Teigen were at a Lakers v Clippers game at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles.

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The post Jimmy Kimmel & John Legend: Singer Steps Out In Stylish Floral Suit appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Chronographs remain immensely popular in the watch world, loved just as much for their technical utility as they are for their aesthetics and heritage. Even watches that weren’t originally designed as or offered with chronograph functions have since seen chronograph editions, such as the Patek Philippe Nautilus, Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso or Cartier Santos.

There are few chronographs more iconic than the Carrera: designed by legendary horological maverick Jack Heuer and first released in 1963, the Carrera from the get-go was designed not only to be the perfect racing watch for serious motorsports competitors but also to be a refined, charismatic timepiece that would look just as good off the track as on it. A gentleman driver’s watch.

The post TAG Heuer Continues Its 160th Anniversary Celebrations With New 'Dress Carrera' Collection appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

For us here at DMARGE, one of the best activities anyone can partake in is to visit a driving range, swing some clubs and hit some balls. While your first visit could end in embarrassment if you’ve never hit a golf ball in your life, after a few visits you’ll definitely notice an improvement and your balls will start flying straight.

Some Adelaide’s best golf courses (there are over 60 to play at) have a driving range attached to them to not only allow members the chance to practice their swing but to welcome wanna golfers and those who just fancy something to do at the weekend. You’ll want to take into consideration the number of bays available, the grass used for the tee (it could be real or synthetic) and whether the bays are covered and floodlit.

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The post Best Adelaide Driving Ranges To Improve Your Swing appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

“What you would do with a trunk of cash?” This, as well as the eternal “what would you do if money were no object?” are two questions posed over many a campfire (if not first-class suite).

Trending Reddit threads like “if you were filthy rich, what would you still refuse to buy?” as well as the abundance of Instagram accounts dedicated to wealth flaunting (see: Rich Kids Of The Internet) show we harbour a morbid fascination not just with the playthings but the attitudes of The Rich and Famous.

Speaking of, a recent video posted by provocative Instagram account The Trillionaire Life provides curious mortals with a glimpse into the mindset of the mega-rich (when people are allegedly ordering takeaway lunch via helicopter, it’s hard not to be fascinated).

Case in point: when you’ve grown up wearing nothing but Gucci, you’re not worried so much about your multi-million dollar boat (or the helicopter chasing after it) as where your hair sits on your forehead.

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A post shared by The Trillionaire Life (@thetrillionairelife) on Sep 10, 2020 at 1:57am PDT

Still confused?: think back to The Wolf Of Wall Street, when Jordan Belfort, at death’s door with his superyacht sinking, was more worried about finding his bag of quaaludes (“I won’t die sober!”) than his jet skis washing off the roof.

In other words: being rich is a state of mind.

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A post shared by The Trillionaire Life (@thetrillionairelife) on Sep 8, 2020 at 6:49am PDT

Comments beneath the video shows how many people still don’t quite get this mindest.

“So what’s happening here… just flexing?” one commenter asked.

Further posts by The Trillionaire Life paint a similar picture, with The World’s Rich posing in positions and with products as foreign to most of us as a moustache trimmer was to Nietzsche.

From private jets…

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A post shared by The Trillionaire Life (@thetrillionairelife) on Sep 3, 2020 at 5:00am PDT

… to insanely expensive watches…

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$300k on the wrist Trillion Circle Member @mr_hublot #TheTrillionaireLife

A post shared by The Trillionaire Life (@thetrillionairelife) on Sep 4, 2020 at 1:40am PDT

… to somewhat more realistic holiday aspirations…

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A post shared by The Trillionaire Life (@thetrillionairelife) on Sep 7, 2020 at 4:42am PDT

The account has a little bit of everything.

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The post Trillionaire Lifestyle: Video Offers Rare Glimpse Into The Mindset Of A Trillionaire appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Sticky sand. Peeling skin. Blistering headaches. Unforgettable memories. Ibiza is a perilous cocktail of sun and fun – the mecca British tourists just can’t resist. Britons are – economically – to Ibiza what Australians are to Bali and Americans are to Miami (and arguably what Russians are to Bulgaria’s Sunny Beach).

But despite raising travellers’ dopamine levels to outrageous heights for 40 years (it’s come a long way from the underground dance party scene of the 1980s), Ibiza may now be facing an extended hangover, as the destination’s most well-known attraction – super clubs with world-class DJ’s and masses of sweaty revellers – are poised, for the foreseeable future, to be outlawed thanks to the pandemic.

With three million visitors normally gracing Ibiza’s shores during the summer months alone (close to 75% of the island’s 147,000-plus population get their income from tourism, directly and indirectly), this could prove quite a shockwave.

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A post shared by Ibiza Secret Beaches (@ibizasecretbeaches) on Jun 22, 2018 at 11:23am PDT

Of course, there is a lot more to Ibiza than clubs (Spain’s Balearic Islands are home to some pristine natural attractions), but economically speaking, this is a low key disaster.

Right now, if it weren’t for The Bat Kiss, young Europeans would still be spilling out of Ibiza’s beaches, bars and throbbing nightclubs, enjoying the tail end of Ibiza’s peak tourism season.

That’s not the case, however. As Juan Miguel Costa, Ibiza’s tourism director, recently told CNN Travel: “There’s no tourism at all, now, on our island… Just a few people coming just for a few days.”

“We had a very bad summer. And the thing is that we will have a very, very bad winter.”

“Thanks to a summer characterized by Covid quarantines, shuttered nightclubs and canceled flights – the Balearic Islands… are suffering from an abysmal hangover without even having enjoyed the night before,” CNN Travel reports.

Will Ibiza now need to pivot, then, to an economy that doesn’t rely on massive nocturnal gatherings?

Rosana Morillo, general director of tourism for the Balearic Islands, told CNN Travel, “this current situation is an opportunity for us to change our model, for the hotels to change the offers they make based on these, let’s say, alcohol consumption and cheap holidays.”

“Even if virus cases dwindle again, and countries lift their quarantines, a clubbing vacation is largely out of the question in the age of Covid,” CNN Travel reports.

Costa told CNN Travel, coming out of 2020, Ibiza would look to maximise the whole spectrum of attractions which – to the degree it can be done safely – may also include nightlife.

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A post shared by I B I Z A (@ibiza.official) on Dec 13, 2019 at 12:55am PST

“What is in our mind is to be able to let people know that in Ibiza we have nightlife, as well, of course we have parties, but as well we have other products that are really interesting,” he told CNN Travel.

“If you are a family with two kids, you can come to Ibiza without any problem […] It’s not a full party island. That’s what we try to let people know, that is important for us.”

This could also be a chance to go back to the future. As thenational.ae reports, “Ibiza Rocks is reopening this month and aims to offer a socially distanced al fresco clubbing experience.”

“The rock & roll-themed Pikes Ibiza in the San Antonio hills [reopened] in July, with a focus on ‘a bucolic Ibiza past, a time when life was more laid-back and our hotel guests and island characters gathered under the stars for magical Mediterranean evenings.'”

Scubadiving is also tipped to be another point of attraction due for a resurgence.

As for those that come to Ibiza purely to revel, the future remains uncertain. But one thing is for sure – the demand for live DJs and music isn’t going anywhere, even if we can’t have them right now.

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The post Ibiza 2022: Spanish Island Faces Biggest Challenge Yet appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

One of the most imaginative big-name music videos to be released this year has been the short film for POPSTAR, the latest single from Miami mega-producer DJ Khaled featuring chart-topping Toronto rapper Drake.

The video, which sees fellow Canadian superstar Justin Bieber fill in for Drake in a debaucherous jaunt through a party-ravaged mansion, is sneakily hilarious and self-referential, Bieber lip-syncing Drake as he raps about his songs needing Bieber’s face for his songs to get big.

Bieber’s clearly enjoying stepping into Drake’s shoes in the video, playing as a playboy. It’s delightfully meta, especially when Drake, through Bieber, imparts some surprisingly sage advice about investing in watches, as Bieber flexes a completely iced-out Rolex Datejust (ref.116300). It’s a perfectly extravagant watch for an extravagant music video: another example of this ‘icy’ timepiece is currently selling for 28,000 AUD on Chrono24.

At first glance, the watch looks as if it’s just plain steel – an easy trap to fall into. Upon closer inspection, it’s clear that it’s no ordinary Datejust, but it’s a testament to the skill of Rolex’s jewellers that they can make the watch appear so subtly glamourous. That relates to the wisdom Drake shares about watch collecting in the song, actually:

“Two, four, six, eight watches, factory, so they appreciate / Crown in my hand and I’m really playin’ keep-away”

The ‘crown’ line is a clear reference to the Rolex logo: a spiky coronet that’s known the world over. But the crucial part is the first line.

‘Icing out’ watches is a hugely extravagant move, and you’d be confident in assuming that adding diamonds to a watch is only going to increase a watch’s value. However, that’s not necessarily the case. In some cases, it can actually devalue your timepiece.

“Beyond the quality of the actual gemstones themselves, there is still the issue of originality and factory-intended condition that can affect the prices of diamond-set watches,” Rolex experts Bob’s Watches relate.

“In the same way that a serious collector would rather have an entirely original, completely unpolished vintage Rolex Submariner than one that had been fully restored, a diamond-set Rolex is only of additional value to the purist collector if it was Rolex who supplied and set the diamonds.”

“In some extreme cases, custom-set diamonds can actually detract from the overall value of a watch. If someone were to alter the original dial and bezel of a vintage Rolex Daytona by setting it with a slew of poor quality, low-carat diamonds, the end result would be a timepiece that was worth significantly less than what it was before the modifications had ever taken place.”

“Additionally, customizing or modifying a new Rolex watch will void its factory warranty, and in certain cases, make it ineligible for future factory services to be performed… While this is completely irrelevant to some Rolex owners, it can be of significant importance to others, especially if their watch was recently purchased and still has multiple years left on its warranty period.”

That’s why Drake’s line about only buying factory watches is so significant. It reveals a truth about investing in watches: if you want your timepieces to stand a chance at appreciating in value, steer clear of customising them.

RELATED: ‘Excessive’ $1,000,000 Richard Mille Watch Underscores How Far Online Retailing Has Come In 2020

Drake doesn’t always follow his own advice, however – he’s also a fan of customised watches, such as this 289,000 AUD Chrome Hearts x Rolex Day-Date he showed off in July. He’s also known to be in possession of a Virgil Abloh-designed, emerald-encrusted Patek Philippe Nautilus and a minimalist 1017 ALYX 9SM x Audemars Piguet Royal Oak.

Bieber’s quite the fan of expensive watches too, recently posting a photo of him leaning against his Lamborghini Urus flexing a yellow-gold Rolex Daytona.

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A post shared by Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) on Sep 8, 2020 at 7:11pm PDT

Drake also appears on another DJ Khaled single, GREECE, which along with POPSTAR serve as twin lead singles for Khaled’s forthcoming 12th studio album, Khaled Khaled.

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The post Justin Bieber’s Latest ‘Outrageous’ Rolex Flex Imparts Timeless Truth About Watch Investing appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Drinking blistering coffee even in summer. Paying for petrol after you’ve filled up. Drop bears. Utes. Rugby League. There are a lot of Australian quirks Americans find bizarre.

However, while some may be counterintuitive or, in Americans’ eyes, backwards (see: the mullet), there are other cultural cornerstones Those Across The Pond ought to be jealous of.

Case in point: the following photo.

 

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A slice of ocean served chilled. It’s winter after all and I get the feeling we’re going to miss it when it’s gone. 5 days left! Better get in! #freshwaterbeach #placesweswim

A post shared by Sprout Daily (@sproutdaily) on Aug 25, 2020 at 12:44am PDT

“A slice of ocean served chilled. It’s winter after all and I get the feeling we’re going to miss it when it’s gone. 5 days left! Better get in!”

Posted by Sydney based photographer Sprout Daily – whose Instagram account shares daily images of Manly and its surrounds (in this case, neighbouring Freshwater beach) – the image depicts a classic coastal Australian ritual.

While not everyone does this on the daily, this winter act of worship is sculpted into the Australian psyche to the point where even those that are on a bus at 7am and slumped in the office by 9am follow accounts like Sprout Daily to get their dose.

Across the harbour, Morning Bondi captures similar Life At Dawn (and beyond) shots for Eastern Suburbs residents to get their fix too, capturing a midwinter post a few weeks back:
“Dive in, water is warm at the moment: 18 degrees (at least it’s warmer than outside). The hardest thing is to run to the cold showers for a rinse but it’s by far the best way to wake up.”

 

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A post shared by MORNING BONDI (@morningbondi) on Jul 6, 2020 at 2:38pm PDT

Australia, of course, is not the only nation where people enjoy swimming in winter. But we’d argue in other places where people swim all year (think Hawaii) it’s not quite the same, as the water is consistently warm. Likewise, in places where swimming is a (speaking generally) summer only pastime, like the UK, the water is too fiercely cold for winter dips to catch on.

 

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A post shared by MORNING BONDI (@morningbondi) on Aug 31, 2020 at 4:18pm PDT

In America, despite many regions enjoying a similar climate to Australia’s East Coast, and despite surfing being equally a ~thing~ DMARGE understands winter swimming is more the domain of fitness freaks (we say that in the most loving way possible) like Laird Hamilton, and is not shared to the same extent by the office Brenda’s and primary school teacher Brians (and retiree Richards) as it is in Australia.

 

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A post shared by Sprout Daily (@sproutdaily) on Aug 16, 2020 at 5:04pm PDT

Swimming groups like Manly’s Bold & Beautiful – which completes an ocean swim between Manly and Shelly beach every morning – go a way to showing how institutionalised a freezing winter dip is Down Under.

The benefits of cold water therapy are well documented, as are the mental health benefits of socialising regularly.

 

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A post shared by MORNING BONDI (@morningbondi) on Sep 10, 2020 at 4:42pm PDT

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The post Ocean Swimming: Australian Winter Ritual Americans Will Never Understand appeared first on DMARGE Australia.