Whole Life Magazine

February/March 2013

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Shown here: Hangaroa Suite; Below: Hangaroa lobby ceiling easter Island, Chile Photos, top & middle: Courtesy of Hangaroa Eco Village & Spa; bottom: Carrie Mosner Photos, this page: Courtesy of Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort At Easter island's newest hotel, Hangaroa Eco Village + Spa, a 75-room boutique property overlooking the remote Paciic Ocean shoreline on Easter Island (the most remote inhabited island in the world), every detail is green. As example, buildings were constructed using clay in authentic Rapa Nui style but with cutting-edge design (think grass roofs and curvilinear walls), culinary ingredients at the two restaurants—Poerava and Kaloa—have local origins, and a sand sauna at Manavai Spa is modeled after an ancestral technique. Seventy-ive percent of the employees are local ethnic Rapa Nui, and the Hangaroa donates funds to local environmental causes. Choose from 500-square-foot Kainga rooms or 800-square-foot MaUnga suites. Both employ water- and electricity-conservation measures, free-standing soaking tubs built from dark clay and a bedside component that frees the space of an electromagnetic ield. The hotel's common areas feature Polynesian prints and custom-built furnishings, and an expansive patio and outdoor pool with two jacuzzis is perfect for soaking up the sun. When you're ready to tear yourself away from the hotel, a contracted guide company can take you to the Ranu Raraku quarry, source of 95 percent of the island's moai (monolithic igures) and home to 397 of them; the famous 15 moai at Ahu Tongariki that face the sunset during summer solstice; and the Ranu Kau volcanic crater. There's also scuba diving, white-sand beaches and bicycle excursions "into town." Western Australia King George Falls in the Kimberley region Instead of battling crowds in Sydney or Melbourne, hop a small ship that hugs the coastline of Western Australia. Newcomer Orion Expedition Cruises, a luxury adventure company that debuted in 2003, carries just 106 people on each voyage. Although a cruise ship, Orion Expeditions' sustainable efforts include recycling all grey water on board, holding all waste, and collecting condensation from air conditioning. It also features the latest German-designed environmental management technology, including an energy-eficient engine. The cruise's less-structured itinerary means dine-any-time dinner service tailored to your picky palate's speciications by an award-winning Sydney chef, nightly cocktails accompanied by an overview of the next day's destination, easy availability of spa appointments (treatments include "Orion's Top to Toe" with Jurlique oils), and a 12-page wine list boasting many gems, particularly lesser-known selections from "Down Under." The 10-night Kimberley Expedition begins in either Darwin or Broome, and takes you close enough to the shoreline to view indigenous rock art, waterfalls and gorges. n Eco-Trips.indd 31 February/March201331 1/25/13 6:28 PM

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