I’m from a long line of travellers.My
great-great-great-grandfather, Thomas
Stephenson Rowntree, was a ship captain
who brought the first paying (as opposed
to penal) customers to Australia. I think
he’d look at me – I’ve been travelling
professionally for 23 years, can you believe- and think: chip off the old block. My
Scottish grandfather, Andrew, was a world
traveller. I can’t recall a childhood holiday
spent at home – Mum and Dad would
hire a Halvorsen each Easter, a beach
house each summer, or take the four
kids on epic drives.
My parents’ perpetual motion and sense
of adventure set me up beautifully for
this way of life.There’s no airs or graces
behind the scenes atGetaway. I’m often
changing in bathrooms at petrol stations
or in the back of a car. My needs are pretty
simple – I need clean, yes, but I don’t need
anything too flash.I travel constantly and always to vastly
different places,but if there’s a theme to
my best trips it’s always about the people
I meet, those who’ve thrown out the rule
book and are living life on their own
terms, whether it’s a salmon fisherman
in Ketchikan or the woman I met in
the Cook Islands running a stand-up
paddleboarding business. That’s the
real joy of my job.I think the tiny Buddhist kingdom of
Bhutan changed meas a traveller and
as a person, if only to wholeheartedly
understand that what you put into your
life is what you’ll get back. I can honestly
say I came back a better person. And I
have to sing the praises of the Kimberley
region in Western Australia. I took my
two sons on a Top End cruise for my
new book. The beauty of the Kimberley
brought me to tears: so many stories, so
much history, so worth the effort.The boys travel with me all the time.One
loves activities and being busy; the younger
is much like me – he loves art and is happy
exploring quietly. My job is to help them
find what makes their hearts sing.I’m often woken between 2am and 4am- it might be the bush turkey outside my
room, or a taxi downstairs, so I always
pack an eye mask and ear plugs. And
my driver’s licence, so I’m good to go
anywhere in the world; Wet Ones – I’ll
always drop something on my clothes; an
Anlaby woollen wrap, because I freeze on
planes and I’m married to a wool grower;
and a fold-out bag for extra shopping.
And I take my vitamins, but I’m armour-
plated. I never get sick on the road.
I’d love to go to Chile.I don’t know the
Scandinavian countries very well. And I’ve
never been to Japan. The most annoying
thing, as any passionate traveller knows,
is that the bucket list is never ending.I love the fact that Australians around the
world have a reputation,certainly in the
cruise industry, as innovators and game-
changers. Australian companies really
have changed the way the world cruises,
and our love affair with the cruise holiday
is incredible – Australia is the biggest
per-capita cruise market in the world.I’m always hopeful for what the year
ahead holdsbut I generally don’t know
what’s ahead of me until the last moment.
I love the serendipity of that.●The Best of World Cruisingby Catriona
Rowntree (Hardie Grant Books, $35) is
out 1 March.Getawayreturns to Nine
on 16 February at 5.30pm.Just back from...
a family trip to
Byron Bay. At the
last moment we
decided to wing it
on a road trip down
the coast rather
than flying home- hopping between
beaches, surfing
and eating oysters
on the beach. We
had the best time.
Next up...
a wedding at
Lake Como – I’ll
be showing my
husband Italy for
the first time.
Then we’re joining
Jane Webster’s
“The French Table”
experience at
Chateau Bosgouet
in Normandy.
INTERVIEW HELEN ANDERSON.32 GOURMET TRAVELLERHow I travel
Catriona
Rowntree
The host of Australia’s
longest-running travel show
on serendipity and a life
spent in perpetual motion.
TRAVELLING WITH