Happy holidays

Kasey Chambers

KASEY CHAMBERS, SINGER

Where: I’m actually staying home this summer. I took my ‘summer’ holiday in spring this year to Port Douglas with my family: husband Shane, my two boys Talon, eight, and Arlo, three, and our two best friends Worm and Bern and their son Townes, two. All my favourite people.

I took: Shorts, T-shirts and a pair of thongs… What more do you need in Port Douglas?!

KIERAN PERKINS, SWIMMING LEGEND

Where: Hopefully not far from home with my family – wife Sam, daughters Georgia and Charlie and son Harry. We’ve done so much travelling in the last four years it would be nice to just go to the coast and relax on the beach. Having said that, Sam is trying to organise a road trip up the west coast of California, from LA to San Francisco, with a stop in Mammoth Mountain for a ski.

I’ll be taking: A mix of cool to freezing cold clothes. I never go away without my iPod and a few books.

Laura Dundovic

LAURA DUNDOVIC, FORMER MISS UNIVERSE AND HOST OF DATING IN THE DARK

Where: I did a lot of travelling this year and am busy planning a trip to the Amalfi Coast and Croatia next year, so this summer I’m staying local, heading up the coast with my closest friends to get my diving licence and probably to spend most of my time off exploring different dive spots.

I’ll be taking: As little as possible. I am a big fan of flat shoes, no makeup and casual clothing when I travel. A book and an iPod full of nice summery tracks is a must, though.

POH LING YEOW, CHEF AND TELEVISION PRESENTER

Where: Sailing in the Whitsundays. My boyfriend bought the trip for me as my birthday present last year and we’re finally going – mega-excited!

I’ll be taking: Notebook for ideas, togs and sunscreen. No technology, not even music or a book. It’s been an unrelenting year and I’m planning on being a complete vegetable for a few days. If I could, I would smuggle my dog onto the boat. It kills us to leave him at home.

Deborah Sams and Mary Lou Ryan, Bassike

DEBORAH SAMS, BASSIKE

Where: North Shore Hawaii. My husband and good friend Maria will be staying in a house on Rocky Point.

I’ll be taking: Bassike for Havaianas thongs, bikini, denim shorts and loads of jersey tanks and tees.

MARY LOU RYAN, BASSIKE

Where: Camping at Jervis Bay with a bunch of old friends. Camping is my time to get back to nature, back to the simple things in life… Fishing & swimming during day, back to camp for a BBQ feast and a sing-along around the camp fire.

I’ll be taking: Cotton Love for Bassike fringed towel, Bassike cotton/Lycra one piece, cotton dresses.

TIM WATSON, AFL LEGEND AND SPORTS JOURNALIST

Where: The family’s travelling to our holiday property on the Macalister River in Victoria’s Gippsland.

I’ll be taking: Lots of vegetables to plant in the garden and as many loaves of Irrewarra sourdough as we can fit in the car.

Eamon Sullivan

EAMON SULLIVAN, SWIMMER

Where: Cabo San Lucas in Mexico with some friends from Sydney.

I’ll be taking: Shorts, thongs, tanning oil.

PAUL BANGAY, LANDSCAPE DESIGNER

Where: I’ve rented a 12th-century castle in Dorset, England from the National Trust. I’m going with my friend and travelling companion Robert Doble who is a great painter and tends to see the world through the same eyes as me. I am taking a few friends from Australia over with me and meeting some from London, so we can have a large Christmas in rural England. New Year’s Eve will be spent in London staying at The Knightsbridge Hotel. Then l am off to Hong Kong for some shopping, where l am staying at the Upper House. From Hong Kong it’s home to my farm at Daylesford where l’ll spend the balance of summer.

I’ll be taking: My iPhone with its essential travelling apps, my new Apple notebook (l’ll be writing a book during the break as well as my regular blog) and a Kathmandu down jacket for the cold English winter.

David Grant

DAVID GRANT, EVENT ORGANISER

Where: I’m taking my ski bum for a winter break in Jackson Hole in Wyoming, USA. It’s a “boys’ trip” with my four sons, Ziggy, Max, Jackson and Lewis. Jackson Hole is a Wild West cowboy town with beautiful skiing, fabulous hotels (the Four Seasons for skiing and the Amangani for luxuriating), old-school saloons with great music, surrounded by farms, wild roaming bison and the incredible Yellowstone National Park. (The only downside is the occasional sighting of former vice president Dick Cheney, a Wyoming native.)

I’ll be taking: A ski jumper my beloved grandmother knitted me – daringly out of fashion but sentimentally timeless; Ugg boots for the trek to the spa, the open-air thermal pools or a late-night hot chocolate in the snow-covered fire pit; Berocca.

JOHN BERTRAND, AMERICA’S CUP-WINNING YACHTSMAN

Where: Our holiday shack in Portsea, Victoria, with Rasa, my bride of 40 years.

I’ll be taking: Sunscreen, a book or two, and life jackets for our grandkids.

Simon Johnson

SIMON JOHNSON, PURVEYOR OF FOOD

Where: I’m going to Brazil with good friends. I’ve been invited for a friend’s 30th birthday party in Trancoso, a small fishing village in Bahia, and will stay at the Uxua Casa Hotel, a beautiful group of historic houses restored using recycled materials, all set in a tropical garden right in the town square on a grassy hilltop looking over the ocean.

I’ll be taking: My Havaianas, Vilebrequin swimwear and my iPhone loaded with lots of bossa nova.

JANE KENNEDY, WORKING DOG PRODUCTIONS

Where: I’m going with our five kids under nine to visit my sister at her family beach house at Sandy Point, a small coastal town in South Gippsland, not far from Wilson’s Prom in Victoria.

I’ll be taking: A box of chardonnay, a rash top and a box of pinot noir.

Will Studd

WILL STUDD, CHEESE EXPERT

Where: A house at The Pass, Byron Bay, with Bonnie, my wife.

I’ll be taking: Cheese for summer, good coffee and my “in the pink” surfboard.

FRANK MOORHOUSE, WRITER

Where: My friend Rohan said that he felt we should do every holiday twice. I thought I would obey this precept and go back over my gastronomic exploration of south-eastern New South Wales which I did last year – tasting the new wines at the vineyards, going to the oyster leases and buying the prime Christmas season rocks, doing classy picnics or the fine dining which is now, at last, possible in country town restaurants. As usual I will also do a tough eight-day, off-trail, map-and-compass trek in the Budawang mountains. I will swim in all the rock pools and at the surfing beaches on the coast. And I will continue my survey of locally made steak and kidney pies.

I’ll be taking: My French oyster knife with its oak handle and brass rivets.

Dietmar Sawyere

DIETMAR SAWYERE, CHEF/RESTAURATEUR, BEROWRA WATERS INN

Where: Christmas in Zurich with my wife Nicole and the children, Otto, seven, Pascale, four, and Tobias, eight months. Then up to Zermatt for some great food, wine, skiing and fresh mountain air.

I’ll be taking: Icebreaker clothing, my trusty Stöckli GS skis and my Swiss army knife (I never travel without it).

STEVE PRICE, RADIO PRESENTER, MTR

Where: Christmas Day in New York and Washington, then skiing at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with my wife Wendy and daughters Lucy and Kate, plus Channel Nine’s Ross Greenwood and his wife Tanya and son Mitchell.

I’ll be taking: My iPad to watch the latest series of Mad Men, new ski goggles with optical lenses so I can see where I am going, and two tickets to see the NFL in New Jersey.

Fleur Wood

FLEUR WOOD, FASHION DESIGNER

Where: We are headed to Whale Beach in New South Wales for Christmas-New Year. My husband’s family are flying over from the UK to spend the holidays with us and meet our newborn baby, and have rented a house at Whale Beach too.

I’ll be taking: Dermalogica spray sunblock, our backgammon set and easy cotton summer maxi dresses.

LISA MCCUNE, ACTOR

Where: My summer is spent between Mission Beach and the Gold Coast, shooting Sea Patrol with my partner and kids along with 50 or so cast and crew. Certainly not a tough way to spend a summer.

I’ll be taking: A great hat, moisturiser and a cookbook.

MELA PURDIE, FASHION DESIGNER

Where: The Northern New South Wales coast. Summer to me is all about the beach and barbecues and valuable time spent with parents and family for Christmas celebrations and good friends for summer holiday fun with the children.

I’ll be taking: Breezy linen tunics and drawstring pants, swimmers, a book and a hat.

John Wilson

JOHN WILSON, CATERER

Where: To New York for winter. It’ll be on a quick turnaround, so on my own and then catching up with chums there.

I’ll be taking: The bare necessities plus my appetite, a list of the best cabaret spots and an extra suitcase for shopping.

VANESSA AMOROSI, SINGER

Where: I’ll be spending summer in Los Angeles this year writing for my new album. I’ll be all by myself, ha ha, but I will be staying with friends who live in LA.

I’ll be taking: My iPod is a must; something glam ’cause if I get a day off I will head to Vegas for some fun times; and my iPad: I’m addicted to playing games on it and watching movies and online shopping.

Kym Ellery

KYM ELLERY, FASHION DESIGNER

Where: Paris a go-go to see some glittering snow-snow with mes amies Jessie Hill and Wendy James. We have a three-bedroom loft in the 10th and it has a killer library.

I’ll be taking: My sketchbook complete with a mini set of coloured masking tape in an array of macaron-esque colours. A groovin’ mix-tape playlist with music from Myth & Tropics, the BB Brunes, and a random mix of French language classes. My GHD mini styling iron for très chic locks.

JESSICA RUDD, AUTHOR

Where: We don’t get the same holidays in China, so I’ll be staying at home in Beijing with my gorgeous husband Albert, but splurging on a long weekend at the Aman at Summer Palace resort.

I’ll be taking: My laptop (I’m working on a new book and I’ll Skype my family on Christmas morning), two bottles of vintage Champagne we’ve been saving (there’s a hefty import duty on booze in the People’s Republic) and a camera.

Jimmy Barnes

JIMMY BARNES, SINGER

Where: I’ll be going with my beautiful wife for a quick holiday to Thailand. Anywhere is great if she’s there. We go to a little town called Hua Hin. I have been going there for about 30 years. I love it. And then for the rest of the summer I am touring New Zealand and Australia – you’ve got to love that.

I’ll be taking: My iPad, some speakers and my guitar. Then the only thing I need is my family… and my bathers.

MEGAN PARK, FASHION DESIGNER

Where: Our beach block in Venus Bay in Victoria’s South Gippsland with my partner Anthony and our twin three-year-olds Ella and Marley (and our mates who have houses down there). We will stay with our friends and plan our house that we are well overdue to build on this block of land.

I’ll be taking: A summer beach tunic from our new High Summer collection (wildly printed and easy to throw on over bathers), Indian cotton kurtas for the kids (they wear nothing else in the summer), and vodka and limes for summer cocktails.

Tony Wheeler

TONY WHEELER, CO-FOUNDER, LONELY PLANET

Where: Well, nowhere for “summer” as a whole but I seem to start every new year with a trip to somewhere in Tasmania. It’s often a walking trip, but next year’s will be three days in Stanley (two rented houses), three days in Strahan and then a final day in Hobart (hope to visit the new MONA gallery). I’ll be going with some long-time friends from Melbourne.

I’ll be taking: Walking shoes (any trip to Tasmania involves walking at some point), binoculars to keep an eye out for Tasmanian wildlife, and my appetite (on my last visit to Stanley the lobsters were terrific).

RACHAEL RUDDICK, FASHION DESIGNER

Where: My home in Tasmania with my husband and daughter CC, visiting the new Saffire Freycinet lodge on the east coast and then to family celebrations in and around Launceston and Hobart.

I’ll be taking: Sunglasses. We always notice the incredible glare when we’re back in Tasmania. Plus a good hat and host gifts.

Stephanie Gilmore

STEPHANIE GILMORE, PRO SURFER

Where: This summer I’m really excited to spend some time on Aussie beaches. I’ll be spending Christmas in Torquay along Victoria’s Great Ocean Road, and the rest of January will be spent at home on the northern beaches of New South Wales. I love spending the Australian summer from sunrise to sunset in a bikini and a light summer dress.

I’ll be taking: A new Rip Curl bikini, good music and lots and lots of H2O.

STEFANO CANTURI, JEWELLERY DESIGNER

Where: My wife Patricia and I will have a child-free quick escape to Qualia on Hamilton Island. Then we’ll take our children and join friends for some active fun in Vail, Colorado.

I’ll be taking: Our cameras and a sketchpad (I always get inspired when I’m away).

Chris Taylor

CHRIS TAYLOR, WRITER/PRESENTER, THE CHASER

Where: I’ve booked a mystery flight with Jetstar and 250 other disgruntled passengers. I think the mystery is whether or not we’ll leave the ground.

I’ll be taking: A very long book and possibly a flight manual.

ANDREW MCCONNELL, CHEF/OWNER, CUTLER & CO. AND CUMULUS INC. Where: I’m off to Shanghai and then on to Sichuan Province, meeting up with friends I met while living in Shanghai over 1999 to 2000.

I’ll be taking: My favourite knife for cooking (I love cooking when I’m on holiday; the produce is always different and exotic), credit card and passport. I don’t get too fussed about packing; what I forget to pack leaves more room for me to bring back stuff for the restaurant.

BOB CARR, FORMER NSW PREMIER

Where: London with my wife Helena, mainly for the theatre. There’s a Hamlet, a Lear, a Winter’s Tale; plus Tannhäuser at Covent Garden.

I’ll be taking: Overcoat, vitamins and protein powder.

Paul Fischmann

PAUL FISCHMANN, CEO, 8 HOTELS collection

Where are you headed for the holidays? Bora Bora in French Polynesia with my girlfriend and my BlackBerry to refresh for a busy new year ahead.

What will you be taking? Not much: swimmers, suncream and a book.

KATE CEBERANO, SINGER

Where: I’ll be working through most of summer with the band, management, road crew and entourage (just kidding – well at least about the entourage). People need music most when they’re on holidays and I’m their gal. Having said that, though, I work in some pretty glamorous places. We may end up at Hamilton Island, a vineyard in the Adelaide Hills, a quarry in the Kimberley. It’s a pretty rough life… not!

I’ll be taking: My husband Lee, daughter Gypsy and a pair of togs.

Collette Dinnigan

COLLETTE DINNIGAN, FASHION DESIGNER

Where: Milton on the New South Wales south coast with my daughter Estella and my partner Bradley.

I’ll be taking: Bikini, sandals, cotton and ramie dress from my Collette by Collette Dinnigan range and Crème de la Mer.

PAUL DYER, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, AUSTRALIAN BRANDENBURG ORCHESTRA

Where: I’m heading to Eumundi, inland from the Sunshine Coast of Queensland – my idea of a blissful getaway. I’m going with three close mates that I never get to spend enough time with because of busy schedules.

I’ll be taking: My swimmers, a good book and good vodka (plus tonic, of course).

JO HALL, PRESENTER, NINE NEWS

Where: We’ll probably get away in January, most likely to the Mornington Peninsula towns of Portsea and Sorrento. I’m going with my children. I may also spend one weekend with a girlfriend and her family.

I’ll be taking: Bathers, my Kindle and an iPod Nano.

Catriona Rowntree

CATRIONA ROWNTREE, HOST, GETAWAY

Where: Since I met my farmer hubby James, summer has represented the harvest: a mad head-down, bum-up dash to get the crops off before we race to Sydney for Christmas. It’ll be me, James, our little cherub Andrew and, um, how do we say, the “seed within”. Following that, this year we seem to be entering wedding season which will take us from Bondi to Uluru to Noosa and back to the beaches of Sydney. Give me strength because I’ll also be seven months pregnant.

I’ll be taking: A stack of stretchy Metalicus tops to travel in, long flowing maxi dresses for everything from the beach to the church, and a bucketload of patience.

STEPHANIE ALEXANDER, FOOD DOYENNE

Where: I will be spending time in Aireys Inlet with friends – we’ve known each other for 50 years. No secrets, but always plenty to talk about.

I’ll be taking: A really good knife, a bag of books and a large chunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano.