Surprise your lover with a romantic escape this Valentines – choose your experience, from the Mediterranean climes of Karma Rottnest Island off Australia’s sunshine coast, to the snow clad Alpine mountains of Bavaria, or perhaps the vibrant beauty and cultural riches of Bali…

The excesses of New Year celebrations may be behind us and many will be diligently applying resolutions, but don’t get too self-disciplined just yet – new year is about to roll round again! Gong Xi Fa Chai we’re talking about Chinese New Year of course, which runs from 05 – 19 February. 2019 is the Year of the Pig – often associated with money. And also indolence. Read into that what you will.

In Bali – and indeed across South East Asia where there are large ethnic Chinese populations – Gong Xi Fa Chai is a big deal. Most will be familiar with the dragon dances and street parades that accompany New Year’s celebrations everywhere from Beijing to London.

Karma Sanctum on the Green nestles in English countryside that inspired author Kenneth Graham to write his children’s classic The Wind in the Willows…

…So it feels fitting that Karma Sanctum on the Green’s brand new restaurant celebrate the author and his timeless novel. Mole & Badger opens on 1 February with a launch party featuring canapés that showcase the new menu, as well as select wines from the new Wine Emporium.

Kenneth Grahame first lived in the village of Cookham Dean – home to Karma Sanctum on the Green – as a child, returning there as a young father in 1906 and living in the area until his death. Those first years in the Berkshire countryside made a deep impression on Grahame, he remembered an idyllic eden to which he always strove to return.