Playing Gracie Darling star Rudi Dharmalingam shares travel highlights
The UK-based Playing Gracie Darling star Rudi Dharmalingam hits the ground running in search of authentic travel experiences.
My first holiday memory is...
Visiting Trinidad, the birthplace of my mother, in 1988. I remember watching the 100m men's final in the Seoul Olympics, Ben Johnson destroying the rest of the field only to be later stripped of his title because of doping. I have many sporting-related childhood memories.
I have visited...
Twenty-one countries.
The place I've visited the most often is...
Australia. I've worked on three projects in your beautiful country. My entire career seems to be moving out there. Can I be an honorary Aussie?
My favourite place there is...
Jervis Bay. That whole area is quite magical. I stayed in a cabin in bushland and it was heaven. The older I get the more I appreciate enveloping myself in nature. It was the one time in my life that I was truly at peace.
The place I've visited the most often is Australia. I've worked on three projects in your beautiful country.
The place I'd love to visit in Australia is...
Too many places to list. I've been to Australia three times for work and all those trips involved staying in NSW. The rest I'm yet to explore. Top of my list is the Northern Territory because I need to see a crocodile.
My most memorable travel experience happened in...
Nepal. I was working on a show there a few years ago and there was one moment in particular that I'll always treasure. We were staying over 3km above sea level and I recall looking out over the horizon and seeing the Himalayas for the first time. Seeing those beautiful snow-capped mountains standing so majestically was a profoundly spiritual moment.
The travel experience on my bucket list is...
Before I'm 50 I want to run the Marathon Des Sables, a 257km foot race across the Sahara Desert. I seek comfort from discomfort, always trying to alter the ceiling of what I can achieve and conquer. My childhood was filled with sport and I've taken that discipline into my working life. I approach a role with an athlete's mentality. Achieving the extraordinary grows a person on so many levels. The Marathon Des Sables is the toughest foot race on Earth, to finish that is the ultimate human endeavour.
My favourite place in Australia is Jervis Bay.
My holidays are mostly devoted to...
Finding interesting running trails and discovering new culinary experiences. I'm a big food enthusiast, the UK doesn't have a good relationship with food and that is causing us many health problems. Travelling enables me to sample how other countries bond themselves with food.
The advice I'd give to young travellers...
Walk or run everywhere. We are so accustomed to finding the quickest route from one place to another – a train, a bus or even an Uber. You miss so much of what a country has to offer by using public transport. Using your feet, not only do you smash your daily step count but it's also the best way to find your bearings in an unfamiliar place.
The sickest I've been on holiday...
In Nepal I managed to avoid an upset stomach for my entire stay right up until the day of departure. I was struck down with the most horrendous bug just before my flight to South Africa. Travelling 16 hours on a plane with food poisoning is pretty hellish as you can imagine.
The place I'd love to visit in Australia is the Northern Territory because I need to see a crocodile.
The worst thing to happen to me while travelling...
While I was working on Wakefield for the ABC, Covid hit, production was paused and I flew back to the UK. After a couple of months I was back in Australia but had to quarantine for two weeks. My hotel room was devoid of opening windows and I had no balcony. Some army guy sat outside my room for the entire time ensuring I didn't try to escape. I didn't realise how much I'd miss seeing a tree and breathing fresh air.
The best hotel I've ever stayed in...
Soho House Paris. Utterly ridiculous. Opulence and grandeur like nothing else.
My room service go-to is…
I don't eat late at night and more importantly room service is not a taste of the local cuisine. I'd rather be out exploring those dishes than sat in my hotel room eating burger and chips.
The sickest I've been on holiday in Nepal, I was struck down with the most horrendous bug just before my flight.
How many flights have you missed?
Zero. I'm proud to say I've never missed a flight. I have travel anxiety in the sense that I have to be super early. I'm always the first person at the check-in desk.
Passports/visas/wallets/luggage lost?
Upon returning to Australia for quarantine on Wakefield I left my laptop on the plane. This was because I managed to stab myself with those metal brackets that hold scripts together. My hand was gushing with blood upon leaving the plane. I then had to get a tetanus jab as a precaution.
My favourite travel companion is…
My running shoes.
Before I'm 50 I want to run the Marathon Des Sables, a 257km foot race across the Sahara Desert.
Flight/cruise/car/train?
Flight. There's always something exciting about flying.
Check-in or carry-on?
Check-in. My running gear won't fit in my carry-on.
I manage jet lag by...
Going for a run.
Playing Gracie Darling premieres on Paramount+ on August 14.
Originally published as My Travel CV: Seeing the Himalayas for the first time was a profoundly spiritual experience
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The Age
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Loading There's also talk of a fashion collaboration next year, but for now she's focusing on new music and leaning into the pleasure of finding love again. 'I have enjoyed getting to know my boyfriend's family and friends – it feels like an extended family to me,' she says. Her Australian boyfriend, Bondi-based model and filmmaker Chris Dingwall, is also giving her a new perspective. (Chisholm has a 16-year-old daughter, Scarlett, with a previous partner, property developer Thomas Starr; they split in 2012.) It took meeting Dingwall, and spending time with him in the Aussie sun, to slow down from her busy pace. 'I am a bit of a workaholic,' she says. 'I decided last year, when I met my boyfriend, that I do have an incredible life. My work enables me to travel and I love what I do. It used to be all work and not a lot of play. I am changing that. 'I saw Barbra Streisand interviewed about her book recently, and the interviewer asked her, 'What is there left to do?' 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Sydney Morning Herald
18 minutes ago
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‘I am done with being hard on myself': Sporty Spice Melanie Chisholm at 51
This story is part of the August 3 edition of Sunday Life. See all 13 stories. It's the clichéd British expat dream – to take up residence at Sydney's Bondi Beach – but for one of the UK's most famous exports, Melanie Chisholm, it was a reality for several months this year. The singer formerly known as Sporty Spice, thanks to her pivotal role in '90s pop phenomenon the Spice Girls, never thought she'd call the famous stretch of coastline her second home, but a coaching gig on The Voice and an Aussie boyfriend gave her a chance to reacquaint herself with a city she's always loved. 'Bondi is the health capital of Australia, if not the world,' she says. 'And being Sporty Spice, it feels like I found my spiritual home. It's a very natural spot for me to be in.' It may be nearly three decades since the Spice Girls conquered the charts with their debut single, Wannabe, but Chisholm, 51, still proudly embodies her famous moniker. Dressed in a casual red-and-white-striped T-shirt and sport-luxe pants, she's already been on an early morning walk before her chat with Sunday Life. She's religious about her three days a week strength training but has come to accept exercise-free recovery days are important, too. 'I have been a 'go hard or go home' person for much of my life, and now trying to slow down is actually quite nice,' she says. Joining the Australian version of The Voice was a no-brainer for Chisholm, having been a coach on the UK children's iteration of the show in 2021. She was drawn to the opportunity to encourage new talent, having experienced what it's like to audition in front of a room full of strangers. 'There are many opportunities to sing on reality TV shows, but with The Voice, it's the only one that's very nurturing and is really all about the talent,' she says. 'It's the only show I am interested in being a part of.' Instead of breaking hearts and shattering dreams, Chisholm is mindful with her coaching advice. 'We always try to leave everybody with constructive criticism and give some guidance if they don't get through the competition,' she adds. A meteoric rise to pop-star status, and the inevitable challenges that follow, is a path Chisholm knows well. When the Spice Girls reached international stardom in the '90s, the shift in gears forever changed the lives of its members: Geri 'Ginger' Halliwell, Victoria 'Posh' Adams, Melanie 'Scary' Brown, Emma 'Baby' Bunton and Chisholm. Born in Lancashire, Chisholm's parents split when she was three years old. She spent most of her time with her mother, Joan, and would go on adventurous school holiday trips abroad with her dad, Alan. Her mother sang in bands, and met her new husband Dennis, a bass player at the time, at a pub in Liverpool. They married and have a son Paul. 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Chisholm has relished watching Kylie's career boom as the Aussie singer has traversed her 50s, hence her decision to team with Stannard for her own club renaissance. 'Biff helped push Kylie even further into the stratosphere – it's been amazing to see,' she says. It's clear that Chisholm is embracing what Victoria Beckham, now an internationally renowned fashion designer, refers to as 'living life from the fifth floor'. 'When I turned 50 last year, I didn't feel concerned about it too much,' says Chisholm. 'And now, a year on, I've embraced all the positive things about getting older. The physical negatives of being this age are that you wake up with more aches in the morning, but having wisdom and feeling blessed to be alive is such a gift. I am focusing on that. I spent a lot of time being hard on myself, and I'm done with that.' As the 30th anniversary looms for Spice, the band's 1996 debut album, so does the talk of a reunion. 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Loading There's also talk of a fashion collaboration next year, but for now she's focusing on new music and leaning into the pleasure of finding love again. 'I have enjoyed getting to know my boyfriend's family and friends – it feels like an extended family to me,' she says. Her Australian boyfriend, Bondi-based model and filmmaker Chris Dingwall, is also giving her a new perspective. (Chisholm has a 16-year-old daughter, Scarlett, with a previous partner, property developer Thomas Starr; they split in 2012.) It took meeting Dingwall, and spending time with him in the Aussie sun, to slow down from her busy pace. 'I am a bit of a workaholic,' she says. 'I decided last year, when I met my boyfriend, that I do have an incredible life. My work enables me to travel and I love what I do. It used to be all work and not a lot of play. I am changing that. 'I saw Barbra Streisand interviewed about her book recently, and the interviewer asked her, 'What is there left to do?' 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Courier-Mail
18 minutes ago
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Originally published as Much-buzzed-about comedy Demascus finally releases
