Nicole Warne’s Favourite Places
Digital entrepreneur Nicole Warne takes flight in her new Qantas role.
As Qantas’s first digital consultant, Nicole Warne’s initial project is a pearler: jetting around the globe to shoot five inflight City Guides featuring herself (Tokyo), artist CJ Hendry (New York), models Jordan and Zac Stenmark from Stenmark.Life (London), electronic-music duo Flight Facilities (San Francisco) and beauty vlogger Chloe Morello (Santiago). “The brief was to highlight each city from a local perspective,” says Warne, who has 1.4 million Instagram followers via @garypeppergirl, “so we aimed to find Australian talent who either lived in or had an emotional connection to each city.”
Filming five videos in five cities is best described as “organised chaos”, she says. “During a typhoon in Japan, the small town two hours outside of Tokyo we were filming in had 73,000 people evacuated due to flood warnings so we were told to film as quickly as we could to avoid being trapped!” Floods aside, here are her highlights from four of the cities...
Tokyo
“The Gôra Kadan ryokan [inn] is a natural hot-spring bathhouse just outside of Tokyo and has to be my favourite experience from filming so far. Set among the hills, this onsen felt like euphoria. It’s a great way to unwind from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo.”
New York
“There’s an incredible array of food in New York and Jean-Georges’ ABC Kitchen has to be one of my favourite destinations. The restaurant, which is not far from Union Square, is divine but the building is also home to several floors of fashion designers, art, furniture, homewares and giftware. I spent half a day here – it’s the ideal place to pick up some Christmas presents.”
London
“Huntsman, on Savile Row, is rich in British heritage and reflects the country’s love for custom-made suits. The visitor book was impressive, with royalty, such as the Queen, and celebrities visiting the store.”
San Francisco
“The Muir Woods are stunning and a great way to escape the tourist sites in the city. San Fran has fantastic shopping and cafés but visiting this national park was a breath of fresh air.”
Watch the videos at youtube.com/qantas from mid-December.
