Australia - Kathy Lette (George Clooney mention)

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Australia, sun spots and travel with George Clooney: Checking in with... Kathy Lette


By John Mcentee

PUBLISHED: 16:41 GMT, 26 July 2013  | UPDATED: 16:41 GMT, 26 July 2013  




In which country are you most at home?

Australia. Aussies have a sense of humour drier than an AA clinic. The wine, the weather, the wit, the innovative cuisine and creativity, the sun, surf and sand - what’s not to love? If only you'd deport me!

Describe what you love about it...


Miles of empty, golden beaches, big, blue breakers and a bouillabaisse of exotic sea creatures, including playful dolphins and sea lions.

What advice would you give a visitor?

Wear sun block. You could play join-the-dots with my sun spots and what it would read is 'you should have worn block-out, you idiot.'

Who is your ideal travel companion?

George Clooney. Oh, to be lying on the pectoral pillow of such a love god as he, beneath a tropical palm. In real life, my children, Georgie and Jules, as they make me try things I wouldn’t attempt otherwise, like water-skiing, parasailing and shark diving.


What do you never travel without?

Exercise clothes. If you’re going to indulge in gourmet food, you have to run up more than bills. When holidaying in New Zealand, it’s positively illegal not to exercise. They are the most zealous people on the planet. Everyone is either canoeing or jogging or hang-gliding to work, having already abseiled a few mountains and done a little light sky-diving formation before brekkie. And books. No matter how lumpy the sun lounger or delayed the flight, you can always slip between the covers of something scintillating. (I highly recommend my latest novel, ‘The Boy Who Fell To Earth’!)

Any airport nightmares?

There are many reasons for sudden religious conversion. One is losing two of your three jet engines half way over the Atlantic. We were bound for Mauritius on a family holiday when we had to make an emergency landing in the Azores. There was one bed and breakfast hotel and 500 scared, hungry, passengers looking for shelter. I still have nightmares.


If you had your own airline, what would you introduce?

I often fly Qantas, so was peeved not to have been on the flight where Ralph Fiennes had a close encounter of the carnal kind in the toilet with the air hostess. I would make sure Ralph Fiennes was on board every flight so that we could all join the Mile High club.

Does travel inspire you?

Absolutely. The best thing about getting older for women is that we are suddenly no longer tethered to the kitchen sink by our apron and heart strings. With no more parent/teacher nights to attend or projects to make at short notice, a mother can hit the road. I travel at least once a month. Travel pieces have taken me to The Maldives, Turks and Caicos, Thailand, Seychelles, Tasmania, cruising on the Mediterranean and down the Danube. Book tours have taken me to North and South America, Croatia, Russia, on safari in South Africa, and to literary festivals as far flung as Barbados, Edinburgh and Auckland.  


Charitable work for Plan International has taken me to the slums of Brazil where I ate piranha. Well, I thought I’d better eat it, before it ate me. It's like dieting from the inside. In short, travel broadens the mind but also the hips unfortunately, (because who can resist sampling new cuisine?)

Kathy Lette’s latest best seller, ‘The Boy Who Fell To Earth’ is published in paperback by Black Swan and costs £7.99


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I get the impression she never got over losing the opportunity to be intimate with George, if what she's saying is true that he made a pass at her early on in his career.

I recently saw her on a panel discussion for the press on Sky News & she brought George up again!
If he hadn't become the big star that he is, would she still be wallowing in regret?

I like her a lot for her wit, creativity, & realism.

Interesting, I haven´t read her books, but sounds entertaining. Just reading Various Pets Alive and Dead by Marina Lewycka. Tractors ukrainian I couldn´t finish, but this is much better.

True what she says about Aussies. My friend from Australia is the funniest and wildest of women I know. Always a good time with her.