Last year Louis Vuitton made the luggage for "The Darjeeling Limited," this year its Prada that gets the big movie tie-in with their luggage for the film "Australia" Prada created the comprehensive luggage that Nicole Kidman totes (or rather, has toted for by a team of porters) in the Baz Luhrmann epic. The luggage was made "a unique goatskin material" and was crafted in the same ways that the Mario Prada, the founder of the company, used almost a century ago, pulling the leather over wooden frames and gluing and stitching by hand. The luggage includes trunks, suitcases, hat-boxes, vanity cases and even a picnic set. A selection of traditional suitcases and vanity cases virtually identical to the set made for 'Australia', is part of Prada's Pergamena luggage collection.

One enterprising Australia-based yacht seller has found a new way connect their customers with boats in the U.S. Boats are cheaper here in the States so Yarra's Edge Yachts has created the Trans Pacific Yacht Rally. Yacht buyers will purchase a yacht from their brokerage of second-hand yachts, fly to La Paz, Mexico for the "Scrutinizing weekend" and then prepare and provision their new yacht for a Valentine's Day departure across the Pacific. The route will use the trade winds and make many scenic stops which will also allow for flying home or for crew changes. The rally will end in Queensland, Australia on October 11, 2009. Vessels range from 36' to 60' and $47,500 to US $350,000. The 40' Passport Sloop shown here is listed at $152,250.

[via Sail World]

The U.S. isn't the only place that financial titans run amuck. Above is a picture of the 82-foot sailing yacht Sirius which is a vessel belonging to Peter George, owner of the failed $200 million Elderslie Finance Corporation. As The Austrailian News reports, George, has put his yacht on the market with an asking price of $2.975 million Australian (around $2.5 million U.S.). George could get the proceeds of the sale within months but Elderslie's 10,000-plus investors won't be so lucky. They may have to wait years to see any money from the wind-up sale of Elderslie's assets. According to the article, PricewaterhouseCoopers has said that Elderslie investors may wait several years and could recover less than 40 cents on the dollar.

The Sirius is a custom sloop built in Brittany, France in 1987 by Dynamique Yachts. The listing at Ensign Ship Brokers says that over $5 million was spent on refurbishment and to allow sailing without a large crew. The sails are are self furling on a press button system and the main sail is hoisted and furled by an hydraulic push button arrangement. The wing keel design allows the boat to go into shallower waters than most boats her size.

The Australian reports that Mr George had also been a director of EC Consolidated Capital, a company that was accused of stealing millions of dollars from investors and liquidated in 1997. And they report that Elderslie's collapse had much to do with shady investments by Mr. George in companies he either owned or was associated with.

It has not been revealed if the Sirius was bought with Elderslie funds or if any part of the sale will benefit former investors. The story reminds me a little of that of the Endeavor, the beautiful sailing yacht once owned by former Tyco CEO, L. Dennis Kozlowski. Listing pics of the Sirius are in the gallery below.

Tasmanian Rain, the premium bottled rainwater from Tasmania, is now available for home delivery and at certain luxury hotels here in advance of its official U.S. launch next year.

The remote Australian island where it originates has the cleanest air on the planet according to the World Meteorological Organization, which is important since Tasmanian Rain never touches the ground.

The company says that gives it an edge in purity over any spring water, which can contain contaminants as a result of human byproducts that cannot be completely filtered out. Furthermore, Tasmanian Rain is a carbon neutral company, and only bottles their water in 100% recyclable glass.

So far it's been picked by several Ritz-Carlton hotels for their VIP suites, the Trump International in Chicago and Las Vegas, the Tides and The Biltmore hotels in Miami and the Four Seasons in Jackson Hole.

Tasmanian Rain is also about to launch in Dubai at the Jumeirah Hotel Group. Home delivery prices are $60 for a case of 12 750 ml bottles and $75 for a case of 24 375 ml bottles, available for order here.

The Times of London has come up with a new list of the world's 10 richest streets based on property prices. The most expensive street on the globe, unsurprisingly, is in ultra-rich Monaco - Avenue Princess Grace, to be exact, where average prices run about $17,000 per sq. ft. It's a pretty safe bet that anyone with an address there is a millionaire at the very least. In second place is Severn Road in Hong Kong's Victoria Peak district (above), where the average price is about $11,000 per sq. ft. Here are the rest of the runners-up:
No. 3 - Fifth Avenue, New York
No. 4 - Kensington Palace Gardens, London
No. 5 - Avenue Montaigne, Paris
No. 6 - Ostozhenka, Moscow
No. 7 - Via Suvretta, St, Mortiz, Switzerland
No. 8 - Carolwood Drive, Beverly Hills
No. 9 - Wolseley Road, Sydney, Australia
No. 10 - Altamount Road, Mumbai, India

Starting next month, you can hire the private train carriage built for the Prince of Wales in 1919 on an unparalleled journey through the heart of Australia. The carriage will be available on The Ghan's journey from Adelaide on the continent's southern coast to the port of Darwin at its top, one of the world's great railway excursions. The historic carriage was built for Edward, the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII and then the Duke of Windsor), for his royal visit in 1919. Accommodating up to ten guests in its ornate wood-paneled lounge and suites, the beautifully-restored carriage costs about $15,000 for a one-way, two-night trip.

[via UrbanDaddy]

Google.org recently announced its investment of over $10 million in "breakthrough geothermal energy" to further its goal to develop clean energy alternatives to coal. Functioning as the philanthropic arm of Google (effectively the 1% co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin initially pledged toward global concerns), Google.org has already donated or invested over $85 million across five focus areas which include renewable energy and the improvement of public services.

If you're into videos about geothermal energy, check out this one. It's all about drilling for energy in the Australian outback. You'll learn words and phrases such as "exajoules" and "distributed indigenous nature" -- just in time for your Labor Day cocktail parties!

Today's home comes front the land down under. This penthouse in the heart of Sydney, Australia has views over Sydney's Botanical Gardens. The three story unit is located in the northern half of the Macquarie Apartments building designed by Renzo Piano. The modern glass and terracotta building lends itself to contemporary interior design. This apartment has an open floor plan and big windows and a terrace to enjoy the view. There is also a private roof terrace with gardens and a whirlpool tub.

For more prime properties and lush locations, see Luxury Homes and Mansions.

Situated on the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Cairns, Reef Encounter, Australia's exclusive floating luxury boutique hotel, offers "the ultimate reef experience." Its Top Deck Club offers a relaxed ambiance and is designed for discerning of guests: Guests are cared for by a crew and stay in modern, spacious staterooms with A/C, a private ensuite and plenty of space for clothes and luggage. Sleep on crisp Australian bed linen, silk doona, cotton sheets and feather down pillows. Naturellement, soft fluffy robes, plush bath sheets and Australian beauty products are replenished daily. All gourmet meals are freshly prepared onboard with local Australian and exotic ingredients accompanied by Australian wines and beers.

Calling itself a "reef resort" (and sounding suspiciously like what I would call a cruise, but with a smaller ship and fewer passengers), Reef Encounter takes place on a 35-meter luxury catamaran that has A/C throughout, spacious decks, roomy dining and recreation areas, and a heated spa. Off the ship, scuba divers can interact with a Green Sea Turtle colony at Breaking Patches or the friendly resident giant Maori Wrasse, "Frank." Transfers to the ship, on the new luxury vessel Reef Experience, are available via a 1-hour boat ride from Hastings Point and a 1.5-hour ride from Norman. Or, use the Reef Encounter's heli pad. Prices vary by length of trip. Get more info here.

A big accident at a winery in Australia led to the loss of more than $10 million AUD in wine. The accident occurred when a fermenting tower collapsed at the Wirra Wirra winery in the McLaren Vale region. Seven workers were on a platform when it fell apart and a cellar hand was injured. The wine spilled after the concrete platform, which held several stainless steel fermenting tanks, crumbled. The winery has bee temporarily and workers have said that the situation inside the winery has been generally chaotic. before the accident. Most of the wine lost was red and from this years vintage.

If you've traveled over the past year you have probably seen someone having to surrender a bottle of shampoo or some other liquid due to the rules about carrying liquids on planes. But pity poor Neil Grant, southern region general manager with Foster's Australia, who recently had to surrender bottles of a 1980 and an '82 Penfold's Grange, treasures worth a couple of thousand dollars. Grant was going to conferences in Scotland and Ireland and pulled the precious vintages from his personal cellar. At the final security check he ran into a woman who informed him the bottles would be destroyed because he could not take them on board. He argued that people from Emirates airlines were willing to find his checked baggage and put the wine in there but she refused. He also offered to open them and share them with everyone around. Finally, rather than just throw them whole into the trash, he smashed them. The best part of the article for me is that Grant was man enough to admit he was close to tears. To quote an old song, you would cry too, if it happened to you.

Sting and his family have idyllic New Year's plans. The rock star his wife Trudie and their four children are in Sydney, Australia, where it is summertime, and have rented out one of the most expensive yachts on Sydney Harbor, the Phoenix 1. The yacht rents for a daily charter rate of $13,200 Australian (around $11,575). The yacht has two VIP stateroom plus a double and twin cabin with accommodations for eight guests. The fly bridge includes a spa, sun pads, bar and barbecue. It has a dining room, main saloon with an entertainment suite and a gym (pictures of the interior are at the yacht's charter listing. It is expected that Sting will be enjoying the New Year's Eve fireworks from Sydney harbor along with Nicole Kidman and husband Keith Urban, and Hugh Jackman and wife Deborra-lee Furness.

Australian media tycoon Reg Grundy has put his yacht Boadicea, up for sale. The 231-foot yacht has seven suites, a rooftop pool, a cinema, multiple sundecks and bars. She has a staff of 25. The Herald Sun reports that the yacht is rumored to have an asking price of $120 million. Grundy reportedly paid $30 million for the yacht back in 1998. It has also been rented out for charter for $487,242 a week.

It looks like the solo ship of Orion Expedition Cruises, a company that offers cruises around Australia, has been but up for sale through Burgess Yachts. The Orion was built in 2003 by Cassens as an expedition cruise designed to give 106 passengers (in 53 cabins) a luxurious experience. The 338-foot yacht's design was inspired by private megayachts. The ship is also home to a crew of 75. The yacht comes with 10 Zodiac tenders and 10 kayaks. Features include a elevators, a gym, jacuzzi, salon, spa and a lecture theater. She cruises at 12.5 knots. No price has been listed but a I bet she could make some billionaire very happy.

[via Yachtspotter]

It looks like the solo ship of Orion Expedition Cruises, a company that offers cruises around Australia, has been but up for charter through Burgess Yachts. The Orion was built in 2003 by Cassens as an expedition cruise designed to give 106 passengers (in 53 cabins) a luxurious experience. The 338-foot yacht's design was inspired by private megayachts. The ship is also home to a crew of 75. The yacht comes with 10 Zodiac tenders and 10 kayaks. Features include a elevators, a gym, jacuzzi, salon, spa and a lecture theater. She cruises at 12.5 knots. No price has been listed but I bet she could make some billionaire very happy.

[via Yachtspotter]