Best island in the world named Smart Traveller The best island in the world ... Bora Bora (Pictured: Sofitel Bora Bora). Bora Bora tops poll Travellers have voted Bora Bora in French Polynesia No. 1 in the South Pacific in TripAdvisor's inaugural travellers' choice island awards. Moorea, in French Polynesia, was voted No. 2 and Rarotonga, Cook Islands, No. Australia's only entry was Kangaroo Island in ninth place. Art and soul: The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Ambergris Caye in Belize was voted the best island in the world, with St John, US Virgin Islands, No. 2 and, again, Bora Bora, French Polynesia, No. A taste of the Big Apple For the first time in four decades, New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, which last year attracted 6.28 million visitors, will open seven days a week, starting in July. Arnhem Land's Yolngu people. The museum has been closed on Mondays since 1971. The extended hours will apply to the museum's main building on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan and at The Cloisters museum and gardens, the branch museum for mediaeval art and architecture in Fort Tryon Park. Both locations will be closed on New Year's Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. See www.metmuseum.org. Still in New York, visitors can get a feel for the grittier side of the city, with family-run operator Levys' Unique New York. Matt Levy leads the Brooklyn graffiti tour and explains the difference between tagging, throw-ups, bombing and wheat pasting on a walk that includes stops at a local distiller to sample small-batch whiskey and an organic beef jerky store. "Being a native brings a tremendous sense of pride and place to my tours ... and a swagger and an ego," says Levy, who grew up in Brooklyn's Victorian Flatbush. My brother Gideon leads the city's only Jewish gangsters tour. Levy says a walk from one side of Brooklyn Bridge to the other is a must for any visitor. Private tours cost from $US150 a person. See levysuniqueny.com. Cruising with Kipling Rudyard Kipling's poem Mandalay, which was later put to music, is the inspiration for a new musical cruise on Myanmar's Irrawaddy River. Baritone Stewart Cameron will perform the song, set in the era of British Burma and which tells of a soldier's longing to be back on an old paddle steamer "chunking" along the river. There will also be performances of popular opera and Viennese operetta and classical with soprano Jennifer Parish and two violinists. On the Road to Mandalay was written in 1907 by American songwriter Oley Speaks and has been recorded by many singers, including Australian bass baritone Peter Dawson. Modelled on the Scottish-built steamers in Mandalay, the RV Tonle has airconditioned cabins that open to promenade decks. The 12-day tour departs Mandalay on February 1 and costs from $6590 a person, twin share, including return flights from Brisbane. See operatif.com.au. Shop til you drop in LA Australian Karine Bulger, a one-time resident of Los Angeles, will share her retail expertise when she leads a shopping trip to the outlets and boutiques in the City of Angels. The trip will coincide with the holiday sales and Bulger says the shopping, which caters to a range of tastes and budgets, starts with online orders before departure that will be waiting for collection on arrival in the US. The trip includes high-end shops, shoe warehouses, the jewellery district and a session with a stylist. The introductory trip in May, departing from Los Angeles, costs $US3500 a person. See laexperience.com. Tradition and culture Art and ceremony, hunting and fishing, and a glimpse into Yolngu life will be part of new five-day journeys into East Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. The tours will be operated by Lirrwi Tourism and groups of up to 12 will travel with indigenous guides to three coastal communities, Baniyala on Blue Mud Bay and the smaller and more remote Bukudal and Nyinyikay. The trips, departing from Nhulunbuy, will start later this year and cost from $2000 a person. See www.lirrwitourism.com.au. More flights to Vancouver In airline news, China Southern Airlines starts daily flights to Vancouver from June 17, via its main hub in Guangzhou. The airline flies twice a day between Sydney and Guangzhou, 10 times a week from Melbourne, three times a week from Perth and, from June 24, increases Brisbane flights from four to five a week. See www.flychinasouthern.com. European budget airline EasyJet will close all its airport check-in desks, to encourage more passengers to check in online, reports The Telegraph, London. The desks will be replaced by bag-drop desks, for those flyers wishing to travel with checked luggage, from April 30. Scandinavian Airlines has scrapped first, business and economy classes in favour of a two-tier service onboard its flights in the region and the rest of Europe starting in June. See www.flysas.com. Send news items to smarttraveller@fairfax.com.au.