LEGEND has it that after his final battle, King Arthur repaired to the mystical island of Avalon to heal his wounds.
Surrounded by mountains and lapped by the azure waters of the Pacific, the real-life Avalon also feels like a sanctuary.
This Avalon is neither the stuff of myth nor legend, but a real city on the island of Santa Catalina.
Lying 30 kilometres off the coast of California, Santa Catalina was discovered in 1542 by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo and deeded to the United States in 1848.
Clean, green and far enough away from the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles to provide tranquillity, it was inevitable that some entrepreneur would eventually come up with the idea of creating a resort on Catalina.
In 1919, William Wrigley, the chewing gum millionaire, bought the island and did just that.
Soon it became a popular retreat for wealthy Angelinos and Hollywood movie stars like Errol Flynn and Joan Crawford would spend their days sailing and their evenings in the art deco splendour of Avalon's Casino Ballroom.
