Patrick Donovan finds the team from Abbotsford’s Terminus pub have turned their hand to a country hotel.In the Yarra Valley, Yarra Glen is the less attractive but well-located sister of quaint Healesville. Standing out like a sentinel in the main street is the imposing heritage-listed Yarra Glen Grand Hotel.Built in 1888, the Victorian mansion has […]
Australian fertility specialists aim to ease the stress out of making babies by combining their clinic with a five-star luxury resort, complete with a spa and masseurs.The Cairns Fertility Centre, which will specialize in assisted reproduction and invitro fertilization (IVF) procedures, plans to take in patients early next year.Doug Yek, the centre’s financial director, said […]
Kay O’Sullivan is among the first into the revamped Hepburn Bathhouse and Spa.It has taken four years and $13 million but now the historic Hepburn Bathhouse and Spa is set to resume its position as the focal point of the Central Highland’s tourism industry.The complex, nestled in the leafy Mineral Springs Reserve down the hill […]
The Shipwreck Coast can be wild and woolly, but in any weather there’s a safe harbour to visit, writes Briar Jensen.Port Campbell nestles at the head of a tiny horseshoe-shaped bay with a creek sweeping in from one corner and a soft, sandy beach out front. Just off the Great Ocean Road between Princetown and […]
Kate Cox discovers it’s hard to get around when faced with a rich supply of gourmet goods.The combination of fresh country air and rustic, toasty warm surrounds is having an effect. Within minutes of arriving at Dreamcatcher Lodge in Picton, our party of six (including two under two) has crashed out in the living room […]
Victoria’s ski season had a shaky start with no snow falling for the first three weeks, but as it draws to an end champagne corks are popping in celebration of one of the best winters in years.Falls Creek and Mt Hotham wind up their winter this weekend but Mt Buller has extended its season for […]
The Oasis of the Seas is taking early bookings, writes Mike Heard.Bookings opened in Australia this week for the world’s biggest cruise ship, 15 months ahead of its launch.Oasis of the Seas, under construction in Finland for US cruise line Royal Caribbean, is expected to be in service in December next year, operating seven-day cruises […]
Club Med is pulling out all stops to become a world-class resort for every kind of holidaymaker, writes Debbie Hunter.Move over Kylie and Madonna. Club Med is the newest star of reinvention.The resort chain that invented the value-packed all-inclusive holiday is digging deep to keep every kind of traveller “happy”, including those used to the […]
More and more Australians are holidaying overseas at the expense of the traditional Aussie holiday, new data shows.Tourism Research Australia today released its Travel by Australians report giving a snapshot of domestic tourism in the 12 months to June 30 and outbound travel in the 12 months to March 31.It shows Australians took 72.2 million […]
QANTAS’S biggest flying kangaroo made aviation history twice when it landed in Sydney yesterday morning.It was the airline’s first Airbus A380 super-jumbo to arrive in Australia - albeit more than two years late - and at its controls was Captain Peter Probert, whose late father, Roly, flew Qantas’s first Boeing 747 on its first flight […]