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Tags: Swine Flu / Australia Travel / → All Tags

Swine Flu Takes Advantage of Cheap Flights to Australia

Although we travelers and city dwellers here at Jaunted haven't yet fallen ill with any suspicious coughing, we do like to keep a respectful eye on where the Swine Flu monster is making landfall, despite the overhype.

Since it seems like everyone has been daydreaming about grabbing a cheap flight to Australia lately, hearing that swine flu has arrived in the the land of kangaroos didn't shock us much. Over the weekend, the first confirmed case of swine flu was reported in Australia, when a woman who flew from Los Angeles to Brisbane gave a "weak positive" response to the virus test.

On the up side, authorities don't believe that the woman was contagious while she was on the flight, so although they are contacting fellow passengers, this single case doesn't appear to be the beginning of an Aussie pandemic.

As in other airports around the world, screening and testing procedures are in place at Australia's main hubs for flights that could carry passengers infected with the swine flu, and as a result the locals aren't all that concerned. In any case, H1N1 has got to be a pretty hearty virus if it wants to survive those ridiculously long flights all the way Down Under.

Related Stories:
· Passengers From Swine Flu Flight Found [The Age]
· Is Swine Flu Hysteria a US Tourism Conspiracy? [Jaunted]
· Swine Flu Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: jnxyz]

Tags: Bike Sharing / Australia Travel / Biking / → All Tags

Brisbane Bikes Soon To Be Shared

Bike sharing is green, cheap and spreading like a planet-friendly plague. The latest place to catch the craze is Queensland's capital Brisbane, although their plan looks a little shakier this week.

Originally set to roll out a 2,000-bike program sometime in the middle of this year, there might be some delays now that one of the main contenders to run the bike share has pulled out. The company is blaming that "the deterioration of the global economic climate," as they so nicely put it, and will leave the risk up to someone else.

Now the Brisbane council's not quite sure when the bikes will be on the street, but they are sure that it'll happen, with around 150 drop-off and pick-up points across the city. Someday. Soon.

Related Stories:
· Bike Share Plan Still on Track [Brisbane Times]
· Even More (Nearly) Free Bikes In Europe [Jaunted]
· Bike Sharing coverage [Jaunted]
· Brisbane Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: marie-ll]

Tags: Airline Hell / Virgin Blue / Games / → All Tags

Snakes And Ladders: Disgruntled Virgin Blue Edition

There's one ex-employee of Virgin Blue who might not be getting a job in the airline industry again--but that's OK because he seems to have potential as a board game designer.

Torsten Koerting resigned from Virgin Blue's Brisbane office last month and in frustration left a lasting legacy: A board game he designed that looks like Snakes and Ladders, but is really all about the frustrations of working for this particular airline.

It might not be great publicity to Koerting's motivation for making the game:

The difficulty in reaching the end of the game [is like] making decisions in real-life at Virgin Blue.

But the fact that the airline employed staff who are this creative and clever in the first place is probably a strange pat on the back. Play the game at your own peril--there are a lot of nasty rescue slides to fall down.

Related Stories:
· NextGen Virgin Board Game [Brisbane Times]
· Ex-Staffer Plays Games with Virgin Blue [The Age]
· Virgin Blue coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Age]

Tags: Qantas / Australia Travel / Queensland Travel / Airport Security / → All Tags

Unhappy Airline Travel: Qantas Delays Thanks to Wandering Passengers

Flying 'roo Qantas can't catch a break at the moment. Sure, there was brief excitement when their first A380 plane arrived in Sydney, but it didn't take long for everyone to find something to complain about again.

This time it was an airport evacuation of the Qantas terminal at Brisbane Monday afternoon, all because three Qantas passengers managed to wander into a secured area without being screened. Better safe than sorry, Qantas decided to evacuate the whole terminal and re-screen everybody.

As you'd expect, this took more than a couple of minutes, and twenty Qantas flights were delayed by up to an hour. And that means there are hundreds more anti-Qantas thoughts being thought today.

Related Stories:
· Brisbane Airport Evacuated After Security Breach [ABC]
· A380 Planes: Flying Kangaroo is Next in Line [Jaunted]
· Brisbane Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: tripletrouble]

Tags: Virgin Blue / Wedding Travel / Weddings / → All Tags

Wedding Travel: Gettin' Married on a Jet Plane

We've always thought the best part about getting married is the honeymoon, and what faster way to cut to the honeymoon is there than actually getting married on the plane?

That may have been part of the reason for Australian couple Jenny Huntingford and Ettore Rapino to plan their wedding for tomorrow on a Virgin Blue Boeing 737 at Brisbane Airport. The couple will have their ceremony on the airplane but then adjourn to the Virgin Blue lounge for the reception--complete with a wedding cake in the shape of a jet.

We're hoping that from there it's a quick move over to the departure lounge to head out on their honeymoon flight. If they've scrimped on a low cost carrier for the wedding location and flight then we're hoping that at least the honeymoon will be in a luxurious destination.

Related Stories:
· Brisbane Couple to Marry on Aircraft [Herald Sun]
· Virgin Blue Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: scherre]

Tags: Qantas / Australia Travel / Death / → All Tags

Qantas Safe For Passengers But Not Staff

In "Rainman," Dustin Hoffman famously said that Australia's national carrier Qantas was his preferred airline because he considered it the safest: "Qantas never crashed." Not 100 percent true but certainly in the last 57 years, no passenger has died as a result of a crash involving the carrier.

Unfortunately, the same can't be said of Qantas staff. A catering employee involved in loading meals onto a Qantas aircraft in Brisbane yesterday fell through a gap in the airbridge and died after hitting the tarmac.

The victim was a 63-year-old woman and nobody's sure if she was wearing the safety harness that's usually required up there. In any case, it doesn't make Qantas's record look so pretty, and it was just another reason for delayed flights out of Brisbane yesterday.

Related Stories:
· Woman Worker Falls to Death [Daily Telegraph]
· Qantas Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: SpacePotato]

Tags: Art / Art Galleries / Australia Travel / Exhibitions / Andy Warhol / → All Tags

Warhol Works Hit Brisbane Soon

Andy Warhol fans are in for a treat if they can get to the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane, Australia in the next few months. A major new exhibition featuring pieces from a number of galleries across the world will come together from January 4 to March 28, 2008.

Along with a bunch of Warhol artwork, including his famous Campbell's soup cans, the exhibition will include a Warhol Up Late program every Friday evening, an interactive activity for children and a freely downloadable Audio Guide to the Warhol exhibition on the gallery website.

We know he coined the phrase, but Warhol always seems to get much more than his fifteen minutes of fame.

Related Stories:
· Warhol's Fifteen Minutes of Fame [Courier Mail]
· Andy Warhol at Gallery of Modern Art [Official Site]
· Warhol's Fifteen Minutes at the AGO [Jaunted]
· Brisbane Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: wallyg]

Tags: Adventure Travel / Sydney Bridge Climb / → All Tags

Brisbane's Got Soft Adventure All Week Long

In for some so-called soft adventure? Brisbane's version of big brother Sydney's Harbour Bridge Climb is the Story Bridge Adventure Climb, an activity proudly advertised as "soft adventure", presumably to attract pretty much every market.

For a couple of years now you've been able to get a pretty spectacular view of Brisbane from the Story Bridge five days a week, but as of September 1, the climbing hours are going to be extended to seven days a week. There will be day, twilight and night climbs every day, with special dawn climbs being offered on Saturdays and Sundays. So if you want to get on top of Brisbane, this little bit of soft adventure is probably for you.

Related Stories:
· Touching Rivets in Sydney Harbour [Jaunted]
· Travel Stories in Brisbane [Jaunted]
· Hotels in Brisbane [HotelChatter]

[Photo: aidan_d_m]

Tags: Beaches / Australia Travel / South Bank Parklands / → All Tags

Does Brisbane Need The Fake Beach?

Australia's full of fantastic natural beaches, right? True, but Queensland's capital Brisbane decided they needed a fake one when they built the South Bank Parklands on the Brisbane River, opposite the main downtown area of the city. A key feature of the parklands is the man-made beach, created with concrete and then topped with beach sand from a nearby bay.

What's good about Brissie's fake beach? Well, it tends to win "cleanest beach" competitions, since the local council pays a lot of attention to keeping it tidy. It's also very central, easy to get to and tends to attract both tourists and locals; and there are lifeguards on duty seven days a week.

But some think the man-made beach is not so hot: the Project for Public Spaces even nominated it for a place in the Hall of Shame. They reckon it's congested and lacks facilities and if you want something to eat or drink, you're mostly forced to get it at a pricey tourist trap coffee shop. Many also complain that the security guards have a heavy agenda in moving on "undesirables."

Our verdict? A beach in the middle of the city can't be all bad. All the whiners can just hop on a bus to the "real" beaches.

Related Stories:
· Park Your Car at a Land-Locked Beach [Jaunted]
· Brisbane Hotel Reviews [HotelChatter]

[Photo: tvguru]

Tags: Cars / Nudity / Travel Jobs / Backpackers / → All Tags

Nude Backpackers Wanted To Thwart Aussie Drought

Looking for a holiday job in Australia? A car wash in Queensland capital Brisbane is advertising some vacant positions at the moment. They're looking for backpackers and travelers who want to earn some quick big bucks at this "small and exclusive car wash".

So what's the catch? Well, this is the Bubbles'n'Babes car wash and you've gotta be topless or nude to work there. It's a response to a drought-induced water shortage that's made it illegal for Brisbanites to wash their cars at home. Topless car washes start at $50, and full nudity (and a clean car) are $100.

A few locals have been complaining about the new business, but police and the local council say nothing illegal is going on: even the job ads makes it clear there's "no hustling and no touching".

The cops did ask for a screen on the street side of the car wash though:

We don't want any traffic accidents caused by people looking at the girls instead of looking at the road.

Safe driving then, and check it out if you want to make Aussie dollars fast.

[Photo: spiegel]

Related Stories:
· Nude Car Wash Here To Stay [SMH]
· Drought Drives Australians to Nude Car Wash [Spiegel]
· Bare Chests Banned in Venice [Jaunted]