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Sydney Saves More Sightseeing Spots Forever

July 1, 2009 at 5:03 PM | 0 Comments

Mention Sydney and everybody can think of the Sydney Opera House or the Sydney Harbour Bridge, but in fact for those who've spent any time in Australia's largest city, there are dozens of other iconic places that say "Sydney" just as loudly.

Three of these are about to be listed on the city's heritage register, which will mean that they can't be extended or demolished or get "unsympathetic renovations". Our favorite of the three is the Luna Park theme park on the other side of the bridge, but the Queen Victoria Building (cool old building, great place to shop) and the Sydney Town Hall (a handy meeting point) also deserve their new status.

This is all good news for us tourists, we figure, because more of Sydney's high points will definitely be there whether we show up this year or not for a decade. Nice to see a government doing something we actually like.

Related Stories:
· Sydney Icons on Heritage List [The West]
· Sydney Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: Predrag Bubalo]

Spotting Kangaroos in London Sends You To Oz, Not Asylum

June 30, 2009 at 4:27 PM | 0 Comments

Look out London - the kangaroos have invaded. In a neat campaign to promote Kangaroo Island in South Australia, the South Oz tourism gang are letting twenty brightly-painted kangaroos loose in London.

Fortunately these roos don't look like the kind that will wreak havoc on the city – they just look pretty, rather than doing much jumping or boxing. But if you're in London and spot some of these animals, take good note of where they are and you could win a trip to Kangaroo Island for four.

Go to their website for entry and if you don't win the big trip you automatically get a £100 Flight Centre voucher. But we'd definitely have our eye on the big prize, because Kangaroo Island is by far one of the most beautiful spots in South Australia – incredible scenery, great food and more than a couple live, hoppin' kangaroos.

Related Stories:
· Kangaroo Island Hunt [Official Site]
· Movie Set Travel: December Boys on Kangaroo Island [Jaunted]
· South Australia Travel Guide [Jaunted]

Whales Wallowing in Western Australia

June 25, 2009 at 4:16 PM | 0 Comments

The coast of Western Australia is getting busy: the whale watching season is underway and early sightings suggest that not only has the season started early, but there are more whales than there've been in decades.

Commercial whaling in Western Australia finished up in 1963 with just 500 humpback whales left in the waters, but estimates now put the number of whales that will swim the 8,000 miles from Antarctica to the north of the state at around 17,000. Good work, whales!

Whale watching trips run all up and down the coast and from the capital Perth, too – grab a two-hour trip from Hillarys Boat Harbour for A$62 ($50), or head south to Albany for three-hour cruises that let you come on board again in the unlikely event of no whales showing up.

The only thing that seems to be growing faster than the whale population is the population of whale-watchers. Tourism peeps in West Oz say tourist numbers are growing by 15% every year so you need to hurry to avoid the crowds.

Related Stories:
· Early Signs Show Whale Watchers In For A Treat [The West]
· Big Fish Show Up Early at Ningaloo Reef [Jaunted]
· Western Australia Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: wouter]

Virgin Blue Decides Which Guitars Can Fly Where

June 17, 2009 at 2:27 PM | 0 Comments

We really thought the Richard Branson-led Aussie low cost carrier Virgin Blue would be cooler than it demonstrated this week.

Long-serving Australian musician Steve Lucas - he's not exactly a household name around the world, but his band X have been playing longer than most of us have been alive – was doing what he often does, taking a Virgin Blue flight to get down from Sydney to a gig in Melbourne. But then the airline took all of Lucas's luggage off the plane.

It wasn't because one of his three guitars was in a box that looked like a coffin; no, the problem was that one of his guitar straps was decorated with empty bronze bullet cartridges. Lucas landed in Melbourne and discovered that for some reason, all three guitars had been sent to Canberra, and the Virgin Blue complaints line told him he was "potentially a terrorist." Perhaps they know something about the quality of his music that we don't.

Related Stories:
· Virgin On the Ridiculous [The Age]
· Virgin Blue Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: monkeyc.net]

When An Aussie Archway Is No Longer An Archway

June 12, 2009 at 9:22 AM | 1 Comment

Anywhere else in the world, tourism boards would be totally stressed that nature had just destroyed part of a key tourist attraction. But along the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia, locals are just wandering how to rename their famous landmark to suit the new situation.

The problem is, a huge natural rock formation known as the Island Archway partially collapsed this week, thanks to the constant pounding of the ocean. The bridge section of the structure has fallen into the ocean and now the archway looks instead like two pillars.

It's not the first time nature has created havoc with the sights along the Great Ocean Road; as recently as 2005, one of the famous Twelve Apostles pillars tumbled into the sea. But it does kind of make you want to get Down Under ASAP before all the pretty things fall over.

Related Stories:
· Island Archway Near Loch Ard Gorge Loses Its Archway [Herald Sun]
· Walk the Great Ocean Road [Jaunted]

[Photo: kabl1992]

Virgin America and V Australia Team Up For Sexy, Seamless Transpacific Travel

June 3, 2009 at 10:32 AM | 4 Comments

How much do you love Richard Branson? As if his LCC Virgin America isn't awesome enough for introducing mood lighting and fleet-wide WiFi to the US skies, now his Aussie outfit of V Australia will join with VA to offer seamless cross-Pacific travel between the two airlines.

Via an interline agreement between the carriers which goes into effect this week, passengers can now book a single ticket on V Australia's website for travel on both airlines from Australia into the US and beyond. Not to mention that trips through LAX mean enjoying the awesomeness of Virgin's Terminal 3— think mood lighting both inside and curbside, destination weather information displayed next to flight details, Eames sling chairs, and check-in counters more like concierge desks.

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Life is Good for Miranda Kerr Who Can Fly Private to Sydney

June 3, 2009 at 9:27 AM | 0 Comments

This month’s Rolling Stone cover girl, Miranda Kerr, is in Sydney, Australia today where she rang the bell that kicked off the David Jones Half Yearly Clearance at the David Jones Elizabeth Street Store.

Miranda (who was not wearing an engagement ring despite rumors she is engaged to Orlando Bloom) arrived in Australia via private plane yesterday. It’s not surprising she can afford to board her own personal jet considering Forbes ranked her 8th on its list of the world’s top-earning models.

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Australia's Tiger Airways Gets a TV Show We Want to Watch

June 2, 2009 at 11:34 AM | 0 Comments

Fondly do we recall the days of watching passengers flip out over missed flights, get pulled from flights for drunkenness, or even claim to have an invisible spouse traveling with them. This was the era of television show Airline, which covered hijinks on EasyJet and Southwest from a distance where we could all laugh, since we weren't on the crazy flights featured and were instead firmly planted on our couch.

After being canceled from A&E along with Growing Up Gotti back in 2005, the show remained in our happiest television memories until today, when we learned that Australia will be getting their own version, based around LCC Tiger Airways.

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GPS Tracking Is The New Postcard Home

May 29, 2009 at 9:18 AM | 0 Comments

Keeping in touch with your parents while you're backpacking your way around the world has certainly gotten a lot easier since the internet arrived, but apparently a regular email isn't enough for British mom Rachel Wilder.

Her son Harry is gap-yearing his way around Australia at the moment, and thanks to the satellite navigation device mom makes him carry, she can log on any time and find out exactly where he is. The poor boy bravely admits that it's not so bad because it means he doesn't get constant calls from his parents, but it sure isn't something we want our parents to do on our next trip.

Overzealous mom also figures she's doing him a favor because the GPS tracker records his every move for posterity. She explains: "He can keep that and be able to look and remember where he was on what days and at what times."

Right. Because we really want to tell our grandkids, "We walked into the hostel in Brisbane at 4.38pm on May 25."

Related Stories:
· British Mum Fits Tracking Device to Backpacker Son [Courier-Mail]
· Australia Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: Marcin Wichary]

Is Qantas Blaming Airports For Its New Exit Row Charge?

May 27, 2009 at 3:36 PM | 1 Comment

Charging extra for an exit row seat is, sadly, nothing new, although it's largely been the province of budget airlines or short domestic routes. This week Qantas announced it will introduce the system on its international routes, and with a much heftier charge than we're used to – up to A$160 ($125) just to get the extra few inches of leg room (and all that responsibility if there happens to be an emergency).

While passengers backlash against this new charge, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce is busy complaining about how poor Qantas has to pay so much money to airports. He wants to negotiate with Qantas's frequently-used airports to reduce costs, but some airports just won't play ball – Joyce said:

Airports are very, very good at earning revenues out of everything you could imagine - if they could charge for oxygen at the airport they probably would.

Hmm. Sounds a bit like the way airlines think, doesn't it?

Related Stories:
· Joyce Defends Qantas Charge For Emergency Exit Seats [The Age]
· Airports Would Charge for Oxygen If They Could [The Age]
· Getting What You Pay For Travel: The Best Seats in Coach [Jaunted]

[Photo: eperales]

Qantas Parks Its First Class Seats (For Now)

May 26, 2009 at 11:47 AM | 0 Comments

It's a tragedy. We've been saving all our pennies to afford to travel somewhere in first class, and now first class is disappearing. If it wasn't enough to hear that British Airways isn't building first class in to its new planes, now Aussie airline Qantas is cutting first class from existing planes.

The Qantas news comes after demand for first and business classes dropped almost 20 per cent, and the Flying Kangaroo then decided to drop first on its San Francisco-Sydney, Melbourne-London and Sydney-Buenos Aires routes. Of course, the first class cabin will still be there, and if you book business class you might end up sitting there, but you'll just be getting treated like a business class passenger.

Unlike BA, though, Qantas isn't saying first is out forever – for now, they're not selling first class tickets for those routes between July 6 and October 31. If demand increases again, first class will make a comeback. So perhaps we can keep saving after all.

Related Stories:
· Qantas Scraps First Class on Long Haul Routes [SMH]
· BA Ejects First Class From Flights [Scotland on Sunday]
· First Class Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: x_jamesmorris]

A Teacup With A View Of Sydney Harbor

May 22, 2009 at 2:01 PM | 0 Comments

Last one in's a rotten egg! We're finding the best places in the world to stick our toes in this summer (or next winter) for our World's Coolest Pools map. Know of any pools we must check out? Let us know.

If you want to swim in Sydney, you're better off trying one of its famous beaches than the pool at the Park Hyatt Sydney. We may not own a bathtub bigger than this rooftop pool, but we're fairly sure we've seen a few, and the endless turns would just be murder. But you don't enjoy the Park Hyatt pool because of its actual water, just loll about gazing at the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House and saying to yourself, I'm in Australia, mate!

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