Travel guide Victoria for Accessible

Once upon a time, planning a holiday was both time-consuming and expensive. It could involve a lot of map reading, phone calls and visits to bookshops or the library. Doing all that research and then developing an organised system to record all your findings was a major trauma. Thanks to the internet, everything is now so much easier - and often cheaper, too. For our Great Ocean Road accommodation, I went to the local travel agency and picked up a few tourist brochures on the areas we intended to visit. These are useful to get an idea of the significant sites and tourist spots, so I can choose to include them in our itinerary – or, in some cases, avoid them.   I then worked out a route using the NRMA Trip Planner, www.drivethere.com.au, which gives you the distance betwe... Read more

Have your say in the ‘people’s choice’ voting on the best Accessible Holiday Accommodation in Australia The 2009 state winners have been chosen for the leading holiday rentals across Australia with guests rating their favouritehotels, motels, hostels, B&Bs and accommodation parks.    TakeABreak.com.au, Australia’s only independent boutique accommodation website, is presenting the “Best Places to Stay” awards for the tourism industry, which recognise outstanding service in specialist segment categories.    State winners were selected via an exhaustive process from over 13,000 properties in 1400 localities and 39 accommodation types. National winners will be announced in early Nove... Read more

Best Park accommodation BIG4 ANGLESEA HOLIDAY PARK, Victoria Your kids will be spoiled for choice at the BIG4 Anglesea Holiday Park … there is so much to do in the way of children’s activities that they may complain of being too busy! This popular holiday park located in the charming town of Anglesea on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria is a most worthy recipient of TakeABreak’s 2008 national award for best Park Accommodation and a great stopping point on a Great Ocean Road road-trip. The seaside town of Anglesea is situated between Torquay and Lorne and is an easy 90 minutes drive from Melbourne and 50 minutes from Avalon Airport. The town features  glorious patrolled surf and swimming beaches and is surrounded by  serene forest. Attractive parks and gard... Read more

2510/668 Bourke Street Melbourne VIC Close to all that Melbourne has to offer, this studio apartment has everything you need for a stay in this wonderful city. Overall rating?    Excellent What makes City Point Suite different? The central location, facilities and access to all of the delights of Melbourne, while enjoying the stylish fit-out of the apartment makes this the perfect place for you to stay on a visit to one of the world’s most liveable cities. Accommodation overview Being a studio apartment this is small but beautifully formed.  There is a queen-size bed, as well as a convertible sofa, so the apartment can sleep up to four, but is perfect for one or two people. Facilities overview There is a fully equipped kitchen, laundry facilit... Read more

Expect more than ‘great ocean’ on this iconic touring route. Rightly regarded as one of the most spectacular coastal roads in the world, the Great Ocean Road loops like a rollercoaster along the southern sea-cliffs of Victoria. Carved out of the mountains, the road winds its way around some 300km of rugged, exposed coastline from Geelong to Warrnambool, past cliffs, roaring seas, tranquil coves and some of Australia’s best surf beaches. Along the way it links the deliciously quaint fishing villages and seaside holiday towns of Torquay, Lorne, Anglesea, Airey’s Inlet and Apollo Bay before heading inland through the Otway Ranges. Emerging from the forest, the road then reveals a vastly different landscape as it runs behind sandstone cliffs, which face the onslaught of... Read more

Those of us who live in Australia grow up understanding the joys, dangers and safety rules that make it such a great place.  However, many visitors to our country find Australia an alien, but starkly beautiful country, and they have little or no understanding of the best way to stay safe and enjoy their time here. A few very simple rules can help to make a visit to Australia a safe and pleasurable experience, and Tourism Australia has a brochure available for download that lists safety tips in a variety of languages. Driving tips One of the first things to remember is that speed limits are strictly enforced in Australia, more so than in many countries overseas.  Generally, when driving in urban and suburban areas, the speed limit is between 50 and 60 kilometres per hour. When ... Read more

When you’re disabled it’s a lot easier - and cheaper - to stay at home. But after our family came home from a trip away, I realised the memories would be there with our boys for the rest of their lives.  It’s certainly not easy (when you’re disabled what is?) but it is worth it. My favourite Australian  destinations are: 1. Darling Harbour, Sydney I never visited Darling Harbour when growing up in Sydney.  But our family came up here and stayed 3 nights last year and had a wonderful time!  It was great being a tourist in what was once my own backyard.  After seeing a fair bit of overseas, I still think Sydney stacks up pretty well. The terrific thing about Darling Harbour is that it’s so much like Tasmania; a lot to do in such a sm... Read more

  Weddings are wonderful, glorious, exciting, romantic, memorable … and fraught!  It doesn’t matter how well-organised you/your partner/your mother/your wedding planner is …no-one can deny that arranging a wedding is an exercise in endurance, as well as joy. So, the honeymoon should be the time to wind down, enjoy one another and do as much or as little as you please.  But that brings up another problem, because these days, honeymoons are nearly a competitive sport!  Where are you going, how long for, is there a spa, is it 5 star, is it eco-friendly, can your furry family come too, can your normal family come too???? Whew! - honeymoon options need to be as modern and flexible as weddings have become. And they can be! First, decide what you want &... Read more

"From the Yarra River you get a whole different perspective of Melbourne." Vin Wright, District Chief Ranger, City and Waterways. At the centre of a capital city of three million people, Melbourne's Central Business District bustles and buzzes at all hours. Trams compete with cars and buses, which compete with pedestrians, bicyclists, skateboarders and skaters, joggers and even the odd horse and carriage; all of which move at a pace and with a purpose through the streets and lanes of this big, confusing city. As a state capital very generously endowed with parklands, there are quite a few venues for quietude in Melbourne. One of the most novel, relaxing and interesting however, is the new Yarra River Shuttle Service, a ferry service that takes advantage of the wide water road... Read more

Need to get away but want to make sure the access, activities, attractions and facilities where you are going meet your needs? Not to mention finding a great deal!   Reports that we are all living longer and most of us are getting about more freely than our parents could at our age (yippee!). The great news is that we are taking advantage of our good health and traveling more, and for longer. For some of us this is thanks to a financial boost from our compulsory superannuation funds. Better health and more money give us the flexibility to keep on having fun and lets hope it stays that way!   According to the National Visitor Survey conducted by the Bureau of Tourism Research, “The increase mobility and longevity of senior Australians and the financial boost of pay-outs ... Read more