Brisbane airport one of the best

BRISBANE Airport has been named among the world’s best in a worldwide survey of 8.2 million travellers.
Hong Kong International Airport was voted the world’s best airport in the independent Skytrax World Airport Awards 2008, announced this month.
Brisbane was named the best airport in the Australia/Pacific region, ahead of Auckland and Adelaide.
Passengers were questioned on check-in [...]

Australia’s most expensive holidays

RENTING your own private island on the Great Barrier Reef and private jet tours are some of Australia’s most luxurious and expensive holidays.
Australian Traveller magazine has revealed how the world’s A-list celebrities and the super rich are holidaying down under.
Dubbed ‘The Seven Heavenly Sins’ the magazine has listed the country’s most expensive travel experiences across [...]

Etihad to fly daily to Middle East’s jewel from Melbourne

A NEW player has entered Melbourne’s international airline market.
Etihad Airways today launched a new non-stop daily service between Melbourne and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.
Etihad will begin operating the Melbourne services from March next year.
Melbourne is the third Australian city to service Etihad’s flights, following Sydney and Brisbane.
Etihad Airways chief executive officer James [...]

Why Luna Park is Sydney’s favourite park and ride

EXPLOSIONS rip through the darkness, strobe lights flash, there’s the occasional blood-curdling scream, contorted faces confront us at every turn and evil-looking characters appear from nowhere, just as quickly vanishing into the gloom.
It’s a full-scale prison riot. Our challenge is to find our way out of this mayhem, which is proving no easy matter.
Our first [...]

Silverton is pure gold

NOT many pubs have a horse buried in the beer garden. But then, Misty was no ordinary horse. And the Silverton Hotel is no ordinary pub.
Misty the white mare was renown for wandering into the pub for a beer or three at the bar.
When she died a few years ago she was buried with due [...]

Surfers Paradise : Queensland’s Gold Coast

AS a new wave of skyscrapers lurches over Queensland’s Gold Coast, Surfers Paradise continues to enjoy rejuvenation as a prime destination in the burgeoning 72-hour holiday packages market.
High-rise buildings keep sprouting while parts of Cavill Ave resemble an archeological dig. Remnants from my holidays as a kid in the 1970s seem to exist in fragments [...]

Port Douglas

WORSHIPPING at the temple of self-indulgence may be utterly decadent but boy, does it feel good!
And how could it not – when this temple offers you indulgence to the nth degree?
For starters, there are whiffs of frangipani and jasmine from lush tropical gardens wafting through our balcony doors at dusk.
A vast topaz lagoon pool glimmers [...]

Romance and Seduction package

THERE is something about rose petals that says “romance”. Sprinkle them over a king-size bed and it’s sure to ignite some passion.
For a wedding anniversary or just a couple’s special night, Melbourne’s five-star Stamford Plaza Hotel has put together a Romance and Seduction package.
Soft music is playing when we enter our suite and rose petals [...]

New pleasure palace in Sydney

IF you love to party and enjoy a bit of celebrity spotting, then Justin Hemmes’ new pleasure palace in Sydney, Ivy, is the place for you.
The $150 million complex on George St opened in January with a bash with 1000 guests, among them Jennifer Hawkins, Barry Humphries’ sons, Oscar and Rupert, Tim Holmes a Court [...]

Sydney spun out by baby spiders

MOTHERS whose kids are driving them crazy should spare a thought for this poor creature, who literally has about 100 children on her back.
The garden wolf spider has been a hit with visitors at Sydney Wildlife World in Darling Harbour since she welcomed her brood a fortnight ago.
The baby spiders – which each measure 2mm [...]