Hello
again! It’s been a while but we are back after a break and promise to
make this newsletter a happening thing. Our newsletter will now
be bi-monthly, keeping you up to date with events happening around Australia,
latest seasonal conditions, the best places and directions to travel and
we will let you know about new tourism products and services that have
been developed in Australia along with a specials and detailed itineraries.
We are also in the process of updating our website so keep your eye on
it for new and exciting products to tantalise your taste for Australia.
If
you are coming to Australia have no fear of the current problems
in the world; Australia is safe, safe, safe and not much has changed the
way we do things down here. The start of the year has been busy
as usual in Perth. Up North in the Kimberley’s (North Western Australia)
we are just coming into the ‘dry season’ and it is looking good with lots
of interest already - trips between Broome and Darwin are filling up quick.
Domestic air travel in Australia has undergone some major changes
and is once again operating smoothly thanks to the help of Qantas, Virgin
Blue and Skywest airlines.
Qantas now controls around 80% of the domestic market with Virgin Blue
looking to eat away at this everyday with new routes planned. Virgin
is in the process of purchasing 40 new planes and prices will continue
to reduce. Richard Branson wants to reduce the cost of domestic
air travel in Australia thus increasing the amount passengers, best of
all this makes it easier for us all to travel further, cheaper.
Air
travel prices are very reasonable at the moment and good deals can still
be found on domestic air travel around Australia. Our regional airline
(Skywest) over here in the west is doing well and it is possible to get
to the most remote areas with no hassle.
The
great train journeys; ‘The Indian Pacific’ from Sydney to Perth via Adelaide
or ‘The Ghan’ from Melbourne to Alice Springs via Adelaide are still a
great value alternative to cross our great nation. When booking
your flights from abroad it’s a great idea to do some planning of what
regions you want to see and make the most of domestic flights connected
to your international ticket. Be wary of travel agents
with little knowledge of Australia as they may
try to convince you to buy many flights within Australia. Yes,
it is a very large country but often there are many
alternatives to flying, and these may be cheaper, more fun and
enable you to see more of the country whilst really
experiencing it.
If you require some advice
send us a message through our website
www.travellersclub.com.au
or e-mail us at
office@travellersclub.com.au
we will be waiting and willing to help you. If you are in the process
of getting quotes on your flight to Australia and are coming to visit
us in Western Australia, the best deals you can get from Europe are landing
in Perth. So it is a great idea to plan to see WA first and make
your way across our great Island taking in the best of the central parts
before making it to the East Coast.
It
was great to meet those of you we did manage to meet at the Independent
Travellers World show at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London.
What a great travel expo it was, a wealth of advice was on offer from
experts dealing with every corner of the planet. The show proved
very popular with attendances high on all three days and a lot of people
who want to get out of Europe’s winter. After being in Europe for
a few weeks I can see why you are all so keen to get out here. One
thing about being an Australian and living in Australia is you sometimes
you feel a little isolated from the rest of the world but when you are
in Europe or anywhere else it really brings home how good we have it here.
If
you did meet us in London and entered our competition to win one of two
trips between Perth and Sydney or vice versa on the Indian Pacific classic
train journey. We are happy to announce the winner was Francisco
Fejcoor.
2002 is “THE YEAR OF THE OUTBACK”
in Australia with many interesting and unusual events taking place including
expeditions across the continent, concerts, work shops and shows displaying
the way of life, pioneering spirit, and produce that comes from our many
outback regions. Check out the website
www.outback2002.com for information
on the many events that are happening. The idea behind the
year of the outback is to celebrate and acknowledge the individuality
and uniqueness of the characters, businesses, and development of the regions
we call the outback. “The outback” is roughly about 75% of Australia’s
landmass so the events are far and wide apart. Considering it is
the year of the outback if you are in Australia or about to come here,
seeing as much as possible of Australia’s outback is a must if you want
to experience “The True” Australia.
In
compliment of Australia’s efforts to honour the contributions of our outback
to the Australian nation, the United Nations has nominated the year 2002
as the International Year of Ecotourism. It provides an unprecedented
opportunity for Australia’s nature and ecotourism industries to increase
their profile and deliver benefits to our fragile ecosystems and of course
you the traveller.
The
experiences you can expect from the outback can be fun, educational, hard
work, enlightening, and in most cases very satisfying. Undoubtedly
the best way to experience the outback is to do extensive research on
the area you wish to travel to, following what others who have been there
say and improve on their mistakes. Get yourself good maps, camping
equipment, lots of water storage containers, and a very reliable four
wheel drive with lots of spares and don’t forget the mechanical knowledge.
Having a breakdown can destroy your trip financially as the cost of rescue
in remote areas is extremely high not to mention the added days / weeks
it can take out of your time that you have to travel. I hear some
of you say this sounds to difficult and believe me it can be.
The
greyhound bus passes that are available can get you into a lot of regions,
we however suggest discussing the different options with us to make sure
all your travel arrangements are the best for you. Tours that encompass
an entire region can sometimes be the most cost effective way of experiencing
them if you wish to get to the hot spots and understand them. Considering
the breadth of our flora and fauna, Aboriginal culture and heritage, and
geology it certainly helps to have them interpreted to you through a tour
guide whose job it is to pass this knowledge on to you. If you then
realise that you have a major interest in a particular region you can
always return. Some people say to me that the problem with tours
is that if you decide you wish to stay in one place that you like it is
not possible to stay. I think that by doing tours you are seeing
more than you would if you were to do it in other ways, if you do like
a certain place so much that you want to return you always can.
There are plenty of new products available that allow you freedom to hop
off the tours in certain regions and spend more time there.
As
a special offer to celebrate ‘The Year of the Outback’ we have put
together the following Outback packages.
Just
click on the links to get more detailed information on the tours.
We are in the process of updating our website so some of the prices and
departure dates will be different. In the mean time just contact
us through the website with your specific query and we will be straight
back to you.
The
18-day tour from Perth to Darwin now departs twice a week and you have
the option to jump off the tour in Exmouth, and Broome. This gives
you time to do some scuba diving on the ningaloo reef or snorkelling with
whale sharks, and also extra time to explore the Broome region.
There are many things to do and places to explore for more ideas contact
us.
This
package gets you to all the highlights up the West Coast, through the
remote Kimberley region, and Kakadu National Park in a 4WD, down through
the centre of the Northern Territory, to central Australia for your Uluru
(Ayres Rock) tour, and finally across to Cairns where you can celebrate
crossing through a very large chunk of Outback Australia. For the
detailed itineraries go to the associated links.
This package has 2 options.
1st Option (Perth – Perth
This package leaves Perth in a 4WD for 3 days of travel through the goldfields
region and the Great Victorian Desert, followed by 3 days of travel through
the national parks surrounding Uluru, including views of Uluru at sunrise
and sunset, the Olgas and Kings Canyon. North from Alice is 3 days of
travel to Darwin via Katherine Gorge and 3 days of adventure into Kakadu.
Then the 18-day tour from Darwin to Perth through the Kimberley’s and
down the West Coast, with options of snorkelling with the whale sharks
and diving on the Ningaloo Reef.
2nd Option (Perth - Cairns)
A 6 day Perth to Alice camping safari (as above), followed by a 6 day
Alice to Darwin tour (as above). From Darwin a 5-day tour to Cairns
passing through Katherine gorge, Cape Crawford, Barkley Tablelands, Mt
Isa, George Town, and Millstream falls. For more information on Tours
from Cairns such as Cape Tribulation/Daintree tours and Great Barrier
Reef snorkelling/diving trips contact us direct.
| Pricing |
COST $AUD |
|
Perth
to Alice (6 Day Tour) |
$749 |
| Alice
to Darwin (6 Day Tour) |
$630 |
| Darwin
to Cairns (5 Day Tour) |
$310 |
| Total
cost |
$1689 |
Package 3 from Perth
to Alice via Adelaide then onto Perth via Darwin
The Indian Pacific journey from Perth to Adelaide offers
a unique journey across the Nullarbor Plain. It also offers an affordable
option to flying. From Adelaide to Alice a new tour is on offer especially
for ‘The Year of the Outback’, this 10 day tour starts in Adelaide and
ends in Alice Springs it includes the Flinders ranges, Oodnadatta track,
Coober Peedy before spending 3 days exploring Uluru, Kings Canyon and
the Olgas. This NEW 10 day tour includes the Dalhousie Hot Spring 4WD
trip, the Painted Desert and panoramic views of the outback.
North from Alice is 3 days of travel to Darwin via
Katherine Gorge and 3 days of adventure into Kakadu. Then the 18-day tour
from Darwin to Perth through the Kimberley’s and down the West Coast,
with options of snorkelling with the whale sharks and diving on the Ningaloo
Reef.
| Pricing |
COST $AUD |
|
Perth to Adelaide (Indian Pacific Train journey) |
$142 |
|
Adelaide to Alice Springs (10 day tour) |
$990 |
|
Alice to Darwin (6 Day Tour) |
$630 |
|
Darwin to Perth (18 Day Tour) |
$2200 |
|
Whale shark tour in Exmouth |
$280 |
|
2 dives on Ningaloo reef |
$120 |
|
Total cost |
$4632 |
There are just soooooo many options and great trips
available it is just impossible to list them. We are the OUTBACK
EXPERTS so contact us through this website with what your priorities are
and we will design a Taylor made package for you. If you have more
time or less time we can incorporate flights into the packages to save
you time or longer tours, hiking options and more time wherever you want
to extend your Australian experience.
As I mentioned earlier our website will be updated
very soon with lots of new and exciting tours that have become available.
One NEW TOUR that deserves a special mention is “Kimberley Adventure Tours”
five-day Mitchell Plateau tour from Kununurra returning to Kununurra.
This is for serious adventurers only; three days of hiking around the
Mitchell Plateau wilderness with packs on are involved. Places visited
include lower and upper Mitchell river regions, Mitchell falls, and little
and big Mertens falls viewing aboriginal art both Bradshaw and Wandjina
paintings. If you want to get away from it all and do some walking
in one of the most isolated places on the planet then this tour is for
you.
One
last point before we sign off is the cause of stopping the resort that
is planned at ningaloo reef check out
www.saveningalooreef.org for
all the information. Basically ningaloo reef is one of the most
pristine coral reefs and marine sanctuary’s left on the planet, it is
under threat from a proposed massive resort that will build a marina dredging
out sea grass beds that are essential for the dugong population and the
area is also a whale sanctuary. The area is fragile and warrants
world heritage status, it does not need a club med style development.
The government and developers have their obvious reasons for wanting the
resort, check them out on the website mentioned above. Please help
us protect the reef by voicing your opinion. If you have ever been
there or plan to go lets keep it the way it is or at the least developing
it in a way that has minimal impact on the environment.
We hope this newsletter finds you happy, healthy, and
excited about planning your trip to the land of OZ.
Happy Travels,
Kevin,
Brad, Megan, Frieda, & Peter
|