Departure Lounge

Newcastle Herald

Tuesday July 15, 2008

CHRIS WATSON

Kangaroo Island style

Baillie Lodges, best known for its Capella Lodge on Lord Howe

Island, has opened its Southern Ocean Lodge on Kangaroo

Island, sometimes referred to as Australia's Galapagos. Located

at Hanson Bay on the islands south-west coast, the lodge

adjoins both the Flinders Chase and Cape Bouguer/Kelly

Hill National Parks. Set back from a cliff above the surf, the

design showcases a full-frontal panorama and is within easy

reach of all of Kangaroo Islands major attractions. The island

is home to an abundance of native wildlife and spectacular

natural attractions. Covering almost 4500 square kilometres,

it is Australia's third largest island and offers the best of the

mainland on a smaller scale. With more than one third of the

island declared as conservation or national park, visitors can

come face-to-face with prolifi c bird and animal species such as

New Zealand fur seals, koalas, kangaroos, Australian sea lions,

ospreys, echidnas and more.

Take that break

The latest research shows a quarter of Aussies who haven't

taken a single short break in the past year are stressed and

unhappy, compared to only two per cent of people who have

taken fi ve short breaks. Having five short breaks a year is just

as important to your health and wellbeing as your essential fi ve

food groups, according to lastminute.com.au. Dr Cindy Pan

says taking five short breaks a year can dramatically improve

your sense of wellbeing and vitality. Quick weekend breaks can

also help boost energy levels and positivity. The study shows

57 per cent of Australians feel they dont take enough short

breaks despite ranking regular holidays as more important than

a stable home for a happy and healthy life.

Big night out for Australia

As would be expected, Australia had a big night at the

inaugural World Travel Awards Australasia ceremony

at Sydney's Observatory Hotel last month. Among the

"Australasia" awards were leading airline - Qantas Airways;

leading airport - Sydney (Kingsford Smith); leading airport hotel

- Stamford Plaza Sydney Airport; leading beach - Aitutaki,

One Foot Island, Cook Islands; leading boutique hotel - The

Spire, Queenstown, New Zealand; leading boutique resort

- Pacific Resort Aitutaki, Cook Islands; leading business

hotel - InterContinental, Wellington, New Zealand; leading

car hire - Europcar; leading casino resort - Star City Hotel

and Casino, Sydney, Australia; leading conference centre

- Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Australia; leading

conference hotel - Sheraton on the Park, Sydney, Australia;

leading destination - Sydney, Australia; leading family resort

- Hayman Island Resort, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland;

leading golf resort - Hyatt Regency Coolum Resort, Australia;

leading green hotel - Jean-Michel Cousteau Fiji Islands Resort;

leading hotel - Four Seasons Hotel, Sydney; leading hotel

brand - Sheraton Hotels and Resorts; leading resort - Lilianfels

Blue Mountains Resort and Spa; leading ski resort - The Spire,

Queenstown, New Zealand; leading spa resort - Bora Bora

Nui Resort and Spa, French Polynesia; leading tourist board

- Tourism Australia; leading travel agency - Harvey World Travel.

Wild bush luxury

Sal Salis Ningaloo Reef hopes to bring the concept of wild bush

luxury to the Western Australian coast with its opening this

month. Taking its inspiration from luxury African safari camps

and its sister property, Bamurru Plains in the Northern Territory,

Sal Salis is the fi rst property of its style and standard in the

Ningaloo region, which is renowned for its 280-kilometre-long

fringing reef and as the best place in the world to swim with

whale sharks and manta rays. Sal Salis fi ve individual, luxury

wilderness tents are situated in the heart of the Cape Range

National Park, sheltered among the sand dunes on a deserted

stretch of beach where the corals of the Ningaloo Reef are

just metres from shore. The camp was previously known as

Ningaloo Reef Retreat. Charles Carlow, of Bamurru Plains, and

Stewart Cranswick, previously of Landela Safaris in Zambia and

Zimbabwe, have joined with the previous owner, Paul Wittwer,

and have undertaken extensive renovation and upgrading

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to bring the property into the realm of iconic Australian

wilderness properties.

Salamander Shores sale

Accor Hotels have added the All Seasons Port Stephens

Salamander Shores to their NSW network, providing a coastal

addition to its four other hotels in the Hunter area, which

are located in Newcastle and the wine region. The 3.5 star

Salamander Shores has 89 guest rooms including a selection

of garden view, sea view and family rooms all offering private

balconies with water or landscape garden views, mini bar, tea

and coffee-making facilities, Fox Sports and Fox Classic movie

channels and dial up internet. To celebrate the hotel's Accor

launch, a special opening rate from $70 per room per night

based on twin or double share, children using existing bedding

free of charge, is available to August 22.

Mungo Lodge opens

Mungo Lodge, at the gateway to the World Heritage-listed

Mungo National Park, is now open after a multi-million dollar

makeover, with refurbished 4.5 star cottages as well as a new

chef and revamped menu with a focus on local produce at its

Lodge Restaurant. A place of significant natural beauty steeped

in Aboriginal culture and studied by anthropologists and

archaeologists the world over, ancient artefacts, plant matter

and animal bones can be found in the park in their original

habitat along The Great Wall of China, a 33-kilometre stretch

of Australian sand dunes.

Fishing with Nicole

Mad keen fishermen are not the only ones to discover the

fishing spot, Macka's Barra Camp, in Kununurra in Western

Australia. The Baz Luhrmann film Australia centres on an

English aristocrat in the 1930s, played by Nicole Kidman, who

comes to northern Australia to sell a cattle property. One

scene was shot at Carlton Hill, 100 km west of Kununurra,

just four kilometres from Macka's Barra Camp. The permanent

barra camp is located on the meandering Lower Ord River

with its abundant wildlife. Theres fully guided fishing trails

to customised stays from one to seven days, all-inclusive

tailored camp safari packages. The owner of Macka's, Andrew

McEwen, says now that shorter holidays have become

increasingly popular and airline availability into Kununurra is

only one hour from Darwin, domestic and international visitors

have increased to the Kimberley. "Barramundi is recognised as

the premier sport fish and saltwater barramundi are generally

bigger, fight harder and taste better than the freshwater

variety" he says.

EcoPoint Wollemi Reach Resort

The new $20 million EcoPoint Wollemi Reach Resort is set to

open its first stage late next month. Located on Putty Rd, Colo,

on the banks of the Colo River, the first stage will have an

operational cafe, bar, bottle shop, restaurant and beer garden.

Stage two, opening at the end of the year, will see the addition

of 60 self-contained villas, a conference centre and wedding

chapel.

Save the anemones

Sydney Aquarium has launched a display on the spectacular

sex life of sea anemones as part of a new campaign to save

the home of Nemo and his family. As the number of anemones

harvested from ocean waters continues to grow, the Sydney

Aquarium Conservation Fund is supporting Australian scientist

Dr Anna Scott, from Southern Cross University, in her quest to

develop ways to breed anemones in captivity. The aquarium

has created a special display on Dr Scotts research and has

given a home to more than 30 of her captive-bred baby

leathery sea anemones in order to raise public awareness

about the pressures these species are facing. The anemones

are the first captive-bred anemones to be displayed at Sydney

Aquarium. While there are more than 1000 types of sea

anemones, only 10 are known to provide a home for anemone

fish such as the popular Nemo character and his family, but

the widespread removal of anemones from reefs is causing

problems for both the anemones and their anemonefish, which

cannot survive in the wild without their homes.

© 2008 Newcastle Herald

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