Vacations Blog

The Australian War Memorial is one of Australia’s most significant commemoratives. It is found in Canberra, Australia’s major city which is a simple drive from Sydney, particularly if you are travelling with Campervan Hire Australia. Canberra has a few notable places to go to, however if you're enthusiastic about significant memorials, the Australian War Commemorative is easily worth a visit.

It is an extensive state memorial which was opened in 1941 and represents all members of all armed services who have died for the Commonwealth of Australia, while taking part in it’s wars. It covers an in depth area and has 3 main areas. There is a Commemorative Area (shrine), Commemorative studios (museum) and Research Centre. There's also a Sculpture Garden outside.

The War Records Section had it’s origins in the WW1 Australian military unit which was answerable for collecting the records in relation to that war. It was only another step to collect particular items as well preserving both records and artifacts. The collection finally grew to incorporate 25 thousand records, stills and other items. This collection became the Australian War Memorial in 1919.

The Commemorative Area contains the Hall of Memory which encompasses the Roll of Honour of a hundred and two Australians who've died in war. There is a bronze plaque in remembrance of every individual Australian who has expired in Australia’s service going back to the second Boer War, the Brit Sudanese Expedition and the Fighter Rebellion.

Australia was concerned in these older conflicts due it’s loyalty to the Brit Empire. There is a lot to see at the Australian War Memorial and looking through the old records is interesting, particularly if you've an active interest war mementos, as well as the link between the private and the political re the armed conflicts Australia has been involved in.

This document was written by Anton Maverick who has travelled Australia at length by campervan he reccomends when touring the southern states either campervan Hire Sydney or campervan hire Melbourne good luck with your travels.

A way to explore Australia is through Campervan Hire Australia. You literally can go to a new place every day, or stay 1 or 2 days if you need to. Australia is famous for it’s beaches so you might simply travel to a newer one each day to absorb the sun and surf. The Gold Coast, which straddles Queensland and New South Wales at Coolangatta and Surfers Paradise, is a good place to start.

Kirra Beach on the Gold Coast is affectionately known as Surf Central and is the physical and spiritual heart of serious surfing on the Gold Coast. It is home to the ‘Kirra Barrel ‘, a special wave that only surfers could appreciate. Kirra is on the way to New South Wales so you might as well stop and have a look.

If you drive up to Kirra Hill Lookout, you can see north to Surfers Paradise and South to Snapper Rocks, as well as straight over Kirra Point. It is actually a view and you can have a picnic up there if you like. Or, Kirra Town as plenty of beach-side cafeterias and restaurants if you like. There are tons of grassed areas right on the beachfront, complete with barbecues as well.

There's also a cycle and walking track that you could enjoy if surfing is not your thing and you'll still be in a position to take in the beach-side views as you go along. The track runs from the Kirra Surf Lifesaving Club to Bilinga and back. It looks fantastic at both dawn and sunset so be certain to take it all in.

You can also walk south around Kirra Point to Coolangatta if you like, but that's a different experience with many more bays and beaches to the south. Kirra is a beautiful spot and far smaller than Coolangatta and Surfers Paradise, so if this is your preference, stay awhile and enjoy.

This essay was penned by Anton Maverick who has travelled Australia at length by campervan he reccomends when touring the southern states either campervan Hire Sydney or campervan hire Melbourne good luck with your travels.

There’s a lot to think about when preparing for a holiday. However budget is the number one issue for most people. Having made your choice, you just have to figure out how to get the maximum for your money. Today most people start their search online. The Web certainly gives you the ability to shop without leaving your house. The big disadvantage is there are a plethora of special offers available the world over. In this article we will look at how to filter through the offers to help you find the best travel deal for you.

Air fare deals

If you haven’t travelled internationally before, perhaps you think that the air fare will be the most expensive part of the holiday. That’s not automatically so.

For example, there is now intense competition on air routes to Europe which has lead to a massive drop in rates to the point where a return trip can cost less than a week’s accommodation in a 2-star hotel.

If you’re already locked into a particular frequent flyer program, the choice of carrier is not an issue. But if you’re not in a program then you have a ton of options. Fierce competition is seeing fares drop to unprecedented levels, and there are a heap of online travel agents pushing special air travel deals globally almost daily.

Naturally the dates you want to fly will affect the pricing. Keep away from peak-season dates and you stand to save hundreds of dollars.

If you look around, you may find that buying your air fare with other parts of your vacation is beneficial. Tour operators, like European coach operators, negotiate considerable volume-buying discounts with airlines and can offer fantastic fare levels in conjunction with their tours.

Car rental deals

At first glance, it would seem that renting a car is relatively easy. Independent motoring certainly offers more options than coach or rail travel, enabling you to stop when and where you like, and make sudden itinerary changes to see sights you weren’t originally aware of.

It’s often less expensive than holidaying by train or air. If there are several people travelling together, it will cost less to share a car then to travel the same distance by plane, train or bus.

Car rental deals available in many countries can also lower costs. France is a great example. European car manufacturers including Citroen, Peugeot and Renault have a rental system that gets you a tax-free car for as little as $30 a day. You can also get some free driving time and cheap pick-up/drop-off charges.

Another way to get a great deal is to check when car hire firms cut prices in order to move many vehicles from one part of a country to the other after a period of heavy use in one locality. A great example of this is the seasonal movement in the US between Florida and the north-eastern states.

However there are a number of things to deliberate, especially if you’re a first time renter. Large people need large vehicles, especially if they have a lot of luggage. It is the pits to be cramped-up in a car when you’re travelling for five or six hours a day just to save a few bucks.

Also, many countries have a right-hand drive traffic system, which can be nerve-racking for older travellers used to driving on the left. Signs in foreign languages can add to the problem.

Further, though vehicles can be hired in most countries, not all countries have safety measures which makes it safe for Westerners, in particular, to travel into rural areas.

Cruise specials

The only true all-inclusive style of vacation is cruising as it includes transport, accommodation, activities and meals.

That’s mostly accurate if you don’t count mandatory tipping which is sometimes, but not always, included in the fare.

Apart from the extraordinary range of special deals being offered year-round, cruising has at least one other thing going for it. Baggage only has to be packed and unpacked once. And throughout the cruise, the room is tidied so it is unnecessary to clean up.

Last minute cruise deals are common and can result in significant savings. Cruise operators will reduce fares by 50% or 60% to fill remaining cabins, knowing that travellers will still be spending on drinks, gifts and casino visits.

If you cruise during off-peak periods, the price can be as little as $100 a day, especially throughout the Caribbean and the Mediterranean.

Hotel and resort offers

Hotels have two main uses. They can be city or highway overnight accommodation for business travellers and tourists moving from place to place. Or they can be resorts catering solely to longer stay holidaymakers.

It’s vital that you pick the right one, otherwise your holiday will be spoilt. You’d be upset if your special offer saw you stuck in a hotel filled with rowdy convention delegates when all you wanted was a quiet break. This is becoming more frequent as resorts are promoting midweek specials to businesses looking for conference facilities.

There are plenty of websites offering up-to-the-minute rate information for tons of hotels and resorts globally, sometimes with better prices than the hotels themselves are offering. But these sites don’t usually include special deals which large hotel chains and even individual properties offer from time to time.

When you use the Internet to search for a special rate, check out major suppliers to see if they have good deals. You can also book hotel specials through tour operators who often have packages just before and just after a tour.

Package specials

The term package holiday implies that you’re getting a fully-inclusive product comparable to a cruise. That’s not necessarily the case.. A package will likely consist of transport, accommodation, some air travel and sightseeing. But you can’t count on it including all meals. Breakfasts are usually covered, but normally only half of all dinners (or fewer) and hardly ever lunches.

A package, however, does have a number of advantages over independent travel, because among other things it offers the security of touring with a group, with regional guides and sometimes with an escort from start to finish.

Another benefit is the time that is saved hunting down each piece of the vacation including accommodation and air fares. And because package tour firms buy in bulk, they can offer better rates than individuals can hope to obtain.

Well-constructed packages will include the cost of having the concierge carry your baggage between your hotel room and your transport, as well as the cost of your visas and even travel insurance.

Most will also include visiting places of interest and admission to attractions, another significant benefit. Large tour groups often get to skip the long queues at popular sites.

And while main meals aren’t always covered by the package price, an experienced tour escort or local guide is able to recommend value-for-money restaurants and gift stores.

Rail specials

It was assumed some years ago that an increase of air routes and the start of low cost airlines would spell the end of train travel in many parts of the world. The opposite has occurred. Rail travel has expanded, with faster trips and better-equipped facilities.

For example in Europe, rail travel is both quicker and cheaper than travelling by air. If you take into consideration the time to travel to and from airports and boarding time, it is faster to travel from London to Paris by rail than by air.

The French calculated years ago that it was faster to travel by high-speed TGV train from Paris to Lyon (435km) by train than by air.

Of course, you don’t get the same flexibility with rail travel as you do with motoring. But it is perfect if you need to jump between locations that do not take in sightseeing along the way.

Most major tourist destinations offer both commuter and tourist trains, the latter in most cases including prestige businesses like South Africa’s Blue Train.

Pricing is also attractive. Travellers can get special tickets such as the Eurail Pass that provides significant savings.

Travel Monitor

This is where it is very important to know which website to count on. Travel Monitor was built to help Australians find all the up to date travel holiday deals. The site is not connected to any travel companies so the specials are trustworthy, up to date and correct.