Holidays can leave you wrecked Going
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■ As Sydney gears up for the arrival of PrettyWoman: TheMusical, Sofitel Sydney Wentworth invites guests to step into the glamour of the stage and screen with the Pretty Woman Oh-La-La-La Lift experience, running until December 13. Designed to celebrate one of the most iconic moments in romantic film history, this immersive installation reimagines the iconic hotel elevator.
Ski hotel
■ The ‘World’s Best New Ski Hotel’ award is presented to a single hotel selected from among newly opened properties worldwide.
This year, Nikko Style Niseko Hanazono, Japan, was nominated as a finalist alongside four other new hotels from Austria, France, Slovakia and Italy, and was ultimately selected as the winner. Awards are presented across four key categories—Best Ski Resort, Best Ski Hotel, Best Ski Boutique Hotel and Best Ski Chalet.
■ Australians might be clocking up the frequentflyer points - with 23 per cent (5.2 million) planning an overseas trip and 57 per cent (13 million) a domestic holiday in the year ahead - but new research has revealed they’re coming home more exhausted than ever.
A new survey of an independent panel of 1009 Australians commissioned by travel insurance provider Insure&Go found a startling 75 per cent admitted they finish a holiday feeling more tired than when they left.
One in five (21 per cent) confess they always need ‘a break after my break’, while only a quarter (24 per cent) return genuinely refreshed. Sabotaging valuable holiday time at the top of the list is poor sleep from red-eye flights, late nights and lumpy hotel mattresses, tops at 34 per cent.
Closely followed by itinerary overload with 27 per cent admitting they cram so much in that their escape becomes an endurance event.
● ● David Mayo, Director of Insure&Go.
Planning and organisation stress drags another 18 per cent into the fatigue zone, and the stress of work preventing 7 per cent of Aussies ability to switch off.
“We’re seeing travellers treat a seven-day break like a seven-day sprint, long haul flights, packed sightseeing, poor sleep,” says David Mayo, Commercial and Marketing Director of Insure&Go
“Fatigue isn’t just an inconvenience when travelling, it can heighten the risk of illness and accidents. Tired travellers may be more likely to ignore early symptoms of sickness, misplace valuables and make impaired decisions that can quickly derail a trip.”
Gen Z and young millennials are bearing the brunt of the post-trip burnout. A staggering 83 per cent of 18- to 29-year-olds drag themselves home tired with only 17 per cent saying they feel refreshed. One of the biggest culprits is the stress of juggling bookings and logistics
available free inside the Melbourne Observer and Local Paper newspapers - in print and online. Our team brings you the very best destinations. Inside this issue, discover:
Places To Go
Places To Go
Places To Go
Only one hour’s drive from Hobart, in the Central Highlands of Tasmania, award-winning Curringa Farm is a peaceful escape set on 750 acres of working farmland near Hamilton. Beautifully appointed self-contained cottages offer a comfortable base, with bushland and lake views, thoughtful touches with spa baths and private decks. Booked, daily farm tours offer guests sheep shearing demo, working dogs and sustainable farming practices. Meals available on request. It’s a gentle way to experience rural Tasmania - where the pace slows and the landscape quietly steals the show.
Places To Go
Places To Go
Places To Go Briefs
Hawke House at Bordertown
■ Travellers can stay in the Bordertown house in which Australian Prime Minister was raised.
Bob Hawke was born in Bordertown in 1929 and lived in this house until his family relocated in 1935.
Since the Hawke family’s departure, the house has had many uses. It was eventually purchased by the Tatiara District Council in 2021 through an initiative and support from the Commonwealth Government
Following significant conservation works, the house has been set up as short stay accommodation, providing opportunity for visitors to engage with the environment of Bob Hawke’s formative years.
Throughout the house travellers will find a number of clues about the significance of the place. These appear in the form of photographs, trophies, books, croquet and cricket sets, and stories revealed within the tears of the wallpaper around each chimney breast.
The layout of the house now mirrors family life, with individual rooms dedicated to reflect a person or a particular aspect of Bob Hawke’s achievements.
Mulloway Studio received the South Australian Architecture Award for Heritage for the Hawke House project.
Hawke House
63 Farquhar St (corner of Binnie St) Bordertown, South Australia
Phone: (08) 8752 1752
Email: info@bordertowncaravanpark.com.au
Bound for South Australia
■ One of the top attractions in the Flinders Ranges (South Australia) is the volunteer-run Pichi Richi Railway based at Quorn. It runs on selected days between March and November.
Passengers can watch gumlined creeks, bluebush-studded hills and ancient rocky outcrops roll past at the relaxed pace of years gone by.
All trains use historic steam or diesel locomotives or railcars or immaculately restored timber carriages some more than 130 years old.
Since 1973, volunteers of the Pichi Richi Railway Preservation Society continue to proudly restore and run the railway.
Travellers can enjoy a fullday or half-day trip aboard a restored steam or heritage diesel train on the original Ghan route between Port Augusta and Quorn on the Pichi Richi Railway In 1878, construction commenced on the Port Augusta and Government Gums Railway. (Government Gums is now known as Farina, which is north of the Flinders
Ranges). The PortAugusta andGovernmentGumsRailwayActof 1876 stipulated that the gauge of the railway "shall be 3 feet 6 inches" (1067mm) with iron rails "not less than 40 pounds to the yard."
The railway reached Quorn on December 15, 1879, and Farina in 1882. The line was extended to Oodnadatta in 1891 and further to Alice Springs (771 miles or 1241 km) in 1929, as the Central Australia line.
Briefs
Country mile from reality
■ The Limestone Coast is described as “west of Melbourne, south of Adelaide, and a country mile from reality”.
For generations, travellers have explored the underworld of chasms and caves, trekked dormant volcanoes, feasted on home-grown delights and soaked in the aquamarine dream coastline.
For at least 30,000 years, the Limestone Coast has been home to the Boandik, Bindjali and Ngarrindjeri people.
Local communities are committed to commemorating and honouring their culture and traditions through the towns, National Parks and Forestry Reserves by sharing their stories through interpretive signage and exhibitions.
For a truly immersive First Nations experience, jump on a tour with Boandik Elder, Uncle Ken Jones, on a cultural and foraging journey to identify, touch and taste some of our finest bush foods along the incredible Port MacDonnell coastline.
With endless stories and history to share, from the rich pioneering, geological, agricultural heritage to our famous forestry and maritime history, communities across the region have painstakingly curated their stories and artefacts into fascinating exhibits in museums throughout the region.
Some of the key museums not to miss across the region include Port MacDonnell Maritime Museum, Sheep's Back Museum, Millicent National Trust Museum, Beachport and Old Wool and Grain Store National Trust Museum.
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Pichi Richi Railway in the Flinders Ranges
