Sunday night's TV - Bridge & Wickers' recommendation...

Tourism Australia voted us their Travel Operator of the Year 2010 so if this TV programme inspires you to start planning your own holiday adventure in Australia, please give us a call
on 020 7483 6555 or email us oz@bridgeandwickers.com ,

Visit the Bridge & Wickers website

Luxury Australia

We've launched a campaign featuring luxury Australia products and the dulcet tones of our very own Mr Bridge & Mr Wickers!

Check out the microsite  to have a listen & see what it's all about. 

Look out for our new online ads too!

The world's incredible unknown natural wonders

The world's incredible unknown natural wonders - Click here and look out for our Australia one!









For more information about Wilpena Pound & the Flinders Ranges, click here to view a suggested itinerary.

A flying visit to Sydney, Wolgan Valley & Qualia, Hamilton Island

Sales director Annette Morrissey was recently hosted by Emirates on a trip to Australia to experience business class on their latest Airbus A380 and visit their newest luxury property, Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa.

Here's her travel report:

Flying all the way to OZ in one go for a 5 day trip is a big ask for anyone but softening the blow with a guaranteed business class seat...and then topping that by telling me it was an Emirates A380 business class seat...well, I was in!

At Bridge & Wickers, a large number of our clients travel in business and first class, so it was great to finally be able to offer first hand knowledge of the Emirates A380, having flown the Qantas version back in March.

So after a very comfortable flight to Dubai and exclusive access to the First Class Lounge for a few hours (a special treat only because we had two Emirates staff with us - it's actually the same as the business class lounge but with the addition of a Timeless Spa in case you need a pedicure mid-journey!), we boarded our flight to Sydney for the long journey down under.

It was a wonderful flight - the flat bed in your own 'pod' means great comfort and privacy, and, when you combine that with some delicious food and excellent wine, you have a winning combination for a long sleep!

Arriving in to Sydney, we transferred to the Shangri-La, a fantastic 5 star property with picture postcard views of the harbour and a firm favourite with our clients. I had a Grand Harbour View room with club floor access, and it does exactly what it says on the tin - the grand harbour in all it's glory is right in front of you.

We were whisked off for lunch at the famous Icebergs overlooking Bondi Beach and got in the swing of things over a few glasses of local wine and some freshly caught local fish - delicious!

Later that afternoon, we met up with Shawn from Sea Sydney Cruises and boarded his boat for a sunset Harbour cruise - just the thing to blow away the cobwebs after a long flight. Again this is a real B&W favourite product and we get fantastic feedback from our clients - Shawn will give you the low down on  local history mixed in with celebrity property sightings as you cruise around the bays...all combined with fabulous Aussie refreshments of course!

After a very brief stay in Sydney, we headed up towards the Blue Mountains, stopping first for breakfast in Bronte at a real locals favourite called Swell.

Gorgeous coffee and fresh smoothies with a view of the beach that would mean I'd never get to work if I was a local!

Our friends at Australian Wild Escapes who operate our small group tours did the transfers and we had a fascinating drive out of the city heading up the mountains - lots of stories of local history and folklore to keep us entertained for the 90 minute drive.

We stopped for lunch at Lilianfels and had a good look round, it's an Orient Express hotel and has just the right balance of genteel history mixed with Australian charm and modern elegance. It was an incredibly sunny day, so we made the most of it by sitting outside and yet again sampling the finest local produce.

Continuing the drive, we passed by the famous Three Sisters lookout for the obligatory photo opportunity - and then it was on to Wolgan Valley (approx 3 hours in total from Sydney) - Australia's latest luxury eco lodge and Emirates first in Australasia.

Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa opened in October 2009 and Bridge & Wickers was the first ever tour operator to make a booking at the resort, and I can only repeat what our first clients to stay there said - it is magnificent!

                                                     

Costing a cool $A125 million, this 4000 acre resort features 40 free-standing suites nestled between two national parks. Suites offer private decks and pools and are very luxurious.

Activities in the area include Aboriginal interpretive tours, nature walks, AWD wildlife safaris, mountain biking and horse riding and of course the Timeless Spa, Emirates' signature spa brand.

We did a wildlife spotting drive in their brand new 'safari style' vehicle - kangaroos and wallabies in abundance but we failed to spot any of my favourites..the very cute wombat - obviously they had better things to do than please a bunch of tourists that day! That was rounded off by sundowners on a platform overlooking the valley - it was just magical with the sunlight fading and casting shadows on the escaprment as the colours changed by the minute.

Dinner that night was a 9 course gastronomic extravaganza matched with the finest wines - there's a choice of about 20 regional wines that are included with the full tariff along with all soft drinks and local beers.

Day 2 for some meant walks and horse riding, for me it meant relaxing in my suite, a little dip in my pool and a fabulous facial after lunch - well, I'd had a heavy workload up to this point, so I needed to chill out (well that's what I told Jerry and David anyway!). The spa experience, as you can probably imagine, was out of this world.

I'm already planning my next visit..............

Leaving Wolgan was only tempered by the choice of transportation - we took a very smart helicopter back to Sydney airport, swooping across the Blue Mountains Heritage Area and down to the city where we continued with the most fantastic scenic journey over the harbour bridge, past the Opera House and along the coastline to the heliport - at 45 minutes, it was both a fabulous quick transfer and a stunning sightseeing tour - definitely worth the money and highly recommended to combine with a transfer by car via the Blue Mountains on the way up.

Final stop on this whirlwind trip was Hamilton Island and more specifically their newest luxury resort qualia. (not a typo, they always use a lower case q!)

I love Hamilton Island - it's a destination that offers such a great choice of accommodation from luxury self-catering villas to 5 star hotels and a huge range of activities, it's suitable for families, couples, groups of friends and is a top seller year round for Bridge & Wickers' clients.

qualia is away from the main resort and marina and is an exclusive part of the island. It's just a beautiful setting looking out across the Whitsunday Passage and the Coral Sea. The accommodation is to die for - I was lucky enough to have a Windward Pavillion and that means you get your own private plunge pool. You also get your own golf buggy to explore the resort and the rest of the island.

As well as seeing the resort (and the Spa qualia of course!), I'd highly recommend a trip over to Dent Island to the new Hamilton Island Golf Club - even if you don't play, it's a spectacular spot for lunch. But for those of you who do play golf, it's spectacular...and the only championship island golf course in Australia.

A must do activity when you're on Hamilton Island is a trip to Whitehaven Beach - I'd been by boat before but this time was even more special - a seaplane flight with an aerial view of the surrounding Whitsunday Islands and fringing reefs before spending a couple of hours lounging on the best beach in thw world - the white sand really is like talcum powder and the water is just beautiful!

Our final night took us to the sparkling new Hamilton Island Yacht Club - a stunning piece of architecture that is definitely worth checking out - you get a great view from the water too when you go over to the golf club.

We had dinner at the signature Bommie restaurant, a true example of the finest modern Australian cuisine -

I can highly recommend the steak (possibly my best ever!), and they stock some of the best wines that Australia has to offer.

It was a perfect end to a spectacular trip and I'd like to say a big thank you to Emirates, Tourism Australia, Wolgan Valley and qualia for their impeccable hosting....we must do it again sometime!!

This trip shows how you can easily pack in a range of different experiences in to a relatively short time in Australia (not that I'm suggesting anyone goes for 5 days!!). If you've got 2 weeks and think that OZ is just too far, I'd say think again - a city, outback/wilderness and island/beach combination is definitely realistic in that time frame...just do what I did but stretch it out a bit!

Annette

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World’s longest golf course tees off in October

The world’s longest golf course has been officially launched between Western Australia and South Australia.

The 18-hole, par 72 course Nullarbor Links Golf Course stretches 1,365 kms from Kalgoorlie in Western Australia to Ceduna in South Australia with one hole in each participating town or roadhouse along the way.

The Nullarbor Links Golf Course allows golfers to tee off in either location and follow the course along the Eyre Highway, playing a hole in each location, some as far as 100 kms apart.

En route, golfers visit towns and places of interest like Ceduna, renowned for producing 12 million oysters annually; Cocklebiddy with its vast underwater caves and Kalgoorlie, the gold capital of Australia.

The official course opening will be marked by a four-day event starting in Ceduna on October 22, and finishing in Kalgoorlie five days later.

Bridge & Wickers can tailor-make you a tour of Western & South Australia to take part in this most unusual round of golf, please contact us for further details.
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Ashes Madness!!

According to Travelmole yesterday, the cost of flights to Australia are to be based on innings scores during the second England verses Australia Ashes test.

For the second Test at Lord's on July 16-20, the price of British Airways and Qantas economy flights will be determined by Australia's first innings, with availability of seats determined by England's reply.

For example, if Australia are bowled out for 230 and England make 395, there will be 395 seats available from each airline at £230 - a reduction on a typical fare of £730.

Each airline’s website will display qualifying travel periods from July 21.

In the previous Ashes in 2005, BA offered 367 seats at £373 when Australia scored 367 runs for 373 against England in the final test. Flights were sold out within 30 minutes.

Stephen Thompson, executive manager international sales at Qantas, said: “There's always a traditional friendly rivalry between the Brits and Aussies during the Ashes, and this promotion will ensure the second npower test is even more of an exciting showdown.”

So you'll have to be quick to bag a bargain...and be sure to contact us when you're booked and we can help you sort out the rest of your holiday Down Under!

The Best Job in the World!

If anyone missed the documentary, you can try and catch it again on the BBC iplayer (www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer).

And if it's whet your appetite to go and see this fabulous part of the world, take a look here at the various island resorts you can choose from.

If you'd like us to put together a suggested itinerary for you, please email us with your details or call us on 020 7483 6555

Now's the time to go to Australia...!

Interesting quote from Sir Richard Branson in a recent Telegraph travel section who reckoned that “British travellers are currently paying the same as they were when we launched the airline 25 years ago, If you have been wanting to take that trip to Australia, now is the time to so it. There are some unbelievable bargains out there.”

We couldn't agree more...but what he didn’t say was that the bargains are partly down to the fact that there are now around 250 direct flights a week from the UK to Australia, only a handful of which are Virgin.

Opening in October - Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa

We've already got some clients booked in to the fabulous Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa and it's not even opened yet!

This Emirates hotel construction is now over 85% complete and they have commenced on the landscaping programme which will include the planting of over 25,000 native trees and plants around the resort site and individual suites and they are well on their way to welcoming the first guests on the 1st October.

Not only are they completing construction but they are working with the local community of terrific artists, potteries, craftsmen, furniture makers, blacksmiths and glass artists.

Take a look at what's in store...it's going to be very special indeed!

Please contact us if you'd like more information or to include a stay here on your trip to New South Wales

Voyages for Free

There's never been a better time to book your stay at a Voyages Resort as there are great deals to be had in some of Australia's most iconic destinations.

-Free night at Ayers Rock Resort. Stay 3 Pay 2. Travel until 30 November 09

-Free launch transfers to Heron & Brampton Islands. Travel until 30 November 09

-Free flights to Dunk Island. Travel 01 August - 30 November 09

-Free night at Silky Oaks Lodge when booking 3 nights on Lizard Island. Travel until 31 March 10 (excluding August & October 09)

-Free night on Lizard or Bedarra Islands. Stay 5 pay 4. Travel until 30 September 09

-Free night on Wilson Island. Stay 4 pay 3. Travel until 30 September 09

-Free nights on Dunk, Heron & Brampton Islands. Stay 6 pay 4. Travel until 30 September 09

-Free meals for stays of 4 nights or more on Heron, Dunk & Brampton Islands for travel 01 May to 30 September 09

Did you know?

The world's largest cattle station is Anna Creek Station. Located in the Northern Territory, it is 24,000 square kilometres (about 6 million acres). To give you an idea, it is about the same size as Belgium and eight times the size of America's largest ranch.

It's been one of the cleverest PR stunts of all time, but the quest to find a suitable candidate for the 'best job in the world' is now over. A Pom, 34 year old Ben Southall, beat more than 30,000 applicants for the AS$ 150,000 assignment to spend six months enjoying Hamilton Island in Queensland in return for writing a weekly blog of his experiences.

Bridge & Wickers can't offer any jobs on the islands, famed for their azure waters, brilliant beaches and easy access to the underwater treasures of the Great Barrier Reef, but we can arrange a 'best holiday in the world.' A four night stay at the 5 star Beach Club, including a full day cruise to the Reef, costs from £654pp.

Ben's job begins on July 1 but we'll take you to Hamilton whenever you want to see what all the fuss is about.

Sydney For Free!

If you are spending time in Sydney on your holiday to Australia, you’ll find an amazing array of activities and attractions that won’t cost a single cent.

Our top six city freebies include:

* The collection of Aboriginal paintings in the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

* The Rocks Discovery Museum, housed in a restored 1850s sandstone warehouse, tells the story of Sydney’s oldest quarter from pre-European days to the present, with lots of interactive exhibits to amuse the kids.

* The spectacular 70 acre Royal Botanic Gardens is home to an outstanding collection of plants from Australia and overseas, orchestrated by cackling kookaburrahs and chattering mynahs.

* Explore Sydney’s harbour foreshore, rocky coastlines and sandy beaches by following the Spit to Manly Scenic Walkway. The magnificent 10 kms trail takes you along the harbour foreshore, through a national park of native bush, past beaches, yacht marinas and panoramic promontories.

* Walk across the Harbour Bridge for Sydney’s most inspiring views, then continue past the clown face of Luna Park to Lavender Bay.

* Paddington, the prettiest of Sydney’s neighbourhoods, all pastel Victorian houses with wrought iron balconies, hosts a great Saturday morning market where local designers and craftsmen set up their stalls.

If you like to find out more, please contact us to discuss your plans, or to order a brochure

Australia the Movie

Baz Luhrmann's 'Australia' is coming out on DVD in the UK on 24 April. If you haven't already seen it, we'd highly recommend it for some inspiration on your next trip to Australia

We have a dedicated microsite featuring many of the Outback areas that appear in the film.

Click here to take a look!

We also have an 'Australia On Location' brochure that you can order here along with other brochures which include Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Asia.