Travel guide Victoria for Pet friendly

If you are considering taking a break where you can achieve the perfect mix of excitement and relaxation, look no further than Victoria’s Ocean Grove. This seaside town situated along the Bellarine Peninsula offers visitors thrills, surfing, and plenty of natural beauty. Things to do: The proximity of Ocean Grove to both Melbourne and Geelong, combined with its seaside location, means that you will find something to keep you busy, whatever you choose to do. Whether you want to leap out of a moving aircraft, scuba, surf or sip wine, you can do it nearby. Here are a few interesting ideas to get you started: Adventure Park: Geelong has an exciting theme park that will thrill children and adults alike (hey – there’s even an adult jumping castle!). Themed water slides, trad... Read more

  Apollo Bay lies on Victoria’s iconic Great Ocean Road and is less than three hours by car from Melbourne. Featuring stunning coastal scenery and nestled into rolling green hills, Apollo Bay is a treasure trove of things to see and do and features a wide range of accommodation options.  The Great Ocean Road stretches for 300km along the coast and is dotted with villages like Apollo Bay, which welcome the influx of visitors over the summer months and offer a range of experiences to enjoy, as well as glorious views around every bend of the road.   Featuring a variety of swimming and surf beaches, as well as a boat harbour, and with the marina home to a large fishing fleet, there is no shortage of attractions. Many visitors like to relax on the beaches, while... Read more

Here are the 2009 state winners for the leading holiday rentals across Australia, with guests rating their favourite hotels, motels, hostels, B&Bs and accommodation parks.    TakeABreak.com.au, Australia’s only independent boutique accommodation website, presents the “Best Places to Stay” awards for the tourism industry, which recognise outstanding service in specialist segment categories.    State winners were selected via an exhaustive process from over 13,000 properties in 1400 localities and 39 accommodation types. National winners were announced in November.   18 categories were judged in total with winners awarded in segments such as Beach, Budget, Eco-friendly, Gro... Read more

Best Aussie Adventures Where do you think is the best adventure holiday destination in Australia? The 2009 votes are still being counted to find the best place to take yourself and your friends, partner or family on an adventure holiday. Where are the best places to go, things to do and things to see? TakeABreak.com.au, Australia’s only independent holiday rental website, has initiated a first time ‘Best Places to Stay’ award for Australian destinations, which recognises towns and cities that have outstanding facilities in specialist segment categories. Winners will be voted on by the public with 8 categories presenting finalists across each state. Just some of the TakeABreak Adventure Destination finalists… Freycinet P... Read more

Planning a holiday when you have a pet can be an emotional experience. While you excitedly thumb through pamphlets of your dream holiday destinations, your loyal pal is gazing up at you with those big brown eyes as though pleading with you to bring him along too. Or maybe it’s your cat, purring while rubbing past you, hoping that you’ll get the hint. At this point you remember the difficulties of holidays when you have pets. Not only will you feel guilty about leaving them cooped up at a kennel or cattery, but you’ll also have the huge cost associated with their care as well. Further, pets tend to remember these slights, and as one Canberra cat-owner discovered, they can get vindictive too. Each time she began packing for a trip, her cat would pee in all of her shoes! ... Read more

Expect more than ‘great ocean’ on this iconic touring route. Rightly regarded as one of the most spectacular coastal roads in the world, the Great Ocean Road loops like a rollercoaster along the southern sea-cliffs of Victoria. Carved out of the mountains, the road winds its way around some 300km of rugged, exposed coastline from Geelong to Warrnambool, past cliffs, roaring seas, tranquil coves and some of Australia’s best surf beaches. Along the way it links the deliciously quaint fishing villages and seaside holiday towns of Torquay, Lorne, Anglesea, Airey’s Inlet and Apollo Bay before heading inland through the Otway Ranges. Emerging from the forest, the road then reveals a vastly different landscape as it runs behind sandstone cliffs, which face the onslaught of... Read more

More Australian families are taking their furry kids on holidays.  We all know that feeling… getting sorted for a holiday, packing the bags – and having to deal with the morose looks coming our way from the pets.  At least dogs are so happy to see you when you get back that they quickly forgive you, but we all know how well our gorgeous feline friends can hold a grudge!  It used to take my cat a good couple of days before she would talk to me again – and while there are many caring and well-run catteries and kennels who do their best to keep your pet’s spirits up, there really is no substitute for taking them with you. This is becoming easier all the time as accommodation operators (usually pet lovers themselves) realise that more and more people wa... Read more

Those of us who live in Australia grow up understanding the joys, dangers and safety rules that make it such a great place.  However, many visitors to our country find Australia an alien, but starkly beautiful country, and they have little or no understanding of the best way to stay safe and enjoy their time here. A few very simple rules can help to make a visit to Australia a safe and pleasurable experience, and Tourism Australia has a brochure available for download that lists safety tips in a variety of languages. Driving tips One of the first things to remember is that speed limits are strictly enforced in Australia, more so than in many countries overseas.  Generally, when driving in urban and suburban areas, the speed limit is between 50 and 60 kilometres per hour. When ... Read more

We know that our teenage children can be delightful, exasperating, funny, sullen, adventurous, shy, talkative, slothful and manic – and sometimes that is just in the space of an hour!  All these moods are magnified when it comes to travelling, be it in Australia or overseas, as teens and parents are forced into one another’s company without a ‘get out of jail free’ card, such as time with friends. Travelling overseas with teenagers tends to be a better experience for a number of reasons, such as the brilliant entertainment systems now available on most flights, menus that let them eat things they like, resorts that have activities that cater for most age groups and the “wow” factor.  So let’s concentrate on surviving travelling in Austra... Read more

Need to get away but want to make sure the access, activities, attractions and facilities where you are going meet your needs? Not to mention finding a great deal!   Reports that we are all living longer and most of us are getting about more freely than our parents could at our age (yippee!). The great news is that we are taking advantage of our good health and traveling more, and for longer. For some of us this is thanks to a financial boost from our compulsory superannuation funds. Better health and more money give us the flexibility to keep on having fun and lets hope it stays that way!   According to the National Visitor Survey conducted by the Bureau of Tourism Research, “The increase mobility and longevity of senior Australians and the financial boost of pay-outs ... Read more