Australia Travel News 08/23/2011

Restaurant Review: Jimmy Liks

The tourism industry on Queensland's Gold and Sunshine coasts could reap millions of dollars from an extended agreement to host the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships

Fremantle's Esplanade Hotel has been dubbed one of Australia's best, winning a prestigious national accommodation award in Sydney last night.

BA is halving its direct flights to Australia from two a day, to one a day, after cancelling its service from London to Sydney via Bangkok.

A fisherman on the banks of a creekside resort in Weipa, Australia, lost a finger and lived to tell about it after his harrowing attack by an aggressive 13-foot crocodile.

There's no sign of the rising cost of domestic airfares leveling out despite the increased competition between Qantas and Virgin Australia.

An all-encompassing trip to Australia is right at the top of most travelers' bucket lists. If you ask them why it ranks so high, they might rattle off a list of the continent's draws, from the Outback to the cosmopolitan cities to the Great Barrier Reef.

The international ski industry has a virus and it comes from Australia. Travel north of the equator during their winter months and witness the Australian epidemic that has infected the world's ski resorts – they don't call Whistler Blackcomb 'Whistralia' for nothing.

Our first stop was the Pinnacles Desert. And boy of boy, it was HOT! I guess since there have been a number of cyclones that have come through the area in the last little while it was a lot more humid than normal.

Banksia is a genus of Australian plants which range from small shrubs to large trees, although the ones which are native to Sydney and the NSW Central West where my tours run don’t generally grow very tall.