Australia is not just home to ancient wonders,it has some of the best spas in the world

Thinking of making the move down under, or maybe taking the trip of a lifetime? If so then you will probably need to unwind, get pampered and take a moment to absorb everything. So, to get you started here are some of the best spas Australia has to offer.  

The Woodman Estate

Woodman Estate is a luxury country house hotel just an hour from Melbourne and set within 50 acres of rolling pasture and bush land on the Mornington Peninsula. The hotel has extensive formal gardens and sweeping lawns leading down to its own private lake where you can relax in the sun or stroll beneath the stars.

The spa provides a range of massages, skin care and beauty treatments in a peaceful setting. All the rooms are doubles so that couples or friends can share the experience. There are a number of packages including spa and restaurant packages and pregnancy packages.

The Lyall Hotel and Spa

The Lyall Hotel and Spa, situated in South Yarra, one of the most cosmopolitan areas in the region is Melbourne’s only privately owned 5 star hotel. The hotel has 40 suites in a contemporary oriental style and a luxury spa that offers an urban oasis to retreat to after you have hit the nearby designer shops.

The Lyall Spa is arranged over three levels with eight treatment rooms, areas designated for hydrotherapy and indoor/outdoor relaxation areas and uses the prestigious Sodashi and Payot.

The Spa offers a number of exotic spa rituals in keeping with the oriental aesthetic as well as a comprehensive menu of therapeutic treatments and beauty treatments that are designed to treat stress. The Spa also offers advice and prescribes programs so that guests can continue to feel the benefits long after leaving.  

A full list of treatments is available on the hotel’s website.

The Richardson Hotel and Spa

The Richardson Hotel and Spa in West Perth offers an urban haven where guests can relax and completely forget the outside world. The Spa uses the best techniques from around the world combined with prestigious ESPA skin care products to give luxurious treatments and unbeatable results.

The Richardson Spa’s Ultimate ESPA Body Wrap is as the name suggests the ultimate in pampering. First you will experience a full body rub with aromatherapy oils, a full body exfoliation with lymphatic skin brushing followed by a complete body wrap using Algae, Marine Mud or Oshadi Clay. The whole experience is completed with relaxing Oriental head massage. The body wrap slowly raises the temperature to sweat toxins out of the body.

There are a number of body wrap treatments available, all with exceptional results as well as a menu of therapeutic and beauty treatments.

Lilianfels Blue Mountain Resort and Spa

just outside Sydney, Lilianfels offers a break from the hustle and bustle

The 5 star Lilianfels Blue Mountain Resort and Spa is situated in the spectacular Blue Mountains a short drive from Sydney but completely secluded from the hustle and bustle of modern life. The historic mansion set in two acres of gardens and overlooking some of the most beautiful country New South Wales has to offer.

Lilianfels Spa has an extensive range of body and beauty treatments on offer using their locally produced IKOU products and Payot from France. After you have been pampered why not take a dip in the indoor of outdoor pools and savor the majestic surroundings.      

Daintree Eco Lodge & Spa

For a different approach to relaxation take a trip to the Daintree Eco Lodge and Spa where you can stay in one of 15 unique private houses in the middle of the rainforest and enjoy the spa that will aim to bring you closer to nature.

Daintree Spa offers a comprehensive list of treatments including body wraps and massages that will help you relax and rejuvenate in tranquil surroundings where you can listen to the sounds of the rainforest all around you. As well as treatment rooms the Spa has a covered outdoor pool with sundeck where guests can enjoy relaxation alongside nature.

The local Aboriginal people, the Yalanji tribe call Daintree ‘Wawa-Karrba’ which means healing of the spirit and the Spa tries to exceed guests’ expectations of just that.

The Reef House resort and Spa

The Reef House resort and Spa in Cairns, Queensland is an award winning boutique resort with a nationally renowned restaurant. The Spa has been named as the number one spa in Australia and the South Pacific by Conde Nast Traveller UK.

The Reef House Spa is recognised internationally as a luxury health and relaxation experience that will renew and rejuvenate the mind, body and spirit. Occupying a freestanding two-storey building, the spa includes three treatment rooms, two dual treatment rooms with private Jacuzzi’s.

The Spa offers a full list of treatments using aromatherapy and herbalist principles along with Li´Tya products.

Mansion Hotel and Spa

The Mansion Hotel and Spa Retreat at Werribee Park in Melbourne is just half an hour from the city centre and set within 10 acres of park and gardens. The hotel is a 5 star Italianate mansion built in the 1870’s and now has 91 guest rooms.

The Spa boasts a 17 meter indoor pool, steam rooms, gymnasium, relaxation lounge and 8 treatment rooms with Vichy showers which offer a full menu of body and beauty treatments that are uniquely tailored to each and every guest in order to see the best results.

The Spa uses an extensive range of high quality products including Decleor and Ilcsi brands.

So wherever you go and whatever you do, whether it’s exploring the Great Barrier Reef or hitting the shops in one of Australia’s thriving cities you can rest assured that total relaxation is never far away.

Australians are travelling more than ever with the strong Aussie dollar weighing their pockets down

Australians are travelling more than ever on the back of the strong Australian dollar. There was a 29 percent increase in the number of Australians travelling abroad in the past year, increasing from 537,100 last April to 693,000 for the same month this year.  

Despite the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull Australians have been travelling to the United States, Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia in larger numbers than ever.

The Australian Federation of Travel Agents CEO Jayson Westbury said that the numbers of people booking holidays abroad has begun to decrease.

“The biggest factor affecting people’s decisions is consumer confidence and taxation arrangements,” he said.

The most popular destination for Australians is New Zealand with the UK and Thailand also up there. People travelling to Cambodia and Vietnam increased by 55 and 54 percent respectively.  

Data shows that not every where is benefitting from the Australian dollar, there was a significant drop in Aussies going to Egypt due to unrest in the Middle East however the death of Osama Bin Laden has not deterred travel as much as expected. The number of people travelling to Japan dropped by 53 percent following the earthquake and tsunami in March.

Tourism and Transport Forum chief executive John Lee said that while it is good that Aussies are enjoying more holidays, it is bad for the national economy and indicative of the problems that a strong currency bring.

“As the number of Australians travelling overseas continues to soar, largely thanks to the strong dollar, fewer people are holidaying domestically and that’s bad news for tourism operators, especially in regional areas of Australia,’’

The great Australian road trip is making a comeback as domestic tourism picks up on the back of soaring international air fares, the strong dollar and a 30 year high in caravan production.

21,164 caravans and RV’s were built in 2010, a 32 percent increase on the previous year and a 30 year high. Figures from the Recreational Vehicle Manufacturers Association show that the last time production hit 20,000 was in 1980.

RMVAA president Richard Raven said “The beauty of owning a caravan or other type of recreational vehicle is that people can go where they want to when they want to, and at their own pace – and economically too.”

It seems that now is the time to take to the road and take in the world renowned sights that Australia has to offer from the ancient wonder of Ayers Rock to the hundreds of stunning beaches, from the metropolis of Sydney to the Great Barrier Reef.

Explorers can explore the red centre, the Great Ocean Road and the outstanding expanse of the Blue Mountains.

So if you are thinking of making the trip down under you might consider taking to the road for an unforgettable sight-seeing excursion around the oldest country on the planet.

Another Icelandic volcano could disrupt airspace

Planning on heading out to Australia over the next ten days? If so, keep a keen eye on the weather because Iceland’s most active volcano; Grimsvotn, which began erupting almost two days ago is threatening to ground much of Western Europe.

Despite Grimsvotn being smaller than Eyjafjoell which erupted last April and caused weeks of flight chaos, the force of the eruption has taken many by surprise. The volcano spewed ash 20km into the air in its most powerful eruption in a decade, turning the regions sky black and has already started to drop ash on the capital Reykjavik 400km away.

Yesterday Iceland’s airport authority Isavia, announced that the capital’s main airport is closed. The closure of airspace “affects pretty much all of Iceland right now … Flights to and from Iceland are shutting down,” Isavia spokeswoman Hjordis Gudmundsdottir said.

The good news is that the south easterly wind which caused Europe to be grounded last year is not blowing, instead the cloud, for now, is being taken north. The ash is also much coarser than last year, meaning that instead of floating for hundreds of miles it is falling much faster.

There is not expected to be any impact on European airspace outside of Iceland for the next 24 hours however wind can change direction and anyone with flights planned out of the UK in the next few days should keep a close eye on the developments.

Qantas is beset with engine problems

A Qantas flight heading from Bangkok to London had to turn back shortly after take-off due to what a Qantas spokesman called “an issue with the engine”.

“Shortly after take-off there was an increase in vibration and high temperatures from one of the four engines, so the pilots shut down this engine and as a precaution returned to Bangkok,” the spokesman said.

“The aircraft can safely fly on three engines and it had a normal landing in Bangkok not long afterwards.”

The Boeing 747 QF1 flight, carrying 308 passengers landed safely with no injuries however it is only one in a long history of engine problems suffered by Qantas.

In January 2008 Qantas flight QF2 from London to Bangkok lost power in all four engines 15 minutes away from the airport causing an investigation by the carrier and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

Qantas has suffered numerous other engine problems including an incident in January when a Boeing 747 fell 8000m.

The mid flight engine explosion on an A380 in November caused another investigation which found the engine manufacturer Rolls Royce to be at fault.

Despite the bad fortune that Qantas has suffered it still remains Australia’s national carrier and is making efforts to keep its majority share of the Australian market.

aircraft will soon have fewer cabin crew

Current regulations say that an aircraft must have a 1-to-36 crew to passenger ratio however the Civil Aviation Authority is considering a 1-to-50 ratio for aircraft carrying between 20 and 216 passengers, a formula that many other nations enforce.  

Despite the precedent for such a ratio, Beverley Maunsell, a former Qantas safety investigator says that it will compromise passenger safety in the event of a crash.

“It’s not going to increase the probability of there being an accident, but it’s going to increase the possibility that people won’t survive,” Ms Maunsell said.

“If you reduce cabin crew you reduce your chances, and I’m concerned the Australian people don’t know what’s happening.”

Ms Maunsell said that the CASA is “misguided” in its actions, that the proposal is an attempt at cost cutting.

The proposition was first put to the CASA by Virgin Australia however the airline’s government relations executive Jane McKeon denied that it was about money.

“The proposition that we have put cost considerations before safety considerations … is simply not the case,” she said.

Qantas head of government relations Robert Wood said that the current ratio which has been in effect since 1960 is outdated due to significant improvements in airline safety. While the proposal is not about cost cutting, it is evidently true that Australia’s airlines cannot compete.

“The 1-to-50 is not a benchmark in the United States, it’s a global benchmark with the exception of Canada, which is currently reviewing their ratio, and Australia,” he said.

Australia is the world's number one tourist destination

Despite the soaring dollar and a global recession Australia is the world’s top tourist destination, says a survey revealed at an Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) conference on backpacker and youth industry.

The survey consisted of nearly 1000 backpackers and was undertaken by ATEC and Tourism Australia

“Australia remains a highly desirable place for the backpacker market, it’s a dream destination for those looking for excitement and adventure.”

“What we have to ensure is that, as a destination, we continually strive to provide competitive products and experiences with high quality service standards that will keep us ahead of the competition.” Said ATEC’s Managing Director, Felicia Mariani at the conference at Airlie Beach.

The survey showed that while Australia is the number one destination, New Zealand is better at meeting visitor expectations. “Australia clearly tops the ‘to-do’ list for backpackers and our research showed many of these visitors are willing to return here, but we need to continue to improve our product offering.”

She said that Australia can compete despite the current disadvantage of a poor exchange rate.

“One of the primary defence lines the backpacker sector has against the high Australian dollar is the Working Holiday Visa, which can really make the difference in a visitor’s decision to come here and how long they stay.”

Qantas frequent flyers will soon be able to reap the rewards of the new scheme

Qantas has announced a new revamped frequent flyer program in order to keep more people loyal and flying with the national carrier.  

A new and exclusive Platinum One tier will be created in conjunction with telco Optus and passengers flying with Jetstar will now be able to earn Qantas frequent flyer point for a small fee.

Qantas passengers will also be increasing the number of points gold and silver members can earn.

The new frequent flyer structure has been designed to entice and keep frequent flyers with the airline and the top tier will come into effect in the fourth quarter of 2011.

“They fly so much that once they get to Platinum we want them to keep on flying so they get to Platinum One,” Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said.

Mr Joyce said that he was not worried by Virgin Australia’s tactics and that he is confident about keeping passengers with Qantas.

“We don’t have to cling on to the business market,” he said, “The business market is very happy to stay with Qantas.”

As part of the new partnership Qantas frequent flyers will be able to earn points which can be put toward Optus products.

“For us it is really about acquiring more new business and about holding on to customers,” Optus managing director Mike Smith said.

Simon Hickey, Qantas frequent flyer chief executive said that the program is expecting to hit 8 million members by the end of this June while Virgin Australia’s similar program has around 1.5 million members.

Qantas will have to increase ticket prices for flights in and out of Europe

From next January Qantas will be increasing its international airfares to Europe yet again after being penalised by the European Union over Australia’s failure to implement a carbon tax.  

The decision comes following changes to the EU’s emissions trading scheme which means that Qantas will have to pay tax on 15 percent of the carbon emissions from either Bangkok or Singapore, its nearest port of call to EU territories. Qantas said that it is still calculating the impact on ticket prices.

US Airlines is also in the firing line and is expected to challenge the ruling in the World Trade Organisation.

The tax will give the government’s plan to introduce a carbon pricing scheme new legs and a certain level of urgency as without such a scheme Australian business will undoubtedly suffer on the international level in the form of potentially widespread taxes placed on products from countries not operating a carbon tax.

Despite the clear and immediate need for a carbon tax or equivalent scheme, opposition leader Tony Abbott has campaigned against it, citing the government’s pre-election promise not to impose a carbon tax; showing opposition for opposition’s sake.

Business leaders warned the government that in order to get backing for the scheme they needed to see environmental benefits in real terms and that their ability to compete internationally must not be compromised.   

Carbon tax details are expected to be released in the next few months.

It’s about as far as you can get from the well-trodden East Coast resorts… And it’s one of the most beautiful areas of Australia.

The South-West corner of the continent is a world of pristine beaches, lush forests and unspoilt coastal wilderness – as well as boasting fine food and local wine. It’s here you can really get away from the madding crowds and enjoy space, nature and the finest things Australia has to offer.

But don’t spend the whole trip resting on your laurels either. If there’s one thing Australia excels at it’s adventure, whether your idea of adventure is four-wheel driving, rainforest yoga or sailing azure waters. The fresh air and sunshine beckons, so make the most of it.

There’s a new holiday option on the menu, focussing on this gorgeous part of the country, thanks to Karma Kiah, a new luxury holiday specialist.

A Karma Kiah holiday whisks you away to Cape Lodge, a boutique hotel set in its own vineyard in the gastronomer’s paradise of Margaret River. Its restaurant was voted among the top 10 in the world for quality of food – but if you can tear yourself away from the table, it’s also the starting point for a startling array of adventures.

Karma Kiah take all the hard work out of organising your activities, you needn’t lift a finger. The holiday offers not only expert guided walks though the breathtaking natural ecosystems, but a whole host of unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime experiences including whale watching, scuba diving, meditation, yoga, art classes, massages, winery tours and Aboriginal cultural experiences. Oh, and plenty more.

It’s amazing what you can fit into a seven-day break and still have ample time to sit and admire the scenery. No more than 10 guests are allowed to stay during any one week… so you can get to know your fellow travellers while having plenty of me-time. All you have to do is turn up and it’s all laid on.

Local experts will indulge your senses, unlock your creativity and help you to discover talents you never knew you had. Adventure, nature, gastronomy and personal enrichment combine to send you home not only relaxed and refreshed, but fulfilled and focussed. In today’s stressful climate, who couldn’t do with that?

A seven-day experience costs A$6995 (approx £4,620) including accommodation, food, drink, local transport and all activities.

“Every moment of your life is infinitely creative and the universe is endlessly bountiful. Just put forth a clear enough request, and everything your heart desires must come to you.” – Mahatma Ghandi