Infact, so appalling is the bail out that our very own banks have cost us a lot. The pay out we are having to give them would have given each man, woman and child 4 fabulous free holidays in Australia. Bearing in mind we all have a bundle of kids and infants generally travel for free, the shocking statistic is that Australian Sky could probably have given you 5 holidays to Australia for free.

Now there’s a thought. Don’t bail them out and hey ho…..

Below is one of the free holidays that sadly you will now have to pay for.

We have come up with what we think is the perfect Aussie holiday. Other travel companies will offer barmy prices for a 2 week holiday in Australia, when infact the itinerary includes flights and a few nights in each major city. What’s the point! Why would you fly 24 hours to see cities, of which many are not worth visiting at all. It is beyond the cities that make Australia so appealing. If you cut cost too much you will have a very dull trip. Far better to spend that little bit more and really get value and lifelong experiences from your Aussie holiday.

Here we go then for the BEST 15 DAY HOLIDAY IN AUSTRALIA for the first time visitor.

Day1  Arrive Sydney and stay 3 nights in a perfectly good and well located hotel. On your first afternoon take a stroll to the Opera House, have coffee at Circular Quay and watch the comings and goings of this fabulous small but perfect;y formed city.

Day2  Take an early morning cycle tour of Sydney itself, then get the ferry to Manly and enjoy the fabulous beach and have lunch on the promenade. Head back in the early evening and take a sunset cruise around Sydney Harbour.

Day 3  You’ve gotta climb that bridge, it just has to be done and is great fun.

Day 4  Pick up a car and head off to the Blue Mountains, a simply spectacular place to visit and only 3 hours from Sydney. Stay the night here.

Day 5-9  Continue your journey by car down the spectacular East Coast to Melbourne with overnight stops en-route. Stay in small B&Bs or boutique hotels and meet real Aussies. This is a stunning drive and very underrated.

Day 10-14  After a night in Melbourne continue by car along the spectacular Great Ocean Road, cutting in towards the Grampian Mountain Range and ending in Adelaide (after a visit to one, OK 2 or more of Australia’s fine wineries just before). Your last night in Adelaide which is lovely little city.

Day 15  OK we have gone over the fortnight by a day! If you have time in the morning go on a Dolphin Watch Cruise and swim. What a finish.

This will cost from €2699 per person and includes everything mentioned in the itinerary above. A bargain but more importantly a proper Australian Holiday.

Give us a call on Dublin 01 8077 933 and speak to one of our well travelled Aussie specialists.

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5 free holidays to Australia for everyone has been lost.

There is no better way to see Australia than with a guide being driven around whilst you look at all there is to see. We have sold many escorted tours and are proud to be on e of APT’s fastest growing Tour Operators in the UK. They are an excellent coach operator and provide the best tours you could want around Australia from 4 dayers to 20 dayers.

Take a look at our fabulous Red Centre tours or their much unsung and highly underrated Kimberley’s and Kakadu 20 day escorted tour.

Book any of our Australian escorted tours for 12 days or more and we will upgrade you to the Full meal basis. This can save you up to £700 per person. That is a huge deal and cannot be missed.

But you have to book by end October 2010.

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Escorted Touring doesn’t get any cheaper than this. Book now,

But a little secret, although sadly the cat gor out the bag recently in the press, is the largest fringing reef in the world. That is a reef that is literally within walking distance of the shoreline. It is NINGALOO REEF in Western Australia. What is special about this place is that there are few places to stay (we like the Novotel), you have to make an effort to get there (Its a fabulous drive from Perth if you have the time or a flight to Exmouth) and no one really know s about it. Why not? Come on Australia this is agem and one that should be on all the bill boards. Maybe its because in the stunning state of WA that it gets overlooked. For some reason we are obsessed with the East Coast in the UK.

Ningaloo Reef is a divers and particularly a snorkellers paradise. Time it right and bewteen April and July you will be in the company of Whale Sharks, the largest bloomin fish you are likely to ever see. The photo says it all.

Go on, be different and try out our West Coast self drive package taking in Ningaloo Reef or if you are short on time but cool on cash then fly up, stay at Sal Salis and enjoy the Whale Shark for a short time.

Oh and they don’t eat you. They are veggies.

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Whats the best little known reef in Australia

Without doubt the big marketing bucks are behind New South Wales and Queensland with the obligatory Red Centre thrown in for good measure. The classic starter pack is what we affectionately call Sydney, Rock and Reef. True enough, you get to see glimpses of Australian greatness.  Sydney is a must visit place and it is definately one of my favourite cities in the world. You would have to be bonkers to fly all that way and not witness the spendour and cultural history of Uluru (Ayers Rock) and a visit to Australia without going to a Reef seems barmy too. So this is not a bad trip at all.

BUT………boy oh boy are you missing out some chunks of beauty.

For starters please please please take extra holiday and head out here for 3 weeks. Sure start in Sydney but stay here for 4 nights, visiting Manley, The Blue Mountains and the Hunter Valley. Climb the Bridge, Surf the waves and sail the harbour. Eat fresh seafood at a harbour restaurant and take a morning cycle tour of the city. Hold off on Uluru for 10 days and drive from Sydney south to Melbourne, the beaches are heavenly, the accommodation welcoming and the food fantastic. Continue through from Melbourne on the simply awesome coastla route, The Great Ocean Road, slipping off in to the Grampians Mountain Ranges and ending up on Kangaroo Island. There is no better place in Australia to be at one with the native wildlife. I love Adelaide so it deserves a mention and the wine regions that cloak this small but perfectly formed city are well worth a visit or even better an overnight.

From here get to Uluru, but fly to Alice Spings, pick up a car and drive the Mereeenie Loop, a rough 4 wheel drive road that takes in Kings Canyon and delivers you to Uluru from the side millions never see. It is true outback. Dont just visit Uluru, you’ve come this far so keep your car and vist Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) too.

Fly form Uluru to Cairns, stay in Port Douglas (much nicer beaches) and chill out with reef, sand and beers.

21 Days.

Now that is an Australian holiday that will be worth talking about. It is worth every penny to spend that little bit more as you will get back 300 times what you put in.

Give us a ring and help us create your real Aussie Holiday.

G’day.

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What is a real Aussie holiday?

Now in its 32nd year, this cultural celebration of Sydney showcases the city’s energy, confidence and diversity.   Events take place at theatres across the city including SydneyTheatre, City Recital Hall and venues at the Sydney Opera House, as well as outdoors, where Sydney’s streets are transformed into a series of free stages and precincts.

In addition to two massive free concerts, each attracting up to 100,000 people, the festival’s eclectic programme presents lots of Australian film premieres.  It has also brought many of the world’s great artists to Sydney for the first time including Ariane  Mnouchkine and Theatre de Soleil (Flood Drummers), Robert Wilson (The Black Rider) and the National Theatre of Scotland (Black Watch and Aalst).

Taking place from 9 – 30 January 2010

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The Sydney Festival

Arrive Sydney and Stay in the plushest Suite in The Park Hyatt. Take a private helicopter tour to the Blue Mountains where you will be met by your private guide well away from the masses, go on a guided walk, kayaking and sleep under the stars (literally). Fly to Melbourne, stay in the Langham or Crown Towers. Go on a hot air balloon ride (a private party of course). Hire a beauty car and drive the Great Ocean Road heading for Adelaide but not before stopping off at Southern Ocean Lodge on Kangaroo Island where you will stay in the nicest room there is for 3 nights.

A night at one of the bet most exclusive wine lodges in McLaren Vale will be included too.

Then its off to The Flinders Mountain Ranges where we can organise a 3 day private walking safari in and around the stunning Wilpena Pound sleeping on raised platforms in swags under the stars.

Longitude 131 is the only place for you to stay at Uluru with the most increadible views of the fabled Rock.

Next on to the Great Barrier reef where you will enjoy a mix of chill out and adventure staying a few nights on Lizard Island, the most exclusive of resorts and other stunning resorts like The Byron at Byron Bay.

With a bit of time to spare en route home, Western Australia awaits and a 5 day private air safari along this incredible coastline meest all expectation.

A little shopping break in Bangkok on the way back (Staying in The Peninsula of course) complete the holiday of holidays.

Not your average holiday in Oz but the again these people are no longer you average Joe like the  rest of us.

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Euro Lottery and the £45m Australia Holiday

In short it is nigh impossible to get that conversion from turning right to turning left (or even upstairs). However in my days at Virgin Atlantic and British Airways  I learnt a small thing or two about the upgrade. Firstly, you need to be on very full, infact overbooked flights. This means that the airline will be looking to upgrade people.

How you dress then helps, though I always tuck some ‘economy’ travel wear in my hand luggage (wearing Tails in economy is not only daft but highlights the fact you are a failed Business Class Upgrade Searcher (BCUS) which will result in ridicule from the rest of your economy posse).

Having an airline loyalty card is a real clincher. Forget the BA Blue Card, my 5 year old has one of them. You need to start with Silver, aspire to Gold and if youve got the ‘rare as hens teeth’ Platinum card (can I help sir) you will not be reading this anyway. Any airline looks after its frequent travellers as best it can and that includes upgrades.

Forget eating 700 doughnuts and claiming you cant fit in your seat or claiming that you are a mate of Richard’s (if flying Virgin), neither rubs with the Servisair check in staff who after checking you in will be booking Margaret to Tenerife for some winter sun luvvie. Oh thats another one, only attempt the upgrade request with actual airline check in staff. BA at Heathrow is a good example.

Honeymooners, absolutely try your luck, anyone over 100 and Roger Moore (though he wants to travel on a bus at the moment). You all have a chance.

But I have a better idea. BA is short of cash, to the tune of approx £260m as announced today. For a quid you get an Upgrade Lottery Ticket ticket and it says yeah or nay to an upgrade on your next journey. You know it would work, you would have a much better chance of winning than the National Lottery and it would force you to fly BA.

You heard it first here. Any airline could try it. Virgin Atlantic vs BA National Upgrade lottery every week. Imagine that. One would be on the BBC and the other on Sky probably.

NB. Any airline wishing to take up this great idea, should contact me via the blog for the rights. Ill accept a lifetime of upgrades.

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The Upgrade Lottery Scheme (my idea and I have the rights).

Take Ausralia is a nice bite size pice, focus on stopping over for a min 2/3 nights in each destination or even better use a resort as a base for a longer and explore from there. Watch the weather. Children and sunshine is a great combo. Wet and cold sint. This means that the traditional long UK summer holiday will be best spent north of Brisbane or Perth. The Great Barrier Reef basks in sunshine at this time of year and the drive from Brisbane to Cairns stopping off at wonderful places like Fraser Island and the Whitsundays will please all ages.

When you are booking your accommodation I am always surprised how few families book apartments. Not only can breakfast be had when the children wake up without you having to murmour but you get a lounge, and separate bedrooms. Facilities are superb,all our apartments have great pools and the locations are all very good. They are also excellent value for money.

You are far better off financially booking up as many tours as you can pre departure. This also adds to the excitement of the trip itself. From half day cycle tours to swimming with dolphins, climbing the Sydney Bridge to snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef, there are a million and one brilliant things to do.

Please please dont skimp. Enjoy your holiday to the full and on some days just do nothing. tehy are ofetn when something extraordinary happens and makes the trip even more special.

Australian Sky has ideas galore for you and your family. Give us a call.

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Family holidays Australia

Australian Sky has a great 14 day holiday which includes playing this lengthy course (it takes 5 days) and includes Flights in to Melbourne..driving the beautiful scenic Great Ocean Road Route to Adelaide, continuing on following the stunning coastal route beyond Adelaide, playing the course and finishing with a few days chill on the great beaches of Western Australia’s South West corner.

A short hop to the next tee!This is a remote part of Australia, very seldom visited by UK visitors which is a real shame. The Coastal Route after Adelaide  and Nullabor Plain offer stunning beaches, interesting and quirky small towns and tiny population outcrops, and offer a bundle of exciting beach and outback holidays. The opening if this course at last bring some deserved publicity for this part of the vast country of Australia.

Prices start at £2999 pp sharing and this of course includes your green fee. Call us on 0845 543 2164

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World’s Longest Golf Course Opens

Timed nicely with this ‘wonderful’ TV programme (even I am grateful for USA imports as an alternative) is the arrival of the newly built Versace Resort. This very glitzy, uber luxury resort offers pretty much everything. Great rooms, a fabulous pool, fine dining and easy to get to. It has also received very favourable reviews.

Oh and if you want a glimpse of failed fame, then the stars of I’m a celebrity will be staying here before after (and who knows possibly during..cameras can deceive!) this annual spectacle. Come and join them. Australian Sky can offer some great self driving holidays and include the Versace Resort in the itinerary.

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I’m a celebrity 2009

It could be that you don’t hear about WA as much, government finding in this region is nothing like the amounts pummelled in to New South Wales (Sydney), or that we are comfortable (understandably) with referals from friends, who too may not have been to WA. Or maybe you just think its dull, in the middle of nowhere and to be flown over at 37,000 feet as you make your way to Sydney or Melbourne to start (and often finish) your Aussie Adventure, is as close as you will get.

Well I’d like to try and pursuade you to be different, venture off the well trodden paths, even if it’s for a few days. For starters arriving in Perth in the evening does wonders for jet lag. A good sleep and hey ho you feel as fresh as a daisy the next day.

Perth itself is OK, a pretty, small city with Freemantle on its doorstep and great restaurants. But the world’s remotest city is close to some of Australia’s finest beaches, they are truly fabulous.

Reef afficionados will claim that Australia has a better reef than that of Great Barrier fame. WA is the guardian of Ningaloo Reef, the largest fringing reef (one that you can walk to from the shore) in the world. Take it from me, it is spectacular. This is one of the few places on earth that you can snorkel with Whale Sharks. A must see place.

In terms of outback, you couldn’t ask for more. The far North West is home to The Kimberelys, a spectacular and vast region of rocky outcrops, stunning gorges and fresh water pools. We have a truly wonderful 14 day 4 wheel drive trip through this region, following the Gibb River Road. Try it out. Some of the camps here are extraordinary. A real Aussie holiday.

Monkey Mia is famous for its wild (loosely)Dolphins. They literally come right up to you. En route back to Perth are the eerie Pinnacles; squillions of limestone outcrops, jutting out of the earth like there had just been an invasion of moles.

South of Perth is another spectacular region and this is where to head if you only have a few days. Margaret River is where some of the world’s finest wines come from. On top of that there are what I think,  the best beaches in Oz. We have a choice of carefully hand picked resorts at your disposal. This is a great place to head to for a hot Christmas.

When you are booking your Australia holiday spare a thought for WA. It is a truly fabulous part of Australia, grossly underrated and deserves to be part of any Australian itinerary.

Call us to discuss ideas and where to go in WA.

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Why not the West Coast?

The internet is of course a frighteningly heavy tool for all of us. Choosing a holiday on the internet alone is fraught with every danger in the book. Is the hotel you are staying in, safe? Is there a whopping great building site next door, are the piddly airlines I’m flying between countries reasonable are some of the questions you should be asking. And of course if you book directly with hotels and airlines you are not covered should anything go wrong.

Booking a decent holiday to Australia purely online takes a brave person. And at Australian Sky we say why bother. Chances are remote that you will get a better price, you are unlikely to know as much about the country as our well travelled staff and if you do know as much you will have been all over the place that you would be unlikely to be returning.

Plus there is the time. I recently booked a lady to Australia for a 29 day holiday, all over the shop, with a mix of self drives, day trips, fab hotels, hidden gems and some great beaches. She conceded defeat trying to do it herself, plus she said that the total time she had so far spend researching and finally not booking but calling us was over 30 hours ! Ouch.

Our job is travel, we do it well and are proud of what we can offer you in Australia. So when you are customer number 1000001 for England’s next qualifying game give us a ring and chat through your plans to Australia. I hope we can broaden your ideas and together we can create a holiday just for you. By the way England won!

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England Footy on the internet vs Holidays on the internet

Whether you want just a taster, we like The Mereenie Loop from Alice Springs, arriving at Uluru from the other end, or the longer Gibb River Road in the top NW corner, there are some great adventures to be had.

From South Australia we offer holidays to Uluru taking the Oodanatta Track in. Another beauty.

So when you are thinking of travelling to Australia, think about doing something a bit different, a liitle bit ooh, a little bit ahh. Broom broom…enjoy !

Call us at Australian Sky to get the run down on the best off road driving holiday for you. Chris is your man.

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Four Wheel Drive … a real Aussie experience

But when should you visit Australia for the best holiday. There is no easy answer. Australia’s climate can be split in to two geographical areas. Anything above Brisbane and Perth experiences Wet and Dry seasons. the rains from Nov – March can be horrendous but it will be very warm. We love you to visit Australia but we also think honesty is a good thing. Booking a 14 night self drive from Darwin to Broome in December is not fun and we will not sell it to you.

South of Brisbane and Perth the weather is the reverse to UK seasons, though their winter (June July Aug) is never as harsh as ours. If its walking, activities, sport that you will be planning then May June July are great months as its cooler and there will be less people about. Nov, dec, Jan, Feb.March is a peachy time to be away if you want sunshine, hot, damn hot weather (can reach up to 45C) then this is the time to go.

This is why we encourage you to go more than once to Australia. It is too big to see in one fell swoop anyway and you will benefit from great weather for all your visits.

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When to Travel to Australia

This is a truly wonderful beach resort and yes we are one of the very few to know about this little beauty. Located just south of the stunning Jervis Bay area and north of the equally fabulous Batemans Bay this would be a perfect stopover as part of the much underrated self drive trip between Sydney and Melbourne. 2 nights at The Paperbark Camp, 2 nights at Bannisters and 2 nights at the Murramarang Resort in Batemans Bay. That’s really seeing Australia as well as paying homage to our mate Rick.

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Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey goes further East

In January, on Maslin Beach in South Australia were the nude Olympics, watched by a crowd on top of the cliffs. In Millthorpe, New South Wales we saw their take on the marathon, where one carries a 50kg bag of spuds 1610 metres. There has been mouse racing, where you could either bring your own or borrow a mouse fro the day. In April each year is the now famous Geelong Camel races. This sleepy town of almost none, becomes a hive of activity for the weekend. You should go. The World Championship egg throwing is held in Taylors Arm. Pinnacle sees the annual Guinea Pig races whilst Nymboida Heritage Festival sees how far contestants can throw a giant Platypus (rubber). Then there are the NSW Cooee Championships. Competitors “Cooee” across the Castlereagh River, to judges armed with a sound meter. Judged on authenticity, clarity and volume.

But my favourite has to be the Whitsunday Fun Race, Airlie Beach, Qld: A yacht event in which topless bathing beauties act as figureheads for the racing craft. Every September.

We have some great deals to get you this prestigious event and who knows, we could begin a new extended stag weekend concept!

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Sporting mad Aussies

It is this loving that we all seem to desire from our holidays, together with attention to detail in every way. And we have fabulous resorts to meet these requirements and tick all the boxes every nicely. But there are also the wonderful, true life experiences that are worth seeking. Places that may appear to be rough at the edges, real and honest, are often those that give the greatest memories.

So when you are next looking for a true adventure, try a few days off the beaten track, away from the main tourist trail. In Australia these places are a plenty. Perhaps it may not be travelling in a fried out combi (Midnight Oils greatest intro to a song) but you will meet real people and even the real Aussies are caring, loving and attentive.

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World’s best job

It’s the where will I go and what will I see that are the most important queries. Many are directed by their Travel Agent to take the well trodden route of what we call in the trade, Sydney, Rock and Reef. And why not. I remember my first visit back in 1985 and the 3 things in Australia I was most keen to see were the Sydney Opera House, Ayers Rocks (now called Uluru) and The Great Barrier Reef. But I also veered off this popular route for a period and visited parts of this wonderful country that few tourists venture to see.

Im unsure which part of Australia I think is the most underrated. Im going to say Western Australia  and South Australia. In both these States are fabulous beaches, the best wine in the world (maybe), outback heaven and interesting sights around every corner. The difference is, that in the main there is no one there. Roads are like the B78657 in outer Somerset, truly incredible beaches are desolate and the sound of a non Australian accent a rarity. Why is this?

In part this is due to how the travel industry sells Australia and we have to address this. I also think that expectation of Australia by us as tourists is high, with the risk of going somewhere different, not worth it, with the time we all have out there. But we at Australian Sky urge you to take that step left or right instead of straight on. Even if to start with it’s for a few days. We have some incredible journeys for you, many not on our web site, so if you have that sense of adventure and are prepared to trust us (we know the country inside out) then let’s prepare the real Australian Trip of your lifetime.

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An alternative Australia awaits

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The Ashes final test at The Oval