All packed and ready to go! Just have to hop on the new Canada Line and it will take me right to the airport. I'm really excited about flying on the Qantas Airbus 380 as it is the largest and most technically advanced aircraft ever built. It is more fuel efficient and has less carbon emmissions that other aircraft. There are 14 suites in First Class, 72 skybed seats in Business Class, 32 Premium Economy seats and 332 seats in Economy. Qantas Airlines have been around for a long time. Their first aircraft was an Arro 504K which was delivered to them in January 1921. It could carry 2 passengers in an open cockpit behind the pilot. I'm so glad it is 2011! Did you know that Qantas is actually an acronym for: Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Ltd? See you in Queenstown!

Transport in Bali

It is easy to arrange transport in Bali and it seems almost everyone needs transport to get somewhere.  No matter which area you stay in, you will want to go see the other side.  Transport can be done in a few different ways. 

Rent a Car – not recommended at all due to the extremely busy roads and cost structure is prohibitive.

Rent a Scooter – Recommend for the brave at heart…busy roads with no road rules make this a dangerous undertaking.  Say your prayers and good byes before you get on a scooter!

Bluebird Taxi Service – This is a metered taxi service.  This is your best bet if you are spending just traveling short distances, ie under 20 minutes. 

Bemo Vans – These are 7 seater vans, however, are happy to take 8 or 9 if some are small children.  Very comfortable modern vans with A/C that you can hire for extended periods of time.  The driver will take you to places and wait for you while you shop/eat/meet/drink and then drive you on somewhere else or bring you back to your hotel.  The going rate for a full day is around IDR350,000 (CAD42.00).  Fort his fee, they will drive you everywhere you want to go, however, you need to determine the terms of the deal and negotiate the price before you start.  For example, if you negotiate a trip from Nusa Dua to Ubud with a two hour stay in Ubud and then you decide to spend 4 hours in Ubud, you would have terminated your contract and will need to pay the driver more to bring you back….get it all set out at the front end and then expect to pay more if you want the driver to do more than the original scope.  But let’s face it, a driver and A/C comfortable vehicle for 10 hours for just CAD42.00 to CAD50.00 is not too bad a deal at all.

The Aston Nusa Dua is located more on the outskirts of Nusa Dua, not in the pristine gated area of Nusa Dua.   Rooms are a very generous style and decorated in the typical Balinese Style using dark wood and light coloured walls.  The bathrooms are lovely with a corner tub and separate rain shower stall.  Bathrooms are a very good size. The rooms could do with a little renovating as some of the paint is starting to peel off the walls here and there.  All the rooms have a really nice sized balcony. The lobby is all tiled with marble like tiles…and quite grand.  The whole lobby is all open air with no windows or doors.

The hotel is a mid sized property….about 500 rooms all surrounding a courtyard grassed area with a beautiful lagoon styled pool close to beach.  The pool is really the best part of this property.  A waterfall with a little bench behind the falling water….volleyball net and a swim up bar. 

The beach here is a darker more coarse sand.  Not really great, but nice enough for the kids to splash around.  The main use for the beach is to lay on the sun bed and look at the water, not many people actually swim in the water in this Area.

When the tide goes out in the early afternoon, a sand bar is revealed.  The sand bar goes out about 500 metres into the sea.  Take the kids for a walk along the sand bar to see the beautiful Star Fish, literally hundreds of them.  Kids just love it.

   The Aston Benoa Beach at Low Tide

        Star Fish at the Aston Beach Sand Bar            

The food at the Aston is almost twice the price of the food next door at the Peninsular.  It is a 30 second walk over to the restaurant at the Peninsular and you save big bucks.  But in saying that, the prices of food and beverages at the Aston are not expensive at around $4 for a beer and $7 for a club house sandwich.

Benoa is a bustling little area of it's own with tonees of restaurants within easy walking distance of the Aston.  All these restaurants are very reasonably priced.  A family of 5 can eat for around CAD40 including a few beers for the adults and soft drinks for the kids.

This hotel is built in the typical traditional Balinese architecture with the big court yard in the middle of the property and blending into nature nicely.

Singapore Airlines are one of the major routes between Canada and Bali (via Singapore), the other being Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong.

Singapore Airlines in Economy Class were really not their usual standard that we have experienced in the past.  The seats were fine and comfortable and the leg room was fine for me (5 foot 7 inches)….I don’t imagine it will be as comfortable for people over 6 foot tall.  The staff on all of our SQ flights were confused by our child meal and Low Calorie Meal requests. 

The bathrooms never had any hand towels on either SQ aircraft, instead tissues were in the hand towel dispenser! The staff were not very attentive, best mediocre.  The inflight entertainment system did not have any new release movies at all.  

The meals were fine and the flights all ran on schedule, however, when yo request a special meal such as low calorie, it comes about 20 minutes before the regular meals, and then they do not offer you a drink with your meal until they are serving the other regular meals, which means you don't actually get a drink with your meal…the aircraft was always nice and clean when we boarded each time.   The hot towel service on take off and then wake up (for over night flights) is a very nice touch. Overall  review for our flights in Economy Class on Singapore Airlines: It was lovely, however, not exactly the experience we were expecting from one of the leading airlines of the world, however, still a very pleasant experience.

If you have ever considered yourself somewhat of an Aussie Specialist and you live in either Vancouver/Calgary or Toronto, then you need to chat to us to see if we can help make it happen for you.

We are always on the look out for people with top notch destination knowledge of the South Pacific.   We pride ourselves on knowing the destinations we sell inside out and back to front.  So contact us today if you are interested in learning about what it takes to be an Aussie Specialist!

www.downunder-travel.com

It is about this time of year...year in...year out, that airlines start to pull back on some pretty fantastic deals on flights to Australia & New Zealand for Christmas time.

The deals usually start coming out in March/April and they sell enough to meet the advanced booking quotas....then by this time of year (June) the fares are starting to be retracted. 
The passengers who book in this period of Mar through to June for travel in December are the ones who get the best deals.  There are still some decent deals to be had at this time of year, however the availability has been diluted considerably, so will find yourself comprimising on dates to help secure that low fare.

Best to talk to a Downunder Travel Dedicated Specialist to get solid advice on your trip to the South Pacific during the Christmas Break.
Let me be the first to say to you this year....Merry Christmas!!!

We have had manyclients enjoying a little Chubby when traveling around Australia.  The Chubby is not really as it sounds, it is a small economical campervan.  Traveller's Autobarn rent out Chubby Campervans to anyone from age 18 through to 75 years.

The vans are a few years old and decorated with some lively colours.  The vans are great for two people to share as they travel around the big country.

The Chubby comes complete with a stove, sink, kitchen utensils and an esky (cooler).

The Chubby is reliable economical option for people to save money in Australia.  In fact, the most economical way to get around Australia.

These Chubby Campervans are also perfect for young backpackers who are not old enough to rent from the larger companies.

Downunder Travel are General Sales Agents for Traveller's Autobarn for Canada, got questions, put a call into a Dedicated Destination Specialist.

For many years Tahiti has been considered a once in a life time trip....perhaps the dream honeymoon or special anniversary trip.  Tahiti will most definitely deliver all of this and more....however, dream vacations also come at a cost, and it is fair to say that Tahiti is on the higher end of the scale.

However, what people are not aware of, is that Tahiti is currently the most economical and best value for money in the South Pacific...that's right, we have so many discounts that apply for 2011/2012 that Tahiti is now more economical thant the Cooks and Fiji when considering the same standards of accommodations.

If you have ever been considering Tahiti for your dream vacation, now is the time to take advantage of the huge discounts being offered.

For example....10 Nights in a Private Bungalow with a Private Plunge Pool at the Hilton Moorea including breakfasts, return flights, taxes from LAX and all transfers/ferrys is only CAD3969.00 per person.

The Value for money is definitely 110% Tahiti in the South Pacific right now.

Get down to Tahiti now and see for yourself what everyone is talking about!

We hear of people every day moving to Australia or New Zealand.....and we hear from even more people wanting to move to Australia or New Zealand.

It may seem like a great opportunity to better your life style, but it is important to remember that every country has it's share of problems, they are just different from your current situation.  For example, you may want to consider the following issues before moving to Australia:-

            1.  The block heater plug on your car will not comply with Australian electrical outlets
            2.  Your winter coats will just take up space in your new home by the beach
            3.  Sand being walked into your house
            4.  Your lungs will probably suffer from breathing fresh outside air all year round
            5.  Your Curling Game will go down hill fast
            6.  There is no telling how much money you will spend on Sun Hats
            7.  Your local pharmacy will feel the pinch when you stop buying Vitamin D Tablets
           8.  The local tanning salon will miss your contributions and may go out of business
           9.  You will not know what to do with all the extra vacation time (Aussies get a standard
                 4 weeks a year)
          10.  You will have to put your family & friends up when they come to visit.

If you are considering the move to Australia and we have not managed to talk you out of it mentioning all the above horrible pittfalls, then you should check out the following link about how you can make your dream a reality.

http://www.workingin-australia.com/

 Just by coming along to this event, you could win a trip to Australia!

Tasmania is extremely popular for tourism...offering convict history, wild life, breathtaking scenery, beautiful beaches, wineries, markets and the freshest air in the world!

But with all this, it is quite surprising to know that touring options in this incredible part of the world are quite limited. 
There are two major tour companies that offer fully escorted coach touring, AAT Kings & Australian Pacific Touring.  These two tour companies always fill up their tours about 6 to 8 months in advance, espcially during the high season months of December/Jan/Feb & March.  Basically, the key to getting on these tours is to book as early as possible to avoid dissapointment.  These two companies offer wonderful itineraries of Tasmania and are the only tour operators to offer a product that is suitable for the mature age comfort style traveler.

Top Deck Tours offer tours that work very nicely for the youth market of 18 to 39 year olds.  They offer quad share accommodations for all males or all females to share.  The accommodations are somewhat of a slight level higher than hostels which keeps the cost down significantly......a definite benifit for the younger traveler.

Adventure Tours Australia offer tours of a soft adventure nature in the Tasmania area.  These tours are marketed towards any age group....however, probably not the best for young children.  Adventure Tours Australia allows clients on the same tour to choose between accommodation styles.  Some passengers will stay in hostels while others will stay in motels.  Small group tours of around 21 passengers total combined with their flexible accommodation options, makes Adventure Tours Australia a very popular option when traveling Tasmania.