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Australia
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extensive portfolio of hotels.
Contrasting Cities - Sydney, Brisbane and
Melbourne:
 It’s difficult to decide which city to make your base when you are
planning a trip to Australia. There are clear differences, as I found on
my recent trip, but the cities share one thing in common: fantastic
food. Whether you choose to eat in one of the thousands of ethnic
restaurants or settle for the superb fusion of Pacific rim and downunder
recipes which is today’s Aussie cuisine, your enjoyment will be total.
I started off in Sydney, where I was bowled over by the clarity of the
light and the smell of eucalyptus wafting from the bush that surrounds
the city. Sitting among the cappuccino-sipping commuters on one of the
ferries that bustle across the harbour, the contrast with my normal
commute on London’s underground couldn’t have been greater: men and
women in city shorts and tee shirts heading off to work, sailing boats
riding the waves, and everywhere I looked, bronzed surfers with
sun-bleached tresses carrying their boards to and from magnificent
beaches.
Sydney is the perfect place in which to unwind. Despite its city status,
it has plenty of beaches, parks, gardens, rivers and sea to escape to
when needed. I walked down to the harbour most mornings to gaze in awe
at the sweeping sails of the Opera House set against the bluest of
skies, but I still made time to visit Bondi Beach to see the famous
lifesavers in action, and Manley, to walk the promenade and sample the
seafood. The site of the first European settlement in Australia, The
Rocks, combines its atmospheric past with the most exciting shopping,
dining and entertainment attractions you’re likely to find anywhere.
Don’t leave Sydney without taking at least one ferry ride and a trip on
the mono-rail to Darling Harbour and the Powerhouse Museum. You don’t
fancy a concert or opera in that iconic building? then take the house
tour. If you’ve got the nerve for it, join the Harbour Bridge Climb for
a great view of the miles of shoreline that make up the 33 harbour
beaches, but if not, then visit Taronga Park Zoo for alternative views
of the harbour. And if the pace gets too much, take time off and drop
down to the Hunter Valley winelands, the Blue Mountains or spend a day
with the last River Postman on the Hawkesbury River.
 If Sydney is modern Australia, then Brisbane, an easy-going,
sub-tropical city, is old colonial Australia. More laid-back than
Sydney, it is set amid magnificent lakes, dams, mountains and islands
with a hinterland that makes touring exceptionally rewarding.
What makes “Brissie” unique is the long and winding Brisbane River that
divides the city. Like Sydney, it makes full use of its waterfront and
along its banks and on the water is a multitude of attractions. River
cruises and trips on the city’s commuter ferries provide a popular way
to see both the city and the beautiful river suburbs.
Brisbane is big on the arts and the South Bank Parklands’ theatres,
concert halls and art galleries are among the world’s best. Outdoor
activities are not neglected, however, and horse-riding, bushwalking and
golf are well catered for, plus there are some great pubs, many serving
d.i.y. sausage sandwiches, i.e. you cook the sausages on the barbie and
slap them between the sliced bread you’ll find stacked up on the side.
Best free meal I ever had.
The Gold Coast, surrounded by a vast mountainous region of national
parks and subtropical rainforest, is just an hour’s drive away and
although Surfers’ Paradise is now a glitzy strip of Las Vegas
ostentation and L.A. style culture, enough of its former raffish air
still clings to it to ensure its popularity with the world’s surfers. If
you’re up for the waves, this is where it’s at
Once considered an uptight European-style city Melbourne is now a
beguiling and attractive metropolis lying in the centre of a beautiful
coastline, and trendy enough to rival Sydney. Voted “world’s most
liveable-in city” recently, it has magnificent gardens and parks that
reminded me more of English shires than the New World, and a talent for
re-inventing itself. Originally an outpost in the gold rush of 1851,
then a town that seemed set in the amber of the 1950’s, and now a city
on the cutting edge of modern trends, retaining the best of the old
while embracing the new.
 I didn’t know quite what to expect when I visited Melbourne, but it
certainly wasn’t trendy shoppers in D. & G. shades and Gucci loafers
sipping chilled white wine and munching on tapas and Thai-style snacks
at outdoor cafés in the lanes and alleys of the old town.
Melbourne is still the cultural capital of Australia, despite Sydney’s
attempts to gain this title for itself. The newly built Federation
Square Arts Centre houses galleries, museums and concert halls and the
Festivals of Food, Arts, Comedy, and Fashion that take place during the
year attract visitors from all over the world. Plus in a city where
sport is religion, Australian Rules football, cricket, The Melbourne Cup
and the Formula 1 Grand Prix which attracts the motor racing world’s
celebrities. These events all tend to attract the cream of Aussie
society, and often dominate daily life.
There’s only one thing wrong with Melbourne, the climate. You can
experience all three seasons in one day. But as the concierge at my
hotel said, “That’s a bonus, surely, you get to wear all your clothes on
a regular basis and never have to lock any away.” Now there’s a point to
ponder.
Click here for a few suggestions from our
extensive portfolio of hotels.
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