Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
newsdealers; you can also order it on
www.amazon.com or contact Moon-
shine Press, which retails it for A$17
(US$11) plus A$10 (US$6.50) for
overseas postage.
Orangewood, a Northern Territory
B&B, provides an index of Australian
B&B directories at this address:
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~ora
ngewo/owdirdir.htm.
What Next? Productions Pty. Ltd.
(
&
03/9537 0833;
www.beautiful
accommodation.com) publishes a
color guide titled
Beautiful B&Bs &
Small Hotels,
190 exquisite properties
in Victoria and Tasmania, many in
charming country areas. The proper-
ties listed are more upscale than most,
roughly in the A$100 to A$200
(US$65-US$130) range. The guide
sells for A$30 (US$20) in Australian
bookstores and can be ordered online.
PUBS
Aussie pubs are really made
for drinking, not spending the night,
but many offer rooms upstairs, usually
with shared bathroom facilities.
Because most pubs are decades old, the
rooms may be either old-fashioned or
just plain old. Pub accommodations
are dying out in the cities but still com-
mon in the country. Australians are
rowdy drinkers, so sleeping over the
bar can be hellishly noisy, but the pub's
saving grace is incredibly low rates.
Most charge per person, not per room,
and you will rarely pay more than
A$50 (US$33) per person a night.
HOUSE SWAPS
Many interna-
tional visitors to Australia have hap-
pily swapped homes with locals using
the Internet to find their “perfect
match.” There is a plethora of sites
that you can use to make your search.
Two that list up to 100 Australian
homes each are www.holi-swaps.com/
swapsau.htm and www.homebase-hols.
com. You can browse the listings for
free, but it costs around US$37 to
view the contact details, or to list your
own home.
FARM STAYS
The Aussie answer to
the dude ranch is a farm stay. Aus-
tralian farm stays are rarely as well set
up for tourists as the dude ranch vis-
ited by Billy Crystal's character in
City
Slickers.
Most are farms first, tourist
operations second, so you may have to
find your own fun and know how to
take care of yourself, at least to a
degree. Accommodations on farms
can be anything from a basic
bunkhouse (ask if it's air-conditioned,
because most farms are in very hot
areas) to rustically luxurious digs. Do
some research on your farm—a lot of
activities are seasonal, some farmers
will not allow you to get involved in
dangerous work, not all will offer
horseback riding, and
farm
means dif-
ferent things in different parts of Aus-
tralia. If you like green fields and dairy
cows, Victoria may be the place for
you. If checking fences on a dusty
500,000-hectare (200,000-acre) Out-
back station (ranch) sounds wildly
romantic, head to Western Australia
or the Northern Territory.
Australian Farm & Country Tour-
ism (www.farmstaysaustralia.com) is a
cooperative marketing organization for
farm-stay properties. It has no office, so
Meet the People Down Under
If you want to see an Australian Rules football game in the company of a
knowledgeable local in Melbourne or swim at Bondi Beach with a Syd-
neysider, contact
Friends Overseas—Australia
(
&
718/261-0534;
www.
friendsoverseas.org). This program is designed to match visitors with
friendly Aussies of like age and interests, so you can spend time with
them. The membership fee is US$25.
Tips
