Spa Sojourn – Daylesford

21/04/2009 0 Comments read Travel

Daylesford, the heart of Australia’s calming spa country. Photo Credit: © Neena Bhandari

By Neena Bhandari

Daylesford (Victoria), 21.04.2009 (The Hindu Metro Plus): Natural mineral springs, renowned for therapeutic healing bubble beneath the twin towns of Daylesford and Hepburn Springs, are a picturesque 90-minute drive from the Victorian capital, Melbourne.

This is the heart of Australia’s calming spa country, home to perhaps the largest number of holistic practitioners in the Southern Hemisphere, offering cocooning mudbaths and clay wraps to water therapies and massage treatments.

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Echidna Encounters

18/04/2009 0 Comments read Travel

Eco-friendly Wilderness Retreats in Wilsons Promontory National Park in Victoria, Australia. Photo Credit: © Neena Bhandari

By Neena Bhandari

Wilson’s Promontory (Victoria, Australia) On a balmy summer morning, we snake our way through the wide Melbourne roads, yet to be inundated with rush hour traffic. The shutters in this city of urban flair are still down, apart from a few cafes where early risers are enjoying hot breakfast on cobbled pavements and joggers are making the most of the crisp morning breeze.

We are heading to the Wilsons Promontory National Park, the southernmost tip of mainland Australia. I am filled with a sense of excitement and adventure, similar to the one felt during those short getaways from Delhi to the national parks and sanctuaries of Rajasthan and Haryana.

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Australians head to Kerala for ‘mind, body, soul’ experience

01/11/2008 0 Comments read Travel

Munnar is a hill station located in the Idukki district of the south-western Indian state of Kerala. Photo Credit: © Neena Bhandari

By Neena Bhandari

Melbourne, 01.11.2008 (IANS): Australians, with their fondness for the outdoor and growing interest in yoga, meditation and ayurveda, are going all out to experience the beaches, backwaters, nature and culture of ‘god’s own country’ – Kerala.

With arrival figures from Australia in the last five years increasing by a staggering 160 percent, Australia has become the seventh largest tourism market for the south Indian state.

“The volume of tourists has doubled year after year with Kerala emerging as one of the most popular states. The Aussie tourist is now looking for exploring more than just the golden triangle – Delhi, Agra and Jaipur,” Andre Rasquinha of the Melbourne-based Travel Talk Holidays told IANS.

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