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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Big Little Penguin Parade

12/09/2008 0 Comments read Travel

By Neena Bhandari

Phillip Island (Victoria, Australia), 12.09.2008 (The Hindu Businessline): As the sun set on a balmy summer day, we made our way with hundreds of other tourists to the tiered stands on the Summerland Beach on Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia. There was excitement in the air as we walked to keep our date with the `Little Penguins’.

Patiently and silently, we waited for dusk to give way to darkness. Suddenly fingers were pointing to a mass of black in the distant shallow waters. No sooner had it appeared than it vanished into the vast expanse of the ocean. Probably a raft of penguins had sensed predators and retreated.

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