Travel and Leisure Articles

Melbourne is one of the most popular cities situated close to Port Phillip Bay towards the south-east of Australia. A major commercial center, this city is also known as for its sports and cultural activities. The popularity of the city makes it a favorite destination of international tourists. Be it for leisure or business purpose, this trendy city is visited by countless people year round. To take care of the lodging of the vast mass of tourists, there is an array of hotels in Melbourne.

With two major airports, Melbourne International Airport and Avalon Domestic Airport the city is very easy to access for travelers across the globe. The international airport is about 25 km away from the city, whereas the domestic one is little over 60 km from the hub of Melbourne. The airports are serviced by various international and domestic airlines. Besides, the city is also accessible via rail, road or water ways. The city offers very good public transportation service within and around. For sightseeing, the inner city of Melbourne has most of the interesting places like Docklands, Eureka Tower, Queen Victoria Market, Southgate and Federation Square. Besides, this part is also common choice for shoppers and food lovers.

As far as accommodation goes, there are different budgeted hotels in Melbourne spread in different areas of the city. Airport, CBD, Downtown, North Melbourne, South Melbourne and South Yarra regions are some of the most popular places, where most of the hotels are placed. The famous chain of hotels like Best Western, Clarion, Hilton, Holiday Inn, Hyatt, Marriott, Novotel, and Radisson amongst others have their branches in this city offering luxurious stay for travelers. Crown Towers, Grand Hyatt, Lyall Hotel and Spa, Park Hyatt, Sofitel, Hilton Airport, Marriott are only a few of the best luxury hotels in Melbourne. Besides, there are equal number of good and comfortable budget and business hotels in the city as well.

If you have a family and you’re trying to figure out what to do on your holidays this year, you might want to consider camping. Before you decide that you don’t want to spend time in a tent, take a moment to look into how much camping has changed in recent years. You can still camp out the old way if that’s what you like, but there are a lot of other choices now, as well, and many of them are much more family friendly than they used to be.

Many campsites are equipped with large tents and mobile trailers that you can stay in, and they have beds for quite a few individuals. That means that even larger families will all be able to camp out together in their tent or trailer and have a wonderful time. Many of the trailers have toilet and shower facilities, and for those in tents there are public facilities at the campgrounds that are kept very clean and are available for any camper to use. Cooking facilities are provided, too, and there are also usually restaurants where people can go if they don’t want to cook. Who wants to cook on their holiday, anyway? Children who come camping with their parents won’t be bored because there are so many things that they can find to do.

There are swimming pools and beaches and lakes, and many camp sites have indoor recreation facilities as well, so people have something to do when the weather is not so nice. 

The ability to bond with one another, though, may be the most important thing when it comes to why families should go camping with one another. Family holidays are not as popular as they used to be, and it’s time that people went back to spending time with those that they love, instead of doing things separately or only working all of the time. Any holiday can be good for families to enjoy, but when it comes to the best choice, camping and all that it has to offer wins hands down. It brings a closeness and fun that staying in a hotel just doesn’t have and it’s a unique experience every time because of the range of camp site destinations available, the changing weather, and the other campers who you can meet and develop friendships with. No matter what age a child is, he or she will remember a camping holiday for a long time and take those memories along well into adulthood.  

Gone are the days when you need to be an experienced person to set up the pole and staking to install a camp. Such camps were made up of canvas and were heavy in weight. Nowadays, you would be surprised to see the type of tents available in the market nowadays. Tents of various sizes and shapes are readily available in stores.

Whether you are a single person looking for a tent to accommodate your sleeping bag and resembles to a miniature tent like cocoon or you are travelling with your family and require a large room like tent, present day tents have everything to offer to you. However, the type of camping tent you need depends on your plan of camping.

If you are planning to purchase a camping tent for yourself or your family or friends then you need to consider the following points:

1) Where you are about to camp- It is very important that you consider when and where would you camp. You need to purchase a tent that can withstand the season you would be camping. For example, a tent designed to bear rain may not prove to be useful in winter conditions. You can also opt for four season tents that can withstand wind and cold, are more durable to be used in severe winter conditions. Other types of tents available are three season tents that are not sustainable to cold weather. The best way to understand about the quality and capability of a tent is to read the product description in the manufacturer manual.

2) Secondly, you need to consider the size for your camping tent and the type of features you require the most. You can consider using a bivouac camping tent if you are alone or is travelling with whom you can easily share your tent. This bivouac type tent is very light in weight and you can carry only one instead of two in such a scenario. Moreover, it creates a sheath few inches away all around your sleeping bag providing extra protection for you and your beloved.

3) Some people prefer their tent to have more elbow room. For such people, there are various types of traditional tents available in various sizes that range from tents that can accommodate a single person to tents that are like a room and complete family can sleep in one tent. Nowadays, most of the smaller or medium tents are pop-up tents that unfold themselves in their assembled shape. This makes the task of setting up tent an easy task. You would require more assembly if you select a larger tent.

4) For camp lovers, not only size or features but design, colors and material used in tent are of significant importance. Some like their tents to have rooms within tent for privacy whereas others like to have some windows or skylights in their tent. Therefore, our stores are loaded with such trendy and basic tents to suit every need and requirement. Different tents with various features are available for varying prices depending on their capability.

Camping is very common in Germany and the number of campers is growing steadily. Especially with the state of the economy right now lots of Germans will choose to spend their vacations in their own country. So, if you are planning a trip to Germany with a trailer, you should know a few things that are different from the USA. In Germany staying overnight on a parking lot or a highway rest area parking lot is generally not allowed, but will be tolerated! Mind the difference! The trailer must still be hitched to your car and the only legit reason is to restore the ability to carry on. You must not set up chairs and tables or any other stuff that would look like anything “permanent”. The same applies for mobile homes. Any other stays will account for “wild camping” and you will be fined.

Now most folks aren’t planning on spending their vacations on some obscure parking lots anyway. But you might be on your way to an official Camping Site and in dire need of some sleep, and this is also considered “restoring your ability”.

So, what exactly can you expect from a German Camping Resort? Generally, these sites are privately run enterprises, mostly in or near by attractive landmarks. The area is fenced in and subdivided into lots. Usually you can use these resorts with tents, mobile homes or trailers as well. You can expect clean sanitary facilities and shower stalls complete with washing machines and dryers, too. There are places you can cook, little restaurants and convenience stores. You’ll also find campers who rent spaces all year around, but don’t confuse this with US trailer parks, different story. You can rent or lease simple lots long term, but also bungalows and big family tents with a roofed porch. You’ll find simple stretches of meadows or lawn but also very luxury resorts at the big tourist attractions next to lakes or rivers with supermarkets, restaurants and nightlife, if you want.

Along the River Rhine or at the famous Bodensee, the Baltic Sea or the Northern Sea there are hundreds of beautiful camping resorts to choose from. Check the possibilities beforehand and up front and have the owners send you information, which they will usually gladly do, many times in English as well. Most of them do have little websites which you can easily identify through Google and through which you can order information many times.

Mind the local rules and the curfew, you are in Germany and they are sticklers to rules, law and order. Lots of places do even have a noon time shut off where you can’t leave nor enter and no motors are supposed to run from like 12:00 till 3:00 pm. It’s best to be as informed as possible to avoid unpleasant scenes and to be able to enjoy your stay. Usually the landlord will hand you a copy of these rules and since English is pretty much spoken in Germany, they will let you know the do’s and don’ts on the premises. This might sound a bit strange, but it’s for your own good, too. These lots are pretty close to each other and you wil surely appreciate some quite once in a while.

Just how much do you take along on a motorcycle tour? Some people travel with a toothbrush and a bar of soap. Others fill the saddle bags, the top case and pull a small trailer behind their motorcycles.

The vast majority of us are somewhere in the middle of those two extremes. I, personally, am not a big fan of top cases. On the other hand, I do like a small to medium-sized tank bag and saddle bags. If it doesn’t fit there, it doesn’t go with me. The one exception might be a rolled up sleeping bag or a tent bungied to the luggage rack.

How much do you take? How much stuff do you absolutely have to have along to survive? It’s always a compromise. More comfort means more weight. More weight affects the handling of the bike. Too much weight can affect your safety - not a good thing!

One deciding point is, where are you staying? If you’re going to hotels or motels, they have soap, washcloths and towels in the rooms. You don’t need to carry any of that stuff.

If you’re camping along the way, you’ll have to carry everything you’ll need. You can avoid hauling food with you by buying what you need each day. If you want to do your own cooking, you’ll need a stove and cooking utensils. You may want to look into camping stuff designed for backpacking because it’s small, light and packs well.

If you enjoy more comfort with your camping, some of the small trailers designed to be pulled behind a motorcycle fold out into a miniature camper you can actually sleep in! It’s amazing how much comfort you can create by selecting the right equipment.

Again, it really depends on how you like to travel. Most of us thoroughly enjoy the scenic back roads with lots of interesting curves. The interstate highways just aren’t as much fun. If that’s your style of motorcycle travel, lighter is better. The bike handles better and is more responsive when it’s not weighed down by a lot of stuff.

That responsiveness is also enhanced if the weight is carried lower. Taking a top-heavy motorcycle through the twisties can be hard work. That’s one of my reasons for not liking top cases as much as I do saddle bags.

Tank bags allow you to have stuff close at hand without having to park the bike and dig it out. I particularly like having a map of the area right there where I can stop, look at the map and take off again. While I have used a large tank bag, I prefer the small to medium ones. I feel restricted by the bigger ones.

Another cool feature of most tank bags is a shoulder strap that allows you to take it with you when you park the motorcycle. That’s another reason for using a smaller tank bag! Along that same line, I have seen a small soft bag that you mount on the luggage rack instead of a hard top case. This bag also has a shoulder strap like the tank bags which means you can conveniently take it with you.

The possibilities are endless and everything is a compromise. Light vs. heavy, large vs. small, handling like a sports car vs. a bus. There is, unfortunately, no equipment or riding style that has it all. You have to pick and choose what pleases you most.

At the same time, that’s part of the fun, too. If you stop at a restaurant or some other place where there’s a bunch of motorcycles parked in one area, it’s fun to look around to see what choices others have made. You will be amazed at the variety!

The coolest thing about that is if you happen to see something you like. Most of the improvements we make come after we’ve seen someone else do it that way. If I were to leave you one last piece of advice, it would be: don’t postpone that first motorcycle tour until you think everything’s perfect!

Just go, and have a blast!

One crazy winter day, my wife and I decided that we wanted to experiment with cold weather camping. It was January, we had cabin fever, and the sun had been out briefly, so we thought we would go. We packed all of our gear, put our two dogs in the SUV, and drove an hour to Shenandoah National Park. On the way, however, the skies filled with clouds and a slight rain started to fall. The temperature was right at 32 and we started to worry about our adventure. When we got to the gates of the park, the ranger informed us that the road was only open for about a half mile because as the elevation increased, the temperature dropped. This meant that the rain on the road had turned to ice. He showed us one trail that we could still access from the part of the road that was open and said there was parking. But he also looked at us a little funny and said “you know that it’s January and raining, right? You aren’t going to freeze on me up there are you?” We assured him that we had four season camping gear and that we would be fine. We also had two large dogs. Off we went.

The first part of the hike was simply amazing. Sure enough, about 100 years up the trail and the rain had turned to big snow flakes. It was quiet and beautiful. We walked and enjoyed the surroundings. The dogs played in the forest, which was all ours of course. Nobody else was crazy enough to be on the mountain in these conditions. When we approached the first suitable camping site, I suggested we take it. We unpacked and started the familiar rituals for setting up our camp. However, there was one notable difference, it was starting to get dark already! It was merely 4:30 and the light was starting to change. This we had not counted on. We hurried our activities and by the time we sat down with our camp stove for dinner, it was really dark. Worse than that, it was also getting colder quickly.

This is the real lesson about winter camping. You tend to forget that the light is on a completely different schedule. By about 7:30pm, we were cold and ready to be in our tent. But we weren’t tired. We talked for a while in the darkness and eventually went to sleep. We got a ton of sleep that night, but not good sleep. Our four-season gear did not prove to be as strong as advertised. The cold seemed to leak into my sleeping bag from every tiny seam. My suggestion for those who are seeking the winter camping adventure is DO IT. However, bring three of just about everything. If it’s your first time, perhaps consider car camping so that you don’t have to agonize about the weight of all the extra stuff. It was truly exhilaratingly to wake and find an igloo of ice on the tent fly. That first cup of coffee was perhaps the best tasting morning drink of my life. As the morning sun started to melt the ice on the trees, it made for a surreal winter scene that I will not soon forget. However, be smart and bring tons of gear. Start small and make sure you don’t get into real trouble by stretching your camping equipment farther than it can really go.

Taking your child on his very first camping trip can be very exciting for you and your child. It can also be very scary, especially for your child. In order to ease your child’s fears, I have put together some suggestions that might help you and your child to prepare for the first time in the Great Outdoors. These activities are a way of helping your child get some experience and comfort with the outdoors without being far away from home for days at a time.

The best way to help your child get acquainted with camping is to have a campout that isn’t too far away. In other words, have the campout in your own backyard. This allows the family to have the experience of camping out without leaving the security of the house. Being in your own backyard has the advantage of canceling the campout if the weather turns bad.

You may also decide to ease into camping by having a series of campouts in the backyard. For each additional camping adventure, you can add on a responsibility. For instance, the first trip might include setting up the tent and sleeping out. For smaller children, they will be able to focus on setting up the tent properly. The next trip might include building a fire to cook a snack. Your child will be able to focus on building and maintaining a camp fire safely.

Another trip could focus mainly on planning and preparing food. I know that most children think that camp food consists of hot dogs and s’mores, but they can quickly learn that there are a variety of healthy, tasty meals that are easy to prepare over a fire.

Other camping trips can help children learn how to use different types of camping equipment. Even though each of these outings has a main focus, your child will also be practicing some of the things that are fundamental to camping. For instance, every time, your child will experience a night outdoors in a sleeping bag. This will help him to gain experience and confidence for camping away from your home.

Other activities that you can enjoy with your child on these regular camping trips in your backyard are searching the sky for constellations, listening to the different night sounds, and enjoying special nighttime snacks.

If you are worried that your child isn’t ready for camping in the backyard or you would like more activities to prepare your child for a camping trip, here are some additional suggestions to get him familiar with the outdoors to eliminate his fears.

You can take your child (even a group of children) on a small hike in the woods at a local park. While there, you can teach your child about safety and how to respect nature. You may also be able to teach him some outdoor skills and outdoor ethics.

You may decide to take your child to a nature center. This would allow him to experience nature a bit more than just the local park. You could also go fishing at a local pond or stream. Most children love to learn how to fish. Even having a picnic is an excellent way to experience the outdoors.

On days that you don’t have the time to plan a full day of activity, you could easily go on an evening walk or a flashlight walk. Your child will be able to experience more of nature in the evenings and at night because the hustle of the day dies down and you will be able to hear nature better.

Don’t forget that simply reading a book about camping will also help your child to become familiar with camping which will help to lessen his fear.

Happy Camping!

If you’re hitching up your touring caravan and heading down to Devon, why not visit the resort of Sidmouth? It has been described as “a feast of visual delight” by the Poet Laureate John Betjeman and for good reasons.

Make the most of your stay by visiting the Donkey Sanctuary where more than 12,000 donkeys have been cared for in nearly 40 years. It’s also great if you’re taking children as they can get up close to the residents.

If you’re heading east to Norfolk, try Wells-next-the-Sea - the quaint fishing town with long sandy beaches. There is plenty to do from bird watching to galleries and exhibitions. You can even take a boat trip to see the colony of common grey seals.

If you fancy a quick tipple, visit Whin Hill Cider in the main town car park and sample some of their cider, perry or apple juice.

The south coast of England is next on our agenda with the seaside town of Swanage. It’s a great place for families with its award winning Blue Flag beach and resident Punch and Judy show.

One of its great attractions is the Swanage Railway that runs from Swanage to Norden passing through some great sights such as the Isle of Purbeck and the ruins of Corfe Castle.

Wherever you plan to go with your tourer caravan, don’t forget to go prepared and insure your caravan with a reputable caravan insurance company before packing your deck chairs and setting off on your journey.

Have fun!

Keep you food and beverages cold with Soft Coolers. These are available in different sizes, designs and colors to meet the user’s requirements. These are a good purchase not only for personal use but also account for great gift items!

So, are you planning to buy one for personal use? Well here is some help to assist you in deciding on a suitable unit. First of all, it is necessary to decide the purpose for which you require these coolers. If you wish to buy one that serves as a good picnic bag, the big sized bags with multiple pockets will interest you. The designs are unlimited…Tote Bag Coolers, Picnic Baskets, Wheeled Coolers, Beverage Coolers, Wine Bottle Coolers and even Tea Coolers!

Tote Bag Coolers are like rucksacks with straps to help carry the bags on the back or shoulder. These are spacious, waterproof units with insulated compartments. Picnic Time Coolers have some great Tote Bags to choose from. These are bright in color and convenient to carry. Your perfect companion to beaches, long road trips or even sporting events!

Picnic Baskets are stylish and feminine coolers. They have a huge center compartment for keeping food and beverages. Some of these have multiple pockets for keeping food items and even some necessary cutlery. The Picnic Basket from Picnic At Ascot Coolers is a beautiful denim basket. This attractive basket is blue in color with blue and white stripes and blue straps for carrying. It is an insulated unit with a capacity to hold two bottles.

Wheeled Coolers, as the name suggests, are coolers with wheels. These also have a telescopic handle for easy movement. With a capacity of up to 36 cans, these are big insulated bags that can easily suffice the need of three people. These have a huge capacity and can also be used to stuff snacks and other food items.

Beverage Coolers can be used for carrying beverage bottles. The ones that are made to carry a single one liter bottle are best even for children. They have an insulted duffel to keep the beverage cool and a polyester carrying strap.

Wine Bottle Coolers are available in the market to add fun to a picnic! These are available in various sizes that is, single bottle coolers, and those with a capacity to carry two or even three bottles. These units are insulated and are fully leak-proof. Some of them even have holders for carrying wine glasses.

Tea Cooler is the perfect Soft Cooler for two people. It includes a vacuum flask, two cups, two spoons, one spill proof creamer and a cotton napkin. The contents are all of stainless steel and the cover is made of thermal shield insulation to keep the tea/coffee hot or your juice absolutely cool!