New Tourism (QLD) – April 2005

• Special group rates for new Straddy Tour
• Take time out for the Temptations of the Darling Downs
• The future is now with Cruise Whitsundays
• Tropical North Queensland's historical retreat
• St Helena Island relives 1905
• Hooking up at Boyne Island and Tannum Sands
• Dreamtime art and food at Eumundi
• Hervey Bay to welcome the jet set

Special group rates for new Straddy Tour
New operator, Stradbroke Island Beach Tours, is offering a special rate of $125 per person for group bookings of eight for their daily tours to Stradbroke Island until the end of July. The tour includes a CBD door to door service, gourmet morning tea at Brown Lake, lunch at the Stradbroke Island Hotel and the chance to take home freshly caught seafood direct from local fisherman. The tour bus also has a DVD burner to enable happy snappers the chance to download their images should their memory cards become full. Regular rates are $145 per person from Brisbane City ($90 for children under 12), $95 from Cleveland or Dunwich ($60 children). For more information call 3824 6247 or visit www.stradbroketours.com.au.

Take time out for the Temptations of the Darling Downs
The tastes and temptations of the Darling Downs will again be on show during the popular Darling Downs Delicious Food and Wine Week from May 14-22. Taking place in Toowoomba and surrounds and with all events an easy 90 minute to two hour drive from Brisbane, this popular event attracts many people from south-east corner. Highlights include Preston Peak Wines’ Jazz in the Vineyard, The Jimbour Long Lunch at historic Jimbour House near Dalby, the hotly-contested Signature Dish Cook Off and the Hampton Food and Arts Festival. A number of other foodie events will be staged and diners should pick this week to visit the local restaurants as the region’s top chefs show off the best of their skills. For more information please contact Toowoomba and Golden West Tourist Association on 07 4632 1988 or visit http://www.toowoombaholidays.info.

The future is now with Cruise Whitsundays
With a futuristic catamaran design, purple colour and a sail area covering almost two tennis courts, Cruise Whitsundays’ new vessel Camira is pretty hard to miss. Camira cheats nature and can sail faster than the wind can blow - sailing at speeds of up to 30 knots. The Camira departs Airlie Beach daily to Whitehaven Beach followed by  snorkelling at either Border Island or Langford Reef. Cost is $120 per person. Cruise Whitsundays also operates Sea Flight, which sails to the Knuckle Reef Lagoon on the Outer Great Barrier Reef. The lagoon boasts one of the highest percentages of live coral for a commercial reef site in Queensland. It’s home to the only reef pontoon in Australia with a giant waterslide and with a partial glass floor in addition to a glass wall. Cost is $166 per person. For more information please contact Cruise Whitsundays on 07 4946 4662 or visit http://www.cruisewhitsundays.com.

Historical retreat in the tropics
The Noorla Hotel is a stunning North Queensland boutique resort located in the centre of Ingham, just over an hour’s drive from Townsville. Hinchinbrook's grandest hotel has been well known and loved in the area since its construction in 1928. The present owners completed extensive renovations on the two acre property in 2004 to restore it to the glory of its heyday. The Noorla features extensive gardens, period furniture throughout, tropical breakfasts, al fresco verandah restaurant, atrium lounge room, deli bar and café.  Accommodation choices include 12 heritage bedrooms, backpackers’ dormitories and eight Winnebago campervan sites. The Noorla has a significant collection of memorabilia, antiques, photographs and stories which reflects its history as a place of splendid entertainment. The hotel’s tour and cultural centre will assist with itineraries and bookings to recommended attractions in the tropical region.  For more information contact 07 4776 1100 or visit www.hotelnoorla.com.au.

St Helena Island relives 1905
Take a trip back in time on Australia’s ‘Alcatraz’, St Helena Island, on 14 and 15 May as part of ‘The Festival in the Ruins’. The re-creation of the hey-day of the famous penal colony on Brisbane’s Moreton Bay (St Helena Island National Park formerly served as a prison for Queensland from 1867 – 1932) will feature highlights including island tours, firing of the ’24 pounder cannon by Bombardier Bob, a 19th century encampment with crafts and food stalls, tours of the Superintendent’s house with morning/afternoon tea, colonial dancing, and a special night time Ghost Tour of the island. Costs are $25 per adult and $15 for children for the return boat journey and island entertainment, with additional costs for tours. This represents excellent value on the normal day tours of $69 for adults and $59 for children. Boat tours will depart from Manly Harbour and Hamilton at scheduled times throughout the weekend. For festival information call (07) 3893 1240 or visit the website: www.sthelenaisland.com.au

Hooking up at Boyne Island and Tannum Sands
Each Autumn, there is a massive migration of fish from their homes in the south to the warmer waters of Central Queensland. At this time there is also a massive migration of fisherfolk to the Central Queensland coastal havens of Boyne Island and Tannum Sands to compete in the Boyne Tannum HookUp. The competition is held over the Queen’s Birthday weekend on June 11-13. With more than 30 categories and a heap of other distractions for those in the family who might not be into fishing, the HookUp is a major drawcard for the area. Add to this the fact it is a long weekend, it raised more than $15,000 for charity in 2003 and the Great Barrier Reef and all its attractions are a short trip off the coast and you have the makings of a great getaway. For information on the HookUp call 1800 897 781 or visit the website: www.boynetannumhookup.com.au.

Dreamtime art and food at Eumundi
Aboriginal Chef, Dale Chapman of the Dilly Bag and Aboriginal Artist, Michael Connolly of Dreamtime Kullilla-Art have finally had their ‘dreamtime’ realised with the opening of their shop - the Dilly Bag Dreamtime Place situated in the heart of Eumundi.   Dale has been operating her Native Bush Tucker business around the Sunshine Coast region and Michael has been selling his artworks from Brisbane markets for many years.  So, how did it all start?  Two or three years ago, Michael was attempting to expand his range to include native bush tucker products. He started the quest to look for an indigenous person who understood the secrets of bush tucker. To his surprise he found only one - Dale Chapman and she lived just up the road in Pomona. They met, they talked and the rest is now history. Ph: (07) 3880 1320 or (07) 5485 1126 or visit www.dreamtime.auz.net or www.dillybag.com.au.

Hervey Bay to welcome the jet set
An $11million airport upgrade to the Hervey Bay Airport by Hervey Bay City Council means flights direct from Sydney to the area. The move will provide unprecedented levels of access to Hervey Bay, Fraser Island and the greater Wide Bay region. Jetstar and Virgin Blue will both start flying from Sydney to Hervey Bay Airport after the predicted-completion of the upgrade in June, 2005. Both operators are planning to operate several mid-week and weekend flights to the area from July, 2005 – just in time for whale-watching season. Connecting flights will also be available from Melbourne. For more information call: Jetstar on (03) 8341 4901 or visit www.jetstar.com or Virgin Blue on (07) 3295 2296 or visit www.virginblue.com.au.