{"id":64,"date":"2012-04-05T10:11:00","date_gmt":"2012-04-05T10:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/?p=64"},"modified":"2012-04-05T10:11:00","modified_gmt":"2012-04-05T10:11:00","slug":"easter-diy-disasters-could-cost-more-than-a-holiday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/2012\/04\/easter-diy-disasters-could-cost-more-than-a-holiday\/","title":{"rendered":"Easter DIY disasters could cost more than a holiday"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Bungled DIY projects could cost Aussies more than a Queensland holiday experience this Easter, Tourism Queensland has warned. <\/p>\n<p>Tourism Queensland CEO Anthony Hayes said new research from a UK insurance company* revealed that over the Easter long weekend more than a third of the country&#8217;s DIY-ers would get stuck into home improvements,10 percent of which would end in disaster, costing them each an average of \u00a3166 (AUD$265 ) to put right. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;No doubt there are also plenty of Queenslanders with DIY Easter project lists stuck to the fridge \u2013 and there&#8217;s a high probability that many of these will not turn out quite as planned or within budget,&#8221; Mr Hayes said. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Tourism Queensland is therefore urging Queenslanders to not become a &#8220;DIY disaster&#8221;, down tools and spend that money having some fun in Queensland over Easter. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Even if you can&#8217;t afford to go away, there are plenty of value for money day trips and activities you can do. <br \/> &#8220;In the end it will probably cost you less and create a much more harmonious home environment.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>Mr Hayes said Australians were estimated to have more than 123 million days of annual leave stockpiled**, making us one of the hardest working nations in the world. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Queenslanders in particular worked tirelessly in 2011 which is even more of a reason why you should reward yourself with a Queensland break this Easter \u2013 even if it&#8217;s a &#8216;staycation&#8217; where you stay at home and go on day trips,&#8221; he said. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In 2011 almost 34 million day trips were taken in Queensland of which 24 million were taken within Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Day-trippers to South East Queensland, specifically travelling to Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast spent more than $2.3 billion on their visits in 2011, a four percent increase on the previous year. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;So if you&#8217;ve decided to have a staycation, we&#8217;ve compiled a few great value-for-money ideas to encourage you to ditch the DIY plans and get out of the house and into Queensland&#8217;s backyard where you can make the most of the Easter break.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>For example: <\/p>\n<p>Trying to avoid the public holiday crowds?\u00a0<\/p>\n<div>Lace up the boots and set off on one of the Great Walks of Queensland. There&#8217;s a series of world-class walking tracks that traverse some of the state&#8217;s most beautiful natural areas, including three World Heritage-listed sites which can be experienced in short half-day treks through to full eight-day hikes. Here&#8217;s a few suggestions &#8211; Thorsborne Trail at Hinchinbrook Island, Gold Coast Hinterland Great Walk and the Whitsunday Ngaro Sea-Trail. <br \/> Cost: Free once you get there. <\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re more of a &#8216;taster&#8217; than a &#8216;trekker&#8217; Queensland&#8217;s food and wine trails will give you something to bite into. Take a drive, sample some produce, meet the growers and learn more about the paddock-to-plate process. Try the Granite Belt Wine Country Nude Food Trail, Gold Coast Food and Wine Trail or Food Trail Tours to the Atherton Tablelands.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div>Cost: Guided wine tours cost around $150 per person including a nice meal and wine tastings. Drive yourself and buy your own food and a nice bottle or two to take home. <\/p>\n<p>A scenic hot air balloon ride to discover South East Queensland from the air with uninterrupted views of the city and the country. <br \/> Cost: Around $300 per person. <\/p>\n<p>For other spectacular views, head to the 77th level of the world&#8217;s tallest residential tower, Q1 on the Gold Coast offers breathtaking 360 degree views from its QDeck. <br \/>Cost: $54.50 for a family pass. <\/p>\n<p>If thrill-seeking is your thing make the ultimate entrance and skydive onto one of Queensland&#8217;s beaches. <br \/>Cost: Around $250. <\/p>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bungled DIY projects could cost Aussies more than a Queensland holiday experience this Easter, Tourism Queensland has warned. Tourism Queensland CEO Anthony Hayes said new research from a UK insurance company* revealed that over the Easter long weekend more than a third of the country&#8217;s DIY-ers would get stuck into home improvements,10 percent of which [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}