Port Orleans Riverside Resort
The Port Orleans Riverside Resort is located at Walt Disney World Florida, in the Down Town Disney area. It is considered a Moderate Resort.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Quest Bridgewater - Kangaroo Point
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Will this tide you over?
2. Sorry, but I really haven't been anywhere recently to review... I've driven through a few small towns, and yes I did grab some snaps on the way through and I do propose to post those too, it just hasn't happened yet!
3. Sorry, but I'm trying to get some of my diploma done, so I can eventually actually call myself a Travel Journalist... However I probably still won't feel comfortable doing that until I've been paid for doing it!!
4. Sorry, but work is really hectic at the moment! Really hectic!
5. Sorry, but we are actually planning two holidays. I'm not going to say where, incase they don't happen. Because people tend to ask you how your holiday was, and there's nothing worse then having to tell people you never got there...
Ok, surely that's enough excuses as to why my poor little blog has been neglected? I will come back and start posting regularly again, I promise. I think I just need a bit of an arsenal of back reviews to get me going. Does anyone want to fund that expedition?!?
Thursday, November 3, 2011
I know, I know...
There just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day at the moment, even now I'm behind my desk at work looking over my should as I hastily type away.
Here is just a selection of some good websites to get your travel fix;
Trip Advisor
Travelzoo
Sydney Morning Herald - Travel
Jetsetter
Each of the above websites offers tips, tricks and opinions on different travel deals.
Hopefully that will keep the travel bug at bay for now :)
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Getting Published
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Excellence Riviera Cancun - Footage
I'm pretty much the opposite of professional when it comes to videos, but this shakey footage was taken from our room's balcony. It was on level 3 of building 9 in the excellence club.
This was an amazing resort, and a more in depth review will follow.
http://youtu.be/5xcscICxbdw
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Newport Mirage
The Newport Mirage is located in a beautiful spot, overlooking the Pittwater. It’s situated away from all busy roads, but close enough that even the country folk can find their way to the busier areas.
The rooms are well looked after, and kept very clean, while offering amenities such an iron and ironing board, a hair dryer, heating and cooling and a mini bar with tea making facilities.
Unfortunately after those facts, the Newport Mirage is lacking.
Is it just me? Or would this drive you insane too?
There... That's better...
Check in was fast and easy, and while the lady helping us wasn’t rude by any meals, she definitely wasn’t all that friendly either. I don’t begrudge her that though, who’s to say that she hadn’t just been abused by the last guest she served, and was no longer in the friendly mood that she’d started the day with. As I said, she was nowhere near rude.
For the amount you pay for what is quite a basic room – our charge was around $160 per night, staying with a group discount, for a room that overlooked the carpark/road - there is neither free internet nor a complimentary breakfast, however they do provide free parking.
In our room, room 307, we had two single beds pushed together and made up as a king size bed. This made the bed nice and spacious, and it was very comfortable, with nice fluffy pillows to match. Sleeping was not a problem.
I would not recommend this hotel for business travellers. We paid $5 for only an hours internet usage, and were told that it would only work for one log on, so if you accidentally logged off after only 15 minutes use, then you would be required to pay again to reconnect.
There is a restaurant on site, which offers at least breakfast and dinner (I didn’t see anything mentioning lunch, but I’m assuming they also offer it). However on both nights we were there the restaurant was booked out for private functions between 6 and 9:30pm. A courtesy note was left in our room advising us of this, and recommending the restaurant across the road.
Both functions being held the nights we were there were weddings. I am thankful for small mercies, in that the receptions were required to finish at 9:30pm.
There was very little sound proofing provided in the guest rooms, and it felt as though we had been invited into the event, as everything going on in the restaurant above was echoing through our rooms below. We were actually invited to the wedding on the second night – hence our visit – and were able to partake in the meals that the restaurant provided. Whilst I’d never consider reporting this to the bride, I once again found the hotel lacking in this department. My mind naturally travelled back to my own wedding, where the meals had been amazing and perfect, and any other synonym you care to add. I suppose though that that is the difference between a random hotel on Sydney’s Northern shore, and Walt Disney World…
The hotel is in a beautiful position for a wedding, with the ceremony overlooking the yachts in the harbor as the sun sets. Regrettably I do doubt that we will return to the Newport Mirage. There seem to be many more hotels that are much better value available.
Have you been to the Newport Mirage? Let me know of your experiences!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Cheap flights from Australia to Japan
Be flexible with dates and you should be able to find return flights for around $500 between the Gold Coast and Tokyo.
Cairns to Tokyo (Narita) 01 Sep - 31 Oct 2011 $209
Gold Coast to Osaka 01 Sep - 31 Oct 2011 $229
Gold Coast to Tokyo (Narita) 02 Sep - 31 Oct 2011 $229
Cairns to Osaka 01 Sep - 31 Oct 2011 $249
Sydney to Osaka 01 Sep - 20 Sep 2011 & 12 Oct - 27 Oct 2011 $290 - Via Gold Coast only
Melbourne (Tullamarine)to Tokyo (Narita) 06 Sep - 20 Sep 2011 & 12 Oct - 25 Oct 2011 $303 - Via Gold Coast only
Melbourne (Tullamarine)to Osaka 01 Sep - 20 Sep 2011 & 12 Oct - 25 Oct 2011 $303
Zuji Global Hotel Sale
Get in quick so you don't miss out!
Zuji Global Hotel Sale
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
A Letter to Richard Branson
Oliver Beale
17th December 2008
Dear Mr Branson
REF: Mumbai to Heathrow 7th December 2008 Flying Club number obscured
I love the Virgin brand, I really do which is why I continue to use it despite a series of unfortunate incidents over the last few years. This latest incident takes the biscuit. Ironically, by the end of the flight I would have gladly paid over a thousand rupees for a single biscuit following the culinary journey of hell I was subjected to at the hands of your corporation.
Look at this Richard. Just look at it:
I imagine the same questions are racing through your brilliant mind as were racing through mine on that fateful day. What is this? Why have I been given it? What have I done to deserve this? And, Which one is the starter, which one is the desert? You don’t get to a position like yours Richard with anything less than a generous sprinkling of observational power so I KNOW you will have spotted the tomato next to the two yellow shafts of sponge on the left. Yes, it’s next to the sponge shaft without the green paste. That’s got to be the clue hasn’t it. No sane person would serve a desert with a tomato would they. Well answer me this Richard, what sort of animal would serve a desert with peas in:
I know it looks like a baaji but it’s in custard Richard, custard. It must be the pudding. Well you’ll be fascinated to hear that it wasn’t custard. It was a sour gel with a clear oil on top. It’s only redeeming feature was that it managed to be so alien to my palette that it took away the taste of the curry emanating from our miscellaneous central cuboid of beige matter. Perhaps the meal on the left might be the desert after all.
Anyway, this is all irrelevant at the moment. I was raised strictly but neatly by my parents and if they knew I had started desert before the main course, a sponge shaft would be the least of my worries. So lets peel back the tin-foil on the main dish and see what’s on offer.
I’ll try and explain how this felt. Imagine being a twelve year old boy Richard. Now imagine it’s Christmas morning and you’re sat their with your final present to open. It’s a big one, and you know what it is. It’s that Goodmans stereo you picked out the catalogue and wrote to Santa about. Only you open the present and it’s not in there. It’s your hamster Richard. It’s your hamster in the box and it’s not breathing. That’s how I felt when I peeled back the foil and saw this:
Now I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking it’s more of that Baaji custard. I admit I thought the same too, but no. It’s mustard Richard. MUSTARD. More mustard than any man could consume in a month. On the left we have a piece of broccoli and some peppers in a brown glue-like oil and on the right the chef had prepared some mashedpotato. The potato masher had obviously broken and so it was decided the next best thing would be to pass the potatoes through the digestive tract of a bird. Once it was regurgitated it was clearly then blended and mixed with a bit of mustard. Everybody likes a bit of mustard Richard. Jesus Christ.
By now I was actually starting to feel a little hypoglycaemic. I needed a sugar hit. Luckily there was a small cookie provided. It had caught my eye earlier due to it’s baffling presentation:
It appears to be in an evidence bag from the scene of a crime. A CRIME AGAINST BLOODY COOKING. Either that or some sort of back-street underground cookie, purchased off a gun-toting maniac high on his own supply of yeast. You certainly wouldn’t want to be caught carrying one of these through customs. Imagine biting into a piece of brass Richard. That would be softer on the teeth than the specimen above.
I was exhausted. All I wanted to do was relax but obviously I had to sit with that mess in front of me for half an hour. I swear the sponge shafts moved at one point. Once cleared. I decided to relax with a bit of your world-famous onboard entertainment. I switched it on:
I apologise for the quality of the photo, it’s just it was incredibly hard to capture Boris Johnson’s face through the flickering white lines running up and down the screen. Perhaps it would be better on another channel:
Is that Ray Liotta? A question I found myself asking over and over again throughout the gruelling half-hour I attempted to watch the film like this. After that I switched off. I’d had enough. I was the hungriest I’d been in my adult life and I had a splitting headache from squinting at a crackling screen.
My only option was to simply stare at the seat in front and wait for either food, or sleep. Neither came for an incredibly long time. But when it did it surpassed my wildest expectations:
Yes! It’s another crime-scene cookie. Only this time you dunk it in the white stuff. Richard…. What is that white stuff? It looked like it was going to be yoghurt. It finally dawned on me what it was after staring at it. It was a mixture between the Baaji custard and the Mustard sauce. It reminded me of my first week at university. I had overheard that you could make a drink by mixing vodka and refreshers. I lied to my new friends and told them I’d done it loads of times. When I attempted to make the drink in a big bowl it formed a cheese Richard, a cheese. That cheese looked a lot like your baaji-mustard.
So that was that Richard. I didn’t eat a bloody thing. My only question is: How can you live like this? I can’t imagine what dinner round your house is like, it must be like something out of a nature documentary.
As I said at the start I love your brand, I really do. It’s just a shame such a simple thing could bring it crashing to it’s knees and begging for sustenance.
Yours Sincererly
Oliver Beale
I am proud to say that V Australia's food looks nothing like anything pictured! I don't think I could have eaten anything on that flight either.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
V Australia - Sydney to Los Angeles
Boarding was on time and quick and painless, with the V Australia staff taking the smart option of loading from the back of the plane to the front (which avoids people standing in the aisle while you’re trying to get past).
Overall I was very happy with our flight, Virgin’s customer service is amazing, the meals are tasty and filling and the entertainment is free and varied. We will fly with V Australia again, and I look forward to it!
All pictures have been “borrowed” from The Age – I always feel uncomfortable taking pictures inside an airplane – how about you?
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Why Disney?
What can I say? They know how to make things magical!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Travel Writing & Photography
I'm hoping that this course will give me better insight into what I'm doing here, and help me create more comprehensive - and interesting - articles. Hopefully when I come out the other end I'll be able to write reviews that people will want to read. If all goes well I will also come out with a diploma of journalism. I think I'll add that to my profile when I get it. Gives me some credibility!
I'm doing the course through correspondence, and my first pack arrived today. I've read through the paperwork and am itching to get started. So far all I've done is complete half of the information on the front page, with information such as my name, address and phone number...
I hope I've passed so far...
Monday, April 11, 2011
Port Orleans Riverside Resort – Walt Disney World.
Crowne Plaza LAX
This hotel is perfect for those who are having a stop over at LA, or just prefer to stay close to the airport. According to its description, it is located less then a mile from the main terminals, but we were never once disturbed by the sound of planes.
Getting to the Crowne Plaza from LAX was very simple, you just head out to the Islands and look for the hotel shuttle signs, several buses will stop, but you just need to look for the one with your hotels name on it. Easy!
The staff here are very friendly, and extremely helpful. They booked us into the red trolley tour so we could check out some of the nearby sights and do some shopping on our day off, which we’d happily spend a day doing again. The Red Trolley toured El Segundo Beach, plus some surrounding shopping areas. However I’ll come back to this service in a later post.
The rooms do leave a little to be desired, and could do with a renovation, as I noticed a few things like loose or broken tiles in the bathroom and dated carpet. However this in itself would not turn me off staying here again.
The restaurant in the lobby had good food – mainly buffet – and good service. Also available was a sushi bar, a pizza bar and a donut kiosk. We had the buffet for lunch and found that there was a reasonable variety and the food was fresh. This was followed by pizza from the pizza bar for dinner, which was made to order and just what we were after. The following morning we had the breakfast buffet and found that there seemed to be more variety then the following day, however the pricing here was confusing…
Overall we were quite happy with our stay at the Crowne Plaza LAX and would happily stay here again if we needed a stop over, or had an early morning flight.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Travelzoo Top 20 - US Edition
Source: Sceptre Tours
$79 & up -- Brand-Wide Sale into May, incl. Sheraton & W
Source: Starwood Hotels & Resorts
$89 -- Beverly Hills: Luxe 4-Course Dinner for 2 (Reg. $209)
Source: The Restaurant at L'Ermitage
$439 -- Dominican Republic All-Inclusive 5-Night Trip w/Air
Source: CheapCaribbean.com
$99 -- Coastal California Inn w/Breakfast & Wine Tastings
Source: Apple Farm Inn
$699 & up -- Balcony Cabins on 7-Night Cruises w/$100 Credit
Source: Royal Caribbean
$279 -- Luxe Sedona Getaway for 2 w/$240 in Spa Treatments
Source: Sedona Rouge Hotel & Spa
$99 -- Cancun 4-Star All-Inclusive Beach Resort, 60% Off
Source: BookIt.com
$279 -- NYC: Glam New Hotel in SoHo w/Breakfast (Reg. $409)
Source: Mondrian SoHo
$699 -- Costa Rica 6-Night Vacation w/Car Rental & Air
Source: TravelByJen.com
$59 -- Orlando Resort near Disney World, 40% Off
Source: BookIt.com
$1499 -- 15-Night South America Cruise w/Air, Save $1800
Source: CruCon Cruise Outlet
$1999 -- Germany 10-Night Escorted 4-Star Vacation w/Air
Source: Go Ahead Tours
$119 -- 72-Hour Sale: Chicago 4-Star Downtown Hotel, 55% Off
Source: Hyatt Regency Chicago
$54 & up -- Flights to New York City on Sale (each way)
Source: Major Airlines
$1459 -- Tahiti 4-Star Beachfront Vacation w/Air, Save $300
Source: Air Tahiti Nui
$845 -- Business Class: Paris from NYC in Spring, each way
Source: OpenSkies
$109 -- Jamaica: All-Inclusive Adults-Only Resort, 55% Off
Source: The Jewel Dunn's River Beach Resort & Spa
$13.95 -- Car Rentals on Sale through April
Source: Hotwire
$799 -- Budapest & Prague in Autumn: 6 Nights & Air
Source: Gate 1 Travel
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Travelzoo Top 20 - Australian Edition
Travelzoo scan the web to bring you the best travel deals out there, and deliver them to your inbox every week. To take advantage of the deals all you need to do is subscribe to Travelzoo's emails.
$662-$682 -- Fiji 4-Night Holiday inc Flights from Sydney
Source: Expedia.com.au
$88 -- Gold Coast 1-Bedroom Apartments, $72 OFF
Source: Mantra Bel Air
$115 -- Canberra: Award-Winning 4.5-Star Hotel, SAVE $145
Source: Crowne Plaza Canberra
$55 & up -- Domestic Flight Sale, 60+ Routes Reduced
Source: Virgin Blue
$76 -- Top-Rated Thai Beach Resort w/Brekkie & Transfers
Source: Ramada Resort Khao Lak
$121 -- 4-Star Sydney Hotel inc Upgrade & Late Checkout
Source: Mercure Sydney
$99 -- Cabin Special: Sail Melbourne to/from Tassie, 60% OFF
Source: Spirit of Tasmania
$85 -- Hip Penang Hotel w/Upgrade & Breakfast (reg. $188)
Source: Hard Rock Hotel Penang
$135 -- Deluxe Hotel on Cairns Esplanade w/Breakfast & More
Source: Hilton Cairns
$3569 -- Luxury South East Asian Mekong Fly/Cruise
Source: Go See Touring
$95 -- Central Brisbane CBD Hotel, $54 OFF
Source: Metro Hotel Tower Mill
$65 -- Auckland CBD Apartments inc Internet, SAVE 42%
Source: Oaks iStay Residences
$1365 -- 1 Week in Hawaii w/Sydney Flights & Transfers
Source: Escape Travel
$595 -- 5-Night Deluxe Sunshine Coast Break (reg. $945)
Source: Queensland Holidays
$96 -- Bangkok 5-Star Hotel w/Upgrade, Breakfast & More
Source: Swissotel Nai Lert Park Bangkok
$11 & up -- One-Way Flights within Europe, up to 80% OFF
Source: Ryanair
$693 -- Spend a Week in Port Macquarie, SAVE $250+
Source: Quickbeds.com
$110 -- Las Vegas Suite near The Strip inc Weekends
Source: Platinum Hotel and Spa
$97 & up -- Weekend Car Hire around Australia, 3rd Day Free
Source: Hertz
$170 -- 3-Night Hunter Valley Midweek Break w/Wine
Source: Big4 Valley Vineyard Tourist Park
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Vacation Notice
It's finally time for me to go away and get married!! I don't know what I'm more excited about, the wedding or the holiday! (Who am I kidding? Of course I'm more excited about the holiday!!)
Of course once I'm back there will be several updates, detailing everything I've done while away!!
Have a happy Feb/March everyone!!