Push Factor

Auckland, while not the capital city of New Zealand is by far the largest with a population in excess of 1.3 million people. New Zealand or Aotearoa - translated into English as the Land of the Long White Cloud Is a beautiful Pacific Nation that has a lot to offer.

I have made 2 trips to New Zeealand over the last 5 years and the First trip I spent most of my time in the City of Auckland. The city itself is known as the City of Sails - as it is almost bordered by the Pacific ocean. Auckland lies on a narrow part of the North Island and has both an East and West coast of the Pacific. With so much Ocean so close, it is no wonder it is known as the City of Sails.

When I was first there, One Tree Hill, An extinct Volcano actually still had it’s one tree on top. Sadly, it no longer stands on the hill which gives magnificent views back to the City Centre.

The Sky Tower is just one of the great attractions in the City Centre - it is the tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere. If you really want to be freaked out, just stand on the glass floor in the observation deck! Just a 6″ thick piece of glass between you and the street over 300M below you.

As you would expect, in a city of 1.3 Million people there is a huge range of Hotels in Auckland - from backpackers to 5 star luxury Auckland accomodation.

Auckland is not just a great place to stay, but also a great place to base yourself on your holiday. New Zealand has a whole lot to offer within just a couple of hours drive if you ever get sick of just wandering around the City Itself. So, take a few weeks off work, check out the Auckland Hotels, find one you like and spend a bit of time exploring this Pacific Paradise.

Vacation time need not cost a fortune when it comes to your holiday accomodations. These days we already know that getting online will get you the best deals but there is far more to it than that. Not everyone wants to stay in a resort or a huge hotel complex - there are other options out there as well.

If you want to head to the Famous Myrtle Beach in South Carolina then you might want to consider one of the Myrtle Beach vacation rentals. You can find something other than the typical resort.

Heading off in a different direction, but another Beach as well - Destin Beach on the Florida Coast - Destin vacation rentals have a selection from luxury villas to Condos overlooking the Gulf.

Now, if you are wanting to get a bit further away from the mainstream tourist places then maybe the South West Gulf area of Florida is more your pace. Naples vacation rentals will find you accomodation in a comfortable cottage as the place to spend your vacation.

Goin2travel not only lists vacation rentals in most states, but also has a heap of worldwide rentals as well - and is a valuable resource to finding quality, affordable vacation rentals for you, your family and friends.

Down under that is!

Australia is not only a great place to live but also a great place to visit. I have lived in 3 different capital cities in Australia and visited all capital cities except Darwin. Even though I live here, I still love to travel to various parts of the country, sometimes just to catch up with family and friends or to just see a new place.

When I travel I am pretty lucky in that I have a lot of family and friends who provide accomodation, but when I am touring around or passing thur a place where I don’t have family I need to make sure I have my accomodation sorted out.

Sydney is the “Big Apple” it is the City that never shuts down - there is something to see and do 24/7/365. I am pretty lucky in that I have some great friends who always as when are you coming over? So for me my accomodation is always easy! Now, if it wasn’t I would want to get somewhere close to the city and also be on the lookout for reasonably cheap! There are literally hundreds of Sydney Hotels to choose from.

Next, Melbourne. While it is the 2nd largest city, it is not quite as busy as Sydney - it does close down for a couple of hours each day! Last time I went to Melbourne it was a business trip and I didn’t have to worry about where I stayed or how much it cost as I wasn’t paying! When I do go to Melbourne, typically, I try and find a Melbourne Hotel just out of the city as it is an easy place to get around.

The last Capital city on the East Coast of Australia is Brisbane. Brisbane in itself is not my favourite city - but it is within a short distance of some really great tourist destinations and attractions. With the Gold Coast about an hour south of the city, with the various theme parks and the Sunshine Coast only an hour to the North Brisbane is a convenient and central place to stay. In the peak seasons, a stay in a Brisbane hotel is much cheaper than staying on either the Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast which are both easily accessable!

Now, just because All I have mentioned is the 3 main East Coast cities don’t think for a minute that this is All Australia has to offer! Of everywhere I have visited, Australia has one of the most diverse range of climates and scenery of any country in the whole World - so Go down under and when you are here don’t forget to say Gidday!

Nope, not talking about the 1983 Mvie starring Chevy Chase either!

When planning your own Eourpean Vactaion (lets hope it is much better than the movie) you will either go to a travel agent to get your accomodation booked or you will do it yourself. A travel agent charges a commission, which costs you more and who wants to pay more than you have to? Booking your own accomodation has never been easier with every dog and his man having an Internet site. that doesn’t make it much easier does it - having to find all the different countries you want to visit then track down suitable lodgings in each of them.

Well, rather than spending hours searching online you could just go to Easy To Book and do everything at the one site.

I have an online friend who has shown me a lot of photos of Holland and I am considering spending some time there in the next few months. Now, Amsterdam has a bit of a reputation of being one of the most liberal cities in the world and I would be booking at least a few days at an Amsterdam Hotel at both ends of my visit. Now when I do head to Europe, I’ll probably try and see more than just Holland and put Both London and Paris on my list.

The Early 60’s saw Hawaii rise as one of the great holiday destinations after Elvis made the Film Blue Hawaii. The Film gave us one of the first glimpses of the natural beauty of the tropical paradise and ever since people have been making their way from the mainland to vacation. The late 70’s saw the rise of huge holiday apartment buildings and resorts where may people have enjoyed thier Hawaiian beachfront Holiday since.

Now, everyone is getting over the holiday in a concrete pillar where you might get lucky and get an apartment where you get a glimpse of the Ocean and beach from and starting to turn back to more traditional accomodation that is more in tune with the environment. A Vacation in a beachside Villa that puts you close to the natural beaty of the Island paradise is certainly more appealing to me than being on the 6th floor of some apartment building! I would much rather wander down to the ocean from one of the hawaii beachfront cottages and have palm trees and tropical beauty all around me than dodge the other tourists and traffic in one of the tourist resorts. To me a vacation is a time to get away from it all and relax, not fly off to a tropical paradise then fight my way thru hundreds of other tourists!