Queensland visitor app, Malaysia, Morocco and Hawaii's Big Island

Ren Zwiers has news of a smartphone app which will prove useful to tourists throughout Queensland.

Geoff Harrison chats with Tourism Malaysia representative Wendy Lee.

David Gordon interviews Rosina McKeown, an expert on living in and visiting Morocco. (Courtesy Travelbites Radio).

Martha Bull and tourism officer Ross Birch discuss the many highlights of Hawaii's 'Big Island'. (Courtesty Around the World Radio).

 

Travel podcast is back!

Welcome back to a new season of Travelradio Australia following our absence throughout most of February.

In the latest episode you can hear the following segments:

• John Crook reviews the Ferment Asian restaurant in the Barossa Valley town of Tanunda.
• Frances Beasley explains why bakeries, and in particular the humble pretzel are so popular in Germany.
• From Around the World Radio, our sister show in the US, Martha Bull chats with author Linda Ballou about 'uncruising in Hawaii'.
• Host Ren Zwiers interviews Aussie contributor John Crook about his life and times in the Sunshine Coast hinterland of Queensland.

PLAY THE PODCAST BELOW

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Kalahari Salt, and Hawaii - all in one show!

In this week's audio podcast host/producer Ren Zwiers opens the show and presents the latest travel news. Frances Beasley then visits a wine and food show in Munich, Germany where she discovers the merits of salt from the Kalahari. The final segment is a recent grab from our sister program in the US, 'Around the World'. Co-hosts Arthur von Wiesenberger and Martha Bull chat with regular contributor Max Hartshorne from Gonomad.com about Maui, Hawaii.

Listen Now:

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Final radio show but we'll be back!

After more than a decade on the airwaves in Australia we have come to the end of an era. We have produced the final travel radio show to be broadcast on Community Radio Network stations throughout Australia. The show has been taking a few weeks' break over the festive period and will return early in 2012 as a podcast available on this site as well as travelradioaustralia.com and, of course, through the iTunes store. I would like to thank the countless program managers and others who have supported the show in its lengthy career. I look forward to producing and hosting brand  new episodes featuring our regular team of contributors in January 2012. Until then, I hope you enjoy this show!

Here's the rundown on this edition....

• Frances Beasley discovers the popularity of Australian wines in Europe and particularly her home country of Germany.
• John Crook chats with his 'cruise junkie' mate Phil Kirby about his latest adventures on the high seas.
• From our US affiliated show 'Around the World', Arthur von Wiesenberger and Martha Bull discover the Kohala Coasy, Hawaii.

Listen on the flash player below

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Aussie wines, Hawaii, Switzerland and northern England

As the year draws to its conclusion we will have two more podcasts online before the end of 2011. 

Edition number 50 features John Crook reviewing Stockman's Wines from Australia.

US reporter Carrie Blanc recently visited Maui, Hawaii and reports on her trip.

Our own European contributor Frances Beasley has discovered that 'wellness' is an 'occupational hazard' in Switzerland. Listen to her commentary to find out all about this topic.

In the final segment Irish-based contributor David Gordon (who is also our voice-over man), visits northern England.

Listen to the show on the player below

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Following in the footsteps of Richard the Lionheart

European contributor to ATW Travelradio Australia, Frances Beasley follows the route taken by Richard the Lionheart from France to England in the 12th Century. Also on this edition John Crook reviews Windowrie wines from Australia. US contributor Martha Bull travels to Mexico. Another US reporter, Sue Frause tells listeners about her recent experiences in Hawaii.

ATW Travelradio Australia is hosted/produced by yours truly, Ren Zwiers in Brisbane, Australia and heard each week on around 30 Community Radio Network affiliated stations throughout this island nation.
It is the longest established weekly travel radio show in Australia and has been podcast on its own website www.travelradioaustralia.com for a number of years as well. It is a sister program to the award-winning and also long-established Around the World travel radio show hosted by Arthur von Wiesenberger and friends in Santa Barbara, California.

Listen to podcast

VIDEO: Holiday in Honolulu

We shot this colourful video in and around Honolulu, Hawaii on our recent holiday staying at the Waikiki Circle Hotel, right on Waikiki Beach. It features lots of beach scenes, some Hawaiian culture and beautiful sunsets. Enjoy!

I'm Back from the US!

There haven't been any new posts on this site for a while, mainly because I've spent the last few weeks holidaying in Honolulu and Las Vegas. Computers and the internet were the furthest thing from my mind....but now it's back to reality!

We flew Brisbane-Nadi-Honolulu with Air Pacific. Fiji's international airline probably isn't the world's best by a longshot, but we had nothing to complain about...flights were on time and crew was friendly, attentive and the planes were clean. What more do you want? The only downside was a five hour transit stop at Nadi airport..not the world's most riveting international terminal.

Our accommodation in Waikiki was at the long-established beachfront ResortQuest Waikiki Circle Hotel, a 14-storey circular building which has been accommodating guests at budget prices (by Hawaiian standards) for many decades. Booking on the internet, we paid approximately $180 Australian per night for an oceanfront room with balcony. For the first two nights we scored a third floor room which had reasonable oceanviews, although a large tree opposite did obscure some of the vistas. We returned to the Circle Hotel after a six night stay in Vegas and this time went right to the top...a 14th floor oceanfront room with views 'to die for'....180 degrees of ocean and cityscape views.

The hotel doesn't feature its own swimming pool, but what the heck...across the road is one of the world's best (and biggest) natural pools with warm water and a choice of calm, sheltered water or bigger waves further out (if you're into board riding). The hotel has plenty of blow-up surf mattresses and tyres for guests to use and beach towels are available at reception.

The Circle's rooms are of reasonable quality...'beachy' furniture and fittings, two double beds and a small (but adequate) bathroom. Certainly great value for money and on our next trip to Waikiki we'll definitely stay there again.

At Honolulu we boarded a Hawaiian Airlines direct flight to Las Vegas. Again, the flight was dead on time and we arrived on the glitter strip early morning, as scheduled.

Our abode was dead-centre in Las Vegas Boulevard at Bill's Gambling Hall and Saloon. We opted for this Hotel/Casino after checking various hotel reviews on the internet and finding that this place had a solid following, particularly with regular visitors. After staying there, I can see why this is so. Firstly...position, position, position. You walk out the door and across the road is Bellagio's and Caesar's Palace...next door you'll, find Flamingo...and so on. Secondly, the price...our average nightly room rate was $US100 (including a full weekend, when prices normally double). Thirdly, it's a smaller hotel...you check-in at the entrance and hop straight in the elevator to your guestroom floor. No long walks through the casino halls and endless corridors to get to your long awaited bed in the middle of the night. Once again, we'll return there on our next trip (whenever that will be).

There were countless fellow Australians in both Hawaii and Vegas during our stay. Obviously we Aussies rate those two destinations highly on our holiday enjoyment scale...and rightly so!