According to a new survey by international research agency Brainjuicer, Germans, Japanese, British and American travellers all nominated Australia as the most desirable place to holiday.

Despite so many people being desperate to visit the country, many hadn’t managed to make the trip due to the distance, cost and time involved in travelling there.

Whilst all of the holidaymakers surveyed made a unanimous decision on Australia for the top spot, Americans chose Italy as their reserve top spot – the place they would pick if Australia was taken out of the equation. Second was Britain and third was their homeland, the US of A.

John Kearon, Chief Executive of Brainjuicer said, “What emerged is that Australia is competing with North America for the adventure holiday.”

These findings follow an Australian destination being voted the top must-see destination of 2009 in Lonely Planet’s bible of hot destinations.

The idyllic Bay of Fires in Tasmania has been described as a 'castaway bay' with 29km of beaches of white, hourglass-fine sand and sapphire blue seas.

Mr Kearon added, “Australia has the advantage over the US of authenticity. Ultimately what it comes down to is that point of difference, that edge.”

“Australia is a real adventure, whereas the US is a Disney adventure.

“If you want a safe choice, go to America; if you want a real adventure, go to Australia,” he added.

Pet peeve

As well as being top of the props for people, an Australian city has also scored highly in terms of pet lifestyle. Melbourne in Victoria has been revealed as Australia's most livable city – for pets.

After surveying 1800 people from all over the country, the Australian Animal Companion Council found Melbourne to be most pleasing to pooches, ahead of Adelaide, with Darwin in last place out of the eight capitals.

Dog and cat owners said that the most important issue for them was being permitted to keep their pet where they live.

The next most important issues were the ability to take a dog to a park or beach, and having open spaces where dogs could meet and play off their leads.

For more information on property in Australia and the market in general, please visit http://australia.themovechannel.com/

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

TheMoveChannel.com is a property website that was founded in 1999 as an online resource for buying, selling and learning about property. It now receives as many as 300,000 visits per month and advertises over 50,000 properties in nearly 90 countries, which are listed by over 500 partner organisations.

For further information as well as images and interview possibilities, please contact:

Dan Johnson
Managing Director
www.themovechannel.com
0207 952 7650

Even though half of my family live in Australia, I’ve never quite got my head around the idea of a hot Christmas.

No amount of white sandy beaches can compete with that glorious anticipation of a sparkly dusting of snow on Christmas morning.

(Let’s gloss over the fact that the last time we had a white Christmas I was as old as my shoe size).

But, this coming Christmas, Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, will have the best of both worlds – the hot temperatures and the winter wonderland.

Whilst the mercury will be topping a baking 40 degrees in one of the hottest towns in Australia, local residents and tourists will be enjoying gliding over the ice slap bang in the middle of the desert – a surreal experience if ever there was one.

The Convention Centre in the centre of Alice Springs will be transformed into a temporary rink, which local officials hope will attract not only locals desperate to cool off but also tourists to the area.

Northern Territory Sport and Recreation Minister Karl Hampton said, “It’ll be a first for the town.”

As youth crime is rife in the town due to the lack of entertainment and activities on offer, The Alice Springs Town Council has dedicated £5,000 to the ice project in the hope that it will provide students with a constructive way of spending their time off school.

Another £30,000 is also being injected into the project to help transport and build it.

The rink will be open for six weeks during the summer months, including the school holidays and, as the Convention Centre normally shuts from December to February, the new venture should also help to support many jobs.

Tourism Central Australia General Manager, Peter Grigg, says the rink will be a great drawcard for visitors during what is traditionally the quietest time of the year.

“I think you would be beating them off with a stick. It's something that's just so out of the ordinary here in Alice Springs,” he added.

For more information on properties in Australia and the market in general, please visit http://australia.themovechannel.com/

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

TheMoveChannel.com is a property website that was founded in 1999 as an online resource for buying, selling and learning about property. It now receives as many as 300,000 visits per month and advertises over 50,000 properties in nearly 90 countries, which are listed by over 500 partner organisations.

For further information as well as images and interview possibilities, please contact:

Dan Johnson
Managing Director
www.themovechannel.com
0207 952 7650

The Sydney Chamber of Commerce's annual favourite things survey found that 24 per cent of Sydneysiders ranked Taronga Zoo as their top attraction in the city of Sydney.

Taronga Zoo is the nation's leading zoological garden, featuring Australia's finest collection of native animals and a diverse collection of exotic species. What makes Taronga something special is its location.

It is situated on elevated land along the waterfront, in one of the most beautiful vantage points on Sydney Harbour overlooking Sydney Cove, the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.

Unsurprisingly, the striking Sydney Opera House came second in the ‘favourite things’ survey, with 22 per cent of votes, followed by the Sydney Harbour Bridge/ Bridge Climb on 18 per cent.

The Royal National Park secured 12 per cent of votes, ahead of Bondi Beach on eight per cent.

The top ranked zoo was also proof of the publicity that comes alongside appearing on a reality show – it was featured in a behind-the-scenes documentary on the Seven Network called The Zoo.

Meanwhile Circular Quay and The Rocks came up trumps as a favourite part of the city with 49 per cent of votes.

Palm Beach and Manly are joint holders of Sydney's favourite beach title, sharing 17 per cent of the vote. Bondi got 15 per cent.

Sydney Chamber Executive Director Patricia Forsythe said, “The results show that Sydney's heart and soul continues to be based around the harbour with the zoo, harbour bridge, opera house, Circular Quay and The Rocks continuing to dominate the survey,” she said.

For more information on Australian property and the market in general, please visit http://australia.themovechannel.com/

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

TheMoveChannel.com is a property website that was founded in 1999 as an online resource for buying, selling and learning about property. It now receives as many as 300,000 visits per month and advertises over 50,000 properties in nearly 90 countries, which are listed by over 500 partner organisations.

For further information as well as images and interview possibilities, please contact:

Dan Johnson
Managing Director
www.themovechannel.com
0207 952 7650

Holidaymakers are being offered the new trips as part of a scheme aimed at encouraging more use of the islands. Whilst the city of Sydney itself is a well known tourist hotspot, the harbor islands surrounding Circular Quay often fall under the radar.

Crave Sydney, which is a month-long festival celebrating outdoor fun as well as art, comedy and food, decided to introduce the ferry trips, which allow tourists to catch a ferry from Circular Quay and hop to Shark, Clark and Garden islands, and Fort Denison.

On the open days in October – 3 – 4 October 2009, 10 – 11 October 2009, 17 – 18 October 2009 – historical Fort Denison will celebrate fine food whilst Shark Island will be transformed to a fantasy island. You can explore Indigenous art and culture on Clark Island and discover Garden Island’s naval history and beautiful gardens.

All of the harbour islands are managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. The Head of NSW National Parks, Sally Barnes, said island hopping would give people the opportunity to experience ‘these magic islands.’

“We are very conscious that we own a large swathe of public land, about eight per cent, and it can have dual purposes.

“It can be used for conservation and for tourism. We need to keep offering these things so that families and children in particular get to experience these natural areas,” she added.

Each harbour island showcases different elements of Sydney’s diverse natural and cultural heritage. Shark Island, off Rose Bay, was an animal quarantine station for more than a century and became a recreation reserve and naval storage depot. Garden Island is a working naval base and Fort Denison an old convict prison.

The much smaller Clark Island, near the tip of Darling Point, was named after Lieutenant Ralph Clark who cultivated it as a vegetable garden.

For more information on properties in Australia and the market in general, please visit http://australia.themovechannel.com/

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

TheMoveChannel.com is a property website that was founded in 1999 as an online resource for buying, selling and learning about property. It now receives as many as 300,000 visits per month and advertises over 50,000 properties in nearly 90 countries, which are listed by over 500 partner organisations.

For further information as well as images and interview possibilities, please contact:

Dan Johnson
Managing Director
www.themovechannel.com
0207 952 7650

Visitors to Melbourne will be spoilt for choice in terms of things to do – so why not take a break from the norm and take a peek at the dark side of the city – Melbourne Crime Tours gives you a glimpse of the city’s notorious past and reveals its fascinating underbelly…

Melbourne’s mean streets have tales to tell. From the Queen Street Massacre in the central business district to the 1976 Great Bookie Robbery and the headquarters of the notorious Carlton gang, this tour is one like no other.

Guides will show you the city as you have never seen it before. Fans of the crime ridden Underbelly TV programme will be in seventh heaven as Melbourne’s long and varied crime history is played out before your very eyes.

Lygon Street, the headquarters of the now-defunct Carlton gang, is included in the tour, as is Acland Street in St Kilda where one of last century's hard men, Squizzy Taylor, terrorized the locals.

The four-hour tour encompasses many of the city’s more “normal” landmarks as well as the scenes of our bloodiest confrontations, so is a great way to see the City of Melbourne while exploring its most sinister.

There are a couple of stops in the central business district, including Queen Street, the location of the tragic 1987 massacre when eight Australia Post workers were gunned down, and the 1976 Great Bookie Robbery when a gang of masked men robbed bookmakers of their winnings. (To this day no one knows how much was taken as the bookies of those days didn't reveal that kind of detail.)

The tour terminates at the Melbourne City Watch House – the city’s custodial centre – for which entry is included. Visitors will also get half price entry to the historic Old Melbourne Gaol.

The Gaol on Russell Street- Melbourne’s oldest prison and historic Magistrates' Court –has been at the heart of crime, law and order in Melbourne since the 1840’s.

Most of Australia’s infamous characters, including iconic bushranger, Ned Kelly and gangster Squizzy Taylor have spent time within the walls.

There are two tours daily at 8.45am and 1pm, leaving from Federation Square in central Melbourne. Tickets for adults cost £27, including morning or afternoon tea and admission to the Melbourne City Watch House.

Visit www.gowest.com.au/crime-tours.html for more information.

For more information on Australian properties and the market in general, please visit http://australia.themovechannel.com/

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

TheMoveChannel.com is a property website that was founded in 1999 as an online resource for buying, selling and learning about property. It now receives as many as 300,000 visits per month and advertises over 50,000 properties in nearly 90 countries, which are listed by over 500 partner organisations.

For further information as well as images and interview possibilities, please contact:

Dan Johnson

Managing Director

www.themovechannel.com

0207 952 7650

Those investing in Australian property will be happy to hear indications that the market is recovering.

A marked rise in auction clearance rates in cities all over Australia was revealed earlier this week, alongside a steep climb in turnover.

According to the latest data from Australian Property Monitors, the clearance rate for property in Sydney was 69 per cent, up on the 48 per cent recorded for the same period in 2008.

The research also found that around £37 million worth of properties were sold. Yvonne Chan, Head of Research at Australian Property Monitors, said, “Although medium prices have shown a small growth month-on-month since the beginning of this year, the activity level is fairly high.”

Over in Melbourne, there was a clearance rate at auction of 72 per cent, which was a whopping 20 per cent increase on the same time last year.

Over in the sunshine, Brisbane posted a lower clearance rate of 45 per cent, but this result showed the largest improvement, almost double the 23 per cent posted at the same time last year.

Property in Adelaide posted a 66 per cent clearance rate, up from 39 per cent at the corresponding time in 2008.

Interest in the Australian market is clearly picking up. Alongside falling interest rates and lower prices, rising rents are resulting in an increase in interest in buy-to-lets from foreign buyers as well as locals.

Buyers in some areas of Sydney and Melbourne are now able to purchase properties that will provide a greater rental return than the cost of mortgage repayments as vacancy rates remain tight.

A survey recently conducted by Pickfords revealed that Australia is growing in popularity among Britons, with Queensland being the top state for those looking to move to the country.

For more information on Australian properties and the market in general, please visit http://australia.themovechannel.com/

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

TheMoveChannel.com is a property website that was founded in 1999 as an online resource for buying, selling and learning about property. It now receives as many as 300,000 visits per month and advertises over 50,000 properties in nearly 90 countries, which are listed by over 500 partner organisations.

For further information as well as images and interview possibilities, please contact:

Dan Johnson

Managing Director

www.themovechannel.com

0207 952 7650

The measure, known as the ‘Housing Construction Acceleration Programme,’ will provide the discount for anyone, including investors, who buy a new property in New South Wales valued at up to £292,000 between July 1st and December 31st this year.

After the year is up, the Treasurer has left the door open for an expansion of the scheme.

The New South Wales Government budget also included a continuation of its £1,450 boost to the first homebuyers grant, extended to the end of June next year.

Real Estate Institute of New South Wales President Steve Martin welcomed the funds, but said he had wished for more.

“This initiative will help investors and home buyers, as well as creating new jobs in NSW through the construction of new properties.

“These are all good things. However, we would question why the initiative has been limited to only new properties valued at £292,000 or less.

“I had hoped for an across the board cut on stamp duty for all new and existing property in both the residential and commercial sectors,” added Mr Martin.

Whilst the stamp duty cut, which will provide savings of up to £5,500, will certainly lure some new home buyers, many of the homes are being built in areas with little infrastructure, where the price and space allow.

In response to this, a £97 million Local Infrastructure Fund has been announced as part of the 2009-10 State Budget. This will go towards building and improving roads, roundabouts and other infrastructure outside Sydney.

Leaving the market

The first time buyer grant scheme has been so successful that many property investors have been chased out of the market by the first timers.

The Government’s scheme, which allots a certain amount of cash to help FTBs make their way onto the ladder, has led to three out of four investors delaying their purchase until the grant ends.

Seventy-six per cent of respondents to the Mortgage Choice’s 2009 Property Investors Survey believed that competition from first time buyers has been so intense that they are putting their own plans on hold.

Experts are warning that the market will have changed dramatically by the time they venture back into the water at the end of the year when the grant ends, as a price bubble has been created due to the hoards of FTBs snapping up property.

For more information on properties in Australia and the market in general, please visit http://australia.themovechannel.com/

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

TheMoveChannel.com is a property website that was founded in 1999 as an online resource for buying, selling and learning about property. It now receives as many as 300,000 visits per month and advertises over 50,000 properties in nearly 90 countries, which are listed by over 500 partner organisations.

For further information as well as images and interview possibilities, please contact:

Dan Johnson
Managing Director
www.themovechannel.com

0207 952 7650

Under a new 20-year plan unveiled by the Government, Melbourne’s urban area will be allowed to continue its sprawling growth, and will house an extra 415,000 people – but campaigners are arguing that it will destroy the city’s cherished green spaces…

Melbourne already has one of the largest urban footprints in the world due to its low density housing, resulting in a vast suburban sprawl, with a high level of car dependence and minimal public transport outside of inner areas.

Now, the urban sprawl is set to increase even further, with news that it will expand by another 41,000 hectares under the template set out in the new Brumby Government plan.

Those who have been a part of the bid to save green space and contain urban sprawl – through a planning blueprint called Melbourne 2030 – are now saying that their efforts are dead in the water.

The main expansion will happen along the Hume Freeway in the north and past Caroline Springs in the west and will add hundreds of new housing estates to the area.

Much of the land zoned for development is on previously protected ‘green wedge’ zones, leading to strong criticism of the plans by many eager to protect the city, but developers have (unsurprisingly) welcomed the news.

The number of people that the new developments plan to house – 415,000 – totals more than the entire population of Canberra.

Victorian Premier John Brumby said the growth boundary had to be extended because of Victoria’s huge population boom. “We are seeing 2000 people a week coming to our state.”

Planner and RMIT University Associate Professor Michael Buxton said, “It is tragic for Melbourne’s future because we are going to end up with two cities - we are going to end up with a whole lot of houses far from services and employment in the outer suburbs and more and more people being shoved into them.”

There are also huge transport changes in the pipeline – with a £2 billion regional rail plan and an outer ring road – to be finished in 2014 and 2020 respectively – on the cards.

In order to offset the loss of 6,918 hectares of grasslands, the Government plans to establish new reserves totaling 15,000 hectares. But this hasn’t gone far enough to placate green groups and planning experts, who warn that the urban sprawl will now go on indefinitely.

For more information on property in Australia and the market in general, please visit http://australia.themovechannel.com/

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

TheMoveChannel.com is a property website that was founded in 1999 as an online resource for buying, selling and learning about property. It now receives as many as 300,000 visits per month and advertises over 50,000 properties in nearly 90 countries, which are listed by over 500 partner organisations.

For further information as well as images and interview possibilities, please contact:

Dan Johnson

Managing Director

www.themovechannel.com

0207 952 7650

I spent a fabulous three days in Australia doing the drive along the Great Ocean Road a few years back (read my feature here) – the only thing I would have done differently is to hire a convertible.

As part of the attraction of the drive is the wild, scenic beauty that is open to the elements and ever changing, the partial loss of this landmark is just another one of nature’s choices. One of the most famous landmarks – the 12 apostles – has just eight rock stacks still standing – the rest have been gobbled up by the sea.

The last significant collapse on the southern coastline was in July 2005, when one of the large stacks that made up the Twelve Apostles collapsed.

Now, the 10 metre-long arch of the Island Archway on Victoria’s west coast has collapsed, leaving the two supporting rock pillars rising 25 metres from the ocean and a pile of rubble lying just under the surface of the water.

Parks Victoria believes the fall occurred sometime within the last few days, although it is impossible to tell exactly when.

Natasha Johnson, Parks Victoria Acting Ranger in charge at Port Campbell said, “We got a report from one of our helicopter pilots here that it had actually collapsed, there was a lot of dirt in the water and the arch has collapsed and now we’ve got two islands.”

Ms Johnson said she had mixed feelings about nature’s makeover of the coastline landmark and said that the southern coastline was always changing.

“Nature is constantly shaping and reshaping it. It is pretty sad, but at the same time I find it pretty exciting as well. It’s a really good example of nature at work,” she said.

Now that the arch is no longer, well, an arch, there is speculation as to whether the ‘Island Arch’ name will have to be changed.

Ms Johnson says that, whilst the rock formation will more than likely retain its existing name, there may well be some ‘additional interpretation added on to show what it used to look like.’

For more information on properties in Australia and the market in general, please visit http://australia.themovechannel.com/

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

TheMoveChannel.com is a property website that was founded in 1999 as an online resource for buying, selling and learning about property. It now receives as many as 300,000 visits per month and advertises over 50,000 properties in nearly 90 countries, which are listed by over 500 partner organisations.

For further information as well as images and interview possibilities, please contact:

Dan Johnson

Managing Director

www.themovechannel.com

0207 952 7650

When Brits think of making the move to Australia, they usually flock to well-known hotspots such as Sydney, Melbourne or the Gold Coast – but now, the South Australian Government is making a concerted effort to change that and attract British talent to Adelaide, promising that SA is the ‘next boom state…’

Forget ‘Britain’s Got Talent,’ what about Adelaide’s got talent? That’s the thinking the South Australian Government is trying to promote with their new campaign to lure British families to the city.

Promising a host of job opportunities, affordable house prices, 300 days of sunshine a year and a ‘recession free’ economy, the coastal city of Adelaide also boasts top quality schools and a renowned wine region.

According to a report commissioned by the South Australian Government to sum up the attractions of Adelaide, the ‘opportunities for those wishing to work or invest in Adelaide are second to none.’

‘The city provides a chance to invest in a growing economy rather than a declining one and it is all the more attractive as South Australia is on the brink of becoming the world’s next boom state,’ added the report.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics claims that not only that Australia has avoided the recession, but that Adelaide is Australia's best-performing city.

Bill Muirhead, South Australia's London-based Agent-General, said, “South Australia's economy outgrew Australia's, and Adelaide was the only state recording growth in the March quarter.

“It is also the nation's food and wine capital – we produce half of Australia's wine and are home to brands such as Penfolds, Wolf Blass and Jacob's Creek,” he added.

South Australia still has skills shortages for accountants, chefs, factory workers, hairdressers, farmers and gym workers.

The city also came in the top ten of The Economist’s World’s Most Livable Cities index last year.

For more information on Australian properties and the market in general, please visit http://australia.themovechannel.com/

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

TheMoveChannel.com is a property website that was founded in 1999 as an online resource for buying, selling and learning about property. It now receives as many as 300,000 visits per month and advertises over 50,000 properties in nearly 90 countries, which are listed by over 500 partner organisations.

For further information as well as images and interview possibilities, please contact:

Dan Johnson

Managing Director

www.themovechannel.com

0207 952 7650