Own Backyard Travel

16/07/2020

If you're one of those (like me!) who can't resist anything free, the first 25 people who PM us their postal address will receive a delightful Own Backyard Travel fridge magnet. Australian addresses only.

06/07/2020

25/06/2020

There's nothing like a country sky. ❤️

Photographer Geoff Sharpe wrote, "This is one of the many painted silos that are popping up all over rural Australia. This is located at Sheep Hills in Victoria. I have been trying to capture this silo under the stars for several years now and finally, I captured the Milky Way Galaxy over the silos."

It truly takes you there, doesn't it?

🖌️: Matt Adnate
📷: Instagram .geoff via ABC Wimmera

24/06/2020

22/06/2020

It has been suggested that I appear to be a teeny weeny bit biased towards North Queensland... can't imagine why I would be :)

19/06/2020

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8433949/Dinosaur-larger-T-Rex-discovered-Queensland-dug-miners.html?ito=social-facebook_Australia&fbclid=IwAR0Hf6IcfSPEGvYFcu7c1GzNUssiWWVVzctZAtLJG5skw5_Byq8HgaVex7k

The footprints, that measure up to 80cm in length, were discovered by miners in the 1950s and 1960s but were only recently studied by scientists at the University of Queensland.

19/06/2020

What should the caption be?

16/06/2020

16/06/2020

This must be true, because we saw it on the internet:

After every flight, QANTAS pilots fill out a form, known as a 'gripe sheet' to tell mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The mechanics fix the problem, and then document their repairs on the form.

Here are some actual maintenance problems submitted by the pilots (marked with a 'P') and the solutions recorded (marked by an 'S') by maintenance engineers, who by the way have a sense of humour:

P: Left inside main tyre almost needs replacement.
S: Left inside main tyre almost replaced.

P: Test flight OK, auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

P: Something loose in cockpit.
S: Something tightened in cockpit.

P: Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on back order.

P: Auto pilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent.
S: Can't reproduce problem on the ground.

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.

P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
S: DME volume set to more believable level.

P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
S: That's what friction locks are for.

P: IFF inoperative in OFF mode.
S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

P: Suspect crack in windshield.
S: Suspect you're right.

P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.

P: Aircraft handles funny.
S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right and be serious.

P: Target radar hums.
S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.

P: Mouse in cockpit.
S: Cat installed in cockpit.

P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.
S: Took hammer away from midget.

12/06/2020

Seriously, I can't be the only one...

11/06/2020

A poll especially for Southern Queenslanders who are now free to travel across most of this vast and diverse Sunshine State…

Are you mostly attracted by:

• Reef

• Rainforest

• Beaches

• Islands

• Outback

• Don't care. Just anywhere hot

11/06/2020

How about you?

10/06/2020

Wow what a colour!

10/06/2020

31/05/2020

Tropical North Queensland has a number of iconic waterfalls, each special and unique in its own way. What are your favourite waterfalls in the northern part of the state?

Do we have any waterfall lovers in today?

31/05/2020

It's time...

BREAKING: Start planning your holiday! We’re opening Queensland for Queenslanders from noon tomorrow.

Queenslanders will be able to undertake unlimited travel, including overnight stays throughout the entire state, in a major easing of COVID-19 restrictions.

More locals will be allowed in cafés, restaurants, pubs and clubs, with an increase in the number of patrons from 10 to 20.

From noon on Friday, June 5, venues with more space will be allowed up to 20 people in each defined area if they follow an approved COVID Safe Industry Plan.

Well done, Queensland.

Our state’s outstanding response to the COVID-19 pandemic has allowed restrictions to be lifted ahead of a planned move to Stage Two originally scheduled for June 12.

More info: www.covid19.qld.gov.au

28/05/2020

I wonder if you know at least two friends who might be itching to get away on an all-Australian adventure after this current situation blows over.

I wonder if they are passionate about supporting Australian businesses and Australian jobs?

If you tag your two friends below, they will be able to follow this link to our website www.ownbackyard.travel and get an idea of some of the specials we can offer them. Not only that, if they pay $100 now, they will receive a $150 voucher to use once travel opens up again. Uluru… the Great Ocean Road… the Whitsundays… the Barossa Valley… the Blue Mountains… the Kimberleys… Fraser Island… What will it be? Maybe a nice break in one of our exciting cities? Or a drive around Tassie? Maybe the Great Barrier Reef…

If it didn’t cost them any extra, I wonder if they would take advantage of the service we offer at Own Backyard Travel? Providing advice, making recommendations, doing research on your behalf, and booking your accommodation, tours, attractions, and car and campervan rental for you… we’ve been doing this for thirteen years but predominantly for overseas visitors... until now! Now we are reinventing ourselves, and helping other proud Aussies to see our OWN BACKYARD. Besides… we can’t go anywhere else!

27/05/2020

As we all eagerly await the reopening of our state borders, it’s easy to forget the brutal bushfires that blazed across much of the country just a few short months ago. And the terrible hardship that these fires rained down on so many of our fellow Australians.

There has never been a time when Australian businesses – and Australian workers – have needed your support more than they (we) do right now.

IT’S TIME TO SEE YOUR OWN BACKYARD!

In a piece of encouraging and heart-warming news… conservation workers on Kangaroo Island have been delighted to find glossy black cockatoo chicks have been hatching in artificial nests in the aftermath of those terrible fires https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/animals/bushfireravaged-kangaroo-island-welcomes-signs-of-life-with-glossy-black-cockatoo-chicks-hatching/news-story/d7f7309f17760d72c32af6fb856795ff

27/05/2020

Some people have asked for clarification on how this works, how can we effectively offer you $150 for $100 unless we somehow ‘inflate’ our prices to begin with? Well, that’s simple. As it states in the T’s and C’s, the minimum total booking amount on which you can apply the voucher is $1,000. On a booking of that size, we would typically earn at least $100 commission (paid by the operators, not by you…see below) and we are prepared to forego half of that commission by way of the voucher ($150 voucher for $100) in light of of the current economic environment.

Firstly what’s in it for you, the client? Apart from genuinely saving fifty bucks, you’ve enjoyed the benefit of our thirteen years’ experience in booking holidays around Australia. You’ve had the advantage of our personal experiences and also the feedback from literally thousands of happy clients who have come before you. And you’ve not paid any more for the hotels, tours, activities, rental cars, campervans etc than if you had done all the research and made all the phone calls and sent all the emails and made every individual booking directly on your own *phew*

What’s in it for us, the business? The $100 you pay now allows us to market ourselves more extensively and more aggressively than we have ever had to before, to increase our exposure and build our brand during this lean time, so that when travel opens back up, we stronger than ever, and ready to serve you.
“To survive the CV19 rebound, capture marketshare while others are figuring it out.”
… and we still make fifty dollars. We won’t be retiring on that, but it does help keep the lights on. Also… :) we know you will be so thrilled with our service and value, that you will recommend us to your friends and family. Word of mouth is the best marketing that money can’t buy!

As a travel business during a period when travel is prohibited, we have been affected by the response to the pandemic as much as anyone. We are reinventing ourselves daily, but we need your support.

25/05/2020

QUESTION: If it was announced that all state borders were to be opened next week, and that airfares to any city in Australia were the same price… where would you go? Not counting to visit family, where would be your first real holiday? You know you deserve one!

24/05/2020

SHUTDOWN SPECIAL! Stump up $100 now and we can start planning your travels together... then when travel restrictions are lifted, you will have $150 credit to apply to your dream holiday anywhere in Australia.

This credit can be applied to bookings from a wide range of accommodation, loads of different tours and activities, entry to many tourist attractions, and rental cars or campervans. Need more details? Visit our website for terms and conditions and SAVE FIFTY BUCKS!

*Limited time only... https://ownbackyard.travel

20/05/2020

AUSTRALIA IS THE SIXTH LARGEST NATION ON THE PLANET, AND THE WORLD'S BIGGEST ISLAND. HELL, WE'RE OUR OWN CONTINENT… WITH SEVEN MILLION SQUARE KILOMETRES TO PLAY IN!

IF YOU HAD TO BE 'STUCK' SOMEWHERE... YOU WOULDN'T CHOOSE ANYWHERE ELSE…

17/05/2020

17/05/2020

G’day all. Steve Savage here, from Cairns Unlimited.

I guess you can imagine how our once successful online travel booking business was affected when our borders closed to tourists. Although a small number of our clients are (were) Australian, it was foreign visitors who accounted for over 90% of our business. And while Australia has done (is doing) a remarkable job in dealing with this pandemic within our own borders, many parts of the world have not been so fortunate. It's clear that even though our own internal state borders may be reopened soon, and our domestic travel restrictions lifted, the Australian government will not be opening our borders to international tourism for a long time after that, in our guess at least - at the very, very least - twelve months.

Forced to look at our travel booking business in a new light, it has not escaped our attention that all of us who had overseas vacations planned - even if they were little more than a far off dream - will, after weeks of isolation, be yearning more than ever to get away… and we will be looking now at destinations here in Australia because… well, because... WE CAN'T GO ANYWHERE ELSE!

But that doesn't mean 'second best'. Australia has got heaps to offer right here in our own backyard. We can book your accommodation, tours and activities all over this wide brown land... rental cars and campervans as well. We've been doing this for thirteen years, and we have built up a wealth of knowledge, not just from our own personal experiences but also from the feedback of literally thousands of happy clients.

16/05/2020

So many Australians have become accustomed to booking their holiday accommodation through booking dotcom or Expedia etc but these are foreign corporations, and when you press ‘enter’, a wad of your hard earned Aussie dollars is sent flying off to a foreign bank account somewhere, never to return.

When you have Own Backyard Travel book your holiday accommodation (and tours and activities, and rental cars/campervans...) your money stays here, supporting Australian businesses and Australian jobs. As an Australian business, we pay GST and income tax here in Australia. Our profits stay here in Australia to be spent in the community.

The result for you is the same. Same hotel, same room, same tour, same car, same price. But the flow-on effect is dramatically different.

14/05/2020

When you holiday in Australia, your $$$ stay here.

When you spend a night in an Australian hotel or motel, your $$$ go not just to the business owner but you help to keep the reception staff in a job. And the cleaners and the gardeners, so they all have money to spend in the local community; getting their hair cut at the local hairdresser or having their car fixed at the local mechanic… or even buying a new car from the local dealer. Maybe they upgrade their TV or buy some new clothes. So now the hairdresser, the mechanic, the car salesman, and the staff at the electrical store and the clothing store have all benefitted from your stay at the hotel.

But your stay also supports the local laundry which cleans the linen, and the staff who work there. Also, you’ve helped support the local farmers who supply the produce to the hotel. And the delivery driver.

Now the hotel owner has money to invest in the property, so the local bricklayer gets much needed work, and the local carpenter and the local plumber and the sparky.

These tradies can now afford to buy the new tools and equipment they’ve been needing, so the local hardware store is booming. And the staff at that hardware store have more money to spend in the local community. One of them buys a new fishing rod from the local tackle shop, another hires the local painter to paint her house. The painter buys each of his kids a new bicycle from the local sports shop.

All because you, and people like you, took a holiday in that Australian town.