Eco Getaways in Victoria

With ‘eco’ options popping up all over the place, more and more people are considering how their travelling habits are impacting on the environment; we do it at home, so there’s no reason not to continue when we’re on the road.

The Grampians National Park and Great Ocean Road with their range of activities that only require a good pair of walking shoes are ideal locations to get the eco-getaway ball rolling. There is a choice of some great eco-friendly accommodation here that won’t break the bank.

Here are 2 Lazyshark recommendations:

Grampians YHA Eco Hostel, Halls Gap

The Grampians is Victoria’s largest National Park boasting some of the state’s most inspirational bushwalking, rock climbing, bike riding, native wildlife and horse riding.

Highlights include hiking to the famous Balconies, visiting the Mackenzies Falls or learning about and seeing the Aboriginal rock art. Under 4 hours drive from Melbourne you can easily reach the Grampians by public transport making it an affordable eco destination.

A great place to stay at Halls Gap is the Grampians YHA Eco Hostel - set in the heart of the majestic Grampians Ranges. The hostel has an impressive range of energy reducing and water saving features including a passive solar design, with more glass on north facing walls to maximise winter sunlight, and with the glass restricted on the southern walls to minimise winter heat loss. 150 solar tiles on the roof generate solar electricity to power the hostel.

It also has a unique reed-based Greywater Recycling System, which means that waste water can be safely stored and treated by UV rays (without the use of chemicals) for re-use in flushing toilets and irrigating the landscaped gardens.

With free bike hire on offer to explore the area by day plus use of the hostel’s ‘Chicken Hilton’, veggie patch and fruit trees to pick fresh produce to cook your evening meals the price of $75 per night for a double room or $28 for a bed is very reasonable.

For more info/to book Grampians YHA hostel call (+613) 5356 4544 or email grampians@yhavic.org.au

Eco Beach YHA, Apollo Bay

The seaside town of Apollo Bay is an easy 2.5 hour drive from Melbourne, and also reachable by public transport. Things to do include roaming the quiet shore of the bay, wandering through the dense rainforest of the Otways National Park or taking part in one of the many adventure activities in the area, both on land and water.

From serious bushwalkers to casual strollers, the Great Ocean Walk starting in Apollo Bay and stretching 91kms along the spectacular west coast is a must for all visitors. The walk has been designed so that visitors can ‘step on and step off’ the trail at a number of places, completing short, day or overnight hikes.

Like the Grampians YHA, Eco Beach YHA also has a passive solar design and has been created using materials sourced from managed Victorian forests, glass and stone. Solar Hot Water Systems generate 75% of the hot water used, all lights use low-energy LED globes, rainwater tanks have been installed with the collected water being used on the gardens, and to save energy there is no air-conditioning at either of the eco hostels.

Other facilities include a rooftop deck with breathtaking ocean views, two wood fire lounges, a TV room and a fully-equipped kitchen. Prices start from $28 for a bed and from $80 for a double.

For more info/to book Eco Beach YHA call (+613) 5237 7899 or email apollobay@yhavic.org.au

The Perils of Volcanic Ash

So the travel industry announced the other day that volcano Eyjafjallajoekull in Iceland has cost them £1 billion. As the dust – I mean ash settles – we are all counting the costs of the chaos that has affected over 1 million travellers worldwide.

The post-mortem has begun and questions are now being asked as to whether it was really necessary to shut airspace down for 10 days. The general opinion is probably not. The regulators had to err on the side of caution as the effect of the ash on the jet engines was unknown. However they probably could have carried out safety checks a lot faster, rather than waiting until weather conditions blew the cloud of ash away from Great Britain (and ironically back towards where it came from – Iceland!)

The airlines now have to cough up millions of pounds each in compensation to travellers forced to spend money (often extortionate amounts) charged by hotels around the world who took advantage of the situation and raised their room rates knowing people had no option but to agree to their raised tariffs.

That the airlines have to pay for this seems incredibly unfair. However I’m sure it will not be long before current legislation is changed so that if in the unlikely occurrence of a repeat scenario the airlines are exempt from footing the whole compensation bill.

In the long term I can only fear that the eruption of a volcano in Iceland is bad news for all travellers as airlines will all have to put up their prices to cover the millions of pounds they have lost due to volcanic ash.