stopping over in Mt Gambier ......

We recently had a one night stopover at Mt Gambier on our way to Kangaroo Island.......

Mount Gambier is the second most populous city in South Australia with a population of 25,200.

Located on the slopes of the mountain of the same name in the south east of the state approximately 450 kilometres south-east of the capital Adelaide and just 17 kilometres from the Victorian border, it is the most important settlement in the Limestone Coast region and the seat of government for both the City of Mount Gambier and the District Council of Grant.

The peak of the inactive volcano, the first place in South Australia named by European explorers, was sighted in 1800 by Lieutenant James Grant from the survey brig, HMS Lady Nelson, and named for Lord James Gambier, Admiral of the Fleet. The peak is marked by Centenary Tower, built in 1904 to commemorate the first sighting, and at 192 metres above sea level the landmark is the city's highest point.

The city is known for its geographical features, particularly its volcanic and limestone features, most notably its Blue Lake, parks and gardens, caves and sinkholes.

There is much to see in the area and well worth spending the time to do so. Unfortunately we only had the one night prior to continuing on our journey towards Kangaroo Island.

The blog post we did in February on 'planning' our journey to KI is located HERE.

I was anxious to see the accommodation we had booked at THE TOWER INN and to see if the expected 'customer service' was still there.  We had also received an email a few days prior to arriving to say they were "looking forward to our visit" and if there was anything else we required to let them know.

So this type of 'extra service' is quite foreign to Australian travel and it was a nice touch..... on arrival the receptionist was very pleasant and helpful and on entering our room it was as we 'expected' as we had booked the "Superior Deluxe Queen Suite" at $130.00 pn.  During May & June the price for the same room is $118.00, we paid the 'extra' due to it being Easter.  Our room was quiet, very clean, comfortable and well appointed with all the facilities that were available in the room which included a microwave, iron etc.

We would recommend staying here as it is quite central to the township and tourist attractions as well.
Helpful URL's ...

planning our journey to Kangaroo Island

Mt Gambier Tourism

The Tower Motor Inn


next blog post will be on staying at Cape Jervis Station!

our one night stay at Newstead .....

driving to Newstead a couple of weeks ago , we stopped in Creswick for our usual break at Le Peche for a hot chocolate and something delicious to eat!

The delicious, lemon meringue tart!

We have never been disappointed in any of the foods or drinks they serve.

From there we drove north via Smeaton including a wander around Andersons Mill before continuing on to Newstead.

Andersons Mill at Smeaton.

You may have already read in my previous blog post about the issues with booking a weekend away.  Sad but true, it is not simple, easy or low cost!

So after a lot of time spent on the phone trying to obtain accommodation anywhere in the region, we managed to book into Whispering Gums Motel at Newstead.

The following is the review I did for Trip Advisor:

This weekend was to have a look around Maldon / Newstead areas of Victoria. Tried to locate accommodation in Maldon, but due to some sort of festival (Vintage?) nothing was available, so called Cameron at WG Motel where he had one room left. :)

I was not expecting a full 5 star motel (it has a 3 star RACV rating) so WG was as we expected. A little on the tired side, but not detrimental to our stay. We were not expecting a resort nor there to 'wander around the garden' or go swimming anyway!

On arrival Cameron was very helpful & informative with what we could do, where to eat etc.

The room was no larger than we expected, having the usual DB, sofa, bench space etc. We were also welcomed with chocolates (always a winner!) But It is rare to find a motel with the added 'extra's' that are often needed but rarely seen.... WG Motel had it all.

Apart from the usual tea / coffee / sugar / milk / kettle, refrigerator, there was:

a toaster,
chopping board,
Microwave, Iron,
Ironing board,
flyspray,
flashlight,
spare globe,
glasses & mugs,
tea towel,
hairdryer,
shampoo / shower creme (good quality)
extra blanket & pillows
large screen TV & DVD player

so the room was well equipped.

We don't have any 'complaints' as such, but things we noted were:

room was stuffy so we opened the windows. Unfortunately our 'neighbour' was a smoker so we had to close the windows and turn on the A/C (never like to use them) and this was no exception ... it started out OK, but it ended up being a 'rattler' and so we turned it off and opened the windows again. Had to put up with the smoker instead of the rattly A/C!

Glad we always take a "soy travel candle" to burn, we don't like using aerosol air fresheners & the candle is always a winner to create a warm fresh smell in the room (always get a good quality soy candle) as the bedding had that slight dusty / musty smell. Again, am not complaining... it's just that we are a little on the fussy side with our bedding. Especially as we have managed Motels / Hotels etc ourselves and we travel often. I often wonder why some Motel Managers do not open windows to 'air the rooms' when they know that they have guests coming in .... especially when there are only 5 rooms? (am I expecting too much?)

The bed was a DB and John found it a little on the short side for him, I was OK with it though.

Bathroom was clean and spacious. Shower was excellent. Full pressure and plenty of hot water. The shower creme supplied was of good quality (not the usual cheap runny liquid!)

Towels were large clean and white - love good clean white towels!

Large TV screen & DVD player worked well. No problem at all. We brought along a TV series we had been meaning to catch up with and this weekend was the perfect time to do so.

We had a good nights sleep and were looking forward to having a bit of a sleep in, something we rarely get to do! But alas, 'twas not to be as our neighbours were up and leaving by 6:30am. Banging the wire door constantly as they went in and out their room, talking loudly and generally being thoughtless. This has nothing to do with the management, so no blame to them... but making note of it here so that hopefully the reader maybe reminded to also be a little considerate when staying in a Motel. :)

Thanks to Cameron for a comfortable stay, thanks also for the info on where to eat, special thanks for the chocolates and yes, we will come again!

Chocolates are always a nice addition!

Clean bathroom with good quality shampoo etc

bed area and sofa

the room was a little over the top and 'too busy' for our taste,

am very happy that I always take the 'travel' candles to cut out the musty smells

so yes, that was our one night stay at Newstead a couple of weeks ago!

Become one of our many followers to keep up to date on any travels we manage to do, places we get to see etc ....


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neither simple, easy or low cost!

Planning a vacation is not simple, easy or low cost here in Australia....

planning a vacation?

Whilst living in SE Asia if you wanted to spend a few days away, be it Bangkok, Batam, Bali or Borneo, you called the hotel and booked a room.  Travel is simple in South-East Asia, with an extensive network of flights, buses and trains which usually didn't require much booking in advance and the same applies to hotels or resorts.

But in Australia it is neither simple, easy or low cost!

A couple of weeks ago we wanted to go away for the weekend. We tried five different towns all within 2 hours drive of where we live, every place I called required a 'two nights minimum' booking to start with, that is IF they have any accommodation available.  It was incredibly frustrating.  All we wanted was one night away, preferably somewhere quiet, comfortable & relaxing. I even started to wonder if the stress of spending 4 hours on the phone trying to find such a place was even worth it!

The lack of customer service here is appalling. True customer service where the manager of the hotel / motel has thought or care for the customer. As an example, I sent an email to a Caravan Park in Maryborough asking if they had a deluxe cabin for one night, they replied 27 hours later with just one sentence: "no we do not have any deluxe cabins left".  I replied back "do you have any cabins for the night requested".  23 hours later they replied "yes, we do have cabins available" .....

*face palm*

why didn't they reply in the first instance with something along the lines of "am sorry we do not have any deluxe cabins available, however we do have a basic cabin and we also have the superior cabin available"!

definitely a DUH moment!

We did find somewhere, but it was just a 3 star motel at a place called Newstead, not really what we were hoping for, but it was adequate.  (blog post here)

Now I am in the process of booking a 10 day vacation coming up in April. I should have logged the number of hours it has taken me to locate accommodation, book and pay same.  So far I am guessing I have spent at the very least six hours, probably even more.  We are not flying anywhere, no exotic accommodation, resort or whatever, no, this is just a driving holiday with a destination in mind.  But the hassle of locating a place to stay on the way to and fro has been more than stressful. 

But we are talking about Easter / Anzac Day break and here in Australia it seems that everyone and his dog - and cat - are out there traveling somewhere!  Yesterday I was looking for one nights accommodation around Penola / Naracoorte in South Australia .... I came across one where they required a minimum of FOUR nights! 

One I looked at called itself a RESORT ....hah, they don't even know what the word means .... it was no more a resort than the local boarding kennel, I asked why the 'resort' and was told they had a pool and a spa.

Whoopie doo!

Another was a B & B at Mt Gambier, I left a message on their FB page, I phoned five times and each time it went to an answering machine and no I didn't leave a message as I was in and out all day and didn't want to be taking calls while out ... five days later and I still have not rec'd an answer to the query I left on their FB page!

NOTE:  it is now 3 mths later and still have not heard from them!

But it is done. I have managed to book accommodation for seven nights at various locations, but it was not simple, easy or low cost!

I will document the process, so stay tuned for the next blog postings!

To start with, I had two screens running, one with Google maps / accommodation listings for the area and the other with Trip Advisor (my travel bible) and I systematically worked my way through every area we were traveling.

The destination being Kangaroo Island.

stay tuned for where, when and how booked!




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The RiverBoat Lodge at Echuca!

Recently we traveled by train to Echuca, just for a few days ... Echuca is a town located on the banks of the Murray River and Campaspe river in Victoria, Australia.

We decided at the last moment to leave on the Wednesday. I quickly looked on-line for accommodation, discarding any that did not have a website! We needed to locate any accommodation within walking distance to the town as we were traveling up by train and wanted to walk to any of the tourist area's.

Our first call was to the Campaspe Lodge for accommodation but found they were already fully booked. The next one on the list was the Riverboat Lodge.

on their website it has:

Our location in the heart of Echuca!
The Riverboat Lodge Motor Inn boasts one of the most central locations in Echuca. Leave your car with us and simply walk to the heritage port area, shop in the variety of stores in High and Hare Streets and dine in the local cafes, restaurants clubs and pubs. If you choose to visit by train, bus or plane we offer a free courtesy bus pickup and return on your departure!

When I called, the manager (Grant Casbolt) was very pleasant and offered a "three night package" to which we accepted.

The package included breakfast each morning, a dinner voucher at Antonio's Restaurant for $40.00, a "Devonshire Tea" for two at the Wisteria Cafe, pick up and drop off at the rail station and a cruise on the Murray River onboard the EmmyLou.

When I enquired about the WiFi he also added that into the 'deal' as well. I find it strange that hotels and motels usually charge extra for a service that should be free. Or at the very least, packaged into the room cost. In all of the traveling we have done, certainly in the past six years, we have never had to pay the extra daily fee for WiFi ...... . except of course when we were at The Westin in Berlin!

Anyway, it was included in this 'three night package' so we were grateful.

The room we booked - as above - was advertised as follows:

DELUXE SPA ROOMS - Queen sized bed, electric blanket, direct dial phone, refrigerator, tea & coffee making facilities, toaster, microwave, table & chairs, sofa, 32" LCD TV, DVD player, AM-FM clock radio, R/C air conditioning, hair dryer and ironing facilities and large 2 person spa in bathroom.

Now I have read the reviews on TripAdvisor and some of the negative comments written.

BUT ...guests should always check the rating of the motel/hotel so they have an idea of the standard expected. The RiverBoat Lodge is a 3.5 star motel (RACV Rating) so do not expect 5 star service!

People that complain about a motel or hotel being 'old' always amaze me, how can you expect a hotel to be 'new' all the time. Even our homes become old and tired eventually!

Check the websites, look at the architecture, the cost of the room, the star rating, what is included etc .. all of these will give you a clue as to what you might expect.
 
I agree the motel is no longer bright and sparkly or brand new. If it was, you would be paying a higher price that's for sure! To me it looked rather 'tired' and certainly could do with a 'freshening'. But I did notice the manager (Grant) painting, so can only assume he is working his way around to a full makeover!

 
The pool is very small and is located close to the rooms, its not a pool for swimming, just more for a bit of playing or a dip. The garden area needs a little TLC, but even that is not a 'complaint'.

Like anyone else, I am very happy to stay in 5 star resorts, but if there are none available or cost is the issue, then you need to rethink the situation. Just so long as it is clean and comfortable, the people are friendly, the service is good and it's value for money, then that's all I ask for.

We found the RiverBoat Lodge to be fairly good value for the "three day package" that we had booked, plus Grant and the cleaning staff were very friendly and helpful at all times.

Customer Service is always top of our priority list!

RiverBoat Lodge is ideal for a 2 or 3 night stopover and is in walking distance to town and all the restaurants.

Riverboat Lodge Motor Inn Echuca

Hosts: Grant and Wendy Casbolt
476 - 484 High Street
Echuca, Victoria, Australia 3564

Phone: (03) 5482 5777
Fax: (03) 5482 6279
FREE CALL 1 800 033 134 (within Australia)

email : info@riverboatlodge.com.au

*please note*

the above blog post was not for a social media event, this particular post is for the interest of our loyal followers !!

We, however, are available for Social Media work at anytime. Be it bakeries, restaurants, festivals, wineries, galleries, cafes, coffee shops, markets or anything that needs to have some focus and would be of interest to others!!

email:

Leone and John Fabre

URL's that maybe of interest:

The RiverBoat Lodge

traveling by train to Echuca

Afternoon Tea at the Wisteria Cafe

  TripAdvisor