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1st
June 2008
PIECES OF VICTORIA
June 2008
In this latest edition of Pieces of Victoria you will find information
on the newest hotel openings and the coolest events taking place in Melbourne
and Victoria as well as…
- Gordon Ramsay is heading to Melbourne for a new show - and a new restaurant!
- Nicholas Cage is filming his new movie, including some impressive stunts
- Where you can give your legs a special ‘lacial’ treatment?
- Why penguins in Phillip Island are getting jiggy..?!
- How visitors to Victoria outperform Australia’s national average
- Why Melbourne has been declared the world’s ultimate sports city!
CELEBRITY HOTSPOTTING
Gordon Ramsay heads Down Under
Melbourne’s Crown is well on the way to becoming a world-renowned
gastro-temple: celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay is planning to open a signature
restaurant at the buzzing casino complex - and make a reality TV series
about the experience.
The new TV show, scheduled to air later in 2008, will centre on the search
for a chef to run the top-end venue in Australia. He is expected in Melbourne
in June to set up his new venture at the imposing Crown Complex. The restaurant,
rumoured to open in December 2008, will be Ramsay’s first in Australia
– and his 13th outside the UK.
The highly successful - yet controversial - British chef has been a big
success Down Under this year (his ‘Kitchen Nightmares’ is
the most-watched show in the country) and he will begin next month a promotional
tour, which will include TV appearances, live chef demonstrations and
book signings.
www.gordonramsay.com
Nicholas Cage back in Melbourne
Nicholas Cage is back in Melbourne for the filming of ‘Knowing’,
a science-fiction drama where the Oscar-winning actor’s character
is in a race to stop a time capsule full of chilling prophecies from coming
to life.
The actor, who had spent the first half of 2005 in Melbourne shooting
the box office blockbuster ‘Ghost Rider’ and bought shortly
after a luxurious apartment at the sought-after Eureka Tower, is reported
to have been keen to return to the city, praising the “nice, sophisticated”
Melburnians; over the last few weeks, he has been often spotted in the
fashionable beachside suburb of St Kilda.
The AUD$50million (£25million) project, which Cage describes as
an “apocalyptic kind of story”, will feature a spectacular
plane crash, shot on the Geelong ring road; other locations used in the
film include the Melbourne Museum (the largest museum in the southern
hemisphere), Collins Street (Melbourne’s most famous shopping strip)
and Mount Macedon (renowned for its collection of 19th century gardens).
In addition, hundreds of locals will appear on the screen alongside the
cast, playing from motorists and journalists to paramedics and policemen.
‘Knowing’ is due to be released next year.
http://www.summit-ent.com/
SOMETHING QUIRKY…
If you give your face a facial why not give your legs a lacial?
Chuan Spa at The Langham in Melbourne now offers a new luxurious ‘lacial’
treatment for legs.
‘Lacial’ is the ideal special step into summer and can be
enjoyed as an indulgence in its own right - to relax the body or ease
the mind. This one-hour exclusive treatment includes: cleanse and tone
for the legs; full leg exfoliation; leg massage; cleansing mud mask for
legs; and moisturising treatment for the legs.
Chuan Spa is one of Melbourne's newest luxury spas (in Chinese ‘Chuan’
means ‘flowing water’); its full menu includes more than 40
treatments, such as massage, scrubs and wraps, aromatherapy, facials and
hydrotherapy etc.
www.chuanspa.com
Game On!
The world’s biggest exhibition of video games has arrived at Melbourne’s
innovative Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), letting visitors
step back in time.
Game On is the largest and most comprehensive exhibition dedicated to
the history and future of video games and has been a worldwide hit amongst
fans, kids and adults alike.
The exhibition explores the development of the first computer game right
through to the billion-dollar industry it is today. The interactive show
features more than 125 playable games in their original formats including
early 1970s arcade games and movie-inspired greats; other highlights include
rarely-seen consoles, controllers, packaging and collectables.
Game On runs until Sunday 13 July 2008.
www.acmi.net.au
PLANET EARTH
Phillip Island: Getting jiggy in the pre season
Phillip Island Nature Park is in the midst of a penguin phenomenon. A
false breeding season is taking place, with the island’s much-loved
Little Penguins partaking in behaviour associated with courting and mating
months before breeding season usually occurs.
Female penguins are thought to be quite choosy when picking their mate,
appearing to base their decisions on the quality of the male penguin’s
burrow home, his body size, and with fatter penguins being the preference.
Although penguins are renowned for pairing up and staying with the same
partner for many years, research at Phillip Island has found that penguins
have a 20% divorce rate, which often results from breeding failure!
Phillip Island Nature Park is the world’s leading research agency
for Little Penguins.
www.phillipisland.net.au/
Unique platypus experience at Healesville Sanctuary
The recent births of two baby platypuses at Healesville Sanctuary are
a breakthrough in platypus breeding.
Healesville Sanctuary, one hour’s drive from Melbourne, is internationally
renowned for its role in platypus care and research, and has run a captive
breeding programme since 1933, enabling visitors to enjoy the rare sight
of adult platypus playing with their offspring in a natural setting.
The Sanctuary was the first in the world to house platypuses in captivity,
the first in the world to breed platypuses and is now the first in the
world to breed second-generation platypuses. The newborns will remain
in the enclosure with their parents for a year before joining the breeding
programme.
www.zoo.org.au/HealesvilleSanctuary
NEW ACCOMMODATION DEVELOPMENTS
New ‘drought-proof’ resort leads the way in Victoria
Novotel Forest Resort, one of Victoria’s most sophisticated new
regional developments, has opened in Creswick, the heart of Victoria’s
spa country, offering guests a state-of-the-art eco experience.
With a long-term focus on environmental sustainability, developers have
drought-proofed the property by constructing Australia’s first privately
owned water treatment plant: the AUD$4million (£1.9million) innovative
system treats and recycles all of the resort's grey and black water for
use in the complex, for irrigation on the golf course and surrounding
landscape gardens.
The resort has created several lagoons, providing a haven for native wildlife
and birds, and developed stringent guidelines to protect and replant native
vegetation. Future plans include a worm farm to deal with food waste,
a fishing village and an indigenous walking trail highlighting Creswick’s
Aboriginal history, flora and fauna.
The Novotel Forest Resort Creswick is part of a AUD$250million (£120million)
development that includes hotel and residential accommodation, conference
facilities, a championship golf course, a health and wellness Centre,
a wedding chapel and an onsite restaurant, which focuses on local produce.
www.novotel.forestresort.com.au
Five-star camping at new Wilderness Retreats
Visitors to Wilsons Promontory can now camp in style at four new eco-friendly,
luxury Parks Victoria Wilderness Retreats in the heart of the national
park.
Located in a tranquil area of the Tidal River campgrounds, the retreats
combine the natural experience of bush camping with the comforts you would
expect from modern huts or cabins. The elevated, safari-style tents “touch
the earth lightly” as they sit on innovative modular galvanised
steel frames which do not require concrete footings.
The retreats can comfortably sleep up to four people and - in a first
for the retreats - they have private en-suites with shower and toilet.
www.parkweb.vic.gov.au
New boutique apartments on Great Ocean Road
Accommodation options in the Shipwreck Coast city of Warrnambool continue
to grow with the opening of 104 on Merri Apartments.
The six luxurious two- and three-bedroom self-contained apartments all
boast a private balcony, spa bath and secure underground parking for those
driving the famous Great Ocean Road. Main bedrooms have a king-size bed,
while all master bedrooms are equipped with an LCD television. The main
bathroom features a large spa bath with beautifully appointed fittings
and another TV.
A short stroll to the beach and shopping strip, 104 on Merri Apartments
are in a prime position, across the road from Flagstaff Hill Maritime
Village and its impressive ‘Shipwrecked’ sound-and-laser show.
www.104onmerri.com.au
FIGURES & RANKINGS
Visitor numbers to Victoria still on the rise, outperforming Australia’s
national average
International visitor numbers to Victoria increased by 0.9% to reach 1.5
million for the year ending December 2007, with international visitor
expenditure up by 14.6% to AUD$3.1 billion (£1.5 billion). With
211,500 visitors UK is the second biggest market for Victoria (following
New Zealand with 242,300).
Over the period December 2000-2007, international visitor numbers to Victoria
have grown at an annual average rate of 3.6%, outperforming the annual
national average (+1.9%), as well as other favourite Australian tourist
destinations such as New South Wales (+0.7%) and Queensland (+1.4%).
www.tourism.vic.gov.au/facts-and-figures/
Melbourne retains its status as the world’s “Ultimate Sports
City”
Melbourne has retained its status as the best location in the world to
hold a sporting event, winning the title of Ultimate Sports City 2008
ahead of other major international destinations.
According to results published in SportBusiness International, Melbourne’s
“robust list of annual major events, excellent sporting venues and
strong government support combined with its successful hosting of the
Commonwealth Games in 2006 are factors in the Australian city’s
prominence as a sporting host city”.
Twenty-five cities were profiled in the report and judged according to
the number and prominence of their major sports events hosted or won for
the period 2004-2012. More than 100 interviews were undertaken with government
departments, city officials, event organisers, federations and industry
specialists during the analysis.
Melbourne was previously awarded the title 18 months ago and this year
beat Berlin in second place and Australian rival Sydney into third place.
London took fourth place, while Vancouver came fifth.
www.sportbusiness.com
• For general information on Melbourne and the state of Victoria
please visit Tourism Victoria's website at www.visitmelbourne.com/uk
For media information, please contact
David Ezra at david@saltmarshpr.co.uk
or
Tom Panagos at tom@saltmarshpr.co.uk
Tel: 020 7928 1600
Fax: 020 7928 1700
The Saltmarsh Partnership
The Copperfields
25 Copperfield Street
London SE1 0EN
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