Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa to open, NSW Emirates Hotels and Resorts will open the much-anticipated Wolgan Valley Resort and Spa on 1st October 2009. No expense has been spared for this luxury resort tucked away in the Blue Mountains, just a two hour drive west of Sydney. Inspired by the acclaimed Dubai-based Al Maha Resort & Spa, this homestead-style resort is set within its own private conservation and wildlife reserve. Accommodation consists of 40 free-standing suites, each with their own outside decks and private swimming pool. Guests can experience Aboriginal interpretive tours, nature walks, wildlife spotting and horse riding trips along with all the resorts spa, gym, tennis courts and outdoor swimming pool. Rates for a Heritage Suite are A$1,950 per night based on two sharing (approx £1,000) with a reduced rate of A$1,660 per night if the guests stay for 3 nights or more. There is an introductory special of three nights for the price of two until 23 December 2009. The rate includes gourmet breakfast, lunch, dinner, non alcoholic drinks and two selected nature based activities per day. www.emirateshotelsresorts.com

New boutique hotel opens - The Australasian, South Australia The 150-year-old Australasian Hotel in the picturesque Fleurieu Peninsula heritage town of Goolwa - located where the Murray River meets the sea - has been given a new lease of life as a luxurious boutique hotel. During six years of meticulous renovations, the owners have completely refurbished the hotel to create five exquisite and unique guest suites and a beautiful dining room. The four suites - the Island, Parlour, Juliet and Quirky rooms - are all luxuriously decorated with a different theme and provide wonderful views over Goolwa's historic main street, wharf and the river. As its name suggests, the downstairs Garden room opens out onto a tranquil garden for guests to enjoy. The in house chef creates Asian-influenced modern Australian dishes, which are complemented by a range of local beers and wines, and can be enjoyed in the dining room or in the guest's suite. Price from A$275 (approx £140) per night, including breakfast. www.australasian1858.com

Luxury resort opens on the gateway to the Whitsundays, Queensland Opening 20 June 2009, Peppers Coral Coast is the only five star resort in Airlie Beach. The new property will provide visitors with a luxury base from which to explore the Whitsunday Islands. The apartment style resort offers one, two, three bedroom apartments and three, four bedroom houses with a maritime feel and panoramic views over Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays beyond. A stunning resort pool, fine dining in Tides Restaurant and a day spa will all be part of the experience. Opening offer from A$179 (approx £90) per night for a one bedroom apartment. www.peppers.com.au/Coral-Coast

Sebel Deep Blue opens on Great Ocean Road, Victoria The revamped Deep Blue hotel will shortly open as The Sebel Deep Blue Warrnambool from 1 July 2009. Less than three hours drive from Melbourne, The Sebel Deep Blue is perfectly positioned on a peninsula on the Great Ocean Road. Deluxe suites and penthouses are included in the hotels 75 guestrooms, and all accommodation offers vistas of the Victorian coastline. The resorts unique positioning on top of a natural mineral aquifer, 800 metres underground, enables The Sebel to provide geothermal room heating, as well as supply to four mineral rich, private hot deepwater pool rooms in the Bath House and gymnasium. The Sebel Deep Blue Warrnambool is the latest venture by the group and follows the A$20 million (approx £10m) renovation and re-opening of The Sebel Surry Hills Sydney in April 2009. Sydneys latest 4.5-star hotel is Australias first hotel to feature an in-ground glass aquarium lobby. The impressive 41,000 litre in-ground aquarium is home to 20 multi-coloured, Japanese Koi fish including the hotels mascot Albie. Situated close to Sydneys trendy shopping and dining precincts, guests can relax at the redesigned Townhouse Bar & Restaurant. From A$153 (approx £75) per night. www.mirvachotels.com/sebel-deep-blue-warrnambool & www.sebelsurryhills.com.au

Wild Bush Luxury to open in the Flinders Ranges, South Australia A new addition to Australias growing array of world-class exclusive tourism experiences, Arkaba Station, in South Australias Flinders Ranges, is the latest property in the Wild Bush Luxury portfolio, which includes the award-winning properties, Bamurru Plains and Sal Salis Ningaloo Reef. Arkaba Station is a 60,000-acre working sheep station, located on the edge of the world-famous geological amphitheatre, Wilpena Pound, and the Flinders Ranges National Park. Currently a five-bedroom heritage homestead, built in 1851, the station is undergoing a Wild Bush Luxury makeover ahead of the re-opening in early November 2009. Offering a unique five-star Outback experience for guests, experiences include a three-day Overland Guided Walk, wildlife viewing, sheep station activities, horse riding guided by an Aboriginal elder, four-wheel-drive trips, scenic flights, mountain biking and Indigenous cultural experiences. Packages including all meals, beverages, activities and accommodation from A$775 per person (approx £380), per night. www.arkabastation.com

Million Dollar Spa Near Completion, Tasmania The Harmony Hill Wellness and Organic Spa Retreat in southern Tasmania is due to open in August 2009. The spa and wellness retreat will offer one, three, five and 10-day programmes in Detox, Relax and Re-Vibe. Owners Ami Nakamura and Alfred Merse have searched the globe for specialists in iridology, kinesiology, Ayurvedic medicine, chi energy healing, lymphatic drainage and nutrition. Products used within the spa will be 100% Australian Certified. Harmony Hill is set on 42 acres on top of a mountain in Margate, just 25 minutes drive from Hobart. It will feature five spa treatment rooms as well as two double spa accommodation cottages, which have been designed using Hexagon Feng Shui principals. The three day Detox Retreat costs A$1,990 per person (approx £1,000); a five day Detox Retreat costs A$3,300 per person (approx £2,600) and includes two spa treatments (two), daily yoga classes, pilates, all meals, accommodation and transfers. www.organicspa-retreat.com

Cloudland opens in Brisbane, Queensland With a retractable glass roof, the sky is literally the limit for Brisbanes newest development Cloudland which has opened in the citys vibrant Fortitude Valley precinct. Cloudland opened its doors late March this year and the unique roof, which opens at the touch of button, is not the only thing that makes this new venue special. Spanning four levels, patrons are visually stunned by 5,000 plants sprawling a 14-meter interior wall; a 10 metre waterfall; imaginative pieces like a solid hand-carved China white marble bar; and a glass bar made from 19,000 glass balls threaded by hand. Cloudland offers a mostly organic menu and an extensive wine and cocktail list. Three years in the making, this dining and bar experience combines over-the-top decoration and futuristic design inspired by nature and the outdoors. www.cloudland.tv

Ones to watch Australian designers in Sydney and Perth, NSW and WA Australia is bursting with new designers and Sydney is now home to a confident fashion and design culture which recently is establishing itself here, especially when it comes to womenswear. Libby Lombardo one of Sydneys newest fashion entrepreneurs www.teesub.com launched last year, focusing on the designs from emerging homegrown graphic artists. Willow The newest notable name to arrive in Sydneys chic designer shopping district, Paddington (or Paddo as the locals call it), is Willow the first stand-alone boutique for Kit Willow Podgorniks five-year-old brand. Fans of her lace up boots, signature corsetery and silk dresses can mainline the total experience here. The shop doubles as an art gallery displaying the transient wallpaper work of innovative artists like Sydney photographer Elli Ioannou, who shoots backstage at the designers shows. www.willowltd.com Perth Fashion Festival Taking place from 4-10 September, Perth gives Sydney and Melbournes fashionistas a run for their money with the annual Perth Fashion Festival. A week-long celebration of WAs glamour and creativity, the festival will showcase the latest Spring/Summer collections. www.perthfashionfestival.com

Boat race with a difference the Henley-on-Todd Regatta, Northern Territory On the dry sands of the Todd River, the Henley-On-Todd Regatta is a day of fun where teams and individuals race boats in the dry bed of the Todd River in outback Alice Springs. Taking place on 22 August, spectators watch seemingly sane people race in bottoml'eights', 'oxford tubs', 'bath tubs' and 'yachts' through the deep coarse sand. The event has its origins in 1962, when Reg Smith, an Alice Springs local, and his work colleagues proposed holding a regatta based on the famous Henley-on-Thames, a race between Cambridge and Oxford Universities. www.henleyontodd.com.au

For more information about Australia visit www.australia.com

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For further press information/images please contact the Tourism Australia PR team: Sarah Barnett, Andy Parkinson, Annabel Handley or Emma Humphreys Press line: 020 7438 4659 Email: sbarnett@tourism.australia.com