LOCALS HELP FOLKS GET DOWN UNDER.Byline: Cynthia Teed Daily News Staff Writer Want info on the land down under? Don't try dialing a tourism bureau in Manhattan, Chicago or even Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , where most countries headquarter head·quar·ter v. head·quar·tered, head·quar·ter·ing, head·quar·ters Usage Problem v.tr. To provide with headquarters: their offices. The Aussie Help Line is in Valencia, where exchange students from Australia man the phones, the mailbox and the Internet to help tourists plan vacations to the southern hemisphere. By calling (800) DOWN UNDER, prospective visitors can request free travel guides. And at the Aussie Help Line, (661) 775-2000, Australian travel counselors provide the latest answers to detailed questions about fun trips to some of the world's most cosmopolitan cities and the Great Outback as well. For the techno geek A technically oriented person. It has typically implied a "nerdy" or "weird" personality, someone with limited social skills who likes to tinker with scientific or high-tech projects. The origin of the term dates back to the late 1800s. who prefers to browse more than 10,000 pages of on-the-spot information, tourism officials also offer a Web site - www.australia.com. All these Australian innovations in the tourist industry are not one bit daunting daunt tr.v. daunt·ed, daunt·ing, daunts To abate the courage of; discourage. See Synonyms at dismay. [Middle English daunten, from Old French danter, from Latin to Santa Clarita's new tourism counselors. `` `No worries' just about sums up our whole attitude toward life,'' said Richard Schoonraad, manager of the Aussie Help Line. ``Australians work as hard as anyone else in a modern society. We've got the same problems as anyone else - double careers and crowded schedules - but we also love to play.'' Schoonraad touts Australia's big cities as among the nation's most cosmopolitan. ``Sydney and Melbourne - Sydney for its opera house in the familiar harbor setting, and Melbourne, more of an international city in a Victorian style Victorian style, in British and American architecture, an eclectic mode based on the revival of older styles, often in new combinations. Although the style is named after the reign (1837–1901) of Queen Victoria, it was her husband Prince Albert who was the ,'' he said. His homeland, he said, offers varied attractions for all ages - and a pleasant climate. And vacationers who want to prowl the Outback will have plenty of room and opportunity because the area is ``twice to almost three times larger than Texas, but with a climate similar to that of the Mojave Desert Mojave or Mohave Desert, c.15,000 sq mi (38,850 sq km), region of low, barren mountains and flat valleys, 2,000 to 5,000 ft (610–1,524 m) high, S Calif.; part of the Great Basin of the United States. ,'' he said. Just mention the Great Barrier Reef Great Barrier Reef, largest complex of coral reef in the world, c.1,250 mi (2,000 km) long, in the Coral Sea, forming a natural breakwater for the coast of Queensland, NE Australia. to a scuba diver such as Schoonraad and his eyes glaze with fond memories. ``Oh, yes, for excellent scuba diving scuba diving Swimming done underwater with a self-contained underwater-breathing apparatus (scuba), as opposed to skin diving, which requires only a snorkel, goggles, and flippers. Scuba gear was invented by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Émile Gagnan in 1943. we go off to the Great Reef - the only thing you can see from space, you know,'' he said. ``It's 1,200 miles long and consists of nearly 600 islands.'' Callers can chat up young professionals like Lee Watts from Queensland who, in training for her hotline job, traveled to Australia's four corners, ate in numerous restaurants and slept in many hotels. Watts, along with Natasha Contini, will stay in Santa Clarita for 18 months, fielding calls about Australian travel from all over the U.S., with 25 percent of calls coming from Southern California. By working on the help line, Contini is actually connected to a branch of the Australian Tourist Commission that oversees the help line, housed in the Valencia Commerce Center. The commission also supports telephone help lines in the United Kingdom and New Zealand New Zealand (zē`lənd), island country (2005 est. pop. 4,035,000), 104,454 sq mi (270,534 sq km), in the S Pacific Ocean, over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) SE of Australia. The capital is Wellington; the largest city and leading port is Auckland. . ``And most of our U.S. and Canadian callers want to know of the entry requirements - do you need a visa or an ETA - an electronic travel authority An Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) is an authorization for entry to Australia available to holders of certain states' passports. Established in 1996 to remove the need for some people to apply for full visas, they can be applied for over the Internet, through travel agents , necessary for visits up to 90 days, that sort of thing,'' Contini said. The electronic travel authority has been in use for the past year and is aimed at streamlining the process of applying for a visa, said Lindel Gray, regional director of the Americas for the Australian Tourism Commission. ``We see the lines as value-added for the tourist and we want to make it easy for visitors,'' she said. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO Katherine Miller helps a caller at the Aussie Help Line office in Valencia. The hotline offers callers information about Australia tourism. Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion