Frommer's Australia from $50 a Day 13th Edition - To Parent Directory

44
CHAPTER 2 . PLANNING AN AFFORDABLE TRIP TO AUSTRALIA
more resorts in the Liberty chain,
including possibly one in the Blue
Mountains, west of Sydney.
Turtle Cove Resort (& 1300/727
979 in Australia or 07/4059 1800;
www.turtlecove.com.au), located on a
private beach between Cairns and Port
Douglas, is another well-known resort
for lesbians and gay men.
Some services you may find useful
are the Gay & Lesbian Counselling
Service of NSW (& 02/9207 2888 for
the administration office), which runs a
hot line from 4pm to midnight daily
(& 1800/805 379 in Australia, or
02/9207 2800). The Albion Street
Centre (& 02/9332 9600 for administration,
or 1800/451 600 in Australia
outside Sydney and 02/9332 9700 in
Sydney for the information line) in
Sydney is an AIDS clinic and information
service.
The International Gay & Lesbian
Travel Association (IGLTA) (& 800/
448-8550 or 954/776-2626; www.
iglta.org) is the trade association for
the gay and lesbian travel industry,
and offers an online directory of gayand
lesbian-friendly travel businesses;
go to their website and click on
“Members.”
Many agencies offer tours and travel
itineraries specifically for gay and lesbian
travelers. JMS Global Travel, 263
Liverpool St., Darlinghurst, NSW
2010 (& 1800/672 120 in Australia,
or 02/9360 9611) is one of the biggest
travel agencies specializing in gay travel
in Australia.
Fellow Traveller (& 03/9429
6110), Australia’s only free gay and lesbian
accommodations guide, is produced
annually by Melbourne’s weekly
gay and lesbian newspaper MCV. It is
distributed nationally. The following
travel guides are available at most travel
bookstores and gay and lesbian bookstores,
or you can order them from
Giovanni’s Room bookstore, 1145
Pine St., Philadelphia, PA 19107
(& 215/923-2960; www.giovannis
room.com): Out and About (& 800/
929-2268 or 415-644-8044; www.out
andabout.com), which offers guidebooks
and a newsletter 10 times a year
packed with solid information on the
global gay and lesbian scene; Spartacus
International Gay Guide and
Odysseus, both good, annual Englishlanguage
guidebooks focused on gay
men; the Damron guides, with annual
books for gay men and lesbians; and
Gay Travel A to Z: The World of Gay
& Lesbian Travel Options at Your
Fingertips, by Marianne Ferrari (Ferrari
Publications; Box 35575, Phoenix,
AZ 85069), a good gay and lesbian
guidebook series.
SENIOR TRAVEL
Mention the fact that you’re a senior
when you make your travel reservations.
Although all of the major U.S.
airlines except America West have canceled
their senior discount and
coupon book programs, many hotels
still offer discounts for seniors.
Seniors—often called “pensioners”
in Australia—from other countries
don’t always qualify for the discounted
entry prices to tours, attractions, and
events that Australian seniors enjoy, but
mostly they do. Always inquire about
discounts when booking hotels, flights,
and train or bus tickets. The best ID to
bring is something that shows your
date of birth, or something that marks
you as an “official” senior, like a membership
card from AARP.
Members of AARP (formerly
known as the American Association of
Retired Persons), 601 E St. NW, Washington,
DC 20049 (& 800/424-3410
or 202/434-2277; www.aarp.org), get
discounts on hotels, airfares, and car
rentals. AARP offers members a wide
range of benefits, including AARP: The
Magazine and a monthly newsletter.
Anyone over 50 can join.
Many reliable agencies and organizations
target the 50-plus market.