A fantastic win to Australia!

Tracey Stevens won a fantastic two-week holiday in Australia from a Co-Op tie-breaker: “I would choose Australian wine because … …”

 

 

“Koala-ity’ unrivalled, choice unsurpassed, Oz-pitality flows from every glass”.

The Co-op’s travel agency, Travelcare, was brilliant throughout the organisation of their trip and allowed Tracy and Scott to take the holiday a week earlier than the terms stated.It was Scott’s 40th birthday and Tracy wanted to try and get him to Sydney before the big day!

The prize initially stated a week in Sydney and a week in Melbourne but they paid for an extra week, and changed the itinerary to nine nights in Sydney, eight nights in the tropical region of Port Douglas, followed by three nights in Singapore on the way home. 

It is great to see promoters accommodating individual situations when organizing a prize – basically we all have different needs, and when you win an amazing prize like this; you want to make it the best you can in every way!

Tracy tells us all about her amazing win:

We arrived in Sydney late in the evening.  It was so nice to walk out of the airport into a lovely warm breeze to the sound of cicadas and Lorikeets.  We started exploring early the next day and took in the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour which was buzzing with river taxis.

Sydney’s Darling Harbour at night was breathtaking, with the sky lit up all around by the majestic buildings.   The restaurants surrounding the harbour all have great viewpoints and the food we ate there was delicious.

Sailing around the harbour was lovely and gave us a chance to catch some sun.  There were so many river cruises to choose from, but I’d say the best one was the one over to Taronga Zoo: a beautifully landscaped animal park with stunning views across to Sydney Harbour. I could happily have taken a Koala home but felt that Customs may have had other ideas!

The day of Scott’s the big 40 dawned, and I’d booked a high rise treat for him.  I knew he’d already climbed the Sydney Bridge before so I bought us tickets to do the Skywalk around Sydney Tower which stood at 250m.

We were harnessed in and stood on a glass floor which moved out ensuring the best views were obtained from all angles!

We were stood on the edge of the highest view point in Sydney (just a little scary, but a big adrenaline rush!) and could see for 50 miles in all directions!

 

In the evening we went back and had a meal in the revolving restaurant which took an hour to take a complete turn.  The views were magical and certainly made the event a day to remember.

 

The rest of our stay seemed to fly by but we managed to pack in just about everything we wanted to do which included visits to the Aquarium where you could walk under a clear tunnel and watch sharks, rays and turtles swimming above.

The Botanical Gardens were beautiful, even the giant bats with 2ft wing spans were impressive!

The Chinese Garden of Tranquility next to Darling Harbour was another oasis of peace and calm in the middle of such a large city.

Port Douglas was such a complete contrast to Sydney.  All buildings were low rise with nothing over three storeys and all the streets were quiet and lined with palm trees, all full of beautifully coloured parrots.

The temperature was an average 90 to 95 degrees and breezy and the beaches weren’t in the slightest bit crowded.

We took a couple of boat trips out to the Great Barrier Reef.  I nearly bottled out of snorkelling having only recently taught myself to swim but decided that I couldn’t go all that way and not do it.

Having donned my fetching Lycra suit and checked that my snorkel mask was water tight, I took the plunge.  Suddenly finding yourself over 10 metres of water is daunting for all of two seconds as the sights beneath you completely take over.

So many turtles, fish, and coral in all colours of the rainbow that you can’t take it all in!

The boat trip back took us down mangrove lined river inlets where a very large crocodile swam out to say hello, before circling the boat and swimming away.

Our final trip north of Port Douglas was to the rainforests which were just staggeringly beautiful although they certainly clarified the word 'humid' with humidity standing at 100%!

The catch phrase of the holiday became  ‘ all this for 15 words or less’!

 

All too quickly this part of the holiday came to an end but the two days we had in Singapore were a chance to do some final sightseeing, some of which was on a Rickshaw-something not for the feint hearted! 

A flying visit to the famous Raffles Hotel for a Singapore Sling and a stroll through the Nightlife Safari on our last day completed the trip.

I still can’t believe all this happened thanks to one winning slogan and if I never win anything ever again, this trip will keep me entering comps for years to come!