Melbourne hotel prices soar 11 per cent

On reading the following article I couldn’t help feeling this isn’t good news for Australian tourism and in particular for Australians wanting to travel within Australia. When I plan to travel and consider destinations, the first things I look at are the cost of travel and accommodation. If the cost to stay locally alone exceeds the cost of packaged overseas holidays, it really does make it hard to support Australia and thus fellow Australian workers. I think local hotels should be looking for ways to make it more cost effective to holiday in Australia rather than making it a less cost effective option for Australians.

Melbourne prices were up 11 per cent in the six months to June 2011 compared with a year earlier.... Read More

- Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for help with computer problems

Critical alert: Telephone call from scammer purporting to be from Service of Windows Operations James Stevenson. Issue: Illegal copy of Windows.

Only moments ago I received a call from a person called James Steveson who said they were from Service of Windows Operations a section of Microsoft. He informed me  they had detected an illegal copy of Windows on my computers. He wanted me to go on my computer. My computers are legitimately licensed so I knew immediately the caller was a scammer.

I asked for his telephone number so I could call him back. He provided an address of 75 Ressdale Street but I was not able to obtain any further information and I’d be certain this information isn’t legitimate. By asking for the a number to call them back on this would provide an ability to trace the caller. The caller knows this so hung up.

I reported the information to Optus (my telephone service provider) but it requires three calls for them to take action. There does not appear to be anything in place to protect consumers so each consumer has to effectively look after their own interests.

In this case the caller appeared to be using the telephone directory information to contact me.

Should you receive any unsolicited call from overseas letting you know you have a problem on your computer it is almost certainly a scammer.

Please take care.

 

Kelvin Eldridge

www.OnlineConnections.com.au

Zara opens in Bourke Street Mall in Melbourne

We were walking past the Bourke Street mall and remembered Zara had opened so we decide to check it out. As you can see in the photo there was long queue outside. We decided to come back after we'd completed everything else.

On our return the queue was even longer, but I did notice it was moving quite well. We joined the queue. It took just under two minutes before we got in which I thought was quite good.

I'm not a particularly good clothes shopper, but I was interested in seeing the range Zara offered. We both thought the range of clothes was interesting. Looking at the men's clothing I had the feeling there was a European feeling with the clothes.

I also find our behaviour really interesting. People waiting in queues to check out the new store. In a week's time the queues will most likely be gone. But there is something fun about checking out new things.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au

The European Bier Cafe Oktoberfest

Melbourne's biggest Oktoberfest celebration is back! Due to popular demand we are running our famous Oktoberfest event EVERY Friday in October. (http://www.europeanbiercafe.com.au/#/news-events/4542408801)

Kelvin Eldridge

Melbourne shared bicycle scheme troubled

I found the article "In a bid to save Melbourne's troubled bike share scheme" interesting as I've seen the popularity of bicycles in countries overseas. One thing I did notice is the areas overseas were very flat (such as Amsterdam) which is very conducive to cycling. Melbourne is quite a hilly city in comparison.

As I was watching the cyclists overseas the most they needed to exert themselves was to speed up for the bridges going over the canals and even then it didn't require much effort.

On Friday, my first visit to the city for some time, I noticed a rack of bicycles much like the bicycles I'd seen in Paris. By coincidence I read the article from The Age and thought I'd do some quick maths given the Melbourne Council is spending $5.5 million over the next four years with the scheme being run by the RACV.

It works out that since there is currently an average of 140 trips a day, each trip works out at a cost of $26.90.

With the free tram in Melbourne and those who use public transport most likely having some form of travel card, the market for shared bicycles in Melbourne may be somewhat limited. It will be interesting to see if usage picks up in the lovely warm Melbourne weather.

Kelvin Eldridge

Mobile speed camera locations in Melbourne for August 2010

Courtesy of the Victorian government the following are the locations of mobile speed cameras in Melbourne for August 2010. As stated on the government site "Mobile cameras are installed in unmarked vehicles parked on the side of a road."

Queens Road, between Lakeside Drive and Albert Road
King Street, between Dudley Street and La Trobe Street


Kelvin Eldridge

DFO (Direct Factory Outlet) at Spencer Street

It was a lovely day on Sunday so we decided to drive to the Heidelberg train station and catch the train into the city to check out the DFO at Spencer Street. The train fare on a Sunday is very good at $3.10. The trip was very relaxed.

Walking around the station reminds us of travelling. Since we hadn't been to the DFO at Spencer Street station before, it was like an  adventure. Before checking out the stores we decided to have a bite to eat. I ordered the Tuna patty and my wife ordered the Cheese and Ham Croissant from Rojo Cafe . We also purchased a diet coke and they gave us two glasses. Unfortunately my knife wasn't clean and my glass had scum in it so the drink had to be thrown out.

As we strolled checking out the shops we found a number of items which interested us. I purchased a pair of jeans. I've lost weight and having gone from a size 38 to a 34 it felt good to have a pair of jeans that wasn't baggy and the best part is they only cost around $25. My wife bought some shirts. One was knocked down to $9. OK, a button fell off later, but that's easily fixed. Our best bargain was a 32cm glass lid for our wok at $12.98. Can't complain with that price.

With our shopping trip over it was back onto the train and back home. Overall a very pleasant adventure on a Sunday afternoon.

- Kelvin Eldridge