The joys of travel with kids

Traveling with kids can be a chore but a website itcheefeet.com can help ease the endurance test. On this week's podcast I chat with the co-originator of this site, well-travelled Australian children's book author Jane Tara who, with her partner boasts a quartet of young children, so has plenty of experience in this field. The website offers games and other solutions for making the next trip with your offspring more bearable, or maybe even 'enjoyable'.

Also on the show I have news of an exciting new public concourse to be constructed fronting busy Kings Cross station in London. Munich-based reporter Frances Beasley has been enjoying some heavy snowfalls in her part of Europe. US-based reporter Diane Covington is enjoying the delights of France.

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The new format of Travel Radio Australia is now into its second edition and the latest podcast can be heard on the audio player below this post.

We're pleased with the number of people who have downloaded or listened to the podcast online and we will keep producing new shows as material (and spare time) becomes available.

There will be a break in production for a month from late February, as I'll be travelling the high seas on Royal Caribbean's mighty ship 'Independence of the Seas'. Our itinerary will include a range of Spanish and Portuguese ports.

In addition to the cruise I'll be making independent visits to England, Holland and France.

No doubt I'll get plenty of inspiration from that trip for plenty of new podcast segments upon my return. Meanwhile here's is the latest show:

• Ren Zwiers has info on what's new in the Whitsundays region, Queensland
• Frances Beasley provides some interesting facts on the Bolshoi Ballet.
• From our US sister show, Around the World, Karen Ensign visits China.
• Ren Zwiers gives an insight into the renewed popularity of Bed and Breakfast establishments in Europe.

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Surfers Paradise is looking much better!

Ever since first visiting the Gold Coast in the early 1960s, I have seen the gradual decline in Surfers Paradise as being a family-friendly destination.

In more recent years it has become a holiday haven for drunks and louts and it hasn't been a good spot to find a quality restaurant either. Broadbeach, just one suburb southwards,  has easily overtaken Surfers in recent years in all those departments.

However, there has been (and still is) much work going on reshaping the Surfers skyline and beachfront - so I eagerly look forward to revisiting Surfers more regularly before too long in the hope that the change in the air is permanent or at least, long lasting.

I spent a day in Surfers Paradise between Christmas and New Year 2011, when the surf was well and truly up (too big to swim in, thanks to king tides coupled with a recent cyclone in the Pacific Ocean) but that didn't stop people heading for the beach to watch the spectacle more reminiscent of an Hawaiian landscape!

I had my trusty camcorder at hand and produced this video for my youtube channel.

New format kicks off 2012 season

This week we introduce a new shorter and snappier format for the travel podcast.

Travel Radio Australia is now available only as a podcast via our websites travelradioaustralia.com; travelwithren.com; travelcastnetwork.com and as a download from the iTunes store's free podcast department.

We appreciate all the online listeners we have collected to the show over the past four years and hope to build the audience even more in time to come.

Although the show is no longer a weekly event like it has been for the past decade (and longer), it will appear here on a regular basis, so keep checking back, or even better, subscribe and you'll never miss an episode.

On this edition host Ren Zwiers has some travel news involving a wayward tourism manager in Croatia who has been sacked for her comments about Aussie visitors to her country; Frances Beasley celebrates the Christmas season in Munich, Germany and in the final segment, Ren offers some cruise specials from an Australian-based agency.

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Final radio show but we'll be back!

After more than a decade on the airwaves in Australia we have come to the end of an era. We have produced the final travel radio show to be broadcast on Community Radio Network stations throughout Australia. The show has been taking a few weeks' break over the festive period and will return early in 2012 as a podcast available on this site as well as travelradioaustralia.com and, of course, through the iTunes store. I would like to thank the countless program managers and others who have supported the show in its lengthy career. I look forward to producing and hosting brand  new episodes featuring our regular team of contributors in January 2012. Until then, I hope you enjoy this show!

Here's the rundown on this edition....

• Frances Beasley discovers the popularity of Australian wines in Europe and particularly her home country of Germany.
• John Crook chats with his 'cruise junkie' mate Phil Kirby about his latest adventures on the high seas.
• From our US affiliated show 'Around the World', Arthur von Wiesenberger and Martha Bull discover the Kohala Coasy, Hawaii.

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Aussie wines, arts in Munich and Montpellier, France

On this week's 'Travel Radio Australia' podcast John Crook chats with Australian wine ambassador George Samios. Then we feature our European-based contributor Frances Beasley 'going arty' in her home city of Munich, Germany. The third segment features gonomad.com travel editor Kent St John talking about his recent visit to Montpellier, France.

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