Competing visions lack a liveable balance

The city is at a critical point where planning must be translated into a living, breathing reality that works for Melburnians.

Fresh eyes on the universe as Canberra gets new dishes

IT TAKES more than 9 years for a spacecraft to travel the 5.7 billion kilometres to Pluto. But when the New Horizons mission finally passes the dwarf planet in 2015, Australia will play a pivotal role.

Preserving our precious past

Victoria's parks are more than just places for city people to take a break from the hustle and bustle, they are living reminders of Australia's ancient past. The Grampians National Park contains the state's best preserved rock art and urban and state parks contain evidence of Aboriginal habitation.

We'll fight them on the beaches: Bondi rubbishes council depot plan

A COASTAL park in Bondi will become home to a 5000 square metre industrial depot under a council plan residents have described as absurd.

No new airport sites waiting to be discovered

The decision to scrap Badgerys Creek as the site for a second Sydney airport is a bad one ("Badgerys Creek was the right site then and is the right site now," December 17). All other possible sites have been examined before. The idea that there are sites waiting to be discovered by a new taskforce is nonsense.

Battle lines retraced

In the heartland of the Confederacy, Bob Carr follows in the footsteps of generals and soldiers at the Civil War's key sites.

Trends In 2008:feast Away/singular Journey/ Mini-break/green Is Good/family Travel

The "been there, done that" era of fleeting visits to famous sites is well and truly over - travel virgins excepted. The modern traveller wants to take home a memory, not a memento. Travel in 2008 is about what you feel, think, eat, drink or learn as much as see. Get used to the phrase experiential travel because you are going to hear it a lot this year. Here's our rundown on travel trends for the next 12 months.

Webwatch

Online travel sites are great for mainstream holiday spots but using the net to book accommodation or tours in emerging destinations is much harder. So the launch of whl.travel, a network of travel sites with more than 70 off-the-beaten-track destinations in 40 countries, is to be welcomed. Included are Aceh in Indonesia, homestays in Latvia and eco tours in Panama. Other destinations such as Swaziland, Cape Verde, Zanzibar and East Timor will be added soon. See www.whl.travel.LEE ATKINSON

Service In The Air Fails To Impress

Qantas does not believe it has a customer service problem, but travel sites, chatrooms and even the letters pages of newspapers suggest passengers do not agree.

Up-in-the-air Service Fails To Impress Passengers

Qantas does not believe it has a customer service problem but travel sites, chatrooms and even the letters pages of newspapers suggest passengers do not agree.