'MudMaps In The Bush'
April 1997
G'day
G'Day and welcome again to MudMaps in the Bush.
It's now April and the start of another Tourism Year around the world. MudMaps program continues to grow and
evolve as the market changes. We're now offering an increased departure schedule and a greater variety of tours,
yet still specialising in the area between Sydney, Canberra & Melbourne.
Often people ask us why we've got so many tours to offer, to some it's confusing. Well the real reason is that
in this region there is a GREAT DIVERSITY within a relatively small area. Much greater diversity than any other
region in Australia. On one hand Sydney and Melbourne are the 2 largest cities in Australia yet separated by only
about 1000km in an overland journey. On the other hand the Australia Alps dominates the landscape and within the
Alps you have Australia's largest National Park system. An area of huge remote mountain areas and few roads. Even
within the Alps there are many different types of forests and regions. On either side of the Alps you have a lush
coast and a typical rural Australian grazing countryside.
Yet, it's all within the same region!
We've found most of our visitors don't have the time really do justice to the region so they either go for a
quick 3-4 day overview or they intensely look at one particular area. On top of this many clients have specific
minimum standards for accommodation styles and out bush in some of the nicer areas quite simply there isn't the
accommodation available.
So, as specialists in the region we've put together a wide range of tours to seek to satisfy a wider range of
desires for our clients. Yet, with this in mind we're also offering to customise tours specifically for our
clients. Our new 'Design Yourself a Tour' page on our Website is an example of this.
In this newsletter edition we're also asking for your help. We're creating a new Wildlife tour and would like
your input. Please enjoy the newsletter, tell me what you would like to see in our new tour
. . . and as always please keep in touch.
Mark
HELP US DESIGN A NEW WILDLIFE TOUR!
The Australian Alps have some of the richest wildlife areas in Australia. Due to the changes of altitude,
differing soil types and a host of other factors the forests support a wide range of birds and animals. (As an
example just in kangaroos species we often see Eastern Grey Kangaroos, Black Tail Wallabies, Red Shouldered
Wallabies, and Wallaroos in the same day)
We've decided to add another tour to our standard offerings that focuses on the wildlife in the region and
would like to invite you to help us design this tour.
If you can answer some of our questions below and then spend as much time as you can describing the 'ideal'
wildlife tour for you we would be most appreciative
Tell us what you are looking for in a tour involving Australian Wildlife. Please copy these questions and Email
them back to us.
- How many days would you like to spend on the tour?
- What type of Wildlife are you interested in seeing?
- What type of Birdlife would you like to see?
- Are you interested in the Night life? What kind?
- What tour format would you like (eg Safari style tour that travels from Canberra to Melbourne with focus on
wildlife/ round trip/ travel to single location and then take short excursions/travel 1 day+sightsee the next/
etc etc)??
- What kind of Accommodation do you prefer? (eg..5*, Farmstays, Motels, B & B or camping.)
- How often to depart - daily/weekly/monthly
UNIQUE AUSTRALIAN HOSPITALITY
Over the last few years we've decided upon our regular accommodations depending on the type of tour being
conducted. We only ever look for the best recognised friendly, hospitality of an international standard for our
clients.
The Accommodations we've used are First Class service, without the marble entrance, hanging chandeliers, large
rooms with unnecessary space, small expensive meals, or the greetings from the porters/concierge.
You are probably wondering how can it then be First Class? Well firstly the hospitality and service are
friendly and professional. The locations quiet, beautiful and in some - breathtaking. The lodgings are clean and
healthy regardless of whether it's a historic homestead like Brindabella Station or a modern establishment like
Avalanche Homestead.
The cost is affordable (not like some of those big city locations) and you receive all the service you would
normally receive at the Five Star Hotels, while being greeted by the friendly faces of the owners and their fellow
staff.
We range from Motels to Bed and Breakfasts and Farmstays but they all are definitely in the same category as we
only stay at the BEST, the very Best!!
INCREASED DEPARTURE SCHEDULE
Following another strong growth tourism year MudMaps has fine tuned it's 97/98 program in line with changing
market conditions and client desires.
Most of our existing tours are now DAILY Departure. Moving away from the regular weekly Seat In Coach style of
tours we're now conducting much more individual charter style tours. Ranging from 1 person to groups of 60 people
we've noticed that clients are now more likely to insist on a daily departure, often at shorter notice than
before.
Series tours are an exception to this rule. Series tours are those where MudMaps are taking bookings for Seat
In Coach style tours for a series of particular departure dates. These trips are promoted by particular
Wholesalers/Inbounders/Agents for a particular periods of time.
Drop into our Internet Site (http://www.mudmaps.com) to get the latest itineraries and information.
SURF THE NET
Surfing the net is fun, time-consuming, interesting, time-consuming and yields a lot of information if you've
the time.
At MudMaps we've taken the approach that as we have a lot of knowledge to share with people the Web is an ideal
medium to publish this. Hence most of our new announcements are found on the web before any other medium. In
addition to this we're publishing or linking a lot of information about the region and current conditions.
- Our Wildlife Spottings Page (http://www.mudmaps.com/Wildlife.html) is an example
of this. Updated several times each month this page outlines the current weather conditions and the types of
wildlife we're seeing on tour recently. Some background information on the wildlife and birdlife is also
available for those with more than just a casual interest.
- Photos available for inclusion in your Brochures is another part of our internet site. High quality photos
can be downloaded direct from our site after requesting the appropriate password combination to this
restricted area.
- 97/98 Prices - also available for agents with appropriate password access.
Plus of course you can make Bookings direct with us via E-mail.
All of this and more is available from:
http://www.mudmaps.com
DESIGN YOUR OWN MUDMAPS TRIPS!
Tired of scheduled trips and repetitive tours then why not design your own MudMaps trip? If one of our trips
interest you and your friends but you want to change a few ideas to suit your needs then please go to our Design
your Own MudMaps Trip on the internet which then we will cater to your needs the best we can.
http://www.mudmaps.com/design.html
OVERLAND SERIES VS WILDERNESS SERIES - WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?
In June 1996 we released a Series of 4 new tours titled the Wilderness Extended Series. Some agents were
confused about the differences with the long running Overland Series.
This simple table should help those wanting to more information on this;
WILDERNESS OVERLAND
- 4WD transport Minibus standard (4WD for small groups)
- Farmstays Motels only
- Max 6 clients/day Suitable for groups
- Snowy River Jervis Bay and coast
- Victorian High Country -
- - Goldfields
- Visits Canberra Overnights in Canberra
- Dirt roads & bush tracks Virtually all bitumen roads
- Remote regions Easily accessible regions
- More leisurely Slightly longer travelling
WHAT YOU SAID . . .
"We will DEFINITELY, without a second doubt recommend MUDMAPS to all our friends and family. we wish you
much success. We trust that you would continue keeping up the company's high image ! MUDMAPS would always be our
#1 choice. Thank you for an excellent tour.
Ti, Rosaling, Chin and May Malaysia.
"Mark made this adventure the highlight of our trip. Good Things ONLY!"
J & G Butler - Poway , California
"Lost for words !!! Excellent."
B Drummond - South Australia
" A wonderful trip. We learnt a lot about the history, wildlife, people of Australia. The different
excursions were very interesting"
K. & K. Schiesser - Switzerland
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