Spa | spa.com.au

SPA suites, deluxe and family rooms are all part of the accommodation choices at the Monte Pio on the New England Highway at Maitland.

Farewell five-star It's back to basics for Aussie travellers this year as the economic crisis hits. Marble spa baths and strawberries in champagne at swanky resorts are gone. Brace yourself for long walks down the long paddock, boiling the swag and humping the billy. Grey nomads will be fighting in-the-red..read more

THE International Olympic Committee may wish to reconsider. Having announced plans to cut multihull craft from the next Olympics, Games chiefs were witness to an enthralling Tornado medal race on the windswept waters of the Yellow Sea, which resulted in silver for the tenacious Australian crew. GOLD Fernando Echavarri, Anton Paz Spa..read more

CARDIFF HEIGHTS

How does a big man prepare to face one even bigger? With a spa, Robert Campbell tells Steve Butler.