Use your stronger dollars to visit the Great Ocean Rd. Photo / Supplied
Use your stronger dollars to visit the Great Ocean Rd. Photo / Supplied
Now's the perfect time to live lavishly in Australia, writes Megan Singleton.
Finally, it's us who get to travel the world and throw dollars around like confetti! In this case, the bride is Australia and we, as her guests, have pots of confetti thanks to their weakening dollar. So, pack your bags and your near-parity dollars and get ready to splash out on a little luxury across the Ditch.
Fly to lunch
You could dine at The Rocks in Sydney or somewhere equally fancy around the quay, but as money is no object, take a ferry from Circular Quay over to Rose Bay and board a seaplane to a lunch you'll remember forever.
You'll take off like a gull skimming over the boaties below and with a buzz of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, you'll soar along Manly Beach then down the Hawkesbury River, splashing to a halt at Berowra Waters Inn where a seven-course degustation will amuse your bouche.
This is what you call a loooonnng lunch because, after being served art on a plate for about three hours, you'll be replete of belly and memory from all the photos you've taken on your phone, before boarding your seaplane and flying to Sydney.
Get a hat for the races
Throw your dollars at a milliner in Melbourne who will prepare you a fascinating fascinator, or heck, get a one-off design for your noggin so that you will turn hatless heads at the Spring Carnival.
Milliner to the stars and The Block Australia contestant Chantelle Ford can embellish your crown with feathers and colour, net and flowers.
Send a photo of your outfit or tell her the colours and idea you're after and let her decide, or buy "off the rack" from her website. A $50 deposit will allow her to get started on a bespoke creation and she'll email you back a pic of your finished design with seven days to decide if you want it. Then head off to Flemington and place an equally lavish bet.
Let milliner to the stars Chantelle Ford design you a one-off fascinator in Melbourne. Photo / Thinkstock
Drive the Great Ocean Rd
You'd not be seen bombing along the Great Ocean Rd in a rented Tiida with the Kiwi dollar this high, but a Harley-Davidson, of course.
If the sound of a Harley is music to your ears, then book a day trip as a passenger with the wind in your hair and your leathers keeping you snug as you hurtle down Victoria's breathtaking Great Ocean Rd.
You'll pass through Geelong and Torquay as far as Apollo Bay for lunch, leaning into the curves and watching the road roll out before you. You'll gun it from sea level to 60m above as a solo passenger or travel with up to two friends in a sidecar.
The full-day experience is about eight hours and there are plenty of breaks for photos.
Head for the Whitsundays
No more budget hotels for us! With our soaring dollar we are dreaming of five-star luxury resorts complete with infinity pools and preferably a butler serving drinks with umbrellas in.
Drop your powerful NZ dollar at the One&Only Resort on Hayman Island and stay in a four-poster bed with sheer drapes floating over views of the Coral Sea.
Choose a room for total romance with a bathtub behind an arty screen or take a family-friendly villa with your own pool.
By day it's snorkelling or diving on the Great Barrier Reef, taking a seaplane tour over Nemo's stomping ground or throwing out some rods from the back of a launch and catching your own dinner.
Put the kids in a sea biscuit and watch them hoon around the vivid blue ocean, or jump in a kayak and paddle off for some quiet exploration.
The One and Only Resort on Hayman Island. Photo / Supplied
Bling me up
If you're loved up and recently engaged, head to Larsen Jewellery in Sydney or Melbourne for the Wedding Ring Experience.
Even the guys will love this as it requires sleeve-rolling, hammering and soldering - all under the watchful eye of a master jeweller who is ready to step in lest it all go horribly wrong.
Lunch will be served and the bubbles poured as you and your love pore over your creations; milling, filing, hammering and polishing a wedding band for the other.
Allow four to five hours Tuesday to Saturday and you can take them home with you.
If it's gemstones and engraving you want, you'll need to allow a couple of weeks for the people who know what they're doing to perform those tricks.
