Planet Inn becomes Planet Soccer!

It’s been 4 long years in the waiting, but finally we’re back. The World Game takes centre stage again and at Planet Inn we have both Fox Sports and Setanta on the big screen in our licensed bar lounge.

Relax and enjoy the games with an Aussie beer or two in our multi-cultural environment.

Follow the progress of your Nation’s team. Wayne Rooney (featured) will be among the stars hoping to set the World on fire, giving their all for their Country.

Come on England and come on Australia!

Bundy Rum Rugby Match – Australia v England

The 2010 Bundaberg Rum Rugby Series Test Match in June will see the Qantas Wallabies match up against some of the world’s best rugby nations over six matches in Australia.

Australia will take on England who carries the hopes and dreams of the nation whenever they play, and with a strong forward pack and lightening pace in attack, they will again prove to be difficult opponents for the Qantas Wallabies in Perth.

With well priced tickets, both local and visiting rugby fans have a great opportunity to see a slate of the game’s biggest international stars in one of the year’s showpiece matches in Western Australia.

If you are looking for the ideal place to stay, Planet Inn is the closest hostel to the Subiaco Oval, where the Australia v England game will take place.

Don’t miss out, book your accommodation with us now for this great event.

Details courtesy of westernaustralia.com.

Red Bull Air Rally Off To A Flying Start!

Brazilian Adilson Kindlemann just moments before his plane crashed into the Swan River. Photo: Getty Images

A Red Bull Air Race plane has crashed into the Swan River during a training session, believed to be Brazilian Adilson Kindlemann of Kindlemann Air Racing team.

He was attempting a turn low over the river when his engine stalled, according to reports.

Amazingly he was rescued and on his way to hospital within minutes, such was the impressive speed of response from rescue workers.

Incredibly, there has never been an accident before at each of the previous 45 events and pilots were full of praise for the emergency response teams.

The event is hosted each year in WA now and has attracted a huge following owing to the exciting stunts and manoeuvres with the beautiful Perth City as the backdrop.

You’ve probably noticed very attractive promotional girls at motor racing events around the world. The Red Bull Air Race in Perth is no exception!

If you are looking for a fun place to stay at an affordable budget, while the event is on in Perth, why not try Planet Inn Backpackers.

The Red Bull Air Race is on over the weekend of April 17th and 18th.

How Absolutely Amazing – Thank You

As one of the most life changing experiences was due to you (Tony) having the Planet I’ve thought I really should take the time to tell you how absolutely amazing my few times at the Planet have been…

I remember arriving in Perth Airport with Jadie and Sarah in Feb 2006, overwhelmed by the heat and quite anxious as completely unaware of what to expect..

Sarah had randomly come across the Planet online and booked us in for I think around a week or two, on day one of our adventures I knew I’d be staying for a lot longer than anticipated.. Around 7 months in total I think we stayed with you!!

Swedish Dan came in the Planet Inn van and whisked us off to the ‘Hotel California…’ I celebrated my 19th birthday in your bar.

You were like a father pickin me up from the bus/train station after I went galavanting working random pubs those few weeks (quite skimpily haha)… We have spent hundreds of nights sitting around singing til the early hours of the morning while you played your guitar… Harrassed you in your office with those cans of red bull haha… I’ve worked for you, laughed with you and loved every minute of time with you..

Basically Tone I just want to say that you really are one of the best people I met on my travels and I will never forget you.. And if it weren’t for you making this place such a great home to live in I would never have gotten so close to the people I did, we only stayed because it was our home…

So basically thank you for everything and I am sooooooo happy that next time I finally make it over I may still have a chance of staying with you at the Planet..

Lots of love and hugs from around the world…

Claire Boardman

Stoke-on-Trent England

Shark Finning Should Be Banned Worldwide!

 

A top Sydney chef says shark fin soup should be banned from Australian restaurants because the demand for the delicacy is driving sharks to extinction.

Dank Street Depot’s Jared Ingersoll said serving shark fin dishes in Australia is promoting an unsustainable industry.

“Stocks of shark and shark fin are depleting and unless we take a stand and say no to this product it’s going to run out,” he said.

Mr Ingersoll said as well as the restaurant ban, the importation of the shark fins from other countries should be stopped.

“Buying it in from other countries, we’re actually not solving the problems because we’re shifting the problem to someone else’s front door,” he said.

Shark finning — the brutal but lucrative practice of cutting fins off live sharks and throwing them back into the ocean to slowly drown — is banned in Australia.

But Australia still imports 10,000kg of dried shark fins every year from countries that have not banned finning, including China and The Philippines, which equates to an estimated 26,000 sharks.

Ninemsn has found that dried sharks fins are widely available in Sydney’s Chinatown with price tags up to $1400 per kilogram and $158 a bowl of shark fin soup.

The dish is a symbol of wealth in Asian culture, but recently it has also appeared on western-style menus, including at Quay restaurant in Sydney.

Glenn Sant, from Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network TRAFFIC, said the global trade in shark fins was a major concern.

“Its not identified at all when it appears in a ship or through markets whether it’s from a sustainable source or a legal source,” he said.

Mr Sant said Australia had come a long way to protecting sharks but still played a significant role in the shark fishing industry — catching up to 12,000 tonnes per year.

He said the government needed to do more to demonstrate that they are managing in a sustainable way.

Chef Neil Perry, who heads Rockpool restaurants in Sydney and Melbourne, will only only serve seafood that is harvested sustainably.

“We know where it comes from, we know the fishermen and we know the fishing methodology,” Mr Perry said.

But he said the real issue was how the industry is managed.

“We should probably be able to have shark fin at some stage if the inhumanity of finning is stopped, the shark is being harvested from a sustainable biomass and all of the shark is being used.”

“It’s not a matter of getting banners and marching outside Chinese restaurants in Chinatown — it’s really a matter of having a dialogue at [a global] government level.”

Documentary film SharkWater, released in Australian cinemas this month, has ignited controversy over shark finning with it’s portrayal of cracking the black market fin trade in Costa Rica.

Director Rob Stewart, also a marine biologist, said shark populations have dropped 90 percent in the last 30 years because of the growing demand for shark fin soup in Asia.

“We’re not living in a sustainable relationship with the world that allows us to survive on land and we need to turn that around really quickly,” he told ninemsn.

Last month, the Minister for the Environment, Peter Garrett, placed an export ban on a fishery in northern Western Australia because of an alarming decline in one shark species.

“The rate of decline in the sandbar shark was considered so severe that shark fishing had to be stopped in the area,” a WA Fisheries Department spokesman said.

Story by Josephine Asher, ninemsn

Comment by Tony Inman at Planet Inn – As a keen scuba diver, I am absolutely an advocate of the importance of preserving our marine eco-systems around the World. I highly recommend the film ‘Sharkwater’, which explains the bad rep that sharks have received from Hollwood movies such as ‘Jaws’.

Sharks kill only about 5 people a year in the whole world, whereas we kill around 50 million of them. They kill usually only because they mistake us for something else that they would usually eat, such as a seal or a turtle, whereas in many cases humans kill sharks for their fins, often throwing them back in the water still alive, and leaving them to die a cruel and painful death.

I have personally dived up close to many sharks, of which there are hundreds of species, a lot of which are quite harmless to humans.

The incidents of shark attacks really come down to being very unlucky – “wrong place, wrong time”. Stats show that more people are killed by coconuts falling on their heads or being struck by lightning. More people die from defective electric toasters than from shark attacks, yet you don’t often find people fearing for their life as they avoid the kitchen bench!

If you are healthy and can pluck up the courage, I highly recommend learning to scuba dive. Failing that. have a go at snorkelling. If that’s still not your cup of tea, then take a tour in a glass bottom boat or visit AQWA, our WA aquarium, where you can watch sharks through the safety of a window.

All of these activities can be organised for you by our staff at Planet Inn.

Education is the key to understanding that sharks have an important place in our world and that they actually fulfill a vital role in maintaining the good health of the oceans and ultimately, of  our Planet Earth.

Miss Planet Inn Backpacker 2009

We’d like to express a big thank you to all of those lovely ladies who sportingly agreed to enter this ‘bit of fun’ competition. All of the girls looked fantastic and put a fair few smiles on faces around the world.

You may recall that we ran a voting competition among our website readers to let you decide on your favourite.

The competition was slightly dubious given that only one of the girls was still staying at the hostel and was therefore attracting more interest from current and recent guests. One voter admitting to casting multiple votes in favour of their favourite!

So as far as I am concerned all of the girls are ‘winners’ just for having the sense of fun required to be involved, not to mention the looks and personalities!

All of the girls expressed a desire for ‘World Peace’ and all looked great in their bikinis as well as their evening gowns!

Interestingly, all of them were very reluctant to submit their photos of choice, yet all of them whinged at me when I had to select photos which did not show them in their best light! “No, not that photo!” was the usual cry!

Anyway, to cut a long story short, we, voting adjudicators, in their ‘wisdom’(?) finally decided that as Aoife McSharry was leading the votes just when our website host decided to relocate the site, (thus losing the votes), we would give her the prize.

So Aoife became the inaugural ‘Miss Planet Inn 2009′ and received a week’s free rent at Planet Inn, along with some free drinks. We can’t show photos of her being crowned (a) because she was ‘otherwise engaged’ with a new boyfriend when we were going to hold the ceremony on Christmas Day and (b) because we didn’t actually have a crown yet!

It’s not a perfect world!

Speaking of which, congratulations also to Scott Hillis for being the only entrant for ‘Mr Planet Inn Backpacker 2009′ and therefore, the winner by default! Thanks for being a good sport mate!

We hope to see all of you back at Planet Inn again soon, and the good news is that we can now start a new competition for this year. Everyone who has ever stayed here is welcome to enter! This year we will do it better and get some sponsors to contribute better prizes!

Christmas Aussie Style

Christmas at Planet Inn is always a special day. It’s partly because backpackers are away from home and missing their loved ones, but also because they can enjoy a truly Australian experience with a beautiful sunny day relaxing on the beach.

Some people think about reindeers and snow as a traditional Christmas, but for us “Down Under’, it’s about sand, surf, bronzed bodies and a cold beer or two!!!

With Planet Inn, not only can you savour the delights of our spectacular coast, but you can also come back home afterwards and party in our beer garden while your Aussie BBQ is cooked in front of you.

Of course we will add our Aussie flavour to the day. George will be providing a free surfing lesson at the beach and our meal will include turkey steaks and Christmas Pud once the temperature cools a little.

So if you haven’t made any plans yet, come and join us. It will be a day to remember.

Merry Christmas to all of our past, present and future customers!

Beating the Recession at Planet Inn

We at Planet Inn recognise that a lot of people out there are finding things tough at the moment!

As a result of the ‘Global Financial Crisis’, tourism has been hit hard and people who may have intended to travel have held off because of cut-backs and job losses in other countries.

Those who have still come to Australia seem to not have as much cash available to spend and are seeking work sooner than in previous years.

So how are we at Planet Inn Backpackers responding to this ‘global crisis’ to help our customers?

We have held off the price increases that we normally apply at this time of year, which is usually our peak season.

Instead we are offering prospective and current guests “Recession Buster” Prices – Dorm Rates that would normally be around $27 to $28 per night are available for just $20 per night, with a week-in-advance rate of a crazy $130 ($18.57 per night).

In addition to this we have been making steady improvements and refurbishements to our premises to make things more comfortable and more convenient for our customers.

From Monday 23rd November, we will be offering a ‘Complimentary Breakfast’ between 7am and 9am.

In response to customer requests, we can now offer our guests free WIFI (wireless internet connection) for your laptops.

Our bar prices include customer-friendly “Happy Hours” in accordance with the local regulations.

We offer a free pick up service from Airports, Bus and Train Stations (min 2 ‘guest nights’ stay – ie one person for two nights or two people for one night).

We have found that a lot of travellers on Working Holiday Visas are asking us for work as soon as they arrive in Perth.

So we have responded by reactivating the Planet Inn Job Club. Anyone who stays with us can register at no cost for assistance in finding work.

Of course we cannot guarantee you a job, but we have helped thousands of backpackers to successfully find work.

The recent trend has been that more and more employers are starting to call us looking for staff and on some occasions we have had more jobs than people available to work.

We have set aside a couple of dorms as ‘Workers Dorms’, so that those people who are up early for work can have a bit of space from those of you who are just on holiday and in ‘party mode’.

Our ‘Promotional Planner’ offers discounted food, drinks and nightclub deals to keep more money in your pocket.

If you really want to save money, we recommend that you look at a Club Red Membership, which will give you discounts on all kinds of products and services from meals and entertainment to transport and tours.

“Throughout the whole recessionary period, we have always maintained a commitment to providing friendly, heplful service and creating a fantastic atmosphere.

It really is like being in a ‘home away from home’ – a place where you will make friends for life and feel like you are part of an international family.”

Try us out – make a booking – we look forward to welcoming you.

…my home away from home.

I would just like to thank you for your constant support and friendship setting me up in australia. I loved my time in Perth and i will forever remember the planet inn as my home away from home. Missing everyone back west and please keep in touch.

Jason Le Signe

from Jersey, Channel Islands

2008 to 2009 (!) with trips away!

Fields of Colour

It’s that time of year again when Mother Nature treats us West Australians to her very own spectacle as Spring heralds the arrival of our beautiful wildflowers ( I think the Poms call them weeds!).

Rains and sunshine greatly influence the timing of the wildflower season, causing it to span severa months and regions.In the north of the state, wildflowers will appear in July with early rains hastening their arrival. As late as November a blaze of wildflower colour will take over the south where the warmer weather produces a totally different collage of species.

Each of the trails covered on this website boasts unique wildflower species due to variances in environmental elements such as soil type, local fauna, the broader plant system, geological structure, and most importantly, the weather.

There are several ways of seeing this spectacle. Many of the tour operators run “wildflower tours”, or you can rent or buy a car and explore the region at your own pace. Contact Planet Inn for details!

Pictures courtesy of www.westernaustralia.com

Next Page »