Another Page Turns in Tale of the Yellow Wiggles

GREG Page had given up on the idea of being a Wiggle. When illness forced him to retire from the famous Australian group five years ago, Page's only connection to the entertainment world was the Elvis Presley museum he had set up in Parkes, NSW.

Yesterday in Sydney, however, the 40-year-old donned his familiar yellow jersey and announced his return to the band he helped create 20 years ago with fellow musicians Murray Cook, Jeff Fatt and Anthony Field.

"It's really like I never left," Page told The Australian. "It's like I walked out the door yesterday and walked back in today. There is still the same chemistry between us.

Page was forced to quit the Wiggles in 2006 after contracting a rare illness, dysautonomia, which causes fatigue, making it difficult for him to meet the demands of being on stage. He was replaced in the act by singer Sam Moran, who had been an understudy in the group beforehand.

Moran stood down yesterday to allow Page to return.

Moran, who released a solo album in 2010, said in a statement he would be pursuing other interests and spending more time with his wife and two year-old daughter.

"I am very proud of my five years as the yellow Wiggle and the group's continued success with me as their lead singer."

Not all Wiggles fans were happy about the announcement, with some suggesting on the band's Facebook page that the Wiggles should become a five-piecewith Page and Moran.

"A lot of people have grown up with Sam and will be disappointed," Page acknowledges, "but I'll step in and hopefully we'll be able to connect with all of those children as well."

Page's condition has improved through treatment and he now feels strong enough to cope with the busy schedule.

"My health is good," he says.

"My condition is managed in a way that it doesn't affect me during the day, but of course recently I haven't been doing concerts so it is going to be a challenge being back on stage. I'm confident of being able to manage it because I have an understanding now of what the condition is."

The Wiggles are one of Australia's most successful musical exports. Last year they earned $28 million from touring globally and from sales of DVDs and CDs.

Albums such as Yummy Yummy, Toot Toot and Here Comes the Big Red Car have made them a household name across the globe.

Page's first gig of his second phase as a Wiggle starts next week, when the four musos enter the recording studio to write and record new material for a DVD and CD. That will be followed by tours of Australia, Britain and the US in the coming months.

"I've had a look at the schedule for the year ahead and we're going to be working as hard as we used to," he says. "That's a good thing. It keeps everybody on their game.

Holiday Operators Gloomy. Will Santa Bring Them Tourists?

Sentiment about the performance of the domestic tourism sector is at its lowest point in three years, according to the latest TTF-MasterCard Tourism Industry Sentiment Survey.

TTF chief executive John Lee say it has been a tough year and operators are wary.

“If there’s a brighter spot, it’s that tourism operators are slightly less pessimistic about domestic travel for the upcoming holiday period,” Lee said, “but keep in mind that expectations remain well below average.”

“Continuing global economic upheaval, natural disasters at home and in two of our top inbound markets, and the number of Australians travelling overseas have contributed to the current malaise, especially for leisure tourism operators in regional areas.

“More than 40 % of operators expect international tourism to be worse than usual over the Christmas-New Year period, with only 6% expecting improved conditions.

“Expectations for domestic tourism are more positive, with 15% forecasting improved conditions, against 30% suggesting domestic trade will be worse than usual for the period.

“In other words, tourism operators are not getting their hopes up too high – but they are hoping for better weather than we had for Christmas and January last year, especially in Queensland.”

Lee says the dollar remains a key area of concern.

“57% of respondents rated the strong Australian dollar among the top three factors negatively impacting their business,” he said, “however that’s down from 72%last quarter.

“The survey also shows labour and skills issues continuing to gain prominence, with 88% of operators nominating the skilled labour shortage and two thirds nominating a shortage of unskilled labour as being medium or high impediments to their businesses.”

Edited by : Peter Needham

(Source: eglobaltravelmedia.com.au)

Stacks of Spring School Holdiday Free Fun

With one week down and one to go, Sydney Olympic Park is the place to find FREE FUN from 3-9 October, when stacks of school holiday activities will continue to roll right up until the night before school bells chime for the start of Term 4.

A range of Kids in the Park spring 2011 group activities and adventure tours will ensure young minds are switched-on and amused EVERY DAY of the school holidays… and in many cases, at little or no charge to mums and dads! For example…

The hunt for the mysterious Olympasaurus will continue at Cathy Freeman Park from 4-7 October, when the FREE Circus Solarus – Dinosaur Dig may even result in the discovery of a new species of dinosaur! Kids will get to sift through the sand for fossil remains and also make some prehistoric craft to take home and present to family and friends.

The Kids in the Park spring 2011 Clue Trail for budding detectives aged 3-12, or the pursuit to Crack the Code for kids aged 7-14 will also get explorative juices flowing for FREE every day. Kids can use the aid of a map or compass to follow the clues and decode the hidden password. And, once the the mystery solved, each child will receive a special spy prize!

With an incredible 430 hectares of parklands and 35 kilometres of cycling tracks to be discovered at Sydney Olympic Park, the FREE Discovery Trails self-guided walking tours and selection of FREE Bike Trails will also unearth lots of fun in the sun for the whole family – and just in-time upcoming October 2011 Festival of Cycling at Sydney Olympic Park.

For more wheely fun FREE family entertainment, The Amazing Chase is sure to please every day from 9.30am-3.30pm. Participants can ride the race individually or as part of a team, with puzzles to be solved at various checkpoints and an online component for riders to record and compare their fastest time against others.

For BMX-riders who want fun in the sun with a monster dose of action, the BMX and Mountain X track on Hill Road at Sydney Olympic Park boasts 250 metres of meandering downhill dirt jumps and wicked turns to-boot. The track is also FREE and open daily from sunsrise to sunset, except on Sydney BMX Club Day when a spectacle of races and rider coaching sessions will take place from 10am-1pm on 9 October, costing between $5-$25 per participant.

For less than $30 per child, kids can learn to roll with skill and ease at Monster Skatepark, where supervised iSkate @ Monster skateboarding and Kick @ Monster scooter classes will operate daily from 3-9 October. Half-day, full-day and six days / five nights residential Holiday Camps @ Monster will be offered during the final week of the holidays too.

Even more rolly family fun can be had on unique Segway rides at Newington Armory, which is a 52 hectare heritage-listed site with buildings dating back to the 1800s and a landscape of undulating hills and rolling grassland. On Sunday 9 October, visitors can tour the Armory on the GOOD-VALUE Heritage Railway Discovery Tour.

Other GOOD-VALUE activities costing less than $20 per person during the final week of the school holidays include Cookies and Craft at Lilies, Splasher’s Waterplayground at the Aquatic Centre, Archery, Golf, classes in Drumz Buzz Music Funology and the Birds Australia Discovery Centre’s Kids Go Birding Tour.

With furthermore FREE activities including AFL Clinics, Floorball, the Brickpit Ring Walk, Operation Art exhibition and more, it is no wonder Kids in the Park makes Sydney Olympic Park the official home of the BIGGEST range of school holiday activities in NSW!

For more information about the program, visit kidsinthepark.com.au, call the Sydney Olympic Park Infoline on 02 9714 7888, check out the NEW Sydney Olympic Park YouTube channel, visit the Sydney Olympic Park page on Facebook or follow @olympicpark_syd on Twitter.