ADJUSTABLE BEDS – EASE AND COMFORT AT THE TOUCH OF A BUTTON

Buying a new bed is an important decision and not one that should be rushed. These days there are so many options, it can be hard to decide on just one. An adjustable bed is a great solution. With an adjustable bed you can move the bed to your desired sleeping position and there’s added benefits such as being able to raise your head to read. When you buy an adjustable bed, you’re buying a bed that can be altered to exactly what you want.

Features and Benefits

• Being able to adjust your bed can help with health issues such as poor circulation, heart burn and breathing problems.

• If you and your partner prefer to sleep in different positions, you can choose a split model. With a split bed base, each side of the bed can be independently moved –one person can have the bed laid flat to sleep while the other can lift the back up and read in bed at the same time.

• Another advantage of a split bed is that you and your partner can each select the mattress comfort you desire – even if one person prefers super firm and the other likes their mattress soft, there’s no compromise needed.

• The base can be paired with different customisable headboard styles to suit your bedroom décor. Select from upholstered headboards or beautifully crafted timber designs.

As well as having movement features, upgraded models have additional functions such as vibrating massage settings, speakers, Bluetooth capability and under bed lighting. You deserve a rejuvenating, restful sleep every night. Head into your local Harvey Norman and let our sleep experts help find the perfect bed for you – an adjustable bed might be just what you’re looking for.

Shop in store at one of our 27 Furniture and Bedding stores nationwide or head online to harveynorman.co.nz 

NEED TO KNOW:

Getting there: Air New Zealand fly to Cairns twice weekly with daily connecting Qantas flights to Darwin

Getting around: Rental car

Where to stay: Mercure, Free WiFi, airport transfers and car parking

Tours: OnlyLuxe Travel have wide range of daily and extended tours. www.onlyluxe.com.au

Places of interest: Mindi Beach Markets, Darwin Museum, Litchfield Park, Kakadu National Park, Florence Waterfalls, Tennent Creek, Katherine Gorge, Edith Falls, Adelaide River Town, Mary River, Yellow Water, Nourlangie Rock

Best eats: Hanuman/Asian, Char/ modern Australian, PepperBerry/ seafood, PeeWees/international, Lazy Susans/Chinese, Wharf One/ seafood

Watch out for: Crocodiles

Background reading: The Heart of the Continent by Nancy Cato, take a Walk in Northern Territory by John and Lyn Daly, Tough Outback by Mike Bellamy, Lonely Planet Northern Territory by Paul Harding

Other information: Northern Territory Tourism northernterritorytourism.com.nt its share of natural wonders.

THENorthern Territory (NT) is the heart of Australia’s vast famed outback. This is Crocodile Dundee country, wild and rugged, a land of stunning contrasts and bush wetlands contrast with spectacular gorges and desert landscapes and a haven of unspoiled beauty.

Unlike most of Australia, the Northern Territory experiences just two seasons, wet and dry which are both equally diverse. The wet season from November to April brings monsoon rains with high humidity and watercourses that constantly spill over making roads and tracks inaccessible. The dry season from May to October signals the start for Southern Australians to head north for the drier and more equitable temperatures. Here the waters recede, the rivers become streams but the influx of people at some of the most popular tourist attractions make this a vibrant place to visit.

Darwin itself is very much a tropical holiday destination that has a certain obscurity. Often referred to as the Top End, Darwin itself juts out on a flat peninsula and is completely isolated. Not only the capital of the Northern Territory but it’s also strategically important with its nearest neighbour being Indonesia just 600 kilometres away. It was no surprise to see a large military base here.

For most Australians this easy going city is off the beaten track with a reputation for tropical cyclones and for having more lighting strikes than anywhere else in the world. It’s also a city that has been destroyed twice. The first occasion was during WW2 when the Japanese carried out eightytwo bomb raids but it was Xmas day in 1974 when Cyclone Tracy struck devastating 90% of the entire buildings. Sixty-six people lost their lives with forty-six-thousand airlifted to the south. Forty-nine-years on Cyclone Tracey is still the worst natural disaster in Australia’s living memory.

Perhaps the cyclone did the community a favour for the population returned three years later to a city rebuilt from rubble. Darwin today is vibrant, modern, clean and well laid out with wide open avenues, lush tropical vegetation of bougainvillea, frangipani, hibiscus and coconut palms and state-of-the-art architecture. Darwin continues to prosper with a number of new 5-star hotels, apartments and waterfront developments.

A visit to Darwin would not be complete without a visit to Kakadu National Park. It’s the largest National Park in Australia and without doubt the biggest attraction by far for the many tourists that visit Darwin each year. There are plenty of boat tours that will take you to the south of Alligator River, to the Yellow Water River Billabong or a sailing boat to the north of Alligator River where you can to fish for barramundi. Of course you will see lots of crocodiles “salties to the locals” – an amazing experiences not to be missed!

Further East across the Alligator River lies the vast expanse of Arnhem which is owned and inhabited by the Aborigines and accessible only by permit. Kakadu National Park has World heritage status and is one of the most prominent National parks in Australia. To do justice to Kakadu allow at least three days. Its spread over twenty-thousand square kilometres and is the traditional land of the Aboriginal clans.

Kakadu is also home to a thousand plants, hundreds of bird species and countless varieties of frogs, reptiles, mammals and fish that have been identified here. But much of Kakadu’s beauty lies in the rivers, billabongs, waterfalls and gorges. The Aborigines have lived here for over fifty-thousandyears and life goes on largely unchanged and uninterrupted as their traditions continue unchallenged by modern living. If you need a tangible reminder of the Aborigine’s presence the park also protects one of the finest and most extensive collections of rock art in the world. One of our greatest outback experiences was a visit to Ubirr to sight Aborigine rock paintings that are thousands of years old.

If time is not your enemy and you have a 4WD, another place to visit is Jim Jim Falls, a hugely spectacular waterfall that plunges 300 meters to the ground. The best time is during the rainy season although bear in mind the roads can be impassable.

There are also day tours by coach to Mary River, Yellow Water and Nourlangie Rock. Alternatively if you have no budget restraints a thirty-minute helicopter flight will provide a brief but enlightening introduction to this stunning area. One of the best places to stay is at the Crocodile Hotel. Famous for its design as it is set out in the shape of a crocodile. During one of our full day tours we sighted water buffalo, fruit bats and water lilies and if you have never seen crocodiles in the wild you are guaranteed to see them here basking in the sun along the river’s edge. If you’re really diligent the occasional pair of steel piercing eyes can be seen protruding just above the water line waiting patiently for their prey.

There is a long list of tours from Darwin at prices to suit to experience some excellent local attractions like Wildlife Park set in four-hundred-and-fifty-hectares of natural bushland. Not to be missed is the jumping crocodile tour home for scores of crocodiles that launch themselves out of the water to be fed by rangers.

As a standalone destination Darwin itself has plenty to offer. Mindi Beach Markets is transformed into a bustling colourful meeting place from April to October on Thursday nights. On offer are arts and crafts, free entertainment and ethnic cuisine. The Wharf Precinct is in the heart of Darwin’s CBD where you can experience some of the city’s best eats and drinks. Other local sights include Parliament Building, upmarket dining at the Green Room at the original Darwin Hotel, the Aviation Heritage Centre,

Fanny Bay Gaol built in 1883 to house some of the States notorious criminals, Qantas Guinea Airways Hanger which was used for the first air service out of Darwin and Admiralty House home to Char Restaurant and the Darwin Club.

As a holiday destination we found Northern Territory to be something quite special. Although isolated it’s a location that has not been surpassed anywhere else that we know of. In all a truly wonderful experience that is just too good to be true. We plan to make another visit before it becomes too popular! 