Australia’s answer to the Orient Express goes...

Australia’s answer to the Orient Express goes into service Oct. 2. The refurbished train will do daylight trips out of Spencer Street station in Melbourne. Five passenger cars, two club cars, a couple of dining cars (“five-star cuisine and service.”). It’s called the Southern Cross Express. The train will leave Melbourne for Sydney on Friday, travel from Sydney to Canberra on Saturday, return Sunday to Melbourne. Passage will begin at $195 Australian, including meals. (The train will be available for group charters Tuesdays/Wednesdays.)

The Southern Cross Express went into service in the early 1940s under the South Australian Railways banner. The operator says she “will recapture the Old World romance of vintage rail travel.” Claims these trips will be “journeys back in time to a period of comfort and elegance.” Details from Australia Vintage Travel, 1008 S. 77 Sunshine Strip, Harlingen, Tex. 78550 or telephone toll-free (800) 847-0110.

Britain Hosts Disabled

Britain’s National Trust is converting holiday cottages for use by the disabled. A couple are already accepting guests in Cornwall at St. Anthony Head on the Roseland Peninsula with its stunning views of Falmouth Bay. The British have installed ramps, grab rails, sliding doors, wheelchair-level plugs. Furniture for guests with impaired mobility. One cottage sleeps four, the other accommodates two. Originally the cottages served as officers’ quarters at St. Anthony Head Battery in Cornwall. A mix of antiques and modern furniture. Fireplaces for chilly evenings. Lots of books, jigsaw puzzles. A cheery, down-home atmosphere. Rates from 80 (about $49 U.S.) per week (low season) for the smaller cottage to 245 (about $149 U.S.) per week (high season) for the larger cottage. To book, contact Anne Green, Holiday Cottage manager, The National Trust, Lanhydrock Park, Bodmin, Cornwall PL30 4DE, England.

Meanwhile, the National Trust has produced a booklet titled “Facilities for Disabled and Visually Handicapped Visitors.” Tells about wheelchair paths, powered vehicles available to help the disabled explore Trust properties in Kent/Yorkshire. Taped guides for visually handicapped. Packed with details covering England, Wales, Northern Ireland. Guide dogs welcomed at all National Trust properties. Make inquiries c/o Facilities for Disabled Visitors, The National Trust, 36 Queen Anne’s Gate, London SW1H 9AS or contact the British Tourist Authority, 350 S. Figueroa St., (Suite 450), Los Angeles 90071 or telephone (213) 628-3525.

For other details on travel for the disabled (both at home and abroad), send a self-addressed stamped envelope to The Society for the Advancement of Travel for the Handicapped, 26 Court St., Penthouse Suite, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11242.

B&B; Update

The cost of travel overseas is spiraling. As a result, more Americans are switching to B&Bs.; A new toll-free number (800) 852-2632 gets you information on more than 800 B&Bs; in England, Scotland, Wales. Everything from fancy Tudor homes and country pubs to farmhouses and modern bungalows. A choice of 35 properties in London alone.

Here’s another source: Bed and Breakfast Reservations Services Worldwide. Represents 10,000 properties in 43 states, Canada, Jamaica, the British Isles, Europe, New Zealand. Dozens of choices (apartments, log cabins, grist mills, farmhouses, ski chalets, beaccars and photography. During addresses and telephone numbers of 78 reservation services representing these properties, send $1 together with a large, self-addressed stamped envelope to B&B; RSWW, P.O. Box 14797, Department 174M, Baton Rouge, La. 70898 or telephone (504) 346-1928.

Fall in New England

Seems only yesterday it was June. Now summer’s nearly gone. With fall approaching, hundreds of New England innkeepers will be stoking the fires, serving hot cider. A new brochure describing guest homes in Newport, R.I., is free by sending a stamped self-addressed business envelope to Newport Guest House Assn., P.O. 981, Newport, R.I. 02840. Among homes listed is the Brenley Victorian Inn with its period furnishings, Victorian kerosene lamps, candles, fresh flowers. Another, the Yankee Peddler Inn, sits atop Newport’s Historic Hill only a few blocks from the harbor. And there’s Melville House, a Colonial inn (circa 1750) that does business in the heart of Newport’s historic district. Just around the corner from Brick Market and the Wharfs. For Christmas shoppers, Newport features dozens of unusual shops. It’s also home to American’s oldest continuously operating tavern.

Boston

If you’re joining the Pilgrims during the fall foliage tours, you’ll probably want to stop off in Boston. The Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau has put together a new guide. Contains names, addresses and telephone numbers of hundreds of hotels/inns, restaurants, sightseeing companies. The guide (it also features 16 area maps) is part of a kit that’s sold for $2 at the Boston Common Visitor Information Booth on Tremont Street and the Prudential Plaza Information Center. Besides the guide, the kit includes a map of the Freedom Trail and National Historic Park. By mail the kit sells for $3. Send checks rather than cash to the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau, P.O. 490, Boston, Mass. 02199. Note: For a free Massachusetts Fall Calendar of Events and Fall Foliage Guide, write to the Massachusetts Division of Tourism, 100 Cambridge Street, 13th Floor, Boston, Mass. 02202.

A Letter from Germany

A note from Manfred and Roswithe Boddeker of West Germany tells us they are eager to practice English by exchanging letters or cassettes with Americans. They are ages 52 and 47, respectively. Interests range from economics to travel, fast cars and photography. During summer they rent rooms in their home overlooking the Baltic Sea. Americans welcome, particularly in the off-season. The Boddekers are anxious to learn “everything about the American way of life” and wish to visit in an American home. Their address: Sonnholm 10, 2391 Westerholz, West Germany.

Reader Recommendations

Britain--Westley R. Denton, Claremont: Praise for four hotels--Sunnybanks, Llanrwst Road, Woodlands, Conwy LL32 8LT, Wales (8.50 a night); Saddle Hotel, 24/25 Northumberland St., Alnmouth NE66 2RA, Northumbria, England (17 a night); Limes Country Hotel, Redhills, Penrith CA11 ODJ, Cumbria, England (10 per person), and Golden Lion Hotel, East Street, Newport, Dyfed SA42 OSY, Wales (10 per person).

England--Neil and Debbie Rockoff, Los Angeles: “Tower House is a magnificent Victorian home on a hill overlooking Bath, just a few minutes from the center of town. Hosts are Anne Marie and Gino Marton. Rates are from 80. Includes a fabulous full-English breakfast. Dinner served nightly. Address, Field End, Batheaston, Bath, Avon.”

England--Ellen Clark, Los Angeles: “Two super guest houses five minutes from Gatwick Airport: Masslink House, 70 Massetts Road, Horley, Surrey RH6 7ED, and Redruth Guest House, 13 Church Road, Horley, Surrey RH6 7EY. Rates for both: 16 single, 25/27 double.”

Japan--Gail R. Nettels, Nagoya, Japan: Recommends two “inexpensive ryokans”--the Riverside Takase, Seishinji-cho, Kiyamachidori, Kaminokuchi-agaru, Shimogyo-ku, Kioto, 600 Japan ($20 single, $30/$40 double), and Ryokan Kyoka, Higashi-iru, Higashinotoin, Shimojuzuyamachi-dori, Shimogyo-ku, Kioto, 600 Japan. Same rates.

Mexico--Bob Albert, South Laguna: “A charming 17th-Century colonial house in San Miguel Allende just two blocks from the main plaza. Cost, $10/$15 a night. Write to Carmen McDaniel, Canal 58, San Miguel Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico.”