Australia: 1 week and counting

One week from tonight I will be stepping on a plane to start my vacation in Australia.  It seems so far away even though the reality is quite the opposite.  Last night we booked our stay in Victoria where we will spend 3-nights in Melbourne and 1-night in Hepburn Springs. 

The Intercontinental in Melbourne (a.k.a. The Rialto) looks absolutely beautiful (see above photographs). TripAdvisor comments lead me to believe this will be a very enjoyable and comfortable stay since the hotel is in the city center and looks like it oozes sophisticated luxury.  After three brief nights we are off to spa country (about a 90-minute drive north of Melbourne) to stay at the Peppers Springs Resort and Spa.  According to Wikipedia, Hepburn Springs is a resort town located in the middle of the largest concentration of mineral springs in Australia.

From the looks of this place I think we will regret only spending one night. The first photo is the main building and the second appears to be the grounds and the spa house.  A bit of pampering might be in order, but I think I'll probably defer and want to check out the area.

Now all that is left to do is to settle on where to stay when we fly up to Cairns.  We were hoping to change our flights to stay on Hamilton Island but flights are full so we are back to looking at properties near Port Douglas and Cairns.  Any suggestions?