A Welsh View’s post on Ganvié, a village built over Lake Nokoué, near Cotonou in Benin was eye-opening. Apparently it was built during the sixteenth or seventeenth century to save people from slavery as religious traditions forbade attacking communities on the water. I’m embarrassed to say I never even knew it existed.
Some more professional images or further information here, here and here.
VirginBlue are running a seventy-two hour sale. A number of smaller domestic routes included (all for June travel) and east coast capitals to Christchurch and Nadi (somewhat more expansive dates).
[Image by scherre]
Posted in Deals
Tagged adelaide, airfares, albury, australia, brisbane, cairns, canberra, Coffs Coast, Deals, Fraser Coast, hobart, holiday, launceston, mackay, melbourne, newcastle, perth, rockhampton, sunshine coast, sydney, travel, vacation
PBS travel writer and presenter Rick Steves is a lot of things. A good writer, an intelligent and passionate traveller and someone who successfully preaches to Americans that there’s a world out there (OK, Europe) that is worth not just travelling to, but really seeing and experiencing. But, no matter his qualities, I’m happy to consider him the friendly old uncle of travel writing, encouraging the emptynesters to get out there and explore. But my guilty secret is I lust after his bags. Particularly his convertible carry-on and his daypack – all sorts of cool features, the best of all of which is they’re durable but damn light. But they’re so lacking in badass cred that they ought to come with a pair of slippers and a bus pass. But the design! The practicality! However, they don’t appear to be available anywhere in Australia and Amazon, fortunately my own self image, won’t ship them to Australia.
Today The Geeky Traveller caught my eye with the Kiva Keychain Backpack, made by the same company as Rick Steves line.
The Kiva Key Chain Pakc is a 120 gram nylon backpack (around 40 cms x 30 x 7) that collapses into a keychain pouch roughly 10cms x 6 x 3. A great idea for a daypack or extra capacity for things picked up along the way, even if the few Amazon reviews seem to (predictably) warn that it won’t carry a whole hell of a lot of weight. Like the Rick Steves bags, Amazon will only ship to US addresses. Saved from my own unconcious yearning for naff baggage again.
All in all, I reckon Kiva are a company that deserve a more active, better, or just bigger, Australian distributor.
In 2005 we were promised a new age of air travel. The A380 would revolutionise the flying experience, transforming it into something akin to the glorious age of great passenger liners, complete with all the amenities one could desire
A model of a bar area in an Airbus A380 shows how the plane’s “superjumbo” proportions may benefit some passengers. The plane’s main and upper levels will serve as passenger areas. The lower deck will be for freight—or additional passenger facilities such as sleeper cabins, child care, gymnasiums, casinos, or business centers, at the discretion of the airlines that purchase the planes.
Well, readers, that bright new future is upon us! The Herald Sun has a gallery of images showcasing the fit-out of the new Qantas A380. Behold the beauty of the new economy class – unlike any travel experience before…
I WANT MY BAR! Given the spike in fuel prices and competition from low cost carriers, at a pinch I’ll even settle for the gymnasium, casino and child care. But Nothing! Qantas: snot-green seats do not a great flying experience make. I can’t wait to spend twenty-four hours somewhere this dreary and soul-destroying. Steerage must have been worse…
Ah well, at least they’ve gone the extra mile for the patricians behind the curtins…
Wow! Seventies wood-grain meets beige. Singapore Airlines must be absolutely terrified.
Posted in Misc
Tagged A380, airlines, airplanes, australia, business class, economy class, first class, holiday, qantas, singapore airlines, travel, vacation
Just a heads-up about a new Jetstar ‘sale’, although it’s a bit of damp squib compared to recent deals (perhaps we’ve been a bit spoilt…). I couldn’t see too startling so I didn’t bother copying the whole schebang. Let me know if you think otherwise.
Routes:
Sale runs until Wednesday 21 May 2008 for travel 24 May – 24 Jun 08.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged airfares, bangkok, brisbane, cairns, christchurch, Deals, gold coast, holiday, japan, jestar, melbourne, new zealand, sale, singapore, sydney, thailand, travel, vacation, vietnam
If you have a few moments or are in need of travel inspiration the TripAdvisor Destinations Awards are worth a quick once-over. They were apparently ‘determined by a combination of TripAdvisor’s travelers’ favorite places and overall popularity on TripAdvisor’.
New Zealand takes out a quinella, with Milford Sound and Queenstown the two highest ranked destinations. Sydney, Cairns, Byron Bay, Melbourne, Port Douglas, Noosa, Perth, Cape Tribulation, Fremantle, Alice Springs, the Margaret River, Airlie Beach and Hobart were the Aussie inclusions. With regard to the USA California dominated, with Lake Tahoe the hightest rated, and in Europe it was Rhodes. Thailand managed six mentions. One slightly bizarre inclusion was Nadi, which may be a gateway to heaps of Fijian goodness but which is a pretty ordinary destination in itself.
Can anybody tick all of them off?
[Image of Milford Sound via Anita Gould]
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Airlie beach, alice springs, australia, byron bay, cairns, california, cape tribulation, destinations, fiji, fremantle, greece, hobart, holiday, lake tahoe, margaret river, melbourne, nadi, new zealand, noosa, perth, port douglas, rhodes, sydney, thailand, travel, trip advisor, united staes, usa, vacation
A survey by the UK Post Office Travel Service has found Warsaw to be the cheapest of ten ‘cultural captials’, with London shockingly rated as the most expensive:
For around £75 price tag tourists can enjoy a trip including visits to Warsaw’s historic art galleries, museums and heritage sites, together with nights at the renowned Polish National Opera, ballet and a symphony concert. The experience cost less than 25 per cent of the equivalent London cost. (TravelWeekly)
The survey measured the cost of admission to three top museums or galleries and three heritage sites, and tickets to an orchestral performance, opera and ballet. Prague, Lisbon and Amsterdam also fared well in the economy stakes, compared to Rome, Berlin, Paris, Barcelona and New York.
[Image via Kevin’s Gadgets]
Posted in Misc
Tagged america, amsterdam, ballet, barcelona, berlin, britain, Czech Republic, dollar, england, euro, europe, france, galleries, gallery, germany, heritage sites, holiday, holland, italy, lisbon, london, museum, museums, netherlands, new york, opera, paris, philharmonic, Poland, portugual, post office, prague, rome, spain, symphony, travel, uk, united kingdom, united states, usa, vacation, warsaw
One of many interesting outcomes of Heathrow’s T5 scandal has been stories about the life of lost luggage. Unclaimed and untraceble luggage ultimately it finds its way to an auction house where it’s flogged and the proceeds given to charity. If the prospect of someone ‘winning’ your dirty underwear at auction doesn’t thrill you there are some interesting services promising to unite you with your baggage, no matter where it ends up.
i-track, TraceMe and GlobalBagTag all work on basically the same theory – by providing stickers or luggage tags with a unqiue serial number which register against your contact details – if your bag is found the finder contacts the company and the serial number matches the luggage with the owner. You’ll be contacted by SMS or email to let you know where your luggage ended up. Are there any real advantages over clearly labelling your luggage? Well, obviously the service allows for greater anonymity and saves having to label your luggage with an address and phone number, and you may be re-united with your luggage sooner. Beyond that, I’m not convinced that luggage tagged in this way isis any more likely to be returned than luggage which is clearly labelled with texta inside and out.
The real question mark over these services is whether they’re worth the asking price of £9 plus per bag. I’m not sure I can justify the extra cost over scrawling my name and details inside and outside my backpack which, in most situations will be sufficient to have your bag returned, but if you travel with checked luggage frequently or have very valuable items checked it may be worth your while.
How do you label your checked luggage? Let me know if you have any experiences with such services, whether or not you think they’re worth the money or any lost luggage stories!
Some things are so light and small they’re not worth leaving home without. Despite the plethora of travel aids and gizmos the best travel knickknacks are cheap, light, small and (generally) multi-use.
Scarf / Bandanna / Sarong
A towel might definitively be the ‘most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have‘ but for my money, with the advent of the micro-fibre towel, this is the new champion. High fashion or improvised basket, sun hat, sheet, towel, sling (with some safety pins) and many other uses besides. Available world-wide and probably more cheaply than at home.
Light strong cord
For use as a clothes line and for securing bags in a pinch. A travel clothesline, designed to hold clothes without pegs, is a widely popular alternative but I’ve always managed to survive without one.
Zip-lock bags
Literally millions of uses – for dirty laundry, snacks, carry on liquids, keeping a travel journal dry, the list goes on. Larger bags are simple replacements for packing cubes.
Universal rubber plug / sink stopper
A must if you’re planning to do your own laundry. Whereas laundry powder is easy to buy most places, it’s worth buying a decent plug at home. Even if you never have to use it, it’s light and small enough to be worth packing and lugging.
Cable ties
A simple and cheap means of securing your luggage during flights – not necessarily tamper-proof but tamper-evident (as suggested by Budget Travel)
Rubber door stop
A small rubber doorstop is the simple and effective means of securing a hotel or hostel room door.
Small tupperware container
Useful if you have anything you wish to avoid crushing in your bag. In the meantime, perfect for storing most other things on this list.
Passport Photos
A few spare recent passport photos tucked away in the bottom of your bag may well save some unnecessary grief if you need a visa extension or a replacement passport.
Medicare Card
For Australians travelling to countries with reciprocal health agreements your medicare card is worth taking along.
Documents
You should ensure you always have access to:
Photos of your luggage (highlighting any identifying features) and any valuables you’re carrying are also worthwhile. You can keep copies of these details in paper format at the bottom of your luggage or store them or electronically – a good approach is to either email them to your web-based email account (or simply save them in a draft message) or take advantage of a free online storage site. It’s also worth leaving a copy of all of the above with a friend or family member back home.
Anything I’ve missed?
[Sarong image via somesatellite], Cable ties image via fotocitizen, passport photos image via imperialdoghnut]
TopBargains have published another code for a 5% discount off travel insurance through World Nomads.
Code: JCBDEJ
If you’re in the market in travel insurance check out our hints and tips.
Posted in Deals
Tagged australia, backpacking, Deals, discount, health, holiday, promotional code, travel, travel insurance, vacation, worldnomads
Oz Traveller 