Mt Taranaki from the Pouakai tarns, South Island, New Zealand. Photo: iStock MY ONE DREAM DESTINATION IS STILL … Japan. It’s got great food and beer. It’s sort of familiar and impenetrable at the same time. People there are astonishingly polite and generous and yet impenetrable. It’s also the home of Gigantor the Space Age […]
Kaley Cuoco in The Flight Attendant Photo: Phil Caruso HBO Max’s new miniseries “The Flight Attendant” has all the trappings of a good pandemic TV binge: good-looking cast; anxiety-spiking plot line; travel scenes that pull at your heart strings. The show is a welcome escape, particularly if you miss the sights and sounds of flying […]
In Ecuador and other parts of Central, South America, and Europe, New Year’s Eve heats up when midnight strikes. Photo: Sviatlana Lazarenka In years past, many people would travel over New Year’s Eve and immerse themselves in a different culture. Countries around the world ring in the new year with unique customs and traditions, often […]
An architectural impression of a revamped Arc de Triomphe in central Paris, which will be redesigned as part of a major overhaul of the famous Champs-Élysées. Photo: PCA-STREAM An architectural impression of a revamped Arc de Triomphe in central Paris, which will be redesigned as part of a major overhaul of the famous Champs-Élysées. Photo: […]
Luxury bedding at The Pets Hotel, Port Melbourne. Feeling bad about leaving your pet behind when you head off on holiday? Relax. Make a reservation for them at your nearest pet resort – decked out with TVs, couches, and water play areas – and they may have a better break than you do. “Dogs really […]
Sitting with strangers for several hours in a sealed aircraft cabin seems like an ideal breeding ground for the coronavirus. Photo: iStock As the world’s airline industry begins a long, slow recovery, millions of passengers are now flying every day. Does that pose a risk of catching COVID-19? While sitting with strangers possibly for several […]
Its business as usual for Qantas and Virgin Australia reward schemes. Photo: Brendon Thorne Qantas and Virgin Australia are locked in an arm wrestle for the other airline’s elite flyers, and the winner is Qantas and Virgin’s frequent flyers with gold status and above. Qantas fired the first shot at the end of November when […]
Most airlines have vastly limited or wholly suspended flight attendant service of food and drinks to reduce cabin interactions that could spread the virus. Photo: Getty In addition to halting most vacations in 2020, the coronavirus pandemic has largely stripped away one of air travel’s few small pleasures: in-flight food and drink service. Since March, […]
A women walks past the giant pigeon statue in an empty Rundle Mall as lockdown restrictions were imposed in Adelaide. Photo: Kelly Barnes On 15 November SA Health, South Australia’s health department reported four new cases of COVID-19. The source of the infection was an Australian traveller returning from overseas and in hotel quarantine. In a […]
“You just have to go with it”: Travelling Vietnam by scooter is an adventure of all sorts. Photo: iStock “Oh my God,” Jess breathes behind me as I yank the handlebars to the right, the scooter’s thin tires hitting the verge by the side of the road, jolting us up and down as I squeeze […]
Will travel agents survive 2021? Photo: Alamy The travel industry has been gutted by the pandemic. Bookings have fallen off a cliff, there’s no product to sell, confidence among travellers is shot and there’s no road map for a resumption of international travel. “Travel was the first industry to be affected by the pandemic and […]
Look familiar? Charles O’Rear’s Californian hillside was beamed onto millions of computer screens in 2001. Photo: Charles O’Rear/Microsoft Chuck O’Rear was driving through California wine country to visit his girlfriend, as he did every Friday, and scanning for possible pictures for his stock-photo service, as always. “We just never know,” he and his business partner […]
Photograph of Torpedo Bomber #28, the lead plane of Flight 19, known as “Lost Squadron”, which vanished on December 5, 1945, off the coast of Florida. The airmen pictured in this June 26, 1945, photo at Fort Lauderdale Naval Air Station in Florida, were not the men who disappeared with Flight 19. Photo: AP Language […]
The pandemic has caused more travellers to spend time outdoors. Photo: iStock The conventional wisdom is that 2020 has nearly destroyed travel. And though it’s true that covid-19 ruined our vacations and took a wrecking ball to a large part of the industry, the conventional wisdom is wrong. “Actually, the pandemic is making travel better […]
Head to MONA’s weird and wonderful Dark Mofo in Hobart this winter (if borders allow) After a monumentally frustrating year of disruption and disappointment, border closures and reopenings, cancellations and refunds, hope is one of the few commodities remaining for travellers. The global pandemic is far from over, as recent virus outbreaks at home have […]
Most travellers fancy themselves as photographers, but now is the time to take your snapping game to the next level. Photo: iStock So, you’re grounded right now. No international travel. Even crossing state borders seems dicey. You could spend this enforced layover wallowing in your own wanderlust-driven misery, which would be reasonable. Or, you could […]
Waiting for the New Zealand bubble: Mount Taranaki. What a year (to forget) in travel. On the positive side, some of us did manage to squeeze in overseas trips just before you know what showed up and there have been cherished moments of domestic travel bliss for many of us between border closures, border reopenings, […]
Melbourne laneways: Melbourne did it first and they’re awesome. Photo: iStock Dear Melbourne: we still love you. We still care. We still want to visit. It must have been a very strange few months in the southern capital, a feeling none of us outside the city could properly relate to. Friends might have told Melburnians […]
View of Salzburg from the river Salzach. Photo: Tourismus Salzburg Some places that are outrageously touristy are just awful. The herds destroy any vestige of charm. But other places manage to throw themselves headlong into the cheesefest, go shamelessly kitsch, pull in huge numbers of visitors and still stay majorly appealing. And these 10 are […]