Arrivals & Departures Weekly Travel News & Views 15 December 2025
MIND CHANGER
Casey, my faithful suitcase, isn't generally keen on road trips. Certainly not in WA. He’s more a first-class, exotic sort. Or, to be accurate, he was. His mind has been changed over the past few days by a simple trip to Albany. Just 434km from my front door, we spent a couple of interesting and welcoming days in the south coast town.
Top marks go to:
The gnocchi at Garrison restaurant.
Coffee and totally French-standard croissant at Gourmandise & Co.
The Old Convict Gaol museum run by the Albany Historical Society.
Black Swan Point, on Princess Royal Harbour, where I parked in the shade and watched the shimmering forms of people wading in the shallows, scouring for seafood.
Casey even liked the neat and very clean SureStay Hotel by Best Western The Clarence on Melville (from about $142 a night). He thought it spacious and comfortable. I appreciated being able to back up and park right outside the door, making it easy to unload my photo gear.
I was in Albany (with Casey) writing and photographing for our coverage of Albany 2026, WA’s first bicentenary. More on that soon.
ONE TRIPOD DOES ALL
I have a number of camera and phone tripods, but have been advising readers that the Sirui compact traveller 5C (and replacement 5CX) tripod is all you need. It has five-section carbon-fibre legs with quick-release twist-locks — so it packs to 33cm long, but its working heights are from 16cm to 138cm. It will take a camera of up to 4kg, comes with a ball head, and is about $170 online. (And I wish I had brought just that one to Albany, frankly.)
I really enjoyed my two Canon R7 cameras, one with an 18-150mm RF lens, the other with a 100-400mm RF lens (which was used to take the main picture on this page). The R7 is my favourite camera to travel with.
CASEY'S AN ANTLER
Reader Bridget Palmer has asked for more details about Casey: “I want to invest in a good solid suitcase that will last me for years.” Casey is an Antler . . . I always use Antler luggage now as, over many, many years, I have found it lasts best. Casey is a medium size (used for everything, from hot climates to Antarctica). I prefer a soft case as it is less likely to crack or split, and can be pushed into car boots. antler.com.au has up to 40 per cent off some luggage at the moment.
BALI VISA SCAM
A friend and his family turned up in Bali with what they thought were valid visas (which had cost $150) only to be told by officials that they had been scammed. It took over three hours at the airport to sort out new visas and enter Bali. (Their bank is refunding the scammed money.)
The correct site for eVisas is evisa.imigrasi.go.id
VFS has a “skip the queue” visa at indonesiavoa.vfsevisa.id. VFS is the official partner of the Indonesian Directorate General of Immigration.
Travellers also need to complete the All Indonesia online arrivals process at allindonesia.imigrasi.go.id.
KIMBERLEY RUSH
We have had such a strong response to our charter-flight Kimberley Wild Weekend in May next year that we have just 18 places left. Full details on page 5. I can’t wait.
A BRIDGE TOO FAR
We won’t be able to drive from the mainland of Italy to the island of Sicily any time soon. Italy’s Court of Auditors has rejected plans to build a 3.7km suspension bridge across the Messina Strait — the estimated cost of which was $23.6 billion (€13.5b). Travellers (and locals, of course) will still have to take ferries. The voyage itself takes about 20 minutes, but there’s the boarding and disembarkation time, which can be long (and frustrating) at peak times. The bridge would have cut this to 10-15 minutes.
SEARCH SURGES
Google Australia has analysed data to find the top searches by travelling Aussies in 2025. At the top are Dubai, Bali, Phuket, Doha, Auckland and Singapore.
Online booker Expedia has been at it, too — crunching data to come up with its 2026 “must do” list. It includes Sardinia (Italy), Okinawa (Japan), Phu Quoc (Vietnam), the Cotswolds (England) and Savoie (France).
Of those, I’ll point out that Savoie is in the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region, with its mountains and lakes. It’s a good place for walkers and mountain bikers. Vanoise National Park is a beauty but look out for the wind whipping up on the ridges of the Beaufortain Massif.
HANOI INSIGHTS
Reader Peter Lonergan was recently in Vietnam and Laos and is keen to draw attention to a tour called “Hanoi not-to-go-alone areas and stories from Vietnam War”, which he enjoyed.
Peter says: “It provides a wonderful insight into yesteryear in Hanoi and particularly the tenements and communal living and the black market that was part of everyday life. Residents are reluctant to leave today despite authority efforts.” Book the tour through viator.com and other sites.
LESSONS FROM NATURE
And reader Robert Sheehy has reacted to our comments on the flies being encountered in Perth and the South West by writing: “There is a pigeon race in Pattaya (Thailand) at the moment — 59 countries are taking part with more than 12,000 birds. Flies multiply by laying their eggs in animal poo. The best poo is pigeon poo. It does not attract flies. Their eggs would not survive.”
I think Robert may be suggesting we’d do well to note the benefits of pigeons and pigeon racing — as in the $3 million Pattaya International Pigeon Race. It’s a real coup (or, rather, coo) for Thailand. Robert explains: “There are a lot more things humans can learn from nature.”
Too true, Robert. Too true.
And that circles me back to the big, colourful common bronzewing pigeons of Albany with their beautiful green and bronze iridescence — and pelicans taking off from the sunny harbour.