Arrivals & Departures Weekly Travel News & Views 22 July 2025

INDIA IS FULL

Before we start, I’d better clear something up ...

Last week we announced our free All About India event, in partnership with the Consulate General of India, Perth. It filled very quickly. I know some readers are disappointed not to have a spot and I’m sorry about this. We’ll try to arrange another, similar event at some stage ...

READ IT FIRST

All our events are announced first in eTravel — our Wednesday digital edition, delivered free to more than 40,000 inboxes. We write new stories for that edition, as you can read on page 26. Send us an email, with your full name, to info@westtravelclub.com.au and we will sign you up for free.

BRAHMAPUTRA VOYAGE

Viking has a new 15-day itinerary called Wonders of India, which includes a tour of the Golden Triangle (Delhi, Agra and Jaipur) and a cruise on the Brahmaputra River, visiting Kaziranga National Park. Sailing from 2027, it will be on new Viking ship Viking Brahmaputra, which will take up to 80 guests. Wonders of India is from $14,895 per person, and available to book now. See travel agents, visit viking.com or call Viking on 138 747.

RHINO SUCCESS STORY

North-east India is the bit that hangs off the “top right corner” of India, between Bangladesh, Myanmar, Bhutan and China. I’ve spent quite a bit of time in this mountainous country, with remote villages and isolated towns and cities. Kaziranga National Park, in the region of Assam, was set aside for conservation in 1908 — mainly as a refuge for the one-horned rhino. The population of these has increased. Assam is home to about 80 per cent of the world’s population of one-horned rhinos, with the 1300sqkm of Kaziranga having 70 per cent of those — 2613 when counted in 2022.

Assam’s forest department recently started DNA profiling of more than 2500 rhino horns, most of which were burnt in 2021 to combat the myth that they have medicinal value, which made the animals the target of poachers. The DNA analysis is to document the individual DNA profiles of the rhino horn and add it to the RhODIS India DNA Index System — a wildlife forensics database developed to help in investigations of wildlife crime.

The national park has expanded to include a tiger reserve and is a breeding ground for Asian elephants.

CLUB MED AFRICA

Club Med’s first resort in South Africa is due to open in a year’s time — July 2026. Club Med South Africa Beach and Safari will be just north of Durban in the KwaZulu-Natal. The all-inclusive resort Mpilo Safari Lodge is on a private 18,000ha game reserve with plenty of wildlife. There will be 345 rooms. Thirty minutes’ drive from Durban’s King Shaka International Airport, bookings open in October 2025. clubmed.com.au

ASSEGAI ASSIGNMENT

The Zulu’s most famous king, Shaka Zulu motivated his warriors by decreeing that they had to wash their assegais (spears) in the blood of an enemy before they were allowed to marry. The assegai is a light spear with a leaf-shaped metal blade and thin shaft traditionally made from the Southern African tree, Curtisia dentata. It’s commonly called the Cape Lancewood ... or Assegai Tree.

WINERY SHUTTLE

Rustico at Hay Shed Hill winery in Margaret River has started the Rustico Ride transport service. It is a round-trip pick-up and drop-off service for Rustico customers. Seven days a week, a modern passenger shuttle will take guests and collect them from up to 12 different places in the Margaret River region. rusticotapas.com.au

WORLD TO SAIL IN

We spend a lot of our time going out into the world, but in January 2026, the world will be coming to us. Or, at least, a fair bit of the yachting world, for the first-ever Oracle Perth Sail Grand Prix. SailGP is fast, exciting racing, as 50-foot catamarans raced by teams from 12 nations hit more than 100km/h close to shore. And there will be an emphasis on giving spectators plenty of ways to see the action. The races are on January 17 and 18, and pre-sale tickets go on sale at 10am on Friday August 22, 2025. Those pre-registering get early access to tickets at an exclusive price, while general tickets are available from 10am on Thursday August 28, 2025. There will be all sorts of options, from “Bring Your Own Boat”, with a front-row position guaranteed, to high-speed action inside an Exclusion Zone and the Waterfront Grandstand. SailGP is a global championship, taking place in major cities across the world, and for Fremantle it will surely bring memories of the America’s Cup defence in 1987.

KIMBERLEY QUEST

Thinking ahead is important to getting choice, in these busy-travelling-times . Kimberley Quest has cruises of eight and 14 days on the Kimberley Quest II, and is open for bookings for 2026, with the first cruise leaving on March 10, 2026. They sail between Broome and Wyndham, with a double cabin from $22,790 per person. kimberleyquest.com.au

HELLY GOOD BARGAIN

In 1877, Captain Helly Juell Hansen, inset top right, saw that workers at sea needed better protection from the Norwegian elements and he and wife Maren Margarethe tried soaking coarse linen with linseed oil. They made water-resistant offshore clothes from this, and the brand Helly Hansen was born. (It’s one of my favourites.) In the 1900s, as people got more free time, Helly Hansen added sailing and camping gear to its products, along with fashionable rainproof clothing for urban use.

I think we all like a bargain and I just bought this $349.99 Helly Hansen puffer jacket, with a good hood, for $99. Helly Hansen is Norwegian and my favourite brand for outdoor, wet weather and warm wear. I got this from Anaconda’s online store ... and Jessie Stoelwinder has more puffer bargains on page 8.

PUFFER WEIGHTS

Choosing the weight of puffers and insulation puffers ...

Mild weather hiking or layering — 200g to 400g.

Mid-weight ski jacket for Australia — 500g to 1000g.

Heavy-weight jacket for cold places — 1000g-plus.

EUROPE IS HOT

By contrast, a sizzling European summer is in full swing, and data compiled by Emirates airline shows how we’ve been flocking there. Booking data and search patterns for July and August 2025 reveal that 85 per cent of Emirates’ Australian bookings for those months were for flights to Europe. The UK, Italy, Greece and France are top destinations. The UK leads bookings at 23 per cent, and 30 per cent of travellers booked breaks lasting over a month. Thirty-one per cent of those flying are solo travellers.