Arrivals & Departures Weekly Travel News & Views 26 November 2024

EARLY SUMMER

Summer officially starts on December 1, but it feels like it is already knocking on the door. The shark net (sorry, “eco shark barrier”) was installed off Cottesloe beach on November 1, and swimmers have already been enjoying the bursts of warm weather.

COOGEE SAFETY

There has been a swimming enclosure at Coogee Beach, south of Fremantle, since 2013. It encloses an area about 300m long and 75m wide and extends from sea bed to surface, it's the one you see pictured at the top of the page. Which is precisely what you want to make a safe swimming beach. The “shark net” is made from a strong, flexible nylon with steel cables.

TRICKING SHARKS

For those “outside the net”, a team from Macquarie University’s Neurobiology Lab is working on an “LED light strategy” that seems to deter great white shark attacks. The LEDs trick the sharks’ visual systems. Professor Nathan Hart, head of the lab, Dr Laura Ryan and colleagues have published a paper in the journal Current Biology which says their work “may form the basis of new non-invasive shark deterrent technology to protect human life”. The researchers have already found that sight is important to great whites as they hunt. They lunge up toward the surface to take potential food like seals in their jaws. By the same token, their eyesight is poor, and they can mistake a surfboard (with human arms and legs dangling off) for a seal. The team turned to young plainfin midshipman fish, which have photophores on their undersides. These glandular organs appear as luminous spots, producing light and disrupting the shape of the fish’s silhouette. The researchers have trialled a method to disguise silhouettes using lights, so that sharks won’t see them as food.

MOSSEL BAY

To test out the “counterillumination strategy”, Dr Ryan went several times over six years to Mossel Bay, a notorious great white hotspot in South Africa. Researchers towed 1.2m long, seal-shaped foam decoys on 20m lines behind a boat to attract sharks. They then used LED lights to break up the decoys’ silhouette. Lights placed in stripes across the bodies of the seal decoys deterred sharks. I had my own, slightly horrific experience in Mossel Bay in the very early days of “shark cage diving”. I can confirm there are a lot of big great whites there. (Memo to self: don’t try something while it’s still being developed). Shark diving day trips are still offered in Mossel Bay from $127 (1500 South African rand) per person.

KIMBERLEY CALLING

Cruise company Ponant has launched its 2026 Kimberley season. There are 16 departures for expedition vessels Le Soleal and Le Jacques-Cartier from May to September 2026. And a Ponant spokesperson says there are savings of up to 30 per cent for early bookings. The trips include visiting waterfalls, rock art sites and all sorts of adventures in Zodiacs. au.ponant.com

NORTHERN WILDERNESS

A virtual reality movie called The Great Kimberley Wilderness has just been launched and is being shown until April 28, 2025, in four of WA Museum’s public sites: WA Museum Boola Bardip, Great Southern, Geraldton and Goldfields. The 360-degree VR documentary takes viewers over the edges of waterfalls, along coastlines and into the red heart of the landscape. It was written, directed and executive produced by Briege Whitehead, who grew up in regional Western Australia, and is narrated by Luke Hemsworth.

PEMBERTON WEBSITE

There’s a new Pemberton Visitor Centre website at pembertonvisitor.com.au.

And locals there tell me there are still vacancies for the school holidays, which officially start on Friday, December 13.

Among the activities and experiences there is Aerial Adventures, which opened last Boxing Day and has a 114m-long flying fox, walkways through the Karri canopy and spiral viewing platforms.

NIGHT MARKET

Sydney’s European-inspired Le Jolly Christmas Night Market is back, in a new spot next to Central Station. It will be in Belmore Park, next to Central Station and Haymarket, from December 13 to 22, with wooden huts, artisanal products, gourmet food, fine wines and live music. There will be lots of handmade, locally sourced products on more than 35 stalls. And many items will be under $20.

CASH IS KING

Reader Bev Chapman noticed last week’s reference to us Aussie travellers still liking a bit of local cash in our pockets. She says: “We have just returned from Mexico where cash is still king. Although we had a Westpac travel card, a Wise card and two credit cards, cash was still preferred, especially for smaller purchases like an ice-cream or a coffee or from the many artisan and tourist stalls and markets. We also had to put in a PIN each time, unlike Europe where it was just tap and go. Sometimes there was no wi-fi, hence no cards and some smaller businesses didn’t have a card machine at all.” Bev adds that they have a tin full of money brought home from various trips — but this time managed to return with just three pesos — about 0.23 of an Australian dollar.

(The “Westpac travel card” is also Worldwide Wallet, and is a Mastercard, and I used it.)

AFFORDABLE JAPAN

The hotel group Four Points Flex by Sheraton is worth knowing for its mid-range price and proximity to transport. These are modern, well-run, no-nonsense hotels — for when you just want a sensibly priced, comfortable room with wi-fi included. The brand specialises in locations within easy reach of public transit and city centres. They are designed for “the value-conscious consumer”, and are focused on clean, comfortable rooms and essential amenities.

Part of the massive Marriott International Inc, Four Points Flex has just reached a milestone with the opening of its 100th property in Japan. The 220-room Four Points Flex by Sheraton Osaka Umeda is in the centre of Osaka. Metro and train services are less than a five-minute walk, and easily take guests to anywhere in the area, from Osaka Castle to Universal Studios Japan.

Twelve more Four Points Flex by Sheraton hotels are due to open soon in Japan. It is expected that 14 properties join the brand in Japan early in 2025, adding more than 3600 rooms to Marriott’s growing portfolio in prominent destinations that include Hakodate, Nagoya, Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe and Hakata. marriott.com

WALK WITH PENNY

… and finally, I’ve just finished recording an interesting episode of The Pod Well Travelled with Penny Thomas. She walked some of the Kumano Kodo sacred pilgrimage walk on the Kii Peninsula in Japan. About 100km south of Osaka, pilgrims can walk relatively short distances each day and stay in guesthouses. You’ll find The Pod Well Travelled wherever you get your podcasts.