Arrivals & Departures Weekly Travel News & Views 3 December 2024

DIGI TICKETS

A couple have a family drama before they leave for the airport, zip out in a hurry, and arrive flustered.

“I wish I’d brought the fridge,” says the husband.

“Why?” asks his wife.

“Because our tickets are on top of it.”

There’s a lot to be said for digital tickets.

TRICKY TICKETS

True story: a young Perth traveller just went to Sydney with only carry-on luggage. She was flying with Virgin and got their “lite”, no-frills ticket.

She paid $26 the day before she flew to choose an aisle seat, and says that the day of her flight they changed it to a window seat (she specifically wanted an aisle seat).

She had no notification that they were doing that, other than making her electronically check in again, which is when she noticed they had changed the seat number. She’s heard no word of a refund.

It gets worse. She bought a few things while she was in Sydney and her carry-on case was over the 7kg weight limit. She was made to check the bag in and charged $170.

(The tricks and traps of the least expensive air tickets.)

JUST THE TICKET

A favourite “travel agent story” in the US: A customer asks: “Can you get me to Pepsi-Cola?” The travel agent replies: “Perhaps you want to fly to Pensacola?”

SANTIAGO SATURDAY

As you read this, I am in South America, spending the day (November 30) in Santiago, Chile, a city I know quite well. I’m here with my notebook and camera (just as I’ve always travelled), remembering that locals affectionately call their country the “pais de los poetas” — the “country of poets”. Two of Chile’s most loved literary figures were the poets and writers Gabriela Mistral and Pablo Neruda, both of whom won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Mistral was Neruda’s mentor and guide, and knew him from boyhood. Neruda put his love of literature down to the books she gave him. Mistral, the first Latin American woman to receive the Nobel Prize, wrote: “You shall create beauty not to excite the senses but to give sustenance to the soul.”

SEEKING RESOLUTION

I should add that I am here with a group of readers, on the way to Antarctica. Tomorrow we fly direct to Ushuaia, at the southern tip of Argentina, to join the Lindblad-National Geographic ship Resolution. Lindblad Expeditions National Geographic just won the sustainability award in the National Travel Industry Awards.

A Lindblad spokesperson says: “National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions recognises that travel contributes to the overall carbon footprint affecting the Earth’s climate and, as a result, has chosen to become a 100 per cent carbon-neutral company. National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions is committed to eliminating and reducing emissions wherever possible, and offsetting those that cannot be eliminated.”

It does this in partnership with South Pole, a world-leading developer of international emission-reduction projects.

SON OF ADVENTURE

Sven-Olof Lindblad is the chief executive of Lindblad Expeditions. He was born in Switzerland and travelled widely with his father, the adventure-travel pioneer Lars-Eric Lindblad. Lars-Eric led one of the first non-scientific groups of travellers to Antarctica in 1966. Sven says this: “I see global climate change as the single most important issue of our time. And I want to spark more than just awareness and hope; I want to inspire action. After listening to scientists, educators, politicians, and the voices of young people like Greta Thunberg — and combining these perspectives with what we’re observing in the natural world — I feel compelled to greatly accelerate what I can do personally and professionally to address this issue.”

ULSTEIN ADVANTAGE

The Lindblad-National Geographic Resolution is an “X-Bow ship” — with the Ulstein bow. If you’re ever thinking about going to Antarctica, or anywhere else with potentially rough oceans, it’s worth looking at ships with this feature. The Ulstein bow slopes “backwards” rather than forwards, like conventional bows. It makes the bow “wave piercing”, helping stability and reducing fuel. The bow has a gentler wave entry. In my experience, it reduces slamming and steadies pitch — the ship’s front-to-back movement. These ships (again, in my experience) have less vibration and aren’t as noisy. The Ulstein bow also helps the ship to maintain speed in rough conditions, which aids stability but also (obviously) makes passages quicker.

RESOLUTE HISTORY

The ship we’re joining isn’t the first “Resolution”, of course. HMS Resolution was the sloop of the British Royal Navy in which Captain James Cook made his second and third voyages to the Pacific. It was built as a merchant coal ship, which the navy bought and converted. She was a tough, capable little thing, which Captain Cook called “the ship of my choice” and “the fittest for service of any I have seen”.

The 33m-long ship had been launched in Whitby in 1770, bought the following year by the navy and set out with 118 people on board in 1772.

On January 17, 1773, Resolution crossed the Antarctic Circle, and would do so twice more during the voyage.

After Cook’s death in Hawaii, it was sailed home by Charles Clerke, arriving in October 1780.

WHITBY VISIT

Whitby is one of the stops on Albatross Tours’ Best of British — a huge loop of England, a touch of Wales, and Scotland. The 16-night tour is clever in that it takes in a huge number of places, but has one four-night stop, three nights in three places, and a two-night and final one-night stay. For all that it includes the Lake District, Stratford-upon-Avon, Stonehenge and Edinburgh, though it is actually at an easy pace. Brilliant. And there’s a fish and chips lunch in Whitby. albatrosstours.com.au/best-of-british

LATIN AMERICA RELEASE

Wendy Wu Tours has just released its 2025-2026 Latin America brochure. It has 12 tours, with a selection of options from all-inclusive itineraries to choices for solo travellers and private groups, from the rainforests of Costa Rica to Machu Picchu. There are also 14 shorter extension options to add at the beginning or end of a longer tour. Sonia Orrego, head of product for Wendy Wu Tours Australia, says: “Our team has worked hard to create a tour series that delivers unforgettable memories by adding authentic encounters to help travellers connect deeply with the essence of each locale.” There are three new tours:

The 16-day Wines and Wonders of South America, a 16-day trip through Chile, Argentina and Brazil from $14,580 per person.

The 15-day Landscapes and Lakes of Chile, which includes time in Santiago, the Atacama Desert, the Lake District and Torres del Paine National Park. It is from $16,650 per person.

Andes to Atacama Adventure, a 19-day trip through Peru, Bolivia and Chile from $19,580 per person. wendywutours.com.au

MACHU PICCHU SHOW

On a mountain top with the Andean rainforest below, Machu Picchu is a symbol of the Inca Empire’s architectural and cultural achievements. The major summer exhibition Machu Picchu And The Golden Empires Of Peru opened at the Australian Museum last Saturday and runs until February 23, 2025. A museum spokesperson says: “It shares the secrets of Peru’s ancient civilisations, culminating in the Incan Empire that created Machu Picchu.” It is said to be the most opulent collection of Andean gold to ever travel outside Peru. The museum is the exhibition’s fourth venue in the world, after Boca Raton, Florida, USA; Paris, France; and Milan, Italy. Australian Museum director and CEO Kim McKay says there are 134 priceless treasures on show. The exhibition is exclusive to the museum, at 1 William Street, Darlinghurst, Sydney, with off-peak tickets from $37.50 for adults, $20 for children and $94 for a family of four.