Arrivals & Departures Weekly Travel News & Views 5 January 2026
A NEW YEAR
How did this happen? One minute I’m writing “happy new year 2025” and then, seemingly in the blink of an eye, here we are on January 3, 2026. So, a slightly belated happy new year for 2026. May the year bring you insights, intellections, intermingling, interactions, intrigues and fun.
WICKED WATCHING
The favourite movie of 2025 for Qantas passengers was . . . (drum roll) . . . Wicked. It was the most-watched film of the year, as flyers on Qantas flights spent more than 94 million hours glued to inflight entertainment.
The full top five was Wicked, Mission Impossible The Final Reckoning, Gladiator II, We Live In Time and Bridget Jones Mad About The Boy.
The White Lotus was the top TV show, with Qantas travellers spending more than 667,000 hours watching it.
I rather like the fact that they spent more than 388,000 hours watching Defying Gravity at 30,000ft.
DRIVERLESS TAXIS
Watch out! Driverless taxis will be on London’s roads in 2026. Waymo’s autonomous taxis are expected to start public trials in the northern spring, which will make London the first European city with this service. The UK Government passed the Automated Vehicles Act in 2024, which has paved the way for the driverless taxis. The first test cars will have safety drivers, then (if they pass), there will be a full consumer release through the Waymo app.
Waymo already provides 24/7 fully autonomous ride-hailing services in the US cities of Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin and Atlanta. It is planning to expand to Miami and Washington, DC. It is all fully driverless.
SNAKE STORY
According to US President Donald Trump in his Christmas address, 28,000 people die every year in Peru from snake bites. But this is just to assure you that they don’t. It is about 10 people a year, when health-service notifications are analysed. During the President’s address from the White House, he drew rather creatively on the memoir Venom And Valor by James J. Jones, who wrote about being bitten by a poisonous snake in the Amazon in 2016. Dr Jones was a White House physician’s assistant who became director of the White House Medical Unit. He visited medical facilities worldwide before presidential trips. While we don’t have someone doing that, I always stay aware of good medical facilities where I (and you) travel.
FATHER & SON
Reader Peter Bulloch travelled with us on a West Travel Club trip to Antarctica, which we ran in partnership with Collette. The company was founded in North America in 1918 by Jack Collette and has been run for four generations by the O’Sullivans, who are good friends of ours. Peter was recently in Peru and is keen to share some tips . . .
“My eldest son Adam and I went on a father-and-son trip in October and it fulfilled a long-held yearning to see Machu Picchu (of course) but also we flew over the Nazca Lines, which was as much on my bucket list as Machu Picchu was.”
“Whilst there we looked over many of the structures built by the Incas, and after seeing the Citadel at Sacsayhuaman, I have to say that I was equally impressed with this as I was with Machu Picchu.”
“Throw in a walk up to the Sun Temple and to the storehouse at Ollantaytambo and the mind struggles to comprehend how they could transport and then position boulders of this size with such an exact fit that there is no room for a sheet of paper in the gaps between them.”
Peter adds that the climb up Rainbow Mountain (in the Peruvian Andes near Cusco) was hard work but worth the effort — “and the chance to catch up with Paddington in his home country was also memorable.”
PICKPOCKETS
Reader Ted McEvoy read our story about Amsterdam last week and immediately wrote to me: “When in Amsterdam and especially in the main railway station, be very aware of the many talented pickpocket thieves. On a recent trip I had my phone taken from within a pocket of my jacket. I never felt a thing. They are so very, very clever.”
AGROUND ON REEF
Coral Adventurer, the cruise ship being investigated for leaving a passenger behind on Lizard Island in October, ran aground off Papua New Guinea last weekend with about 120 people aboard. It was reported that about 80 passengers were being flown back to Australia after unsuccessful efforts to refloat the vessel. The ship was stuck fast on a coral reef. In October 2025, 80-year-old Suzanne Rees died on Lizard island, Queensland, after being left behind by Coral Adventurer.
MORE MEKONG
Emerald Cruises and Tours has new Mekong voyages paired with land touring in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Japan as part of its 2026-2027 South-East Asia and Japan river cruising season. There are up to 17 curated journeys, from the new 11-day Enchanting Mekong and Siem Reap cruise and tour to the enhanced 26-day Wonders of Japan, Vietnam and Cambodia itinerary. River cruises are on Emerald Harmony, which takes up to 84 guests. Emerald has some offers:
Super Earlybird savings of up to $1500 per person, for those who book and pay in full 10 months before departure on 13-day cruise tours.
No single supplement for those booking an Emerald balcony suite (A category) on selected cruises, and paying in full 10 months before departure.
See travel agents or emeraldcruises.com.au