Arrivals & Departures Weekly Travel News & Views 8 July 2025

PRAISING MOGENS

I’m very happy to see the smiling face of Mogens Johansen on the cover of this week’s print edition. He takes us cycling around Singapore, into Peranakan culture and through the work of the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. On many weeks, he will have had stories in our West Wheels motoring liftout, driving an EV across the Nullarbor or road-testing a motorcycle. He has led our PhotoWalks with Phones and shared his knowledge at our New Norcia writing and photography weekends.

Mogens’ contribution to our pages and to the lives of our readers has been enormous and seeing him beaming on the cover is a fitting tribute, as Mogens finished his time with us last Tuesday. He has been with The West Australian for 42 years, first as a press photographer, as photographic chief of staff, and finally with our Travel team, where he also proved his immense writing skills. We will miss him as a colleague, but not as a friend. You can leave the team, but you can’t leave the family. But be assured — we may have lost our MoJo, but we haven’t lost our mojo.

& ANOTHER THING ...

People who have had long careers with a place like The West Australian tend to look back at the early years and say how great they were. I don’t. I think the last few years of my career have been the best — and the people I have worked with have been the best of my career. The most talented, industrious, creative, kind and true friends. Mogens agrees: “I feel exactly the same. The last six years in Travel has without a doubt been the best of my career.”

AI TO THE RESCUE

Back to Mogens’ story on the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. He has also found that the AWC is using AI technology to perfect its SmartGate, which is designed to keep their fenced-off areas predator-free. Basically, it is a double-gated enclosed tunnel that allows native species to move from one side of a feral predator-free fenced area to the other. Using AI, the SmartGate recognises species, allowing some through and not others. As Mogens explains: “A prototype of the SmartGate has been trialled at AWC’s Karakamia Wildlife Sanctuary since September 2024. The AWC manages a network of nine of these safe havens that play a critical role in protecting threatened wildlife from predation by introduced cats and foxes, who are the primary drivers of native mammal extinctions and ongoing declines in Australia.”

ROO REPRIEVE

Iconic British sportswear brand Umbro has just announced that it is eliminating kangaroo leather from all its soccer boots by the end of 2026. It is the final major athletic brand to line up with the Kangaroos Are Not Shoes campaign led by the Center for a Humane Economy. Nike, adidas, New Balance and Puma all have rejected wildlife-sourced materials.

RATE CHANGES

We are often asked about travel money. A good place to start is with the bank you use. Most have travel cards, and I find the Westpac Worldwide Wallet easy to use, backing it up with a Wise Travel Card. Westpac’s is a Mastercard, and foreign exchange rates only apply when you transact in an unsupported currency or have insufficient available balance in the local currency. There’s a change coming up as, from July 31, 2025, this rate will include a 2 per cent margin charged by Westpac. That won’t apply when converting sufficient funds into one of the 11 supported currencies, including Euro, British pounds, Japanese yen, and US, Canadian, NZ and Singapore dollars.

GRAND RENEWAL

The Grand Hyatt Singapore, pictured at the top of the page, and in the Orchard Road area, was one of the first international hotels in the island state. It has welcomed generations of guests over 54 years. And on July 1, 2025, it opened a new chapter in its long story, with the official completion of its multi-year redevelopment. The Grand Wing has been reopened, the Grand Club Lounge relocated and restaurant 10|Scotts refurbished. The hotel now has 699 redesigned rooms and suites, seven dining concepts, an extensive wellness hub and 16 event spaces.

BIG BALI DEAL

We all like a good deal — and I was happy to spot this one from My Bali this week. It is for five nights at Ayodya Resort Bali from $799 per person, with lots of inclusions. There’s daily breakfast, daily two-course lunch or dinner, a 15 per cent discount on food and beverage, half-day cooking course, choice of one of three tours, six-hour private vehicle driver charter and wifi. The team at My Bali reckons there’s $850 of bonus value in the deal.

Book by July 31, 2025, for select travel dates until December 22, 2025. 1300 332 254 and mybali.com.au

SHIP SHAPE

Viking has just taken delivery of its newest ocean ship, the Viking Vesta. The ship was built at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Ancona, Italy. It has 499 staterooms and can carry up to 998 guests. Its inaugural season will be in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe.

Viking and Fincantieri also recently revealed details of Viking Libra, which they say is the world’s first hydrogen-powered cruise ship. It is capable of operating with zero emissions. Its propulsion system is based partially on liquefied hydrogen and fuel cells. The ship is under construction at the Ancona shipyard and scheduled for delivery late in 2026.

ADVICE HEEDED

I was chuffed to receive a phone call from Paris from former photographic colleague Nic Ellis on Tuesday. He just wanted to say that three of the things he and partner Maria Contos (also a former colleague at The West) are doing on their holiday are as a result of reading this Travel supplement. They were just about to join Viking’s eight-night Paris and the Heart of Normandy cruise on the Seine, which I wrote about last year. It’s a good, varied, short itinerary. They are staying at Hotel Grand Coeur Latin, in the Latin Quarter of Paris, which Steve McKenna wrote about in February. It matches affordability with a good location. And they also tried the British Pullman train, which Sandy Guy wrote about last year. All those stories are on thewest.com.au/travel.

PHONE CASES

Much as we love Carrie Cases for our phones, with their cross-body lanyards (carrie-case.com), I’m also pointing out Louve Collection’s leather phone case wallet and cross-body strap, which also comes with a gold-plated wristlet. The cardholder holds up to three cards (like a credit card, driver’s licence and health card). It is $174 for the case, wallet, strap and wristlet package. theiconic.com.au

SUMMIT SIZZLES

Eiffel Tower tours were cancelled last week due to the extreme heat. Temperatures topped 38C and were forecast to reach 40C, prompting the closure of the Eiffel Tower’s summit until Thursday. Southern Europe is sizzling, with temperatures reaching up to 46C in Spain.

PS It’s no surprise that the Eiffel Tower really gets its hooks into you, as it’s a Paris-site.

SEASONAL CHANGE

Tour host Connie White is taking a group to Puglia and Calabria in Italy in November and says: “Many travellers don’t understand the benefits of travelling in November and it’s a shame. It’s a beautiful and quieter time in southern Italy. The crowds are fewer and we have the opportunity to explore and enjoy the cuisine and culture.”

The 18-day small group tour is from $8800 per person, twin share. conniewhitetravel.com.au