Arrivals & Departures Weekly Travel News & Views: July 23 Edition

TWO ROCKS

What are the chances of two musical geniuses living in the same house, two centuries apart? Well, 25 Brook Street, London, was the home of both classical composer George Frideric Handel and, around 200 years later, rock legend Jimi Hendrix. Handel & Hendrix In London celebrates the two innovators in one unique music museum. There are lectures and performances. handelhendrix.org

GERANIUM BLOSSOMS

The crème de la crème of the world’s restaurant community has just gathered in London to celebrate The World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards 2022. Restaurants from 24 territories across five continents were honoured, and Copenhagen’s Geranium was named both The World’s Best Restaurant 2022 and The Best Restaurant in Europe 2022. Geranium is led by chef Rasmus Kofoed. His menus and cooking are meticulous, and he recently decided to go meatless.

LIVE LIKE A MILLIONAIRE

Millionaires Mile runs along the west coast of Phuket from Kamala Bay to Patong Bay. The road was home of the first $1 million villas years ago, and the name stuck — but it’s fitting enough, as there’s a wealth of beautiful coastline. One of its jewels is the absolute beachfront Hyatt Regency Phuket Resort, and My Thailand has a five-night package from $1090 per person, including an upgraded room, breakfast daily, and daily lunch or dinner at the Pool House or Pool Bar with a bottle of wine or 10 bottles of beer. An Elephant Sanctuary Interacting half-day morning tour and 60-minute Thai massage for a couple is thrown in too. Our My Holiday contacts reckon there’s about $1400 in bonus value. There are select dates between now and March 31, 2023, and blackouts apply. 1300 008 424 and mythailand.com.au

BARGAINS TO KL

AirAsia X returns to Perth from November 1 with one-way economy fares to Kuala Lumpur from $209. The three-times weekly service will operate on Friday, Sunday and Monday with a 377-seat Airbus A330 aircraft. As well as the promotional $209 one-way economy fare, the airline also has a $1099 one-way fare from Perth for its premium flatbed. The promotional booking period is from now until July 24, 2022, for travel between November 1, 2022, and March 26, 2023. “As the world reopens and travel restrictions ease, we are confident these new services will prove popular,” AirAsia X chief executive Benyamin Ismail said. airasia.com

$1200 TO THE PILBARA

Yes, fuel prices will hurt regional tourism in WA. At the moment, it costs one couple $1200 to drive their RV to the Pilbara.

DUYFKEN SAILS

It’s still “salt in the wound” that the Duyfken replica built in Fremantle now sails on Sydney Harbour. And, now owned by the Australian National Maritime Museum, the 17 century replica is ready to sail another season. Duyfken departs from the museum in Darling Harbour and sails past Barangaroo, Circular Quay, Harbour Bridge, Opera House, Fort Denison and other landmarks. Museum chief executive Daryl Karp says: “It’s remarkable to experience 400-year-old technology and to gain an idea of what was involved for people of the past, attempting to traverse the globe by sea.” Cruises are on every Saturday from 2pm to 5pm until October 1. sea.museum/sail-on-duyfken

Just for the record, the ship was built by the Duyfken 1606 Replica Foundation jointly with the Maritime Museum of Western Australia and launched on January 24, 1999 in Fremantle. It joined the Australian National Maritime Museum’s fleet in 2020.

NO LOUNGING AROUND

We’ve been doing a bit of work behind the scenes for a reader who was upset that Qatar Airways’ lounge in Perth Airport’s Terminal 1 was closed. He says he’s been unsuccessful in finding out what the new arrangements are: “They have not responded to any of my emails and when calling the ticket line, I am informed that they know nothing.” We’re pleased to clear up the situation. Since April 10, 2022, Qatar Airways has been using the Air New Zealand lounge at Perth Airport for all its first and business-class passengers, as an alternative to the Qantas lounge. Prior to this, it was providing all eligible passengers with $50 vouchers for use at the outlets available at the airport. Qatar has just celebrated its 10th anniversary of flying between Doha and Perth.

HEATING UP

The temperature recently reached 40.2C at Heathrow. Heathrow’s temperature often tops the rest of the UK, and some commentators quickly point to the amount of tarmac runways and the heat and CO2 from aircraft engines as the reason. But it’s not as simple as that. Heathrow is classically positioned as an “urban heat island” — a combination of the runways, surrounding buildings and its distance from the sea. Urban heat islands occur where natural land cover is replaced with hard surfaces that absorb and retain heat.

FROSTY FLIGHTS

The 2022-23 Antarctica Flights season is approaching — the flight from Perth is on November 27. It is a full-day experience, with polar expeditioners on board, and the first glimpses of scattered ice about three hours south of Australia, followed by icebergs and ice floes. The aircraft will then fly over the Antarctic continent. Prices are from $1199 for an Explorer Economy Seat and $7999 for Business Class Deluxe. antarcticaflights.com.au

COOLING DOWN

Perisher in New South Wales has been getting great snow. After a dump of 15cm of powder last weekend, another 30cm was added this week. With sunny days and low wind and temperatures ranging from 2C to -6C, they cranked up 138 snow guns overnight, to pump out snow and give the mountain “a fluffy top up”. Mid-week, there were 44 lifts open, and 90 runs groomed and ready for carving.