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| Argentina and Chile 2011 |
Tuesday 24 May 2011
Travel In Depth photos from around the world: Argentina and Chile, Part I
If you've got a spare few minutes when you next have a cuppa....
Sunday 22 May 2011
Survey has now closed
Big thanks to all who completed the survey, thank you gift winners will be chosen at random and notified before June 1st.
Thursday 19 May 2011
Survey ends 20th May - last days to enter and possibly win a thank you gift
We always love to hear about people's travel plans and ideas and are always trying to improve what we do so that we can give our clients the best possible service, for which personal and individual feedback and thoughts really help.
We'd be grateful if you would consider having a quick look at our short survey; we've timed it ourselves and it should take no more than a couple of minutes to complete:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QXTZXQ2.
The survey closes on 20 May and as a thank you for completing it, you could be in with a chance of winning some great prizes including travel books, unique trinket boxes made from reclaimed native New Zealand wood and even the chance to adopt your very own Falkland Islands King penguin for a year! Winners will be notified by 1 June.
Thank you!
We'd be grateful if you would consider having a quick look at our short survey; we've timed it ourselves and it should take no more than a couple of minutes to complete:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QXTZXQ2.
The survey closes on 20 May and as a thank you for completing it, you could be in with a chance of winning some great prizes including travel books, unique trinket boxes made from reclaimed native New Zealand wood and even the chance to adopt your very own Falkland Islands King penguin for a year! Winners will be notified by 1 June.
Thank you!
Monday 16 May 2011
Travelbite: Parading the penguin highway in the Falklands
Travelbite shares some inspiring words from Suzanne Holiday about the Falkland Islands and what they have to offer as a holiday destination ....
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| King penguins, Falkland Islands |
Real Travel magazine: More than Hakas in New Zealand
This month, to coincide with the Rugby World cup being held in New Zealand later this year, Real Travel magazine featured an example of the kind of tailor made itinerary that New Zealand In Depth specialises in putting together...
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The Independent: 10 Top Royal Wedding Escapes
A little belated posting this.....must've slipped through the net in all the excitement of one or more of the following (take your pick, more than one is acceptable):
a. an extra bank holiday
b. two long weekends in a row
c. a three day working week
d. holidaying in South America and Chile
e. the royal wedding
a. an extra bank holiday
b. two long weekends in a row
c. a three day working week
d. holidaying in South America and Chile
e. the royal wedding
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| Patagonia Camp, minutes from Torres del Paine National Park, Chile |
Travel In Depth photos from around the world: the Falkland Islands, Part II
If you've got a spare few minutes when you next have a cuppa....
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| Falkland Islands October 2010 |
I really must complain about the LAX transit lounge...
This is not what I expected at all from previous agonising experiences and I humbly accept that I will need to retract some of a historical post about the transit procedure for passengers transiting through to Auckland.
True, the flight was fairly quiet so the queue didn’t stretch all the way to Anaheim but the friendly greeting, smiles and witty banter I enjoyed with the lovely customs officer Flores was quite unexpected.
The lounge itself is still rubbish and the fact that we need to be contained at all and that I needed to pay $14 to apply for authorisation to be here for 2 hours continues to be baffling but common sense does appear to have started to prevail. Good job it was only 2 hours though given the slightly disturbing sign that was prominently displayed there.
True, the flight was fairly quiet so the queue didn’t stretch all the way to Anaheim but the friendly greeting, smiles and witty banter I enjoyed with the lovely customs officer Flores was quite unexpected.
The lounge itself is still rubbish and the fact that we need to be contained at all and that I needed to pay $14 to apply for authorisation to be here for 2 hours continues to be baffling but common sense does appear to have started to prevail. Good job it was only 2 hours though given the slightly disturbing sign that was prominently displayed there.
Wednesday 11 May 2011
Travel In Depth photos from around the world: the Falkland Islands, Part I
If you've got a spare few minutes when you next have a cuppa....
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| Falkland Islands 2010 |
Travel In Depth photos from around the world: Nicaragua
If you've got a spare few minutes when you next have a cuppa....
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| Nicaragua 2010 |
Travel In Depth photos from around the world: Guyana
If you've got a spare few minutes when you next have a cuppa....
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| Guyana 2010 |
Travel In Depth photos from around the world: Tanzania
If you've got a spare few minutes when you next have a cuppa....
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| Tanzania 2010 |
Monday 9 May 2011
Didn't try the SkyCouch in the end...
...as I was shown Business Premier instead!
I'm writing this in transit at LAX (more to follow) and have to report a fantastic experience with Air New Zealand on the new 777-300. Great crew providing typically friendly and familiar Kiwi service with real style, superb food with lots of choice, beautiful wines (with a couple of fabulous dessert wines) and very comfy lie-flat beds. I even got my head down for a couple of hours.
When things quietened down after the meal service, I had a good chat with various members of the crew and then spent a couple of hours sitting in Premium Economy which is also very impressive. They have the same wine selection but a more limited food choice that is tray served rather than the plated silver service in Business Premier but the quality is still very good.
The seating is very comfortable and the offset seat positions in the 2-2-2 configuration allow for either privacy at the sides of the cabin or an ideal layout for couples in the centre if needed. The only issue is the legroom which is a little less generous than I'd expected but I hear a rumour that Air NZ plan to remove a row of seats later this year and spread everything out.
All this said though, the best part of the 777-300 has to be the business class toilet - first time I’ve ever seen a window in an aeroplane lavatory, a proper room with a view:
I'm writing this in transit at LAX (more to follow) and have to report a fantastic experience with Air New Zealand on the new 777-300. Great crew providing typically friendly and familiar Kiwi service with real style, superb food with lots of choice, beautiful wines (with a couple of fabulous dessert wines) and very comfy lie-flat beds. I even got my head down for a couple of hours.
When things quietened down after the meal service, I had a good chat with various members of the crew and then spent a couple of hours sitting in Premium Economy which is also very impressive. They have the same wine selection but a more limited food choice that is tray served rather than the plated silver service in Business Premier but the quality is still very good.
The seating is very comfortable and the offset seat positions in the 2-2-2 configuration allow for either privacy at the sides of the cabin or an ideal layout for couples in the centre if needed. The only issue is the legroom which is a little less generous than I'd expected but I hear a rumour that Air NZ plan to remove a row of seats later this year and spread everything out.
All this said though, the best part of the 777-300 has to be the business class toilet - first time I’ve ever seen a window in an aeroplane lavatory, a proper room with a view:
Friday 6 May 2011
Dunedin bound
At LHR and about to climb aboard NZ1 for LAX and AKL. Apparently I'm going to get the chance to try the new Air New Zealand economy class SkyCouch which does look pretty cool. More to come...
Tuesday 3 May 2011
This time last year Guyana was the place to be..and it still is
So is seems that this year's Wilderness Explorers fam trip to Guyana is underway (thanks Kat for posting photos and to Claire for an email whilst on the 'plane heading off) - if green is the colour of envy then it's quite fitting when thinking and talking about Guyana, what with it's immense swathes of uninhabited jungle greenery.
It's difficult to pick out a favourite moment from last year's trip as the whole 10 days were full of highlights so I'm going not going to, rather here're three of the more indelible memories for starters:
- meeting the people of Surama and seeing how they run and manage their successful, sustainable, comfortable and extremely enjoyable community tourism experience. One of the issues that particularly thrilled me was their approach to and respect for the natural resources of the incredibly biodiverse forest around them and how are able to maintain their traditional way of life but mixed with more modern aspects, whilst also ensuring that the biodiversity all around thrives and survives and how they genuinely and generously want it to be enjoyed by visitors such as ourselves; not-to-be-topped: catching a glimpse of a real, live Harpy eagle and it's nest
- and that's without even mentioning lying flat-out looking over the precipice next to the thunderous cascades at Kaieteur Falls, being run rings around by baby giant otters under the watchful eyes of Diane McTurk at the infamous Karanambu ranch or experiencing first hand the astounding density and diverstiy of Iwokrama forest thanks to the folks at Iwokrama and Atta lodges.
It's difficult to pick out a favourite moment from last year's trip as the whole 10 days were full of highlights so I'm going not going to, rather here're three of the more indelible memories for starters:
- meeting the people of Surama and seeing how they run and manage their successful, sustainable, comfortable and extremely enjoyable community tourism experience. One of the issues that particularly thrilled me was their approach to and respect for the natural resources of the incredibly biodiverse forest around them and how are able to maintain their traditional way of life but mixed with more modern aspects, whilst also ensuring that the biodiversity all around thrives and survives and how they genuinely and generously want it to be enjoyed by visitors such as ourselves; not-to-be-topped: catching a glimpse of a real, live Harpy eagle and it's nest
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| Not a harpy eagle but a grey hawk with an impressive haul for lunch beside the Burro Burro river, Surama |
- the 2 day walk to and from Jordan Falls from Maipaima Ecolodge, with overnight spent in a surprisingly comfortable hammock. Bellbirds calling all around, howler monkeys howling, spider monkeys spidering and hollering too, and endless smiling support from the very able and amiable guides from Nappi community; not-to-be-topped: cooling down in the falls on reaching our goal
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| Maipaima Ecolodge, set in amongst the forest at the foothills of the Kanuku Mountains |
- upstream from Rewa's ecolodge along the river of the same name ("Rewa", not "ecolodge" for the pedants out there, you know who you are), sitting in a dugout canoe on Grass Pond as dusk falls, with a rum punch in hand and nothing to listen to but the surround sound of birds and others creatures either settling in or waking up for the night; not-to-be-topped: watching the slow motion opening of a giant water lily flower in real time (seriously, it's exciting stuff)
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A tranquil Grass Pond, Rewa |
- and that's without even mentioning lying flat-out looking over the precipice next to the thunderous cascades at Kaieteur Falls, being run rings around by baby giant otters under the watchful eyes of Diane McTurk at the infamous Karanambu ranch or experiencing first hand the astounding density and diverstiy of Iwokrama forest thanks to the folks at Iwokrama and Atta lodges.
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| The mighty Kaieteur Falls (Potaro River) |
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