Archive for 'General'

As the sun sets over the New Mill

Clear days and lots of sunshine make for brilliant sunsets and I couldn’t resist the opportunity to snap the amazing evening we had at the New Mill yesterday.

Here are just a few of the shots from yesterday’s sunset.

New Lebanon section on the Audley Travel website

For the last couple of weeks I have been working with the North Africa team to add Lebanon to our website and today I was pleased to be able to finally put it live. Continue reading »

Come Dine with Me at Audley – Round Two

February's four Come Dine with Me contestants.

February's Come Dine with Me contestants.

The second round of Audley’s very own Come Dine with Me competition took place in February, with four more contenders keen to show off their cooking skills. 

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Audley client wins photography competition in The Times

Rory McDonald's winning photograph appeared in the Times last Saturday

Rory McDonald's winning photograph appeared in the Times last Saturday

This morning’s sunshine has seemingly brought with it lots of positive news as we’ve just received some brillant feedback regarding one of our clients. Rory McDonald, who recently visited Cuba with Audley, has won a Times newspaper photography competition with a picture he took during his trip, his winning shot appearing in last Saturday’s newspaper.

Another one of Rory’s impressive shots is also being published in next month’s Photography Monthly.

Rory’s wife, Gina, had this to say:

It’s a good job we went to Cuba – apart from being a wonderful holiday, it is a great place for photos.

Congratulations Rory on your lovely work.

BBC’s Panorama Reports a New Threat to Borneo’s Rainforests

Male orang-utan at Semenggok Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, Borneo

Tonight at 8.30pm the BBC’s Panorama programme will report on the destruction of  Borneo’s pristine rainforests in order to grow palm oil crops, which in turn, is used in products we buy like biscuits and toiletries.

The bottom line is: the rainforests being destroyed are home to some of the last and greatest wildlife havens in Southeast Asia and species like the orang-utan are now threatened more than ever.

Audley efforts to stem Borneo’s deforestation
Here at Audley our Southeast Asia team will be raising funds through various events and initiatives to help the World Land Trust (WLT) continue with land purchases in the lower Kinabatangan River basin.

Continue reading »

The Fascinating History of Audley’s New Mill Offices

New Mill by T. Langford (1830) and the current building

New Mill by T. Langford (1830) and the current building.

Our picturesque offices in New Mill are home to nearly 200 staff and attract many visiting clients each year but few, if any, will know of the intriguing history behind the building – from the death of a worker in the waterwheel in the 19th century, to a series of devastating fires.

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Travel Seminars at the Royal Geographical Society

Audley will be holding another day of travel seminars at the Royal Geographical Society.

Following the success of last year’s travel seminars at the Royal Geographical Society, we have decided to run this event again. The Royal Geographical Society has been helping travellers to plan their trips, map out their routes and research new destinations since the 19th Century, and so it seems fitting  to hold a day of Audley Travel seminars here.

There are four seminars to choose from: ‘Seasons of New Zealand’, ‘Jordan: Highlights and Hidden Secrets’, ‘Peru: Machu Picchu and more’, and ‘India Uncovered’, all of which will take place on Friday 19th March 2010. Each seminar will last approximately one hour and there will be time before and after the seminar to have a chat with our specialists.

Visit the events page on our website to learn more about these seminars and to register.

‘Come Dine With Me’ at Audley

A mouth-watering main course made by South America specialist Richard Kerr.

Never ones to let a fun opportunity slip by and inspired by a programme of the same name on Channel 4, Sian and Lou, two of our New Zealand specialists here at Audley, decided to organised a ‘Come Dine With Me’ competition using willing participants from around the company. 

Such was the interest that four months have had to be dedicated to the culinary contest, and with 16 budding chefs stepping up to the plate (pun intended!) expectations have been high. 

The first round of dinners kicked off in January with personalised cocktails, hot chocolate fondant with coconut ice cream and chocolate and chilli risotto all on the menu. There can only be one winner from each round though and this prestigious title was awarded to South America specialist Sarah Powell for her Moroccan chermoula prawns followed by slow roasted pork belly with spiced lentils and chocolate truffle and meringue ‘cheesecake’ to finish. 

The second round of dinners begins this week with another four willing contestants putting their cooking skills (as well as their colleagues’ stomachs) to the test to earn a place in July’s final. 

Let the cooking begin!

Air New Zealand offers beds in economy

Air New Zealand is now offering beds in economy class

With a flight to New Zealand taking almost a day, the report that Air New Zealand will be implementing beds into their economy class cabins will come as welcome news to the airline’s passengers. 

From April passengers will be able to buy the seats, which work by foot rests rising to the level of three adjacent seats. Passengers will be required to purchase all three seats but the middle seat will be charged at approximately half the price of the standard economy fare. 

As an airline that we use regularly here at Audley I’m sure our clients will be pleased to hear about the new beds which will take up the first 11 rows Air New Zealand’s new Boeing 777-300 planes, as will our specialists, who often use the airline to visit New Zealand on familiarisation trips!

Audley’s Winter Wonderland

As the country freezes in the grip of what is apparently the coldest winter for 30 years, we present a selection of snowy scenes from our offices at New Mill in Witney.

Click on an image to enlarge it and then use your browser back button to return to the gallery.