Members of Friends of Flora and a Great Spotted Kiwi
Our dedicated New Zealand team continues to support Friends of Flora as their chosen charity, a community conservation group who, amongst other projects, are committed to re-establishing the Great Spotted Kiwi in the Kahurangi National Park, at the north-western end of the South Island.
The McCurdie family celebrate Christmas Day in the Masai Mara, Kenya
“Our visit to Malacca was an intriguing end to our visit to Malaysia, a country where numerous traditions, religions, cultures and cuisines meet and blend harmoniously.”
Nigel Wright, Malaysia“Our heads and hearts are full of the images, sights, sounds, and smells, but perhaps the most lingering image of all is the one of the Cambodian people.”
Valerie and Raymond Gatward, Cambodia“To have spent the time with the wonderfully friendly people of the Governor’s Camp among the enchanting wildlife of the Masai Mara made it an experience we shall treasure forever.”
Dr Ian McCurdie, Masai Mara in Kenya
These are just some of the comments we have received and which you can read in full in our Client Stories section of the Audley Magazine.
How to send us your Audley travel stories
It’s easy, if you’ve been on a trip with us simply click on this link and upload your text and photos. If you do you’ll also have a chance to win a £50 Bobbooks’ photobook voucher.
Antarctica
On Tuesday 5th July Orion Expedition Cruises are inviting Audley clients to attend a talk by Dr David Wilson, great nephew of Dr Edward Wilson who died with Scott of the Antarctica in 1912.
The talk, which is being held at the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, will explore the six-week trip that Dr Edward Wilson undertook with Captain Scott into the depths of the Antarctic winter as they went in search of emperor penguin embryos. This fateful journey is now commonly known as the “worst journey in the world”.
In January 2012, on the Centenary of the Terra Nova expedition, Orion Expedition Cruises will be returning to Ross Island to give guests the opportunity of visiting the amazing site of the explorers’ hut that has been almost perfectly preserved by the chilled temperatures of the Antarctic as it was when Scott, Dr Wilson and the rest of the team were based there. Details of this cruise will also be included in the talk.
Tickets for this event are £10 per person (payable before the event) and all of the proceeds will be donated to the Scott Polar Research Institute.
If you would like to attend this talk please call our New Zealand specialists on 01993 838 820 to book your tickets.
The route of the second voyage of HMS Beagle (1831-1836)
On this day 175 years ago HMS Beagle anchored in Simons Bay, Cape of Good Hope, South Africa. It was on a momentous five year voyage and on board was a man who would become the world’s most famous naturalist – Charles Darwin.
Following in Darwin’s footsteps (or perhaps wake might be more appropriate) nowadays is a little tricky unless you have lots of money and around five years to spare, but with Audley you can visit many of the places he visited. To this end I have listed some of these and accompanied each with a quote from his journal in which he describes what he finds in these places.
Air New Zealand is now offering beds in economy class
At the beginning of last year I blogged that Air New Zealand were going to be introducing beds into their economy class cabins, and from the 2nd April 2011 these will be available to book on the airline’s London to Auckland route.
Fast-becoming known as ‘cuddle class’, travellers will be given the opportunity to book all three seats in a block, the foot rest of these seats rising to create a flat ‘bed’ to sleep on. The Skycouch service is aimed at couples or parents with young children and has been described by the airline as “the first major improvement in economy class travel comfort in 20 years”.
For two adults sharing the Skycouch is likely to cost two regular fares plus one at half price, although exact pricing has yet to be announced.
Due to the tailor-made nature of our trips we often send clients off on mini excursions to see nearby volcanoes, but nothing quite as exciting as this yet.
The volcano in question is Marum, which is in Vanuatu in the South Pacific.
Don’t forget to look at our 10 Volcanoes Worth Seeing magazine article. These are all volcanoes which you can see as part of an Audley tailor-made trip.
Heritage Expeditions
Ten years since their last expedition to the islands of the South Indian Ocean, New Zealand based cruise company, Heritage Expeditions, has organised a return to this remote location.
The tuatara lizard is endemic to New Zeland.
Well, not a Tyrannosaurus rex of course, but it does date back 200 million years – the tiny tuatara lizard. What makes this sighting so unusal is that is is only the second time in more than 200 years that one has been spotted on the mainland, the first one being back in 2008.
Often referred to as a “living fossil’” the tuatara is endemic to New Zealand and the only place on the mainland where it exists is in Zealandia, a purpose build sanctuary in the capital Wellington.
Tuatara fact: The name “tuatara” derives from the Māori language, and means “peaks on the back”.
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!
'Last Chance to See' on BBC2
Have you been watching the BBC’s news series ‘Last Chance to See’ which began on 6th September? Presented by Stephen Fry, the programme is a remake of a radio series from 1985 and book of the same name, released in 1990 as a companion to the radio series.
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