True North is true luxury!

Yesterday it was my pleasure to go aboard True North, the expedition cruise ship from the Kimberley Coast, on her annual visit to Sydney... Not just passing through but hosting two short sailings to make the most of what Sydney does best: the Christmas - New Year festival. This is a rare opportunity for cruise-lovers to go aboard for a short stay and steal a march on landlubbers with the best view of the Harbour's activities. There are shore excursions but it would be fair to say this is a 5-star extension of the most popular occupation, dining, with the benefits of pleasant company and 24hour service!

Now usually True North is to be found cruising from Broome to Wyndham and back, a trip she does throughout the winter season. And this must be the best way to experience that region without either wasting time relocating or enduring the heat and dust of an inland stay.
True North's daily program can include picnics in the wilderness where everyone is flown in - and out - by the ship's on-board helicopter. This takes your holiday right out of the ordinary and almost into the realms of imagination. Other landings and snorkelling excursions are by tender - she has 3. We all - certainly I do - at times imagine ourselves living in the Australia of the past, in that romantic time of discovery of remote regions. But as you follow in those pioneer footsteps it is true comfort to know that luxury awaits you at the end of the day when you step back on board True North!
After Sydney she journeys to South Australia finishing her sail at Ceduna then going on to Fremantle for yearly maintenance. In February she sails to Dampier before resuming her regular Kimberley couses through to September, after which the sailings are to Rowley Shoals, then West Papua in October (one sailing, almost fully booked already!) and then Papua New Guinea, 3 sailings, before she'll be back in Sydney again for NYE 2011. And they can invite me back any time... (P.S. The dining was excellent!)

Making the most of a long haul flight

I check the online travel newsletters frequently and I was heartened to read this advice by Nick Trend in the latest Sydney Morning Herald Traveller. (8 December 2010).

"Use a top quality agent…The complexity of possible routings, fares and airlines, especially on a round-the-world ticket, is not something that lends itself well to online systems. An idea or suggestion from an on-the-ball consultant who is compiling itineraries every day could save you both time and money."

I never cease to be amazed by those who ask my advice once they have booked their flights online. Like the couple recently where one of them was flying on a completely airline and laying over for 8 hours in the airport with an eye to saving money when they had a full itinerary on arrival. Or the guy who told my partner recently that he didn’t book with me, he booked online because it was cheaper… it turned out he had booked a red-eye flight and he would be spending some time in transit, overnight as it turned out, and he would need a hotel. (I could have saved him the trouble – and got him a fare at almost the same price without needing the accommodation).
There are some great deals on the internet, and if you doing a short haul flight it is important to book when you see the fare – but if it involves any arrangements at the other end, or is a complicated itinerary it is true that your travel agent can save you time and money! Thank you Nick.