20 May 2020

Another hour’s flight took us to the coastal town of Swakopmund, so interesting to see from the air, as it’s surrounded by desert on all sides. If you look to the west, the next stop is South America! The town was colonised by Germany in the late 1800s and then taken over by South Africa, gaining its independence in 1990. German architecture is subsequently to the fore here. It’s a very relaxed to

20 May 2020

I’ve been fortunate to visit Africa on a number of occasions – a safari/beach combination in Kenya and several trips to South Africa, incorporating safari, city and winelands. But I hadn’t returned in over 15 years, so it was with great excitement that I set off on an 8 night trip to Namibia in December. Namibia is easily reached with a connecting flight from Johannesburg to Windhoek, or, depen

06 March 2019

Having been a Travel Counsellor for nearly 15 months, I am amazed at the developments that have happened since I started. The IT team constantly work on refining our Phenix booking system (and, having installed two systems in my previous lives, I know how difficult it is to satisfy everyone!) to ensure we have the best platform to work on, which ultimately benefits you, the customer. Through this,

04 December 2018

Singapore was the last stop on our whirlwind tour which started in Perth, headed to Brisbane and then home via Singapore. With just 30 hours here before the flight to London, we hit the ground running! First stop was the Marina Quay, home to The Shoppes, a huge shopping mall with luxury brands and home to the most iconic of all Singapore hotels, the Marina Bay Sands. Singapore is famous for its ni

02 December 2018

Brisbane may be a busier city than Perth, but the locals are just as friendly and helpful and rightly proud of their city. With summer temperatures of around 30C, dropping to only 18C in winter, Brisbane life is lived outdoors. Situated on the Brisbane River (the longest in South East Queensland), it flows through the city, with plenty of businesses and bars and restaurants on its edge. Much of th

25 November 2018

One of the musts when visiting Perth, is Rottnest Island. Easily reached on the ‘Rottnest Express’ in just under 90 mins, you pass down the Swann River with informative and often hilarious commentary, past Fremantle, before heading across the Indian Ocean for just 20 minutes to reach the island. Originally a prison for Aboriginal prisoners, it became a holiday island in 1903 and, after being requi

25 November 2018

Perth is situated on the Swann River and surrounded by beautiful beaches. It’s a very attractive city, being mostly low-rise buildings apart from in the business districts and with plenty of vegetation and easy to navigate around. Getting around Perth is easy, with free buses offering a hop on, hop off system. The locals like to describe it as the ‘sunniest Australian capital city’ and indeed s

23 August 2018

Nothing is more exhilarating to me than a ski holiday. The opportunity to escape the English winter and get some fresh air, exercise, good food and have a serious laugh with my ski buddies starts to overwhelm me the moment the clocks change at the end of October and I find myself checking snow conditions and forecasts several times a day on the resorts’ apps. For those of you who haven’t ski