NOT SO SUPER
Your article on the return of the A380 by Michael Gebicki (Traveller, July 30) was completely timed as we had simply returned house after a 3 12 months hiatus to go to household within the UK. We travelled on 4 of those superjumbos with Emirates and apart from one flight, they had been disappointingly common. It was laborious to expertise the spacious and ethereal environment that Michael spoke of because the planes had been full to capability with fixtures leaving lots to be desired (damaged armrests, headrests and digital points) and meals beneath common.
Louise Burley, Patterson Lakes, Vic
LETTER OF THE WEEK
YES MINISTER
In response to instances of mistaken identification whereas travelling abroad (Traveller, July 30), I resemble Narendra Modi, the prime minister of India, regardless that he’s a local of the northern state of Gujarat, and I’m from the southern state of Kerala. In 2009, I flew to Ahmedabad, the capital of Gujarat, for a category reunion. At the moment, Modi was chief minister of Gujarat (equal to an Australian state premier). Certainly one of my former classmates who lived within the metropolis, got here to the airport to select me up. We determined to placed on a little bit of an act with my classmate, an imposing man properly over six ft, had come from his workplace, carrying a go well with, and he was tremendous deferential to me, pushing my trolley alongside. Many heads turned, with puzzled appears to be like, as we handed via the busy airport. We had been saluted by some police and navy officers with one even taking cost of my trolley. (Later, I discovered that I may have been arrested, as it’s a crime to impersonate a public determine in India, at the same time as a joke).
Alex Joseph, Patterson Lakes, Vic
ABSOLUTELY MISTAKEN
I have been requested twice if I had been (now Dame) Joanna Lumley. As soon as at Dubai airport and, most memorably, on a Greek island ready for a ship. A person stated to me “are you Joanna”. I stated “no”. He replied, “so, you are not Joanna Lumley?” I once more stated “no”. He stated “Are you positive?” I stated “yeah, fairly positive”. He then known as out to his spouse: “It isn’t her!” She replied, “Rattling!” Oh properly, you possibly can’t please everybody.
Jill Francis, Brisbane, Qld
DISCORDANT NOTE
I used to be disenchanted studying your “Voices of America” cowl story (Traveller, July 30). To “have a good time America via tune” and solely embody 1.5 songs with listed feminine illustration is devastating (I say 0.5 for the “Mamas” of Mamas & the Papas). Alicia Keys’s refrain in Empire State of Thoughts has been described as “skyscraper-skimming” however she wasn’t even referred to in your article. I’m certainly one of Maggie Rogers’s largest followers however she is doing greater than her fair proportion to stability this listing. Heaven forbid your two male authors embody any Jennifer Lopez, Lauryn Hill, Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Dolly Parton and even Madonna’s model of American Pie, to propel your readers into the twenty first century, and truly mirror the technicolour of the “voices of America”.
Charlotte Ramage, Kew, Vic
EDITOR’S NOTE: The theme of the quilt story, Traveller being a journey title, was matching American songs with the locations referenced in them with among the feminine performers famous above subsequently not essentially qualifying. We might welcome readers’ personal options of nice American songs by ladies artists which remind us of nice (and even not so nice) locations within the US. We’ll publish the perfect responses right here.
NEW SOUTH SCALES
Your cowl story about songs that remember American states dropped at thoughts songs that say one thing in regards to the NSW inland. By The Time I Get To Howlong, by Spiderbait, evokes the Riverina area’s sense of area (and earns bonus factors by rhyming “oughta be” with “Coleambally”). Darren Hanlon’s Letter From An Australian Mining City captures Damaged Hill within the first line: “If it wasn’t for the blinding solar I would benefit from the view.” And I might defy anybody to listen to Alan Chinn’s Baradine and never have it play in your head as you drive into the Pilliga Scrub city.
Matt Watson, Bathurst, NSW
FRESH POINTS PEOPLE
In reply to Ikuko Tanaka (Traveller, July 30), you possibly can retain and add to your Qantas Frequent Flyer factors simply by signing up without cost to Woolworths On a regular basis Rewards. Each 2000 factors earned from procuring is transformed to 1000 Qantas Factors and retains your account energetic. We’ve earned 5000 Qantas factors within the final 12 months this manner with out flying, plus you get 10 per cent off your procuring as soon as a month, useful if you are able to do one massive store a month.
Brett Gore, Morpeth, NSW
DECOY PLOY
I as soon as learn a touch about filling an inexpensive pockets with some scraps of papers within the pocket of a person’s slacks (Traveller, July 23). So I purchased such a pockets and crammed it with papers for my late husband Brian to make use of after we had been on a practice in Paris. Leaving the practice, someone did certainly steal the pockets from his again pocket with the actual pockets positioned in one other safe place.
Grazyna Speer, Kiama, NSW
FAITH HEALING
My cousin left his pockets containing money, bank cards and his passport on the seat of a bus in Lisbon, Portugal (Traveller, July 23). We recognized the bus and contacted the corporate and we had been informed the pockets had been handed in to the motive force with the contents intact . This was an awesome aid and exhibits that there are a lot of sincere individuals on this planet. Do not lose religion.
Nick Kaiser, Kialla, Vic
OUT OF POCKET
If journey brokers prioritise international airways it’s the traveller who pays the value. We’re nonetheless ready for a refund or credit score from our cancelled Thai Airways flights to Europe in July 2020 booked via Flight Centre. Regardless of paying Flight Centre’s charges and our cash to them for the tickets, they’ve washed their arms of any duty for searching for or paying again what we’re owed because the airline shouldn’t be registered in Australia. This leaves us out of pocket and our cash with the airline and the charges with Flight Centre.
Christine McMenamin, Broadbeach, Qld
TIP OF THE WEEK
SHARING AND CARING
Once we needed to journey from Malaga to Ronda in Spain, there was no direct practice and different choices had been very time consuming. We had heard of an organization known as Blablacar (blablacar.co.uk) and determined to provide it a go. Blablacar is an internet ride-sharing firm all through Europe and Britain. We logged into the positioning, put within the journey we wished to take and three individuals had been prepared to share their automobile. Every particular person had a photograph and so they additionally had a score on the protection of their driving, their automobile and different points. Diego was a instructor who travelled that street every day and he was comfortable to speak about dwelling in Spain, the native space and offering different background we cherished listening to. We’re each in our 70s and wouldn’t hesitate to journey this manner once more.
Faye Congdon, Randwick, NSW
MATTER OF TRUST
We’re having fun with an English summer season vacation and earlier than leaving Victoria we joined the Nationwide Belief (nationaltrust.org.au) for $130 as a pair for a 12 months. Now now we have entry to many attractive properties and outside areas all through the UK (nationaltrust.org.uk). They at all times have nice tearooms and wonderful retailers to browse and the price of the UK membership is significantly larger than in Australia.
Rosie and Gareth Lloyd, Mount Eliza, Vic
ICE IS NICE
I write concerning a letter “ICE not so sizzling” (Traveller, July 31). My spouse and I’ve just lately travelled via Bavaria, and our experiences of the German rail system could not be extra totally different to that skilled by your correspondent. Deutsche Bahn (bahn.com) had a €9 limitless journey cross for all however ICE trains in the course of the month of June all through Germany. We utilised this exceptionally priced choice to journey a whole bunch of kilometres via Bavaria and even into Salzburg, Austria, on this one cross. It was snug, punctual, clear and fairly fast. Maybe the rationale for the disparity in our experiences was that we used the regional trains, not the ICE trains, however we are able to solely report that our expertise was extraordinarily constructive and nice worth for cash.
Ken Scriven, Macmasters Seashore, NSW
Two cancelled trains doesn’t make Deutsche Bahn a “shambolic heap of disrepair”. DB reimburses passengers as much as 50 per cent of the fare in the event that they fill within the “Passenger Rights Declare Kind” for lateness and cancellations. I acquired to spend a pleasing two hours in a city in Germany that I would not have visited resulting from a late practice inflicting a missed connection. A number of weeks later they’d deposited half the fare in my checking account and despatched a letter of apology to my house.
Suzanne Wicks, Potts Level, NSW
CUTTING REMARKS
I’ve tried the cable tie and nail clipper resolution for suitcase safety (Traveller, July 31) with no success. The primary try used mini wire-cutters which had been duly confiscated. The following try used nail clippers which had been additionally confiscated as a result of the nail file was deemed to be a knife. Each incidents had been at Sydney Airport. In distinction, at Heathrow a Swiss Military Knife was inadvertently left in a carry-on bag. Because the blade was lower than 65 mm it was allowed on the flight. Changi wasn’t as accommodating. These incidents had been 10 years in the past and possibly nail clippers are actually allowed however I like to recommend utilizing small keyed-alike padlocks. They’re smaller than any mixture lock and extra handy than the cable ties (offered that you do not lose the keys).
Dan Dempsey, Oatley, NSW
WRITE TO US AND WIN
The Letter of the Week author wins Hardie Grant journey books price greater than $100. For August, that features Discover Australia 2022; Final Highway Journeys USA & Canada; and World Cocktail Adventures. See hardiegrant.com
The Tip of the Week author wins Lonely Planet books greater than $100. Get below the pores and skin of among the world’s favorite cities with Lonely Planet’s ground-breaking new Expertise Guides. Every information lets the reader uncover the distinctive persona of every metropolis, with first-hand experiences from locals, off-beat day journeys and a recent outlook on well-known websites. RRP$34.99 every. See store.lonelyplanet.com
THE FUTURE OF TRAVEL: YOUR VERDICT
Pricey readers, we’re planning a particular 15-year anniversary version of Traveller and we might like to listen to your ideas about the way forward for journey. What are your hopes, desires and, sure, fears and considerations? How can the world journey higher and the way will we be travelling in 15 years time (that’s, 2037)? The place do you continue to need to go and what do you need to see and expertise? We’ll publish the perfect letters with the writers every receiving the prize of a Lonely Planet journey e-book. Write to us by no later than Friday, August 12 (see the small print beneath).
HOW TO WRITE TO US
We give choice to letters of 100 phrases or fewer and so they could also be edited for area, authorized or different causes. Please use full sentences, do not use textspeak and do not embody attachments. E-mail us at travellerletters@traveller.com.au and, importantly, embody your title, tackle and cellphone quantity.
