New small ships for 2018

Expert expedition cruise journalist and photographer, Roderick Eime, lists recent and forthcoming small ship experiences for your editorial consideration. [Contact]



Cruise Line: CroisiEurope / CF Mekong
Vessel: Indochine II (launched 2017)
Destination: Mekong. Siem Reap to Saigon
Date travelled/travelling: September 2018



Cruise Line: Silversea
Vessel: Silver Cloud (rebuilt 2017)
Destination: Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Date travelled/travelling: September 2018



Cruise Line: Ponant
Vessel: Le Champlain (maiden voyage)
Destination: Bergen, Norway
Date travelled/travelling: October 2018



Cruise Line: Lindblad-National Geographic
Vessel: NG Venture (maiden voyage)
Destination: West Coast USA and Mexico
Date travelled/travelling: December 2018



Cruise Line: Captain Cook Cruises Fiji
Vessel: MV Reef Endeavour
Destination: Fiji - Taveuni, Ovalau
Date travelled/travelling: April 2018

FORTHCOMING / TBA

• Captain Cook Cruises: Murray Princess 
• G Adventures 
• Sea Trek Bali

Thank you for reading

Audi Q8: Getting high in the Andes

Our prestige motoring expert, Damien Reid, gets some rarefied air.

The Q8 is Audi's new flagship model, taking the mantle from the A8 as the world continues its love for SUVs. The Q8 is the off-roading sibling of the A8 as a premium, luxury off-roader, so we took it to the stunning Atacama Desert high up in the mountains on the edges of the Andes in Chile.



Here, the oxygen is just 57 per cent of its capacity at sea level, being 4500m (15,000ft) above it, meaning car and driver were working hard just to stay rolling.

The Q8 will be Audi's Number One model in China, its biggest market, so it's an important car and will be filtering into dealer showrooms by the fourth quarter of this year.

Safari in South Australia's Gawler Ranges

After ATE this month, Rod headed out on safari in his home state of SA.
















Rod stayed at Kangaluna tented camp and went on 4WD excursions that included Lake Gairdner (land speed record venue) and Baird Bay for the sea lion swim.




Key features:

* Transfers from ADL to Port Lincoln via REX
* Superb bird watching. Rare parrots etc
* Outback history
* Wildlife. Koalas, 'roos, emus, birds, wombats etc
* Sea lion and dolphin swim at Baird Bay. Whale watching in season.
* Huge salt lake, Lake Gairdner, site of world land speed attempts.
* Cool geology/ecology


Hosts/Sponsors:

• SATC 
• Gawler Ranges Safaris
• REX 
• Baird Bay Ocean Eco Experience

Let me know if you'd like more info.

The Travel Writers Year in Review 2017

Travel * Lifestyle * Technology * Investment * Cars * Wine * Food * Family * Society

February 2018 - www.thetravelwriters.com

Our busiest journalists racked up many thousands of frequent flyer miles travelling to all corners of the globe while one of our best and brightest made her final journey.

Chalon-sur-Saône (c) Helen Hayes

Helen Hayes

Helen Hayes: North America featured prominently in my travels in 2017 with visits to Boston (first time), Washington, Portland, Mt Hood, Mt Bachelor and Bend in Oregon, Sun Valley in Idaho, and six ski resorts in Canada. I also loved my first ever river cruise, on the Rhone, cruising from Arles to Lyon, including a short stint on the Saône up to Chalon-sur-Saône. Queenstown, New Zealand satisfied my ski bug in the Southern Hemisphere winter, and for sunshine, I dived into the many wonders of the Whitsundays and the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. [query]

Star Trails over Uluru (c) Ewen Bell

Ewen Bell

Ewen Bell: My travel highlight was very close to home this year. I had a chance to do a series of photographic shoots around Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. By day and by night. I love the land up here. We are lucky to be able to enjoy it, and so easily.
"The centre of Australia is a desert of colour. Sand is stained red with minerals, deep yellow flowers cascade off grevillea bushes and the sky is a flood of blue except for the occasional sunset where clouds throw back hues of orange and pink. In the middle of this colour palette is a massive rock, rising sharply from a rippled landscape. Each fold along its flanks have been drawn into stories by the local Anangu, like bookmarks in a library standing long before there even was a desert. Uluru is drama on a geological scale." [query]

Migdalia is a 'costumbrista' in Havana (c) Roderick Eime

Roderick Eime

Roderick Eime: It was a big finish to the year with four back-to-back cruises in Cuba, Panama, Costa Rica and Miami. From an intimate few dozen aboard Peregrine's MV Callisto, to the massive 5000+ aboard MSC's brand new Seaside, it certainly was an exercise in contrasts. There was also Lindblad's first newbuild in decades, the National Geographic Quest and the MSC Opera. But if travel truly creates indelible memories, then it was the ride around Cuba on a Harley-Davidson with Ernesto Guevara-March, the youngest son of the fabled revolutionary hero Che, which put the cherry on this cake. [query]

Cruising among the Antarctic icebergs (c) John Maddocks

John Maddocks

John Maddocks: Antarctica is like another planet. The sheer scale and beauty of the place is staggering. It’s an empty, pristine, other-worldly wilderness. Ninety-nine percent of Antarctica’s 14 million square kilometres is covered in ice, some of it four kilometres thick. Sea ice can double the continent’s size in winter.
A visit to Antarctica, with its awesome landscapes and wildlife, is considered by many to be the trip of a lifetime. It’s a place that can bring you to your knees with its majesty. And now, increasingly, it needs environmental protection. The Antarctic has become our albatross, and we kill it at our peril. A journey to the frozen continent with a responsible tour operator will reveal Antarctica’s critical importance to the earth’s climate and oceans. It will change your view of the world. [query]

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Kris Madden Vale Kris Madden: It is with both shock and sadness that we bade farewell to Kris who had just returned from an expedition throughout Melanesia. Soon after returning to her home on Sydney's Northern Beaches, Kris passed away suddenly from a massive heart attack. Kris leaves a legacy of superb travel writing and reporting, conducted with an unusual skill, consummate professionalism and keen insight that is rapidly becoming scarce in today's world of instant news.

The Travel Writers is a collective of highly experienced career journalists with extensive professional portfolios. While coverage of travel and travel-related subjects is our passion, our expertise extends much deeper.