Club Reps, a bawdy real life UK TV documentary on the goings on in the town of Faliraki on the Greek island of Rhodes is blamed for an increase in drunken behaviour. A British policeman from Blackpool, (another delightful part in North-West UK), with similar issues has been dispatched to Faliraki to liaise with the Chief of Faliraki police after a British man was stabbed to death in a bar brawl and a woman jailed for baring her breasts.

Based on a successful model used in Blackpool, the UK police said the key to tackling problems is stopping the “aggressive marketing of drinks promotions” and bar crawls. Independent tour operators have sprung up which were taking 400 or 500 people on bar crawls. Suggestions have been made to install CCTV cameras on the streets, improve lighting, and increase police presence and officers are “firm but fair” early in the evening, to nip problems in the bud.

Ratu Filimoni Wawabaluva, a chief from Navosa, on the Fijian island of Viti Levu, has announced that a traditional apology ceremony is to be held to apologise 136 years after their ancestors killed and ate a British missionary.

Fiji were once known as “Cannibal Isles”. At the time, it is said that one local boasted after scoffing the Rev Thomas Baker, from Playden, East Sussex, in 1867: “We ate everything but his boots.” The Rev. Baker’s descendants were invited to the ceremony. Some residents of Navosa believe they have been cursed with bad luck since their ancestors ate the Rev Thomas Baker. Accounts differ on how he came to be eaten, with one version being that he broke a taboo by touching a chief’s hair to take out a comb.

An archivist at London’s School of Oriental and African Studies said that the story could be a myth saying: “It seems Baker got caught up in some sort of inter-tribal feuding relating to his right to travel across the island.”

A spokesman for the London Missionary Society, which sent dozens of missionaries to the South Pacific, said Baker’s was “not an unusual story”. Another missionary made a “similar cultural error” in Papua New Guinea around the same time and was also eaten.

Mac spotted a website www.walkabouttravelgear.com that has a lot of good travel tips. He says: they include using empty gatoraide bottles for water instead of water bottles as the gatorade bottles are more leak proof. Another suggestion was to put duct tape around a pencil to carry duct tape that way and use less space. Someone suggested for both men and women to wear silk pantyhose (maybe they did not have to be silk) for warmth. Someone suggested silk clothes for warmth. Another person suggested taking vitamin B pills or chewing garlic pills to ward off mosquitoes bites. They don’t like the smell. Don’t use perfumes on your hair etc to avoid mosquitoes. Someone suggested an all purpose gel (for washing etc)

Under 30? A member of Globetrotters Club? Interested in a £1,000 travel award?

Know someone who is? We have £1,000 to award each year for five years for the best submitted independent travel plan. Interested?

Then see our legacy page on our Website, where you can apply with your plans for a totally independent travel trip and we'll take a look at it. Get those plans in!!

The Globetrotters Club has been approached by the BBC about a programme they are working on about young gap year travellers. They are looking for UK based people aged 18-25 who’s either already out on their travels around the world or about to go out to potentially go out and film for a week in January. If you’d like more information, contact Karina on karina.griffin@bbc.co.uk

Vietnam Airlines has announced that it will change the current two-tier price system for Vietnamese and foreigners from January 1 next year to boost tourism. Foreigners will no longer pay 20% more for domestic flights and will pay the same amount as Vietnamese nationals. A round trip ticket from capital Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City costs 3.3 million dong (USD$212) for foreigners while locals pay 2.7 million dong.

We are a semi-retired couple in our late 50’s from Adelaide, South Australia who will be visiting UK from May 21st 2004 – sometime in August 2004. We are experienced campervan grey nomads, looking to swap campervans either simultaneously or if you wish to travel to OZ at some other time, we could work out some other dates.

Our van is a 1990 Toyota Hi -Ace, LWB, Hi-top. We can help with any extra camping equipment needed. Our vehicle is in excellent condition as our hobby is vintage cars, particularly Austin 7’s which we restore.

We only wish to travel in U.K., not take a van on to Europe.

Looking forward to hearing from any UK adventurers with a campervan of similar size to ours. Contact Nadia & Arthur, nadiak@picknowl.com.au