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!!
Frank from the US is currently 3,000 miles and more en route from Texas to Alaska. He sent the Beetle an e-mail to say that in Dawson Creek British Columbia there is an e-mail shop at the Mile Zero on the Alaskan Highway. This place is the only one in town. Cost $3.00 for 30 minutes, $6.00 per hour. It might be of interest for any Globetrotters that might be coming this way. E-mail sales@softemp.ca they will be happy to help you out.
The Beetle has a real soft spot for Spain – great food, good wine, friendly people, wonderful language, easy to get around and fabulous paradores to stay in. A paradore is a government owned hotel, but don’t let that you put you off. Paradores are frequently old converted forts, castles, convents and monasteries – large sized rooms, well appointed, great food! Take a look at: www.parador.es
Anyone visited a paradore? Write and tell the Beetle.
Tickets are on sale for the inaugural journeys on the Alice Springs to Darwin extension of the Great Southern Railway’s (GSR) line between Adelaide and Alice. The journey will take 47 hours, and is 2,979km. The date for the first departure is still to be finalised but is expected to be some time in January 2004. The new A$1.3bn, 1,420km extension of the Ghan line is well ahead of schedule, 80% complete and will end Darwin’s isolation from the rest of Australia’s rail network.
The train service between Adelaide in South Australia and Alice Springs in the Northern Territory is known as the “Ghan,” in recognition of the early Afghan cameleers who pioneered the journey into Central Australia. This began in August 1929 and it was always intended to extend the line to Darwin, but it never happened.
On completion the line will make Australia the only country in the world to boast both north/south and east/west transcontinental rail journeys.
The Ghan will operate one weekly return service between Adelaide and Darwin and two weekly return services between Adelaide and Alice Springs.
For more info, see: greatsouthernrail.com.au
Qantas began flying to Rome in 1948 but is suspending services because of SARS and the threat of terrorism.
Low cost UK based carrier bmibaby is to start services from Manchester to both Prague and Barcelona. Fares start from £32.49 one way
US regional carrier Atlantic Coast Airlines, which operates as both United Express and Delta Connection, has bought 150 defibrillators to deal with in-flight emergencies when passengers or crew suffer suspected heart for 148 of its aircraft.
The WHO has lifted travel bans to both Canada and Taiwan due to SARS. The travel ban on Kenya has also been lifted, Mombassa remains restricted to UK carriers until security at the coastal airport is increased but transport officials are optimistic that flights will be resumed at Kenya's busiest airport for tourists.
The Globetrotters Club has just teamed up with Oanda.com to provide people with information about currency conversions and cheat sheets. To translate currency or make a cheat sheet, visit:
The Globetrotters Currency Converter — get the exchange rates for 164 currencies The Globetrotters Currency Cheat Sheet — create and print a currency converter table for your next trip.
Can anyone give Sue some itinerary advice about 3 weeks in Australia in July 2004 and also the Bungle Bungles? Please contact her on : sue.learoyd@btinternet.com
Need help? Want a travelling buddy or advice about a place or country – want to share something with us – why not visit our Mutual Aid section of the Website: Mutual Aid
Win a Moon guidebook on Yellowstone and Grand Teton. See www.moon.com for info on Moon guidebooks.
Some people have said the quiz is difficult, we say do some research; try google.com or Ask Jeeves, if you need help with the answers. One submission, only, please!
The winner of last month's Moon guide is Judith Phillips. Please send us your postal address, Judith!
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According to figures from the UK’s Government’s Office for National Statistics, Spain was the most popular destination for residents of the UK in 2002.
British people made 12.6m visits to Spain, up 7% on 2001, compared with the 11.7m (down 2%) people who visited France – in second place. Third most visited country by the British was the Republic of Ireland with 4m UK visitors, followed by the US with 3.7m.
Receiving visitors, the UK received most visitors from the US with 3.7m visits to the UK, followed by France with 3m; Germany, 2.5m; the Republic of Ireland, 2.3m and the Netherlands with 1.4m.
The survey also showed that tourist numbers in the last quarter of 2002 have returned to similar levels in the same period of 2000.