ASK JOAN:Your travel questions answered
Six weeks in NZ and Australia
My husband and I are due to travel to New Zealand and Australia for six weeks this summer. We are starting in New Zealand and will be there for four weeks, seeing the sights and visiting some friends and relatives. As it will be quite a busy trip, we have planned some “chill-out time” in northern Australia on our return journey. We have return flights in and out of Cairns, from July 3rd-10th. We were thinking of travelling to Port Douglas for this week, but we are also open to other locations.
I would be grateful if you had any suggestions with regard to location and accommodation for this part of our trip? Ideally, we would like to stay in one place for this week with easy access to the beach, restaurants and a few day-trip opportunities.
LD, Wexford
A week chilling out in or around Cairns would be nice and, as it will be past box jellyfish season, you can swim in the sea comfortably. While it may be winter at this time of the year, temperatures will be a high of 25 degrees and a minimum of 16 degrees, with about 30mm average rainfall in July. Port Douglas is a good place to base yourself as you can explore a lot of the coast from there.
The following accommodations are worth considering: the Sands Resort ( sandsresort.com.au) across the road from Four Mile Beach and a short hop downtown; and Martinique on Macrossan ( Portdouglas-apartments.com), which is downtown on Macrossan Street and close to the beach too. If you are going here, you should factor in a day on the Barrier Reef and, for small group trips, Wavelength.com.auis recommended. You will be taken out to a number of dive sites, where you should see lots of colourful fish and marine life. It costs around AU$160 (€130) per day. You can also rent cars from Jamjarcarhire.com.auto explore places such as Daintree Forest. On the way to Daintree, take in a crocodile cruise with Solarwhisper.comon Cape Tribulation Road. You can also visit the wildlife action at Australia Zoo ( australiazoo.com), made famous by Steve Irwin, about an hour from PD. Somewhere a bit quieter is Heron Island ( heronisland.com), off Gladstone in Queensland, a nature reserve on the lower Barrier Reef, two hours by boat. Swim with the fish, walk the reef and watch the birds.
Finding a nice young man
My mum who is in her 70s is hoping to travel to New Zealand (South Island) very soon to visit a family member. She is worried about
travelling such a long distance alone – she wouldn’t be a confident or experienced traveller. Can you suggest the best travel agent/airline/route to take? Could there be any assistance provided by airlines/airports along the way to help with airport terminals/transfers/problems?
OMD, Dublin
I always remember asking an older lady who had travelled to many distant places how she managed and her reply was, she always asked nice young men to assist her. If your mother is a bit shy, here are some ideas for her. Departing from Dublin, she can book the Airport Genie ( airportgenie.com) service, which would provide a chaperone to take her down to the flight and make sure she gets anything she needs at the airport. A personalised service will cost €35.
Getting to Christchurch is going to entail three flights and a journey of more than 30 hours. I think the best thing is to book her through a travel agent, as they can put notes into the booking, requesting assistance for your mother. It is not so easy to do that in online bookings. Depending on her mobility, she may like to have a wheelchair transfer between flights, and it would be better to book this as soon as possible.
I would recommend travelling through the Middle East as Emirates and Etihad airlines are well known for customer service and look after passengers very well. The airport transfers in Abu Dhabi and Dubai are quite quick, with only a few hours' wait, and they would mean her arriving in Australia for the final leg. If she could afford it, an upgrade to the next level of service would be a good idea. The following travel agents are familiar with travel to New Zealand: Australia Travel Centre, Middle Abbey Street, tel: 01-804 7100; Justsplit.ie, Rathfarnham Shopping Centre, tel: 01-4939444; and Trailfinders.ie, Dawson Street, tel: 01-6777888.
Villa for nine with a pool
Me and about eight of my friends (aged 24-25) are hoping to book a villa in either Spain or Portugal for a week in the summer. We would love somewhere near the sea, but with a pool and at a reasonable price. Any ideas of possible agencies in Ireland or online where we could get a good deal?
ES, Co Kerry
Portugal or the Costa de la Luz would be a good idea if you are travelling from Kerry, as there is are Ryanair flights to Faro on Mondays, Thursdays and Sundays. Watch out for fare sales. Accommodation will be a bit cheaper in June rather than July or August. A villa with a pool on the Algarve will cost from €150-€200pps with Jamesvillas.ie.
In Spain, where Andalucia and Majorca are accessible through flights to Malaga and Palma from Cork, there are a wide variety of villas with pools for rent. Prices are about 30 per cent cheaper in June. See a selection on Vintagetravel.co.uk, which has prices from around €150pps, flight extra.
Email queries, with your name and address, to jscales@irishtimes.com