Saturday 11 January 2014

Travellers Good Buys

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Nordic sagas named it ‘tears of the sea’, Roman mythology referred to ‘petrified sun dreams’ and early European scribes wrote about ‘gold of the north’ or ‘Baltic gold’.

All were referring to amber, the petrified resin of primeval pine trees.

You can indulge yourself in an amber jewellery shopping spree on Toursgallery’s 25-day Baltic States and Poland Tour in July.

It takes in the Polish city of Gdansk, where guests can visit artisans making fine jewellery from rough local amber — with rings, pendants, brooches and necklaces at bargain prices.

As far back as the 10th century, Gdansk was one of the cities located on the Amber Route, along which amber was transported from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean.
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Tour prices start at $8950 per person twin-share.

Phone 1300 307 317 or visit www.toursgallery.com.

Get right off the regular tourist beat at Anantara Bazaruto Island Resort & Spa — located about 30 kilometres east of mainland Mozambique on the Bazaruto Archipelago, an area filled with protected national park islands about a 15-minute flight from Vilanculos Airport.

The resort offers a boutique collection of 44 villas with garden and shoreline panoramas, and made from indigenous reed, soft fringed thatch and wood.
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Guests can also tour the island by 4×4 to discover other pristine bays, exotic flora and fauna, local life and a 19th-century lighthouse. Renowned as one of the world’s top snorkelling, diving and fishing destinations, the Bazaruto Archipelago boasts year round warm waters, dazzling soft coral ridges and thousands of tropical fish species.

Visit www.anantara.com.

The growing popularity of self-guided cycling holidays has led Cycle Tours Global — an online hub for over 5500 bike tours in 112 countries — to list a new self-guided bike trip in the beautiful Dordogne Valley in France.

The new nine-day tour is available between April and October, with an itinerary that showcases the charm of one of the most picturesque regions of France, with riders pedalling through medieval villages unchanged by centuries, past grand chateaux and also street markets where they can collect local produce for a picnic along the route.
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The tour is available from €1490 per person twin-share, including accommodation in boutique hotels for eight nights, breakfast daily, bike hire, daily luggage transfers between hotels, detailed maps and route descriptions, local support if needed and a meet and greet at the start of the tour.

Visit www.cycletoursglobal.com.

Pack a comfortable pair of walking shoes when visiting Macau and take advantage of the tourist office’s new series of self-guided walks that take you off the former Portuguese enclave’s main tourist map.
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All routes meander through the historic Macau peninsula where 25 Unesco World Heritage sites are found, including the iconic Ruins of St Pauls, a much photographed surviving façade of a 17-century church destroyed by fire in 1835.

Phone (02) 9264 1488 or visit www.macautourism.gov.mo for details.

If you need another excuse to take in the scenery, hospitality and exceptional food and wine of the NSW Central West, it could be provided on March 15-16 by the annual Millamolong Polo Carnival, one of Australia’s major events in the sport.
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The venue at Mandurama has the feel of a classy picnic race meet and there will be plenty of ancillary events between the fiercely competitive polo matches, plus a party on the Saturday night.

Visit millamolong.com.au.

Cox & Kings has added more 2014 departure dates to a popular eight-day small-group journey exploring Russia’s rich cultural and historical heritage.

Classic Russia takes in the main attractions of Moscow and St Petersburg, with accommodation in centrally located 4.5-star hotels.
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Prices start at $2493 per person twin-share and there are 29 departures between March and November, including dates which coincide with St Petersburg’s White Nights festival — a month-long cultural celebration in June.

Phone 1300 836 764 or visit www.coxandkings.com.au.

The pristine beaches and hinterland of the Illawarra on the NSW South Coast can now be explored using aboard Segway personal transporters.

Segway Tours South Coast is offering eco-adventure tours for individuals, families and groups in Killalea State Park, near Shellharbour, with all riders receiving a 10 per cent discount on accommodation at the 4.5-star Sebel Harbourside Kiama.

Tours from 30 to 90 minutes are available at beautiful Killalea State Park, 90 minutes south of Sydney, between Shellharbour and Kiama.
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Tours run on weekends and during school holidays and are available from $39.

Phone 0402 000 222 or visit www.segwaytourssouthcoast.com.au.

Worldwide Cruise Centres’ 27-day Great Wall to Walls of Ice itinerary is built around a six-day cruise around Japan and a trans-Pacific voyage to Alaska and Vancouver on Holland America Line’s MS Volendam.

Also included are four nights in Beijing, plus two nights in Vancouver and an exhilarating two-day Canadian trip, with a night at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler alpine resort on the way.
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Prices start at $4999 ex Australia, with departure on April 9.

Visit www.worldwidecruisecentres.com.au.

Get a three-night package in Auckland from Travelscene American Express.

Pay from $199 per person twin-share, including three nights at the Park Regis Hotel.

Includes return transfers from the airport to your hotel; Auckland Explorer hop-on/hop-off bus ticket.

Book by April 30 for travel May 1 to September 30.
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Phone 13 13 98 or visit www.travelscene.net.au.

Sail seven nights but pay for only four on the 120-passenger MV Reef Endeavour with Captain Cook Cruises Fiji.

Prices start from $1560 per person twin-share for the seven-night Yasawa Island and Northern Discovery cruises, instead of the normal $2900.

Discover the pristine beaches, turquoise waters and remote villages, churches and schools of the real and untouched Fiji

For sale until March 31, 2014, and valid for travel from April 1, 2014, to March 31, 2015.
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Phone 1300 863 454 or visit www.captaincook.com.fj.

Save more than $3300 per person on an ecruising.travel 54-day itinerary from London to San Diego on board Celebrity Infinity.

Pay from $7689 per person twin-share, including return airfares.

Includes 49-night cruise plus two nights accommodation at the St Ermins Hotel in London and three nights at the Marriott in in San Diego.

Departs England on October 1.
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Phone 1300 369 848 or visit www.ecruising.travel.

Enjoy school-holiday specials at Novotel Twin Waters Resort on the Sunshine Coast.

Pay from $174 per night for two adults and up to two children aged to 15 years.

Facilities include putt-putt golf, beach volleyball, beach cricket, stand-up paddle boards, catamarans, kayaks, water trampoline and new bikes for hire.

Valid until January 26.

Phone 1800 072 277 or visit www.novoteltwinwatersresort.com.au.