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Holidays 2026
Comments
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Very jealous. Love Mauritius. March is coming to the end of tourist season anyway so it shouldn't have been massively busy (December its hard to get around) but a few less people will make the experience even better.robinofottershaw said:Currently in Mauritius after flying out Monday afternoon.The travel agent rang first thing Monday morning to check if we wanted to cancel as they were getting a few last minute cancellations, particularly (obviously) those flying via Dubai. As our flight was direct we were happy to go ahead.The hotel concierge told us they only have a 70% occupancy with a number of last minute cancellations mainly due to travel disruption.
What part of the island are you? The Indian ocean is incredible, the reef and marine life are unparalleled. Definitely do plenty of snorkelling. If you've ever wanted to try scuba diving then this is the best place to try - I can recommend a dive shop in Trou-aux-Biches near Grand Baie in the north of the island if you're interested. Can also recommend the catamaran day trip to Flat Island/Gabriel Island. Beautiful untouched white sand beaches with a snorkelling stop on the way back.Flic en Flac is a lovely seaside village on the west coast. Le Morne is obviously very famous. The Chamarel rum tour is great. A hike through the black river gorges national park is well worth it. Being colour blind the 7 coloured earth thing was lost on me but my wife thought it was cool.
You can go whale watching and swim with dolphins if you want - note there are laws about these but there are lots of unregistered and unethical boat companies that will break the rules. We did see a whale being harassed by swimmers which rather ruined the experience for us even though we had paid for an ethical one (cant control what other boats in the area do). Swimming with whales is illegal and unethical. You are allowed to swim with dolphins in the mornings when they are playing rather than hunting. I can pass on the details of the ethical company we used if interested.
Hope you have an amazing trip!0 -
I get 8 days out of a pair of pants. Two days right way round, two days back to front, two days inside out, two days inside out back to front.valleynick66 said:
Can I ask a practical question?TellyTubby said:It's clear that plenty on CL are lucky enough to travel.
MrsTT and myself are looking forward to our main trip this year. Another motorbike tour, a new one for us, a Honda ST1300 seeing as you ask 😀.
Hook of Holland,
Copenhagen
Malmo Stockholm to see the Vasa
Finland
Estonia - Narva before Putin flattens it
Lithuania
Latvia
Poland - salt mines
Ukraine
Slovakia
Then head back to the Hook of Holland
Not planned anything else specific and no fixed route.
For such a trip how do you manage luggage wise for such a long trip. Do you just have to be disciplined and travel ‘light’ or do you have some sort of support vehicle )which I’ve seen for a large group of motorbikes).Just curious.
Plan all items on that basis and you can do several months with a small backpack.3 -
I'm hoping to take advantage of the recently announced visa free entry to China. A few days in Thailand as well. I almost booked with Qatar Airways (return to Thailand) a week ago but decided to hold off until I was back in London. I may look at doing the whole trip using Chinese airlines.
I am currently still in Phuket, having had my Qatar flight cancelled last Sunday, so what was a week's short break has now become a two week holiday! Flying back tomorrow with Air Astana, with a one night stopover in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Should be interesting!
Sad to miss the Birmingham game though.0 -
Just the two of us. This bike has small panniers as original, and a small top box as a Honda optional extra.valleynick66 said:
Can I ask a practical question?TellyTubby said:It's clear that plenty on CL are lucky enough to travel.
MrsTT and myself are looking forward to our main trip this year. Another motorbike tour, a new one for us, a Honda ST1300 seeing as you ask 😀.
Hook of Holland,
Copenhagen
Malmo Stockholm to see the Vasa
Finland
Estonia - Narva before Putin flattens it
Lithuania
Latvia
Poland - salt mines
Ukraine
Slovakia
Then head back to the Hook of Holland
Not planned anything else specific and no fixed route.
For such a trip how do you manage luggage wise for such a long trip. Do you just have to be disciplined and travel ‘light’ or do you have some sort of support vehicle )which I’ve seen for a large group of motorbikes).Just curious.
We mostly just wear the kit we travel in during the day. The base layers are good for two or three days and if we stay long enough to wash anything, the material we tend to use, wicks moisture well, which means non crease and quick drying. This is important as we rarely stay longer than one night in the same place, and often don't have access to an iron. Our change of clothes for the evening tend to only be worn for a couple of hours.
I usually just wear my bike boots in the evening, or perhaps sliders.
So yes, very disciplined. Rather different from our first bike trip in 1986 when we rode to the Med to stay in a caravan for a week. Mrs TT took 6 pairs of stilettoes and dresses etc and never wore any apart from one dress. That was one bike too!
Edit
Some people wear old t-shirts etc and chuck them at the end of the day, replacing them with new on route.3 -
Im looking at booking a trip to Japan/South Korea and China Airlines seem to offer decent flights from the UK have you flown with them before ? just asking as I haventBangkokaddick said:I'm hoping to take advantage of the recently announced visa free entry to China. A few days in Thailand as well. I almost booked with Qatar Airways (return to Thailand) a week ago but decided to hold off until I was back in London. I may look at doing the whole trip using Chinese airlines.
I am currently still in Phuket, having had my Qatar flight cancelled last Sunday, so what was a week's short break has now become a two week holiday! Flying back tomorrow with Air Astana, with a one night stopover in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Should be interesting!
Sad to miss the Birmingham game though.0 -
They're naturistsvalleynick66 said:
Can I ask a practical question?TellyTubby said:It's clear that plenty on CL are lucky enough to travel.
MrsTT and myself are looking forward to our main trip this year. Another motorbike tour, a new one for us, a Honda ST1300 seeing as you ask 😀.
Hook of Holland,
Copenhagen
Malmo Stockholm to see the Vasa
Finland
Estonia - Narva before Putin flattens it
Lithuania
Latvia
Poland - salt mines
Ukraine
Slovakia
Then head back to the Hook of Holland
Not planned anything else specific and no fixed route.
For such a trip how do you manage luggage wise for such a long trip. Do you just have to be disciplined and travel ‘light’ or do you have some sort of support vehicle )which I’ve seen for a large group of motorbikes).Just curious.
3 -
I forgot to mention that bit. Of course that helps.Fanny Fanackapan said:
They're naturistsvalleynick66 said:
Can I ask a practical question?TellyTubby said:It's clear that plenty on CL are lucky enough to travel.
MrsTT and myself are looking forward to our main trip this year. Another motorbike tour, a new one for us, a Honda ST1300 seeing as you ask 😀.
Hook of Holland,
Copenhagen
Malmo Stockholm to see the Vasa
Finland
Estonia - Narva before Putin flattens it
Lithuania
Latvia
Poland - salt mines
Ukraine
Slovakia
Then head back to the Hook of Holland
Not planned anything else specific and no fixed route.
For such a trip how do you manage luggage wise for such a long trip. Do you just have to be disciplined and travel ‘light’ or do you have some sort of support vehicle )which I’ve seen for a large group of motorbikes).Just curious.0 -
It’s our third time in Mauritius but the last time was 12 years ago.cantersaddick said:
Very jealous. Love Mauritius. March is coming to the end of tourist season anyway so it shouldn't have been massively busy (December its hard to get around) but a few less people will make the experience even better.robinofottershaw said:Currently in Mauritius after flying out Monday afternoon.The travel agent rang first thing Monday morning to check if we wanted to cancel as they were getting a few last minute cancellations, particularly (obviously) those flying via Dubai. As our flight was direct we were happy to go ahead.The hotel concierge told us they only have a 70% occupancy with a number of last minute cancellations mainly due to travel disruption.
What part of the island are you? The Indian ocean is incredible, the reef and marine life are unparalleled. Definitely do plenty of snorkelling. If you've ever wanted to try scuba diving then this is the best place to try - I can recommend a dive shop in Trou-aux-Biches near Grand Baie in the north of the island if you're interested. Can also recommend the catamaran day trip to Flat Island/Gabriel Island. Beautiful untouched white sand beaches with a snorkelling stop on the way back.Flic en Flac is a lovely seaside village on the west coast. Le Morne is obviously very famous. The Chamarel rum tour is great. A hike through the black river gorges national park is well worth it. Being colour blind the 7 coloured earth thing was lost on me but my wife thought it was cool.
You can go whale watching and swim with dolphins if you want - note there are laws about these but there are lots of unregistered and unethical boat companies that will break the rules. We did see a whale being harassed by swimmers which rather ruined the experience for us even though we had paid for an ethical one (cant control what other boats in the area do). Swimming with whales is illegal and unethical. You are allowed to swim with dolphins in the mornings when they are playing rather than hunting. I can pass on the details of the ethical company we used if interested.
Hope you have an amazing trip!Thanks for the trip tips but this time around it was very much a last minute decision and we wanted to ‘fly n flop’ and lie in the sun after all the rain we have had. We are staying on the SW coast at a hotel named the Heritage Le Telfair Golf & Wellness Resort. Weather has been good, as has been the food and accommodation.1 -
Sounds like it was. Been a bit strange leaving with snow forecast. Arriving in Auckland in high summer, then slowly but surely getting cooler. With a week to go we are entering early spring and just approaching South Korea where the temperature is a low at 4c and high 10c, after that Japan where temperatures are meant to be similar.TellyTubby said:
A pretty good winter to avoid.CharltonKerry said:January 1st we fly to Auckland where we stay for 10 days and go on various tours, then we join our cruise for 61 nights where we wander around Australia and Asia until we reach Tokyo where we will fly home to hopefully spring, thus missing the vast majority of winter.0
