By the time Tony co-founded Lonely Planet Publications in 1973, he already had the travel bug. And ever since, travel and discovery have been at the heart of his life and career.
In yesterday’s blog I raised the ‘what does it take to say you’ve visited a country’ question. And like Ask the Pilot Patrick Smith I agree that you can’t say you’ve been there if you’ve only been to the airport. But could you ‘visit a country’ between flights? I r...
Over the last 12 months I’ve flown with 18 different airlines on 9 different aircraft types. They included Boeing 737s, 747s, 767s and 777s, but I’ve still not flown on a 787. Some highlights and lowlights: ▲ The Most Heavily Loaded Flight – The last flight of ...
Last month, January 2014, I was in Tonga and on Foa Island in the Ha’apai Group just before Cyclone Ian hit it with Category 5 violence causing huge damage. The Ha’apai Group featured in Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2014 as one of the Top 10 Regions of the world. ...
My early January Tongan trip – which ended in the Ha’apai Islands group just before Cyclone Ian arrived – also featured Vava’u, the main island in the Vava’u group. ▲ The picturesque St Joseph’s Cathedral, overlooking Neifau, the island’s main town. Well only t...
I've posted several reports over the last few days on my recent visit to Tonga, I departed just as Cyclone Ian arrived. ▲ Whale watching is the big Tongan tourist attraction although I turned up in the wrong season, July through September is the prime time for...
© Tony Wheeler’s Travels 2013