Sarah Pollok in the Galapagos Islands with a Giant Tortoise. Photo / Supplied
Sarah Pollok in the Galapagos Islands with a Giant Tortoise. Photo / Supplied
As we reach our penultimate Tuesday Travel magazine of the year, it’s a good time to look back on the year that was. Our borders might have opened only in March but the Herald Travel team certainly made up for lost time, getting back out in the world at every opportunity. Here are some of our highlights, as well as where we’re looking forward to seeing in 2023.
This year I got to see some pretty incredible places but the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador was a clear highlight. Not only because it was an iconic wish-list destination and my first overseas trip since 2019, but it was also the longest I’ve ever travelled (54 hours one way), first time in South America and first time on a cruise ship. After getting a taste of South America’s gorgeously vibrant culture, it’s maybe no surprise that I’d love to return in 2023.
- Sarah Pollok
Anna Sarjeant enjoys a weekend getaway to Taupo over summer. Photo / Supplied
By the time 2022 rocked around and we were on the tail-end of New Zealand’s closed borders, I thought I’d seen and done everything on the North Island - twice over. My partner and I had been to Taupō countless times before and yet our February trip turned out to be the best. We sailed in complete peace across Lake Taupō aboard Sail Barbary, an all-electric yacht, and sat, mesmerised, by blistering pits of steaming mud at Craters of the Moon. Menacing black swans almost thwarted our attempts to remain above water on a pedal boat and Catch 22 served such good fish and chips, it set a new (and still unbeatable) benchmark. However, we would like to visit UK family next year, where, of course, the mushy pea reigns supreme - so watch this space.
- Anna Sarjeant
Thomas Bywater on honeymoon in the Julian Alps, Slovenia. Photo / Supplied
My best trip of 2022 was to Slovenia and I feel like everyone beat me to it. I went to former Yugoslavia and the Julian Alps thinking it was an off-the-beaten-track destination for a honeymoon, only to find the Lonely Planet editor and a former UK Prime Minister were all there this summer for their nuptials. Roll over, Venice. It seems the romantics are skipping the gondola for a row boat around Castle Bled. We escaped the love-in by exploring Mt Triglav national park. Think Aoraki National Park but with more wolves and castles.
Next year I’m dreaming of a trip to France. The Webb Ellis Cup kicks off in September with France v New Zealand in Paris. Although that match is too close to call, French hospitality remains unbeatable.
- Thomas Bywater
Alexia Santamaria snorkelling in Aitutaki, Cook Islands. Photo / Supplied
The best trip I’ve taken this year is to Aitutaki, as part of a story on the Cook Islands; I cannot believe this place is so close to Aotearoa. I felt like I’d stepped inside a highly photoshopped image where the turquoise and white have been dialled to maximum saturation. On a cruise with Teking Lagoon Tours, we saw blue coral that turned purple when you approached, giant clams, schools of colourful tropical fish – and even swam with giant black trevally. An island tour with Aunty Rima is also a must, to understand the daily lives of the people who live in this piece of paradise.
- Alexia Santamaria
Jessica Wynne Lockhart and her partner Keilie in Canada. Photo / Supplied
After more than two very long years, I was finally able to travel home to Canada. My family was the main attraction, but I also discovered how one of my favourite destinations — Banff National Park — used the pandemic as an opportunity to innovate and evolve. For example, during the spring and autumn months, the Bow Valley Parkway is now closed to cars, allowing cyclists to get closer to the wildlife. As for 2023? My partner — with whom I share a birthday (it’s much less fun than you think) — turns 40 this year. If all goes to plan, we’ll be celebrating our birthdays on an East African safari.
- Jessica Wynne Lockhart
Ewan McDonald with Australian travel journalist Susan Skelly and Celebrity Cruises PR and Social manager Tenneal Baker at Waipara Hills winery. Photo / Supplied
“A journey … begins with a single step,” as Confucius didn’t say. It wasn’t where I was going, it was that I was going. Like many who were born and have lived most of our lives on a few rocks in the Pacific, the world out there is an irresistible impulse. Godwits fly. So do Kiwis, until the past few years. It’s not the arrival, it’s the anticipation: when the invitation arrived, so did the excitement. Find the long-unneeded passport. Suitcase. Choose clothes. Uber, check-in, security, boarding call. You know you’re a travel tragic when you wonder where your next airline meal is coming from. Arrive in a “foreign” city. And it was … Sydney. We cruised across the Tasman towards home. Next year, I see a cafe terrace in a village. Maybe Arles, maybe Arezzo. There will be sun. Wine. Time. And place.
Anna King Shahab in Melbourne, November 2022. Photo / Supplied
The best trip I’ve taken this year was my first international foray since you-know-what changed the world. As I stepped out onto the streets of central Melbourne, the city felt ripe with opportunity. I’d forgotten how slick the service is in every cafe, restaurant, and bar – life-affirming isn’t an overly dramatic description. How I love its several undercover food markets. Criss-crossing the city on trams felt more thrilling than ever, and oh, just the glorious culture of the place! Chatting with the artist RONE at his exhibition TIME, above Flinders Street Station, was a highlight – the exhibition is moving and awe-inspiring and it runs till April – get there!
Japan and Mexico are neck-and-neck at the top of my travel wishlist, but to break the tie perhaps Japan can wait until my daughter’s classroom Japanese is ready for an outing. I’m dreaming of an Oaxacan hacienda sometime in 2023, with visits to artisanal tequila and mezcal distilleries, and tacos that will ruin me for life.
Tiana Templeman and husband Trevor, kayaking in Tasmania. Photo / Supplied
I’ve always dreamed of visiting Tasmania’s remote Tarkine region, and Intrepid’s four-night Tarkine & Cradle Mountain Explorer tour didn’t disappoint. Travelling from Launceston along the coast and back inland, our group hiked along deserted trails winding through ancient rainforests, visited Aboriginal cultural sites, clambered down to a sinkhole, hung out with wombats, and kayaked through the wilderness. Sampling fabulous food and wine along the Cradle to Coast Tasting Trail before we returned to Launceston was the icing on the cake.
On the menu next year: A trip to Iceland to explore Vigur Island’s puffin colony.
- Tiana Templeman
Neil Porten and his wife Suzanne in the cemetery above the Cinque Terre town of Vernazza, Italy, in July. Photo / Supplied
Any traveller would be happy for their final journey to end resting in peace in the cemetery above the Cinque Terre town of Vernazza. I’m not quite ready for the ultimate trip just yet, but a hike to this graveyard close to heaven was an unforgettable highlight of my adventures this year. Promising ourselves a gelato and a plunge into the turquoise Mediterranean afterwards, the 75m climb was its own reward: a lung-searing, sweat-dripping pilgrimage in the mid-July sun up narrow alleys and uneven stone steps to marvel in sacred silence at the unrivalled view of the iconic harbourside, packed with fellow daytrippers. Una bellissima vista!
The Italian Riviera in summer would be hard to top in 2023, but I still have a hankering for the trip I had to cancel when Covid hit: a cruise through the fiords of Norway to see the Northern Lights.
