Write Way To Travel

Monkeys and Malaysia

2012-01-10T00:11:00.000-08:00

My feature about a cruise around Borneo onboard the newly renovated Orion II was published here in last week's Mail on Sunday.

Patagonia

2011-12-19T10:52:00.000-08:00

My feature about a cruise around Patagonia was published in yesterday's Mail on Sunday, check it out here!

House-sitting and petite primates

2011-11-30T02:17:00.000-08:00

I've just come back from the Philippines on an amazing trip organised by Shangri-La Hotels and Kuoni; my feature about the white coral sand, miniature tarsier primates and excellent seafood will be appearing in the Mail on Sunday at some point.

While I was away my feature about house-sitting was published in the Mail on Sunday, check it out here.

Dieting on a cruise ship?

2011-11-13T11:06:00.001-08:00

Well I had a go...

My feature about Carnival Magic appeared in today's Mail on Sunday. Read all about it here.

Hello stranger!

2011-11-09T07:17:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy few months with exotic cruises in Borneo and Patagonia keeping me busy and an up-coming trip to the Philippines to plan for.

While I've been away I've had features published on Canada, SE Asia, New Zealand and a new ship review... links to follow soon.

I've also been shortlisted for two awards; one at the Travel Press Awards (Young Journalist of the Year) and one with the British Annual Canada Travel Awards (Best Media Coverage) - so fingers crossed!

Saturday/Sunday - Going wild

2011-09-19T00:06:00.000-07:00

After a morning visit to the POW camp in Sandakan we headed to a water village to catch a speedboat out to sea and the mouth of the Kinabatangan River, where we were staying overnight. The boat cut through the cocoa-coloured river like a hot knife through chocolate as we headed up the jungle-lined river, passing white egrets perching on driftwood and proboscis monkeys straddling branches.

After a lunch stop we continued on to the lodge where we were staying overnight and transferred to a smaller boat to go on an evening wildlife-spotting cruise. As well as seeing more monkeys getting ready to sleep, we saw a streak of electric blue whizz past (a kingfisher), saltwater crocodiles, crested serpent eagles and giant monitor lizards chasing baby macaque monkeys. At the lodge geckos crawled on the ceiling and an oriental pied hornbill was sitting outside on the fence – at night the jungle was full of hoots and calls, drowned out by torrential tropical rain.

Sunday morning’s 6am start saw us heading back out on the river where we were greeted by a gibbon honking in a tree and a big group of hornbills – rhinoceros, oriental pied and crested ones. It was a good morning for bird-watching and we also saw dollar birds, datar birds and brahminy kites flying over lakes clogged with purple water hyacinths. We were all looking out for orangutans and a few sightings of nests and moving branches had us all a little disappointed as we sped back to the ship.

Luckily for us our guides were looking out and we had two proper sightings of the hairy apes hanging from branches and swinging through the trees. On our way back we stopped at the village of Abai to plant a tree, paid for by Orion, to try and help keep the ‘corridor of life’ alive along the Kinbatangan River.

As we left Sandakan there was a little bit of drama with an engine problem that caused us to run aground and so we were taken to a local hotel for the night. We’re staying in Sandakan now rather than going on to Tawau, but in true Orion style all the crew served us a gourmet seafood dinner with champagne by candlelight last night even though the ship had no power.

Now that’s my kind of adventure.

Friday – Hanging out with orangutans

2011-09-16T04:02:00.001-07:00

From Sandakan we drove to Labuk Bay, a palm oil plantation where the owner has left an area as a jungle reserve, which is home to proboscis monkeys who swung through the trees to reach the feeding platform and were happy to sit on the fence watching us watching them. They are pretty docile – they fight by making noise at each other rather than tearing strips off one another and we saw an alpha male with his harem of lady friends. At the second viewing platform we also saw a hornbill – a black bird with a double yellow beak like a toucan and more common macaque monkeys; one ran along the feeding platform with his little baby clinging to his belly.

In the afternoon we went to Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre, which is the largest in the world – orangutans are only found in Borneo and Sumatra and their forests are quickly disappearing, although there are more of them than of the proboscis monkeys found in the wild. The rehab centre was set up in 1964 to try and help orphaned orangutans (coming from the Malay meaning ‘man of the forest’) and those that had been illegally kept as pets. To begin with the orangutans interact with their human carers and are taught how to feed, climb and play – during this stage they can be viewed at the first feeding platform, where we saw a mother and baby and two young ones swinging off branches and munching on bananas in the forest. During the latter stages they are taken further into the sanctuary, away from humans, and eventually released into the wild.

Thursday – Life’s still a beach

2011-09-16T04:01:00.001-07:00

Today we spent the day on Pulau Lankayan; an island so small it doesn’t even appear on Google Earth. Carpeted in jungle and surrounded by coral-white sands, Lankayan looks every inch the idyllic desert island and, apart from the small dive resort that let us use their jetty, it is an uninhabited paradise.

Strapping on our snorkels we swam offshore a short distance to see the ‘house reef’ that surrounded the island and were soon joined by colourful parrot fish, blue starfish and a purple anemone that was home to several orange and white fish who can survive inside the frills. There were some jellyfish tentacles and sea lice in the water who kept giving me a sting every so often and my mum somehow seemed immune to them, but Mick our expedition leader said they were harmless anyway. As we were getting out a baby black-tipped reef shark cruised along the shore front – just to remind us who is boss.

Wednesday - everybody needs good neighbours

2011-09-14T02:35:00.000-07:00

Today we arrived at the town of Kudat and took a bus to meet the Rungus people – a sub-group of the Kadazan-Dusun people who live in northern Borneo. Traditionally they lived in longhouses; literally long communal houses built on stilts that up to 100 families could call home. We visited a reconstructed one at Bavanggazo; the roof is made of palm leaves and the floor is stalks of bamboo – each family had a room and a communal area runs the length of the longhouse.

The Rungus people are also known for their beadwork – originally they were made of seeds but now they use plastic beads to create intricate straps and belts. We were treated to some traditional music – an elderly lady played a nose-flute and then a rather relaxed gentleman started playing a sitar-type instrument, but seemed to drift off in a trance and the guide had to nudge him… turns out he was playing the music that they listen to when they chew betel nuts! Me thinks he might have been chowing down on some for breakfast.

Orion were keen for us to see a non-touristy longhouse, so we were taken to a nearby Rungus village called Tinagol where people still live in traditional-style housing (albeit one with an iron roof and MDF sides). I wandered through the two-storey longhouse and saw some doors were decorated with Wayne Rooney posters and Merry Christmas signs - inside some sections we could see TVs and all the family’s bits and bobs. We went on to Sumanggkap, the ‘gong making village’ to see the instruments being hammered out of metal.

Originally I misunderstood the itinerary and thought the Malaysian name of the village was Gong Making (pronounced Gon Mak-in), before I found out it was where they made the gongs, ahem. It’s a good job we get nightly briefings from our lovely expedition team to explain all of this.

Tuesday – life’s a beach

2011-09-14T02:33:00.000-07:00

Ah, it’s a tough life. Today we visited the tropical island of Pulau Mantanani (pulau means island) and were welcomed ashore by some ridiculously cute bubble-blowing kids who led us to a little area near the beach where we watched traditional dancing, including a rather fast dance involving bamboo stalks and blow-darts.

We walked along a sandy path to the local village where families were barbecuing fish for their lunch, accompanied by two cows and some chickens that were wandering around trying to avoid ending up like the Squirrel Fish. A sandy graveyard with both Christian and Muslim graves is no longer used and the area now has rows of shriveled fish drying in the sun – some are sold to be made into pungent fish sauce. We went to the local school as Orion II visited a few weeks ago and in the meantime passengers donated money (matched by the company) to buy the kids hockey kits, books and flashcards.

Back at the beach there was a delicious barbecue put on by the Orion team and an open bar (hello!), but I spent most of my time floating around in the warm sea with my sundress and hat on as the sun is baking here. There was a snorkel safari out to a nearby lagoon and although we’d been warned that most of the coral had been destroyed by dynamite fishing, there were still some colourful anemone and parrot fish out on the reef. Did I mention that it’s baking hot here? Sorry.

My Big Borneo Adventure

2011-09-12T02:11:00.000-07:00

Friday/Saturday: It’s a sign: durian ice-cream and spitting

“Why don’t you write a blog?” If I had a penny for every time someone said that… I could probably buy a Curly-Wurly by now. So due to not-so-popular demand, here is my wonderful journal of my trip to Borneo with Orion Expedition Cruises…

Yes, I’m starting with the airport
There are signs all around us; informative ones, warning ones, mystical ones and – best of all – amusing ones. At Kuala Lumpur airport I was helped along by the toilet sign, complete with a graphic visual that reminded me not to crouch on the toilet seat; a ‘drinking water; no spitting sign’ that put me off filling up my water bottle and a tasty little one advertising ice-cream in red bean, avocado and durian flavours. Yummy!

I could also tell you about the mini jungle inside KL airport, but I know it’s Bad Form to write about your plane journey as an opener. That’s the great thing about blogs – I can call this entry day one and tell you all about my 12 hour flight from Heathrow and you’ll LOVE it. I hear a cry from the cheap seats; “What films did you watch?”; thanks for that question, I’ll tell you. I watched three films that all seemed to feature Ginnifer Thingybob and revolved around the theme of lurve.

Anyway, back to my airport story, after the jungle boardwalk and loo-crouch I caught a flight to Kota Kinabalu, which is on the island of Borneo. Here’s a quick bit of geography for you: KK is the capital of the Malaysian state of Sabah, which is in the north of Borneo – Indonesia has the southern part of the island and you’ll also find Brunei (you know, that place you stop over on cheap flights to Oz… the one that everyone thinks is in the Middle East) sandwiched between Sabah and the other Malaysian state of Sarawak.

So I’ll spare you all the details of my two and a half hour flight from KL to KK; suffice to say there was no Ginnifer, but there was a choice of prawn egg rice or chicken spicy noodle for breakfast. In Kota Kinabalu they run the genius system of selling taxi coupons at the airport, so there’s none of that jet-lagged amibeingripped-off panic to contend with. So, voucher in hand, my mum and I went to a hotel to meet Penny; a lovely lady from Tasmania who coincidentally was on the last Orion cruise that I did around the Kimberly in Australia. We nipped out for a walk through the markets opposite her hotel; the air was tangy with the waft of fish drying in the sun as we passed rows of men, fag firmly clenched in jaw, working away on clackety old Singer sewing machines surrounded by piles of bananas the size of babies’ arms.

Finally it was time to head to the port and embark Orion II; some familiar friendly faces were there to meet us; Clinton the maitre’d on my last trip with Orion remembered me and it turned out that about half the staff were old Orion hands. After champagne and canapés we met all the staff and it was time for a gala Captain’s dinner; the food was as excellent as I remembered it being on the original Orion and Captain Frank explained that Orion II wasn’t trying to be the same, but was carrying on the adventurous spirit of Orion. The new addition to the family is not quite as flash as her big sister, but the wooden style cabins better suit her new itineraries around the Far East; the library/bar area is larger than Orion and stuffed full of beautiful photo and text books about the regions visited.

Certainly all of the passengers seem happy with the new ship – some are on their ninth Orion cruise and many had stayed on from the previous cruise to do a back to back. As a Brit I am in the minority, which is not surprising as Aussie-owned Orion built up their reputation in their home-land, but the last time I travelled on Orion in June 2010 there was only Vegemite on the al fresco breakfast buffet, but on Orion II they also have Marmite – rule Britannia indeed.

Sunday – monkey harems and sacrificial leaves
Poor old Proboscis monkeys; they are hot-favourite contenders for a ‘most hilarious looking animal' award with the males’ honking large droopy nose (thought to attract females – the bigger the better) and their fat bellies. The gentle monkeys are endemic to Borneo and live in bachelor groups or mainly in harems of one male and several females (ha, who’s laughing now that that snozzle).

After a morning on Orion II the zodiacs took us to a small ferry terminal to catch a bumpy bus ride to the Klias Wetlands, where we boarded speed boats to take us through the mangrove forest. Sabah has 53 of the world’s 73 types of mangrove and along the river banks, amongst mango and hibiscus trees, there were the yellow leaves of the mangrove. Each one is a sacrificial leaf that takes in all the salt from the plant to make sure the other ones can grow.

My first monkey-spot involved some frantic camera focusing on a patch of moving tree and all of a sudden a reddy-brown female Proboscis threw herself off into a bush, with some smaller ones following suit. All along the river we stopped to see monkeys hanging out on branches, hurling themselves into the undergrowth and calling to each other. Lazing on low-lying trees were monitor lizards and high above us hornbills flapped and glided across the forest – unfortunately behind the wetlands much of the rainforest has been destroyed to grow palms for palm oils. Who uses this stuff? Us, in food and cosmetics; it’s so sad to know so much of the forest has been destroyed because of Western consumption. As sun set on the river, just before the fireflies came out, we headed back past a group of bachelors who were hanging out at the top of a tree and saw some of the original cheeky monkeys – long tail macaques who would merrily gang up to steal food if they could have jumped in the boats.

Typically I was on the last zodiac back to the ship and it was dark already – a few of us had been standing on the quayside oohing and ahhing at the lightning as if it were fireworks. We soon fell silent when the guide’s radio crackled and the expedition leader said, “Mate, can you get my sunnies; I left them on the bus?” Our guide Mark’s reply was “No can do mate, we need to beat the storm”. Never has a 20 minute zodiac ride seemed so long – Mark said we were going 20 knots and the storm was doing 18 knots, but whenever lightning crackled across the sky and illuminated the waves Orion II seemed further and further away. All of a sudden I saw the green light of a buoy through the salty splashes and driving rain. We seemed to be going on the wrong side of it and slowing down – I started to panic just as Mark said, “No need to panic – that’s another zodiac, we’re going in together.” By the time we got off we were soaked through and arrived just in time to hear an announcement that the deck barbecue had been cancelled due to bad weather. Trudging up from the zodiac marina, shaky and exhilarated, I was handed a glass of juice – I joked that I hoped it had vodka in it. Yes, came the reply, it does.

And that’s why Orion is one of the best cruise lines around – an adventurous expedition into Borneo’s jungle wetland that ends in a storm-chasing zodiac ride and a vodka cocktail.

Monday – Labuan; history lessons
No need for nail-biting zodiac rides today as Orion II docked in the deep sea port of Labuan Island – a federal territory off the coast of Sabah, which takes its name from the Malay word for anchorage. Once part of Brunei, Labuan was ceded to the Brits in 1846, but was occupied by the Japanese during WW2 and liberated by the Australians when the Japanese surrendered on 9th September 1945. The island is now run as ‘Labuan Corporation’ and has tried to turn itself into a major off-shore banking hub – we passed the shiny financial district where 5000 companies have their base, on paper at least, to visit the history museum and learn more about the island’s past.

From the capital it was only a short drive to the marine centre to learn about poisonous fish (very handy as we are snorkeling tomorrow) and Borneo’s sea life. Most of our fellow passengers are Australian so they already knew more about the WW2 history of the island and we stopped at ‘Brown Beach’ – a 1.5km stretch of sand named after the codename of the Allied operation and saw the Commonwealth war graves. At the Japanese peace park, which was adorned with hibiscus and birds of paradise flowers, we went to surrender point before being unexpectedly treated to a cultural show of music, dancing and local food. Imagine a Calippo ice-lolly but replace the packaging with a banana leaf and the frozen orange with a jellified coconut milk and pandan leaf filling that you squeeze up into your mouth. Lovely jubbly.

That's amore!

2011-09-04T08:32:00.000-07:00

Find out why I loved pizza-making in Naples and my cruise onboard the Grand Princess in today's Mail on Sunday!

Oceania Marina

2011-08-09T05:29:00.000-07:00

Last week my feature about Oceania's new ship Marina was published in the Mail on Sunday, read it here!

Wine tasting and pizza making

2011-08-05T05:29:00.000-07:00

I've just come home from a yummy cruise on the newly refurbished Grand Princess ship and had a great time wine tasting in Corsica and pizza-making in Naples.

The week before I was at the naming ceremony of Celebrity Silhouette in Hamburg - both features will be in the Mail on Sunday next month.

Check out Coast magazine this month (p114) to see my feature about the beautiful Isle of Bute!

Scrummy Scotland

2011-07-17T09:59:00.001-07:00

Read all about my Scottish foodie cruise with The Majestic Line in today's Mail on Sunday!

Yukon: larger than life

2011-07-15T05:43:00.000-07:00

My last trip was to the amazing Yukon in northwest Canada - I'll post a link to my feature when it's published. I had a great time hiking with huskies, flightseeing over glaciers and attempting to mountain bike through the boreal forest!

While I was away my feature about top romantic cruises was published in the Mail on Sunday.

Carnival Magic

2011-06-09T07:29:00.000-07:00

Here's a recent feature that I wrote about the new cruise ship Carnival Magic.

I've just come back from a holiday in Madeira and before that I spent a week in Canada exploring Vancouver, Whistler and Banff on the Rocky Mountaineer train. Next week I'm off to Canada again to explore the Yukon!

European cruises

2011-05-09T00:14:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been a busy few weeks exploring the Med; Barcelona, Valencia and Palma onboard new ship Oceania Marina; Barcelona, Cannes, Rome and Pisa on Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas and Venice, Dubrovnik and Sicily onboard the inaugural cruise of Carnival Magic.

Yesterday my feature about a Star Clippers Med cruise was published in the Mail on Sunday.

I'm home for a few days and then off to Vancouver to join the Rocky Mountaineer train.

Cuba

2011-04-19T23:58:00.001-07:00

My feature about the Fred.Olsen cruise around the Caribbean was published in last week's Mail on Sunday.

What not to wear on a cruise

2011-03-07T19:45:00.001-08:00

Put down that muumuu and pick up some white linen trousers; here's my guide for MSN Travel about what not to wear on a cruise.

South East Asia

2011-03-07T08:21:00.000-08:00

Just got back from 10 wonderful days onboard P&O Arcadia on a cruise from Hong Kong to Singapore - will post a link when my feature appears.Jellyfish heads, kayaking through HaLong Bay in Vietnam and drinking Singapore Slings in Raffles were just a few of the highlights!

Meanwhile my feature about swimming with crocs in Darwin was published yesterday and my article about a cruise in West Africa was also published while I was away.
Enjoy!

Celebrity cruise

2011-01-17T00:21:00.001-08:00

Also my feature about a Caribbean cruise with Celebrity is in this month's Cruise International magazine.

Mail on Sunday travel supplement

2011-01-17T00:18:00.000-08:00

I'm in the very grey UK at the moment, but am cheering myself up by writing about my recent trip to Cuba!

Yesterday my Greenland, Rhine and Broome features were in the Mail on Sunday travel supplement. Five newsagents were sold out, so it took a while to get my hands on a copy!

Bath

2011-01-06T09:42:00.001-08:00

During October I was working on a travel guide to my hometown of Bath, which has now gone live and contains everything you ever wanted to know about visiting Bath, with info about where to stay, what to eat and the best places to go for sightseeing, shopping and enjoy the nightlife. Check it out here.

Australia and South Africa

2011-01-06T09:37:00.000-08:00

I am officially in love with Cuba after visiting Havana on a Fred.Olsen cruise just before Christmas.

While I was away my report about a wonderful Orion cruise in The Kimberly, Australia was published as was my feature about the filming of the TV show Wild at Heart in South Africa.

Africa

2010-12-01T07:47:00.000-08:00

I've just come home from three weeks in Africa - most of the time was spent travelling along the coast of west Africa and I had a few days in South Africa on a game reserve to finish off the trip. I'll post links to future features.

While I was away my feature about an Inuit cruise was published in Wanderlust magazine (on sale now, page 56!) and my feature about a cruise in Tahiti was also published.

Next week I'm off to the Caribbean, Cuba and Mexico... back Christmas Eve!

Sicily and Ottawa

2010-10-07T00:40:00.000-07:00

I've actually been in the UK for a few weeks (shock horror!). I did a lovely food cruise around Bute and Loch Fyne (mmmm seafood) with Majestic Line and have been writing a travel guide to my hometown of Bath for Simonseeks.

Recently I've had a feature published about Ottawa in the Independent on Sunday and one about a cruise around Sicily in the Mail on Sunday: check them out.

Off to Africa in November!

Cambridge

2010-09-07T01:18:00.001-07:00

Check out my feature about Cambridge here

Hello stranger

2010-08-24T02:15:00.000-07:00

Ah my poor neglected little blog, I'm sorry. It's been a really busy few months... I spent a fantastic two weeks in Arctic Canada with Cruise North (stories in the Mail on Sunday and Wanderlust soon) and have just got back from three weeks away with Voyages to Discovery on a Grand Voyage to Norway, Faroes, Iceland and Greenland.

Tomorrow I'm off to Europe to do a cruise down the Rhine so this is just a short post to update everyone. I've added features to my portfolio from the new issue of Cruise International, Conference & Incentive Travel magazine and the Mail on Sunday.

The plan was to revamp my website and blog in October, but I'm going to be writing a travel guide to Bath for www.simonseeks.com so that may be put on hold... watch this space!

G'day mate

2010-07-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

I'm home from three brilliant weeks in Oz - mainly in the Northern Territory and Western Australia. Highlights were; camping amongst the crocodiles and waterfalls in Kakadu National Park; cruising along the Kimberly coast and stopping at Aboriginal rock art sites, reefs, gorges and horizontal waterfalls; and learning all about the pearling history of beautiful Broome.

While I was away my features about Silversea Silver Spirit and about cruising down the Mekong were published in the Mail on Sunday (see link in portfolio) and also my feature about breadmaking at Eckington Manor was published in BBC Countryfile magazine.

Next Sunday I'm off to Arctic Canada with Cruise North!

Star Clippers, Voyages to Antiquity

2010-05-30T09:31:00.000-07:00

Howdy, it's been a busy few weeks for me!I've just got back from a mini-break cruise around the French Riviera with Star Clippers on a four-masted tallship and am off to Italy tomorrow on new cruise line Voyages to Antiquity's cultural cruise to Sicily. I'll post links when the features appear later this year in the Mail on Sunday.

2010-05-13T07:14:00.001-07:00

Tahiti and beyond...

2010-05-10T03:01:00.000-07:00

So I battled the ash cloud to make it to Paris for my flight to Tahiti last week and enjoyed a lovely week onboard the Paul Gauguin, visiting Bora Bora and other beautiful Polynesian islands for a Mail on Sunday feature that will be appearing later this year.

This weekend I spent the night onboard Silversea's new ship Silver Spirit and my review will also be appearing in the Mail on Sunday soon.

Look out for my interview with Jilly Goolden and a feature about cruise and stay packages in the new issue of Cruise International magazine, out soon.

Where have I been?

2010-04-05T05:05:00.000-07:00

I've just got back from a river cruise in Holland and Belgium with Avalon Waterways and thought I should update my blog. I'm working on a new website, which I am hoping to launch soon - but I'm away so much it's been delayed!

My review of the cruise ship MSC Magnifica was in this week's Mail on Sunday and you can also read my features about Six of the Best Libraries in this issue of the Sunday Times Travel Magazine and find out my Top 10 luxury cruise destinations in Cruise International magazine. My feature about celebrity chefs is also in the April/May issue of Cruise International.

Goooood morrrrnnnning Vieeeeeetnammmm (and Cambodia)

2010-02-09T22:40:00.000-08:00

I've just got back from a fantastic cruise down the Mekong visiting Cambodia and Vietnam! There will be features about the trip going in the Mail on Sunday and Cruise International magazine – and look out for picture slideshows and videos from the trip on my updated website, which will be launching in April at www.amywatkins.com.

Pick me up....at the newsagent

2010-01-20T08:09:00.000-08:00

Well, not me exactly. Unless you're in WH Smith's in Bath giving away free chocolate.

But you can see some of my work at the newsagent right now in...

Wanderlust (Feb issue): p10 Seven free things to do in Vancouver

Cruise International (Feb/March issue): p25 Tenerife: Island of contrasts (destination guide)
p28 Hidden Treasure of Madeira (destination guide)
p31 Jewels of the Adriatic (review of Saga cruise around Croatia)
p41 Prices to suit every pocket (eight page guide to cruises for various budgets)
p80 Bars on board (four page round-up of best bars at sea)

Gary Rhodes in Italy

2010-01-17T12:31:00.000-08:00

I joined Gary Rhodes for a week in Italy last year - find out more here about his month long trip around the country meeting local producers and sampling local food.

Happy New Year

2010-01-09T02:33:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year!

Well, 2010 is already shaping up to be an exciting year for me ... at the end of the month I'm going on a trip down the Mekong; starting in Cambodia and ending in Vietnam.

This spring I'm heading to Holland to go on a tulip-spotting cruise and in the summer I'm going on a big adventure to Norway, Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland.

My New Year's resolution (ahem) is to expand this blog from a news reel and online portfolio to include observations and information about places I've visited. Hope you enjoy!

Celebrity cruise

2009-12-19T10:07:00.000-08:00

Just back from a brilliant cruise around the Caribbean onboard Celebrity Equinox - reviews will be appearing in the Mail on Sunday and Cruise International magazine in 2010.

In the recent Cruise International magazine my features about river cruising and short cruising appeared and look out for more from me in their Feb/March issue.

Happy Christmas everyone! I'm looking forward to my trips to Vietnam/Cambodia and Holland coming up next year....

Venice

2009-11-16T08:19:00.000-08:00

Last week I returned home from a wonderful trip to Venice where I was on the set of Gary Rhodes' new show Rhodes Across Italy, which will air on the Good Food channel at 9pm on January 20th 2010 - my feature will be in the Mail on Sunday soon.

My next trip will be to the Caribbean on a 10 day cruise on Celebrity Equinox in early December.

Tenerife

2009-10-25T15:03:00.000-07:00

My feature about the San Blas resort in Tenerife was published in today's Mail on Sunday. Read it online here.

Croatia

2009-10-02T05:59:00.000-07:00

I've just found out that I'm going to Croatia next Tuesday, which is really exciting as I've been reading a guidebook about it for the last two years in the hope I could go at some point!

Upcoming trips

2009-09-18T04:29:00.001-07:00

I'm off to Italy next on a food-related assignment. Can't say too much at the moment, but more details will follow. I'm also going to Vietnam and Cambodia on a cruise down the Mekong, which I'm very excited about. I've had my booster jabs and am waiting to find out confirmed dates.

Check out the latest issue of Cruise International magazine - out today - for my features about Vienna, Vancouver and my interview with the industry's most feared critic Douglas Ward.

Cape Town - Mail on Sunday

2009-08-25T01:29:00.000-07:00

My feature about the new One & Only hotel in Cape Town was published in the Mail on Sunday this week. Click here to read it.

BBC Countryfile

2009-08-21T14:06:00.000-07:00

Check out the September issue of BBC Countryfile magazine to read my feature about the Isle of Wight. It should also be online here soon.

Tenerife and Madeira

2009-08-20T00:51:00.000-07:00

It's been another busy few weeks and I've just got back from reviewing the San Blas hotel in Tenerife, which is part of the Sentido chain and has its own nature reserve. Next week I'm off to Madeira, but it's officially a holiday and not a work trip. Of course, most people think work trips are a holiday, but I'm looking forward to a week of relaxing by the pool instead of dashing around trying to cover everything. But...I've already started thinking of potential features. Ooops.

Freelancer of the fortnight

2009-07-22T05:32:00.000-07:00

Hang on, I need to dust off my trumpet and give it a bit of a blow...

Journalism.co.uk have made me Freelancer of the Fortnight. Hurrah!

Cruise International

2009-07-17T03:52:00.000-07:00

My feature about the 11-day cruise down the Danube has just been published in the Aug/Sept issue of Cruise International magazine and should be online soon.

Isle of Wight

2009-07-12T13:20:00.000-07:00

Last week I spent a few days in the Isle of Wight and was bowled over by how beautiful the island is and how delicious the food was: nearly everywhere serves local seafood and it's absolutely gorgeous. The feature will be appearing in a magazine in September and a link will be on here.

Mail on Sunday: North Cyprus

2009-07-12T13:17:00.000-07:00

My feature about North Cyprus appeared in today's Mail on Sunday. Look out for my feature about a cruise down the Danube in the latest issue of Cruise International magazine.

Where shall I go?

2009-06-18T12:28:00.000-07:00

Just to show I'm not biased, here is another inspiring new start-up. Booked time off work but not sure where to go? Type the date into Joobili and it will tell you what's going on in Europe on those dates. You'll never miss another festival again.

Tourdust

2009-06-18T12:24:00.000-07:00

Just want to promote an excellent site called Tourdust, which is run by a lovely couple and is a great place to find out about authentic tours and local experiences. And I'm not just saying that because I've started writing for them...

So far I've written about English vineyard tours, a hideaway in the Kerala mountains and am working on a profile of a company that runs botanical tours in South Africa. Check out the website - I've already picked out about 50 places I want to visit!

Upcoming trips

2009-06-18T12:23:00.001-07:00

Over the next two weeks I will be visiting North Cyprus and the Isle of Wight on assignments. Contact me for any related features, especially food or destination items.

Down the Danube

2009-06-18T12:20:00.000-07:00

I've just returned from 11 days on a Swan Hellenic river cruise down the Danube stopping in Austria, Slovakia, Hungary and Germany. Look out for my review in the Aug/Sept issue of Cruise International.

Travel update

2009-05-07T02:45:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy few weeks and I've just returned from three days in Cape Town. Look out for a blog about this trip, as well as one about Dubai and Musandam appearing soon.

Upcoming trips:

Sicily

Holland (Utrecht/Amsterdam)

Milan

Bilbao

Madeira

Wales

Edinburgh

Forthcoming trips

2009-03-30T13:27:00.001-07:00

Over the next few weeks I will be travelling to the following destinations, please contact me for commissions or more information:

Dubai/Musandam (Oman)

Cape Town

Sicily

Recent commissions

2009-03-30T13:18:00.001-07:00

Recent commissions for the Mail on Sunday have included:

Luxury hotels in Wiltshire

Glacier Express in Switzerland

Geisha-hunting in Japan

Elephant polo in Thailand

Cooking in the Caribbean with Gary Rhodes

Welcome

2009-03-30T13:05:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the news section of my website, where you can find out where in the world I am and what I've been up to recently.

Please contact me on amycwatkins@gmail.com for commissions or for further information.

In 2008 I spent five months travelling to the following places, please contact me if you need any top 10s, city profiles or travel features related to these destinations:

Japan: Tokyo, Nikko, Hakone, Takayama, Hiroshima and Kyoto

New Zealand: North and South islands

Australia: Sydney, Melbourne, Alice Springs and outback (including Uluru)

Fiji: Nadi and northern islands (Taveuni, Kioa, Rabi)

Canada: Vancouver, Quebec City and Montreal

USA: New York