Here are just a few of the shots from yesterday’s sunset.

For the last couple of weeks I have been working with the North Africa team to add Lebanon to our website and today I was pleased to be able to finally put it live.

Lebanon will sit next to Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Syria and Tunisia under the North Africa & The Middle East section of the website. The comprehensive information included on the Lebanon section means it’s easy to learn more about travelling to this fascinating destination; a country that we’ve missed having on our site since the new website was launched two months ago.

Find out about some of Lebanon’s highlights, read about some of the places in Lebanon you can visit on a trip with Audley, or discover a number of the experiences and excursions available to travellers.

Alternatively speak to our Lebanon specialists directly, on 01993 838 400.

February's Come Dine with Me contestants.

The second round of Audley’s very own Come Dine with Me competition took place in February, with four more contenders keen to show off their cooking skills. 

Nikki Seymour-Mead, Rachel Wood, Alexandra Matts and Mark Robinson proved that their culinary flair was just as good as the previous month’s contestants, and with dishes that included spiced mango with lime and mint cream, pea, pesto and prosciutto soup, and amaretto infused fresh fruit brulée there was no denying the competition was fierce! 

This month’s winner was Mark Robinson with his Asian-inspired menu of home-made spring rolls with freshly created chilli and fish sauce dip, duck in chilli and orange, and spiced mango with lime and mint cream. Mark will be joining January’s winner, Sarah Powell in July’s final. 

Rory McDonald's winning photograph appeared in the Times last Saturday

This morning’s sunshine has seemingly brought with it lots of positive news as we’ve just received some brillant feedback regarding one of our clients. Rory McDonald, who recently visited Cuba with Audley, has won a Times newspaper photography competition with a picture he took during his trip, his winning shot appearing in last Saturday’s newspaper.

Another one of Rory’s impressive shots is also being published in next month’s Photography Monthly.

Rory’s wife, Gina, had this to say:

It’s a good job we went to Cuba – apart from being a wonderful holiday, it is a great place for photos.

Congratulations Rory on your lovely work.

Male orang-utan at Semenggok Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, Borneo

Tonight at 8.30pm the BBC’s Panorama programme will report on the destruction of  Borneo’s pristine rainforests in order to grow palm oil crops, which in turn, is used in products we buy like biscuits and toiletries.

The bottom line is: the rainforests being destroyed are home to some of the last and greatest wildlife havens in Southeast Asia and species like the orang-utan are now threatened more than ever.

Audley efforts to stem Borneo’s deforestation
Here at Audley our Southeast Asia team will be raising funds through various events and initiatives to help the World Land Trust (WLT) continue with land purchases in the lower Kinabatangan River basin.

The first tract of land identified as a key purchase was recently secured by WLT, having raised £343,000 for its purchase.

Now they plan to continue this programme in this area of Borneo with new land acquisition targets in the pipeline in order to ensure the survival of this unique ecosystem and its threatened inhabitants.

Panorama’s Dying for a Biscuit is on BBC1 at 8:30pm on Mon 22 Feb.

If you would like further information about this WLT project, please speak to one of our Southeast Asia Specialist on 01993 838 100 or visit the WLT website.

Go to our Borneo section of our website, where you can find out more about the country and its orang-utans.

New Mill by T. Langford (1830) and the current building.

Our picturesque offices in New Mill are home to nearly 200 staff and attract many visiting clients each year but few, if any, will know of the intriguing history behind the building – from the death of a worker in the waterwheel in the 19th century, to a series of devastating fires.

New Mill as it is today (click to enlarge).

Early history
Despite its name New Mill is actually one of the oldest mill sites in Witney. A document of 1661 refers to a fulling mill ‘commonly called New Mill in the Tything of Hayley’ although a mill was present on this site for a long time before this; one is recorded as existing here in the Domesday Book of 1086.

The reason a wool mill was located here - and why Witney eventually became world famous for blanket making - was due to two simple reasons: good breeding and grazing for sheep and the fast flowing Windrush River for water power.

Life in the mill
As you can perhaps imagine working in a wool mill during the early 19th century could be both arduous and dangerous.

You could expect to work a minimum of six days a week from 6.00am to 6.00pm, with a two hour break. Moreover, as there was no welfare state then people would often carry on working into seventies, eighties or even nineties - assuming they lived that long! 

Wool spinning in progress (click to enlarge).

It was also an era when children worked as there were no laws governing the age of workers or the hours that they worked. From the owners’ point of view children were cheap to employ but they were also small and nimble and therefore good for cleaning or tying broken threads.

Just as today there were good and bad employers and in 1838 the Assistant Hand-loom Weavers’ Commissioners came to Witney to investigate the conditions of the local weavers as part of a national government enquiry. They found that the Witney mill employers were much more interested in the ‘moral and domestic conditions’ of their workers than in most weaving communities.

Even so, working in somewhere like New Mill nearly two centuries ago was dangerous, repetitive and tiring work. It is very hard to comprehend by today’s standards just how hard peoples lives were back then.

Clearly visible, the wooden supports inside the building today (click to enlarge).

Fire!
The building standing today still has the original stone-built walls but the floors and roof supports are all made of wood. Indeed, it is a very nice place to work today.

This was also the case back in the days when the mill processed wool which created an ever-present fire hazard, especially as the mill relied on candles for lighting.

Not surprisingly, perhaps, the building suffered a series damaging fires during its history, taking place in 1783, 1809, 1818 and 1883.

Thankfully, today, our combination of modern fire warning systems, sprinklers and prompt emergency services should prevent a catastrophic fire like those suffered in the past.

Tragedy at New Mill

The glass atrium today, under which the old waterwheel was once located (click to enlarge).

In the heart of the current building we have a very nice glass-fronted atrium, underneath which still runs the river Windrush.

It was here that the original waterwheel was located and which powered the cloth-fulling machinery. In fact, it is about 20 feet from where I am typing this. 

Unfortunately, for Edmund Wright, it was here at the beginning of the 19th century that he fell in water and was crushed by the waterwheel, much to the delight of the local hand spinners apparently (they clearly didn’t like him!).

His ghost, as well as others is said to haunt New Mill, although no Audley staff have evey witnessed it to my knowledge… so far at least!

The present day
New Mill remained in use until the 1950s when the spinning operations here were transferred to a new department in the nearby Witney Mill.

Audley staff enjoying a lunchtime in summer at New Mill (click to enlarge).

In the 1960’s New Mill fell into disuse and was eventually sold.

Since that time it has been used by a succession of small businesses until 2006, when Audley moved from nearby Stratton Audley (hence our name), to become the latest occupier of the site.

Now, these fine and historic buildings, situated amongst some beautiful surrounding scenery, is our home and very glad we are too! 

Footnote…
With the advent of the modern duvet and central heating, sadly the industry which had lasted a thousand years and which dominating the economic and social life of the town, came to an end in 2002 when Early’s - the last firm to make genuine Witney Blankets - closed its doors.

Further information

• If you wish to discuss your travel plans with Audley in person we will also be happy to give you a personal tour of New Mill. Simply go to the visiting us section of our website .
• For more information about New Mill as well as a detailed history of blanket making in Witney, visit the very informative Witney Blanket Story website.

Audley will be holding another day of travel seminars at the Royal Geographical Society.

Following the success of last year’s travel seminars at the Royal Geographical Society, we have decided to run this event again. The Royal Geographical Society has been helping travellers to plan their trips, map out their routes and research new destinations since the 19th Century, and so it seems fitting  to hold a day of Audley Travel seminars here.

There are four seminars to choose from: ‘Seasons of New Zealand’, ‘Jordan: Highlights and Hidden Secrets’, ‘Peru: Machu Picchu and more’, and ‘India Uncovered’, all of which will take place on Friday 19th March 2010. Each seminar will last approximately one hour and there will be time before and after the seminar to have a chat with our specialists.

Visit the events page on our website to learn more about these seminars and to register.

A mouth-watering main course made by South America specialist Richard Kerr.

Never ones to let a fun opportunity slip by and inspired by a programme of the same name on Channel 4, Sian and Lou, two of our New Zealand specialists here at Audley, decided to organised a ‘Come Dine With Me’ competition using willing participants from around the company. 

Such was the interest that four months have had to be dedicated to the culinary contest, and with 16 budding chefs stepping up to the plate (pun intended!) expectations have been high. 

The first round of dinners kicked off in January with personalised cocktails, hot chocolate fondant with coconut ice cream and chocolate and chilli risotto all on the menu. There can only be one winner from each round though and this prestigious title was awarded to South America specialist Sarah Powell for her Moroccan chermoula prawns followed by slow roasted pork belly with spiced lentils and chocolate truffle and meringue ‘cheesecake’ to finish. 

The second round of dinners begins this week with another four willing contestants putting their cooking skills (as well as their colleagues’ stomachs) to the test to earn a place in July’s final. 

Let the cooking begin!

Air New Zealand is now offering beds in economy class

With a flight to New Zealand taking almost a day, the report that Air New Zealand will be implementing beds into their economy class cabins will come as welcome news to the airline’s passengers. 

From April passengers will be able to buy the seats, which work by foot rests rising to the level of three adjacent seats. Passengers will be required to purchase all three seats but the middle seat will be charged at approximately half the price of the standard economy fare. 

As an airline that we use regularly here at Audley I’m sure our clients will be pleased to hear about the new beds which will take up the first 11 rows Air New Zealand’s new Boeing 777-300 planes, as will our specialists, who often use the airline to visit New Zealand on familiarisation trips!

Click on an image to enlarge it and then use your browser back button to return to the gallery.

Follow the adventures of the Whittle family in India

I have just read the wonderful and inspiring story of the Whittle family, Geoff and Cherie, James (9) and Olly (11), who rather radically decided to leave their home, family and friends in the UK to live in India to help save the tiger.

After a tough time in the UK, with rising debts and a failing business, they decided to make a radical change to their lives and move to India where they spent a total of seven years, set up two charities and dedicated themselves to helping to save the tiger.

Their book is a wonderful collection of often funny, sometimes moving, anecdotal stories and a fascinating insight into life in India. With their two teenage children, it was not easy as they came up against Indian bureacracy, the climate and the tigers themselves (with a few narrow escapes!) as they learnt to survive in a jungle environment.

Although they have since returned to the UK in 2003, their work continues through the two charities they set up whilst in India and they continue to raise funds for these two worthy causes.

You can download a copy of their book for just £2.85 from their website.

20% of all sales go to their two charities: Patchwork Kids (Education for marginalised children in India and Africa) and Lifeforce (Tiger Conservation).

Visit the “No worry, chicken curry” website »

Brazilian singer and composer Adriana Calcanhotto.

Here, one of those employees, Rebecca Profit, a Brazil country specialist, describes the evening.

The concert was staged as part of a Brazil Week celebration in Oxford, a city which houses not 3,000, as I initially thought, but 4,000 Brazilians!

It was sponsored by TAM airlines, the Brazilian airline we use regularly for our clients visiting this incredible country.

Joining Adriana on stage was the unique combination of Moreno Veloso, son of Caetano Veloso (another Brazil great, a virtuoso songwriter now in his 60s and well known for his experimental style) and Domenico Lancelloti, an accomplished cellist and guitarist.

They were mostly playing MPB, “Musica Popular Brasileira”, a voice and guitar genre which arose in the late 1960s and involves mixing updated versions of traditional Brazilian urban music styles, like samba, with contemporary influences, from folk to rock and pop.

The songs were a unique blend of all their talents. Moreno Veloso used drum boards and added wacky sound effects to some songs, using all manner of different instruments. Adriana’s beautiful voice floated through each song, with its hints of melancholy and maybe distant roots in Portuguese fado. As a tribute to Jaqueline du Pre, the inspiration for the venue and for Domenico’s English cello teacher in Brazil who always raved about her, their final song was accompanied by all three of them on cello. Domenico and Adriana played them traditionally, while Moreno used his cello more like a guitar or drum. The effect was sensational, and resulted in a standing ovation from their adoring Brazilian fans.

Rebecca Profit

Brazil country specialist

Visit the Brazil section of our website.

Our website is a great source of inspiration as much as a guide to all of the countries that Audley offers. I thought it would be interesting to share with you the top 10, most-visited inspirational sections of our site.

If you haven’t yet planned your trip for 2010 (or beyond), some of these sections make a great starting point. But of course nothing beats talking to someone who has actually been there. So if any of these prove inspirational, why not give one of our specialists a call on 01993 838 925 and they can tell you more?

Interactive web guides

1. Inside a Japanese ryokan »
2. Guide to the wildlife of the Indian Subcontinent »
3. Cruising the Nile in style »
4. Whale and dolphin-watching trips »
5. Polar bears – where and when to see them »

Guides by travel theme

1. Responsible Travel »
2. African safari trips »
3. Ultimate luxury »
4. Wildlife Trips »
5. The world’s greatest journeys »

Wear It Pink Day

Today was “Wear It Pink” day at Audley and we had a great support from everyone who made a great effort and dug deep into their pockets for this very worthwhile cause.

Thanks to the efforts of Catherine in our Southeast Asia team, almost everyone turned up in some sort of pink attire and with more money raised through a pink cake sale, we managed to raise £205!

Well done all!

Kasanka National Park attracts millions of bats annually from October until December.

Did you know the world’s largest mammal migration takes place in Kasanka National Park, in the Bangweulu Wetlands of Zambia, every year from October until December.

An astounding eight million Straw-coloured Fruit Bats arrive from the Congo to feed on the wild musuku fruits.

Audley work closely with The Bushcamp Company, and we can arrange guided trips into the park from 2010 to witness this fascinating spectacle close-up.

In the mean time you can watch this stunning event in the ‘Mammals’ episode the new David Attenborough Life series, which is on BBC1 on the 26th October.

Visit our Zambia section of the website or contact us online.

Image: From the film 'The Story of Pao' which was filmed in Vietnam's Ha Giang region.

Between now and the end of this month there will be a series of events in London’s South Kensington, celebrating the Vietnamese arts and culture. 

You might find the film offerings of particular interest if you have been or are contemplating visiting Vietnam, and in particular The Story of Pao, which was filmed in the remote and fascinating Ha Giang region of the country.

For more information and to book tickets visit the Vietnamese Festival of Culture website.

WildPhotos will be taking place on 23rd & 24th October 2009.

If you’ve got a keen interest in photography then the upcoming WildPhotos event at the RGS is definitely worth attending.

Aimed at amateur and professional photographers alike the two-day event, hosted by Springwatch presenter and wildlife photographer Chris Packham, brings together the world’s finest nature photographers and industry experts to discuss and explore all things photography. The line-up includes more than 20 expert speakers who will present their work, deliver inspiring talks and offer technical advice on a range of topics.

Tickets can be obtained by registering your details at www.wildphotos.org.uk and cost £105 for 1 day or £175 for both days. Alternatively contact WildPhotos on +44 (0)117 328 5975.

Appeal on behalf on the Disasters Emergency Committee.

In one week from Saturday 26 September the East Asia region was hit by 3 separate natural disasters; Typhoon Ketsana swept through the Philippines that day and onto Vietnam on the 29th causing extensive damage and flooding; on 30th September in Indonesia an earthquake registering 7.6 on the Richter scale struck western Sumatra followed by an aftershock of 6.6 a day later.

We are now a week on from the devastating disasters that struck East Asia and the full extent of the damage caused is starting to become clear.

Thousands of families across the region have lost everything – an estimated 2.5 million people have been affected by the earthquake in Indonesia alone. Here the worst damage occurred in Sumatra, in an area not often visited by tourists.

In the Philippines, heavy rains have been falling since Friday, making conditions even more miserable for those left homeless. We were relieved to hear that none of our contacts in the Philippines lost their lives, but many of them have been affected in one way or another – either losing homes or relatives. Public transport; flights and ferries across the Philippines were affected in the short term, but currently things have returned to normal. The worst hit area was Metro Manila, where in six hours they received the equivalent of one month’s rainfall. Some residential areas are still flooded, but the popular tourist areas of Makati City, the Manila Bay area and Ortigas are operating normally. The typhoons did not hit the Visayas region, so the islands of Cebu, Bohol and Negros are not affected.

There were three members of Audley staff in Central Vietnam at the time the typhoon hit. There was plenty of warning, so they were quite safe, but they did have to change their plans a little to accommodate cancelled flights and flooded roads. Most of the waters have now receded, but there are a few hotels in Hoi An still recovering from flooding, in particular the Victoria beach Resort and the Life Resort. We are expecting these to reopen in the next week or so. Our thoughts go out to the staff of the hotels and the other people in Hoi An who are only just rebuilding their lives after severe flooding in autumn 2008.

Audley have made a donation to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) appeal to help the victims of these disasters. If you would also like to make a donation, please visit the DEC website.

New to science: a bird-eating fog.

With the world population approaching 7 billion, you’d think us humans would have found by now just about every land-based life-form bigger than say, your average insect – but not so it seems. 

In the Greater Mekong region of Southeast Asia, a new bird-eating frog has been discovered, along with several other interesting species, such as a leopard striped gecko, a tube nosed bat and a bird called the Nonggang babbler.

This news comes on top of a recent BBC expedition - and subsequent TV programme called Lost Land of the Volcano - to Papua New Guinea, which found newly identified species like rats as big as cats and tree-climbing teddy bear-like marsupials.

The world is indeed stranger than we thought!

'Last Chance to See' on BBC2

Have you been watching the BBC’s news series ‘Last Chance to See’ which began on 6th September? Presented by Stephen Fry, the programme is a remake of a radio series from 1985 and book of the same name, released in 1990 as a companion to the radio series.

The aim of this programme is for Stephen Fry and zoologist Mark Carwardine to re-investigate a number of the species that appeared in the original series to see what has happened to both the animal and conservation efforts. 

Always a fan of anything presented by Stephen Fry, I was keen to watch this week’s episode in which Stephen and Mark visited New Zealand in search of the kakapo, a fat, flightless parrot on the verge of extinction (although I have to say my favourite part was one very amusing scene where a kiwi ’played dead’ as part of its defence!).

As always with Stephen Fry, this programme is informative and entertaining, and certainly worth adding to your series link, especially if you are keen to travel to Brazil, Kenya, Madagascar, Indonesia, Malaysia and New Zealand in the future – all of these countries are covered in the series and are also destinations that we cover here at Audley.

Alternatively catch up on this series through the BBC iPlayer.

Charley leaving Sydney with a huge biker escort on the first leg of his trip to Tokyo.

Just a reminder that Charley Boorman has embarked on his second series of By Any Means, this time starting his adventure in Sydney and travelling to Tokyo.

This latest series, if you’ve never seen it, features Charley Boorman (son of famous film director John Boorman) travelling on any type of transport he can he can get his hands on, through several countries within the Asia Pacific Rim.

So, if you’re thinking of travelling with Audley to Australia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Philippines or Japan, then you’ll get just a small flavour of what to expect by following his progress.

You can see Charley’s next adventure, through Indonesia, on BBC 2 at 9pm on Sunday 18th October.

PS. Don’t forget that you can watch previous episodes online for a limited period via the BBC iPlayer.

Play a love song to a whale

Every now and again I find a website that really stands out. I stumbled across  this one today from an Australian business consultancy called Opus. Not a lot to do with Audley I hear you say, as this website is all about how they produced their new TV advert.

In the advert an orchestra plays to communicate to the whales. Whilst the advert is a little far-fetched, there is some science behind it all, and this site allows you to use your keyboard to “play” a song to the whales.

Visit the website and have a go yourself»

If you watch the video interviews about how they made the advert, it contains some fascinating insights into whale communication and some great footage of breaching humpback whales.

This got me thinking about our interactive guide to when and where to go to see whales and dolphins, just in case you feel inspired to sing to them yourself !

'Have a go archery' stall at the 2009 Wychwood Forest Fair.

Cornbury Park (between Finstock and Charlbury) was the venue for this year’s Wychwood Forest Fair.

Stopped in 1856 after it became increasingly riotous, it was revived in 2000 and this year was the first year Audley decided to act as a ‘corporate friend’ to the event.

The Fair is organised by the Friends of Wychwood, in support of the Wychwood Project, who’s aim is to work with local people to restore habitats and create woodlands within the boundaries of the ancient Forest of Wychwood.

This increasingly successful event attracted many thousands of people throughout the day and a wide range of rural crafts and activities were on display, some of which allowed you to ‘have a go’, such as archery.

Other attractions included a children’s Fun Fair, a brass band, Morris dancing, an English longbow demonstration as well as plenty of locally supplied food and refreshments – including a beer tent selling beer from the local Wychwood Brewery, based in Witney.

Visit the Wychwood Project website

Lost Land of the Volcano on BBC1

Last night, many of us at Audley watched this new series on BBC 1. In Lost Land of the Volcano, an international team of scientists, cavers and wildlife filmmakers travel into the heart of Papua New Guinea to explore Mount Bosavi – a giant extinct volcano.

Some of the species they filmed include a giant rat the size of a cat and the world’s smallest parrot.

It was a great start to an interesting series with new species of wildlife being discovered literally at every turn. If you missed the first episode, it’s available on iPlayer (UK only). The rest of the series continues next week.

If this series has whetted your appetite for a (slightly less adventurous) trip to Papua New Guinea, then find out more on our tailor-made Papua New Guinea tours.

Pureland Japanese garden near Nottingham.

If you’ve been considering Japan as a future holiday destination you might be interested to know that it’s possible to get a taste of this enchanting country right here on English soil.

‘Pureland’ is a meditation centre and awarding winning Japanese garden near Nottingham, and was visited at the weekend by Victoria Murphy, Audley’s Direct Marketing Analyst. Created by Maitreya (Koji Takeuchi) in 1980, the Pureland meditation centre and garden is open to the public from late March until late October.

If you’re interesting in visiting the garden see the Pureland website for more details of prices and times, alternatively visit our Japan pages for more information on travelling to Japan through Audley.