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| Secret Women's Business Girls On Tour Newsletter - October 2016
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| From the editor
Dear Friend,
Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. I can't believe it's almost the end of October! Our most recent trip to Scandinavia and Russia was incredible. We absolutely loved St. Petersburg in Russia and the Scandinavian countries were spectacular. Where has this year gone? In fact where have the 'years' gone? It's hard to believe that I have now had the pleasure of travelling our fascinating world with amazing women and Girls On Tour for 10 years! In 2016 we celebrate '10 years of touring' and during this time over 350 ladies have journeyed to 44 countries on 36 amazing Girls On Tour adventures! A sincere 'thank you' to each and every lady who has toured with us, some of you more than once and thank you to everyone for your continued support of my business. Thank you also to Richelle, Lynne and the team at Suncity Travel in Caloundra who have been with me since inception in 2004 and also to Made Easy Tours (past and present) who have also played a significant role in my journey so far. Please follow us on Facebook from 14th October as we explore “Incredible India” for the first time. I’m very excited to be escorting a sell-out tour to the mysterious land of temples, tigers and the Taj Mahal and look forward to taking you there with us using the power of technology as we explore and enjoy this amazing destination. Happy travels, Judy |
| | Exciting times ahead!
As we go forward into 2017 there are exciting times ahead as I take a step back from escorting every tour each year and introduce you to the amazing and capable women who will be taking on the role of Tour Escort/Manager on some of our 2017 trips and beyond. The first of these exceptional ladies is my long time friend Evelyn who I first introduced to you back in 2014. I can confirm that Evie will be our Tour Escort on the 2017 Spain, Portugal and Morocco tour and you can read all about Evie later in this newsletter. The other two Tour Escorts that I am delighted to introduce to you are (L-R) Lea Schloss and Rosemary McTeigue both of whom work for Suncity Travel in Caloundra. Rosemary will be your tour escort for our first ever Girls On Tour “Laos and Myanmar” trip and Lea will be your tour escort on our beautiful “Canada and Alaska in Spring” tour. I will be escorting “Antarctica & Galapagos”, “Italy in Spring” and either myself or Lea will be your escort in The Kimberley in 2017. Thank you to all of these amazing women for joining me at Girls On Tour!
Lea Schloss – Marketing Executive (Suncity Travel): Lea has studied in a Diploma of Human Resource Management and comes to us with a range of experience including over 15 years Marketing in the Real Estate industry, her ability to help and encourage people together with her passion for travelling the world (including over 5 trips to Hawaii) makes her well placed to join our Girls On Tour team.
Rosemary McTeigue - Assistant Travel Manager/Senior Consultant (Suncity Travel): Since her first international trip to Europe as a teenager, Rosemary knew that she was destined to pursue a career in travel. Over the past 25 years, she has worked as a tour guide, corporate travel consultant, shore excursions liaison, staff travel officer and now loves the leisure side of the industry and making her clients’ holiday dreams come true!
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Introducing Evie:
I’m excited and delighted to introduce you to my dear friend and fellow lover of travel, Evelyn ‘Evie’ Edwards pictured here with me on our recent Girls On Tour trip to The Kimberley in June 2016. Evie is about to join the GOT team and will cut her teeth, so to speak, by escorting our 2017 “Spain, Portugal and Morocco” tour. She has travelled extensively around Australia and in the 90’s travelled the USA covering Hawaii, New York, Florida, Tennessee, Arizona, California and many states in between, a highlight - getting up close and personal with Garth Brooks in Buffalo. Most recently Evie spent 10 years in London taking advantage of proximity and cheap fares to travel extensively. She has travelled in 5 continents and been to 35 countries, many of them more than once. Her travel tales include adventures at opposite ends of the travel spectrum. From a French chateau owned by a rock star to an old cow shed in the New Forest, canal boats to ocean liners, cocktail parties at the Houses of Parliament on the banks of The Thames to a surprise invitation to share food with a group of Arab women at an oasis near Abu Dhabi. She is a confident and competent traveller who has organised and personally escorted tours to Norfolk Island and assisted with tours to Nashville and Greece. Evie is full of life and curiosity and not about to hang up her travel boots just yet which is great as she will be a wonderful asset to Girls On Tour. Both Evie and and I can’t wait for her new adventure to begin.
Welcome to Girls On Tour Evie, Lea and Rosemary!! |
| | Testimonial - Spain, Portugal and Morocco:
“When I visit these countries I am fascinated by how many centuries old they are, Australia being such a young country. The walled city of Avila was lovely. Salamanca is where I saw the full moon from my bedroom window at 4 o’clock in the morning, with the backdrop of a beautiful cathedral next door was magical. Sitting on the waterfront at Porto having a drink and a meal was enjoyable. The different landscapes of Morocco were fascinating. How do they grow such beautiful roses? It was a wonderful trip, good bunch of ladies. I'll definitely take another "Girls on Tour" adventure. Thanks again Judy.” Gwen A., Varsity Lakes Qld. Thanks Gwen, I'm sure your next adventure on our wonderful "Incredible India" tour will be just as amazing!
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| | 2017 Tour Brochure
Our 2017 Tour Brochure will soon be available. If you would like a copy sent out in the post please click the button below to request your copy. Alternatively you can download flyers for each tour on our website as they are released.
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Scandinavia & Beyond 2016 in review:
Our second GOT Scandinavia trip (and my first) was wonderful and the addition of St. Petersburg in Russia added another level of wow to the trip. The itinerary covered Russia, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark with one of the highlights being the 7 day coastal Norway cruise onboard the Hurtigruten vessel MS Finnmarken. This is a working vessel that picks up and delivers passengers and freight up and down the coast of Norway crossing in to the Arctic Circle and giving travellers an unforgettable experience of 24-hour sunlight in the land of “The Midnight Sun” as well as magnificent vistas and scenery along the way. It’s quite surreal to stay up to see the sun go down on the horizon at 11.28pm and see it come up again at 12.45am and the colours in the night sky were amazing! I’ve done over 30 cruises on various cruise lines and I have to say that the camaraderie on this line is outstanding. They are like one big happy family and that flows down from the Captain who was very approachable and very keen to please by going out of his way to get up close and personal to pods of whales and to navigate narrow fjords to show passengers the best of coastal Norway. Other highlights of the tour were the magnificent Peterhof Palace, the brain child of Peter the Great in St. Petersburg, The Hermitage, the incredible Vigeland Park in Oslo with over 200 sculptures in bronze, granite and wrought iron, http://www.vigeland.museum.no/en/vigeland-park, the 17th century Vasa warship in Stockholm and the spectacular Flam Railway journey.
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Vietnam & Cambodia 2016 in review:
In March this year we returned to Vietnam and Cambodia adding the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh and the hill village of Sapa to the itinerary for the first time. We really enjoyed our visit to Phnom Penh especially the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda. The Royal Palace is the official residence of the King of Cambodia and was built in the 1860’s. Inside the Silver Pagoda is the Emerald Buddha and a near life-sized Buddha encrusted with 9,584 diamonds dressed in royal regalia from the pre-Khmer reign. The Silver Pagoda has over 5,000 silver tiles on the floor with beautiful designs on each tile. To really get some understanding of the history of Cambodia you must visit the Genocide Museum, The Toul Sleng Museum and the Killing Fields. The Toul Sleng Museum was once a school but during the Khmer Rouge reign was the main prison known as Toul Sleng or S21. At the start of the reign of the Khmer Rouge, Cambodia had a population of around 7 million people. By the end of 1979, 2 million had lost their lives to Pol Pot and his henchmen. When Vietnam invaded in 1979 and defeated the Khmer Rouge, only 7 men and 4 children survived at S21. Two of these survivors were at the site when we visited and we were moved to tears by their stories and by the stories of all of the Cambodian people who were victims of these monsters. The people of Cambodia and Vietnam are friendly and welcoming. Our 2 days on spectacular Halong Bay were a highlight of the tour.
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| | The Kimberley 2016 in review:
Another wonderful adventure into Australia’s outback with our Adventure Wild hosts extraordinaire, Corf and Adey in June this year throughout the beautiful Kimberley region. Starting and finishing in Broome we had 12 days on the road along the Gibb River Road and added 2 extra days in Broome at the end to allow ladies to explore the history and beauty of this remote part of our country. The weather was stunning and having permanent tents in most sites now makes what was already a great trip even better. Highlights for all were the chopper over the Bungle Bungle Range, five o’clock drinks watching the sunset from ridges and riverbanks and the Lake Argyle excursion. Our 2017 tour is selling fast with only 7 places left so book soon to avoid disappointment!
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Where do you come from?
I’m often asked where ladies who travel with Girls On Tour are from. My answer is ’from all over Australia’ with the majority being from Queensland. We have now had ladies from every state and territory in Australia join us on tour. Although all tours are quoted ex Brisbane, there is no need or requirement for ladies to travel to Brisbane to join the tour, you can fly from your capital city to the hub city of the airline we are using for that particular tour and join the group there. For example if we are flying with Emirates and you are flying out of Perth you would join us in Dubai, if we are flying to India with Singapore Airlines and you are flying out of Sydney you would meet us in Singapore and join the group there. All tours are priced 'ex Brisbane' however most airlines offer us fares that cover the East Coast and only places such as Adelaide or Perth may attract an additional cost or different air taxes. If you have any questions at all about joining from a city other than Brisbane please don't hesitate to contact me.
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| | | Oh the places you'll go! If YOU have a travel 'Wishlist' we'd love to hear from you. At Girls On Tour our aim is to provide exciting and comprehensive tours at each of the amazing destinations we visit and are always on the look out for new places to go to that our customers are dreaming of travelling to. Whether it's Africa, USA, Asia, Europe or anywhere else in the world, let us know and we'll do our best to offer your dream trip in the future. There's lots in store in 2017 and beyond so keep in touch either by email or by sending us your 'Travel Wishlist' using the button below. |
| | SAVE THE DATE - TRAVEL INFORMATION DAYS
Come along and meet Judy and your other escorts and find out why Girls On Tour is right for you. Learn about our upcoming trips in 2017 and beyond including “Laos & Myanmar”, “Canada & Alaska”, “Italy in Spring”, “Spain, Portugal & Morocco”, the very popular “Kimberley Region” and coming in 2018 - "Cuba & Mexico".
Brisbane
When: Saturday 3rd December from 10.30am - 1.00pm
Where: Northside Meetings, 110 Windsor Road, Red Hill 4059A special presentation on “Laos & Myanmar” in Brisbane by Tara from Getaboutasia.
Please RSVP by 30th November to reserve your place.
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| | | Caloundra
When: Saturday 10th December from 10.30am - 1.00pm
Where: Suncity Travel, Shop 2– 6 First Avenue, Caloundra 4551
A special presentation on “Laos & Myanmar” in Caloundra by Nicole from Getaboutasia.
Please RSVP by 8th December to reserve your place.
Both sessions are free to attend and morning tea will be provided. Please let us know if you have any special dietary requirements in advance. |
| | | | | Italian dreaming? I hope to release our 2017 "Italy in Spring" tour really soon. I've been working hard on it with suppliers to make it even better than past tours and they were amazing! Here are a few of my recent favourite books featuring Italy to tempt you even more. - "Daughter of Siena", Marina Fiorato - If you've been to Siena or know anything about the famously dangerous horse race Il Palio di Siena, you'll love this book. - "Cleopatra's Daughter", Michelle Moran - encompassing two of my favourite places in the world, Egypt and Rome, a beautifully written warts and all account of Rome and the Roman Empire. - "The Pindar Diamond", Katie Hickman - set mostly in Venice, this beautifully written but sometimes dark novel will take you back to Venice or make you want to visit. - "Tuscan Rose", Belinda Alexandra - In true Belinda Alexandra style this book is beautifully written and historically informative. Set during the time the Nazi occupation and the terrible times of Mussolini's Italy, you will find it hard to put this book down.
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| | | Top Travel Tips: Pegless clothesline: One of the first items I ever bought for travelling when I started Girls On Tour 12 years ago was a pegless clothesline from Korjo and I still use it today. There are 2 different types now, 1 with little metal pegs included and the original on the left without pegs. Suncity Travel stock a great range of Korjo products. Single use soap powder: Before heading off on your trip, make a stop in at your local laundromat and buy a couple of the single wash packets of soap powder. Another tip is to use the body wash that is often provided in your hotel room. Stay hydrated: Make sure you keep up your water during long-haul flights and although the alcohol is often included in the cost of your ticket, you'll thank yourself for not overindulging at the other end. Passport copy: Make sure you take a copy of your passport with you either printed or electronic or both. You often can't check in to a hotel without your passport so in the unlikely event that you lose your passport you may find yourself stranded and not being able to secure accommodation adding to your already undesirable situation. |
| Noise-cancelling headphones: These are one of the first things I pack when heading off overseas. Once you've used them you'll never watch another airline movie without them. I use the small in ear ones but there are also bigger types that sit over the top of your ears like old school earphones.
Smartphone Apps: There are literally thousands of apps out there that can be useful for travellers such as Google Translate that will translate from speech or text in over 70 languages, Flightstats which gives live flight tracking, ByPost a postcard creator and sender that uses your images from wherever you are in the world, Viber which allows you to make phone calls or texts free from wifi, Google Maps or Here both of which you can now download maps for the destinations you need and use them offline, Fodor's Travel Phrases which gives you a starter pack with over 20 languages, Vaccine Record which will help you keep track of what immunisations you've had and when your boosters are due. |
| | Thanks for reading, see you next time! Girls On Tour "We'll show you the world" |
| | | Celebrating 10 years of touring in 2016!!!! |
| We are proudly associated with Suncity Travel Caloundra. |
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