Once again,many,many congratulations to William and everyone else involved in this expedition!!!!

The idea is that Rusty will hopefully accompany some of you on your holidays!He has a log book ready to be filled with photos and tales of his adventures!

Rusty will also be doing his bit for charity,and in particular the Teenage Cancer Trust.We have a competition in place with some great prizes to be won,all you have to do is guess how many miles Rusty will travel in 2012!!

Rusty will begin the year with a truly memorable expedition-he is going to the South Pole with William McNamara of Bluestone Leisure Ltd(see www.90degreessouth.co.uk ) and we can’t wait to hear the exciting tales of this fantastic adventure!!

We will be keeping you up to date throughout the year of Rusty’s progress,and we hope that many of you will have a go at the competition,it’s only £1 a go and all the proceeds will go to the Teenage Cancer Trust.

We look forward to seeing many of you in January and February!

Also ,today Kevin has departed for his first ski short break of the season.We are all amazed because he is off to a new destination,Champoluc in Italy!Kevin normally goes to Mayrhoffen so It will be interesting to see what he makes of Italy.

On a cold, wet,
wintery October day, whilst we were all starting to think about Christmas, I
sat at my desk with a smug grin, because tomorrow I would be jetting off
to…..MAURITIUS!!

Woohoo! An
educational trip with a top luxury company.

How was I going to
explain that this was work?

If Only has offered
me a place on this amazing once in a lifetime trip. My only concern was – how I
was going to get to London? Although slowly, but surely, I am ticking off the
countries I have visited, I have yet to tick off London. I know this is
laughable, but my only worry was the drive to the airport.

Adding another tick
to my box, I drove my self to London, parked the car, and went to meet my
fellow travellers. 6 o clock came, and I made my way to the meeting point
having only met one of nine of my companions. I felt a little nervous about we
would all get on. Yet, as I neared our meeting point, I saw a little huddle of
people laughing and raising a glass to our busy week ahead. Again, how do I
explain this is work?

After two hours in
the airport with my host Liz, from If Only, and co-host, Maggie, a
representative from Air Mauritius, and the other seven travel agents from the
south west, we were one big happy family.

We boarded our
flight and settled down for our journey ahead. Our flight company was Air
Mauritius. It was a very comfortable journey, with ample entertainment, hot and
cold snacks served throughout, and wonderful cabin crew, who always made sure
you were comfortable.

Surrounding Mauritius is a natural reef that
circles the whole island, which creates a stunning lagoon. Coming in to land
over the turquiose waters of the Indian Ocean, it was hard to tell where the
sky ended and the sea began. The views were spectacular.

We were greeted at
the airport by White Sands Tours. This is the company that is used by If Only
to organise trips, transport and any needs of our clients while in resorts.
They greeted us with garlands of flowers and a wondeful smile ready to take us
to our first hotel.

The transfer to our
hotel was by mini-bus (although they offer helicopter transfers) gave us a
chance to take in the amazing scenery. It was clear there was more to Mauritius
than just stunning beaches.

Arriving at our
first hotel, I was sure that a good time was going to be had by all. It was a
five star property called Le Heritage Telfair. This was to be my base for the
next two nights.

Throughout the week,
we started at the south of the island and made our way south to west to north
to east, seeing which each resort had to offer. We managed to visit 12 hotels
in this time, all offering something different, from the colonial style of the
Sugar Beach Hotel, to the relaxing Beau Revage. For those who are more active,
there is the tropical Tamassa, which offers breathtaking contempary decor with
it’s 18 hole championship golf course, to the Porougue, ideally suited to
families and the more adventurous. Each of the hotels we visited offered
something different.

There is so much
more to Mauritius than what seems to be a tropical beach escape. Although the
lagoon is fantastic for water activities such as wind surfing, pedal boats,
kayaks, snorkelling and scuba diving, there is also plenty to do on-land. From
professional golf lessons, to tennis, volleyball, evening horse riding on the
water’s edge, mountain biking to stumbling across waterfalls and wildlife. My
favourite activity of the whole week was the quad biking through the sugar cane
plantations up into the mountains. This is an enclosed nature reserve where the
views are breathtaking. Once at the top, we swam in the pool of a waterfall
before heading back to play golf.

Each hotel had
fantastic facilities and amazing restauraunts. Mauritians traditionally eat a
creole based diet which is mostly fish. But most hotels offer a range to suit
all tastes.

And so, our jouney
came to an end, and it was time to make our way home.Yet, the excitment was
still there, because we were travelling home in buisness class. The flight home
was amazing, an experience I will never forget. To the champagne in my seat, to
the four course meal, a truly unforgettable journey that I am extremely
grateful I have had a chance to experience. Flying will never be the same
again!

Back in Heathrow, I
said my said my sad goodbyes to my new friends and made my way home, excited to
fill in my work colleagues of my week and what a wonderful experience I had.

I
always said that one day I would like to go to Mauritius, now I can’t wait for
the day that I return with my family to delicious Mauritius.

We held a free prize draw on the day,and the lucky winner is Charlotte Dawson,who has walked away with a bottle of champagne!Well done Charlotte.

We are now busy working through the number of honeymoon enquiries that we received on the day.If you missed the fayre,but have a honeymoon,or indeed any holiday enquiry,please do not hesitate to call or email us.

We are delighted to tell you that our very own Anna,has just been nominated for one of the travel industry’s most prestigous awards!!!
Anna has been shortlisted for the Young Agent of the Year prize in the TTG Travel Awards,run by the industry’s leading trade magazine,Travel Trade Gazette,Judges for the award include experts from leading travel companies and trade bodies such as Thomas Cook,Sandals and the Institute of Travel and Tourism,as well as leading figures from the worlds of commerce and retail.The winner will be announced at a spectacular ceremony at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel on September 22nd.
This is a fantastic achievement,but of course,there is always a problem!Anna is flying out to Tunisia for a well earned family holiday the day before the awards.Christine has volunteered to attend the ceremony on Anna’s behalf and no doubt the two will be in close contact on the night!We ‘ll keep you posted with the outcome and hopefully some photos of all the “Glitz”.