Travel Wires

Rally for airport rail now Well, Travel Wires now has a choice about who to vote for in next month’s election. Vote Labour and we’ll get light rail from downtown Auckland to the airport if they win; vote National and . . . we won’t. Problem is, even if the Jacinda Jet (pictured) continues on its flight path, it’ll be another 10 years of schlepping through the Customs’ queues to stand in the rain and wait for an airport bus, or paying outrageous parking fees. As Ardern said: “A world-class city in the 21st century needs a rail connection from its CBD to its airport. Auckland needs this now.” Islands selling cheaper than Auckland homes Forget trying to save for a house in Auckland (or Tauranga, or Wellington, or Queenstown). Four of Queensland’s tropical islands are for sale, ranging from $900,000 to $16 million. Estate agent Richard Vanhoff reckons Temple Island, south of Mackay, is the “buy of the century”. It comes with a homestead, two cars, a tractor and a small tinny for the 10-minute ride from the mainland. Others include Victor Island, where the fishing is so good “you have to hide behind a tree to bait your hook”, idyllic Marble Island, and 8.7ha Avoid Island, which has its own turtle rookery and private airstrip. Spend a night in the slammer Enclosed by a perimeter fence topped with razor wire, Bangkok’s new Sook Station Hotel has rooms with metal bars for doors, and bunk beds. Each room — or cell — measures 8sq m. Guests have their mugshot taken at check-in and are issued black-andwhite striped pyjamas. They are given a “criminal record” and a number instead of a room key. Like a real jail, bathrooms are shared and there’s a lightsout curfew. Cost: NZ$55 a night. Yep, we’re wondering too: why would anyone choose to stay in a Thai jail? World’s landmarks off the mark Many of the world’s landmarks have been proved to be in the wrong place. A new list of 20 locations includes Ecuador’s Middle of the World. Deemed the meeting point of the four hemispheres in 1936, it is about 300m out, which is not too bad. Lithuania’s Europos Park, opened in the 1990s to mark the dead centre of Europe, is out by 16km. Somewhat embarrassingly, the Greenwich Prime Meridian, from which all distances in the world are measured, is 102m out of whack. Don’t let facts get in the way of a good tourist attraction, we say.

— travel@nzherald.co.nz