Corinne Mutz - TravelManagers Australia

05/09/2024

Day 4 - on the Camino

This morning we headed off just before 9.00am, leaving our little taste of luxury behind

It was a relatively easy 9.6 kms, my heart doesn’t like the uphills, fortunately it was mostly flat or downhill through some rural hamlets.

The weather has been mild today, perfect for walking.

We met some interesting characters along the way and arrived at our overnight stop in time for lunch, some handwashing, checking emails and a snooze 👏🥰

04/09/2024

Day 3 - on the Camino

We set off at about 8.40 am, it was cool and we could see the mist over the river as we climbed and climbed.

It was a long TOUGH day, we walked about 18 kms most of it being very steep uphill.

We made multiple stops to allow me to catch my breath and chat with others along The Way. Meeting lots of lovely people from all over the world, walkers ranging in age from about 7 to over 90.

Our reward for a hard day was arriving at our stunning accommodation ❤️

Day 4 should be easier 🙏

03/09/2024

Camino - Logistics

We started planning this trip over a year ago, I knew I Had to do it (God called me) and when I mentioned it to Patrick, his response was When are we going 😁👏

We’re walking for 8 days with one night pre and two nights post in Santiago de Compostela.

Our accommodation is B&B or small hotels with private en-suite, all pre booked and our larger cases are taken from town to town.
This allows us to carry only a day pack.

Our breakfasts are included and lunch & dinner is up to us, there are multiple options.

So far the walk, accommodation, scenery & fellowship of other pilgrims have by far exceeded my expectations 🙏

I’m happy to chat to anyone interested, on my return.

03/09/2024

02/09/2024

Yesterday we took the train & bus from Madrid to Sarria and today we started our Camino

We’re travelling with my longest serving client from Lifeplan Travel days (1990’s) and his friend Stewart.

We started early this morning and walked 12.1kms, it was raining most of the walk.
The first hour being uphill was hard going for me.

We’re now at our first night’s accommodation drinking Sangria’s and enjoying the company of other pilgrims ❤️

30/08/2024

This morning we left Madrid early to take a tour to Toledo, about an hour South of Madrid.

The entire town is like the Old Town in any European city, it is gorgeous, clean and very well maintained.

A mix of Jewish, Moslem & Christian cultures and architecture.

I have too many pictures to share here but a good sampling below. We loved our day and the guide 👏

09/08/2024

My team of 4 ended up just being me so Patrick agreed to join me, up at 5.30 am and an easy run to the city.

It was 9 degrees and the fog didn’t lift, great crowd, pollies, football players past & present, lots of school children, lots of oldies and elderly, media too. Fabulous to see so many out supporting the Hutt Street Centre (for homeless people).

We all walked to South Terrace as a show of support & unity. A very well run event.

I want to do a huge shout out to everyone who sponsored me, I’m not keen asking people for money (unless it’s for a holiday 🥱) and I really appreciate everyone’s generous support.
I can still share the link if anyone missed my previous posts 🤣

We stopped and had a yummy breakfast before both of us need to get to work 🥳

12/07/2024

06/07/2024

Clients often ask me what my favourite destination is. Travel is such a personal experience, some places move you, some are a revelation or life changing and others, very nice but no need to return.

My top three that I would go back to in a heartbeat:

1. Kimberley coast - Broome - Darwin or vv
2. Italy - this picture taken in Florence
3. Istanbul - this city was a revelation

C’mon surprise me with your top 3

05/07/2024

Not only do Abercrombie & Kent offer the most beautiful bespoke itineraries and amazing service, they also spoil their Agents 💖
Thank you Ali Banks for your update and thoughtful little surprise 👏

20/06/2024

Travelling to Europe next year, I can help you with this once its rolled out:

Travelling to Europe in 2025? What you need to know:
Soon, 30 European countries will require visa-exempt travellers to have a European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) which is expected to be implemented in 2025.

ETIAS is an electronic travel authorisation for visa-exempt third-country nationals travelling to the EU – similar to the US ESTA or Canadian eTA.

Application fee: 7

30/05/2024

Some lucky clients broke their Europe return journey with a stop in Doha at the glorious Mandarin Oriental ❤️

They arrived home feeling relaxed and refreshed 👏

Check out this bathroom 😳

25/05/2024

My client’s beautiful Budapest-Amsterdam river cruise finished on Friday and they sent me some pictures to share.

A life long dream to visit Anne Frank’s house has been fulfilled ❤️

For the most part the weather for May looked especially good.

River cruising, like ocean cruising has the security and unpack once benefit plus with River you arrive in the downtown, usually allowing you to walk around unescorted if you prefer and wander back to the boat at your leisure. Smaller than ships you’ll be with a smaller group of people and quite a high guest/client ratio.

As with Ocean cruising there’s a river cruise out there for everyone, it doesn’t need to be insanely expensive and it’s not just for geriatrics 🥳

25/05/2024

Camino de Santiago- 01 - 11 September

If anyone fancies a pilgrimage with some middle aged, not particularly fit But fun loving pilgrims, send me a message.

So far there are 4 of us 🥰🙏

It’s not hideously expensive ✅

13/05/2024

I have some clients enjoying a Viking Budapest to Amsterdam river cruise.

They’ve given me permission to share their photos😬

Glorious weather and not too crowded 🙏❤️

10/05/2024

Fabulous afternoon, 15 minute zodiac transfer to Mitari, a sweet little fishing village that few tourists get to see.

We attended a Shamisen performance (traditional string instrument) in a historic house and the local women invited us to make a flower arrangement before zooming back to the ship for Macaron tea time, no photographic evidence 😁

05/05/2024

Well the weather was pretty awful today and not safe to get into a zodiac 🌊

We changed plans and had a wine with lunch 🥂 and then a Nanna nap to catch up on some sleep.

We have the Captains Gala dinner this evening so I need to start the beautification process early 🤣

I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s expedition 🙏
With expedition cruising you need to be prepared for itinerary changes due to weather and tides etc
No complaints from us ❤️

04/05/2024

Early start in Kagoshima this morning, our guide took us firstly to Starbucks in the beautiful white building shown here and then to SENGAN-EN a traditional Japanese garden and former residence of a feudal lord & clan.
A beautiful tranquil place and well worth a visit.

After a lot of faffing around (incorrect embarkation info) we boarded the stunning Le Jacques Cartier, for our 8 night expedition cruise 🥳

We’re cruising into bad weather apparently 😵‍💫

03/05/2024

We’ve had a busy few days here in Tokyo.

Wednesday we headed to Jujo Ginza, similar to Adelaide Central Market, we found a little place about the size of our laundry room where we had lunch. No common language but we managed and were provided with the most delicious freshly cooked lunch for under $10.00 per person 👏

We then met our non-tourist tour guide who explained that they’ve probably never seen non-Japanese people in this area.
Apparently it was a munitions factory pre-WW2

Our guide then took us to Akabane and an area called Senbero known as an inexpensive drinking area with many stand up bars, the custom is to order small snacks such as sashimi and skewers. Again we were the only non-locals.

Our guide walked us through the Red Light district but because it was raining there were only a couple of girls out.

We were taken to a shop that sold lots of unrecognisable items, evidently contact lenses that not only change your eye colour but also make your eyes bigger & rounder are a thing. Our guide explained that a lot of young women are into this enhancement 👁️
Probably similar to the lip plumping in our culture 🙄
Amazing immersive tour 🙏

Yesterday the standard Mt Fuji & Hakone tour, I’m sure I did the exact tour 28 years ago
We head to 5th Station with only a glimpse of Mt Fuji due to weather.
Lots of touristy shops but they did have almond milk cappuccinos
A rather tasteless lunch then onto Komagake Ropeway to the peak, we trekked to the original shrine. I was worried I might be needing my NIB travel insurance, it was very steep and I could feel a heart attack coming on 😵‍💫
A local scenic cruise on Lake Ashi, and then back to Tokyo on the Shinkansen (bullet train), clean and comfortable.
Another fabulous day ❤️

01/05/2024

We arrived in Tokyo yesterday, Qantas were great, on time and so were our bags 🙏
The crew were just lovely, very attentive and food was good, veggie options and oat milk available. Hopefully QF are getting back to what they were.

Immigration in Haneda VERY slow, highly recommend a toilet stop before entering that queue. Once we got to the counter it was a breeze. It took us about 45 minutes to an hour to get through.

Our hotel is very swish, very different to the cupboard I stayed in last visit 🤣
Posting the view from our bathroom for fun. I’d forgotten about toilets in Japan, heated seats and so many buttons to push, glasses are a must!

Lovely lunch at the station for approximately $25 each

We’re heading out shortly to do a “non-touristy” walking tour, I hope to get some good pictures although it’s very overcast.

Beautiful people and manners 💖

26/04/2024

People often ask what’s popular and what am I selling so here’s a little insight into What’s Hot & What’s Not…just from my neck of the woods 😬

🛳️ seriously if anyone had said to me 3 years ago that cruising would bounce back I would have questioned their sanity. But cruising is back with a vengeance, beautiful itineraries, lovely new ships, great pricing and the cruise lines are focusing on making cruising accessible to Everyone which is a good thing 💖
Cruise lines are consumer & agent friendly unlike Many airlines.

🚗 Italy, Uk & the Nordic countries 🎅🏻 are super popular, walking, driving & trains to get around.

⛩️ Japan has gone off like a rocket this year.

👙 South West Pacific & Bali along with beautiful New Zealand, close, hassle free, good value.

🇺🇸 sadly off the menu at the moment, I have my suspicions but it’s a fabulous destination and it will come back. I hoping for next year after the election and the fallout from that 🙏

💔 Middle East currently mostly just a transit stop

💩 Airlines and their unfriendly policies still have a long way to go hence the boom in cruising 👏

I’m off to Japan next week and looking forward to sharing some of our trip 🥰
I’ll still be working if anyone needs me 😵‍💫

11/04/2024

Yesterday & today I’m attending this fabulous Cruise training.

From 8.30 am to 5pm we’re updated by knowledgeable and enthusiastic reps from all the top cruise lines 🙏

This is a wonderful opportunity to learn and connect with cruise line reps, lots of top tips and an insight into future plans so that I can in turn share with my clients ❤️

29/03/2024

Pre dinner drinks in the Martini Bar, Patrick took one for the team and drank mine as well, too strong for me.

We had a lovely evening in Toscana, the specialty Italian restaurant, lovely menu, great service, we stayed up quite late with our group.

Now we’re in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, it’s very hot. We’ve decided to stay onboard and enjoy the gorgeous ship.

Very grateful to Oceania and Martine Nunes for this opportunity 🙏

28/03/2024

Oceania NAUTICA, last night we dined at the Polo Grill, this specialty restaurant has lots of American classics.

I had lobster 😵

I had to try it and it was very good, the waiters take all the meat out of the shell for you and arrange into a heart shape so no messy paws trying to do that yourself 😵‍💫
I forgot to take a picture

Today I’m back on the wagon with a delicious plant based apple muesli for breakfast and a poke bowl for lunch.

There are loads of vegetarian, plant based and no sugar options.

There is no surcharge for the Specialty restaurants and you can go back more than once per cruise.

Everywhere you look there is a lovely piece of art or something interesting to see including Versace crockery.

Tonight we meet our colleagues for dinner at Toscana the specialty Italian restaurants, pre-dinner drinks at Martini’s
No good will come of this 🤣