On Your Bike!

India’s Thar Desert … motorcycle past camel caravans and wandering nomads.

Extreme Bike Tours has introduced luxury motorcycle rides in India, using classic Royal Enfield 500cc machines and with guests pampered at five-star hotels along the route.

The 14-day Rajasthan tour, for instance, covers 2000 kilometres ex Delhi,visiting the Taj Mahal, Udaipur, ancient forts, bustling bazaars and throttling across the vast Thar Desert with its camel caravans and wandering nomads.
Prices start at US$3930 per rider and US$3300 for pillion passengers, includingall accommodation (solo or twin-share), meals, fuel and transfers.
Visit www.extremebiketours.com.

Captain Cook Cruises Fiji has partnered with Shaolin Temple Europe so that passengers can nourish their body and soul whilst cruising the beautiful Yasawa Islands on all cruises departing Nadi from October 19 to November 30.
A monk will be on board the MV Reef Endeavour teaching passengers an introduction to kung fu, meditation, tai chi and qi gong.
Fares start from $995 per person twin-share for the three-night cruise.
Phone 1300 863 454 or visit www.captaincook.com.fj.

Qantas epiQure, Wolf Blass and Lizard Island will host a gourmet wine-and-dining experience for just 80 guests over the weekend of May 24-26.
Against the backdrop of the natural beauty of Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef, guests will be treated to a dinner by renowned chef Neil Perry and wine masterclasses by Chris Hatcher, Wolf Blass Chief Winemaker.
Prices start from $4718 per person twin-share, including return flights from Cairns to Lizard Island, accommodation, meals, masterclasses and boxed set of premium wine.
Phone 1300 863 241 or visit www.lizardisland.com.au.

Icon Journeys suggests Australians should take their Greek island holidays in the cheaper September shoulder season, when the locals had mainly headed home and the destinations were much less crowded.
The company’s 11-day Island Explorer has shoulder-season prices from $3360 per person twin share, including four nights accommodation with breakfasts in Athens, and three nights each on the islands of Sifnos and Milos, hydrofoil tickets, entry fees, private taxi transfers and taxes.
It also includes a catamaran cruise around the islands of Milos and Poliegos, stopping off at fishing villages, swimming at secluded beaches and in caves and lunching on board.
Phone 03 5421 3030 or visitwww.iconjourneys.com.

The US National Park Service expects to reopen the Statue of Liberty — one of New York’s iconic tourist attractions — to visitors by July 4.
Liberty Island recently suffered extensive damage from Hurricane Sandy, which destroyed surrounding docks, crippled energy infrastructure and wiped out the security-screening system.

Some 3.7 million people visited Liberty Island last year, generating US$175 million in economic activity and supporting 2200 jobs.

Visit www.statueofliberty.org.

Grand Pacific Tourshas departures for its 16-day single-travellers New Zealand Highlights Tours on October 25 this year and March 11 next year.
The tour provides an opportunity for people who don’t have a regular travelling companion, to see the land of the long white cloud in luxury and comfort with like-minded individuals.
Highlights include the TranzAlpine Rail Journey, New Zealand’s national museum, Te Papa, Larnach Castle and a cruise of Lake Wakatipu on the TSS Earnslaw.
Prices start from $5430 per person, including airfares, taxes, accommodation, most meals and attractions.
Phone 1800 622 768 or visit www.grandpacifictours.com.

Princess Cruises will have five ships — including the new Royal Princess and Regal Princess—plying the Mediterranean and Northern Europe in 2014.
Fares for the 12-night Grand Mediterranean sailings on Regal Princess start from $2319 per person twin-share, while the seven-night Greek Islands interlude on Ocean Princess starts from $1479 per person twin-share.
All up, there will be 94 departures on 48 itineraries with calls at more than 120 destinations.
Phone 13 24 88 or visit www.princess.com.

Sal Salis Ningaloo Reef, Wild Bush Luxury’s luxurious safari camp in the white sand dunes of Western Australia’s Cape Range National Park, is offering packages during the area’s annual whale shark season, which runs to July 31.
Pay from $2570 per person twin-share for a three-night stay and the chance to swim with these gentle giants. The waters also hostmore than 500 species of fish, 250 coral species and 600 species of mollusc, and is also a major breeding area for hawksbill, green and loggerhead turtles.
Phone 1300 790 561 or visit www.salsalis.com.au.

Stay in a special Addams Family suite at Sofital Wentworth when visiting Sydney for the show.
Pay from $275 per person twin-share, including accommodation, A-reserve ticket and souvenir program.
Features mock electric chair, creepy crimson walls and curtains, cobwebs, spiders, birdcages and dead bird, a haunted mirror, black towels and bed linen and the obligatory Addams Family portrait on the nightstand.
Valid until April 28.Phone 02 9228 9188 or visit www.sofitelsydney.com.au.

Save US$1000 per person on A&K’s 12-day Polar Bears & Midnight Sun cruise to Norway and the Arctic aboard Le Boreal.
Pay from US$9995 per person twin-share and journey from the northern shores of Norway to the Svalbard Archipelago and Spitsbergen, setting foot in the coastal city of Tromsø and the polar-bear stomping grounds of Nordaustlandet.
Book by September 30 for travel August 7-14 next year.
Phone 1300 851 800 or visit www.abercrombiekent.com.au.

Book three consecutive nights at the Sunshine Coast’s Rumba Beach Resort and get a fourth night free.
Pay from $660 per couple for four nights in a one-bedroom spa suite.
Premium bottle of sparkling wine upon arrival, full-day bicycle hire, complimentary wifi.
Valid until May 31. Phone 07 5492 0555 or visitwww.rumbaresort.com.au.

Save up to $2600 per couple on a Tahitian holiday with Air Tahiti Nui and Tahiti Travel Connection.
Pay, for instance, from $2250 per person twin-share for a seven-night stay at Le Meridien Tahiti, including return economy air travel and breakfast daily.
Features include free upgrade to a deluxe oceanview room.
Valid for sale to April 12 for travel until May 31 and from November 1 to December 20.
Phone 1300 858 305 or visit www.airtahitinui.com.au.

*John Rozentals is the publisher and editor ofwww.ozbabyboomers.com.au, a lifestyle resource for mature Australians.