Travel Wires: Fundraising for Fiji

Model planes sold at a fundraising event for Fiji (post Cyclone Winston). They were auctioned for $5300. Photo / Winston Aldworth

The Kiwi travel industry rallied around to help Fiji last week, with a "Bula Travel Industry" event raising $53,000 to go towards disaster relief following Cyclone Winston. Wednesday night's auction - which featured resort stays, gym memberships and a media-buying package in NZME products - was hosted by Kerre McIvor.

Flying high for Fiji

The star performer in the auction was a collection of display planes (pictured below) that singlehandedly brought in a fantastic $5300 following heated bidding by two men. To the uninitiated, these beauties might look like toys, but to plane nerds and those in the know, the collection - which included a LAN Chile A340, an Air New Zealand Dreamliner and a mint old Air Pacific 737 - was rare gold.

Funny for Fiji

Best line of the night came from MC and auctioneer Kerre McIvor who, after winning the bidding for dinner with a couple of prominent rugby personalities, quipped thus: "It used to be that rugby players paid money to have dinner with me."

Read us on the Danube

Great news for travellers aboard Uniworld river cruises - you can now get your New Zealand Herald Travel in print form wherever you are. The river cruise company has signed up to a deal with PressReader, giving all guests on European voyages access to premium newspapers and magazines from all over the world, including this esteemed publication and other lesser New Zealand newspapers and magazines. Once aboard, travellers need to download the PressReader app.

Rising Rotorua

Rotorua - long a dulled diamond in the eye of domestic travellers - is on the rise. New statistics out of the mudbath capital show Kiwi visitors spent 131,000 nights in Rotorua's commercial accommodation in January; that's a six per cent increase over the same month last year.

Departure lounge

We like...

The fantastic availability of phone charging points at Heathrow's new terminal. New Zealand airports: take heed.

We don't like...

The lack of electrical outlets at New Zealand's domestic airports - sometimes you don't get a chance to charge your phone until you've checked in ... and then there's nowhere to plug the blimmin' thing in.Tell us what you like and don't like in the world of travel.

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