Travel Trip-ups Competition Winners

Exquisite Peru, adventure and more,

Rafting, paragliding, zip-lining galore,

But unquestionably, the holy grail,

Was to successfully navigate the Inca Trail,

Unfortunately, my plans came unstuck,

When an untimely bacterial infection struck,

I’d rolled the dice with cheap street food,

Peruvian meat skewers barbecued,

Day two on the trail, unable to keep any food down,

Forcing evacuation to the nearest town,

Awkwardly, slumped over a mule,

My stomach churning, like a whirlpool,

The nightmare continued in the coming days,

Unable to shake the vomiting phase,

Off to hospital and onto a drip,

Thankfully, I had insured my trip,

The caring doctors worked to hydrate,

Whilst the language barrier continued to frustrate,

One week later, I was right to go,

After coughing up a lot of dough,

My advice, to all of you,

Planning on visiting magical Peru,

Only buy from food vendors that you trust,

And taking insurance is a must,

Satisfy your wanderlust, have the time of your life,

Knowing your covered if you run into strife,

As for me, I finally fulfilled my quest,

Reaching Machu Picchu, with gusto and zest,

Awe-inspiring, the most stunning location,

With a story to tell, about my Peruvian vacation!

- Michelle

We were driving in a hire car in Bakgatla, a small national park near Pielansberg in South Africa. We were on a safari ride and very excited to see the Big Five! No one had warned us about the dos and don’ts of driving too close to the rhino. Here we were, cameras out taking close ups of the rhino that was standing right next to our small vehicle.  He was so big he towered over our vehicle.  I was scared but thrilled that we were so close to him. My husband sneezed and then all hell broke loose. The rhino was spooked and dug his horn into the side of the vehicle tearing the metal like a can opener! We managed to get away quickly though but the hire car was a write off. We had to make a report to the hire car company and paid a lot of money in excess. Lessons learned – never approach an animal larger than your vehicle. Make sure that while on safari that you with professionals who know the animal behaviour. Make sure that you are adequately covered i.e. excess covered in insurance when you drive a hire car on safari.

- Yvette

Instead of our usual relaxing, uneventful holiday overseas, we drove 2 full days to visit our son in Karratha. First day into holiday and excited about the sun, I accidentally amputated a finger in a folding deck chair at his house.  

Kept the local ED entertained with graphic exposed broken bone and my finger in a cup. Very expensive next flight back to Perth the following morning and mayhem organising hospital transport (as rest of family still up North).

Extensive private plastic surgery, skin grafts, fingers sewn together and arm in cast and sling, only leaving useless thumb exposed. Discharged midday following day with a show bag of medical paraphernalia, fit to fly paperwork completed and on the 2pm flight back to Karratha.

The remainder of holiday taught me I'm useless and dangerous with only 1 hand, smashing numerous items including son's glass stove cooktop. Husband excelled at cleaning glass breakages, and I SINGLE HANDEDLY (pun) ruined everyone's holiday.

First holiday without travel insurance, as driving in own state, cost me several thousand dollars, 3 operations and extensive hand therapy.  Finger still holidaying in son's freezer (unsavable), and I'm planning a safer overseas holiday with the most comprehensive travel insurance.

- Carrol

Termini Station, July 1990

Just finishing Italian holiday, travelling to San Francisco for work – via train to Milan, connecting to Paris sleeper, fly Orly to San Francisco next morning. Meticulously planned.

1330    Browsing station shops. Partner Cathy screams. Turning I see a man pulling at her handbag. Letting go, he runs. Police disinterested. Cath and I shaken- and quite stirred!

1345    Board train, feel safer

1355    Everyone leaving train with luggage. What?  Rail strike- all trains cancelled. Are you kidding?

1400    To station travel office- fast.  Get final two seats Gulf Air to Paris CDG 1700… $1000.00. Yikes

1500    Bus to Fiumicino

1630    Board flight- body searched as enter flight. Safety video includes prayers to arrive safely!

1800    Land CDG- bus to Orly, avoiding Paris as we think it will be a hassle

2000    Orly Airport- exhausted

2015    Advised of massive Convention, no vacant hotel rooms in area!  Damn!

2100    Bus Orly back to Paris, taxi to hotel

2230    Starving- to favorite restaurant for meal and alcohol

2330   Sleep!!!

0630   Taxi back to Orly

Finally arrive San Francisco- collected by friends- straight to Giants baseball game Candlestick Park

Lesson of tale: Always have good travel insurance. $3,000 received for all extra travel costs.

- Frederick

Get a local mobile SIM card as soon as you land (and get your travel buddies to do the same!)

Learned this lesson the hard way when skiing at Hakuba 47, Japan. I become lost in the backcountry (in a blizzard!) with no phone coverage or way of contacting my Dad.

Five hours pass as I ski from lift to lift, unable to find an English speaker. Many, MANY tears later, I decide to ski to the bottom of the resort. I make it to the creche and between sobs ask them to announce that I am lost over the resort-wide loudspeaker.

I wait anxiously, worrying I'll never see my Dad again. Then he storms in, sees me huddled on a bench, sheepishly sipping cocoa between two tiny Japanese kids.

He shakes his head in disbelief. I'm a 6ft tall 30-year-old!

Takeaway tips: Make sure everyone gets a local sim so you can get in contact no matter what. If lost, always ski to the bottom of the resort. And the creche at Hakuba 47 makes a pretty good hot chocolate!

- Jenna

I was heading for my evening flight from LAX to BNE in May, having had a fantastic day in Malibu with Arica, my beautiful lover from Ventura.

As I dashed across the Enterprise Rental Return Car Park at dusk in my 'boardies' with sandy bare feet, I felt something rip my right foot open to the bone. Screaming in agony, I looked to see my foot impaled on a 4-inch-long alligator tooth traffic control spike!

I wrapped my foot tightly with my tank-top to curb the blood flow and hopped bare-chested to the waiting courtesy bus, balancing on my wheeled suitcase.

At the terminal, uniformed airport staff wheel-chaired me to check-in. Qantas upgraded me to Business Class on a later flight, and Cover-More advised me that there was Hospital at LAX! At first, what looked like a disaster was being turned around with each passing moment. The LAX doctors were happy to give me a local anaesthetic, some decent pain meds and 13 stitches, with no out-of-pocket expenses due to my Cover-More Travel Insurance.

I would advise other travellers to visit California in the summertime, fall in love often, always wear shoes and never leave home without travel insurance.

- John