The beautiful beaches of the nearby Gower peninsula are pleasant enough but there was a
The beautiful beaches of the nearby Gower peninsula are pleasant enough, but there was a spate ofviruses at Oxwich Bay a couple of summers ago, allegedly caused by entering the water here.Best perhaps to dip into a good book. This year, Swansea has been revelling in its role as 1995 UK City of Literature and Writing. Still, at least the presence of an oil terminal on the city boundary means that four star is competitively priced. Much of the city centre resembles a post-war architectural desert, the concrete buildings thrown up after intensive levelling by the Luftwaffe So why go to Swansea?
Sadly, it can’t be for a paddle.
And unlike San Francisco, it has no tramcars (the last one meandered to Mumbles more than 30 years ago) Swansea does not present its best face to the traveller. Entering by road or rail, you are confronted by evidence of its industrial origins. It’s not the “City By The Bay” that Tony Bennett crooned about. “Tomorrow it will be flat-arse calm,” he remarked.How to get thereThe Chatham Islands are best approached via New Zealand. Australian Flight Centre (0500 727747) has a fare of pounds 775 (including tax) to Auckland on British Airways/Qantas in March, if you book by close of business tomorrow.
If not, plenty more cut-price fares are available from discount agents to Auckland and Christchurch. The only flights to the Chatham Islands are twice weekly on Air New Zealand from Christchurch, and cost around pounds 140.Where to stayChatham Island Lodge, PO Box 43, Waitangi, Chatham Islands (00 64 3 305 0196).Where else to see in the MillenniumGreenwich: the origin of measurements of time and space for the whole planet.Sydney: venue for the Olympic Games in the year 2000.Balboa, Panama Canal Zone: due to be handed back by the United States to Panama at noon on 31 December 1999.St Paul, Minneapolis: birthplace of the artist formerly known as Prince “Tonight we’re gonna party like it’s 1999…”. As he reach for the knob, the weather flashed up on the screen. “We want to make sure the plan will benefit the whole island.”The excitement of massive, tented villages and CNN broadcasting from Pitt could all be scuppered by the fickle Roaring Forties climate. Uncharacteristically, it made him pause, then laugh out loud. “They could spend a lot of money getting here and not even see a sunrise.
