The best out-of-office replies ever from tourism employees

Sorry, not sorry. Best out of office responses will make you want to go on holiday.

Shelley Winkel knows a good out of office reply.

In fact, her email replies in her role as global publicity manager for Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) have gained a legendary status, and for good reason.

Ditching the standard auto reply, Winkel instead crafts hilarious and inspirational messages that have us packing our bags for the Sunshine State.

“The travel industry is such a vibrant industry and yet the traditional out-of-office messages didn’t reflect the brand or the type of day I was having,” she says.

Winkel started creating her unique replies in previous jobs at the Hilton and Dreamworld — she even recorded one of her out of office messages beside a Dreamworld rollercoaster.

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Stuck in the office? I’m stuck on the beach. #bestholidayeverSource:istock

“About 80 per cent of the time my publicity/PR role at TEQ is hard slog desk work,” she says.

“On the rare chance I get out of the office, I actually get to experience what we are promoting and I get excited. I also want to let others know about it; hoping to influence them to also come to Queensland.”

Winkel says she often gets cute responses from her contacts and it helps to project a personality and stand out from the crowd.

“From the outset, I have always encouraged my team to let their personalities shine (it’s PR not ER). At the end of the day, we are selling dreamy destinations … you got to be excited about that.”

Here are some of Ms Winkel’s most recent out-of-office replies.

1. WHERE YOU’D RATHER BE

Hello,

Did you know that I am the whale whisperer? Yup, three months ago I visited Hervey Bay, flapped my tuckshop lady arms about and conjured up a pod of whales while on a whale watching tour.

They’ve migrated south (sadly, just __like the flesh under my arms) but I’m heading back to Hervey Bay on Friday to get in touch with the wonderful tourism operators there and see what else they have in store.

Humpback whale watching in Hervey Bay.Source:Supplied

2. WHEN YOU’RE TRYING TO MAKE A YOGA RETREAT SEEM __like A GOOD IDEA

Ommmmm. Ommmmm. Ommmm.

That’s me in #thisisnotqueensland wondering when Captain Serious burgled my brain and swiped my dreams of holiday cocktails under a palm tree and replaced them with downward dog moves with a collective of (formerly young and fun) friends.

Yes, I’m on a retreat.

From emails.

And I can’t unpretzel my body to click the start button. Nix that. I’m so Zen, I don’t know where the computer is.

This is what holidays look like, right?Source:istock

3. BEST JOB EVER

Can’t say I’m sorry you missed me ….

That’s because I probably have my derrière firmly lodged into an elegant chair at Bistro C, delicately supping on the flavours of the Sunshine Coast while ogling the sands of Main Beach.

I’m in Noosa for a job. And you are right: I do have the best job in the world.

Sorry about the view — Noosa Main Beach.Source:Supplied

4. WHEN YOU’RE OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE

This Gen Xer has entered the world of Gen Y.

This weekend I’m at the ProBlogger Training Event on the Gold Coast swatting up on how to blog better. Then I’m off to Fraser Coast for some Coffee Culture and Collectibles. Yep. It’s a case of uncovering the unknown.

I will return on Thursday more learned, more cultured, bouncing off walls (from the caffeine) and with a few more retro trinkets to add to the Billiard Room. I may even splash out on a Marry Poppins brolly.

Learning new skills on the GC.Source:Supplied

5. WHEN YOU’RE IN BACK TO BACK MEETINGS

Nope. No matter how much you want to reach me, chances are I’m not going to be here.

You see, I’ve got this big day out. Not of the rock concert type. I’m in meeting after meeting in Brisbane before hotfooting it in the Prius (You guessed it, I’m fundamentally one of Planet Earth’s warriors) up to the Sunshine Coast for planning.

I’m on the mobile phone but as Safety Shell, I won’t be able to pick up if I’m driving.

When you’re stuck in the office in Brisbane.Source:istock

6. WISH YOU WERE HERE

Whoosh.

Whoosh.

Whoosh

Where am I? Sitting on the beach at 1770 of course.

Yep, right about now, I’m listening to the waves rolling in from Australia’s most northern surf beach, which also happens to be the jump off point to the Southern Great Barrier Reef.

But I’m not going surfing or snorkelling this time round, I’m going to plant myself on the sand, slow life down to neutral, go fishing (maybe, likely not) and read a few books.

Don’t even think about trying to contact me. Last time I was there — my mobile service provider wasn’t.

Paradise at 1770. Picture: Tourism QueenslandSource:Supplied

7. BET YOU WISH YOU’D TAKEN A CHRISTMAS BREAK

Ho Ho Ho,

Like Santa on Boxing Day, it’s been a big year and I’m a bit pooped. So I’m heading up to TNQ to top up my “Vitamin Me” levels.

Between swanning around in the saltwater pool at Thala Beach to supping on a few cocktails in Port Douglas and playing Jane opposite to my own personal Tarzan on a Daintree Forest Jungle Surfing Safari, I’m going back to nature and the basics (No umbrella needed in that Pina Colada, thank you!)

The ultimate re-energiser — Port Douglas.Source:istock

Some other noteable out of office responses we’ve received include some from the staff at Scoot airlines.

ONLY IN AFRICA

I would be lion to you if I don’t tell you I am wandering the plains of Africa instead of at my desk. Don’t try and hunt me down, as apparently the elephants have trampled the fibre optics where I am going. If I find a wifi signal I will reply, but it might be slow and in the middle of your nap time due to the time differences. I have always wanted to legitimately speak Swahili so beware of my reply. I have no doubt I will resemble a hippo on my return.

STAFF MEMBER NOT FOUND

PAGE 404 - ELLIE NOT FOUND

*COMPUTER SAYS NO*

I’m currently away from office, kindly expect a delayed response.

Grave concern for Whitsundays’ tourism industry following devastation caused by Cyclone Debbie

• Video
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Thick Sea Foam Rolls Onto Sarina Beach During Cyclone Debbie0:10

Waves crashed against the shoreline south of Mackay as category four Cyclone Debbie travelled west towards the north Queensland coastline, creating havoc on Tuesday, March 28. Sarina Beach appeared less than inviting as waves churned and frothed close to the clubhouse amid severe weather lashing major cities that included Townsville, Mackay and the Whitsunday Islands. A Bureau of Meteorology report showed the outer edge of the cyclone was starting to strike Sarina at about midday on Tuesday, while the eye was tracking over Airlie Beach and Hamilton Island to the north. Credit: Sarina Surf Lifesaving Club via Storyful

• March 28th 2017
• a day ago
• /video/video.news.com.au/News/

Locals say Cyclone Debbie has had a devastating effect on the Whitsunday region’s tourist industry. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

IT’S one of Australia’s most iconic tourist destinations. Exclusive resorts leading to golden beaches fringed by swaying palms.

But the devastation wrought on Hamilton Island by Cyclone Debbie has been so total, the area “looks __like it’s been napalmed,” one resident has said.

Local businesses have told news.com.au they’re worried that Debbie, which has caused more damage than previous cyclones, could have a lasting impact on the region’s economy.

A business owner on the mainland has already given up, declaring he will sell up after Debbie tore his motel apart.

One in three people in the Whitsundays is employed in the tourism industry with visitors pumping more than $600 million annually into the local economy.

A 2012 report by Deloitte Access Economics said the Whitsundays had been, “deeply affected by (2011’s) Cyclone Yasi,” despite it causing less damage than Debbie. Cyclones — along with coral bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef, climate change and competition from Asian destinations — were some of the biggest challenges for tourism in Queensland.

Smashed trees and ripped off roofs in Hamilton Island Marina. Picture: @jonkclements/InstagramSource:Instagram

Queensland Tourism Industry Council CEO Daniel Gschwind said he was concerned travellers would cancel their bookings.

“When the images of disasters, strong winds, and uprooted trees go around the world and around Australia, some people incorrectly assume that all of Queensland is shut.”

Caroline Murray is the general manager at the Palm Bay Resort on Long Island, just off the coast of the mainland.

She told news.com.au she didn’t have to worry about people ringing and cancelling their bookings; the damage was so severe she was doing the ringing herself — warning visitors to change their plans.

“We were hitting a good level of occupancy and now we have to call people and tell them they can’t come. We had a 40th birthday party booked and we’ll have to cancel that too,” she said.

As Debbie approached, Ms Murray was the only person to remain at the resort having sent staff to the relative safety of the mainland.

“I’m a tough cookie but I didn’t think it would be as bad as it was. It was 18 hours of battering; my house was constantly shaking and I was on my own thinking, ‘oh my god, what happens if it collapses’.

A boat washed ashore at Airlie Beach. Picture: AAP.Source:AAP

“We’ve had a category 4 come through before and it didn’t cause half the devastation of this one, because Debbie was so slow moving.”

Ms Murray said she was shocked when she surveyed the resort on Wednesday morning.

“The foliage, the vegetation, everything has been devastated.

“I hoped our platinum guesthouse would escape the damage but when I reached it the fridge freezer was on top of the front door, the roof had been totally pulled of, the balcony fencing had fallen and all of the indoor furniture went through the windows and was lying outside the house.”

Ms Murray said she had just four staff and clearing the debris could take up to three weeks while repair work could take longer and cost upwards of $150,000.

Just this week, the Palm Bay Resort completed the last section of upgrade work following Cyclone Marcia.

Thankfully, the resort’s beach houses survived the onslaught, but Ms Murray said the new damage was a bitter blow which had left her contemplating whether it was worth salvaging the resort.

“We’ve spent two years getting it back to what it was and we’ve just been hit again. Sometimes, I do think how I am going to build this up again. We only have a capacity of 60 people, and the money it will cost to repair everything is our entire profit for the year.

“We’re gutted but we’re resilient, we’ve done it before,” she added.

Not so Dave McInerney whose Shute Harbour Motel was severely damaged by Debbie.

“It depends a lot on the insurance,” he told AAP.

Dave McInerney beside the wreckage of his business at Shute Harbour.Source:AAP

“More than likely it’ll be demolished and sold as a development site.

“These days it’s really not worth rebuilding a small business __like this,” he said.

John Henderson, owner of Whitsunday Paradise Explorer, a business that conducts boat tours of the islands, said he was concerned visitor numbers would plummet.

“I think there has to be serious consequences for the tourism industry in the coming months”.

Lissa Morris, and her husband Hans, had high hopes their modern cyclone standard Hamilton Island home would survive Debbie. The damage on Wednesday morning told a different story.

“It’s devastating, we can’t get out of the house and outside so many trees have been uprooted it looks like Hamilton Island’s been napalmed.

“I’m still shaking, it was terrifying, horrific. I haven’t had a cigarette in years but I’m smoking now,” she said.

“We were totally protected, now we can see right through to the neighbours next door.”

Palm Bay Resort on Long Island before Debbie came through. The beach house survived the onslaught. Not so lucky was the luxury rooms away from the beach.Source:Supplied

She said there were two inches of water in every bedroom, the ceiling had collapsed and plaster was falling off the walls.

One of the gusts was so powerful it lifted the couple’s Foxtel dish into a nearby tree where it lodged tight. While they pondered how they could remove it, another gust ripped the dish out of the tree and sent it out to sea.

“I guess that problem was solved,” Ms Morris said.

While Debbie only officially reached category 4, Ms Morris said she suspected there may have been gusts of more than 280km/h over parts of the Hamilton Island which would make it a category 5 cyclone.

She had heard rumours of smashed infrastructure and tourist boats destroyed in the island’s harbour, she said.

“God knows how long it will take for the island to recover. Months and months at least.”

A local inspects damage to a boat terminal at Shute Harbour, Airlie Beach. Picture: AAP.Source:AAP

Two of the nearby Daydream Island’s iconic mermaids have been washed into the sea, victims of Debbie’s hammering. The resort also said there was significant damage to the resort’s jetty and pontoon and extensive damage to vegetation across the island, with many trees uprooted.

The roof of a spa and a boardwalk had been lifted away by the wind but no guests or staff had been injured.

“Daydream Island Resort and Spa has along with surrounding areas borne the brunt of Cyclone Debbie today,” a statement from the getaway destination read.

“Conditions were extreme with heavy rainfall and strong wind gusts causing damage to the resort and surrounds.

Hamilton Island Resort also said all guests were accounted for but power and light were still out.

Ms Murray pleaded with Australians to look beyond the immediate and destruction and supports the island.

Severe damage to a boat terminal at Shute Harbour, Airlie Beach. Picture: AAP.Source:AAP

“The Whitsundays are such a beautiful place. When we’re back on our feet, come back, get on board. We need to promote the Whitsundays as much as we can.”

Tourism and Events Queensland Chief Executive Officer Leanne Coddington said the organisation’s thoughts were with those impacted by the cyclone.

“We are currently working with the tourism industry to identify impacts of Tropical Cyclone Debbie and provide support.

“Our industry is incredibly resilient and we stand ready to assist in the recovery period.”

benedict.brook@news.com.au

The ongoing multi-billion dollar disaster of Berlin’s new international airport

A fence bars entry to the never completed terminal of the Berlin Brandenburg International Airport. Picture: AP Photo/Markus Schreiber.

THERE’S a joke in Germany about Berlin’s new airport.

“It’s not an airport, it’s an oversized bus station because while you can’t board any planes there is at least a bus every hour.”

There is also an airport hotel, but no passengers to fill it, and an underground station, but no trains run through it. Above ground the terminal stands gleaming, its lights on and its gates ready. But no plane has ever landed here.

Originally estimated to cost 2 billion euros (AUD$2.8bn) the tab for Berlin Brandenburg Airport is now running in excess of 6 billion euros (AUD$8.5bn). It was due to welcome its first flights in 2012, there is still no clear opening date.

Despite the doors being shut, every day the airport costs German taxpayers 1 million euros in construction and maintenance fees.

The airport says they have “clear objectives” for the future and “82 per cent of milestones [to opening] have been achieved”. Yet, earlier this month, the troubled project was thrown into crisis once more as the CEO resigned.

The lights are on by no plane has ever landed at Berlin Brandenburg Airport. Picture: Sean Gallup/Getty Images.Source:Supplied

So severe are the problems at Berlin Brandenburg, a former staff member mused that, “it may never open”.

While last year, an airport spokesman said only people on drugs could “give you any firm guarantees for this airport”.

For a country renowned for its efficiency, the disaster of a project has been deeply humiliating for Germany.

Transport Program Director at the Grattan Institute, Marion Terrill, was blunt in her assessment. “It’s atrocious,” she told news.com.au. But she warned that Australians shouldn’t look on too smugly. Infrastructure budgets far closer to home have blown out by at least as many times. And with billions of dollars being spent on new motorways and railways, there’s plenty of opportunity for Australia to embarrass itself.

A leaflet for the cursed airport. Picture: Sean Gallup/Getty Images.Source:Supplied

Wind back to 2012, and the preparations to open Berlin Brandenburg were in full swing.

Designed to replace two ageing airports designed during the cold war, it would be a shining symbol of German reunification.

As the opening date neared, stores in the new terminal were being readied, airlines were moving staff to their new base and a massive logistics operation was imminent to move equipment from the old to the new airport.

Then, less than one month out, the opening was cancelled. Initially until late 2013, the most recent estimates have suggested it may not open until 2020.

“If you look at the list of failures you begin to have doubts about the legendary German engineering,” said Hans Brandt, a journalist with German news service Deutsche Welle.

“90kms of cabling were incorrectly installed; all 4000 doors were wrongly numbered; the escalators were too short, the planner in chief was an impostor and the emergency line to the fire department was not installed.”

The airport is a ghost town. Picture: Sean Gallup/Getty Images.Source:Supplied

It’s the futuristic fire safety systems in the departure hall — dubbed the “monster” due to its size — which have been the main headache.

In a fire test prior to opening, the safety mechanisms went haywire. Alarms failed to go off and pipes designed to suck the smoke out of the monster were in danger of imploding.

Nothing if not inventive, airport chiefs suggested 800 low paid staff should be stationed throughout the terminal whose sole job it was to spot fires.

The proposal was laughed out of town — the only alternative was to rip out, rethink and rebuild the exhaust systems.

No plan has ever landed here. Picture: Sean Gallup/Getty Images.Source:Supplied

Accusations have surfaced of corruption among airport contractors, at one point work had to stop because the roof was about to cave in and successive CEOs have come and gone.

In January, airport boss Karsten Muehlenfeld said the terminal wouldn’t open until 2018 at the earliest due to “among other things, defects with the electronic door controls ... and the sprinkler systems”. Earlier this month, he resigned putting further doubt on whether even that date is achievable.

Last year, Dieter Faulenbach da Costa, who worked on the planning of the airport in the late 1990s, wondered if the engineering challenges were now just too much.

“The restructuring of the fire safety systems, which has been going on for the last four years at [Berlin Brandenburg], will prevent the opening of the new airport,” he told Morgenpost.

The airport was designed to replace two ageing airports including Berlin Tegel. Picture: AFP.Source:AFP

In 2016, the airport’s then spokesman, Daniel Abbou, said you had to be on drugs to believe all was well with the project.

“Believe me, no one who isn’t dependent on medication will give you any firm guarantees for this airport ... They used to say mostly, ‘no, everything will be fine’. That’s bullshit. Admit it when something has screwed up,” he told a German PR magazine. Mr Abbou is no longer with the airport.

“It does sound really atrocious,” said Ms Terrill of the Grattan Institute. But the infrastructure tale of woe wasn’t unique to this airport.

“One of the most striking things is the cost blow outs, and it’s not even finished yet. But that is quite consistent with the Australian experiences of cost overruns,” she told news.com.au.

“When Australian projects blow out, it can be spectacular just __like Berlin airport.”

Australia is currently undergoing a multi-billion dollar transport boom with Sydney’s WestConnex motorways, the Sydney and Melbourne underground Metro projects and Sydney and Canberra light rail.

Analysis by the Grattan Institute found 17 per cent of Australian infrastructure projects blew their budgets. But the financial overruns on this mostly massive projects accounted for some 90 per cent of total infrastructure budget blowouts.

No one has ever checked in at these desks. Picture: Getty Images.Source:Getty Images

A big problem was politicians’ love of an announcement.

“It’s common in Australia for these projects to be announced at an election when the work hasn’t been done and funds committed and it’s extremely difficult for politicians to then back away from,” said Ms Terrill.

The Forrest Highway in Western Australia, costed at $136m came in at $688m, while NSW’s Hunter Expressway went from $335m to $1.7bn — budget hikes on a par with Berlin.

So is Berlin’s airport now terminal? Is it worth throwing good money after bad?

“We don’t always expect public infrastructure to recoup its community benefits in purely a monetary sense. They can be really important for both economic and non-economic purposes,” Ms Terrill said.

But there’s one more joke in store for Berlin. During the time the airport has failed to open passenger numbers have risen so much it will be full from day one.

It means one of the two airports it aimed to replaced will now have to remain in use even after the first plane rolls up to the shiny, but not-so-new terminal.

benedict.brook@news.com.au

Germany: Still not ready for take-off! AfD protest Berlin's unfinished airport1:31

Activists from Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) took to Berlin's unfinished Brandenburg airport on Sunday, claiming that it symbolised 'incapable' German political parties. Armed with suitcases, the activists staged an 'unsuccessful check-in' under the motto '1001 nights', in reference to the 1001 nights that the airport has been incomplete since its planned opening in June 2012. Construction of Berlin Brandenburg airport began in 2006 with an estimated budget of around ?2 billion ($2.24 billion). Today the airport has already cost over ?5 billion ($5.6 billion) with latest estimates reaching ?8 billion ($9 billion) according to AfD sources. Berlin's previous mayor Klaus Wowereit stepped down from his position in December 2014 over the delays and increasing cost of the planned airport.

• March 2nd 2015
• 2 years ago
• /video/video.news.com.au/News/World/

Angry guard gives cheeky tourist the fright of his life in London

Apparently this man’s dancing wasn’t to the taste of the guard on the left. Picture: YouTube

HER Majesty’s guards are as famous for their straight faces as they are for their iconic bearskin hats, but this was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Two grey-coated guards were standing at attention outside St James’ Palace, in central London, when a tourist decided to record a short video.

The man asked a friend to hold a camera, then sauntered out and started singing and dancing in front of the gate.

The routine lasted exactly 10 seconds before the guard on the left had enough.

St. James's Palace guard yells at tourist0:18

A guardsman at St. James's Palace entrance got angry and yelled at a tourist dancing in front of him and told him to move on. Courtesy: lokirna md45

• March 28th 2017
• 2 days ago
• /video/video.news.com.au/News/

The man couldn’t believe it when the angry Scotsman started shouting.Source:YouTube

“Halt! Get yerself away!” he shouted angrily with a thick Scottish accent, giving the tourist the fright of his life.

Unfortunately, his heavy brogue made it extremely difficult to understand what he shouted next, but the tourist took the hint.

“Turn the camera off!” the guard bellowed as he scampered away.

The clip, posted to YouTube in January, went viral over the weekend, gathering almost 190,000 views at the time of publication.

He looked __like a petulant schoolboy as the guard continued chastising him.Source:YouTube

Sex in Thai city frustrates junta

Thai authorities are pressing on in their mission to clean up the infamous vice city of Pattaya. Picture: Paula Bronstein/Getty Images/file image

WITH mascots dressed as smiling fish and a police rock band, Thai authorities launched a “Happy Zone” at the weekend to improve the image of a city notorious for sex tourism.

Stung by foreign headlines portraying the seaside resort of Pattaya as “Sin City” and “The World’s Sex Capital”, Thailand’s junta has begun a new effort to rebrand it.

But the contradictions in Pattaya highlight Thailand’s challenge in tackling a side of its tourist industry that remains economically vital while being officially excoriated.

“I want people to see that we are not __like what they say. We are not allowing prostitution in these entertainment places,” provincial governor Pakkaratorn Teianchai told reporters on the infamous Walking Street in Pattaya, southeast of Bangkok.

Less than 10 metres away, women accosted foreign men to offer sex for 2000 baht ($A79). Others lined up with numbers so customers could take their pick. Masseuses in miniskirts offered “happy ending” massages whose euphemistic titles has nothing to do with the Happy Zone of the authorities.

Dancers cover their faces along the infamous Walking Street in Pattaya where bars and sex scenes are commonplace. Picture: Paula Bronstein/Getty ImagesSource:Getty Images

“Everyone is here to make a living,” said one 35-year-old woman who came originally from a village in central Thailand.

Tagged with the number “136”, she declined to give her name.

“I would rather be a waitress, but then I couldn’t send my children to school and I want them to have a better future than this,” she said.

In fact, sex tourism is not growing as fast as other aspects of Thailand’s tourist industry — the only bright spot for an economy whose expansion has been by far the slowest among major southeast Asian economies since the 2014 coup. No official figures show its scale.

But there is an indication in the balance of male to female visitors. In 2012, there were nearly six men for every four women. In 2015, the numbers were pretty much even, according to figures provided to Reuters by the tourism ministry.

Sex tourism began in Pattaya when it became an R&R spot for US soldiers during the Vietnam War, though prostitution is just as evident in parts of Bangkok and other resorts.

A menu for sex tourists on display. Picture: Paula Bronstein/Getty ImagesSource:Getty Images

The number of female sex workers in Thailand was put at more than 120,000 in a 2014 UNAIDS report. Some estimates run to double that and not all the women who get paid for sex are fulltime prostitutes.

Given a 305 baht ($A11.53) a day minimum wage, the chance of earning several times more is an obvious lure, particularly in poorer rural regions. The latest of many crackdowns in Pattaya happened after foreign newspaper reports in February, which drew an angry response from junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha, for whom bringing order is a mantra.

A handful of bars were raided. Bar owners and working women were fined. Scared to venture out, tourists looking for sex stayed in hotels. Street vendors and shops saw sales tumble. The money which flows to all levels in the city — including law enforcement agencies — fell off.

The Happy Zone approach is a softer way to try to show that something is being done. If it works on Walking Street, the idea will be spread to the less sanitised side streets — the sois.

Bar girls entertain men at a bar along the Walking Street. Picture: Paula Bronstein/Getty ImagesSource:Getty Images

Businesses in the Happy Zone are asked to make the area feel safer, there are increased security patrols, police launched a mobile phone app for visitors to summon them in emergency.

“This is a pioneer project to organise a tourist destination and elevate it to promote Thailand’s quality tourism,” Apichai Krobpetch, chief of Pattaya city police, told Reuters.

“We will also stamp out prostitution in the area.”

There was no sign of that at the weekend.

In fact, Pattaya’s sex industry has become an attraction in its own right for the millions of Chinese who make up about one in three visitors to Thailand. Led by guides with pennants, the Chinese tour groups thread quickly along Walking Street, past the go-go bars and the beer bars where young Thai women sit down with foreign men.

They only pause to take pictures.

“We just came here to see. That’s all,” laughed 20-something saleswoman Linda Sieng in a group of 11 tourists from Guaghzhou in southern China.

FILM: RESTRICTED GoPro Records Holiday of a Lifetime Early 2016.3:45

The holiday this couple enjoyed in Thailand and Singapore has become something that everyone can enjoy, thanks to travel and film enthusiast James?s GoPro footage that leaves everyone wishing they were about to go on holiday to South-East Asia. Join him on his journey, through jungle, temple and sea. Credit: YouTube/James

• June 15th 2016
• 9 months ago
• /video/video.news.com.au/News/Politics/

Photos show a monorail track and station built into an apartment block in China

• Video
• Image

Monorail built through apartment in China1:01

Chinese railway engineers came up with an ingenious solution when asked to build a new line in heavily built-up area of Chonquing ? to simply go straight through a block of residential units

• March 21st 2017
• 8 days ago
• /video/video.news.com.au/News/

A light railway train passes through a residential building on March 18, 2017 in Chongqing, China. Chongqing Rail Transit No. 2 and a 19 floor residential building have been built across each other. The railway was built on the sixth to eighth floor in the building with noise reduction equipment. Picture: VCG/Getty Images Monorail built through apartment in China

CHINESE railway engineers came up with an ingenious solution when asked to build a new line in heavily built-up area of Chonquing — to simply go straight through a block of residential units, The Sun reports.

The monorail line cuts a hole through the 8th floor of the building in the central Chinese city of Chongqing, home to around 8.5 million people.

Astonishingly, noise is not a problem because the train only generates 60 decibels as it moves through the building — roughly comparable to a conversation in restaurant.

The train passes into the opening eight storeys up. Picture: VCG/Getty ImagesSource:Getty Images

The train reportedly makes very little noise as it passes through the block of flats. Picture: VCG/Getty ImagesSource:Getty Images

The value of the properties has actually risen as a result of the overhaul because transport links in the area are now much better, authorities claim.

Chongqing is known as the ‘Mountain City’ because of its soaring skyline of skyscrapers and overcrowding is a major problem.

The block of flats was built at the same time as the railway and even has its own station.

There is even a small station inside the building. Picture: VCG/Getty ImagesSource:Getty Images

Chongqing has a huge population and suffers from overcrowding. Picture: VCG/Getty ImagesSource:Getty Images

Wouldn’t fancy being directly below that track would you? Picture: VCG/Getty ImagesSource:Getty Images

City transport spokesman Yuan Cheng told the Daily Star: “Our city is very heavily built-up and that can make finding room for roads and railway lines a real challenge.

“Sometimes there just isn’t room on the ground so we have to think about going under, or over, or — in this case — straight through.

“In a city as fast-paced as this it was clear people wanted to get around quickly.

“Extending the railway line this way was a gamble, but it was one that paid off.”

This article was reproduced and published with permission from The Sun.

Do yourself a favour and pack a tennis ball

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• Image

Top tips for women travelling solo 0:40

The past few years have seen the rise of the "wander women", otherwise known as the solo female traveller. Here are some quick tips for female travellers around the world.

• November 5th 2016
• 5 months ago
• /video/video.news.com.au/Travel/

A simple tennis ball could be the key to increasing your comfort on a long flight.

IF YOU struggle with flying, then perhaps you should try popping a tennis ball in your hand luggage next time you go away.

They may not exactly come to mind when you think about travel essentials, but there’s a good reason why tennis balls can be the perfect solution to your in-flight discomfort, reports The Sun.

The Daily Starreports that the tennis accessories are great for dealing with the negative side-effects of flying, including tight muscles and joint pain.

Instead of disturbing your fellow passengers by massaging your pains with your hands, tennis balls are perfect for working out knots in hard-to-reach places.

There are a lot of ways you can hurt your back on a long flight.Source:istock

Simply apply the ball to wherever feels sore, and add pressure to massage away the aches and pains of longer flights.

By popping one on the floor, you can work out any pain in your feet, or slip one between yourself and the seat to deal with pains in your back.

This technique even comes with a seal of approval from the orthopedic professionals.

Surgeon Ali Ghoz from the London Orthopedic Clinic told the Star: “By taking a tennis ball or a massager on the plane this will help increase circulation.

“Make sure you sit comfortably in your chair — no slouching.”

Other ways you can deal with the aches and pains of flying include taking regular walks up and down the cabin.

Also, make sure to drink plenty of water in order to keep your muscles hydrated.

This article originally appeared in The Sun and was republished with permission.