Regarding the recent flooding in the South Island, tourists with travel plans in the near future do not need to panic. The latest information we have is as follows: 1. The water levels in the high-water areas of Lake Wakatipu and Lake Wanaka in Queenstown have reached their peak, and the weather has cleared up. This week is expected to be mostly sunny, with no more rain predicted, so the flood risk has been alleviated. Businesses along the shores of Lake Wanaka have resumed operations. The famous Wanaka Tree will remain partially submerged for a while longer due to the still-high water levels. Queenstown is experiencing clear weather, and recent photos show that while the water levels are high, the risk of flooding has diminished. 2. The South Island highways, which were previously closed, have started to reopen. State Highway 72 has resumed traffic, although there is heavy congestion, so travelers should allow extra time if using this route. 3. There is still flooding at the Rangitata Bridge section of State Highway 1, but once the water recedes, traffic will be able to resume. There is also flooding at the intersection of State Highway 1 and State Highway 79. The Timaru District Council has stated on social media that there is no risk of the recently reopened bridges on State Highway 72 being closed again. 4. The goal is to reopen State Highway 6 on the West Coast before Christmas, but this is entirely dependent on the weather conditions. If the weather remains favorable, the road repair progress will be normal, but if there is another heavy rain, it will affect the repair schedule. Therefore, travelers planning to visit the West Coast of the South Island around Christmas and New Year's need to closely monitor the road repair progress. The New Zealand Transport Agency's update on December 10th at 4pm: SH6 - The past two days have been sunny, and road repair progress has been smooth. The agency has been working to clear the landslide section between Fox and Franz Josef towns, aiming to reopen the Hokitika - Makarora section before Christmas. The Whataroa - Harihari section, which has suffered the most damage, is still closed due to multiple landslides, and the agency is striving to reopen it before Christmas ?
New Zealand Q&A
11.9 Beijing-Athens-Santorini. Arrive at 11:40, rent a car to Oia (30 minutes), stay in Oia, explore Oia, watch the sunset. 11.10 Santorini, take a boat or drive to see the Red and Black Beaches, Thira, Pyrgos, Kamari Beach, etc. (1.5-2 hours round trip by car), stay in Fira. 11.11 Santorini-Athens, return the car at 11:00, flight at 12:00-13:00, rent a car, drive along the coastal road for 1 hour to visit the Temple of Poseidon, watch the sunset, drive 2 hours to stay in Corinth. 11.12 Drive from Corinth Canal-1 hour drive-Ancient Theater-0.5 hour drive-Nafplion-0.5 hour drive-Mycenae Ruins-2.5 hour drive-Olympia Ruins, rent a car, stay in Olympia town at night. 11.13 Visit Olympia Museum and Ruins-3.5 hour drive through Corinth Bay and coastal road-Delphi-visit Delphi, stay in Delphi at night. 11.14 Delphi-3 hour drive-Meteora Monasteries, see the Sky City, stay in Kalambaka at night. 11.15 Kalambaka-4 hour drive-Athens, explore Athens, stay in Athens. 11.16 Depart at 9:00, drive 30 minutes to return the car at the airport, 13:00 flight back to Beijing ?
Greece Q&A
May I ask you a question? We took the expressway from Naples to Rome, which should be A1. We got on from the northern entrance of Naples, and the lane we took did not have a Telepass sign, nor did it have a horizontal bar blocking it. But when we pressed the button to take the card, no card came out. There was a long line of cars behind us, so we had to get on the expressway and go to Rome. As a result, we got a ticket, which should be a fine. The normal expressway fee from Naples to Rome should have been paid at the exit manned by staff. We still have to pay more than 60 euros at another place ourselves, because we don't think we took the wrong lane. So I wrote an email to Telepass's website to appeal, but more than 10 days have passed and we still haven't received a response. The ticket says we must pay within 15 days, otherwise there will be a fine. May I ask if you have encountered a similar situation and what should we do next? Thank you ?
Italy Q&A
Istanbul is really quite chaotic, everyone must be careful with their property. We arrived on the evening of the 15th, and on the 16th day yesterday, when we recharged our bus card at Taksim subway station, we were forcibly replaced. The situation was like this. We planned to recharge 100 lira, which was two 50-yuan notes. The first recharge was successful, and then when we recharged the second 50 yuan, the money was spit out several times. Suddenly, a man reached out his hand directly to take our card and walked towards the recharge machine behind us, telling us that we had to go to another recharge machine to recharge. I instinctively reached out to grab our card, but he avoided my hand and didn't let me grab it because he was tall and I couldn't grab it. In just a few seconds, when we got to the other recharge machine, he returned the card to us. Because there was someone recharging, we waited for a while, and then when the card was put on the machine, we found that the card had been replaced with an empty card. Fortunately, there was still some money left. After that, we felt quite afraid all the way, and reminded everyone to be careful with their property ?
Turkey Q&A
Thank you for the reminder, it's really good advice, thank you! I'm flying in from Oslo and have been traveling in Norway before. I have a 4-night itinerary in Iceland, planning to fly in at noon and stay in Vik that night, then visit the black sand beach in the morning of the second day and go glacier hiking in the afternoon, staying at a hotel near Jokulsarlon glacier that night, visiting the ice lake and ice beach on the third day and driving back, passing through Skogafoss and Seljalandsfoss along the way, staying at Selfoss that night, sightseeing in Reykjavik city and visiting the Blue Lagoon on the fourth day, staying near the airport that night, and taking an early morning flight to Stockholm on the fifth day. If I don't have time to see the attractions of the Golden Circle on the first day, is it possible to fit them in on the fourth day, or should I only choose one or two attractions of the Golden Circle, or give them up altogether? Thank you for your guidance, I really appreciate it ?
Iceland Q&A
Hello everyone! I just visited Cinque Terre on July 29th. It was very difficult to find a parking space (I don't know if it's because it's the weekend). I suggest it's more convenient to take a train from La Spezia to visit Cinque Terre. Trains from La Spezia to Levanto run every half an hour and stop at all five villages. We drove to Riomaggiore first and bought tickets there for 16 euros per person, which allowed unlimited rides all day, including buses and restroom fees. Among the five villages, Manarola has the best scenery. It is said that the night view is also special, but we didn't plan our time well and left Cinque Terre before it got dark. We arrived around 10 am and left around 8 pm, spending about ten hours. We visited all five villages, and the scenery was quite similar. Monterosso, the northernmost village, is mainly a beach resort. Vernazza, Manarola, and Riomaggiore are similar, while Corniglia, after getting off the train, requires a bus ride to reach the top of the town. After 8 pm, the train back to La Spezia runs every hour. I hope my experience can be helpful to friends who are planning to visit Cinque Terre. ?
Italy Q&A
Not tailgating, don't speed, speeding fines are heavy, I saw the police officer's calculation basis for issuing tickets (unfortunately got caught), the starting price is $50, plus an additional $20 for every mile over the speed limit, simply put, if you speed by 10 miles, the fine is $250, this is the calculation basis for speeding by 16 miles or less, I don't know about 16 miles or more. However, American police are still very good, I was speeding by 9 miles, being polite, flattering, and only got fined $60. You can only pay the fine online after returning to China (three weeks after the ticket was issued), the ticket needs to be recognized by the court before the government can collect the fine, my friend said that on the day of the court hearing, if the police officer who issued the ticket does not show up (probability of 90%), the ticket will be invalid, there is a big gap in my feeling. A special reminder, American police are like ghosts, you never know when they will appear behind your car ?
United States Q&A