Ryanair is to cut back flights from Stansted after the airport doubled its charges. The rise means it is more profitable for the airline to ground some flights this winter rather than fly them.

You might think you have thought of everything when driving abroad but there are a few rather obscure rules that could catch you out. I read this article that highlights a few things to think about. Some of the more obscure rules were that if you stop at a pedestrian crossing in France you may incur a penalty for holding up traffic. In Spain you need to check the date before parking on a one way street. On uneven dates you must park on the odd numbered side of the street and on even days the opposite side of the street. In Germany you can be fined if you park facing oncoming traffic. All tips that I was not aware of. The article also provides useful advice of motor insurance abroad, such as checking to see whether your current insurance covers you for driving abroad and taking out foreign breakdown cover.

This weeks PC2Paper travel blog of the week is "My lifechanging journey", the blog covers the unusual and fascinating journey of Liani and Maria and their two Jack Russell's Katryn and Dante through South Africa from St.Lucia to Cape Town (one of their first journeys).

It's a long journey especially when done by bicycle with baskets fixed to the front for their little Jack Russell's to accompany them.

The thing I found the most fascinating about their journey is how they never encountered any of the dangers you usually associate with South Africa these days. This blog instead exposes the natural beauty and friendliness of South Africa.

Barclays has just launched a pre-pay travel card called “Travel Money” Customers load the card with between £100 and £2,500 in either Sterling, Dollars or Euros. The card is free to obtain, so you just pay for the loading the currency. There are, however, a few charges to consider. They charge a 2% fee when you use the card at a cash machine. The card also has a minimum payment of £1.50 and there is a currency conversion charge of 2.75%. These kinds of cards can be useful if you don’t want to take your regular cash cards abroad for security reasons. Other companies who already offer a similar type of card are Travelex and the Post Office, both of which charge a fee to load money onto the card.

Caerlaverock Castle in Scotland is hosting its clash of the champion;s event this weekend. The champions will go head to head at archery, quarterstaff, wrestling, spear catching and swordplay. There will also be some bird of prey demonstrations and a medieval village where you can try your hand at archery and other crafts.

Counter staff in Northern Ireland are due to strike today. The strike will start at 14.30 and will affect Newtownards, Bangor, Antrim, Coleraine, Londonderry, Lisburn and Belfast.

Postal staff in Scotland have joined the strike already happening in the Britain. They walked out at 19.00 on Wednesday night. This will cause delays to any mail posted today.

The next two weeks will see more disruption to postal services as strike action escalates. On Wednesday 25th to Thursday 26th of July mail centres and cash handling staff will strike. On Thursday 26th of July to Friday 27th July MDECs (data entry staff) will strike. From Friday 27th July to Saturday 28th International/HWDC staff will strike as well as delivery and collection staff. The strike action will repeated the following week. During this time PC2Paper will continue to send all letters we receive but regret we are unable to guarantee any delivery times within the UK. Mail will take longer to arrive than usual.

Westminster City Council are holding talks with Post Office bosses about taking over local Post Offices and perhaps running them within local authority buildings. It will be interesting to see whether this gets the go ahead and it’s certainly good to see the council appreciates how important the Post Office is to the local community.

Hong Kong, a former British colony is now one of the major cities of the Far East and an international business centre as well as a major travel destination for tourists. The city boosts vibrant shopping centres and a wealth of restaurants as well as some educational museums and interesting temples that you can visit. As always with any travel destination it’s a good idea to do your research before you go, in order to make the most of your stay. Asia Hotels is a site which not only has detailed information on Hong Kong hotels but is also a definitive travel guide. Using their search facility you can search for hotels in Hong Kong to bring up results to match your arrival, departure dates, length of stay and star rating.

The website also provides good background information on Hong Kong and what you can expect when you arrive. It includes information on the local weather so you know what sort of temperatures to expect and also contains information about possible seasonal problems such as typhoons and black rainstorms which can occur this time of year. It also has a travel tips section that includes useful pointers from people who have already visited the city, including tips on what restaurants are good or what a certain hotel is like. It’s certainly worth checking out this wealth of information when planning your trip.

Heathrow airport is planning to introduce fingerprint checks next year. The new checks will be introduced when Terminal 5 opens in March. The checks are as part of a scheme to stop passengers evading immigration control. They are necessary because a passenger is currently able to arrive on a foreign flight and board a domestic flight form the same terminal, thus avoiding immigration.