  Infrared and optical absolute magnitudes are derived for the type II Cepheids
kappa Pav and VY Pyx from revised Hipparcos parallaxes and for kappa Pav, V553
Cen and SW Tau from pulsation parallaxes. Phase-corrected JHK mags are given
for 142 RR Lyrae variables based on 2MASS data. RR Lyrae itself is overluminous
compared with LMC RR Lyraes at the classical Cepheid modulus (18.39) consistent
with a prediction of Catalan and Cortes. V553 Cen and SW Tau deviate by only
0.02 mag in the mean from the Matsunaga PL(K) relation for globular cluster
type II Cepheids with a zero-point based on the same LMC modulus. Comparing
directly these two stars with type II Cepheids in the LMC and in the Galactic
Bulge leads to an LMC modulus of 18.37\pm0.09 and a distance to the Galactic
Centre of 7.64\pm 0.21kpc. Kappa Pav may be a binary. V553 Cen and SW Tau show
that at optical wavelengths PL relations are wider for field stars than for
those in globular clusters (abridged).
