Camera travels 1,100 miles by sea… and turtle

by Jason Heflin on

I dropped my waterproof camera into twenty feet of ocean water once while snorkeling off the coast of Mexico. As I watched my camera drift slowly to the rocky bottom I knew I couldn’t hold my breath long enough to retrieve it. Luckily for me a free diver was in our party and rescued my electronic treasure. The thought of a losing a camera can be somewhat sickening. Once gone most never expect to see it again. Royal Dutch Navy sergeant Dick De Bruin never thought he’d see his camera after losing it at a dive site off the shores of Aruba. Yet after six months of travel the camera found it’s way back to him.

US Coast Guard officer Paul Schultz discovered the red Nikon camera, still in it’s waterproof case, banging against the rocks of a marina in Key West Florida. The camera wasn’t marked with any identification tying it to the owner so Schultz looked through the photos and video still preserved on the camera. The pictures held few clues. There were photos of two divers standing beside a truck with a blue roofed building in the background, a family on a couch, and a curious video. It appeared to have been taken accidentally by none other than a sea turtle. The footage shows the strap of the camera hooked on the turtles fin. In the five minute clip the camera is violently thrashed by the turtle’s fin then floats to the surface.

Schultz posted the photos to ScubaBoard.com and CruiseCritic.com and the mystery was solved. Members of the sites recognized a plane’s tail number and tracked it to the island of Aruba. Another site visitor recognized some of the children in a photo and pointed Schultz to Dick de Bruin. “I have a smile on my face. I can’t stop laughing about it,” de Bruin commented. “It’s really big news on the island.”
(Photo: Flickr/NOAA’s National Ocean Service)




Four lesser-known Eurozone islands

by Alex Robertson Textor on

With the euro continuing its crash against the US dollar, Europe is shaping us this summer and fall to be relatively inexpensive for Americans on the ground. Here are four islands that get little media or guidebook coverage yet offer volumes of quaint, picturesque charm. All use the euro as official currency, and are thus all markedly cheaper for Americans than they were last summer.

To entice your budget-minded enthusiasm, a mid-range accommodation option is paired with each destination.

1. Porquerolles, France.

The dreamily quiet Porquerolles, with its bouquet of aquamarine inlets, can be reached by ferry from the town of Hyères, near Toulon. The largest of the three islands of the Hyères archipelago, Porquerolles is largely protected as a national park. There are a number of very expensive hotels on the island, to which the mid-range Hotel Le Méditerranée, with double rooms starting at €98 per night in high season, provides a fairly-priced alternative.

2. Fasta Åland, Finland.

The semi-autonomous Swedish-speaking Åland islands, located between mainland Sweden and mainland Finland in the Gulf of Bothnia, are part of Finland. Fasta Åland, the largest island in the group, can be reached by ferry and air from Helsinki, Stockholm, and Turku. Mariehamn, the island’s capital, has cute lanes and museums to offer. Reasonably-priced accommodations can be found at Hotell Esplanad in Mariehamn, with high-season double rooms from €73.

3. San Domino, Italy.

The largest tourist attraction within Italy’s Tremiti archipelago, San Domino is a picturesque island covered with pine trees and studded with beautiful coves. San Domino is located about two-thirds of the way down the Adriatic coast and can be reached by ferry from the coastal port town of Tremoli. Albergo La Pineta charges between €45 and €75 per person for room and half-board between now and the end of September. Avoid the first three weeks of August and you won’t pay more than €65 per person per night.

4. Vlieland, Netherlands.

Wind-whipped Vlieland, one of the Netherlands’ atmospheric Frisian islands, can be reached by ferry from the city of Harlingen on the mainland. The island restricts car ownership to residents, and the streets are accordingly full of pedestrians and bicyclists. The island is one of the least densely-populated municipalities in the country, and there are forests, sand dunes, and beaches to explore. The Hotelletje de Veerman offers a sea-facing double room with terrace or balcony for €50 per person per night.

(Image of Porquerolles: Flickr/sgustin78)

Dutch theme park in Japan plans to add a casino to boost visitor numbers

by Scott Carmichael on

When the Japanese city of Nagasaki wanted to honor their historic relationship with the Netherlands, they decided that a monument was just not going to be enough – so they built an entire Dutch city.

The Huis Ten Bosch theme park opened its gates in 1992 – and it has never turned a profit. Initially, the builders expected up to one million international visitors a year. Sadly, much to their surprise, international visitors preferred to visit the real country over a mock one.

In March, Japanese travel agency H.I.S. took over from the previous owners of Huis Ten Bosch, and hope to revive the park. Part of their plan is to add a casino and an outlet mall – because looking at old buildings was clearly not enough of a draw.

The first steps to raising visitor numbers were probably more effective than anything else – they slashed ticket prices and added more attractions.

Still, if you ask me, the best way to see The Netherlands is to actually visit The Netherlands.

(Photo from Flickr: Joone4u)

Amsterdam Airport makes being stranded a little less horrible

by Scott Carmichael on

Because of the Icelandic volcanic ash, pretty much every airport in Europe has been shut down. Some passengers at Schiphol have been stranded at the airport for two days, and since the volcanic eruption can’t be blamed on the airlines, nobody is getting any free hotel rooms.

So – the terminals have been transformed into one massive bedroom. Thankfully, Schiphol has put a lot of effort into trying to provide a little comfort for their temporary guests – free food and drinks and free beds with a sleep kit. Parts of the terminal even have free live music, massage therapy and Internet terminals.

The airport has even lifted its ban on public consumption of alcohol, allowing the duty free stores to sell alcohol till 9:30pm. With over 100 shops and a casino, there are worst places to be stranded. So, if you are stranded abroad because of the volcano, best of luck – try and make the best of it, and fingers crossed that the skies clear up tomorrow.

(Apologies for the Dutch spoken video clip – but the images give a decent idea of the situation)

Netherlands says sex shows not art

by Tom Johansmeyer on

The beholder’s eye just lost some of its decision-making power. A court in the Netherlands has ruled that private sex shows, among the major draws for Americans looking to let loose in a permissive culture ready to exploit repressed visitors, are not art. This is a departure from a 2008 ruling that called the gyrating in private booths cultural. Of course, the upshot of the change in direction is not any form of prohibition. After all, that would be counterproductive. Instead, the government is looking to maximize revenues. As “culture,” the sex show fees were taxed at 6%, but having lost this status, a 19% rate will apply.

The case was Belgian but has implications for the Netherlands. According to the ruling, the lower tax rate only applies to art forms in which people participate together. One-on-one performances don’t apply … do don’t try to rationalize your lap dances as an alternative to MoMA.

The finance ministry hasn’t wasted any time, with a spokesman saying that sex biz bosses need to start shelling out at the higher rate.