Oceania

Travel through Oceania by country:

Australia, Indonesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu

Travel through Oceania by popular city:

Auckland, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, Wellington

Travel through Oceania by popular things to do:

Cook Islands, Sydney Opera House

Travel through Oceania with our writers:

In the Corner of the World, Work and Play in Queensland

Australian man nabbed at customs for smuggling live pigeons in his pants

by Jeffrey White on

Folks, file this one among the stranger tales of customs violations you’re likely to hear.

Australian customs officers recently stopped a 23-year-old man from Melbourne who was attempting to smuggle two live pigeons from Dubai into the country by strapping them to his legs.

Customs officers were already suspicious of the man’s bags — which they found to contain two bird eggs and several undeclared eggplants, according to reports — and when they pulled him aside they found that he was wearing special tights under his pants that concealed a live pigeon down each leg.

One wonders whether at a critical moment the helpless little things didn’t let out a last-ditch oorhh! to earn their deliverance.

What’s going to happen to this guy? A spokesperson for Australian Customs told local media that he is likely to face various smuggling and quarantine violations, which carry fines exceeding $100,000 and which could land him in jail for as many as 10 years — to say nothing of the fact that he is now officially pigeonholed as a complete moron.

12-Year-Old Climber Sets Sights on Seven Summits

by Kraig Becker on

The Seven Summits are the tallest mountains on each of the seven continents, and climbing them all is considered one of the premiere achievements for climbers and adventurers the world over. The concept originated with a man named Dick Bass who was the first to successfully gain this achievement back in 1985, and since then, dozens of other climbers have followed in his footsteps.

Currently, the youngest person to have climbed the Seven Summits is Samantha Larson, who accomplished the feat at the age of 18 when she topped out on Mt. Everest back in 2007. But there is another young climber looking to snatch that record, as 12-year-old Jordan Romero closes in on the mark.
Jordan, who was recently interviewed by Outside Online, caught the climbing bug when he reached the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa, at the age of 10. After that, he made it a goal to go after the remaining summits as well, and has now successfully reached the top of Elbrus (Europe), Aconcagua (South America), Denali (North America), and Kosciuszko (Australia). That leaves Mt. Vinson in Antarctica, and Everest in Asia, as the two remaining mountains in the traditional Seven Summits. This summer, Romero will climb a mountain called Carstensz Pyramid in Papua New Guinea. Carstensz is considered the tallest mountain in Oceania, often replacing Kosciusko as the seventh summit. Jordan’s covering all his bases and climbing both, making this a Seven Summits plus One.

If everything goes as planned, the young climber will be on Everest by the time he’s 16, and finishing off his quest. Jordan says that the most difficult challenge is actually fund raising, and he estimates he’ll need roughly $180,000 to complete the Seven Summits, the bulk of which will be used on Everest and Vinson. Good luck Jordan!

Survival at sea a hoax?

by Brenda Yun on

Ten days later, the two men from Myanmar who Scott reported were rescued from a floating refrigerator and supposedly survived 25 days at sea with little nourishment are back in the news, but this time because authorities are calling their survival story a hoax.

The men were on a Thai fishing boat off the northern coast of Australia, and it was deemed pointless to search for other survivors, as the waters and conditions in the area are sharky and stormy at best.


The latest doubts that the men’s story is true mainly derives from the implausibility that two men could survive that long floating in such terrible conditions with little nourishment. The two men claim they are the only survivors of a Thai fishing boat accident around Christmastime that killed 18 people. They said they survived on rainwater and bird vomit. If you’re already raising your eyebrows, you should, but the real skepticism should be that one of the young men seemed to be unaffected by this long journey at sea. He showed little evidence of sun exposure. In addition, the icebox showed no signs of saltwater damage even after enduring 25 days in the rough ocean.

The men have been transferred to mainland Australia, where they continue to be questioned about the validity of their story. Authorities now believe the men used the story to escape their native home of Myanmar and seek asylum. This has the makings of a Cuban Elian Gonzalez story, doesn’t it?

Either the men are lying or the skeptics are wrong, but either way, it’s still a pretty cool survival story not to be attempted again.

[via AFP and Australia’s MSN 9 News]

The lunar new year and first solar eclipse on the same day

by Brenda Yun on

January 26 comes with two huge events this year: the lunar new year (or Chinese New Year, for those of you lion dance and firework lovers) and the first solar eclipse of the year!

The lunar new year of the earth ox is the second zodiac of the cycle. It is the craziest time to travel to China this time of year, and unless you have a really important reason to be in Shanghai or Beijing or you really like loud noises and smoke, it may be best to avoid these crowded meccas this week.

America’s new President, Barack Obama, happens to be born in the year of the ox, so this year will be particularly special for the States. The general outlook this year is rather grim, however, as domestic trouble is ahead of us. According to the expert astrologers at Chiff.com, “The last time the earth Ox was seen as the ruling influence was January 29, 1949 – February 15, 1950. The world suffered a recession in late 1948 and early 1949. The world economy recovered during the year of the ox due to rational decisions and careful planning. By 1951, the recession was over. Many will be searching for a quick solution to the current economic crisis, but the ox favors a well planned, consistent path that will take more time but lay a foundation for long lasting results.”

To ring in the year of the ox, you are advised to fly a kite, make lots of noise, eat, and wear red.

As for the first solar eclipse of the year, residents and visitors near the Indian Ocean are in for a treat. Explains NASA, “An annular eclipse will be visible from a wide track that traverses the Indian Ocean and western Indonesia. A partial eclipse will be seen within the much larger path of the Moon’s penumbral shadow, which includes the southern third of Africa, Madagascar, Australia except Tasmania, southeast India, Southeast Asia and Indonesia.” This eclipse will transform the sun into a dark disc with a bright ring around its rim. It will also look like someone took a bite out of it.

The first total solar eclipse of the year, reports Gadling writer Kraig Becker, will not happen until July 22 across India, Nepal, Bhutan, and China.

Monday will be quite a day and, with all of the festivities around the world, it’s not a day to stay inside.

Photo of the Day (12.06.08)

by Grant Martin on

I booked a ticket to Australia a little while ago, and now that we’re in the new year, the reality of my journey is starting to hit. In the throes of planning our itinerary we considered a variety of destinations, including wine country, in the South of the island. Scenes like this, taken by colmdc in Barossa Valley make me even more certain that it’s a place that I want to visit. We’ll see where the winds take us.

Have any cool photos you’d like to share with the world? Add them to the Gadling Pool on Flickr, and it might be chosen as our Photo of the Day. Make sure you save them under Creative Commons though, otherwise we can’t use them!