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

Kiribati: A Disappearing Nation?

by Willy Volk on

Ever since I read J. Maarten Troost’s hilarious book, The Sex Lives of Cannibals, I’ve wanted to visit the island nation in which the story takes place: Kiribati. It appears that there’s not a whole lot to do there — except go diving and savor a culture fairly different from my own — but that’s sort of the point.

Kiribati — a remote nation of 33 islands, 14 hours by plane from the nearest land mass — occupies roughly 2 million square miles. Most of that, of course, is Pacific Ocean. Recently, the government shocked the world when it created the world’s third largest marine park in the area. In some ways, setting aside so much area to a marine park may have been proactive. After all, it appears Kiribati is disappearing one inch at a time.

Thanks to global warming, sea levels are rising, slowly claiming the land that hundreds of thousands of people currently occupy. Anote Tong, the region’s president, expects Kiribati to be unlivable soon; unless something is done soon, he fears the entire nation will be gone — its people, its language, its culture — within 50 years. If you’re interested in learning more about Kiribati’s disappearing act, check out Bill Weir’s excellent video report of the island that’s slowly sinking. Pay no attention to the ironic commercial that precedes the video.

Guess I need to make my travel plans soon.

GADLING’S TAKE FIVE: Week of April 22

by Adrienne Wilson on

Time to catch up on some of what you may have missed over the week… Without delay let’s hop right to it!

5. Write for Wend:
Here is your chance to get your travel writing out there and into a new glossy. Don’t save all those adventure tales for the grandkids – write for Wend and share them with us all.

4. 24 Hours of Flickr:
This May 5th Flickr is calling all around the world to photograph their daily routine and submit one single great photo from the day for an event/project called 24 Hours of Flickr. While something like such has been done before, it is still awesome to participate in if you haven’t before and love the Flickr community.

3. Environmentalist Greats Tour:
Heal the world and make it a better place – Yes? Then why not head out on one of these mean-green-eco-machine type tours… Okay, they aren’t mean, but you get the picture.

2. Underwater Post Offices and Mailboxes Around the World:
I have a hard enough time finding a post office on land and I’m not one of the greatest swimmers, so going underwater to mail off a package isn’t quite my thing. For those who do love exploring the ocean fully clad in scuba gear and discovering new exotic creatures (like underwater mailboxes) please send me a little something when you’re down there. I’d appreciate it.

1. A Canadian In Beijing: Two-Wheeled Matrimony:
Ember doesn’t stop does she? In fact she recently found a bike to keep her going and going in the land where bicycles almost totally rule the road. See what’s happening in Beijing now that she has her first set of wheels.

Flying Manta Ray Video

by Erik Olsen on

OK, this is probably not what you were expecting. The video here has nothing to do with the graceful, broad-winged mantas we know and love from diving (notice the diving category is NOT selected).

Instead, what you will see here is yet another breath-takingly extreme sport from Oceania (I specify Oceania here because it seems a great many of these sports – i.e. Bungy Jumping, Zorbing — seem to come from both Australia and New Zealand). Anyhoodle, this video of a new flying behind a boat device is way cool. My guess is that no pilot’s license is required, but steel cojones are.

Jerusalem Syndrome: Holy Folks

by Jamie Rhein on

Have you ever heard of the Jerusalem Syndrome? I hadn’t until yesterday when I was driving from one point to another and heard part of a radio interview with a woman about a book she has written. I can’t remember her name, or the name of the book-it was dark, I was in a hurry and didn’t have time to stop and write her name down, but here’s the scoop. I found it facinating.

Some people, not a lot, just some, go to Jerusalem on a vacation and end up thinking they are Jesus, or John the Baptist or the Virgin Mary. To be a true sufferer of the Jesus Syndrome you need to have had all your mental faculties in order before you forgot you were just little old you.

The syndrome, just in case you’re in Jerusalem and are getting a bit worried, or you are headed to the holy land, manifests this way.

  • First you start feeling anxious and nervous
  • You start visiting holy sights
  • Before you visit holy sights you purify yourself, an elaborate process that involves shaving one’s heard, bathing, and putting on white.

Now, this syndrome is not clear cut in terms of what experts think about it—or when this syndrome was first discovered. I’ve found various articles written about it. Here’s two for you to check out. One is at The Savvy Traveler and the other is an article from a professor in Israel. If you do happen to go to Jerusalem, keep your eyes open. The Jerusalem Syndrome isn’t common, but people do say it happens.

Travel to Overcome Boredom?

by Erik Olsen on

Here’s one that might come as a no-brainer to folks like us…the travel-obsessed, that is. An Australian study recently revealed that people see travel as a good way to overcome boredom. The study, which surveyed more than 1700 Australians, found that most people want more out of life and 83 per cent are actually bored with their daily routine. Yes, I hear you, all join me in a chorus of “Duh!”. But if this is the case, then why do so few people seem to travel much? This was an Australian survey and the Aussies are known for taking extraordinarily long trips around the world (most likely because it is so costly to leave so you make the most of it when you do leave), but the scarcity of a vibrant travel bug in Americans is also a pronounced problem. Less than half of us have passports (though this is changing) and most of us get just two weeks off each year. That is criminal. It seems to me like we’d all be a lot happier and a lot less bored if we traveled more. Again, say it with me: Duh!