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

Taj Mahal From the Outside

by Jamie Rhein on

Another World Heritage Site that was rated in the National Geographic Traveler article that Erik Olsen mentioned in an earlier post is the Taj Mahal. If you ever get a chance, go. It is a truly stunning piece of architecture that the Indian government knows full well it needs to protect. Of course, there is the slew of folks who clamor to sell stuff to you from the time you hit the parking lot until you get inside, but it’s not the worst experience.

Here is a video from veras films shot outside the Taj Mahal. This is a glimpse of one of the most famous places in the world from a very different angle. The interviews with the kids and the music are wonderful touches.

World Heritage Sights Rated

by Erik Olsen on

My wife and I are planning our upcoming trip to Norway and we’re trying to decide whether it’s worth the effort to take a boat called the Coastal Steamer up to the Western Fjords…places with pretty much unpronounceable (and unspellable) names like Geirangerfjord and Naroyfjord (names, several letters of which, do not seem displayable here because they are, well, weird-looking letters). Well, there I was contemplating whether these places would be worth seeing, and I discover that they are both top scorers in the World Heritage Site rating piece over at National Geographic.

The whole World Heritage Site system is wonderful. Think of it as the original 1000 Things to Do Before You Die…even though there are only 833 of them currently. The process of giving places around the planet World Heritage status began back in 1973 when UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) was entrusted with administering the program in an effort to identify and protect places of “outstanding universal value.”

The list of sites ranges across a wide spectrum of both natural and man-made places from astonishing ruins like Angkor Wat to, well, as I pointed out here, the Norwegian fjords.

Anyway, these places are always worth pointing out and the nicely done ranking system here at Nat Geo is a helpful guide for anyone putting together their personal “life-lists”.

Renting an Island

by Neil Woodburn on

Having an entire island to yourself is a dream that very few people are able to enjoy; buying an island is prohibitively expensive, as is staying on a privately owned island. But, if ya got the dough, everything is possible.

If you fall under that elusive affluent demographic, Real Simple has put together a short list of the best “islands you can have to yourself.” Unfortunately, it is not online. But since the list is short and impressive, we will share it with you here:

Necker Island (British Virgin Islands). $40,000 a night, owned by Richard Branson.
Musha Cay (Bahamas) $24,750 a day, includes a 10,000-square-foot mansion.
Isla Kiniw (Curacao). $5,950 a week, just off the mainland.
Brandy Hill Island (Connecticut). $1,500 a week, only one acre and very rustic.
Dream Island (Moorea) $400-600 a night. Finally! One I might be able to afford.

The Human Flower Project

by Adrienne Wilson on

Reading the title above has probably triggered some of you to conjure scenes from the film Little Shop of Horrors or some other dynamic piece of cinema where flowers and plants are seen quite often like in Pane e Tulipani or even American Beauty. However, this is one for those who truly love smelling the bed of roses be it through film or real-life experiences. I’ll describe the site in short as they have nicely done it on their own: The Human Flower Project is an international group, photo album and discussion on how people live through flowers. Live through flowers?

The blog, which I stumbled upon for the first time is really an experience offering a perspective of life in countries as far as Cuba and Uganda and focusing on issues such as art, medicine, society, politics, religion and commerce through flowers. For instance, did you know that the state flower of Texas, the Texas bluebonnet was altered about 25 years ago to bloom in maroon and white, an idea that came about from obsessed Texas A&M folk? Wonder how life is affected by those working in Uganda’s flower biz or why the Ladies in White from Cuba demonstrate holding gladiolus? Whether these things ever ran across your mind or not I’d have to say the Human Flower Project is something definitely worth a glance. Check out shots from Vietnam, Colombia and France in their photo gallery.

More Persian New Year Fun

by Jamie Rhein on

One thing I like about knowing when New Year is celebrated in other countries is that it gives me an opportunity to extend renewal. Like fellow gadling blogger Adrienne Wilson detailed in her post yesterday on March 20, this is the time of the Persian New Year. On my calendar it’s listed as on March 21 and is called No Ruz as well. So, in case you’ve fallen short of your New Year’s resolutions and Chinese New Year also passed you by before you could kick yourself in gear to resolve to do better, consider this as one more chance. This is spring rejuvenation time where house cleaning and family gatherings coincide with the Spring Equinox. It’s the time to rejuvenate by getting rid of whatever is ailing whether it is a messy house or sickness. With the other Spring Equinox celebrations going on in the world with the purpose of renewal and rebirth, it would be great, wouldn’t it, if all this spring cleaning and rejuvenation translated to world peace?

Given that No Ruz falls smack in the middle of the week, here are two other No Ruz events I came across this coming Saturday in addition to the ones Adrienne’s excellent sleuthing discovered. One is sponsored by the Iranian Cultural Center of New Mexico at the University of New Mexico Ballroom in Albuquerque and the other is in Sunnyvale, California. Both have a real party atmosphere attached and from the sound of it, great food. If you have a large Persian community in your city, my guess is there’s a celebration somewhere and you are welcome. Here’s a history of Persia, thanks to Albuquerque’s Persian community.

My cousin’s wife is Iranian, and I can vouch for the food-and the fun. I don’t know when I’ve had so much fun at a wedding reception. Dancing on the tables hasn’t occurred at any other wedding I’ve been to that I can recall. I think I might call my cousin’s wife and say to her, ” No-Rooz-Pirooz ” Adrienne, thanks for the language tip.