Two Floridians win Tasmania leg of travel contest

Two American girls from Florida are about to find themselves pretty far from home. Dara Simkin and Catherine Fleming won the Tasmania leg of the WorldNomads.com Van-Tastic Adventure. This is the first time an American team has won the Australia contest. On December 19, 2009, they’ll fire up the engine and start to drive through Tasmania for six weeks. On January 30, 2010, they’ll arrive in Melbourne, having completed the fourth of seven legs. The seven-part journey begins in Queensland and consists of 10,000 miles of driving in a van named Geoff.

During their journey, Dara and Catherine will report on their experiences kayaking on the Freycinet Peninsula, mountain biking Mt. Wellington and walking through Cradle Moutain. You can keep track of their progress on YouTube or on the Van-Tastic Adventures website.

But, watching might not be enough for some people … there are still three legs open, so you may want to put your application video together.

Winning an island: Even a 4-year-old can do it

Imagine this. Instead of the grand prize being a trip to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, the winner of a national lottery gets an entire island. That’s what happened to one four-year-old boy. This small boy landed a small island in small country–Taiwan.

The island in Pengu County isn’t his forever, but for the next five months he can go there as much as he wants. The great thing is, he gets to take seven family members with him. That’s good because I’m thinking that without family along, a four-year-old might have a bit of a rough time making use of an island. It would make for an interesting Disney flick, though.

Lest you think that this small boy and his family will be stuck sitting on the beach looking for shade, this island comes equipped with running water, electricity and a cabin. Considering that Taiwan gets mighty humid and hot in the summer, this island get-a-way is quite the sweet deal.

Although this island is off limits to visitors other than that small boy and his family, Pengu, off the west coast of Taiwan does have 89 others. The scenery, culture, and things to do are worthy of a trip. Here’s a link to a page of what you’ll find if you make the journey. Straight off, I’m noticing the seafood.

Thanks to Jaunted for the heads up on this lovely island tale. The photo by Hairworm is of Jibay Island, another of Pengu’s gems.