Posts Tagged ‘Paradise’

An Australian Island Paradise Called Kangaroo Island

Kangaroo Island has been described as one of earth’s last unspoilt island refuges, and with very good reason. This idyllic island located off the coast of South Australian is an idyllic tour destination for those seeking sun, surf, and everything that goes with them, including swimming, fishing, sailing and scuba-diving. Islands are almost always special places … isolation, solitude, the ocean … just think of places like the West Indies, Hawaii, the Maldives, all of which have unique characteristics and special natural environments that have evolved through thousands of years of isolation. Australia ‘s Kangaroo Island is no exception.

Kangaroo Island is about seven times the size of Singapore and around 155 kilometres in length, with the town of Kingscote being the island’s capital and main settlement. Wildlife is abundant on the island, where koalas laze in the gum trees and seals laze on the beach. In addition, kangaroos, wallabies, echidnas, platypi and goannas all thrive on the island.

A wide range of tours are available on Kangaroo Island, enabling you to relax while someone else does the driving. In addition, guides can provide a great deal of information about Kangaroo Island on the way. Both coach tours and four-wheel drive tours are available, with most tours collecting passengers from their accommodation, the airport or the ferry terminal. Bike riding and hiking are also possible for those with the energy, but beware that Kangaroo Island is large and the necessary level of  fitness is required for these options.

Large luxury vehicle and passenger ferries operate between Cape Jervis on the South Australian coast and Penneshaw on Kangaroo Island (travelling time 45 minutes). There are four departures daily, with extra services at peak times. Bus connections are available to/from Adelaide to Cape Jervis, and to/from Penneshaw to American River and Kingscote on the island. Regional Express operates a 30-minute air service from Adelaide to Kingscote Airport, located 13km from Kingscote.

Because of its relative isolation, Kangaroo Island has experienced much less impact from  European settlement than than the South Australian mainland. Half the bushland on Kangaroo Island remains untouched since the time of British navigator Matthew Flinders named the island in 1802, and more than a third of the Island has National Park or Conservation Park status. This pristine bushland supports a rich wildlife population of wildlife and makes Kangaroo Island on of the best places in Australia to see wildlife in its natural environment.

Kangaroo Island was separated from mainland Australia about 10,000 years ago. In that time, some species have evolved differently from their mainland counterparts. This is evident for example in the Kangaroo Island Kangaroo (a subspecies of the Western Grey Kangaroo common in south-eastern Australia) which is today smaller, darker and has longer fur than its mainland counterpart. The now endangered Glossy Black Cockatoo is also a unique Kangaroo Island sub-species, as is the small marsupial carnivore the Sooty Dunnart.

Similarly, King Island’s plants have evolved in isolation to the point where at least 45 species are endemic (found only on Kangaroo Island) including several eucalypts. The total absence of feral creatures such as foxes and rabbits helps ensures the integrity Kangaroo Island’s bushland ecosystems.

In recognition of Kangaroo Island’s unique plant and wildlife species (some of which are either threatened or unique to the island), National and Conservation parks were declared across the island very early in the history of its European settlement. Kangaroo Island’s National Parks provide access to spectacular coastline scenery, unique geological formations, fascinating history and abundant wildlife. There are four major parks: Flinders Chase National Park (walking trails and spectacular rock formations), Kelly Hill Conservation Park (limestone caves and hiking), Seal Bay Conservation Park (Australia’s largest accessible colony of sea lions) and Cape Willoughby Conservation Park (first lighthouse in South Australia).

Explore the White, Sandy Beaches of Paradise in Captivating Maldives

Set on the crystal clear waters of the Indian Ocean lies the archipelago of islands that is often compared to paradise that is only possible in literature. A collective of nearly 1200 islands surrounded by pristine beaches, it is no surprise that the country is one of the globe’s premier beach holiday destinations. Pure, unspoilt and exotic to the core, the tropical islands that make up the island nation of Maldives is a treasure trove for beach lovers with luxurious beach resorts located in nearly all of the islets.

If one simply wants to laze around in the sun, soaking in the glorious atmosphere islands like Cocoa Island and Kuda Bandos Island are among the finest although almost all of the islands are flanked by idyllic beaches perfect for sunbathing. Being a country of 26 atolls with over a thousand islands, the population of Maldives only inhabit 200 of these breathtaking paradises, leaving innumerable uninhabited islands for the use of tourists and beach lovers worldwide.  One such locale is Veligandu Island which has been tipped to have one of the finest beaches in all of Maldives. With an 80 meter beachfront covered in golden tinged sand, the island also comes complete with a stunning reef full of vibrant fish varieties. Swimming in the lagoon and snorkeling across the inner reef are popular activities here while a variety of beachfront activities such as diving are on offer in the islet  which is also an ideal venue for tanning.

Sun Island or Nalaguraidhoo is also among the nation’s best beaches as this isle comes with a brilliant lagoon within swimming distance of the barrier reef. Brimming with colorful fish, coral and underwater life, this island is ideal for snorkeling and canoeing enthusiasts although the grand reef is visible from the island’s beachfront as well. Just 74km from Male, the beaches of Nika Island are also worth exploring as the venue is a hub for windsurfing, canoeing, and snorkeling, sunset fishing activities. Located on a grand lagoon, this island resort is only second to The Banyan Tree Island where sun soaked beaches are the highlight in an itinerary that include catamaran sailing, water-skiing, scuba diving, deep sea fishing and night-fishing. Other captivating beaches include Kanifinolhu Island and Lohifushi where avid surfers are likely to be found engaged in their favorite past time.

For an unforgettable time in Maldives, depend on the John Keells Hotels Group to provide premier accommodation with contemporary amenities and facilities. With a myriad of luxury Maldives hotels to its name, the hotel chain provides a host of Maldives travel packages to suit your budget.

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Live the dream on the island paradise of Bali

As the fourth most populous country in the world, Indonesia is a behemoth of a country and one that is often overlooked as a holiday destination hotspot â?? except, of course, for those in the know.

With 206 million people spread across almost 18,000 islands, there is a great degree of diversity throughout the country and this is perhaps best exemplified with the tiny island of Bali, which is one of Indonesiaâ??s 33 provinces.

Although Indonesia has the worldâ??s largest population of Muslims, Bali goes against the grain by being a largely Hindu region, though they coexist peacefully with the 7% of the islandâ??s population that follow Islam.

Bali is the largest tourist destination in the whole of Indonesia and on arrival at Denpasar Airport itâ??s easy to see why. While many of the islandâ??s visitors head straight for the hedonistic heartbeat in the town of Kuta, for those seeking a more tranquil time, Bali is unparalleled in the whole of Asia and perhaps further afield for relaxation opportunities.

So rule number one on any cultural visit to Bali should be to avoid Kuta â?? though itâ??s perhaps pencilling in a night there at the very end if you fancy a little party action. So where to start in this tiny island paradise?

Well, first thing to remember is that the island is very small and itâ??s easy to drive around. Itâ??s also very cheap for those earning in pounds or Euros, meaning you can hire a taxi for a whole day to take you around the main sights. First thingâ??s first though: on arrival at Denpasar, make a beeline straight for Sanur which is a 30 minute drive from the airport.

A couple of nights in this quiet little beach resort village will help you recover from your flight, ready to take on some of the islandâ??s splendid sights. Of course, whilst staying in Sanur, itâ??s probably worth getting up early one of the mornings to catch the spectacular sunrise.

Next, head up through the middle of the island to Ubud, which is the islandâ??s cultural heartbeat, with fine art, dance and music in abundance. It also has ancient temples, palaces and perhaps the regionâ??s biggest draw, the Ubud Monkey Forest, which is a sacred nature reserve that his home to â?? yes, you guessed it â?? more than 300 Macaque monkeys.

Then, head up to the Besakih Temple, which is the biggest and holiest of all the temples on the island. Known as â??The Mother Temple of Baliâ??, it is over a thousand years old and is set in a stunning mountainside location just a short drive from Ubud.

For more coastal tranquillity, head to the north coast of the island to the Lovina Beach area, which contains a cluster of small villages and is a most stunning place to unwind after sampling the sights of Bali.

Bali holidays will suit people of all inclinations. Beach lovers, mountain hikers, culture vultures and party animals are all catered for on this tiny Indonesian island paradiseâ?¦so love it and live the dream!

Top Philippine Destination and Paradise Spots

Explore Paradise Philippines. Take a peek at Filipino’s culture and history as mirrored in century-old churches, ancient forts and modern museums. Paradise Philippines have the top of nature’s paradise pictured thru white-sand beaches and three-layered virgin forests.

Paradise Philippines is blessed with an extensive coastline, ringed with unspoiled beaches and first-class resort facilities. Paradise Philippines’ deep-blue, crystal-clear waters offers about 40,000 square kilometers of coastal reefs teeming with a variety of marine life.
Top Philippine Destination and Paradise Spots

Paradise Philippines is endowed amid a tropical climate offering perfect paradise treat to enjoy the sunlight. Lying in Southeast Asia and surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Paradise Philippines boasts of unsullied beaches, spectacular sunsets, luxuriant pastoral lands, cool mountain weather, brilliant man-made paradise resorts, and dazzling 7,000+ islands.

Paradise Philippines boasts of one or two of the best beaches and scuba diving waters in the world. Witness the vast expanse of nature’s paradise Philippines’ splendor underneath the spell of cool paradise Philippines mountain breeze.

Here are some featured destinations and paradise regions that is living proof of Paradise Philippines reputation of being referred to as Paradise Philippines.

Alona Beach, Paradise Philippines

Panglao Island, Bohol (May 6, 2007) – The Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano has inaugurated the first age of a P600-million upscale resort complex that is riding on the tourism boom in this province. Durano said, referring to the 16-hectare Eskaya Beach Resort & Spa, which is making 70 luxurious villas catering to the rich Filipino tourists and visitors from Europe, the United States, Australia, Japan and Korea.

Donsol, Whale Shark Capital, Paradise Philippines

Once a sleepy coastal village located at the northwestern tip of Sorsogon province, this town now eyes to be a first-class municipality, thanks to giant sea creatures that are now attracting hordes of foreign and local tourists who infuse millions of pesos to the local economy.

Boracay Paradise, Paradise Philippines

Widely known as one of the best swimming destinations in the world, Boracay is blessed with unsullied fine talcum powder-sand beaches. Its tranquil crystal simple waters are best for swimming, sailing, fishing and sunbathing. Boracay in addition boasts of sapphire seas and spectacular sunsets. Countless hidden coves dot the island and tall coconut trees line up along the beaches. Boracay lies at the northwest tip of Panay, in the west Visayas region, off the Sibuyan Sea.

Captivating Guimaras, Paradise Philippines

Nueva Valencia, Guimaras – An Italian couple on a two-month holiday in the Philippines chose to include the present paradise in this itinerary and stayed at the Raymen Beach Resort in December 2006, unperturbed by to know about the oil spill that brought the island province to world attention in August of the same year. “We are just here to see good beaches,” said the Boldo couple, who are just among the hundreds of intercontinental guests who kept coming to Guimaras even in the aftermath of the infamous oil spill.

Wonderful Palawan, Paradise Philippines

The exotic beauty of Palawan remains undefiled. Branded as the country’s survive frontier, Palawan is a sanctuary to an amazing variety of exotic flora and fauna which are found nowhere else. With more as opposed to a thousand islands and islets, Palawan boasts of white-sand beaches, scenic rock formations, underwater rivers and magnificent caves. Palawan is additionally structure to Tubbataha Reef, the only nationwide marine park that made it to the World Heritage List and whose grandeur is comparable to the Great Barrier Reef of Australia.

Banaue Rice Terraces, Paradise Philippines

Traversing the rugged terrains of Cordillera highlands in a duration of one week is an adventure in itself and could be an immense learning experience for someone who has the guts to be on the look down to the depths of mountain cliffs to get a good view of the rice terraces. With tall rice terraces at the backdrop and cool breeze shuttling between mountain peaks, a journey across the Cordillera heap ranges exposes one to an atmosphere strangely different from the daily offering of Manila and its suburbs.

Amazing Coron, Paradise Philippines

Coron, a town in the Busuanga Island in Northern Palawan, can charm much the most insensitive amongst men. Its natural beauty can only be described as seductive, giving first-time visitors and repeaters alike a sense of wonder so is hard to shake off.

Cebu City, Paradise Philippines

Cebu City drew 403,326 worldwide visitors in 2005, making the “queen city of the south” the top provincial destination of worldwide travelers. Data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) also showed such a Cebu City attracted 1,813 distant Filipinos and 712,938 domestic travelers.

Pagudpud, Paradise Philippines

If Aklan has Boracay, Ilocos has Pagudpud, its northernmost town bordering the South China Sea. The coastal town of Pagudpud is the perfect setting for panoramic movies and photoshoot for travel magazines cover. The town’s main attractions are Saud Beach, famous for its fine white sand stretching for hundreds of meters and Maira-Ira Point, which hides a secluded beach called Blue Lagoon. Other breathtaking landscapes in Pagudpud include Bantay Abot-abot, a natural sculpture carved by the wind and sea, the Mabogabog Falls and the Patapat viaduct that treats motorists to a scenic view of red lushes and green waters of South China Sea.

Bohol, Paradise Philippines

Bohol is one of the loveliest islands in southern Philippines. It is situated at the heart of Visayas and with coastline skimmed by gentle coves and white-sand beaches. Many highways snake along sparkling beaches or leafy rivers where one can stop at any point and jump in. With its rolling hills and plateaus, crystal springs and beaches, the province of Bohol is a picturesque province replete amidst ancestral structures and centuries-old churches.

California Delta is Water Recreation Paradise

If you’ve ever driven southbound through California’s Central Valley, you probably have been surprised to see an ocean-going freighter making its way into Stockton.

Yet ships do call on Stockton – and have for decades – as they make their way to the state’s interior through an intricate set of waterways sometimes called the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta or the Sacramento Delta, or just the California Delta. The point is it’s a delta not unlike what you see in the Deep South and, in fact, there are some surprising connections between Louisiana and the California Delta. Anyone who has visited Isleton for its famous Crawdad Festival can testify to that.

It’s also eerily similar to the rural roads and towns near New Orleans where levees keep the river from flooding the countryside. In this case it’s not the Mississippi that you worry about but the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers that creates a water system carrying 47 percent of California’s water runoff. Most of the land of the inner Delta is under sea level, generally between 21 and three feet below.

Lots of water means lots of water recreation for parched residents of the San Joauin Valley, who enjoy boating in this area and visiting the interesting small towns throughout the Delta.

The Delta region is comprised of 738,000 acres in six counties, so you could seemingly wander around in there for years without finding a way out. We recall one time navigating the Delta on houseboat where our navigation charts were the only way to ensure we would ever be heard from again.

But that, of course, is the appeal of the California Delta. Traveling to the Delta is a fast trip from the San Francisco Bay area. After all, one of the Delta’s largest cities, Antioch, is comprised largely of people who live in the Delta region and commute daily to San Francisco. From there you just cross a bridge and all of a sudden you’re driving on lonely two-lane roads skirting the canals and levees, turning every which way until, voila, there’s another little town to explore and check off your list.

On our most recent trip to the Delta we decided we’d spend the night in some rather unusual “waterfront” accommodations: a 40-foot Bluewater yacht with its own dock, located at the confluence of Georgiana Slough and the Mokelumne River. The Dockside Boatel has an Isleton address, but this is one of the places you’ll want to call for directions. The owner will be happy to give them to you and will be there to greet you because she lives in a house just a few yards onshore from the dock.

This was a great base of operations for forays into the Delta region and an excellent choice if you love being dockside and enjoy the sounds and slight wave action of the water. We had the dock to ourselves and there are two chairs on the dock perfect for fishing, reading the paper, watching the sunset or just overall taking in the sights and sounds of the Delta tributaries.

A 40-foot boat is a good-sized boat and a chance for non-boaters to sample what it would be like to have a large boat for regular getaways. You’re not going to drive this boat anywhere because it’s being rented as a floating bed-and-breakfast inn, but it’s no more costly than staying in a room at someone’s home. The boat has a parlor area, a galley (kitchen), a stateroom with two beds down below, a head (bathroom), and plenty of space out on the aft deck for sitting. (Special note to landlubbers: as boaters know, heads can be a little temperamental and this one is no exception).

Breakfast is delivered to your door at whatever time you prefer, and ours was a well-prepared hearty combination of French toast, sausage, eggs and two kinds of juices. We were impressed with the quantity of food for what we considered a nominal nightly rental rate. Lower priced B and B’s are more apt to give you a cinnamon roll and send you on your way.

While there are several small towns within easy driving distance, we especially enjoyed Isleton, where you do start to get the connection with Louisiana. We’re told that Louisiana residents actually do come here to live and they seem to bring some of that Cajun spice right along with them. Check out the crawdads served at Isleton Joe’s or Ernie’s or, better yet, plan your trip for the Crawdad Festival each June. While you can catch crawdads in the Delta, thousands of crawdads are shipped in from Louisiana — pre-spiced — for the festival.

We drove many backroads in the Delta where we found numerous marinas, each with a restaurant and some variation of waterfront dining. There were state parks where it was easy to pull off and find a canal-front location to have a picnic. There were draw bridges that were great for photos. And t was fun to see the many variations of boats plying the inland waterways during our visit, including a 19th Century sailing ship that was offering rides from the Antioch Marina.

If you drive along Highway 60, you’ll encounter several different towns – Isleton, Rio Vista, Locke, Walnut Grove and Ryde – which will each give you a taste of life in the Delta region and of the history that created this unusual destination. Check out the restored Ryde Hotel, just south of Walnut Grove where you can almost hear the voices of the party-goers who once traveled here by sternwheeler. Or stop by Rio Vista, considered the biggest town in these parts with 5,000 people. This is Bass-fishing Central where the annual Bass Festival attracts 35,000.

We couldn’t leave the Delta without getting on a boat – a boat that actually moves, that is – so we dropped by H2O to Go Boat Rentals, located between the cities of Rio Vista and Lodi and rented our own 17-foot runabout for a couple of hours. This was a late-model (almost new, in fact) bowrider that sped us to several locations along the Delta waterways giving us an entirely new perspective of the Delta. Sure enough, we came upon one of those ocean freighters that was headed into Stockton. It was time again to freak out a few more of those travelers headed down the interstate.

AT A GLANCE

WHERE: The California Delta is generally located between Sacramento and Stockton and then southwest to Antioch or northwest to Suisun Bay. It’s easily accessed from all of those areas.

WHAT: The California Delta is where the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers converge to take runoff waters from the Central Valley through a channel to San Francisco Bay and then out to the Pacific Ocean. There are actually a number of islands in this area, all created by natural and man-made channels. The earthen levees in the area have allowed extensive farming throughout the Delta and boating in the Delta area feels like you are driving your boat through farmlands.

WHEN: Boating is best in the summer months, but a temperate climate allows recreation and travel in this area any time of the year.

WHY: The Delta’s waterways are fun to explore and the variety of towns, marinas, parks, lodgings and unique down-home restaurants adds to the overall appeal.

HOW: For more information on the Delta, contact the California Delta Chambers and Visitors Bureau at www.californiadelta.org or phone (916) 777-4041. For more information on the Delta’s Dockside Boatel, go to www.deltadocksideboatel.com or phone 510-919-2197. To learn more about boat rentals on the Delta, go to www.h20rents.com or phone 209-810-6755.