Rottnest Island lies 19km off the west coast from Fremantle, Western Australia. It’s more affectionately known as ‘Rotto’ by the locals and is a favourite destination for day trips. The island is 11km long and roughly 4.5km wide and much of it is sand! A popular activity on Rotto includes hiring a bike and that’s just what I did when I visited. I grabbed myself a bike, had my day pack filled with water and a picnic, and took off.
Riding around Rotto with the warm spring sun on your back is just heavenly. Stopping at the small island bays to laze in the sun. There’s also opportunities to go boating, fishing, diving and snorkeling. The waters off Rotto have some of the world’s most southerly coral. You also can’t go to Rotto without spotting the quokkas or rather dodging them when on a bike!
Castaway Island is a small island to the west of Viti Levu, the main island of Fiji. It forms part of the Mamanuca Group of islands. The island’s area covers 170 acres and is largely made up of inhabitants who are staff of the one and only resort on the island. It’s known traditionally by the Fijians as “Qalito”.
I was fortunate to have a little holiday there some time ago. It was a Fijian holiday with extremes! Five days was spent on Castaway Island in a five star resort with adults only, followed by 5 days backpacking along the Coral Coast and staying in either Youth Hostels or cheap holiday houses! It was a lot of fun and a great way to mix with the locals.
Castaway Island was beautiful. Surrounded with white sandy beaches, pristine warm waters of the South Pacific and jungle like vegetation covering the hilly island. It was possible to walk around the island in a couple of hours. In doing so, I spied a water snake slithering across the top of the nearby beach waters. I didn’t take a dip!
Travel Photo of the Week: Contemporary Architecture and Fine Food at the Olinda Tea House
The Olinda Tea House is one of my favourite nearby award winning tea houses and restaurants. It’s probably no more than 20 minutes away! It’s not long been opened (landscaping is still underway) and the contemporary architecture, combined with its layout and building products, make it an environmentally sustainable venue. It brings the beautiful outdoors of the Dandenong Ranges, indoors!
If you’re ever in the area to enjoy the attractions of the Dandenong Ranges, you must include stopping here for lunch or a cuppa.
Tansen is not only a medieval hill town but it represents a typical traditional Nepalese town. It’s located in the Palpa district and became an important trade route between India and Tibet (now occupied by China). Newari traders and artisans famous for their metal and dhaka (cloth) industry would stop in Tansen’s market centre to sell their goods. Tansen was also submitted to the UNESCO Tentative List during 2008.
Tansen is situated at an altitude of 1372 meters overlooking the Kali Gandaki River and surrounded by hills and mountains of the Himalayan region. The town itself is too steep for cars and made up of narrow, winding lanes which adds to its charm.
The Traveler IQ challenge ranks geographic knowledge of cities such as: Punta Cana, Willemstad or Columbia by comparing results against 5,473,834 other travelers.
Rottnest Island lies 19km off the west coast from Fremantle, Western Australia. It’s more affectionately known as ‘Rotto’ by the locals and is a favourite destination for day trips. The island is 11km long and roughly 4.5km wide and much of it is sand! A popular activity on Rotto includes hiring a bike and that’s just what I did when I visited. I grabbed myself a bike, had my day pack filled with water and a picnic, and took off.
Tansen is not only a medieval hill town but it represents a typical traditional Nepalese town. It’s located in the Palpa district and became an important trade route between India and Tibet (now occupied by China). Newari traders and artisans famous for their metal and dhaka (cloth) industry would stop in Tansen’s market centre to sell their goods. Tansen was also submitted to the UNESCO Tentative List during 2008.
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