Snow virgin? Here are 21 reasons why you should hit Thredbo this season.Even when you’re learning and falling over you will still be laughing. Once you get the hang of it and progress in skill level then there is nothing like the feeling of skiing and snowboarding free in the wind down a snow laden mountain.
1 Skiing and snowboarding is fun
Only a couple of hour’s drive north of San Francisco, the Napa Valley has reigned as among California’s most iconic wine regions since the mid 1970s. One of the best ways to explore it is the lesser known Silverado Wine Route. Located on the eastern side of the valley, the quiet, two lane country road snakes it way around towering oak trees, quintessential vineyards, boutique art galleries and even the odd Michelin starred restaurant.
While the vast majority of fliers are feeling the squeeze with tighter and tighter economy seats (we’re looking at you, American Airlines) and downright frightening customer-service disasters (United), we might well be witnessing the dawn of a new golden age of travel in the business-class section.
When those in the know – whether it be a chef or a renowned gourmand – plan a short break, it stands to reason that the journey will be centred on good food and wine. But it takes more than that to make an exceptional couple of days away from their own kitchens. Gaining new ideas and inspiration is key.
When the first Guardians of the Galaxy hit movie theatres in 2014 it took the world by surprise. Far from being just another mindless comic book franchise, its blend of irreverent characters, acerbic dialogue and kick-arse soundtrack ensured a loyal legion of film fans across the globe.
To tie in with the launch of the film’s sequel, Disneyland Anaheim has just unveiled its newest attraction, Guardians of the Galaxy-Mission: BREAKOUT!
European cities are all about charm and character – shimmering skylines are not really our style. North America do them pretty well – New York, LA, Toronto – and Asia has some beauties – think Singapore and Hong Kong – but Europe? Not so much.
There is one, however, and it’s poised – rather unexpectedly – to be the next hot destinations for travellers in search of a more adventurous city break.
It’s as though the land is drinking the ocean. The tide is receding so fast that water pours off the reef, splashing over the backs of turtles and the passing fin of a shark. In just a couple of hours, around 400 square kilometres of reef will be exposed.
Sir David Attenborough has called Montgomery Reef “one of the greatest natural wonders of the world”, and here, in a Zodiac in a channel that splits the reef, it’s like watching a submarine the size of a mini-continent surfacing from the Indian Ocean.
When the setting is the star of the movie, that’s a locale worth visiting. Turtle Island, a private luxury resort island in Fiji’s Yasawa chain of islands, is just such a place.
It is the location for one of the most recognised tropical island films, Blue Lagoon, released in 1980 and starring Brooke Shields, Christopher Atkins and the late great Leo McKern , and an imagined nirvana for the stressed and overwhelmed taken with the notion of a Robinson Crusoe life, away from care and woe.
As I zip, in fact, as I zipline through the canopy of a Phuket jungle an old ditty comes to mind, “He floats through the air with the greatest of ease, this daring young man on the flying trapeze.”
I’m neither young nor daring but am absolutely moving through the air with great ease, if not speed, flashing along a cable strung between two ancient ironwood trees. The apparatus that allows this – a pulley attached to both the cable and a harness I’m wearing – used to be called a “flying fox” but in recent times the adrenaline thrills industry has sexed-up its name to “zipline”.
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