We asked any of you who attended a concert, a recital or any music or dance performance or stage production outside of the US in the last couple of years to tell us how you learned about it and how you obtained tickets. The responses this month, comprising part seven in this ongoing series, are about events attended in Australia.
10 days / 9 nights, departing Oct. 30 & Nov. 11, 2012, and Nov. 10, 2013. Hike from two to eight miles per day. Highlights: Start in Christchurch, South Island / limestone caves in Paparoa National Park / hangi (earth oven) feast / kayak into Okarito Lagoon to see white herons, black swans / hike to Rob Roy Glacier / Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre in Aoraki. Land, $2,395 (2012) or $2,895 (2013). No single accommodations. Wilderness Inquiry (Minneapolis, MN; 800 / 728-0719, www.wildernessinquiry.org).
The topic of the essay contest announced in the April issue was “My Mania is Tasmania.” From the entries submitted, ITN staff have chosen the winner. It is RAY FEILER of Cincinnati, Ohio, who will receive a 50-dollar gift certificate from Magellan’s Travel Supplies (800/962-4943). Mr. Feiler’s essay appears below.
Possibly as long as 40,000 to 60,000 years ago, Australia’s Aborigines arrived on that island continent from Southeast Asia via the islands of Indonesia. Eventually they occupied almost all parts of Australia, including southeastern Australia, where Sydney is now located. Known archaeological sites near Sydney date back at least 15,000 years. That’s four times older than the Egyptian pyramids, the oldest of which dates to about 2600 BC.
Walking the undulating paths of Te Kainga Marire, through an idyllic landscape of native New Zealand plants, it came as a bit of a jolt to peer through the foliage and see a next-door neighbor’s quite ordinary-looking backyard. In my wandering, I’d quite forgotten that I’d entered this “wild New Zealand” from its entrance on a neighborhood cul-de-sac, with the city of New Plymouth’s busy downtown but minutes away.
9-day / 8-night walking tour of NEW ZEALAND, Nov. 8-17, 2012, and March 7-16, 2013. Longest walking day, 6-7 hours; some steep tracks. Highlights: Ferry from Wellington to Picton / walk part of the Queen Charlotte Trail / Abel Tasman National Park / in Matukituki Valley, Rob Roy Glacier / Mount Aspiring National Park / Routeburn Track. Land, AUD7,595 (near $7,778). No single supp. Bill Peach Journeys (Alexandria, NSW, Australia; phone +61 2 9693 2233).
Tanks for the memories.... When 19th-century Europeans began developing Invercargill, South Island, New Zealand, they faced the problem of supplying water to the new settlement. The area around Invercargill is very flat, so they couldn’t rely on a gravity-fed system. The solution is the subject of the June 2012 photo: the Invercargill Water Tower.
Scoot through rainforest in Queensland’s Lamington National Park on an all-terrain Segway. Segway tours are open both to guests and day visitors at O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat (Lamington National Park Rd., via Canungra, Queensland 4275, Australia; phone +61 7 5502 4911 or, within Aus., 1800 688 722).
To ride a Segway, you must have closed shoes and weigh 100 to 265 pounds, with no heart or balance conditions, etc.
We asked any of you who attended a concert, a recital or any music or dance performance or stage production outside of the US in the last couple of years to tell us how you learned about it and how you obtained tickets. The responses this month, comprising part six in this ongoing series, are mostly about events in Croatia and Hungary.
Well before you travel somewhere, browse the Internet to learn what you can about upcoming events.
New Zealand offers the ultimate stress release: drive a tank over a car and crush it flat! Tanks for Everything (985 McLeans Island Rd., Christchurch, NZ; phone +64 [03] 359 1007) has a fleet of armored vehicles for people to drive and ride in: three tanks (Centurion, T-55AM2 and FV432), a Saracen armored personnel carrier, a Ferret armored “scout” car and a Jeep.