Blog Marco

Places to visit before the world gets too hot.

1. GREAT BARRIER REEF.
2. THE ALPS.
3. CARIBBEAN.
4. THE HIMALAYAS.
5. SOUTHERN SPAIN.
6. KENYA.
7. TUVALU.
8. TROPICAL NORTH QUEENSLAND.
9. MALDIVES
10. HUDSON BAY, CANADA

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"Pod CityGuides combine the world class content of Wcities with the functionality and portability of the world's most popular device: the iPod." Check it out here. Looks like they've got guides to 300 cities worldwide!

I was actually thinking of going to visit US for a weekend at the start of June, but I figured that I would be giving up a total of 4 days + jet lag... and given that university exams aren't too far away, I gave that plan a flick. It's been awhile since I went to the Big Ol' US of A. I went there a year after 911 - in 2002. Spent a month there. I found these links about the passport and visa requirements for going to the USA. If you're a tourist or going there for business and you're an Australian passport holder you can simply turn up without a visa. But if you're planning to work there or stay longer - you're required to find the specific visa for your case. Qantas - "Before you fly", The Australian ePassport and the USA visa waiver program.

Interesting article about Aussies working in Britain: Where the bloody hell are they? I wonder if the article topic was just a coincidence as ABC just showed a documentary series in place of "Foreign Correspondent" called "Under Another Sun". The documentary piece was just illustrating a picture of Aussies living and working overseas - the two episodes I managed to catch were the episodes based around Aussies in Shanghai and New York. It was an interesting series to watch, to see what other people do with their lives, perhaps inspirational. The underlying common thread with all the people interviewed was that when they moved overseas - most of them moved onto bigger and better things, with more opportunities being opened to them.

No, this is not a map of fictional "Law and Order" homicides - these locations are the real thing. Have a look at this Google map from New York Times. This Google map plots out the locations of homicides in New York City. And maybe after that you can take a break at one of New York City's "Quiet Places.

I found this article interesting. It suggested alternative areas/places to visit other than the usual places to visit in New York City. Here are some of the recommendations:

Wave Hill
Wave Hill is a peaceful public garden and cultural centre overlooking the Hudson River. Built as a country home in 1843, Wave Hill had various owners and received distinguished guests (including Charles Darwin, Mark Twain and the Queen Mother) until being handed over to the City of New York in 1960.

Wave Hill, West 249th Street and Independence Avenue, Bronx; phone (718) 549 3200, http://www.wavehill.org

NOGUCHI MUSEUM
Noguchi's gallery compound wraps itself around the tranquil Japanese-style gravelled garden, sheltered from the outside world by high walls. Most of the artwork is inside displayed in a series of airy galleries. Noguchi's output was prolific and incredibly varied - his sculptural pieces dominate but the museum also features his furniture, models, videos of public installations and a documentary about the artist, who died in 1988.

Noguchi Museum, 32-37 Vernon Boulevard, Long Island City; (718) 204 7088, http://www.noguchi.org.

GREEN-WOOD CEMETERY

If you haven't seen the advertisement yet download it from here (3.64mbs). If you live in Australia, and if you've seen the news as of late, this advertising campaign has been tracked by the media for a few weeks already. After all, we're the one's (the taxpayers) paying for the bloody campaign to bring tourists to our shores. So whats the big fuss about the campaign? Well, the Brits advertising board for TV banned it on the grounds of a questionable word "bloody". The advertisement itself finished off with the line, "So where the bloody hell are you?" Spoken by the hot blonde chick in a bikini on a lovely beach somewhere in Australia. (Presumably).

Well if you read between the lines in this SMH report Sydney is a little bit more expensive than NYC. According to the article, The Economist magazine conducted a survey using NYC as the index city at 100. Sydney's rating was 108, 8 points above NYC, indicating that our city is slightly more expensive to live in compared to NYC. Melbourne is rated at 106, Brisbane 96, Perth 95 and Adelaide 91.

Caught yet another episode of Pilot Guides. In this episode they basically edited together a compilation of a numerous number of trips they have made over the years that come under the banner of "empires".

They went through:
Khmer - Ankor and Ankor Wat
Mayan - Teotichuan
Aztecs
Incas
Roman - from Hadrian's wall to Rome and the Colosseum, Pompeii
Greek - Acropolis
Egyptian Pyramids
Those Easter Island head stones
Muslim Temples - Even one made out of mud (Forgot where)
Christian Centres - The one in Ethiopia made out of Stone
China - Xian Terracotta Soldiers

I was watching "Million Dollar Machines" on ABC which just finished just now. The theme was "Power Boats" and it went through the genres of traditional, sporting and modern power boats. What really took my breath away was the 118 WallyPower, which is valued at $24 million dollars.

This Mediterranean based power boat is the crème de la crème of all power boats. It could be described as a narrow, angular, black-glass-housed superluxury go-fast is 118 feet long, looks like a stealth fighter that missed the runway, and is squirted to a top speed of nearly 70 mph by a total of 16,800 gas-turbine horsepower.

The externat design of WallyPower is awesome. Glass windows - tinted - 360 degrees all around the boat, full dining table, bed(s) and a kitchen.

The Monaco-based company Wally Yachts (named after a Hanna-Barbera cartoon character, Wally Gator, which is a little like Boeing naming itself Snoopy Group) has, since 1993, been a high-tech-cruising-boat innovator. Its huge, all-composite sailboats, 60 to over 100 feet long, are prized for their computerized, hydraulically trimmed simplicity of operation, particularly when compared to boats that are rat's nests of lines and winches and require large crews. A typical 80-foot Wally can be sailed solo.

Pilot guides reporter: Ian Wright
Viking Land, Most of the west coast of Scandinavia, Only independent for the last 100 years.

Another Interesting trip... probably go for the views.

Itenerary:
Stavanger (Fjords) - Bergen (University Town) - Voss “Extreme Sports Mecca” - Stryn (summer Skiing Village) - Trondheim - Bodo - Tromso - Kautokeino - Tromso to Island of Spitzbergen (Longyearbyen) the wilderness

“Land of the blue sky”
Home of Genghis Khan and Dinosaurs
Reporter: Ian Wright
A free democratic state in 1991 after being colonised by both Russia and china
Mongolia only 2.3million people

Seems like an interesting backpacker's trip - it would be really roughing it in parts of this tour.

Itinerary
- Beijing – train
- Ulaan Baatar (UB) means Red Hero
- Karakorun – Ancient capital from which Genghis Khan ruled his empire
- Across the Gobi desert to Bulgan
- The Sandy foothills of Jarangiya Els
- Dalanzadgad
- And back to UB

Cheapest way to get to Mongolia is to go to Beijing China and catch a train – the trans Mongolian Express.

The ABC are currently playing reruns of Pilot Guides on Monday afternoons at 1pm. One of the recent shows was on South Korea. While I was watching I was left with the impression that there isn’t much to see in Korea and it is very hard for tourists to get around. And this is coming from a seasoned traveler who I know, since watching the show has basically traveled across many countries and in the most remote places like Lapland in Norway and the Gobi desert Mongolia. I guess South Korea is a lower priority destination unless you are desperate to checkout their mountains or the DeMilitarised Zone (DMZ).

Flight Plan:
1. Seoul
2. Day trip to DMZ demilitarized zone
3. Jinbu mountains
4. Anding – Traditional village
5. Busan – Russian town
6. Cheji

This post details places where the reporter visited in this episode of Pilot Guides. Places to visit in Western Canada in July:

• West Edmonton Mall (Alberta) - A big shopping mall with everything - a theme park, theme hotels, swimming pools, shops...
• Prince Albert national Park - canoeing in the lakes (Sasketchewan)
• Calgary - Stampede (this is where the reporter tried delicacies called "prarie Oysters" which are "bulls balls"
• From Calgary to Lake Louise to Jasper (Hot Springs) + Grizzly Bears - drive
• Train - The Canadian - Jasper to vancouver - take the dome car and use a rail pass (bunk beds)
• Rent a boat in Vancouver - cruise the harbour
• Whistler - MTB - plane