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Can the sound of a temple bell call forth a mountain range? It would seem unlikely. But in the case of Korea's "holy of holies" Mount Kumgang (aka Kumgangsan, Geumgangsan National Park, or the Diamond Mountains), nothing appears to be impossible. |
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Cape York is one of the most enduring 4WD destinations in Australia. Roderick Eime jumps into a showroom condition VW Touareg for the ultimate road test to the top. |
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On a whirlwind tour of Shanxi province, Fiona Harper sits down to a Chinese banquet with a sting in the tail |
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A journey from Delhi to the ancient cities of Jaipur, Johdpur, Udaipur and Jalesmere in Rajasthan. Wide selection of images available. If you would like to purchase this story or similar, submit via the form. |
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Amateur aquanaut, Roderick Eime, packs his flippers and trunks for an underwater look at Australia's fabled Great Barrier Reef.
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Alaska's vibrant capital is fun in all seasons |
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Seeking the ultimate adrenaline rush in New Zealand's South Island |
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As Jessica Watson approaches the sailors Everest, Cape Horn, on her solo round the world record-breaking adventure, Fiona Harper chats with Jessica to find out what motivates this remarkable 16 year adventurer. |
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Today, the plains of Kenya are ideal hunting grounds for wildlife enthusiasts who do their shooting through the lens of a camera, rather than a barrel of a gun. |
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Long distance cruising onboard a yacht can be a leisurely, personally satisfying lifestyle. Until one runs aground on an unseen sandbar that is.
Join Fiona Harper on a yachting adventure that sees her 15m yacht aground in far northwest Australia. |
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Alice Springs, in Central Australia, combines cultural and adventure tourism in one exhilarating package. |
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Impatient tourist, Roderick Eime, learns the lore of the jungle - and that the jungle is a law unto itself. |
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Karen Halabi reports from an elephant sanctuary in the remote hills north of Chiang Mai, Thailand, where an Elephant Nature Park and the woman who runs it, are attracting international attention. |
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The Samburu of the Northern Rift Valley of Kenya are intriguing cousins of the better-known Masai of the south. |
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Towering above Arequipa, the recently active volcano Mt Misti, 5,822 metres (19,100 feet) high, looks strangely out of place. At the foot of the mountain, Arequipeños go about their daily lives in sub-tropical conditions, despite the devastation caused by the earthquake of early 2001. |
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Discover the story behind the oldest landscape on the planet |
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‘Going Troppo’ and where better than on an utterly remote desert island at the farthest extremity of the Arabian Peninsula? |
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A former leper colony now makes a most attractive getaway from Carnarvon, on Australia's mid-west coast, discovers Fiona Harper |
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The awesome seascapes of Western Australia's Buccaneer Archipelago |
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Forget the old Iron Curtain nasties; one of Europe's least-known countries is one of the most scenic and hospitable |
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The most luxurious way to see England’s picturesque Cotswolds region is from behind the wheel of a Morgan sports car. |
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Caloundra, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, is powering ahead |
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Try and describe the unique southern African metropolis of Cape Town without mentioning its imposing Table Mountain backdrop and it would be like describing an elephant without its trunk. |
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From Roman amphitheatre to Muslim Medina, ancient Carthage to Saharan salt lakes, Tunisia offers much more than sunshine and sand. |
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Nepal’s Chitwan National Park preserves a tract of lowland forest – tiger, rhinoceros and elephant country – far removed from the snow-capped Himalaya for which the landlocked nation is so well known. |
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"The world's southernmost city has the look of a frontier town. The architecture is eclectic, with buildings in progress, some half finished, and many roads pockmarked, obviously damaged by the severe weather. The warmer season, roughly from November to March, seems hardly long enough to catch up on all the jobs which accumulate during those colder months when, in the depth of winter, there are only seven hours of daylight each day." |
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Having sailed along the coast of Arnhem Land, traversing the Gulf of Carpentaria and into one of the most remote towns on the Australian coast, Fiona Harper hungrily anticipates a return to civilisation, dropping anchor at Seisia on Cape York, Queensland.
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The climb to Tiger’s Nest, in Bhutan, is breath-taking – literally. |
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There are some things you should do once in a lifetime. Well, that's what I was told when they suggested sleeping out on the ice in Antarctica. |
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Crocodiles can raise welts in more ways than one, at the Sepik River Crocodile Festival |
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Thanks to the actions of protesters a quarter of a century ago, we can now enjoy the pristine World Heritage forest of western Tasmania. Roderick Eime investigates this 'no dam' wonder. |
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The thylacine, the Tasmanian tiger, has been declared extinct: but many prefer to believe a few survive, and where else but deep in the forests of the Tarkine wilderness? |
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A cycling trip around Samoa's "big island", overnighting at some inexpensive and supremely relaxing beach resorts. |
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Cycling Tasmania's rugged west coast is a real challenge - in contrast to the gently rolling hills of the island's east coast |
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The visitor to Austria finds an unrivalled eye-feast along the shores of the Danube - and the Danube cycle path is one of the best ways to experience the River's ever-changing moods |
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Cunning dingoes roam Fraser Island, in southern Queensland, often getting just a little too close to visitors who long for a gentle wildlife encounter. Visitors are advised to keep a close watch on their belongings, particurlarly their passports. |
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Fiona Harper questions the wisdom of the old proverb 'it is better to travel than to arrive' after a coastal passage that ends in Melbourne's Docklands district. |
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As Fidel Castro fades from the Cuban stage, now is the best time to visit |
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From an obscure colony to a war zone patrolled by UN peacekeepers… it sounds like somewhere in Africa. But the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste lies almost at Asia's furthest extremity, one half of an island a short flight from Bali or from northern Australia. |
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Thomas E King journeys from the Thai island of Koh Samui, in the south of the country, to Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai in the far north-west |
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From the fiery brick-red of Marrakech to the lemon tints of Meknes, Morocco’s older cities seem to be colour-coded. |
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As Zimbabwe fades off the tourist stage, the new star on the southern Africa stage is Zambia. |
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This article details the amazing Fraser Island off the coast of Queensland and includes information on accommodation provided, and cuisine, things to do and see. |
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They say the best holidays are those with an element of romance. They also say that sometimes the best romances are those that end with the holiday, leaving nothing but happy memories. That's the kind of romance you get when you fall for sea lions, discovers Fiona Harper. |
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Kamchatka is the show-stopper of Russia's Far East, a 'wild west' frontier region |
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Over 25 years on from the war between Britain and Argentina that claimed nearly a thousand lives, the Falkland Islands town of Stanley - the world's smallest and most remote capital - is once again an important port. |
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Discover a do-it-yourself Fiji away from the big-name resorts... |
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4WD or kayak are the best means of transport in the rugged interior of Fiji's main island, Viti Levu |
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Get out of Taiwan's main cities and you'll encounter a nature-feast without peer |
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India's oldest and largest tiger reserve is the legacy of the last of the Great White Hunters |
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Four-wheel drive is the best way to tackle the rugged inland of Fiji |
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Offroad in Oman reveals a stunning landscape of rugged mountains, lush green valleys and tortuous rock formations |
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After civil strife, earthquake and tsunami, the Solomon Islands are on the rebound |
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Make a list of the most remote, isolated and fascinating places on the planet that you'd ever want to visit. If the Galápagos Islands are not on that list STOP READING NOW. |
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Hwange National Park is the largest and best gameviewing area in Zimbabwe and, some say, all of Africa. With roughly 15,000 sq km of protected parklands, it's around the size of Wales or Belgium. During a short stay here it is not impossible to see up to 50 different species of animal and bird life... |
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This article details the history and background of Lindeman Island as well as what is available on the island and includes information on accommodation provided, the food,and activities for all ages. |
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"Welcome to my home", said the beaming taxi driver at Harare airport in such warm, lilting tones that I should have realised the pull had already started. "To my home" I kept thinking on the drive into the Zimbabwean capital, not to Harare or even Zimbabwe, but "to my home". In all my years of travelling, no-one had ever said that to me before.
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When the vast island continent of Madagascar wrenched itself free from the mighty Gondwanaland tens of millions of years ago, it took with it a veritable Noah's Ark of plant and animal species. |
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Stories from Greenland by Glenn A. Baker |
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Yesterday we stalked one of India's last lions and her cubs; later that evening we joined in a garba, a neighbourhood carnival, joining in a Gujarati folk dance. |
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Since the time of the Shang the Yellow River basin has nurtured one Chinese dynasty after another, their capitals rising and falling in turn. |
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The once treacherous seas of the polar regions are almost tamed by these modern marvels. Roderick Eime ventures aboard the world's most famous passenger-carrying icebreaker. |
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Australia’s “other” polar hero still remains something of a mystery to his hero-worshipping countrymen. |
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The province "West of the Mountains" is a land of loess, the rugged dun-coloured country sandwiched between the Great Wall and the Yellow River. |
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A live geography lesson in wide screen, Zimbabwe is an ideal place to take kids on a family holiday but check first - many lodges won't take children under 12 and they often aren't allowed on game drives. |
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Indonesian Papua is Australasia's last frontier: a little-known land where Muslim Asia coexists uneasily with Melanesia; a land which long concealed the world's richest deposits of copper and gold. |
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Stepping into the workshop at the Wooden Boat Centre, waterside on the Huon River at Franklin in southern Tasmania, Fiona Harper inhales the sweet aroma of Huon Pine permeating the air. |
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Halfway down to sub-polar Macquarie Island lies a cluster of five subantarctic island groups, scattered across the Southern Ocean to the south and east of New Zealand. |
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Israel's small size belies its wealth of historical treasures |
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To travel aboard Malaysia's East Coast Railway is more important than to arrive. |
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Aircruising gives you a whole new perspective on Australia. |
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Russia's remote Kuril Islands are not a people place |
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Trek with Roderick Eime amongst the smoldering outflows around Hawaii's Kilauea volcano |
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Aloof from the world, Burma / Myanmar remains a land of mysteries, some dark, others whimsical.
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Some mysteries are best left unsolved. Roderick Eime laments that the enduring mystery of Easter Island's great moai is solved. |
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Relive the romance and grandeur of the mighty German airships - and their spectacular fall from grace. |
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There is no elegant way to climb up onto an elephant. Tricia Welsh learns this at a mahout’s course in Northern Thailand. |
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On a long, hot stretch of road I’d begun to nod off, when the bus stopped abruptly. A pair of phantasmagorical figures, masked and costumed in feathers, technicolour rags and war-paint were prancing at the roadside, strolling players in search of a gig. |
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The city of Manaus, capital of the Brazilian province of Amazonas, is growing so fast that no-one can keep up with the changes taking place. |
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Mountains loom up from the canyon floor, dwarfing the 17th-century mission church. Cacti reach for a hot, china-blue sky; children scrabble in the dust outside the church whilst stetson-hatted figures come and go in battered utility trucks. The quintessential Mexico… |
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Mongolia, 'The Land of Blue Sky', no longer wants to conquer the whole world. But still evident everywhere is the spirit of Genghis Khan.
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Sabah's Kinabatangan River is a wildlife refuge without peer, home to both orang-utans and the endangered Proboscis Monkey |
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China's "Holiest of Holies", the sacred Mount Wutai (Wutaishan) has just received UNESCO World Heritage listing |
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Back to the Future, in a remote corner of eastern Arabia |
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Living in one of the world's most mountainous territories, the people of Sikkim have had to learn how to adapt to nature’s whims. But the whims of nature are as nothing when compared with the escapades of Sikkim's politicians |
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Exploring India's remote northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh |
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Often overlooked by their media tart cousins, the Whitsunday Islands, Fiona Harper explores some of the lesser known islands of north Queensland. |
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Enigmatic ruins of a floating city, built by a lost civilisation, survive on the remote Micronesian island of Pohnpei |
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Explore a mysterious landscape of deserted mountains, black lakes and red earth, an ancient terrain which conceals an exceptional ecological diversity. |
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Expedition cruiser, Roderick Eime, climbs aboard Western Australia's premier adventure yacht, True North, for a unique and intimate sampling of our west's own special character. |
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In the desert you can hear your heart thump... |
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Modernity doesn't mean abandoning tradition, in the Sultanate of Oman |
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Don a safari suit and take off like Livingstone, either in five-star luxury, cocooned in some of Zimbabwe'sfinest hotels and resorts or sleeping out under the African stars in a tent or thatched tree-house. |
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he Marquesas, subtitled appropriately 'the land of men' is said to be the most remote island group in the world, and are composed of twelve islands. Six are inhabited but the remainder are rocky dots in this forgotten corner of the Pacific Ocean. |
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A serendipitous trip through the four southern provinces bordering Hanoi is a true voyage of discovery. The only thing that will slow down the traveller is being constantly plied with the local firewater |
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The Outback is a state of mind, not simply a line on the map, and western Queensland proves the point. |
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Visitors to SW Queensland in the Australian outback are invariably stunned by the richness and abundance of nature-treasures. |
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Tricia Welsh finds that a four-day ‘bush skills’ adventure on Phinda Private Game Reserve in South Africa can somewhat spoil it for regular safaris. |
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This article details of the amazing Silk Road, its history and its fascinating route today and includes information on accommodation provided, local food and cuisine, things to do and see. |
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Roderick Eime returns from a series of voyages to the remote islands of PNG. |
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Discover an island of rain-drenched forests and coastal mangroves, whose mysteries deepen through the bottom of a glass of stupefying sakau, a drink made from pepper bushes. |
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The mighty Himalayan Mountains span some 2560 km from northern Pakistan to China. Eight of its colossal peaks are often visible from Pokhara, Nepal’s largest second largest city. |
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The remote Svalbard (Spitsbergen) Islands of Norway are a nature wonderland |
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Each year a dusty throng of Rajasthanis, pious Hindu pilgrims, holy men and spectators from far and wide descends on this normally somnolent desert outpost. |
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Fiona Harper jumps onboard a yacht at Sunferries Magnetic Island Race Week, Queensland. |
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With its astonishing landscapes and fascinating history, South Australia’s Flinders Ranges is just begging to be explored. |
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The history of the Grampians, the oldest National Park in Victoria (Australia), has just undergone drastic revision. |
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Central Australia's new Afghan Mosque commemorates the Afghan cameleers who opened up the heartland of Australia's outback |
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A journey through the surprising Mediterranean country of Syria |
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Like sand through the hourglass, these are the days of our long-suffering feet. Eschewing the need for a 4WD to explore Fraser Island, Fiona Harper decides to explore by foot instead, walking the sand trails that crisscross the worlds largest sand island. |
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Cruising the D'Entrecasteaux Channel, Bruny Island reveals a few of her secrets to those who linger long enough to look beyond the wildlife and the laidback lifestyle.
Fiona Harper takes time out in southern Tasmania. |
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By the eager people's bureaucrats of South West China's remote Diqing Region, that is... |
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There is something magic about flying across Africa, bound for the world’s largest wildlife reserve. |
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Tricia Welsh takes an exhilarating ride on a zip-line high above the treetops in Costa Rica |
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Don’t overlook one of the last frontiers in the South Pacific, writes Philip Game |
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Although much has changed in South Africa since the breakdown of apartheid, I'll wager most of Soweto is pretty much as it's always been - a hot, motley, dusty settlement for struggling black Africans. |
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Billed as “the last great race in the world”, the Iditarod dog-sled race runs well over 1600 km from Anchorage to Nome, through some of the world’s most inhospitable territory. |
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The Outback sets its own priorities. If you get it wrong out here, you may not see home again. Is the easy availability of camper vans and guidebooks creating a false sense of security? |
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Enormous, square white sails billow against an impossibly blue sky. Her elegant bow plunges upwards into the gentle ocean swell.
Join Fiona Harper for an Indian Ocean crossing onboard luxury tall ship Star Clipper. |
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The ancient port of Tangier is described by its partisans as the White Dove on the Shoulder of Africa: white cuboid buildings tumble down the slopes around a horseshoe-shaped bay. |
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Cross the river at Mae Sai, and step back fifty years into Myanmar |
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The noise was deafening. The roar of blood pumping through my head as we charged forward, hell bent on hitting the start line milliseconds after the gun went, was drowned out by the commands of our tactitian.
Fiona Harper jumps onboard a chartered pocket maxi yacht at Hamilton Island Race Week. |
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The chieftain of Kundu Hite (Skull Island) in the Solomon Islands is last in a long line of headhunters |
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Preconceptions of Antarctica are shattered like the pack ice beneath a ship's bow. |
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Alaska's great sled-dog race |
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The son of Zambia’s first President Kenneth Kaunda reminisces about his days growing up at "The Mushroom House", where Africa's history was shaped |
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The Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Ganzi, now a part of China’s Sichuan province is the homeland of the Khampa people. The atmosphere here is totally relaxed – hardly a Chinese soldier is to be seen, the visitor can wander freely without having to worry about permits, and images of the Dalai Lama are found in the most surprising places. |
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Cultural bridges along the Amur River, in Russia's Far East |
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...in Yunnan's Tiger Leaping Gorge |
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This article details the luxury accommodation and dining at Wrotham Park Station Station on Cape York Peninsula and its history and also includes information on the activities available. |
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The two approaches to northern Italy's Gran Paradiso National Park reveal a huge diversity of landscapes |
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Walking in Central Australia is rewarding when you rise with the sun! |
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This article details hot-air ballooning in Australia, the facts and figures and safety issues, and includes a breakout box on the history of ballooning. |
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Glancing over my shoulder at our driver, momentarily I wonder if I've stepped onto the wrong long-tail boat. Her face fully covered by a menacing full-faced balaclava, she navigates our vessel away from the dock. Fiona Harper takes a journey upstream to the floating markets of Bangkok, Thailand. |
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Fiona Harper discovers the cruising grounds of volcanic Vanuatu. |
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Roderick Eime travels to the scenic east coast of NZ's South Island to investigate the 'deep secret' of Kaikoura |
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Unlike their mother, Ba Vuong’s five daughters never need submit to the ordeal of teeth blackening. |
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Hunting regally striped felines has long been banned in India but that doesn’t stop enthusiastic camera clutching tourists from actively ‘shooting’ tigers on wildlife safaris. |
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Alaska offers some winter options not found elsewhere, including access to unique wildlife and native culture, and sports including skijoring (ie dog-towed skiing) |
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Wrangel Island is an enigmatic landmass trapped in the fringes of the permanent Arctic ice pack. Born out of legend and maintained by tales of hardship, endurance and tragedy its apparently austere appearance hides a UNESCO World Heritage-listed, self-contained island ecosystem. |
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Gold! Gold! Gold! On August 16, 1896 George Washington Carmack’s announcement echoed through the vast expanses of Canada’s Yukon. The Klondike Gold Rush had begun.
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