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A Reef of Riches

Amateur aquanaut, Roderick Eime, packs his flippers and trunks for an underwater look at Australia's fabled Great Barrier Reef.

 


Aground off the Pilbara coast

Varanus Island, Pilbara West Australia

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.


Amour on the Amur

Khabarovsk shipping terminal, on the Amur River

Russia's surprising city of Khabarovsk, on the Amur RIver


Belem - city on the equator

The surprising city of Belém, gateway to the lower Amazon


Bernier Where?

The extraordinary sand dunes of Bernier Island

A former leper colony now makes a most attractive getaway from Carnarvon, on Australia's mid-west coast, discovers Fiona Harper


Buccaneers of the Northwest

The "Horizontal Waterfalls" of Talbot Bay

The awesome seascapes of Western Australia's Buccaneer Archipelago


By boat and beer-glass through Bavaria

The Bavarian river-port of Regensburg after a freak snowstorm

Munich's Oktoberfest beer festival is justly world-renowned. But the rest of Bavaria has an equally enticing beerscape.


Civilised Seisia

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.

 


Cokeless in Colombia

A Fitzcarraldo-style river steamer, on the Amacaiyacú River

Colombia's Amazon settlements belie the country's image as a drug-'n-crime capital


Cool Adventures

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.


Crocodiles can raise welts

Villagers of Puruknawi village manhandle a giant crocodile at the Sepik River Crocodile Festival (above); a fine example of crocodile tattooing (rihgt)

Crocodiles can raise welts in more ways than one, at the Sepik River Crocodile Festival


Crossing the island of Rarotonga

Approaching The Needle, Rarotonga

The four-hour cross island walk began as a single lane road winding into the foothills, past ramshackle villages struggling to keep the fast growing jungle at bay. Rarotongan village kids ran beside the road giggling and waving while the dogs were as laid back as the adult villagers, barely lifting their heads in the tropical heat to give us more than a brief glance as we passed by.

 

Fiona Harper fights tropical lethargy in the Cook Islands.


Cruise Control

This article describes the P&O Pacific Princess cruise along Australia’s eastern seaboard to Cairns and the Whitsunday Islands. It includes information on the accommodation provided, seafaring language (staterooms, not cabins), the abundant food and even a peek at the galley, as well as the various shore trips, and an updated factfile.


Cruising Lake Barrine

Morning mists over Lake Barrine

Queensland's lush rainforest retreat


Cruising Tasmania's Gordon River – a ‘No Dam’ Wonder!

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.


Cruising the Whitsundays

Karen Halabi sails the Whitsunday islands off Australia’s eastern coastline on a cruise ship that once sailed the Mediterranean.


Divine Docklands

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.


Europe is not designed for Speed

The MS Amadagio in Dürnstein, Austria (above); Fine cuisine aboard the Amadagio (right); Unseasonal spring snow in Germany (below)

When a cruise ship gets stuck on Germany's Main River, the result becomes an exercise in "What if...?"


Falling in Love with Sea Lions in the Abrolhos

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.


From troubles to treasures in the Solomon Islands

The jetty at Sanbis Island Resort (above); a dazzling array of fish in Gizo town market (right); a yacht off Lola Island (below); a traditional sailboat in Vonovona Lagoon (below right)

After civil strife, earthquake and tsunami, the Solomon Islands are on the rebound


Galapagos Au Go Go

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.


Glimpses of the Archipelago

A colourful wooden windmill pierces the skies, on Djurgården Island in Stockholm Harbour

Stockholm's glorious (but short) summer


Hamilton Island - still "Over the top"

A view over Hamilton Island and the Whitsundays (Queensland, Australia)

The high-rise Reef Hotel, on Queensland's Hamilton Island, is the only thing that blots this otherwise pristine environment.


Icebreakers: Pushing the Limits of Adventure

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.


Inhaling the Huon

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.


Laucala Langour

There is something decidedly exotic about hopping onboard a private jet and being whisked away to a far-flung South Pacific Island. Particularly so when your destination has been declared one of the 100 most beautiful hotels and resorts of the world.

 

Reporting from an exclusive retreat on a privately owned island in Fiji, Fiona Harper discovers that perfection has a new name. It's called Laucala Island.


Monkey Business along the Kinabatangan River

Cruising the Kinabatangan River (above); A Proboscis Monkey rules the rainforest from its treetop perch (right); A Blue-eared Kingfisher, on the Kinabatangan River (below)

Sabah's Kinabatangan River is a wildlife refuge without peer, home to both orang-utans and the endangered Proboscis Monkey


Monsoon Magic

While the rest of Australia bakes in a dry heat, Darwin welcomes the summer months with bracing showers which reveal the Territory's staggering natural beauty.


My island home

Often overlooked by their media tart cousins, the Whitsunday Islands, Fiona Harper explores some of the lesser known islands of north Queensland.


New Brooms through Broome

A Japanese-style Torii gate overlooks Broome's Town Beach

Surprises in store in Australia's most ethnically diverse town


North Star Shines in the West

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.


Ordeal by Firewater OR Blotto in the Grotto

Ba Vuong pours a mean brew of firewater, in her village long-house (above); A thatch-roofed raft serves both as a boat and a sun-shelter

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


PNG: Like Every Place You've Never Been

Roderick Eime returns from a series of voyages to the remote islands of PNG.


Polar Bearings

A glaucus gull sweeps low over Magdalenenfjord

The remote Svalbard (Spitsbergen) Islands of Norway are a nature wonderland


Racing around the Rock

Fiona Harper jumps onboard a yacht at Sunferries Magnetic Island Race Week, Queensland.


Sails and Saxophones

With 40 of Australia's top jazz musicians supported by highly acclaimed up and coming stars, the Great Tropical Jazz Party is a melting pot of jazz in tropical north Queensland. Following closely on from Sunferries Magnetic Island Race Week, Fiona Harper takes in some cool jazz beneath the palms.


San Juan: Port of Plenty

One of the luxury liners which helps bring more than four million visitors a year to the exotic Caribbean port of San Juan

The Caribbean's "Silk 'n Satin" Port of Plenty stuns its privileged visitors


Secrets of Bruny Island

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.


Stop the World I want to Get On

The World of Residensea is one of the most luxurious cruise ships afloat - and you need never go home because you're already there.


Tales from a Tall Ship

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.


The Charm of Chartering

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.


The Chieftain of Skull Island

Chief Eddie of Skull Island (above); Skulls of Rovaina warriors (right and below); Picture-perfect - one one of the Solomons' 999 islands (below right)

The chieftain of Kundu Hite (Skull Island) in the Solomon Islands is last in a long line of headhunters


The Nile in Style

Traditional feluccas ply the Nile near Aswan (above); The new Sun Boat IV redefines luxury cruising on the Nile (right)

Ever since the Middle Ages, Nile cruises have been de rigeur – but never so stylish as they are now.

 


Tiger in the Taiga

Last light falls over Saivaskoye village, on the Amur River

Cultural bridges along the Amur River, in Russia's Far East


Vanuatu cruising

Fiona Harper discovers the cruising grounds of volcanic Vanuatu.


Where Mountains Meet The Sea

Roderick Eime travels to the scenic east coast of NZ's South Island to investigate the 'deep secret' of Kaikoura


Wrangel Island: isolation, desolation and tragedy

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.


Åland: The littlest "country" in Europe

From Åland, all roads lead to Port Lincoln, South Australia

Finland's semi-independent Åland Islands have strong links with Australia


 

 
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