Global Travel Writers: Articles

Australia's best beach houses

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 21:14:00 -0500

Around this time of year, something akin to an internal alarm clock sounds within almost every Australian who grew up within cooee of the coast. As the temperature slowly nudges north and we tumble head first into the pre-Christmas rush, a voice somewhere inside tells us it�s time for a beach holiday. Any sensible person has booked long before now. But if not, never fear. We�ve scoured the coastline, finding that cute retro shack with the sandy path leading to the beach, through to the new wave beach houses in a class all of their own. If they�re booked out, pencil yourself in for next year, or scour our other options for your place in the sun this summer break, or to escape winter if you happen to be in the southern states.

Dingo: Have passport, can travel

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:55:00 -0500

Flopping into the gin clear water of Lake Mackenzie, the cool fresh water eased the swelling in my overheated feet. Midway through a 25km walk on Fraser Island, I wondered if we had underestimated the challenge of this trek, as we�re now weary, hot, hungry and somewhat reluctant to carry on. We lolled in the turquoise shallows beneath a cloudless blue sky. Watching a dingo trot casually out of the forest and onto the sand I was relieved that we had hung our backpacks containing lunch in a tree before we collapsed into the water.

Fraser Island has one of eastern Australia�s purest populations of wild dingoes, which, with the influx of tourists, are losing their natural fear of humans. Scavenging for food scraps has become increasingly troublesome behaviour for these cunning carnivores. Nearby, others had also noticed the dingo, amused as it idly sniffed through piles of belongings on the beach. Abruptly the dingo snatched a string bag in its teeth, bounded up the beach and disappeared into the bush with it.

�Hey that�s my bag,� one of the girls further out in the lake cried out in a German accent, while others in the group laughingly captured the dingo�s fleeing rear end on their cameras. �It�s got my passport in it!� she shrieked, as she bolted up the beach, waving her arms in pursuit of the fleet footed dingo.

Retreating to the comfort of Kingfisher Bay Lodge many hours later, my feet resemble bleeding stumps inside my inadequate shoes. Though these wounds will heal in time, I can�t help thinking of the troubles in store for a German tourist trying to explain to disbelieving authorities that a dingo stole her passport. Sounds suspiciously like the old �dog ate my homework� line. Guileful as they are, I wouldn�t be surprised at all if I saw one crafty dingo at the airport trying to board a plane to Berlin.

Looking for a humourous piece with a little tongue in cheek? Commission this piece by Fiona Harper which can run to around 600 - 800 words. Images are available. www.pbase.com/fionaharper/fraserisland

Bangkok�s Bizarre Bazaar

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 23:47:00 -0500

�Shop Till You Drop", the trendy slogan for many travellers today is a reality for anyone with enough stamina to go the distance in Bangkok's Chatujak Weekend Market.

And stamina it takes to trudge over the 14 ha open air marketplace and pore over what thousands of stallholders and shopkeepers have to show and hopefully sell in an estimated 8600 shops.

By far the largest marketplace in all Thailand and perhaps even the most spacious open air market to be found in Asia, Bangkok's bizarre bazaar is without comparison in either size or diversity.

More like a maze than a market, under canopied comfort you can buy just about anything you�ve ever thought of as well as many items you could never imagine.

An illustrated feature on Chatujak can be written on assignment from 500 to 1000 words - depending upon editorial requirements - and supplied with a selection of hi-res digital images.

Pachyderm Power

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 20:39:00 -0500

Pink elephants are not uncommon after a long night of partying. They eventually go away but imagine a three-headed pachyderm that�s still there in the morning!

Located in a small town at the edge of Grater Bangkok, the world�s largest elephant is not on the conventional tourist circuit.

Known to many visitors as the Erawan Museum it�s a serene sanctuary unlike any other in the world.

Inside the 39 metre long jumbo is a museum of antiquities and a magnificent stained glass window.

The final room located in the elephant�s �head� is filled with Buddha images while the ceiling is decorated with celestial stars.

An illustrated �filler� story of 250 to 500 words about the world�s largest elephant can be written on assignment depending upon editorial requirements and supplied with a selection of hi-res digital images.

Echoes of elegance

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:03:00 -0500

Opened briefly during August 2009 to for the annual yachting delirium that is Audi Hamilton Race Week, the Hamilton Island Yacht Club opens its stylish, hand crafted doors to members and guests on 25 November. Cleverly designed and inspired by azure Coral Sea colours, this is one seriously well appointed club, creating an element of sophistication rarely seen in the Whitsunday Islands.

Fiona Harper checks out the uber stylish Hamilton Island Yacht Club and Hamilton Island Golf Club

Contact Fiona Harper www.fionaharper.com.au to commission this article. Images are available www.pbase.com/fionaharper/hiyc

Laucala Langour

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 17:39:00 -0400

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.

Laucala Island, east of far-flung Taveuni in Fiji, opened in 2008 for just 50 discerning guests who don't mind shelling out upwards of 3800USD per night for a beachfront Plantation Residence. Set amidst a working coconut plantation, at this level of opulence, privacy, exclusivity and exquisite service is de riguer. With astounding attention to detail, assisted by a guest to staff ratio hovering around 7:1, Laucala Island has perfected the art of fine hospitality infused with an element of Fijian warmth.

Fiona Harper is one of few journalists invited to visit Laucala Island. Contact Fiona Harper to commission your exclusively crafted feature or puchase the article for immediate download.

Images are available.

Pachyderm Painters

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 03:17:00 -0400

With an eye to colour and a nose for design a brush applies paint to a canvas. The only thing unusual is that this artist has four legs and a long trunk.

An entourage of jumbo sized �artist� elephants, in fact, live and work deep in a protected jungle reserve outside Chiang Mai in northern Thailand.

Visitors to the unique boutique elephant camp not only watch masterpieces being created but can also observe elephants bathing in the cool waters of a jungle river and watch mahouts provide training to their eager four legged �students�.

An illustrated �filler� story of 250 to 500 words about the pachyderm painters of Samui can be written on assignment, depending upon editorial requirements, and supplied with a selection of hi-res digital images.

Samui�s Monster Man

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 02:51:00 -0400

Grinders cut and polish and welders spark and flash. Another �monster� is born at a unique workshop on the Thai island of Samui.

The all-metal creation may resemble an alien, a predator or some other extraordinary creature from science fiction fantasy.

The designs come from the imaginative mind of owner and chief monster maker, Khun Santo but the form is left to a team of 10 talented craftsmen working at Samui Robot.

The tiny Thai island of Samui is a holiday haven though few tourists realise that they must share their idyllic playground with an increasing number of towering monsters!

An illustrated �filler� story of 250 to 500 words about the �monsters� of Samui can be written on assignment, depending upon editorial requirements, and supplied with a selection of hi-res digital images.

My island home

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:56:00 -0400

Christine Anu comes from the saltwater people and sings about her island home, growing up in a small beachfront community in the Torres Strait. But it�s not necessary for you to venture that far to escape the ever-increasing crowds at popular island destinations. Perhaps you�re looking for a simple little piece of paradise in a world becoming ever more technical and complicated? Perhaps you�d like to slow down and actually smell those roses? Or sniff the salty scent of the sea at dawn. To awake beneath a forest canopy and listen as the wildlife erupts into its own operatic chorus. Perhaps then you�re tempted to enjoy the carefree life of a castaway on an island?

Daniel Defoe wrote a fictional autobiography based on an English castaway named Robinson Crusoe, who spent 28 years on a remote tropical island. So, while you probably don�t have 28 years to spare, possibly you do have a week or so to meld into an island existence. Where days revolve around the setting of the sun and the rising of the tide. Where evenings are spent beneath the stars watching clouds skitter across the moon. Where shoes are discarded and the only footprints on the beach are likely to be your own.

Contact Fiona Harper if you'd like to commission this article. Images are available.

www.fionaharper.com.au

Divine Docklands

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:46:00 -0400

There is an old proverb that decrees it is better to travel than to arrive. Robert Louis Stevenson was a great adventurer who said �I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel�s sake�. As a career gypsy who earns a living out of travelling the oceans and lands of the world, who am I to dispute such wisdom? However, I wonder if I�ve found my match at the end of a coastal voyage that terminates at the swanky Melbourne waterfront precinct of Docklands.

Passing beneath the skyward reaching pylons of the Bolte Bridge and into Victoria Harbour with its waterfront promenade chock full of restaurants, bars and entertainment, as twilight falls upon the city backdrop, I quietly start swallowing my words. "Perhaps, after all, it is better to arrive", I ponder as we dock at Waterfront City Marina. Amid the tinkling of wine glasses and the heady restaurant aromas wafting across the dock, Docklands throws open its arms in an exuberant welcome.

Contact Fiona Harper to commission this article. Images are available.