Ningaloo Coast

Ningaloo Coast UNESCO World Heritage Site, Australia

From the World Heritage inscription for the Ningaloo Coast: The 604,500-hectare marine and terrestrial property of Ningaloo Coast, on the remote western coast of Australia, includes one of the longest near-shore reefs in the world. On land, the site features an extensive karst system and a network of underground caves and water courses. Annual gatherings …

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Australian Convict Sites

Australian Convict Sites - UNESCO World Heritage Site

From the World Heritage inscription for Australian Convict Sites: The property includes a selection of eleven penal sites, among the thousands established by the British Empire on Australian soil in the 18th and 19th centuries. The sites are spread across Australia, from Fremantle in Western Australia to Kingston and Arthur’s Vale on Norfolk Island in …

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Lord Howe Islands Group

Lord Howe Islands Group

From the World Heritage inscription for the Lord Howe Island Group: Located in the South Pacific, 700 km north-east of Sydney, the property is included administratively in New South Wales. The preserve includes some 75% of the land area of Lord Howe Island and all of the offshore islands and rocks of significant size in …

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Australian Fossil Mammal Sites

Australian Fossil Mammal Sites - UNESCO World Heritage Site

From the Australian Fossil Mammal Sites: World Heritage inscription: Australia is regarded as the most biologically distinctive continent in the world, an outcome of its almost total isolation for 35 million years following separation from Antarctica. Only two of its seven orders of singularly distinctive marsupial mammals have ever been recorded elsewhere. Two of the …

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8 Interesting Facts About New Zealand

Maori dancer in New Zealand

Over my years on the road, several times I have found myself circling back to the Land of the Long White Cloud (a common nickname and translation for Aotearoa, the Maori name for the country). New Zealand is a country best known to some as Middle Earth (yet another fun fact and a nickname given …

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Wells Fargo Sucks as a Travel Card

I tried to think of another way to title this post other than Wells Fargo Sucks, but I couldn’t think of one that did it justice. This post is really only going to be for the American readers. The bank I use is Wells Fargo … and they suck. I encourage everyone to take their …

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The Seven Wonders of New Zealand

Charlotte Harbor New Zealand Wonders of the World

Ladies, gentlemen and Kiwis of all ages, it’s time to dust off our categorization of the Seven Wonders of World series, inspired by the New 7 Wonders contest years back, and take a close look at all that New Zealand offers! It’s no secret we find it a fascinating country (enough that we profiled it …

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28 Unmissable Things to Do in New Zealand

28 Unmissable Things to Do in New Zealand

I was speaking to a total stranger about New Zealand recently. At a certain point in the conversation, he told me he’d never heard anybody say a bad word about the country. “Same for me,” I said. And it was true. Over the course of two separate New Zealand trips, and a total of 18 …

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How to Plan a Trip to Waiheke Island

How to Plan a Trip to Waiheke Island

When an internationally recognized publication like ‘Travel + Leisure’ lists Waiheke Island as the Best Island in Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific, and the fifth-best island in the world in 2018—and “Lonely Planet’s Best In Travel’ lists it as one of the ten best regions in the world in 2016—then you know for sure …

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