Intelligent Travel

Conflicting 'Roo Roles

Kangaroos hopped all around the world in the past few weeks in various news reports, but for two vastly different reasons.

Recent articles have reported on both the environmental friendliness of kangaroo meat and the untapped prospects of 'roo tourism in the Land Down Under, with estimations that kangaroo viewing could become as popular as big game viewing in Africa.

Led by kangaroo expert Dr. David Croft, the Australian Wildlife Protection Council recently unveiled The Kangaroo Trail, which highlights the 50 best places in the country to see every 'roo species. Croft told the Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) that he hopes the guide will be used by international visitors and locals alike. Kangaroo appreciation in native Australia is severely lacking, Croft believes.

"You can take the map in hand and you can see all of Australia, so it's showcasing our protected areas, our national parks, it's showcasing the diversity of our wildlife," he said in the ABC report. "Perhaps because I study their [kangaroos'] behavior, I saw them as individuals and personalities and I wanted people to share that."

Tour Guide: Homeless World Cup

Scotland wins the Homeless World Cup 2007 in Copenhagen

For those who can't wait for the soccer World Cup in 2010 in South Africa, there's a different type of World Cup going on this year Down Under.

This year, Melbourne is hosting the annual the Homeless World Cup, an international event featuring 500 footy players from 48 countries. The catch? Every one of the competitors is homeless.

The Homeless World Cup began in 2003, when The Big Issue magazine founder Mel Young decided it was time to take action and change the lives of homeless people worldwide through an internationally loved sport. According to Young, 75 percent of homeless participants give up drug and alcohol dependence and find jobs or go to school after the competitions are over. About 25,000 homeless people participate in soccer events around the world before the top teams are invited in attend the annual World Cup.

Voluntour group Hands Up Holidays offers a 17-day trip (November 29-December 15) that combines sightseeing on Australia's east coast with volunteering at the Homeless World Cup. From November 29 to December 7, participants will work at the World Cup, doing various projects ranging from coordinating the media and catering to working in the locker rooms. After the World Cup is over, participants will get one day to enjoy Melbourne before flying to Sydney for a few days and then on to Cairns (to see the Great Barrier Reef and Daintree Rainforest). The voluntour adventure officially ends on December 15, with options to extend your stay (about $3,200).

Hands Up Tours offers plenty of other voluntour trips around the world, like teaching English in China or Romania, helping AIDS/HIV relief in Ghana, and even combining honeymoons with volunteer projects!

For more information visit HandsUpHolidays.com.

Photo: Homeless World Cup

A Taste of Oz

Last week, I took a trip to Australia while waiting for my lunch to heat up in the microwave. Standing in the NG cafeteria, I noticed with surprise the package the man next to me was holding.

“Oh my gosh, you have Tim Tams!”

My new friend grinned and revealed to me that he got these Aussie cookie treats (known in the Land Down Under as “chocolate biscuits”) at D.C.'s E Street Cinema. We shared recollections of eating this heavenly délice across the world, and he gave me one. At the first bite, my memory rocketed back to the tastes of teatime at my elementary school in Sydney.

So I thought I’d share a few of my favorites with you, IT readers. What can't be found here in the U.S. can be purchased online and shipped, although my suggestion is to head to Australia and try them firsthand. For a true Aussie experience, here are some snack foods you just shouldn’t miss:

Tim Tams. By far the most well-known and delicious chocolate biscuit, Tim Tams are produced by the Arnott's company. They come in flavors like Chewy Caramel, classic Dark, and Latte, and share a general theme of two crispy wafers surrounding a creamy filling, the whole thing covered in a layer of velvety chocolate. You can even use the biscuit (or “biccie”) as a straw to suck up hot chocolate or milk—a trick known as the "Tim Tam Slam."

Lift and Squash. Although it sounds like an uncomfortable sport, these are actually two of the country’s most refreshing drinks. Lift is a lemon-flavored soda similar to Sprite, although it’s more flavorful, being sweetened with real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. Squash is Australia’s answer to lemonade, and it can vary depending on where you get it.

Smith’s Potato Chips, Chicken Flavor—Chicken-flavored potato chips, you ask? To which I answer a resounding yes. This equivalent of America’s Lay’s company produces several varieties of chips, including most of the standards, but the chicken flavor is perhaps the most authentic. Its sweet and spicy saltiness is something you won’t find in the U.S., although a somewhat similar chicken taste can be found in America’s Chicken in a Biskit cracker.

Tour Guide: Experience Oz

Deciding where to go on your next Aussie vacation can prove to be difficult. Many people don't realize that the land Down Under is almost as big as as the U.S., and therefore, one cannot simply drive from Cairns to Melbourne in an afternoon (it's roughly the same distance from L.A. to St. Louis, Missouri – about 1,800 miles – and with little in between).

But I've just discovered a tour company that makes decision-making easier, by providing eco-tours in specific destinations with a choice of activities (walking, cycling, canoeing, etc.), so travelers can find the one that suits them best.

Australia-based Ecotrek specializes in small-group, nature-based tours. From walking on Kangaroo Island, to canoeing the Cooper River from Queensland to South Australia, to cycling the wine regions near Adelaide, every tour allows its participants to share their passion or interest in a certain activity. I'm particularly intrigued by the Mutawintji, Kinchega and Lake Mungo Arid Lands Eco Journey, which is a cultural eco-tour of three national parks with deep Aboriginal roots.

Aside from its 4-to-5-day trips, Ecotrek offers shorter weekend getaways in South Australia and Victoria. Prices include all accommodation (ranging from tents to bed-and-breakfasts to unique heritage-listed mansions, depending on the type of tour), all meals (including one-half bottle of wine per person per meal), trail snacks, tea, equipment, and entrance fees to places you visit on the tours, etc.

I'm going to start saving for my next Aussie holiday, especially when the price includes plenty of wine.

Photo: Ecotrek

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Kangaroo Island's First Luxury Lodge

Kangaroo Island, off the South Australia coast near Adelaide, is most famous for its fuzzy inhabitants (from kangaroos to seals to wallabies to koalas). But the island, with 1/3 of the land national or conservation park and roughly seven times the size of Singapore, is also known for being one of the last unspoiled refuges (often called "Australia's Galapagos"), with little commercial development and no large-scale hotels. But last week, that changed.

The Southern Ocean Lodge is the island's first luxury resort. The resort features 21 "eco-chic" suites and a spa with Australia-made Li'Tya products and Aboriginal-inspired treatments.

I'm relieved to know that the the Lodge is blending local culture and the natural landscape with its "luxury" tag, but for $900 (about US $825) per night per person, I'd rather stay at one of Kangaroo Island's local bed-and-breakfasts for a more authentic experience.

Is the Southern Ocean Lodge just the beginning in the over-development of Kangaroo Island? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Photo: Australian sea lion on Kangaroo Island; Stuart Reynolds via Flickr

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New Zealand's Organic Explorer

Perhaps you're already familiar with New Zealand's vast green expanses from The Lord of the Rings trilogy. But if the only thing organic you associate with New Zealand is Middle-Earth (admit it, there are some of you out there), here's a new way to get to know the region's plentiful offerings. I recently stumbled upon the website Organic Explorer, which offers up eco-friendly accommodations, restaurants, and excursions throughout NZ, as well as a great list of orchards and markets for picking up fresh local produce while on the road.

The database is searchable by region. So, if I were traveling back to Otago, I would find  that I could try some local cheese at Whitestone Cheese Co. in Oamaru, drive south for an organic pint at the Green Man Brewery in Dunedin, and then stumble home to the City Sanctuary Bed and Breakfast, which serves its guests organic breakfast.

And should you somehow find yourself bored during these wanderings, there's also a calendar of upcoming events (open studios, earthbuilding workshops, and hiking trails) all with an eco-friendly focus.

Awww...Baby Turtles

Who doesn't need the occasional baby animal blog post to help brighten their day? (And one with a sustainable travel angle no less?) We offer you a bundle of joy from Hotel Chatter, who reported that the turtle conservation program at Le Méridien Bora Bora hotel just played the proud foster parents to 59 baby green sea turtles last weekend. Even better: They were actually brought to the sanctuary by poachers. Le Meridien's hotelier, Nicolas Orget, delivered the good news:

The turtles weigh less than 1 oz. and are about 2 inches in length....[T]he Sanctuary's caretaker made a nest for them at the resort. The baby turtles will stay in the nursery for one year and in the resort's interior lagoon until they are 2 or 3 years old.

We hope the little guys grow up healthy and strong. Now someone just needs to find 59 names! Too bad Mr. Splashy Pants has already been taken...

Photo: via Hotel Chatter

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Strange Planet: Boulders of Maori Legend

 

Between the cities of Dunedin and Oamaru on New Zealand's South Island is Moeraki, a small coastal town home to famous rock formations. According to Maori legend, the Moeraki Boulders are gourds that washed ashore (on what is now Koekohe Beach) when the Araiteuru canoe was wrecked hundreds of years ago.

But every myth has a scientific explanation: The boulders are calcite concretions, formed over 60 million years ago in seafloor sediment. The spherical boulders formed in a pearl-like process that took as long as four million years (due to crystallization of calcium and carbonates), and the soft mud that contained the boulders surfaced due to wind and rain. The boulders vary in size—up to ten feet (three meters) in diameter—and can weigh several tons each.

Photos: Jeannette Kimmel

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Strange Planet: Knickers in New Zealand

Kiwis love their fences. And even more, they love decorating fences with unwanted articles of clothing. The most interesting fence is the Cardrona Bra Fence, which has been a controversial tourist attraction in the Central Otago district on New Zealand's South Island since 1999. Until recently, hundreds of bras lined this fence near Wanaka, a resort town.

"The original reason for the bras being attached to the fence is unknown," said Londoner Michelle Adams, who took this photograph.

"News spread of the addition, which was left on the fence by the local landowners, and more bras began to appear. The fence was on a public reserve road adjacent to farm property in the Cardrona Valley area southwest of Wanaka. The local council determined the bra fence was a 'traffic hazard' and early in 2006 they removed over 200 bras. In September 2006 they removed the rest - over 1500!"

Where in the world have you seen strange object-lined fences? Let us know in the comments below.

Photo: Bra fence, Michelle Adams via Flickr

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Tindo: The Solar Powered Bus

Congrats to the city of Adelaide for being the first to bring solar-powered transportation to the masses! 

The snazzy new Tindo solar bus holds 42 passengers and 100 percent of its energy is derived from the sun. (Tindo is actually the Aboriginal word for sun, in case you were wondering). Built by the New Zealand company Designline International, the bus doesn't have a combustion engine, which means it's quiet, doesn't give off emissions, and is carbon neutral. It recharges its batteries through the solar panels on top of the newly designed Adelaide Central Bus Station. Best of all, it's free for city residents (and visitors!) to use, transporting people between shopping centers, universities, and hospitals inside its cute green exterior.

Adelaide has been working hard to establish itself as a green city by developing a campaign to promote city-wide cycling, putting wind turbines on rooftops and solar panels on schools, and even employing a "Thinker in Residence" to help brainstorm new sustainable projects. If you're interested in witnessing more of the fun (or riding on the Tindo) they're playing host to a green festival this upcoming February (it's their summer, remember) which is in conjunction with the third annual Solar Cities conference simultaneously being held there.

Thanks to Inhabitat for the tip!

Photo: Adelaide City Council