I’ve been visiting Litchfield National Park in the Northern Territory. It’s about a ninety minute drive south west of the capital, Darwin.

Although Litchfield has some spectacularly impressive attractions, one of which is Wangi Falls, it is still mostly rugged and untamed. Much of the park is swampland, which can be full of crocodiles during the wet season when the waters rise substantially, and the crocs can’t be controlled. Other parts of the park are very rocky, and covered in long grasses and pandanus palms.

Litchfield is hot all year, the only climatic change is the rain during the wet and the level of humidity throughout the year. It is a tropical place, but the climate is not necessarily comfortable, nor is it always pleasant.

There are a number of attractions in Litchfield, one of which is called Cascades, because of a series of cascading waterfalls. There are two cascades to view. the lower Cascades, which entails a relatively easy 1.2 kilometre walk, and the upper Cascades, which necessitates a quite difficult 1.7 kilometre walk, which also involves quite a bit of climbing. I chose to do the latter.

I didn’t actually tell anyone that I was going to do the tougher walk and set out on my own.

The track up was quite tough I sections, and involved a couple of tough climbs, and lots of walking through areas which get full sun. Although it was only just after 9am, the temperature was quite high.

I reached the Upper Cascades along the marked track, but coming back I missed the small arrow which announced the track, and headed up a section of bush which looked like the track.

I soon discovered that I was we’ll off the track, and was walking through very thick scrub that was had very few vantage points, so that it was difficult to tell which direction I was headed. I pushed my way through the bush for quite some while, all the time looking for track markers, but I could see none.g

After a while I came to a dry watercourse, so decided to follow it, knowing that at the very least it would lead me to the cascades, so I could at least climb down them to the section where I knew that was a walking track.

Fortunately, the watercourse led me straight to the track that I had been looking for, and I religiously stayed with it until I reached my vehicle.

Stupidly, I made some basic errors which quite possibly could have cost me my life.

Firstly, I didn’t let anyone know where I was going. Secondly, I attempted the walk through rough terrain by myself and thirdly, and most importantly, I did take water with me. It was very hot, I was using a lot of energy, and I could have become delirious, and that would possibly have been the end of me.

I will never make those mistakes again.

Fortunately, within half an hour of reaching my vehicle I was sucking down water and electrolytes, and I was able to swim in the cool waters of Wangi Falls. This brought my body temperature down, and I survived I tact.

Always remember when tackling the Australian bush that it is a harsh, unforgiving place and you should always respect it if you wish to conquer it.

Some just head north each year to escape the cold. Others like to do the lap, circumnavigate Australia by road. There are some who travel permanently, heading wherever they feel like, settling down for a few months or weeks as the mood takes them, then upping sticks and heading elsewhere on a whim.

Whatever their reason for hitting the road, we call them the Grey Nomads, and they are a feature on any rural main road. Those with the real big rigs potter along at 80kph, frustrating those motorists who have deadlines to keep and things to do.

I never thought that I’d become a Grey Nomad, but here I am, I’ve joined the flock, albeit temporarily.

I’ve hired a substantially large motor home and am touring the Northern Territory. Although, unlike a genuine Grey Nomad, I do have a definite timetable in which to complete my trip.

Hiring a behemoth motor home wasn’t my first choice; that was going to be a 4WD and stay in motels. My research showed that hiring a motor home was the most cost effective option for which to do this trip, so I went ahead and hired a vehicle that would give us plenty of room in which to be comfortable.

When picking up the van I was shown a 20 minute video about how to set up the van when we arrived at our campsite. The van has its own shower and toilet, air con, gas stove, 12 volt and 240 volt power, water tank to fill, gas bottle to monitor, electric step, electric awning, it is a seriously sophisticated machine, one that is designed to be operated by idiots like me!

It is the size of a truck, but very easy to drive. It even has a reversing camera which shows you the obstacles at the rear you are running in to.

Out on the open road, she does drive like a dream, and even takes hills with ease.

We pulled into Litchfield National Park for the first night of our sojourn. After a short debate over which bay to use, I had her hooked up to power, filled her tanks with water, and were ready within minutes.

Camping in comfort, I could quite get used to the idea.

As for being a Grey Nomad. No way! I am a camper! My trip has a purpose other than to escape a normal lifestyle. I may look like a Grey Nomad, but my trip has a purpose, and it not anything like the aimless wandering of true Grey Nomads.

This is the Darwin Oil Tunnels, which are massive tunnels that were carved out of solid rock, with the aim of replacing the above ground storage tanks, which were susceptible to Japanese bombers.

The tunnels are located on Kitchener Drive, Darwin,although the entrance doesn’t look to be very inspiring, the story of how the tunnels were built is fascinating. Especially when you consider the atrocious conditions the troops had to work under when constructing the tunnels.

Of course, the entrance is plain because the tunnels were designed for industrial use so aesthetics were not even a consideration. After entering the tunnels you make your way down a very long passageway, until you come to a pumping station. In the wall of this room is a small window, through which you look right inside one of the tanks.

It is a massive great tube that was designed to hold well over one millions litres of fuel. This one storage facility is 178 metres in length, and really quite impressive. There is the entrance to another tunnel nearby, which seemed to be equally as long, but you can walk up the length of this tunnel. It is lined with a series of historic photos which show how Darwin looked before, during and after the war.

Unfortunately, although a fortune was spent building the tunnels, they couldn’t be used to store fuel as the walls leaked, which would have affected the usefulness of the fuel, so the tunnels were made redundant without ever being used for their intended purpose.

The Oil Tunnels were probably one of the great follies of the war, given the tremendous amount of money spent and human endeavor wasted for a project that was doomed to failure. When you walk through them today, the problems are obvious as water leaks through the walls at a great rate. Ultimately, these massive tunnels did nothing to help protect Darwin.

However, they are worth visiting, if only because they represent one of the most ambitious, yet ultimately bizarre, episodes in the defense of Australia.

One of the most accessible, and therefore most visited, is Batu Caves, which are just 13 kilometres from central Kuala Lumpur, the nation’s capital.

The fact is, that if you are in KL then the caves are ridiculously easy to visit as a metropolitan railway line terminates there, right at the entrance to the cave complex. Cost from the main station, KL Sentral is just one Ringgit, or about 30 cents, on a comfortable train (warning to men – the train has two “Ladies Only” carriages, which I discovered I was in as I was alighting from the train at Batu Caves Station).

If you go expecting pristine natural beauty, then you will be disappointed as the caves also serve as a Hindu holy site, and so have been adorned with many gaudy statues and temples. These accoutrements don’t interfere with the spectacular nature of the caves, and, in fact make them more accessible.

The entrance to the caves is guarded by a very tall, golden statue, that is the tallest of its type in the world. I am not an expert on Hindu culture, so can’t shed any authoritative information about what type of statue it is, but it does resemble a handsome God-figure, and it has an enormously long protuberance from its back, which I’m sure has much significance that was lost on me.

Even if the statue was not in situ the entrance to the caves would not remain a secret as a set of very steep, painted stairs leads you up to the main cave. Apparently, there are 272 stairs from the base to the main cave. I did climb them but didn’t count them, although I have to say that the stairs are not as daunting as the look from the base. Besides, on the way up, you will want to stop occasionally to admire the view which, on a clear day would be spectacular.

Sadly, KL seems to have few clear days, so magnificent views to the city centre may be rare, but even with the pollution, the views are good, and they do aid in giving you a sense of achievement as you continue to ascend.

When you do reach the top of the stairs, the cave reveals itself, and it is awesome. It is massive, in height, length and breadth. It is difficult to gauge the cave’s true size, but people look like like ants as they wander through the cave.

Naturally, there is a shop at the top, but also several temples within the cave, each with its own significance to believers.

Beyond the cave is another area which contains a temple, and several dozen monkeys who seem to hassle visitors for morsels of food. There antics can be quite entertaining, but many visitors forget that they are wild animals, and I saw several people had their purchased monkey feed bags grabbed by the little simians, and devoured in one foul swoop.

Opposite the caves are several Indian vegetarian restaurants, which are both cheap and good.

Beware of a pair of elderly scam artists, whom I presume to be a man and his wife, who try to scam you with beads and trinkets. They tell you they are not for sale, then forcibly present them to,you, and demand money. As I didn’t want their trinkets they didn’t get my money.

Entrance to the caves is free. Many people book organized tours to the caves, but it is just as easy, and somewhat cheaper to do it all yourself using public transport.

Originally posted 2013-03-15 06:36:04. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

This is the northernmost city in Australia, a country that has more than its fair share of venomous or aggressive wildlife. Swimming in Darwin Harbour is not recommended. Like most of the Australian coastline, Darwin has sharks. But Darwin is the capital of the Top End, and unlike other major cities, Darwin also has crocodiles. Seriously big saltwater crocodiles which have no qualms about eating people.

Then they have the notorious box jellyfish, the notorious silent killer which gently floats in the water entangling people within its murderous tentacles.

Darwin is a dangerous place, and so I decided to venture out into its wild waters and take on all the local marine monsters it could taunt me with.

In other words, I went out on a fishing charter to try to catch a feed.

Leaving from trendy Cullen Bay, where the upmarket restaurants seem to mock the fact that within metres of their portals the world’s most feared creatures lurk.

I joined eleven other brave souls with the shared aim of conquering these seas and taking on whichever peril King Neptune could throw at us.

We headed out through Darwin Harbour with nary a vessel near us to join us on this massive challenge. Powering out through calm seas we brave expeditioners gathered our thoughts and worked out our strategies for capturing these behemoths of the deep. After an hour of rushing straight to our target area in the Arafura Sea, we were handed our weapons: sleek rods fitted with vicious tackle.

After baiting up we cast out, letting the line run free until we could feel the sinker hit the bottom. Sensing danger, the creatures of the deep avoiding us, but we were not to be deterred, so chased them to another part of the sea.

In went the line, soon after I felt the sinker smash into the sandy bottom there was the unmistakable tug of a pescatorial beast taking my bait. A short battle ensured. Pescatorial Beast 1 Me 0.

I was determined not to be thwarted. Baiting up again, in went the line. A violent jerk on the line, a quick flick of my rod, a thrashing beast hooked. A massive battle of strength between man and beast. Golden Snapper retrieved from the sea. Golden Snapper determined to be too small, so released.

Several other contests occurred, but no gigantic fish for me today. Fortunately, my son is more used to these waters than me, and a good meal was caught by he and passed on to me.

Marine world conquered by proxy. King Neptune must have been angered by our assault on his domain as he turned his seas into a turmoil as we raced back to port. The swell was up, the spray covered our vessel as we pierced giant waves, the sea was throwing itself at us as if to punish us for robbing it of its creatures.

We returned to land, feed in hand, mission accomplished.

For me, one of the great joys of travelling is to get to know a country through its food and, as far as my travel experiences are concerned, I have to agree with the survey. The worst food that I have had anywhere is in the UK, particularly in England. Not all food there has been bad, but I have found London to be a wasteland when it comes to cuisine.

In fact, the worst meal that I have had in my entire life was a tepid, gluggy, indescribably bland yet nauseating Steak and Kidney Pudding I was once served at the Holiday Inn Mayfair. I chose that dish because it I assumed that being a traditional English meal it would be prepared correctly, yet it was just an atrocious thing to put in my mouth.

On the other hand, some of the pub food I had outside of London, particularly in country pubs was fine. British food has often been described as stodge and sometimes it is hard to disagree, particularly when you eat fish and chips that have been cooked in fat instead of oil, or eaten a pork pie that is served cold with a somewhat congealed filling.

I’ve had some memorable meals in Italy, and ice cream that I had in Venice is the best that I have ever tasted. Italians and French seem to put more care into their food, and take their cooking and eating very seriously indeed.

I do love Asian cuisine, and whilst I have a fondness for Japanese, I love Korean. I know that it is an acquired taste, but there is something about kimchi that just pleases my palate. I’ve also had many memorable meals in China, and I still fondly recall a toffee sweet potato dish that I ate in Xian that was simply sensational. Cat’s Eyes Dumplings, a speciality in Taiyuan were also delicious.

I’ve been to Malaysia many times and when there I get addicted to Roti Canai, a type of grilled pancake that is dipped into dhal that, to me, is just heaven. One of the best seafood meals that I have ever tasted was a dish called Sauna Prawns that I had at the Capitol Restaurant in Hung Hom, Hong Kong that was simplistic, fresh and absolutely delicious.

By trying the local food you get to know the best, and sometimes the worst, of a country simply by eating your way through it.

Originally posted 2012-08-07 11:33:06. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Chile is a long, narrow country on the Pacific Coast of South America.  It is a country of remarkably beautiful landscapes, the best known of which is in the far South of the country in an area known as Patagonia.

With thrusting mountains and spectacular icebergs, Chilean Patagonia is beginning to attract its fair share of skiers who are out to take on slopes that are rarely crowded.

Three of the most popular ski resorts are Valle Nevado, La Parva, and Colorado, which are commonly known collectively as the Tres Valles.

These mountains huddle together in the Andes and are only about one and a half hours drive from Chile’s capital, Santiago.

They are strung together by an interconnected lift system, making movement between them relatively easy.  The Tres Valles combine to offer enough runs to keep an advanced skier busy for a week. The peaks range 2800-3700 meters (9186-12139 ft), and during the high season (July-Aug), usually get a generous dusting of crisp dry powdery snow.

Valle Nevado is considered to be the most elegant of the three, with a resort that offers a luxurious touch to its rugged slopes. And there is a lot of fun to be had here. Visited by skiers from all over the world, Valle Nevado has 9,000 hectares of skiable surface, distributed into 37 kilometres of ski trails of various difficulties.  It is open year-round to skiers and snowboarders of all abilities, plus heliskiers, this park offers an all-inclusive stay for snow-sport lovers. Valle Nevado is popular because of its high-purity powder snow, 34 trails and slopes specially prepared with a vertical drop reaching 810 metres and ending in splendid Andean fields and off-piste areas.    

El Colorado, Valle Nevado’s neighbour, is the largest of the three parks.  It features 16 lifts, 25 trails, and a magnificent view over Santiago. This is an excellent park to take the kids, with several beginners’ slopes and a lift designed specifically for little ones.

Colorado melds into La Parva, and boasts untrekked trails that stretch over 66 miles. It’s known for its advanced skiers’ slopes, and great backcountry bowls of completely untouched snow. Together with the borders of Valles Colorado and Nevado, La Parva makes for some of the widest-ranging skiable snow in all of South America.

All-in-all skiing Tres Valles promises great runs on fine snow in a part of the world that allows you to enjoy the slopes without the hassle of battling crowds.

Originally posted 2010-12-27 17:27:28. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

It’s Saturday night and the Italian Festival is in full swing in the park just across the road from my hotel. There is a good swing band playing a lot of standards, you know the ones Quando, Quando, Quando, etc a bit of Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and the crowd is really lapping it up.

I spent a bit of time at the festival. It was free to get in, the entertainment was superb, and there were lots of stalls selling standard Italian fare. The grog tent was doing an especially good business, and there were thousands of people packed into the park.

Everyone was in good humour. Darwin is an exceedingly laid back place. It has a tropical climate, and I have a theory that warm places lead to contented attitudes, such as the ones displayed at the festival today.

Everyone was there to chill out, relax and have a good time, and there was a very positive, peaceful vibe to the festival.

Darwin fairly rocks on a Saturday night. I wandered away from the festival to checkout the waterfront precinct, where there are some good pubs. They too were packed. Once again, everyone was good natured.

They were even showing a free, outdoor family movie on the lawn near the wave pool. It’s the Dry Season here, so you can guarantee that the evening will be perfect for such a venture. Heaps of families were enjoying a night out under the stars in a really attractive location.

From there, I headed back into the city, to Mitchell St, where pubs and restaurants are so numerous you can have difficulty telling where one ends and the other begins. Not only were,the pubs and restaurants crowded, but so were the streets, with waves of people heading to find a place to socialise.

Once again, it was just a good vibe. Saturday nights in darwin are impressive. The whole town seems to know how to have a good time, with nary a nasty word said.

Darwin is a friendly place at any time, but Saturday nights seem special, as if the whole town seems to need to celebrate the fact that they live modern, clean, casual city where the Dry Season climate is simply superb.

Mauritius has a perfect location for being a great dive site. Firstly, it is in the tropics, lying just above the Tropic of Capricorn in the southwest Indian Ocean and it is so far from the mainland of Africa that the waters are still very clear and unpolluted.

Secondly, Mauritius is almost completely surrounded by a coral reef which boasts an almost overwhelming variety of marine life. Also, because the water around the island is generally deeper than at other popular Indian Ocean dive locations, such as the Seychelles and the Maldives, there is less bleaching of the coral that is caused by the warming of the oceans.

There are a large number of diving companies’ resident on the island that offer dive courses which are suitable for those who have never donned scuba gear before to those divers with much experience who wish to extend their diving capabilities further.

The island’s west coast is usually most popular simply because it is more protected from the south easterly trade winds which can chop up the seas on the east coast where the combination of winds and currents can make diving a more dangerous pursuit.

There are a great number of well-known dive sites that are easily accessible from the island. Perhaps the best known of these is The Cathedral, which is a vast cave that is located off the Flic en Flac on the western shore. It is an amazing site as the dark cave is penetrated by long shafts of light which enter the cave through a small opening that is about 33 metres down the side of a steep wall.

There are also a number of sunken ships to explore. Some of these hark back a couple of centuries, but in more recent times more modern ships, such as the Silverstar, have been deliberately sunk in order to create artificial reefs. You need to be a more experienced diver to enjoy the deliberate wrecks as they tend to be in deeper water, for instance the Silverstar is on the bottom at 40 metres.

Other popular dive sites in Mauritius include the Whale Rock, the submerged crater near Ile Ronde and the Roche Zozo that is an underwater rock pinnacle and the wreck of the Sirius, a 19th century British frigate, which teems with marine life .

The capital of Sabah is Kota Kinabalu, and within easy distance of the city are two magnificent Shangri-La hotels. They are both luxurious, but as different as chalk and cheese.

Closest to town is Shangri-La’s Tanjung Aru Resort and Spa. Set amidst 25 acres of beautifully landscaped gardens on a peninsula surrounded by the waters of the South China Sea, the deluxe property is one of Asia’s most exotic retreats, yet only 10 minutes from the sprawling capital of Kota Kinabalu and the Kota Kinabalu International Airport. Facing the resort and minutes away by speedboat are five tropical islands and in the distance looms Southeast Asia’s highest peak, the 4,101 metre Mount Kinabalu, one of the world’s heritage site.

This resort, given its proximity to a protected marine park, is perfect for those who love to be by the water. It now boasts a brand new water play area, the first and only one of its kind in Borneo. The water play area comprises a dedicated section for toddlers, teenagers and an interactive area for all ages. Guests can expect to enjoy theme park quality water slides for adults and children measuring a total length of 100 metres. There will also be water battle stations with water balloon launchers, a 2,000-square-metre swimming pool with tapered shoreline for children and a Jacuzzi and infinity pool section for adults.

The Shangri-La Rasa Ria Resort is sequestered further away from the city on Pantai Dalit Beach, about 40 minutes from KK.

Set amidst a nature reserve Rasa Ria Resort is home to an eco-friendly championship golf course and the magnificent Spa at Dalit Bay. Unique to the Rasa Ria resort is the Orang-utan Education Centre where you’ll meet Sabah’s famous icon.

This resort is totally relaxing, but also has a number of sporting and adventure activities available. The 18-hole Dalit Bay Golf & Country club is a championship course where your concentration on the game can be distracted by the magnificent surroundings.

Although the hotel complex is contemporary in every way, it is a place where the natural ecology is extremely important and has a commitment to biodiversity conservation, so the group launched SANCTUARY, Shangri-La’s Care for Nature Project.
The genesis was an Orang-utan Care project that aimed to rehabilitate the most iconic species in Sabah. Today, a Nature Reserve has been established in collaboration with the State Wildlife Department with the aim of protecting a 64 acre ecological space to help facilitate rehabilitation programmes for endangered species of faunas endemic to Sabah.

Many guests spend time at both properties, so as to experience the great diversity of Kota Kinabalu in properties that are simply superb.