New Zealands North Island – Travel
New Zealands North Island
Ramnish Gupta
From Cape Reinga in the north right through to Wellington in the south, New Zealands North Island offers some unique opportunities to tourist and locals alike.
Auckland city is the busiest New Zealand city and arguably the commercial capital of New Zealand. Being one of the most populated cities, Auckland offers some of the best shopping opportunities in New Zealand.
Wellington is the capital city and has a population of around 400,00. The main attraction in Wellington would have to be Te Papa, which is a museum located in the city. While at Te Papa, make time for a stroll around Queens wharf or a cruise in the Wellesley or catch a play at Circa theatre. The Interislander ferry can also be caught from Wellington to travel across the Cook strait to Picton in the South Island.
Other attractions in the North Island include the Maori village in Rotorua, ski fields in the central North Island, stunning beaches in the Coromandel and Hawkes Bay, Huka falls near Taupo and Mt Taranaki also known as Mt Egmont, which was the location for the filming of the Tom Cruise flick "The Last Samurai". Lord of the Rings tours are also available and extremely popular with Tolkien fans!
About The Author
Ramnish Gupta is based in New Zealand and has a keen interest in travel and photography. How website http://www.newzealandphotography.co.nz has travel information and photographs from all over New Zealand.
ram@newzealandphotography.co.nz
Cocos Island… Green Bouquet Is Seen Far Into The Sea – Travel
Cocos Island... Green Bouquet Is Seen Far Into The Sea
Aventuras Elegantes
Cocos Island National Park
Sank in the middle of the infinite Pacific Ocean, we find the Cocos Island. It is one of the protected areas with the greatest diversity in terms of wildlife and one of the best places for Costa Rica Scuba Diving Vacation. It is a huge natural laboratory for scientists and nature lovers. It has 2.400 Ha, with 510 species of sea mollusks, 362 species of insects, 235 species of plants, 200 species of fish, 97 species of birds, 57 species of crustaceans, 3 species of spiders and 2 species of reptiles. In this huge diversity, there are over 130 species of endemic flora and fauna. It is an ideal place for scuba diving, snorkeling, bird watching and wildlife watching.
The trip to Cocos Island is in itself a great adventure. After traveling for over 36 hours on the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean, a "green bouquet is seen far into the sea".
Legends say that pirates and corsairs, like William Davies, Benito Bonito and William Thompson, found a safe place to hide their treasures in this Island. For many, Robert Stevenson was inspired on those tales of sailors to write his famous novel the Treasure Island.
Although you will not find golden medals or precious gems, you will find the most valuable treasure of all: The natural richness of flora and fauna.
As soon as you arrive, it is as if time is suddenly going back, as taking a leap to an old world, a place that remains intact through time. Cocos Island is probably one of the places with most endemic flora and fauna in the world.
In just 2.400 hectares, there have always been 139 endemic species in the national park. More than 230 species of plants, out of which 70 are endemic, including the Palo de Hierro Sacogiottis holdridgei. More than 85 species of birds inhabit the park, but 3 of them can only be seen in Cocos Island National Park: Cuclillo from Cocos Island Coccyzus ferrugineus; Mosquerito Nesotriccus ridgwayi and Pinzon from Cocos Island Pinaroloxias inomata. Two reptiles joined the selective and exclusive list of species that are unique in the world: Lizard Norops townsendi and the Salamander Sphaerodactuylus pacificus.
If you are already amazed with the natural panorama in land, come on and explore the depths...many more treasures are waiting for you. Scuba Diving at Cocos Island implies a unique experience for any diver as soon as you go down, a world full of life appears before your eyes, thousands of fish swimming around you forming a synchrony of colors, a rainbow in the plenitude of the ocean.you will be hypnotized when your eyes are set of great schools of hammer shark Sphyna lewinior when you see the amazing white finned sharks Triaenodon obesus swimming very close to you.
Today, as it was for the buccaneers, the only way to get to Cocos is by boat. Divers, who make up the vast majority of visitors, usually arrive on live-aboard dive boats a 9- or 10-day trip from the port of Puntarenas. If they go ashore, its usually only to dry out for a spell. But exploring the 14-square-mile, virtually uninhabited island that Jacques Cousteau once called the most beautiful in the world isnt really a hardship. There are other Cocos Islands in the world near Guam, Australia, and Mauritius to name a few, but there is only one "Shark Island. " Thats a good thing, right
Field Notes
Scuba Diving: As dive site names go, Dirty Rock isnt the most inviting, but this rocky outcropping about a half mile off the north shore of the island has one of the largest hammerhead shark populations in the world, along with giant manta rays. Expect 120-foot-plus visibility. For even more mantas, head to Dampier Head at the southwest corner of the island, where rays with wingspans up to 10 feet seem to like to swim with divers.
Nature, Nature and Nature. A natural laboratory similar in some ways to the Galapagos which lacks the tropical rainforest here, Cocos is home to an estimated 60 endemic animal species. Bird watchers will note that the rocky islets off the island are prime nesting areas for seabirds, including the red-footed booby, and that three of the islands 70 or so species include three found nowhere else: the Cocos Cuckoo, the Cocos Finch shades of Darwin!, and the Cocos Flycatcher.
Hiking: For a little legwork between dives, head up 2,092-foot Mount Yglesias, the highest peak on the island. The trail to the summit, one of several on the island, leads through rainforest and passes the wreck of a B-24 in the jungle, and the view of the Pacific at the top might even make you forget about your swim fins for a while.
For more information, visit http://www.mytraveltocostarica.com/
About The Author
Aventuras Elegantes is a Costa Rica Travel Expert.
Visit http://www.mytraveltocostarica.com/
info@mytraveltocostarica.com
Hilton Head Island is Golf Heaven – and the Ocean Too – Recreation
Hilton Head Island is Golf Heaven - and the Ocean Too
Mark Ridgway
Imagine, 42 square miles of golf and surf
Hilton Head Island is appropriately called Golf Island. Located just off the coast of South Carolina, the semi- tropical 12-mile barrier island is devoted to providing world-class golf, tennis or water-recreation activities to the 2.5 million visitors who arrive annually. The majority are seniors, who faithfully return each year during the balmy winter months.
Hilton Head Island was the first eco-planned destination in the United States, in the mid-1950s. Those early efforts to protect the unique, scenic ecosystem have served as historic models for contemporary land-use planning. Any visitor today encounters the same fertile salt marshes, forests of moss- draped oaks, and pristine beaches enjoyed by the island