Honolulu on O’ahu

28 October 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Honolulu Harbor, outside the Hawaii Prince Hotel © flickr.com - Shawn Rossi/cc-by-2.0

Honolulu Harbor, outside the Hawaii Prince Hotel © flickr.com – Shawn Rossi/cc-by-2.0

Honolulu is the county seat of the City and County of Honolulu. It is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Situated on the island of Oahu, it is known worldwide as a major tourist destination; Honolulu is the main gateway to Hawaii and a major gateway into the United States of America. It is also a major hub for international business, military defense, as well as famously being host to a diverse variety of east-west and Pacific culture, cuisine, and traditions. In the Hawaiian language, Honolulu means “sheltered bay” or “place of shelter”; alternatively, it means “calm port”. The old name is said to be Kou, a district roughly encompassing the area from Nuuanu Avenue to Alakea Street and from Hotel Street to Queen Street which is the heart of the present downtown district. The city has been the capital of the Hawaiian islands since 1845 and gained historical recognition following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor near the city on December 7, 1941.   read more…

Theme Week Queensland – The Great Barrier Reef

26 October 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  7 minutes

Coral Outcrop © Toby Hudson/cc-by-sa-3.0

Coral Outcrop © Toby Hudson/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,600 kilometres (1,600 mi) over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres (133,000 sq mi). The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia.   read more…

Pearl Islands in the Gulf of Panama

7 October 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Panama map © Zakuragi/cc-by-sa-3.0

Panama map © Zakuragi/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Pearl Islands (Spanish: Archipiélago de las Perlas or Islas de las Perlas) are a group of 100 or more islands (many tiny and uninhabited) lying about 30 miles (48 km) off the Pacific coast of Panama in the Gulf of Panama.   read more…

The HM barque Endeavour

1 September 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Tall ships, Museums, Exhibitions, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  6 minutes

Captain Cook's ship 'HM Bark Endeavour' leaving Whitby Harbour © geograph.org.uk - colin f m smith/cc-by-sa-2.0

Captain Cook’s ship ‘HM Bark Endeavour’ leaving Whitby Harbour © geograph.org.uk – colin f m smith/cc-by-sa-2.0

HMS Endeavour, also known as HM Bark Endeavour, was a British Royal Navy research vessel that Lieutenant James Cook commanded on his first voyage of discovery, to Australia and New Zealand from 1769 to 1771. She was launched in 1764 as the collier Earl of Pembroke, and the Navy purchased her in 1768 for a scientific mission to the Pacific Ocean and to explore the seas for the surmised Terra Australis Incognita or “unknown southern land”. The Navy renamed and commissioned her as His Majesty’s Bark the Endeavour.   read more…

The end of the Western world

21 June 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Scenic coastline with palm trees © Teinesavaii/cc-by-sa-3.0

Scenic coastline with palm trees © Teinesavaii/cc-by-sa-3.0

Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa, is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in Polynesia, Savai’i. The capital city, Apia, and Faleolo International Airport are situated on the island of Upolu.   read more…

Bondi Beach in Australia

10 June 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

© flickr.com - John Lindie/cc-by-2.0

© flickr.com – John Lindie/cc-by-2.0

Bondi Beach is a popular beach and the name of the surrounding suburb in Sydney, New South Wales. Bondi Beach is located 7 km (4 mi) east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Waverley Council, in the Eastern Suburbs. In 2007, the Guinness World Record for the largest swimsuit photo shoot was set at Bondi Beach, with 1,010 women wearing bikinis taking part. Bondi Beach was added to the Australian National Heritage List in 2008.   read more…

Theme Week New Zealand – The Hen and Chicken Islands

7 June 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  4 minutes

Panorama of the Hen (right) and Chicken Islands and Sail Rock (left) © Glenn h/cc-by-sa-3.0

Panorama of the Hen (right) and Chicken Islands and Sail Rock (left) © Glenn h/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Hen and Chicken Islands lie to the east of the North Auckland Peninsula off the coast of northern New Zealand. They lie 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) east of Bream Head and 40 kilometres (25 mi) south-east of Whangarei.   read more…

Theme Week New Zealand – Auckland, City of Sails

9 February 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  10 minutes

Auckland Marina © Joseph Watkins/cc-by-sa-3.0

Auckland Marina © Joseph Watkins/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Auckland metropolitan area, in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country. It has 1,377,200 residents, which is 31 percent of the country’s population. Auckland has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world. In Māori Auckland’s names are Tāmaki Makaurau, and the transliterated version of Auckland, Ākarana. The 2011 Mercer Quality of Living Survey ranked Auckland 3rd equal place in the world on its list, while the Economist‘s World’s Most Livable Cities index of 2011 ranked Auckland in 9th place. In 2010, Auckland was classified as a Beta World City in the World Cities Study Group’s inventory by Loughborough University.   read more…

The Galápagos Islands

21 December 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  7 minutes

Tourists at the Mann Beach with sealions © Iris Diensthuber

Tourists at the Mann Beach with sealions © Iris Diensthuber

The Galápago Islands (official name: Archipiélago de Colón; other Spanish names: Islas de Colón or Islas Galápagos) are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed around the equator in the Pacific Ocean, 972 km (525 nmi) west of continental Ecuador, of which they are a part. The principal language on the islands is Spanish. The islands have a population of slightly over 25,000. The archipelago constists of 14 main islands (5 are populated) and over 100 small and mini islands.   read more…

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