Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for international travel
New Zealand’s Treasured Possession
By Linda Tancs
New Zealand’s second-largest national park, Kahurangi takes its name from a Maori word meaning “treasured possession.” It’s easy to understand why. For one thing, the park served as a filming site for the Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Another one of its assets is the network of walking trails. The Heaphy Track, in particular, covers 48 miles of subtropical rainforest, high country, river valley and coast. It’s the same route used for hundreds of years by Maori tribes en route to the treasures of greenstone, a durable stone that plays an important role in Maori culture. And its ancient geology gives rise to even more treasures, like the discovery of New Zealand’s oldest fossil (540 million years old) and an extensive network of caves. Motueka, Takaka, Karamea and Murchison are the park’s gateway towns. Check with the Department of Conservation for the latest weather and track conditions before you set out.
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Where Rhinos Roam in India
By Linda Tancs
The greater one-horned rhino (or “Indian rhino”) is the largest of the rhino species. Once gravely endangered due to poaching, it now enjoys a dense population in Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam, India. Although the rhinos are a key attraction, the reserve is also noted for its migratory bird population in winter and an array of other wildlife like leopards, buffalo, wild boar and barking deer. The weather this time of year is hot and humid but you’ll beat the winter rush that just ended.
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Greece’s Mountain Mystery
By Linda Tancs
From the looks of it, Penteli Mountain is just a lush, green overlook offering great views of Athens and Evoikos Gulf. And it just so happens to be the site where marble for the Parthenon was quarried. So far, so good. But there’s another side to its reputation as the locus for Davelis Cave, so-named for a 19th-century brigand, Davelis. Allegedly used by his gang as a hideout, the cave also has a history as a shrine, particularly for monks fleeing religious persecution during the Middle Ages. Two adjacent Byzantine chapels built directly into the cave’s entrance serve as a memorial to their plight. Perhaps it’s the grotto’s juxtaposition as a hideout and a holy place that causes mysterious events to occur as reported by tourists, phenomena like ghostly voices, glowing orbs and electromagnetic anomalies. Go if you dare, but you’ll need to rent a car to get there.
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The Lighthouse Way
By Linda Tancs
The Lighthouse Way in Spain (Camino dos Faros) links Malpica with Cape Finisterre, a route dubbed the Coast of Death in the 19th century by British sailors due to the Atlantic’s formidable shipwrecking capabilities. The 125-mile hiking route offers plenty of lighthouse views, to be sure. But that isn’t all. The route also offers forests, waterfalls, beaches, dunes, sandy coves and quaint fishing villages. Most trekkers take between eight and 10 days to complete the trail. Don’t rush, and enjoy the views.
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The World of Peanut Butter
By Linda Tancs
According to the National Peanut Board, Americans eat more than six pounds of peanut products each year, a consumption worth more than $2 billion at the retail level. Peanut butter is as American as apple pie, which is why it might be surprising to learn that a peanut butter factory tour experience has opened in Nelson, New Zealand. Pic’s Peanut Butter World offers a free, 40-minute tour of their facility, which includes free tastings and a photo of you atop the world’s largest jar of peanut butter.
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Spurred On in Italy
By Linda Tancs
Most would liken the shape of Italy to a boot. The spur on the heel of that boot is the Gargano Promontory. Jutting into the Adriatic Sea, much of it is in preserved land comprising Gargano National Park. Regarded as the most extensive national park in the country, its heart is the Umbrian Forest, home to some of the nation’s oldest trees. The locale is the best place to experience an ancient forest in Italy; consider taking a jeep tour.
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Hiding Places in Worcestershire
By Linda Tancs
It was no easy task to be a Catholic priest in Elizabethan England, especially after Elizabeth I lost her tolerance for the “old faith.” As a result, a number of safe houses sprung up. One of them was Harvington Hall, a moated manor house in Worcestershire. The grand estate boasts the largest number of priest hides in the country, including an entire concealed chapel. A false fireplace leading to an attic, trapdoors and crawl spaces behind beams or under stairs are among its secret spaces intended to foil priest hunters. You can reach the locale via train from London Euston to Kidderminster, which is about three miles away from the manor. Take bus line 42 or a taxi from there.
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Acoustics in Hyderabad
By Linda Tancs
Hyderabad, the capital of southern India’s Telangana state, has fast become known as a major center for the technology industry, but its historical and cultural roots span over 400 years. Among other attractions, it’s home to one of India’s famous forts, Golconda. Originally a mud fort from the 1100s, it was refortified between the 14th and 17th centuries, boasting palaces, mosques and a hilltop pavilion. Its outermost enclosure is called Fateh Darwaza (Victory Gate), where acoustical effects like hand clapping can be heard at the hilltop pavilion over one-half mile away. Stick around for the sound and light show in the evening.
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Pancakes in New Zealand
By Linda Tancs
The Paparoa Range is a mountain range in the West Coast region of New Zealand’s South Island, made of ancient granite shaped by ice to form a rugged backdrop to Paparoa National Park near Punakaiki. Limestone underlies most of the park, creating its signature cliffs, canyons and caves. But of all the coastal formations, the park is perhaps best known for what’s popularly referred to as the “pancake stacks.” You also won’t want to miss the three blowholes at Dolomite Point, which put on their best performance during a southwesterly swell at high tide. Intercity buses provide regular service to the area.
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Land of Frankincense
By Linda Tancs
Frankincense is to Oman what peanut butter is to jelly. It’s just hard to imagine one without the other. Indeed, frankincense is so closely associated with the history of Oman that the Dhofar region is recognized by UNESCO as the Land of Frankincense. In Wadi Dawkah (the incense forest), in particular, trees have been harvested for frankincense from ancient times to the present day. You can learn more about the historical and cultural importance of frankincense at the Museum of the Land of Frankincense in Salalah.
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