Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Captain Cook’s Landing
By Linda Tancs
In 1770, Captain Cook’s first landing in Australia took place near Silver Beach on the Kurnell Peninsula headland. He named the site Stingray Harbour but later changed it to Botany Bay because of the variety of plants found there. An important heritage-listed site, you can discover the area for yourself at the Kurnell area of Kamay Botany Bay National Park. Take the Burrawang walk from the Kurnell Visitor Centre. As you pass over the dune you’ll see views of the bay where Cook’s expedition ship Endeavour was first sighted as well as a plaque marking the location where he landed.
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As coronavirus proceeds, it is likely that the vast majority of us will be limited in our travels. But this, too, shall pass. Our love for travel remains, so Travelrific will continue offering travel inspiration in this medium. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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Québec’s Grand Canyon
By Linda Tancs
Just 30 minutes from Québec City and its many tourist attractions, Canyon Sainte-Anne is Québec’s “grand canyon.” Its waterfall, 243 feet high, is one third higher than Niagara Falls. The steep-sided gorge boasts three suspension bridges, but if that’s not adventurous enough for you, then consider Air Canyon, a chair ride soaring 296 feet over the gorge at speeds up to 31 miles per hour.
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As coronavirus proceeds, it is likely that the vast majority of us will be limited in our travels. But this, too, shall pass. Our love for travel remains, so Travelrific will continue offering travel inspiration in this medium. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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The Knick in New York
By Linda Tancs
When it comes to the Knickerbocker Hotel in New York City, you get the pleasure of staying not only at a luxury hotel but also of enjoying a storied building. Affectionately known as The Knick, the glamorous, Beaux-Arts style dwelling was built in 1906 by John Jacob Astor IV, scion of one of America’s most influential families. Of course, that means that it was “the” place to be for the cognoscenti and glitterati of the day. Indeed, it was home to world-famous tenor Enrico Caruso and his family and a popular meeting place for bigwigs like John D. Rockefeller and other financiers and industrialists. After Astor’s death on the Titanic, the hotel subsequently closed until its rebirth in 2015. Designated a New York City Landmark in 1988, it remains one of Manhattan’s premier luxury hotels in Times Square.
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As coronavirus proceeds, it is likely that the vast majority of us will be limited in our travels. But this, too, shall pass. Our love for travel remains, so Travelrific will continue offering travel inspiration in this medium. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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Protected in Sumatra
By Linda Tancs
Located on the tip of the southwest region of Sumatra, Indonesia, Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park is like a fortress for the area’s endangered flora and fauna. For instance, one of the park’s objectives is to protect its lowland rainforests, one of Earth’s most diverse and most threatened. The park is also home to three of the world’s most endangered species: the Sumatran elephant, the Sumatran rhino and the Sumatran tiger. The park’s conservation efforts aim to decrease poaching and deforestation. The main point of entry to the park is from the town of Bandar Lampung.
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As coronavirus proceeds, it is likely that the vast majority of us will be limited in our travels. But this, too, shall pass. Our love for travel remains, so Travelrific will continue offering travel inspiration in this medium. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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Coronavirus and Travel
By Linda Tancs
As coronavirus proceeds, it is likely that the vast majority of us will be limited in our travels. But this, too, shall pass. Our love for travel remains, so Travelrific will continue offering travel inspiration in this medium. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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A Maiden’s Tower
By Linda Tancs
Located in Istanbul, Turkey, on an islet at the southern entrance to the Bosphorus, Maiden’s Tower is iconic for its scenic views of the strait and the skyline. It was originally built in 1110 as a defense tower by the Byzantine Emperor Alexius Comnenus although legend has it that an ancient emperor built the tower to hide his beloved daughter whom a fortune teller prophesied would die from a snake bite. Since its inception it has been rebuilt and repurposed many times and now serves as a restaurant. Shuttle boats go there several times a day from both the European and Asian side of Istanbul.
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Hitting the Wall in Malta
By Linda Tancs
It might be hard to imagine, but there’s a counterpart to China’s Great Wall sitting unobtrusively on an island archipelago in the Mediterranean. The wall in question is across the northern portion of Malta, a defensive line built by the British army in the 19th century to patrol its interests in the region. Known as the Victoria Lines (commemorating Queen Victoria), it runs the width of the country (at seven and one-half miles) and offers breathtaking panoramic views from its bastions. Go now for pleasant temperatures and a chance to enjoy Malta’s brief blooming season.
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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.
Travelrific® Travel Journal 