Akaroa, New Zealand, A Port of Call

The cruise port of Akaroa, New Zealand is a popular resort area for New Zealanders being less than fifty miles from Christ Church. The area is also seeing more frequent visits by cruise ships from the growing popularity of cruising around Australia and New Zealand.

The port of call Akaroa, New Zealand is located on the southeast side of sheltered Akaroa Harbor, centered on the cute resort township of Akaroa. It is on the east coast of New Zealand’s south island. The current population is only about 650 permanent residents with a significant increase in season.

Historically its heritage is unique as it was the only French settlement in New Zealand. The region was named for the botanist Joseph Banks, who sailed with Captain Cook on the Endeavour expedition.

Geologically area was originally an island formed by two ancient volcanoes. The current peninsula has two ancient craters with spectacular volcanic cliffs that formed Lyttelton and Akaroa Harbors. 

Where Your Ship Docks

Cruise ships need to anchor out and use tenders to reach the Akaroa dock. The dock is the focus of a number of boat tours and water attractions and is located right in the town near restaurants and shops.

Transportation

Akaroa is a small town but currently it does boast a taxi or two. Danny’s Taxi Telephone 02108177828 Danny Fenner operator (Pre-bookings preferred bookings (cash only). There are also a few Uber drivers that can be scheduled with the Uber App. Uber rates are better than the cab fare and are noted to be easier to book.

Money

New Zealand uses the NZ$ which currently is worth US$0.70 and you will need to exchange money or use credit cards while visiting as US Dollars are not usually accepted. Most credit cards are welcome and there are ATM’s available in town.

Attractions

Explore the village with its colonial architecture, galleries, craft stores, and cafés. Akaroa, is famous for its several beautiful bays and harbors and there are numerous scenic boat tours available as well as dolphin watching. The protected waters are also perfect for sea kayaking. In Flea bay, a couple of miles southeast of town, there is a penguin colony that is rare for this region. Akaroa bay is also home to the worlds rarest and smallest dolphin, the Hector’s dolphins. Excursions are available where you can take a boat out to swim with them. A short walk out of town is Meniscus Wines, a vineyard and winery which usually is open when cruise ships are in. Also don’t miss The Giants House, a unique sculpture and mosaic garden above town.

Todays Featured Poster • Ushuaia

The Beagle Lighthouse. This lighthouse stands on a rock in the Beagle Channel, Tierra del Fuego only a few miles from Ushuaia, Argentina. Ushuaia is one of the world’s most southern cities and a major seaport servicing expedition boats, cruise ships and working boats bound for Antarctica.

These giclée prints are available in several sizes custom printed for each order on archival paper using fade resistant inks.

BUY THIS POSTER

Join us as we visit historic treasures, natural wonders and vibrant cities set against backdrops that are endlessly changing and visually magnificent. Celebrate a world of travel experiences with these decorating accessories that are perfect for framing.

Haven’t Joined Us Yet? We Promise To Make It Worth Your While.

Hiking In Tierra del Fuego

Trails in Tierra Del Fuego National Park, Argentina

To The Ends Of The Earth

The Pan American Highway begins in Alaska and with only a small break in southern Panama goes all the way to the end of the Earth in southern Argentina. In Argentina the Pan American Highway continues on Argentina National Route 7 south to the capital of Buenos Aires. where the main highway ends. The Pan American Highway route continues south out of Buenos Aires along Argentina National Route 3 along the coast. It goes further south to the city of Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego where it comes to its ends in a dirt two lane road inside Tierra del Fuego National Park.

More and more people are coming to explore Tierra del Fuego National Park in recent years as the city of Ushuaia has greatly expanded. Not just a major embarkation port for Antarctic expedition tours, With financial support from the Argentina government Ushuaia is developing new industry along with a thriving tourist economy. Today Ushuaia has much to offer in its own right.

Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego National Park is at the tail end of the Andes Mountains and, with the exception of Antarctica, is at the end of the world. The park covers just under 250 square miles, extending along the southern coast bordering with Chile to its west. The hiking trails in Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego are the park’s top attractions, but since all except roughly 5,000 acres of the park are closed to entry as a nature reserve, the number of hiking trails for the public is limited.

The geology of the park finds peaks alternating with valleys where there are rivers, glaciers and glacial lakes. Two types of forests predominate with Lenga and Guindo trees, with an open under layer of mainly moss and fern. There is also plenty of peat and flooded areas where sphagnum moss grows. On the sea shore, there are two great bays (Lapataia and Ensenada) interspersed with gorges and beaches that are full of waterfowl. There are black eyebrowed albatross (over two meters wing span) who cohabit with the steam duck and the diving petrel. There is also a rare kind of otter in the area named chungungo with other species being the guanaco and a unique variety of red fox.

Access to the Park is via National Route 3, 7 miles to the west of the city of Ushuaia. A couple of miles inside the parks main entrance is the visitors center with guidebooks and maps in a number of languages.

Easy Walking Trails

Within the park’s Lapataia area, day visitors will find some easy walking paths. Several paths main draw are the colonies of very recognizable North American beavers. The del Turbal, Castorera and de la Baliza trails run alongside a number of both active and abandoned beaver colonies. Beavers have inhabited Tierra del Fuego for over 50 years, with their populations exploding since they have no natural predators in the region. They were originally introduced to provide hunting for pelts but The trails also pass along side some wetlands and peat bogs, across Archipelago Cormoranes and along the edge of the restricted area.

Medium Difficulty Hiking Trails

Tierra del Fuego’s three major hiking trails — Hito 24, Pampa Alta and Costera — are all medium difficulty trails that take between two to four hours to complete. The Hito 24 trail runs for just over six miles around the forested northeast shore of Lago Roca to the Argentina-Chile border. The three-mile Pampa Alta trail features panoramic views across Beagle Channel and Rio Pipo. Farther along, the trail runs alongside the Rio Pipo and some nice waterfalls. The Costera trail runs for approximately five miles along the coast past the grass-covered remains of middens or native mounds of shells left behind by the Yaghan, the indigenous peoples of the Tierra del Fuego.

One of the more popular hikes is Martial Glacier at 3.9 miles out and back located near Ushuaia, Tierra Del Fuego that offers impressive scenic views and is rated as moderate. The trail is primarily used for day hiking and walking.

Additional trails for more experienced hikers include:

  • 7.7 miles #2 Cañadon de la Oveja Very Difficult
  • 0.8 miles #3 Laguna del Caminante Trail Difficult
  • 7.2 miles #4 Valle de Andorra Trail Very Difficult
  • 3.1 miles #5 Laguna de les Tempanos Difficult

patagonia-argentina.com/en/tierra-del-fuego-national-park

Tierra del Fuego National Park Website

Where the highway ends this park is literally at the end of world. Located on the Beagle Channel and home to huge numbers of sea birds and waterfowl, it is a naturalist’s paradise.

Fireworks On Bastille Day In Paris

A Short Story

Traveling And An Unexpected Bastille Day

We had been traveling through southern France for a week and intended to finish with a few days in Paris since that was where we would catch our flight home. When we planned this trip we hadn’t realized that July 14th was Bastille Day. When we learned this we weren’t sure how that day would go.

On the 14th we took a TGV high speed train from Lyon to Paris arriving at about 1:00 pm. Our new plan was to take advantage of the celebration. Figuring that the streets and Metro would be jammed and crowds at the Champ de Mars would be impenetrable, we decided to get a day pass on a Hop-On Hop-Off boat (Batoboat HERE). Later that evening we would take a boat from the Notre-Dame area right down to the Eiffel Tower stop, get off and watch the fireworks from the river. After that, since the boats stopped around 9:30, we would walk out of the area and, if lucky, catch a taxi or Metro back to our hotel.

That afternoon, as a tourist, Bastille Day seemed like any other day. We walked the streets, bought some souvenirs and had an early evening meal at a small bistro on the Left Bank. Around 8:30 we headed out for our boat ride to the Eiffel Tower. So far so good – until the boat skipped the three stops nearest the Eiffel Tower. The Seine near the Champ de Mars had been blocked off for river traffic during the celebration. It seemed as if everyone in Paris was way ahead of us as a number of bridges were blocked and many of the streets and sidewalks were impassable up to a half mile from the Eiffel Tower. There was simply no way we could get any where the the celebrations at that time of night.

In hindsight I should have known better. I’m from Washington D.C. and going to the Mall for the the Independence Day shows on the 4th was an all day affair with the exit getting home being usually a couple of hour trip. Why would I have thought Paris would be any different? Truth is, I just hadn’t thought about it.

We hadn’t intended on being in Paris on Bastille Day and our plan was last minute. A little discouraged we made our way back to our hotel and watched the event on television which might have been a good thing. It seemed the Sun didn’t set until way past 9:30 and the fireworks didn’t go off until around 11:00. On television the show was interesting and included two choirs, six or eight couples that seemed to be famous opera singers and the only music I recognized was a song from West Side Story(?). The finale was the national anthem sung by everybody and it seemed to go on for over a half hour. The anthem was followed by a light show on the Tower followed by the fireworks. All in all it seemed a very good evening for the people of Paris.

A Georgia Train Ride and Habitat For Humanity

Take a fantastic day excursion or plan a whole weekend, this train journey starts in Cordele, Georgia just west of Interstate 75.

Ride in a 1949 vintage air-conditioned car, and explore a mix of romantic yesteryear and today’s new South. Thetrain is called the SAM Shortline and it stops in a number of small towns filled with history, attractions, restaurants and shopping.

Plains – This small Georgia town, made famous by President Carter is a stop on the Sam Shortline Excursion Train. Visit President Carter’s campaign museum, buy a bag of peanuts and visit Plain Peanuts for their famous Peanut Butter Ice Cream.   If you’re planning a weekend consider the Plains Inn recently refurbished and beautifully decorated.

Another stop is Leslie the home of one of Georgia’s most unique museums. The Rural Telephone Museum is situated in a restored cotton warehouse and features a huge collection of antiques, switchboards, classic cars, colorful murals – and, of course, antique telephones. It is home to one of the largest collections of antique telephone and telephone memorabilia in the world. Train riders are charged a reduced rate admission of only $4.

The Victorian town of Americus is another stop. While in Americus, browse all the wonderful and quaint shops. The award-winning 1892 Windsor Hotel & Spa is the perfect place to turn your train excursion into a relaxing weekend vacation. You can even take in a show at the breathtaking 1921 Rylander Theatre.

Habitat For Humanity International Be sure and save some time for the Habitat For Humanity Global Village & Discovery Center, where you will learn how Habitat for Humanity International works in partnership with families to build strength, stability and self-reliance.

The 6-acre village is a unique way to see life-size Habitat houses from countries around the world without leaving Southwest Georgia. It features examples of their home construction around the world along with examples of living conditions in some of the worlds poorest areas where they do work. The Global Village & Discovery Center is a valued addition to the historical attractions of the area and a favorite stop on the SAM Shortline Excursion Train route.

If you have children I can’t think of a more educational experience than to walk through this village’s grounds. Every American child should learn how people in poorer countries live. Avery thought provoking and emotional experience.

DOWNLOAD A COPY OF THIS ARTICLE

A Classic Baroque Garden In Prague

If you have the opportunity to spend a few days seeing Prague make sure you put the Vrtba Garden on your list of places to visit. The gardens are terraced up a hillside on the west side of the river and is part of the Vrtba palace and provide some spectacular views of the city. Today the garden entrance is on the lowest level, through a small gate in Karmelitská Street on the slope of Petřín Hill, in the Malá Strana section of the city. The Vrtba Garden in Prague is one of the best High Baroque gardens in the Czech capital. Dating back to the early eighteenth century, it is the best maintained of four Baroque gardens in the city; the Vrtba, the Vratislav, Schönborn, and Lobkowicz palace gardens. The garden was originally laid out by František Maxmilián Kaňka in the French style, who was renovating the Vrtba palace for Jan Josef, Count of Vrtba. The garden has retained its Baroque features and the original statuary and sculptural decor created by Matyáš Bernard Braun. The Garden is listed for its historic and cultural values by UNESCO.