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Guest Post – Most Fantastic Destinations In Australia
Most Fantastic Destinations In Australia
Being the world largest island, Australia is full of interesting tour destinations and activities. There are a lot of attractive tour destinations and activities to enjoy in Australia. One cannot explore the whole of Australia by a single visit. Given this fact, it will be difficult to tour Australia without appropriate plans of where to go first especially if it is your first visit in Australia. If you are planning to tour Australia soon; the following are the most interesting places to visit in Australia.
Sydney
Located in South-eastern part of Australia on the shores of Tasman Sea; Sydney is the largest and most populous in Australia and is full of rich history. The city serves as a harbour and a major tourist destination. The population of Sydney is made up of people from different parts of the world; this makes it fun to stay in Sydney since one will interact with diverse kind of cultures. The main reasons why you should tour Sydney include; lovely beaches, a lot of fun activities to enjoy, best restaurants, iconic land structures and a lot of cultural activities to engage in.
Great Barrier Reef
Great Barrier Reef is the world biggest coral reef and because of this it is classified as one of the major world wonders. It comprises of more than 3000 single reefs and numerous Islands which extends to an area of more than 2000 kilometres. The reef which is protected by the Marine Park will definitely be the best touring experience in your lifetime on a natural habitat. Among the activities that you will enjoy while exploring The Great Reef include under water diving, camping and scuba diving. While diving one should be cautious against dangerous animals.
Brisbane
Touring Australia is never complete without visiting Brisbane, the heart of Australian culture. The Queensland capital is the third largest city in Australia and is known to host most of Australia cultural celebrations and events. Apart from being Australia cultural centre, most tourists enjoy visiting Brisbane due to lively art, diverse memorial sites, friendly climate, world class hotels and mouth-watering dishes. In addition, one will enjoy shopping on the streets and interacting with the local people since English is the main language here and the residents are very friendly and welcoming.
Uluru Ayers Rock
This is also known as the heart of Australia. It is located in central Australia and has some stunning and huge tourist destination that are a must see in Australia. Ayers rock is famous for its colours that appear to change at different times in the day as well as in the year. Climbing Uluru takes roughly 1 hour and an hour to get back down. Taking a hike around the base will take about 2 hours and is 8 kilometres. There is a resort about 16 kilometres from Uluru known Ayers Rock Resort. Therefore, accommodation is not that far away. Additionally, there is another attraction known as Alice Springs that is 450 kilometres away and worth a visit.
Melbourne
Melbourne is the second largest city in Australia and is full of vibrant neighbourhood and lively lifestyle. One thing that you will definitely fall in love with the residents of Melbourne is their leisurely and relaxed way of carrying out their daily activities. This city will definitely make you feel relaxed and if you want a break from normal life hustles, then this is the perfect place to retreat. While in Melbourne the top activities that you cannot miss to enjoy include a taste of finest blended wine, a lively nightlife, exploring the royal botanic garden and exploring the town using City Circle Tram.
Kakadu National Park
This National Park covers 20,000 square Kilometres of unique biodiversity and natural beauty. Kakadu National Park is a world heritage that is visited for its natural and cultural values. Ubirr and Nourlangie Rock provide excellent examples of aboriginal art. Kakadu has many campgrounds and rugged tracks that provide for the definitive escapade destination. This park ishome to more than 1000 plant species and variety of plant species that make it a good birds watching destination. Touring Australia will definitely make you want to go back again and again in future due to numerous interesting places to tour. To enjoy and have a taste of Australian lifestyle is very easy;all you need is an Australia visa Apply for one today and make your touring dream of exploring most interesting place in Australia come true today.
Author Bio: Jane Robert is a Passionate blogger. She works on behalf of Australia Visa she has been writing contents on the web professionally since 2010. As an avid reader and blogger she shares her experience through her articles on Travel, Culture, History, Lifestyle and many more.
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Autumn Reflection on Commonwealth Lake Park in Oregon
COMMONWEALTH LAKE PARK, OREGON: It’s been about three months since we’ve moved back to our home in Oregon from Europe. We are enjoying our lives here no doubt, but we miss the fact that (along with thousands of other things about Europe) there is no more eager waiting to go to a new place in weekends or holidays. I don’t really look forwards to the weekends anymore, because it’s not like we can drive couple hours and visit a different country, experience new culture, try different dishes, or appreciate old architectures. So, before the weather got really wet and gloomy here in the Northwest part of America, I tried my best to get of the house with my camera and see the unseen of my city…trying my best not to miss my life in Belgium.
Commonwealth Lake Park showed up in my smartphone map as a blue/water area while I was searching for something else. And I jumped and zoomed in to see what it actually was and where it was located. To my surprise, it’s only 10 minutes from my place in Beaverton, Oregon. What? There was this lake in my city and I didn’t even know about it? I had to go visit it while the mesmerizing fall colors were still at peak.
Commonwealth Lake Park is a nice little haven for walking, strolling, fishing, bird-watching, or just simple family time for the locals. It was middle of October 2014 when I made my first time trip there. The park was proudly showing off its vivid autumn colors on the trees, grounds, and as reflections on the lake.
Here are more pictures of my autumn experience in Commonwealth Lake Park. Enjoy…
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America’s 2nd highest year-round water falls – Multnomah Falls in Oregon
MULTNOMAH FALLS, OREGON: I have visited this magnificent landmark of Oregon few years ago before moving to Europe. We have been here few times with families, friends, and visitors. But everytime I was there, no matter which season and time, I could feel the force of that flowing water just by looking at its height. But one of the best parts of visiting this falls is not just the falls, it’s the bridge and walking over that bridge looking at both upper and lower sides of the water falls.
Located on historic Columbia River Highway, Multnomah Falls is our nation’s 2nd highest year-round water falls and receives over two million visitors each year. Water flow of the falls varies, but winter and spring is the most spectacular time to visit it.
The upper falls here is 543 feet, lower falls is 69 feet high, and an additional 8 feet in between. “Multnomah Falls was created when massive flood scoured out the Columbia River Gorge, leaving the falls to hang.” (Tourist board).
The original bridge over Multnomah Creek was built in the early 1880s out of log poles. After it collapsed, this present one was built in 1914 and was named after a strong advocate for the Historic Columbia River Gorge Highway and Multnomah Falls, Simon Benson. In September 1995, a 400-ton rock slid from the upper Multnomah Falls and dropped 225 feet into the falls upper plunge pool. A wedding party was drenched when the slided rock sent a 70-foot splash over the historic Benson Bridge.
Go inside the old lodge which was built in 1925 by the city of Portland to capitalize on the growing tourist trade of the Columbia River Gorge. You can find snack bar, gift shop, full-service restaurant, and a US Forest Service interpretive center inside this lodge.
There are about 77 falls on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge and more than 5 major falls and few viewpoints around this area. But if you are in Portland, this is almost a must-see spot here. It’s our pride and joy.
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Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland, Oregon
LAN SU CHINESE GARDEN: I enjoy visiting Chinese or Japanese garden more than any other types of gardens there are to visit. I don’t know if it’s the landscape, sound of the water, small bridges, ancient architecture style, fountains, collection of trees, or just the atmosphere that attracts me the most. The only oriental garden that we visited in Europe was Hasselt Japanese Garden in Belgium. I regret not seeing the one in the heart of Brussels; we made couple initiatives to visit it…but never worked out.
After returning to Portland, I was determined to pay my visit to Lan Su Chinese Garden for the second time (first time we went there was about 4/5 years ago). I was supposed to go for a photo-shoot (just my camera and I) that morning but somehow ended up in Pearl District near Portland downtown. After making some frustrated turns, I saw the sign to this garden. I quickly searched the address in my phone and started following my GPS. I was destined to visit this place that morning, and I was happy that I ended up here.
Lan Su Chinese Garden is a piece of wonderland that gives you the opportunity to peek into Chinese culture and heritage in the heart of busy Portland in Oregon. The garden was built in 2000 by expert Chinese artisans using traditional materials and methods. It took sixty-five artisans for 10 months to assemble and complete the structures that were crafted in China. It’s considered the most authentic Suzhou-style Chinese garden outside of China. Most of its building materials, including few hundred tons of rocks actually traveled from China.
Other than few hundreds of plant species, visit the Courtyard of Tranquility, terrace, Moon Locking Pavilion, Rock Mountain and Waterfall. Don’t miss the carved ginkgo wood or some penjing that contains trees that are over one hundred years old. The garden around you is a spiritual and peaceful place that will help you escape the daily lives. When you are done with everything have a cup of hot tea in the Tower of Cosmic Reflection tea-house. The tea-house is a separate entity which promotes social art and culture of tea from the Far East.
The ticket to the garden is around $10. I ended up buying their annual membership for $60. I wanted to take advantage of their free Tai Chi class every Thursday morning at 10am which is available for anyone.
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Few hours in Nancy, France
NANCY, FRANCE: Nancy is an elegant medium-sized French town in the region of Lorraine. The city is famous for some of its architectural masterpieces. You can see touch of both medieval and Renaissance in its old part. Nancy is also considered as an Art Nouveou jewel in this region of France. Being a university town, its old town offers a melting pot atmosphere for Nancy’s students, locals, and tourist.
TIME of TRAVEL: Nancy was the last stop on our summer road trip of 2014. The main highlight of this trip was visiting Mont-Blanc…the highest peak of the Alps. We also visited Annecy, Chamonix, and Dijon before coming to Nancy. It was a nice weather but Nancy looked a bit slow and less-crowded when we were there.
EATING and SHOPPING: We really didn’t eat anything here, except for our girls who had sandwiches from Subway. But streets near Place Stanislas had some cafes and restaurants and shops. Other than that I didn’t really see too many eateries or souvenir shops.
PLACES WE’VE VISITED: We barely stayed only couple hours in Nancy. It was on our way from Dijon to Brussels. So we stopped for a little break and to look around its old part. It makes a great day-trip from places like Dijon. Walking is the most convenient and best way to explore the city.
1) CATHEDRAL of NANCY: Also known as Cathedrale-Primatiale de Nancy, was our first stop in Nancy. Nancy is known for having many beautiful and old churches.
The church was built between 1703 and 1742. This is a very Gothic looking cathedral with powerful Corinthian pillars, angel sculptures, decorative arches, painted dome, small chapels, and chapel gates. The altar from 1763 is made of different colored marbles. Check out the organ which fills the entire rear of the church. It is considered as one of the most beautiful one in whole France. The façade, as well as the interior are of the Corinthian order. Interior plan has a Latin-cross shape.
It’s free to enter the cathedral.
2) PLACE STANISLAS: Listen as the UNESCO World Heritage site, Place Stanislas is an impressive square from mid-1700s which is a popular public gathering point. Town hall of Nancy stands on one side of Place Stanislas. Statue of King Stanislas dominates the square surrounded by buildings and decorative doors. Right in front of the statue of King Stanislas and opposite of the town hall is Arch Here, which was built in honor of King Louis XV and looks very similar to Arc de Triumph in Paris. The square is guarded by few fancy golden wrought iron gates…reminded me of Tsars’ Village in St. Petersburg, Russia. Two lavishly decorated fountains with statues can be seen on the two sides of this square.
3) LA BASILIQUE ST. EPURE: Our last stop in Nancy before heading back to Belgium was this extravagant basilica, known as La Basilique St. Epure. This is a must-see in Nancy which receives thousands of people from all over the world each year. The basilica is standing over an old parish church from 9th Before this current basilica was built in 1871, there were three more churches that have been erected on this site. A large number of European artists and architects were involved giving this edifice its present look.
Loved the woodwork, stone carvings, and stained-glass windows here. There are 74 large windows and 3 rose windows which all together, represent about 2300 sq. meters of stained glass surface. This church is known to have “more glass than wall”. Most of these windows are from Vienna, Austria. Check out the carved wood decoration on altars, choir-stalls, cross, statues, and pulpit. The church collected items from all over Europe, like the heaviest bell of the main choir is from Hungary, chandeliers from Belgium, a 25-sq. meter pavement from the Pope Pius IX in Rome. Small chapels on the sides and behind the main altar are very decorative with statues, stained-glass windows, and old religious artifacts. Its 84 meters (or 275 ft.) height spire rises high and looms over Nancy’s old town with a glaze.
The basilica is located at the very heart of Nancy, only few minutes’ walk from Place Stanislas. There is no fee to get inside. Check out Museum of Lorraine, an artistic building in front of this basilica, which once used to be the Ducal Palace.
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Business Excellence Award 2020 from AI Global Media
Journey Around The Globe 