Not far from Sai Kung, Sharp Island is another one of Hong Kong’s hidden treasures. Known for its gorgeous beaches strewn with rocks and hiking tracks, Sharp Island is the largest island in the Kiu Tsui Country Park and an ideal day trip away from the crowds.
You are spoilt with two distinct beaches to choose from on Sharp Island – Hap Mun Bay and Kiu Tsui Beach. Take a boat to the beach of your choice from Sai Kung, lay out your towel and soak it all up. Tsui Beach is the larger of the two beaches and stretches along the western shore of Sharp Island. Right next to the beach is a tombolo (coastal sediment deposit at the coast where one or more sandbars that connect an island to the mainland) named Kiu Tau. You can walk over the tombolo during low tide.
If you plan to spend the entire day, take yourself a packed lunch. There are showers close to the pier, with a shop selling food and drinks. You can also swim in the sea near the pier, and they have a life guard there.
If you’re interested in geology and want to learn more about this fascinating region try the Sai Kung Volcanic Rock Region Tour.
First held in the late 1700s in East Tanna, the Nekowiar Festival is one of Vanuatu’s biggest and brightest events and originally marked the end of a conflict between neighbouring tribes.
There isn’t a set date and time for the festival – it takes place when Tanna’s kastom chiefs collectively decide when it is most fortuitous to hold. In fact, the 2020 event was the first time the festival took place since 2012!
The festival is an extravaganza of the senses, taking place across three full days and nights. Hundreds of dancers join together and paint their faces with brightly coloured designs, significant to their tribal community, and the following days are filled with kastom song and dance.
The female dancers kick proceedings off. They sing in harmony and dance a traditional dance of Napen Napen, until they’re too exhausted to continue – swapping in and out with one another throughout the day and well into the evening. On the second day, it’s the men’s turn to perform the traditional Toka dance, chanting and dancing energetically to the beat for hours on end.
On the last day, everyone gathers together for a feast and food, pigs and other goods are exchanged between tribes at a ceremony known as the Niel, to reconcile any quarrels and disagreements between them.
Get ready to loosen the hips as the percussionist troupe La Bomba De Tiempo launch into an improvised funk-fuelled latin performance every Monday night at 7pm.
Each performance is a truly unique experience with music generated from hand signals between the musicians and the conductor. The head honcho will execute more than 90 signs with his hands to lead the improvisation into a rhythmic frenzy.
Now in its twelfth season, every show’s had a guest who participates in the game of musical improvisation and interaction. Hundreds of Argentinean and foreign musicians from different backgrounds and styles have performed and more than five million sweaty peeps have experienced the rhythmic elixir. It’s happening every Monday and dancing is mandatory!
Thailand is one of the last places on earth you’d expect to find a secret beach and, although Lipe isn’t deserted, you’ll find far fewer tourists and a lot less development here than on many of the nearby islands.
Koh Lipe is located in southern Thailand’s Satun Province, just a stone’s through from the Thai/Malay border and part of the Tarutao National Marine Park. There are three main beaches: Pattaya, Sunrise and Sunset. Sunset is the least developed with shacks made of driftwood acting as bars and restaurants. At Sunrise Beach, you’ll find Castaway Resort with its breezy bungalows, some set right on the sand.
If you really want to get away from the hustle and bustle that some of the islands have regrettably become, Castaway Resort can pack you a lunch, organise a boat and drop you at one of the nearby deserted islands where you can make like Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr.
Just south of Brazil, squatters have cobbled together scrap-wood houses in the desert landscape of Cabo Polonio National Park. The town is a hippie’s paradise – there are no paved roads or running water, there’s little electricity and private vehicles are banned.
Ownership of Cabo Polonio is split between private citizens and the government, who designated it a protected national park in 2009. Buses from Montevideo drop those in the know at a petrol station by the highway, where they hop onto a truck that chugs across the dunes and down to the beach. A handful of hostels lurk between shacks, and residents rent rooms to guests. Spend your days lazing in a hammock while watching cows cruise the beach or sea lions congregate below the nearby lighthouse.
A mini-high season flourishes from December through to February, when locals transform their kitchens into restaurants and vendors travel door to door selling mussels and cake.
Quirimbas Archipelago is the ideal chill location. You can nap beneath a palm trees between meals and plunge into the water, pull dinner from the ocean or if you are the active type you take the windsurfer for a spin or snokel.
Do all this and more on the Quirimbas Archipelago, one of the few parts of the earth where the marine environment remains largely untouched by human hands.
Lying just off the coast of Mozambique, the archipelago consists of 12 major islands, about 20 smaller outcrops and any number of sandbar beaches. One of the cultural gems is Ibo Island, with its strong Arab and Portuguese influences. Stay at Ibo Island Lodge, where there are just 14 rooms and a private sandbar beach for complete separation from the rest of the world – if only for a few hours.
For divers, this is a must-visit. Shallow sites swarming with tropical life are suitable for newcomers, while those with a few stamps in their logbooks will want to hit the staggeringly beautiful drop-offs. One popular spot is the southern tip of Matemo Island, where you can see dolphins, turtles, groupers and stingrays in the drift
There’s remote island escapes and there’s ‘remote island escapes’. The Conflict are genuine paradise escapes and are made up of 21 privately owned, pristine and completely uninhabited islands covering a total landmass of 375 hectares / 3.75km square). That’s a lot of space to get lost and found in.
How’s this for remote: at the Conflict Islands Resort you’ll find just six private beachfront ensuite bungalows, situated on the main island of Panasesa. There’s also a main house where guests can enjoy peace and tranquility whilst enjoying delicious fresh-caught local food, refreshing drinks, and even free wi-fi (if you want or need it).
There’s also a beachfront deck and a balcony overlooking the stunning archipelago and lagoon waters, with other-worldly aqua-blue colours.
Your next climbing challenge awaits. At 4,509m, Mount Wilhelm is not only the highest mountain in Papua New Guinea, but is also the highest point in all of Oceania. Led by Peter Doa, Papua New Guinean Mt Wilhelm head guide.
Despite its height, Mount Wilhelm is actually the country’s most accessible mountain to climb. Usually a 3-4 day hike (accessible from Mount Hagen) including overnight stays at camps / villages along the way, the expedition will find you crossing rivers, climbing through moss forests, alpine grasslands and glacial valleys. Mount Wilhelm has rugged peaks with a well formed trail leading to its summit. The ascent crosses diverse and beautiful terrain with open grassland on the slopes and granite predominant in the higher levels. While it is not a technical mountain to climb it does take a reasonable level of fitness to complete with 3 – 4 days to ascend.
Generally trekkers summit before sunrise to truly enjoy the view out to the north coast and surrounding valleys, and if you’re lucky enough you might even get to spot a beautiful bird of paradise too. While it’s not compulsory to reach the summit it is to come back down – the scenery is simply breathtaking!
New Britain and New Ireland islands in the Bismarck Sea are popular with divers, surfers, history buffs and adventure seekers alike. These two easy-to-get-to islands are perfect for first-time visitors to Papua New Guinea.
In West New Britain Province (accessible by flight to Kimbe) you can hike to the top of the active Gabuna Volcano crater, relax in a natural spa-like thermal hot river or visit the local firefly trees at night and see the rainforest light up. At the other end of the island in East New Britain Province (accessible by flight to Rabaul), a world of history awaits; from hidden Japanese WWII war tunnels and Admiral Yamamoto’s famed buker, to the ash-covered remains of old Rabaul town (destroyed by the nearby Mount Tavurvur volcanic eruption of 1937).
At New Ireland (accessible by flight to Kavieng) you can go on a 5-day cycling adventure, travelling down the length of the 260km mostly-flat Bulominski Highway, stopping to rest at traditional village homestays along the way.
After many months in lockdown, mountain bike enthusiasts hardly need an excuse to get among it, but they’ll be over the moon to know Falls Creek Mountain Bike Park is ready to rock ’n roll.
With 40 kilometres of world-class trails, designed and built by World Trail in Victoria’s stunning alpine terrain, Falls Creek Mountain Bike Park has been finessed with riders in mind to suit mountain-bikers of all experience levels.
For seasoned riders there’s the lofty altitude of the Summit, with plenty of drops, twists and turns to the thick forest of the Ticket Box. For the fearless, there’s Victoria’s longest unbroken gravity ride descending 535 metres through three of Falls Creek’s best trails. Hang one and hope for the best or, as the bikers say, “Huck and hope.”
Those with training wheels will enjoy Generator to Vortex, an easy combination ride through Falls Creek’s snowgum country back to the village.
The newest trail, Flowtown, features six kilometres of free-flowing trail. It’s stacked with gnarly berms, jumps and rollers, The final half that rides more like a pump track than gravity trail.
Riding doesn’t float your boat? There are plenty of stunning scenic hikes, trails, fishing and kayaking options in the High Country.
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