Lakes of bubble-gum pink seem to be something of an Australian phenomenon. Apart from the Insta-famous pond in Melbourne’s Westgate Park that turns pink when salt levels peak, the rest can be found in Western Australia. Lake Hillier is one of the most famous, and the only one that remains pink all year long. The colour is caused by a microalgae called Dunaliella salina, which is found in water that’s highly saline.
Lake Hillier is located on Middle Island in the Recherche Archipelago, near Esperance, and is best enjoyed on a scenic flight with Goldfields Air Services. That way you can truly appreciate the juxtaposition of the lake, which is the same shade as Pepto-Bismol, and the deep blue of the ocean, separated only by a thin stretch of scrub and white sand.
It’s the national airline, so Vietnam Airlines serves up a very different Asian stopover on the way to Europe (it has direct flights to London, Paris and Frankfurt). From Sydney or Melbourne, you’ll fly direct to Ho Chi Minh City, with its combo of local personality and French influences. Colour us crazy, but we’d stop here just for the opportunity to gorge on excellent food. And as much as we love pho and banh mi, this is the chance to head to food streets and night markets for less well-known dishes. (Plus, you can have pho for brekky with iced Vietnamese coffee, so you won’t miss out.)
Try banh xeo (crispy rice pancakes with seafood), bun mam (noodle soup with fermented fish broth, seafood and pork belly) or anything else that looks tempting. Stretch your legs before getting back on the plane checking out the War Remnants Museum, Saigon Opera House and the Reunification Palace. The Cu Chi Tunnels are just 90 minutes away, so you can even organise a day tour. Last but hardly least, kick back and have one of the city’s famous massages.
Step back in time as you wander the cliff palaces of Colorado’s Ancestral Pueblo tribes. Mesa Verde National Park is the only national park in the USA dedicated to preserving the works of mankind. The designated UNESCO Heritage Site is home to more than 5,000 archaeological spots, including 600 cliff dwellings that date back to between 600 and 1300 CE. The dwellings provide an insight into the lives and heritage of the Ancestral Puebloan people who lived in this region for more than 700 years, and are some of the most notable and best preserved in the USA.
Guided ranger tours offer a deeper understanding of how these people lived, as well as access to get up close to the renowned cliff palaces – Balcony House, Cliff Palace and Long House – as you traverse ladders and open rock faces. You can also head out on a self-guided tour to explore some of the cultural sites at your own leisure – 12 easily accessible dwellings and overlooks can be found by driving along the Mesa Top Loop Road, with Far View House being among five villages that can be explored along a 1.2-kilometre unpaved trail.
Hiking trails in the park range from two to 12.5 kilometres, with highlights being the Point Lookout Trail traversing the top of the mesa with views of Montezuma and Mancos valleys, or the Petroglyph Point Trail, where a rugged, rocky route leads to stunning canyon vistas and ancient carvings on a huge petroglyph panel.
This is the cruise voyage of the future. This newest addition to the Nat Geo fleet is still being built, but when it hits the oceans it will be the world’s first hybrid-electric polar exploration ship. Powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) and electric generators, this ship has been designed to minimise the environmental impact of travel and its carbon footprint.
National Geographic and Ponant’s first two voyages in Antarctica on Le Commandant Charcot, named after French polar scientist Jean-Baptiste Charcot, are Expedition to Charcot & Peter l Islands and The Weddell Sea & Larsen Ice Shelf, both of which depart in January 2022.
These expeditions go further into the Antarctic Circle than Nat Geo Expeditions has ever gone before, travelling along the Antarctic peninsula to some of the world’s most seldom-visited places. Peter I Island is a small volcanic island covered by a glacier looming in the Bellingshausen Sea. It is inaccessible most of the year due to pack ice, and its only inhabitants are seabirds, penguins and seals. You could be one of the very few people on the planet to go there.
The voyages also visit Detaille Island, which was briefly used as a research base by the British Antarctica Survey before it was abandoned due to bad weather conditions. You’ll be able to explore the base where it remains frozen in time, complete with items such as skis, magazines, training books and electrical items left exactly as they were in 1959.
Then, of course, there’s the Larsen Ice Shelf. An extension of the ice sheet into the sea, this white giant is equally disturbing and fascinating, if only due to its colossal dimensions and the impressive tabletop icebergs, which are among the largest ever seen.
Caves conjure visions of tight squeezes, claustrophobia and dark, scary spaces. Not on Maewo in Vanuatu, where Moon Cave is spacious and lit with rays of sunlight that strike the water and create an iridescent yet eerie glow. Swimming here on a hot day is a must and so is engaging your guide to explain its cultural stories.
Serving as an important site to the community, Moon Cave helps locals share their story of creation and, in particular, the ways it’s influenced by the direction the sun and moon take as they travel across the sky. Hearing this new cosmological perspective will undoubtedly make you look up and wonder. Moon Cave also features ancient cave writings and an impressive amount of stalactites.
Maewo is off the beaten track, so if you’re seeking an authentic Pacific Island adventure, this is going to fit the bill. Don’t expect everything to be perfect though – part of the adventure is the rustic experience.
Get off the grid and ease into island time – it’s real and, rather than being measured in minutes, it’s all about chats and connections. Be sure to visit villages and ask about the gardens. Most people live here in tune to nature’s rhythms and, yes, that means seasonal home-grown fruit and vegetables dug directly from the garden to your plate each night.
Giant boulders perch over kilometres of undulating terrain and ruins and temples scatter the landscape in a stunning open museum of history, architecture and religion juxtaposed with palm groves, banana plantations and paddy fields. The World Heritage Site of Hampi, situated on the banks of the Tungabhadra River in the eastern part of central Karnataka leaves travellers spellbound.
Otherworldly Hampi is located on the Deccan plateau, one of the oldest and most stable geographical formations in the world, dating back 2.5 billion years ago. Once the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire, Hampi is considered to be the largest open monument and the “lost city of Asia’.
Among the artefacts you’d want to peruse include a queen’s bath, the Lotus Palace, a royal stable and a temple said to have been where the wedding of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati took place.
The ruins are located in two sections: the Sacred Centre and the Royal Centre. Explore places like the Vittala Temple, Royal Enclosure, Kadalekalu Ganesha, Lotus Mahal and the Elephant Stables. The Riverside Ruins are also worth a gander, with several shrines, some partially submerged, dedicated to Lord Vishnu and other Hindu deities.
For your fill of chai, budget accommodation, artefacts, shops and restaurants, head to Hampi Bazaar, a bustling village crammed with backpackers, touts and travellers.
Listed second in The New York Times’ 52 Places to Go in 2019 list, Hampi truly rocks. Visit during the famous Hampi Festival of dance, music and cultural extravaganza scheduled for three days in the first week of November.
When you dip your face into the sea at Uri Marine Park, colours will explode before your eyes. It surely is the real deal when it comes to snorkelling.
Uri is off the seriously remote tropical island of Malekula, and has a coral reef that would give anything in Queensland a run for its money. Best of all, there’s not another tourist in sight, so you can forget where you are, let go and float your worries away.
Expect to see giant clam shells on the sea floor and huge turtles glide past you surrounded by schools of exotic tropical fish, including translucent houndfish that look as though they’ve got straws for noses. If you’re super lucky you might even see a majestic dugong swim past. The soft coral is an epic combination of purple, lime green, pink and tan. This is as good as it gets.
Once you have finished you snorkel, you’ll be greeted by the locals kids, who’ll have come down for a swim and a chat after school. Nothing on here is touristy or flashy – accommodation comes in the form of basic bungalows constructed from bamboo. There’s no power and no fuss, but everything is idyllic and perfect. If you want to escape the hustle and bustle, Uri Marine Park is your place.
Canyons and rapids, the Rocky Mountains, open pastures and alpine meadows characterise the 160 kilometres that make up northern Colorado’s Cache la Poudre Scenic Byway. And there’s no better way to see it than on a road trip.
Spend a few days before you get going at Fort Collins, Colorado’s craft beer capital and one of the first National Heritage Areas west of the Mississippi. In this charming town you’ll likely see as many bicycles as cars, plus there’s the New Belgium Brewing and Odell Brewing Co (just to name a couple of bright beer spots), Poudre Whitewater Park and a full contingent of live music venues.
From Fort Collins, buckle up for a road trip that is sure to deliver jaw-dropping views as you take US Highway 287 northwest to its intersection with Colorado Highway 14 in Bellvue. From there the highway proceeds up the rugged Cache la Poudre River Canyon. Be sure to pull over and catch a view of the Cache la Poudre’s famed whitewater rapids – they’re a must for advanced kayakers to take on. Following this designated Wild and Scenic River (the only river in Colorado with this title), you’ll experience terrain alternating between wild canyons, serene pastures and alpine meadows, with plenty of spots where you can fish for brown and rainbow trout.
Progressing uphill, Highway 14 tops out at Cameron Pass, a low forested saddle between the Rawah Wilderness and Rocky Mountain National Park. Here, take in the views of North Park’s bowl-shaped basin and some of Colorado’s curiously named mountain ranges – Medicine Bow, the Never Summer and Rabbit Ears. Continuing into North Park will bring wildlife lovers among coyotes, moose and elk, and to the old town of Walden in the centre of the park. Known as the Moose Viewing Capital of Colorado, Walden’s quaint and historic downtown is dotted with dining options.
Driving an hour further, you’ll find Steamboat Springs tucked behind Medicine Bow, a ski resort with a distinct cowboy culture that delivers adventure year-round. Home to several hot spring pools to relax in while soaking up the views, we’d say this is the perfect place to end a day on the Cache la Poudre.
Take advantage of a seriously under-appreciated Southeast Asian stopover, with Philippine Airlines flying from Sydney to Manila then on to London. Packed with personality, the Philippines capital is also a little easier to get your head around on a first-time visit than, say, Bangkok. No stop here is complete without a stroll around Intramuros, the old walled city housing most of the Spanish colonial-era landmarks, like San Agustin Church, Plaza de Roma and Casa Manila. The best way to do that is on a walking tour with Carlos Celdran, who is reason alone to visit Manila.
There are also plenty of historical World War II sites – many of them, including the spot where General MacArthur bunked until the Yanks scarpered, are located on the island of Corregidor in Manila Bay. The dining and nightlife scene here is really sophisticated too, with spots like Blackbird, Scottish chef Colin Mackay’s contemporary fine-diner set in the old air-traffic control tower, and hidden cocktail bar Proof setting the scene.
The jungle is thick, green and steamy and you will be caked in sweat. It will run rivers down your arms and chin. No need to despair though, there is a heavenly aqua pool surrounded by limestone rock at the base ofthe waterfall where you don’t even have to change into your swimmers to enjoy. It’s laidback and pretty casual here on Malekula Island, Vanuatu, everything is done with a laugh and a smile.
There’s not a man-made structure in sight. It’s all just green and lush. There are butterflies, bird song, splashing and laughter. This is what you want when you come to the pacific – nature at its most magnificent.
Vanuatu may not be on the tourist radar yet, and that’s exactly the attraction. There’s no luxury resorts on Malekula Island. Outside the capital city, there’s no electricity and very little infrastructure. The roads are a bumpy adventure in themselves.
A visit to Losinwei waterfall is easy to organise once you’re on Malekula Island especially if you’re in the north near Norsup airport and Lakatoro, the capital city of this province. Just ask your host to arrange a guide and bus to the base of the short walk. You don’t need to book ahead. Things here work at their own pace and everything is done with a smile.
While you’re lazing in the pool you can devour freshly cut pawpaw and banana and wash it down with green coconut juice straight from the coconut. If this sounds like heaven to you…it’s because it is. After a dip, there’s tons of time for relaxing and taking in the bush and beautiful falls.
The Losinwei Jungle Waterfall trip includes cultural dances, a 3 day bush walk, some visits to an old cannibal site and viewing traditional canoes that Malekula Island is famous for. There’s tons to do…you can either lay on your back and let the soothing falls wash away your worries or you can explore deep into the jungle.
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