Tagged With "NSW Southern Highlands"
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Re: Sea World gives up its killer whale shows
I grow weary of political correctness. Orcas are highly intelligent animals, no doubt -- and have the "cruelty" we expect of intelligent animals (anyone who's seen them hunt a baby gray whale for hours, only to kill it, eat its tongue and let the rest go to waste knows what I mean). I never saw Blackfish, but I do recall at the old Marineland park in Southern California. The park was closed for a number of months, and the orcas got depressed. Listless, didn't eat, didn't look good. Someone...
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Re: A visit to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello
PHeymont, I never try to judge historic figures through the prism of modern values. Remember in the 18th century slavery was a global institution -- absolutely every country in the world had slaves. And being from Virginia, he knew the southern states wouldn't join northern colonies in forming a new country without slavery being allowed, so I don't think he thought it was time to fight that fight. I think he valued the formation of the new country above all else -- risking his life to do so...
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Re: Where in the World is Gumbo #6
This is pretty tough. Looks like an old bridge with strong Chinese influence. I've never been there but would favor something in Southern China or maybe Southeast Asia. Anyone besides PortMoresby ever seen this before?
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Re: Where in the World is Gumbo #6
Originally Posted by Travel Luver: This is pretty tough. Looks like an old bridge with strong Chinese influence. I've never been there but would favor something in Southern China or maybe Southeast Asia. I agree with Travel Luver. It reminds me of traditional architecture in Thailand. I wonder whether the wooden structure is the same age as the stone supports or a replacement.
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Re: Where in the World is Gumbo? #8.5
What a beautiful church Gumbo has found! WITW? The clues: 18th century Spanish colonial architecture, typical of Franciscan missions; Banner in English; Materials are not typical of Florida or Texas missions; Various effigies of animals and unreal creatures, often incorporated by the Franciscans into their liturgy in order to convert American Indians. Typical of US southwestern states; Not one of the remaining California missions; Not in Santa Fe; Checked missions in Arizona. Found (as did...
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Re: Where in the World is Gumbo #5.5
Interesting clues here but nothing definitive. The vegetation growing through the cobblestones might indicate a moderate climate throughout the year. This path appears to be residential and not one frequented by tourists. Maybe Mediterranean or a colonial city in the Americas. The cobblestones are on the small side and are more common, I think, in southern Europe. Also the light fixtures are a modern design and not typical of a city trying very hard to preserve the old look and feel of the...
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Re: Where in the World is Gumbo #5.5
Worker Bee - This does look a lot like the medieval lanes of Rhodes. Except - Those southern European spots do not usually have tidy postboxes and glossy wooden doors. The lane is well kept and recently repaired. I agree that it is a proper residential area. While the overall feel is something Spanish or Italian, because of the postbox and tidiness, I am thinking Kilkenny, Lyon, Quimper or even Brighton. The stone ( is that stone ?) used in that recent doorway lintel is similar to the...
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Re: Happy Thanksgiving, from all of us at TravelGumbo!
GarryRF, You must try the King (Elvis Presley's) favorite sandwich. Peanut butter and banana, fried in butter. Forget about the cholesterol -- give it a go. It's much better than it sounds! Part of the joy of traveling is trying the food. Like "pudding" with your full Irish breakfast (don't ask if you don't know). I remember driving through rural southern Australia and seeing the following sign at a restaurant: "Bugs, $10". I don't know about you but I wouldn't pay anything for a plate of...
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Re: Idaho's Craters of the Moon National Monument
Thanks for reading the piece and for your comment, GarryRF! The "Yellowstone" hot spot has migrated over the past thousands of years from eastern Oregon, across southern Idaho and now sits right under Yellowstone National Park. Actually the hot spot hasn't move at all, the earth's places move away from the hot spot, but it's just another way of thinking about it. I'd be careful about being around an active volcano but don't mind hanging around places like this or much of the Hawaiian...
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Re: South Dakota State Capital, Pierre – The Land of Infinite Variety
Actually, it was a Jeopardy question last week. But I did know about SD because I drove across it's southern expanse, getting to see Jewel Caverns, Geronimo, Rushmore, Wall Drugs, The Badlands and The Corn Palace. We didn't get to Pierre because it wasn't on the interstate.
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Re: New Orleans—Museum Highlights Young Voices of Resilience
Great piece! Yes, it is good to hear from our children about what they learned in the past decade living in New Orleans after the storm. So many were impacted, many were harmed and suffered PTSD. Great to hear kids speak about the positive outcomes from their Katrina experiences. I can't wait for the new LA Childrens Museum to open in its new and amazing facility in City Park, another NOLA gem. Ya'll come visit soon and often to experience a city like no other, New Orleans. It has not been...
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Re: June 23, 2017: The Shortest River in the World!
A few times on road trips to Italy from my US Army base in Augsburg Germany, we stayed a few days at Lake Garda. Just a beautiful place to relax and enjoy the many local wines ... our favorite was Bardolino. Each time we stayed at a small family run pension in a lakefront room in the town of Sirmione which is perched on small sliver of a peninsula jutting out into the southern portion of the lake. Owners were very friendly and engaging. We enjoyed walking the old town and having a delicious...
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Re: July 23, 2017: Salt Lake, Salt Mines & Salt Caravans, Ethiopia
It is almost impossible to describe the debilitating heat in this location. We would instantly scurry to any shade possible, however inadequate. I have been on the southern fringe and broiled in hot springs about 30km off the road to Harar. Afars looked through me, knowing I was irrelevant in their world. In years gone by, my testicles would have been their chief interest in me, for decorating their waistband !
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Oct. 4, 2014: A Courtyard in Marrakech
Off to Marrakesh on Saturday to start a travel photo course and then down to the southern towns over the mountains....
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Oct. 4, 2014: A Courtyard in Marrakech
Originally Posted by Mac: Off to Marrakesh on Saturday to start a travel photo course and then down to the southern towns over the mountains.... Very much looking forward to seeing the results of this adventure, Mac!
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Nov. 16, 2014: American Golden Plover
Yes, Arctic birds are common in southern USA, Central and South America and further north during migration. But to see them in their beautiful breeding colours, you need to go to the Arctic in spring or early summer. This plover had already changed to grey by mid-August.
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Re: Heads Up for Travelers: Iceland's Volcanoes May Disrupt Travel Again
There can be an up side to travel during an eruption. My plans proceeded during the 2010 eruption and the first result was a southern route to Rome and a spectacular view of the Pyrenees, flying parallel to them. I learned how big those mountains are, had had no idea. After arrival in Rome I immediately booked sleeper compartment tickets from Budapest to London (already had Rome-Budapest), to replace the flight I'd booked. As it transpired, the flight ban was over by the time I got on the...
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, June 17, 2014: Cobble Stone Square in Aix-en-Provence
Draws me in...and back to my days in Provence, too many years ago. Thanks for the reminder of France's southern beauty.
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Re: Visiting Patagonia. 2) Laguna Nimez Nature Preserve, El Calafate
Great article. Thanks. I need to go there. The black bird in the water is an Andean Coot. Your grey unknown bird is a Southern Lapwing. Tom
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Re: Impression about Perth, Australia
I've actually visited Perth, attending a medical meeting there some years back. I really enjoyed the city. Mostly modern, but with historic colonial era buildings. Very friendly people, especially considering they're all descended from convicts (a point of pride and good humor with them, I found). Perth was a good springboard for a road-trip around southwestern Australia, including a drive up to Shark's Bay, through the wildflower way (am I remember that name correctly), down to the large...
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Re: Top 7 Things to do in Avalon – Catalina Island
Thanks Samantha, great report! I'm from Southern California and I sure miss going to Catalina. My favorite thing has to be watching the flying fish as you take the ferry across. They used to rent motorboats to go around the island yourself, which was cool. Do they still do that?
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Re: Top 7 Things to do in Avalon – Catalina Island
I only visited Catalina once in the ~25 years I lived in Southern California, but I remember it being exactly as you describe it -- a quieter place that's well away from the glam, glitz and adrenaline-paced speed of the mainland. We also did an island tour and enjoyed that. Mr. Wrigley introduced a herd of bison on to the island which are still very popular.
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Re: Top 7 Things to do in Avalon – Catalina Island
As many times that I've been to Southern Cal haven't had the opportunity to make it here.
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Re: Dismaland - the new 'post-apocalyptic' bemusement park in England
That's a terrific report, Mac -- I feel like I've been there! So this is what Disneyland is like to someone who's on a "bad trip". There's satire, and then there's a rip off of intellectual copyrights that supposedly the western world has agreed to abid with. I can't see Disney not going after these guys. Unless you didn't have to pay anything to get in, there's quite a few pounds switching hands and Disney definitely wants it share. And PHeymont, I'm surprised an adult who likes Las Vegas...
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Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo (#85)
This is a difficult one, but the recent clues may help. Famous cultural centres at one end of a country with palm trees in the past few years are few. I can think of Sydney Opera House and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. Maybe this building is in Southern Spain, although I don't know where.
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Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo? (#105)
Looking at the architecture its a coastal city in southern Sweden. But I cant nail it to the post !
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Re: How do you use the internet while traveling?
I have not been to Japan, but generally my travel experience with internet access has been much more positive than yours. I've generally had good luck with getting on line in Europe, South America and even Southern Africa. Once in a while the internet might be down at a place I'm staying at, but usually it's quickly repaired. Exceptions to this are very rural areas, like in Patagonia and where I'm heading next week, Yellowstone National Park. There is really not internet available at most...
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Re: Florida warned: take action against future flooding
Climate change "experts" are saying that: "Antarctica’s massive stores of ice are likely to melt as the planet warms and contribute ever greater amounts of water to the world’s oceans." But the facts are: "The winter ice around the southern continent has been growing relatively constantly since records began in 1979. The US National Snow and Ice Data Centre, which monitors sea ice using satellite data, say that the year’s maximum was 1.54m sq km (595,000 sq miles) above the 1981-2010...
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Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo (#327)
“Are we in Germany or perhaps in Southern Europe? Or somewhere else entirely?”
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, October 24, 2015: Poppies -- Weeping Window at Woodhorn
We southern North Americans are not that unfamiliar with the poppies, although perhaps the younger ones...in my childhood and on, they were annually a tradition carried on by the American Legion. Actually, a little research tells me that the tradition started with them in 1921, and then spread to UK and Commonwealth! Here's the text of the poem, written by John McRae, a Canadian soldier and physician: In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place;...
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Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo (#117)
So definitely governmental (at least originally). I am not as sure about southern europe, but I have not proof one way or the other.
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Re: Jan. 16, 2017: Mission Inn, Riverside, California
Thanks for sharing that site. I have lived in Southern California just about my whole life and never knew of this wonderful place.
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Re: Where in the World is Gumbo? #4.5, 12/6/13
Originally Posted by Red Rover: The people are overdressed for Florida, which makes them look like happy snowbirds. This pier is a historic pier, somewhere. Those look to be wooden piers, which would have been gone long ago in Florida, don't you think ? The pic is taken from a T-head, unless Dr. Fumblefinger hitched a ride on the back of a seagull. Not Florida. Maybe southern California ? He coulda been on a boat, too.
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Re: Where in the World is Gumbo? #4.5, 12/6/13
If anyone's really interested in finding this pier it's the details that count. Despite having the suggestion blown off earlier I still see mountains in the center distance, leading me to believe it's in Southern California. The railing is distinctive, 2 boards together at the top then just 1 more below. A few lights, all on one side. Then the cross bracing below and an "L" or "T" at the end for the angle of the shot. The closest I've seen so far are Ventura and Newport Beach but neither...
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Re: Where in the World is Gumbo? #4.5, 12/6/13
If you'd like to really drive yourself crazy, search "wooden piers southern california" then on the result page click on "images" at the top. Not to say definitively it's so. CA but it's as good a place as any to start.
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Re: Chinese Airlines Looking for Bigger Share of Int'l Service
I have, indeed, noticed that Chinese airlines (China Eastern, China Southern) that I've used domestically or from other Asian countries to China, appearing on fare searches lately, usually with very competitive fares. I intend to pay closer attention. Thanks P.
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Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo? (#74)
The spelling of "Harbor" indicates the US, and the angle of the sun suggests the southern half. I suspect if it were California, there are Travel Gumbo bloggers who would have recognised it by now. There is a flag with a single star - could this be an old version of the flag of Texas? So what about the Texas coast somewhere?
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Re: Coastal California: Pigeon Point Lighthouse
In that part of the coast, it's more likely to have been artichokes, grown there and all the way down to Salinas/Monterey. Avocados are a Southern California crop.
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Re: Coastal California: Pigeon Point Lighthouse
Gentlemen, I think you missed my point somewhere above. Artichokes grow in Northern California, avocados in Southern California. As far as I've observed, never the twain shall meet. Just to confirm, is this it? If so, not avocado.
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Re: Will the first class cabin disappear?
I wonder how much of this is just the re-branding of first class as business class ? In the case of China Southern Airlines, as government officials were banned from flying first class, they did exactly that by renaming first, business Read More : http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0...0.html#axzz3BeevNu00
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Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo? #64
The landscape looks a lot like southern Alberta. Could this be the railway viaduct near Lethbridge?
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Re: A Day at the Zoo: San Diego, California
Thanks IslandMan! Probably the rarest animal at the zoo is the California Condor. Only the San Diego and Los Angeles zoos exhibit these birds and were instrumental in saving them from extinction. With only a few dozen birds left in the wild, a controversial decision was made several decades ago to capture them all and place the remaining birds in these two zoos for a captive breeding program. They now number several hundred and are slowly being re-introduced into the wild, with limited...
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Re: Chattanooga & Paris?
Not that I read Conde Nast's newsletter often...but I'm ready for the Chattanooga choo-choo sometime. It's on my "southern road-trip bucket list" for someday...along with Charleston, Memphis and revisits to Nashville and Savannah. Maybe we could all get together and get Food Network to fund us... And here's a softball: What do Nashville and Athens have in common?
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Re: Maritime Museum of Ushuaia, a former prison converted into an interesting museum
I think this is an opportunity, Gumbo's Hostel (southern branch). Just a bit of paint, or maybe even better, leave it "authentic".