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AUSTRALIA
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Deluxe body & mind revitalisation - Thai Style
Self Drive
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EASTERN HIMALAYAS
AUSTRALIA'S INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
The Australian Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander cultures are the oldest continuous living traditions on Earth.
Aboriginal people have lived in Australia for more than 40,000 years. When Europeans began to colonize Australia in the late 18th century, there were around 300,000 Aborigines, of perhaps 500 different linguistic and cultural groups, on the continent. Very few now live in the remote outback, most having moved into the cities or large towns.
There were about 800,000 Aborigines living on the continent in small kin-based groups at the time of the first European settlement in 1788. Decimated by diseases new to them and killed by settlers, their number dwindled drastically.
The Australian Aborigines have a rich oral tradition of legends, songs, rituals, and bark and cave paintings concerned with their Dreamtime, a primeval era when humans were first on Earth. Tribal totem. ancestors of Australian Aborigines include the eagle-hawk, kangaroo, and snake.
About 50%; still follow the traditional hunter-gatherer way of life and live mostly in the remote desert areas of Northern Territory, the north of Western Australia, and in northern Queensland.
In the Dreamtime, spiritual beings shaped the land, the first people were brought into being and set in their proper territories, and laws and rituals were established. Belief in a creative spirit in the form of a huge snake, the Rainbow Serpent, occurs over much of Aboriginal Australia, usually associated with waterholes, rain, and thunder. A common feature of religions across the continent is the Aborigines’ bond with the land.
The Dreamtime stories describe how giants and animals sprang from the earth, sea, and sky and crisscrossed the empty continent of Australia before returning into the earth. The places where they travelled or sank back into the land became mountain ranges, rocks, and sites full of sacred meaning. Rituals, which must be re-enacted at certain times of the year in order to maintain the life of the land, are connected with each site. Each Aborigine has a Dreamtime ancestor associated with a particular animal that the person must not kill or injure.
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Skipping the Opera House & Harbour Bridge for the 'OUTBACK'
Roughly the same size as the continental United States, Australia is a boundless and diverse wonderland, with beaches and cities shaping the outer edges and the Outback dominating the interior.
The Outback is a living, breathing entity. Many dismiss it as just a desert, which is akin to calling the Rockies just a bunch of hills.
Still the Australian Outback is a desert, a home and a journey. It is a canvas painted sunburnt orange-red during days when the heat bends the air, changing to soft purple at night when the skies dazzle with light from the entire universe.
The Outback is also a patient collector of awe-inspiring scenery. Through millions of years of evolution and thousands of years of Aboriginal stewardship, the Australian Outback houses a surprising assortment of geological formations and vast woodlands, etched by time, water and sand, and covered with indigenous art and ancient spirituality.
For an eye-popping glimpse at the beauty and variety of the Outback, the middle third of Australia creates a unique cross-section. This strip from the northern coast near Darwin to Kangaroo Island in the south is endowed with many reasons to skip Sydney’s manmade marvels for a naturally amazing Australian vacation.
Outside of Darwin, the Northern Territory’s tropical capital city, lies Kakadu, Australia’s largest national park. Beyond beautiful, Kakadu encompasses a variety of landscapes, wildlife, and Aboriginal rock art. Believed to be more than 2 billion years old, the land is a jigsaw of flowering wetlands, breathtaking gorges, roaring waterfalls, exotic rainforests and towering sandstone escarpments.
The Kimberley region of Western Australia is one of the world's last great wildernesses. This remote area of rugged ranges with deep, spectacular gorges and unspoiled beaches is the quintessential Australian landscape of red earth, rock, gum trees, crocodiles, wallabies and blue skies. Take a four-wheel drive tour to Wolfe Creek crater—the second largest meteorite crater in the world spanning 850 meters across—or cruise the coastline to Whirlpool Pass, Horizontal Falls and the magnificent King Cascades.
One of the highlights of the Kimberley is the Bungle Bungle Range in Purnululu National Park. A stunning collection of beehive-shaped geological formations arrayed in alternating bands of orange, black and green, the Bungle Bungles were a local secret from the world until discovered in the 1980s. Now thousands flock to behold the wondrous artistry of that sculptor known as Time.
Heading south, a magnetic force will draw you to the very heart of the Outback: Uluru. Once known as Ayer’s Rock, Uluru is the largest monolith in the world, holding Australia in place amidst the oceans. Almost 2.2 miles long, the great, moody rock provides the perfect backdrop for the setting sun, spectacularly changing colors from pink to blood red to mauve.
The first sight of Uluru will jar your senses. The rock rises mystically out of the cracked red earth, looming like a sleeping giant.
From Darwin to Adelaide, this middle slice of Australia provides a scope of natural beauty unseen in any other single country. One way to see it all in just a few days is to take the legendary Ghan train. Travel through vast sheep and cattle stations, ancient mountain ranges and over the red baked earth of the Great Victoria Desert. Marvel at the spectacular scenery in comfort as you’re transported through the heart of the continent.
The middle of Australia creates an unparalleled sightseeing tour, yet natural wonders abound from coast to coast. From the Pinnacles in the west, the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney or the Twelve Apostles off the Great Ocean Road in the south, Australia is a country undiscovered, unbelievable and unlike any other.
FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT
Off the coast of South Australia near Adelaide, Kangaroo Island has a wild, untouched beauty kept safe from overdevelopment. Civilization and wilderness meet in harmony, and sea lions, penguins, dolphins, koalas and kangaroos live in a natural environment. Add a rugged coastline with a sprinkling of secluded bays and magnificent beaches, and Kangaroo Islands is hopping with possibility.
Having separated from the mainland approximately nine thousand years ago, Kangaroo Island has retained many plants and animals no longer found elsewhere. To conserve this abundant, unique flora and fauna, plus the undisturbed beauty of the rivers and coastlines, much of the Island has been reserved in National and Conservation Parks and Wilderness Protection Areas
The Kangaroo Island Kangaroo, Tammar Wallaby, Brushtail Possum, Short Beaked Echidna, Southern Brown Bandicoot, Western and Little Pygmy Possum, endemic Sooty Dunnart, Bush and Swamp Rat, six bat species, six frog species, Rosenberg's Sand Goanna, Black Tiger Snake, Pygmy Copperhead, Australian Sea Lion, New Zealand Fur Seal and Australian Fur Seals are all native to Kangaroo Island. The Koala, Platypus and Ring Tail Possum were introduced and still survive here.
The Kangaroo Island Kangaroo, a sub-species of the Western Grey Kangaroo is smaller, darker and has longer fur than the mainland species. It shelters in the bush during the day, coming out to graze as dusk approaches. Areas where bush and pasture adjoin make ideal places to observe them. At Flinders Chase National Park, a few extremely docile kangaroos can usually be seen around the Headquarters area, even though feeding is no longer allowed.
Little Penguins are found around the coastline, living and breeding in burrows under shrubs, rocks and other sheltered places. On shore at night they call noisily. Guided tours are conducted each evening at Kingscote and Penneshaw.
VIETNAM
TANZANIA
HONEYMOON TOUR DESIGN
OLD SILK ROUTE