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Tags: Australia Travel / Winter Travel / Gardens / Festival Travel / → All Tags
Flower-Spotting Down Under, Where Winter Is Spring
Winter in Western Australia isn't the cold and blustery season people in other parts of the world are accustomed to—in fact, it's more like spring. So it's little wonder that from June to September, tourists arrive by the plane-full to check out the state's famous wildflowers in bloom.
Western Australia's a pretty big place—think more than three times larger than Texas—and the tourism peeps there have designed a bunch of itineraries best suited to self-drive vacations.
With over 12,000 species of wildflowers to be spotted, we're talking more than just a quick trip to the florist. Cool ones include everlastings (they feel like paper and last, well, forever) and kangaroo paws, twisted red and green blooms which could belong on kangaroos if you use your imagination.
The season winds up with the Wildflower Festival in Kings Park, Perth, in September. As well as going haywire on the wildflowers, the park gets pumping with a music festival, cultural shows and related exhibitions. So if you're taking a Down Under winter vacation but want to skip the snow, start geeking up on your wildflower knowledge or at least getting your camera ready.
Related Stories:
· Wildflowers Western Australia [Official Site]
· Winter Down Under Starts Early at Mount Buller [Jaunted]
· Western Australia Travel Guide [Jaunted]
[Photo: vagawi]
Tags: New South Wales Field Trip / Australia Travel / Gardens / → All Tags
Hunter Valley Gardens Break Up Vineyard Monotony
Our very own Aussie, Amanda Kendle, just returned from a trip to New South Wales, where the summer fun is in full swing.
The Hunter Valley is famous for having more than 100 wineries to visit, but curiously the most successful tourist attraction there isn't a vineyard: It's a grape-free garden.
Aptly named the Hunter Valley Gardens, this place is owned by the same people who once owned the Nutrimetics skin products empire, so you know they've got money to plant. Located in the middle of all the vineyards, HVG markets itself as "the easy escape." (When we got lost trying to find a path back to the entrance, we found that kind of ironic.)
But we only got lost because the place is so huge and so distracting. From the Chinese garden through to the relive-your-childhood storybook garden, and then up the hill to a chapel where weddings are regularly held, even a nature-hater would find something to like here.
HVG runs regular thematic events like Christmas night lights and Easter specials, so time your visit right for a little something extra. Entry is A$20 ($14), and we suggest stopping by before you visit too many wineries--or you might get even more lost than we did.
Related Stories:
· Hunter Valley Gardens [Official Site]
· Clubbing for Seafood [Jaunted]
· New South Wales Travel coverage [Jaunted]
Tags: National Parks / UK Travel / Gardens / → All Tags
British National Parks Travel: Royal Oak Saves You Some Acorns
For the American traveling abroad, being confronted with unfavorable exchange rates can feel like death by a thousand paper cuts. Every ticket purchased is a chance to do still more unsavory math. So any way to save a little of your vacation bankroll without packing PB&Js or panhandling on a foreign subway looks like an attractive option.
If your trip to the UK this summer includes country houses or landscaped gardens, consider joining the Royal Oak Foundation, a National Trust-affiliated nonprofit supporting hundreds of properties in England, Northern Ireland and Wales.
Your $55 membership doesn't cover major tourist traps like the Tower of London or the Eye, but it can get you in free to Roman baths, wacky museums (like the Museum of Childhood) and manors like Cliveden (pictured). If you're just passing through Britain, it might not be worth it, but for extended trips it'll make you feel like an aristocrat visiting "your" private garden.
Related Stories:
· In and Around London [Royal Oak Foundation]
· The UK's Scariest Roller Coaster [Jaunted]
· Natioinal Parks coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: sheldonash]
Tags: Movie Set Travel / Hotels / Restaurants / Gardens / Parks / → All Tags
Movie Set Travel: Hancock
Whenever we're watching action blockbusters and the hero's tearing up highways and crashing through buildings, we often wonder, um... who's cleaning up the mess?
"Hancock" is sort of a version of that story. Will Smith plays a down and out drunken superhero in LA who spends lots of time saving lives but causing millions of dollars of damage in the process. Obviously, he has a very love-hate relationship with the public.
One day he saves the life of a PR guru (Jason Bateman) who decides Hancock could use a better image. When he sets out to help as a favor, Hancock gets involved with the man's hottie wife (Charlize Theron) and all sorts of self-examination ensues.
We hear it's entertaining--and, hey, it's really the only decent opening this holiday weekend. Just don't go into this one thinking Hancock's a Marvel comic.
The feature was filmed entirely in Los Angeles, so we're giving you some things to explore there with your superhero self.
Tags: Missed Connections / 2008 Candidates Travel / Restaurants / Bars / Gardens / Botanical Gardens / LGBT / → All Tags
Missed Connections in Denver: Candidates Travel Edition
The Democratic National Convention won't happen till the last weekend in August, but campaign staffers were finally able to take a brief travel break with the media anointing of the Democratic nominee for president.
While political road warriors take a break, we're thinking ahead to the convention--and the delightful Dems coming to the Mile High City. Drinking liberally? Try dating liberally:
Hambrger Mary's :: Tasty burgers and stalk-y patrons tantalize at this LGBT-friendly restaurant with a full bar. 700 E. 17th Ave.
Tags: Gardens / London Travel / Outdoor Travel / Summer Travel / → All Tags
Greenspace Travel: Act All Civilized Like in London
Stuffy London lets its hair down today with the start of Open Garden Squares Weekend, in which the snooty green spaces of the city become public domain.
More than a hundred walled gardens are taking part in an event whose very existence would be unheard of in an American city. After all, we call these things lawns; parks are always open to everyone!
All twitting the British aside, Londonist has some great picks for the oases not to be missed, like Kensington Roof Gardens and the rooftop Japanese-style garden at University College.
Related Stories:
· Open Garden Squares Weekend [Official Site]
· Preview: Open Garden Squares Weekend [Londonist]
· London Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: thisparticulargreg]
