Jaunted

Wine Travel / New Zealand Field Trip / New Zealand Travel / Eric Rosen / Islands / Auckland Travel / Winery Reviews / → All Tags

Stepping Out of Auckland and Into the Wines of Waiheke Island

All this week, Special Jaunted Correspondent Eric Rosen takes us on a whirlwind field trip to New Zealand’s Other Wine Regions. Sure, now that it’s summer down there they might be sipping on those tropical, grassy Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc’s we’re all familiar with. But as he finds out, there's much more and most if it is within an hour of New Zealand’s major cities.

New Zealand only makes about 0.5% of the world’s wines, about half of which is exported, and the majority of that is from Marlborough. No wonder we don’t know much about New Zealand wines in the U.S., so we set out to get a little education. Our first stop was just a forty-minute ferry ride from Auckland: Waiheke Island. Long a hippie hideout in the ’60’s and ’70’s, idyllic Waiheke is now one of New Zealand’s premier wine regions with 17 boutique wineries scattered across its 93 square miles, a gourmet destination with beautiful beaches, and a weekend getaway for Auckland’s affluent set.

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Airport-WiFi-Map / Airport WiFi Map / Airport WiFi / Free WiFi / Airport News / Airports / Caribbean Travel / Islands / Island Travel / WiFI / → All Tags

Our Map of Airports Around the World with Free WiFi: Caribbean Edition

With summer travel plans fully in swing and perhaps many taking advantage of low season deals in Caribbean, we're again looking at those airports leading the way by offering Free WiFi.

If you haven't checked out our comprehensive and ever-updating Airport WiFi Map, you totally should! Thanks to tips from readers and our own traveling, we're constantly adding new airports with internet, and today we've happily got 10 Caribbean additions for it! We should have over one hundred total already, all around the world.

Check out what Caribbean airports give it away for free, after the jump!

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Prime-Plane-Spotting-Map / Plane Spotting / Punta Cana Field Trip / Dominican Republic Travel / Caribbean Travel / Islands / Island Travel / → All Tags

Some of the Best Caribbean Plane Spotting is in Mikhail Baryshnikov's Backyard

Typically when you talk about going plane spotting, it usually involves some stealth tactics like parking far away or camping out on a barren hillside for the perfect picture. Never do you dream that plane spotting could instead involve chilling beneath a palm tree, with a Cinnabon in hand, but it does if you're hanging out at Punta Cana International Airport in the Dominican Republic.

Since the majority of the airport is open-air and thatched-roof, you have a view of the tarmac from almost every angle, but no better place than at the outdoor viewing area. It's a quick walk away from the food court (with its Wendy's, Cinnabon, Nathan's Famous and other more local chains), but it's close enough to the gates so that you can stand out there almost the whole time before your flight without missing the boarding announcements.

So how does Baryshnikov enter the pictures? Find out after the jump!

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Prime-Plane-Spotting-Map / Plane Spotting / St Lucia Field Trip / St Lucia Travel / Caribbean Travel / Islands / Island Travel / → All Tags

A Beach, A Banana, And A Flight From Britain: Plane Spotting In St. Lucia

Seeing as how it's been a little bit since last we focused on the lovely pastime of plane spotting, we decided to turn our recent Saint Lucia island experience into some useful (not to mention scenic) plane spotting advice for when you too are on the island.

Whether you're heading down on the new Jetblue flight from New York-JFK like we did, or coming all the way from London-Gatwick on the direct Virgin Atlantic flight, you'll want to get a load of the air traffic that sporadically makes its way into St. Lucia's Hewanorra airport at the very southernmost tip of the island, and here's how...

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Island Travel / Islands / Alcohol / Booze Travel / Trampolines / → All Tags

Russian Barbers Agree: The Dominican Republic is the Place to Go This Year

I got my hair cut this morning at a barber shop on Union Avenue in Brooklyn called Model Barbers, where Jack and Oksana work. I like going there, because I can practice my feeble Russian on them and they always correct my mispronunciations and grammatical errors. Jack and Oksana are from Uzbekistan, but they refer to the whole former Soviet Union as Russia and personally identify as Russians. No matter what bad thing happens in America, they'll remind you that things are worse in Russia. As I sit in the chair, they banter with each other in rapid-fire Russian, and I can only pick out a few odd words: rabota (work), kanyeshna (certainly), zhopa (ass).

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Summer-Signature-Cocktails-Map / Drinking Travel / Italy Travel / Islands / Ischia / → All Tags

A Little Liquor In Your Espresso Is The Italian Way In Ischia

Last we left off with our Summer SIgnature Cocktails Map, we were divulging our secret Venice watering hole. Well, from the north of Italy to the sunny southern coasts, this time we travel in search of good drink on the island of Ischia, a far better alternative to visiting tourist-infested Capri.

Here is a huge tip for summer Italy travel: if you're in the cities and noticing that many business are completely closed and tourist sites have more restricted hours than normal, it's because most of the month of August and some of early September is the Ferragosto, a nearly month-long vacation which causes Italians to skip town for their islands and beaches. And if it's Ferragosto, then they're indulging in the usual morning coffee, but with a special little addition of a shot of the strong liquor Grappa.

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Hawaii Travel / Scuba / Islands / Boats / → All Tags

A New Island Off Waikiki Beach Hopes To Lure Us Out To Sea

If you somehow get tired of all the natural beauty that Hawaii has to offer, there’s soon going to be a new fake paradise for visitors to check out. A company called KanDoo is almost finished creating their own artificial island about 200 yards off Waikiki Beach.

KanDoo Island is really just a humongous catamaran that will serve as a water sports entertainment paradise for visitors and locals alike. The 98-ton boat will offer snorkeling, scuba diving, sailing lessons, and even jet ski trips off its “shoreline.” After a long day on and in the water, come back to the catamaran for some evening entertainment. There will be live music, nightclubs, and probably a fair share of Mai Tais. The company’s CEO wants KanDoo to be a 24/7 destination, but we’re a little skeptical that people will be swarming the place throughout the night.

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Open Threads / Islands / Travel Advice / → All Tags

Your Dominican Republic Expertise, Please!

In which our Jaunted editor Ellen gets by with a little help from her friends.

Crowdsourcing saved my life. Not literally, because I am not in the habit of jumping into large crowds, but I sure do like asking the Internet for advice. It's not that I'm indecisive by nature, really, I'm a deliberator; I just like to weigh all my options.

I'm about to go to the Dominican Republic, and after consulting the Jaunted archives am quite sure I would not like to do a photo shoot, hang with Crockett and Tubbs or get married there. Well, not on this trip anyway. So I thought I'd throw it out to our readers: What should I do in the DR?

If it helps, I am staying in the La Romana region, I love the ocean and, as with everything we do here, I don't want to be where all the other travelers are. I've got some ideas up my sleeve, but I'll give you full credit if you find me something I'll love.

Tell Ellen what to do in DR right here.

Related Stories:
· Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Shot in Dominican Republic [Jaunted]
· British Territories Travel: Where Are The Chagos Islands? [Jaunted]
· Dominican Republic Travel [Jaunted]

[Photo: kamphuis]

Marine Parks / Green Travel / Islands / Environment / Ecotourism / Atolls / → All Tags

Pacific Reefs, Trenches, Atolls, and Islands Now Protected from Us

Okay, this one's kind of out there, but I remember as a kid flipping through the dictionary in school and pausing at the miniature illustration for the word atoll. For a simple thumbnail sketch, it seemed like such a fascinating place to visit: a beautiful coral island with languid palm trees and a protected lagoon in the center. What I would have given to hop on a sailboat and explore the real-life model for the Merriam-Webster artwork. It seemed like the perfect setting for a pirate adventure.

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New South Wales Field Trip / Australia Travel / Islands / Camping / → All Tags

Seeing Sydney Without Being In Sydney

Our very own Aussie, Amanda Kendle, just returned from a trip to New South Wales, where the summer fun is in full swing.

If Australia's biggest city is too big for you, we've just discovered a laid-back way to enjoy it. The trick to being in the middle of Sydney without being surrounded by tall buildings and crowds is just a 10-minute ferry ride from Circular Quay to the quite remarkable Cockatoo Island.

Don't be expecting pristine wilderness from Sydney Harbor's largest island--it's been a prison and was a working shipyard until 1992. But now the Sydney Harbour Trust is turning it into a historical site for locals and tourists to enjoy.

We headed out to Cockatoo Island to stay overnight at their campsite. At just A$75 ($50) for two people--much less if you bring your own tent--you get to wave to all the yachties passing by in the evening then wake up to amazing sunrise views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Add exploring the old shipyards with spooky tunnels and eerie warehouses, and we reckon it's one of the best days (and nights) out in Sydney.

Related Stories:
· Cockatoo Island [Official Site]
· Camping Out in Sydney Harbour [Jaunted]
· Sydney Travel coverage [Jaunted]

Carnival 2009 / Islands / → All Tags

Getting Dirty With The Crews In Trinidad

Yes, New Orleans and Brazil are probably first in mind when you hear Carnival, but Trinidad and Tobago also throws down. How serious is the island about pre-Easter partying? They've already had one Carnival fete and dozens more are on the island's official calendar before Ash Wednesday on February 25.

In late January, steel pan bands start competing in what's called the National Panorama, a contest that usually wraps the Saturday before Dimanche Gras, the Fat Sunday that kicks off Carnival week. Monday is then J'Ouvert, the opening festival that features soca and calypso bands parading through the streets, flinging water, mud and paint on each other.

The even bigger parading happens on Tuesday, and while you could just watch it, why not join a band and march around in a ridiculous costume? Register online to run with a crew like Spice and you'll be in the thick of things, with a skimpy get-up, unlimited booze and a willing band of cohorts. Ladies might choose the brown sugar look for $485 all-in while fellas can do Scotch bonnet for $445.

Related Stories:
· The Carnival Virgin's Survival Guide [Trinidad Carnival Diary]
· Notting Hill Carnival Shimmers [Jaunted]

[Photo: sfmission.com]

70s Revival / Island Travel / Islands / Lists / → All Tags

Tioman Island For The Top Ten

When we read that Tioman Island, off the east coast of Malaysia, was making top 10 lists of the world's best islands back in the 1970s, we wondered why we'd never heard of it before.

But it seems Tioman had already had its 15 minutes of fame even then: Way back in 1958 it was used as the "Bali Hai" location for the film "South Pacific." (Ask your parents. Or grandparents.) Yet we've seen the name pop up a couple of times recently, so we suspect they're trying to bring back the good times.

These days you can get a ferry there from the mainland Malaysian coast or get a flight from Kuala Lumpur or Singapore; there are a few different accommodation options though it's all still pretty low-key. There's great scuba-diving both on reefs and wrecks and a bunch of relaxing beaches, so it seems like there's reason enough to try it out. At best, it'll be a fantastic summer vacation spot and at worst, it'll be a time travel trip back to what was hip in the '70s.

Related Stories:
· Tioman Island [Official Site]
· A Little Known Island Gem [The Age]
· Malaysia Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: yunmeng]