Nelson Bay - Great for Whale watching trips
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August 24, 2008 |
 Whale watching is a great winter activity on the East Coast of Australia. Nelson Bay just north of Newcastle and around 2 & 1/2 hours from Sydney. It offers a great location with whales spotted just off the coast on most days. This whale was a very inquisitive and playful young Humpback whale, snapped here taking a look at the tourists looking at it. Later it surfaced just in front of one of the other boats. Nelson Bay is also a great location for a trip in Port Stephens to look at the resident Bottlenosed Dolphins. |
posted by Akaelah @ 11:02 am   |
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Caravan & Camping Supershow 2008
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March 29, 2008 |
Hi
If you are a camping, 4WD, or caravanning enthusiat, I highly recommend attending the NSW Caravan, Camping, 4WD and Holiday show at Rosehill Racecourse from today until the 6th April, 2008. I went last year to research camping, holidays, 4 Wheel Driving and Camper Trailers and plan to go again this year. 
Also you might like to put these dates in your diary
There is so much to see and do in the great outdoors of this wonderful country - Australia
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| posted by Akaelah @ 5:25 am |
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Tibetan Protests
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March 16, 2008 |
The Radio Free Asia Report as reported on the Australian Tibet Council Website
http://www.atc.org.au
It was the second day of protests by monks around a key Tibetan anniversary, after hundreds of monks from a major monastery staged a rare demonstration March 10 that was stopped by police.
“There were probably a couple of thousand armed police, PSB [China’s Public Security Bureau] personnel, wearing different uniforms. Police fired tear-gas into the crowd,” one witness told RFA’s Tibetan service.
The monks, estimated at 500 to 600 people, had left Sera monastery around 3 p.m. March 11 to demand the release of fellow Sera monks detained for protesting a day earlier. They shouted slogans as they walked, witnesses said, including, “We want freedom!” “Free our people!” “We want an independent Tibet!” and “Free our people or we won’t go back!”
“When they arrived at the police station near the monastery, they were stopped by armed police who had been dispatched to guard the area.” On Tuesday, “they didn’t return to the monastery until around 9:30 p.m.,” one witness said.
Authoritative sources in the area also described hearing gunshots overnight from the general direction of Drepung monastery, with all roads to the monastery blocked by police. Fifty to 60 monks from Drepung monastery outside Lhasa were detained Monday as they tried to walk the roughly 10km route from Drepung to the city center. Read a report on the first day of protests
They were marching in a group of some 300 Drepung monks on the 49th anniversary of an uprising crushed by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.Sources said the monks planned to protest at the Potala Palace in the heart of Lhasa to demand the release of monks detained last October shortly after the exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama, received a Congressional Gold Medal in Washington.
Eyewitnesses meanwhile said 11 protesters, including the nine monks from Sera monastery whose detention prompted the protest on Tuesday, were severely beaten Monday when People’s Armed Police pushed through a crowd to detain them outside the Tsuklakhang cathedral in central Lhasa. Whether and where they remained in custody on Tuesday was unclear.
The 11 detainees were identified as: Lobsang Ngodrub, Lobsang Sherab, Lodroe, Sonam Lodroe, Lobsang, Tsultrim Palden, Geleg, Pema Karwang, Zoepa, Thubdron, and Phurdan. No further details were available.
Lhasa neighborhood committees meanwhile mobilized to inspect every household in predominantly Tibetan areas of the city, searching for unregistered monks or nuns sheltering illicitly in private homes, sources told RFA’s Tibetan service.
Monks in two more monasteries in Qinghai province—Lutsang monastery, in Mangra (in Chinese, Guinan) county, and Ditsa monastery in Bayan (in Chinese, Hualong) county—also staged protests on Monday, sources said. Armed police surrounded Ditsa monastery during the protest but neither intervened nor detained anyone there, the sources said.
March 10, 2008, marked the 49th anniversary of a 1959 uprising crushed by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. The Dalai Lama, now 72, subsequently fled into exile in northern India. Drepung, founded in the 15th century, is one of largest monasteries in Tibet and ranks as one of the most important in the Gelukpa school of Tibetan Buddhism.
Tensions have been escalating in recent years in traditionally Tibetan areas of what is now western China, with Chinese authorities taking a tougher line against what they regard as ethnic “splittism,” or resistance to Chinese rule. The Dalai Lama is regarded by China as a dangerous figure seeking independence for his homeland, although he says he wants only autonomy and for Chinese repression of Tibetans to end.
China’s official news agency, Xinhua, Tuesday quoted a top official from the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) as saying the local government properly handled the monks’ protest, with everyone “persuaded to leave in peace.”
“More than 300 lamas entered the city proper of Lhasa in groups on March 10, but were later persuaded to leave in peace. No disturbance to social stability was caused,” Qiangba Puncog, chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Government, was quoted say saying.
The lamas had entered Lhasa “under the instigation of certain individuals,” said the chairman. “To prevent unnecessary disturbances from happening, we did some persuasion and they all left in peace,” he added. |
| posted by Akaelah @ 4:54 am |
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Sydney's Mardis Gras
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March 02, 2008 |
Did you miss Mardis Gras Parade 2008 - Put it in the diary for next year - the first Saturday in March. It is a must for all to celebrate the diversity of human sexuality.
From ABC News website "Organisers say last night's 30th anniversary gay and lesbian Mardi Gras parade in Sydney was the biggest and best the city has ever seen.
About 10,000 people marched up Oxford Street last night, with many coming to Sydney from interstate and overseas for the parade.
Stuart O'Brien from the Defence Force Gay and Lesbian Group marched with official military approval for the first time.
"This is a huge thing for Defence and it shows the wider community that Defence is a gay-friendly environment," he said.
Organisers say more than 300,000 people filled vantage points around Oxford Street." |
| posted by Akaelah @ 9:42 am |
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Trekking in the Lakes District UK
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February 16, 2008 |
There are some superb walking tracks in the beautiful Lakes District of England. Many groups organize trips. A great bunch of women lead walks in the Lake District, Wales, France and Nepal for women of various levels of fitness.
www.walkingwomen.com
You can also join the Rambler's Association and use their website to find a local group to walk with at your chosen destination. http://www.ramblers.org.uk/ The Ramblers Association welcomes both men and women and welcome new comers.Labels: rambling, The Lakes, walking |
| posted by Akaelah @ 7:07 am |
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Visiting Beijing for the Olympics
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February 02, 2008 |
  2008. The Olympics will be here before we know it. If you are heading to Beijing for the Olympics be sure and make your way to the Temple of Heaven Gardens early in the morning for morning exercises. The locals are more than delighted for you to join them in their daily exercise and it really is a unique and delightful experience for Westerners. I was fortunate enough to have learnt Tai Chi before I went and the form used by the locals was simlar to the style I had studied so I joined in. |
| posted by Akaelah @ 6:40 am |
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Camping in The Flinders Ranges
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January 28, 2008 |
 The euros and emus are very friendly at Wilpena Pound in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. They come right up to your campsite. This euro was snapped just after nibblng on the awning guy ropes. The Wilpena Resort Camping Site offers a great compromise of bush camping with all the facilities of a resort. However, if bush camping is more your style the Flinders Ranges National Park offers many camp sites throughout the park that are accessible by vehicle and have some basic facilities such as picnic tables and bush toilets or for those more adventurous there are overnight hikes and campsites within the Pound itself. Best time to visit this area is from May to October. There are lots to do and see including walks in Wilpena Pound, a scenic flight over the area, 4WD trips or just sit back and watch the wildlife on your doorstep. Labels: Camping, Euro, Flinders Ranges, South Australia, Wilpena Pound |
| posted by Akaelah @ 4:37 am |
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Outer Edge
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January 25, 2008 |
| We subscribe to this really great magazine which features trekking, cycling, camping, 4WD, fishing, paddling, climbing, swiming and much more. It not only covers great places to indulge your pasion for these activities in Australia but has feature articles on advenuture activities all around the world. This month feature- "Sardinian Heights" describes rock-climbing on the island of Sardinia which lies between Greece and Italy. There is also a great article about a women's only trek on the Kokoda Trail. Take a look for yourself: www.outer-edge.com.au |
| posted by Akaelah @ 2:44 am |
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Trekking The Great Wall of Chna
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January 18, 2008 |
 Many well known charities arrange treks in exciting places in Africa, China, Mexico, Peru, Nepal and other locations to raise much needed funds for their cause. A couple of years ago I joined around 30 other people to trek 60kms on and alongside the Great Wall of China. This picture shows our group setting off on the first day. Some parts of the trek were an easy stroll but the 2okm on the Wall itself was very hard work even though I had spent 12 months training uphill and down dale right across the UK and in Italy even hiking up the staircase of the Cupola of St Peter's Basilica in Vatican city in my hiking boots - what a racket that made. However, its the people you meet and the memories that you keep that far outway the aches and pains of tired muscles. I would highly recommend this as a worthwhile to see new parts of the world, meet new people, have an adventure and raise money for worthwhile causes. |
| posted by Akaelah @ 2:29 pm |
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China Highlights
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January 17, 2008 |
We are so impressed by China - the people, the culture, the tourism industry, and of course, China Highlights' service. China has all the comforts of home - excellent hotels, exceptional food - but is so affordable for tourists. The shopping, especially local street markets, is unparalleled in the rest of the world. We would love to return to Beijing and also visit more cities. |
| posted by Akaelah @ 7:23 am |
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