Top 10 Things To Do at Atlantis, Bahamas
Ever wonder what a casino resort is like? Do you have a secret fondness for bold extravagance? If so then look no further, The Atlantis, on Paradise Island in the Bahamas is for you. While the Atlantis Resort is a hotel, it is also a casino, marina, aquarium, waterpark, shopping centre and it also hosts an array of bars and restaurants. It is easy to spend a few days exploring it all and taking it all in. While it is a loud and brazen kind of a place, it is also great fun if you are a fan of the marine environment, gambling, or any of the above really! 1.…
Market day in Bonnieux
War Museums
From a traveller’s perspective it is interesting to learn how the first and second world wars in particular affected areas of the world that you are less familiar with. There are some very good war museums around, here are a few of my favourites. Imperial War Museum, London, UK The IWM is the most impressive collection of war memorabilia I have seen. Collections include clothes, uniforms, gas masks, wartime advertising and personal artefacts such as ration books. They tell personal stories of wartime, have an exhibition on the holocaust and show exhibitions of wartime art and photography. They also have a bombing simulation in a reconstruction of a bombed street…
The Aussie Way – Part 4
Shopping in Bali
The Bali shopping experience is a lot of fun, firstly there are oodles of treasures to be found and secondly there are no fixed prices. Combine this with the friendliness of the Balinese people and shopping becomes a joy! It is a wholly different experience from the average high street. Bargaining is the norm in Bali and the increased level of personal interaction it brings is great fun once you overcome any personal discomfort about offering shopkeepers less than they ask. Shopping in Bali Bali is a veritable treasure trove for those who are keen to buy silk, silver or crafts. Almost every market stall and apparel shop sold simple…
How to become a scuba diving instructor
Some divers are satisfied with being vacation divers, but if you want to do more diving and are tempted by the lifestyle, read on for tips on how to become a scuba instructor. There are several different scuba diving organizations. PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) is the largest and most well known internationally, but there are others, including BSAC (The British Sub Aqua Club), NAUI (National Association of Underwater Instructors), SDI (Scuba Diving International), TDI (Technical Diving International) and CMAS (Centre Mondiale des Activities Subaquatiques). Each system is just a different approach to diving. They each require divers to get recreational tickets before progressing through further courses and gaining…
A new perspective on a familiar place
Have you ever met someone who introduced you to a whole new way of seeing and understanding a place? It is easy to only see the world through your own eyes, but sometimes looking at things differently can be truly eye-opening. Living in a small town in regional Australia brings one enormous benefit; there are no crowds. This applies in lots of places. For example the nearby beaches are stunning and you often have them either completely or virtually to yourself. Parking is always available, usually within a few metres of the shop you wish to visit and people are, for the most part, friendly and familiar. However, isolation is…
Having a hamam – The Turkish Bath Experience
Whale watching in Western Australia
Every so often life shows you something wonderful. Happening upon a whale and calf playing lazily in surf just off a local beach is one of those things. The coastline in south west Australia is spectacular and although the water is often cold enough that you are not tempted to swim, the sunshine keeps you warm whilst exploring and there is always something to photograph. Having driven 120 kilometres east out of Esperance to Thomas River, no sooner had we stepped onto the squeaky white sand, we spotted a whale and calf playing in the bay. To the western end of the beach is a gentle sloping rocky outcrop that…
Why expats need local friends
It is easy for expats, especially in a country that speaks another language, to form friendships with other expats. While fellow expats can be enormously supportive and fun, if you want to really understand your new home, it is also important to befriend locals in your host country. One place I am especially fond of is Turkey. It is somewhere that I quickly felt, and continue to feel, at ease. I am indebted to my Turkish friends for their help during my time in Turkey, especially at the beginning. I was young when I first fell in love with the country and I was clueless about Turkish culture and knew nothing…
