Archive for the ‘travel’ Category

Visiting France for holidays was literally my dream from childhood. Only last month I had the chance of staying in Paris for 10 days vacation. I took my family along as they too wish to spend their holidays there. Once the flight tickets and accommodation were booked, we all started inquiring many sources for the best car rentals they could suggest us. Many of them told us to visit www.121carhirefrance.com to get an idea about their services as they all have good remarks about this company. With no hesitation, we read the terms and conditions of this company and understood clearly as they were crisp and clear. Then I filled the query form with my name, age, date and time of rental, rental duration, location of pick up, location of drop off etc. once submitted this form they asked me to pick my desired car from the long list of car makes that range from luxury, lid-sized, mini, SUV’s, estate, people carrier etc. I booked an estate so that we all can travel comfortably to Car Hire Bergerac. Also, I paid for the local taxes, Airport fares, CDW, theft waiver etc for further convenience and safety. With all the precautions done, I felt relieved to take my family to France tour in my rental car

Stretching 70 kilometers from South Stradbroke Island to Rainbow Bay the stunning coastline is one of the most popular areas for holiday makers both domestic and international. With Surfer’s Paradise and 7 kilometers of coast in and around it Gold Coast city skyline is marked by high rise, notably the Q1 Tower. Apart from the beaches the largest concentration of themed attractions in the southern hemisphere, with Sea World, Dream World, Warner Brothers Movie World and Wet’n'Wild Water World attract tourists by the hoards. Sea Food, wineries, designer stores, funky markets and duty free shops keep the tourists coming and the economy booming.

Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary established in 1947 is now home to over 1400 animals and birds, with the largest aviary in the southern hemisphere. Hot Air Ballooning affords you views that include the spectacular coastline and the mountainous, forested hinterland. The Australian Kayaking Adventures let you paddle around the tranquil Broadwater with an eye out for dolphins, stingrays, turtles, fish and even whales at the right time of year. The Australian Outback Spectacular is a complete night’s entertainment where sensational lighting and special effects recreate the magnificence of the Outback. The Gold Coast Arts Centre displays permanent works as well as showcasing local, national and international exhibitions, also regularly hosting live entertainment including jazz/blues sessions and comedy nights and a theatre offering ballet, orchestra and musical performances. Mount Nathan Winery a family owned wine and liqueur business lets you see the vineyards in action along the nature walk, but also the collection process for the honey used in the wine and fortification and is unique to the Mount Nathan Winery. Paradise Country farm tour gives you a chance to shear a sheep and cuddle a koala. The QDeck, 78 floors and 230 meters above ground level, offers360-degree panoramic views of the Gold Coast and beyond; Whale Watching June through October is the season to witness the glory of humpback whales on their migratory journey from the Antarctic to warmer waters where they mate and give birth. White Water World is the ultimate water park for the thrill seeker.. Cheap Car Hire Mexico can make your visit the one of a life time.Bristol has gone from an industrial town to one of the most happening cities in England. Cheap Car Hire Bristol can help you discover it.Big D is one of the most interesting cities in the South West of the US. Cheap Car Hire Dallas is there to assist you in your visit.Will a quick visit to Houston be enough? Probably not, but you can make the best of it with Houston Car Hire.

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest reef system in the world. It is situated off the east Australian coast and is approximately 500,000 years old. It is the only living organic collective that is visible from space. The reef is part of the World Heritage and Australian National Heritage list. Moreover, it is the state icon of the state of Queensland. The reef spans from the Torres Strait to the Lady Elliot Island.

The Great Barrier Reef is home of turtles, dolphins, whales, more than 1500 species of fish, 4000 types of mollusk and more than 200 species of birds.

Human Impact

The Great Barrier Reef has long been used by the aboriginal peoples of the Torres Strait islanders. It was later stabled upon by Portuguese, French and British travelers and explorers. It was the cause for the demise of ship among which was the HMS Pandora. Consequently, a system of lighthouses was built to warn sea travelers. During the 19^th century the reef was drilled and mined for guano- excrements of seabirds, bats and seals used as a fertilized and an ingredient for making powder.

In the 20^th century drilling was forbidden in the Great Barrier Reef. Most of it was put in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park to ensure its preservation and sustenance. In the end of the 20^th century a law was passed in order to correctly operate natural environment sites and safeguard the Australia’s biodiversity.

Economic Impact

The Great Barrier Reef is a very popular tourism destination for scuba divers and nature enthusiasts. This has turned into a profitable business for many settlements along the coast that provide boat rides and equipment for such tourists.  According to some statistics more than two people visit the coral reefs every year and bring in more than 5 Australian million dollars revenue annually.

The popularity of this kind of experiences has developed a variety of ways to see the reefs. Tours to the reefs are from single day trips to a couple of weeks voyages. Those are offered in a variety of boats, yachts, glass-bottom boats, underwater observatories and helicopter rides. The most important goal of the management of this tourism activities is to make them ecologically sustainable so not to harm the reefs and maintain the current growth rates of the industry.

Environmental Threats

The main dangers to the Great Barrier Reef are fishing, pollution, and climate change. Fishing destroys the ecological balance of the reef by overfishing species such as the giant triton. Other destructive consequences of this process are water pollution, by-catch of unwanted animals and destroying the coral reef itself. Pollution brought in by Australian rivers can significantly disturb the lifecycle of many of the inhabitants of the reef. Climate change threatens the existence of many of the species because of the increase of the temperature of the water. This also causes bleaching of the corals.

If you are considering visiting the Great Barrier Reef and want to hire a car you can turn to the following companies: National, Alamo, Avis, Hertz, Thrifty, and Alpha car hire.

Australia can be considered as the largest inhabited island or the least populated continent of the world.

Either ways it is one of the best destinations in the world, from both study and travel point of view.

Australia is known for its long coastline, pristine beaches, ancient castles, Sydney Opera House and The Great Barrier Reef.

The country is divided into six states, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia and two major mainland territories—the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

Kalgoorlie in Australia is the largest electorate by area in the world, a whooping 2,255,278 square kilometers.

Measuring over 2,012.5 km the Great Barrier Reef of Australia is the longest coral reef in the world.

The total coastline of Australia is 36,735 kilometers with no place in Australia over 1000kms from the sea.

Sydney Tower standing at 324.8m is the highest building in the southern hemisphere.

For a population of around 20 million people in Australia there are more than 150 million sheep.

‘The Melbourne Cup’ a horse race in Melbourne is a declared holiday in Melbourne each year.

The largest cattle station in the world is in Australia roughly the size of Belgium and the cleanest air in the world is found in Tasmania.

Next to Athens the second largest populations of Greeks live in Melbourne, Australia.

Australia is the world’s largest exporter of coal, wool, alumina, diamonds, sheep, lead, refined zinc ores and mineral sands.

Car hire companies in Australia include Europcar, Thrifty, Avis, and Budget.

Australia, officially called as the Commonwealth of Australia, is present in the world’s smallest Australian continent. It is also popularly referred to as “Oz” since the 20^th century. Canberra is the capital of Australia which is a prosperously developed and multi cultural society.

Geography:

The country Australia has spread for nearly for 7,617,930 square kilometers, surrounded by the Indian and the Pacific Oceans. It is the world’s largest island having a total population of 22,365,730 with various ethnic groups like Asian, aboriginal and others. The wildlife, beaches, rainforests, mountains and deserts are some of the natural sceneries present in this country.

Climate:

Australia has a semi arid and temperate climate. The summer will be hot especially in the southern states and the northern states will be hotter and wetter as well. There will be a seasonal rainfall and snowfall can be seen in the mountainous regions. Sleeveless, cool and light clothing will be perfect during summers, and sweaters and jackets during winter are recommended for tourists.

Culture:

Majority of the people in Australia speak English language and the others include Chinese and Italian. Catholicism, Anglican, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism and Judaism are the religious faiths present here.

Australia consists of an Anglo-Celtic Western culture. Its culture is also influenced by the other Asian countries.

The cave and bark paintings displays the visual arts of Australia and story telling has been a tradition which is being followed from many years.

Australia is a home for many well known art galleries and museums. The National Gallery of Australia maintains the best collection of the country’s art works and the Tasmanian Museum and art gallery reflects the country’s heritage with the collection of the colonial art.

It hosts several festivals like Fringe festival which features dance, theatre and comedy; Music festivals featuring large range of music styles by the popular bands; film festivals and food festivals.

The top tourist attractions which are crowded with a number of tourists include Blue Mountains, Kangaroo Island, Fraser Island, Great Barrier Reef, and Purnululu National Park, Ayers Rock, Kakadu National Park and many more in the list.

The Australian cuisine is influenced by the Asian and European. The traditional dish bush tucker is popular and more common. The wine industry is popular producing high-quality wine styles and dessert and fortified wines.

Travel:

Travelling by bus in Australia is more cost effective. Greyhound Australia operates the premier bus services. The fares for these bus services can be booked through phone and internet, the latter being least expensive. It also offers travel passes which are used to explore Australia.

Train transport is more comfortable and the passengers can get a glance at the scenic view while train travel.

The other modes include marine transport, taxis and cars.

Airport:

Several major international airports are situated in Australia namely Adelaide airport, Brisbane International airport, Cairns International airport, Melbourne airport, Perth airport, and Sydney airport.

These airports operate both domestic and international flights, carrying millions of passengers per year. The tourists can get the ground transportation services like taxis, cars, rails, shuttles, buses and Limousines.

Common facilities like shopping, dining, business services, baggage, airport information, ATMs, internet, disabled facilities and many more are available at the airport.

The car rental agencies at the airport include National, Alamo, Avis, Hertz, Thrifty, and Alpha car hire.