Australia is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. It features many kinds of beauty. Mostly, it’s a land of natural wonders with spectacularly beautiful open space: its central desert with Aires Rock in its center, its extensive woodlands & grasslands, mountains, and breath-taking ocean coastlines and beaches.
Australia is a very large country (as big as America) whose land comprises of the continental mainland, the large island of Tasmania plus other islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It lies in the southern hemisphere.
Australia is one of those marvellous places where action-packed adventure is everywhere with its numerous wonderful outdoors sites. But beyond adventure travel, there are other things to do on your vacation such as laying on the beach and doing absolutely nothing or visiting its interesting cities.
Top 10 Things to See & Do In Australia
The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef and located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland in northeast Australia. Whatever you do, don’t skip this site! It is often dubbed as one of natural wonders of the world. It was declared as a World Heritage Site in 1981. It is very popular tourist destination. You can enjoy scuba diving and boating in the warm clear waters of the reef.
Gold Coast is a wonderful coastal city in the southeast corner of the state of Queensland. It is often dubbed as Surfers Paradise. The city is famous for its sunny subtropical climate, popular surfing beaches, grand waterway & canal systems, beautiful skyline & skyscrapers, active nightlife, and countless tourist attractions. You can enjoy the beaches, lovely airs, and vibrant nightlife of the city.
Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, is a very popular destination. You can enjoy shopping at Queen Street Mall in central business district (CBD); enjoy eating & walking at restaurants, cafes, & boardwalks in South Bank; enjoy vibrant nightlife in Fortitude Valley; enjoy shopping & eating at artsy shops and cafes in West End; enjoy dinning at trendy dining places in New Farm; and cruising on the Brisbane River at Brett’s Wharf.
Daintree National Park, in Far North Queensland, is a popular tourist destination. Founded in 1988, the park consists of two sections, with a settled agricultural area that includes the towns of Daintree Village and Mossman. Home to numerous with tropical birds, butterflies, reptiles and countless species of wildlife, Daintree Village is a nature-lover’s paradise.
Melbourne is really the culinary, sporting and cultural capital of Australia. Often dubbed as one of the most cultured cities of Australia, Melbourne is widely known for its Victorian-era architecture, many cultural institutions such as museums, galleries and theaters, and large parks and gardens. You can enjoy every bit of Melbourne.
Royal Botanic Gardens, located near the centre of Melbourne, Victoria, are the finest in Australia and the best in the world. On the south bank of the Yarra River, the Royal Botanic Gardens are 354,000 square metres (35 hectares or 87 acres) of beautifully landscaped gardens. You can see a wide range of flora and enjoy the refreshing scenic beauty of the gardens.
Sydney is a unique city where the sun seems to always shine and where many of its various suburbs are all facing waterfront. Cute ferries take you from one area to another. Located on the south-east coast of Australia, the Harbor City certainly is globally influential in the fields of culture, art, fashion, cuisine and design. The city is home to the Australia’s two most iconic structures Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. You can enjoy the vibrant life of the dynamic city.
Sydney Opera House, designed by Jørn Utzon, a Danish architect, is one of the wonders of the modern world. Situated on Bennelong Point in Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, the opera house is the most iconic building of Australia. It is the most famous performing arts venues in the world. You can enjoy the world famous theatrical, musical, and dance performances at this World Heritage Site.
Australian Museum, originally known as the Colonial Museum or Sydney Museum, is located in College Street, Sydney. Famous in the fields of natural history and anthropology, it is one of the oldest museums in Australia. You can enjoy witnessing wondrous collections of vertebrate & invertebrate zoology, mineralogy, palaeontology, and anthropology, and exhibitions at the museum.
To best enjoy Bracciano lake (Lago di Bracciano, in Italian), visit the lakeside town of Trevignano Romano, just 1 hour North of Rome, Italy.
I love my walks along the recently upgraded and beautifully refined waterside at Trevignano, where gigantic pine trees filter the sun above your head as you stroll along. Under the trees are park-like patches with flower beds and benches, alongside the path of beautiful pavers keeping you right along the water’s edge.
The views of Lago di Bracciano are expansive and unobstructed. It is a calm lake where, more often than not, the other side disappears, being shrouded in a mist just above the water surface. Making you more aware of the swans which swim together right in front of you.
It is that sense of calm and softness of color which transport me back to the Boardwalk in West Vancouver, Canada, where I went in prior years. There, the view of the water is of an ocean instead of a lake the size of a volcanic crater. But it does not matter, as both waters are equally misty and shine with the same amazing color scheme of blues and harmonious calm hues. They ooze tranquility.
Bracciano Lake
And there, where the serenity and the beauty of the lake captures you, often, rainbows or cloud-rays remind you of the omnipresence of the Divine.
Bernini’s art can be found all over Rome, with some of his most spectacular work in the heart of the city, that is, the Vatican City.
Every Sunday the pope addresses the crowd on his St. Peter’s Square. The crowd sees him as a tiny speck in a window way up high above a monumental piece of Bernini’s art: the square flanking St. Peter’s colonnade. The crowd even stands on Bernini’s art. Being both an architect and a sculpture, Bernini designed the entire Piazza di San Pietro.
Bernini was also commissioned to design one of the most prominent element inside of the basilica, i.e. the grave of St. Peter’s with its bronze columned canopy, called baldachin, which roofs this central high altar.
For a long one, one could also find my personal favorite work by Bernini, the sculpture called Ecstasy of St Theresa, within the St. Peters church. That sculpture can now be found in the Cornaro Chapel of Santa Maria della Vittoria, another church in Rome.
Millions of people made the trip to Paris to participate in this afternoon’s peace rally. Officials from many European countries participated in the rally, as well as many local Parisians.
The rally was an act of solidarity.
The rally was organized in response to this week’s terrorist attacks in Paris, which literally shocked the world. The major attack was on the newsroom of Charlie Hebdo, a French weekly cartoon publication. But there were others.
‘Je suis Charlie’ became the slogan for solidarity with the victims of the attacks; it was written all over Paris.
Rally participants still chanting on top of the ‘Statue of the Republic’ hours after the demonstration.
Today’s focus was on peace (no hate), freedom of speech, and the French’s love for the satirical, humorist writers, besides the world’s sadness and shock of this week’s events.
Cartoonists around the world responded.
Today the slogan of the French revolution is once again relevant: liberte’ egalite’ and fraternite’.
Rally participants on the column on the Bastille, symbol of the French Revolution.
‘It is better to die standing, than to live kneeling.’ ~ Charl.
Altar for ‘Je Suis Charlie’ at Place de la Republique, Paris.
The rally was also in honor and mourning of additional terrorists killings this week, incl. of municipal police woman in training in a Paris suburb, Clarisse, who as doing a two month internship from Guadelupe.
Golf is one of those sports that you can transport you to some of the world’s most beautiful and luxurious places. Rewarding yourself with a stay at one of the top golf resorts is a sure way to ensure you improve that handicap, and to give yourself an unparalleled golfing experience!
I personally started my golf career on the plain simple grounds of Australia as that country is blessed with a good part of its land being a natural golf course. Lucky Australians, although golf course qualities varies of course. Australia is a country where some of the world’s prime golf resorts are located. I was lucky enough to stay at Port Douglas’s fabulous golf resort, the Mirage Country Club, for example.
However, we don’t need to fly to the other end of the world in order to find a top quality golf resort. There are many top quality golf resorts in the US, and that’s what I want to talk to you about today.
Top Golf Resorts In the US
The top 10 US Golf resorts as it stands today:
The Pinehurst Resort in Northern California
Kiawah Island Resorts in South Carolina
Pebble Beach resorts in California
Kapalua Bay Hotel and Ocean Villas in Hawaii.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon
Princeville Resort in Princeville, Hawaii
Dora Golf Resort in Miami Florida
The Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North in Arizona
The Boulders Resort and Golden Door Spa in Arizona
The Greenbrier in West Virginia
.
This list of 10 golf resorts is chosen by Travel & Leisure’s discriminating readers. There are however other ratings with hundreds of panelists who decide which is the best golf course, depending on various factors ranging from yards, par, points, the course ambiance, the overall feel and atmosphere of the golf course & resort.
So, check these golf courses, but sure don’t limit yourself to just these. There are wonderful golf courses the world over and America is home to some of the best ones.
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