Australia: Pinnacles & Monkey Mia, Shark Bay (2011)

Thousands of huge limestone pillars rise from a stark landscape of yellow sand to form one of Australia's most intriguing landscapes. Monkey Mia is a popular tourist destination located about 900 km north of Perth, Western Australia. The reserve is 25 km northeast of the town of Denham in the Shark Bay Marine Park and World Heritage Site. The main attraction are the bottlenose dolphins that have been coming close to shore for more than fifty years.

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Japan: Kyoto

Kyoto, once the capital of Japan, is a city on the island of Honshu. It's famous for its numerous classical Buddhist temples, as well as gardens, imperial palaces, Shinto shrines and traditional wooden houses. It’s also known for formal traditions such as kaiseki dining, consisting of multiple courses of precise dishes, and geisha, female entertainers often found in the Gion district.

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Japan: Tokyo

Tokyo, Japan’s busy capital, mixes the ultramodern and the traditional, from neon-lit skyscrapers to historic temples. The opulent Meiji Shinto Shrine is known for its towering gate and surrounding woods. The Imperial Palace sits amid large public gardens. The city's many museums offer exhibits ranging from classical art (in the Tokyo National Museum) to a reconstructed kabuki theatre. Buzzing Harajuku is renowned for colourful street art and youth fashion, with quirky vintage clothing stores and cosplay shops along Takeshita Street.

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Australia: Kings Canyon and drive to Alice Springs (2011)

Kings Canyon, also known as Watarrka, is a canyon in the Northern Territory of Australia located at the western end of the George Gill Range about 321 kilometres southwest of Alice Springs and about 1,316 kilometres south of Darwin, within the Watarrka National Park. Kings Canyon is named after the creek which periodically flows within, called Kings Creek. Kings Creek was named by Ernest Giles (an explorer) in 1872 after his "kind, old friend", Mr Fielder King. The Mereenie Loop provides for an alternative scenic route fto/rom Alice Springs to Watarrka (Kings Caynon) and Uluru (Ayers Rock) via the Western Macs. The loop is recommended for 4x4 as weather conditions make the road conditions difficult for standard vehicles. Fuel is available at Glen Helen, Hermannsburg, Kings Creek Station, Ayers Rock Resort.

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Australia: The Olgas / Kata Tjuta (2011)

Kata Tjuṯa, also known as The Olgas and officially gazetted as Kata Tjuta / Mount Olga, is a group of large, domed rock formations or bornhardts located about 360 km southwest of Alice Springs, in the southern part of the Northern Territory, central Australia. Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) | Northern Territory, Australia Meaning 'many heads', Kata Tjuta is sacred to the local Aboriginal Anangu people, who have inhabited the area for more than 22,000 years. It forms an important focus of their spiritual life.

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Australia: Ayers Rock / Uluru (2011)

Uluru, or Ayers Rock, is a massive sandstone monolith in the heart of the Northern Territory’s arid "Red Centre". The nearest large town is Alice Springs, 450km away. Uluru is sacred to indigenous Australians and is thought to have started forming around 550 million years ago. It’s within Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, which also includes the 36 red-rock domes of the Kata Tjuta (colloquially “The Olgas”) formation.

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UK: Eagle House Ball at Highclere Castle

Highclere Castle is a Grade I listed country house built in 1679 and largely renovated in the 1840s, with a park designed by Capability Brown in the 18th century. The 5,000-acre estate is in Highclere in Hampshire, England, about 5 miles south of Newbury, Berkshire, and 9.5 miles north of Andover, Hampshire. The first written records of the estate date back to 749 when an Anglo-Saxon King granted the estate to the Bishops of Winchester. Bishop William of Wykeham built a beautiful medieval palace and gardens in the park. Later on, the palace was rebuilt as Highclere Place House in 1679 when it was purchased by Sir Robert Sawyer, the direct ancestor of the current Earl of Carnarvon. In 1842, Sir Charles Barry, who also designed the Houses of Parliament, transformed Highclere House into the present day Highclere Castle. During the First World War, Highclere Castle was converted into a hospital for wounded soldiers run by the 5th Countess of Carnarvon. Throughout the Second World War, Highclere Castle was home to children evacuated from London. There are between 250 and 300 rooms in the Castle! There is an Egyptian Exhibition the 5th Earl of Carnarvon's discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun. It is the set of the famed Downton Abbey Series and we were fortunate enough to be hosted here for our annual school ball.

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Botswana: Okavango Delta – Oddballs 2010

The Okavango Delta is a vast inland river delta in northern Botswana. It's known for its sprawling grassy plains, which flood seasonally, becoming a lush animal habitat. The Moremi Game Reserve occupies the east and central areas of the region. Here, dugout canoes / mokoros are used to navigate past hippos, elephants and crocodiles. On dry land, wildlife includes lions, leopards, giraffes and rhinos.Oddball's offers two very different experiences: staying in a very basic, potentially busy base camp (Oddball's) or taking the plunge into the surrounding wilderness on a mokoro, for a truly rustic, private experience of untamed Africa. The camp best serves as a jumping off point for the overnight mokoro trails, offering little else in terms of luxury or other activities. The trails, on the other hand, offer something that's difficult to find in Africa's modern day safari industry - just you and your guide camping out on remote islands that you can explore on foot, and navigating the myriad of channels in a genuine dug-out mokoro. This is as close to nature as you'll ever get. It is Paradise and our top choice of safari in Africa.

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SA: Kwa Zulu Natal – Thula Thula

After reading The Elephant Whisperer, which is the second book written by South African author and conservationist Lawrence Anthony along with journalist Graham Spence, we were very keen to visit Thula Thula and the elephant stars of the book. This Reserve did not disappoint - we had a wonderful stay with two baby rhinos on our doorstep every night.

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