Holiday Destination : Fiji

The perfect cheap holidays in Fiji might include planning your itinerary to include a visit to Sigatoka to see the beautiful and adventurous Naihehe Caves. These caves are something to see as they show the history of the area because they were the Korovusolo fortress. In the same area, you will find the best beach, you have ever seen. Natadola Beach has shade trees, the whitest sands and if you want to take a horseback ride on the beach, the horses are gentle and well trained, children and adults will find this a great way to spend the day.

After a couple days in Sigatoka, you might take a ride to Nadi to see the Sri Siva Subramaniya Temple. This religious site is amazing and the architecture is just beautiful. Then it is off to Suva for The Fiji Museum with exhibits dating back over three thousand years. This is the oldest museum around the South Pacific. A favorite in Suva is the flea market called the Suva Municipal Market. This is a festive area and they have something for everyone to enjoy. Of course, you cannot forget the Parliament with its government building with an orange color. The Albert Park is another place to see before moving on to the other areas of Fiji.

Your cheap holidays to Fiji are just getting exciting. You can visit the Garden of the Sleeping Giant in Nausori. This is amazing to see. There are so many orchids, over two thousand types and was originally started by Perry Mason star Raymond Burr. This place is amazing and it shows his much devoted love and attention to orchids. As you might remember, he was a man who loved to give orchids on his television shows. You do not want to miss this attraction in Fiji.

After a few days of this area of Fiji, you might enjoy your cheap holidays in Fiji by visiting Taveuni Island. The Bouma National Heritage Park is a great place to visit and walk around the rainforest. You can hike or do some swimming. Yes, the water is safe to swim. You will not see any creatures popping out. The Lavena Costal Walk is a true nature trail that shows you the wild side of the island area as well as the black sands and awesome forests. You are going to enjoy spending a few days here.

The one place your cheap holidays in Fiji take you is the Taveuni Island’s beautiful Tavoro Waterfalls. You can spend the entire day in this part of the world and have peace and tranquility. The three different waterfalls have different levels of altitude and are so beautiful to watch all day. After you have had your fill of daytime activities, sit and relax with a drink from one of the local club and lounges. You will find the tropical drinks are superb, but hold it down to just a few. You want to enjoy the outdoors the next day while enjoying your cheap holidays in Fiji.

Daily Travel Photo : Zimbabwe

Lake Karibe, Zimbabwe

07 July : Holidays and observances

Tanzania , Saba Saba Day

Aussies called to clean Bali beaches

AUSTRALIANS are being urged to join locals in cleaning up Bali’s beaches for a special environmental project.Taking place on July 13, the inaugural Coca-Cola For Bali Coastal Clean-up Day will see a team of celebrities and locals team up to collect rubbish from sea and reef areas.Organisers are hoping Australians and other visitors holidaying in Bali will take part in the event and encourage others to keep the area tidy.”We want to remind and encourage everyone who enjoys our drinks – locals and visiting tourists – to do the right thing and put their drink containers and other rubbish in bins, and even better, make sure it goes into recycling,” said Coca-Cola chief executive Terry Davis.

CCA, which owns the Coca-Cola bottling operations in Indonesia, is partnering with leading environmental organisation Reef Check Indonesia Foundation, and local Bali environmental organisation Yayasan Gus, in a long-term commitment to clean up Bali’s major beaches.

Wife carrying contest…!

Wife carrying (Finnish eukonkanto (or sometimes akankanto), Estonian naisekandmine) is a sport in which male competitors race while each carrying a female teammate. The objective is for the male to carry the female through a special obstacle track in the fastest time. The sport was first introduced at Sonkajärvi, Finland.

Several types of carry may be practised: piggyback, fireman’s carry (over the shoulder), or Estonian-style (the wife hangs upside-down with her legs around the husband’s shoulders, holding onto his waist).

Major wife-carrying competitions are held in Sonkajärvi, Finland (where the prize is the wife’s weight in beer) Monona, Wisconsin, and Marquette, Michigan.

The North American Wife Carrying Championships take place every year on Columbus Day Weekend in October at Sunday River Ski Resort in Newry, Maine. The 8th Annual event took place on October 6, 2007, with 40 couples participating, an all-time high. Many North American Champions go on to compete in the Finnish World Championship.

Airlines shed weight as fuel costs soar

NEXT time you take to the skies you may find there are fewer pages in your in-flight magazine, your fork is slimmer and your plate feels different. Blame it on soaring oil prices.

The seat you are sitting on may be lighter. Perhaps there’s less water on board for the bathroom taps and toilets. The drinks trolley coming your way probably weighs less too.

It’s all part of efforts by airlines to shed weight and conserve fuel, running in tandem with more radical steps such as cutting routes and capacity.

“Individually they may sound quite trivial but they all add up,” said Andrew Herdman, director general of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines.

“Obviously, the more expensive the fuel, the more the savings translate into. Given that oil prices are at a record high and have quadrupled over the past few years, there’s even more effort” to reduce weight, he said.

Japan Airlines (JAL), Asia’s largest carrier, is among carriers that are putting fewer pages into their in-flight magazines.

It has also slimmed the handles of its forks and spoons, reducing their weight by two grams each, said JAL spokesman Hisanori Iizuka.

The weight of a freight container has been cut by 26kg, reducing the burden of a flight by one tonne.

Even the porcelain in business class on international flights is 20 per cent lighter since the manufacturer put tiny bubbles inside.

“It’s important to make every little effort, which matters when you carry hundreds of passengers on a flight and operate 365 days” a year, said Iizuka.

“The heavier the plane is, the lower its fuel efficiency. This is part of our efforts to slim down everything possible.”

It’s not the only airline looking to shed weight. Qantas is also considering similar steps to conserve fuel.

“We don’t want to compromise our product or service,” but the carrier is looking at lightweight meal carts, alternative packaging and examining “what we carry to remove waste, that type of thing,” a spokeswoman said.

Singapore Airlines has introduced lightweight drink trolleys and serviceware on board new aircraft such as the A380 superjumbo and the Boeing B777-300ER.

“These carts and serviceware will be on all new aircraft which join the fleet in the future. As for magazines, based on crew feedback, titles not in demand were removed,” a spokeswoman for the carrier said.

All Nippon Airways has also been reducing the weight of seats, tableware, trolleys used by cabin attendants and other items.

“By introducing lighter porcelain for first and business classes, we have reduced the weight by an average 66kg on one flight,” a spokeswoman said. “We’re always looking for items whose weight can be reduced.”

Even paint adds weight to an aircraft, so some carriers have been experimenting with only polishing the exterior, particularly for cargo planes.

Airlines worldwide face total losses of at least $2.39 billion this year due to soaring fuel costs, according to the International Air Transport Association, which says the industry is in “crisis”.At least two dozen carriers around the world have gone bust this year.Some carriers have begun charging passengers a fee for checked luggage.

And there is even speculation that the passengers might eventually have to step on the scales before boarding a plane, with heavier travellers paying more to fly, although experts say that day is not here just yet.”I don’t think we’ve quite got to the point of passengers being weighed,” said Herdman.

The Running of the Bulls

PAMPLONA’S main square was turned into a sea of red and white as thousands filled the streets to kick-off Spain’s most famous bull-running festival.

Revellers wearing traditional white trousers and shirts with red bandanas celebrated the beginning of the nine-day festival by spraying one another with champagne, red wine and sangria.

Town councillor Uxe Barkos started proceedings in traditional fashion from the Town Hall balcony overlooking the crowd, yelling: “Men and women of Pamplona, all hail to San Fermin.”Fireworks were set off to herald the festivities and the crowd responded by tossing people into the air to celebrate the Chupinazo.

Residents poured buckets of water over the crowd from their balconies to help cool down the revellers, while others took the more traditional approach of pouring red wine, sangria and sparkling wine over one another.

“I love it. I’d heard a lot about it, but seeing it in person is truly moving,” said Australian Anna Stampy.

Held since 1591, the fiesta is famous for the nerve-wrecking bull-run, where participants test their skill and courage by racing alongside six fearsome fighting bulls along 800m of narrow cobblestone streets linking the city’s stables to the bullring.

On the afternoon of each day, the bulls must face matadors in the ring.During the celebrations, police found the body of a young man who apparently died by falling 30m from an ancient wall, but the tragedy had no effect on the fanfare.

Since 1924, 13 people have been killed in the running of the bulls. The last victim was a 22-year-old American gored to death in 1995.

But not everyone in Pamplona is there for the revelry. Every year hundreds of animal rights activists protest against the bull fights.

The half-naked protestors lie down along the route of the bull-run before the fiesta, covered in fake blood and bearing placards in different languages asking for the cruelty to stop.

This year the activists wore on their backs imitation banderillas, the long barbed darts that are stabbed into the bull’s neck as part of the bullfighting ceremony.