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Megan McCormick travels to Queensland, Australia’s second largest state whose 3000 mile coastline borders the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest living organism. She begins her journey at Surfers’ Paradise on the Gold Coast. Surfers were originally attracted by the beautiful deserted beaches and gigantic waves, but unfortunately they were followed by the big developers eager to exploit 70 kilometres of idyllic coastline.
From here, Megan heads north by bus to Noosa – another surfers’ mecca but one which has avoided the scourge of the poms. It’s also renowned for it’s fabulous cuisine, and Megan meets a local chef called Gary Rhodes, who combines produce form Queensland with Thai food to make innovative dishes unique to Noosa. She then continues her journey along the Bruce Highway to Harvey Bay, from where she catches the ferry to Fraser Island.
Gerhard Church, Lake Sevan and the Armenian Genocide Memorial; Tbilisi, Georgia; the Caucasus Mountains; roots of Georgian song and dance; the carved city of Vardzia.
Megan McCormick is now visiting several islands from Greece: Hydra, Patmos, Mykonos, Delos, Santorini, Crete and Gavdos. She sees a traditional festival, visits interesting archaeological places, learns about Greek History, discovers beautiful beaches and enjoys the night life.
Situated on the West Coast, California is the most populous state in America. From the gold rushes of the 1800's to the Hollywood of today, California has long been the land of dreams. Traveler Justine Shapiro begins her journey in Palm Springs, a sparkling oasis in the middle of the desert. From there she travels to sprawling Los Angeles and tours the Hollywood Hills. Heading north she continues to beautiful Big Sur before heading inland to the Sierra Nevada Mountains. She ends her journey in Humboldt County - home of the Giant Redwoods.
Megan McCormick is our guide to discover Scotland. She visits cities such as Glasgow, Stirling or Edinburgh. She doesn't waste the chance to wear Scottish traditional clothes or take their food. She gets to take part in the Highlands Games, visits Loch Ness and even spends a night in a haunted castle.
From Shanghai, and all along the Yangtze River, Megan McCormick discovers the traditions, culture and beauty of the central area of Earth's most populated country: China.
Ian Wright presents an independent travel guide to Venezuela, including paragliding from the Andes and sampling a traditional drink made from fruit, milk and bulls' eyes
Presenter: Megan McCormick
Megan’s journey starts by air, in the Roman town of Aosta, an ideal location for observing the spectacular and historic valley of Val Da Oasta.
In Ivrea she experiences the strangest and most ancient carnival celebrations in Italy. A three day battle using oranges for ammunition to commemorate the 12th century revolt against the tyrannical Count Rinari, who had his wicked way with all new brides, until a feisty miller’s daughter named Violetta beheaded him. Up to 100,000 contestants bombard the nobility represented in the carts paraded in the square. Teams are selected from the neighbourhoods in which they live, so rivalry is fierce!
On to Alba to discover the secrets of one of the world’s rarest gourmet delicacies, truffles, the fungal equivalent of gold. Setting off with a pack off trained dogs, she joins the hunt.
Next stop is cosmopolitan capital Milan, she takes in the Duomo, which is the world’s largest statue adorned Gothic cathedral, and see the magnificent view of the alps. The cathedral contains one of Italy’s most prized holy relics, the Santo Quioto, a nail from the crucifix of Christ which is shown to the public just one day each year.
Milan is one of the fashion capitals of the world and it seems like people here are impossibly stylish, in Quatrolatero Duoro - the Golden Square even the police uniform is made by Armani.
Failing to get a ticket for the world famous opera house La Scala, Megan visits the burial ground of opera comopser Giuseppi Verdi where you can actually hear his music still filtering down.
It’s a short train journey to the magnificent Medieval towns of Parma, Modena, Mantua and Verona. She samples the local Parma ham and Parmesan cheese, a staple part of the local diet for 700 years and learns how to make Parmesan traditional in copper vats. In Modenello, home to the Ferrari dynasty she visits a Ferrari museum. In the lakeside city of Monteva she visits the Gonzagas palace of
The lively markets of Tunis; hunting with desert greyhounds; cave dwelling in Matmata; the souks of Tripoli; Roman ruins at Leptis Magna.
Ian's journey starts in Tahiti, where he starts off by judging the Mr. Tahiti contest. From there he visits the Gaugain museum. He then heads out to the neighboring island of Moorea, where he witnesses a wedding special: Tahitian style weddings for westerners.
His island hopping continues on to Bora Bora, where he goes for an underwater reef walk, wearing a huge aqua helmet. On Bora Bora he meets with "the Shark Man", who takes him out to meet some sharks and manta rays.
Continuing on, Ian flies to Western Samoa. While there he stays in a traditional village, where he goes fishing, meets the tattoo artist, and partakes of a huge feast and dance.
His final island destination are the Marquesas, where Ian treks through some mountains to join villagers in a traditional wild boar hunt. The end of his journey culminates back in Tahiti for the Heiva festival, which includes canoe racing, fire walking, dancing…a perfect end to a trip in paradise.
Estelle Bingham explores Goolwa's boat festival; food and wine festival in Adelaide; making wine in the Barossa Valley; opal mining; Karjini Gorges.
