Australia Adventure Guide: The Gold Coast's Surfing, Hiking, and Creeping "Fellas"

A longboarder in Queensland along Australia's Gold Coast; Photograph by Ben Moon/Aurora Photos. See more Australia photos

By Tetsuhiko Endo

When Australia appears in the news, chances are you are seeing Queensland. Cyclones, crocodiles, floods, and an encyclopedic list of venomous creatures make it an easy place to deride. But a place with this many hazards is also a place that remains fundamentally untamed and the rewards it holds for the savvy adventure traveler are second to none.

I’ve come to the Gold Coast, the Southeast corner of Queensland, to try to pack as much excitement into one week as I can, and have not been disappointed. I begin my stay at the Swell Resort in Burleigh Heads —a complex of holiday apartments that come with all the comforts of hotel rooms (towels linens, soap), but also include full kitchens, living areas, and central air conditioners that can conquer even the balmiest sub-tropical days.

From this base, I spend a few days surfing from Burleigh’s eponymous headland, the cradle of modern Australian professional surfing, to Snapper Rocks, one of the world’s most prized high performance waves, to Byron Bay, the hippy enclave that thumbs its nose at any hint of commercialism. Though not as teeming with venomous beasties as the coast farther north, certain winds and currents will sweep pseudo jelly-fish called Blue Bottles into the waters of the Gold Coast. Their stings aren’t dangerous, but they are painful enough that I complain to a fellow surfer.

“Awe, they’re not that bad, mate.” He responds. “Just make sure you avoid the Purple People Eaters. Those fellas really hurt.”

72 Hours of Adventure: Bournemouth, England - Surfing, Biking, More

By Tetsuhiko Endo; Photographs courtesy of Bournemouth Tourism

Day 1

With a little over 7,500 miles of coastline, England has undergone a quiet conversion in the last 20 years to become an unexpected haven for the traveler in search of history, culture, and rollicking adventure sports. My travels have brought me to the seaside town of Bournemouth, just two hours south of London by bus or train in the county of Dorset. With more than 30 beaches, Dorset is home to many of London’s classic holiday towns like Weymouth, Swanage, and Poole, with Bournemouth existing as the jewel in this seaside resort crown. Its seven miles of beach have hosted famous Britons like Mary Shelley, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Robert Louis Stevenson (which, by extension, makes Bournemouth the birthplace of one of the world’s most famous pirates, Long John Silver).

Lost in Hawaii: Executive Producer Reveals Secrets, Stunts, Travel Tips

The final episode of Lost has been filmed, and in just a few weeks we’ll know all the secrets of the island (we're joking, of course—this show is bound to leave us guessing). But what we can know, in certain terms, is what it was like to shoot on Oahu and the location of the survivors’ beach camp. We can also discover how the crew created a Tunisian desert and a snowy Buffalo, New York, on a lush tropical island. Or why John Locke is so good at throwing knives and Kate seems so comfortable climbing into the jungle canopy. We caught up with executive producer Jean Higgins to find out some of the secrets of the show. Then check out our Lost travel guide, so you can see the island like an Oceanic Flight 815 castaway (without the smoke monster).—Mary Anne Potts

Were other locations considered before Oahu was selected for filming? What were they? Why Hawaii?
The original location scout for the pilot occurred before I joined the show. The producers had decided that Australia was probably the best place for Lost, based on the research they had done. They were headed for Australia with a stopover in Hawaii, but at the last minute they decided to take a look at Hawaii before continuing on. They spent a couple of days on Oahu and found everything they needed. No one ever went to Australia. When it is right, you select the place and get to work. I joined the show the day they returned because I heard it was going to be in Hawaii, a place I fell in love with when I was 13 and learned to surf there.

Hawaii had the perfect blend of beaches, jungles, and arid areas. And once our writers developed the idea of the flashback story for our characters, Honolulu and the rest of the island was utilized for everything from war-torn Iraq to Korea, Britain, Berlin, and Moscow with snow.

Wild Roads: Ski, Soak, Repeat in Crowd-Free Banff National Park

Banff is hardly a secret. But come winter, it sure feels like one. Banff National Park boasts 2,564 square miles of protected Rockies, emerald alpine lakes, and some of the best skiing in Canada—but the place is empty when the powder hits. Bonus: Rooms are half what they go for in the summertime. 

1 - The Trans-Canada Highway careens across Alberta, up and over the Continental Divide, straight through the park. Take the two-lane Bow Valley Parkway to Lake Louise. “This is a national park, not Disneyland,” says Banff–Lake Louise ski school director Paul Thrasher. “There’s hardly any development” (lift ticket, $72; skibig3.com). Watch the sun sink while soaking at Banff Upper Hot Springs ($7), then retire to the grand Fairmont Banff Springs (doubles from $286).

Urban Adventure: Cycling the Berlin Wall 20 Years After Its Fall

Aside from the hum of spokes and the rattle of a loose fender, the forested hinterlands are quiet. The cycling trail I follow, dubbed the Berliner Mauerweg (Wall Way), often utilizes the “death strip’s” patrol roads alongside the notorious Wall—the bitter, iconic emblem of the Cold War. A mere two decades in time separate this pleasant bike journey from attack dogs nipping at my pedals and a hail of machine gun fire.

Berlin, once ground zero for testy spats between capitalism and communism, is celebrating twenty years since the dreaded “Antifascist Protection Rampart” (as East German officials called it) came crashing down. Berlin has always known how to party despite being in the middle of some rather horrific turns in history. Because of this, Berliners are pretty good at remembering, too. Which partly explains the 100-mile-long Mauerweg.—Text and photographs by Bruce Willey

Adventure News: The Rogue River Has Been Set Free!

After nearly a century of dam-nation, the Rogue River was set free this weekend. As reported by The Oregonian, crews removed the temporary coffer dam on the Rogue River, east of Grants Pass, that was put in place after the 88-year-old Savage Rapids dam was knocked down this summer.

Check out our Rogue adventure guide to find out how to paddle the newly-liberated Rogue or pick from six other epic American river trips.

—Laura Buckley; Photograph by Woods Wheatcroft

Norway is the Most Desirable Place to Live, According to UN

Norway, the land of fjords, Vikings, vodka, and blonde hair, is now also the most desirable place to live, according to the United Nations.

The UN’s Human Development Report 2008/2009, done annually, ranks Norway numero uno because of the country's human development index ratings, which evaluates certain criteria, including educational factors, gender equality, and life expectancy (Norway’s is a not-so-impressive 74).

Australia comes in number two this year, followed by Iceland (last year's number one), Canada, and Ireland. The U.S. is relaxing at spot 13, one bump down from 2007/2008, with a life expectancy of 72—not too shabby considering Zimbabwe’s heartrending 38.

And, perhaps prophetically, we featured Norway as one of our Best New Trips in the World in our November issue (on newsstands October 20), complete with an adventure guide. —Michelle Faber; Photograph by Steve Casimiro

Send Yourself to Space... For a Price

Text by Joe Battle

There are many different paths to take to float with the stars, but a majority of them revolve around a wallet that could plug a black hole.

One of the leaders in promoting private space travel is a company known as Space Adventures.  A meager $100 million will “secure” your personal trip to the moon…whenever that again becomes a reality.  So far Space Adventures has had six clients, most famously Anousheh Ansari, co-founder of Telecom Technologies. Her family provided the sponsorship for the Ansari X Prize, which was a major catalyst for making private space travel a reality. The goal of the prize was to break away from government organizations and create a reusable manned spacecraft. In 2004 the SpaceShipOne accomplished just that and the X Prize Foundation delivered the prize money of 10 million dollars. Ansari is one of the trustees on the X Prize Foundation along with PayPal co-founder Elon Musk. Musk is the CEO of Space X, which quite possibly represents the future of private space travel.

But if you want to get to space within the next five years, our 2008 Lifetime Achievement recipient, Sir Richard Branson, is your man. His Virgin Galactic will, for $200,000, take you on a two-and-a-half hour trip to the outskirts of our atmosphere, where you’ll feel weightless. It’s been reported that 300 people have paid a majority of the fee, while 80,000 people have been interested but haven’t yet ponied up the 200,000 clams.

Virgin Galactic is not alone. XCOR aerospace is planning a shorter and less expensive suborbital trip.

Urban Adventure: Kayaking Jamaica Bay, Brooklyn

Text by Ryan Bradley; Photograph and map courtesy of NPS and New York Harbor Conservancy

Last weekend I went kayaking in Jamaica Bay, Brooklyn. Like a lot of outdoor excursions in the middle of large urban areas, this one was tinged with absurdity. Jamaica Bay is perhaps best known as the body of water you fly over before landing at JFK International Airport. There's a major highway buttressing half of it. There are landfills nearby. And to get to the small cove from which the National Parks Service has offered free kayak excursions, you walk through a significantly-sized public BBQ area—Haitians, Jamaicans, Dominicans, Koreans, happily grilling, wondering why you're walking through their cookouts. From the outset, there was the very real possibility for something comic to happen. Sensing this, I dragged my girlfriend, Emily, along.

At the cove we met Park Ranger John, who is running the program and seemed particularly upbeat, considering the circumstances. It was windy. Extremely windy. And the wind had whipped up a chop in the bay something fierce. I looked out across the chop to a small spit of wild looking land.

"What's that?" I asked John. Then my hat blew off.

"That," John said, pausing to run after my hat, "is the Canarsie Pole. It was created when the bay was dredged. No one lives on it. It's park land. People think treasure is buried out there, but it's not."

There were birds in the bay. Spinners and plovers and one particularly active red-tipped skimmer. Apart from the chop, it looked almost pleasant. John helped us to our kayaks and we set off.

Soaked immediately, but the water was warm and surprisingly clean. Soon the sounds of the highway were overtaken by the howl of the wind. I'd tell you more about what it looked like out in Jamaica Bay, but I was concentrating on keeping my kayak perpendicular to the chop. I looked back at Emily. She was drifting towards a clump of reeds, which was unexpected. Those reeds looked great, what were they doing here? I tried to paddle over to her rescue but by the time I had the thing fully turned the wind and current had taken me into the reeds too. We were stuck, but the reeds still looked great. And there were coconuts in them. A shadow passed overhead. A cloud blocking the sun? No, a 747 landing a JFK. Ranger John was coming down the beach to our rescue. I could smell Korean BBQ.

The free kayak tours launch from Canarsie Pier, which you can get to by public transit on the L subway with a free transfer to the B42 bus. The "pier" is more like a parking lot out on the water, but the kayaks launch from a small, rather pleasant (at least in low-wind), cove to the north. The program runs throughout the summer, Friday-Monday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is offered by the National Parks of New York Harbor Conservancy, in partnership with the NPS, and Coca-Cola. There will soon be a map available of fully developed "kayak trails" within the bay, but Ranger John is still working on this. Get more information here.

 Tell us about your favorite urban adventure in the comments area below.

Hiking to "See" Methuselah, the World's Oldest Tree

Text by Christian Camerota

If you're barking up this tree, it's probably a story it's heard before. That's because Methuselah, an ancient bristlecone pine, is 4,768 years old.

You could make the argument that Inyo National Forest, the home of Methuselah and its relatives, belongs on any wonders of the world list, and certainly merits a visit if you're in or around California's White Mountains (or even if you're not). These trees have had plenty of time to drink in the view from their 10,000 to 11,000 foot perches, as every single one of them has been around for at least 4,000 years. Methuselah is the elder statesman of the bunch and officially the oldest tree in the world according to the Guiness Book of Records.

The real adventure, though, is trying to track this living relic down. To protect it from the overenthused and chainsawed trophy hunters, park officials keep Methuselah's identity a secret, revealing only that it is one of the trees directly along the 4.5-mile hiking loop. Of course, it figures that a tree that predates Stonehenge by 600 years, survived through the rise and fall of the Mayan civilization, and was already 2,600 years old when Jesus was born, is likely to have a few tricks up its sleeve if you do attempt any monkey business.

And if you're feeling particularly lissome after meeting trees more than 130 times your age, Inyo National Forest has over 650,000 acres of land for you to peruse, including two major ski resorts (Mammoth and June mountains), several lakes, and Mount Whitney. No wonder Methuselah put down roots here for eternity.