TRAVEL TUESDAY 558 - THE BAHAMAS

“The Bahamas has mangrove nurseries, coral reefs, shallow sea grass beds, and deep oceanic trenches - all perfect ecosystems for sharks. Photographing multiple shark species in exquisite water was the assignment I had dreamed about from the start.” - Brian Skerry

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.
There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and then share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.
Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.

The Bahamas is an independent archipelagic nation located in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba and southeast of the United States. Comprising nearly 700 islands and 2,500 cays, this constitutional monarchy recognizes King Charles III as its head of state and is led politically by Prime Minister Philip Davis. Renowned for its stunning turquoise waters, vibrant coral reefs, and tropical climate, it stands as a global hub for international tourism and financial services. Only about 30 of the 700 coral islands are actively inhabited. The capital city, Nassau, is situated on New Providence Island and serves as the primary gateway for international flights and cruise liners.

New Providence & Paradise Island are home to downtown Nassau's historical markets and the world-famous Atlantis Bahamas Resort, which features a massive 141-acre marine water park. The Exumas are famous for incredibly clear, shallow sand flats, bonefishing, and the iconic Pig Beach, where visitors can swim alongside wild pigs. Harbour Island is a popular destination situated off Eleuthera, famed worldwide for its unique pink sand beaches. The Grand Bahama Island is the fourth-largest island, home to Freeport and the Lucayan National Park, which protects vast underwater cave systems and scenic boardwalk trails. Andros is the largest island in the Bahamas, boasting the 225km-long Andros Barrier Reef—one of the longest continuous coral reefs in the world.

The Bahamian Dollar (BSD) is pegged 1-to-1 with the US Dollar. US currency is widely accepted everywhere, though carrying physical cash is essential for smaller vendors and taxis. There are no standard ride-sharing services like Uber or Lyft. Visitors rely on official taxis (fares should be negotiated upfront), rental cars, or domestic inter-island flights and ferries.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

TRAVEL TUESDAY 557 - LORD HOWE ISLAND, AUSTRALIA

“I thought to live on an island was like living on a boat. Islands intrigue me. You can see the perimeters of your world. It's a microcosm.” - Jamie Wyeth

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.
There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and then share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.
Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.

Located 780 km northeast of Sydney, Lord Howe Island is a UNESCO World Heritage-listed paradise. It limits tourist numbers to 400 at any one time to preserve its pristine environment. Accessible via a 2-hour flight from Sydney, the island is famous for its beaches, the world’s southernmost coral reef, and hiking trails.

Getting to the island is entirely by air. QantasLink offers daily, year-round flights from Sydney (under 2 hours). Additionally, Eastern Air Services operates flights and charters departing from Port Macquarie, the Gold Coast, and Newcastle. Once you arrive, there are no private cars, and most of the terrain is pedestrian-friendly. The primary mode of transportation is hiring bicycles or walking.

Because the island is relatively small (about 10 km long), everything is easily accessible. The best time to travel there is during the shoulder seasons—September to November and March to May. These months offer the perfect balance of warm, pleasant weather (averaging 20˚C to 22˚C) for hiking, while the ocean remains warm enough for swimming and snorkeling.

Home to more than 130 species of birds, it is a haven for birders. Highlights include seeing red-tailed tropicbirds performing courting rituals near the Malabar cliffs and watching countless shearwaters return at dusk. The trek up the towering Mount Gower is world-famous, offering breathtaking views of the subtropical landscape. You can drop into the Lord Howe Island Museum to learn about the region's unique biodiversity, history, and scientific specimens

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

TRAVEL TUESDAY 549 - PORT MORESBY, NEW GUINEA

“Papua New Guinea, a land where ancient customs and traditions harmonise with modernity.” – David Walliams

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and then share it with the rest of us.

Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only. Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.

Port Moresby (Tok Pisin: Pot Mosbi), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Zealand. It is located on the shores of the Gulf of Papua, on the south-western coast of the Papuan Peninsula of the island of New Guinea.

The city emerged as a trade centre in the second half of the 19th century. During World War II, it was a prime objective for conquest by the Imperial Japanese forces during 1942–43 as a staging point and air base to cut off Australia from Southeast Asia and the Americas. Due to its population and outsized influence compared to other cities in Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby may be regarded as a primate city.

As of the 2011 census, Port Moresby had 364,145 inhabitants. This grew to 756,754 at the 2024 census. The place where the city was founded has been inhabited by the Motu-Koitabu people for centuries. The first Briton to see it was Royal Navy Captain John Moresby in 1873. It was named in honour of his father, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Fairfax Moresby.

Although Port Moresby is surrounded by Central Province, of which it is also the capital, it is not part of that province but instead forms the National Capital District. The traditional landowners, the Motu and Koitabu people, are represented by the Motu Koita Assembly. Port Moresby hosted the APEC summit in November 2018. However, there were concerns about security, given the capital's reputation for violent crime.

There has been substantial building of housing, office towers, shopping malls and commercial establishments over much of the city. The waterfront area has been completely redeveloped with apartments, restaurants and shopping centres. Hanuabada and Koki are the last remaining stilt villages in Port Moresby, where traditional houses are built on wooden pylons over the sea. These homes, which are central to the indigenous Motu community, are connected by wooden walkways and enjoy a strong sense of community.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

TRAVEL TUESDAY 519 - MAURITIUS

“Mauritius was made first and then heaven, heaven being copied after Mauritius.” - Mark Twain

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.

Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.

Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about 2,000 kilometres off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Agaléga, and St. Brandon (Cargados Carajos shoals). The islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues, along with nearby Réunion (a French overseas department), are part of the Mascarene Islands. The main island of Mauritius, where the population is concentrated, hosts the capital and largest city, Port Louis. The country spans 2,040 square kilometres and has an exclusive economic zone covering 2,300,000 square kilometres.

Given its geographic location and colonial past, the people of Mauritius are diverse in ethnicity, culture, language and faith. It is the only country in Africa where Hinduism is the most practised religion. Indo-Mauritians make up the bulk of the population with significant Creole, Sino-Mauritian and Franco-Mauritian minorities. The island's government is closely modelled on the Westminster parliamentary system with Mauritius highly ranked for economic and political freedom. The Economist Democracy Index ranks Mauritius as the only country in Africa with full democracy.

Mauritius ranks 72nd (high) in the Human Development Index and the World Bank classifies it as a high-income economy. It is amongst the most competitive and most developed economies in the African region. The country is a welfare state. The government provides free universal health care, free education up through the tertiary level, and free public transportation for students, senior citizens, and the disabled. Mauritius is consistently ranked as the most peaceful country in Africa.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

TRAVEL TUESDAY 518 - MOOLOOLABA, AUSTRALIA

“All we need, really, is a change from a near frigid to a tropical attitude of mind.” - Marjory Stoneman Douglas

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and then share it with the rest of us.

Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only. Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.

Mooloolaba is a coastal suburb of Maroochydore in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It is part of the Maroochydore urban centre. In the 2021 census, Mooloolaba had a population of 8,202 people. Mooloolaba is bounded on the east by the Coral Sea, on the south by the Mooloolah River, on the north by Alexandra Headland and to the west by Buderim.

Mooloolaba derives from the Aboriginal word mulu, meaning snapper fish, or mulla meaning Red-bellied Black Snake. Originally known as Mooloolah Heads, the name was changed to Mooloolaba by Thomas O'Connor in 1919 when he subdivided land for sale there.

Mooloolaba Harbour (near the mouth of the Mooloolah River) is the home of a large fleet of fishing vessels, as well as being the northern base for the pilot vessels that control shipping through Moreton Bay and the Port of Brisbane. Due to its sheltered location in the lee of Point Cartwright, it is an all-weather harbour favoured by recreational sailors.

The esplanade facing Mooloolaba beach is a centre for tourist activity, containing the Sea Life marine park, as well as many souvenir and clothing shops, bookshops, galleries and restaurants. Behind the apartments facing the Mooloolaba Beach are camping grounds, backpacker hostels and canal villas. It is also a tourism destination, with cruise ships regularly anchoring outside the port.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

TRAVEL TUESDAY 505 - HAWAII, USA

“For me, the magic of Hawaii comes from the stillness, the sea, the stars.” - Joanne Harris

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.
There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.
Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.

Hawaii is an island state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about 3,200 km southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only state not on the North American mainland, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state in the tropics. Hawaii consists of 137 volcanic islands that comprise almost the entire Hawaiian archipelago (the exception, which is outside the state, is Midway Atoll).

Spanning 2,400 km, the state is physiographically and ethnologically part of the Polynesian subregion of Oceania. Hawaii's ocean coastline is consequently the fourth-longest in the U.S., at about 1,210 km. The eight main islands, from northwest to southeast, are Niʻihau, Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe, Maui, and Hawaiʻi, after which the state is named; the last is often called the "Big Island" or "Hawaii Island" to avoid confusion with the state or archipelago. The uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands make up most of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, the largest protected area in the U.S. and the fourth-largest in the world.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

TRAVEL TUESDAY 454 - BORA BORA, FRENCH POLYNESIA

"It is important to remember that the Pacific Ocean covers a quarter of the world's surface and that each Pacific country has its own cultural, historical and ethnic identity." - Jenny Shipley

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. 

Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only. Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.

Bora Bora (Tahitian: Pora Pora) is an island group in the Leeward Islands in the South Pacific. The Leeward Islands comprise the western part of the Society Islands of French Polynesia, which is an overseas collectivity of the French Republic in the Pacific Ocean. Bora Bora has a total land area of 30.55 km2.

Bora Bora is a major international tourist destination, famous for its seaside (and even offshore) luxury resorts. Its major settlement, Vaitape, is on the western side of the main island, opposite the main channel leading into the lagoon. Produce of the island is mostly limited to what can be obtained from the sea and from the plentiful coconut trees, which were historically of economic importance for the production of copra.

Mount Otemanu (seen here) is an extinct volcano and can be seen from any point on the island of Bora Bora. With an elevation of 727 metres above sea level, it is the highest point of the island.  The mountain serves a major tourist attraction in Bora Bora for both hiking and picture taking. The island is centred around its peak although there are no major settlements or inhabitants that occupy the mountain. It is next to the smaller Mount Pahia. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

TRAVEL TUESDAY 448 - PALM COVE, QLD, AUSTRALIA

“We evolved in a tropical climate where the smells of plants and flowers were all around us. We spent a lot of time in the trees with a lot of sunlight and no clothes.” - Helen Fisher

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us.

Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only. Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.

Palm Cove is a beach community in Far North Queensland, Australia located 27 kilometres north of the city of Cairns. It is named after the palm trees that line the beach. At the 2006 census, Palm Cove had a population of 1,215.  Palm Cove is located in Far North Queensland on the Australian coast. Arlington Reef is the closest section of The Great Barrier Reef to Palm Cove being around 30 km offshore. The reef shelters the inshore waters from the Coral Sea swells creating relatively calm waters between the reef and the beach. To the west of Palm Cove is the Macalister Range National Park which is part of the Wet Tropics World Heritage area.

Since Palm Cove is located in a tropical climate, the average summer temperature is between 24˚C and 33˚C; average winter temperature is between 14˚C and 26˚C.  The major industry for Palm Cove is tourism. Palm Cove is also a tourist destination due to its proximity to the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest. Palm Cove is the location of many world-renowned resorts and hotels such as the Drift Resort, Alamanda, the Mantra Amphora Resort, Peppers Beach Club, and the Reef House.

The pristine beaches and Palm tree lined paths are used by joggers, walkers and cyclists and netted life guard patrol swimming enclosures offer safe access to the sea all year round. The Palm cove jetty is one of the region’s most popular fishing spots where anglers regularly catch species such as mackerel, Giant Trevally or “G.T's” and shark.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

TRAVEL TUESDAY 442 - VICTORIA, SEYCHELLES

"The Seychelles archipelago: a symphony of beauty and tranquility." - Seychelles Tourism

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us.

Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only. Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.

Seychelles, officially the Republic of Seychelles, is an island nation and archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands (as per the Constitution) in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, is 1,500 kilometres east of mainland Africa. Nearby island countries and territories include the Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, and the French overseas departments of Mayotte and Réunion to the south; and Maldives and the Chagos Archipelago (administered by the United Kingdom as the British Indian Ocean Territory) to the east. Seychelles is the smallest country in Africa as well as the least populated sovereign African country, with an estimated population of 100,600 in 2022.

Seychelles was uninhabited prior to being encountered by Europeans in the 16th century. It faced competing French and British interests until it came under full British control in the late 18th century. Since proclaiming independence from the United Kingdom in 1976, it has developed from a largely agricultural society to a market-based diversified economy, characterised by service, public sector, and tourism activities. From 1976 to 2015, nominal GDP grew nearly 700%, and purchasing power parity nearly 1600%.

Since the late 2010s, the government has taken steps to encourage foreign investment.  As of the early 21st century, Seychelles has the highest nominal per capita GDP of any African nation. It has the highest Human Development Index of any African country. According to 2023 V-Dem Democracy indices Seychelles is ranked 43rd electoral democracy worldwide and 1st ranked electoral democracy in Africa.

Seychellois culture and society is an eclectic mix of French, British, and African influences, with infusions of Chinese and Indian elements. The country is a member of the United Nations, the African Union, the Southern African Development Community, and the Commonwealth of Nations.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

TRAVEL TUESDAY 372 - TREASURE ISLAND, FIJI

“We evolved in a tropical climate where the smells of plants and flowers were all around us. We spent a lot of time in the trees with a lot of sunlight and no clothes.” - Helen Fisher

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.

Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately. 

Treasure Island, an emerald-green verdant paradise seeming to float on top of crystal clear turquoise water conforms to everyone's idea of a tropical island. It is found in one of the most well-known Island groups in Fiji, the Mamanuca Islands. The resort there has been open since 1972 and is one of the closest tropical getaways to the main island of Fiji. See here for more details (and, no, they didn't pay me any money for this!).

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

TRAVEL TUESDAY 294 - PORT DOUGLAS, AUSTRALIA

“To escape and sit quietly on the beach – that’s my idea of paradise.” - Emilia Wickstead

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us.

Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only. Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers shall be removed immediately.

Port Douglas is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Douglas, Queensland, approximately 70 km north of Cairns. In the 2016 census, Port Douglas had a population of 3,504 people. The town’s population can often double, however, with the influx of tourists during the peak tourism season from May to September. The town is named in honour of a former Premier of Queensland, John Douglas.

Port Douglas developed quickly based on the mining industry. Other parts of the area were established with timber cutting occurring in the area surrounding the Daintree River and with settlement starting to occur on lots around the Mossman River by 1880.

Previous names for the town included Terrigal, Island Point, Port Owen and Salisbury. The town is situated adjacent to two World Heritage areas, the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest. Port Douglas was No. 3 on Australian Traveller magazine’s list of 100 Best Towns in Australia.

Kitesurfing is popular at the southern end of Four Mile Beach (seen above), particularly during the winter months when trade winds blow from the South. Port Douglas is near the Great Barrier Reef and numerous companies run daily trips from the marina to the outer reef and the Low Isles for scuba diving and snorkelling. Port Douglas is also well known for its many restaurants, walks, golf courses, and five star resorts.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

TRAVEL TUESDAY 236 - FRASER ISLAND, AUSTRALIA

“I feel we are all islands - in a common sea.” - Anne Morrow Lindbergh 

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.

Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers shall be removed immediately.

Fraser Island (K'Gari, Gari) is a heritage-listed island located along the southeastern coast of the state of Queensland, Australia. It is approximately 250 kilometres north of the state capital, Brisbane. Known as Fraser Island, it is a locality within the Fraser Coast local government in the Wide Bay–Burnett region.

Together with some satellite islands off the southern west coast and thus in the Great Sandy Strait, Fraser Island forms the County of Fraser, which is subdivided into six parishes. Among the islands are Slain Island, Tooth Island, Roundbush Island, Moonboom Island, Gardner Island, Dream Island, Stewart Island, and the Reef Islands, all part of the southernmost parish of Talboor.

Its length is about 120 kilometres and its width is approximately 24 kilometres. It was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1992. The island is considered to be the largest sand island in the world at 1,840 km2. It is also Queensland's largest island, Australia's sixth largest island and the largest island on the East Coast of Australia. It was formerly the homeland of the Butchulla tribe.

The island has rainforests, eucalyptus woodland, mangrove forests, wallum and peat swamps, sand dunes and coastal heaths. It is made up of sand that has been accumulating for approximately 750,000 years on volcanic bedrock that provides a natural catchment for the sediment which is carried on a strong offshore current northwards along the coast. Unlike on many sand dunes, plant life is abundant due to the naturally occurring mycorrhizal fungi present in the sand, which release nutrients in a form that can be absorbed by the plants.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

TRAVEL TUESDAY 219 - PALM COVE, AUSTRALIA

“All we need, really, is a change from a near frigid to a tropical attitude of mind.” – Marjory Stoneman Douglas 

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.

Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.

Palm Cove is a beach community in Far North Queensland, Australia located 27 kilometres north of the city of Cairns. It is named after the palm trees that line the beach. At the 2006 census, Palm Cove had a population of 1,215.

Palm Cove is located in Far North Queensland on the Australian coast. Arlington Reef is the closest section of The Great Barrier Reef to Palm Cove being around 30 km offshore. The reef shelters the inshore waters from the Coral Sea swells creating relatively calm waters between the reef and the beach. To the west of Palm Cove is the Macalister Range National Park which is part of the Wet Tropics World Heritage area. Since Palm Cove is located in a tropical climate, the average summer temperature is between 24˚C and 33˚C; average winter temperature is between 14˚C and 26˚C.

The major industry for Palm Cove is tourism. Palm Cove is also a tourist destination due to its proximity to the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest. Palm Cove is the location of many world-renowned resorts and hotels such as the Drift Resort, Alamanda, the Mantra Amphora Resort, Peppers Beach Club, and the Reef House. The pristine beaches and Palm tree lined paths are used by joggers, walkers and cyclists and netted life guard patrol swimming enclosures offer safe access to the sea all year round. The Palm cove jetty is one of the regions most popular fishing spots where anglers regularly catch species such as mackerel, Giant Trevally or “G.T's” and shark.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter