nature

New Land in Hawaii

February 10, 2012 By Danny

One of the highlights of our trip to Hawaii was visiting Volcanos National Park. The Hawaiian islands were formed by volcanos in the middle of the pacific and those volcanos continue to add land to the islands as we speak. Usually, they are quite tame but sometimes their lava flows can and do change direction. Rarely is this an emergency as visitors usually have several hours to move away from the slow moving lava, but nonetheless it can impact the scenery a good bit.

When we visited the volcanos we were impressed by the trail over the lava rock. We took this photo at the start of the trail just beyond the end of the road. It should be clear why the road has come to an end! We were able to hike out on the lava rock for several kilometers and could actually see it running several feet below where we were standing. We have pictures of molten lava as well but this photo is pretty compelling to us. Later we sat and watched as the lava created new Hawaiian land, it was memorizing!

IF YOU GO: The Hawaiian Islands are a great place to get away from it all. Almost all flights to the islands land in Honolulu so check out some Oahu Hotels and then feel free to island hop to your heart’s content. No trip to Honolulu is complete without a visit to Waikiki and Pearl Harbor!

To see more of our favorite photos from around the world check out our travel photo page. Let us know some of your favorites and we’ll include them in our photo series.

The Emerald Lakes of New Zealand

February 8, 2012 By Danny

The Emerald Lakes are situated in the Tongariro National Park, New Zealand. These lakes have yellow edges and are the water in them is pure turquoise. They are situated near the summit of Mt. Tongariro and they fill the craters which were created by the explosions in that area. The brilliance of their colors is mostly due to dissolved minerals in them, which are washed down from the nearby Red crater. Naturally, the mineral content of the water means you can’t drink or swim but the sheer beauty of these lakes is enough to mesmerize anyone who comes to see them so get to it and book your flights to New Zealand!

These lakes contrast very well with barren landscape all around them and make for a beautiful picturesque piece of nature’s work. The hill which leads to these lakes can appear to be an easy one to climb but the realization sets in as soon as the trekking is started that it is a very difficult one to trek. As this picture shows though, the summit is worth the walk.

IF YOU GO: The park has plenty of road access points and sits right in the center of New Zealand’s north island. In addition to the general access points there are also a few shuttles from the nearby town. One thing to keep in mind is that this park is a dual world heritage site; it is not only beautiful to look at but an important cultural site for the Maori people.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Flickr user Antoine Hubert via a creative commons license.

Photo:More Than Beaches

November 14, 2011 By Jillian

It’s safe to assume any place named Gold Coast has to be a beautiful seaside location. Australia’s Gold Coast may be best known for its tropical climate and surfing beaches, but not too far inland there’s also a rainforest. Yes, beach, sun and rainforest all in one place. Few places in the world can boast such an assortment of relaxation dreams.

Gold Coast is actually a city in southwest Queensland, just a bit further south than Brisbane. It is home to some of the world’s best surfing beaches. The rainforest and Hinterland are less than an hour from Gold Coast city, making it possible to surf and hike in one day!

To see more of our favorite photos from around the world check out our travel photo page. Let us know your favorites and we’ll include them in our photo of the day series.

IF YOU GO: Australia’s Gold Coast City is also a popular movie location, so don’t be surprised if you run into some movie stars in the sand. Many blockbuster and Bollywood films are shot on location in the Gold Coast region. Gold Coast holidays are popular with a young crowd (great night life) and families, over 10 million people visit each year.

Photo:The Blyde River Canyon

November 3, 2011 By Danny

We spent 5 days in Kruger National Park looking at animals in their natural habitat. By the end of that, we were ready to get out of the car and spread our legs. Driving out of the northern reaches of the park we took ourselves into the Blyde River Canyon.

In this photo, if you look towards the bottom of the canyon you can actually see the Blyde River, or at least the inner canyon’s walls. To me, this canyon was remarkable for how green it was. When I think of canyon I think of desert environments. We’ve already hiked the Grand Canyon and the Colca Canyon in Peru and then there are others we didn’t hike like the Copper Canyon of Mexico. All of them though are dry, sunburnt places. Blyde River Canyon couldn’t have been farther from this norm.

To see more of our favorite photos from around the world check out our travel photo page. Let us know your favorites and we’ll include them in our photo of the day series.

IF YOU GO: This region is a great part of South Africa to relax and see into the South Africa’s colonial past. If you’re driving through the region you’re likely on your way to or from Kruger National Park. Be prepared for expensive lodging of the B&B variety in the area as this is a favorite spot for weekend breaks from Johannesburg.

Nature Deficit Disorder

June 14, 2011 By Jillian

Is it possible that not spending enough time outside shortens your lifespan? According to author and journalist, Richard Louv, yes. In 2005, he coined the term for his book, Last Child in the Woods in which he argued that modern children spend so much time indoors that the lack of nature results in a wide variety of behavior problems and is partially responsible for their decreasing lifespan.

Even if you aren’t a person that enjoys the outdoors, ponder the question for a moment. Can being inside all the time shorten your lifespan? I know as we traveled around the world a few days in a vibrant and chaotic major city always made us yearn for someplace more peaceful and quiet. Was it our brains reacting to nature or just a personal preference?

There’s plenty of research out there to suggest that children benefit developmentally from outdoor learning experiences and it’s not a far stretch to connect being outdoors with lower risk for childhood obesity and possibly ADD- the squirrels just don’t run away that fast. Another author, Edward Wilson coined the term, biophilia hypothesis, or the instinctive bond humans have with nature. He states that we are the product of biological evolution, that our preferences are the product of evolution- we have plants in our home because they help us survive (we can eat them).

I have friends that declare themselves indoor people and I think they’d be happy to be afflicted with nature deficit disorder. Their declaration never bothered me; I just assumed nature was a personal preference. Sure, I feel a personal connection to nature, but that doesn’t mean you have to have one, or so I thought until I heard about these theories.

Is there such thing as nature deficit disorder? Is the biophilia hypothesis true, or even provable? Louv’s term has never been accepted by medical manuals, and yet it makes sense to me. I believe that my connection to nature helps me lead a healthier and more active life. Then again, I am the product of two outdoor nuts whose idea of vacation involved camping in the woods. Is my connection more than just a product of my environment though? Is it a deeper human connection to the Earth? I’m not so sure.

What are your thoughts? You, our readers, are an incredibly diverse bunch of people from all over the world, so let me ask you- do you believe there is such a thing as nature deficit disorder? What about biophilia hypothesis? Do you feel a connection to nature? Do you seek out green space?

New Land in Hawaii

The Emerald Lakes of New Zealand

Photo:More Than Beaches

Photo:The Blyde River Canyon

Nature Deficit Disorder

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