I'm inviting posters to share their experience
of their favourite travel destination and why?

Be it a country, holiday-spot, a location in
town or the country-side or a restaurant.

My favourite destination has been Yosemite
National Park in California which we experienced
in every season, from the swelling waterfalls of
spring to the rustic colours of autumn. The summer
months were the most crowded, but during the
snowbound winter months the views were breathtaking.

In Melbourne - the Dandenong Ranges - with its
green haven of hills and forests, colourful, cool
and inviting. Their intrinsic beauty, beautiful
gardens, great variety of European and native
trees and shrubs. Plants simply flourish there -
and there are so many nurseries and aboreetums to
visit. As well as art galleries, antique shops,
tea-rooms and of course the sculptures at the
William Ricketts Sanctuary.

Foxy,

I say I've been there and done that and my tee shirt that says so hides the scars'. I've traveled a lot in my life and seen a lot some good, some bad, and some I wish I never had. My considered opinion is,sorry to be trite but My favourite travel destination is home. Because that's where the heart is.

Neuguirea atoll, about 130 nautical miles north of Bouganville Is.

It is a large atoll, with the lagoon about 30 miles long, by 15 wide, with 53 islands. 75 miles from any other land, the water is crystal clear, & the coral sand is snow white.

The people, [about 325] are of Polynesian descent, & custom. The inheritance is through the female line, so when the village married Graham, the plantation owner to Tetheau, the island princess, Graham became king.

Graham has put 4 of the boys through Kings school, & Sydney uni, plus another 3 through school, & uni in Townsville. 3 of the girls went to SCEGS, & 2 went on to Sydney uni. Another 4 went to school & 2 to uni in Townsville. 6 kids were at school or uni in Townsville when I was last there.

Half these kids are back on the atoll, often after holding senior positions in PNG government.

The whole society, & the place is fascinating. If you can do anything they can't you'll be in the school, teaching damn soon, & they will do anything they can for you.

I met Graham & Tetheau in Rabaul, & went to the islands to help with epoxy sheathing some of their 50 Ft canoes. It's one of the few places still making these large canoes, although they are no longer ocean going.

The last time I visited, I almost stayed.

Another FANTASTIC posting thanks Foxy! Just the year I need to read up on Australians' adventures given my firm plans to travel and see some states in Oz not seen at all.

A Vietnam bike tour is on my list too if I can save. Twenty years waiting to travel o/s. So if anyone wishes to share their adventure tour I'd be thrilled. The NT for fishing and camping. LOL I'd say by the time travel stories are contributed most people will be swapping holiday destinations!

Hey Foxy, my favourite place after much travel in my life would have to be London, England.

I had been interested in my family tree since my early 20's and thus was aware that I had ancestors who had come out to Australia from London in 1843.

I was not prepared for the overwhelming feeling of belonging that I felt as I wandered around the ancient city and viewed the oldest buildings I had ever seen. I was fascinated with the Palaces and ancient churches in London.

Such a wonderful, vibrant place it was, and we stayed with relatives there for 3 months as well as did some work to pay our way.

I even felt a little sadness for my ancestors who had to leave such a place to go and find their fortune in a strange land.

Suze :)

As soon as I spotted the title, I knew it would be you, Foxy...!

I'm a city person, so I feel most "at home" in any of the major European cities. If forced against a wall to choose, I'd probably say Rome, because of the sheer mind-blowing mixture of ancient and modern. One minute you are contemplating buildings more than two thousand years old, and imagining what life must have consisted of in those days. The next you are leaping out of the way of a speeding Fiat 500. On the sidewalk.

Paris is close, so is Berlin. And I've lived in London, that's pretty special too.

Although...

There is a beach in St Thomas, across the island from the town, that has the whitest, sandiest, palm-fringedest, clear-blue-water-lappedest beach in the entire galaxy...