Travel And Tourism

The majestic scenery begins long before you reach Milford, in the Eglinton Valley. Snow-capped mountains loom 1000 metres above the road, streaked with waterfalls, and reflected in mirror lakes. The road climbs steeply into a sub-alpine wonderland at the Homer Tunnel entrance. You emerge from the tunnel to an instantly breathtaking view of the canyon which descends into Milford.

Milford Sound comes a close second to the mountains of Tahiti in recording the highest rainfall in the world. The deluge of 7 metres of rain each year sounds forbidding for a tourist resort, but it actually adds to the drama and mystique of the sound. In torrential rain the sheer mountain walls erupt with a thousand cascades plunging from hanging valleys, wreathed in ethereal mists, and crossed with rainbows.

Forget what the scientists say with pompous talk of volcanic eruptions and lava flows. Basically The Giants’ Causeway (the clue is in the title!) was formed by warring giants in Ireland and Scotland desperate to get at each other for a winner- takes-all fight.
Since neither of them could swim, to rumble and tumble they both built causeways to each other- seen today in Northern Ireland and on the Isle of Staffa in Scotland. These are the legacies to these titanic beasts. And the winner? Well, it didn’t really happen in the end but a sleeping Fionn MacCumhall (the Irish giant), too tired to fight after his strenuous building regime, was disguised as an infant by his wife- and his rival Benandonner, upon crossing the sea and seeing the “baby” felt that the difference in weight class could count against him if he was to fight the dad. So he slipped back to his homeland, taking the rest of the causeway with him. What an outrageous way to treat Northern Ireland’s cultural heritage! However, it is easy for us to say, sitting here in today’s western world with our espresso machines and books.

Since objectivity is the name of Tourist Attraction’s game, it is with heavy hand that we pen the scientist’s version of the origins of this majestic natural wonder too. Richard Dawkins might be after us too if we don’t.

So, as an Elvive advert might add, “here’s the science bit!” (taken from the Northern Ireland Tourist Board’s page on the causeway- a link to which is below).

Geology of the Causeway

“Geological evidence explains the Causeway as the aftermath of an ancient volcano. Sixty five million years ago, Antrim experienced intense volcanic activity, when fluid molten basalt broke apart chalk beds to form a lava plateau. When the molten lava hit the seawater, it cooled quickly and formed the polygonal columns. There were three periods of volcanic activity which resulted in the flows known as the lower, upper and middle basalts. The similar basalt formations at the site of Fingal’s cave on Staffa are part of the same lava flow which began in Antrim.”

Now that is an impressive lava flow. And what a superb remnant it has left behind- 40,000 interlocking basalt columns and Northern Ireland’s only World Heritage Site. The whole coastline around here is spectacular too.

And another bonus- did the giants offer the remaining parts of the causeway as a gift in perpetuity to the people of the world?- is that to visit the site is free, free, free!

The limestone basins is in northern Sichuan Province, west-central China, in the southern part of the Min Shan Range about 230 km north of Chengdu. The Scenic Area is divided between two sites: Huanglong valley, 45 km northeast of Songpan town, which also includes the whole Fujiang river catchment above Shijiabao village; and the Muni valley, 15 km south-west of Songpan, which includes the catchments of the Zhaga travertine waterfall and the Erdaohai mineral lakes.
This is an outstanding karst landscape within the southern part of the Min Shan range which runs from the eastern huanglong_0_2Qinghai-Tibetan plateau down to the Sichuan basin. The Huanglong section of the reserve covers the catchment of 22 tributaries of the upper Fujiang River which has its source in Snow Mountain Ridge. The Huanglong valley itself is one of these tributaries. The slopes above the valleys are forested and steep, a spectacular example being the 15km long 700m deep Danyun Gorge of the Fujiang near Huanglong valley. Above the tree line the site is surrounded by mountains, their strata tilted into jagged peaks, three bearing glaciers, seven over 5000m high and all snow-covered for much of the year. The pyramidal summit of Xuebaoding (Snow-Treasure Peak) is permanently snow-covered and carries the easternmost glacier in China.

Reconstruction of the Colosseum started from the command of King Vespasian in 72 M and completed by his son Titus in 80 M Colosseum established close to Nero’s enermous Palace, Domus Aurea that had been built in after the great fire in Rome in 64 M Some historians believe that construction of the Colosseum was financed by way of robbing a big temple in Jerusalem by order of King Herod in 64M.

Dio Cassius a historian said that there are about 9000 wild animals who have been killed in 100 days as a celebration of the inauguration and opening of the Colosseum. The floor of the Colosseum arena was covered by sand to prevent blood-the blood does not flow anywhere.
Performances

Colosseum at that time was the venue for a spectacular show, which is a fight between animals (venetaiones), the fight between prisoners and animals, the execution of prisoners (noxii), water fight (naumachiae) by flooding the arena, and the battles between gladiators (munera) . For hundreds of years, the estimated thousands of people and animals die in the Colosseum show.

This nature reserve on the west coast of Corsica is centred on the Gulfs of Porto and Girolata between the craggy Scandola peninsula to the north and the turrets of the Calanche of Piana to the south. The vegetation is an outstanding example of Mediterranean maquis. Seagulls, cormorants and ospreys abound. The clear waters, their islets and inaccessible caves, harbor a rich marine life which includes a huge range of algae.

Three great ridges, the Elbo peninsula, Capo Senino and Capo Rosso divide the area into three distinct areas: the coast between Punta Stollo and Punta Muchillina, including the peninsula of Scandola; the Gulf of Girolata from Punta Scandola to Capo d’Osani on Cape Senino; and the Gulf of Porto from Capo Senino to Punta Bianca plus its southern coast to Capo Rosso including the calanche below Piano.