Got Room The Rugby World Cup Is Closer Than You Think

Attention rubgy fans! Are you an aficionado of the ruffians game played by gentlemen? Are you thinking about heading to France for the 2007 Rugby World Cup? Surely you want to be on hand to see if England will keep their champion standing, or watch as some other country wrests the top spot away from them. France, Australia, and New Zealand were right in there for the 2003 Cup; they will surely be back in force. And who knows? There is always the possibility that a team could come out of nowhere and prevail. No way you want to miss any of that action!If you are anywhere near serious about getting as immersed in the games as you can, the last thing you want to do is deal with arranging multiple accommodations and then bounce around from venue to venue with luggage in hand. Your best bet for maximum rugby enjoyment is to rent a short term apartment for the duration of your visit and use it as your base camp. And your best bet for base camp is Paris.With all the advantages of Paris (oh, and there are other interesting things there besides rugby stadiums), there is one disadvantage: vacation apartments will be at a premium, if they arent already. Places with good amenities in interesting neighborhoods and enough space for your whole party are getting snapped up as you read this.

If you are any kind of rugby fan, you have a responsibility to be in the best shape possible to go nuts rooting for the team(s) of choice. This means that you need to pay as much attention to your between-game experience as you do to your in-stadium one. Your best strategy? Follow up your ticket purchase by nailing down a place you can hang out between games. Right now.

Rugby team profile: British and Irish Lions

The British and Irish Lions are a rugby union touring team, comprised of the best players from England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. They usually tour every four years, with the destination country usually being one of the southern hemisphere world rugby powers.

The Lions have a long and proud history. Indeed, the first tour was as far back as 1888 to Australia and New Zealand. That must have been a long boat trip! The 1910 tour to South Africa was the first time that all four of the Home Nations’ rugby bodies were involved in the choice of players and can be seen as the beginning of the Lions as an established formal entity.

Over time the format of the Lions’ tours has evolved so that the tours tend to include warm up games against the host nation’s top provinces or club teams, followed by test matches against the host country. Since 1989’s tour to Australia the norm has been for 3 test matches to be played and the aim is to win’ the tour by winning at least two of those three test matches.

The joy of the Lions as an enduring sporting phenomenon, though, is that it’s not just about winning. It’s a rare chance for the best players from the British Isles to come together, put aside usual national rivalries and combine to produce exciting rugby.

Players still see it as a great honour to be selected for these tours and life-long friendships are forged. In an era where professionalism (and winning at all costs) have become so entrenched in sport, the Lions tours are a breath of fresh air. I think the closest comparison, in other sports, is with golf’s Ryder cup.

In recent years, the Lions have enjoyed victorious tours in Australia (1989) and in South Africa (1997). However, they’ve also been beaten twice in New Zealand (1993 and 2005) and also in Australia (2001). The 2005 tour was particularly sobering as they were comprehensively beaten 3-0 by New Zealand’s All Blacks and there were accusations that all was not well within the camp. It is to be hoped that the 2009 tour to South Africa will be more cohesive and more successful. However, the most important thing is that the British and Irish Lions tours remain an important part of the rugby calendar. Maybe by 2013 it may be time for another Lions tour to emerging rugby force, Argentina. The last Lions match there was away back in 1936!

Tips for Weddings on the Beach

Weddings on the beach! This is one of the most romantic weddings you could ever have. Do you live near a beach? Then you have the perfect chance to have a glorious wedding on a budget, though you can also make it an elaborate event. In any event, it’s an event your friends and family will always remember.

Destination weddings are often staged on the beach, usually on beautiful islands. You can enjoy gorgeous and very romantic settings in places such as Barbados, Bahamas, Hawaii, St. Lucia, and the Cayman Islands.

However, beaches are not limited to islands! Gorgeous coastlines can be found and enjoyed in so many different countries, and they are excellent places to have a wedding.

Weddings on the beach are lovely in the Mediterranean countries. Imagine a traditional Greek wedding or a Spanish celebration after your ceremony. Australia and New Zealand also have miles of beautiful coastline that are great locations for your commitment. For that matter, don’t rule out the United States, Canada, or Mexico!

If you have a wedding on the beach, you have a fantastic opportunity to combine the modern with the conventional. You could have a religious or secular ceremony in the traditional way, but dress in comfortable, semi-formal garb.

Beach weddings often feature brides in more simple gowns, while grooms wear their Aloha shirts with a pair of khaki pants or shorts. Some brides and bridesmaids take it even further by wearing floral skirts with bikini tops. Receptions, rather than being formal, sit-down affairs can be casual beach parties, complete with fire pit — or even a luau!

Do you want a beach wedding close to home, or do you want a destination wedding? Before you decide, keep in mind that you’ll need to make travel arrangements and accommodations for your guests. It’s part and parcel to weddings on the beach. You can often reserve large blocks of rooms in a nearby hotel, often with reduced rates. If the beach is in a distant location, talk to a travel agent about options for airfare for your family and friends.

Camping Holidays

One of the biggest sources of unhappiness in our society is that people think that you can’t live well without having a lot of money. Because of this, a lot of folks work long hours so that they can spend their money on extravagant vacations. They will find ways to even make camping holidays expensive, taking tours to exotic locations instead of enjoying the camping sites around them. The truth is that with a little basic outdoors knowledge, you can go to some beautiful campsites no matter where you live. You can enjoy nature, see some spectacular views, and feel good about the fact that you’re saving money while doing it.

Of course, it is easy for me to say this. I grew up taking camping holidays. My parents never went on those expensive camping holiday trips – the ones guided by tour guides in foreign countries. They knew enough about the woods that they could get around pretty much anywhere they wanted to go. We even took camping holidays to exotic destinations like Australia and New Zealand. Basically, the cost was low no matter where we went. All we had to do was pay for transportation, and the rest would practically be free.

When you are new to outdoor activities, of course, you do have to invest a little bit of money. Your first camping holiday will be somewhat pricey. It is important to have good outdoor gear, especially if you’re going camping deep in the wilderness. If you go to REI, or some similar professional outdoor camping gear company, you should be willing to spend a few hundred dollars to equip yourself at firs. Fortunately, the clothing and gear that you buy for your camping holidays is durable. Unless you lose or put on a lot of weight, you should be able to still use the same gear for years!

Once you buy your equipment, you have to figure out what camps site you want to go to. I have always thought that it is good to start off slowly. If you make your first camping holiday too ambitious, something is bound to go wrong. Instead, you should go to a campsite with a short walk – say 2 or 3 miles at the most. There are still plenty of camping holidays where you can find some isolation with a 2 or 3 mile hike, but if you do need to get back to civilization, it is just around the corner.

For adventure travelers, is Australia or New Zealand the more extreme down under experience? – Part 7

For adventure travelers, is Australia or New Zealand the more extreme down under experience?

Many people do not know that Australia and New Zealand are two different countries. The area of New Zealand is 268,680 sq km, and Australia is7,686,850 sq km. So if you are an adventure traveler about to plan your holidays, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to decide where you want to go even if both countries have similar activities. You do not want to travel half a day from one activity to another.

New Zealand is famous for fun and extreme sports. The adrenaline pumping bungy was founded here by AJ Hackett Bungy. If you are pressed for time, you jump off the Auckland harbor bridge or Sky jump off the Sky Tower, the highest tower in the Southern hemisphere. All the way south, you can bungy jump at Rotorua or Queenstown if you missed the Auckland jumps. Both my two teen aged daughters bungy jumped, and they swear that it is the most exhilarating thing they had done while my heart was in my mouth when I witness them jumping.

Also in Auckland, and Rotorua, there is the Zorb. The Zorb is one big giant transparent rubber sphere. You can choose a dry ride or a wet one and you crawl into it. The Zorb spins down a slope and you spin with it. One moment the world is under you, another it is on top. It takes New Zealand to invent this fun sport which is now available in Australia and USA.

What about jumping out of the plane by yourself or with an instructor in tandem Skydive. This is available in the North Island at Taupo or near to Christchurch in the South Island. There are helicopter rides, small planes and you can fly off giant kites. You can land on a glacier and walk on it. There are not air balloons, parachutes.

On shallow water, you can go on water jet and they go so fast that they can make three hundred and sixty degrees spin. When I was in one, a friend shot into the front covered part of the jet. I understood why the jet was called a shot over jet. It gives such an adrenaline rush that the operators call them thrill therapy.

There are many rivers and waterfalls in New Zealand. Whitewater rafting, kayaking, and sledging are very popular.

At the Waitomo caves, you journey into the “centre of the earth,” and Glow worms hang from the roof like stars twinkling at you. I went with my twelve year old daughter, on a three hour cave tubing or black water rafting in the underground labyrinth of limestone caves and formations of stalactites and stalemates.

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