Vacation Dreams

Author: admin

  • Mutual Aid

    Need help? Want a travelling buddy or advice about a
    place or country – want to share something with us – why not visit our
    Mutual Aid section of the Website:Mutual Aid

    Can anyone help Jane? She is a retired college teacher
    with extensive international experience looking for a short-term volunteer
    opportunity in East Africa. (Her website is www.mystudybuddy.org) and she says she has no
    idea where to look, and would be grateful for your suggestions. If you
    can help, or have any suggestions, please contact
    Jane    .

    Can anyone help Mike, who has not heard from his friend
    for four months? His friend is sailing from the UK to Australia, and his
    last letter was from Fatu Hiva. He was looking for crew to sail to Fanning
    island. Can anyone suggest a web-site to help Mike find his friend? If
    you have any suggestions, please contact Mike Thorneloe:

    Thomas from Munich offers up to date advice for anyone
    planning on going to Kazakhstan, as he has just returned. To contact Thomas,
    e-mail him

  • Have you got a tale to tell??

    If you have a travellers tale that your aching to tell.
    Then why not visit the “Travel Sized Bites” section of the Website
    and share it with the world. Travel Sized Bites

  • London:

    6th April Kevin Morgan kicked off with a wonderful slide show
    of dolphins, whales and other marine and bird life ranging from Antarctica
    to the Bahamas! We all left feeling wiser and almost confident of being
    able to distinguish bottle nosed dolphins from spinners! His slides finished
    with an evocative tape of the sounds made by whales.

    After the break, Cass Gilbert showed us some fabulous pictures
    of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan (and other places ending in
    “stan” that the beetle cannot spell!) Amazingly, he completed
    this incredible journey by tandem, through parts of the old Silk Route,
    past ancient cities, churches, mosques, and markets, occasionally, with
    his female tandem partner cycling in veil and long trousers, much to the
    bemusement of many locals.

    London meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind
    the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden at 2.30pm the first Saturday of each
    month, except that due to public holidays, May’s meeting will be
    on Saturday 11th May at 2.30pm. June’s meeting will be held at 2.30pm
    on June 8th.

    For more information, you can contact the Globetrotter Info line on +44
    (0) 20 8674 6229, or visit the website: http://www.globetrotters.co.uk

  • The Conservation Experience – Australia, by Madeline Townsend, Australia

    Founded in 1982, Conservation Volunteers Australia is a national, non-profit
    and non-political organisation. CVA completes essential conservation projects,
    which could not be tackled without active community participation. The
    projects are as distant, diverse and unique as the Australian continent
    itself – for example, radio-tracking echidnas on Kangaroo Island;
    malleefowl surveys in Victoria’s Little Desert; construction of
    the Larapinta Trail in the Northern Territory; landcare projects in Tasmania
    and koala surveys in Queensland.

    Conservation Volunteers Australia welcomes everybody with a love of the
    outdoors and interest in the environment to take part as a volunteer.
    Our volunteers come from all over the world, including Korea, Denmark,
    Japan, Britain, Canada, USA and Germany. If you are looking for an opportunity
    to:

    · visit some amazing locations,

    · meet a broad range of people,

    · learn about the Australian environment, and

    · volunteer overseas

    then volunteering with Conservation Volunteers Australia and having a
    Conservation Experience is for you. The Conservation Experience is a six-week
    program especially designed for overseas visitors to Australia. It is
    the perfect way to visit some of Australia’s special places. The
    cost of AUD $966.00 (just AUD $23 per day – around £8.20)
    includes all meals, accommodation and project-related transport. You can
    join the Conservation Experience on any Friday (subject to vacancies),
    from any of CVA’s office around Australia. For further details,
    visit our website at www.conservationvolunteers.com.au
    or email info@conservationvolunteers.com.au
    or write to Conservation Volunteers Australia, Box 423, Ballarat Vic 3353

  • Travel Tips

    From Stuart, in London: e-mail yourself your passport details in case
    you lose it.

    Got any travel tips for the Beetle? Then e-mail them to: the Beetle

  • Shopping Outlet in Wales

    If you find yourself in South Wales or around Bristol and you feel like
    shopping, why not check out the McArthurGlen designer outlet just off
    Junction 36 of the M4. The nearest train station is at Bridgend. It’s
    open from 10am to 6pm Monday to Friday, 10am to 6pm on Saturday and 11am
    to 5pm on Sundays. It’s got ladieswear, menswear, jewellery, household
    – you name it, plus a food court. Name includeTimberland, CK Jeans,
    Windsmoor, Clarks, Wedgwood, Royal Worcester etc. For information, contact:
    01656 665700 or visit: the website

  • Mutual Aid

    Free accommodation in New Zealand

    Land of the Lord of the Rings. A message from Yves: Hello! If you plan
    on passing through New Zealand, just come and pay us a visit! We will
    put you up for free, providing you inform us in advance. Contact details:

    Monsieur Yves Héraud 17
    Morningside Road, flat 4, 0101, Whangarei, New Zealand
    Tel: 64 94308181
    Web: Click Here.
    E-mail: Send e-mail.

    American Rose would like to meet UK Roses!

    Can anyone in the UK help Globetrotter Rose from Seattle via New Jersey?

    She says she plans on coming to England in the fall and would dearly
    love to know people there. If by any chance any Globetrotters members
    are interested in hosting people, and she in exchange would be willing
    to host others, let them know that I just love to travel and really don't
    have firm plans in mind, at this time. She says she just wants others
    to know that as a single woman, she is really keen on knowing people in
    different places. Please contact Rose on: ratterayr@aol.com

    Need help? Want a travelling buddy or advice about a place or country
    – want to share something with us – why not visit our Mutual Aid section
    of the Website: Mutual Aid

  • News: Photo Exhibition, Suffolk, England

    Owen Brown, a mad adventurer and ex-Tour Leader of good old Explore adventure
    travel (maybe some of you know him) is exhibiting a great collection of
    photos of all his journeys. If anyone happens to be in the area of Suffolk
    between 27APR-08MAY and fancy giving it a glimpse, the address is: CLOISTERS
    GALLERY St Edmundsbury Cathedral Bury St Edmunds Suffolk

  • More Funny Signs

    In a City restaurant: OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK, AND WEEKENDS TOO. One of
    the Mathare buildings: MENTAL HEALTH PREVENTION CENTRE. In a Pumwani maternity
    ward: NO CHILDREN ALLOWED. In a cemetery PERSONS ARE PROHIBITED FROM PICKING
    FLOWERS FROM ANY BUT THEIR OWN GRAVES.

    Write in and tell us your funny sign! Drop a line to the Beetle! the
    Beetle

  • Hydro Plans in India

    Arundhati Roy, the prize-winning Indian novelist, was jailed Wednesday
    (March 6, 2002) after the Supreme Court in India convicted her of criminal
    contempt for suggesting it was trying to “silence criticism”
    of its approval of a hydroelectric project. As about 250 supporters stood
    outside with banners reading “Free speech is not contempt,”
    the court sentenced Roy to one day in prison and a $42 fine. If she does
    not pay, she will spend three months in prison, the court said. The court
    said that in sentencing her to one day, it was “showing magnanimity
    of law by keeping in mind that the respondent is a woman.” Roy won
    the prestigious Booker Prize in 1997 for her novel “The God of Small
    Things.” She has written articles criticizing India's nuclear
    program and is a prominent campaigner against the Narmada Dam, the nation's
    biggest hydroelectric project.

    Source: by Nirmala George / Associated Press (via Common Dreams News
    Center) If you want to take action, visit Amnesty International’s
    web site.