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Top 5 Australian Winter Sun Holiday Destinations

April 6th, 2009 1 comment

Over the past few years, travelling has gotten more and more advanced. You book your flights online. You choose your destinations from the thousands available. More and more people are now looking for unusual destinations because travelling to far off places isn’t the hard part anymore. Also, many tourists like to travel to places which aren’t the usual travelling destinations. On an average Europe, Americas, Caribbean and Mediterranean are the tourist hotspots, but now tourists love to venture to far off destinations.

Australia is one such destination that if you are a tourist searching the perfect vacation destination, then Australia is the just right country for you. Just keep in mind that if you’re headed to Melbourne, Sydney or Perth, it’ll be winters. If you think that Australia has much less to tender than the other continents, you must go there and look at it yourself. Queenland’s Gold Coast will spoil you totally.

The Gold Coast has beaches with five star hotels, beach side apartments, miles and miles of the blossoming green golf courses. With warmth ranging from 9-21 degrees, even the meekly nippy weather won’t be capable to keep you in for long. Popularly known as Australia’s favourite playground, the Gold Coast would be far from a disappointment.

Darwin, perched on a peninsula, is another spectacular destination. It’s the capital of the Northern Territory. If you’re in mood for some adventures, then book your flight right now. Darwin has a large harbour, twice the size of Sydney. Crocodiles, snakes and the trademark red earth are all there in surroundings of Australia. This would be your time to check out the iconic natural wonders of the great country.

If you are a history fan, then you can check out Darwin’s World War II history at the conserved sites including the ammunition bunkers, oil tunnels and air strips.

Cairns is a winter sun playground in the far north of Queensland. Full of different tours, activities and attractions, Cairns is one place you’ll never get bored of. Just like the typical north Queensland, Cairns has a balmy temperature and low rainfall. Your tour to Cairns will not be complete without a tour to the Great Barrier Reef or the Daintree Rainforest.

The Whitney Islands are a group of 74 lush green islands. The temperature hovers between 17 -26 degrees even in winters. The 10 deluxe resorts on eight of its islands, Whitney Islands will not let the tourists get bored. You can spend your day doing water sports or scuba diving, or better yet, go for a hike in Whitney’s deep and lush forests.

The climate of Broome does not feature summer or winter. It’s simple there, either wet season or the dry season. While in Broome, don’t forget to explore the amazing Kimberly Region, Mitchell Falls, and the Bungle Bungles, which are just some of the highlights of the great Western Australia. If you’re in Broome, a must-see sight is the Staircase to the Moon. On a cloudless night, you can see the reflection of the moon in the mud flats which makes it look like a stairway.

Bed Bugs – Even Five Star Hotels And Resorts Sometimes Get Them

December 14th, 2008 No comments
by Dorothy Yamich

Even the best luxurious five-star hotels and resorts can occasionally get an infestation of bed bugs. This is sometimes unavoidable because many hundreds, or even thousands of travelers and tourists can be staying at a hotel or resort at any given time. These little blood drinking critters can easily hitch a ride on unsuspecting travelers or hide in their luggage. Hotel and resort managers are very aware of this problem and do their best to prevent this from happening.

What do these blood sucking pests look like?

Bed bugs are tiny, flat, wingless bugs. Their size can vary from a head of a pin to approximately one-quarter of an inch in length when fully grown. They’re oval shaped and look similar to small watermelon seeds. Their color varies from translucent yellow to dark reddish brown. If they have just dined on a traveler’s blood their color may look dark brown or black.

How easy are they to detect?

Most travelers are not aware of bed bugs until they see the red bite marks on their bodies and start scratching their itchy wounds. Bed bugs can be extremely difficult to find if the infestation is light. Their eggs are very tiny and about the size of a grain of rice which are even harder to observe. To make matters worse they tend to be nocturnal so they are waking up and looking for a blood breakfast when most vacationers are going to sleep.

When you check into your room it is advisable to roll the bed sheets, blankets and comforters all the way down to see if you can find any bed bugs. A tell tale sign that they are there are dark fecal spots or drops of dried blood on the bed linen, pillowcases, or in the seams around the mattress or box springs. You may also find what appear to be shells of bed bugs which are in fact the skins that they shed as they mature. If you find any signs of their presence, call down to the front desk and ask for another room. You may be able to get a discount on your room rate for the upsetting experience and inconvenience.

However, bedbugs do not reflect on the cleanliness of hotels or resorts. These insects do not eat crumbs or dirt, or anything we may associate with unsanitary hotel room conditions. They only feed on blood. In terms of a vacationer’s health, current research indicates that these insects do not appear to spread disease even though they can harbor well over twenty-five different pathogens.

Not everyone gets bitten by bed bugs. Sometimes, if there are two travelers asleep in the same bed, only one may get bitten. However, bed bugs don’t discriminate. Given a chance they will gladly drink anyone’s blood. Bed bugs are attracted by the heat of our bodies and the carbon dioxide that we exhale when we breathe. They also release chemicals that attract each other. These night crawlers move quickly and are excellent climbers. They can easily tag along in a traveler’s luggage or on their clothing.

What can you do to avoid these pests when you travel on vacation?

Unfortunately, apart from checking the linen, mattress, box springs, bed frames, behind the headboard, all upholstered furniture, and along the baseboards in your room, that’s about all you can do.

Bed bugs are a universal problem and can be found in motels, hostels, bed and breakfasts, hotels, resorts, pod hotels, hospitals, airplanes, trains, buses, cabs, cruise ships, etc. These tiny blood suckers can be located near any readily available source of blood, like tired travelers. Bed bugs can also hitch a ride home with you, turning your home sweet home into a living hell.

What can you do to get rid of pesky bed bugs?

You should leave the job to a professional pest control company as these pests are very difficult to get rid of. It’s expensive and can take time treating an infestation of bed bugs which usually involves using steam and pesticides. This process may have to be repeated a number of times before the very hot steam and pesticides kill all of them. Keep in mind that the insects must come into direct contact with the hot steam and pesticides for these tactics to be totally effective.

As far as your house is concerned, prevention is easier and far less costly than a cure. In your home, you do not have to throw your mattress and box springs out. You can cover your mattress and box springs with zippered plastic coverings that will prevent bedbugs from hiding in the cracks and crevices of your mattress. There also are zippered plastic protectors that are just as effective in protecting your pillows. This will prevent any bedbugs that are inside from getting out. And at the same time it will prevent any new infestations from getting in, thus eliminating the mattress and box springs as a problem. However, this is only one part of the bed bug solution. You will still need to use steam and pesticides to fumigate any room of the home where they could be hiding.

There is a new and exciting revolutionary product that looks very promising for monitoring and eliminating bed bugs. It is called the NightWatch Bedbug Trap designed by Bio Sensory, Inc.. This small, easy to use product has a kairomone, carbon dioxide, and heat lure that traps and kills bed bugs. Under a monitored field test this product captured and killed over a thousand bed bugs. The company’s website is Biosensory.com.

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