The far north of Queensland is nestled amongst the tropical background of Australia’s rare rain forests and internationally acclaimed Great Barrier Reef. Recognised for the charm and friendly hospitality of the local people, North Queensland has an array of holiday experiences and attractions to offer year round. Cairns Far North Queensland is the perfect escape for nature lovers with spectacular National Parks abundant with amazing bird and animal life. While the more adventurous can dive the Great Barrier Reef, raft the rapids of the Baron River or rappel down a ravine. Cairns situated on the coast is often described as the jewel of North Queensland. It is also the gateway to the magnificent natural attractions of the whole region extending from the northern most point of Queensland out to Gulf Savannah in the west and down to Townsville another major city of North Queensland not to be missed. These two cities offer the pinnacle of dining and nightlife with a unique North Queensland flavour. Cairns has been called paradise by many because of its location, beauty of the reef and spectacular scenery of the hinterland that surrounds this coastal city. In Cairns you will discover an amazing array of cultures. Charming seafront walking paths and the new fantastic Esplanade redevelopment project adds such character to this charming city. Restaurants, cafes, cosmopolitan shopping and activities are an everyday event in this bustling town. Only a short drive away you come to Cairns northern beaches which will delight anyone. This is the place to ride horses, sail, windsurf or relax under a palm tree and watch the colours of the sky change as the sun sets. The beaches are made up of Machans, Holloways, Yorkeys Knob, Trinity, Palm Cove and Ellis Beaches. Each is a small separate township with its own distinctive character. Together, the beachside towns provide much of Cairns accommodation. From the beaches to the mountains, a day trip up to Atherton Tablelands will be spectacular where you can canoe on freshwater lakes, shop in craft stores and view some of the majestic views across the mountains to the sea. The rainforests of the Wet Tropics have been described as a ‘living museum’ of flora and fauna and were placed on the World Heritage List in 1988. The Wet Tropics cover an area of almost 9000,000 hectares of rainforest and tropical vegetation. Previously unidentified species of birds, insects and mammals have been discovered from within these rainforests delighting biologists and nature lovers alike. The local history, culture and tropical lifestyle are to be truly envied and enjoyed when visiting North Queensland. There is a diverse mix of cultures and people that are proud to call this area home. The first inhabitants were the Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders who fished and hunted the abundant wildlife of the region, then came the Dutch navigators and Captain James Cook, who claimed the land for Britain and instrumented the settlement of European communities. The tropical climate encourages an outdoor lifestyle with the famous Queensland barbeque influencing cuisine in the tropics. Exotic fruits and spectacular seafood are also a normal way of eating when visiting or living in the North.

"Star" of the Riviera is a magical city, a place of pleasures : sport, gastronomy, leisure, shows, discovery... Cannes gives to every instant of your days and nights the personal touch that transforms your life into a festival. Cannes is opening its doors to allow you to discover a unique and memorable city, renowed around the world. The Suquet, the Croisette, the Royal Residences, the Palais des Festivals... are offered to you, along with the charms of history and the reality of a city entering the 21st century.

Kahului is located in Maui County on the west side of the island of Maui between Wailuku and Lower Paia along Highway 32 near the West Maui Forest Reserve and the Pacific Ocean.Kahului is heart of Maui, and the only deep water port for the island. This is where the major cruise and container ships come in, the main airport, Kahului Airport is located here also. Kahului has great variety in shopping and services, but lacks the variety of fine restaurants that Lahaina has, although some of the local dining favorites reside here. There are few hotels and resorts in Kahului, there is however, a new golf course. There are four major shopping malls with the largest being the Kaahumanu Mall.Most of 'industrial' Maui is located in Kahului. It is here where one of the main power plants is located, most of Maui's service oriented businesses, and the greatest variety in shopping. Everything from small local stores, catering to residents, to large discount stores such as K-Mart and Costco. Kahului has grown a lot in the past few years, unfortunately the infrastructure has not. As a result traffic is congested most of the working day. The traffic can be especially heavy while exiting the Kahului Airport area. Rush hour traffic is especially bad, both in the afternoons and evenings, traffic from Paia and Upcountry bottleneck at the intersection of Dairy Road and Hana Highway. Allow a little extra time for travelling through this area of Maui.

The capital of the second biggest country on the planet, OTTAWA struggles with its reputation as a bureaucratic labyrinth of little charm and character. The problem is that many Canadians who aren't federal employees - and even some who are - blame the city for all the country's woes. All too aware of this, the Canadian government have spent lashings of dollars to turn Ottawa into "a city of urban grace in which all Canadians can take pride" - so goes the promotional literature, but predictably this very investment is often resented. Furthermore, the hostility is deeply rooted, dating back as far as 1857 when Queen Victoria, inspired by some genteel watercolours, declared Ottawa the capital, leaving Montréal and Toronto smarting at their rebuff. In truth, Ottawa is neither grandiose nor tedious, but a lively cosmopolitan city of 330,000 with a clutch of outstanding national museums , a pleasant riverside setting and superb cultural facilities like the National Arts Centre, plus acres of parks and gardens and miles of bicycle and jogging paths. It also possesses lots of good hotels and B&Bs and a busy café-bar and restaurant scene - enough to keep the most diligent sightseer going for a day or three, maybe more. Here too, for once in English-speaking Ontario, Canada's bilingual laws make sense: Québec's Hull is just across the river and on the streets of Ottawa you'll hear as much French as English.

Porto is the second largest city in Portugal. The greatest sites in Porto are its five bridges, three modern, two nineteenth century and all of them sensational. The valleys and tributaries that run along them form some of the most spectacular landscapes in the the country. The wealth that flowed into the city from the 15th century onward is evidenced throughout Porto. Trade in the commodities from Portugal’s newly claimed lands brought Brazilian gold and exotic woods to embellish Porto’s many elaborate churches and palaces. Prosperous merchants spent lavishly on paintings and the ever famous azulejos. The true fascination with Porto lies very much in the day-to-day life of the place, with its prosperous business core surrounded by well to do suburbs as well as depressed housing estates, tempered by a heart of cramped streets and ancient alleys wholly untouched by the planners. Porto is renowned for the great variety of light, fresh and often fizzy wines as well as the heavyweight Port wines. Vinho verde ‘sparkling wine’, is grown in the northwest. Country wines from the northeast are made in the area between the Spanish border to the north and east and four mountain ranges to the west. The Vinho verde region is best known for its slightly under-ripe wines, with a slightly sparkling character. They are mainly white, and the best are made from the alvarinho grape, as well as the azal, ljurerio and rabigato. Wines from the Douro region are beginning to be accepted as some of Portugal’s finest. Although excellent white wines are produced here, the area is best known for its great reds. The accommodations in Porto range from inexpensive rooms (south east of Sao Bento station) that will fit just about any budget to more expensive places around the city. They are generally a good value but in winter investing in a more expensive place with better facilities to counter the freezing cold is worth the a little extra.