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Australia’s wineries and vineyard prowess may just be the worst kept secret in the culinary world. A relative newcomer to the scene, Oz has made an indelible mark, one well worth the trip to explore. But Australia is a big continent, and if you’re like most people, you’ll want to get the most of your vacation dollars. For wine connoisseurs and affectionados, the pleasure’s in the scenery and the palate, and the best way between those delectable dishes and vintages is on a motorcoach tour.

What can you see, where can you go? What CAN’T you see? There are scores of culinary tours and wine tour stops, with knowledgeable guides who will ensure that your excursion goes off without a hitch. You’ll take in Barossa Valley in Adelaide, and visit the oldest German settlement in Australia while you’re there. You can see Sydney, Perth, Melbourne and Hobart – all the richest soils and most breathtaking destinations are yours!

At each stop along the way, you’ll be invited to sample the local vineyard’s wares. Most wine tours will include a stop for lunch, some for breakfast tea as well. All the character and charm of these farms will be yours to taste and savor as well! Your visit is chauffeured, so you’ll be entirely free to enjoy yourself ! Purchase a bottle or case of your favorites to enjoy or share with friends when you get back home!

Exquisite as it may be to visit these vineyards, there’s a lot more to Australia than that. You’re in for a world of culinary delights and wondrous sights! The countryside most never see will be yours as well, taken in from the comfort of a luxury motorcoach. Check out the aboriginals, hear their rich, unique music. The painstaking art that these people produce is worth the journey by itself!

You may remember that Olivia Newton John is Australian. There’s a Xanadu waiting for you in Oz, the oldest winery in the region! On that same tour, you’ll visit the Eagle’s Heritage Raptor Center, where you’ll see unique birds of prey, perhaps even see a prized white goshawk. Tour Mammoth Cave and stroll along the seascape at Cape Leeuwin Light House, where the Southern and Indian Oceans blend! Does it sound exotic? It is!

Experience all that Australia has to offer, from the Great Barrier Reef to the Outback. Do it in comfort and relax in the competent care of your driver and guide. Motorcoach tours are by far the best way to see and visit Oz!

Find more Special Interest Travel Tours around the world.

Whitewater adrenalin junkies of the world, unite!  Colorado is calling!  Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned veteran, into rafting, kayaking or duckies (inflatable kayaks,) Colorado is THE place for whitewater action!  The Colorado River offers good beginner and intermediate tours, while the Arkansas really roars!  There’s nothing else quite like shooting through the rapids, popping on out the other side!

Whitewater rivers can be an incredible lot of fun for the entire family when done properly, but before we get into that, a word of caution is in order: ANY water activity or sport can be dangerous, so appropriate education, training, and equipment are essential.  You can have a great time, but PLEASE don’t throw good sense to the wind and go out there with your $29.95 inflatable kayak (read: pool toy) and try to challenge the rapids without appropriate guidance.  Rivers that seem placid at one place can be raging a short ways further down, so it pays to have a guide along to advise and show you the way.

Find Summit County Whitewater Rafting Adventures

Truly knowledgeable guides are wonderful!  They see to everyone’s safety while making sure everybody’s having a good time as well.  Tour companies can provide such guides and often include quality safety equipment as part of the package, so you can just focus on enjoying the whitewater experience.  There are a few outstanding and exemplary choices:

Raft Masters’ motto is that they strive to be “the best rafting company in Colorado.” They’re willing to work for the title by offering an extraordinary experience at a competitive price with NO SURPRISES.  In a time when it seems everyone’s trying to tack on a bit here and there to inflate the bill, it’s nice to see a company that prides itself on that sort of integrity.

Bill Dvorak Expeditions is another quality firm.  Established in 1969, this venerable company’s people were pioneers in the field!  With rafting and kayaking tours fro the whole family that include some truly diverse choices, you can count on them to be a one-stop solution when you want to ride the rapids of the Southwestern Rocky Mountains’ rivers.

Explore Colorado Summer Vacation Deals

Embracing the more poetic side of the Colorado Rockies, Colorado River Guides invites you to tour Colorado from the unique perspective of the state’s many rivers.  They can take you on a casual float through pacific flows, or exhilarate you with a whitewater rush like no other!  Family oriented, CRG runs tours out of Breckenridge, Buena Vista and Royal Gorge.

Another quality family-owned company which boasts an impeccable safety record while guiding folks on through the mighty Arkansas River over the past 20 years is Independent Whitewater, Inc. They’re near Salida, Colorado, and adrenalin rushes are their specialty.

Last, but certainly not least, is River Runners.  Their well trained guides provide a safe and exciting adventure tours, as they’ve done for more than thirty years!  The tenure alone speaks volumes for the quality of their instruction and abilities.  Priding themselves on having safely guided more guests than any other outfitter in Colorado, River Runners is amongst the fine, quality extablishments available.

With so many miles of rivers to experience, you may find yourself busy for a few summers just getting to know them all.  It’s certain you’ll find yourself attached to some specific places, spots that become your “favorite” runs, sections of the rapids that challenge you, that you repeat time and time again.  Do extend out, though, and enjoy ALL of the whitewater experiences Colorado has to offer.  It really is a great state for a whitewater river rafting or kayaking adventure!

Thinking of a summer vacation to the Roaring Fork Valley?  Find the best deals on Aspen Lodging

Fossil fuels are the product of plants and animals that have died and have been reduced to hydrocarbons over the span of millions of years as a result of the pressure created by the earth.  Although it is a simplification, many people remember being taught in school about the dinosaurs dying, and somehow turning into gasoline when buried under the earth, and this gasoline heating our home and fueling our car.  For millions upon millions of years, the Earth has been bristling with new life, and all kinds of organisms.  This life has been comprised of both animals and plants, and was largely carbon based throughout time.  Dead and decaying life on earth was buried under the ground, and the tremendous pressure of the earth has managed to break it down, leaving hydrocarbons like coal, natural gas and oil behind.  All of these substances contain within them a great deal of potential energy that can be released in a host of different ways in order to produce both heat and power.  The modern industrial world was largely shaped by the discovery that this type of energy could be harnessed from these substances.

 The world is Going Green instead of burning fossil fuels - think about it…

Most of our power was derived from water-driven mill plants, and the burning of both peat and wood produced heat before the use of fossil fuels became widespread.  When petroleum was first discovered, it led to the development of combustion engines, and coal became the first major source for mass-produced energy for electricity.  Fossil fuels have been largely taken for granted over time, and they have also gone on to cause several major concerns which now must be addressed.  One of the largest concerns is that the source of fossil fuels is ultimately finite, so despite the fact that the current quantity is quite massive, the demand for fossil fuels will eventually exceed the supply that we have.  There is also a very real possibility that fossil fuels may be gone all together at some point in the future.  Another serious concern surrounding fossil fuels is the fact that fossil fuels are a very major source of carbon dioxide, which is one of the greenhouse gases that is being regularly accused of causing global warming and altering our climate.

There are many alternate power fuels that are currently being explored, including mineral-laden hydrocarbon tar sands.  These differ greatly from the normal fossil fuels because their origin is different, but they are also just as limited and as non-renewable as fossil fuels tend to be.  Fossil fuels have created the world that we are used to, but they clearly are not going to be a permanent answer for all of our heat and energy related problems.  The future of fossil fuels is simply that they will need to be replaced by alternative energy and fuels with a more renewable quality.