Traveler's
Advisory
Islands
Tourism
Just how
many sheep are there in New Zealand? Holidaying Kiwis can
now have the answers to this and other questions about their
homeland at their fingertips. The New Zealand Presentation
Pack, launched last month by the country's tourism authority,
contains fact-filled cue cards and "tailored speech notes"
with which expatriate Kiwis can regale interested foreigners-and,
it's hoped, entice them to visit. Some of the conversation
starters on offer: New Zealand (pop. 3.8 million) is "a bit
bigger than the U.K., a little smaller than Japan," and has
"20 sheep for every person." The kit, which costs $13, also
contains a promotional video and a (temporary) tattoo of New
Zealand's national emblem, the silver fern.
Europe
Paris
His career lasted barely a decade. But 81 years after his
last performance, Vaslav Nijinsky (1889- 1950) is still remembered
as one of the most charismatic figures in 20th-century ballet.
Admired for his animal grace and electrifying leaps, the Kiev-born
dancer was also a groundbreaking choreographer whose four
works, including The Afternoon of a Faun and The Rite of Spring,
scandalized audiences. To mark the 50th anniversary of his
death, a Musée d'Orsay exhibition documents how artists of
the day, including Jean Cocteau, Auguste Rodin and Marc Chagall,
portrayed Nijinsky. Also on show are crayon drawings made
by the dancer in 1917, as he succumbed to the insanity that
ended his career. Through Feb. 19.
Tours
It took an operation involving practically the entire British
fleet to cripple the Bismarck in May 1941. But the sinking
of the German flagship dealt a serious blow to Adolf Hitler's
naval campaign. Coinciding with the 60th anniversary of its
sinking off the southwest coast of Ireland, British tour operator
Wildwings is offering deep-pocketed tourists the chance to
participate in a 12-hour, 4,600-m submersible dive, billed
as a world first, to the still largely intact wreck. The 14-day
expedition, which departs Cork, Ireland, on June 11, costs
$37,500 (participants who pass up the dive pay $5,500). For
details and to book see www.wildwings.co.uk.
Australia
Sydney
Sydneysiders who lack the time or resources to go on safari
can wake to the roar of lions on a new overnight tour offered
by the city's Taronga Zoo. "Roar and Snore" campers take a
torchlight tour of the harborside zoo, sleep "under the stars"
at its education center and breakfast with Dubbo the emu.
Offered on Fridays and Saturdays to groups ranging from 10
to 25 people (children must be over six years old), the tour
costs $88, which includes two tours and meals-participants
supply their own sleeping bags. Tel. +61 2 9969 2777.
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January 29, 2001
| No. 4
COVER
STORIES
COVER:
People Power-the Sequel
Abandoned by even his closest allies, President Joseph Estrada gives in
to the crowds on Manila's streets and agrees to make room for Vice President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
New Boss:
Arroyo returns to the palace she grew up in
A
S I A
CHINA:
Contraband in Cribs
The one-child policy spawns a harrowing trade in infants
T
H E A R T S
BOOKS: The gladiatorial thrills and galley-slave tedium of sperm-whale
hunting
Unraveling the enigma of Ho
Chi Minh
George Saunders' bizarre
suburbia
MUSIC:
A homage to musical Renegades
CINEMA:
Why Penélope Cruz is the belle of Hollywood
TRAVELER'S
ADVISORY
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