TimelessEarth
The secrets of this earth are not for all men to see, but only for those who seek them
The Yukon – Canada
Feb 4th
The Yukon takes its name from Yu-kun-ah, the Loucheux word for the Yukon River, the ‘great river’ that drains most of the territory. Some five per cent of Canada’s landmass, the Yukon lies in the northwest corner of Canada. Bordered on three sides by rugged mountains and on the 4th by the Arctic Ocean, it shares many of the characteristics of its neighbours, Alaska, British Columbia, and the Northwest Territories. More >
100 Great Cities of the World
Feb 1st
1. Vancouver (Canada)
Vancouver is a coastal city located in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is named for British Captain George Vancouver, who explored the area in the 1790s. The name Vancouver itself originates from the Dutch “van Coevorden,” denoting somebody from Coevorden, a city in the Netherlands. The largest metropolitan area in Western Canada, Vancouver ranks third largest in the country and the city proper ranks eighth. The city of Vancouver has a population of just over 578,000 and its Census Metropolitan Area exceeds 2.1 million people. Its residents are ethnically diverse, with 52% having a first language other than English. (based on a wikipedia article) More >
Back to the Ice Age – Alaska Glacier Bay
Jan 26th
Had he been interested, Captain George Vancouver, who charted the waters of Icy Strait in 1794, could have seen all of Glacier Bay in about an hour. In those days, however, the 5-mile-long indentation in the 100-mile (160-km) long, 20-mile (32-km) wide, and 4,450-ft (1,350-m) thick Grand Pacific Glacier was considerably less intriguing than it became over the next two centuries. By the time John Muir reached the site in 1879, that indent had grown to about 31 miles (50 km) long and today, due to further melting, Glacier Bay now stretches about 72 miles (115 km). More >
Tower Houses – Yemen
Jan 20th
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemen
For centuries the need for security has driven the fiercely tribal inhabitants of Yemen to live together in towns that can be easily defended. Although there are distinct regional differences, the vernacular house is a tower, built to a height of up to 30 metres. Sana’a, the capital of the Yemen, has about 14000 of these tower houses. Typically they are six storeys high, made of mud bricks decorated with thick layers of whitewashed gypsum. More >
New Zealand – Land and Landscape
Jan 8th
wayfaring.info
New Zealand is a jewel in the South Pacific, comprising large high islands, long isolated from the rest of the world and surrounded by vast stretches of ocean. Once covered in primeval forest, it is a land rich in biodiversity, and its geography is equally varied and stunning.
The country stretches more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from the sandy subtropical peninsula at the northern tip to the glacier-carved fjords of the far south. In between lie mighty snow-covered peaks, smoking volcanoes, vast lakes, dense forests, and fertile grasslands. Beaches, bays, and coves punctuate a convoluted, 9,400-mile (15,000 km) coastline. More >
Wood Buffalo National Park – Alberta
Jan 7th
outdoorsica.com
Spilling across Alberta’s northern border into the Northwest Territories, Wood Buffalo encompasses a large area of the subarctic plain. It is a huge national park, certainly the largest in Canada and one of the largest in the world. The park extends 176 miles at its greatest length and averages about 100 miles in width, taking in more than 17,000 square miles—an area five times that of Yellowstone. More >
Yellowstone National Park – Wyoming
Jan 7th
Wikipedia
Around the Grand Loop Road loom the vistas, the sights and sounds and smells that bring the world flocking to Yellowstone: Mammoth Hot Springs’ amazing mineral formations; Roaring Mountain’s steaming fumaroles; Fountain Paint Pot’s bubbling cauldron of reddish mud; the delicate, brightly colored terraces of Grand Prismatic Spring; and the all-time favorites— the waterspouts of the Upper Geyser Basin, capped by Old Faithful. These features, together with the spectacular beauty of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and the abundant wildlife, supported the area’s designation in 1872 as the world’s first national park. Since then, it has developed into an important wildlife haven. More >
