Incredible leaps. Just don't hurl!

Watch an adventurer do a jaw-dropping 16 different types of bungee jumping over two days. Credit: Philip Warring from Tourstogo.com

BUNGY jumps are so 1990s. Fling yourself off a 50m platform.

But what if you tried 16 bungy jumps in a row - each with a different twist?

That's exactly what Philip Warring who works for Tours to Go did in Cairns recently. He is a brave, brave man. Either that or crazy. And he even did it without hurling.

It took two days for Mr Warring to complete the entire menu of jumps at AJ Hackett Bungy Cairns. He did them all with a GoPro camera in hand. The result is stomach churning. 

"I've done a few bungy jumps over the years but never more than two in a day so when they bought out the jump menu I wondered how it would feel to do them all in a short period of time," Mr Warring told news.com.au travel.

"Because the jumps were quite close together the adrenalin from the last jump carried me into the next one so I felted pumped through it all."

"What I didn’t take into account was the 3332 steps I would have walked by the end of it. The tower is 50m high and there are 192 steps up and I walked that 17 times over the two days."

Mr Warring jumped from the tower 16 times. He jumped upside down, backwards, doing a handstand, he took a leaping jump, a feet first jump, he did backflips, he dipped his head into the water at the bottom, he jumped dressed as a gorilla in tandem with a terrified looking girl and he even rode a bike off the end. 

"The most challenging would be the fruit bat or handstand, I weigh 90kg so they had to hang me off the platform for the fruit bat and getting into the upside-down hanging position was interesting 50m up. They had to lift my legs up for the handstand which was fine but all the while my hands were on the edge of a 50m drop so it wasn’t your average handstand."  

Testing out the bungy is technically work for Mr Warring. Tours to Go offer package bungy deals in Cairns. Prices start at $169 for bungy jumping and $99 for the Mijin Jungle Swing. The good news is prices go down the more you do. There's also a Biggest Day Out package for $320 which guarantees a minumum of three jumps and lunch. 

Could you do 16?

View the original article here

Incredible leaps. Just don't hurl!

Watch an adventurer do a jaw-dropping 16 different types of bungee jumping over two days. Credit: Philip Warring from Tourstogo.com

BUNGY jumps are so 1990s. Fling yourself off a 50m platform.

But what if you tried 16 bungy jumps in a row - each with a different twist?

That's exactly what Philip Warring who works for Tours to Go did in Cairns recently. He is a brave, brave man. Either that or crazy. And he even did it without hurling.

It took two days for Mr Warring to complete the entire menu of jumps at AJ Hackett Bungy Cairns. He did them all with a GoPro camera in hand. The result is stomach churning. 

"I've done a few bungy jumps over the years but never more than two in a day so when they bought out the jump menu I wondered how it would feel to do them all in a short period of time," Mr Warring told news.com.au travel.

"Because the jumps were quite close together the adrenalin from the last jump carried me into the next one so I felted pumped through it all."

"What I didn’t take into account was the 3332 steps I would have walked by the end of it. The tower is 50m high and there are 192 steps up and I walked that 17 times over the two days."

Mr Warring jumped from the tower 16 times. He jumped upside down, backwards, doing a handstand, he took a leaping jump, a feet first jump, he did backflips, he dipped his head into the water at the bottom, he jumped dressed as a gorilla in tandem with a terrified looking girl and he even rode a bike off the end. 

"The most challenging would be the fruit bat or handstand, I weigh 90kg so they had to hang me off the platform for the fruit bat and getting into the upside-down hanging position was interesting 50m up. They had to lift my legs up for the handstand which was fine but all the while my hands were on the edge of a 50m drop so it wasn’t your average handstand."  

Testing out the bungy is technically work for Mr Warring. Tours to Go offer package bungy deals in Cairns. Prices start at $169 for bungy jumping and $99 for the Mijin Jungle Swing. The good news is prices go down the more you do. There's also a Biggest Day Out package for $320 which guarantees a minumum of three jumps and lunch. 

Could you do 16?

View the original article here

Do time at this incredible jail hotel

The rooms overlook a central lounge area that is now filled with comfortable couches. Picture: Het Arresthuis

• Dutch jail converted to luxury hotel
• It still offers plenty of bars - of both kinds
• In pictures: The best jail hotels

THIS former jail has been converted into a hotel. Now people are lining up to get inside. You will be amazed by the transformation.

Het Arresthuis in Roermond, the Netherlands, housed some of Holland's most notorious prisoners after it was opened in 1862.

In 2002 the jail operated as an emergency facility for body stuffers – people who ingest drug vials to avoid prosecution. Het Arresthuis was also called "bolletjesbajes" which is translated as stuffer's prison.

In pictures: The best jail hotels

The rooms certainly have more facilities than when Het Arresthuis opperated as a jail. Picture: Het Arresthuis

Now all that is history. In 2007 work began to transform the prison into a luxury hotel. The result is amazing. 

Don't expect to be confined to close quarters during your stay. This is not basic accommodation. The 150 cells have been gutted and transformed into  24 standard rooms, 12 deluxe rooms, and four suites named The Jailer, The Lawyer, The Director and The Judge.

The hotel has kept the original cell doors as a reminder of what this hotel once was. The three stories of cell blocks overlook a common area now filled with comfortable plush couches. There's also a sauna, a fitness center, a central patio with olive trees, and an organic herb garden.

Het Arresthuis in Roermond, the Netherlands. Picture: Het Arresthuis

The prison courtyard, where prisoners were once forced to get their daily exercise, has been converted into an outdoor cafe.

There's still plenty of bars – of both kinds. 

Het Arresthuis is located in Roermond on the western side of the Netherlands approximately two hours from Amsterdam Schiphol airport.

Follow our Travel Editor and Travel Reporter on Twitter.

View the original article here

Do time at this incredible jail hotel

The rooms overlook a central lounge area that is now filled with comfortable couches. Picture: Het Arresthuis

• Dutch jail converted to luxury hotel
• It still offers plenty of bars - of both kinds
• In pictures: The best jail hotels

THIS former jail has been converted into a hotel. Now people are lining up to get inside. You will be amazed by the transformation.

Het Arresthuis in Roermond, the Netherlands, housed some of Holland's most notorious prisoners after it was opened in 1862.

In 2002 the jail operated as an emergency facility for body stuffers – people who ingest drug vials to avoid prosecution. Het Arresthuis was also called "bolletjesbajes" which is translated as stuffer's prison.

In pictures: The best jail hotels

The rooms certainly have more facilities than when Het Arresthuis opperated as a jail. Picture: Het Arresthuis

Now all that is history. In 2007 work began to transform the prison into a luxury hotel. The result is amazing. 

Don't expect to be confined to close quarters during your stay. This is not basic accommodation. The 150 cells have been gutted and transformed into  24 standard rooms, 12 deluxe rooms, and four suites named The Jailer, The Lawyer, The Director and The Judge.

The hotel has kept the original cell doors as a reminder of what this hotel once was. The three stories of cell blocks overlook a common area now filled with comfortable plush couches. There's also a sauna, a fitness center, a central patio with olive trees, and an organic herb garden.

Het Arresthuis in Roermond, the Netherlands. Picture: Het Arresthuis

The prison courtyard, where prisoners were once forced to get their daily exercise, has been converted into an outdoor cafe.

There's still plenty of bars – of both kinds. 

Het Arresthuis is located in Roermond on the western side of the Netherlands approximately two hours from Amsterdam Schiphol airport.

Follow our Travel Editor and Travel Reporter on Twitter.

View the original article here

The incredible once in a lifetime Aussie view

Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains on February 25 2013. Picture: PolAir

PERFECT freak conditions have turned a normally beautiful waterfall into one of the most spectacular views you will ever see. Locals say it has never in their lifetime looked like this. But it will only last for a few more days.

Wentworth Falls is located in the Blue Mountains about an hour's drive west of Sydney.

This spectacular photo was taken by the PolAir helicopter in the middle of a rescue mission to save 18 hikers stranded by floodwaters.

Detective Super Intendant Mark Noakes told news.com.au the photo was  a lucky shot. 

"They managed to snap off one photo of the falls. It's actually a fluke shot, they only managed to get one photo."

PolAir posted the photo onto their Facebook page and were stunned by the response. Even residents of the Blue Mountains say Wentworth Falls has never looked like this.

"I've talked to some pretty experienced rescue crews who live up there and they tell me ‘We've been doing this work for ten years, we've lived in the mountains all our lives and we have never see it like this,'" Det Sup Int Noakes said.

So how did this normal trickle of a waterfall turn into a raging torrent of water?

Remember all that rain the east coast of Australia has had?

"There was a torrential downpour in a short period of time. The ground is already so waterlogged that the water has nowhere to go, the ground can't soak it up."

What Wentworth Falls normally looks like.

The sad news is that this spectacular site is not going to last. It will soon return to it's normal trickle. If you want to see it, you only have a few days left at most. Unless it rains again next week.

Access to the area is limited due to flood waters. National Parks and Wildlife said the Wentworth Falls picnic area, lookouts and walking tracks are now open with the exception of Undercliff Track which is closed between Princes Rock access and Den Fenella due to a landslide.

"Some tracks have not been fully assessed and others have minor landslides which may not be negotiable by some visitors. Visitors should be prepared to turn around," National Parks and Wildlife said.

"Soils are saturated and even minor rainfall could flood rivers and creeks and make them impassable.

"Visitors are reminded not to attempt to cross any flooded waterways or streams in the area and to allow sufficient time to complete their walk safely."

If you are preparing to see Wentworth Falls, make sure you go prepared and check for updates with National Parks and Wildlife.  

View the original article here

A week of incredible Australian images

Date/Time: 2013:02:28 18:25:05 Source: News Limited

FROM missing parrots to explosive scenes at Australia's biggest airshow, here's our wrap of the week's best photographs from News Limited snappers.

Summer finished this week, but that hasn't stopped the good times rolling: enjoy our visual feast of the week's tastiest photos.

ADELAIDE: Holden V8 Supercar driver James Courtney is feeling like a rock'n'roll superstar as the Clipsal 500 roars into town. In the lead-up to the four-day motorsport carnival, which begins today, the 33-year-old and his pit crew - Grant Milnes, Glen Fisher and Justin Burns - transformed into KISS look-alikes. Joking that he may have dislocated his tongue, Courtney said he loved playing "the demon", Gene Simmons. Picture: Calum Robertson Read more here.

HOBART: Josh Raspin, 13, Huntingfield, Xavier Spinks, 8, Blackmans Bay, Tyler Raspin, 11 Huntingfield and Jonathan Spinks, 11, Blackmans Bay, are all members of the Kingston Beach Surf Life Saving Club. Pic. Richard Jupe

 

HOBART: Twins Greg and Mel Irons are running a fundraising 'school carnival' race. The kangaroo however, is not amused, he doesn't seem to rate Mel and Greg's hopping prowess. Picture: Leigh Winburn

MELBOURNE: Massive tongues of flame explode into the sky as part of the dramatic finale to the Melbourne International Airshow at Avalon Airport in Victoria. The spectacular event featured a series of thrilling stunts by death-defying pilots, amazing pyrotechnics and hundreds of planes of all descriptions.Picture: Alex Coppel See more pictures here.

DARWIN: A croc and Andreas Palm hang out and talk about the NT News' upcoming pool party and how it may get crazy. Picture: Justin Sanson

HOBART: The launch of the Estia Greek Festival in Hobart: From the Hellenic Cultural Studies Centre dancers L-R Domonique (Domonique) Pavlides 14 of Sandy Bay, Michaela Delmadoros 18 of Sandy Bay, Andoni Pavlides 14 of Sandy Bay (twin of Domonique), Pia Dobie 14 of Richmond, Katina McMaster 12 of Mount Nelson. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

SYDNEY: Nevil the eclectus parrot has survived liver disease, made friends with a dog big enough to inhale him and was lost - then found - after a successful suburb-wide search by his owners. Christine McLauchlan and her family enlisted their local community in the search for the four-year-old parrot after he was spooked and flew off from their Croydon Park home on February 7. Picture: Craig Wilson Read more here.

BRISBANE: The Penny Farthing family from Queensland: Peter Hines, Sally Dillon with their children Tasman Dillon-Hines 8 and Banjo Dillon-Hines 5 make the yearly trip to Evandale to compete in the annual Penny Farthing festival in Tasmania. Picture: Ross Marsden

View the original article here