Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Amazing Treehotel in Sweden

Well, with the help of a group of well known designers and architects, they have now turned the idea into a reality.

They have a group of unique rooms created in harmony with nature, and with our ecological values. They are all set in the forest where we live, a refinement of the local conditions. “Dig where you stand” as the saying goes.


Their inspiration came from the documentary film “Trädälskaren” (Treelover) by Jonas Selberg Augustsen. It is the story of three men from the urban environment who look to get back to their roots by building a tree house together. It is a philosophical film about what “the tree” means to us humans, both historically and culturally.


Treehotel is located in the beautiful village of Harads, approximately 60 km south of the Arctic Circle, and one hour drive from Luleå, which has the largest airport in northern Sweden.


Harads is a place that surrounded by forest and water and by stillness and wilderness. Here lives 600 inhabitants. They have restaurants, stores, hostel, gas station, swimming facilities, view point Klippan and a beautiful church. It is a place that is dominated by forests and water, the serenity and wilderness.


In first generation there are six uniquely themed Tree Rooms, created by 6 separate architects. The Tree Rooms that are finished to days date are: The Mirrorcube, The Bird’s Nest, The Cabin and The Blue Cone.


In addition they have a sauna and a relaxing area room which seat 12 guests comfortably. This is the first Tree Hotel in the world with a Sauna.


The rooms vary from 15 – 30 square meters and they range between 4-6 meters from the ground. They build mainly with wood, though one room has a glass facade. All of the Tree Houses are situated up in pine trees.


The rooms can be accessed by either a ramp or sturdy stairs. One of the rooms has an electric retractable stairs.


Every Tree Room has its own living and sleeping areas. Two of the Tree Rooms are accommodate 2 beds and the remaining three rooms will have 4 beds, which are ideal for families. Each Tree Room is equipped with its own state of the art eco-friendly incineration toilet and water efficient hand basin, which means there is no artificial plumbing.


The interior of each Tree Room are uniquely designed by the architect, with its own furniture and lighting to complement the individual theme.


The Treehotel will be open all year round, which means guests will be able to benefit from either of our lovely hot summer or our beautiful winters. To make this possible, each Treehotel have an electric under-floor heating system which is being delivered from an eco-friendly source of electricity.


What Treehotel are offering is a new experience living close to nature in a place of great natural beauty, where joyful childhood memories can be relived with added comfort and sophistication. The next time you are in Sweden; do try this out and share with us your experience.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Uluru Pictures & Video Clips




Enjoy the video Uluru tour? Isn’t it amazing? In case you’re not familiar with Uluru: Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, is a large sandstone rock formation in the southern part of the Northern Territory, central Australia.

It lies 335 km (208 mi) south west of the nearest large town, Alice Springs; 450 km (280 mi) by road. Kata Tjuta and Uluru are the two major features of the Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park. Uluru is sacred to the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara, the Aboriginal people of the area. It has many springs, waterholes, rock caves and ancient paintings. Uluru is listed as a World Heritage Site.

Uluru is one of Australia’s most recognisable natural icons. The world-renowned sandstone formation stands 348 m (1,142 ft) high (863 m/2,831 ft above sea level) with most of its bulk below the ground, and measures 9.4 km (5.8 mi) in circumference.

Both Uluru and Kata Tjuta have great cultural significance for the Aṉangu Traditional landowners, who led walking tours to inform visitors about the local flora and fauna, bush foods and the Aboriginal dreamtime stories of the area.

Uluru is notable for appearing to change colour as the different light strikes it at different times of the day and year, with sunset a particularly remarkable sight when it briefly glows red. Although rainfall is uncommon in this semiarid area, during wet periods the rock acquires a silvery-grey colour, with streaks of black algae forming on the areas that serve as channels for water flow.

Kata Tjuta, also called Mount Olga or The Olgas, is another rock formation about 25 km (16 mi) west of Uluru. Special viewing areas with road access and parking have been constructed to give tourists the best views of both sites at dawn and dusk.

Are you interested to visit Uluru?

Admission
Admission to the park costs AU$25 per person, and provides a three day pass. Passes are non-transferable and all passes are checked by park rangers.


Climbing
Climbing Uluru is a popular attraction for visitors. A chain handhold added in 1964 and extended in 1976 makes the hour-long climb easier, but it is still a long (800 m/0.5 mi) and steep hike to the top, where it can be quite windy. It is recommended individuals drink plenty of water whilst climbing, and those who are unfit, suffer from vertigo or medical conditions restricting exercise, do not attempt it. Climbing Uluru is generally closed to the public when high winds are recorded at the top. There have been at least 35 deaths relating to recreational climbing since such incidents began being recorded.

The local Aṉangu do not climb Uluru because of its great spiritual significance. They request that visitors do not climb the rock, partly due to the path crossing a sacred traditional Dreamtime track, and also due to a sense of responsibility for the safety of visitors. The visitors guide says "the climb is not prohibited, but we prefer that, as a guest on Anangu land, you will choose to respect our law and culture by not climbing."

On 11 December 1983, Prime Minister Bob Hawke promised to hand back the land title to the Aṉangu traditional owners and agreed to the community's 10-point plan which included forbidding the climbing of Uluru. However, the government set access to climb Uluru and a 99-year lease, instead of the previously agreed upon 50-year lease, as conditions before the title was officially given back to the Aṉangu.

In 2009, the Australian government indicated that climbing Uluru may no longer be allowed under the proposed "Draft Management Plan 2009-2019". The public has been invited to comment on the plan prior to submission to the Minister for the Environment.

Photography
The Aṉangu also request that visitors do not photograph certain sections of Uluru, for reasons related to traditional Tjukurpa beliefs. These areas are the sites of gender-linked rituals, and are forbidden ground for Aṉangu of the opposite sex of those participating in the rituals in question. The photographic ban is intended to prevent Aṉangu from inadvertently violating this taboo by encountering photographs of the forbidden sites in the outside world.