Kick Life's Ass

Sleep off the Beaten Path - Extreme Lodging

In an effort to step off the beaten path, I encourage everyone to stay in a hotel or bed and breakfast that isn’t on the typical tourist brochure.

Some examples of such exotic lodging:

The Northern Rail Train car Bed and Breakfast
This B&B features 18 elegant northwoods, Victorian, oriental & safari themed guestrooms housed in actual train cars and connected by a charming enclosed platform.

Costa Rica Tree House Lodge
This Tree House has two rooms and can sleep up to 6 people. The upstairs room has a private bathroom and a twin bed and the bathroom is built around a 100+ year-old tree, which is still growing around the house.

Jules’ Undersea Lodge
To enter the Lodge, one must actually scuba dive 21 feet beneath the surface of the sea. Jules’ really is underwater. Diving through the tropical mangrove habitat of the Emerald Lagoon and approaching the world’s only underwater hotel is quite an experience.

For more great exotic lodging, visit Extreme Lodging

World class Black Marlin Fishing

Cairns, Queensland, Australia became the Sport Fishing capital of the world for the mighty “Grander” Black Marlin on the 25th of September 1966, when American crewman Richard C. Obach landed a World Record 1064# Black Marlin on 80# test line. Not only was this the first Grander Black Marlin caught in Cairns but also the first Thousand Pound Marlin of any kind caught on 80# test line anywhere in the world. This made international Sportsfishing history for Cairns and Australia’s Great Barrier Reef region. Big Game Fishermen from all over the world flocked to Cairns in subsequent years, with hundreds succeeding in capturing their dream Billfish.

World record billfish, including the mighty Black Marlin and the acrobatic Sailfish are to be found in the rich waters off the Outer Barrier Reef. Whether light tackle world record sport fishing, fly fishing, tournament marlin fishing or conventional heavy tackle marlin fishing, Cairns is the place to be when the mighty black marlin migrate to their spawning grounds off the outer barrier reef between Cairns and Lizard Island. The Cairns fleet of modern sport fishing boats and their professional Captains and crews have led the world in Billfish Tag and Release fishing since the 1970’s. This continued practice and the consequent research has seen the past five years being the best Black Marlin fishing for twenty years. The majority of these crews are members of the Cairns Professional Game Fishing Association with a code of practice they strictly adhere to.

Australian Fishing Expeditions
Julie & Laurie Wright
PO Box 18
Malanda QLD 4885 Australia
07 40952260
Int 61 740952260

Click here to visit official website

South Africa Sardine Run - The "Real" Greatest Show on Earth

The Sardine Run occurs between May and July along the East coast of South Africa when millions of sardines move up northwards. The sheer numbers create a feeding frenzy along the coastline in what is one of the largest marine events in the world. This has been dubbed "the greatest shoal on earth" by the Kwazulu-Natal tourist board.

The sardines spawn in the cool waters of the Agulhas Bank through spring and early summer. Most of the fish stay in the cooler waters of the Atlantic Ocean and end up along the west coast of Africa.

It is thought that the run containing millions of individual sardines occurs when a current of cold water heads north from the Agulhas Bank up to Mozambique where it then leaves the coast line and goes further East out into the Indian Ocean.

For more information on dive packages, contact UnrealDive Expeditions
US - (Tel) 1 (888) 334 6347
South Africa - (Tel) 27 21 425 5375

Jet Boat adventure in New Zealand

Hukafalls Jet in Taupo, offers a unique combination of excitement and natural beauty.  A 30-minute thrilling jet boat ride in the hands of a down-to-earth, funny professional jet boat driver who can make a jet boat do things you would never believe possible.

The half hour of thrills, fun and excitement takes you along a beautiful river environment, lined with native bush, sheer rock cliff face and natural hot springs.

Combine 360° spins and passing nature by incredibly close at disorientating speeds for an amazing must-do visitor experience, before even reaching the awe inspiring majesty that is the Huka Falls.  From the unique vantage point on the jet boat you have the best water level view of Huka Falls – New Zealand’s most visited natural attraction.  Hukafalls Jet is the only jet boat company operating in this stretch of the Waikato River.

Wairakei Park, Taupo, New Zealand
Telephone: +64 7 374 8572

Click here to visit official website

Jules’ Undersea Lodge

When guests visit Jules’ Undersea Lodge in Key Largo, Florida, they discover that the name is no marketing gimmick. Just to enter the Lodge, one must actually scuba dive 21 feet beneath the surface of the sea. Jules’ really is underwater. Diving through the tropical mangrove habitat of the Emerald Lagoon and approaching the world’s only underwater hotel is quite an experience. Even from the outside, Jules’ big 42 inch round windows cast a warm invitation to come in and stay a while, relax and get to know the underwater world that so few of us have even visited.

Entering through an opening in the bottom of the habitat, the feeling is much like discovering a secret underwater clubhouse. The cottage sized building isn’t short on creature comforts: hot showers, a well stocked kitchen (complete with refrigerator and microwave), books, music, and video movies. And of course there are cozy beds, where guests snuggle up and watch the fish visit the windows of their favorite underwater “terrarium”. Jules’ Undersea Lodge manages to reach a perfect balance of relaxation and adventure.

Jules’ Undersea Lodge
at Key Largo Undersea Park
51 Shoreland Drive - Key Largo, Florida 33037
(305) 451-2353

Click here to visit the official website

Diving With Great White Sharks

As I child I was mesmerized by the images of great while sharks on TV shows with Jacques Cousteau. So imagine my delight, many years later to discover several companies now offering great white expeditions into the blue abyss, allowing mortal men to come face to face with their childhood demons and creatures of fascination Carcharodon Carcharias.

One such company is SharkCageDiving
Diving in the waters known as shark alley, 160 km from Cape Town, South Africa.

This experienced dive crew also offers surface viewing for those in your group that would prefer to admire these beautiful animals from the deck of a boat.

Photo credit: Thomas Sly