On the edge of the jungle at Tupira town 80km from Madang in northern Papua New Guinea is an exchange of cultures that will be remembered by all those involved for the rest of their lives. Nic Jones of Buderim is contending in the Kumul PNG World Longboard Championships run by the WSL in front of the biggest crowd drawn to that division. Also there admiring the course his University of the Sunlight Coast PhD research study into sustainable surf boards has taken him, is shaper Tom Wegener. Tom is supervising competitors amongst Papua New Guinea surfers riding shapes actually hewn from the jungle’s timber frames that make up its towering trees that surround them.

Unfolding is exactly what Tom thinks is the altering paradigm of competitors with the World Surf League, alongside the aspects of culture and travel. Surfing towns from throughout PNG have actually descended on exactly what has been changed from a 12-bed surf camp into a tiny city of 80 camping tents plus bamboo and palm leaf structures. “My work in surfing after an interest in personal weight training through the university has assisted bringing the WSL to this remote location,” Tom said proudly as he prepared to reveal a semi-final heat of a competitors for locals and riding boards he had help them form. Generally residents would lower old canoes to make belly boards and had actually tried to replicate in wood the foam boards donated by visiting surfers.

When he initially went to PNG as part of his PhD Tom was approached by town chiefs wanting to re-invent their culture. “They consider themselves surfers,” he stated. “It’s a highly-valued activity. So when I found that there was a great deal of balsa, we grated it and cut and dried and glued the edges.” Initially the residents wished to copy foam shapes but rapidly discovered that the much heavier product did not equate. Tom focused them on the ancient Hawaiian alaia styles he brought back to the sport in 2005 and which gave him title of 2009’s International Shaper of the Year. He stated, “There are various ways you can develop a board to hold the tail in without fins.”

The WSL pros involved in personal interval training and PT have contended in divisions riding the boards made by locals in front of countless individuals with the action captured by banks of TV video cameras for international circulation. “I asked among the shapers how he felt and he stated ‘Tom I sobbed’ when he saw his boy complete on the world stage. “We took a TV trailed by long electrical cables to where the local kids felt comfortable sitting and revealed to them in slow motion at 80-frames a second the video of them surfing.” Tom stated that the WSL saw how, through the University of the Sunlight Coast, his research study was assisting the development of a wooden surf board market and how he wanted to integrate that into the event. “I’m enjoying exactly what we have actually done,” he stated. “The research study has resulted in a transformation. I cannot believe it.”

Wegener began his research study in 2013, and took a trip to Tupira in 2015 to assist local surfers and board makers upgrade their style and build techniques in an effort to maintain their culture of being surf board constructors. He provided his findings from the journey at a unique discussion entitled “Surf boards of Papua New Guinea: How culture supports regional market” in October, 2015 at USC. “A primary senior from PNG contacted me and revealed his issues about the absence of locals surfing the conventional ways, which is on wooden surf boards made of locally engineered timber products that are crafted in your own area,” Tom stated at the time.

“There’s a genuine concern that the culture is being displaced with the intro of foam surf boards from Australia and visiting surfers, and they’re very mindful of losing their surf board market to imports from abroad.” That’s a worry today that we may be able to put to rest. The expert WSL world title event is in its 3rd round and 4th day of the eight-day competition. Jones is arranged to surf the very first heat of the round Wednesday early morning.

For the basketball loving sports-bettors, the opening days of March Madness are here and this is an event that is like no other. Formally known as the NCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball Tournament, March Madness is a series of single-elimination basketball face-offs that select the college basketball’s championing team. The preliminary, ranging from March 14 through April 3, offers the chance for bettors to bet on an overall of 32 games. Thus, action-junkies flood Las Vegas and glory in 12 inspiring days of unchecked betting. In 2015 more than $200-million was wagered and only God knows just how many Buffalo chicken wings were eaten.

However any bettor who dines just on greasy wings and so on, while adding gambling in Vegas, is a double sucker. Considering the ever-expanding number of food options there, this string of games is also a time for a culinary holiday for sharp risk-takers who like to dine well. We advise skipping the buffets set out in gambling establishment ballrooms– the food is poor and prices are high– and, instead, going the a la carte path and free styling your March Madness eating arrangements. Here  are some of favourites for eating while you bet, and yes, some places you are able to get by just in your teams basketball shorts.

If you’re up for a nice piece of meat, the Gaucho Sandwich  will please, and do not be scared off by the promise of less-than-soft eggs, they’re moist, all of it works. And be sure to grab extra napkins for this one. You can easily end up with sauce down your arm after a couple of bites into the Gaucho’s warm brioche bun. Due to the fact that lines for these sandwiches can be aggravatingly long, have a friend hold your spot while you run over to The Juice Standard for what’s known to be Vegas’ best cold-filtered drinks and nut-milk beverages.

Just a ten minute walk away is the Aria Resort and Gambling establishment that is understood for having a few of the best dining options in town. They include superb sushi at Masa, the Vegas iteration of Carbone and the exceptional Sage where Chef Shawn McClain outdoes himself with a fantastic farm-to-table menu. Luckily for us basketball fiends, McClain also runs an elevated pizza shop next to the sports book. Five50 Pizza Bar spins up thin-crusted pies with garnishes that include ghost-chilli salami, clams, truffles and smoked mozzarella. Salads are good bets too. Our personal favourite is ‘the chopped’, with fantastic soppressata and provolone, it goes down exceptionally well with a drop of yarra valley wine.

If you want to view the games in real baller-style, and your bets are already in place, visit Aria’s second level and check out Herringbone, the brainchild of Top Chef competitor Brian Malarky. From the sound of things, the fish-centric area is being changed into a food-lovers’ sports bar with great deals of displays and a projector. Just one set back, a table for two will set you back $500 as a minimum and it only goes up from there. Yes, it’s a bit pricy but you’ll definitely stuff your face in grand style (Herringbone’s bacon and egg ravioli stands apart as first-rate) and maybe your gambling acumen will assist to balance things out.

If you reside in New York or L.A., you probably understand all about the fifth-flavour patties from Umami Hamburger. But there’s just one issue with those coastal areas, you can’t legally bid on games while you’re eating those delicious beef bun burgers. At Umami Burger inside SLS Las Vegas, no such inconvenience exists. Indoor and outdoor dining options are both readily available and yes, every seat features a view of the restaurant’s well dispersed screens. Prices begin at a rather decent $50 per person. You’ll spend that in no time though, and make sure you spend some of it on those french fries that are house-made and topped with truffled cheese, and you’ll still have lots of money left over for wagering at the close-by betting windows. Sounds fancy but don’t worry, you can rock up in your teams basketball hoodies and celebrate March Madness in true style.

Or you can just make your way downtown to the The D, which deals away with any reservations you may find on the Strip. Table limitations are low, and, both, the sports book and the casino’s Long Bar are great areas for watching the game. Food cravings are dealt with in a way that goes well with the watching of games; top notch crispy-skinned chilli dogs, thanks to American Coney Island Las Vegas, which initially established itself as a haunt for Motor City rockers and the fans who adore them.

After the last seconds of play tick down, head upstairs to the D’s Andiamo Italian Steakhouse by Joe Vicari for a big-boy post-mortem on the day’s games and bets. The timeless, high-end beef-joint, imported from Detroit, evokes a Sin City of yore with a menu to please paired with renowned Australian wines straight from the Yarra Valley.

And there you have it, a food and wine plan guaranteed to have you left with a good taste in your mouth. Hopefully you win big too.

Spending the night in “alternative” areas has been a travel pattern recently (hotel spaces = boring). Visitors are getting the opportunity to remain in uncommon digs such as an Ikea shop, a bookshop, up the Eiffel tower and, now, suspended from a crane.Due to open this summer season, Crane 29 is being marketed as a one-bedroom dangling “treehouse” in Bristol’s Harbourside, using waterside views in a “nature-inspired sanctuary”. Crane 29 is among 4 noted cranes for hire from the 1950s when approximately 40 lined the docks. The “treehouse” has actually been produced by glamping vacation expert Canopy & Stars and is offered for just 126 nights, from 27 May-30 September. This experience is for one-night stays for 2 individuals, at a cost of ₤185 a night and B&B in the week and ₤250 on weekends. A garden compost bathroom indicates that you will not need to climb down if you’re desperate in the middle of the night. Reservations for the treehouse are made through a ballot, which will happen on 10 April and 3 July. All revenues go to Buddies of the Earth.

It is the sort of one-off experience publicity-hungry travel brand names that people have actually come up with through progressively smart thinking. Today Tripadvisor released a competition that will allow 2 individuals the chance to spend the night in a pod on the London Eye.

The concept of momentary, one-off locations to staymay owe a financial obligation to the ‘Room for London’ job, where a boat was put on top of the Southbank Centre in 2012. Developed by designer David Kohn and artist Fiona Banner, it welcomed authors, artists and artists, along with paying visitors, to spend a night there. The task was widely publicised and extensively covered.

While it is amusing to think up and find uncommon locations to spend the night, nevertheless, Airbnb is the marketplace leader. In 2014, the home-sharing website gave visitors the opportunity to spend the night in a Sydney Ikea shop. A couple of months later, after a story went viral about a male who unintentionally spent the night in a London Waterstones bookshop, Airbnb’s PR group jumped into action and set up a slumber party for 10 individuals at Waterstones’ flagship London Piccadilly shop.

There was a more intriguing collaboration in February 2016, when Airbnb partnered with the Art Institute of Chicago to give visitors the opportunity to stay in a recreation of Van Gogh’s ‘Bedroom in Arles’ painting. Nonetheless, we can agree that the most obscure and intriguing stay remains to be the sky-high end of frannas for a bedroom – a place that may be up for review on TripAdvisor very soon.