COOK ISLANDS ~Rarotonga~

Got this wonderful postcard today from "The heart of Polynesia",The Cook Islands... Another dream destination and my first new place in 2012!!
Hopefully the start of many more...:D:D Thank you very much Rod!!

Sooo lovely stamps too...

A net of 15 islands in the heart of the South Pacific spread over an area the size of India with a population no bigger than a small New Zealand country town, 11,400 souls. These unique and friendly Polynesians have their own language and government and enjoy a vigorous and diverse culture with significant differences between each island.

RAROTONGA is the youngest island in the Cook Islands (named after Captain COOK, who sighted them in 1770). Raratonga is almost completely encircled by reefs, creating beautiful safe lagoons. This island of volcanic origin rises 600 meters (2000 feet) and is inhabited only around the coastal belt.

SRI LANKA ~Arugambay~

And another "Pearl" far away is Sri Lanka... An amazing beach view... Just wondering why it looks so desolate and not full with tourists... Thanks a lot Ravindra!!:D

And with great matching stamp.

Arugam Bay is situated on the Indian Ocean in the dry zone of Sri Lanka's South-East coast and known as one of the best three surfing spots in the world.Many of the buildings were destroyed in the 2004 tsunami.Due to its popularity among tourists the area has managed a slow recovery by private initiatives only.

CROATIA ~Dubrovnik-UNESCO~

Seeing this wonderful aerial view of Dubrovnik I can understand why its called the "Pearl of the Adriatic"... Thanks a lot Ivana!:D

With lots of beautiful stamps!!

Dubrovnik is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic sea coast situated in the extreme south of Croatia. In 1979 the city joined the Unesco list of World Heritage Sites

VENEZUELA ~Playa Caribe-Margarita Island~

Got a wonderful but almost empty looking tropical beach view... I sure want to escape to this "Carribean paradise" right now... because the weather here looks more like autumn than summer,it has been cold, windy and it is still raining...
Thanks Cardina!

Margarita is a Caribbean island of Venezuela, located at the Northeast of Caracas.Playa Caribe is located in the north coast of Margarita Island.
At the end of the beach you can find caves of easy exploration and during the month of July and August you could witness the most spectacular sunsets.

CROATIA ~Island Vis~

This card shows a wonderful view of the harbour of Vis a picturesque Mediterranean island! Looks a lovely place for a holiday... Thanks a lot Ivana!!:D

With three great stamps too!!

Vis is the western most island of the major Croatian islands. It is located 24 miles from the mainland and covers an area of 56 square miles (90 sq km). Founded in 397 B.C. by the ruler of Sicily, Dionysius, Vis town is the oldest established town in Dalmatia. After the second World War, the island was a military base closed to visitors. Vis was reopened to tourists after Croatia's independence in 1990.

Saint Lucia ~Vigie Lighthouse~

Got my first beautiful card from St Lucia today.... FANTASTIC!! Being in the West Indies, Carribean, it must be one of all times dream holiday destinations... But I can't understand why the beach looks so empty???:D

Saint Lucia is an island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean.

The Vigie light house was built in 1914 and continues to serve crafts that utilize the Castries harbor.

Stamp:

Fruiting Trees )- The Custard Apple
(Issued 05-12-2005)

CROATIA ~Dubrovnik-UNESCO~

Today I got a really nice surprise card from "the Pearl of the Adriatic Sea", Dubrovnik in my mailbox! My first received card after almost a month...Thanks a lot Edna!!
The lovely stamp is from a set of 4 representing Croatian Ethnographic heritage and this one shows Medimurje.

In 1979, the Old City of Dubrovnik was added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites for its overall universal value, and its outstanding architecture and cultural development throughout the centuries.

BRAZIL ~São Vicente ~

I received a great beach view today! With nice colorful stamps!

São Vicente is known as "the first city in Brazil." It was established by the Portuguese in 1532.

AUSTRALIA ~Sawtell~

ANOTHER HAPPY MAILBOX DAY... Postcard from Italy-Australia and Russia!!:D:D

Wonderful aerial view... sooo blue water...great coastline... and it seems to be a perfect place for whale watching... a perfect holiday destination!!:D
Those koala stamps are always so cute!

Sawtell is a coastal suburb of Coffs Harbour in northern New South Wales.The original inhabitants of the land were Aborigines of the Kumbaingeri clan. The Aboriginal name for the land where the town now stands was Bongil Bongil.
Sawtell's northern perimeter is defined by the Boambee Creek and scenic headland. Boambee Beach extends from Corambirra Point (near the Deep Sea Fishing Club) to Boambee Creek (north of Sawtell).

SRI LANKA ~Anuwatuna~

Thanks to Ravindra I got not one but two cards to enlarge my Sri Lanka collection... If you follow my blog regulary you will have noticed that "The Pearl of the Indian Ocean" one of my favorite places is...
The ultimate tropical and exotic destination – Unawatuna Beach Resort is where you find golden sandy stretches, fringed by swaying green palms overlooking the blue India Ocean and beautiful sunsets.
... When you look very closely you can see someone sitting on the beach in this tropical paradise, I so wish it was me... Here it is antoher grey, windy and cold day... Thanks a lot Ravindra for brighten my day and giving me a bit of summer feeling! :D:D


Unawatuna is a coastal village in Galle district of Sri Lanka. Unawatuna is a major tourist attraction and famous for its beautiful beach and corals.

MAURITIUS

Yippieeee....A card from an amazing, wonderful island. It is certainly one of the "Hard-To-Get countries" and my second written and stamped card ever from Mauritius!! It is great especially with the view of the Dodo:
The island of Mauritius is renowned for having been the only known home of the dodo. First sighted by Europeans around 1600 on Mauritius, this bird was an easy prey to settlers due to its weight and inability to fly. It became extinct less than eighty years later.
Love the stamps too...


Mauritius is situated in the warm and crystal clear Indian Ocean, to the east of the island of Madagascar, which itself, lies off the southeast of Africa near Mozambique.

MALTA ~Gozo~

Gozo is a small island of the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Southern European country of Malta; after the island of Malta itself, it is the second-largest island in the archipelago.

TUVALU ~Earth Day 2010~

YIPPIE!!! This must be one of my lucky weeks.... My second new place arrived today and its certainly from a unique island.... A few months ago I took part of a contest by Postcrossing to win a postcard from Tuvalu.

On April 22nd it will be Earth Day 2010 and, in a time when climate change is becoming more serious than ever, it's important to not let this day go by unnoticed.
Postcrossing is collaborating with students in Tuvalu in a very special event around the Earth Day 2010 in which you can participate too - and it's really easy, read on.

From all the important facts about Tuvalu, there's something particularly important that you should know: TO GLOBAL WARMING AND THE RISING OF SEA-LEVEL, THERE ARE PREDICTIONS THAT IN THE NEXT 50 YEARS THE ENTIRE POPULATION WILL HAVE TO BE EVACUATED. THE OCEAN CAN SWOLLOW TUVALU WHOLE, MAKING IT THE FIRST COUNTRY TO BE WIPED OFF THE MAP BY CLIMATE CHANGE! ISN'T THAT SCARY?

Tuvalu students certainly think it is, and so do we. Postcrossing is proudly collaborating with them in this year Earth Day to help spread their word about how important it is to reflect and act upon climate change. The project is called "Send Tuvalu to the world" and consists on sending 422 postcards to all over the world sharing their thoughts about Tuvalu. The students organized a painting contest to draw a special stamp to be used in all the postcards, so these are very special indeed.

How would like to receive one of these postcards from the remote islands of Tuvalu? We know many of you would, so here's how:

Just leave a comment on this Postcrossing blog post saying you would like one. We will then select the receivers from the first users of each country until we reach the needed 422 addresses. There are many possible slots for each country, so be sure to leave a comment! We will then share your address with the organization of this event in Tuvalu and the students will send your way one of this very special postcards.

It's really simple to participate. But also very important, is to be aware - more than ever - about climate change, what it is doing to our planet, and what we should do about it!


Posted by paulo on 18 Apr, 2010
Tags: day, earth, project, school, students, tuvalu

AND I WON A CARD FROM THIS UNIQUE ISLAND WITH SPECIAL STAMP!!! WONDERFUL....


View of Funafala lagoon side beach, Funafuti.
Formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji. It comprises four reef islands and five true atolls. Its population of 12,373 makes it the third-least-populated sovereign state in the world.http://www.postcrossing.com/blog/tag/school:

PORTUGAL ~Porto-UNESCO~

Today at the first day of our summer I received a nice card from Portugal and its a Unesco site....


Porto is the second largest (after Lisbon) city of Portuga by the river Douro, The historic centre of Porto was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996.

UNITED KINGDOM ~Dorset-UNESCO~

My third dutch card this week, a lovely snowy view and a great beach card from Dorset which is a new UNESCO site arrived today.

Situated at the western end of Chesil Beach / Chesil Bank, the area forms part of the Dorset Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site within Lyme Bay. West Bay, Dorset is a wonderful seaside location.

BELGIUM ~Ostend~

The stamp is from a set of ten self adhesive stamps of "Suske en Wiske" or "Spike and Suzy" a very famous comic here in Belgium issued by the release of the 3D movie "De Texasrakkers".

Ostend is the largest and a thousand-year old city with marinas, an old fishing port, a casino and a high-speed ferry connections to England on our Belgian coast.

USA ~Virgin Islands~

Got a new place for my collection today and the stamp is also from the US Virgin Islands.It was such a lovely surprise card in my mailbox! :-)

The USA Virgin Islands is a group islands in the Caribbean that are a insular area of the US.

The USA Virgin Islands is a group islands in the Caribbean that are a insular area of the US.
Coke Beach in St Thomas is found on the northeast side of the island. Snorkeling right of the beach is one of the more popular things to do at Coke Beach.

AUSTRALIA ~Caloundra-Queensland~

Caloundra is one of the fastest growing holiday destinations in Australia. It is located at the southern end of Queensland stunning sunshine coast and has more than 30km of beaches.

AUSTRALIA ~Queensland-Gold Coast~

Top: Broadbeach Bottom: Rainbow beach
The Gold Coast is an area in the southeast corner of Queensland and is renowned for its sunny subtropical climate, popular surfing beaches, high-rise apartment buildings with lots of tourist attractions.

USA ~California-Pacific Coast Highway~

USA ~California-Pacific Coast Highway~
Originally uploaded by gerda_dager

Sent by Swan. The California coastline has many scenic areas where undeveloped hillside landscape meets the Pacific Ocean. All of this scenic beauty can be seen at your own pace on the Pacific Coast Highway.