ADRENALINE HIGH

Take a walk on the wild side in some of the most fascinating travelscapes dotting the globe.

- SONIA NAZARETH

I've taken a little detour! I used to thrive as a big-city girl, but recently I've discovered an extraordinary exhilaration in the wild corners of our planet. In each of these places, I'm reminded of the wise words of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, who famously said, "Believe me, for I know, you will find something far greater in the woods than in books. Stones and trees will teach you that which you cannot learn from the masters."

Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia

Cairns, a city in tropical North Queensland, is a laid-back gateway city to the Great Barrier Reef—the world's most extensive coral reef system, stretching over 2000 kilometres. To visit the reef, I temporarily bid adieu to enticing Cairns with its thriving botanical gardens and lively markets and embark upon a one-hour coastal drive to Port Douglas. From here, ninety minutes of cruising on a Quicksilver vessel takes me out to the Great Barrier Reef, specifically the Agincourt Ribbon Reef. Ribbon reefs are situated far offshore and are renowned for their pristine ecosystems. The clear waters facilitate coral growth and also enhance the viewing of marine life.

To get as intimate as possible with this underwater Eden, I sign up for all permissible offerings from the boat's activity platform. Diving, snorkelling, viewing the coral from a semi-submersible craft, and being an ocean walker (while donning a helmet to which fresh air is supplied) enable as close an interaction as possible with shimmering coral and other stars of the underwater world, such as butterfly, parrot, and angel fish. The longer you spend underwater, the more you observe. Is that a clownfish settling into the embrace of a sea anemone?

Luisbenburg Rock Labyrinth Navigation,

Wunsiedel, Germany