EXPLORING UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITES WITH MICHAEL TURTLE

Welcome to the Travelman Podcast, my name is Ben and I host this cool travel podcast. If you’re joining me for the first time then I say thank you for listening.

On today’s awesome episode, I’ll be chatting to Michael Turtle who is an Australian travel blogger who’s attempting to see every UNESCO World Heritage site on the planet! So far, he’s seen over 300 of the 1000 + UNESCO World Heritage sites there are!

So, sit back and enjoy Michael and I chat about travel and UNESCO World Heritage sites.

AUSTRALIAN UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITES:

20 UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITES IN AUSTRALIA

Great Barrier Reef, Far North QLD – Threatened reef, somewhere where everyone should go. Ningaloo Reef in WA, I’ve heard is just as nice.

Kakadu National Park, Jabiru, NT – I need to go here.

Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Uluru, NT – I need to go here.

Fraser Island, QLD – Have been fantastic place.

Shark Bay, WA – I need to go here. Is this where Ningaloo Reef is?

Lord Howe Island, NSW – I need to go here, I always think of Jurassic Park.

Royal Exhibition Building, Carlton, VIC – I’ve been for the Flower Show. Always a fantastic building to show off flowers. Ornate and beautiful.

Macquarie Island, South West Pacific Ocean – I need to go here.

Purnululu National Park, East Kimberley, WA – I need to go here.

Carlton Gardens, Carlton, VIC – Great gardens, always enjoy meandering my way through these lovely gardens. Always planted up beautifully in Spring. Very colourful.

Riversleigh World Heritage Fossil Site, Lawn Hill, QLD – I need to go here. Fossils dating back to the Miocene period.

Heard Island and Macdonald Islands, Indian Ocean – Hmm how would I get there? Volcanic Islands?

Naracoote Caves National Park, Naracoote, SA – Looks interesting, haven’t been there.

Old Government House, Parramatta, NSW – Haven’t been there.

Mungo National Park, Mungo, NSW – Haven’t been there.

Lamington National Park, QLD – Looks beautiful, Gondwana rainforests. Home to rare Albert’s Lyrebird.

Main Range National Park, QLD – Haven’t been there.

Blue Mountains National Park, NSW – Have been and love it.

Daintree National Park, QLD – Fantastic tropical forests with great raised boardwalk through forest and river cruises to spot crocodiles.

Cradle Mountain Lake, St Claire National Park, TAS – I’ve been and love the picturesque views of Cradle Mountain. You can walk around lake. Very nice indeed.

Timestamps:

Intro to the show

1:52 – Understanding what a UNESCO World Heritage site is and Australian World Heritage sites

7:50 – How often do UNESCO add new sites and what’s the criteria for choosing what becomes a World Heritage site.

13:46 – Michael’s attempt to visit every 1121 UNESCO World Heritage sites

15:55 – What was the first UNESCO World Heritage site that Michael saw first?

22:10 – What does UNESCO stand for and what’s the most memorable UNESCO World Heritage site that Michael has visited

28:10 – The most unsatisfying UNESCO World Heritage site that Michael has visited

32:15 – Are all UNESCO sites pretty?

37:11 – Antoni Gaudi and his fabulous works and how do you tick a country off a list?

40:10 – Discussing the hand dandy little app to see how many UNESCO World Heritage sites you’ve been to

41:52 – The most difficult UNESCO site Michael tried to reach walking into a forest with Howler Monkeys

51:10 – Paying way too much for a Vietnamese taxi ride and what country has the most UNESCO sites? 

55:49 – Can sites be wiped off the UNESCO World Heritage list? And, the process of making the UNESCO World Heritage site

1:05:25 – Is there criteria that Michael uses to see certain UNESCO World Heritage sites and which are the next sites Michael will be visiting

1:09:56 – What made Michael want to visit all the UNESCO World Heritage sites?

1:14:02 – Final Questions

Outro to the show

Follow Michael:

Michael’s UNESCO World Heritage site blog titled Travel Time Turtle: timetravelturtle.com/

Michael’s Instagram: @michaelturtle

Michael’s Twitter: @michaelturtle

Additional Information:

World Heritage app that we spoke about is called, World Heritage – UNESCO List, I downloaded it on Android and I’m guessing you can download it on IOS also.

UNESCO World Heritage Site: https://whc.unesco.org/

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