CBBC star presenter, Naomi Wilkinson )of Naomi’s Nightmares of Nature, Marrying Mum & Dad, Wild and All Over The Place), counts herself extremely lucky to have a job that has taken her all over the world. Here are some of her absolute favourites…
Australia
We recorded a few items for ‘All Over The Place: Australia’ (CBBC) at Circular Quay in Sydney which is one my all time favourite spots to visit. It’s a hive of activity with cafes and bars bustling with life, buskers entertaining the tourists and everyone enjoying the relaxed Aussie style of living. I had to dress up as one of the two tenors and sing on the steps of The Opera House; on a boat cruising the harbour and believe it or not, on the stage! That was a pretty surreal day. We also climbed the Harbour Bridge which is an adventure I highly recommend. It takes a few hours and a head for heights but the view from the top is spectacular.
Belize
Having had a life-long phobia of sharks the ‘Naomi’s Nightmares of Nature’ (CBBC) team are always keen to throw me in at the deep end, so I was taken to San Pedro which is a 45 minute flight from Belize City Airport. We took a boat ride out to Shark Ray
Alley to snorkel with Nurse sharks and Southern stingrays. The sun was shining, the sea was turquoise and crystal clear and, once I had battled the fear-factor, swimming alongside those awesome creatures was a privilege and a half that I won’t forget in a hurry!
USA, Wyoming
Yellowstone National Park is enormous and breathtakingly beautiful. The scenery is epic with the mountains towering over you making you feel very small, it is packed with wildlife and the geysers and hot springs are amazing, like nothing I have ever seen before. We totally lucked out as we were in just the right place at the right time to see 2 black bear cubs with their mother taking their very first swim in a lake. We also headed to a spot called
‘The Top of the World’ (which truly felt like it) where I attempted to climb like the mountain goats that are performing their unbelievable balancing act up there.
South Africa
We travelled right across South Africa and I could recommend many locations to visit here, but the destination I loved the most was Boulders Beach Penguin Colony in False Bay, just south of Simon’s Town. It’s very hard not to have a huge grin on your face whilst watching about 3,000 African penguins waddling along a hot, sandy beach and as they are also known as the ‘jackass’ penguin we were able to enjoy their braying donkey-like calls in close proximity which was a real treat.
England
You can’t go wrong heading down to North Devon or North Cornwall in my opinion. On a sunny day this fabulous stretch of coastline with its gorgeous beaches is hard to beat. When I was working at Milkshake! (Channel 5) I was set a challenge to learn to surf, a sport I had never tried before. My lesson took place on Croyde beach with Surf South West surf school and after a few hours in the sea I was completely hooked and have been surfing every year since. Go and hire yourself a board and a wetsuit (loads of the beaches have equipment to hire) and have a surf lesson… you won’t regret it.
Want to learn to surf in North Devon? Find out more here.
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