Islands
Tourism
Just how many sheep are there in New Zealand? Holidaying Kiwis can now have the answers to this and other questions about their homeland at their fingertips. The New Zealand Presentation Pack, launched last month by the country's tourism authority, contains fact-filled cue cards and "tailored speech notes" with which expatriate Kiwis can regale interested foreigners-and, it's hoped, entice them to visit. Some of the conversation starters on offer: New Zealand (pop. 3.8 million) is "a bit bigger than the U.K., a little smaller than Japan," and has "20 sheep for every person." The kit, which costs $13, also contains a promotional video and a (temporary) tattoo of New Zealand's national emblem, the silver fern.
Europe
Paris
His career lasted barely a decade. But 81 years after his last performance, Vaslav Nijinsky (1889- 1950) is still remembered as one of the most charismatic figures in 20th-century ballet. Admired for his animal grace and electrifying leaps, the Kiev-born dancer was also a groundbreaking choreographer whose four works, including The Afternoon of a Faun and The Rite of Spring, scandalized audiences. To mark the 50th anniversary of his death, a Musée d'Orsay exhibition documents how artists of the day, including Jean Cocteau, Auguste Rodin and Marc Chagall, portrayed Nijinsky. Also on show are crayon drawings made by the dancer in 1917, as he succumbed to the insanity that ended his career. Through Feb. 19.
Tours
It took an operation involving practically the entire British fleet to cripple the Bismarck in May 1941. But the sinking of the German flagship dealt a serious blow to Adolf Hitler's naval campaign. Coinciding with the 60th anniversary of its sinking off the southwest coast of Ireland, British tour operator Wildwings is offering deep-pocketed tourists the chance to participate in a 12-hour, 4,600-m submersible dive, billed as a world first, to the still largely intact wreck. The 14-day expedition, which departs Cork, Ireland, on June 11, costs $37,500 (participants who pass up the dive pay $5,500). For details and to book see .
Australia
Sydney
Sydneysiders who lack the time or resources to go on safari can wake to the roar of lions on a new overnight tour offered by the city's Taronga Zoo. "Roar and Snore" campers take a torchlight tour of the harborside zoo, sleep "under the stars" at its education center and breakfast with Dubbo the emu. Offered on Fridays and Saturdays to groups ranging from 10 to 25 people (children must be over six years old), the tour costs $88, which includes two tours and meals-participants supply their own sleeping bags. Tel. +61 2 9969 2777.