Johnny X gears up for his shark dive at The Bistro off Beqa Island. Betsa Marsh photo

By Betsa Marsh

Johnny X the SATW Traveling Teddy crossed the International Dateline to explore Fiji–the two-day odyssey felt a bit like a mini-hibernation.

Johnny flew across the US and the Pacific Ocean, took a bus and then hopped two boats to get to Beqa Island, pronounced “Mbenga”–that word took some practice! Johnny X travels for the third-grade class of St. Joseph Consolidated School in Hamilton, Ohio.

Johnny was coming to scuba dive in the warm water, where giant soft corals sway in the current and divemaster Joeli Delana led a shark dive! At 86 feet below the surface, we watched nurse, lemon and bull sharks swim by and snap severed skipjack fish heads out of Joeli’s hand in a fluid buffet line. Yikes!

Back on land, Johnny X went to the Methodist Church in the village of Raviravi, and later that day met a young chorister performing with the full church choir back at the Beqa Lagoon Resort.

Johnny X meets a young chorister of Raviravi Methodist Church on Beqa Island. Betsa Marsh photo

After catching two return boats and heading to Fiji’s largest island, Viti Levu, Johnny X traveled inland a bit, meeting young friends in the pottery village of Lawai. And he even jumped into the arms of the village’s  young warrior, Inosi Navoto of the warrior clan. That warclub he was carrying looked serious!

Johnny with children at Lawai pottery village. Betsa Marsh photo

Johnny with warrior Inosi Navoto in Lawai pottery village. Betsa Marsh photo

During a Waitui breakfast at the Warwick Fiji Hotel, Johnny X did a double-take–was that really a mermaid? Sure enough, and she wanted to cuddle with the furry little bear.

Johnny with a mermaid at Warwick Fiji Resort. Betsa Marsh photo

Even closer with a mermaid! Betsa Marsh photo

To wrap up an unforgettable Fijian trip, Johnny X jetboated up the Sigatoka River and met the village elders of  Naveyado Village. Afterwards, he joined a giant communal feast,

Yum! The village feast in Naveyado Village. Betsa Marsh photo

sitting on the floor, then dancing with his new village friends. Soon it really was time to hibernate on the two-day trip across the International Dateline to his den back home.

Just out! Cincinnati Essentials is my new app that covers the waterfront from Cincinnati’s Ghost Subway to flying pigs and frying goetta. Designed for travelers and residents alike, Cincinnati Essentials uncovers the best of the quirky Queen City.

The mobile guide for Apple iPhones, iPods and iPads is available for $2.99 on iTunes. All updates are free.

Greater Cincinnati’s major attractions and little secrets are revealed in more than 230 entries and 1,700 photos. You’ll learn how to eat Cincinnati chili five+ ways and where you’ll never get a shot of tequila at the bar, no matter how you plead.

Essential photos, GPS maps and easy searches help users:

* Cheer on the first professional team in baseball
* Track the stars on the oldest professional telescope in America
* Meet 700 dummies at the world’s only ventriloquism museum
* Try to follow Sarah the Cheetah, the world’s fastest land mammal
* Raise a stein at America’s largest Oktoberfest—and do the chicken dance.

The interactive app lists dozens of free and budget adventures, plus handy taxi maps to estimate fares.

Entries are sortable by name, distance, cost and neighborhood, as well as subjects such as art, attractions, Cincy eats, family fun, music, riverside revels, shopping and sports.

As many of you know, I covered the city on staff at The Cincinnati Enquirer. I’ve since written about Cincinnati for National Geographic Traveler, Hemispheres, Midwest Living and media across North America. I’ve reported from every continent, but still like landing at CVG.

A total history geek, I trained as a volunteer Cincinnati Heritage Programs history docent at the Cincinnati Museum Center, and you’ll see juicy tidbits from Cincinnati’s past in Cincinnati Essentials.

I just had to have it..... Mary Bergin photo

Ashley the Traveling Teddy also had a big day at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center, and loves to flip back through her scrapbook–

Ashley with the elephants.

Ashley making friends in a hill village.

At a temple.

With Chef Pitak Srichan at Four Seasons in Chiang Mai.

With the Buddha head woven into the roots of the bodhi tree.

With Siam Magic dancers.

The “Life on Lake Erie” photo contest is open to amateur photographers age 16 and older. Digital images taken between July 9, 2009, and July 9, 2010, in and around the Lake Erie watershed can be submitted to the Ohio Lake Erie Commission (OLEC) through July 16.

Winning photographs will be featured on the OLEC Web site and will become part of the commission’s traveling photo gallery. The images will appear at prime Ohio shoreline locations throughout the year, including the University of Toledo’s Lake Erie Center in Oregon and the Lake Erie Shores & Islands Welcome centers in Port Clinton and Sandusky.

There’s also a coupon for free admission for a child (12 and under) at the park system’s historic sites with a paid adult admission.

Ashley gears up for her gold mine tour. Betsa Marsh photo

Ashley the Traveling Teddy became a deep thinker on a recent tour of Wales–very deep, down 70 steps into a dark  shaft once worked by Romans 2,000 years ago.

Ashley travels for the third-grade class of Meredith Schroeder at St. Joseph Consolidated School in Hamilton, Ohio. The Traveling Teddy program is a geography outreach of the Society of American Travel Writers.

The Romans, who built a fort nearby at Pumsaint,  searched for gold at Dolaucothi using a drift mine into the hillside rather than a vertical shaft. They used fire and water to crack the quartz, and little children ages 10 to 14 would then sort out the quartz, looking for gold. It took a ton of quartz, according to Ray Miller of the National Trust, to yield an ounce of gold about the size of a peanut.

Archaeologists have found fragments of the Romans’ water wheels

Ray Miler of the National Trust teaches Ashley the ropes. Betsa Marsh photo

on the mining site. They’re now on display in the Cardiff Museum.

After the Romans, small-scale mining resumed in 1853 and grew until 1912, when, according to the BBC, the complex geology of the site brought an end to work there. Miners returned to Dolaucothi one last time between 1933 and 1938, after which the equipment was sold off.

Today, the National Trust has reconstructed the mineyard to the 1930s period. There’s a gold exhibit, a shop with rare Welsh gold and a tea room.

You can, of course, pan for gold there–Ashley tried her paws, but didn’t find enough to quit her day job as traveling ambassador for the students of St. Joseph.

Ray Miller of the National Trust welcomes Ashley and other travelers to the Long Adit, the Roman opening to Dolaucothi Gold Mine in Wales. Betsa Marsh photo

Any veteran or current member of the armed forces can ride for free on the 1:30 p.m. train on Memorial Day. Immediate family members living with them ride for free, too.

Can’t ride on Memorial Day? Veterans, current military and their families receive a discount all year long on any regular train departing at noon or 2:30 p.m. Call to reserve a seat on the train and show your military ID or DD214 at the depot when picking up tickets. Leave a message at 800-967-7834 or call the depot on the weekend at 740-753-9531.

Weekends from May to October, volunteers blast the whistle, ease the train out of the station and start a trip back in time. The non-profit Hocking Valley Scenic Railway has been chugging through the scenery of the Appalachian foothills for 35 years ago.

The county is home to almost 300 different kinds of birds at different seasons of the year, including bald eagles which nest at Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge in Seymour and near Starve Hollow State Recreation Area in Vallonia.

Migrating Sandhill cranes fly into Jackson County fall through spring, and sometimes 6,000-8,000 birds can be seen in the Ewing Bottoms, on the north side of Brownstown.

March 6 events:

• At Muscatatuck, children can make bird bookmarks and visitors can take home a free Sandhill crane poster. The hiking trails will be open, as well as the Visitor Center from 8 a.m.- 4 p.m.

• Starve Hollow’s Birding Day activities will include free gate admission, kid’s “crane” crafts and directions to view an eagle nest. The Visitor Center will be open 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

• At Jackson-Washington State Forest in Brownstown, the property manager will be on hand to answer questions about the birds and the Skyline Drive Scenic Overlook.

For information, call the Jackson County Visitor Center at 888-524-1914.