fish

March is the month for Melbourne magic. Find out why hundreds of thousands of people come to this trendy city during the southern autumn. We can offer five reasons: they have to do with food, fashion, Formula One, funny things — and fish!

A worker screens fresh fish eggs before they are washed and salted at the Stolt Sea Farm in Sacramento, California. White sturgeon are raised on a fish farm as a more affordable and ecological alternative to wild sturgeon, which are in danger of dying out.

Fish and chips date back 150 years, to the day when Joseph Malin sold his first portion of fried potatoes with battered fried fish to a curious customer in London's East End. Since then, fish and chips have become a British institution.

The Atlantic bluefin tuna is one of the largest, fastest, and most beautifully coloured of all the world's fishes. Their bodies are built for speed, and their huge appetite pushes their average size to a whopping 250 kilograms or more.

If you're spending time at the seaside this summer, you might want to know what is in the water! ANNA HOCHSIEDER presents marine vocabulary.

Taking time out for a treat is essential in these difficult times. And it needn't cost a lot, even in London. The shop-until-you-drop city has lots of affordable spas, and it's got the latest craze: Garra rufa fish that nibble your tired feet.

Today, people go to the Himalayas to meditate with Buddhist monks. Irish Christian monks were meditating 1,200 years ago in equally impressive surroundings, as a visit to Skellig Michael, off the west coast of Kerry, shows.

South Africa is a multitude of magnificent experiences, from the colonial towns of the Garden Route to the vast plain of the Karoo. Then there's the glamour and the glitz of Cape Town and its coastline as photographed by Franz Marc Frei.

Dublin Lawyer is lobster cooked in whiskey and cream. If you'd prefer something lighter, try oysters. They're often served with Guinness. Oyster festivals take place around the Irish coast all summer, with the most famous in Galway in September.