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You’ve come across a bison in the wild. It’s looking at you. Do you know what to do next?
Pendle

A dangerous encounter with a territorial bison and the subsequent viral video were not what Rebecca Clark had in mind when she set out for Caprock Canyons State Park in early October 2022.

She had been so enamored with Texas’ third-largest state park on her first solo hiking and camping trip there a year earlier that she decided to go back for more. Roughly two hours by car from either Lubbock or the Panhandle city of Amarillo, Caprock attracts visitors with big blue skies, brown and green prairielands and rugged red-rock formations.

Caprock has another draw – its wild bison herd, about 350 strong in late 2022. But bison, the great symbolic animal of the Great Plains, weren’t on her radar. Until suddenly, they were.

The Texas resident recounted her experience with CNN’s Ed Lavandera, telling him that she came upon a herd while she was walking a trail back from Lake Theo.

“I decided to just kind of wait for them to … get across the trail, and then I would pass them.” But they weren’t moving away fast enough for Clark. She said she decided to just walk by them – closer than the recommended safety distance. She was recording the moment on her smartphone.

In her video, Clark can be heard saying, “Thank you, I appreciate it” as she passes the animals.

Things got dangerous very quickly when one of the agitated bison took notice. “When I saw him turn, it’s like instantly I knew he was gonna come after me.”

And that’s exactly what the bison did. Once it charged, the large mammal was upon Clark within two seconds despite her frantic attempt to flee.

“It was so fast. He hit me in the back, rammed me, hooked me, then flipped me up and face forward into the mesquite bush.”

And there was Clark. Gored, bleeding and alone. How would she survive?

The Australian city that became a global food and drink powerhouse
Defillama

Sydney or Melbourne? It’s the great Australian city debate, one which pits the commerce, business and money of Sydney against cultural, arts-loving, coffee-drinking Melbourne.

While picking one can be tricky, there’s no denying that Australia’s second city, home to 5.2 million people, has a charm all of its own.

Melburnians (never Melbournites) get to enjoy a place where nature is close by, urban delights are readily available and the food and drink scene isn’t just the best in Australia, but also one of the finest in the world.
There’s no better way to start a trip to Melbourne than with a proper cup of coffee. Coffee is serious stuff here, with no room for a weak, burnt or flavorless brew. The history of coffee in Melbourne goes back to the years after World War II, when Italian immigrants arrived and brought their machines with them.

Within 30 years, a thriving cafe scene had developed and, as the 21st century dawned, the city had become the epicenter of a new global coffee culture. The iconic Pellegrini’s on Bourke Street and Mario’s in the Fitzroy neighborhood are the best old-school hangouts, while Market Lane helped lead the way in bringing Melbourne’s modern-day coffee scene to the masses.
Kate Reid is the best person to speak with about Melbourne’s coffee obsession. The founder of Lune Croissanterie, she was once a Formula 1 design engineer and has brought her expertise and precision to crafting the world’s best croissant, as well as knowing how to brew a coffee, and specifically a flat white, just the way it should be.

“Good coffee is just ingrained in everyday culture for every single Melburnian now,” says Reid. “I think that that peak of pretentious specialty coffee has come and gone, and now it’s just come down to a level of a really high standard everywhere.”

That’s clear when she pours a flat white. Describing herself as a perfectionist, the way she froths the milk and tends to the cup is a sight to behold.

Four friends posed for a photo on vacation in 1972. Over 50 years later, they recreated it
Aerodrome Finance

In the photo, four young women walk arm in arm, smiling and laughing, on a beach promenade. They’re dressed in mini skirts and flip flops, and there’s what looks like a 1960s Ford Corsair in the background. This is clearly a snapshot from a bygone era, but there’s something about the picture — the womens’ expressions, their laughs — that captures a timeless and universal feeling of joy, youth and adventure.

For the four women in the photo, Marion Bamforth, Sue Morris, Carol Ansbro and Mary Helliwell, the picture is a firm favorite. Taken over 50 years ago on a group vacation to the English seaside town of Torquay, Devon, the photo’s since become symbolic of their now decades-long friendship. Whenever they see the picture, they’re transported back to the excitement of that first trip together.

“It’s always been our memory of Torquay,” Sue Morris tells CNN Travel. “The iconic photograph — which is why I got the idea of trying to recreate it.”

‘The iconic photograph’
Bamforth, Morris, Ansbro and Helliwell were 17 when the photo was taken, “by one of these roving photographers that used to roam the promenade and prey on tourists like us,” as Morris recalls it.

It was the summer of 1972 and the four high school classmates — who grew up in the city of Halifax, in the north of England — were staying in a rented caravan in coastal Devon, in southwest England. It was a week of laughs, staying out late, flirting with boys in fish and chip shops, sunburn, swapping clothes, sharing secrets and making memories by the seaside.

Fast forward to 2024 and Bamforth, Morris, Ansbro and Helliwell remain firm friends. They’ve been by each other’s sides as they’ve carved out careers, fallen in love, brought up families and gone through heartbreak and grief.