"Twenty to 30 per cent of the views come from outside the country. We think this really helps people check these locations out before they come to visit," she said.
While the promo photos look good, the fact is Raffia didn't exactly complete an epic trek across the desert - zooming out on Google Maps shows that Raffia only covered a couple of kilometres, which is really a tiny area of the desert.
Still, it does look cool!
We are the world
• Driving around with fire in your car is never a very good idea; driving into a petrol station even less so.
We would have thought that to pretty much be common knowledge, however a woman in Florida apparently didn't grasp this.
The 18-year-old reportedly pulled into a petrol station in her Ford Fusion with - for some reason - a lit candle burning inside it.
She went inside the shop and, guess what! That's right; another customer alerted everybody to the fact that the Ford was now happily on fire on the forecourt.
The blaze was put out before the pumps caught fire and authorities are not charging the woman. After all, how do you charge someone with stupidity?
• Charles Agosto, 35, recently led Oregon police on a high-speed chase that resulted in him abandoning his car and legging it. Agosto had actually managed to lose the cops, until they smelled him.
It seems Agosto had been a little too liberal with the pre-chase cologne, leaving not only a "strong scent" in the car after his departure, but also a handy indicator to where he was hiding in nearby bushes.
Agosto was taken into custody without incident and officers said he told them he "regretted applying cologne" before leaving his house.
Learning the classics
Aside from being young, the single most annoying thing about young people these days is their apparent lack of interest in learning to drive properly - that is, with a manual transmission - and therefore never truly understanding the joy of driving.
Well, it seems that an insurance company in the US is doing something about that and in a very cool way.
Hagerty Insurance specialises in classic car insurance and last year started up a series of "driving experiences" that gave people aged 15 to 25 the chance to drive some seriously cool old classics, while being taught how to use a manual transmission at the same time.
According to the company's website, the programme is designed to "help build the next generation of classic car enthusiasts and keep the collector community strong".
Participants take part in a classroom session that outlines how a clutch and manual transmission operate as well as a car care essentials seminar to learn the basics of car maintenance, before taking the wheel of a classic car on the driving course.
And in case you are thinking that the term "classic" is a fairly broad one, check out some of the cars on hand at the most recent event: a Porsche 911 Carrera RS, a 1972 BMW 3.0 CSi, a 1969 Camaro.
Previous events have included a 1950 Willys Jeepster, a 1963 "split window" Corvette and a 1964 Aston Martin DB4. While we would have thought driving a DB4 would be a good way to put someone off manual transmissions forever, the rest of the line-up is pretty impressive.
The Good Oil learned to shift gears in a crappy old 1979 Mazda 626. Those damn kids just don't know how good they have got it ...
The ultimate boy toy
So let's say you have loads of money and a big space in your man cave (or whatever rich blokes call the place they go to hide and drink beer in), then you are in luck because US retailer Neiman Marcus' new Christmas catalogue has the perfect thing to jam into that space - a custom-built 1:32 slot car replica of your choice of real life racetrack!
Now before you start getting excited, there is a catch.
A rather large one, in fact, in the form of the price tag - US$300,000 ($382,287) not including delivery or installation ...
But what you do get for your money is pretty impressive - the track size is approximately 9 metres by 3.5 metres, handcrafted "scenic elements" including iconic structures, facades, period slot cars, spectators, pit crews, streetlights, foliage "and more" are included as well as integrated mini cameras and video screens, so you can enjoy your 1:32-scale battles on the big screen like a real race.
The track is made by US company SlotMods, who have done some incredible stuff in the past (in fact, their website - www.slotmods.com - is a treasure-trove of expensive boy toys), so the quality of the finished item is without doubt.
The Good Oil does wonder: if you got them to do Pukekohe, would they manage to capture the sheer awfulness of the old toilets in full 1:32-scale horror?
There is probably no way to scale down that smell though ...
Number Crunching
4.75 KM
The world's longest slot car track
2.5 HOURS
The time it took for two cars to complete the circuit
1583 KM/H
The scale speed of the world's fastest unmodified commercially Scalextric Honda F1 slot car
49.79 KM/H
The actual real world speed of the Honda F1 slot car
