November 30th to December 12th 2020 There are very few places remaining in the world where you can still experience authentic wilderness and abundant wildlife with no humans living there. New Zealand’s subantarctic islands are one such place. Not only are they within our locked down borders, but there is a New Zealand owned and … Continue reading Galapagos of the Southern Ocean – a trip to the subantarctic islands with Heritage Expeditions
Category: Travel Adventures
Central Otago Rail Trail
January 2020 We had talked about doing the Central Otago rail trail for years. We’d even bought mountain bikes to explore the trails around Wanaka, but it took a phone call from our friend Fiona in Sydney to galvanise us into action. Fiona and Graham were planning a trip to New Zealand and they wanted … Continue reading Central Otago Rail Trail
Hike in the Grose Valley, Blue Mountains April 2019
Prefatory note: I had intended to publish this months ago but it's been a busy old year. Now, with bushfires almost surrounding Sydney and threatening many national parks including parts of the Blue Mountains, it's timely to pay tribute to the stunning and glorious Grose Valley. Hopefully it will survive. So here finally is the … Continue reading Hike in the Grose Valley, Blue Mountains April 2019
Atlas Mountains to the Arctic 2018, Part 4 – Spitsbergen, Norway, Germany and Singapore
Spitsbergen Day Seventy-two … Thursday, 31st May Scotland to Spitsbergen We were up bright and early and after breakfast it was time to pack up the car and head to Edinburgh airport. Rob kindly drew a mudmap of how to get to the nearest petrol station to the airport. We bade our fond farewells, thanking … Continue reading Atlas Mountains to the Arctic 2018, Part 4 – Spitsbergen, Norway, Germany and Singapore
Atlas Mountains to the Arctic 2018, Part 3 – UK: England, Scotland, the Orkney Islands and the Isle of Skye
England Day Forty-three … Wednesday 2nd May Barcelona to Gatwick After a fantastic buffet breakfast with an international spread and lots of healthy options, we decided to set off from the Tryp Airport Hotel and head to the airport early, as Hertz’s reputation online (and directly) was clearly unreliable at best. We could find no … Continue reading Atlas Mountains to the Arctic 2018, Part 3 – UK: England, Scotland, the Orkney Islands and the Isle of Skye
Atlas Mountains to the Arctic 2018, Part 2 – Portugal, the Azores and Northern Spain
Portugal Day Twenty Four…Friday 13th April Tavira – the Algarve We woke at Quinta do Caracol, our quirky but delightful B&B to much improved weather. The "Quinta do Caracol", Portuguese for farm of the snail, or Snail Farm had been in the family for generations and dated back to 1680. Originally the farm produced olives … Continue reading Atlas Mountains to the Arctic 2018, Part 2 – Portugal, the Azores and Northern Spain
Atlas Mountains to the Arctic 2018, Part 1- Seville, Morocco, southern Spain
Worldwide there were more people travelling than ever before – many of them seemingly to Wanaka. In 2018 we decided to reverse the flow and head to Europe and Morocco for another awfully big adventure. It was a wonderful and enriching trip, we had extraordinary and memorable experiences wherever we went. However, we became increasingly … Continue reading Atlas Mountains to the Arctic 2018, Part 1- Seville, Morocco, southern Spain
Trekking Nepal’s Langtang Valley – March 2017
When Harry, an old university friend wrote asking if anyone wanted to join him on a trek in Nepal I jumped at the chance. The last time I had trekked there was more than 30 years ago and, with both of us now in our 60s, retired, respective children flown the nest, I thought what … Continue reading Trekking Nepal’s Langtang Valley – March 2017
Homeward bound
Paris to Singapore and NZ Day 95 Wednesday 14th September, Roissy/Singapore Air travel is generally never as exotic or exciting as the ads make out – it’s shuttles, check in, security checks, queues, more security checks and then (if you’re travelling economy – and of course we are) an exercise in contortionism and bladder … Continue reading Homeward bound
Cycling the Loire
Day Ninety-One – Saturday, 10th September Loire Valley We wandered down from our upstairs bedroom in the main home and into the adjacent building (former barn) for sumptuous breakfast together with Steve, Sandra, Jessica, James and Anders. Then they went one way and we went the other. We were very impressed with the way everything … Continue reading Cycling the Loire
waterworthcreative 