Kayaking the Abel Tasman is sublime! Here is a photo account of my two days paddling down the NW South Island coast of NZ.
Woodland Walk to a Meteora Monastery in the Sky
Meteora’s Magnificent Monasteries For several hours we’d been winding our way up through ancient woodland when we broached the top of a hill and the largest and oldest of Meteora’s monasteries – The Great Meteoron – came into view. Perched on the top of its sandstone pillar it appeared to float in the sky against a […]
A Travelling Tale… or, How I Finally Got to Whistler
It should have been a simple trip – I was going to spend a week in Nelson, taking a return flight to Castlegar (mid way between Calgary and Vancouver); then return to Vancouver where the Whistler Shuttle (who guarantee that from Vancouver Airport you’ll be on your way within the hour of landing), would not only take me […]
12 Travel Highlights from 7 Countries
If you’d asked me this time last year “What are your travel plans for next year?” I’d simply have replied – “Scotland… I’m going to visit my Mum who lives in Scotland” That’s it. full-stop But the magic of travel highlights is their serendipity – Travel Highlights By way of example, I’d never have imagined a […]
Postcard from… the Amphitheatre in Nimes, France
Postcards from far flung places are fun – So here’s a digital postcard from the south of France. Nimes’ version of the Colosseum – Les Arènes or amphitheatre. Les Arènes is purportedly the best preserved Roman Amphitheatre in the world – And is amongst the 20 largest of the 230 remains of amphitheatres found scattered across what was the Roman Empire. […]
Have you Been Disappointed by a Travel Destination?
““Well,” said Pooh, “what I like best — ” and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn’t know what it was called” quote […]
D is for Doodling – Happy Hints for Jotting your Journey
Last Saturday I tweeted a link to a previous post asking: “Do you write, draw or collect in your travel journal?” Ian, of @EagerExistance replied: “write and collect. what would i draw?” So I answered: “Not so much ‘drawing’ as doing impressionistic doodles that’ll jog your memory better than words” Having recently spent a […]
Journey Jotting
No generic journals, please! I never take a generic journal away with me when I go travelling , bought prior to the trip. One of my ‘travel secrets‘ is to buy a small (my preference is an A6 sized) jotter/notebook in each country/region I visit so associations of the travel journal are connected to the place […]
Snowdrops to Bluebells
When I arrived in Scotland mid March the Snowdrops were in full bloom in both cultivated gardens and wild woodland glades ~ I was due to return to Australia 6 weeks later so the chances of seeing the first of the bluebells would possibly have been a little optimistic ~ But then Eyjafjallajökull, the Icelandic […]
Solway Firth Coastal Walk
Due to the Icelandic volcanic eruption of Eyjafjallajökull my stay in Scotland was extended 🙂 Making the most of the extra time, my sister and I did a coastal walk along the Solway Firth south of Dalbeatie between Sandyhills to Rockcliffe ~ There is something gorgeous about walking a trail that winds along a stone walled cliff’s edge […]