A Road Tour of Southern Ireland – 10 Highlights
Once outside of Dublin, 6 days allowed us plenty of time to explore Southern Ireland's Highlights - and Lowlights.
Browse for “Lowlights” to get an honest insight into the pitfalls of travelling and avoid them if you can. Forewarned is forearmed!
Pa amb tomàquet - Tomato Bread
Walk the Catalan Coast – A 7 Day Itinerary
We’re Walking the Catalan Coast - Y Viva Espanã. Join me for a week long hike along 80 kilometres of the stunning coastline of Catalonia.
The Lake District’s Energy Coast – Wastwater, Drigg and The Rum Story
Visit the Lake District's Energy Coast and discover stunning Wastwater, Drigg and learn all about the fascinating Rum Story at Whitehaven.
Sal Salis WA - Snorkelling
Exmouth to Carnarvon – Coral Reef, Wallabies and The Dish
Exmouth to Carnarvon Coral Reef, Wallabies and The Dish Our last day at Sal Salis started early as we had a 4 hour 38 minute drive from Exmouth to Carnarvon…
Shark Bay Aviation Scenic Flight
Monkey Mia to Ningaloo Reef – A Scenic Flight over Shark Bay and a Thorny Devil!
We made an early start today on our journey from Monkey Mia to Ningaloo Reef so we could take a pre-booked early morning scenic flight with Shark Bay Aviation. Their “bargain” flight is 40 minutes long and is a really great way to get a different perspective on this vast and largely inaccessible wilderness area. You get superb views of the huge salt works, lagoons, Dirk Hartog Island, Steep Point (the most Westerly point of mainland Australia), sea clliffs and the wondrous crystal clear blue spectrum of the Indian Ocean.
Francois Peron National Park WA
Monkey Mia – Touch Another World One Bite at a Time!
A great coffee is always a good way to start the day and Australia is truly expert at it. The flat white at the Monkey Mia Dolphin Resort is particularly good and the ocean side restaurant is a lovely spot for breakfast. A pod of dolphins pops in reliably
Perth - a blend of old and new but young at heart
Polished Perth
Polished Perth - capital of a state ten time the size of Great Britain - is as close to the nearest big city (Adelaide) as London is to Leningrad. Perth is a large, clean, modern city much like many others, but its balmy climate, position by the wide, blue Swan River and radiant sunlight bouncing off the skyscrapers gives it a unique charm all of its own. It is, in every sense, very polished with a smart, high-sheen finish.
Kalgoorlie Super Pit Digger
Kalgoorlie to Perth – Rough and Tough
It is a long way from Esperance to Kalgoorlie - and an even longer road from Kalgoorlie to Perth (7 hours with one brief stop). This Place is Rough and Tough. With hindsight, we should have spent 2 days in Kalgoorlie which would have given us a chance to visit the Super Pit and also the Flying Doctor Service which is based here, which would have been really fascinating.
Kalgoorlie Street Art
Esperance to Kalgoorlie – #DriveYourselfWild
Esperance to Kalgoorlie - #DriveYourselfWild It is a 4 and a half hours drive from Esperance to Kalgoorlie, which gives you limited time to explore once you get there, so…
Kangaroos - Quaalup Homestead Fitzgerald River NP WA
Albany to Bremer Bay – “No Worries Mate!”
We woke early on the morning of our drive from Albany to Bremer Bay and enjoyed a hearty breaky (pronounced brekkie) at the Three Anchors in Alby. (Hey - this learning the lingo is a real breeze!). A group of other early risers were lifting weights with big grins on their faces outside the cafe. Middleton Beach has a net line set up for swimmers (large marine animals can’t pass through it, but small fish can) and there were half a dozen of them braving the cool morning to have a dip in the ocean.
View from White Elephant Cafe
Margaret River – Kaya Wadandi Noongar Boodja
Exploring the Margaret River Region. Kaya Wadandi Noongar Boodja - Aborigini for “Hallo and Welcome to Wadandi Noongar country. This morning, we took the short drive to Ambergate Reserve and Walk Trail and walked through the bush in search of wildflowers.
Cape Lodge - The view from the excellent restaurant
Accommodation Review: Cape Lodge Margaret River
Cape Lodge, Margaret River is a very well appointed hotel with lovely gardens big enough to take a nice stroll around. Spacious, light and airy rooms have lake or garden views and spa baths big enough for two.
Mandurah
Perth to Mandurah – Slow down and enjoy the ride …
We picked up the hire car this morning to drive from Perth to Mandurah and were a bit disappointed to find it had no sat nav as we had requested. Fortunately, our 'phone plans cover Australia, so we could plug them into Apple Play and get by on Google maps. Perth is not a busy city by any means and was easy to navigate our way out of. We were quickly out into the country and driving on deserted roads. There is so much SPACE here! It is also much greener than we expected, although the earth is deep red underneath.
Pan Pacific Perth WA
Accommodation Review – Pan Pacific Perth
The Pan Pacific comfortable hotel well located in the centre of downtown Perth a short walking distance from the lively Elizabeth Quay area, the (free) bus to King's Park and the Swan River.
Louisiana State Penitentiary Gruesome Gertie Electric Chair
The Road Less Travelled – Louisiana State Penitentiary – Just Visiting …
White City to Natchez via the Louisiana State Penitentiary The great joy of travelling is that you never quite know what the day has in store for you. The Louisiana…
Mississippi River Road
Mississippi River – Laisser les Bons Temps Roulez …
Laissez les bons temps roulez - let the good times continue to roll though... We moved on today to White Castle, driving the river road up the great Mississippi River to White Castle. This is sugar plantation country. It was fun to pass road signs to all the places you hear about in the songs you love
Never let the things you want make you forget the things you have
Seasickness on Hurtigruten – The Lowlight
Gale force winds were blowing all day today meaning that the ship was rocking about a lot leaving many people feeling nauseous - including me. The on board shop was doing. roaring trade in sea sickness tablets - even the crew were taking them. The decks were closed, which meant you couldn't even get a breath of air. Everything began to feel very claustrophobic. Unfortunately, seasickness on Hurtigruten is something you may well have to put up with if the weather is rough - which it often is - so come prepared!
Highland Cow
Rock Rose Gin – One of Nature’s Little Treats
Oldeshoremore and Loch Gleann Dubh The day started fine, so we headed over to the beaches at Oldshoremore that we had driven past in our haste to reach Sandwood Bay.…
Life is good on Sandwood Bay
Life is Good on Sandwood Bay
Sandwood Bay - One of Scotland's Most Beautiful Hidden Beaches About 20 miles from Durness, via Kinlochbervie, the road turns off to the right towards Oldshoremore and leads to a car park…
Rainbow
BettyHill to Durness
En route from Bettyhill to Durness, we stopped at the Strathnaver Museum in Bettyhill (opens at 10). The museum gives excellent coverage of the Highland Clearances.
Sounds of Silence - Doubtful Sound
Experience the Sounds of Silence of Shadowland
Yesterday, we took a short cruise with Real Journeys across Lake Manapouri then a coach trip on the remote sub-alpine route over Wilmot Pass and into Doubtful Sound where we docked overnight on the Fiordland Navigator. This is a very peaceful and beautiful place where you can experience the Sounds of Silence of Shadowland. The boat turned off its engines and everyone kept a complete silence for five minutes - blissful.
First view of Rob Roy Glacier
Wonderful Wanaka – Mount Iron Loop Trail/Rob Roy Glacier Tramp
Yesterday, we took the 4.5km Mount Iron Loop Trail which gives great views of Wonderful Wanaka as a reward for the very steep uphill climb. We were only walking for a couple of hours, but the elevation gain - up hill consistently for an hour - made it feel like harder work than that.
Sanctuary in the Sounds Punga Cove Resort
Sanctuary in the Sounds – Punga Cove Resort – Queen Charlotte Sound
Punga Cove Resort - Sanctuary in the Sounds It was a day’s drive from Tongariro to Wellington via the twisting, scenic Wanganui River Road. The next day, we boarded the Interislander ferry from Wellington to Picton - a 3 and a half hour journey. From there, we boarded a pre-booked water taxi (operated by Cougar Line enquiries@cougarline.co.nz) and arrived at beautiful Sanctuary in the Sounds of Punga Cove Resort - an hour and a half later.
Whangamatā Bucket List
Life’s a Beach in Whangamata – Barefoot Walking
Life's a Beach in Whangamata Barefoot Walking If it’s good enough for the kiwis, then it’s good enough for us -we walked 10k today - barefoot! OK - it was…
Finland can be really beautiful
Homeward Bound – Thank Goodness!
A 5.30 start was again scheduled – we didn’t go. Good move – bacon was back on the breakfast menu this morning and was still quite hot early on. Temperatures on the vans were -14 this morning and the only bird anyone saw was the red grouse, again. No Snowy Owls then (which was the one bird we had really both been hoping to see).
Cape Fur Seal Colony Robberg Peninsula
Knysna – Not so Nicena
We hiked the Robberg Peninsula today - a really lovely walk. The weather was overcast, which was a bit of a shame, but it was warm and dry at least. There are a lot of lovely coastal and forest walks around Knysna - much nicer than the built up areas all around the coast from here to Plettenberg Bay (Plett). In parts of the Garden Route aalong the coast, there are townships on both sides of the road - not at all scenic. Lots of properties here have electric fences protecting them and most shops/hotels etc seem to have 24 hour armed respond security. A quarter of the back page of the Visit Knysna tourism flier has safety advice for tourists. All common sense stuff, but disconcerting nonetheless
Sicla - Doing the Weeding
Goodbye Shamwari – Hallo Knysna
This morning was our last 5am start and our last game drive. It was time for us to say "Goodbye Shamwari - Hallo Knysna". Sicla was on a mission to find me more elephants - not too difficult to track with the large prints their feet make. They are rather like huge marshmallows!
Going in for the kill. Hands off - this is all mine!
Cheetah Going in for the Kill … 4 out of the Big 5
Today's game drives would reward us with sightings of 4 of the Big 5 (rhino, buffalo, elephant, cheetah and leopard). This morning, an hour or more's driving was rewarded by a cheetah sighting. The kill was fresh - somewhat distressing (more so as the prey was a pregnant female springbok) until you get used to the fact that you are watching the natural world all around you as it happens in real life here. The light was right and we were - with some valuable guidance. From our very talented guides - able to take some great shots.
Dolphin Trail picnic lunch - complete with table cloth!
Hike to the Fernery
We left the comfort of the Misty Mountains Resort and set off on the second day of our hike, through wild garlic, curry plant, pelargoniums, yellow daisies, arum lilies and trees I have never a seen before. We saw: iron wood (heavier than water so it doesn't float); stink wood (used for furniture, and smells when cut) and knot wood - which looked like something from prehistoric times. We passed through banks of pretty coral fern, which is (somewhat unbelievably given its delicacy and the distance) harvested for export to florists mainly in France, Germany and Holland.
Concrete Baboons - the Closest I got!
Don’t feed the baboons …!
It took us 5 hours to reach Hlangana Lodge. There was little traffic and the route was indeed scenic. We passed a woman carrying a large cardboard book on her head - no hands - better deportment than you see on most high streets back home. Several people had woolly hats on - odd as it was over 30 today. We also saw an ostrich running wild, with 3 chicks. The highlight though was the baboon troop running across the motorway. We were looking out for them as there were notices warning you not to feed the baboons. Hard to photograph through the car window and we didn't want to slow down too much or stop for obvious reasons.