Aotearoa, New Zealand, the land of the long white cloud. We fly in over the rugged snow-capped southern alps to breathtaking glimpses of Mt Aspiring, Lake Tekapo, ice-blue ribbons of water and the grey scoured ghosts of long receded glaciers. A dramatically beautiful landscape. Then the wild country vanishes and in its place are the neat, green fields and hedgerows of the Canterbury Plains. We’ve come to tramp two of New Zealand’s ‘great’ walks; the five-day Heaphy Track in the north-west of the South Island and the four-day Tongariro Northern Circuit in the centre of the North Island.
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Category: Nature
Great Victorian Bike Ride: Grampians to Geelong
Prelude
A litany of creeks and rivers; the Merri, Mullum Mullum, the Maribyrnong, Kororoit, Dandenong, Moonee Ponds, the Yarra. All trails we ride with the impending Great Victorian Bike Ride in mind. Trees scarred with ceremony, the burnished gold cupolas of orthodox churches, a kangaroo by the western ring road unconcerned by the roar of trucks and tradies utes, artichokes and fennel growing wild, the last of spring’s wattles bright yellow with blossom. We train on the road as well, out in the hills beyond the city where tall trees grow and parrots flash past, a blur of neon green and red and blue.
Tour du Mont Blanc, France
Late Summer
The Tour du Mont Blanc is an epic 170-kilometre walk around the Mont Blanc massif, a dazzling landscape of snow-capped peaks, ice scarred mountains and tumbling glaciers. Its high, steep mountain passes are legendary and its wildness alluring. A walking journey through three different countries and cultures beckons (France, Italy and Switzerland). And the highest mountain in Europe, a fabled dome of snow and ice, will be our guiding star.
Summer in Provence
We are in Provence to visit friends and wander slowly through the heat haze of summer, travelling from the elegant former papal city of Avignon to the Mediterranean and up into the Rhône-Alpes.
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Into the Pyrénées
Summer 2016
Toulouse, capital of France’s southern Occitanie region, is close to the Pyrénées and perfectly positioned for a two-week sojourn studying french before we set off into the Haute-Pyrénées.
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Sweden in the Green Season
Sweden in the Green Season: Three Walks and a Beach
Just beyond the muted ochres and calm sophistication of Stockholm is a wilder world. Summer is the green season and it is greener the deeper into the woods you wander. You can catch a train to the last metro stop on the line going south or north and find yourself on a long-distance walking trail. Here is our story of walking the first section of three of these trails.
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Latvia: Rīga and Beyond
Late one warm Saturday afternoon finds us on the sundeck of the Rīga ferry as it navigates its way through the beautiful labyrinth that is the Stockholm archipelago.
We pass so close to some islands that we can exchange greetings with the summer house dwellers sunning themselves on the rocks. Islands upon islands, pine forests, red and yellow-painted summer houses, sailing boats, skerries. Then out into the Baltic Sea, calm enough on the night of our crossing to sleep without memory.
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The South Downs Way, England
Midsummer, 2016
The South Downs Way follows ancient tracks along the escarpment and ridges of the South Downs, a line of chalk hills stretching across Hampshire and Sussex to the white cliffs of the Seven Sisters. Green, smooth-swelling, unending, the Downs provided inspiration for the Bloomsbury group and continue to exhilarate artists, writers, travellers and walkers today.
The concourse of London Victoria station a frenzy of movement. Financiers striding anxiously to work as the Pound Sterling plummets in the wake of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union. Dazed festival-goers returning from Glastonbury leaving a trail of mud and ennui in their wake. And those like us, keen to be away from the city, jostling against the incoming human tide to board the train. On the southbound journey, we sit opposite a sardonic, linen-suited Guardian reader, eruditely discussing the Brexit referendum with his travelling companion. Read More
Three Capes Track, Tasmania
The Three Capes Track promises to be ‘no ordinary walk’. A boat trip, three capes and four days exploring the wild coastal landscapes of the Tasman Peninsula. Meandering through fragrant heathlands, woodlands and lush green rainforests, climbing peaks, edging our way along some of the highest sea cliffs in Australia and being drawn to the swirling cobalt blue sea below. Read More
Cape to Cape Track, Western Australia
The Cape to Cape Track follows the sublime coastline of Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park for 140 kilometres. We intend to start the walk at Cape Leeuwin, Australia’s most southwesterly lighthouse, and head north, past a glittering string of beaches, occasionally meandering inland through secluded woodlands and magnificent karri forest to end our journey at Cape Naturaliste lighthouse.
