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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Category: Nature
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.
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The Munda Biddi Trail, Western Australia
The Munda Biddi Trail is a 1,100-kilometre mountain bike ride from the coast at Albany to Mundaring, high in the hills outside of Perth. It’s off-road in the main, promising adventure and strange beauty. We set off from Melbourne one fine morning, excited about the road trip across the Nullarbor and the ride into unknown territory.
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Camino Portugues
September 2014
On a warm hazy afternoon, we met our French friends, Jean and Marie-José, on the steps of the Lisbon Cathedral, procured our pilgrim credentials and set out to walk the Camino Portugues.
This is our third Camino. In 2005 we walked the 750 km Camino Françes from St Jean Pied du Port on the French side of the Pyrenees, across northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela. Three years later we walked the Via de la Plata, a 1,000 km journey from Seville in the south of Spain to Santiago de Compostela. It was on this walk that we met and fell in with Jean and Marie-José, our affection for each other and ‘the way’ triumphing over our very limited grasp of French. We last saw them in 2010 when we spent a few idyllic days in their village of Saint-Thomè in the wild and beautiful Ardèche. Now we are together again, to walk the 650 km Camino Portugues from Lisbon, through Portugal and into northern Spain, hugging the coastline where we can and avoiding the more travelled inland route.
5 things you need to know about walking the Larapinta Trail
1. Why should I go?
The Larapinta Trail takes the walker deep into the astonishingly beautiful red-heart of Australia. It weaves its way through spectacular gorges, climbs over rugged peaks, drops into green oases and follows the meanderings of ancient rivers.
The Tjoritja / West MacDonnell Ranges is one of the oldest places on earth and when you look out upon these red-purple rounded ranges you feel their ancient ancestry. The indigenous owners of this land, the Arrernte, have a history dating back at least 40,000 years, one of the longest continuing cultures on the planet. Many of the sites you pass on the trail are sacred to the Arrernte people, who graciously allow walkers access to their country.
The Larapinta Tail has good facilities, with water, toilets and picnic tables at many campsites, a number of large shelters and USB charging points at several camps. The waymarking is good. The trail is mostly easy to follow although at times you have to keep your eyes open.
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