Walking
At home in England, walking is a big part of our lives, either in the countryside or by the coast. So of course, as we make our way around the world we love to go trekking. Mountains are there to be conquered, hidden waterfalls need to be found, those ruins need to be experienced. In some more challenging places we may use a guide, for safety and for information. However, we usually walk alone, just us and the map and our sense of direction. There are few feelings better than sinking that rewarding beer at the end of a long day walking thinking back over all that you’ve seen. Quaint villages, fabulous views, village bars, classic buildings, you will see it all, the rewards are endless.
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Northwards To The Picturesque Town Of Boquete
“No ingles, solo español”, says Jose as we climb into his slightly battered looking speedboat. It takes Jose a good eight pulls on the cable before the motor finally bursts into life rather than coughing and spluttering, and we are off across the waves towards Isla Iguana, although the occasional phut-phut noises make us wonder if we’re going to make it. Despite the name of the island, iguanas, though they are here, are not the main reason to take an excursion to this dot of land out in the seas off Pedasi, and nor are the tens of thousands of crabs which make it look at times like the ground…
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Into (And Up) The Blue Mountains
On previous trips we have spent time in a remote tribal village in northern Thailand, in a mud hut in the Sunderbans mangrove swamps way beyond the reach of roads, and, in Albania, miles from anywhere in the wonderfully named Accursed Mountains. Our new location in Jamaica feels at least as remote and wonderful as those places…. This is without doubt one of the most breathtaking, peaceful, remote locations in which we have ever stayed, where exotic hummingbirds feed from the bottle bush trees and the occasional echoing bird call is all that breaks the silence. The hulking mountains loom large across the valley, darkened against the sky, brooding in…
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These Cornish Things
In our last blog post we discussed how unseasonable the current weather is, feeling far too mild to be cusp November. After over four decades of visiting Cornwall I really should have known better, for my comeuppance arrives swiftly and with a vengeance, in the form of howling gales and unforgiving hailstorms. Walking from Rock to Polzeath is a doddle, the morning clouds banished by the strong winds which, coming from behind, propel us along the coast path at roughly twice our normal walking speed. The return walk couldn’t be more different. Just in time for reaching the part of the path furthest from shelter, those winds, now head on…
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Changing Times, Different Moods
It definitely didn’t used to be like this, not when we were kids. Growing up in the Midlands – Michaela in the West Midlands and me in Derbyshire – it was cold by now and it had been so for weeks. October got progressively colder, frosts a regular morning feature, whitened cobwebs draped like lace across rockery plants and garden shrubs, the walk to school taking place with the protection of coats, hats, scarves, gloves. Hallowe’en was a non-event, just another night in the build up to Guy Fawkes Night aka Bonfire Night, but by the time we were standing back and watching the pyrotechnics light up the night sky,…
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Rocks, Trees & Fault Lines: Back Into California
When you imagine temperatures of over 110F (43C), you picture blistering sunshine and the need to find shade, yet for a good part of our drive across the desert from the Grand Canyon to Joshua Tree, the temperature gauge is up there above that number yet the skies are consistently overcast. It even rains a couple of times. When we step out of the car for a break, we are hit by a wall of heat incompatible with the cloudy skies above. Leaving the Interstate 140, we drive south west through some extraordinarily barren country, miles of dead straight road through open land. Once past the salt flats at Amboy…
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The Grandest Of Canyons
It’s only ten days since we crossed off a bucket list item with the seaplane flight over San Francisco, and now here we are boarding our first ever helicopter with pen metaphorically poised to cross off another. Is there conceivably a better place to do this than here at the Grand Canyon? A brief walk to the Bright Angel trailhead on the day of our arrival has given us our first glimpses of this wonder of the world, so our excitement levels as we receive our safety briefings are absolutely off the scale. There’s a short delay to check the craft – a bird has hit the windshield on its…
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This Is Yosemite
So many people had told us that Yosemite was fabulous long before we came here, and just about everyone whose advice we sought before planning our California adventure checked that we’d included Yosemite on our itinerary. Then, the guy in the Santana T-shirt at Downtown Joe’s in Napa said that we will never forget seeing Half Dome for the first time. None of this was a case of over selling; in fact, no amount of pre-warning can really prepare you for the unbridled joy of Yosemite. Even before we enter the Park, the drive from our base at “the Bug” to the Park gates is absolutely stunning, following the River…
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Giant Trees & Changing Weather: Acton-Sequoia-Morro Bay
So crystal clear is the light around Acton that the surrounding mountains are frequently cast into sharp detail, so clearly defined as to appear, at times, almost one dimensional. Morning light brings a shadowy dapple to the contours, evening sunsets swathe the mountainsides in a pinkish tinge; in between those times the bright sunlight brings a majesty to the whole scene. There is something very special about it. But our time in Acton is up and it’s goodbye to the mountains and canyons and it’s goodbye for now to my daughter Lindsay – opportunities to be with loved ones who live so far away are precious and it has been…
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Before The Road Trip Begins: Early Days In California
With a four week full on tour of California ahead of us, our first few days here feel something like a warm up exercise before the green light goes on and we’re away on the tour. Shorter but varied walks, some steep climbs and a measure of acclimatisation have been in order, though not without some surprises along the way – never mind the whole of California, there is plenty of variety in LA County, it seems. Our first base before we commence our road trip is my daughter Lindsay’s home in Acton, some 47 miles north of Los Angeles – although in truth we are a couple of miles…
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Farewell To Cornwall: Next Stop Cairo
As ever, we have loved this visit to Cornwall. Spring seems to have dawned before our eyes, colours have intensified, and Padstow, the estuary, the coast path…have all been as wonderful as ever. We always feel so at home here. We conclude our time here by climbing to the top of Brea Hill, the highest point in the area and consequently one of the best places from which to view the estuary. As we climb, we are again at low tide, vast reaches of golden sand either side of the river’s narrow channel where in just a few short hours water will stretch right across the divide. Windshields and windows…
