What is it about train travel that is so alluring? Is it just a harking back to simpler days? Is it just another manifestation of the retro thing? Whatever. I hadn't been on a train in donkey's years, but having done the Ghan last year I now found myself sitting in one of the 1st class cabins … [Read more...]

Imagine being in a helicopter that just flew over the runways of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, one of the busiest in the world. Instead of having an air traffic controller going bonkers, screaming something to the effect of "what the hell are you doing here. Vacate immediately" they were … [Read more...]

Even as life begins to acquire a patina of normality, as we are let loose from the limitations of lock-down, it will be a long time yet before we can start travelling as freely as we once did, but we can still dream about it and more importantly prepare for it. One of the items higher up on my … [Read more...]

A post in the last couple of days by YoungAdventuress, telling how she was rescued after an accident in the New Zealand bush, brought to mind an article on outdoor survival  I wrote a few years back. Reading through it again, I thought it was well worth posting. It is written about survival in the … [Read more...]

The Lake District is one of the most popular regions for visitors . . . and no wonder.  It is just so blindingly beautiful. It has inspired poets and writers for centuries.  In fact it gave its name to a group of 19th century writers, the Lake Poets, most prominently William Wordsworth, Samuel … [Read more...]

Lately I've been wondering about photography when I am finally allowed out of this locked-down cage and can get back on the road. I have a small compact Canon Ixus camera that I take with me, but being basically lazy I usually just grab a shot of a point of interest with my Oppo smart-phone.  I … [Read more...]

  Don’t let anybody tell you that Adelaide is a boring city. That was the impression I was given from various sources before I arrived there. To start with, it’s a very pretty city. The surveyor who laid out the central city area created a huge open parkland around the perimeter of the … [Read more...]

If you have been to Britain before and therefore seen all the biggie London sightseeing options - you know,  The Tower, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Tower Bridge, St Pauls etc. etc. - or if you just enjoy something a little different in your sightseeing diet, here's a collection of lesser known but … [Read more...]

The guys at the travel blog Hand Luggage Only, Yaya and Lloyd, have put together a collection of 12 of the best day trips in England, like Durdle Door in Dorset on the "Jurassic Coast" (pictured). I couldn't have selected them or written it better myself, he said . . . . modestly, of course. … [Read more...]