Arctic Dreams: The Polar Bears of Churchill. PART I
Arctic Dreams: The Polar Bears of Churchill. PART I

Arctic Dreams: The Polar Bears of Churchill. PART I

Things can get pretty wild this far north. And I’m not talking about the nightlife. But for today at least the weather is behaving itself. It’s minus 13 degrees Celsius with wind-chill out on the sub-Arctic tundra near Churchill, Manitoba but the skies are clear and the barely-there dawn light is perfect.

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Travel Wishlist: Kamchatka, Russia
Travel Wishlist: Kamchatka, Russia

Travel Wishlist: Kamchatka, Russia

Most people have probably not even heard of Kamchatka. And it’s not surprising. This volcanic wilderness is a 1250 km long peninsula on the far eastern coast of Russia and is almost as remote as it gets. Often referred to as the ‘land of fire and ice’, Kamchatka is adventure travel at it’s finest.

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Wolf Watching in Yellowstone National Park
Wolf Watching in Yellowstone National Park

Wolf Watching in Yellowstone National Park

I am awake long before my alarm sounds at 4am. Rising at 4am is not something I do well. In fact, I actively try to avoid any kind of anything before 7am. But today is different: today I plan to see wolves in the wild in Yellowstone National Park. And so I drive. In the dark of night the winding road into the park seems more treacherous that it did in daylight yesterday and I am very aware that the park’s wildlife is most active at this pre-dawn hour. And by wildlife I don’t mean squirrels and rabbits. I mean grizzlies and bison. I drive with my foot on the brake, struggle to keep my eyes open and try not to think about my caffeine-starved state.

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Notes From North Pole, Alaska: Northern Lights
Notes From North Pole, Alaska: Northern Lights

Notes From North Pole, Alaska: Northern Lights

It begins as a wispy motion in the sky, almost as if your eyes are playing tricks you. On our first night we sit in the cold and the darkness with our hot chocolates, watching, waiting. There is only darkness for what seems like hours. And then something changes. An almost undetectable lightening in one section of sky and a then a slight movement of this light. I blink once. Twice. The Aurora Borealis. It’s so faint that I’m not convinced. It’s 1am, I’m beyond tired and maybe my eyes are just clouding over. I’m not even totally sure I’m awake.

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The Road Less Travelled
The Road Less Travelled

The Road Less Travelled

While the Camino Frances is considered the main way to Santiago, there are in fact numerous less-trodden and just as inspiring routes. Traditionally, to begin the pilgrimage to Santiago, one would simply step out their front door, wherever that happened to be, and start walking in the general direction of the western coast of Spain.

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Pacific Northwest Coast: Northern California and Oregon in Photos
Pacific Northwest Coast: Northern California and Oregon in Photos

Pacific Northwest Coast: Northern California and Oregon in Photos

And so we drove. And drove, and drove. With long, tiring driving days and only a couple of nights for each stop, it was torture to not be on a time frame that allowed us to stay in some of these places for a week, two weeks…a lifetime. Almost as soon as we crossed the indiscriminate border from California into Oregon the weather seemed to shift. A misty rain ensued and we drove through cloud and fog and sometimes both. There were times when the sea to our left was entirely invisible but, every now and then, it would appear.

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The Last Train to Tangier
The Last Train to Tangier

The Last Train to Tangier

We’ve all heard the horror stories of travellers being thieved, conned and swindled whilst on the road. It makes it difficult to know when to trust and when to be wary. I’m pondering this as I watch a handsome man hastily weave away from me through the crowd with my trusty backpack held high above his head. "Here, let me help you” he had said with a friendly smile, and in less than a second he was twenty metres away and I was about thirty kilos lighter.

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A Day on the Ice: Ice Climbing the Matanuska Glacier
A Day on the Ice: Ice Climbing the Matanuska Glacier

A Day on the Ice: Ice Climbing the Matanuska Glacier

Taking a well-rounded spirit of adventure and cranking it up to the next level is always a fun thing to do – and ice climbing fits that bill perfectly. I have to admit, I think I am addicted.All I’ve thought about since our day on the ice is….when am I going to do this again? I’ve even googled potential ice climbing hot spots back home in Australia. So, you have been warned: ice climbing can be seriously addictive. But, for even the slightly adventurous at heart, what trip to Alaska would be complete without

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Photo Essay: Remembering Venice
Photo Essay: Remembering Venice

Photo Essay: Remembering Venice

I've always been a romantic at heart. In Venice, I deliberately left my map behind in the hotel room and fell into the maze of streets and canals...espresso in one hand and camera in the other. Yes, definitely a precarious balancing act at times but, really...sometimes it's difficult to decide which one takes priority.In this case, being mid-winter I needed both, but my camera won out in the end. I was almost instantly lost of course amongst the rustic, crumbling walls and surprising splashes of colour in this sinking city.

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A Change of Plans
A Change of Plans

A Change of Plans

We see photographs of Alaska and marvel over the stunning landscapes and we think we have some idea of what to expect. But no photograph or movie footage can prepare you. Photographs can’t capture the dizzying vastness, the way the landscape changes so dramatically as you travel, the way the fall colours shift with the weather, or the way this wild place can make you feel so small and insignificant.

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‘THE WAY’: A Film of the Camino de Santiago

‘The Way’ follows the story of a father who decides to complete his son’s journey to Santiago after he is killed in a storm  in the Pyrenees whilst walking his first day of the camino. Emilio Estevez wrote and directed the film and also acts alongside his on-screen and off-screen father, Martin Sheen. The story begins in St Jean Pied de Port where Tom (Martin Sheen) hoists on his son’s backpack and begins walking to the cathedral of Santiago some 780 kms away.
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Posted on Nov 13, 2010 in Camino de Santiago, Europe, Spain by 0 Comments

Budget Travel: How to Travel For Less

Budget Travel: How to Travel For Less

 

If you want to get more bang for you buck, you’re going to have to do things a little differently to what you are used to. Here are some of my tried and true suggestions to save your cash while travelling:

 

Travel outside of the peak seasons

In most of Europe and North America the summer months are ‘peak season’ and is a popular time to travel for obvious reasons. It’s also when all the locals take their summer holidays. Higher demand means higher prices and in particular accommodation can be up to three times more expensive in peak season.

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Posted on Nov 7, 2010 in Backpacking, Budget Travel, Travel Advice by 4 Comments

People or Place

People or Place

It’s with good reason that Vancouver is labelled one of the world’s most livable cities. It literally has the best of everything right at your fingertips: Pacific coastline, skiing on Grouse Mountain, hiking in North Vancouver, arts, culture, and Canadians are just so damn nice! It’s very difficult to fault it. Okay, so we all know it rains a lot. A lot. But I love the rain so I stand by my argument. 
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Posted on Nov 4, 2010 in Canada, North America, Vancouver by 0 Comments

First Snow

First Snow

“I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape – the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn’t show.”
 Andrew Wyeth 
 
I saw snow for the first time in 2001 in Vancouver. I awoke one morning to find a much whiter world than the night before and the tiny feathery flakes were still falling. You’d have thought all my Christmases had come at once. I was the total stereotype: I frolicked, I made snow angels, had a snowball fight with my cousin and I’m pretty certain I was giggling the whole time.

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Posted on Oct 29, 2010 in Canada, Cold Places, North America by 0 Comments

California Dreaming

California Dreaming

 

Crowded House’s ‘Don’t Dream its Over’ is blaring from the car stereo, windows are all rolled down as far as they can go, we have a good supply of chocolate and the salty Pacific air is making my eyes sting.

Yes, this already has the makings of the perfect Californian road trip.

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Posted on Oct 25, 2010 in California, North America, Roadtrip by 0 Comments

Travel Wish list: Kamchatka, Russia

Travel Wish list: Kamchatka, Russia

 

Most people have probably not even heard of Kamchatka. And it’s not surprising. This volcanic wilderness is a 1250 km long peninsula on the far eastern coast of Russia and is almost as remote as it gets.

 

Until 20 years ago tourists were not able to visit the area and even now parts of it are only accessible by helicopter. Kamchatka is very difficult to explore independently and, unless you happen to have your chopper license handy, often impossible.

There are of course companies that offer organised trekking tours. For a price.

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Posted on Oct 20, 2010 in Adventure Travel, Cold Places, Europe by 3 Comments

Books: ‘The Snow Tourist’ by Charlie English

Books: ‘The Snow Tourist’ by Charlie English

 

I always find it staggering that someone can write an entire book about a single, simple topic and make is absolutely fascinating.

The skill is not in filling 300 odd pages about one subject (most of the literate amongst us could probably do that if we put our mind to it), but that they have actually made it interesting.

Charlie English does this in his book The Snow Tourist and he does it so beautifully, so elegantly, that I had trouble putting it down.

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Posted on Oct 15, 2010 in Adventure Travel, Books, Cold Places by 0 Comments

Photo: Myrtos Beach, Greece

Photo: Myrtos Beach, Greece

 

 

“The first thing that struck me was the painful clarity of the light.
I suppose that would be ridiculous to maintain that the air in Kefalonia has no density, but the light is so pellucid, so pure, that one is temporarily blinded and overwhelmed, and yet feels no pain…I found that in Kefalonia the night falls without the intervention of twilight, and that before it rains the light is like mother-of-pearl.
After it rains, the island smells of pines, warm earth, and the dark sea.“
Louis de Bernieres, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin

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Posted on Oct 13, 2010 in Europe, Greece, Photography by 1 Comment

How Many Days Travel Can $1000 Get You?

How Many Days Travel Can $1000 Get You?

The guys at the Rough Guides have done their research and come up with this great little chart that answers the above question. The number of days is calculated on serious budget travelling (staying in hostel dorms, eating from street vendors etc) with a minimal amount of time spent in the major cities. Read more

Posted on Oct 11, 2010 in Backpacking, Budget Travel, Travel Advice by 0 Comments

A Stroll in Paris

A Stroll in Paris

 

“Paris is a world meant to be seen by the walker alone,

for only the pace of strolling can take in all the rich detail”

Edmund White

 

Paris is one of my all time favourite cities and wandering the streets of Paris is a joy in itself.

 

The Eiffel Tower, The Louvre etc are all must-sees of course, but by simply wandering you invariably stumble upon the real treasures that Paris has to offer:

Browsing the stalls of the Bouquinistes (antiquarian and used booksellers) that line the Left and Right banks of the Seine; sampling one of the 33 flavours of ice cream from the famous Berthillon ice creamery on the Ile Saint-Louis; or the sensory explosion of the open air food markets on Rue Mouffetard in the Latin Quarter. Read more

Posted on Sep 28, 2010 in Europe, Paris, Walking by 0 Comments