29 August 2017 Really it’s a bit of a funny way to behave on a holiday. Getting up before dawn, hanging out on cold, windy mountainsides in search of animals that may never (indeed, never did) show up, same in the evening, then a late dinner and early bed. And having to spend a whole » » »
Posts Tagged ‘mountains’
3 September 2017
A cool part of Spain
26 August 2017 There’s a really cool part of Spain that I don’t think many people are aware of. Right across the north of the country are some amazingly wild mountains, starting with the Pyrenees but running right across to the Portuguese border. And when I say wild, I mean that these mountains are still » » »
24 April 2017
First (only?) snow of the year!
2 April 2017 There’s been no snow at all in Cheltenham this year. Or if there was a sprinkle, none of it settled. So the snow-capped Tatra mountains were an irresistable draw. Poor breakfast at Hotel U Leva – we’ll find a cafe tomorrow. And then we were into the car and on our way. » » »
19 January 2017
La Gomera via Tenerife
7 January 2017 Wow. I have never seen such a GREEN hire car! We had four hours to kill between the airport and the ferry, so there was time to drive to the top of Tenerife and back again. The top of the island is the volcano El Teide (which I have really struggled all » » »
15 May 2016
Coyote cokey
21 April 2016 Ignore yesterday’s grumbles. Yosemite is undisputably one of the loveliest places on the entire planet. And we’ve visited a whole bunch of the planet’s most renowned treasures and wildernesses, so I’m pretty confident with my statement. If I wanted to try and tease out a reasoned explanation for why this is so, » » »
16 March 2015
Driving and walking and chestnuts
13th February 2015 More whacky weather. It was astonishingly clear this morning, so we deviated from our plan and drove back up to Pico do Arieiro, where we got magnificent vistas of the whole island in all directions, scarcely a cloud in the sky. Contrast with the soupy whiteness behind Maureen in the photo a » » »
16 March 2015
Still hiking
12th Feburary 2015 We’re still hiking. This morning’s hike was very beautiful, along a levada that runs high up on the southern flanks of the Paul de Serra, so a much more open and moorland landscape than the verdant forests most of our other levadas have meandered through. The hike then dropped down a long » » »
16 March 2015
Levada in the mist
9th February 2015 We managed an early start, in spite of the cold, and drove up and up and up onto the Paul de Serra, the high plateau, to a place at the end of the road called Bica de Cana. There was bright sun and patchy cloud, but the thermometer in the car read » » »
18 May 2013
Slovenia, town and country
If you took a weekend break in Slovenia and didn’t leave Ljubljana you’d be missing out on a beautiful rural country of hills and valleys, meadows and forests, and one charming port town on its very short coastline! Related Images:
18 May 2013
I like
13th May 2013 Something I like, which I suspect nobody other than a gardener would understand, is visiting other countries and finding the wild versions of garden plants. The Himalayas in Nepal might have been the most exotic example, with wild berberis, pieris and azalea, but just today while hiking up Mostnice Gorge in the » » »
5 November 2012
In the mountains
25th October 2012 Bern was drizzly, the rest of Switzerland was covered in damp mist and low cloud, but as soon as we rounded the end of Lake Geneva and crossed into France the sun came out! I would also like to put our last Swiss stopover, Lausanne, into the same bucket as Fribourg; it’s » » »
30 September 2012
The Grand Teton
14th September 2012 Today we took ourselves north from the nothing-much town of Rock Springs to Grand Teton NP via the gateway town of Jackson. What was once apparently one of the toughest towns in the west has been turned into a bustling tourist spot for well-heeled visitors. I have never seen so many art » » »
29 June 2011
Wild north Chile
The north of Chile has some wild landscapes – the desolate Atacama desert coast, then up into the dry Precordillera mountains with all their cactus, and then the incredibly high Altiplano surrounded by snowy peaks and yet the environment most full of life. Related Images:
28 June 2011
Salty
25th June 2011 Today we dared to brave the road to the Salar de Surire. The guidebook suggests you only try this with a high-clearance vehicle. The lady at the car hire place shook her head vigorously when we asked if it was sensible to do. But Flavio said that if we took it carefully, » » »
26 June 2011
Amiable viscachas
24th June 2011 Today we drove higher still, up onto the altiplano above Putre which is mostly over 4,500m. Like being back in Tibet, although instead of the distant white Himalayas we were overlooked by the vast bulk of the volcano Parinacota. As far as I’m aware it has no plans to erupt this week. » » »
22 June 2011
Premature condors
19th June 2011 Dinner at 10:30, bed by 12:30 and then up in the morning at 5:30 can’t be healthy. But our tour bus was picking us up at 7:15 and we still had to pack; the notes from the company said that we needed to only take small bags for the two day trip. » » »
23 May 2011
Final outing
20th May 2011 Yesterday evening we tried our final bit of mammal watching for Australia, heading out to Royal National Park for some spotlighting in the forest. We saw a couple of Rusa Deer, no doubt introduced some time last century, and a single Sugar Glider which swooped past us through the air to make » » »
15 May 2011
Flinders hop
7th May 2011 What should you do if you’re driving at 100kph along a dirt road into the sunset in your little red rental Hyundai and you suddenly come upon a herd of emus crossing the road? What you should not do is slam on the brakes, fishtail out of control on the loose gravel, » » »
29 April 2011
Tasmania A to Z
Usually I’m trying to make a narrative or explore a theme with photo galleries, but this is just a ramble through our Tasmania snaps now that we’re looking back a good week or so. Related Images:
16 April 2011
Kiwi adventures
Written by Maureen People come to New Zealand to experience the great outdoors and we were no different. Thanks to Matt’s parents, we were able sample some of the best experiences the country has to offer. We cruised, walked, messed about on kayaks, tottered on a glacier and saw enough cetaceans, pinipeds and avians to » » »
7 April 2011
Painting pictures with words
5th April 2011 Yesterday was rained off. If I’m not mistaken, the only day in eight months. We stayed indoors and caught up with various chores, did some reading, and when the rain eventually stopped late afternoon we went for a walk just to get out. However, while it was raining on us it was » » »
4 April 2011
International glacier expedition
3rd April 2011 Walking on a glacier is something that you should definitely do once, but probably only once. I’ll no doubt caveat that later in the post. Our expedition was a truly international affair, with us representing the UK and accompanied by others from China, Malaysia, South Korea and Argentina. Our guides were Canadian » » »
18 March 2011
Routeburn track
New Zealanders are very lucky to have such a concentration of epic landscape all in a couple of islands no bigger than Great Britain. Of course, they do have to put up with noisy neighbours. Warning: this gallery contains lots of landscape photography. Do not view while driving as it may induce drowsiness. Related Images:
16 March 2011
Breathtaken
15th March 2011 Routeburn Trek, Day 2 We were greeted this morning by a glorious sunrise and a faultless blue sky. There was still a bracing freshness in the air as we set out, but our dry clothes and almost-dry boots made us cheerful and the weather could only improve our mood as we emerged » » »
10 March 2011
Typical Fiordland weather
10th March 2011 The guide on our boat tour of Doubtful Sound said that so many times it began to sound like an apology despite his enthusiasm. “You’re seeing the Sound in absolutely typical Fiordland* weather, sunshine is really very unusual here.” He was certainly right, it was thick cloud all day and often raining, » » »
10 March 2011
Looks promising…
9th March 2011 As you come into land at Queenstown airport the plane flies down a valley between enormous rugged mountain peaks. They’re much like the Scottish highlands in character, very beautiful. And I do mean between the peaks; when I looked out of the window I could see a little car park above me » » »
26 February 2011
Life in a volcano
Our daytrip to Gunung Batur was brilliant for photography. There was so much to see in the human and the natural landscape. We did have to fend off a couple of touts and putative guides, and since we were there (a) off-season, (b) with our own transport and (c) away from the main tourist spots » » »
17 November 2010
Teahouse trekking in Nepal
Written by Maureen We went on two treks in Nepal. The first was a five day Poon Hill trek in the Annapurna region. The second trek was ten days combining Langtang with Gosaikund lake, although we actually snubbed the holy lake and instead spent a day searching for red panda, musk deer and other wildlife » » »
17 November 2010
Langtang trek
Our trek up the Langtang valley will leave us with lasting impressions. The days of trekking in the majesty of the mountains and the astonishing forests of pine, larch, alder, bamboo, berberis, pieris, azalea and rhododendron couldn’t be better… the nights of endless hands of rummy in freezing cold lodges with the most rudimentary ablutions » » »
2 November 2010
Poon Hill trek
Photos from our 5-day Poon Hill trek with Ann and John. Related Images:
1 November 2010
Upon Poon Hill
Day One, we start hiking at 10AM through the straggly villages of Nyapul and Birithani. The day soon heats up and it also soon turns out that the heat, climb and pace of the trek are a bit tough on John and Ann. We are sweltering our way up a valley of terraced farmland and » » »
16 October 2010
Tibet
Tibet is a strange mixture – a land on the roof of the world, unlike any other place we’ve seen, yet with the trappings of modern China seeping in all the time. Impressions that stick with me… The scent of yak butter candles in dark monasteries, with worshippers jostling to donate money to their preferred » » »
11 October 2010
Daddy Mountains
I’m really worried. I’ve got a splitting headache, I’m dizzy, my heartbeat is racing and I can’t sleep at all. These are most of the symptoms for altitude sickness (lucky me, at least I’m not nauseous). I’m not worried about my health, because these are the mild symptoms and the “cure” if they get worse » » »
3 September 2010
Dragon mountains
We’ve been hiking in the Drakensberg. It’s a stunning landscape! Related Images: