Destination Daydreams: New Zealand

New Zealand. Land of... well, land of what? I'm planning to spend 6 weeks there (if not more) on the Grand Tour, so what should I be going to see?

Some things are obvious. I've visited the Land of the Long White Cloud (ha! knew it had another name) before and there's some experiences I had then that I'm all up for repeating. Things such as whale watching from Kaikoura - got to see if I can improve on the 5 sperm whales I saw last time.

Taking a trip to the Shire (a.k.a. the Hobbiton set near Matamata) is another must. Yes, I know it's the height of touristic ridiculousness, but it was so much fun. Plus the cider's pretty good.

Cider in the Green Dragon? Yes please!

Driving down Ninety Mile Beach in a coach was also pretty cool, so that's something I want to do again along with going up to Cape Reinga where the seas meet.

Oh, and the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves, them too.

OK, that's enough of things that I want to re-visit. What about things that I missed last time? This includes the fabled beauty of Milford Sound, which I missed out on because a snow storm closed the only road. To see that would be amazing - the fjord and the waterfalls and maybe some dolphins? I'll settle for just getting there, to be honest.

I'd also like to visit Stewart Island, New Zealand's third island. Looks like it's still pretty wild like the South Island - maybe a nice place to unwind for a few days?

You know what used to live on Stewart Island? Kakapo. Possibly my favourite bird in the world, purely because they're so ridiculous. I'd love to see a kakapo. Weird and green and flightless. For some reason they remind me of rabbits. I think it's the way they hop...

Anyhoo, other things I want to do in New Zealand. I'd like to do the northernmost section of State Highway 6. When I last visited we drove almost the entire length of SH6, just missing out the bit right around the north west of the South Island, so it's something of a personal goal to finish it off. Plus, it's beautiful up there - temperate rainforest and storm battered coasts. What more could you want?

Ooh, I could go kayaking again in Abel Tasman National Park... fun times. This time I won't fall in the sea.

A few other general things - I need to see more of the North Island. We missed a lot of the east and west out by driving straight up the middle from Wellington to Auckland and those coasts look amazing. Mount Taranaki, Napier, Gisborne. All look like beautiful places to check out.

But how am I going to do it? New Zealand is deceptively huge and I a) don't drive and b) am working on a limited budget. So how to travel from one end of the country to the other? Buses, obviously. InterCity and NakedBus both offer multi-trip passes and I think this is how I'm going to do it. Plus, they both offer cheap fares on some routes if you book far enough in advance, so that's another option.

It'll be easy.

On top of this, I'm still wondering whether to extend my stay in New Zealand by getting a working holiday visa, which to save repeating myself you can read more about HERE.

Who knows, maybe that planned 6 week stay will turn into 6 months.

And in my wildest daydreams, maybe I'll just move to New Zealand permanently...

What would you recommend doing in New Zealand? Bungee jumping? Black water rafting? Wine tasting? Is there anything you'd avoid? Like the aforementioned bungee jumping...

Tech for Travel

Oh look. Another one of those posts where I try to be helpful and end up prattling about something else entirely. Let's try to keep this one on track, shall we?

Tech for travel. I'm trying to decide what I should take with me on the Grand Tour. I'd like to keep up with the blogging. And take plenty of photos. And keep in touch with friends/family.

So what do I actually need?

Well, my camera is a given. Sure, it's a bit bulky, but the inbuilt camera in my phone is appalling and I want photos that are actually in focus.

Speaking of phones, should I keep my existing phone (an old model Sony Xperia) or find something different? The current phone does everything I need it to - I can connect to WiFi and it still calls and texts fine. Plus, it's unlocked, so there's nothing to stop me from picking up local SIM cards to cut down on all those roaming charges and such like.

OK, so the phone's staying. But if my phone can connect to WiFi and do all the keeping in touch things, what about a laptop? My laptop is pretty small but still weighs a kilo or two. Probably more like two and a bit... Given that I'm attempting to cut down on the weight of my luggage, can I really afford to be jamming a laptop in there as well?

Probably not, but I do want to keep up with blogging. Which means I need something to type on. If my laptop's out the window for being too heavy/bulky, how about a tablet? Now, that sounds more reasonable. Thing is, I don't own a tablet. Never have. What should I be looking for?

WiFi obviously (pretty sure most tablets come with that...), a sensible interface and easy typing. Yeah, that last one's not going to happen. I discovered a while back I don't like typing on screens. So I'm going to need a keyboard too. Let's see - I've heard good things about the Google Nexus tablets, including this review over at Too Many Adapters. They're small, relatively lightweight (about 300g) and have all the features I'd need. Plus, I'm sure I can find a little keyboard for it and even then it'd weigh less than my laptop.

Problem solved.

Final problem - music. I sort of need my music collection to keep me vaguely sane (not entirely true - I need it to get to sleep). So, do I take my iPod with me, another bit of tech and more weight or do I load it all onto my phone? Phone has very little memory, but I wouldn't be too worried about losing it - it's old and battered and probably worth nothing. I could get another one if needs be. My iPod though, despite being a replacement and a bit knocked around, would cost more to replace. It does however have a lot more memory than my phone and can hold my entire collection.

Ugh. Choices. I think I'll stick with the iPod. Obviously I'm bound to end up somewhere and absolutely need to listen to something I forgot to load onto my phone. Obviously.

What tech do you take travelling? I know e-readers are popular - is it worth taking one when you can get similar functionality on a tablet?

Harrogate: 5 Things to See in an Afternoon

Harrogate's a lovely little town, full of beautiful old buildings and sprawling green parks. I took a trip over there with my sister recently and here's my 5 things to check out in an afternoon (or day, your choice).

1. Cafe Culture

I say cafe culture... there's a real pavement cafe vibe around the town centre, especially around the Montpellier Quarter. Jewel in the crown of these little gems is, for me at least, Bettys Tea Room. Bettys is locally famous and having visited their York tea room several times it made sense to check out the Harrogate original.

I wasn't disappointed. Great menu with a selection of snacks and light bites in the Cafe Bar and even more selection in the more traditional Tea Room. Just be prepared to queue - Bettys is insanely popular and if you're in a hurry, opt for the Cafe Bar which is less busy.

2. Green Spaces

Harrogate seems to be full of parks. It's such a green place. The biggest of these is the Stray, an enormous stretch of parkland to the south of the town centre. For more history, head north of the centre to Valley Gardens, which is home to a number of springs from which the town got the "medicinal" waters which turned it into a thriving spa resort.

3. Shopping

I'm not really into shopping, but there are a whole load of lovely little shops in the town, along with the high street brands. I'd recommend just wandering around the centre, especially around the Montpellier Quarter. Not much else to say on that - I'm really not big on shopping.

4. Royal Pump Room Museum

This is a lovely little museum housed in, as the name suggests, the old Royal Pump Room. I'd expected this to be mostly about Harrogate's spa history, but there's a whole assortment of little exhibits including some lovely little pieces from Egypt.

It's definitely worth taking the little tour to see the old well heads. The guide will give you lots more information about the history of the town and you get to go down below modern ground level to see where the old spa wells were. Be aware - they may smell strongly of rotten eggs.

Investigating the free spring water...

5. Architecture

OK, so it's not something you can visit as such, but it really is worth taking the time to admire the architecture. I don't know a thing about this, but I really love the old buildings in the town. It's probably just one of those nostalgia type things - take out the cars and and the electricity and you can almost imagine being in the town at the height of its glory years.

So there's my 5 things to see in Harrogate. What would you recommend? Have I missed a hidden gem you think people should know about?

The Joy of Postcards

In an age of Facebook, Twitter and, well, any other social network, where you can get instant updates from friends and family, there's still a certain joy about getting post. Actual, proper, hold-it-in-your-hand post.

In fact, maybe it's even more special now what with all that instant gratification from social networks and the internet in general.

It's part of the reason I love postcards so much. So posting photos all over the web is great with the "look where I am right now!", but a postcard seems somewhat more personal. It was picked out specially for some reason - beautiful view, humour, an odd reminder of home...

I still send postcards. OK, so writing them can be difficult, but it's lovely just to wander round the tourist shops in search of something a friend or relative might appreciate. I'll admit, I pick postcards mostly because I like the views on them and think I should be sending an image of what I'm seeing. But that's just me.

While I was living in Australia, my mum used to send me postcards from the UK. I will never forget the brief moment of shock when I opened the envelope and a picture of eyeballs fell out. She'd been to the Science Museum and thought the glass eyes were funny.

I still have that postcard. It reminds me both of Australia and of home. In fact, I've got loads of them - they're all stuck on my wardrobe doors. One for postcards and mementos from Australia:

Another of postcards I've picked up - mostly from London and the Travel Photographer of the Year exhibition, with a few of Wales and Lincoln thrown in:

And another entirely of postcards I got in Ireland:

That latter two are all postcards I've bought myself. My photography skills are improving but these cards have views on them I could never capture. Besides, they remind me of the joy of travelling and of trips I've taken and some I've yet to make.

See, here lies another great joy of postcards: they let you into a world that you might never have seen or maybe never will. Take the ones I picked up at the Travel Photographer of the Year exhibition - there's one in there of the Great Mosque at Djenne. I've known of the mosque for years and I'd love to see it in person, but I'm just not brave enough to travel alone to Mali to see it. But that postcard... well, maybe it says that someday I'll pluck up the courage and go.

You know how people end postcards with "wish you were here"? That's why they're brilliant. Because you wish you were there. I wish I was seeing the Great Mosque at Djenne. I wish I was staring up at the Northern Lights or watching a polar bear hunt in the Arctic. But for now, I'm not.

I can still dream, though.

Makes it sound like I only buy postcards for myself. I don't. Well, not quite. I like sending them too. As I mentioned above, it's sometimes hard to know what to write - I sent one to a friend's little boy from Ireland. Trying to work out what to write on a postcard to a baby was not easy. I think I mentioned leprechauns and fairies... The one I wrote to my sister was better - her's simply said "Smile like Harry Potter's here!". It was from the Cliffs of Moher. She got it.

What do you think? Are postcards outdated? When you can update instantly on the web, is there really any need for a little piece of card with a nice picture and some scribbled words? Or is there still that simple joy of getting a message from a loved one in the post?

Packing Lists and why you should use them

Everyone loves the check in queue, right? Stumping along, shoving your bag along in front of you while the person at the front blithers about rearranging their belongings because their checked bag is too heavy and they don't want to pay the extra charge.

Or that delightful moment when you've been on a long flight, arrive at your accomodation, go to take a shower to wash out all the grotty-long-distance-travel feeling and discover you've left your shower gel at home...

Or unpacking at the end of the trip and finding no less than 3 unworn shirts and a pair of trousers in the bottom of your suitcase...

Post check-in: worry about missed packing or take selfies with dwarves? Hmm...

Let's face it, we've all done stupid things when packing. There's a small chance you're going to need that snorkel in the middle of the Sahara, after all. And maybe you'll get invited out for dinner somewhere posh, so you're bound to need that nice dress. Just in case. But, oops, you've forgotten to pack your deodorant, so maybe you won't be getting invited out after all.

Thing is, such mishaps are easy enough to avoid. Make yourself a packing list and stick to it. Only pack what you need. That means out with the tens of shirts and just-in-case extra jeans. Do you really need to take that huge bottle of shampoo? It'll only leak in your bag (oh, it will).

So, what should you include? Well, that rather depends on how long you're going for and how often you feel you need a change of clothes. And underwear - don't worry. When I went to Ireland I took enough for 5 days and then washed whenever needed. Believe me, hand-washing is not hard and that little bit of weight you cut down in your bag can be used to bring back more souvenirs. Much nicer than bringing back icky week old underwear.

Hand-washing sand coated socks? No worries.

On the clothes front, you can take minimal items and not feel like you're wearing the same thing everyday. Just make sure you take things you can mix and match. Use your common sense - pick a colour palette and stick to it.

Shoes are the other big weight eater. Obviously it depends where you're going, but you can probably cope with 2 pairs of shoes. I take a pair of walking boots and then a pair of nicer shoes to wear out and about or round hostels. The walking boots always get worn on the flight (even around Dubai Airport where my feet were really not loving being encased in cosy, heat retaining boots in 40 degree heat...) and then the other pair, always much lighter, go in the bag.

Finally, toiletries. You're going for, what? A week, two weeks? Are you really going to get through that entire bottle of shampoo? Oh, you are? OK. If you really feel you need the entire bottle, buy it when you get there, that way you avoid taking lots of big, heavy bottles which may or may not leak in your luggage. If you're not going to use it all, consider taking travel sized bottles.

By which I mean invest in some little bottles (you can get them from chemists and the like) and put your own stuff in them. Don't bother buying the actual travel sized toiletries - they're seriously bad value.

I am helpfully veering off the topic of what to put on your packing list and into the realm of the One Bag Challenge. Let's get back on it, shall we?

So, what should be on your list?

Clothes, obviously, but be aware that anywhere you go in the world will have somewhere you can wash them so don't worry about taking enough for the entire trip unless it's only a couple of days. Enough for 4-5 days is probably a good guide.

Toiletries. Bit of a given, that one, but as I mentioned above - if you can deal with the smaller bottles, do it.

Electricals. By which I mean your phone, music player, tablet, laptop - anything of that ilk. And make sure to include the chargers and any adapters you might need on the list.

Oddments. I always end up with things that don't fit into any major category. Things like a towel (I have a microfibre travel one that rolls up really small), first aid kit (just a little one) and my swimming gear.

Before you even start packing, write a list of everything that's essential. Make a promise that you'll only pack what you need.

If you're careful enough with your packing list, you might be able to cut your packing down significantly. Maybe, you could even cut it down enough to consider the One Bag Challenge. Even if you don't, you'll be saving yourself from lugging around loads of things you don't need (I'm looking at you, travel guides...) and those annoying moments of "damn, I've forgotten to pack...".

Brilliant things. So simple. I have a couple of standard ones - one for short trips and another for longer holidays. I might need to adapt them for the Grand Tour, but I'm off to a good start.

Destination Daydreams: Iceland

Iceland is the first planned stop on my Grand Tour next year. I've already visited once but only really saw Reykjavik and the classic "Golden Circle" of Geysir, Gullfoss and Thingvellir National Park. So, given that I've set aside 2 weeks for the whole country, what should I go and see?

Well, first up I'd like to see more of Reykjavik. I covered a few of the museums when I visited before but it'd be nice to see more of it. Visiting in summer probably has its advantages in that I won't be worrying about slipping over on the ice all the time.

On that note, I'd like to do the Golden Circle again and see how much it changes between the seasons. Gullfoss, the waterfall, was frozen over when I saw it, so it'd be pretty cool to see it in full flow.

Jokulsarlon is another place I really want to visit. I wanted to see it when I visited before but it being the middle of winter made getting there a bit of a problem. The Grand Tour kicks off next summer, so I won't be having that problem this time. I can get a bus out there and then spend some time gawping over the pretties. Just imagine: a lake full of icebergs. Going to be awesome and I can get there from Reykjavik on the bus. Even better.

In fact, I can get pretty much all the way round the country on the bus. In the same sort of area as Jokulsarlon is Vatnajokull National Park, containing Iceland's biggest ice sheet. That also sounds awesome, especially given that there's a few rather large volcanoes underneath it. Fun times.

From there, there's a number of places I could stop and chill out for a few days along the south and east coasts but the next place I really want to go is Husavik on the north east coast, supposedly one of the best places on the island to go whale watching. After the disappointment of no whales on our whale watch in Ireland, I really want to see whales again and Husavik looks like a good bet.

Not far from Husavik is Akureyri, Iceland's second biggest settlement, which looks like a quaint little place to spend a day or two exploring. There's also Myvatn not too far away which has all sorts of scrummy geothermal things to see (and bathe in if the whim takes me).

From there... well, there's not a whole lot that I've picked out on the way back between Akureyri and Reykjavik unless I can find a way to get out to Snaefellsnes, a peninsula on the west coast which supposedly has some of the island's best bird watching. Can't resist a bit of bird watching.

And then back to Reykjavik. Tempted to take a trip to the Blue Lagoon on my way to the airport given how pleasantly I was surprised when I went there in January. I'm not really a spa sort of person but bobbing about in lovely warm water with the stars overhead was amazing.

Well, I think that covers the main things. All the touristy highlights. I'm giving myself 2 weeks and I think that's enough time to cover what I want to see. Always open to detours though - what would you recommend as Iceland's top sights?

Language Barriers: Tête, épaules, genoux et pieds

I'm about half an hour away from finishing the second block of my Spanish course. Hurray! It's taken me rather longer than I intended, mostly because my attention span is appalling.

On the plus side, it does seem to be sinking in and I'm fairly confident I can understand the basics. Question is, do I carry on into block 3 or do I take a break?

Nah. Let's go with neither of the above. I'm going to give Spanish a break for a bit (read... a month or two?) and refresh my French instead. Yeah, sounds like a plan.

I learned French when I was little, so how hard can it be to catch up on the basics? I can introduce myself, say I don't understand and I know way too many silly things like animals and colours.

Oh, and I can sing Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes. Which I mentioned to my teacher at primary school when we were learning French and then she asked me to teach it to the class. I think I refused...

So I figure I'll do the first block of French lessons (1-40 on Coffee Break French) and then I'll go back to Spanish.

I'm hoping I might get to use the French relatively soon, since I'm trying to talk a friend into going abroad for the first time. We're currently torn between Paris (so she doesn't have to get on a plane) and Krakow.

Oooh, I wonder if I can find some Polish lessons. Anyone know of any good resources I should dig out?

Short post is short.

Lincoln: 5 Things to See in an Afternoon

I took a Saturday afternoon trip to Lincoln a while back and it got me thinking. What would I recommend to a first time visitor to Lincoln? So, here's my list of 5 things you can see in Lincoln in an afternoon. Or a day if you don't walk ridiculously quick like I do!

1. The Collection

The Collection is a free museum just off Lincoln's famous Steep Hill. It houses a permanent collection of artefacts from the city's long history from the Stone Age through to almost the present day. In addition, it often hosts special exhibitions which are worth checking out - recent ones have included Lincolnshire's Great Exhibition displaying objects from important Lincolnshire moments and associated with more well known residents such as Sir John Franklin and Matthew Flinders.

If you're short on time, I'd suggest checking out the special exhibition if there is one and then these highlights from the Collection itself. The ancient dugout canoe from Fiskerton:

The Roman Mosaic found when they were building the lift shaft.

This beautiful piece of Viking metalwork.

A facsimile copy of the famous Lutrell Psalter.

And this awesome plesiosaur fossil, which I think is the specimen described HERE. 

2. Mediaeval Bishop's Palace

Tucked away to one side of the towering cathedral, the remains of the Bishop's Palace are a quiet retreat from the busy streets outside its walls. You can wander round it in about half an hour (I know, I've done it), but it's worth taking your time. Information boards are few and far between, so you should consider picking up the audio guide as well.

Basically, just wander round and enjoy the quiet for a while.

3. Lincoln Castle

The Castle is probably the most popular attraction in the city, but it's still worth a visit. The grounds are free to enter, but I'd at least take a walk around the walls - there's some amazing views out across the city and surrounding countryside from up there.

The absolute must-see at the Castle though, if you've any interest in history at all, is the Magna Carta Vault. The Castle is home to one of just four surviving copies of this historic important document and the Vault, opened in 2015, is its new home. So go and pore over the tiny writing and don't miss the two short films either.

4. The Guildhall

Lincoln's stunning Guildhall is still used for full council meetings and houses a great collection of objects, including an assortment of ceremonial swords, trophies and weird little oddments. Guided tours run on Fridays and Saturdays and are a great way to find out more not just about the Guildhall but also about the city's history.

You can find the Guildhall on the High Street - just look out for the big stone arch (the Stonebow) over the road. There's a big old door to one side and on tour days there should be a sign outside.

5. Steep Hill

Along the High Street you can find plenty of your typical, well, high street stores. But take a walk up the hill and you can find a whole host of little independent stores. This is the area called Steep Hill. It is, in fact, a steep hill.

There's an excellent tea shop (as in a shop that sells tea, not a cafe),  some cool little cafes but my favourite has to be Goodies Sweet Shop. This is tucked into the narrow lane that joins Steep Hill to the High Street and is a brilliant little old-fashioned place.

If you want to avoid the really steep section (identified by the lovely green hand rail and a bench to rest on at the top), you can cut away from the hill onto a couple of lanes that will bring you out either side of the steep bit.

Honourable Mention: The Cathedral

I haven't been into Lincoln Cathedral for years, so I can't comment on what the tours are like nowadays. If you just want to pop in and have a look around though, I recommend looking for the following: the Lincoln Imp, remnants of the paint which used to cover most of the stonework and the little statues that got their heads shot off by Roundheads during the Civil War. If you can get someone to tell you what's wrong with the statues, even better.

What are your favourite places in Lincoln? Are there any hidden gems to seek out?

Ireland: Cork-Kilkenny-Wicklow-Dublin

This is the final part of a series about my road trip around Ireland. You can find the previous part HERE.

It's still steaming...

Morning in Cork means a morning wandering around the city poking the interesting looking places. First of these is breakfast at O'Flynns Gourmet Sausages and our first real Full Irish. Suffice to say it was amazing and very good value. No need for lunch after that little lot...

Then on to the English Market. Don't ask why it's the English Market - I haven't the foggiest. Cool little place though, tucked in off the main street down a bunch of little alleys. We discovered O'Flynns had a stall there, so grabbed some more sausages for tea. Yum.

Took a stroll up the river to see St Finbarr's Cathedral. Beautiful place, with some brilliant carving outside. Thought about going in, but we really needed to get going so gave that one a miss.

Shame we didn't spend much time in Cork, really - looks like there are loads of interesting little things there. Alas, we had to go so it was back into the car and up the motorway to Cashel.

At the risk of offending any Irish readers, there are some stereotypes about Irish workmanship... Hitting roadworks in Cashel, getting stuck at a stop/go board for 10 minutes and then being invited to drive over freshly laid tarmac that had only just been steamrolled and was still steaming/smoking did rather enforce those stereotypes...

Which is odd, because I didn't see anything else like that in the entire 2 weeks we were there.

Anyway, we stopped in Cashel to see its famous rock. The helpfully named Rock of Cashel. Which sounds like it should be a castle and it isn't. It's a religious site dating back hundreds of years. Beautiful place, especially in the sunshine.

And look at the gorgeous carving and paintings in Cormac's Chapel - these are in the region of 900 years old.

And this is the oldest building on the site - a round tower from a few decades before the Chapel. A bit like how I always imagined Rapunzel's tower to look like...

Inside the more recent cathedral (by which I mean 6-700 years old), there are passages in the walls so the Bishop could get directly from his tower house (of which I have few pictures) into the church. Sneaky sneaky.

If you visit the Rock, I highly recommend you join one of the guided tours. They're included in the ticket price and as there are few if any info boards, they're a great way to learn more about the site.

History geekery satisfied, we set off again to Kilkenny. Which resulted in the inevitable comment "Oh my God, you Kil-Kenny." Oh dear. Onwards!

Just a dead sheep & a pull in

Had to make a quick run to the car park in Kilkenny the next morning to pay up the machine. It being before 8am, there were pretty much no people about, so I took the opportunity to wander up the hill to the cathedral. Unfortunately the gates were all locked up, but it was nice just to wander around in the quiet.

We spent the morning at Kilkenny Castle, which is more stately home than fortress. Really interesting though and there's an exhibition in the attached Butler Gallery about the film The Song of the Sea, which was produced by a studio in Kilkenny. I need to see it - it looks amazing.

Then onto the craft centre across the road. Picked up a few more nice souvenirs for the family, including a lovely hand-bound notebook for my sister. Pretties.

Morning over, we set off for our planned afternoon stop at the early monastic site at Glendalough in the Wicklow Mountains. An hour after setting off, after passing the Bulmers/Magners brewery at Clonmel, the sat nav informed us we'd arrived.

OK, so it looks quite similar to the landscape I expected, but where's the monastic site? There's just a few sheep and a layby. Oh, and a dead sheep...

So I took a look at the sat nav. Wrong Glendalough. This Glendalough, which seems to be an area, not a site, is in Co. Waterford. Ours is in Co. Wicklow. So we'd just driven an hour in entirely the wrong direction.

Yay.

We did eventually reach the right Glendalough several hours later, me arguing with the sat nav the entire way. Glendalough the monastic site is very pretty and worth a visit but there's very little interpretation in the site itself. I expect there's more if you go in the visitor centre but we just didn't have time once we'd corrected the sat nav's mistakes.

Oh, Glendalough is also full of bus-trippers. Even near closing time.

Made it to Wicklow eventually and all feeling rather weary after the ridiculous detour, dumped our bags and made straight for the Bridge Tavern across the road where we had a lovely meal and Claire and Gemma got free pudding because the chef forgot to give them vegetables with their main courses. Hurrah.

Time to go

Well rested (save for the drama with the toilet refusing to drain...) our final day in Ireland began with a trip to the Mount Usher Gardens. We had very little time so after a lovely breakfast at the cafe there (mmm, cheesy bacon toast...) we had a too-brief wander around the gardens. Lovely to see they had a eucalypt grove - reminded me so much of being in Australia - plus a gorgeous cottage garden style plot.

I resisted the urge to buy gardening things from the shop (are you allowed to take bulbs through customs?) and then we sadly made our way north back to the airport. Said a not so sad goodbye to D, our less-than-awesome Micra although in her defence she had managed to carry us over 2100km around the country without too many problems. Well, apart from the really crappy gears.

Anyway, made it to Dublin Airport in plenty of time for the flight, raided duty free for even more gifts (Butler's Chocolate, anyone?) and then home.

And that's it. Two weeks in Ireland. Magical is an awful word, but it really was magical. Even with the rain and the dodgy car and the hostels in the middle of nowhere. And there's so much we missed out on. Two weeks wasn't nearly enough. Already planning the return trip.

Hostels
Kilkenny, Co. Kilkenny: MacGabhainns Backpackers Hostel
Wicklow, Co. Wicklow: Captain Halpin's

Things to Do
The English Market, Cork (free)
Rock of Cashel, Co. Tipperary (7 euro)
Kilkenny Castle, Kilkenny (7 euro)
Mount Usher Gardens, Co. Wicklow (7.5 euro)

The Grand Tour: Considering a working holiday

Following my post a few weeks ago about budgeting for travel - the one with the ridiculous spreadsheets - I thought I'd take another look at how I'm funding this trip. Options include: making money from blogging, teaching English or a working holiday. Let's see...

My original plan was to continue working for a year and saving up my money. Of course, I'm still going to do this and it's going to give me (hopefully) more than sufficient funds. However, I got to wondering a few months back about what to do if I end up wanting to travel for a bit longer.

So I crawled through some other travel blogs. You know, those professional ones where it's all shiny pictures of folks doing amazing things and there's always a post about how they've made it work as a full time traveler. I took a look at that and decided it wasn't for me. I love this blog and sharing my experiences, but it's not something I'd want to do as a job. Maybe it's just me, but it'd feel like taking the fun out of it. So that's that one out of the window.

Others suggested taking a TEFL course and then finding work abroad teaching English. Again, this sounds like a great idea and teaching jobs seem to pay well. It's something I'll keep in mind but teaching isn't something I find particularly appealing. A back up option, perhaps. Especially since you could end up potentially tied to one place for a prolonged period of time.

The last of the major options I've found is a working holiday. Depending on where you want to work, you can get a working holiday visa from about £110 for New Zealand and more if you want to do it in Australia, Canada or the US.

The New Zealand Working Holiday Scheme gives you up to 12 months in the country, primarily for holidaying with work as a secondary aim. So I figure that perhaps I could fly into Auckland, Christchurch or Wellington and find a temp job for a month or two. That way I could replenish my funds a little and explore the city and surrounding area when I wasn't working. At the end of the job, I'd go off travelling around New Zealand for a while - I'm currently looking at doing at least 3 weeks on each island and this is definitely subject to growth - then when I get to another area with temp jobs, I could do another month or two. And then do some more travelling.

What sort of job though? I work in an office currently, so something in admin would be ideal - I've certainly got the experience. And there's almost always jobs going in admin. So that's a reasonable option.

What else? Fruit picking seems to be popular and I'm sure I could get a job doing that. Maybe not as well paid as admin? Hmm...

And then there's the hospitality industry. Maybe not for me. I'm not the most social of people and while my customer service skills are fine, I'm just not sure I could deal with loads of people all the time. But you never know, maybe I'll be up for the challenge.

Finally, what looks to be something of a traveller's favourite - the adventure tourism option. Sure, come out here and teach people to ski/snowboard/scuba dive. Yeah... I can't do any of those things. Now, give me a crash course in New Zealand wildlife and maybe I could lead walks, but I doubt that's an option. Again, we'll see.

Let's go back to the admin option. Seems like (via a few quick Google searches) the average wage for an admin assistant is about NZ$18 an hour. Assume a 7 hour day for the sake of argument, 5 days a week. So before tax, I'm looking at perhaps NZ$630 a week. Taxes would take a chunk off that, but I figure I'd still have enough there to cover a dorm room at a hostel, food and other expenses and be saving some money for further travel.

This is beginning to look like a pretty good option. Just picture it: going to work knowing that this is waiting for the weekend:

Weekend trip to Kaikoura? Yes please.

Ireland: Dingle-Killarney-Cork

This post is part of a series covering a road trip through Ireland. You can find the previous part HERE. You can find part 5 HERE.

"Filching John Benny's wife?!"

Morning in Dingle dawned... clear. Not especially warm, but clear. Looked like a good day to go whale watching, but first we went for a wander around Dingle again, this time so I could find myself a nice little thing to take home. Filching of the WiFi at the previous night's pub to attempt to book onto a horse riding session for the next day while we were at it.

Souvenirs bought - lovely little leather-bound notebook and a Connemara marble necklace. Pretty things.

Foxy John's Bar/Hardware Store/Bike Rental...

Finally left Dingle at just before lunch to make the short trip down the coast to Ventry and our whale watching trip. Went on a bit of a mystery tour trying to find the pier, but managed to locate it eventually.

And so it was onto a little boat and out into the Atlantic to see if we could find some whales. Saw a colony of seals at Great Blasket Island. Very cute.

Sailed on past the other Blaskets and then out across the waves south towards the Skellig Islands. Which never got nearer than about 20 miles, but you could see them quite clearly. Would have liked to visit them if we'd had chance.

Gemma and I got sat out on the bow for a while. Great fun until we turned back towards Ventry and headed into the wind. Got just a little bit soggy then.

All the back to Ventry and still no whales. Disappointing, but they are after all wild animals. Can't force them to show up.

After that it was just a case of driving the hour or so to Killarney, via the tiny village of Inch. That's where I stayed when I first came to Ireland and it was nice to see it again even though we didn't stop. Beautiful place.

Hit the rain just as we got to Killarney. Fortunately we soon dried off in the lovely Dunloe View Hostel.

"Will you please stop eating?!"

Tried to feed the hostel's goat a carrot the next morning. It didn't want it. Lots planned for the day, so we set off in search of the riding stables. Headed towards Killarney. Thought we were going the wrong way. Turned round. Drove for a while. Decided we'd gone wrong. Turned round again. Finally found the stables.

So nice to be on a horse again. I used to go riding when I was little, nearly 20 years ago but it's amazing how familiar it felt when our guide helped me up onto Aladdin, a lovely bay horse. As I got myself comfortable, Claire and Gemma were helped onto their own horses and I heard our guide explain to Claire that her horse, Monty, had a few bad habits. Nothing was said to either me or Gemma about any bad habits our own horses might have...

Satisfied that we had at least basic control over our horses, our guide led us into Killarney National Park. Beautiful place that is, but due to being on a horse for the first time in forever I didn't take any photos.

Claire started having a few difficulties. All the horses were interested in eating the grass and other plants they could reach when given the chance but both Aladdin and Gemma's horse Solomon responded to us pulling them back. Monty on the other hand... well, Monty's bad habit seems to be that he's an eating machine and he was determined to ignore every pull and nudge Claire gave him. At one point he dragged her nearly through a tree and a hedge, which resulted in a whole assortment of bumps and scratches.

Not that I escaped completely unscathed. We went for a few short trots. Now, in theory I remember how this works and I was quite comfortable with the first couple. On our final trot Aladdin decided initially that he didn't want to go and when he finally did, he went just that little bit faster to catch up. I had an awful moment of flashback to when I fell off the Shetland pony when I was little and had about 5 seconds of sheer bloody terror before I managed to convince myself everything was fine. Aladdin seemed completely unfazed.

Anyway, our hour of riding was up all too soon and we had to be off again. Our next stop was the Prince August Toy Soldier Factory. A bit of a weird choice, but we'd seen it in a leaflet we'd picked up and it looked so odd and unusual that we had to see it.

We ended up casting our own toy soldiers and then painting another one. And since we'd just been riding, we all chose men on horses. Two and a half hours we spent in that shop painting tiny tin men and bloody good fun it was too. Here is my masterpiece.

The plain cast figure is now sitting on my computer at work.

After that it was over the back roads to Kinsale for a lovely tea at Dinos Restaurant. Really good fish (I had fishcakes) and really good value. Kinsale looked like a pretty little place, but since we'd spent so long painting toy soldiers we had no time left to explore. We had to be off to yet another action packed adventure!

Starlight kayaking, that is. Claire and I had been kayaking in New Zealand, but this was completely different. Starting just before 8pm from Reen Pier in West Cork, we set out into the calm waters of the bay in the gathering darkness. It was beautiful - the stars coming out slowly overhead, bioluminescence beginning to spark in the water and us just bobbing along in a little group. Probably my highlight of the trip and I'd recommend it to absolutely anyone.

Unfortunately, again, with me being in a kayak and it being rather dark, I have no photos of this amazing experience save this very poor shot of the stars that I took before we got back in the car.

And then the Sat Nav sent us down a road with grass down the middle on the way to our Travelodge at Cork. Grr.

Long day, late night. Glad we booked that Travelodge.

Hostels
Dingle, Co. Kerry: Rainbow Hostel
Killarney, Co. Kerry: Dunloe View Hostel

Things to do
Whale-Watching, Ventry, Co. Kerry (45 euro for 4 hours)
Horse Riding, Killarney, Co. Kerry (30 euro for 1 hour)
Starlight Kayaking, Reen Pier, Co. Cork (50 euro)

Destination Daydreams: Chile

Chile. Long, thin and deceptively huge. Over 2,500 miles from top to bottom but on average little more than 100 miles across.

That's pretty big. And I currently only have 2 and a bit weeks set aside to explore it. Here goes.

I want to see Patagonia. Because... well, because it's cropped up in so many nature documentaries and it looks so beautiful and wild and I imagine you could just lose yourself there for a while. Besides, it has glaciers and I'm all up for seeing some more glaciers.

I also have plans to explore Tierra Del Fuego, the very southern reaches of Patagonia. Mostly because it came up in a book I read years ago and I want to see it for myself.

Of course, Chile being enormously long, getting around is going to be interesting. I've looked at flights from the capital, Santiago, to Punta Arenas, which seems to be the gateway town for Patagonia. Reasonably priced for the distance, but I'm wondering if it can be done another way. It is possible to get a bus, but a quick search seems to suggest it goes through Argentina and I'm not sure I can be doing with that malarkey. Oh, and it takes 24 hours...

Adventure vs sanity... hmm...

I'm getting ahead of myself though. I'm assuming I'll go straight from Santiago to Punta Arenas, which is silly because that would miss out a whole raft of interesting places in the middle. So let's look at those, shall we?

Heading south from Santiago, I'd like to explore the Lake District mostly for the beautiful views, but I'd also like to check out the city of Valdivia which got hit by an enormous earthquake in 1960 and looks like a really cool place to wander round.

Still moving south, Chiloe looks like an interesting area - an island just cut off from the mainland by a fairly narrow channel. Seems to have an interesting culture of its own. In fact, the whole south-central region of the country looks pretty appealing.

Maybe what I should do, then, is destination hop from Santiago to Punta Arenas by bus - almost certainly having adventures and yet maintaining my sanity - and then catch a flight back north for my onwards travel from Santiago? Yes? Yes.

Aside from exploring the southern end of the country (and the continent), the roads from Punta Arenas seem to be the only way to access Torres del Paine National Park. I'm not entirely sure what I'd want to do in the National Park - I'm not the type to go on multi-day hikes - but to see the gorgeous scenery would be amazing. We'll see.

I'm still missing things though, because Santiago's almost in the middle of the country and I've only covered the south. What about the north? All wide open spaces and clear skies. Oh, and a whacking great desert. The Atacama, to be precise - the driest place on earth and oh so pretty about it. I want to poke it.

San Pedro de Atacama seems to be the main gateway to the desert's beauty spots, but as with accessing Punta Arenas, it's not the easiest place to get to courtesy of Chile's ridiculous stretched out-ness.

So how to get there? Again, buses are an option but again can take nearly 24 hours. I'm more included to catch a flight from Santiago to Calama, the nearest airport, and then take a bus from there. Flights only take a couple of hours and then a bus from Calama to San Pedro de Atacama is only another 90 minutes or so. That sounds much more reasonable than a whole day/night on a bus.

From San Pedro I can visit Valle de la Luna, salt lakes, the de Tatio geyser field and a whole array of other natural wonders. Now that sounds like a good plan. There's a photo of de Tatio on the front of a travel book I own and it's amazing. I want to see it first hand.

Aside from that, I'd like to spend a few days in Santiago, taking in the sights and poking around the museums. I might need to extend my 2 week plan a little - three weeks might be better.

What should I see in Chile? Do you have any suggestions of lesser known places I should seek out?