Destination Realities: Canada

Sooo... I spent just over 2 months in Canada. It's a huge country. Really huge. With that in mind, how did my time there match up with my original plans?

I only really planned the beginning and very end of the trip, so here goes.

The Maritimes

1. Nova Scotia

Man, I had huge plans for Nova Scotia - Bay of Fundy, Lunenburg, Joggins... I only ended up spending about 5 days in the province, courtesy of ending up an a very short notice road trip with a fellow Brit I met on the first day. I did get to explore a bit of Halifax and I did see the Bay of Fundy and whales in it to boot. Didn't see much else of the province though.

2. Newfoundland

I would have loved to visit Newfoundland. However, while getting there would have been easy enough - ferry from Nova Scotia - getting around once I got there would have proved difficult and expensive. So Newfoundland will have to wait for now. I need someone who can drive...

3. New Brunswick

Not really part of my original plan, but I did end up spending a couple of days there. Admittedly, I spent that time mostly in the hostel (because it was raining) or in the station (because, woo, midnight train). Hmm...

4. Prince Edward Island

I'd not planned on visiting because I "didn't want to rush myself". Out of all of the maritime provinces, this is probably the place I felt least rushed. I spent nearly 3 days there, enjoying how quiet it was even despite the kitschy madness of Green Gables.

Quebec

5. Quebec City

I'd originally only planned on a week in Quebec province, but after rushing through the Maritimes in just over a week, I was ready to slow down. Which meant I ended up spending 4 days in beautiful Quebec City instead of the day or 2 I'd originally thought. As a result, I had much more time to go exploring the city's history. Great stuff.

6. Montreal

I spent 5 days in Montreal, the longest I'd stayed anywhere since I left Iceland. It would prove to be the beginning of a pattern - 4-5 day stays became my default as much as possible for the rest of my time in Canada. I'm glad I slowed down so much - Montreal had plenty to offer, even if it did rain some more.

7. Outdoorsy things

Yeah. I didn't end up doing any of those in Quebec. Getting caught outside in a torrential downpour doesn't count.

Ontario and the prairies

I didn't actually plan anything for this, really. I mostly just pootled through the big cities (Ottawa, Toronto) and revisited places from my previous trip (Kingston, Niagara, Hamilton). More on that in a bit.

As for the prairies, I hadn't really planned on anything there. I knew I wanted to take the train across from Toronto to Vancouver, but originally I was going to go non-stop. I decided 4 days on a train didn't sound like fun (says the girl who just booked a 51 hour bus journey), so I ended up stopping in Winnipeg and Edmonton and I'm very glad I did. Both cities just a little bit off the main tourist trail, but well worth visiting.

Vancouver and the Rockies

8. Vancouver Island

Yeah. That didn't happen. By the time I arrived in Vancouver I wasn't really in the mood for doing anything much. Despite breaking up my train journey, those nights trying to sleep on the train really seemed to screw with my brain.

9. Capilano Suspension Bridge

This did happen though. Success!!

10. Lake Louise

This also happened. It rained quite a bit and a big fucking bear scared the shit out of us at the campground, but we did see Lake Louise.

11. Burgess Shale

Didn't happen. We drove past it. And past the turn off for the Stanley Glacier trail, which runs past another outcrop of the same fossil-bearing shale. I made do with a few random museumm exhibits and the faint hope of spotting a fossil at Marble Canyon.

12. Riding, rafting, kayaking

Wow, I had all the outdoors things in mind for the Rockies. And we managed most of them (and more). Ziplining, canoeing, rafting, riding, bobsleigh (yes, bobsleigh). Plus a whole bunch of really nice walks. Success on that count.

13. Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump

This is a World Heritage Site south of Calgary and ultimately turned out to be just a bit too far out of the way. A shame, but it'll have to wait for another trip.

On first glance, it looks like I missed out on a lot of the things I originally planned or wanted to do. But I also did a lot more that I didn't intend. I took a road trip with someone I'd only just met and anyone who knows me will probably understand that that's quite a big deal for me. My time in Canada, while obviously amazing and great fun, also proved to me that I can deal with social situations and I can actually hold a conversation with people I don't know. It's lovely.

Now, things to bear in mind for anyone wanting to repeat the above. Because clearly everyone wants to take 2 months to travel Canada.

1. Canada is huge

Yes, I know this should be obvious, but it's worth mentioning. Getting around can take hours or even days unless you're going to focus on just a little bit of the country. A bus from the capital in Ottawa to Toronto takes about 3 hours. A train from Campbellton, New Brunswick to Quebec City takes 8 hours. And a train across from Vancouver to Toronto takes 4 days.

Yup. Huge. Maybe just focus on an area - Ontario around Toronto or Quebec & Montreal are probably good ideas.

2. Inter-city buses are pretty good

Greyhound's network runs from Ontario across to British Columbia. East of that connections are run by smaller provincial companies. Getting between the big cities is pretty easy and it's even possible to get a bus from Toronto out west to at least Calgary - I know, I met someone taking it. It took her 3 days.

3. Canadians really are friendly

I know it's a stereotype, but I've found it to be true. From the helpful attendant on the Toronto subway to the chap who parked the RV for us the first night we had it, the stereotype has held true and it's been absolutely lovely.

4. It's worth brushing up on French

I thought I would be all right in Quebec, Canada's French-speaking province - I learned a bit of French a very long time ago and I'd made sure to learn a couple of useful phrases like "I'm sorry, I don't understand." and "Do you speak English?". Oh, and I can say please, thank you, hello - all that malarkey.

However, in Quebec City at least, outside the tourist hub in the Old City, it's maybe worth knowing a little more. When I went to try poutine, the girl at the counter had to get her English speaking colleague to help because my French didn't stretch to understanding "eat in or take away?

That said, other Quebecois seemed quite amused by my appalling pronunciation of bonjour and were quite happy to talk to me in English.

5. Maple syrup

You have to try it. Proper maple syrup, not the stuff labelled "pancake syrup" or "original syrup". Maple syrup. Preferably with pancakes and bacon. Sausages are also acceptable. It shouldn't be so good.

Budget

Just to clarify: I've cut the last 2 weeks of my trip out of this because that was spent with my mother and sister and a lot of things had already been paid for.

Accommodation: worked out at less than £20 a night. I think this is pretty impressive given that I had to pay for a hotel for one night that cost me several times more than a hostel. Congratulations, me. Hostels in Canada range around the £15-£20 area, generally, with price spikes in Toronto over the summer, or so my hostel owner informed me. Out of the way places may also be more expensive - I paid $30 a night for a pretty basic place in Winnipeg, but it's the only hostel in the city.

AirBnB is pretty popular in Canada and some places you can find rooms cheaper than hostels. This is particularly good for places like Kingston, which have no hostels. At all.

Food: less than £5 a day. I'm pretty pleased with this considering I did treat myself to a couple of delicious brunches (looking at you, Original Pancake House...) and several trips to Tim Horton's. Fresh fruit and veg seems to be relatively expensive in Canada, but tinned goods are similarly priced to the UK. Plus, several of my hostels provided breakfast, which helped keep costs down.

Transport: less than £25 a day. This is hugely bumped up by the fact that in my first week I went halves on a car hire (at about $300 each) and then in August I took the train across the country which cost me nearly £500. Fortunately, the train had been budgetted for, although I loathed paying that much. If you don't take the train, transport can be done pretty cheap. A bus from Ottawa to Toronto costs about $20-25, and prices are similar between the other large cities in the east. City transit systems are pretty good - most will charge you about $3 for a single trip ticket.

Activities: about £5 a day. Obviously, this varied a lot. In Ottawa I bought a museum passport which covered all the big national museums and cost $45 (just over £30). Similarly, in Toronto I got a CityPass which covered the CN Tower, the Zoo, aquarium, Royal Ontario Museum and Casa Loma. Other costs mostly related to museum entry fees and the tourist trap that is Niagara Falls. Whale watching came in at a remarkably cheap $50 - that's £30 for a good 3 hours of sailing and a pod of fin whales right next to the boat.

Anyone else been to Canada? Is there anything I've missed that you think should be included? Let me know!

Destination Realities: Iceland

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you might have read some of my Destination Daydreams posts about the things I really want to do while I'm travelling. Now that the first destination, Iceland, is very much done and dusted, I thought I'd revisit my original ideas and see how it panned out.

1. I planned on 2 weeks

But the cheapest flights out of the country to Halifax, Nova Scotia were on Thursdays and Saturdays and I figured that with the costs in Iceland in general, 10 days should do. And it has.

2. I wanted to see the Golden Circle in summer

Achievement get. This was the first trip I took and it was as wonderful as I imagined. Save for my camera breaking, but we'll ignore that for now.

3. Jokulsarlon and Vatnajokull

I would have loved to see both of these places - Jokulsarlon is a lagoon full of icebergs, Vatnajokull is the glacier they calve from. Unfortunately, day trips there are more expensive than I'd have liked and to do it on public transport would have meant having to stay overnight in somewhere like Hofn where accommodation is extorionate.

4. The North East

I listed Husavik for whale watching, as well as Akureyri and Myvatn. Turns out I could go whale watching from Akureyri, which is easier and cheaper to get to and it was awesome. Myvatn and its famous hot pools was just too awkward to do on public transport and there was plenty to keep me occupied in Akureyri for the couple of days I was there.

5. Snaefellsnes

I'd added a visit to Snaefellsnes onto my original plans as a sort of afterthought. I'm so glad I took a trip there though, even if it did rain all day! It's a beautiful, wild place and so quiet.

Overall, I think I managed to accomplish most of my original goals for Iceland. Now, things to bear in mind for anyone thinking of planning a trip there.

1. If you can go self catering, do it

Eating out is prohibitively expensive, not just in Reykjavik but across the country. I treated myself to a few small meals and every time I winced at the cost. There's a supermarket called Bonus which is incredibly cheap by Icelandic standards - go there instead.

2. Don't just stick to Reykjavik

Iceland feels like a huge place once you get out of the capital. It's worth getting a bus, or a car if you can afford it, and exploring a bit. The public bus to Akureyri works out at about £50-60 one way and it's worth it for the views alone.

3. Visit some of the museums

Reykjavik is dotted with an assortment of museums, as is Akureyri. Just don't expect them to be free - 1500 krona seems to be fairly standard.

4. Get out and walk

There are loads of green spaces in the cities and good footpaths run along the shore in both Reykjavik and Akureyri. Once you're away from the city centre, which is pretty small in both cases, it's super quiet and you might even get the area to yourself, at least for a little while.

5. Embrace the weather

Us Brits famously love talking about the weather. Iceland's weather is changeable - seriously changeable, to the point that the Icelanders like to tell tourists, "don't like the weather? Wait 10 minutes."

When I walked out to the Grotta lighthouse, the weather changed within the space of a couple of minutes from bright sunshine to rolling fog across the bay. By the time I walked back to the city it was blazing hot again. Madness.

Budget

OK, so bearing in mind I'm travelling solo and aiming to be on the road for a year, here's a few figures to give you an idea of cost.

Accommodation: worked out about £25 per night, even staying in hostels. The one in Reykjavik worked out more expensive than my room in Akureyri, despite it being a 24 bed dorm. Also useful to bear in mind is that many (if not all) hostels in Iceland will charge you extra for linen, so it's helpful to take a sleeping bag wih you.

Food: I think I did quite well here and even with eating out 4 or 5 times, my food bill worked out at less than £8 a day. I shopped at Bonus, which is the closest Iceland gets to a discount supermarket, and when I ate out I went for soups, smaller portions (which are still pretty good sizes) and ate during the day instead of the evening when prices tend to go up.

Transport: in the cities, I walked - most of the attractions in Reykjavik are within easy walking distance of the centre and this is even more true of Akureyri. The public bus in Reykjavik costs 400-420 krona for a single trip, which is a bit more than £2. Intercity buses cost 9240 krona one way, which is about £56 at the moment. Not too bad for a 6 hour plus bus trip in a notoriously expensive country. Plus, the scenery is awesome.

Activities: My biggest expense -  £343, give or take. This covered 3 day trips with Reykjavik Excursions and a whale watching trip from Akureyri, plus several museums and a trip to the cinema. Clearly the biggest expense was the day trips, but if you don't drive, this is the easiest way to get out of the city and see Iceland's beautiful landscapes. Also, whales. I will never say no to whales. I failed to find a single free museum in Iceland. The cheapest was the Akureyri City Museum, at 1200 krona - about £7.25. Most in Reykjavik are 1500 krona, unless you're going to the Phallological Museum which is a bit cheaper and totally worth it for the gift of being able to say you've been to a museum dedicated almost entirely to giant whale penises.

Overall, Iceland met my expectations with regards to price and more than met them with regards to being awesome.

Anyone else been to Iceland and think I've missed something important? Do share.

Destination Daydreams: Tasmania

With departure rapidly approaching, I figure now is the time to get back to daydreaming about where I'm going to go rather than worrying whether everything I need is going to fit into my rucksack. In the New Year I'm hoping to revisit my former home of Tasmania. I lived out there for a year when I was 20 and despite that I barely scratched the surface of this beautiful island. So, I'd like to give myself 2 weeks as a minimum and 3 weeks if I can find the time so I can really explore.

Hobart

First up, the lovely little capital city - Hobart. This is where I lived and yet... I never really got to know it. I explored a couple of the museums and the Botanical Gardens but I missed out on Salamanca Market and the little places around the city. I also need to make an attempt on Mount Wellington. This is the view from my student house in the city.

That big mountain? Yeah. I saw that out of my window every day and yet never thought to go up to the top. Best get that fixed!

Hobart's such a beautiful little place as well - it doesn't feel like a capital city. It's very laid back and that might be why I loved it so much. I'd like to spend a week or so there, so I might see if I can get an AirBnB place - seen some lovely ones on the website!

The South East

I have no idea what's down here apart from the Huon Valley area. Basically walking, right? Lovely countryside, sleepy little towns. Sounds like my kind of place. The only problem will be how awkward Tassie is to get around. There's a good, regular bus service between Hobart and Launceston, the only other big place in the state, but aside from that buses are a bit less common. That said, Tassielink have a reasonable network and can probably get me to most of the places I want to go.

The West Coast

Temperate rainforest and a huge World Heritage area. What's not to like? Also, winding little hill railways, penal colonies and possibly kayaking. Always with the kayaking. The Tasmanian Wildnerness World Heritage area covers nearly a third of the state, so I figure it's worth making the trip over to the West Coast just to see that. And if I get the chance to go kayaking again, all the better.

The North

Devonport? Burnie? General pretties up on the north coast. Might attempt to make a return to Narawntapu NP if I can find a way to get there without a car.

I'm also considering getting the ferry back across from Devonport to Melbourne on the mainland. Similar price to the flights from Hobart so it might be a nice change.

Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair

Cradle Mountain should be easy enough to do from Launnie... Launceston. I did it when I lived in Hobart, but it rained the entire few hours I was there, so I'd like to see it in the dry, if not in the sun.

Lake St Clair... not so sure about that one, but I'd love to see it. Tassielink runs a bus from Hobart to the West Coast via the lake, so I might be able to do it that way. If not, it'll have to be an organised tour.

The East Coast

Wineglass Bay, Bay of Fires, Freycinet etc. Mostly revisiting places from my year out there. Oh, and not forgetting Maria Island, because lizards and Painted Cliffs.

Wow. That's actually quite a lot of stuff to do in Tas. Good job I've set aside 2-3 weeks for it.

Have you visited Tasmania? Where would you go? Do you have a favourite place? Please share!

Destination Daydreams: Vancouver and The Rockies

It's been a while since I wrote one of these! My mum and sister will be joining me for a couple of weeks in Canada at the end of August, so I figured I might as well jot down some ideas.

We'll be renting a motorhome for the duration, which will be hilarious because neither my mum nor my sister have driven anything that big. And I, being the non-driver, have been told by my sister that it's my job to direct them into parking spaces. Yeah, right.

So, what do I actually want to do around Vancouver and the Rockies? Well, first up, I'm planning on spending some time in Vancouver before the relatives arrive. There's plenty to do in the city itself but I'd also quite like to get out to Vancouver Island and enjoy the beautiful scenery. Took a little bit of digging, but apparently I can get a ferry from the city to the island. Hurrah.

My mum would like to visit Capilano Suspension Bridge. Looks pretty amazing to me - a footbridge high above the river. Good job I'm fine with heights.

Once Vancouver and its immediate vicinity is out of the way, we're going to spend a while going up and over the Rockies. There's a lot of amazing sites to choose from up there, but I'd really like to see Lake Louise. It looks like such a beautiful area, but then I imagine there's plenty of those.

I'd also love to visit the Burgess Shale. This is an internationally important fossil site, where some of the earliest complex life on Earth is preserved in the rocks. And by early, we're talking over 500 million years old. Parks Canada run guided hikes to some of the sites and while a couple of them are probably a bit strenuous for my liking - especially given that Mum/sister will need to be able to drive afterwards - there's a less arduous one to the Kootenay outcrop. All the shiny pretty science things.

Aside from that, there's nothing specific in mind for the Rockies. I'd love to go riding again and there's plenty of opportunities to go rafting or kayaking, which would be amazing. My mum really wants to take a hot air balloon ride, since she missed out when she visited India last year.

Oh, so many things!

The last thing I'd really like to see and recommended to my mum by a chap at the travel agent, is Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. This a World Heritage Site south of Calgary, so a bit out of the way of our intended route, but it's something I'd like to see. It is, as the name suggests, a buffalo jump - a place where the native folk of the area would drive herds of buffalo over a cliff to their deaths. A remarkably efficient way of hunting.

Still relatively vague plans at the moment, but I'm sure as August creeps closer they'll start forming into more of an itinerary.

What would you recommend visiting on a roadtrip over the Rockies? Any hidden gems to see? Why not share in the comments below.

Destination Daydreams: Tropical North Queensland

Currently, I've set aside nearly about 2 months to cover Australia, starting in the North East, land of desert, rainforest and of course the Great Barrier Reef. Aside from that last obvious destination, where should I check out in Tropical North Queensland?

Cairns

The small city of Cairns is the gateway to the northern end of Queensland and also one of the main jumping off points for trips to the Great Barrier Reef. I intend to start here, maybe just to relax for a few days and explore the city, since I didn't really have time to do that when I first visited.

Torres Strait Islands

From Cairns I could catch a flight up to Horn Island, one of the Torres Strait Islands. These islands look beautiful and they've got a lot of history too - the Torres Strait Islanders make up one of the longest continuous cultures on the planet. I'm pretty sure I could wile away a few days up there at least.

Cape York

Depending on budget, I could also visit Cape York, the huge, largely empty point of land which sticks up above Cairns. There's plenty of 4x4 tours I could hop on if I can still afford it to go and explore the desert and scrubland, but first preference is definitely the Torres Strait.

Daintree Rainforest

From the Torres Strait, my plan at the moment is to head back down to Cairns and base myself out of there for a weeks or so. This will give me time to revisit the Daintree Rainforest, a remnant of the vast swathes of forest that once covered large parts of Australia. There's a huge diversity of wildlife here and I'd love to spend a bit more time exploring than the 1 day trip I managed last time.

Great Barrier Reef

As mentioned above, the Great Barrier Reef is also easily accessible from Cairns and I definitely need to get back out there - on my previous trip I had a weird near-panic attack when I tried to go snorkelling, so I need to make up for that.

So, that's my very rough plan for enjoying Tropical North Queensland. Is there anything I should add to the list? I'm sure there must be plenty of hidden gems to search out. Please share in the comments.

Destination Daydreams: USA (the lower 48...)

Land of the free, home of the brave. The USA's got a lot going for it. It's a huge country though and expensive to boot, so where should I be heading to make the most of it?

Well, Alaska's already been covered in a previous post: Destination Daydreams: Alaska.

So, let's take a look at the lower 48 (or the Contiguous United States, as Wikipedia informs me I should be calling them...)

First stop will be Seattle, simply because it makes some sort of sense to start at the top and I can get flights there from Anchorage. I'll admit, I'm not in the least bit interested in the cities, but I could spare a couple of days in Seattle just to wander round.

From there the first thing I really want to see is Yellowstone National Park. Which turns out to be a bit more difficult to get to than I expected. It looks like I'll need to get a bus to Salt Lake City and then another to Jackson, which is the main gateway town for the park. Accommodation there is expensive (but what isn't in the States?) but I think I've found somewhere on the cheaper end of the scale. I could take a bus tour into the park, not having my own transport and maybe take a shuttle service into the Grand Teton National Park which adjoins it and go for a hike.

At this point, this leg of my trip is already approaching the "more-expensive-than-I'd-really-like-it-to-be" range. Which is why I'm trying to spend as little time as possible in the USA. Not because I don't think I'd enjoy it, but I simply can't afford to stay long.

Moving on. Next major must-see for me is the Grand Canyon. This seems to be a little less expensive than Yellowstone, but I still need to get there. Which means getting back on the bus to Salt Lake City and then onto the Greyhound network to Flagstaff, AZ. Flagstaff, thankfully, has some cheaper accommodation options and I've found at least one that offers a day tour to the Grand Canyon for half the price I'd be paying for Yellowstone. Obviously, it might be a rubbish tour, but I've still got a while to do my research on this.

Plus, Flagstaff's only a small place, so I wouldn't mind sticking around a few days to get over spending so much time on long distance busses.

Even more interesting, I've just discovered that the awesome Meteor Crater isn't that far from Flagstaff... Wonder if I could do a trip there as well... I'll have to see how it fits into the budget.

Then my final must-see is Monterey Bay on the west coast. Again, I'll have to hop on a bus which will take a day (or more) and accommodation in Monterey is expensive, so I'll have to take a look at whether I could stay somewhere nearby to get round it. But I have to see the Bay. I'd like to go whale watching and I will find a way to fit this into my budget because Monterey is famous for its whales and sealife in general. Nice walking along the coast by the look of it too...

And then another bus to Los Angeles to catch a flight to Peru for the next leg. Los Angeles holds absolutely no appeal for me, save from maybe seeing the Hollywood Sign, just to say I've seen it.

I think this post has made it clear that I'm much more interested in the natural beauty of the USA than I am in its cities. No change there - I'm just not a city-lover.

What other places would you recommend for the USA? Are there little natural beauty spots that I should search out? Maybe a hidden gem? Let me know in the comments below.

Wonderful Walks: Afternoon Strolls & Epic Tramps

It's my dad's birthday today. He does a lot of walking and this summer, just before I leave for the Grand Tour, he's taking on the Three Peaks Challenge. So I got thinking about which walks I love and which walks I'd love to try. Here's a few.

Tried & Tested

For which read: I, my dad or someone else I know and trust has walked it and liked it. As such, these are mostly in the UK. Naught wrong with loving your home country!

Viking Way, Lincolnshire & Rutland

I'd have liked to have picked just one part of this long-distance footpath which runs from Barton-upon-Humber in the north to Oakham in the south, but there's just too many nice bits. Try out the northern end for a nice stroll from the Humber bank or head a bit further south to the extent of my Viking Way experience and take a ramble through the rural Lincolnshire villages of Donington-on-Bain, Goulceby and Scamblesby. My favourite part though is the tramp over the hill between Walesby and Tealby - you can see for miles from up there and you might even catch sight of some Lincolnshire Long Wool sheep. Funny critters.

Snowdon, Gwynedd

The highest peak in Wales (and second highest in the UK) and yet a surprisingly easy climb. Now, you could cheat and take the train either up or down, but where's the fun in that? I'm told the easiest climb is the one I took with my family a few years back and that starts in the little town of Llanberis. From here the path follows the railway most of the way to the top. Be warned, the first section up out of the town is possibly the steepest! Don't let it put you off. You'll be rewarded with amazing views, providing the weather holds out.

Be aware that, as with most mountainous areas, the weather up Snowdon can change quickly. Be prepared.

Flamborough Head, Yorkshire

This headland sticks out into the North Sea and as such can get a bit wild, but catch it on a good day and it makes for a beautiful walk. Start at any car park and just go for a stroll. It's very hard to get lost - just follow the cliff edge round!

If the tide is out, head down to the beach at North Landing and do some exploring. It's a long time since I went down there, but I'm pretty sure there's a couple of small caves. Just be careful and don't go getting cut off by the tide.

Lyke Wake Walk, Yorkshire

Enjoyment isn't necessarily a factor in this challenging walk. While the others above can be done in any timescale, this 40 mile tramp across the North Yorkshire Moors must be completed in 24 hours to really count. My sister managed it with a group from school a few years ago and while she was tired and aching by the time she finished, I'm sure she was pretty proud of herself for managing it.

Uluru Base Walk, Northern Territory, Australia

Uluru (also: Ayers Rock) is a magical place. A huge lump of rock rearing out of the desert, cast in beautiful light by the setting sun...

Yeah, so we know Uluru is awesome and you should see it yourself. If you do, don't just stick around for sunset/sunrise. Take a walk around the base to get a better grasp of just how special the area is. It's sacred to the traditional owners, the Anangu and every nook and cranny of this massive rock is rich with stories from the Dreamtime. I'd suggest going with a guide to make the most of the myths - there are, if I recall, some info boards, but a guide will go into so much more detail.

Just be aware that it gets very hot in Australia's Red Centre. Temperatures regularly hit the high 30s (Celsius, not Fahrenheit) and it's very dry. Take plenty of water and wear a hat.

Daydreams

For which read: long tramps in (mostly) foreign climes that I haven't done.

Tongariro Alpine Crossing, New Zealand

When I found out Dad was going to do the Three Peaks Challenge, I decided I needed to do some sort of challenge walk while on my Grand Tour around the world. Now, I enjoy walking, but I'm a bit out of practice so I'm not about to leap into the Inca Trail. The Tongariro Alpine Crossing, on the other hand, is a one day tramp across New Zealand's Tongariro National Park and is about 12 miles in total. Of course, it's up and down over weird volcanic landscapes, but I figure I could do that. Just have to hope that the weather is better than when I first visited Tongariro...

Overland Track, Tasmania, Australia

One of Australia's great walks, this trail winds through Tasmania's western wilderness, from Cradle Mountain to Lake St Clair. Here's Cradle Mountain, hiding in the cloud.

Of course, that was in winter and the track is most popular in the summer when the weather's a bit better. That said, I've seen how quickly the weather changes in Tasmania and I wouldn't trust it to stay nice. I'm considering doing it though - Tasmania's such a beautiful place and this seems like a great way to do a bit more exploring.

Three Peaks Challenge, UK

This exists in a few forms in the UK. There's the National Three Peaks, where walkers climb the three highest mountains in the country - Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon. The challenge here is to walk it (including transport between the mountains) in 24 hours. Sounds like a spoiled walk to me.

There's also the Yorkshire Three Peaks, which includes roughly the same distance walking, but less climbing and takes in the mountains of Whernside, Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent in the Yorkshire Dales. The challenge is to complete it in 12 hours. This is the one my dad's going to do in the summer and I'm sure it'll be fantastic.

However, I'm rather inclined to agree with the great Alfred Wainwright:

Some people have chosen to regard the walk as a race, and this is to be greatly regretted. Walking is a pleasure to be enjoyed in comfort

Looks like a really nice walk, though. I'll have to try it myself one day.

Appalachian Trail, USA

Perhaps the queen of long distance tramps and certainly one of the best known, this trail runs from Maine all the way to Georgia, a total of about 2,200 miles. I can't begin to imagine the challenge of walking this all in one go but it's been done and must rank as one of the ultimate walking challenges. As for me, I wouldn't mind trying out a few sections. After all, it looks to pass through some really beautiful country.

Inca Trail, Peru

Famous for leading to the magnificent ruins of Machu Picchu in the Peruvian Andes, the Inca Trail runs through beautiful wilderness and in places follows the original Inca routes through the mountains and forests. It's incredibly popular, so numbers are limited to protect the track. I'd really like to do this one day, but I think for now I'll settle for just seeing Machu Picchu. I don't fancy the idea of getting partway down the trail and falling ill with altitude sickness. Much better to have that happen when I'm nearer civilisation. Say, Cuzco?

So, there's a few options there - shorter walks in the UK to multi-day hikes across the world. I'd love to know if any of my readers has done any of the longer treks!

Where are your favourite hiking destinations? Do you dream of undertaking one of the world's great walks or have you already done it? Share in the comments below.

Destination Daydreams: Quebec

Destination Daydreams has returned from the haze of Christmas and New Year and this time I'm looking at the beautiful Canadian province of Quebec. Enormous, as is much of Canada, with the population concentrated in the south and the wilds stretching away to the north. Oh, and predominantly French-speaking. Better get brushing up on the French I learned at school...

So, where to go?

Cities

I've got a week or so currently set aside to explore a little of the province so where should I go? Well, Montreal is certainly an obvious option. One of the biggest cities in Canada, packed full of culture - what's not to like? Well, apart from the fact that I'm not over-fond of big cities. I'm willing to forget about that though because SO.MANY.MUSEUMS. So, let's say I spend 3 or 4 days in Montreal overdosing on culture.

Where next? Quebec City. By bus or train - prices seem to be relatively similar at this point. Perhaps I should take the train and make the most of a little comfort while I can. After all, later on in the Canada stretch of my trip I'll be taking buses across the vast emptiness in the centre of the country. More on that in a later post.

Anyway, Quebec City. Looks like a quaint little place, full of beautiful old architecture. Maybe a nice place to unwind for a couple of days? I'd like to see if I can get out into the countryside around it as well, perhaps find a more outdoorsy activity. Canoeing would be lovely. I like a nice paddle - somewhere nice and calm where I can float along in peace. Ahh.

More museums... in another city

From there, I'd like to revisit Gatineau. I took a trip to what was then called the Canadian Museum of Civilization while on holiday with my parents. Now the Canadian Museum of History, it was the only time we got into Quebec and I'd love to go back to the Museum and explore the city some more. It's just the other side of the river from Ottawa and would provide an excellent gateway for the Ontario leg of the trip.

I mean, look, this museum is amazing. Even my dodgy photography of my even dodgier 2007 photography can show that...

I'm still researching other places to visit in Quebec, but I have to admit that I'm a bit limited by my lack of transport. Buses and trains can only get me so far, after all. That said, I'm also going to have to keep a close eye on how much time I spend in Canada, since I've got a fixed date for meeting up with my mother and sister in Vancouver. Oh, decisions, decisions!

If you could go anywhere in Quebec, where would you go? Do you think a week or so is enough time to really appreciate the province or should I stay longer? Let me know in the comments below.

Destination Daydreams: South Africa

I will admit that my travel plans for the South African leg of the Grand Tour are quite... limited. The main reason for including it is to revisit the International Primate Rescue (IPR) sanctuary just north of Pretoria. I first went there a couple of years ago with my mum and I'd love to go back.

The Thinker

IPR take in rescued primates from all over the place, mostly from the exotic pet trade in South Africa, but others from further afield. Two weeks volunteering there was an amazing experience, which is why I'm planning on going back. Two weeks of feeding, cleaning and generally making sure the lives of the monkeys are better than their pasts sounds like a pretty good thing to me.

Good perch?

But there are other things I'd like to do in South Africa. A return to Kruger National Park for a safari trip is top of the list. I went for a 3 day trip while I was at IPR last time and it still ranks as one of the most amazing things I've done. Driving along dusty roads just after dawn and finding a crash of rhinos asleep in the middle of the road was... mind blowing, I think. We easily spent 15 minutes just sitting and watching them until they disappeared into the bush. The way such large animals can melt away like that will always impress me.

I'd really like to see big cats in the wild though and that means both having a fair amount of luck and also spending a bit longer in the park. I believe there's African Wild Dogs within the bounds of Kruger as well, which would make my life, let alone my trip. I love African Wild Dogs. Did you know they have a hunt success rate of about 80%? Compared to the much-lauded lions at 20%, this is pretty damn impressive. You'd struggle to find a much more effective and efficient hunter.

Aside from those two things which are my absolute musts for South Africa, there's also a whole host of fossil sites with lots of early human stuff going on. I think I'd want to take a group tour for things like that though. Both for ease of getting around and also for the safety aspect.

One last thing I'm seriously considering for this leg of the Grand Tour is another volunteer placement, this time in Cape Town. There's a seabird and penguin rehabilitation centre in the city which offers 6 week placements and I think it would be wonderful. It'd look quite nice on my CV too, for when I finally start looking at getting a job in the area my degree was aimed at. But mostly, I just think it would be an interesting experience. I've never worked hands on with birds before. New skills ahoy!

Those are the things I'm most interested in doing. I'm sure there's others though. What would you recommend for South Africa? Are there any hidden gems I absolutely must check out? Leave a comment and let me know.

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...

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?

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?

Destination Daydreams: Cambodia

Cambodia... land of temples? At least, that was initially the only thing I knew about the country save the 1970s genocide. Angkor Wat - a huge complex of temples that's UNESCO World Heritage listed.

Cambodia's on the list for the Grand Tour because I've wanted to see Angkor Wat for years. And at a push, I'd visit Cambodia just to see those temples. But what else is there to do? It's not a huge country - a similar size to the UK - but I'm sure it has other things to offer.

The first new thing I found was that there are rare Irrawaddy dolphins in Cambodia. A chance to see rare dolphins? Not going to pass that up. Apparently Kratie on the Mekong river is one of the best places to see them so that's definitely going into the plan. Somehow. Just got to work out how to get there. Must be a bus service I can use - buses seem to be the main transport option for Cambodia.

Which brings me to my next point - I'll probably end up flying into the capital, Phnom Penh because it's a bit cheaper than flying to Siem Reap near Angkor. This means I'd get the chance to explore Phnom Penh too, which apparently has some lovely places to see. I could, I suppose, also take a trip down to the coast and explore an island or two. That sounds like fun.

Again, it looks like buses are the way to go when getting between places. The Phnom Penh to Siem Reap route seems to be well-travelled and there's plenty of bus providers servicing it. However, I also found a site a couple of months back that suggested taking a boat up the river between the two cities. Now that sounds interesting.

The site in question, Move to Cambodia, actually had a whole page of useful sounding info about getting between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, which you can find here: Move to Cambodia: Travel Between Phnom Penh & Siem Reap

The bit I'm interested in (besides all the useful stuff about bus companies) is the tiny section at the bottom about taking a boat up the river. Sounds like it's not the safest way of doing it, only runs outside the dry season and is a bit more expensive than the bus. It's the experience though - imagine how lovely that could be just plodding up the river watching the world go by. And when I say it's more expensive than the bus, the buses go up to about US$15 and the boat is about US$35. Not exactly expensive for a trip that can take up to 10 hours.

Yeah, that sounds like fun.

Random aside aside, what else is there to see in Cambodia? Well, outside Angkor Wat, there are beautiful old temples scattered all across the country that could be worth a visit. I'm not a religious person, but temples are cool - they just feel interesting.

Oh, and if all that's not enough and the Irrawaddy dolphins don't slake my thirst for wildlife spotting, I'm told there's a place you can walk with elephants in the east of the country. Totally going to check that out.

Might just have to learn some Khmer phrases to add to my language skills. Because obviously Spanish won't work in Cambodia.

Have I missed anything out? Any secret hidden gems I should know about?

Destination Daydreams: Ireland

Flying out to Ireland tomorrow, so after my last post about planning I thought I'd do a special Destination Daydreams of the things I really want to see and do on the trip.

Even better, I have input from Claire and Gemma who are coming with me! Yay! Here goes.

I want to see Connemara ponies. I think I've mentioned this in previous posts, but basically I read a book when I was little that had Connemara ponies as a major part of the narrative and I fell in love. Now that I have the chance to see them, I better bloody well see them. I will be incredibly disappointed if I don't.

I'd also love to see whales. I've heard there's humpback whales off the Dingle Peninsula but they're quite difficult to spot. I'll settle for dolphins but a whale... well, a whale's a whale and after seeing sperm whales in New Zealand I want to see more.

I'd quite like an experience akin to the driving days we had in New Zealand where it's quite a long way between overnight stops and we just drive the scenic route, stopping to enjoy the view and take photos wherever we fancy. So, the Wild Atlantic Way between Galway and Tralee sounds like a good bet!

Gemma is looking forward to our starlight kayaking near Cork. I have to agree; just floating about under the stars (or clouds as the case might be) sounds like a truly awesome experience. Claire also agrees. She's also excited about the Wild Atlantic Way, whales (of course), the Giants Causeway and experiencing Irish pubs and live music. Oh, and exploring Dublin and Belfast.

All of which sounds good to me. And Claire?

Claire wants to see basking sharks. That sounds cool and I think I'd probably get overexcited if we did see any. I love basking sharks. They're bizarre animals. Like Gemma, she's also looking forward to seeing the Giants Causeway, where she'll probably soon get fed up of me geeking out over the amazing geology things... In addition, she wants to see the Book of Kells, which is on display at the Library of Trinity College. Ninth century illuminated gospels? Interesting stuff.

Claire has two other things on her "to do" list. The first is a sing along to the Buffy musical episode, Once More, With Feeling. OK, that's all right. We did that in New Zealand and Gemma's been warned about it.

The second is a vague plan in which she finds and kidnaps Andrew Scott (of Sherlock fame), possibly with help from me and Gemma. I'm not so keen on this idea... I do not want to get arrested...

So many things to see and do. Two weeks to do it in. Take off in less than 24 hours. Countdown is entering its final stages...

Destination Daydreams: Birthday Daydreams

It was my birthday yesterday (happy birthday to me and all that). So I figured I'd make a list of everywhere I would go if a) I could afford it and b) security wasn't an issue.

Top of the list is volunteering with orangutans in Borneo or Sumatra. My parents actually offered to pay for me to go for my 21st but I figured I wanted to do something as a family so we went to Euro Disney instead. Such fun, but I really do want to see the orangs.

I'd also love to see the Amazon and the Pantanal on more than just a flying visit. I'd like to actually trek into the forest, maybe volunteer somewhere.

If I had a driving license I'd road trip across Australia from Adelaide to Darwin, maybe taking in some of the tracks on the way. Y'know, just drive out into the outback.

Hmm... what else? I'd love to do an epic trip to see all the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World (or sites thereof) in one go. So Greece (Statue of Zeus, Colossus of Rhodes), Egypt (Pharos of Alexandria, Pyramids at Giza), Turkey (Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, Temple of Artemis at Ephesus) and Iraq (Hanging Gardens of Babylon). That'd be an awesome trip.

I also fancy a trip round the Pacific - Japan, Hawaii, some of the islands in the South Pacific, Easter Island and the Galapagos. Actually, Galapagos could be one trip in itself. Oh yeah. Wildlife, culture, history. What more could you ask for?

Antarctica's also on the list - penguins, seals, whales? Definitely my cup of tea. And those landscapes... wow. And there's always the possiblity of the Southern Lights. So gorgeous. On which note...

The Northern Lights. Nowhere specific - I sort of just want to head up north - Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Canada or Iceland, I don't mind where - and just sit around and wait until the Lights show up. Just sit back, relax and sky watch for days.

I want to climb a mountain. I've done Snowdon in Wales, but it's somehow not quite as awesome as the thought of tackling one of the really big peaks. I'm thinking maybe Kilimanjaro? Everest would be cool but... I don't know... Kilimanjaro has more pull. Imagine the views you could get of the savannah.

I want to swim with Whale Sharks. I love sharks and much as the idea of cage diving with Great Whites in South Africa sounds amazing, the thought of swimming with giant (relatively) non-threatening sharks in lovely warm(ish) waters sounds even better. Maybe I'll add it to the Grand Tour - there's Whale Sharks around the Ningaloo Marine Reserve in Australia.

Oooh, historical things - I want to see the Great Wall of China up close, take those cliched pictures at the Taj Mahal and visit a whole array of pre-Columbian sites in Mesoamerica. Things like Chichen Itza, Tikal and Teotihuacan. While I'm there, I also want to visit the cenotes (limestone sinkholes) around the coast of the Yucatan - firstly because they're interesting in their own right and secondly because they're possibly the clearest above-ground indicator of the impact that wiped out the dinosaurs: evolution and geology all in one go!

And then there's all the museums... oh, the museums. Top of the list at this moment in time is the Smithsonian. Huge, varied and considered one of the best museums on the planet. Yep, that's a must. I could probably spend a few days there, even a week given the opportunity.

I'd love to see Lake Maracaibo for the amazing lightning storms it experiences. It's not completely understood why, but it happens regularly and to see it firsthand would be magical.

Uh, magical. What an awful word.

Safari would be cool, too. At least a week, though, maybe two. The three days I had in Kruger National Park were amazing but nowhere near enough to satisfy. I want to see big cats. And more than that, I want to see the migrations. Hey, I grew up watching BBC Natural History Unit documentaries - the image of thousands of wildebeest and zebra (among others) marching across the savannah has stuck with me and damnit, I want to watch it.

So many things... anything else?

Oh, so many things. So. Many. Things. But, y'know, I think this post is long enough for now. I'm sure the others will crop up at some future date or other.

Destination Daydreams: Peru

Been looking at Peru this week. Let's get the obvious thing out of the way first: yes, I want to go to Machu Picchu. It's been on my bucket list for years, so I'm going to see it, no matter how touristy and over-hyped it might be.

But what else to do in Peru? Well, Cusco seems to be the gateway to Machu Picchu and there's a whole host of other archaeological sites in the area, so that seems to be a good place to start. I could fly into Lima and then on to Cusco and then explore around there for a week or so.

I'm setting aside a week for this because of the altitude. I fully expect, having read other people's experiences, to spend the first few days feeling a bit rotten and weird. A friend who went out there a while back has helpfully recommended somewhere for breakfast (cheers, James). So I figure a few days in Cusco getting used to the altitude and then on to Machu Picchu by either train or bus.

The train could be more relaxing, potentially. I can go straight to Aguas Calientes, the closest town to Machu Picchu, visit the site and any others nearby and then catch the train or a bus back to Ollantaytambo, which seems to be highly recommended by others and has some awesome looking archaeological sites of its own. Also, outside of the tourist rush hour heading to Cusco, it looks like it might be rather quieter and more laid back than Cusco and therefore might be a nice place to take it slower for a few days.

When I initially started planning The Grand Tour, my Peru ideas only involved going to Machu Picchu. Of course, a few days ago, I suddenly remembered Lake Titicaca and its floating islands. Like Machu Picchu, I've loved the idea of it for years, but I suppose I thought it would be awkward to access. A quick look proves I'm wrong and I could do it by bus (cheaper and faster) or train (more expensive but more chance to view the scenery?). A flight is also an option, but this seems to go from Cusco to Juliaca and Juliaca sounds like a place I don't want to go...

Anyways, I can get from Cusco to Puno on the lakeshore fairly easily. From these I can take a boat trip out onto the lake and maybe visit one of more of the floating islands. Sounds like a bloody good idea to me.

Lima itself, the captial of Peru, has been mostly discounted. I've read too many things about crime rates and such (and yes, I know the rest of Peru is hardly crime free) and then the same friend who recommended a cafe for breakfast in Cusco suggested I wouldn't need much time in Lima, so I think that supports my instinctive reaction.

So, what else to do in Peru? The only other major thing I'd like to see if I get the chance is the Nazca Lines. There's no access on foot, so the only option is a scenic flight which I'm guessing would be just a little bit expensive... maybe that will have to wait until another trip.

Just got to find some advice on dealing with altitude. Don't fancy spending my entire time in Peru feeling grotty...

Until next time!

Destination Daydreams: Alaska

Well, would you look at that. I'm capable of maintaining a blog. For a few weeks at least...

On with the show. Destination Daydreams is back and this time I'm looking at Alaska. Ahh, Alaska. Baked Alaska. Mmmm...

Anyhoo... what to do in Alaska? What indeed to do in Alaska? Let's start with how I'm getting there. I could fly up from Vancouver. That'd be the quickest way to do it and quite reasonably priced.

Bit boring though, innit? Just flying over all that beautiful coast. All those little fjords and islands and whatnot. So I figure I could get on a boat instead. There's ferries all the way up that western coast from Prince Rupert in Canada all the way round to the far west and the Aleutian Islands. Takes longer - 4-5 days instead of the 3.5 hours or so it'd take for a flight.

But imagine how much you could see from the ferry. And it'd be a nice change of pace for a few days. Just sit back, relax and take in the view.

So sure, maybe I'd have to put up with rough seas, but I've not yet had a problem with seasickness, so I figure I'd be OK. Coped with Lake Taupo when poor Claire was doing this:

Getting there aside, what could I actually do in Alaska? Well, for a start the ferry I'm currently looking at stops at Whittier. I could disembark there and then explore the Kenai Peninsula for a day or two - glacier boat trip, anyone? Oh yeah.

After that I could make a move north on the Alaska Railroad to Anchorage. Anchorage might not be the state capital but it's very much the biggest city in Alaska and a quick search suggests there's plenty to explore there - museums and the like. So perhaps 4 days or so in Anchorage? They're claiming a great music scene as well, so perhaps I could even catch a gig. Hurray, live music.

From Anchorage, I could go for several places. The first of these is Denali National Park. I'd possibly consider taking a small group tour up here, but I could do it solo. The Alaska Railroad runs north from Anchorage to Denali or there's a whole host of small bus services that could get me there for less cost. I think the nicest option would be to get the bus in one direction and the train in the other - you know, to get the best of both.

The second place to go from Anchorage is down into the south west, heading down towards the Aleutian Islands. From there, I could visit the Kodiak Archipelago or keep on heading west into the Aleutians proper. It all looks beautiful down there, but I have concerns about the transport and in the end it would probably mean having to take a cruise of some sort which might be just a bit out of my price range. Still, this is all a long way off and there's plenty of options to explore.

I had initially considered heading further north into Alaska, past Denali into Fairbanks. And then I discovered that a) there's not a lot to do in and around Fairbanks that I couldn't do elsewhere and b) Fairbanks has one of the highest crime rates in the States (more on that in a future post). At which point I figured maybe I'd only go as far as Denali. Yeah...

And from there... the lower 50 states?

Destination Daydreams: Maritime Canada

The Grand Tour. Le Grand Tour. The Epic Magical Round The World Adventure.

... is nearly a year away. Oh, the sadness. Oh, the impatience. I'd love to be off gallivanting right now, but in the mean time, I have a solution to this.

Welcome to Destination Daydreams in which I plan to babble inanely about all of the lovely things I plan to do on the Grand Tour.

I thought I'd kick this off with some of the places I want to visit in the various provinces of Maritime Canada, the first planned stop on the Canadian leg of the trip. Here goes.


I figure it might run something like this: I'll take a flight from Reykjavik (Iceland being my first port of call) into Halfiax, Nova Scotia. I think I'll spend a few days there relaxing and exploring the city and then head off down the coast to Lunenburg to gawp at the pretties. The Old Town of Lunenburg is a World Heritage site and full of beautiful old buildings. Looks quite Scandinavian to me, but apparently it's old British. I've found a bus company that seems to go round the southern end of Nova Scotia, so I could use them to hippity hop between towns around the coast, all the while soaking up the awesome. I figure then I can take a boat trip or similar on the Bay of Fundy, snap way too many photos of the tidal bore and cliffs. The Bay is known for having the highest tidal range in the world. So I've got to see that. Apparently you can go rafting on the tidal bore too, which looks pretty damn cool. According to the ever (un)reliable Wikipedia, there's a Mi'kmaq legend that the tides are caused by a giant whale splashing about. Sounds interesting. Will have to look into more of these tales - I love these sort of myths.

After that, I'd have to find a way to visit the Joggins Fossil Cliffs. Even if it means taking a taxi - there's no public transport to Joggins. The closest you can get by bus or train is Amherst which is a half hour drive away. The Cliffs are a World Heritage site on the Bay of Fundy, known (obviously) for fossils. I like fossils. I used to have a bucket full of ammonite fossils we picked up off the beach in Charmouth... Anyhoo, I'd love to see this place. 300 million year old fossils. Sounds good to me.

Or maybe I'll first go from Halifax to Cape Breton National Park up in the northern tip of the province and spend a day or two up there admiring the scenery (and, as ever, taking too many photos). The whole area looks gorgeous and I figure it'd be a nice place to wander around for a bit and get away from the towns a while. There's also the Acadian settlement of Cheticamp and I'd love to know more about Acadia and its history.


From there I can head to Sydney to catch a ferry over to Newfoundland and spend a few days out there - I'd love to go and see St Johns, plus I hear it's good for whales and icebergs. What a wonderful idea.

Getting around Newfoundland looks a bit difficult if you don't drive (which I don't), but I'm sure I could find a way round that. There's a bus service between Port Aux Basques in the west and St John's in the east - it just takes about 13 1/2 hours. Hmm... Maybe if I took the ferry to the port closer to St Johns and based myself solely out of there instead of covering the whole island. It would be cool though.

Newfoundland partially covered, I'd head back the way I came into Nova Scotia and then hop on the Via Rail trains to carry on into New Brunswick. I hadn't originally planned to stop in New Brunswick but a quick look is changing my mind - it looks like a lovely area and I feel like I'll be wanting to see some more of the Acadian culture of the Maritimes by the time I get there. So maybe I'll give myself a few days there too.

That would let me a large part of the Maritimes - Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and New Brunswick. It does miss out Prince Edward Island, which I could possibly fit in but would potentially mean rushing throught things and likewise with Labrador. Much as I'd love to visit every part of the Maritime region, I'm not going to rush myself just to say I've got the set.

But I would really love the set...

No worries. This is still a year away. Plenty of time to adjust plans and come up with new ideas. Maybe I'll decide I don't fancy some of my planned destinations as much as I think I do and then I'll have more time for the Maritimes. Maybe.

Alternatively, maybe I'll just want to spend longer everywhere and the year will have to be stretched a bit... umm...