Around the World In...: Outdoor Adventures

There's a whole world of adventures out there, from the laid back to the adrenaline pumping. Here's a few of my favourites from experience and a few I fancy trying out.

Starlight Kayaking, West Cork

There really is something magical about floating around in a bay with a whole sky full of stars burning overhead, not to mention the gentle sparks of bioluminscence in the water as you paddle along. Starlight kayaking in the sheltered waters around Reen Pier in West Cork was a highlight of my trip to Ireland last year and an experience I'd happily repeat.

Don't fancy kayaking in the dark? Abel Tasman National Park in New Zealand has beautiful blue waters year round, sheltered enough for beginners but still amazing.

Sandboarding, Te Paki

Weird sport, sandboarding. Grab your bodyboard, climb a sand dune and then, effectively, surf down it. Brilliant fun, even better if you manage to stay on your board. Te Paki stands at the northern end of Ninety Mile Beach on New Zealand's North Island and is well known for sandboarding. You can hire boards locally, but if you're already taking an organised trip up there, it might be included in the cost. Have a go. It's great.

Safari, Kruger National Park

Kruger is one of the largest reserves in Africa and, what with being fairly easily accessible from Johannesburg and Pretoria, is a great place for safari. There are few things quite as amazing as coming across White Rhino just sitting in the middle of the road on a morning game drive or seeing the same up close in the dark. Of course, for me the highlight was seeing giraffe running because I love how it looks like they run in slow motion...

As an alternative, and one I really hope I can take on my Grand Tour, try Namibia where you can go from desert to savannah.

Snorkelling, Great Barrier Reef

There's all sorts of adventures to have on Australia's Great Barrier Reef from scuba diving to sailing. Snorkelling can get you in close though, assuming you don't have a panic attack like I did. My sister and dad assure me that it is brilliant and they saw a small shark which I'm very jealous about.

Blue Lagoon, Iceland

Not an adventure so much, at least not in the traditional sense. But how many other places can you relax in wonderfully warm water with the stars overhead and snow falling on your head? This is coming from someone who's not into spas. It's surreal and amazing and well worth a visit. Why not round off an adventure packed tour of Iceland with a stop at the Blue Lagoon on the way to the airport? Perfect way to wind down - I'll vouch for that.

For an indoor alternative, Andorra's huge Caldea is pretty good, with a wide range of options or you could just paddle around the main pool.

Honourable Mention: Horse Riding, Killarney

Horse riding is one of those things you just have to do in Ireland and for beginners a nice walk around Killarney National Park is a great place to start. Just, you know, hang on if your horse decides to go for an unexpected trot.

So there's some of my favourite outdoor adventures so far. There's plenty more I'd like to try out on my round-the-world Grand Tour - bouldering in Canada, glacier hiking, maybe, in Chile and definitely stargazing in the Atacama. So many adventures still left!

What adventures would you recommend? Is there something fantastic on your doorstep that you think others should know about? Why not share in the comments below.

"LAMBIKINS, YAY" or "Six sperm whales"

The end of the trip was fast approaching, but we made up for it by taking another epic trip to the most northerly point (or thereabouts) in New Zealand.

The day began with a rather early pickup and a brief introduction to our driver who was called Ariel. At least, we think that was his name…

After a drive past the kiwifruit orchards around Kerikeri, our first stop was in the Puketi & Ohatune Forest, where we went on a very short walk through the Kauri at Manginangina. Kauri are huge trees and it’s amazing walking beneath them. Shame we only had 20 minutes or so to enjoy it.

Then we were off again, this time for a brunch stop at Taipa on the shore of Doubtless Bay. Grabbed a quick cuppa and something to eat (pie? Sausage roll? I remember pastry…) and ate it by the beach, watching the rain clouds sweep over.

At this point in my notes it says:

• Jed (following Ted & Fred)
• “You’ll be dead!”

And I have no idea why. The joy of writing this 18 months after it happened…

ANYWAY.

Let’s just assume the Jed/Ted/Fred thing was a moment of madness (on my part or Ariel’s, I’m not sure). A long drive followed in which Ariel the driver revealed himself to be slightly unhinged by yelling “LAMBIKINS!” on seeing some very small lambs…

At last we reached Cape Reinga. Widely touted as the most northerly point in New Zealand, which isn’t entirely true, it’s beautiful nonetheless. This is the place where you can see two great seas colliding, although I’m not sure my photos do it justice.

Having geeked out over the fun ocean clashing and the lighthouse and the mythology, we hopped back on the bus and headed a bit further round the coast to Tapotupotu Bay for a lunch break. Amy and Claire went for a paddle.

And promptly got asked if we were English, mostly because of the paddling in cold sea. Is it that obvious? I suppose when we were making disapproving comments about others on the tour feeding the gulls, maybe…

Lunch consumed, we headed off again to Te Paki, a stream and dune complex at the top of Ninety Mile Beach. Here the trip took a more adventurous turn as Ariel drove the bus through the stream. I should maybe point out that the bus was just the bus shell on a lorry chassis in order to get better ground clearance…

Anyway, the first reason for coming through the stream was to access the massive dunes beside it. SAND BOARDING TIME!

Here’s the deal. Take your board. Carry it up to the top of the dune. Lay on the board. Slide down the dune.

Bit windy though, so the simple enough task of climbing up the dune turned into an adventure in itself. Amy lost her board to the wind and had to run after it.

Boarding down the dune was the real challenge though. You’ve got to get your weight centred right and then steer with your feet. Sounds fairly simple, but I’ve got a dodgy toe on one foot so could only steer with the other and Amy and Claire couldn’t get their weight in the right place. Suffice to say, hilarity ensued.

I managed to get down in one piece but somehow ended up facing back up the slope.

Amy came down shrieking and then fell off her board.

As did Claire.

At this point I decided I should start getting some photos while Claire and Amy had another go.

Much fun. Adventure followed by more adventure as we headed, in the bus, onto Ninety Mile Beach. There is something almost surreal about driving down a beach in a coach.

More paddling ensued when we stopped to admire the view. Well, Amy and Claire went paddling. I took photos of the big waves coming to get them.

Then we saw our 6th Sperm Whale following the 5 we saw off Kaikoura. Of course, this one sort of doesn’t count because it was lying dead on the beach…
I maintain that we saw six sperm whales. Moving on.

After driving most of the length of Ninety Mile Beach, we headed back onto the sealed roads and into the little town of Awanui to raid the awesome selection at the Ancient Kauri Kingdom shop. Spotted this little bit of tree-ception.

After that there was just a brief stop to get fish and chips (really good, but the chips weren't quite right) and then a return back to the hostel. Long day, but an amazing experience.