Around the World In: World Heritage Sites

World Heritage Sites are wonderful things and there's plenty of them to go at. I've visited quite a few on my travels (although that's as much because the UK has quite a few), so here are some of my favourites.

1. Tasmanian Wilderness, Australia

Some 40% of the Australian state of Tasmania is designated as some form of protected area. The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage area takes in much of the south and west of the island which is largely inaccesible and a beautiful part of an already beautiful place. I made the trip to Cradle Mountain while I was studying at the University of Tasmania, but unfortunately the weather got the better of it and this is the best photo I managed. Cradle Mountain itself is hidden in the cloud on the right of the shot.

I'm hoping to return to the area when I reach Tasmania around this time next year on my Grand Tour. Easiest access to the World Heritage area is probably via the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park.

2. Tongariro National Park, New Zealand

Famed for the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, a long distance trek across this amazing volcanic landscape, Tongariro National Park sits at the centre of New Zealand's North Island. Rich with Maori mythology and somewhat alien to look at, it's no wonder the area is so popular. Oh, and I suppose it's an added bonus that Peter Jackson used the area to shoot several sections of the Lord of the Rings films. Mount Nguaruhoe doubles as the infamous Mount Doom, but the whole park is beautiful, even in the ice rain.

Somewhere else I'd like to revisit on the Grand Tour. Access is free (as far as I can see), the main gateway being at Whakapapa.

3. Þhingvellir, Iceland

Þhingvellir, the place where Iceland's ancient Althingi met for several centuries, also happens to lie over the ridge where the North American and Eurasian plates are pulling apart. History and geology all rolled into one and a beautiful place. Not that I could see much of it when I visited this time last year, it being winter and snowing and whatnot. Felt a bit like wandering through Middle-earth... Hopefully when I revisit in the summer I'll see a bit more of it than this.

Access is free, but in winter the area is easier to access as part of an organised bus trip from Reykjavik.

4. Bru na Boinne, Ireland

A rather more human site, this one. Bru Na Boinne is cited because of it's outstanding collection of Neolithic tombs, art and other landmarks. The most famous of these is probably the white walled Newgrange passage tomb. Personally, I found the strange collection of mounds at Knowth more interesting, what with it's huge central mound and numerous smaller satellite tombs. That and the fact that Knowth is home to a third or more of all the known megalithic art in Europe. The huge kerbstones which encircle the main mound are inscribed with all manner of carvings. Very cool.

Oh, and there's something strangely compelling about seeing down the passage at Knowth. Not sure why...

All access to the two main sites - Newgrange and Knowth - is via the Bru na Boinne visitor centre. Entry is €11 to visit Newgrange and Knowth and includes the exhibitions at the visitor centre, plus guided commentary at the sites. Dowth can be accessed without visiting the centre and as far as I can see has no entry charge. Don't hold me to that one...

5. Maritime Greenwich, United Kingdom

Beautiful architecture, amazing history and ground-breaking science all come together in Greenwich, home of the Old Royal Naval College, the National Maritime Museum and the Royal Observatory. All three are well worth checking out to get a real feel for the history of this area of London. If you've got the time, you should try taking the river boat up from the City to the pier near the Old Royal Naval College or even up past Greenwich itself to the O2 to get a wonderful view of the buildings.

Seems somewhat appropriate to approach the Royal Naval College from the water, doesn't it?

To visit Greenwich, hop on the DLR and alight at Cutty Sark. This will entail some changing of trains. Alternatively, get on one of the river boats in central London and head up the river, disembarking at Greenwich Pier. Entry to the National Maritime Museum and Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College is free. There is a charge of £9.50 for access to the Royal Observatory. If you also want to visit the Cutty Sark, save money by getting a combo ticket which includes both the Observatory and the Cutty Sark.

There's so many World Heritage sites all over the world. I've visited many more - these are just some of my favourites - and I hope to visit even more over the course of my round-the-world Grand Tour starting this summer.

World Heritage sites can be vital to preserving historic sites and sensitive habitats. Do you have a favourite site? Or perhaps you'd like to see something given World Heritage status? Why not share in the comments below?

London: Global Connections and Olympic Legacies

Day 2 of our weekend in London started with the inevitable search for breakfast. Not much interesting to say about that other than that the blueberries in Costa were a bit... yick.

We headed out from the hotel back towards Greenwich Park where we made a beeline for the National Maritime Museum. I love this place. I visited it with family a few years back and I was keen to take another look around.

There are some wonderful exhibitions covering everything from the role of Trinity House in maintaining our lighthouses to the importance of the oceans in building the British Empire. The displays are heavy on artefacts, which is great if you just want to marvel at the weird and wonderful things that make up the collection.

An interesting part of the Museum at the moment is an area about migration, both to the UK and around the world. Visitors are invited to fill in a card to answer various questions and then hang them on the wall. This was one of my favourites, silly as it is.

Another highlight of the collection is the Baltic Exchange Memorial Glass, formerly, as the name suggests, of the Baltic Exchange in London. This is a huge artwork of stained glass, partially destroyed during WWII and then painstakingly restored in the 1990s. This photo doesn't really do it justice.

A brilliant addition to the Museum is the Compass Card. This is just a little card with a barcode and you can scan it at various points in the Museum to save information to explore later. I've just logged mine on the viewing site and unfortunately some of the things I'd scanned haven't saved, but the bits that have are great. The whole thing links back through to the Museum's online collection so I figure I could easily get lost for hours link hopping through curiosities.

Moccasin belonging to one of the folks who went looking for Franklin's lost expedition, anyone?

Anyway, our trip to the Museum ended with a trip to the shop (obviously). I've acquired the inevitable book - Simon Garfield's On The Map, which is a history of cartography. I love maps. Hence why I also acquired some postcards of old maps to add to my postcard wall.

By this point I was starving hungry. Ugh.

Hopped back on the DLR then, changing at Canary Wharf to make our way over to Stratford. I feel I should mention here that there are a series of bizarre stations on the DLR which are no more than about 100m apart. Very odd standing at one station and being able to see the stop before and the one after.

Got to Stratford without a problem. Unfortunately we then had to find our way through the Westfield shopping centre to find Gemma and Rebecca's friend Jo. I really don't like shopping and the place was heaving. Several wrong turns later we did eventually find our way to Las Iguanas and enjoyed a nice leisurely tapas lunch. Mmmm, tapas. Definitely recommended.

After lunch we bid farewell to Jo and family and headed into the Olympic Park. I actually visited it in 2012 when I went to the Paralympics for the weekend (so awesome), so it was nice to see how it had changed. Here's the Swimming Centre:

Been there. They've taken out the extra seating now though. And here's the stadium itself:

And here is a random photo of a mirrored bridge that we passed when we took a walk down by the river.

Fun times. Anyway, by this point Gemma and I were getting a bit hot and tired so we cut short the walk and headed down to Stratford International Station to catch a train back to Kings Cross. Hurray for having a railcard and getting money off the fare because I was loathe to spend £6 on a train journey that would only last 10 minutes. Point to note: you can't use Oyster cards on the high speed train from Stratford International to Kings Cross.

Bid farewell to Rebecca's friend Huw who'd joined us for the stroll around the park and then it was off back to Kings Cross for the journey home.

All in all, a great weekend. Absolutely knackered by the end of it, but definitely good fun.

London: Maritime Heritage and Local Heroes

5:15am on a Saturday morning is a bizarre time to be listening to podcasts teaching Spanish. But hey, it woke me up. Obviously, there was a reason for being up so early in that the train I was catching that morning left the station at 6:30am.

Spanish lesson consumed, I headed off to the station with Rebecca, caught the train, acquired Gemma at Scunthorpe and then carried on down to London. Much boredom ensued - train journeys are relaxing, but not all that interesting. Woo.

Arrival in London resulted in the inevitable "yay, no Oyster Card" discussion. Fortunately Gemma's got a contactless card, so I've commandeered her Oyster Card. Makes travelling on the Underground so much easier. Why didn't I think of this before? Also met up with Rebecca's friend Huw and then set off in search of adventure.

I say adventure... what actually happened was that we got on the Tube heading for Embankment and got off at Charing Cross because I can't stand the Tube. Clarification here: I'm really not very tall, I do not cope well with crowds, the Tube has been known to well and truly freak me out. Oh, and I have this weird irrational fear that the doors will open while the train's in the tunnel and someone will fall out. I know this is irrational and highly unlikely (the logical part of my brain thinks I'm being an idiot) but it doesn't help.

Ahem, anyhoo...

So we hopped off at Charing Cross and took the very short walk down to the Embankment. Someone had suggested we took a boat trip down the river since we were staying in Greenwich. Sounded like a great plan to me. So we joined the queue for tickets. For 15 minutes. In the sun. With no suncream. I'm amazed I'm not bright pink. And then we joined another queue. In the sun. With no suncream. For 20 minutes. Huw went and found us ice cream, which rather made up for the heat. And then we joined yet another damn queue.

Fortunately this was the last one and we finally made it aboard one of the Thames Clippers. £7.15 for a single ticket (if you don't have an Oyster Card). Not bad considering how far down the river it takes you - about 7 miles from Embankment down to Greenwich Pier. It's also a really lovely way to see the city, as demonstrated in this wonderful series of photos. Yes, I know some of the horizons are wonky - let's see you take perfect photos from the deck of a speeding catamaran.

Well, that's two of Torchwood's sites I've seen. I jumped up and down on the perception filter in Cardiff, but they wouldn't let me in.

Moving on. Having admired London from the water, it seems oddly apt that we then headed into Greenwich with it's maritime heritage. The first real stop of our trip was the Old Royal Naval College (free entry! Yay!) and its beautiful Painted Hall.

I think the photo makes it clear that the Painted Hall does what it says on the tin - almost the entire thing is painted. Even the columns are painted to give the impression of carving - they're completely flat, but at first glance it's very convincing.

Across the way from the Hall is the Chapel, which is lovely, but not quite so impressive. Personally, I found the two memorials in the foyer more interesting.

The first is to Franklin's lost expedition to the Arctic in 1845. History time: Franklin went to explore the last section of the Northwest Passage, the two ships got icebound and everyone on board, 129 people, died. Little traces were found in the intervening years and finally one of the ships, HMS Erebus, was located in 2014.

The second is to the convoys operated during the Second World War.

The Old Royal Naval College itself is a gorgeous building - I'd quite like to explore some more of it if I get the chance.

Oh, and for the film fans, this building turns up in the second Thor film. And promptly gets wrecked. Such a shame...

Flying visit to the College over, we headed on up the hill intent on visiting the Royal Observatory. Timed to perfection, evidently, because just as we reached the National Maritime Museum at the bottom of the hill, the Time Ball dropped to mark 1pm. Here's a close up of it from later in the day.

The Time Ball was used back in the day when clocks were needed to determine longitude at sea - sailors moored on the Thames would use the dropping of the Time Ball up on the hill to set their clocks to the right time so that they could make accurate measurements of their position once they got out into the ocean. More on this later.

Bit of a trek up the hill, given how warm it was. Made it up to the Observatory in the end though and went for a wander around the exhibition. Some amazing old timepieces and of course the wonderful timekeepers of John Harrison.

John Harrison should be a bit of a local hero around Northern Lincolnshire. He grew up in Barrow on the south bank of the Humber and was a carpenter by trade. He also had a fascination with clocks, later to prove useful when the Longitude Act was passed in order to find a solution to the Longitude Problem.

The problem was this: finding latitude while at sea had been fairly easy for centuries, but longitude proved more difficult. As such, when long distance voyages became more common, it became necessary to find a way round this. One way of doing this was to measure the time difference between your position at sea and a fixed point - say, London. If you knew what time it was in London and what time it was where you were, you could work out the longitude.

Unfortunately, this hinged on having with you an accurate clock telling the time in London and at the time of the Longitude Act no such clock existed. John Harrison set out to build such a clock. Here's the first attempt, H1:

The Board of Longitude obviously found it promising, because they funded work into further timekeepers. Harrison produced H2 and H3, was rewarded some more and then created this beautiful object, H4:

H4 was brilliant. It was accurate and kept time even in rough seas. It's the first accurate marine chronometer and it's such a shame Harrison isn't more well known in his home patch.

Well, that was a bit of an extended ramble about keeping time at sea...

Moving on.

By this point it was becoming apparent that all the science and history wasn't really to Rebecca's liking, but I did at least manage to drag both her and Gemma up the old Observatory tower to have a look at this lovely telescope.

I think by then we were all just a little bit worn out - it had been an early start and gone 2pm and we still hadn't had any lunch, so we toddled off down to the cafe. Expensive, but to be expected in such a touristy area.

Took a nice walk back down the hill through Greenwich Park to the Cutty Sark, where we left Huw for a while. Woo, pictures of the Cutty Sark. Somewhere else I would have liked to have a look around if we'd had the time.

Rebecca then got her first taste of the DLR. I'm not sure she was entirely convinced. Personally I find it much more pleasant than the Tube - not as busy for a start. Does make some funny noises sometimes though...

Checked into the hotel, refreshed tired feet and grabbed a cuppa before Huw joined us again and we headed out for the evening. We took the scenic route - DLR to Canary Wharf, stroll through Canary Wharf to Poplar DLR Station, DLR to Royal Victoria on the north bank. From there we hopped on the Emirates Air Line, the cable car over the Thames. A nice little detour - it's not overly expensive and there's commentary included on the 10 minute crossing. Another lovely way to see a bit more of London - first time I'd seen the Thames Barrier, for example.

Safely back on the ground, where Rebecca was much happier, we strolled over to the O2 - another place I'd never been - and went in search of tea. We were planning on going to a gig at the Brooklyn Bowl, so that was of course the obvious place to grab some food. Considering what a tourist trap it must be, the prices weren't bad and the food was great. Would definitely recommend.

The gig was also good. A brass band by the name of Old Dirty Brasstards who play covers of pop songs. So much fun and helped along by a couple of pints of fairly decent cider (expensive by my standards).

Having missed out on the cliched photo on the Greenwich Meridian at the Observatory, I grabbed this last shot of Gemma and Rebecca on the Meridian Line outside the O2 - had to be done!

All in all, a lovely day and a great evening. Day 2 recap will be coming later in the week.