Around the World In: Films

Ever watched a film and thought "I wish I could go there"? Yeah, so have I. And since I'm in the middle of having a final re-watch of the epic Lord of the Rings, I thought I'd pull together some of my favourite films for sparking travel daydreams.

1. The Lord of the Rings

OK, so we all know Middle-earth isn't a real place, but the locations used in Peter Jackson's films are a glorious showcase of New Zealand's natural beauty. Mount Doom, the Shire, Rohan and Gondor all exist in New Zealand and when I get back over there at the end of the year I intend to visit as many of them as possible. And grab myself another pint of cider in the Green Dragon...

2. Up

One of Pixar's greatest creations, Up is full of amazing scenery, mostly based on beautiful places in South America. The plateaux? Venezuela's tepui, including Mount Roraima. The forests? How can you not see the Amazon in that? And the waterfall plunging off the top of the plateau? Angel Falls, also in Venezuela.

3. Madagascar

The clue's in the name. So yes, it's full of talking animals and there's never that much made of the surroundings, but wouldn't you just love to visit that forest and see lemurs in the wild?

4. Harry Potter

All right, so few of the places in the HP films actually exist (or do they...?), but courtesy of them being set in Britain, you can still get your geekery on. Fancy hunting down Platform 9 & 3/4 at Kings Cross Station? Go ahead. You can also visit Hogwarts at Alnwick Castle in Northumberland and further afield in Ireland, you can see where Dumbledore took Harry to retrieve the locket horcrux. Conveniently located at the Cliffs of Moher, by the way.

Or, you know, you could just check out the studio tour just outside London.

5. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

This film was probably the first time I saw Petra. An ancient city in Jordan carved out of the rock, Petra features as the final home of the fabled Holy Grail. The rock has an oddly pink hue and it just looks beautiful. You can see why it's such a big tourist draw.

Have you ever watched a film and wanted to visit the settings? Let me know in the comments!

The Joy of Trains

If you're a Brit like me, you'll know how we love to knock train travel. It's expensive, slow and doesn't run as often as we'd like. Not to mention the delays.

But look at it another way. You could drive, but that means you doing the work. You have to focus on the road and mostly miss the views. Sure, it might be cheaper and you'll almost certainly get there quicker, but isn't the journey part of the fun?

Sometimes it's good to just slow down and take the long way round for a change. Train lines cross some of the wildest, most beautiful parts of the world. I get to see this view every time I take the train to Manchester (weather dependent) because the route goes through the always beautiful Hope Valley.

From seeing New Forest ponies on the train to Bournemouth to crossing mountains in New Zealand, you see so much more when you take a train instead. And when it all goes wrong and the train gets delayed or you're stranded at a station (looking at you, Sheffield, with you shit signals), that's all just another part of the adventure, right?

So, in recognition of how lovely a train journey can be (discounting the Tube, because I’m never going to like the Tube), here are some of the most scenic railways from around the world.

1. North Yorkshire Moors Railway, UK

I love the Yorkshire Moors. It’s a beautiful area and if you don’t fancy taking a stroll along any of the numerous tracks, you can sit back and enjoy the view from the iconic North York Moors Railway. Pulled by both steam and diesel locomotives (great when your dad’s a bit into his trains and obviously not because I quite like steam trains too…), this line runs through the valleys from Pickering on the southern edge of the moors to Whitby on the coast to the north. For added pop culture value, you can hop off the train at Goathland, the setting for the Heartbeat’s Aidensfield and make sure to check out the station itself – Harry Potter fans might recognise it as Hogsmeade station from the films.

If you don’t fancy the train, there’s a path which follows the line at least between Grosmont and Goathland with parking at both ends, though Grosmont tends to be less busy.

2. TranzAlpine, New Zealand

The Southern Alps, spanning the length of New Zealand’s South Island, are crossed by only 3 passes. Now, you could hire a car and drive one of them, but in winter especially the roads can be closed for hours and days. Why not take the train instead? Sit back, relax and enjoy the view. The TranzAlpine is clearly a tourist train, not aimed at locals travelling between east and west, but don’t let that put you off. There’s huge windows in the coaches, audio commentary at various points and the train goes at the right sort of speed for you to take photos and really take in the view.

Plus, let’s not forget the wonderful open-air car. Who wouldn’t want to get “bitch-slapped by nature” in New Zealand?

3. Indian Pacific, Australia

Australia is vast. Something you don’t always realise from looking at maps. But it’s huge. Really fucking huge. Getting from east to west can take ages. Now, you could hop on a flight and the views are pretty good, although for great flight views in Oz I’d recommend the Alice Springs-Adelaide route because oh my god, Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre is beautiful from above.

But for getting across from Sydney to Perth, I’m going to try the train. Well, at least from Adelaide to Perth. The Indian Pacific cuts in an almost straight line right across the desert and scrublands of Nullarbor. It takes three days to make the trip and sounds like a great way of kicking back for a few days. Sure, I could take a flight and be in Perth in a few hours, but it’s the experience that counts, right? Besides, I’ve never taken an overnight train before. New adventures ahoy!

4. Cusco-Aguas Calientes, Peru

Machu Picchu is something of a Peruvian must-do, but how to get there? The nearest big town is Cusco, nestled in the mountains a few hours away. The nearest settlement to the ruins themselves is Aguas Calientes, a 5 mile drive away. I don’t drive, so the options are limited to bus or train. Bus is cheaper. Train is prettier and probably more comfortable. Train it is, then.

PeruRail run three different trains from just outside Cusco, varying in luxury, but all take the same route through the valley, winding alongside the river before reaching Aguas Calientes, the end of the line and jumping off point for a shuttle bus to Machu Picchu. There’s also the option of stopping at Ollantaytambo, which looks like a beautiful little town and well worth exploring.

5. Transpennine, UK

Probably the only one on this list that’s not aimed at tourists. The Transpennine runs between the east and west coasts of the UK from various stations. It’s also the train I take most often since it runs from my hometown to Manchester, where my mum lives. You’d think a journey you make often would get boring, but it’s such a scenic route that I always end up spotting new things. The line is at its best on the stretch between Sheffield and Manchester where it climbs up into the Peak District National Park, winding through the Hope Valley. You could hope off here at Hope, Edale or Hathersage and go walking – some gorgeous tracks up here. From the train you can also see Mam Tor, overlooking the valley.


As one final point, I wrote a big chunk of this while I was on the train to Manchester. Wouldn't have been able to do that in a car - I'd have got travel sick.

Do you enjoy train travel? Been on any rickety old rails? Why not share in the comments below?

Around the World In: Awesome Museums

Everyone loves a good museum, right? These are some of my favourites from around the world.

1. The Natural History Museum, London

The British Museum might be the most visited museum in London, but the Natural History Museum is my favourite. It helped to foster my childhood love of the natural world and remains a brilliant place to this day.

Best visited later in the afternoon and during the week when there are less people around, especially if you want to see the famous Dinosaur Gallery.

2. National Museum of Ireland, Dublin

There's a few branches of this wonderful museum and I'd recommend the archaeology building and the slightly creepy Dead Zoo for a start. The archaeology section has some amazingly well preserved bog bodies that are worth checking out so long as you're not squeamish.

And if you can cope with vast cabinets of stuffed animals staring down at you, the Dead Zoo is amazing. Creepy, but amazing.

3. Canadian Museum of History, Gatineau

Situated just across the river from Canada's lovely capital city, Ottawa, this sprawling museum is an amazing introduction to the history of Canada, from the people of the First Nations all the way through to the present. Hoping to revisit this when I head back to Canada in the summer.

4. Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington

New Zealand's national museum is a deceptively huge place and it's easy to lose a day in here without really scratching the surface of the collection. Highlights include a gallery charting the changes in the wildlife of the islands and a small collection of musical instruments, both traditional Maori and Pacific Island and some more familiar to Europeans.

 

5. The Louvre, Paris

Probably the most famous museum in France and to date the only one I've visited. Home of the Mona Lisa among numerous other amazing artworks. And if you're into the faux-conspiracy of Dan Brown's books, the Louvre is big in that too.

What are your favourite museums? Got any unusual collections to share? Why not let us know in the comments below.

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.

"My bum is burning!"

To any family/friends who were still wondering where this post was: blame Amy. She was supposed to write it. To any other readers: enjoy.

Our day began with frost in Taupo. It seemed to be much colder in central North Island than anywhere else. That said, it seemed to clear quick - the roads were fine heading north out of the town towards our first stop of the day. Let's face it - most of New Zealand is beautiful, so me saying this drive was gorgeous doesn't actually mean a lot.

[IMAGE]

The funny shaped hill, by the way, is Mount Pohaturoa (I think). Geologically, it's a volcanic dome or plug, all that remains of an old volcano. Historically, there is an old pa on the top, a Maori village site. I'll admit I only looked it up because of the weird geology, but I can see why you'd put a pa on it - it looks pretty secure up there.

Amy had a weird reaction to Backstreet Boys coming up on shuffle... But we'll skip over that bit because first stop of the day was Hobbiton.

Well, Matamata, with it's excellent Hobbiton Movie Set. Yes, it's sad. Yes, it's geeky. But I am a massive Tolkien fan and it was something that had to be done. Look, there was a bus called Legolas.

Ahem. So the tour was amazing. Here, have some photos.

I won a leaf from Bilbo's tree. Amy and Claire filched some fallen ones. Thieveses.

Another member of our tour group landed in a heap trying to recreate that iconic "I'm going on an adventure!" leap over the fence.

And then we got a free pint in the Green Dragon. Pretty good, that cider, actually.

Altogether now...

You can search far and wide.

Basically, Hobbiton was amazing.

After that, another scenic drive through the Waikato countryside to the little town of Rotorua, famous for its geothermal features. A quick stop at the hostel to dump bags and then on to Te Puia.

Here we hit a snag, because I left my camera at the hostel and as yet I still don't have any photos from Claire or Amy. Let's have a go though.

Te Puia takes in a geothermal area on the outskirts of Rotorua and a Maori cultural centre including the National Carving and Weaving Schools. Our experience there began with a walking tour of some of the main sights, including Pohutu Geyser and the Kiwi House. The geyser was impressive, as were the bubbling hot pools of mud. Our guide was most informative and as with many of the guides was a member of Te Awara, the group of tribes who are traditional owners of the site.

Following our little tour, we stuck around for our evening Maori cultural experience, Te Po. This began with a hongi, the traditional welcome between people. Claire has some excellent photos of this, somewhere.

This was followed by a performance of poi (a dance), haka (a war dance) and Maori song. Brilliant stuff but once again I have no photos.

Then it was time for tea, with delicious food cooked in the Maori hāngi style. This involves putting stones in a pit, heating them, placing the food on top (wrapped) and then burying the whole lot for a few hours. Some really delicious dishes and the staff kindly found us to let us know which dishes had nuts in, since Claire's allergic.

Much delicious nomming followed. I tried mussels and crayfish for the first time and discovered they're yummy.

Our evening ended with a trip on the waka (read: giant golf buggy) back down to the geysers. Hot chocolate and a seat on hot rocks while our evening guide told us stories about both the area and his experience of growing up around the valley were a brilliant end to the day.

The highlight, though, might just have been Amy jumping up in a quiet moment yelling, "My bum is burning!"

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?

Travel Inspirations: Playing Cards

Yes, I count playing cards as a travel inspiration. If you're anything like me, one of the things you always forget to pack is a deck of cards for those rare moments when you've run out of sights to see and exciting things to do.

In my family, we sort of almost gave up trying to remember after a while and just bought the cards once we reached our destination. You know the type - cheap things you pick up in the tat/souvenir shops with pretty pictures of the country on them.

Got a few packs now. New Zealand, Ireland, South African Wildlife plus some older ones from Andorra and Canada. The Canadian ones don't have pictures. They have interesting facts about each state/province/territory instead. Great for people like me who love random facts.

But how on earth can I count them as travel inspiration? Most people seem to get that from glossy adverts and those cloyingly inspiring photos so popular on Instagram... so why cards?

Because reasons. The first being that to get the cards in the first place you have to travel. Slightly counter-intuitive. Think of it this way though. You go on holiday, buy a pack of country-photo cards. Maybe there's something in that pack you hadn't heard of? Maybe there's some sort of interesting local custom that's worth checking out.

Take my New Zealand deck for example, which rather boldly claims to be the "best souvenir from New Zealand". It's not. My pounamu necklace ranks much higher. But anyway, there's places in those cards I hadn't heard of before I got there. Places like Tekapo on South Island, with its little church by the lake and the gorgeous scenery around Wanaka. Tekapo was a bit out of reach given our itinerary, but we ended up driving through Wanaka. Admittedly, we had to to get from the West Coast to Queenstown, but hey.

I suppose they act a bit like a tick list. Here, says the card deck, you should see these places. And off you pop to go and see as many of them as you can.

Reason the second is that they're incentive to go back, in part because of that tick list feeling. I didn't get to Milford Sound in New Zealand because a snow storm closed the road, but I have a gorgeous picture of the Sound and nearby Mitre Peak to tell me "COME BACK! WE'RE WAITING!"

The third and final reason is that these cards inevitably catch the landscape at its best. My photography skills are improving but basic and travelling when I have, the weather's not always great. Take the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland for example. It pissed down the entire day when we went there and while I quite like the photos I took, the images on the playing cards I picked up are so much better. Sometimes I wonder if I should just stick them all to my doors with my postcards...

Where do you find your travel inspiration? Any unusual sources?

Halloween: 5 After Dark Experiences

Well, I've missed Halloween by a week, but I though I'd share with you some of the spooky places I've been. Because I'm told everyone loves Halloween. I don't really do spooky or Halloween so the 5 things I've included here are more... embracing the dark than aiming for scares.

1. The Tower of London

Or any other castle for that matter. OK, I'll admit that most of the Tower isn't spooky. In fact, it's pretty damn fascinating. But there's little areas where it just makes you shiver. I'm no great believer in the paranormal, but you can understand why, when so many people were executed at the Tower it might make you feel a little uneasy.

I'm sort of tempted to have a wander around Tower Hill in the dark the next time I'm in London...

2. York after dark

The city of York with its hundreds of years of history and maze of narrow streets lends itself to ghost stories. I took a ghost tour there years ago with school and while the tour itself wasn't really up there in the scary stakes, wandering around the city at night could get quite creepy. Traipsing through the little snickelways where the buildings in places nearly meet overhead was especially cool.

For sheer bloody history, head up to Clifford's Tower, the largest remaining segment of the old York Castle. Here in the Middle Ages the city's persecuted Jewish community holed themselves up to find protection from an angry mob. The tower, then the keep of the castle, came under siege and eventually the families inside committed suicide and set the tower on fire rather than fall into the hands of the mob. A rather black mark on English history...

3. Waitomo Glow Worm Caves

Not so much spooky as surreal, the Waitomo Caves in New Zealand are famous for their amazing glow worms. There are a series of caves at the site, all of which have their own unique appeal. In Ruakuri Cave all the lights get turned out and you can walk conga-style through the dark with just the pale blue lights of the glow worms to show you where the walls are, while in the main Waitomo Cave you go on a boat ride along the Waitomo River, lit from all sides by so many glow worms it feels like you're outside under stars. An amazing experience and one I would highly recommend.

4. Starlight Kayaking, West Cork

Picture this. A wide calm bay bounded by hills. You're in a kayak floating along, barely paddling. Just ahead your guide shows the way, with you trying to keep sight of the flashing light on his kayak. And over head a sky full of stars.

Yeah, starlight kayaking's a pretty magical experience. On our trip in West Cork every stroke of the paddle set off sparks of bioluminescence in the water. So pretty that our boat kept stopping because my friend Claire was too busy playing with the bioluminescence to paddle.

No worries though because the whole trip was so laid back it didn't matter if we went slowly. Although for scare value, hearing Jim the guide call out "Watch out for the boat" and a second later see a huge half-sunken boat loom out of the darkness a few feet away has to be up there with the best.

5. Camping in the Outback

OK, so it wasn't quite camping. The tents were more like canvas rooms - pretty permanent structures just with canvas walls. Brilliant and maybe a bit more secure than a tent. Didn't stop the friend I was travelling with from waking me up in the middle of the night to tell me there was a dingo trying to get into our tent-room. I'd heard something as I woke up and assumed it was just the noise of one of our sleeping bags. No big deal - I figured he'd just been half-asleep and his imagination had run away with him. But he was insistent. Again, not a problem - there was a catch on the door. And then he goes "but, Zoe, I need the loo". So I had to persuade him there was no dingo and that he'd be fine. Go to the loo and if you're not back in ten minutes I'll go and get the guide.

Suffice to say he managed to get back to the tent-room in one piece. Although... he had seen a snake outside the toilet block. Oh dear.

So there's my 5 things to see and do for an amazing after dark experience - or Halloween if you're that way inclined. Have you had a spooky experience while travelling? Done any amazing things after dark? Why not share them here.

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...

The Grand Tour: Considering a working holiday

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Weekend trip to Kaikoura? Yes please.

The Grand Tour or Why I Spend Lunchbreaks Daydreaming

I've had a bit of a travelling bug for years. I enjoy seeing new places, learning new things. It's not a case of seeing as much as I can just for the sake of saying I've been there. It's an innate curiosity about how things work, why things are the way they are...

God, that sounds so... rah.. Oh, yah, I'm like, totally in love with, like, travelling. Yah.

Let's try again, shall we? When I go on holiday, I like to do things. I've been on an entire ONE beach holiday in my entire life and I spent a large part of that snorkelling and feeding breadsticks to tiny fish. I can't just go somewhere and sit still. Not all day every day for a week. When I was a kid, holidays consisted of a week or so on a farm or in a little cottage with walking and museums and castles. Not lounging around on a beach all day.

Let's face it, though, sunbathing isn't a good thing with my genes anyway. Sunburn with a side of ouch, anyone?

Point is, by the time I trotted off to uni, I'd visited maybe... a dozen or so counties in England, plus a couple of holidays to Scotland and another couple to Wales. In 18 years. There's still vast tracts of Scotland and Wales to visit, nevermind the great swathe of Home Counties and Welsh Marches. This is the thing, really - I have lived in the UK my entire life (save for a year in Australia, but more on that in a mo) and there are still so many places within my home country that I haven't been. There will always be places here that I want to explore. I'm thinking Stonehenge at Summer Solstice and an island hop around the Hebrides. At the very least.

And then there's all the places around the world that I want to visit. I studied in Australia for a year while I was at uni. Lived in Hobart, Tasmania, which is a lovely little place. Let's just say that again - A YEAR. I barely covered the eastern half of Tasmania, which is, aside from being lovely, really rather small by Aussie standards. Half an island in a year. And don't get me started on the Mainland. I went gadding off with a friend over the summer and then later with my family. Nearly 5 weeks all told. Guess how much I covered?

More than 10,000km. Including flights. It's huge. And that only included a trip to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Cairns. It is INSANELY HUGE.

So huge, in fact, that I couldn't even begin to cover Western Australia or the Top End around Darwin. So I need to go back.

And then there's New Zealand. I took a trip there last year with my best friend and my sister. It's why I started this blog in the first place - just as a record of all the stupid, amazing things we did. Three weeks, we gave ourselves. Thought that'd be enough to cover the highlights.

Turns out, three weeks is probably enough time to do a half-decent job of just one of the two main islands. So I need to go back there as well.

Oh, and then I went to Iceland. In winter. So barely got out of Reykjavik. Surprisingly big place, Iceland. Loads of amazing things to see - glaciers, lagoons of icebergs, volcanoes that wiped out vast chunks of 18th Century Iceland...

Yeah. Need to go back there. In summer when the roads are open.

Iceland's probably a good example of how my brain approaches travelling, really. It was a cloudy flight on the way in, but just as we came in towards Keflavik Airport the coastline came into view for a few minutes and, well, it was amazing. Of course, I'm sure my first thought was "wow", but pretty soon my brain toddled off on a tangent along the lines of "well, that's clearly volcanic. I wonder where the volcano is/was that made it?"

It's probably a bit sad and overly geeky, but these things really fascinate me. I like knowing how things work. I like the science, the history and the myth behind things.

And there's so much more to discover. There always will be more to discover.

To which end, I have decided that I need to undertake a grand tour. Not the faffy nonsense all those noble types used to do around Europe, but a real grand tour. Taking in as much as possible, without blowing the bank and without rushing things.

I figure this means at least a year of travelling. I want to take in Canada, New Zealand and Australia, plus part of the US, all of which are enormous places that you can't do in a week. And they're just the big bits - there's all sorts of other plans taking shape. Things like rail-tripping around Europe, sailing around Tierra Del Fuego and seeing sunrise and sunset over as many places as I can because, let's face it, there are few things more beautiful than the light as the sun hits the horizon.

If I could, I'd pack up and leave now, but I'm just not that spontaneous a person. I'd love to think I am, but it's a lie. I like order and routine (although my parents would tell you otherwise regarding my tidiness...) and more than that, I actually enjoy the planning that goes into a trip.

So I have a notebook (or 3), a budgetting spreadsheet and a wishlist of travel guides. This time next year - that's it. I'm off. Out of here. Adios.

"If I stay in bed I can't go home..."

Since we only had a morning to kill, there wasn't much point in booking anything. So instead we raided tat shops and stopped in a couple of cafes for tea (and a small quantity of cake...).

We also stopped and watched some people getting flung in the air by some weird reverse bungee type thing, along with pretty much everyone else in the street. Then we took some pics of the SkyTower, drank some more tea and headed back to the hostel for our bags. And then got taken to the airport.

Several hours to kill in Auckland Airport was not helped by not quite having enough change to buy a bottle of water between us. Ack.

And then came the epic long flight home. We all managed a few hours sleep, which was nice. Claire and I watched Tinkerbell and the Pirate Fairy for the lulz and decided that I need to write some sort of fanfic involving Loki, Moriarty and Saffron. This is a wonderful idea.

Finally, some 30 hours after we left Auckland, incredibly jetlagged and yet horribly awake, we came into sight of Birmingham Airport. At which point Amy makes the mistake of asking if anyone had had to abort a landing before. Of course, we all said no and got giggling. So when we're almost on the runway at Birmingham and I apply passenger brakes out of some weird habit, it suddenly becomes apparent that we haven't actually touched down. The plane takes off again. 30 hours we've been travelling and right now the last thing we want is an aborted landing.

Amy jinxed it.

The captain says it's wind conditions but we know. It was Amy. She jinxed it.

But hey. We landed safe second time round and for the first time ever we actually applauded the crew, having been hacked off by people doing the same thing on the way out to New Zealand.

We already want to be back in New Zealand.

"KAKARIKI"

Our second stop in Auckland wasn't really a stop in Auckland. We took a trip to Tiritiri Matangi which is an island sanctuary where they've eradicated non-native species (rats and the like) and made it safe for endangered native species. It's one of the few places where you can see Takahe, which are enormous flightless birds a bit like giant moorhens. As a bit of a birdwatcher, this was awesome. Not going to bother writing much more on this - let's just lob in a load of photos.

Just before we finally came across a pair of Takahe my camera died, so here we have some of Claire's and Amy's photos.

Claire, we decided, had fallen in love with the Takahe. It was sweet.

I had a bit of a stupid moment on spotting a couple of red-crowned parakeets and started sort of whisper-shouting "KAKARIKI!" much to Amy and Claire's amusement. And I have no photos of this and neither does Amy, so have one of Amy's of a female Stitchbird instead.

And then we got on a boat again and Claire somehow managed not to get too seasick. Again.

Arrival back in Auckland began with a trip to a supermarket for food. In the process we passed a busker singing Bruno Mars songs, but it went more like: "When I see you face..." Bless him.

Aaaargh, the departure is looming.