Ever since I saw Madonna as Eva Peron in Evita in 1996, I knew I wanted to go to Buenos Aires. I had all these visions and expectations of a little Paris in Argentina! We arrived in Buenos Aires by plane since the long distance bus union was on strike and stranded us...
Days not Homeless: 4 Years, 341 Days ...and loving every second of this alpine adventure!
Weekend trip to El Bolson
Wayne and I took a side trip while in Bariloche to El Bolson which is a 2 hour bus ride to the south. We didn’t make any reservations because we planned on camping both nights to save some money. There are plenty of advertised camp sites near town so we walked and...
Los Siete Lagos
Yep, still over a month behind on the blog as we’ve since been to Buenos Aires and are now in Uruguay! It was great of David and Barbara to suggest we join them for the weekend driving route 234 and the Siete Lagos, primarily between Villa la Angostura and San Martin...
Bariloche – chocolate, hiking and lakes
It seems like an eternity since the last post, although we’ve been busy rafting, hiking and visiting the beautiful Argentine lake district. Bariloche, situated on Lago Nahuel Huapi, is surrounded by mountains and lakes which made some great adventures for us. We...
Ushuaia Recap
We spent a total of 9 days in Ushuaia at Galeazzi Basily B&B, a great Argentine owned bed and breakfast located a few blocks up a hill from the main street. Alejandro and his wife, Francis, were very friendly hosts, who provided us with plenty of recommendations for...
Beagle Channel Sea Lions
As we didn’t get on down to Antarctica this season we had to make the most of the wildlife in the Ushuaia area. Friday it was penguins, Saturday were foxes and woodpeckers in Tierra del Fuego national park, and today we had sea lions, seals and various birds in the...
The Penguins of Isla Martillo
We thought that a 5 hour excursion with Pira Tour to see a bunch of penguins on an island in the Beagle Channel was overpriced at $100, but how wrong we were. To see the two species that inhabit Isla Martillo, the Gentoo and Magellanic dancing, preening, and hanging...
Patagonia
Wayne and I have been anxiously waiting to get to Patagonia to enjoy the cooler weather. We packed our down jackets for South America and we really wanted to use them. It was going to be a nice reprieve from the heat and humidity of Brazil. We flew from Puerto Iguazu,...
Iguazu Falls
Wednesday night, February 27th, we took the bus from Ipanema to the Rio International Airport with 3 hours until our flight. However, the bus made numerous stops causing us to arrive with little time to spare. We were fortunate that we had some assistance from the GOL...
Red Sea Dahab
No idea why it had taken us so long to make it to Egypt but we're already raring to go back! This occasion was just a week long vacation to get us away from the cold of the Alps and for me to enjoy (if there is any enjoyment!) recovering from hip replacement surgery....
Penultimate US Highpoints
After what felt like an eternity it was a random email from a good friend in the US that prompted a plan of attack for the remaining 8 state highpoints. Unfortunately they were spread far and wide and included four that required some level of technique and multiple...
Route des Grandes Alpes
Our Route des Grandes Alpes map from Cluses to MentonCol d'Izoard DescentCol de Turini DescentSt Martin VésubieValbergArvieuxRoute des Grandes Alpes Day 1: Cluses to Le Grand-Bornand to Beaufort-sur-Doron Col de Romme, Col de la Colombiere, Col des Aravis, Col des...
Norway Viewpoints
With the forecast calling for rain to fall for multiple days on Chamonix yet again it was time to search out another European city. Having recently got back from Nimes in the south of France it was the turn of Italy. We toyed with a return to Venice, then thought that...
Ski Touring in Arctic Norway
With the forecast calling for rain to fall for multiple days on Chamonix yet again it was time to search out another European city. Having recently got back from Nimes in the south of France it was the turn of Italy. We toyed with a return to Venice, then thought that...
Alone in Oman
Unable to take a rental car into Albania on a prior roadtrip through Europe we made it a mission to discover what would turn out to be a gem, and not one of those expensive gems! EasyJet supplied the direct flight from Geneva to Tirana, public transport was dirt...
Cheap & Cheerful Albania
Unable to take a rental car into Albania on a prior roadtrip through Europe we made it a mission to discover what would turn out to be a gem, and not one of those expensive gems! EasyJet supplied the direct flight from Geneva to Tirana, public transport was dirt...
City Break: Stockholm
Not quite what we had planned regarding a big Swedish adventure, our 3 week Kungsleden hike turning into a city break in Stockholm. Oh well, it was still fun, and we got to explore another scenic European city. With EasyJet flying the dirt cheap route directly from...
Cook Island Adventures
The thought of travelling for two days to visit family in New Zealand without adding on a South Pacific island trip was now only a thought! After spending a little over a week in Niue on our previous trip where would we go this time? Whilst my mum had already been to...
Algarve SUP’ing
With a few hundred Euros in TAP Portugal credit and no real idea of where to go that didn't involve connections and long flights we decided to just head somewhere warm and that we'd never been to before. The Algarve sounded like that destination. Unfortunately the...
Arctic Circle Trail
Approaching Greenland ice shelf from the air was humbling, the size of the glaciers tumbling into the sea, the iceberg’s with their turquoise underwater colours, the sheer expanse… and we were barely north of Greenland's narrowest point - there was a hell of a lot...
EuroVelo 15
So here it is, time for another fairly long bike-packing adventure following the length of the mighty Rhine river. The other getaways I was toying with were either a north south traverse of Iceland on foot or a photography shoot in the Faroe Islands - for both it was...
To the North of Sardinia
Over eighty days of skiing under my belt, it was time for Andrea and I to head to warmer climates. We had spent some time in the French island of Corsica a couple of years ago and now it was time for the Italian island of Sardinia. We had zero plans; just the desire...
Skiing the Haute Route
Not what we had initially planned but more than happy that crap high mountain reports ruined our early spring 4000m peak bagging adventure! What was a loosely organised Monte Rosa trip, overnight turned into a well oiled Haute Route ski tour (thanks for demanding a...
Annapurna Region
Andrea heading home to visit family for a little over 3 weeks made the perfect excuse to make my third trip to Nepal. This time would be kind of strange as it wouldn't involve the Icefall, the Lhotse Face, nor the summit of Everest! I had to find something different...
Dolomites Alta Via 1
Not entirely hopeful that we would have time to attempt a second Dolomites high route we hadn't planned or reserved anything for Alta Via 1. Having a copy of the GPX route downloaded to Gaia and a list of the more popular refuges was the extent of it. Whilst winging...
Dolomites Alta Via 2
Planning a long hike during Covid was not as easy as we anticipated. Our, or at least my first option of the Arctic Circle Trail in Greenland was pretty much closed - we needed a plan B. We had never really thought too much about the Dolomites but after reading...
Swiss Epic 2021
Outside of Cape Epic in South Africa the Swiss Epic in Graubünden, Switzerland, is probably the big destination mountain bike race of the Epic series. Being one of the qualifiers for the Cape Epic, the two-person-team five day event is hugely competitive, packed with...
City Break: Turin
With the forecast calling for rain to fall for multiple days on Chamonix yet again it was time to search out another European city. Having recently got back from Nimes in the south of France it was the turn of Italy. We toyed with a return to Venice, then thought that...
Mont Blanc Goûter Route
Whilst Mont Blanc comes in at the highest mountain in western Europe its normal "Goûter" route is one of the easiest in the Alps. The 4810m snow covered summit looms over Chamonix, the lower glaciers of Bossons and Taconnaz winding their way down from the upper...