Journeying Home

This Monday I find myself on a train to London, looking forward to catching up with friends for the day. It’s been three weeks since my travels came to an end and I returned to the small patch I call home. We’ve been treated to the first signs of Spring with some warm, sunny days, daffodils, glorious sunsets and clear nights with the sky full of stars. Norfolk is known for its wide, open skies and very little light pollution. I also managed a couple of visits to see our local grey seal colony before the pups who were born between November and February and are growing fast, leave the beach and go out to sea.

Today as I travel by train, I am reminded of people I crossed paths with on my journey through South America, many of whom are still exploring the continent and visiting places I was lucky enough to see on my trip. It also made me think of friends in London who I can’t see today because of other commitments or because they too are on journeys of their own.

When out on dog walks and chatting with those of you who read my blog from around the globe, people ask where my next trip will take me. The truth is, I have nothing planned! Of course I have lots of places I’d love to go and I think for the upcoming holidays at Easter, in May and over the long, summer break I will be spending most of my time in the UK back in the van with Poppy dog. We still have hidden corners to see, more Scottish islands to visit and perhaps a long distance hike up our sleeve! 

For now we are simply enjoying being home, grateful to live in a peaceful, safe place where the best place to be is outdoors.

Third Time Lucky

My first attempt at skiing was during my semester at university in New York. A group of us went, a friend and I had never skied before and for some reason we decided it didn’t look all that difficult and so with no teaching, we headed to the slopes. How both of us ended the day with no injuries I shall never know, but I remember our university lecturer from the UK told us not to go again as the university insurance definitely did not cover us!

Fast forward to when I moved to New Zealand and decided to try skiing again. This time I made sure to hire the right stuff including a ski instructor. All was fine until after a couple of hours in, a snowstorm came in, visibility was zero and everyone was evacuated off the mountain!

I love spending time in mountains in winter. In recent years I’d had great experiences cross country skiing in Norway and snow shoeing in Bulgaria, so, when a friend invited me to a week skiing in the Swiss Alps with an instructor, it could only be third time lucky!

It was at times painful, challenging, fun and strangely peaceful. We cried with laughter at points, perfected our ‘hip hop’ walk in the ski boots, enjoyed many sweet treats and amazingly ended on a high tackling part of a red run. Finally, success on the slopes! What a week to complete a nine week journey with the backpack. Tomorrow it’s home sweet home.

Thanks for reading and travelling along! Until the next trip…

Goodbye to Summer

 A short flight back to Buenos Aires and just enough time to explore the Palermo district with the botanical gardens, the Eva Peron museum and lots of colourful street art. 

After eight weeks of hostels and climbing up bunk bed ladders, my treat for my final night was a room to myself and a hotel bed. Luxury! 

South American adventure complete! I have loved it. This continent is so vast and the natural scenery never fails to impress. The hiking has been at times challenging, but always with great rewards and I have shared trails with new friends and found moments of solitude.  I’ve taken journeys by plane, boat, bus, car and bicycle, as well as thousands of steps. 

Now it’s time to leave the sunshine for a night flight to return to Europe in winter for an adventure in the snow…

End of the World

After time in the capital, I missed the mountains so returned south to Patagonia to visit the city ‘at the end of the world,’ Ushuaia. I loved it from the moment I landed! 

Beautiful days spent hiking in Tierra del Fuego along the coast, up to Glacier Martial and to Lake Esmerelda, with gorgeous, cosy cafes back in town and a great, social hostel to stay in. The scenery in Tierra del Fuego was very different to anything else I’d seen in Patagonia and after meeting some lovely ladies at the hostel, we had two great days hiking together. The weather stayed kind to us and on the last day as I walked back to the airport, the mountains had been lightly covered with fresh snowfall. 

One lady who I had hiked with, Liz, was off on a ship to Antarctica. I had spent one afternoon on a boat trip on the Beagle Channel and as I came back into the harbour, Liz’s boat was leaving! I was both excited and nervous for her - she would be crossing one of the notorious stretches of sea, the ‘Drake Passage’ and would be onboard that boat for two whole weeks! I’m not sure I could do it, but I equally cannot wait to see her photos and hear all about the amazing, once in a lifetime experience.

For me, it was back on the plane for one last night in Buenos Aires before Europe was calling for a winter adventure…