If you’re short on time, if you’ve only got a weekend, just 48 hours in Reykjavik, what’s a good way to see and do everything important? Day Zero My favourite flight to Iceland is Icelandair’s FI455, LHR 21:10 – KEF 23:10 direct. You can do pretty much a full day at work and then fly … More 48 Hours in Reykjavik
Today’s adventure was a pretty small one – a proper pub lunch at Studland with a quick walk down to the beach and to Fort Henry. Studland is a small village and peninsula on the southern side of Poole Harbour, home to plenty of heathland, beach and a big sweeping bay bounded on the southern … More A proper pub lunch at Studland
Today we’re looking at my Switzerland scrapbook. Scrapbooking is one of my favourite activities when I’m not travelling – in fact, it’s one of my favourite activites full stop. I am currently (and hopefully temporarily) unemployed. That means my wings are clipped until I get a new job and a new income. But it’s not … More Year Abroad: My Switzerland Scrapbook
Snæfellsnes, a peninsula sticking out of Iceland’s west coast, is well worth a visit, and indeed a blog post and I’ll write one at some point. It’s an escape from the often-frenetic pace of activities in Iceland, where you rush or are rushed from Blue Lagoon to Golden Circle to horse-riding to glaciers to scurries … More Rauðfeldsgjá: one of Iceland’s better-kept secrets
Two weeks ago, I went to Norway. It was just a long weekend, really, and I packed in as much as I could. I went out looking for the Northern Lights, my tenth attempt so far. And it turns out the Northern Lights in Tromsø seem to be a little more reliable than elsewhere. We … More Northern Lights in Tromsø
Following on from Swedish chocolate vs Finnish chocolate, now I’m taste-testing Norwegian chocolate as well, because it’s important to know what’s the best chocolate when you’re heading off to the North Pole. These two bars have been sitting out of sight on top of a bookshelf since I got back from Svalbard about six months … More Swedish chocolate vs Norwegian chocolate
The first mountain I ever climbed was the Talkaser. It’s not huge and I still only got halfway up but here’s the story of my first mountain. My parents – no, let’s be frank – my mum likes to go to Austria for her summer holiday every year. Once upon a time, we could vary it … More My First Mountain: The Talkaser
My latest adventure was a RYA Level 1 sailing course – that is, a sailing course for an absolute beginner and this time I really am an absolute beginner. I finished my climbing course on Friday night and first thing on Saturday morning, I was heading down to the harbour. I’ve lived within half an … More A Bear in a Boat: my RYA Level 1 sailing course
Recently I did an Adult Beginners Climbing course. I’m not technically a climbing beginner. I was taught to belay twelve years ago – caving-style, using an Italian hitch rather than climbing-style, using a belay plate, but even that came only a year or two later. I was taught all the essential knots – that is, … More ABC: Adult Beginners Climbing
In March 2014, I went off on a whistlestop tour of Lapland; that is, I had about forty-eight hours in northern Sweden followed by about forty-eight hours in northern Norway, because I wanted to go to Lapland and for some reason, I was finding it difficult to access the more remote parts of northern Finland. I … More The Iron Ore Line: the train from Sweden to Norway
I Am A Polar Bear 