501 Places

When I heard about swimming with dolphins, my first perception was that of the artificial experiences of Florida’s parks, where you pay a huge sum of money to jump in a pool with trained and captive dolphins. Reading on however, I was intrigued to see that the experience on offer in New Zealand was very [...]

Alice Springs in mid-summer gets pretty hot. The sun is directly overhead at midday and casts no shadow. It’s a busy town and an important strategic one, with no neighbours for hundreds of miles in any direction (and thousands in some). My abiding memory of this little town remains the number of Aboriginal people we [...]

See that ball coming down the hill? That’s us inside it. We were falling around in hysterical laughter (we were falling around in any case) and loved every second of the rapid and watery descent. Moments later we would emerge; soaking wet, dizzy but exhilerated by the tumbling ride we’d just enjoyed. There are many [...]

This is me relaxing at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. If I look tired, there’s a good reason. It’s late afternoon. So far today, January 19th 2001, this is what I’ve done: woken up and had a leisurely breakfast in Auckland, and done a little shopping boarded a flight bound for Honolulu and spent the best [...]

Walking through Sydney some years ago, we came across this row of terraced houses in The Rocks. Sussanah Place, a row of four houses and a shop, is open to the public as an example of the earliest (European) houses in Australia. It is a great place to wander around learn more of the history [...]

I can’t remember if it took us three days or four (it was a while ago now). I do know that for each of the days, we were treated to views that took our breath away and more than compensated for the aching limbs we were accumulating along with our miles. Stretching across the Southern [...]

Meaning “many heads”, this outcrop of rocks not far from Ayers Rock (Uluru) is a favoured sunset visit while staying in this barren area. Named the Olgas by the Europeans (in honour of Queen Olga of Wurttemberg) it is less than an hour’s drive from the main accommodations around the Ayers Rock resort. We took [...]

I have to admit to finding evening “Ghost Walks” a bit dull – whether it is in York, Edinburgh or London, the stories are pretty much the same, and they are typically from a time so long ago that it is difficult to picture the details of the story in my mind, let alone afford [...]

90 minutes in choppy waters. Then quickly put on a gas mask and a hard hat, followed by a very strict sounding safety briefing. Call this a pleasant holiday experience? oh yes! White Island, around 20 miles off the coast of the New Zealand North Island, is one of the world’s most active volcanoes. It [...]