adventure travel

I don’t know about seeing it from space but from where I am standing the Great Wall of China stretches for kilometres in both directions. Some is in good nick and open to the tramping public and some is shut in need of restoration. Regardless, it is a mighty impressive sight as it follows of

Who would have thought following piles of manure around on a steamy afternoon could be such fun! Now there is an opening gambit I never thought I would write. But this is not just any old dung, it is elephant dung. We are just outside Chiang Mai in northern Thailand visiting the wonderful Poopoopaper. The

The first rays of sunlight illuminate the scene, and the ruins reveal themselves through the mist.  The thick dark green vegetation that surrounds the site, acts as a natural frame to a tableau, which could not be more perfect. From my rocky perch on Huayna Picchu I look down on one of the most celebrated vistas in the world, the

In a flash of red the King Parrot ousts the Crimson Rosella from prime position on top of my head. The Rosella undeterred by the new status quo repositions himself on my shoulder, then proceeds to edge down my arm. How cute, I think, until I realise he has his beady bird eye on my

There is no question about it, Machu Picchu is the glittering gem in the coronet that is Peru’s Sacred Valley. The Peruvians know it and guard it fiercely and have built a very slick tourism operation around it. And as a tourist I can only say it lives up to every expectation I held and

When I was a child my parents bought me a toy panda bear one Christmas, and so unwittingly started my love affair with pandas. It was then a no-brainer for me when James announced he wanted to go to China, the first words out of my mouth were “I want to see Pandas”, shallow soul

– a hotel review – Every so often the urge to stay somewhere utterly fabulous overcomes us, yet usually common sense prevails. But not this time. It was our wedding anniversary and we were passing through our favourite stopover destination Singapore, and we thought lets treat ourselves. After trawling through some very ordinary yet extraordinarily expensive rooms

You hear them before you see them. A low rumble which turns to a growing roar as you make your way along the metal walkway. Then all at once you are upon them. Great plumes of spray shooting high into the air, water-drops acting like prisms creating mini rainbows in the afternoon light. You are

He is tall, there is no doubt about it. 71 metres to be precise, he stares out imperiously over the junction of the Minjiang, Dadu and Qingyi rivers that he was built to calm, and interesting enough he has achieved just that. Not by his withering stare mind you, but by the fact that the

– Hidecote and Highgrove – There are very few things more magical than an English garden on a summer’s day. As an Aussie, I reckon I can just about get away with that line, my resident Pom, James, might have other thoughts as a non-gardener, but as the writer of this piece I am calling