I’d visited New Zealand South Island five years previously, but not Kaikoura and the NE Coast. I’d made a fleeting visit to Blenheim at the time, but that was just long enough to persuade me to return and spend more time there. Stage 4 of my Round the World in 30 Days trip commenced with an […]
I’d visited Auckland five years earlier during my previous Round the World trip, but only saw the central part of the city and neighbouring Devonport. This time I had allowed a few days to see some of the scenic areas of North Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula. Additionally I was keen to check out the […]
It was a ten hour flight from Hong Kong to Fiji, but it was like travelling to a different planet. Well-organised, polite Hong Kong became totally laid-back, friendly Fiji. A new country for me and number 69 in my Countries Visited. I found it a bit frustrating at first expecting everything to be as planned […]
I had visited Hong Kong once before, but that was thirty years ago. I remember skyscrapers towering over seedy street markets, masses of small shops selling cameras and Walkmans, and a general feeling of British authority overlaying a rather suppressed Chinese culture. I also remember arriving at an airport squashed between high-rise blocks of flats […]
Update September 2014: New photographs have been added at the end of this article. York is an internationally recognised tourist destination, Leeds is well-known as the 24 hour city and the spa town of Harrogate is a popular conference centre. Close by is the picturesque but little known town of Knaresborough. Make time to visit […]
• For a £5 discount on new membership, use code STEW05 on the Historic Houses website.
• To get a £10 National Trust gift card with membership by direct debit, click on National Trust.
Vancouver and the North Shore – Round the World in 30 Days
Auckland to Vancouver was one of those strange flights where you set off in the evening and arrive in the morning of the same day. It might screw up your sleep patterns, but it feels quite good to have apparently gained time and it meant that I had an afternoon to start my exploration of Vancouver.