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About the Author

From bicycle touring to backpacking, watercolour painting to clay modelling, the exploration journal captures my journey through many different interests and travel adventures.

I love to find those out of the way places that whisk you away from the concerns of everyday life. Whether this is by wading through an overgrown river or trying new paint techniques is up to you!

Category: Travel

Through the Iron Gates, Serbia

The Eurovelo 6 route through Serbia starts at the Iron Gates. When I think of the Iron Gates I imagine the Black Gate in Lord of the Rings – a huge monstrosity across a narrow ravine. In Serbia it actually refers to the gorge that the Danube runs through. It has Serbia on one side and Romania on the other.…

Up and over the Transalpina in Romania

Whilst resting at the Danube Delta I read about Eurovelo 6 through Romania and didn’t find it very exciting. Instead we decided to go into the Carpathian mountains and see Bran Castle. In doing so we crossed the mountain range and now have to find our way back to rejoin Eurovelo 6 at the Iron Gates… The route I decided…

Cycling through Transylvania

When reading about Eurovelo 6 I found that the Romanian section of Eurovelo 6 is often described as “boring”, “arduous” or “repetitive”. So I investigated other options and decided that instead we would meander our way through the Carpathian mountains towards Bran Castle, home of Dracula! We considered catching a train or bus between Tulcea and Braila but the Danube…

Departure and the Danube Delta

The morning we left home was hectic. My brother has been away for 6 weeks and so we only had Saturday to pack up for a 10am departure on Sunday. Luckily you can rely on British trains to be running late and so we managed to catch it with plenty of time to spare. It was then a simple job…

Walking the GR10: Cauterets to Gavarnie

Walking to the top of the world Vignemale and d’Ossoue Glacier The Vignemale Massif section of the walk was incredibly beautiful but also incredibly steep! We started in Cauterets, a tourist hotspot known for its spas and skiing. We joined the tourist crowd for an hour in the morning, whilst they looked at cheese shops and novelty stores, I was…

Walking the GR10: Laruns to Cauterets

A slight detour due to misfortune After walking up the Aspe valley and over Col du Moine in my last post, we dropped down into the valley to shelter from thunderstorms. The tops of the mountains were quickly shrouded in cloud and so we thought it would be a good opportunity to buy some fresh food and relax. The following…

Walking the GR10: Oloron-Sainte-Marie to Laruns

Up the Aspe Valley The holiday started with flying from Bristol to Toulouse on the 21st June. I arrived to find in typical French fashion that the train service up into the Pyrenees was on strike. The issue was quickly resolved by booking a lift on Blablacar. Blablacar is an app that let’s people advertise where they’re driving to and…

Gran Canaria: Hiking in Mogán

When people said ‘Tenerife’ or ‘Gran Canaria’ to me in the past, I’ve thought of towering hotel blocks packed to the brim with sunburned tourists who bake themselves on the beach all day. I’ve now come to the realisation that this is only a partly accurate image. Whilst the coastline of Gran Canaria is a heaving mass of holiday resorts,…

Gran Canaria: Maspalomas Sand Dunes

After a couple of walks in the Gran Canaria mountains, we decided it was time to do a bit of sightseeing and visit the Maspalomas Sand Dunes. The dunes are famous for being a ‘mini desert’, in certain places all you can see is hill upon hill of sand. We parked near Maspolomas and walked over the bridge towards the…

Gran Canaria: Exploring around Agaete

For the second half of the holiday, we stayed in the town of Agaete located on the north-west side of the island. Our house was part of a large apartment complex, but I thought the street looked quite scenic with the mountains in the distance and it was one of my reasons for liking the area. After settling in, we…