Dear friends, After three beautiful days in Wanaka, we left early to drive through the Haast Pass to the West Coast, passing along the western side of Lake Hawea and then back along the upper reaches of Lake Wanaka before continuing on through the valleys and gorges of the Haast to reach the coast. From [...]
Dear friends, One of the distinct pleasures of living in Asia is having the opportunity to celebrate the many colourful festivals which are an important part of life here. Perhaps none is as important across the whole region as the Chinese New Year. This year on 28 January we entered the Year of the Rooster [...]
Greetings everyone, I've been looking back over this year's travel and remembering not only the beautiful places I visited, the many interesting and passionate people I met and learned from, and the variety of entertainment and delicious food and wine we enjoyed, but also thinking about the small details and discoveries, the splendid light and [...]
Greetings everyone, In this third blog from my Sabah trip, I am sharing a few details gleaned from walks in the forest - with a focus on the forest floor and shrub layers. The tropical rainforest has five layers - the emergent layer where trees can grow to heights of 50-60 metres, the main canopy [...]
Greetings everyone. It is always a pleasure when visiting Tuscany, Italy to spend a day or two tasting some of the delicious wines grown and produced in the region. This year is was a real treat to spend half a day at the Antinori Winery, just north of Florence, that not only produces fabulous wines [...]