Reprinted from Island Echo https://www.islandecho.co.uk (With some additional observations by me.) The US is famous for its road trips. Vast stretches of the country are empty if you don’t count the magnificent nature through which you’ll drive for hours. If you have a few weeks on your hands, or even just a week or two, you should organize a road trip and visit the country’s famous landmarks and natural parks away from the cities on the coastlines. Our list will help you set up and organize such a trip because it’s a long endeavour and it requires some preparation on your part in order to enj ..read more

Are discount airlines as cheap as they seem? Answer:  Yes and no. So that’s very helpful, isn’t it? Here’s a recent experience. Driven barmy by two grounded years I decided to go to an airshow in Knoxville, Tennessee, and the National Air Races in Reno, Nevada. That starts with a flight into LA which local travel agent Flightcentre arranged. They had a special deal with Fiji Airways that got me from Auckland, New Zealand, to LAX for $1096.  The best alternative on-line was around $2100.  So, a good start. I then asked them to price flights from LA to Knoxville and Knoxville to ..read more

The final day of my road trip through beautiful Central Otago was as varied as the landforms I travelled through. (I’m reporting this somewhat post-facto because of the unfortunate necessity of having to earn a living to pay for all this fun stuff. And work has been busy now that we are out of at least some of the Covid-induced restrictions). Took the Crown Range Road from Wanaka.  Along the way is the famous Cardrona Hotel.  It has been there for nigh on 160 years.  Its most colourful publican was a man named Jimmy Patterson who ran it from 1926 to his death at 91 in 1961. His ..read more

First item on today’s agenda is some flight-seeing around the region, but given that I was going to be in a light aircraft I might as well log some instruction time. I have flown a Cessna 172 before, but not in a while so my instructor from Learn To Fly NZ, kept a watchful eye. Take off good, climb to 4500 feet then just drone around this achingly beautiful landscape. What an experience . . . not just soaking in the view but flying the plane as well. Landing not so good. Not bad – just came in a bit low and had to wrap on a bit of power in the last few seconds.  But as the old pilots say ..read more

Day three of my Central Otago road trip did not start well. Raining. Not exactly ideal for the first planned activity of the day, tandem paragliding. Although the sun broke through, the winds on nearby Coronet Peak were too strong. Another day perhaps. Instead it was off to Wanaka, a summer and winter resort town that gazes out north over the eponymous lake to a range of mountains in every shade of blue. Compared to the Wakatipu region further south, centred on  Queenstown, this region has softer, more rounded landforms.  Here the ancient glaciers have done their work well, yielding ..read more

For much of the second day of my road trip exploring Central Otago in New Zealand, I’ll travel alongside the famous Central Otago Rail Trail and fossick around the villages along this part of its journey. First call was in Naseby, a town which did not rejoice at the coming of the railway early last century. Below the Ida Range, tucked away in forestry surroundings, the village of Naseby is quite a charmer. The town used to be a major gold mining centre with as many as 5000 diggers working their fingers to the bone in search of riches. It was, at that time, the administrative centre of the regi ..read more

What with lockdowns and travel restrictions road trips have been a bit thin on the ground over the past two years, but, hey!, I’m now off exploring one of the most dramatic parts of New Zealand . . . Central Otago. Decided to fly in to Dunedin rather than Queenstown, in part because rental car deals were cheaper there, but mainly because my first couple of days could be spent roaming the back-country roads leading to the lakes district. Was a bit cheesed off on the flight because I had paid extra for an exit row window seat but when I got there a young Chinese couple had take seats E and F. Wh ..read more

Nicola de la Haye . . . now there’s a woman you have probably never heard of. Yet she is a reason you are reading this in English, not French. It all started with Magna Carta, the great charter that limited the power of the king. In 1215, King John, one of England’s least capable monarchs, had been forced to sign it after pressure from the English barons. Within weeks, however, he began reneging on the promises he made, a matter that did not go down well with the nobles who divided into two camps – those that supported the king and a group of rebels. Civil war ensued. The rebel barons invited ..read more

I often get asked “What is the best time of the year to Visit Britain?” Well, right now is a great time to plan a visit to the UK. The Covid pandemic has meant that visitor numbers are way lower than usual and that means the big attractions are not crowded-out with “bloody tourists”. But is it safe? There has been a recent spike in infections in the UK but it is now tapering off again. Given that you aren’t likely to arrive there for several weeks if not months, the case numbers should have fallen further. Rural Britain and Wales have much lower infection rates than the densely populated citi ..read more

Like this ancient ruin. They have the world convinced that if you hang upside down out a hole in the parapet and kiss a stone you will get the gift of the gab. You are more likely to get Covid-19 these days. Or am I just being a grumpy old curmudgeon. Probably. But you have to say it’s one of the most successful tourist gimmicks around. I thought the grounds alone were a good enough reason to visit the site. My wife did the whole kiss-the-stone-thing. But given that she is of 100% Irish extraction there’s no surprise there. I demurred. If only because the last thing the world needs is to make ..read more