Travel

Cycling at 10km per hour is a realistic goal on the flat, gravel surface. There are many cattle stops to cycle over and some 20 dismounts required to negotiate your way through narrow styles on some parts of the Trail.

I flew to Brisbane Saturday morning and embarked on Pacific Dawn in the afternoon. I was lucky, by 4pm, there was no queue. Also lucky, because P & O Cruises gave me an upgrade from an inside cabin to an outside one.

The Great Wall of China was not named lightly. I had heard about it, read about it, been told that I could spot it from the moon (if ever I went there) and was still astounded when I actually saw it - well part of it - a very small part.

In any map of northern Wales, a pinpoint between the slate-mining centre of Ffestinoig and the seaside town of Porthmadog marks the position of a village, which despite its location, is decidedly out of place.

There are places in the world whose name carries meaning well beyond mere geography. A thousand kilometres off the west coast of Ecuador lie the islands of the Galapagos Archipelago - 24 specks of geology straddling the equator that have become, not only

"Spirit of Adventure Trust" is the first tall ship operator in New Zealand, and currently only one of a handful worldwide, to be awarded Blue Flag status in recognition of exceptional environmental management.

After I got back from China people kept asking, 'So how was it on the train?' I went by rail from Shanghai to Beijing. One of the world's fastest, the train rips along at around 300kph though is capable of even more.

This was an adventure to learn about sailing and history on a five night cruise from Opua, Bay of Islands.

Check back for more updates from Barbara and Don!

In May this year I attended the opening of the Hauraki Rail Trail, part of Nga Haerenga - The New Zealand Cycle Trail.