Category Archives: Travel

There is something special about whales. Granted, except for trips to the Vancouver Aquarium many, many, years ago,  I’ve only ever seen bits of whales – a dorsal or a tail or a flipper – as most of their huge bodies stay submerged. I’m still waiting to see a whale breach; I’ve seen some magnificent photos, but when […]

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Our private tour bus pulled over on a nondescript patch of road, somewhere between Mandalay and Pyin Oo Lwin. It seemed a quiet spot, with broken-down-looking vehicles parked at the side, and bamboo shop-fronts sitting back from the earthen verge. Ten photographic-tour participants, photographer Karl Grobl and Burmese guide Mr MM piled out of the vehicle, and […]

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It is spring in Australia; has been, officially, since the first of September – even though the mercury might disagree. I’ve been asked, from time to time, what the weather is like “Down Under” – I guess by people who haven’t looked at a map or globe recently. After all, the great southern land reaches well into […]

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A friend of mine is currently bicycling around Bhutan. Bhutan! That magical, mysterious, land-locked country on the southern slopes of the eastern Himalayas where happiness is valued and elevations range from 200 m (660 ft) to more than 7,000 m (23,000 ft). Cycling! What a wonderful, life-embracing, inspirational woman she is. In spite of watching her progress with total awe and some envy, I […]

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“… and you can have a shot of Jack Daniel’s,” our guide told us as we set off on our tour around the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee. It was a joke, of course – a pun on the word “shot”: a jigger of alcohol or a picture. No free tastings were available, as Lynchburg is […]

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