The Shifting Sands

Not long after returning from Croatia, I was informed that I had to attend a work conference in Dublin.  Fortunately, this abutted nicely onto the planned trip to Greece with Kate and the girls. Kate has been to Ireland a couple of times and always raves about the country, telling me that I must go there.  For me, I couldn't see the attraction.  No rocks, no mountains, no decent rivers and bad weather seemed like a bad formula for which a good pub life couldn't compensate. The main entrance to Trinity College I arrived in an Irish heat wave with a temperature of almost 30c and the weather during my brief stay was magnificent.  The conference was in the centre of the city at Trinity College, one of the oldest universities in the world, home the the book of Kells and a spectacular setting. Made me feel almost academic. The Long Room, Trinity's Library As with all work conferences, there were evening meals at a local pubs or at...

After two days in Venice and empty wallets we travelled by train to Assisi via Florence.  I don't know why I chose Assisi.  We had five to six days to spend somewhere before we caught up with friends in Florence.  Assisi caught my interest because it was in Umbria, a new area for me, and I guess because I was raised a catholic and St Francis held a special place in my learnings about saints and significant figures.  For me St Francis did not represent a religion but a way of living.  Assisi reflected that so beautifully.  The city of peace and one of three main pilgrimage sites for catholics around the world, Assisi is set high on its own rocky mountain beautifully laced together by ancient streets, repaired after a significant earthquake in the 1990's.  The view down over Umbria is magical, and like India, when the light is right, one cannot take a bad photograph.  The view from just in front of our apartme...

For those of you who follow our blog, you will note that I am always searching for the balanced holiday. Some culture, good food, some sightseeing, activity for the girls which includes shopping for Lucy and some rock climbing for me. Koh Yao Noi met most of the requirements but fell short on the shopping front. Chiang Mai was good but it is steamy during the middle of the year and no one deserves to have me sweat on them while belaying. Picture perfect view back to Rovinj as we rode to the crag. When planning the holiday, Kate and I worked hard to look for a location that met all  the requirements while also having good accommodation at a  reasonable price.  We had always been keen to visit Croatia as everyone we had met raved about the coast, the food and the people.  We started looking around Split but struggled to find accommodation that suited and also had appropriate travel arrangement to the crags.  Eventually we looked at the Istrian Pen...

Craigieburn Valley car park on a typically busy weekday. Hamilton Peak on the right Remarkable Ridge on the left The photos are from a ski trip in 2009 but I spent a week in the Craigieburn Range in New Zealand every year from 2004 until we moved to Germany in 2010. The Range is one of my favorite places to ski  and the club ski fields that dot the Range make it very special.  Great terrain, cheap, and rope tows that scare off all but the most committed. If you look at Craigieburn Valley Ski Club, it is amazing how much terrain can be accessed with single rope combined with some boot packing and skinning.  Together with the nearby Broken River Ski Club you have amazing slack country with very few skiers and all for NZD $75 per day (although I was shocked when I checked the price for this post as when I last skied there is was closer to $50) You can tour down the Range to near Cheeseman and on to Olympus, a trip I am very keen to do when I move...

In planning the Monsoon escape from Mumbai, the location through which to enter Europe was subject to much analysis.  Ljubljana was the favoured location as Kate and I had always wanted to visit the city as it has a reputation of being a beautiful and friendly small European city. Unfortunately, there were issues with a one way hire car out of the EU and the accommodation was relatively expensive.Venice was an option as it has easy ferry links to Rovinj but the ferry added a layer of cost and the times were inconvenient. In the end, we opted for Zagreb and a hire car to Rovinj. We had few expectations of the City.  What we found was a City that was small but had all the amenities, modern but with a beautiful historic centre, green and seemingly very livable. We arrived to a beautifully warm European afternoon and settled into the Esplanade Hotel which was also hosting the Japanese Princess. After a long work telephone conference on the terrace bar, Kate an...