http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Cate and Drew/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Cate and Drew en-us Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:48:31 BST Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:48:31 BST The gale force wind cut through my five layers of clothing causing an involuntary shiver. The continuous rain over the last 15 hours had long ago penetrated my waterproof jacket and had soaked through the other four layers adding a chill factor that was becoming dangerous. I was at least 10 miles from the nearest checkpoint and in these conditions and over this terrain that was at least another 2. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Derbyshire/Glossop/blog-292066.html It was a typically grey drizzly English day for our visit to the quintessential English town of York. Our visit coincided with a food festival and we spent a pleasant late morning wandering through a local food market full of Melton Mowbray pork pies Bakewell tarts Stinking Bishop cheddar English cider real ale and other local delicacies. Unfortunately as we were enroute to Newcastle for me http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Tyne-and-Wear/Newcastle-Upon-Tyne/blog-224872.html After our long wait in the Johdpur train station we were finally ready to board the overnight train to Jaisalmer a fortressed town in the middle of the Thar Desert not too far from the border with Pakistan. We settled quickly into the familiar routine of getting comfortable on the high bunk beds. Getting out of sleeping bags and ensuring that all our our luggage was safely stowed under our heads http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Jaisalmer/blog-202157.html Without any audible noise the race has begun. I stand unmoving waiting for the runners ahead to move forward through the narrow streets of Chamonix to allow me some space to start running. There is over 2300 runners all packed into a very small area behind the start line each runner with a backpack and most with two trekking poles sticking out of the pack making it advisable not to get too close http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Rh-ne-Alpes/Chamonix/blog-199031.html After nearly two years in London and a fleeting oneweek visit home to Adelaide for Andrew's brother Bernard and Amandarsquos wedding we were up very early on Wednesday morning bags packed and ready for three weeks in India. It felt a bit premature leaving Adelaide already after less than a week here but I knew we would be back in a monthrsquos time. Long flights plane food and watching movi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Udaipur/blog-173830.html A chilly trip to Cardiff to support the Wallabies November 2005We were very excited to manage to get tickets to watch the Wallabies take on Wales at the atmospheric Millennium Stadium. We boarded a bus in London Victoria and three hours later arrived in a freezing cold Cardiff already been overtaken by a sea of green and gold jerseys. The cold snap had begun in the United Kingdom and there was a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Wales/Snowdon/blog-115253.html Ever since I watched David Reyne appearing on Australian travel show Getaway standing next to a moose in the broad daylight at 3am I have dreamed of visiting Lappland the land of the midnight sun. Our Christmas adventure to far northern Sweden this year meant I was finally going to fulfill my dream but ironically I would be seeing the exact opposite of the midnight sun visiting in the depths of http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Norrbotten/Kiruna/blog-114293.html Well maybe not. But we can all dream ... and I can think of much worse ways to spend your 30th birthdayThe approach of thirty had caught me a bit off guard. Always used to being the young one I started to feel a bit old when we moved to London and I befriended some spring chickens at the ripe old age of 25. Things just continued to get worse as I met more and more people who I presumed were my http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-101573.html Despite all the travelling we have done over the recent years our last true summer holiday was our honeymoon in February 2003 so we were very excited at the prospect of twelve days of sun sea sand swimming seafood wine and of course icecream I couldn't wait to feel the warm sun on my shoulders and the salty sea on my skin and I especially couldn't wait to put some colour back on my pastywh http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Croatia/Dalmatia/blog-81512.html Rannoch Moor. The vast expanse of Britian's largest uninhabited wilderness surrounds me. I am all alone save for the peaks of the magnificent Scottish Highlands that can be seen in every direction. Its 4pm Saturday 24th June I have been going since 1am this morning and am now walking my legs rebelling against the brains command to run my energy levels seem to have hit rock bottom despite forcin http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Scotland/Fort-William/blog-70155.html 'Cornwall is lovely but it is a long way away'. Is the response we got over and over again when we told people how we planned to spend our first English Easter. 'Far away' what are they talking about we thought to ourselves 'we're from Australia we know about far away'. However we did heed our friends advice about how bad the traffic would be on Easter weekend and we were up at the crack of da http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Cornwall/blog-63972.html One of the great things about living in London is that you can be sitting at your desk on a cold dreary grey Thursday afternoon and by late evening have arrived in a lightly snow covered Prague. We left London on our wedding anniversary to spend the weekend in this muchanticipated Eastern European city celebrating three years of marriage. Being the middle of February it was absolutely freezing http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/North/Prague/blog-57758.html The lead up to Christmas in Australia is usually an endless few months of catching up with friends shopping Christmas parties sun the beach and the huge buildup to the relaxed weeks in the sun that the proceed the festivities. On the other side of the world with only a small group of friends no family and the country plunging further and further into the depths of a drab grey Winter it is n http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Slovenia/Upper-Carniola/Bled/blog-41845.html As cliched and dull as it may sound Paris definitely lives up to its tag of being one of the gorgeous and magical cities that this world has to offer. Last time I left Paris newly engaged I left with some sadness sure that I would probably never see this enchanting city again for many many years. So you can imagine my excitement when just short of four years later I found myself on the Eurostar http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/-le-de-France/Paris/blog-30889.html After four months in London it was lovely to see a friendly face from home when our friend Lin arrived from Adelaide to begin her tour of Europe. The three of us had planned a long weekend in Dublin and we were up early and on our way to Heathrow early on Friday morning to experience a little bit of the Emerald Isle. Flying Aer Lingus we were looking forward to being served by stewards with liltin http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Dublin/blog-30884.html Land of Beatrix Potter and home to William Wordsworth is not usually somewhere that would appeal to us as a holiday destination but England's Lake District is also known for its magnificent scenery and delicious food ... that sounds more like it We arrived in Windermere at midday on the Saturday of a bank holiday weekend and set about trying to find somewhere to park our tent. A visit to the tou http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Cumbria/Ambleside/blog-27162.html As so often happens when you are camping the moment we even thought about setting up our tent it started to teem from the heavens. So much for our sunny weekend in Oxford.... the English forecasters and the English weather had failed us again. Nevermind we were here now and our friend from Adelaide who was here on business was picking us up to visit the nearby Blenheim Palace soon. It would be gr http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Oxfordshire/Oxford/blog-21429.html All the stories you've heard about crazy French drivers high mountain roads with no crash barriers and lanes so narrow you have to breathe in when you pass another car are true. But more about that later ...The main purpose of our trip to the French Pyrenees was to watch a stage of the incredible Tour de France. We left London early on a Friday morning for the long and rather boring trip to Sta http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Midi-Pyr-n-es/blog-20853.html It was around 9am on 7 July when I made my way to City Hall near Tower Bridge in the heart of London where Mayor Ken Livingstone has his office for a work 'awayday'. I was feeling very proud of myself that I had managed to find my way via public transport and map to a place I had never been in a city where I had only lived for 6 weeks. I was excited about the day ahead. All the communications http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-19328.html When we arrived in London we were astounded by the sheer volume of exciting and fabulous things there were to do in this vibrant city. At home in Adelaide it seems you can go months without anything too interesting coming along but in London the problem seems to be there are so many things to do that they are often all on at the same time.We were very excited by our tickets to U2 and we could har http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/London-City/blog-18329.html