After Epernay it was back to Paris for the day. We had decided for the sake of adventure, to take the overnight train through to Salzburg. Embarked relatively late in the evening and then into a carriage cabin no larger than a bathroom. The bunks were stacked three high. Its not that we were carrying a lot of gear but we felt like sardines once finally ensconced in our room. The steward was particularly germanic in providing us with the manditory briefing prior to departure. We were confident that morning coffee would arrive exactly on time. We sped through the stations in France during the evening, but dawdled to meet the schedules once in Germany. We arrived in Austria and through to Salzburg station. There we met up with Magda - once our exchange student, now ... read more

Taxi to the station at 0730. A bit of a shock to be back in travel mode. We took the train, but flooding saw it diverted through Reading to London, Waterloo. Lots of luggage in the aisles as people returned to London after brief holidays with family. Elise headed into work near Leichester Square. Our own luggage is already over 20kg each, and now the endless stairs of the Underground. Found our little flat in Cartwright Gardens. Catherine and I agreed that it had about the same space as our modest sailing boat back home. An epic lift of the luggage up four flights. Still it was very well located and warm. We slipped in a visit to the Royal Academy of Art to see an exhibition of Constable, Turner and Gainsborough landscapes. Brilliant collection and ... read more

The beautiful city of York won the lottery to host the girls weekend. Grovley! We got there by an early trip on the train from the other company (note to self – always check the train company name on tickets as they all look the same – but by sweet smiles and polite Australian we saved ourselves another fare of £98 each). We checked into our cute B&B just outside the city wall, and then wandered the cobbled streets of York. The banks of the river had broken so the only way to walk to town was via the road. The B&B proprietor suggested that we had to go the Betty’s tea shop, but in fact there were two Betty’s in York and either would be wonderful. Alex must have seen the pattern. Betty’s was very ... read more

Our daughter Elise has been living in the UK for a year now - London to be specific. We could not let another Christmas go by with catching up. Catherine travelled across before me, and we all met up at Catherine's aunts place in Oxford on Christmas eve. Catherine and Elise started the adventure with an excursion to York. Greg arrived in Oxford after a long, but uneventful flight from Australia. The long leg from Singapore to London is tiring, but a lot more efficient than the routes that go through an intermediate middle eastern stop.... read more

On the TACA flight from Lima to Cusco, I (Greg) pondered why I ended up with this wanderlust. Perhaps spurred on by the impending completion of another of my bucket list entries (Machu Pichu, after Galapagos) I thought about those things prior to entering university that really whetted my appetite: once uni started there were a hundred things. I came up with three things that my parents provided: the Time/Life series on countries; Sir Francis Chichester’s book on circumnavigation; and repeated entreats to “see the world before settling down”. Catherine remembered her Father always encouraging her brothers and sisters to look for what is “just over the hill” rather than sticking on the main road. The flight was packed with tourists. Many – probably most – were significantly younger than we four. We flew past a ... read more