travel timbooth org uk

A car park in the overflow of the Royal Horticultural Gardens in Wisley. A sunny day with hot November sunshine while sitting in the back of the car (and it's not often you can say that in England). The event itself is full of dead bracken, still standing tall without any frost this autumn so far. Makes for difficult navigation through the confusing lumps and bumps. and with lots of little extra paths by all the dog walkers. The event is so close to the junction of the M25 and the A3 dual carriageway that ... read more

Cloudy with occasional sunny intervals. Showers turning to rain later Packed the campsite and headed west along highway 6, without any real idea of a destination for the day (or even for the week). Perhaps inspiration will strike along the way. The road started along a broad valley, cultivated with vineyards on the valley floor and with forested sides.Gradually the valley became narrower and 'wilder' and the boulderyshallow Buller river became visible meandering about the valley floor. Reached the small town of Murchison in time for coffee - I suspect it's always really just catered for travellers - and then carried on along Highway 6, through the Buller Gorge now - a narrow valley with a river that's grown in size. When the decision point came, I headed along Highway 6 towards Westport, further north along ... read more

Cloudy with rain morning, brighter with sunshine afternoon and evening PADDLE LEFT! STOP! BACKPADDLE! STOP! HOLD ON! The familiar commands from Iceland and the Grand Canyon boomed over the Tongariru River. One yellow raft, a family of Texans, myself and a guide working our way through the boulders. A 13km stretch of the river with more than 60 rapids - it's more like a rock garden than a body of water. HOLD ON! The guide deliberately bounces the nose of the raft off the pumice wall on the riverside to get back into the main stream. In glimpses between giant boulders and waves, the wall shows a history of at least 6 eruptions from somewhere, ending with a single sheet of ash 20m high from the Taupo eruption 1800 years ago - you didn't want to ... read more

Cloudy, occasional rain and drizzle It was raining all night, so it was a good decision to stay indoors and forget the tent for a few days. It continued to rain as I drove up to Whakapapa village. Good views of Mt Ruapeha, with lots of snow around the crater - some of the snow is still discoloured from the ashfall and lahars from the September eruption. Drove to the top of the road to begin with and had a quick look around. It feels very weird to be in a ski resort in December but totally out of season. Huge (1m+) boulders in the skiing areas - hope they get lots of snow to cover them. It's totally different to the only other volcanic ski area I've been to (Etna), where the small cinders make ... read more

Sunny, soon clouding over Today is the day to go and see the famous kauri trees, one of the wonders of the area that I've missed so far. They're on the west coast, so went out to Highway 1 yet again and then continued southwestwards on highway 12. The journey started through farmland, but after about 50km some high forested hills appeared. The road skirted around the hills and then continued westwards. I was relying on the GPS and hadn't really looked at the map for this trip, so it was quite a surprise when I came across a large estuary - Hokianga Harbour. Stunning views inland from the entrance and also across the estuary to the large sand dunes drowning the jungle - an extension of Ninety Mile Beach from yesterday. Continued along the road, ... read more