As time passes and the seasons change, so does the Amazon river. In the wet season, the river can be ten times wider in places than it is in the dry season, and over time, the mighty river carves new paths, creating new bends and washing away forest, and in previous paths devoid of vegetation, new forest begins to emerge. Like the changing river, so does our experience of travel. We oscillate between discomfort and pleasure, between serendipity and banality. »
Our small plane took off from the runway at East Air terminal at Cairns and climbed up into the clouds which were obscuring the view of the reef below. But not long into the flight, the clouds began to dissipate and it was revealed as hundreds of little islands and atolls scattered along the coast in the sparkling turquoise sea. View from the plane Viewed from above, the repeating slices of reef stretching south to north at regular intervals looked like grains of rice lined up on a turquoise field. »
The Larapinta Trail is a 223km trail across Tjoritja - the West MacDonnell Ranges - in the Northern Territory. The trail is made up of 12 distinct sections which can be hiked over 10 or more days. However, I booked with Trek Larapinta to do a six day walk during which we’d walk the six hardest, and most stunning, sections of the trail, experiencing the arresting landscapes of semi-arid central Australia. »
Our trip to Hong Kong deliberately coincided with our friends Gavin and Ed also being there. After hanging out together in NYC in January when we house sat for them, and finding out they’d be in Hong Kong for the ‘100 day celebration’ of Ed’s brother’s new baby, we decided to rendez-vous in HK for another catch up. Since their departure to the US, we hadn’t seen each other in three years and our trip to HK together would make three catch ups in 7 months, following New York in January and San Diego in October 2022. »
Before arriving in Quebec we’d spent three weeks house and puppy sitting for our friends in New York City over Christmas and New Year while they went home to Australia. While we endured temperatures well below freezing, we didn’t get any snow and so we were really looking forward to arriving in a city blanketed in snow. Quebec City is a walled city But the city hasn’t had the amount of snow that it usually would at this time of year. »