Highlights of the Walker’s Haute Route
The Haute Route is one of the most spectacular multi day walks in the Alps, ~200km through some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world. Longer, harder and more…
Walker’s Haute Route accommodation
One of the highlights of walking in the Alps is the quality and variety of accommodation available, quite different to my usual experience in the New Zealand backcountry. On the…
Walker’s Haute Route – Stages 14 Europa Hut to Zermatt
Final day walking the Haute Route, which I had mixed feelings about. After nine days it was getting a bit routine, though there were a few nice surprises today, but…
Walker’s Haute Route – Stages 12a & 13 St Niklaus to Europa Hut
For it’s final two stages the Haute Route follows the Europaweg, a 31km high altitude mountain path running along the Mattertal Valley. In places this is the most dangerous part…
Walker’s Haute Route – Stages 11 & 12 Cabane Bella Tola to St Niklaus
My seventh day on the Haute Route, not the most enjoyable but the scenery still continued to surprise and impress. It was also the last of my double stage days.…
Walker’s Haute Route – Stages 10 & 11 Cabane de Moiry to Cabae Bella Tola
The quietest day walking the Haute Route, other than a truely memorable start. I woke at dawn in the Cabane de Moiry to find that six inches of snow had…
Walker’s Haute Route – Stages 7, 8 & 9 Cabane des Dix to Cabane de Moiry
A hugely varied day, it’s amazing how much adjacent valleys in the Alps can differ. I started the day crossing a rocky glacier, then explored a lush green valley, before…
Walker’s Haute Route – Stages 6 & 7 Cabane du Mont Fort to Cabane des Dix
An absolutely epic day, possibly the most spectacular I’ve ever walked, and certainly the most technically demanding. There were narrow tracks with sizeable drops offs, fields of boulders to navigate,…
Walker’s Haute Route – Stage 5 Le Chable to Cabane du Mont Fort
The shortest day I had walking the Haute Route, though it still involved walking 15km and up over 1,800m. It was meant to be 9km but I took a few…
Walker’s Haute Route – Stages 3 & 4 Le Peuty to Le Chable
It was a long second day walking the Haute Route, lacking the spectacular scenery and sunshine of the first day. There was still plenty of interest though, particularly in the…
Walker’s Haute Route – Stages 1 & 2 Chamonix to Le Peuty
The Walker’s Haute Route is a ~200km, 9-14 day walk between Chamonix in France and Zermatt In Switzerland, from Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn. Along the way it passes by…
Auckland day walks ranked
There are almost no multi-day walks near Auckland, but thankfully there are many decent day walks, often along spectacular coastlines. Sadly the Waitakere Ranges are almost entirely closed now, to…
New Zealand day walks ranked
There’s a lot to be said for shorter walks. They may lack the sense of escape that a multi-day walk brings, but they can often match the scenery and carrying…
Delft
The final post from my short trip to the Netherlands back in October 2009. Only 15 minutes by train from The Hague, Delft is an historic town where the exquisite…
Rotterdam
The second largest city in the Netherlands and home to Europe’s largest port, Rotterdam was almost completely destroyed by German bombers in WW2. The rebuild since has resulted in varied…
Utrecht
The fourth largest city in the Netherlands, and home to the largest university, I enjoyed a day in Utrecht. Part of that might have been due to the rare glimpse…
Leiden
Only 15 minutes by train from The Hague, Leiden is an historic town famous for it’s university. I visited on it on a cold and grey day back in October…
Amsterdam
I’ve been to Amsterdam twice, in 2005 and 2009, though have surprisingly few photographs. It’s a hobby I’ve grown into over the years. This is more of a snippets post…
The Hague
Another trip from the archives, back in October 2009, when a friend of mine was on a project based in The Hague with a rather nice apartment and a spare…
Te Papa
The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, better known as Te Papa, is the national museum of New Zealand, situated on the Wellington waterfront. The largest museum in the…