Tikal
One of the largest and best known Mayan sites, Tikal was once one of the most powerful Mayan city states, occupied for over a thousand years until declining after 900AD,…
Author: jontycrane
Yaxhá and Flores
The first Mayan site I visited, Yaxhá was a great half day trip from Flores, and introduction before visiting larger sites. It wasn’t small though, being home to nine plazas…
Rio Dulce and Livingstone
Where Guatemala meets the Caribbean, with the Rio Dulce flowing to the sea at Livingston, providing shelter on Lago de Izabal for boats to avoid hurricanes. It’s an interesting part…
Antigua
The capital of Guatemala for over two hundred years until 1176, Antigua is one of the best preserved Spanish colonial cities in the world. Ironically this is thanks to the…
Mt William Walkway
Just south of Bombay, the Mount William Walkway offers stunning views from some of the highest vantage points in the Auckland region. Only 40 minutes drive from the CBD, it’s…
New Zealand benches
New Zealand is a truly beautiful place, with many views worth spending time to properly appreciate. Thankfully there are often handy benches to help one do so. Here are some…
Awhitu Peninsula
A great day trip from Auckland, the Awhitu Peninsula is a beautiful place about an hour south west, on the southern headland of the Manukau Harbour. Sweeping views of the harbour,…
Te Ara Hura
A relatively unknown Auckland gem, Te Ara Hura is 100km of connected tracks and trails around the Waiheke Island, only 40 mins by ferry from downtown Auckland. Particularly now the…
Antwerp
Back in 2006 work took me to Antwerp for six months, commuting from near London early Monday morning, returning home Friday evening. I did this for a few weeks before…
Brussels
Brussels may not have a great reputation but I rather enjoyed it when I visited a dozen years ago, particularly for it’s wonderful architecture and some great museums. There are…
Frankfurt & Cologne
One of my early travels, courtesy of a project based on Antwerp in 2006, allowing me to spend every other weekend exploring a new part of Europe rather than heading…
Mt Holdsworth-Jumbo Circuit
One of the best known tracks in the Tararuas, a popular forest park a couple of hours north of Wellington, the Mt Holdsworth-Jumbo Circuit is a 24km loop running through…
HMS Belfast
One of the last surviving ships from WW2, HMS Belfast is a fascinating piece of history moored on the River Thames near Tower Bridge, it’s easy to spend several hours…
Things learnt about Peru and Bolivia
One of my reasons for travelling is to try and understand a little about other cultures and societies, through spending time with locals and reading as much as I can…
Sucre
Sucre was by far the most pleasant city I visited in the Bolivian Highlands, and the lowest at only 2,500m above sea level. The city centre in particular is relatively…
Los Lípez
Visited directly after the epic salt flats of Salar de Uyuni, Los Lípez unbelievably matched them for spectacular and surreal landscapes. Los Lípez pretty much neighbours Salar de Uyuni so you…
Salar de Uyuni
Possibly the most surreal place I’ve ever visited, and am ever likely to visit, Salar de Uyuni are the largest salt flats in the world, larger than Lake Titicaca, the…
La Paz
A grungy, vibrant city in a spectacular natural setting, Bolivia’s main city of La Paz is an experience to explore. Thankfully I’d already spent a week at altitude but at…
Lake Titicaca and Puno
A lake of superlatives, Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world at 3,812m above sea level, and it’s 8,300 square km size makes it the largest in…
Urban sketching – 2018
Despite being one of my favourite travel pastimes, and travelling more in 2018 than I’ve ever done before, I only found time for 24 sketches this year, a third in…