DEVILS IN PARADISE

Dusk on Maria Island, Tasmania

The first thing I see as I step off the afternoon ferry from Triabunna onto Maria Island is a wombat, snuffling along the path.

I fumble desperately for the camera, then notice that nobody else is paying it any attention. I soon see why. There are wombats everywhere.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen as much Australian fauna together in one place outside a wildlife park.

ONE LAST DAY IN AMSTERDAM

Farewell, my new lovelies!

The bags are packed, the boarding passes are printed (I still don’t trust those QR dots on my phone) and we’re ready to leave Amsterdam to fly back to family and friends Australia.

There are still a couple of hours left in a late summer’s day, in one of the world’s most beautiful cities. How to spend them? 

SIX OF THE BEST – Historic Swiss Hotels

The biergarten of Romantik Hotel Sonne, Küsnacht, by the lake near Zurich

‘Historic’ need not mean faded glory. These hotels combine spectacular locations with character, fascinating stories…and modern plumbing.  

OLD (AND NEW) FACES IN AN OLD DUTCH STREET

It’s a fun, folkloric event, but they take it very seriously.

We happened to be visiting Schagen, a small town just over 60km north of Amsterdam, on the day of a parade.

It was a busy market day, but suddenly the crowd was asked to make way as a group in traditional Dutch costume passed, riding on horse-drawn carts, pushing wicker prams, riding bicycles with baskets of poultry and playing accordions.

Unexpected, and spectacular, it made for excellent photo ops…

TWO SWISS HOTSPOTS – it’s no surprise which I prefer.

It’s thrilling to see the Matterhorn for the first time, though I didn’t have it to myself.

I once wrote that to qualify for ‘Most Beautiful Place I’ve Been‘, there should be no crowds, and it should feel like a small achievement to get there.  

90% of Switzerland could be in contention for ‘world’s most beautiful place’ awards, and of course climbing to the summit of the Matterhorn is an achievement well out of my league. But thanks to the super-efficient Swiss tourism industry, getting to eye level with the bottom of the climb is easy. So of course there are crowds.

It’s still spectacular, though there’s another place nearby that meets all my ‘beautiful place’ criteria.   

BEST ONE WEEK WALK IN EUROPE – the pictures

Crossing the Lac des Vaches, with the Grande Casse in the background.

I’d done parts of this walk before – along the GR5 and the GR55, but this was the first time I’ve tackled the whole six-day Tour des Glaciers in the Parc de la Vanoise, the oldest national park in France.

From beginning to end it’s spectacular. Here’s the photographic evidence…