Monday 27 April 2026 | Leaving Levanto in the morning Yesterday we walked south-west through two towns. To avoid retracing our steps, today we planned
Cinque Terre Day 1: Levorno to Vanazza
Sunday 26 April 2026 | Stage 1 Levorno to Monterosso (3 hours) After filling water bottles, packing the famous Le Due Lune pizza that hadn’t
Arriving at the gateway to the Cinque Terre
Saturday 25 April 2026 | Planning our trek The next four days of our trip was dedicated to finally walking the Cinque Terre. This has been
San Fruttuoso to Portofino
Friday 24th April 2026 | This was the first day of “Mel and Jane’s big hiking adventure”. The plan was to visit the and see
Meeting Mel and Leaving Liv in Genoa
Wednesday 22 – Thursday 23 April 2026 | These two days heralded a changing of the guard. Mel was arriving from Australia to travel and
Livorno and the Leaning Tower
Monday 20 – Tuesday 21 April 2026 | Visiting the coastal town of Livorno For most people, the wonder was “what are you doing for
Arriving in Pisa
Saturday 18 – Sunday 19 April 2026 | One thing we noticed everywhere in Italy, were the signs to support vision impaired people. At parks,
Florence
Thursday 16 – Saturday 18 April 2026 | We left our little cabin at exactly 10am, we know because the cleaning lady drove up precisely
Cycling around Chianti and Sienna
Tuesday 14 – Thursday 16 April 2026 | We arrived in Sienna on Tuesday morning and walked to the Colleverde Camping Ground, where we had
The rain falls in Perugia
Sunday 12 – Tuesday 14 April 2026 | The view from the top A University Town Perugia is very much a niversity town. It has
Who would have thought Foligno was so much fun
Friday 10 – Sunday 12 April 2026 | Arrival in Foligno Only 60km north of Terni, we alighted the train at Foligno. This small town
Terni and Marmore Falls
Thursday 9 April 2026 | We arrived in the mid afternoon Wednesday – meeting Florence, our host, at the door of our apartment block. She
A Night in Tivoli
Tuesday 7 – Wednesday 8 April 2026 | We decided that our first exploration into the countryside should be somewhere close by. So without much
All Roads Lead to Rome
Monday 6 April 2026 | Trevi Fountain as the Sun Rises All advice was that a shrill alarm before the light peeps over the horizon
Easter Sunday in Rome
Sunday 5 April 2026 | Illness and a crowded city were enough incentive for us to stay in bed; coughing, sneezing and spluttering. We didn’t
Easter Saturday in Rome
Saturday 4 April 2026 | Saturday started with a lie-in. Not really a sleep-in as jetlag made it feel like sometime in the afternoon, and
“Buongiorno, Italy” here I come!
Thursday 2 April 2026 | Getting out the door … I love my job, but, one of the few frustrating downsides to being a teacher
Malmo
Tuesday 29 July 2025 21C and feeling coolish for the first time. 27,322 steps / 20.8 km Our Loft Apartment Olivia and I arrived in
Goteborg Archipeligo
Friday 25 July 2025 21c but felt much hotter/ 26,389 steps / 19.5km Goteborg (pronounced Got-hen-berg) is upstream from two archipeligos, North and South. We
Oslo
Monday 21 July 2025 27C and stinking hot / 26,035 steps / 10.7 km Tuesday 22 July 2025 28C / 13,915 steps / 12.6km Arriving
Through the Fijords and Flam
Today we travelled by bus from Bergen to Gunvangen, then across the Fijord by electric catamaran the Flam, and after a dip in the crystal clear freezing Fijord waters, boarded the midnight bus to Oslo. A very exhausting day.
The people are all in Bergen!
Finally, at last, we discovered where all the people in Scandnavia are. they are in Bergen. It was flooded with people pushing and jostling, and eating, and scootering everywhere. It was busy. It was wonderful to see. It was also hot.
The Coastal Cruise
Two days at sea exploring the Westcoat of Norway, eating leftovers, and relaxing!
Trondheim in a heat wave
It seems to be a conspiracy, but when we travel to Europe in July to escape the Tasmanian winter, we get hit with a heatwave. It happened in Croatia last year and now its happening in Scandinavia.
Open air museum of Sundsvall
We arrived in Sundsvall late on Sunday night. Our hotel was about 900m from the station, but by the time we arrived, shops were shutting and dinner was off. We dumped our bags and headed off for a short walk to seek out lactose free milk and something to eat.
The university town of Uppsala
We decided to break up the journey between Stockholm and Sundsvall by visiting the university town of Uppsala. Although we could see that the city stretched for miles, like most old towns the key buildings are all located within walking distance of the train stations.
The museums and sights of Stockholm
Stockholm is a city designed for walking, and we did. The weather was warm, perhaps a little too much, but the people watching was worth it. It was busier than had been our experience of other Swedish cities. There was a momentum and livliness that befitted a big city.
Whistlestop Norrkoping
Noorkoping was beautiful. Imagine an old industrial town, located on a large fast flowing river, with a few small islands in between. An industrial mougal’s dream. They built factories right up to the waters edge.
The beautiful lakeside Jonkoping
We stretched our legs to take in all the sights of the lakeside town of Jonkoping. The weather was warm and sunny, although the lake was still brisk when we dipped our toes in. We explored everyhere; a highlight was the matchfactory museum.
Exploring Lund, Sweden
Today marks the first real day of our adventure around Scandinavia. We started with a walk around the university city of Lund. The weather was comfortable at 18C and the terrain mostly flat. Swedes are very friendly people and offered advice and assistance when we needed. Follow along on our journey.
Scandinavia here we come!
Today we set off to discover the wonders of Scandinavia. We fly to Copenhagen and quickly board a train to the gateway town of Lund to recuperate from our fights and plan our next moves. Follow along on our adventure.
Revisiting Beaches Past
Sunday 19 July 2026 | Today we hired a car and headed North to explore the Daintree and the coastline north of Cairns. our goal
Green Island Swim School
Saturday 18 July 2026 | Arriving on the Ferry Getting to Green Island is easy, and expensive. It is only 28 Km offshore, but access
Kuranda Train and Skyrail
Friday 17 July 2026 | Today we headed off to see the two major tourist attractions in the region. The Kuranda Scenic Railway runs from
Into the Wild
Thursday 16 July 2026 | Exploring the Botanical Gardens The Botanical Gardens are just 30-minutes walk North of us. They had an interesting collection of
Cairns – here we come!
Wednesday 15 July 2026 | Arriving in Cairns There were thick layers of snow on Mt Wellington, and the sun a long way from up,