Macs Adventure : The Osterlen Way

After a day of orientation in Ystad we began our walk along the Osterlen Way; a footpath along the southern coast of Sweden. Our section, which would take us 4 days of walking to cover the distance from Ystad to Kivik. Kivik is beyond Simrishamn. As with all my previous walking holidays we walked from hotel/B&B to hotel/B&B and our luggage was transported for us. The holiday is part of Macs Adventure‘s huge portfolio. Unlike with ATG we had no manager to meet us at the beginning and end and be at the end of the phone line in case of difficulties. Macs provide you with a local phone number and contact but you never actually meet that person. The walk notes are not as detailed as in the booklet supplied by ATG but were more or less sufficient for our needs. In a couple of places we found incorrect or contradictory advice between the notes and the map supplied but we managed to find the correct route (or at least a route that worked) for ourselves. I should say though that help and advice from the office in Glasgow, by telephone or by email, was very efficient, friendly and helpful. Continue reading

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The Mailboat Run : Casco Bay Islands

 

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Casco Bay Lines, operates passenger, vehicle and freight service year-round. Casco Bay Lines ensures that passengers have safe, dependable and reliable transportation, and is considered the “lifeline” for the residents of the islands. Casco Bay Lines’ ferries transport nearly one million passengers, 30,000 vehicles and 5,300 tons of freight annually. Casco Bay Lines also delivers the U.S. mail and transports island students to and from Portland. A wide range of scenic cruises and charter trips for celebrations, meetings and sightseeing are available as well.”

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Germany, Bornholm and Sweden : a quick resumé of a three week tour

Where to begin? Where to begin? I arrived home on Wednesday after my wonderful visit to Germany and Scandinavia and now comes the hardest part – sifting through photographs and deciding which to include and which to discard.

Here is just a taster selection and I hope to expand on some of the visits and walks during the next couple of weeks.

At Buddenbrooks House, Lübeck

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The Adventures of Milady in Rügen with Elizabeth von Arnim

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On Wednesday I start this summer’s “Big Adventure”. In 2013 I spent a month working at a B&B in Switzerland and last year and the year before I took myself off to Ireland for 4 weeks and 3 weeks successively. This year I’ll be travelling in Germany, Denmark and Sweden visiting Lübeck, the Baltic islands of Rügen and Bornholm, walking the Osterlen Way before finally spending two nights in the Swedish university city of Lund. Originally I had hoped to travel quite independently by ferry and car but there are no longer passenger car ferry services between the north of England and northern Germany or Scandinavia. I think there is still a service to Amsterdam but that is as far north in Europe as you can get these days. So, to save precious time, I’m flying to Hamburg and back from Copenhagen.

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The Whale Watchers Walk – Palm Mar to Los Cristianos

On Wednesday we were back on the hills again – and several of them. It was  a tough climb out of Palm Mar and a very rough path over the cliffs of Mount Guaza to Los Cristianos. Los Cristianos is a huge resort and ferry terminal for sailing to the Canary Island of La Gomera. It seemed strange to be walking along part of the 10km promenade in our hiking gear. The promenade is lined with bars and fast food eateries but there amongst them is the office for booking Whale Watching Boat Trips. I’m not at all a sailor so I opted to take a taxi back to the house at Palm Mar. The others enjoyed seeing whales and dolphins but I preferred a lazy afternoon with my book.

Palm Mar

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To the Lighthouse … and beyond to Las Galletas

Last week by invitation of my friend Barbara from Bern I visited Tenerife. This was the first time I’d travelled so far south – to the largest of the Canary Islands 62 miles west of Morocco. Barbara and her husband, Paul, own a beautiful house there on the edge of the small resort of Palm Mar in the very south of the island. This year Barbara and I met with our two other friends from the Cambridge days to celebrate 40 years of friendship.

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