The Bicycles of Burano 21st March 2007 (continued) Burano Last time, we were by the lighthouse at Murano, waiting for the vaporetto to Burano. That’s the island where the lace-manufacturing industry has its centre. Like …

From my archives: The Bicycles of Burano travelrat.wordpress.com/2007/06/25/t...

Find out about places I enjoyed visiting in Croatia, including both inland and coastal options.

www.rjontour.com/croatia/ #travel #Croatia #travelblogger

10 of the best train journeys in Australia From historic railway day trips to transcontinental adventures, we reveal the best train journeys in Australia.

10 of the best train journeys in Australia
(The Sunday Times - UK)

The T1 to Emu Plains misses out again.

www.thetimes.com/article/159f...

Leeds Castle Leeds Castle: 18th July 2011. On the way home, we called at Leeds Castle. This is what Garry and Joanne particularly wanted to see, but couldn’t, so we called in to get some pictures and video for …

From my archives: Leeds Castle travelrat.wordpress.com/2011/10/31/l...

A Visit to Grumpy’s When I blogged about Australian beer last week, I neglected to mention the excellent beer brewed by a micro-brewery in the hills behind Adelaide, which we visited in 2006. It’s near Hahndorf, a vil…

From my archives: A Visit to Grumpy's travelrat.wordpress.com/2008/04/09/a...

Pic of the Week: 'The Way of Silence'. Isola San Giulio, Piedmont, Italy.

Desmond Castle, Kinsale. Kinsale: 14th September 2011. I think Desmond Castle is the first one I ever visited that stood, not on the top of a hill, or in beautiful gardens, but in a street of houses. It dates from around t…

From my archives: Desmond Castle, Kinsale travelrat.wordpress.com/2011/12/09/d...

Tiles I’ve been ranting a lot about the lack of travel shows in the 50-odd TV channels available to me. So, it came as a refreshing change to find Europe From Above on the National Geographic Channel. Th…

From my archives: Tiles travelrat.wordpress.com/2021/03/28/1...

Matmata: The Cave Dwellings Desert Safari Day 1 (continued) Matmata, 12th June 2008.   They describe the cave houses at Matmata  as ‘troglodyte dwellings’. I don’t really like the word ‘troglodyte&#821…

From my archives: Matmata. The Cave Dwellings travelrat.wordpress.com/2008/08/18/m...

Isola San Giulio Isola San Giulio: 15th October 2025. We’re not seeing Lake Orta at its best at the moment, for it’s rather misty and hazy. This morning, we simply walked through the hotel gardens to th…

Today's blog post: Isola San Giulio travelrat.wordpress.com/2025/11/12/i...

Skinny Dog to Coober Pedy Coober Pedy: 23rd April 2012. If you can remember that far back, our original plan was the ride the ‘Ghan’ train from Darwin to Adelaide, breaking the journey in Alice Springs to tour the Red Centr…

From my archives: Skinny Dog to Coober Pedy travelrat.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/s...

Arrival at Ålesund Ålesund: 18th March 2013. Last night was even rougher than the previous. Of course, the company can’t be held responsible for the weather. The odd loose article rolling around the cabin can usually…

From my archives: Arrival at Alesund. travelrat.wordpress.com/2013/04/29/a...

National Express Digbeth Street/Is the street Where all the northbound coaches meet In Birmingham (apologies to Spencer Williams) In the past, I’ve often ranted … nay, fulminated … about the squalid tip that wa…

From my archives: National Express travelrat.wordpress.com/2009/07/10/n...

Annnecy Annecy: 21st September 2008 On the way to Annecy, I stopped to photograph the Château de Menthon St. Bernard, because I was sure I’d seen it before, even though this was my first ever visit to the …

From my archives: Annecy travelrat.wordpress.com/2008/12/29/a...

Pic of the Week: Orta San Giulio, Piedmont, Italy

One Pillar Pagoda Hanoi: 23rd November 2019 When we left the compound, we paid a visit to the One Pillar Pagoda … so called for obvious reasons. It was ordered in the 11th Century by the emperor Ly Thai Tong … it is…

From my archives: One Pillar Pagoda travelrat.wordpress.com/2020/09/29/o...

My hat is off! Back in the 60s, I couldn't work out how to transport skis on a motor bike, so I took the train instead!

Travel Theme: Balls ‘I play Cinderella tennis. That is, I don’t quite get to the ball’ (Larry Adler) I wouldn’t like to guess how many sports you can play that involve a ball, but I’d think a goodly proportion. Balls …

From my archives: Travel Theme: Balls travelrat.wordpress.com/2017/05/02/t...

Alaska Whale Cruise Juneau: 9th May 2016 We ate breakfast with one eye on our plates and the other out to sea, looking for whales, as we sailed down the Tracy Arm into Juneau. ‘What we should do’ said a fellow passeng…

From my archives: Alaska Whale Cruise travelrat.wordpress.com/2016/06/29/a...

Arrival at Lake Orta Lake Orta: 14th October 2025. I finally made it here after one or two glitches. First of all, the driver from the chauffeur service didn’t turn up. Lorraine had to cancel, and I was going on …

Today's blog post: Arrival at Lake Orta travelrat.wordpress.com/2025/11/05/a...

Aberdoon House I found Aberdoon House while walking to the Rouse Hill Shopping Centre through the Caddies Creek Reserve from Kellyville, where I was staying. It is a long, rather boring slog to the shops if you g…

From my archives: Aberdoon House travelrat.wordpress.com/2007/12/28/a...

The Driverless Car is Upon Us! The other day, I was watching a car chase on a TV Show. The ‘good guys’ were just about to catch the villains, when their car came to a complete stop. The ‘bad guys’ had managed to hack into the co…

From my archives: The Driverless Car is Upon Us travelrat.wordpress.com/2018/11/18/t...

Sign I'm getting old! My first new car cost less than that! 😄

Breakaway Hills Coober Pedy: 24th April 2012 The best part of Coober Pedy for me was a little way out of town. The Breakaway Hills is (is/are? Neither sounds right!) a surreal, multi-hued landscape that some call …

From my archives: Breakaway Hills travelrat.wordpress.com/2013/06/03/b...

This is how Hallowe'en used to be celebrated. Bob-apple, duck apple, treacle toffee and ghost stories.

No going out in the cold trick or treating!

Around the Horn It would be nice to think that America ended with a dramatic cliff, with a monumental lighthouse, or a huge statue of Magellan, or somebody atop, but it doesn’t. It fizzles out in a ragged archipel…

From my archives: Around the Horn travelrat.wordpress.com/2017/08/08/a...

Pic of the Week: Isola San Giulio, Lake Orta, Italy

Namaskard Namaskard: 22nd June 2019 A short bus ride took us to Namaskard. an extensive field of steam vents on the slopes of a mountain called Namasfjall. It’s a surreal, desolate ‘other-worldly’ sort of lo…

From my archives: Namaskard travelrat.wordpress.com/2019/09/10/n...

I sincerely hope it's been kicked into the long grass for ever more!

Walking Photographs They used to call them ‘Walking Photographs’. That was back in the day, when not many people had cameras. You’d be walking down the street … or, more usually, a seafront, when someone would pop up,…

From my archives: Walking Photographs travelrat.wordpress.com/2017/11/26/w...