- adventure
- (107)
-
After the obligatory surf lesson with Surf's Up we tried an afternoon's kayaking with Matt from Cornish Rock Tors. We pootled around some lovely coastline around Port Gaverne and even saw a seal. Kids had a great time. Top fun.
My HUGE tip - stay in Nice Old Town soak up the sunshine and then hop on a train to go and whizz down the pistes in the alps! It's way closer than you think, and great value - a skiing holiday on the med? Yes!
An enchantingly atmospheric chateau, unspoilt by renovations, gave us a fabulously relaxing stay in the Dordogne coupled with a well organised range of activities from kayaking to guided walks and hang gliding to horse riding. Lots of supervised activities for the kids and gentler ones for us! Would definitely go again.
www.chateau-adventure.com
Phone +33 (0) 5 55 28 01 92
In the west of Ireland, a new Irish company whose directors have many years experience in running activity and adventure centres, has launched its series of residential summer camps in Counties Mayo, Westmeath and Cork that will finally give Irish children and teenagers a taste the sorts of camps that their English and American counterparts have enjoyed for over 20 years. Horizon Summer Camps have rolled out a range of residential summer camps for children aged eight to seventeen years of age at Westport and also at their Wilson's Centre in Multyfarnham in Westmeath near Dublin.
For parents, the attraction is that Horizon look after their children 24/7 from once they are picked up at the special pick-up points around the country - parents don't have to worry at all.
Horizon camps include multi-activity holidays where children can throw themselves into a wide range of activities such as kayaking, climbing, dragon-boating, horse-riding, quad-biking, and many other activities.
Or, if they wish, they can concentrate on a specialist camp such as the multi-media programme, or horse-riding for the week. Many teenagers opt for the "surf camp", for example, because the coastline adjacent to Westport offers some of the best surfing in Europe.
Horizon Summer Camps Ireland
River View, North Mall, County Mayo
Ireland
tel: +353 98 50290
email: summer@horizonireland.com
web: www.horizonireland.com
The Sierra de Gredos, which forms part of Spain's Sistema Central, is approximately 140 kms in length running from Cerro de Guisando in the east to the Sierra de Bejar in the west, and boasts glacial cirques, mountain rivers and falls, and peaks reaching nearly 2600m.
Every season has something to offer in Gredos – from winter snow and ice, through the verdant and flower-rich spring to the pleasant temperatures of summer and the beautiful colours of autumn.
For those who like to be active, the Sierra offers walking for all abilities, climbing and scrambling on both rock and ice, cycling, mountain biking, paragliding, horse riding and both cross country and extreme skiing.
For others, there are rivers to swim in, historical sites and cities to visit and many beautiful natural spaces rich with an abundance of wildlife and nature to discover and explore.
The upper track of the platforms are completely wheelchair friendly. Imagine wheeling through over 100 waterfalls in the tropics. Amazing!
Agentinca, Paraguay, Brazil border
www.bluechairbook.com
Surf Shanti is an ecological nature retreat located on the west coast of the Algarve. There you can learn to surf and practice yoga. It is a rustic unique outdoor camp environment. Great for nature lovers and outdoor people. Really amazing beaches!
Dherinia lies on a hill, north of Ayia Napa in south-east Cyprus, on the edge of the no man’s land, which marks the border between the divided north and south.
One sunny, windy Easter-week day, we drove there and paid a tiny fee to climb steps from the haphazard garden of what is not much more than a shack, to a viewing platform where, through telescopes, you can scan a desolate and abandoned townscape of Famagusta, deserted during the conflict of 1974.
Our five-year-old son loved the telescopes and running round the platform, pointing out windmills and the sea, whilst our three-year-old daughter played happily (and safely) in the garden below, full of fig trees, plants and flowering bushes, feeding leaves to the giant tortoises that slowly ambled around a wire enclosure. We were mesmerised by the site of the empty buildings and houses, imagining the scenes on the day they were left amidst the violence and uproar.
Afterwards we sat in the garden at the wooden tables painted cobalt blue, having fresh, warm banana cake and tea, provided by the elderly, handsome owner, speaking grammatically perfect English - somehow a human embodiment of the region’s past. He has also lovingly curated a mini-museum to his country's sad history, with yellowing newspaper cuttings, photographs, signs and testimonies displayed. You are gently urged to write a comment in the visitors’ book before leaving.
The kids came away talking about their adventure and the fantastic cake. We adults found it an intensely moving, eerie and evocative experience.
Signed once you reach Dherinia, north of Paralimni in south east Cyprus.
Want to drive to Padstow to sample the various Rick Stein fare on offer? Here's a tip. Don't. Get on your bike instead. Go to Wadebridge (a pleasant enough place in itself), park there and then cycle down the beautiful, flat, and car free Camel Valley Trail along the river. There are ample bike hire places right by the trail itself, all with baby trailers, child-seats, kids' bikes (we took a three-month-old and a very excited two-and-a-half year old) and decent grown up bikes. Even for the seriously unfit/uncoordinated, it takes all of 45 minutes to amble into 'Padstein'. Once there, you avoid the six mile traffic queue and can securely park your bike for 50p in the many 'bike parks' at the end of the trail. And now you've worked up an appetite, Padstow is your oyster...
Another tip, avoid the hordes and head for the back streets - the Rick Stein Cafe (his 'third' restaurant) has his trademark great food, is very child-friendly, and doesn't take bookings. On the day we were there (a gloriously sunny August day) we had to wait for 20 minutes, which was a shorter than the queue for his fish and chips takeaway!
This is an excursion for the budding adventurers in the family - go in late summer when the icy waters are fairly low and there won't be too much wading required (be prepared for wet legs though!). The 20km long gorge, carved out by the melting snows, is a spectacularly cool walk, with parts to clamber over and pools to cross. If you don't fancy the trek, you can just chill at one of the restaurants built out over the river, drinking apple tea and listening to the music. Go late afternoon to avoid the coach trips and get the benefits of the evening sun.
Possibly the best thing to do in New Zealand! Its spectacular, tiring and surprisingly warm - try and get a guided tour because they know better and also they can show you a lot more that if you hiked alone. The pictures will really impress your friends!
It is a town/ski area about a 10 minute drive from Mayrhofen or a five minute train ride direct. This ski area is not really known to many tourist skiers but it is a huge vast ski area that is absolutely perfect for all competency of skiers/snowboarders. It is less busy than neighbouring Mayrhofen, but equally as good. Plenty of mountains to keep even the best skiers entertained for a week and plenty of bars and restaurants to whet the appetite. This ski area will be included within your lift pass for the Zillertal valley so no extra cost is incurred and a must for a different experience.
10 minute car journey or 5 minute train journey (towards Innsbruck) from Mayrhofen
The Mulu National Park houses some stunningly beautiful rainforest and the largest caves on the planet. The park is easily reached by plane from Kota Kinabalu or Miri; accommodation at Park HQ is excellent but fairly basic whereas the Royal Mulu Resort offers luxury.
There is a wide variety of forest walks, one of the longest canopy walks in the world, caving trips for 'normal' tourists or more adventurous ones (including into the largest underground chamber on earth), a spectacular bat flight, river trips and wildlife nightwalks. It's so fabulous it's a world heritage site.
www.mulupark.com/
more info about the caves at
www.mulucaves.org
The classic four-day trek, the Inca Trail, to Machu Picchu now has an adventurous alternative. From Cuzco, I went across the scary Abra Malaga pass by local transport to the attractive warm jungle village of Santa Teresa and visited hot warm springs (very few foreign visitors at the present moment) and stayed with a local family in a rustic adobe lodge where fresh coffee beans were roasted in front of my eyes and papaya picked off the trees for morning breakfast!
The journey from Cusco to the jungle on to Machu Picchu with the local Quechua speaking guide involves one night staying by the hot springs in tents, one night with his family (a great experience!), a horse trek, some trekking and the final descent to Aguas Calientes at the foot of Machu Picchu. In the morning, rise early before the other travellers and take in this famous lost Inca citadel.
A more varied experience overall, following a different route to the majority of people and great to get to stay with a local family, even for one night!
Santa Teresa is about a fivehour ride from Cuzco. I travelled with the volunteering and alternative adventure travel organisation, Inka Magik, which works with local schools as well as the Cuzco guide and rustic lodge.
Me and some friends went to Rio and we used a service down there that was pretty good. We contacted a place called Brazil Expedition and they booked some great tours for us.
We went to the Favelas, Maracana stadium and many other great places they had for us. I really recommend them, because it’s pretty good to have everything planed by such a great staff.
Eduardo
(21) 9998-2907 or (21) 7894-7523
Fly to Nimes from Stansted. Hire a car and stay at Atelier des Granges. This is officially a backpackers place, but has double rooms and is a great place for a family. It is also like staying in an art gallery.
One of the best places I have stayed, ever. Very friendly and helped us with the locals and food and great views of the village church on the cliff opposite.
One of the best action adventure trips and at a really low cost you will not regret it. Book it now and do it just before the season opens.
www.atelier-des-granges.com/accueil.html
www.canoe-france.com/en/riviere-ardeche-canoe-france.html
Interlaken is a small town stuck in the middle of the Alps. While backpacking across Europe I inevitably ended up there in the Funny Farm. It's a hostel where you can basically sky dive, bungee jump, hang glide, paraglide, go canoyning and more, all in the same day.
A small settlement on the west coast of Australia where Ningaloo reef is just a short swim from Paradise Beach.
I'd recommend it for those on a budget as the snorkelling rivals any organised trip on the Great Barrier Reef and can be done to your own schedule.
Stay at the nearby campsite for a few days and you can venture out on to the reef as many times as you like and see reef sharks, turtles, trumpet fish, octopuses, you name it. It's also handy if you fancy doing a diving course without being out at sea for days, or if you want to take in a leisurely glass-bottom boat tour. It's best to visit outside of the school holidays.
Visit www.coralbay.org/
I can't believe I actually went through with this but now that it's over with, I feel like I've accomplished something great. Yes, I did go hang gliding in Rio, and yes, it should be on your list of things to do (if you're into adrenaline pumping through your bloodstream, anyway).
At first I was a bit apprehensive, but as you're flying high through the sky overlooking the coastline, it becomes very apparent why this is an activity that is sought by many tourists from all over the world. Plus, its easy to schedule and the price is affordable.
Off the beaten backpacker trail, this truly unique, extremely well-equipped backpacker accommodation is located on the idyllic East Cape, just a ten-minute drive to art deco Napier, Hastings or sleepy Havelock North.
With only 11 beds, it is important to book ahead but well worth a few days' stay to relax and enjoy the surrounding award-winning vineyards.
Those who enjoy cycling and wine (or even just a good day out) should book themselves on the 'on yer bike' wine tour for a unique and entertaining wine tasting experience (bookable through the hostel). The relaxed owners with a small, toy, farm holding and soon-to-be vineyard are a pleasure.
Birdwatchers, or those who enjoy another good day out should try Gannet Beach Adventures to get a background to the area, excellent views and a chance to see around 17,000 gannets.
www.bbh.co.nz/ for the hostel
www.gannets.com/index.html
Send your feedback or queries to been.there@guardian.co.uk
Search Been there
