Three years ago we were all ready to head to Europe and do some walking and cycling along its western coastline. Then along came the covid pandemic and our travel plans, along with everyone else's, evaporated as the world went into varying degrees of lockdown and air transport declined to the bare essentials.

Over the intervening period, we did manage a few covid roadtrips in Australia, but even these were difficult with intermittent state border closures and travel regulations. Once vaccinations for covid arrived, the world gradually opened up and by 2023 could be considerd back to normal (apart from the very high cost of plane flights). So here we are, quadruple vaccinated novids, ready to head off for some long overdue overseas adventures.

We kept parts of our original trip plan, but decided that, after an absence of over 30 years, it might be time to visit Britain once again. So, after Landing at Heathrow, we took a train to St Ives, at the western end of Cornwall, to do a self-guided walk of a section of the South West Coast Path - there is something about a good coastal walk that soothes the soul.

Next we travelled northwards by train to Whitehaven on the Irish Sea in northern England to cycle our way across it on Hadrians Cycleway - a touch of history as well as landscape. From the end point in Newcastle, we hired a car and drove up into Scotland, stopping in the Arrochar Alps for a walk along the way before continuing on to the Isle of Skye and five nights in a crofter's cottage. This was our base for a series of day-walks on this beautiful island.

On the way back to Newcastle to drop off the car, we spent a day walking in the Cairngorm Mountains, deep in the Scottish Highlands. Then it was a train trip to Portsmouth, where we said farewell to Brittain and caught the overnight ferry to Bretagne, on the French Atlantic Coast. It was time for another bike ride, this time from Rennes along a canal, through the rolling hills of the Breton countryside and along the bays, beaches and cliffs of the Côte d'Emeraude to St Malo.

Back in Rennes, we picked up a second rental car for a long drive down into northern Spain, where we had organised a self-guided traverse of the Picos de Europa, an impressive range of limestone mountains, cut by deep gorges. Continuing on by car, we headed for the Pyrenees, stopping for a few day-walks in some classic Pyreneen mountainscapes on both the French and Spanish sides.

By now, we were getting a bit tired, so what better way to finish than a week spent relaxing in a gîte in the forested hills of the Cevennes, just north of Montpellier in southern France. It was a trip down memory lane, as we had lived in Montpellier over 30 years ago. Well. I should say mainly relaxing, as we were next to the Herault River and I had always wanted to canoe down through the river gorge. That dream became our last adventure before driving back Paris, returning the car and flying back home.

It had been great to finally return to Europe, discover some new regions and renew acquaintances with old ones. I hope you enjoy the descriptions and photos of these adventures that follow.