Category Archives: Hiking

Banff, Canadian Rockies: climate contrast

Posted on January 3, 2016 by BarryH

Completing my blog posts about the summer in the Greek islands I wrote about Kalymnos that it was: “only a short stay but a good way to round off the summer and pause for thought before heading for the Canadian … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Greece, Grey Britain, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains, Photography, Uncategorized, Weather, Winter | Tagged Banff, Bow River, Canada, climate, Grey Britain, Mount Rundle, photography, skating pond, skiing, snow, trekking, Tunnel Mountain, weather | 2 Comments

Kalymnos: peace and tranquillity at the end of summer

Posted on December 14, 2015 by BarryH

I finished my summer in Greece with a short stay on Kalymnos. Its population of 16,000, making it the third most populous island in the Dodecanese group after Rhodes and Kos, is considerably increased in the summer by tourists. However, … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Greece, Hiking, History, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, new technology, Photography | Tagged autumn crocus, broadband, castles, Emborios, flowers, Greece, hiking, Hora, Kalymnos, Kastri, nature, photography, rock climbing, Symi | Leave a comment

Greece by bus

Posted on November 26, 2015 by BarryH

After years of hopping around the Greek islands I decided in 2012 that it was time to take a look at the mainland. By bus. Interest sparked by reading ‘The Mani’ by WW2 hero Patrick Leigh Fermor, made the wild, … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, Photography, Reflections, Wildlife | Tagged books, Greece, Greece by bus, Meteora, photography, The Mani, travel by bus, writing | 5 Comments

Nisyros: Pirates of the Aegean and soft rock

Posted on October 31, 2015 by BarryH

Once upon a time the people of the small fishing village of Palloi on Nisyros, so it is said, got fed up with being raided by the Pirates of the Aegean, upped sticks and moved from their harbour-side homes to … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, History, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, Photography, Wildlife | Tagged Emborios, Greece, hiking, history, Landscape, lava, Mediterranean shag, Nisyros, Palloi, photography, Pirates of the Aegean, pumice, sea daffodils, underground church | 3 Comments

Nisyros: Heritage Island

Posted on October 23, 2015 by BarryH

When I was young, summer holidays were a week at my grandparents’ in a small mining village in rural Carmarthenshire. I took every opportunity to escape the boredom of sitting around the house and walk the mile or so up … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, History, Landscape, Monmouthshire, Mountains, Photography, Wales | Tagged barrel-arched building, Greece, heritage, history, Karpathos, Nifios, Nisyros, Olymbos, photography, Rural Carmarthenshire, Siones, St Fagan's National History Museum, subterranean church, Symi, thermal springs, Tilos, windmills | 5 Comments

Nisyros: rocking round the rim

Posted on October 5, 2015 by BarryH

People don’t visit Nisyros for the beaches. There are beaches, very pleasant for a swim after a trek in the mountains, but not of the best. People visit Nisyros drawn by the allure of ‘The Volcano’, by which they mean … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains, Photography | Tagged Agios Stavros monastery, Breccia, caldera, Emborios, Greece, hiking, hochlakos mosaic, kalderimi, lava, lava bubbles, lava pinnacles, lava sculpture, Nikia, Nisyros, Paleocastro, Parleta, photography, Stephanos crater, trekking, volcanic conglomerate, Volcano | 2 Comments

Nisyros: waiting for it to blow

Posted on September 14, 2015 by BarryH

It is more accurate to describe Nisyros as a volcano than as ‘volcanic’. Lots of bits of countries are ‘volcanic in that they are have areas of either lava (cooled magma) or igneous rock (rock modified by super-heating) … like … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, History, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, Photography | Tagged active volcano, eruptions, fumaroles, Greece, hiking, Hippocrates, Kos, monitoring, Nisyros, photography, Polyvotis Craters, Stephanos crater, sulphur crystals, thermal springs, Volcano, Yialli | 7 Comments

Nisyros: giving in to addiction

Posted on September 4, 2015 by BarryH

Some places are addictive. Nisyros is one of them. My wife and I visited the island first on a day trip by high speed cat from nearby Tilos in 2001. Along with the herd we took the bus to The … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, History, Landscape, Mountains, Photography | Tagged Alexandros crater, barrel-arched houses, fumaroles, Greece, hiking, kalderimi, Kato Laki, lava bubble, lava plug, Nisyros, Paleocastro, photography, Polyvotis crater, sulphur, Volcano | Leave a comment

Symi and the Glamorgan coast: compare and contrast

Posted on August 23, 2015 by BarryH

We were taught in school to prepare for exam questions of the type ‘Compare and contrast’ …. ‘The Hundred Years War and the Blitzkrieg’, ‘The East Coast of England and a South Sea Atoll’, ‘the character of Jane Austen’s Emma … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, Landscape, Photography, Wales | Tagged cliffs, Glamorgan Heritage Coast, Greece, hiking, limestone, Macross, Monksnash, Nisyros, photography, Plough and Harrow, rock pools, Severn Estuary, Symi, tidal range, Wales, wave-cut platforms | 2 Comments

Symi: Old ways and a long way back

Posted on August 9, 2015 by BarryH

But one day at a time they say And if you’re knowing where you’re going You’ll be finding your way. ‘Long Way Back’ from ‘Freedom Run’ by The Rifles, 2011 Some years ago, more than I care to remember or … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains, Weather | Tagged ancient routeways, Byzantine Stone Wine Presses, Four Peaks Challenge, Four Peaks Walk, Greece, huking, kalderimi, Lake District, Long Walk Back, Megalos Sotiros, Panagia Panaiidi, Panormitis monastery, photography, SKAI maps, Stavros Polemou, Symi, Symi Polar Bear, The Rifles, trekking | Leave a comment