Have always wanted to visit Yorkshire, but in all my years in the UK I always ended up further north in my domestic travels! We decided to take a 2 week break and went up to the Dales to trek around and enjoy the countryside, then finished off with a couple days in York itself.

Our accommodation in Kirkby Malham was well located to explore some great parts of the Dales without having to always get in a car.

One day we drove up to visit the viaduct. It was a perfect sunny day with blue skies and minimal clouds. ideal for a walk along the viaduct. We also stopped for lunch at the Wensleydale Creamery. A must visit in my opinion. Seeing how the cheese is made and getting to try various types was a treat!

Later that night, we were spoiled with a crystal clear night to be able to see the Aurora Borealis! I was very excited by this as I have never seen it before. Did not think to bring my tripod with me, but the cover of a hot tub proved a sufficient surface to perch my camera for a long exposure!

Next day we went for a hike to hit the big ones around Malham. Malham Cove, Janet's Foss, and Gordale Scar. It was another perfect day with blue skies and calm weather.

With our time in the Dales at an end we set off for York. On the drive there we stopped to visit Bolton Abbey.

York was wonderful. A beautiful city with so much to see. Highlight for us was doing the York Wall Trail, these medieval walls still surround most of the inner city. you can walk along the top of most of it to take you on a great scenic walk of the city.

The Minster looms over the entire city, and highly recommend going inside to visit it. Not only beautiful but also full of history.

A few photos from a recent camping trip to Wales. We camped at Llangors Lake and it was wonderful. Good location for walks, pubs and great scenery. Wales being Wales, we nearly had every weather type possible, but it made for some great light and views.

A short trip back to SA wouldn't be complete without visiting my favourite place.

We did a quick 2 day 1 nighter in Skukuza. Here are a few select shots from it.

It feels like going to Scotland is an annual pilgrimage at the rate I seem to go. I'm ok with that.
2024's occasion was for a mate's 40th birthday. We flew into Inverness and spent 3.5 days in the Cairngorms. Somewhere I have driven through on the way to other regions but never really spent time in. It was long overdue!

We booked a cosy wood cabin in the town of Carrbridge. Well located for accessing the woods.

You can't go to Scotland and not visit a distillery (or a few) for a few drams of whisky. Over the weekend we did:
- Distillery Tour at Glenfarclas
- Tasting at Aberlour
- Speyside Distillery shop in Aviemore
- Tasting at Tomatin

We were treated to some rare great weather whilst there. Making walking around the town of Aberlour and along the river Spey a treat.

On the Sunday we drove to Cairngorm Mountain for a walk. Parking at the Mountain Railway we followed a path further up. Beautiful day for it with the weather doing everything from sunshine to rain to snow. We stopped at the below point before returning.

I have been to Scotland many times, but never tried fishing. One of the days we spent the day fly fishing on a loch. The weather was wild, varied, beautiful and made for a great day in nature.

Even succeeded in catching a rainbow Trout!

Photos from our adventures around Cape Town in our first trip to SA since 2018.

First Day in Cape Town we landed to torrential downpours and gloomy weather. Not what we were anticipating but it made for some great photos in the late afternoon/evening light!

Our first full day would be spent in Franschoek on the Wine Tram, A hop on hop off experience where you tour the wineyards via tram and hop off to visit and do tastings. A wonderful way to spend a day with lovely weather.

Not only was it a great day in the winelands, but we were treated so some amazing sunset scenes when getting back to our flat in Bloubergstrand.

The following day we went for a drive down to Simon's town via Chapmans Peak for some great scenery on our way to see the penguins and have a swim.

Another beautiful day with perfect weather

Can't go to Cape Town without taking a trip to the top of Table Mountain. There is a cable car, but if you feel like you need to burn some calories you can always hike up!

We hiked up to the top, taking the Platteklip Gorge route. Not too difficult, just steps all the way up so its like hitting a stairmaster at the gym for 2 hours.

We weren't enthusiastic enough to walk down though, good thing there is a cable car!

Some well earned sundowners at Blue Peter Hotel. Our last night in Cape Town before heading to Mpumalanga and the Kruger National Park.

Photos from the Kruger portion of this trip can be found here: https://mattmuzerie.com/kruger-national-park-2023/

Returned to the Park after a long 4 years. My favorites from the trip plus a few from the Panorama Route

Before heading back to the UK we spent a day on the Panorama Route in Mpumalanga.