Author Archive | Gareth Morgan

Goodbye Norway, it’s been a blast Our six weeks touring Norway and Svalbard by bicycle and boat is over. As we head out of Bergen en route for the Shetland Islands, we can reflect on a society that has to be one of the more idyllic on earth; no huge population pressure, an abundance of […]

Deep in the Norwegian fjords now as we wind down our six week sojourn swanning around the Scandinavian north and before we set off for the Shetlands. The weather we’ve had up here has been phenomenal, like mid-summer in NZ. But that’s now changed and we’re back to a traditional Scandinavian summer – lots of […]

Time to head back to the mainland soon but one more opportunity to taste some more of Svalbard’s environment and historical locations on our return south from the ice. The capital of Longyearbyen only hosts 2,000 residents, there are more polar bears on Svalbard in winter especially. Over December and January it is in 24 […]

We’re now up at almost 83 degrees north, deep into the pack ice and well north of Svalbard. It’s the home of seals, walrus, polar bears and the birds that we’ve been immersed in for a few days now. As opposed to the last occasions we’ve been anywhere near this far north, the polar bear […]

It’s the height of summer so there’s no pack ice near Svalbard, we will have to sail on beyond 82 degrees north to locate it this year. But the archipelago has it’s own charm anyway with its ice cap providing an abundance of glaciers that tumble down towards the sea. It’s capital Longyearbyen, provides the […]

We’ve spent the last couple of weeks cruising the length of Norway, winding our way along fjords and getting as far north as Tromso, the springboard for our voyage around Svalbard. Norway has a similar population to New Zealand but its largest seven cities contain only 2 million – compared to New Zealand’s big seven […]

The Anne Frank exhibition, “Let Me Be Myself” is touring New Zealand, I think its in Christchurch at present so try to get along with your family and experience the messages it imparts. We’ve been a sponsor of the educational work of the Anne Frank House in New Zealand for several years now but unfortunately […]

Bicycles and weed – that’s the lasting impression of this capital city that straddles a canal system off the river Amstel, has 5 million tourists cram through its narrow alleyways each year, and is the European home of some uber companies like Uber, Tesla and Netflix – as well as some old stayers such as […]

Now we’ve parked up the bikes it’s time for another 3 months of global wandering, this time by bicycle, on foot, zodiacs and a cruise ship. This should provide time for the bum to recover from 3 month’s in the saddle. So first we’re to Mother England and a taste of “That’s Country” with some […]

We’re into Georgia now where we’ll park up the bikes until next year before resuming this ride and head on to Mongolia. Definitely less prosperous than Turkey and like Armenia still littered with the ghastly apartment blocks of the Soviet-era, there is a sense of relief crossing the line from the darkest, medieval world of […]