Soaring over waves, gliding along the water’s surface, flipping into the air – to the untrained eye, kitesurfing looks physically demanding, hard to master and, if we’re being honest, maybe just a little bit scary!
Want to hear the good news then? It’s really not that bad. Kitesurfing is actually considered a relatively easy sport to learn, and one of the best places to take to the water is Sicily. The largest island of the Mediterranean, and the ‘toe’ in Italy’s ‘boot’, Sicily’s crystal-clear waters, shallow lagoons and windy days combine to create ideal kitesurfing conditions.
Lo Stagnone, a lagoon on the northern coastline of Marsala, is one of Sicily’s main kitesurfing hotspots. During low tide, Lo Stagnone transforms into a vast, aquatic playground, with more that 2,000 hectares of butter flat water (that’s kitesurfing lingo for water that’s not too shallow, not too deep, and great for practicing new tricks on) to enjoy. Lo Stagnone also experiences more than 300 windy days a year, which means the kitesurfing season doesn’t really ever end.
It’s also a great spot for both budding and expert kitesurfers. With plenty of kiteable water, beginners tend to stick close to the shoreline where the soft, muddy lagoon floor acts as a soft landing spot if you crash into the water. More advanced kitesurfers can head out into the choppier waters to practise their freestyle moves, or glide around the lagoon admiring the scenery.
Kick off your tour of the Baltics in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, also known as ‘The Daughter of the Baltic Sea’. You’ll visit some of the most beautiful sights of Helsinki, including the neoclassical Senate Square, which is also home to the majestic Helsinki Cathedral and the main building of the University of Helsinki, the colourful Market Square, Kaivopuisto Park surrounded by diplomatic residences, the imposing statue of Marshall Mannerheim and the Parliament Building.
It’s onto Estonia next, and on a morning tour of Tallinn, the capital, you will discover the secrets of Tallinn’s Old Town. Like something straight out of a fairytale, this charming city is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The walking part of the tour includes Toompea Hill, where you’ll see the ancient Toompea Castle, the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (built in 1900, during the period when Estonia was part of the Russian Empire) and the Cathedral of Saint Mary, also known as the Dome Church. A stopover at one of the panoramic platforms will alow you to admire the wonderful view of the old centre’s red roofs with the dark blue Tallinn Bay in the background. You’ll need your camera at the ready here!
The rest of the tour covers Riga, Vilnius, Warsaw, Poznan and Berlin (with the option of heading to Potsdam for an afternoon).
Your Scandinavian escape begins in Sweden’s beautiful capital city Stockholm – also known as ‘The Capital of Life and Movement’. Stockholm is built upon 14 islands, all part of an archipelago. It’s a charming, vibrant city surrounded by beauty and water, hence its nickname, Venice of the North.
After enjoying a taste of the urban lifestyle Stockholm has to offer, it’s time to continue north – 200km inside the Arctic Circle to the last wilderness of Europe: Abisko. In this region, around ten thousand years ago, glaciers carved out a riverbed and the Torne River was born. Since then, the crystal clear and pure waters of the Torne River have flowed freely along its 600km path, through Lapland and out to the sea in the southeast.
It’s also here, that the world-famous Icehotel 365 awaits you. At the newly-built hotel, you can experience the natural beauty of the Torne River all year round. And thanks to the long days in the north, all energy for the new building will be produced by solar panels. Therefore, the Icehotel365 is essentially kept cool by the sun.
I never planned on going first, but somehow I’m called into action before the others. All I need to do is steer my kayak towards the ledge of the raging waterfall and launch myself off the vertiginous drop.
I paddle determinedly towards Eon, my guide, who stands like a beacon beside the point of no return. As I near the edge, the air becomes charged with tension and the deepening roar of the approaching waterfall intensifies. But in the last few seconds I sense disaster.
It’s hard to describe the feeling you get when your kayak decides to spin out of control just moments before you launch off the precipice of a waterfall. It’s like old mate Fear waking up in a good mood and deciding to go bungee jumping – hairy, yes, but totally exhilarating at the same time. A little embarrassing, too – especially when your kayaking troupe is in prime position to witness the spectacle.
Thankfully, disaster never comes. Before giving the rear of my kayak a mighty push in the final moments before the drop, Eon straightens me up as I raise my paddle overhead. Seconds later I land under the gushing waterfall and a smile blooms on my drenched face. Paddling towards the edge of the deep green pool, forged by centuries of relentless flowing water, I watch as the rest of my group faces their fears and take the plunge, one by one.
Things weren’t always so dramatic. For the past 48 hours I’ve been kayaking a section of the Zrmanja River through a rugged karst topography of canyons, caves and rock formations inside the Velebit Nature Park in Croatia’s Dalmatia region. I’m travelling with five Brits, and as the only Aussie I’m determined to make my country proud on this three-day adventure of wild camping, raging waterfalls and class II and III rapids. This is Croatia with the adventure factor dialed up to 11, minus the heaving tourist crowds.
Two days earlier we set off from Zadar, a historic town on the eastern shores fringing the Adriatic Sea. Famous for the architecturally designed musical instrument Morske Orgulje (Sea Organ), its myriad Roman, Venetian and Byzantine ruins, and being Croatia’s oldest continuously occupied city (it’s been inhabited as far back as ninth-century BC), Zadar is most memorable to me for having a name that sounds like the punchline of a magic trick. From here, it takes a little over 90 minutes by van to reach our first campsite at Kastel Zegarski, and along the way we pass Croatia’s largest mountain range, Velebit, which separates Dalmatia from the lush interior region of Lika. We also skirt by a raging bush fire edging the main road. Eon explains that this region is unfortunately prone to fires, especially during July and August.
As our kayaking adventure officially begins the next day, we spend the evening at the campsite getting acquainted over barbecued chicken, rice and beer. The night sky is so clear and dark out here that it’s actually possible to see the soft glow of the Milky Way and make out celestial constellations and asterisms like the Big Dipper. The need for sleep eventually wins out though, and I retire to my tent in preparation for the 11-kilometre paddle downstream that lies ahead.
I wake to the rooster’s resounding crow at 4am, but only feel compelled to get out of bed four hours later by the aroma of coffee and a delicious spread of meaty burek (flaky baked pastry), locally made cheese and fresh fruit. I’m keen to load up on carbs and caffeine for the day ahead, which will involve an eight-kilometre paddle that should take us four to five hours. Having only just completed a 15-day cycling trip through the Balkans, I’m eager to get out on the water to make sure my arms still work.
Soon I’m putting on my canary-yellow life vest, donning my red helmet and stepping into my black neoprene booties after a short safety talk. The six of us are divided into three teams of two and allocated blue rubber double kayaks.
“We don’t use hard kayaks on the river anymore as they can destroy the area’s delicate travertine,” Eon says as we make final preparations. I’m paired with Ros, an accountant from London, and moments later we’re taking our first strokes downstream on the calm, green Zrmanja River under a thick canopy of fig, juniper and hornbeam trees.
It’s evident from the get-go that staying on course is going to be a challenge over the next two days. As captain of the kayak, I’m sitting at the back, and it’s my job to keep us paddling in the right direction. But despite my best efforts, what should be a peaceful paddle down the river erupts into a frantic and frustrating fight to reel the vessel back in line and divert impending doom in the form of crashing into poke-your-eye-out branches or worse, other kayakers.
Thankfully, Ros is a complete pro at detecting even the slightest deviation and is able to synchronise with my strokes to bring the kayak back to its rightful position on the river. This back and forth is a constant theme throughout the trip. The threat of spinning out of control weighs on my shoulders, hanging in the air like a bad smell. One moment of distraction or a little too much muscle in a stroke and the battle to steer the kayak back on track begins.
Crafted by Mother Nature after the last Ice Age when sea levels swelled to more than 120 metres, the Zrmanja River and its estuaries flaunt a rich biodiversity of plant and animal life, including rare species of endemic birds and freshwater fish, such as the Zrmanja dace. The surrounding banks are also prime grazing territory for goats, cattle and sheep. “And snakes,” Eon says with a deadpan expression as we paddle through a flat bucolic section of the river. Whether he’s being serious or just pulling our legs remains a mystery.
Two hours of paddling later and we’re rounding a bend where the confluence of the Zrmanja and Krupa rivers begins and we dock our kayaks at a grassy meadow nearby. From here we’ll hike up to the eight-metre Krupa River waterfall for a splash and swim before returning back to our kayaks to sate our grumbling stomachs. As we clamber up the rocky path towards the falls, sunlight filters through chinks in the canopy and the general chatter slowly dissolves into silence until we reach the top.
It’s at this point that I must confess: I can’t really dive. My attempts almost always result in a red belly (and face to match). The others, however, can and do and it doesn’t take long before our swimming break turns into a faux spectacle reminiscent of the trial stages for the FINA Diving World Series. I’m happy to just bomb away and wallow in the 20-degree pool beneath the roaring waterfall, its contours arranged in a way that almost hints at design, its walls harbouring shadows that cling to the mossy travertine. But, somewhat inevitably, I’m encouraged to demonstrate my diving form – after all, someone has to represent Australia, right? And, just as inevitably, the result of my effort is a resounding slap in the gut and a reverberating crack that provokes pitying laughter from the crowd. Evidently, I still need to work on my technique.
After a tasty lunch of sandwiches, local cheese and fruit we’re back on the water. We paddle through lush corridors of Mediterranean oak and European nettle trees and float past grassy banks smeared with heather and water mint. It’s an incredible tapestry of colours and textures, occasionally lulling us into serene silence amongst the singing birds and the rustling leaves played by a gentle wind.
Further downstream we navigate tumbling sections of class II and III rapids, injecting an addictive dose of adrenalin into our veins. We kayak through rugged canyons sparsely covered in thickets of hardy vegetation, paddle past rock formations that resemble faces and bits of faces – such as the karst monument jutting out from the water known locally as “Grandmothers Tooth” – and spy a trio of cows grazing on an island meadow made accessible by shallow water.
Eventually we reach our second and final campsite, perched on the side of the river just metres away from the roaring 3.5-metre Ogar waterfall. After setting up our tents and donning our swimmers, it’s straight to the falls for the ‘finals’ of the diving championship. We spend the afternoon swimming, chatting and jumping off the waterfall into the refreshing water. There’s no way I’ll be able to rank for a medal in diving this year. But that’s totally fine with me – I don’t mind coming back next year for another crack.
Breakfast is already on the table by 8am the next morning and a couple of the guys are walking back from a morning swim. I fuel up with strong coffee and a selection of pastries, muesli and fruit. We’re only paddling three kilometres today – the final stretch of the trip before reaching the village of Muškovci where we’ll de-kayak and have a celebratory beer – but I can’t help having seconds and thirds of the light, flaky cheese burek.
We still have some fears to face before the beers, though. Launching ourselves off Ogar waterfall – the last major obstacle of the trip – promises one final rush of adrenalin. We jumped and dived off it the day before, but today we’re taking it on with our kayaks. For safety reasons we’ll ride solo on this last major hump and go down one by one, and I’m called in to tackle the waterfall first. It’s true, I may not be able to dive, but I have no problems standing toe-to-toe with fear. Besides, all I need to do is paddle my kayak in a straight line. How hard could it be?
Venturing below the earth’s surface may not conjure thoughts of soaring vast distances with abandon. But beneath the countryside of Snowdonia, the Zip World Caverns are challenging the status quo. Caves within 200-year-old slate mines in Blaenau Ffestiniog have been sectioned off and transformed into the world’s largest underground zip-line course.
The grotto’s 11 zip-lines, as well as rope bridges and via ferratas, are suspended almost 30 metres above the cavern floor, ensuring non-stop adrenaline. Colourful lights illuminate the immense caves and narrow chambers as you zoom through. Becoming part of the underworld has never been more exhilarating.
Dublin’s draconian-looking lockup, built in 1796 and complete with its own hanging cell, Kilmainham Gaol has incarcerated an eclectic mix of unfortunates in god-awful conditions, from women and children accused of petty crimes through to some of the most influential figures to ever stride through Irish history – rebels, politicians, poets and nation shapers.
It was here that the British executed the leaders of the 1916 Easter Uprising, leading to the War of Independence and all manner of punch-ups ever since. No longer in service, these days – when it’s not being used as a film set (it’s starred in many movies, from The Italian Job to In the Name of the Father) – it’s a popular attraction for visitors.
Do you want to get a natural high? Rather than thinking of Spain as a place to explore medieval towns and laze on sun-drenched beaches, why not try sleeping in a tree instead? Situated in the branches of oaks in the centre of the Guilleries Forest, the tree houses are accessed via suspended bridges and wooden ladders. To protect the natural surrounds there’s no electricity or running water, but there’s access to showers and a pool at the nearby homestead. Chill out on your deck with a sangria and drink in the stunning views of the Montseny and the Pyrenees.
Strap in for an adventure imbued with diversity and enriching culture on Intrepid Travel’s Baltic Experience, traversing Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Germany.
Among the many awe-inspiring experiences you’ll have on this adventure (ancient architecture, jaw-dropping landscapes, quirky bars and local hospitality are just a few things you’ll touch on), one that shines particularly bright is a visit Lithuania’s Aukštaitija (pronounced ‘Owk-sty-chee-ah’) National Park, one of the most magical nature reserves in the Baltic states. After checking into our homestay, swap your packs for paddles as you prepare to embark on a guided kayak tour with a local guide, gliding along the quaint, pristine waterways that make up the 126 lakes Aukštaitija National Park is famous for.
Your start point is the charming village of Ginučiai, located on the shores of Lake Linkmenas, right next to a nineteenth-century watermill (it’s worth a look in, too: it’s only one of six traditional watermills left in the national park and has been preserved as a museum and a technical monument for its authentic equipment). The kayak trip will take you past little villages, and through forests and dense reed, to a hill with fantastic views across the surrounding lakes and forests. The hill is a pagan site with a wishing tree on top. Upon return back to our home stay in the village look forward to a home-cooked dinner and some great hospitality by our local hosts.
The itinerary is set, but you can make it your own. A voyage along Norway’s pristine coastline with Hurtigruten takes you into quaint coastal communities, through stunning fjords and UNESCO World Heritage sites, and along more than 1600 kilometres of diverse nature. Not convinced? Let us break down why this 11-day adventure is a must for your bucket list.
Beginning in Bergen, you’ll marvel at the colourful houses that populate this charming city. Though a popular destination for modern day travellers, Bergen still retains much of its local character and history. Next navigate through skerries and islands before reaching the Art Nouveau port town of Ålesund, the gateway to the jewel in Norway’s crown, Geirangerfjord. With its cascading waterfalls, sugar-white peaks and sheer cliffs, this UNESCO World Heritage-listed fjord could have been lifted straight from the land of fairy itself, and you’ll have the opportunity to experience during the summer months. Days three and four will see you exploring Trondheim which was founded in 997 A.D, followed by the crossing of the Arctic Circle at 66 degrees 33 minutes north.
Now you’re approaching Tromsø, the capital of the Arctic and one of the best places to experience the magic and wonder of the northern lights dancing across the skies. Take advantage of the many optional excursions for the next few days as you continue to sail north – from whale watching, husky dog sledding and kayaking to delving into Sami culture and visiting the northern-most point on the continent at the North Cape.
Day seven marks the turning point of the 11-day voyage but not before a stop in Kirkenes, located just a few miles from the Russian border. Here, the scenery changes quite dramatically. Southbound, you’ll sail past Fruholmen, home to Europe’s northernmost lighthouse, towards the contrasting landscapes of the Vesterålen archipelago, renowned as a year-round whale-spotting destination, and the equally stunning Lofoten, both a stunning stand-out for many. With much reluctance, you’ll have to tear yourself away from Lofoten – yes, we know, it’s tough! – but you’ll be rewarded for your sacrifice as you sail onwards towards the Helgeland coast and pass by the Seven Sisters mountain range, a vast bastion of remarkable jagged peaks scores with hiking trails and imbued with local legends. The last day of your unforgettable journey gives you another opportunity to explore the city of Trondheim as you disembark and wave farewell to your travel companions.
If you’ve got a thing for adventure on two wheels, Switzerland’s Jungfrau Region is calling your name. Grosse Scheidegg, one of Europe’s most stunning passes, is waiting for you to jump on your bike and hit the pavement. Reaching a peak altitude of 1962 metres, flanked by snow-capped glaciers and lush mountains, the journey is captivating one. You won’t have to worry about dodging traffic to enjoy it either – aside from the famous yellow PostBuses the roads here are car-free.
Take a deep breath as you head off – the Grosse Scheidegg is not for the faint-hearted. Starting from Meiringen, it’s a 16-kilometre journey up to the summit, tackling steep gradients along the way as you pump up the 1300-metre incline. At the top you’ll be rewarded with breathtaking panoramic views that make the climb well worth it.
The somewhat dizzying descent from the summit will see you cruising into the quaint village of Grindelwald where you can rest at the foothills of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau massif. Continue on through the winding roads along the Lütschine River to Interlaken, a hub for outdoor enthusiasts, before looping back along the sparkling shores of the Brienz Lake to Meiringen.
Having conquered 79 kilometres of terrain – most of which remains almost untouched by explorers – you’ll be well deserving of a cold drink and a long sleep at the end of it.
(
