Mark Harrison mark.harrison@cantab.net, Cambridge, November 29, 1997
I enjoy walking and cycling, mainly in the >Lake District and the >Cairngorms (Scotland). Last year, I went to >Ireland for the first time, visited the Killarney lakes in County Kerry, then went walking with a few friends in Wicklow, around Glendalough and along the Wicklow coast. This Easter, I ventured west again, to explore Galway and Connemara. It's very easy to get to Ireland from Stansted Airport - and Ryanair have return flights to Dublin for around £55. Aer Lingus also have fairly cheap flights to Dublin, now also running from Stansted - though I think Ryanair is still cheaper. For more info on Ireland, you might check out Ireland On-Line. I can also recommend some of the Irish Independent Holiday Hostels. Six years ago, I went to the Orkney islands off the north of Scotland - very beautiful and ideal cycling terrain, with so many stone-age remains. Last summer, I enjoyed visiting the Western Isles (Outer Hebrides) - again, wonderful varied landscapes and gorgeous sunsets. I think the scenic highlight of that trip was the impressive formation of standing stones at Callanish, on the western coast of Lewis, as well as the broch at Dun Carloway. There's a very nice youth hostel at Stockinish - it used to be a schoolhouse - fairly basic facilities, but small enough that you soon get to meet some very nice people there. It's in a great location, overlooking a rocky bay, and you can easily walk or cycle across to the deserted sandy beaches on the west of Harris, lined with so many colourful wild flowers growing on the machair. For info on how to get to the Western Isles and what to see and do, check out the following two sites: GAEL-NET and EOLAS, part of the Global Guide. I also like walking in Bavaria - mainly around the Königsee area, just south of Salzburg. I enjoy taking photographs of the various places I visit - I prefer to take slides - the resolution and colours seem much better than for print films, and I now have well over 2000 slides. Some of my friends reckon I'm sponsored by the tourist boards - though I still deny that.
Below are a few links you might find useful. I'll try to add a few more as I find them.