Alison Stewart's Blog, page 4

Tromso – Norway’s gateway to the Arctic

If you are a Game of Thrones fan, Tromso is the last bastion before the equivalent of the 100-league Wall, the colossal, solid ice buttress stretching along the Seven Kingdoms’ northern border, and final fortification before the wildling badlands.

Here’s my story published in The Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age Traveller on January 19, 2019 and you can also read it at the following link:

http://www.traveller.com.au/tromso-norway-better-known-as-the-last-bastion-before-game-of-thrones-wall-h1a2ug#ixzz5drJM4JPB

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The Lost Boys of the Western Front

It is almost beyond belief the numbers of those who died fighting on the Western Front during World War I.

You understand it rationally, but experience it emotionally in the sheer volume of names on monuments, ranks of Jurassic limestone and marble headstones, crosses of sacrifice, German blockhouses crouching among fields of sugar beet, in woods and on hill crests and little cemeteries strewn across the Belgian and French countryside.

Here is a screenshot of my story on the Western Front battlefields, marking the centenary of Armistice and you can also read it online at:

http://www.traveller.com.au/wwi-western-front-australian-battlefields-tour–why-the-great-war-still-packs-an-emotional-punch-h18fqx#ixzz5ZLLRlcRV

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Etihad business flight review

Here is my Etihad flight review published in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, Melbourne on December 8, 2018 and online here:

http://www.traveller.com.au/airline-review-etihad-business-class-abu-dhabi-to-sydney-h17z70

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Norway – the social experiment that worked

Norway, land of 1000 waterfalls and possibly the world’s most successful society, has a secret. It’s called friluftsliv, which sounds like a Nordic yoghurt but is, in fact, a complicated Scandinavian word for a simple, rather lovely concept. It’s an abiding passion for landscape, and an active appreciation of the country’s incredible natural beauty.

Here’s a PDF of my cover story on this wonderful country, published in The Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age Traveller in November, 2018. You can also read it here online:

http://www.traveller.com.au/norway-land-of-1000-waterfalls-has-a-secret-h17bts#ixzz5Y6phVPv8

Norway cover Screenshot 2018-11-25 07.09.34 (5 files merged)

Luxor – Flirting with danger

Luxor must rank among the world’s most extraordinary open-air museums of antiquity, along with the likes of Angkor Wat, Giza, Ephesus and Machu Picchu, but Egypt faces the sticky issue of balancing heritage with tourism and the needs of its people.

Here is my story on this gorgeous city, published in The Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age Traveller and you can also read it online here:

http://www.traveller.com.au/breathtaking-egyptian-city-flirting-with-danger-h17c7d#ixzz5Y6oiqOwn

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Malmo – a little bit of Scandi Noir, a lot of charm

Devotees of Sweden’s brilliantly unsettling Nordic noir television series The Bridge will associate Malmo with industrial streetscapes, glowering skies, wind-whipped seas and the Oresund Bridge which links Copenhagen in Denmark with Malmo in Sweden. In the first series, a body that has been severed in two is discovered lying on the bridge, directly across the border between the two countries.

Here is my story on this interesting sister city to Copenhagen, published in The Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age Traveller. You can also read it online here:

http://www.traveller.com.au/malmo-sweden-the-city-made-famous-in-the-bridge-is-far-more-charming-in-real-life-h17chv#ixzz5Y6nGINGd

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Norway’s other magical light

When the sun strengthens and the days lengthen, Oslo’s getaway-loving residents have a hankering for Kragero’s “light”. One of Norway’s most famous names also sought out the seaside town for its inspirational light – the painter Edvard Munch.

Read my story published in The Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age Traveller in October 2018 here: http://www.traveller.com.au/kragero-norway-travel-guide-beloved-by-artist-evard-munch-for-art-wildlife-and-spectacular-scenery-h16kjx#ixzz5UjD3C8d8

And a screenshot of the print version is here:

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Egypt’s beasts of burden

The rights of animals raise constant dilemmas for travellers to developing countries. We should not be riding elephants in India or Africa, chaining up tigers for “tiger selfies” in Thailand, walking with lions in Southern Africa or handling sea turtles in the Cayman Islands.

In Egypt, where horses and donkeys are still an important part of local life, there is concern about the treatment of some of the working horses.

Read my story published in The Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age Traveller here: http://www.traveller.com.au/animal-welfare-in-egypt-cairos-brooke-hospital-is-helping-the-horses-that-serve-tourists-h16a8z#ixzz5Uj0KaWMP

And here is the print version screenshot:

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The Nile – river of antiquity

It is not a cliche. A traveller to Egypt must sail the Nile. Sitting on the empty upper deck of our river yacht watching this eternal ribbon of light unspool invokes something profound within the raucous babble of the land of the pharaohs.

Read my story published in The Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age Traveller in October 2018: http://www.traveller.com.au/nile-river-cruise-why-everyone-should-sail-egypts-magical-river-h166xc#ixzz5UiyuvXMF

And here is a screenshot:

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Hiking Norway’s fabled Pulpit Rock

Deep within the halls of Norway’s mountain kings, the earth has shifted slightly, widening the crack that splits the great block-shaped granite ledge of Pulpit Rock from the mountain behind.

The rock, which the Norwegians call Preikestolen, is in Western Norway, 25 kilometres from the country’s fourth largest city of Stavanger on the lovely, narrow, 42-kilometre Lysefjord (light fiord). Its wild and gorgeous scenery offers one of Norway’s most popular hikes, visited by about 300,000 people this year.

Here’s my story about climbing this lovely route, published in The Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age Traveller and online here:

http://www.traveller.com.au/mission-impossible-fallout-cliff-location-the-preikestolen-or-pulpit-rock-in-norway-h158kx#ixzz5Sf4tmjGZ

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