Spain - Santa Ponsa - Mallorca

I was in Santa Ponsa on Mallorca  20/02/25 to 25/02/25 for a family visit.

One day I had a walk to Peguera

Starting from "Platja de Santa Ponça" (The beach)

Along the front between the hotels and the sea until reaching the little beach!.

Then it is up to the bars at the Square and a walk along the road lined by hotels until cutting back down to the shoreline and the "Platja Cala Blanca".

There was a pleasant walk round to the sun terrace and rocky shoreline, along a well-maintained path.

 then round to Mirador de Aldana

Then the route went through residential streets to Bella Vista with a view over the bay and the cliffs around Peguera

The route continues through the residential streets until it cuts through woodland to Peguera.  Cutting back to the sea gets to  "Mirador de formaciones rocosas" probably one of the nicest part of the walk, as the path is on the cliffs and has paths down to rocky beaches and coves.

Then the route follows the beach promenade into Peguera (and the bus back to Santa Ponsa).  All in all around two hour walk.

Another Day, I had a walk up to Puig de sa Morisca Archaeological Park. The area was a lot wilder than I expected with various medieval and older ruins- but great views over Santa Ponsa Bay and the surrounding area which were certainly the star of the show.

Unfortunately, the walk was cut short by a fall!

Another day had trip out to Valldermossa and Port of Soller.

Valldemossa is one of the nicest towns in Mallorca, but even in February, it was busy!

Port of Soller is basically a very busy little port surrounded by dramatic hills/mountains - with a lot of places to eat.

That is connected to Soller by a wonderful old tram

New Zealand Travel

We visited New Zealand between 20/11/24 to 13/12/2024.

We started in Queenstown and then drove and flew to Auckland. 

En route we stayed in Queenstown, Wanaka, Tekapo, Arthur’s Pass, Punakaiki, St Arnaud, Nelson, Picton, Rotorua, Taupo, Whakapapa and Hamilton.

The links open the page in a new tab. 

To Start - Doha Airport 

Part 1 - Queenstown

Part 2 - Wanaka, Crown Ridge Road,and Jet Boat

Part 3 - Haast Valley

Part 4 - Onward to Tekapo

Part 5 - Mount Cook Helicopter Flight

Part 6 - Mount Cook and Hooker Valley Track

Part 7 - Tekapo to Arthurs Pass

Part 8 - Arthurs Pass to St Arnaud

Part 9 - Nelson, Abel Tasman, Queen Charlotte Drive, Picton

Part 10 - Wellington

Part 11- Hobbiton

Part 12 - Rotorua

Part 13 - Taupo

Part 14 - Tongariro National Park and Whakapapa

Part 15 - Homeward Bound.

New Zealand 15 - Homeward Bound

The weather when we headed north from Whakapapa really closed in, and was probably the worst weather since arriving in Queenstown.

We went out to the Marokopa Falls - This was a 10-15 minute walk from the car park, to view a 35m high falls.  As it was raining - the waterfalls were in full flow.

Then it was a stop at Mangapohue Natural Bridge - This was originally a part of the roof of a cave.  The cave collapsed - thousands of years ago, leaving part of the roof in place, the natural bridge.  It was a short walk from the car park into the ravine, with good walkways.  Many features which would normally be seen in caves were visible in the daylight.

By the time we got to Hamilton the weather had really closed in.  We jointly took the decision to miss out, Hamilton Gardens, which was the only reason we were staying in Hamilton - oh well.

We were flying out the next day.  We had a window of about 90 minutes available before we needed to be at the airport.  So we decided to go on a detour to Auckland Botanic Gardens.  This had a lot of floral displays which were similar to the UK and others which were very specific to New Zealand.  

There were also a lot of statues in the park which fitted in really well.

And of course, there were birds!

And then on 13 December 3 weeks after we arrived it was time for the long flight home.