Published on Metro.co.uk on 20th November 2018

Earlier this year, I decided to try skiing for the first time – and I went in hard, signing up for three separate ski trips in just a matter of weeks.

The first was to Courmayeur where, tempted by the promise of very good food in the Italian Alps, I donned a pair of skis and proceeded to slide (read fall) down the gentlest of nursery slopes in the Aosta Valley.

Next came a luxury ski trip to Andermatt in the Swiss Alps. Thanks to some excellent snow conditions and a private instructor for the day, I started to get the hang of stopping and turning, and I managed a successful glide down an actual slope for the first time.

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Published on Metro.co.uk on 21st October 2018

Autumn used to be my least favourite time of the year. It signalled the end of summer and the inevitable arrival of winter.

But in New England, it meant the arrival of the foliage season, and with it, a stunning transformation of the region.

Depending on location, temperature and the weather for that year, the leaves start turning shades of golden, ruby and burgundy from the end of September, and the effects can last until early December.

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Published on Metro.co.uk on 4th September 2018

I stared into the horizon with baited breath; in front of me, the St Lawrence River was a sea of calm.

It had been spitting a little, and the ensuing mist had obscured the banks. Although in truth, at this spot – just off the shores of Tadoussac in Quebec – you’d be hard pressed to see from bank to bank anyway, so wide was the St Lawrence.

The location is important, because it’s at this spot that the river bed drops from around 50m to 250m, and where the freshwater from Lake Ontario meets the salty seawater from the Atlantic. Flowing into this mix is the icy Saguenay River.

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