-
1 day ago | 
canberratimes.com.au | Mark Daffey
Explore Travel/Destinations/InternationalThis was the first city to be declared a World Heritage Site. These old men sharing snacks represent Ecuador's culture and traditionBy Mark DaffeyUpdated June 26, 2025, first published June 27, 2025I'm busy catching my breath on Quito's oxygen-starved streets when I enter the Plaza Grande on the first afternoon of a 10-day Contours Travel tour. Subscribe now for unlimited access.
-
2 weeks ago | 
smh.com.au | Mark Daffey
, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. This story is part of the June 8 edition of Sunday Life.See all 14 stories. The final 30-odd kilometres of unsealed road to Cape York are perhaps its roughest.
-
4 weeks ago | 
canberratimes.com.au | Mark Daffey
Follow a trail millions of years in the making. Cotopaxi volcano looms in the background of Quito. Picture: Getty ImagesBy Mark DaffeyUpdated May 29, 2025, first published May 30, 2025We're 3600 metres above sea level and for reasons unexplained, there's a canoe on the lawn outside the Chilcabamba Mountain Lodge where I'm booked to stay the next two nights.
-
1 month ago | 
smh.com.au | Mark Daffey
, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. This story is part of the May 11 edition of Sunday Life.See all 13 stories. The most content I’ve ever felt in life was when I lived by a beach for six months in Sri Lanka. After working for seven years in the Middle East, my wife and I decided to take some time off and learn to be parents to our infant son before we submitted to the grind of daily life back home in Melbourne.
-
2 months ago | 
canberratimes.com.au | Mark Daffey
Staying in Dinner Plain and skiing at Hotham is a great combo. By Mark DaffeyUpdated April 17, 2025, first published April 18, 2025It's so quiet here." It's the first comment my son makes after we park outside our chalet in Dinner Plain. The wintry gales that you often hear whistling through ski towns are absent, leaving the eucalyptus leaves to hang limply from the village's many snow gums. Patches of snow on the ground help absorb nature's chorus.
-
Mar 29, 2025 | 
smh.com.au | Mark Daffey
By Mark Daffey March 30, 2025 — 5.00am, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. This story is part of the March 30 edition of Sunday Life.See all 14 stories. My thighs burn as I lean into my turns, using my legs to push off each bend as I tear downhill. Though the ground is relatively smooth, there are still drops and obstacles that could catch me off guard. Then there’s the fact that someone is breathing down my neck.
-
Mar 19, 2025 | 
luxuryescapes.com | Mark Daffey
Planning a holiday in the Galapagos Islands? Then read up on this first. The Amazon, Serengeti Plains, Borneo, South Georgia: all sit comfortably on lists ranking the world’s premier wildlife-watching destinations. Now, add the Galapagos Islands to that list. Once you’ve been to this volcanic archipelago, it’s easy to understand why Charles Darwin started to formulate his evolutionary theories around natural selection following a five-week layover there in 1835.
-
Mar 15, 2025 | 
smh.com.au | Mark Daffey
By Mark Daffey March 16, 2025 — 5.00am, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. This story is part of the March 16 edition of Sunday Life.See all 12 stories. “Horseback riding is what Hacienda Zuleta is best known for,” says Fernando Polanco Plaza. But some would argue it’s better known for the fact that two late Ecuadorian presidents once lived on the estate. And both are Fernando’s ancestors.
-
Mar 15, 2025 | 
watoday.com.au | Mark Daffey
Exponential Interactive, Inc d/b/a VDX.tvCookie duration: 90 (days). Data collected and processed: IP addresses, Device identifiers, Probabilistic identifiers, Browsing and interaction data, Non-precise location data, Users’ profiles, Privacy choicesmoreCookie duration resets each session. View details | Privacy policyConsentCookie duration: 365 (days).
-
Feb 18, 2025 | 
australiantraveller.com | Mark Daffey
Go searching for crocodiles in Queensland’s second-largest national park and you’ll discover a true adventure territory of sandstone hills, sweeping grasslands, coastal estuaries and more than a few salties. I’m a little nervous as I walk down towards the Normanby River at Kalpowar Crossing. The waterways around here, inside Queensland’s Rinyirru National Park, are notorious for two resident species.
