‘Six Minutes Somewhere Else’ travel podcast
Six Minutes Somewhere Else is the travel podcast that helps you temporarily forget the fears and frictions of the world and immerse yourself in the beauty, wonder and hope of nature in locations near and far.
For just six minutes you can be transported to somewhere calmer, quieter and more natural – a brief escape to help soothe the soul.
Episode description: I arrived at a small temple tucked under an overhanging cliff in Japan, having gone there on the advice of a complete stranger. That advice turned out to be gold, as I came face to face with a statue of the Buddha more than 1,200 years…
Episode description: I wandered inland from tranquil Te Ngaere bay on the North Island of New Zealand (Aotearoa) and discovered a secret wood. It was populated by giant tree ferns and guarded by the spirits of the land and lively local birds called pee-waka-wakas. The wood was deeply…
Episode description: I re-visited an old friend, a large ‘spirit’ horse carved out of the chalk downlands of southern England. It is unlike any other chalk figure ever created. It is beautifully animated, galloping free across the landscape. It is also ancient, dating from more than 2,500 years…
Episode summary: The Vallée d’Ossau is full of summer radiance on the day I come to stay. I and several hundred other people and their huge motorhomes, for the famous Tour de France bicycle race is passing through the valley. After the mass of riders and their entourages…
Episode summary: The Orkney Islands off the north coast of Scotland make up one of the world’s most important seabird sanctuaries, with thousands of birds flocking here every spring to breed and to nurture their young. I visited in July when the airspace around the cliffs was as…
Episode summary: I am in one of my favourite parts of the world: the Windward Islands in the Caribbean. I’m in St Vincent and the Grenadines sharing my breakfast with my new friend, a very colourful Bananaquit bird. It’s one of the prettiest birds I have seen and…
Episode summary: I am cruising through possibly the most amazing and iconic scenery in South East Asia – the famous karst islands in Phang Nga Bay between Krabi and Phuket. I was supposed to be on a car ferry further out to sea but instead took a small…
Episode summary: I am sitting on the rim of the crater of an ancient volcano in Samoa in the South Pacific, with a sheer drop down to a secret, sunken rainforest below me. Big fruit bats are flapping overhead and it’s not hard to imagine they are small…
Episode summary: I am in the very English town of Stratford-Upon-Avon, globally famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare. It’s also my home town and I try to visit each May to enjoy warm, sun-drenched evenings with friends. I like to walk through the town and down…
Episode summary: I am at the very edge of the precipitous – and very loud – Victoria Falls on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe in southern Africa. It is the world’s largest sheet of falling water and known in the local language as Mosi oa Tunya, or the…
Episode summary: I am on a long Pacific Ocean beach in Costa Rica watching a truly monumental natural phenomenon. Hundreds of thousands of Olive Ridley turtles are hauling themselves out of the waves under a bright moon and dragging their bodies up the beach to lay their precious…
Episode summary: I am at Adventure Bay on Bruny Island, off Tasmania, watching a super-cute white wallaby feeding at the edge of a car park. This very rare animal is only found here, where they are protected. If you are asking yourself ‘how rare are albino wallabies’, ‘where…
Episode summary: I am enjoying a perfect late spring evening in an English village. The sun is setting over the wheat fields, rabbits play in a meadow, the hedgerows are bursting with life and there are swifts and swallows on the wing. In the distance I can hear…
Episode summary: I am in one of my favourite green spaces in Asia: Singapore’s magnificent Gardens By The Bay. There’s something wonderfully peaceful about being here and doing nothing but staring at nature. In Singapore, this is the best way to start the morning and give you the…
Episode summary: Tasmania is a treasure trove of wildlife and wilderness. It is a place of ancient forests, wild coastlines and primeval landscapes, some of which have barely changed in millions of years. It is a place I visit as often as I can to immerse myself in…
Episode summary: I spent a week admiring ‘my’ iceberg in Grates Cove in Newfoundland. I watched it from dawn to dusk and sometimes even at night. It turned, rolled and drifted. It was hypnotic and very relaxing. If you are wondering ‘what is the best time of year…
Episode summary: I travelled to the Åland Islands to spend a day sunbathing and exploring the forest on my very own islet. This is the perfect place to slow down and enjoy nature. The islands are also somewhat quirky: they are technically autonomous and part of Finland yet…
Episode summary: I found peace and calm in a natural oasis in the middle of Tokyo and it was totally unexpected. I went for a walk looking for a spot to sit on the waterfront of Tokyo Bay and watch the seabirds. Instead, I found the Hama-rikyu Gardens,…
Episode summary: I travelled to New Zealand’s South Island at Maori New Year to witness a dark-sky spectacle in the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve. These reserves are being established across the globe, which is good for astronomers but – more importantly – for animals and birds,…
Episode summary: I travelled to Costa Rica in Central America to climb a volcano called Arenal. If you want to know ‘is it worth going to Arenal volcano’, ‘what lives in the Costa Rica jungle’ or ‘how to see Costa Rica rainforest’, this podcast might be able to…