It’s been another wet and windy weekend here in the Pennines and I’m really ready for some sunshine and a change of scenery. Last week made my feet even more itchy, but I’ve got several things to sort out right now before I can start to think about wanderlust.

So, here’s a picture of the day which shows what you can experience when you do indulge. This was the view at sunrise one January morning from the balcony of our room at the Greenlands Hostel in the hill station of Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu, South India. Imagine waking up just before dawn, walking outside and seeing this view – magical! We’re 2133m above sea level and way above the plains – and it shows.

The stillness that time of the morning’s beautiful. Our room had a fireplace and we’d bought bits locally so that we could brew coffee over the open fire we had in our room (yes, it gets cold at night at that height!). We were travelling with a hammock too – so we had that set up on the verandah in order to be able to enjoy this view in comfort. Magical times…