During my early years in England, my introduction to the hills was in North Wales and the Lake District, followed by memorable trips to the West Coast of Scotland and the Outer Hebrides. A special experience was the Tour de Mont Blanc on the borders of France, Italy and Switzerland, and a visit to the East Tyrol and Carinthia provided a glimpse of the Austrian Alps. Further afield, my travels took me to Eastern Canada, and later there were trips to Australia and New Zealand, which opened up a variety of totally different landscapes, from the Australian outback and tropical coastline to the peaks and glaciers of the Southern Alps.