Read the article below and answer the questions at the end of the text. Clues to the answers can be found within the text:

This is a day of extremes: extreme driving (single-track roads), extreme weather (calm and sunny), extreme geography and extreme difficulty in compiling this puzzle. I’d like to say: "I am surrounded by 360 degrees of jaw-dropping beauty. Thank you and goodbye." I can’t? Thought not.

Having set off from a village at the western tip of a finger-like 11-mile lake, I am heading west along the shore of a 20-mile inlet three miles to its south. I’m excited, having just clocked up a rare turn of speed: 28mph. It leads to a 200,000-acre peninsula — and this hamlet is on its eastern periphery. Here’s a castle of 1900 (now a hotel), built for a magnate (born 1844) who made his fortune in diamonds. (Tradition says he buried a large one in the grounds.) His better-known business associate laid the building blocks of an African colony. I, meanwhile, continue west until, four miles later, the road detours inland to avoid high ground — including the peninsula’s highest summit (1,732ft).

A further nine miles and the road bounces back to a bay, and the peninsula’s principal settlement. A touch south, a ferry links this remote area with an island town (I’m thinking of a children’s TV programme). I, however, scoot past the port, continuing northwest until I reach a headland. To a degree, this is an extreme place; how appropriate that it should be marked by a lighthouse. Even so, the last thing I expected was a sunny day — so I ditch my windcheater and walk to take a closer look at the lighthouse. Built in 1849 by an engineer (one of a noted lighthouse family), it is 115ft high.

Meanwhile, a thought trawled deep from my subconscious reminds me to allow sufficient time to make my way back to the ferry. Indeed, so remote is this awesome place, I half expect to find a sign reading "way out". But that’s plainly nonsense — why would anybody want to leave?

The questions

1 Who was the magnate?

2 What is the name of the headland?

ENTER THE COMPETITION

Enter by clicking on the link above by Wednesday. The winner will be announced in next week’s Directions. Only one entry per person. Normal Times Newspapers rules apply. No correspondence will be entered into

The prize: The winner and a guest will stay for a week, half-board, at the four-star Hotel Planibel, a member of Tivigest Hotels & Resorts, in La Thuile. Near the ski lifts and facilities, it has a large indoor pool, sauna and Turkish bath, and is a great launch pad for a week on the slopes of the Espace San Bernardo, which is shared with the French resort of La Rosière and encompasses 90 miles of pistes.

La Thuile is one of 12 Italian resorts in the Inghams 2009/10 ski brochure, which covers 13 countries and ranges from luxury holidays in Vail, Colorado, to all-inclusive budget breaks in the High Tatras, Slovakia. Call 020 8780 4444 or visit www.inghams.co.uk .

The prize includes flights from a choice of UK airports, and transfers. It must be taken between January 16 and 30 or February 27 and March 13, subject to availability. The prize must be taken between February 18 and April 30, 2010, subject to availability and excluding public holidays.

LAST WEEK

The answers are London and Westminster; St Michael’s, Cornhill; Royal College of Organists; Westminster Bridge; Monkton Combe; Ben Macdui; Tintagel; King Arthur. Aneurin Osborne of Reading wins a break in Rome, as a guest of The Rocco Forte Collection and easyJet.

CONDITIONS OF ENTRY

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If you are already a Times Online member, please ensure that you are logged in. If you are not logged in, then you will be required to enter your username and password before you can proceed through to the competition entry form. Click the "ENTER THIS WEEK'S COMPETITION" link above to proceed.

If you are not a member, and this is the first time you've entered the Where Was I? competition online, you will need to register your details with us. Online registration is free, should only take a few minutes to complete and you will not be required to register for future competitions. Click the "ENTER THE COMPETITION" link above to proceed.

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