Pretty much every day here is a little surreal. The colours, the light, the scenery and the people are so delightful that it’s sometimes hard to believe I’m actually in a real place, on the same planet as my home, London. I was met by Karsten on my return from Aitutaki, and he and his…

I woke in Cairns on 9th June 2012 at 0230. I arrived in Rarotonga after about 16 hours of travel on 9th June 2012 at 0130. Read on to find out how: I was at Cairns airport by 0330 – much too early for my 0530 flight. The usually busy check in desks were deserted.…

After watching the sun come up over Uluru, it was time to travel over to Kata Tjuta, also known as The Olgas. The Olgas are named after the tallest peak in the range, Mount Olga, which was named after Queen Olga of Württemberg. Kata Tjuta and Uluru are actually part of the same rock layer that…

As much as I enjoyed sleeping in a swag, I have to confess I didn’t get much of a lie-in. We were up early for a spot of toast for breakfast before continuing our trip to Uluru. The roads were straight desert roads, the red sands we passed through were astonishing. Were it not for…

After rocking out with Monks, sunshine, temples and tarts in Thailand, it was time to board a 10 hour flight down to Sydney from Bangkok. On the plane, for the first time in four weeks, I had some wine and some cheese. It was bliss – it is indeed possible to become tired of boat…

I may have mentioned in a previous post that Vietnam is the second biggest exporter of rice in the world. Second only to rice in terms of export value is Vietnam’s coffee. As someone who loves drinking coffee, arguably to excess, I honestly didn’t know this, or had forgotten. One of the many objectives I…

My first night in Tokyo was spent in a Capsule Hotel (kapuseru hoteru). I remember being fascinated by these places when they were featured on BBC travelogue shows. My initial, rather loaded, question was: “What kind of culture treats its people like the Borg?” Well folks, it isn’t all that bad. If you liked making…