Samoa - my last stop. I arrived on a Monday night which weirdly became Sunday night due to passing through the timeline just before landing. Having spent most of the original Monday on buses and planes, it was good to have another Monday to do something more exciting and mosey around Apia (the capital) finding my bearings and seeing the sights. Went to see the house where Robert Louis Stevenson lived and worked and had his being before dying of a brain hemorrhage at the age of 44 in the middle of writing a story. He went there (with his wife [View Full Entry]

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First stop was Kaikoura on the East coast where whales abound and seafood is sold in every other shop. With the weather seemingly fine and dandy I decided to camp but sadly my first night there marked the end of the camping dream. It was freezing. By 4 I was shivering. By 5 I was in the shower trying to warm up. By 6 I was on the beach and by 7 I saw the sunrise. So not a wasted experience entirely but it was still a joy to find a hostel nearby and crash out in a warm and uninhabited [View Full Entry]

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Next to Napier in Hawke's Bay on the east coast of the North Island. Home of fine wine, art deco galore and Chris, a friend from Horizons missionary days who I'd not seen for a good few years. Stayed with her for a week and between us, we had a leisurely time with her recovering from an operation and me in latter trip flagging stage. So, twas a week of late mornings, coffee and chat, cafe lunches and pootling about taking in Napier and its environs. Did a bit of wine tasting, forest walking, spa soaking, harbour viewing, film watching and [View Full Entry]

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In my last blog I said I was off to a place called Kerikeri en route to St Francis farm in a place I thought was called Warangeri. Well, I got to Kerikeri OK. A great place. Spent two idyllic days there camping, writing and mooching. Realised when I got there though that I should have been in Kawakawa - the place to get the bus to Whirinaki (not Warangeri) where the farm is. Also realised the wonder of maps at that point too. Hey ho. Still, I got to the farm, albeit on a wing and a prayer. The bus [View Full Entry]

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And now to New Zealand. Another soggy arrival (Sat) but I was happy to spot a rainbow from the transit bus and see it change to a double one on the way to Auckland. Always a good sign..... Have been staying at the Nomads Fat Camel hostel in the city centre and after three nights here, seem to be more settled around the backpacking scene. Got chatting to a woman in my dorm on Sat night who's on her travels doing various voluntary projects around the world. Amazing woman. She's 58 and has just been in Hong Kong working with children [View Full Entry]

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I arrived in Oz a couple of weeks ago and was met with heavy showers at Sydney airport. Not the welcome I'd expected. Had come all prepared with my factor 30 and sunglasses. Hey ho. Anyway, I spent a first jet-lagged day in Sydney before flying up to Cairns with the plan to travel down the East coast back to Sydney and then fly on to NZ. Funny seeing the Opera House looking so overcast but at least the tropical park nearby was a monsoonly real experience. Cairns came as an unexpected culture shock. The 20-something backpacker party-party-party scene was a [View Full Entry]

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Bit of a retro blog at the mo. Bear with me........... So, still back in Cambodia. This time the second week and a week of wandering and seeing further afield. It started with the wedding of one of the girl's from the "Precious Girl" magazine in a town called Kampong Thom, about 3 hours from PP. After my first experience of a Cambodian wedding on the street just outside M&E's flat (a neighbour's doo) I thought this would be equally as LOUD and protracted so was prepared for a lonnnggg and tiring day. It turned out to be a real hoot [View Full Entry]

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Lots to catch up on so here goes........... My time in PP was an eye-opener. Visited a few projects, museums and generally got a feel of the place. Met Norman and Fi's adopted son and family at the "Care for Cambodia" centre they set up a good few years ago now. Amazing place. About 40 kids and young people live there and they do loads of stuff: a craft project run by Fi, a mechanics and metal work project ("Ironworks") run by Norman plus sports, music and animal husbandry. Hats off N&F and everyone else there. V inspiring. Also met up [View Full Entry]

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Am still in Cambodia, just about. My plane to Singapore's been delayed so now seems a good a time as any to catch up with this blogging lark........ Have been here just under a fortnight now. And it's been a different experience than expected. My friends who live here normally (Norman and Fi) who I would have been staying with have been in the UK as Fi's Mum died earlier this month. Ironically they get back today. In fact, I'm keeping my eyes peeled in case I see them walking through to Arrivals. They're due in some time this afternoon apparently............ [View Full Entry]

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It's almost a week now since the theatre project with Jana Sanskriti (JS) so I've had time to unwind a bit and muse over the experience. And what an experience........... When I first arrived in Badu - a suburb (though it's more like a village) just outside Kolkota where JS is based - I had a vague idea of what I was letting myself in for. I knew it would be a fortnight of drama training and activities using "theatre of the oppressed" (TO) techniques which I'd come across briefly before through working with a couple of drama therapists (see 2nd [View Full Entry]

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