It all started out with a Skype video call. Bobby discussed his willingness to skip work and jack up a 4day whirlwind tour of his home nation. The onus was then on me to go through the motions of booking flights and arranging visas. Even though it sounds hard to believe, it took me a frustrating 8hours of running around to organise my flight and re-entry visa. Japan can not be underestimated in this respect. Paper work, inflexibility to bend the rules and unclear instructions are just three things which add up to a lot of fluffing around, even for the [View Full Entry]

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I am writing this entry sitting in my hotel foyer after my first day of teaching. After coming all this way, today is officially my first day where I made more money than I have spent since leaving NZ! Now to the story of humble beginnings in the Land of the Rising Sun. I will start off with 10 not so PC observations about Japan: 1. The Japanese love paper work - it took me 3hours to sign up for a cell phone 2. The cheapest cell phone has a 2MP camera on it 3. Two onsens daily is now [View Full Entry]

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All too casual, we did not book and followed a random Kiwi and Brit to their place in Kowloon. This is where we met Peter. Slimebag Pete as I like to call him. SlimebagPete managed a rubbish dump which he called Taiwan Deluxe Hotel. Dealing with SlimeBag Pete was like dealing with a cannon. SlimeBag Pete demanded money upfront for 3nights. I ended up having a stand off for about 15minutes with him. I asked to see the room first, he retorted with YOU PAY NOW! Tired, we sufficed. I can see why he did not want to show me [View Full Entry]

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Leon and I arrived to a raining day on some rough seas from Koh Tao Is. In the pouring rain we taxied to our destination. Haad Salad Beach and yes snigger at the name - haha Salad Beach. The destination proved to be quite isolated, a good 20minute ride in a 'back of the ute' taxi from the action in Haad Rin. We had 3 days of chilling out in our isolated location. We played pool, snorkelled and did some reading. Perhaps the highlight was climbing the rocks around to a headland. Randomly, this limp old sorry looking dog followed [View Full Entry]

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Koh Tao is a wonderful little island of the Western Coast of Thailand. We arrived after an overnight boat. We slept like sardines with 40 others in the birth of the boat. It was quite an experience. The strangest thing was all the Thais got shunted on one side and all the whities on the other. (picture attached) Once on the island we refused to pay $2 ransom for a taxi so we decided to walk. Apparently I took the long way according to Leon, something I guess I will never be able to disprove. We found the cheapest dive [View Full Entry]

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Welcome to Phi Phi. The island has no roads and is one place which bore the brunt of the Boxing Day wave not so long ago. It is most famous for the movie "The Beach" which was filmed just around the corner. However, I will remember it for the only holiday destination where women clearly outnumber the boys significantly. Not ones to rest, Leon and I wandered the rocks and rambling pathways until we stumbled across a grand white sand beach called Long Beach. It overlooked the warmest water I have ever swam in. It was again a scorcher and [View Full Entry]

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We took the overnight bus down to Phuket town. We eventually found our hostel after a whole lot of Thai taxi drivers we most unhelpful after we told them we were not going to give them any money. We spent our first day organising our trip, eating NZ$2 Thai food and crashing out. The hostel we stayed at was complete with DVD player and so was all good. The following day we had a bit more energy and took off on a Tuk Tuk bus to the seedy city of Patong. This place was jam packed with all the good [View Full Entry]

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I arrived in Bankok, on the 13 April. This just happened to coincide with the beginning of the Thai New Year - known as Songkran. The festival involves nailing as many people with water as possible. Waterguns, iced water, buckets and even the ultimate - garden hoses are acceptable water distribution medians. I welcomed Songkran for my first 4days with open arms. 1. Thailand is really hot at the mo - up to 40degrees and it felt every bit of it. So my time in Bankok was welcomed with 2. It really passed the time whilst I waited for Leon. [View Full Entry]

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Do not pass go, just go straight to JUST VISITING via Wimbelton Station. You have a couch, so the rent charges do not apply but you still have to use our ridiculously strong Monopoly money. As always British Airways and Hethro pulled through. Our plane was delayed but I managed to text Stu to say I was going to be late. The only bonus was getting drunk in the back of the plane yarning to the cabin crew. One of which had been caught by those vans with speeding cameras in NZ and was quizzing me about the effect it [View Full Entry]

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So to cut a long story short, I did not like French people. I do not speak a lick of French. I had no intention to go to France on this trip. However, like a Hollywood film - the hansome main character changed his mindset and ventured into the unknown. Oi oi! Initially I was in communication with Lara Thomas to visit over Easter in Paris. James Bourke contacted me later with the news he had a month contract in Nice starting the day I left London. So I planned to book a London - Paris - Nice - London. [View Full Entry]

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