After just a week in New Zealand I've already hiked Franz Josef Glacier, jumped out of a plane from 15,000ft, destroyed myself mountain biking, and thrown myself into a canyon in all sorts of compromising positions! New Zealand is truly stunning! My first impressions were great and they just keep being surpassed! My first day was like landing in England on a great weather day..... but is that good enough to warrant a 24 hour flight or even enough to move here? Give me a couple more weeks and I'll have an answer. I nearly didn't make it to NZ and surprise surprise the reason is alcohol. My flight was due to leave Sydney for Christchurch at 8:30am, which meant I would have to get up at 4:30am to catch the bus and make the flight. ... read more

Australia has taken a while to get used to. Travelling here is nothing like Asia. It's hard to go off the 'beaten track' in one of the World's top backpacker destinations, so I've given up and now I'm a true tourist and loving it. I've dived the Great Barrier Reef, trekked the World's oldest tropical rainforest, sailed a racing yatch around the Whitesundays, gone 4x4 racing around a sand island, visted Australia Zoo and spent 3 days canoeing in croc and shark infested waters. My diving luck continued when I dived the GBR (it was overcast and raining) but that didn't take anything away from the experience! It was by far the best diving of my life! In 10 mins I saw 7 turtles , Nemo, a shark and masses of coral. The dive boat was ... read more

Yogya was a cool city with some great characters. Most notably a university lecturer who started talking to me straight after all the market sellers has driven me mad. He explained the 'spices' of life as 'speaking, tasting, and joking' and then directed me to a government owned batik (Indonesia's traditional fabric painting) workshop. Obviously I got lost, but another friendly local (with the world's biggest smile because his wife had just given birth to a baby girl) found the time to help me even though he was rushing home to plan a party. I didn't see many sites in yogja because when I ventured out everything was closed. I did manage to see the palace even though it was locked because another friendly local guided me across roof tops to give me a birds eye ... read more

I flew Air Asia, which is Malaysia’s brilliant low cost airline. They’ve just started Air Asia X which operates long haul flight between Malaysia and London starting at $2 so we’ve got no excuse not to see more of Ling. I would say vice versa if she hadn’t sold her soul. When I arrived in KL I suddenly realized how grubby I’d become. Before I’d met Ling I made a vain attempt at cleaning myself - thank god for face wipes . I spotted Ling a mile off. She was sitting waiting patiently and even with my massive bag on I managed to sneak up on her. You shouldn’t bite the hand that feeds you (or in this case fed you) but Ling has the worst navigational skills! I’m starting to think she chose Bath uni ... read more

Hello Hello. I've been pretty good and have managed to write in my book everyday so this blog will be more of a diary. Hey Everyone! I survived my propeller driven flight from Vientiane and I've been enjoying the temples around Siem Reap for the past two days. I'm a relaxed flyer and that flight made me anxious. To board I had to walk past the propellers to the rear entrance. I was the only one who didn't go within 20m of it, no one else seemed to care. They did later on though, when the pilot accidentally started his engine while passengers were walking past! The take off and landing were fine, its just that split moment when the plane reaches its desired altitude so the propeller speed is adjusted and it sounds like they've ... read more