Kota Bharu in South East Malaysia took the form as a means to an end for us as both the terminus of the Jungle Train and an opportunity to sort out our Thai travel visas. With these the goals, we were not overly disappointed to find there wasnt much else to do in the town apart from be scrupulated by the locals. In Kota Bharu, the curiosity and wonder was as subtle as a brick in the small of the back. Engaging some local eyes, it was funny to watch these folks trying to fathom: "WHO the....?", "WHERE the...?", "WHAT the...?", in their brains all in the same instant. The kids were funny too, giving me long once-overs and then second-overs to be sure, with slack gummed expressions the same way that kids back home do ... read more

To get to Singapore, we had the misfortune of having to get rid of our sticks of chewing gum (illegal under Singaporian law) and then catch a flight at 6am from Sydney. As Scotland v Argentina was on TV at 4am, I decided to get out of bed then and go down to the reception of the hostel where the match was being played on plasma screen. Sitting alongside a couple of other Scots, we took in the first half and then hollered a taxi outside at 5am to get to the airport. The 8 hour flight on Singapore Airlines was fine and as airline food goes, excellent. Once we collected our bags, we took a train from the airport towards the city centre to look for digs. The first thing we experienced on exiting the ... read more

We arrived in Hervey Bay late afternoon and booked our space on a tour to Fraser Island the following day. We had the option of joining a tour or hiring our own 4x4 but that would mean having 2 cars out on hire at once and plus, we're not made of money. We wanted to be on good form for the trip, so we found a nice hostel called 'Next' and requested a private twin room to ensure we got some decent sleep and know there wouldnt be any trashed travellers falling around the dorm during the early hours. As it turns out, the majority of backpackers there were doing the same as us and using the hostel as a stepping stone onto Fraser Island. Following a good nights rest and recouperation, we made our pick ... read more

I received an email in Queenstown from Trung: "I'm meeting Krista from The Cook Islands in Dunedin tonight - are you up for it?" I looked at my watch: 17:00. How long a drive to Dunedin? Who knows..? I know its on the opposite coast to Queenstown... Sod it, i'm in! I got to my car to find an ominous, scrunched up piece of paper stuffed under the vans front wiper - a $30 NZD parking ticket! Pretty bad sport given the parking machines were broken :S That evening, Trung, Krista and I drove 400km from different directions in New Zealand to rendezvous in Dunedin (Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh) to within 50ft from each other - think we're developing some sort of ESP telepathy thing. Trung arrived first from Milford Sound and booked us all ... read more

We arrived in Christchurch at 12:30 and were welcomed by our old school mate Linda from Stirling, who has been happily settled in New Zealand now for four years. The first thing we experienced on arriving was the cold, which was comparable with Scotland in January so it was a shock to the system given we'd been thouroughly acclimatised to the tropics for the past month. No more Daniel Craig/James Bond impersonations, emerging from the surf onto beaches, pouting the lips with the chest puffed out... Nevertheless, it was comforting to be safe in the knowledge that we could look forward to some respite from the mosquitos for the next wee while who had been making meals out of us in the Pacific. When we reached Linda and Paul's house, we were on our last legs ... read more