Mat: We are in Kuta Kinabalu. Its muggy. Muggy muggy. As you would expect it to be in the tropics. Probably exaggerated for us because the last couple of weeks in New Plymouth and Wellington were so cold, wet and windy. Our plans at the moment are to book the hut halfway up Mt Kinabalu for the 29th, so we can hit the top on the 30th for my 30th. We are waiting for Air Asia to open so we can check out the flights to Sandakan. They only cost $30 or something which means we do not need to take [View Full Entry]

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Hey there, Trace and I are leaving Auckland on the 20th November to fly to Bangkok. We then fly to Kota Kinabalu in Malaysian Borneo (check out AirAsia.com if you want to get cheap flights in Aisa). The plan is to spend 3 weeks in Borneo (visiting a couple of National Parks, climbing the 4000m Mt Kinabalu on Mat's 30th birthday, and getting few dives in at Sipidan Island) before meeting up with Trace's good friend Nicki in Bangkok on the 12 December. From there plans are not fixed, but we may head to Cambodia for a bit to show the [View Full Entry]

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We are in Vang Vieng again, after about 1000kms of riding up and back from Xam Nua in the north east of Laos on roads that consist of 25km corner, after 25km corner, after 25km corner, after 25km corner. Its like the Parapara road north of Wanganui gone wrong. Tomorrow we ride south to Vientiane, then catch the night train down to Bangkok, then the night bus/boat to Koh Tao to meet Trace on the 6th (yeah!). During our trip I have had three punctures. THREE PUNCTURES!!!! and one mechanical failure. Jeremy has had.... nothing go wrong.... mechanically, although he did [View Full Entry]

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10th April 2005 On Ko Tao diving again Jeremy and I have been in Ko Tao, Thailand, for a week now. He has his open water now, and I have taken him for 4 dives. We are heading back to Bangkok this afternoon (get there at 3am) then are going to head to Burma, Laos, or Northern Thailand - haven't decided yet. Its so good here. 16th April 2005 Ramble of an update We are heading to Luang Prabang tomorrow (Laos) CANT WAIT, love Laos. Have been kind of stuck in Chang Mai (which is not too bad a thing - [View Full Entry]

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Heading down the highway, looking for adventure, and whatever comes my waaaay, BOOORN TO BE WIIIILD............... I just bought a motorbike. Well a glorified scooter actually. Is 110cc and has at least 2 horse power. NZ$280 worth of motoring glory. It’s a dream... no really it’s a Dream (Honda). Her name is Lola. Have done my CPR course and have a free bungalow on the beach for three nights. Going for a deep dive tomorrow to 40m on enriched air. Excellent. Hot and sunny here. Must have a beer. I hate my life. 30th September I got a Thai sim card [View Full Entry]

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I have been away from internet cafes for 10 days or so (which is harder to do than you would think). I think when last I wrote I was talking about going on a five day trek in Savannakhet province. For some reason (which due to communication difficulties I was not able to ascertain) this trek is not being run any more. So instead I went to the very southern-most part of Laos to an area called the Four Thousand Islands. It is an area where the Mekong stretches to 14km across. In the dry season there are many many small [View Full Entry]

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Jesse has left for the UK so I am now wandering around Vietnam by myself. I am at Nha Trang which is 10 hours north of Saigon, on the East coast. Yesterday I went on one of the boat trips around the islands. The only way they make any money is by selling beer (the day trip was US$6 including a huge lunch, snorkelling gear, taxi there...) so they encourage drinking to excess. They tally your beers and you pay at the end, according to the hosts I got the biggest score and "won". I went on "Mama Hanh's" tour. She [View Full Entry]

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I am in Cambodia, which is a change from the diving island paradise of Ko Tao. I arrived in Siam Reap at about 9pm last night. Have got a styley guesthouse for $5US for both of us. The night in Bangkok before we travelled here was excellent, five of us bought some big decorated north-Thailand-hilltribe-women’s' hats and went on a bender. Even got a cheer from half of Gulliver’s (a pub in Khao San Rd) when five of us walked/danced in with the hats on. Standard stuff for Ponsonby Rd but it was received very well here. Stupid kiwis... I was [View Full Entry]

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What a night! The full moon was WAY bigger than any new years I have been to. And everyone wants to go mad. Very fun, went to bed after 8am, lost some chunks of memory but not my jandals (onto the fourth pair now). Watched the sun come up over the water. Magical, and also weird because nutters were still dancing in the full light of morning. I am in now in Ko Tao, a small island to the north of Ko Phangan (which is in the Gulf of Thailand). IT IS VERY BEAUTIFUL. Better than Ko Phangan. More peaceful. Less [View Full Entry]

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Yes, that is Jesse checking out the island scenery. Snapped. We are in Koh Phangan. It is the stereotypical beach paradise. White sand, blue water, hammocks between coconut trees... horrible place. The full moon party is tomorrow and the place is packed with westerners. There are some beautiful people (read girls) here, my god (nothing like you though Trace...). Not a very cultural experience, but oh well. My trip to Kanchanaburi was very cool. There is new museum about the death railway, which was first class. Saw the bridge on the river Kwai. Stayed on a floating guesthouse and [View Full Entry]

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