I emerged from the cool shadow of the stone temple into the baking sun. I walked along the ancient bridge, flanked by majestic carved figures on either side, back towards to waiting tuk-tuk. A quick glance at the statues shows an oddity. A rough hollow where the face should have been. Most have had them brutally chiseled off. At the end of the bridge I am approached by two beggars. They both, like many I've encountered recently, have missing limbs. This is Cambodia, a country shaped like a heart whose history is drenched in blood. A country who's ancient and recent past are ever present, like a blood stain on a glorious fabric. A country that holds a genuine wonder of the world still quite hidden away in the jungles of its remote North-West, and genuine ... read more

It is not just the destination by the journey itself that matters. I've heard this phrase a few times but don't know who actually said it. In this blog, the destinations are beautiful and magnificent but the journey we took to get there is just as much a part of the story. We've been traveling in buses or cars and planes most of this trip so this is a taste of something different. Fraser Island is a large island about 300km north of Brisbane on Australia's east coast. It It is officially the largest sand island in the world being made almost exclusively from... you guessed it: sand. It is essentially one giant sand bank rising from the sea 120km long and 20km wide which has, over time, been colonised by plants and bushes through the ... read more

So far on our travels whenever we've talked to people about New Zealand & asked them their favourite place they have, without exception, said Queenstown, and so I was obviously excited to go there. So much so that we'd allowed ourselves nearly a week there. Queenstown sits by the side of Lake Wakatipu and is surrounded by giant snow-capped peaks and pine forested hillside that are reflected in its crystal waters. It has every essence of an Alpine town only it is surrounded endless valleys with rich vineyards and it has a cool backpacker vibe. The vast majority of the people we saw there were travelers. The towns official population is 16,000 but that is supplemented by a conglomeration of various nationalities, most young Europeans or Australians who, seemingly had travelled there and decided to stay ... read more

When we arrived in New Zealand we were picked up by the Duffy family, family friends of Jake's who'd moved to New Zealand 12 years ago. They really looked after us & we are totally grateful to them for giving us a house for a few days. We spent our 1st day in Auckland buying some warmer clothes for the cold weather out here. The second day we spent deciding what the best method of travelling the country & decided that a camper would be best. We got a deal for $26 a day (10 pounds) which works out sooo cheap we couldn't really turn it down! The van we got was a crazy little thing with funky paintings all over it. It’s cool but very basic & cosy inside. We drove to the north of ... read more

If you want to see the real Fiji, i.e. the one from the post cards, you have to get away from the mainland and head to the surrounding islands. We took the trip to Mana Island, part of the Mamanuca chain to the west of the country, about an hour by boat from Nadi. The island is a small thin outcrop of sand & palm trees with two hills at either end. The sands are pure white and when the sun is shining and the tide is in it every bit resembles the picture of tropical paradise. We stayed in a place called Mana Lagoon, the cheapest place to stay on the island. It was very basic. The shower was little more than a cold water tap mounted to the wall. The electricity was only on ... read more