Sam and Sal

Phuket Back over to Asia again for our first holiday of the year, we got our good old cheapie flights again from the Goldy to Kuala Lumpur, hung around the airport for about 5 hours then jumped on another flight bound for Phuket. It was a big day of travels to get there but the hotel we stayed in was fairly new and pretty schmiko and a fair way away (but still walking distance) from the craziness of the beach and the nightlife of Patong. The first day we hit the streets and got our bearings and were instantly bombarded by expats all over the place trying to trick us into timeshares and upon arrival in Patong Beach you are greeted by a huge billboard warning you of this! I made the fatal mistake of talking ... read more

Finally - on holiday again, if only for a short time! Sam and I haven't been overseas in so long so we really looked forward to our trip to NZ (and our only holiday for the year). We set off for Christchurch all excited about finally getting away, and were also going on hols with good friends of ours, Jae and Jen. When we landed in Christchurch late in the afternoon we had to pick up our little Rav 4 hire car and head south for the transient little town of Wanaka. We were told by about 4 different people that the trip could take us anywhere from 4-7 hours! random. All up the trip only took us about 4 and a half hours (not including the half hour stop we took in Lake Tekapo for ... read more

After four years and eight months of travelling around the globe I was more than ready to touchdown on Aussie soil, and bringing Sam home as my live souvenier was just the icing on the cake! We decided to fly into the west side and catch up with a good pal from London, Craigo. Craigo being the stellar host that he is, put us up for a few days in his pad in Victoria Park just outside the city and showed us around the traps. Perth being the sunniest capital in Oz boasting an average of eight hours of sunshine per day, we got to spend one of these lovely days sunbaking on Cottesloe Beach amongst the hundreds of flies and then later went for a stroll down Scarborough. We were so impressed with the western ... read more

Maputo Shithole. Went there because we had to. Got out as quickly as possible. Tofo Our main reason for making this long and painful journey here (and it was painful - 4 hours in a cramped transit van from Swaziland to Maputo, then another 9 hours in an even worse van with dodgy but very loud reggae music playing, while sitting next to people that can't have washed for a month) was to catch up with one of my best mates from London, Willsy, and to see the little stretch of paradise he calls home. From the minute we unfolded out of the van, it was blatently obvious as to why his original planned stay of 2 months evolved into 2 years. The beaches are huge with numerous breaks dotted along the way, the water is ... read more

Oudtshoorn Not exactly on the sunny coast, but 97km inland from Mossel Bay, Oudtshoorn used to be home to rich feather barons until the turn of the century. Nestled in the dry region of the Little Karoo, it is the home of wildlife ranches, winerys and the Cango Caves. As exciting as the caves would have been to visit, we had already visited some pretty extraordinary caves in the Greek Islands so we headed straight to the Cango Ostrich Farm to learn more about the world's largest bird native only to Africa. The ostrich is a pretty big deal over here, they are farmed like cattle and are extremely important in the African market. 10% of the income derives from the feathers, 30% from the meat and 60% from the skin. Ostrich leather is much stronger ... read more