I can't believe it worked, but like clockwork, all the flights were on schedule and we were waiting at the appointed spot when Karin and Charles emerged from the internal subway system in Singapore Airport. What a wonderful sight, seeing parents and son reunited after six months. The strange thing was, it didn't feel like it has been six months and within seconds we were jabbering on about flights, blogs, Sri Lanka and Dubai. They had a quick peek at both places, and according to both, Sri Lanka is a place that is definitely worth visiting. Karin and Charles had taken three planes since leaving Dusseldorf airport, and this was no mean feat for the previously 'afraid of flying' Karin. As she pronounced herself cured, she exulted the delight of travelling with Emirates and in a ... read more

With Mitsy went a certain level of our independence. We had handed her in a week before we left Australia because we would be staying put in Cairns to complete our Padi Open Water Diving Course. We had booked to stay in the Serpents Hostel and it was with some sadness that we installed ourselves in a private room in the midst of half naked teenagers running through the hallways. We were picked up from the hostel at 7.30 the next morning by Ryan, our instructor for the course. There were a few more on the bus, and when we got to the classroom I counted eleven people in our class. First up though we had to pass a medical with the local doctor. Both Philippe and I were nervous that we wouldn't pass, or worse ... read more

Coffs Harbour was such a nice town that we spent two nights there. Both days were spent lazing about on the beach, getting bruised and bashed while we attempted to body surf. From Coffs Harbour we headed north to Byron Bay for a night. Byron Bay is a buzzing town, filled to the brim with bikini's and speedos. We were lucky to get a campsite for the night that was right next to the beach, so we sampled the sea water and enjoyed cooking on a beach-side hot-plate. That evening over a few beers, we decided we needed a bit more structure to our drive, so we went to Tribal Travel the next day to book some tours for the remainder of our time here. We booked a trip to Fraser Island and a sailing tour ... read more

If there is one thing I learned from visiting Kyran in Melbourne, it is to accept people's generosity - especially when it is put in writing! Before we left to go on the tour in Alice Springs I emailed Kim, our friend from Tango night in Buenos Aires to see if she wanted to grab a drink when we visited Sydney. Her reply shocked me with its generosity. She said that she was out of town during the period that we are in Sydney, but that her apartment was empty and that we were more than welcome to use it. I was shocked because we had known Kim for all of five hours and yet here she was trusting us with her home! I emailed her back accepting her kind offer and when we returned from ... read more

Two days before we left New Zealand I received an email from a man called Kyran. The gist of it was “I'm your dad's first cousin... It'd be nice to meet you...you're welcome to stay here if you want”. While I had heard of him in passing before, I had never met him. Then I thought, hey, we are on the other end of the world, why not?! So I rang to introduce myself. I was overwhelmed by his generous offer to collect us from the airport and lodge us for the duration of our stay. And when I told him that I had already booked our first night of accommodation in a hostel in Fitzroy there was no talking him out dropping us to the hostel. After all, “we are family”. And so it was, ... read more