This was going to be a final post about the end of my summer travels. It's taken a long time because in all honesty I didn't know what to write. Its only now that I realise that we never really stop travelling. We may return home, see familiar faces and return to familiar routines but thats not an end, we still move we still grow. The journey is never really over, there is no destination, just a different road with a different scenery, climate and laws. So its while I'm probably on the biggest journey of my life that I can look back at the time I spent away and try and find what lessons I have learned. Those who travel soley to become a different person miss the point. You could do that in the ... read more

It seems an ice age since I last sat down to write, no matter, it takes more than fun filled days and drink filled nights to keep me away from a computer for too long. Allow me to bring you up t date with the latest goings ons from Kiwiland. So I leave Taupo for the second and final time. More about the first leavings later on. The Kiwi bus heads south towards an isolated lodge sat in a nice little valley with a river running through, hence the name River Valley Lodge. This is the 'home' of white water rafting, though I did not partake in the rafting it certainly sounded like some inflatable river going vessels were used to great effect. The dorms in the lodge are possibly unique in New Zealand maybe even ... read more

I sit writing this looking out over the bay towards the steadily disappearing mountains that make up the local panorama. The closes the world in until there is no horizon but grey. Even in the rain Raglan is a beautiful place. Still, to recap the past few days since my last post. After a days break in Auckland I joined the Kiwi Bus and the 7 other passengers (a coach of 40 had left the day before). The bus took us out to Mercury Bay with a stop at Cathedral Cove along the way. Whitianga, as it is known to the locals, is a small but very hospitable town and very nice in summer apparently. The backpackers is run in a very informal way, the distinction between staff and guest is vague at best. With another ... read more

Byron Bay is home to around 1.7 million backpackers during the year, not all at once of course, that would be silly. Just a few hours down the coast from Surfer's Paradise, Byron might as well be on a different continent. The contrast is startling, where Surfer's is high rise and tacky, Byron has a lighthouse and a shuttle bus to Nimbin, Nimbin being the unofficial drug capital of Australia. The propensity for drugs in and around Byron is due to its hippiish history. For years this place has been the hang out for all kinds of bohemian bums and wackos. The Byron market can attest for this. Sprawled out over a field is a large array of food stalls, hemp stalls, music stalls, book stalls, a chai tent (complete with wacked ancient hippies), legal weed ... read more

After record breaking rain washed away the beaches and towns along the east coast I decided to find drier scenery. Cue a quick jaunt to the Red Center, the Bush, the Outback, the err Middle. The flight into Alice was civilised enough, though it should have been for the price of the ticket, and the YHA was very liveable. Alice Springs is the largest town in these parts, with nothing but cattle stations for company, it boasts a couple of shopping malls, a Woolies, a Coles and a fun bar called Bojangles (more on that later). The town doesn't feel relaxed, the shops are the usual mix of clothing, gifts and tat, but the aboriginal art shops are staffed by white people, in fact the clothes shops are staffed by whites, as are the music, book, ... read more