TonyandAnita

Before I start let me clarify, we live in Pt Chevalier not Ponsonby but for some reason our little suburb about 5km from the CBD does not feature as an option, however it is the closest of the options avaliable. I needed to explain that because Ponsonby is a very desirable place to live, Pt Chev's not bad but I don't want to pretentious. Two years ago today (1 March) Anita and I flew out of Auckland on our big adventure. We had spent a lot of time organising and planning but some things just don't go to plan, then again some things go like clockwork. Our trip was like that predictably unpredictable. You know one of the delights of traveling is the people you meet along the way. The friendships you form and the stories ... read more

This is a long one, you may wish to digest it in portions It had been 14 years since I flew out of Nairobi. I had spent 3 months travelling through Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique Swaziland and South Africa, probably the greatest travel experience of my life. Anita and I had talked about doing voluntary work, in Africa, before we left Aotearoa nearly 18 months ago but we had not made any set plans. We had spent 3 months, in London, trying to find employment in Europe during the summer months without success and given we did not want to return to a Kiwi winter, we returned to our orginal plan of voluntary work. After checking out several organisations we settled on IVHQ, unknown to us and ironically a NZ organisation. The website ... read more

It had been 9 years since Anita and I had travelled, in countries where English is the second language, relying on Public transport and the Lonely Planet, so it was with lashing of anxiety and trepidation that we headed to Gatwick airport bound for Lisbon, Portugal on the 21st April. We had originally booked two G.A.P trips; Highlights of Portugal and Spain and Ultimate Italy) back to back, but the first was cancelled as no one else had booked. I had already booked and paid for air flights (as you need to get in early to get the cheapies) into to Lisbon (£60) and from Barcelona to Rome (£70), so felt we were committed. So armed with a Spanish/Portugese phrase book,two bloody heavy Lonely Planets and a bank account that was not going to see another ... read more

Kia Ora Koutou and Top of da mornin to ya, Love is all you need. I don't know why but I've been dragging my arse on this blog and had real trouble motivating myself to sit down and write. It seems ages ago that we were in Scotland and our time in Ole Blightey is drawing to an end but more about that later. February (after the snow) was fairly quiet, we caught with friends on a couple of ocassions but with the weather at its worst we stayed indoors most of the month. However to visit Liverpool, home of the Beatles has always been on my "to do list" and at the end of February we caught the train up to Leeds to meet up with our English buddies Sham and Chris, then headed to ... read more

Before you start reading, put on some bagpipes (Mull of Kintyre will do) and start thinking in your best Scottish accent, it will nae make any bloody difference but ya mae have a wee laugh. Last weekend was Rabbies 250th birthday and what better way to celebrate than to head for the land of the kilted ones for a wee dram or three and a taste of Haggis. We left London early Friday morning from Kings Cross and arrived 5 hours later in Edinburgh. Train travel has become our favorite. Nae waiting at airports, nae ques (sorry mum I know that's spelt wrong), lots of leg room, a buffet on board, plenty of toilets and walking space. Anyway we arrived at about 1pm and jumped straight on a bus for a two hour tour of the ... read more