How much fun is a road trip? Yes, this is a rhetorical question. Carissa and I have just spent the last week making our way over land (and water) to the great south land - TASSIE. Having made our way down to Melbourne in plenty of time, we decided to venture a little further south to check out the Mornington Peninsula. We made our way via Mornington around the bay to Sorrento, where we biked our way through the national park to point Nepean (the Eastern point at the mouth of Port Phillip Bay). The results are in: huge surf, absolutely [View Full Entry]

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It was around the time that I realised we were looking for Serpentine Waterfall in the wrong national that it also dawned on me that I couldn’t be having more fun. Yes, four and half days of pure stupidity with mates from home was underway. The reason, one of our good mates enrolled in flight training school in Bullsbrook WA was graduating from the air force as a bonafide pilot. Not just a pilot, he had just learned that he’d been posted to RAAF jets ‐ every pilots dream. Now I could say really wanky things like the pinnacle of aviation [View Full Entry]

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Ok let's not muck around- Dubai ("Do Buy") is big, really big. Nothing here is done by halves and if it's shopping you're after then welcome home. Dubai is home to countless shopping plazas, including the largest one in the world. Unfortunately, as Carissa will attest to, I'm not a very good retail buddy and found myself moaning about walking aimlessly around the bohemith shrines to consumerism (more commonly known as the mall). That said, it's hard not to be impressed by the sheer size and number of malls, offices, hotels, and residential projects underway here at the moment. Dubai has [View Full Entry]

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Leaving behind the comfort and luxury enjoyed in Africa thus far, we set out on our budget camping safari and fell back to earth with a great thud in dusty Amboseli. Maybe we are just getting soft in our old age, but in hindsight we probably would have done ourselves a favour to experience the budget safari experience PRIOR to the luxury version. As previously mentioned Carissa and I had opted for a budget camping safari to round out our final week in Africa. The tour encompassed Masai Mara, Lake Nakuru and finally Amboseli National Parks. Six of us set out [View Full Entry]

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A long time ago, before the automobile, skyscrapers and sprawling, polluting metropolis's sprang up all over the world, there existed an ecosystem that worked in perfect harmony. Carissa and I have been fortunate enough to have expierenced a glimpse of what such a world might have been like having spent the last three days on the Masai Mara. It literally feels like a step back in time mixed in with a whole lot of 'Lion King' as you weave amongst huge herds of game and face off with some of the most fearsome yet majestic wild animals on earth. The Masai [View Full Entry]

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A very big hello (jambo sana) from Bujumbura, Burundi. It has been non stop for Carissa and I since we arrived in Nairobi, Kenya last Tuesday after a marathon 34hrs of travel (Sydney, Bangkok, London, Nairobi). Upon arriving in Nairobi we met up with Carissa's parents who are here to preach at two separate missions conferences, as well as visit a prison that our local church back home has built toilet facilities for. Our first port of call was to the prison, which is in Lamu- a small island off the coast of Kenya. Ps Jack dedicated 3 new flush toilet [View Full Entry]

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Hello all, yes its been a long time between drinks but Carissa and I have been keeping busy. Since we last spoke Carissa and I have rounded out our time in Mackay, loaded up the trusty Hiace and made our way back down the east coast to Sydney. We couldn't help but notice just how cold it seemed to get upon crossing back into NSW. Cheeky Queenslanders- not only do they rob us of the state of origin but they dont seem to have a winter either! We enjoyed our time in Mackay, however I was pleased to put the shovel [View Full Entry]

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Hi all, since our last blog Carissa and I have made our way up to sunny Mackay QLD. At this point I must apologise for the lack of contact, turns out our wireless broadband is not so wireless. Not to worry… Since leaving Asia behind us we were home for a brief stint to celebrate a friends wedding (congratulations Ollie &Aanika) before journeying North to the Central Queensland coast. Carissa flew up ahead to start working early and I drove up over a period of 4 days. Props to Stan and Pauline at Arrawarra, Ed at Brisvegas, and Julieanne and Alan [View Full Entry]

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With great sadness our time in Asia is fast drawing to a close and that nagging feeling known to most as reality is almost upon us, and with it, a long forgotten pastime known as work. Since we last spoke Carissa and I descended on Thailand and made our way to Khao San Road, the backpackers mecca in Bangkok. We sampled some of the best street food in Asia (I still get a little teary when I think about just how good Pad Thai can be) before bussing our way down to Koh Chang. Koh Chang is Thailand's second biggest Island [View Full Entry]

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Carissa and I have since continued our journey south along the east coast of Vietnam. Since we last spoke we left Hue behind and along with it the gloomy weather and made our way to Hoi An. Hoi An is a beautiful little town that was once a major port of call for international traders, hence a real variety of cultures and influences are still evident today. Again Carissa and I braved the scooter and made our way to Marble Mountain and China Beach before heading on to Danang for lunch. The traffic was so busy and intense that we never [View Full Entry]

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