I felt good to be going back to Vietnam. Hard to believe my first visit since being there in 68/69/70 during the time of the war was in 2012 - and since this is my 10th visit! Sad to be going back without Kathie - but she will come over mid August with a small group we have that will commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan - where we will visit the memorial at the site of there the battle took place and 18 Diggers lost their life. I had to come earlier because we have arranged to rent a 2-bedroom house from end of July until 17 Oct. This would be our attempt at "living" in Vietnam - a chance to see how we handle the heat, the food, the atmosphere ... read more

It's late March which means the Old Timers tournament in Bangkok. This year is the 9th (annual). I arrived yesterday to get over jetlag and also set-up for my team - the Finland Roadrunners - who will arrive tomorrow. This is one of two fun tournaments held in Bangkok each year - the other in October. They are fun tournaments - as well as for serious ice hockey - and teams come from Asia/Orient/North America/Europe a d Middle East. My last team was from Czech Republic - who went home with a division trophy. Let's hope the Finns can do the same. In October I am working with a team from Hawaii - that includes some Hawaiian Air pilots. Let's hope they can "fly" on the ice!!! The tournament starts tomorrow - so I'll keep the ... read more

This morning we met the additional family of 4 who are doing the "pre-tour" to Regensburg. Our 20-seater coach arrived on time - and we headed off on our 1 hour journey north from Munich airport to the town of Regensburg on the Danube river. Whilst we had cloud cover all journey - no chance for snow as the temperature was too warm. Checked in to the ACHAT hotel - but as our rooms were not yet ready - we had to wander the Christmas markets until 2pm before we could get our rooms. Kathie and I ate at the local Hofbrauhaus while the others found various restaurants or coffee shops. Tonight we'll go out for a meal in another local restaurant. Then it will be an early night. Tomorrow we have our guided tour of ... read more

Another day of "work" checking out a few things. This time we went to Innsbruck to arrange for our group to visit the Swarovski Crystal shop. As the "Kristlalwelten" in Wattens is closed until mod 2015 - all groups now have to visit the store in Innsbruck - which means it will get a little crowded at times. Buyers will be disappointed as the store does not have anywhere near the range of product that was on offer in Wattens. Have to report that there is absolutely no snow in the Inn Valley - and this means no snow in Innsbruck. The locals and the store-keepers do not mind this - as it usually means more business as skiers now spend more time shopping instead of having to travel to the nearby glaciers to get on ... read more

Sadly, today is the end of the tour, when we had to bid farewell to the remainder of our group. All in all - I believe everyone had a White Christmas they will remember forever. There is nothing like a white Christmas, and once you have experienced just one - you won't want to have a "normal" Christmas like those in Australia do.... read more