As with Rio, this blog begins with a flight and its conclusion. The scenery changed fantastically after leaving the beaches and the favelas of Rio. I was above pure green forest. As the plane came to land, I caught a glimpse of a huge field of mist rising between a break in the trees. This was my first indication of the sheer size of the falls. Over the past few years I have definitely been far more traveller than anything else, other than perhaps a bum. As a consequence it may seem strange that I virtually never watch any travel programs. It's a simple principle of hoping that I will reach every place that I want one day and wanting to retain the surprises of the places that these places may hold. The falls are one ... read more

So shock horror, within the first first month I am pathetically behind in writing this blog. Finding time to summarise what you've been doing, whilst you've not been doing anything hugely significant is difficult. It has taken a bout of deadly man-flu to make time, and I shall endeavor to not completely bore the arse off my few readers... Ines was working for the most part during my week in Salvador, which gave me plenty of opportunity to be flat out lazy. My second full day in Brazil, she was working in the morning, so I weighed up my options and decided instead to eat breakfast and lounge on the balcony, watching the sea. Very energetic that sea, made me tired. When Ines arrived, we took a bus to Pelourinho (Pelo). Some Salvador background..... Salvador is ... read more

3 months after booking my Condor flight to Salvador I reached Birmingham airport with my parents. As seems to be tradition of me going anywhere, I was nicely hungover when I check in my backpack and sat down for a farewell snack. There were no tears on departure this time round, just a farewell for 5 months until I am due to meet my parents in Florida. Getting to Florida in 5 months is the mission this time round. I am due to fly from Bogota, Columbia and have five months to get there from north-east Brazil with whatever entertainment I can find on the way. Of course, I have another tradition to follow, which is once again to do it alll on a pitiful budget. I began the always dull preflight time circled the airport, ... read more

Soooo, I flew to Tasmania the day before Julia left Melbourne - I guess I was doing what would be easier for me. Leaving Melbourne was incredibly hard, but the idea of going to a new place was pretty spectacular motivation. Tasmania is a state of Australia (if you didn't know) and is an island that is tiny compared with the mainland and probably have the size of England. I flew into the capital, Hobart. Hobart is built around a beautiful large bay in South Tasmania and was the first place that the UK decided to send some of its convicts. Thanks to this, Hobart resembles a city in the Midlands, very similar buildings, statues and monuments. The harbour itself is quite beautiful, the boats and bays, the water and the Tasman Bridge all helping the ... read more

Today is 1 year since I left England. I cannot believe it. I will write a decent update in the near future, but for the moment I am going to have a quick drink with me gal and then head off to meet Pete who's flown from England to hang out for a short while. Happy Times!... read more