The Road Not Taken

Have you ever noticed the way some people react when their lives have been upended by a tragedy?

A story on yesterdays news highlighted the resilience and courage of a woman who lost both her legs in the terrorist attacks on London last July. She now has mechanical legs which are state of the art and "have to be charged overnight like a mobile phone", according to this lady.

She also stated that as Doctors are prone to do, they told her that she would not be able to walk again and all that nonsense. She is now declaring that she will soon be able to drive again and that she wants to learn how to fly a plane.

Now, she also has that "live life to the full each day" attitude that people get when their lives are changed in this way. However, I was wondering why more of us are not able to make this type of declaration regardless of whether or not we have been through a near death experience.

After all, to declare that you want to live each day to the fullest and do just that is surely not reserved for those who have suffered a tregedy, is it? It is much easier for us to hear this woman state her goals as a victim of an horrific event in her life and smile and nod to ourselves that some people are very courageous and wish them well in their recovery to living a normal life once more.

Yet they are not returning to their old life at all. In fact they are liberated from it. They want to live their life to the full and we don't blame them for this attitude. But what if I want to live my life to the full each day? Will you accept that? I have not suffered a tragedy so do I have to wait until one befalls me?

The reality is, we generally go with the belief that we have to struggle and suffer each day in dealing with out dull repetitive lives and unless something terrible happens to us it is not "allowed" for us to just say, bugger it all, I want to do what I want from now on. That precious awakening is reserved for victims of terrorism.

Don't get me wrong here. I am just pointing out that it seems easier for people to grasp the idea of someone changing their life drastically if they have been through a terrible ordeal. But I would like to think that anyone can do the same and not have to feel that they should be forced to go along with the masses.

What do you think?

As a rule most of us never really slow down and look at our daily routine. From the time we wipe the sleep from our eyes until we ease our tired bodies back into bed late at night it is almost as if the day has happened and we were just along for the ride.

Some days this is quite comforting. When days go by and nothing bad happens, nothing that pisses us off or causes us to deviate from our regular life, we feel quite at home. It becomes our little comfort zone.

For those of us blessed with drive and ambition it is neither comforting nor is it easy. Let me state here that I am not refering to myself when I talk of those with drive and ambition. I may have times when I feel ambitious and driven but they are few and far between. I have come to a conclusion, as one does when mulling these thoughts over, that there are 3 types of people.

1) People who just live their lives and get on with it.

2) People who are driven to succeed, make money, own property and have a safe 4th quarter of their life.

3) People who are so lost that they don't know what day of the week it is.

Now. I must add that I feel that those who fall under number 3 are not losers, nor do they need psychiatric help. I am of the firm belief that these people are the ones who are even more driven than those people who fall into the number 2 category.

They are lost because they feel that life is more than what we are forced to conform to. By this I mean that as individuals they realise that they have so much to offer in terms of honest human experience that they wonder why they have to live in a world that leads us to believe that we must:

a) Go to school and get a good education
b) Start at the bottom in a good career and work our way up
c) Get married, have children and get a mortgage

However, this is simplistic and this is now changing at a rapid rate. In the time I have been alive there have been many changes that have reshaped the way people want to live.

Without making this blog entry drift off into political oblivion I will just add that the world is changing so fast and we are happy to roll with it in the direction we are shown. The problem with this is that we are losing ourselves and our humanity.

Even religious organizations are to blame. Religion and politics, the two subjects that we are not supposed to talk about at dinner parties but they alwasy come up anyway.

What we should be talking about at dinner parties is how the fuck we get our humanity back. We strive more and more for wealth and success. These can be achieved and add an element of perceived happiness to our lives but sure enough any problems we have and overcome are replaced with other problems. No matter how big or how small we will always have problems and worries. Some people just cope better with these, whether rich or poor.

I can only re-iterate that it is the easiest thing and the hardest thing in the world to be happy. Just choose it. When something bad happens to you, let it run off you like it does not matter. It sounds superficial but it is very easy and it works!

So when you wake up tomorrow and rub your eyes, just remember that it is another day and you will be happy no matter what.

And for fucks sake, try to add a little bit of humanity into your day...

After spending a year back in the UK struggling to return to work and leaping from one possible career change to the next in a seamingly endless manner, I have come full circle and once again decided that in order to fulfill all my earthly needs (well not all!), what I should do is try my hand at being a freelance writer...

I say once again, as I have clambered onto this already overflowing bandwagon before, over a year ago in fact, before deserting the cruel shores of England for the welcoming bossom of New Zealand.

In addition to jaunting from sleazy hostel to sleazy hostel my aim was to make note of my trip by keeping a blog. This would act as a record of my journey and also potentially sharpen my writing skills. I was armed with an attachment to my ipod which would allow me to record conversations and interviews with those I met on my travels who I found interesting and were willing to be recorded.

Well, as sure as way leads on to way, the recordings of those entertaining characters never happened and my writing skills stagnated to a degree as my blog entries ranged from tales of vagabonding enlightenment to frustrated outbursts targeted at unruly hostel guests who persisted in flushing the toilet next to my room all night long.

The reason for my lack of engaging travel writing material can be explained due to pure unadulterated laziness, or due to an unconcious desire to not turn my trip into a chore. After all, travel writing is not just about recording ones experiences and adventures, although that is part of it, but it involves careful planning.

Anyway, back to the here and now. I still have that nagging feeling that I will only be truly happy if I can be free to roam, help others in some way and work for myself. If freelance writing does not cover those ambitions then I don't know what does!

What happens now is a tough but ultimately rewarding pursuit of actually being published. Herein lies the fledgling freelance writers nemesis. The chicken and egg situation that one must overcome to start the ball rolling to a lifelong career of becoming a scribe. One must be first published before ones work is accepted for publication. You see my dilemma.

In addition to this I confess to having poor grammar and punctuation at times (well most of the time) and that I actually find choosing the right words to be rather difficult. Is this then the right choice? Perhaps not. But I know that unless I can find another potential career that covers my small but very important list of requirements then freelance writing is what I shall aim for.

Wish me luck. This is gonna be painful, but with perseverance and determination I intend to beat the odds and succeed where others have failed.

Once more unto the breach dear friends, once more...

Ever wondered if anyone ever replies to those Nigerian scammers?

This guy did...

Ebola Monkey Man

Grab a favorite beverage and scroll through the email exchange between "Dr Albert" (aka Mr Bukakke) and Mike (aka Mr Bo Jangles). It's pretty funny stuff.

I came across this list today. I think I only managed to be found guilty of 5 of these...then again, that seems bad enough....

1. Coin his own nickname.

2. Use a wallet that is fastened with Velcro.

3. Rank his friends in order of best, second best, and so on.

4. Hacky sack.

5. Name his penis his name plus junior.

6. Hang art with tape.

7. Hang The Scream, unless he stole it from the Munch museum in Oslo.

8. Ask a policeman, "You ever shoot anybody with that thing?"

9. Ask a woman, "Hey, you got a license for that ass?"

10. Skip.

11. Take a camera to a nude beach.

12. Let his father do his taxes.

13. Tap on the glass.

14. Shout out a response to "Are you ready to rock?"

15. Use the word collated on his resume.

16. Hold a weekly house meeting with roommates.

17. Name pets after Middle Earth characters.

18. Jokingly flash gang signs while posing for wedding photos.

19. Give shout-outs.

20. Use numbers in place of words or locations, such as "the 411" for information, or "the 313" for Detroit.

21. Hug amusement-park characters.

22. Wear Disney-themed neckties.

23. Wake up to a "morning zoo."

24. Compare the trajectory of his life with those of the characters in Billy Joel's "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant."

25. Request extra sprinkles.

26. Air drum.

27. Choose 69 as his jersey number.

28. Eat Oreo cookies in stages.

29. Volunteer to be a magician's assistant.

30. Sleep on a bare mattress.

31. End a conversation with "later skater."

32. Hold his lighter up at a concert.

33. Publicly greet friends by shouting, "What's up, you whore?"

34. Wear Converse All Stars with a tuxedo.

35. Propose via stadium Jumbotron.

36. Decide anything based on the ruminations of Howard Stern.

37. Call "shotgun" before getting in a car.

38. Dispute someone else's call of "shotgun."

39. Whine.

40. Mist up during Aerosmith's "Dream On."

41. Purchase fireworks.

42. Google the word vagina.

43. Ride a pony.

44. Sport an ironic mustache.

45. Hit 13 against a 6.

46. Organize a party bus.

47. Say "two points" every time he throws something in the trash.

48. Buy a novelty postcard in another country of topless women on a beach and write, "Wish you were here" on it.

49. Keg stands.

50. Purchase home-brewing paraphernalia.

51. The John Travolta point-to-the-ceiling-point-to-the-floor dance move; also that one from Pulp Fiction.

52. Put less than ten dollars' worth of gas in the tank.

53. Keep a minuscule amount of marijuana extremely well hidden.

54. Read The Fountainhead.

55. Watch the Pink Floyd laser light show at a planetarium.

56. Refer to his girlfriend's breasts as "the twins."

57. Own a vanity plate.

58. Whippits.

59. Say goodbye to anyone by tapping his chest and even so much as whispering, "Peace out."

I have yet to try this software but it looks pretty good.

For those of you who are on the move a lot and struggle to connect to the internet while travelling, this may be for you.

It looks like it is really for the casual browser rather than someone who uses their laptop for checking emails or downloading.

If you want to feel connected all the time even when you aren't, then give this a go...

http://www.webaroo.com/

I received a response today from the people who run the sentient.org website:

(My initial email comments are prefixed with ">")

Hi Steve,

> I wanted to contact you to just say what a breath of fresh air your
> site is

How kind of you to say so. It is a labour of love ... sort of a way of
sharing something wonderful...

> In particular I found reading the words of Amber very
> profound as they reinforced elements of what I believe are truefor
> me

I will pass your words along.

> Perhaps these words may not ring true with others but that is
> really the point and the joy What is right and true is what is
> right and true for you and noone else

Yes. But eventually this goes too. All that remains is a sense of
being and of ease. The desire to differentiate sort of fades away
when there is no 'me' in there :-)

> One can spend a lifetime searching and learning in an effort to
> find themselves or to find the path that leads to the truth To
> decide that the search is not required is a relief

There is a small trick to this though. Ramana Maharshi once said that
one must want This like a drowning man struggles to the surface for
air. That is to say, with every ounce of one's being. Of course after
reaching the surface, there is not much point in struggling any
more :-) And yes, certainly the search itself is pointless. We all
know were the surface of the water is, to continue the metaphor. We
just out of habit seem to prefer drowning :-)

> I will however remain
> convinced that only I am the truth

Yes, so long as there is no 'me' to whom the truth appears to
appear :-)

All the best,
And thanks again for your kind words.
--Peter

I spent a little time today converting an mpg video file into 3pg format so it could be played on my cell phone. I eventually found some Japanese software that did the job well and converted the file into a stereo, 15fps file that can be played on the phone and also can be played through the phone on a TV set. Pretty neat I thought.

The thing that is annoying to me is why there are so many file formats and why you need 5 or 6 different pieces of software to convert and/or play these files. Is there nothing out there that can do it all?! Perhaps there are a few but I do not want to pay for them so I use the free stuff. I guess I have answered my own question.

Pay for it and you may have it all...

After recently visiting the web site I posted the address of yesterday on this blog, I wanted to drop the authors a line to say how much I enjoyed the site.

On their About Us page they begin...

"Dear Friend - dear because you are the bedrock upon which and through which this lovely world exists.

This site began at the end of 1991 as a list of teachers we (a group of personal friends scattered about in several countries) knew personally, and liked. Now after more than a decade things have changed - we have ceased to care about the search, the path, teachers, or indeed about awakening at all. Such concepts are no longer of interest. It seems to us rather, that life is very simple and vibrant. Sometimes it is easy. Sometimes not. But for us the central actor seems, somehow to have miraculously bowed out of the play. Hence we have trimmed down this site, leaving just a few things that people over the years have written to say they enjoyed.

We wish you love and life and joy. May you never find what it is you think you are seeking, but rediscover instead the eternal presence of your own absence. If you would like to contact us, please use the form below: "

So I sent them the following:

Hi.

I wanted to contact you to just say what a breath of fresh air your site is. In particular, I found reading the words of Amber very profound as they re-inforced elements of what I believe are true...for me.

Perhaps these words may not ring true with others but that is really the point and the joy. What is right and true is what is right and true for you and no-one else.

One can spend a lifetime searching and learning in an effort to find themselves or to find the path that leads to the truth. To decide that the search is not required is a relief.

I will certainly keep learning and understanding over the years to come and my thinking may change perhaps. I will, however, remain convinced that only I am the truth, no-one can convince me otherwise.

Many thanks for putting your site in a place where I managed to find it.

Kind regards,

Steve

I wonder if I will get a reply. I don't need one. I am not looking for a response or some kind of affirmation that I have chosen the right path or have seen the light.

No, I just like getting emails! :0)

Continuing my spiritual theme for the week...

I stumbled across this site today:

http://www.sentient.org/

The reason I like some of the content here is that it makes it simple, effortless and for me that makes sense. For example...

"No one knows what is best for you. Not the local psychologist, friend, lover, or advaita teacher on her sofa throne. If you want to awaken (whatever you think that means) follow your own heart, not someone else's.

Once someone sat under a bodi tree and ceased to suffer. So for more than 2000 years people all over the world sit in meditation in the hope that they too will cease to suffer. But why should what worked for Buddha work for you? Chances are, it won't.

It does not matter how 'awake' your favourite guru appears to be. In This you are really on your way alone. Not lonely - but alone. And no guru can stand beside you. Follow your own heart into love. If your mind is luxuriating in suffering, it will continue to do so until it tires. So you may as well ignore it now.

Forget the imaginary lineage from Ramana to Poonja to a another to another. This is foolishness. Truth has no lineage. It either siezes your heart forever or it does not. The rest is just psychological nonsence - though of course very appealing and soothing in its way.

Why try to quiet your mind with spiritual practice? The mind's function is noise - let it natter away. Its coming and goings have nothing to do with you. Really now, the only mind that is forever still is a dead one

You can notice though. You can notice what is behind every action and behind every appearance. And you can smile and live.

Whether you know yourself to be the consequence of everything, whether you jump or not, JUST LIVE! You will anyway".

I also like...

We think we know what the result of awakening will be - namely a lessening of pain. So we make up stories - a story that we must say 'yes' to everything, that acceptance will help us awaken. A story that things will be easier if we awaken, that we will love unconditionally if we awaken; that our lives will be smoother, happier. If we awaken. We make up a story that we are drawn to truth. We make up a story that our yearning is opening our hearts. Ha! All this thinking is just a mind crying out for a good therapist.

If you are unhappy or unfulfilled or not at peace, then I would suggest you see such a person - she will probably be of far more help than some self-proclaimed teacher touring around giving 'satsang' and helping you dream nicer dreams. Awakened state, unawakened state ... such things are the storybooks of children. Look around - do the animals spend time wondering about an imagined God, a Nirvana, a state of happiness, a oneness with all? Have a little humility my dear friend - notice that you are not as clever as the gentle little field mouse who lives quietly in the grasses and never for a moment wonders about becoming one with the universe. She just lives and is.

She does not need or think of the pretentions of evolving, of gain, of being something, or of attaining. For her this moment is it - everything and everyone appears and receeds into and out of her own quiet awareness. She just lives. Really - isn't all this talk and more talk of awakening just a small death you are giving yourself? Isn't this imagined answer to all your problems blinding you to what is here, now? If you are unhappy or lack peace, see a therapist. Or perhaps quiet and free, with pain or without it, just be".

I like the idea that we must make up our own minds as to what is right and makes sense for ourselves. To follow a "master" has never made sense to me. If anything Bruce Lee (a very philosophical man believe it or not) sums it up quite nicely when he said, "Take what is useful, reject what is useless and add what is essentially your own"...I think he also added....

"WWHHAAahiiyyaaaaaaaaaaaaa............"

;0)

I have decided to re-open my blog. Even though I am not "on the road" literally, I am still on the road figuratively. I may not be sitting in a beaten up old volkswagen van crossing the Andes but I am doing a similar journey in my mind on a daily basis.

We all do really. From the moment we wake up in the morning and shrug off the faint ghosts of our dreams our mind goes into action. We start thinking. Now thinking is what makes us do what we do and behave like we do. Our thoughts then control our daily lives. But we are not incontrol of our thoughts. If we were then we would be able to control our emotions at any given time.

For example. When someone cuts you up in their car you react. As a consequence of what happens you may shout and scream at the other person. You get to work and the first thing you do is moan to someone about the asshole who cut you up. Why? Because it makes you feel better? Perhaps it does but that is an illusion. You don't really feel better. You would feel better if you immediately controlled your reaction after the event and then....dismissed it. Forget it ever happened. But you can't forget it, I hear you say. Why not? The event has happened and now is just a memory. A recent one but a memory nonetheless. It is in the past. It now does not exist. Yet you keep it alive. For what purpose? To enable you to get angry and then relay the tale to someone who will agree that the road is full of assholes?

This is one of thousands upon thousands of ways in which we pretend we are controlling our lives but we are in fact controlled by our thoughts which are nothing but a construction of patterned thoughts our mind uses to play out the role of who we think we are.

Ask someone who they think they are and they will tell you about themselves, how they went to college and what they studied, where they worked, who they have married etc. That is not who they are, it is what they have done.

Of course all this philosophical babbling is ok in theory you may say but we have to live our lives, work for a living, fit in with the way the world works and do the best we can to be happy. If you really believe that happiness can be found through money, fame, things or even another person then you will never "find" happiness. Happiness is a state of being. It can be found immediately by dropping the act. Stop playing the role of who you think you are. Only the moment exists. The past and future do not. Choose to "be" happy at this moment and you are. Dreaming of being happy when you have more money or when you have met your soul mate or when you have a baby will not do it. Those are all ephemeral. As is life. We all die. So be happy now.

If you have any interest at all in what you have just read then I suggest reading "A New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle.

This will be my final entry on this travel blog. I have decided to retire it as I am no longer travelling. However, should I begin my travels once more I will start up a new travel blog with the wonderful folks at BnA so don't despair.

For those of you who know me well, I will have a blog coming soon that will cover broader topics.

I want to thank anyone who stopped by to read my entries during my travels and especially those who commented from time to time. It was great to have you there with me.

Safe Travels,

Steve

It is a year ago to the day that I left my job in the USA. It seems like only yesterday. A lot has happened since then apart from earning any money of course.

Looking back I wonder what I did with my time after I left...

I think the first few weeks were spent considering my options and enjoying the break from work. I arranged a day to move out of my apartment and into my friend Lauras house. I sold a lot of my belongings before moving out such as all my gym equipment, my dining table and chairs, my surround sound system and other pieces of furniture.

When it came to move I had the help of my friend Sean (who is now serving another tour in Iraq). He has a nice pimped out van and it only took 4 trips with what I had left to move it all out. The scary part was having the king mattress on the roof of his van. It was strapped on and we had our arms out holding it while we drove along. Going over a bridge over I25 a huge gust of wind lifted the mattress and I thought we were going to take off! The whole ride with that mattress seemed to take hours and I lost a few minutes of my life that day and gained a few grey hairs.

Then came the 2 yards sales at Lauras house. The first one co-incided with the day England were playing France in the European Championships. We had my sofa in her driveway and one of my tv's in the garage so we could watch the game and then jumped up to help the punters as they arrived.

Yard sale punters are like sharks. They get to your house hours before the advertised start time to pick over the goods. I got one guy who was a big fat priest in a black robe with a huge beard and a massive silver cross hanging from his neck. He had his two kids with him who spoke English better than he did. This bugger pissed me off for two reasons. Every item he picked up he would offer me $1 for it, even if it was marked $25 or more. Then he would ask "...for the internet..." if it looked vaguely electronic. France had just equalised with England and this bugger was saying "why so expensive" when he picked stuff up. I tell you I was so close to killing this guy you can not believe it. Then he saw my car with a for sale sign on it and said "...yours....?"...I had to say yes so we wandered over and he asked how much. I said "$9000"..he said "...one thousand...", I said no "$9000!!". He eventually left before I murdered him in the street.

I eventually sold my car to some folks from out of state and then I could happily plan for my return trip to the UK.

From then on it was a case of just enjoying the Colorado summer. I knew I was going to leave around August so I just had some fun over the summer, visiting friends and going to concerts and bars and restaurants.

I returned to England on 27 August 2004. I was going to look for contract work and perhaps work for six months as I had planned on going to NZ for 3 months but did not want to go at the height of summer when it may be too busy.

After a few weeks I decided to carpe diem and book a ticket to NZ.

The rest of the story begins at the start of this blog. I detailed the events leading up to my trip and obviously during the trip and subsequently after I returned once more to the shores of England.

So there it is. A year in a few paragraphs. A summary for sure as a lot has happened. The only thing left is to see what is around the corner and embrace it.

What really matters? C'mon tell me. What really matters in this life? Ok, maybe I am being a bit up front and obvious but think about it, not for long, but think about what really matters to you. Put the top 5 down on a list and then read it back. I guarantee that it will look something like this...

1) To be happy
2) For my family and friends to be happy
3) To be healthy
4) For my family and friends to be healthy
5) All of the above

So what really happened to that list? Everything else is just fluff is it not?! All the bollox that comes with being alive, the useless math problems at school, the hardship of having to decide what to watch on tv, what to take with you on holiday this year, the bastard who cut in front of you on the motorway today, getting a full milk latte instead of a skinny latte at Starbucks......

My point? My point is this...

Stop Freaking moaning....!!!!!!! Period!!! Stop it. It you are dying of cancer, have recently found out that your sister is sleeping with your husband or that your child has been killed in a car crash then be my guest and go berserk but if not then chill out and start realizing how lucky you are.

I know, people say "Well of course you can always say that"...well guess what, I am saying it....you are lucky to be alive, prove it to yourself and those around you by being the best you can be and making all you can of the day, be nice to people, smile at them, do a good deed and above all....be happy.

I secretly feel sad for the people clinging on to the rat race. All people seem to want these days is the trappings of a nice house, a nice car and whatever their money can buy.

The new age of youngsters all look up to the yob culture and footballers in particular. The best soccer player in England today is 19 years old, has a girlfriend who just shops using his money and he is an arse on the pitch to officials and swears like a trooper. Not much of a role model, yet lots of youngsters want to be him. He is no oil painting,
not exactly George Clooney and his nickname here among rival fans is Shrek! Now that's just being mean.

Did you know one of the Manchester United players is toying with the idea of a 3 year extension to his contract but is not happy with his pay rise. Guess what his new wage will be? Now bear in mind this is just his salary for playing for the team, not including sponsorship deals.

His salary is reported to be 125,000 pounds, A WEEK! That's $250,000, A WEEK! Just for kicking a bloody ball around. What about the flippin' doctors saving lives in hospitals and getting 2 hours sleep a night? They get sweet FA.

WTF is going on in the world?

I hate to say it, but after seeing the recent stuff about VE day over the weekend a good old fashioned war would do this country good because you know what, this country blows!

Todays blog title is a line from the song Matchbox, originally recorded by Carl Perkins. I just like the phrase and wanted to share it...

Here I am watching the evening election shows on TV. The early prediction is that Labour will win with a majority of around 66 seats. This is a major blow in terms of confidence in the party but it still leaves Labour in power. At least my prediction of a few days ago will be correct. I should have put a bet on. Now how much is a one way ticket to the USA again?.....

I am appealing against the decision made by the Job Centre denying my claim for Jobseekers Allowance. Read on to see my appeal...

My Appeal:

I was given the original decision on my claim for Jobseekers Allowance on 14/04/2005. The reason the claim had been denied was “…this is because you are not habitually resident in the UK for benefit purposes. In order for a person to be habitually resident, an appreciable period of time of actual residence, and not merely a settled intention to reside, is necessary.” Surely this must be definable, 6 months, 1 year etc.

I could not understand how they came to this decision so I contacted the decision maker. I explained my situation to her to make it clear and she asked me to send in a letter with the information we had discussed so the claim could be reviewed once more. I sent in the letter addressed to the decision maker.

The second decision which I received on 26/04/2005 stated “There are 6 criteria that we look at for Habitual Residence to claim benefit, and regret you do not qualify due to you having been out of the United Kingdom for a considerable amount of time, and have been back in the United Kingdom since March or this year, which is considered a short period of time. I would advise you to make a claim for benefit in around July of this year if you have not found employment before then.”

This information suggests that no specific time periods exist in the criteria to assist a decision maker with their decision on whether someone who has been out of the UK is legally entitled to benefit. If the law decides whether or not I am entitled to benefit based on 6 criteria, then surely these criteria are not ambiguous but clear and quantifiable. Surely a decision maker can not just decide what they feel is a considerable amount of time, or indeed a short period of time, as this is then open to personal interpretation.

If, after this second decision had been made, I had been shown in writing the criteria that had been used to make the decision, that these criteria were quantifiable and not ambiguous and how I failed to meet these criteria, then I would not dispute the decision.

However, I have not seen the criteria and therefore can only assume that whatever criteria was used to make this decision they were not clearly and rigidly defined if based on law. Therefore I seek a re-consideration of my request for Jobseekers Allowance supported by this appeal.

I miss my guitar. It has been gone now for over 9 months and there is no sign of it. The US post office are tracing it and are taking forever. I imagine they will eventually come back and say they have no idea what happened to it and somehow they will swindle me out of the $700 insurance I had on it. It makes a mockery of the system. Why bother insuring anything you send by post if iwhen it gets lost you can't claim on the insurance?!

I would rather someone suddenly find it in a warehouse somewhere and re-unite me with my baby...

If you know what's good for you, do not visit the butcher of Wellington Road - Benny Lo. This guy made me look like I was out of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy! Steer clear...

...well at least my cousin Carmels little one (India) seems to think so. Saskia is on the left.

I received my reply from the Job Centre today regarding my letter to them to look at my situation once more and reconsider their earlier decision not to grant my claim for JobSeekers Allowance. Here it is...

Now I must start by saying that I am not really that upset by their decision, just the way it has come about. Let me explain.

After leaving the US back in September of 2004 I returned to the UK but did not apply for any allowance. After a few weeks I decided I was going to go to NZ anyway so it was hardly worth applying. After returning from NZ I decided to claim for JobSeekers Allowance which is a maximum of 55 quid a week but it is better than nothing while I am looking for work.

At the Job Centre I had to fill out numerous forms and due to having been away from the UK for "some time" I had two more forms to fill out asking questions about my time away and whether I had any ties with the US etc.

So I wait two weeks for a decision and hear nothing so when I go to sign on at the Job Centre I ask to see how my claim is doing. I was told that it had been sent to a decision maker and to wait another week. So I wait another week and then get a letter in the post saying my claim was denied. I contacted the lady who made the decision and we realize that the form was ambiguous and that I had misled them on the form (which is why a face to face would have been nice). The misleading information was basically that I still had a bank account in the US and I had said in reply to the question of how long I expect to stay in the UK - "For the foreseeable future". This, I was told, was not really the answer they wanted. I am sure "Til I die of old age" would have been more to their satisfaction!

I am told that for them to look at my case again I have to send them a letter expaining the points we discussed. I did so...

Today I receive the letter you see above. Now here is what makes me angry.

When a decision is made by the decision maker they obviously have set criteria which a person must meet to be eligible for the allowance. If they set these criteria out up front and make the claimant aware of these then there should not be a problem when the decision is reached. The fact I have been away for a few years and returned recently is the reason I do not meet their criteria. Yet they do not say that if, for example, a person has been living abroad for lets say more than 2 years, that when they return to the UK without securing employment first that they will have to wait 3, 4 ,5 months or whatever period of time has previously been determined before being eligible for the allowance.

It seems to me that their criteria are open ended and ambiguous for the sole reason that they want to save money and here is how they do it...

By having this open ended criteria they can make decisions on a case by case basis and due to not having set dates for period of time away from the UK or period of time you have to be back in the UK before claiming they can basically say what they want! In the above letter they say I have been away for a long period of time but who determines what a long time is? They also say that I may apply, say around July. What!? Just pick a random month in the future and say maybe better luck then as you will have been back longer at that time. Why do they not have set dates? To delay claims that's why!

By having this in place it gives them a good period of time to deny peoples claims with their ambiguous criteria and by the time you may possibly be eligible to claim you will probably have already got a job anyway. You will have had no support while you were looking for a job and they will have saved all that money by not giving you support. Then they can go and spend it on nice hot meals for asylum seekers...

It seems to me that being a British Citizen ain't the big thing it used to be. I may as well go back to the US because at least the troubles I initially had when I moved there were primarily based on the fact that I was not a US citizen and had not worked over there or contributed to the country in any way. Fair enough. I am happy to accept that. But returning to my homeland where you expect a nice welcome home for the prodigal son, all you get is, no you can't have a bank account and we can't help you while you look for work mate and no you can't have a credit card either as all of the above have gone to immigrants and asylum seekers...

God Bless America, that's all I can say...

I have owned many a guitar in my time and I decided to get down to one electric and one acoustic guitar. I made an effort to do so by selling the ones I did not want and getting two top notch guitars to keep.

I ended up with a beautiful Fender Strat with a 1974 neck (amazing) and a wonderful Takamine ESF40C which was my baby.

Unfortunately as many of you know the Takamine never made it all the way home and some bastard nicked it in transit so I only got the Fender back in one piece. After a while I got over the shock and sadness of losing my baby but I know one day I will own another ESF40C and that will be a wonderful day.

Until that day I offer up a pic of my Strat and one of my missing Takamine...

Are they not beautiful..?!

The Strat

The Takamine

Somebody pinch me as I think I am dreaming. Actually it is more like a nightmare.

Having recently returned to the UK after 5 years in the US and a 5 month trip around the South Pacific, I am on the hunt for some contract or temporary work to keep me afloat while I pursue my other interests and goals.

The first stumbling block when I got home was getting a bank account sorted. This proved extremely difficult even though for most of my life I have had UK bank accounts. I did manage to secure accounts with HSBC and a nice little cash account with Lloyds TSB so that hurdle was overcome.

Next up was the Job Centre to apply for Jobseekers Allowance. For those who have never been in the unenviable position of being unemployed or those outside the UK this is basically an amount of money that you can get from the government to aid living expenses while you are seeking employment. It is not income support, which is money you get for having 12 kids and living in a council flat.

So, after filling out many interesting forms at the job centre alongside the worst of humanity I sat back and duly waited the 2 weeks they said it would take to process my application for JSA. After this period I actually had to go in to sign on at the job centre and enquired about my claim as I had not heard back from them. I was told the claim was pending and being seen by a decision maker. I was given a number to call in a weeks time to see what was happening.

I called this number yesterday and was told the decision maker had still not made a decision but they would mark it urgent and that I should call in a weeks time.

Today I open my mail and receive the decision...

"Dear Mr Stephen Davis,

The decision making officer has decided that we cannot allow your claim for Jobseekers Allowance. This is because you are not habitually resident in the UK for benefit purposes. In order for a person to be habitually resident, an appreciable period of time of actual residence, and not merely a settled intention to reside, is necessary."

When I picked my jaw up off the floor I decided to call and find out what this all means as what they wrote does not make sense to me and I have a pretty good understanding of the English language. I am waiting for a call back because surprise surprise they can not locate my file at the moment.

My contingency plan is to fly to Paris, get the train to Calais, wait in line with all the other asylum seekers waiting to gain illegal entry to the UK in the back of trucks driven by drivers bribed by the Polish Mafia and maybe THEN I will be allowed to claim some money from the government!

Not much to write about, or even write home about, this week. I have been doing some handy man jobs here as can be seen by the picture below.

We are putting some flooring down in the attic in the hope that someday all the junk up there will be sorted through, lots thrown away, most put into plastic storage bins and the rest taken to car boot sales during the long awaited English summertime.

Apart from that and the daily writing and job searching there is not a lot happening. I have many friends and family still to see but due to the money situation I can't afford to run around the country having a few drinks. That will come later once employment has been secured.

I am annoyed that I can not vote in the upcoming general election. I will call to confirm this as I might be lucky and slip through the net. I have a feeling that whatever people may feel about the state of the country they will remember how elated they were when the Tories were voted out 8 years ago and tick the Labour box. That is my gut feeling. Labour will win the election on the 5th of May. That is my prediction. Mystic Steve has spoken...

Here are a few pics of my cousin Karens 30th birthday...

The birthday girl on the right with my cousin Helen on the left

My American cousin Karen and I

Yet another of my cousins, this time it's Clare

Another cousin, this time it's Neil

Clare with Jason Statham, I mean Matt...

Lauren gets into the easter spirit...

Clockwise from left; Neil, Karen, Oonagh, Maureen, Adam, My Mum and American Karen.

As usual, by the time I was leaving the party was just getting started...

Just a quick entry to say that there are often many spelling and grammatical errors in my blog entries as I do not run it through a spell checker before posting. This, again, is due to being a lazy so and so.

I intend to make a bit of a Victor Meldrew rant today based around crime in the UK. It seems to me over the years that crime in general has gone up mainly due to the youths wandering and sometimes controlling the streets. In my youth I would be wary of my peers, other youths who may want to start a fight. These days youths will harrass, confront and attack anyone of any age and you know the worst part, nothing is being done about it.

Just look at this table taken from a government website showing crime figures for England and Wales in 2004.

The numbers speak for themselves. Only the other day I read an article about a journolist who lives in Brixton and wrote of the hassles he and his housemates receive at the hands of the youths living in the area. They have been intimidated, threatened, their car smashed and door kicked off it's hinges. The police were called but could not respond immediately. The trouble is, the kids know they can not be touched in most cases.

You end up in a situation where people will take matters into their own hands, neighborhood vigilantes and the like. How have things changed over the years to make these areas unpleasant to live in? The age old cry of "where are the parents?" goes out. Do they know what their kids are up to? In most cases the parents are just as yobbish as the kids.

Perhaps it may just be me. Maybe things have not changed that much but it is I who have changed. Living in the US I did not feel the level of anxiety that you feel walking along a dark street in London these days, and many other British cities. Nottingham, my old University town, is rife with teemage crime so much so that the chief of police said he can't control it anymore. What a sign to send out to these youths. They are overtaking the police who can't do anything about their behaviour.

I make it sound like you can't walk safely in the streets these days which is not the case. However, with teenage crime on the increase things can only get worse. Time to hone my JKD skills.

A recent comment from a friend of mine on this blog read as follows:

"Some people say that when you travel, you must adopt a nomadic approach to the things you take with you. Looking at the stuff strewn over that bed, I'm inclined to ask what things you found the most useful. And the things you didn't use as much as you thought you would. The stuff you picked up, and what you left behind."

I must say that I could have survived just as well with a lot less than I actually carried around with me. I am not too good at chucking things away, or giving them away either, so I kept many items, mainly clothing, that were hardly ever used. I really only wore one or two favorite t-shirts, jeans, jandles (flip flops), sneakers, shorts and a pair of plain green army trousers with large side pockets which were great for carrying my iPod and books around on my daily visit to whatever town I was currently visiting.

I had a big mountain medical kit which I only opened once or twice for a plaster. The rest was just bits and pieces really.

The things I found most useful were, my iPod, a waterproof jacket, camera, cell phone and a fair amount of underwear and socks so I did not have to do laundry every time I got to a new hostel. I also had 2 pocket sized notebooks that made note taking easy.

I bought one or two t-shirts while away, a pair of AUS$10 sunglasses at Darling harbor in Sydney, a waterproof jacket my first week in NZ, a cell phone and a NZ$3 beach towel.

I probably bought a few other things which escape me right now. Rest assured, on my next trip of any length I will be taking a lot less clothing.

Thanks to Innes for posing the question to me. I hope I answered them to your satisfaction. OH, one last thing I will mention. I found out very quickly that having a traditional style top opening rucksack is a real pain for getting what you want out of the bag. Most people had the type that act like a suitcase and unzip all the way round for easy access to the contents. So, if you are going on a long trip I suggest buying one of those rucksacks, it will make your life SO much easier.

A picture of the Nelson folks I spent some quality time with at the good old Paradiso hostel. I think Beth is the one taking the photo and Dermot is AWOL but everyone else is here...

Clockwise from the left; Me, Gareth, Robin, Morvin and Taichi.

Here are some eagerly awaited pictures of my skydive in New Zealand.

Smiling as I hurtle towards the ground from 12,000 feet...

Really getting into it...

I give the classic thumbs up while my instructor makes me look like a moose...

On top of the world. Lake Taupo from around 10,000 feet.

Shaking hands with the cameraman.

The recently exited plane high above us, and the sun too :0).

We begin our fall upside down through the clouds.

We exit the plane...

I highly recommend this outfit if you are ever in New Zealand and fancy a skydive. It is the cheapest place to dive in New Zealand and well worth every penny.

This is my 100th blog entry. It seems kind of fitting as the journey, or original journey I should say, is pretty much over. I will continue to make entries to the blog but they will obviously be less travel oriented and more of a regular everyday blog. That will mean more interesting entries but less pictures, so make do with these last few from my trip...

Discovery Bay boats

Down to the beach

Mt brother takes a stroll down Seahorse Lane

Cages being made at the bird market in Mongkok

Mongkok bird market

The birdies line up for a photo

This building should be in Havana

The living room at the new pad in Discovery Bay...Paul and Nicola in a rare moment of relaxation

PD...a little too relaxed

My gear...post trip..note the red salvation army sleeping bag made it back with me.

More of my gear including the guitar.

I just found out today that Tommy Vance died recently. He was THE voice of Rock on the radio for me as a kid in the late 70's and early 80's as the presenter of "The Friday Rock Show" on Radio 1. I would record the show on my radio/cassette player.

Never has there been a more distinctive voice on British radio.

You can read about Tommy's career and hear some clips from his shows here:

Tommy Vance Bio:

http://www.radiorewind.co.uk/tommy_vance_page.htm

Clips:

Start of the show:
http://www.radiorewind.co.uk/sounds/Friday_rock_start.wma

Friday Rock Show Trailer
http://www.radiorewind.co.uk/sounds/Friday_rock_trailer_79.wma

The Friday Rock Show Theme
http://www.radiorewind.co.uk/sounds/Take_it_off_top.mp3

I have many pictures to post here, so I will be putting them all up over the next couple of days. I have not been able to post any pics for ages so I am pleased to get to share these with you. They are mainly of the last few days in New Zealand and my 5 weeks in Hong Kong.

Beth and Karl at the Paradiso (I miss Karls smiling face)

The Criterion Art Deco Backpacker in Napier

The Flying Nun Hostel in Gisborne

The Flying Nun

Admiralty/Hong Kong from the Pacific Place Apartment

Hong Kong Island/Victoria Harbor/Kowloon from Victoria Peak

Yours Truly (The IFC tower is in the background)

Looking East from Victoria Peak

Passed out in the apartment the day I arrived in Hong Kong

My Brother and Sister-in-Law in Starbucks

The Apartment in Pacific Place (my bed can just be seen at the bottom right)

It's a hard life, the 42" plasma tv...the painting slides over to hide it.

On the Star Ferry to Kowloon

A small part of the Hong Kong skyline from the harbor ferry

The Star Ferry. A whopping US$0.30 for a ride across the harbor....what a rip off ;0)

Paradise...I mean Discovery Bay on Lantau island

The building of Disneyland is just across from Discovery Bay!! (Due for completion in September 2005)

More pics tomorrow....I promise :0).

Sometimes the UK sux big time.....like when as a British citizen, you return from 5 years in the USA and will they allow you to set up a new bank account...will they bugger....!

Even a bank I used to have a business account with will not take me on, the reason.....because I can not PROVE where I live. I have no bills in my name at the address where I am staying. I am also not on the electoral register so they can't look me up there either.

Now, I understand the issues with money laundering and fraud so the banks have to be careful but..no i mean BUT...lets put it this way...

I am 18, I have just left school, I am looking for a job, I am a British citizen, I have money to put into the account, I have a British passport, a UK drivers licence, I want to open a bank account please...........

Get lost....you can not PROVE where you live......

So how does an 18 year old get a bank account if they have never had one before?

How does a 36 year old who has had many bank accounts in the UK get a bank account?

If anyone knows please let me know as I want to open one in the country I was born in, it's not too much to ask is it..?!

I got back to the UK today, four and a half months have passed since I left for New Zealand. I am a bit jet lagged so will keep this entry short and post a longer one after I have had some sleep.

Trying to get my ticket changed has proved a real pain in the butt.

I am currently booked on a Virgin Atlantic flight out of Shanghai to London but want to change this to Leave from Hong Kong instead. I therefore called Virgin Atlantic in Hong Kong to sort this out. They told me as my RTW ticket was actually issued by Air New Zealand (It was) that I need to talk to Air NZ.

So, I call Air NZ in Hong Kong. They tell me that the change I made before to my ticket was made in NZ so they have to confirm with Air NZ in NZ. Then they say that as the ticket itself was issued in London that they need confirmation from Air NZ in London!

Due to the time difference they sent a telex that we were hoping would be read and responded to so we could action the change tomorrow.

I finally decide to call Air NZ in London myself when the office opened. I call and get a pretty rude and curt guy who keeps saying he can't hear as the line is bad. We establish my situation and finally get to the point where even though my "FARE BASIS" is written on the ticket that AIR NZ issued no-one knowswhat it means!

So he asks me to give him the number of the travel agent I booked the ticket with so he can call them to confirm and to call him back in 30 minutes.

A quick lay down and I call back and get a different guy...

Steve: Can I talk to Tim please.
Air NZ: He is on another line can I help?
Steve: Well he has been helping me with my ticket so ...
Ait NZ: I can help you with a reservation...
Steve:...It's actually a ticket change, he asked me to call back in 30 mins.
Air NZ: What is your booking #?
Steve: It's a RTW ticket....I'm trying to change a Virgin flight...
Air NZ: If you give me the ticket details I can help
Steve: Well this is what I have spent a while with Tim on...

Anyway, you get the drift. I hear Tim in the background telling this guy to pass on the information. They say it will cost 25 pounds to change the ticket (great, I was told 100 pounds by the travel agent!) and what flight am I on and what flight do I want to be on..etc....

So now I am eagerly waiting an email from the dynamic duo telling me that I am (hopefully) booked on the flight I want to be booked on. I forgot to ask where I go to get the ticket re-validated but will sort that out later.

Phew...

Nothing is easy is it?!

Ok, so I can have an idea of how many of you are reading this on a regular basis, I need you all to add a comment on this blog entry. It doesn't have to be more than a quick hi but it will be greatfully received.

Thanks to all.

:0)

So over the past few months I have been adding entries to this blog as and when I either get the chance to tell you all what I have been up to or feel the need to waffle on about a particular topic. Today is no exception. I am going to waffle on about a particular topic and that topic is writing...

I hope, as you have had a chance to read about my travels, that you find my writing style easy to read. I usually just write what comes into my head and post without even doing a quick spell check. This is normally due to time constraints with internet cafes but also due in no uncertain terms to me being a lazy bugger too.

The more time you spend writing, the more you tend to look at what you write. It is easy to be critical of your own work and even more so when it comes to writing. For some, every word matters. Every punctuation mark must be in the perfect spot, grammatically correct of course but perfect in its own sense, creative perhaps and fresh.

I am new to writing, I talk a fair amount but I also listen well too. I like to be heard and to express my views and opinions. Don't we all? Writing allows you to do that in a special way. You can take your time and you have no-one answering you back. For many writers I imagine this to be the perfect form of expression, especially for the more introverted writers.

Writing can be many things. It can be expressive, therapueutic, imaginative, creative, selfish, thoughtful, frustrating, energizing, the list goes on and on. The point is that unless we are published (I use the term "we" very generally), then we do not feel like we can call ourselves writers.

Some may disagree and you are welcome to do so, however, I feel that I need a publishing credit to be "labelled" a writer. I guess I would feel more like a writer if I had publishing credits to my name. Now, when I say published I do not mean have a best seller and be on the Booker Prize list, I mean published anywhere in print or even online.

The more I write and the more I travel, the more people I meet who are writers. They may not even know it yet, but they are. You only have to look at the proliferation of web logs currently taking up space on the intertnet to see how many people love to write. After all, it is only a form of communication, our primary non-verbal form and it is here to stay.

So when someone next asks you what you do for a living, you may, in all seriousness, say that you are a writer. Label it how you will, I do not care much for labels these days, we are all writers. It's just that some of us wish to be formally recognized for it :0).

Still the best place to listen to and download free music...

My songs are still listed even though they have revamped the site recently. If you have never heard my music (under the psuedonym "Sly-Fi") then go here>>>

http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?songs=168552&T=673

If you have heard it before then go listen again!!! :0)

I am overdue for another upload. When I get settled again I will make sure I create something new for yous guys to listen to.

Aren't certain things obvious to everybody? Would I be stating the bleedin' obvious if I said that for an organization to get the most from their employees they need to focus on the individuals, their strengths, their talents, their inbuilt abilities, really understand what makes them tick?

Have you ever applied for jobs by farming out your resume/CV to agencies, online job sites or company HR departments? I know I have and for ever 100 applications you get a dozen or less interested parties who base their interest on your CV alone and then go through the interview process to see if you have the "Skills" necessary to do the job advertised and if you will be a good fit.

Now, have you ever tried applying or requesting information, advice and guidance about a particular job or industry that you have had little experience in? I know I have, and for ever 10,000 applications you get....hmmmmm perhaps 1 interested party. Now why is this? Because you do not have the experience related to the job/industry you dummy! I hear you cry. Ok, well lets talk about that shall we....?

Who is to say that I, Steve Davis, do not have what it takes to walk into a company that lets say makes shoes and make a significant impact on that company whether it be increasing their profits, motivating their employees, or saving them money by cost cutting measures, or any numerous unmeasureable ways of making a positive change within their organization?

Ok, lets be realistic. I don't expect to walk into a sales role and be a top salesman, however I have been in and around pre-sales roles before. I don't expect to walk into a companys HR department and make employee evaluations or reviews the thing that employees look forward to more than anything aside from the Christmas party, yet I have spent enough time around people to know how to get the best out of them.

My point really is this. If you are a talented person with a good amount of experience under your belt and you know what your strengths are and how to leverage them, you can fit into any organization in any role and play an important part if, and I repeat IF, that company behaves in such a way as to allow you to mould into the company and embrace their philosophy, but only if their philosophy is one of focusing on the individual employees.

To me this is stating the bleedin' obvious but to most people it may be an unrealistic way to look at working life. However, if you consider that most successful businesses and individuals take risks then you wonder if that "job" you slotted so well into is really the one that will make you soar like an eagle. That is, it's just a job that I am good at and it pays the bills mentality.

Well I say Arse! It's just bloody well not good enough. You need to stand up, go to the window, open it and yell (all together now):

"I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not gonna take this anymore!".

http://www.meglet.net/Wavs/Misc/mad-hell.wav

:0)

Investigating jobs has meant my mind is now back in the corporate world mentality. It is funny how easy it is to slip bacl into it after all this time. Most of the day has been spent contacting companies with a view to discussing opportunities, ways forward to meet my goals and hopefully a few contacts will be made in the process.

With a fresh suit in the closet and an attitude to match there will be no stopping me as I plunge into the depths of working life once more. If I focus, as I am doing, on the companies that put people first then I can't help but succeed in finding the right fit, at least for the time being. After all, I still have my own personal agenda to deal with...

Here are some pictures (not mine) of Discovery Bay, Lantau Island, Hong Kong where I am currently residing courtesy of my big brother and my sister-in-law.

...And I ask myself.....is this really Hong Kong...?!

http://community.webshots.com/album/170185109jcHfwY

Yay! I get to use an ancient 60's song title by Status Quo for the blog title today. The new pad in Discovery Bay is truly a paradise apartment (flat). It overlooks the beach and the gentle waves lapping the shore, the sound of kids playing in the beach swing/play area, the sight of Indonesian maids walking the ex pat kids around the beach promenade!

So here we are in paradise, but hey there is still stuff to be done and mess in every room but it really isn't that bad. The apartment is large too. It is on 4 mezzanine type levels which makes it interesting.

Now, let me recapon the last few days...

Friday was moving day and so was Saturday.....and so was Sunday. My brother and I packed up all that was left in the old serviced apartment and off we went laden with bags to get the ferry. The night before (Saturday) we met one of my brothers colleagues (Lucy) who works for his bank and ate at a Nepalese restaurant. She works with senior managers in a motivational role and I was interested in Coaching so we agreed to meet the next day.

I only had an hour in DB before catching the ferry back over to HK island. Icalled Lucy to see where we could meet. She was in the middle of nowhere so it took me 25 minutes to get to her. We met at the Man Mo Temple. She had already been in so we headed off to get a drink and chat about my interest in coaching.

We agreed to meet later to catch the star ferry to Kowloon to see the HK skyline at night from across the harbor. It was very cold but worth the trip as the skyline at night is amazing! The QE II was also docked here, the first time I have seen that ship up close. It used to be the best cruise ship on the water, a very long time ago.

Lucy mentioned that there was a night market around somewhere so we leapt into a taxi and 10 minutes later we were striding down a very narrow walkway in the midst of a throng of others and hundreds of market stalls all colorfully decorated with various trinkets and cheap imitations of designer brands. We were both only interested in the cheap DVD's and found a place where other Brits were haggling like mad. We ended up getting 6 DVD's for HK$150. That's about US$18!

We ended up walking around the area for a while but realized we had no idea where we were so got back in a cab and took the ferry back to the island. As it was getting late we ate at her hotel, the Mandarin Oriental. Some reviving wine and a super meal later and I was walking back to catch the midnight ferry to DB.

An assortment of characters were on this ferry. It was not the last one however, the ferries run all night long!! Fantastic. No worries about missing your last ferry home. One lady had a unique sleeping position across 3 seats which she must have perfected over time as it looked awkward to me. Still, she seemed passed out by the time we were docking at the DB ferry terminal.

The stroll along the beach path home was quiet. I looked out over the water across to the distant buildings which will soon become Disney Land. It will be interesting to see how this place will cope with seeing fireworks every night once that gets up and running. They will only be 20 minutes from the magic kingdom!! Wonderful :0).

So it seems like paradise and sure enough it will be for the DB kids when they have Mickey Mouse and Snow White on their doorstep. This is an incredibly diverse city in terms of the people and the areas around Hong Kong. Here in DB it is a quiet haven with a slower pace to life, an extreme contrast to Hong Kong island and the mainland. Here on Lantau island we take things nice and easy :0)...

Today we scooted over on the ferry to Disco Bay, I..I mean Discovery Bay ;0). The reason being that all of my brother and sister-in-laws worldly goods were being delivered to their new place. I would love to show you a few pics of the area they will be living in from Sunday but I am still having issues with the USB dongle so for now you will have to just imagine it.

The movers arrived before we did at around 10am. There were 7 guys so even though they had tons of stuff (I mean tons of stuff!), the movers were actually gone four hours later. Some time was spent moving stuff around a little to see what worked and the guy turned up to ensure the telephone was working. Time was moving on and I was hungry so we headed into the square area and chose a place we had eaten at before.

I am glad they now have somewhere to live with all their stuff around them. I was excited for them as all the boxes came in and they were distributed about the apartment. They have a nice place and I promise pictures of the newly decorated interior some time in the near future. You now by now (if you are a regular reader of the blog) that my pics come in spurts, so watch this space.

It will be a bitter sweet move on Sunday when we leave the sanctity of the furnished apartment here. I/we have grown used to the convenience of the location as we are prety much in the center of it all, well a little to the right if truth be told, and that is geographicaly speaking not politically speaking :0).

So moving day is actually Sunday. Two more nights in my living room bed before I get my own room for the remainder of my stay. How long am I staying?....Keep reading the blog.......... :0).

How can someone go to church on Sunday, preach from the bible like it were some manual for living and then behave in such a manner as to contradict themselves and their belief system?! It has always puzzled me.

My biggest pet peeve is hypocrisy and I see it every day in abundence. It makes me sad. Religious hypocrisy is something that makes me laugh though as people will defend their beliefs to the death....and then do the complete opposite of what they believe...ahem...

I think it revolves around peoples ideas about "God" and how that fits in with todays religious communities.

I saw the chief justice Roy Moore on Fox news today who summed it up pretty well. I wish I had recorded what he said as I totally agreed with it. I doubt I would agree with his whole book but what he said on tv about "God" and "religion" being separate was spot on.

Donald L. Hamilton states his position clearly here:

http://novan.com/god.htm

You can read my excerpts from his essay below and see what you think.

Ever since the dawn of mankind, around 40,000 years ago, when God revealed the possiblity of his existence to mankind by giving humans a powerful imagination, people have wondered about their origins. Where did we come from? Who created us? Over the centuries, to answer these very basic questions, our storytellers have invented many myths, stories and dogmas. Religions are simply the outgrowth of these ancient myths and dogmas handed down from generation to generation and formalized into faiths, rituals and traditions.

Religions are simply rules for living our lives morally. Rules made so that we are able to get along with each other - under the threat of eternal damnation or eternal happiness in heaven. Mankind creates political and religious rules - God creates the physical laws. We can choose, whether or not, we wish to obey mankind's rules - but we must obey God's laws (nature's laws) - we have no choice in that area.

Time for me to go now. Goodbye and may your "God" go with you... :0).

Think now, come on you can do it, think really hard about what life was like before the internet and then think how life would be if it suddenly was not there any more...

Scary thought huh!? The same goes for cell phones. Text messaging has a life of it's own these days. Remember what it was like to communicate with someone you knew who was in a different country in the good old days?

What is round the corner for us? What is, the next big thing?

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to predict what the next big thing was and get a piece of that action! As sure as eggs is eggs there will be another revolution of sorts, technological or otherwise.

Personally, I would like the next revolution to evolve around us on a human level. A revolution in the way we think and act. A revolution in the way we behave towards others. There are many religions in this world yet look at the problems we still have. Surely if all christians, catholics, buddhists, athiests and agnotics the world over were to actually practice what they preach we would live in a better world.

A stolen line from Blur's "Parklife"...but I mean to talk to you today about confidence, fear and...well lets just start with those two shall we?

We all have so much fear in our lives that our confidence takes a hit. Some of us manage that fine and dandy but some of us don't. It seems there are ways to overcome our fears and improve our confidence but this idea of managing our fear is damage limitation at best. What we really need to do, really and truely, is to find out what our individual talents are and then build on those talents to develop our skills as these are our strengths folks.

According to some, our "neural net" is made up of billions of interconnects but only up to the age of around 16 when all of a sudden our "net" loses millions and millions of unused links. The reason for this is so we develop our own unique personality and along with that comes a sort of pre-programmed structure upon which we make thousands of decisions each day.

These decisions are primarily in line with our personality. We choose the path that we "feel" is the right one for us, makes us happy or makes others happy or indeed in some cases, makes others sad. Many decisions are instantaneous and require no real thoughts but are more or less reactions to a situation. Still, these decisions are made almost subconsciously by our little interconnects in our brain that are once again pre-programmed.

Yes, we can still learn and aquire new skills and behave in many diverse ways, we are not robots after all, but we are inherently set up to behave a certain way as we grow older.

This, even though it may not seem it, is very good news. It means that we have certain abilities, talents that make us function to a very high level indeed. It appears to me that once we recognize these talents and nurture them, we can then use them to the best of their, and ergo "our", ability.

To use our talents every day would surely make us happier and more productive. Many companies are recognizing this. However, it is singularly more important for us as humans to recognize our talents and use them in jobs that are suited to those talents. Do you agree?

This topic is a very interesting one for me. I do not profess to really know my talents at this point but I will surely know them very soon.

If you are interested in the idea of developing your talents and those around you then I suggest reading "Now, Discover Your Strengths" by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton. It is slightly more motivational than practical but aren't most books, ideas, concepts?

The main thing is to improve your situation and that of those around you and this is surely a step in the right direction.

Please leave your comments on this subject. I would like to know what others think about it.

According to the South China Morning Post, the number of people with more than $1million in liquid assets rose to more than 274,000 last year from 260,000 in 2003.

I am hoping this is Hong Kong dollars and not US dollars!

If I open the curtains one more day and it is foggy outside I will scream. I have forgotten what the sun looks like. Hong Kong must be mirrored with Londons weather patterns.

The outlook for the weekend is rain......arrrgghhhhhh.

One thing about Hong Kongs residents, they are very trendy. I feel like a tramp walking around in my travellers clothes. I am desperate to climb into a pair of smart pants (trousers for all you UK folk) and shirt and perhaps a jacket and strut around the cities bars and shops like everyone else does. It is rare to see anyone who has not taken a good hour getting dressed for the day.

Just this morning, waiting for my tall, soy latte in Starbucks, I spotted a lady who looked like she had strayed from the runway. She had very short, tight blakc shorts on, almost but not quite in the hot pant category. She strutted along like she was on the catwalk with matching tight black top and sunglasses (but it is foggy today!!!!). Bare legged on such a cold day just goes to show how much importance she and many others put on their appearence.

Even students, who look like they have just thrown it all on, spend a long time making sure they have the look they are trying to achieve. I, on the other hand, can spend the best part of a day dressing up only to look like I did it all in the dark, blindfold and with one hand tied behind my back!

There are people, mainly in LA, whose job it is to help rich people choose clothing and accessories. What a job! That's what I call money for old rope.

So, if you consider yourself a trendy dresser then come to Hong Kong. You will fit in nicely. There are an abundance of designer stores here, many with names I have never heard of. Oh, and bring your Louis Vuitton bag, every woman HAS to have one of those. They even have special chairs in some restaurants for you to put your designer bag on while you dine! Whatever next?!

Check out this web site for amusing short films:

www.atomfilms.com

I recently was faced with getting the music from two iPods (one with 3500 songs on it and the other with 300 songs on it) onto the same laptop and then syncing one iPod with iTunes so that it now contains almost 4000 songs. Still with me? Then read on...

Unfortunately this is not as easy as it may sound. iPods and iTunes are set up so that you can not just copy the music from an iPod to iTunes. Therefore I used a third party utility to help me do this. For ten pounds you can get the full version of this program which will give you advanced copy features. Anyway...

For those of you out there who may come across the same situation I recommend PodUtil (http://www.kennettnet.co.uk/software/podutil.php) to get songs from another persons iPod into iTunes.

Please note that the autosync feature MUST be disabled in iTunes or you risk your iTunes playlists being overwritten with the freshly attached iPod. If you have the autosync feature turned on you will receive a warning before the syncing takes place but BE CAREFUL.

Check out www.ipodlounge.com for all your iPod needs.

When you stop to ponder on your life and whether or not you are really doing what you want to do, something that satisfies your needs, helps others, and utilises your talents, abilities and strengths to the fullest, do you actually do anything about it?

Isn't it about time we got off our arses and did something?

I am often reminded that I am really still looking for a vocation that is "My Lifes Work". I am reading a book ("How To Find The Work You Love" by Laurence G Boldt) that once again reminds me that I am here to do what I am best at. To do anything less is a crime is it not?! Feel free to read the first chapter of the book here...

http://www.empoweryou.com/products-book4-free-chapter.shtml

Being someone who loves quotes there are plenty of them in this book. Like the following:

My employer uses twenty-six years of my life for every year I get to keep. And what do I get in return…for my life?
— Michael Ventura

Think about it...

Lining up for what seemed like a disney land ride to see ex US president Bill Clinton and receive a signed copy of his book "My Life", I suddenly felt a weird feeling when I was ushered (at long last) into the bookstore for the book signing...what if someone a few feet from me decides he wants to kill Bill...?

I guess it's that feeling of being in the same room as an ex president and knowing how much of a target they are. We all had to go through a metal detector and there were many secret service dudes (all mainly British it seemed) so chances were pretty slim but you never know.

As we filed around the store past the rows of books I wondered if someone may have sneaked a knife into or behind one of the books just ready to grab and...well anyway that did not happen.

Upon reaching the ex pres I had decided what I was going to say, nothing fawning, I could faintly hear others wishing him good luck, bluurgghhhh. It was very quick and went something like this.

Bill smiled and held out his hand. I shook it and said:

"How are you?"

He was busy signing the book and grinning innanely so did not reply but I was ready...I said:

"How's the hand? Tired yet?"

"I'm holding out" he replied.

I was ushered away with my newly signed book.

It was only then I wondered if my choice of words had not given Bill a quick flash back to his little session with Monica....I will leave it at that ;0).

Guess what folks? Bill Clinton is comin' to town and I have a ticket to his book signing on Tuesday evening.

I am debating whether ot not to wear my "Close but no cigar" t-shirt...!

The bookstore he is visiting is in the shopping mall beneath the apartment building where I am currently staying. It seemed rude not to go say hi to the ex pres while he is in town and so very close to my residence. There will be no pics as they are not allowed and due to security and time restrictions I expect an extremely quick "hi" followed by the book being slammed in my chest by an aide and a swift, firm shove out the nearest door...then again it may be a nice experience...who knows.

Still overcast here. It was so cold yesterday, just like London around Christmas time. Even the apartment is freezing today.

A friend of mine shared a story in an email recently of a random act of kindness. Please be nice to a stranger today. You never know what might happen as a result.

Pink Floyd today :0). Looking out of the window from the apartment I am in can sometimes leave you wondering if anyone is around. I can see a few ferries gliding on by from time to time and a few buses on Queensway but very few people are in my line of sight unless I look straight down when I catch the odd person or two taking a lunchtime stroll.

Some time has been spent today rewriting my resume and looking for jobs in Hong Kong. I must say I do not relish this process and am sure you all feel the same way. I feel this partly because I am just doing it to get back into the job market and make some money and not firmly going for something more in line with where I may wish to be going with a job or career moving forward.

Another set back is my inability to seak Cantonese or Mandarin. However, there are plenty of ex-pats here who do not speak either and make it through the day ok. Spreichen Zie Duetsch??!

Hong Kong is in a semi-permanent state of fog and low cloud at the moment. It is an eirie sight but it is still strangely warm outside. I will have to take a picture tomorrow and eventually you will get to see some of Hong Kong through my eyes.

I tried to break the day up with a look at Charlies Angels: Full Throttle that was on tv earlier today. However, it was so bad I went back to looking for jobs!

I am still getting used to having short hair again. It is so nice after showering not to have to mess around with it but there is that element of "baked bean head" as my friend Alison would call it... :0).

Yesterday I was sitting on the sofa half watching tv when I noticed something in my peripheral vision. Suddenly something was rising up from the main window outside. It was two workmen in a cradle dong building maintenance. It felt funny but also intrusive to have these guys slide up by the window, I mean I could have been naked! I think the glass is tinted so they can not really see in during the day but at night the opposite is true. Anyway, I take my hat off to anyone who can get into one of those things.

I forgot to mention that I had a mole removed at the hospital last Friday. The bloody thing had changed dramatically so it had to come off. Anyway they teold me today there was no malignancy so I can rest easy on that one. I do have to go and have my stitches take out on Friday morning so you can imagine my excitement at returning to the hospital.

Lets hope there are no more dramas in the near future. Hell, it is the Chinese new year, there must be some good news for us Saggitarians......

Happy Valentines Day! I don't approve of Valentines day purely for the fact that it forces people to act lovey when you should choose when you want to behave this way, not when the card, flower and chocolate industry tell you to do so.

Yesterday, Pd, Nicola and I took the bus over to Stanley which is a bay on the south side of Hong Kong Island. It is a larger version of Discovery Bay with restaurants and shopping along with the sights and sounds of the bay area.

While we were there a lion and dragon dance was being performed along with a small parade in the streets. As usual I did not have my camera with me so missed another opportunity to share the festivities with you by way of pictures. Sorry!

Today I took a stroll behind Pacific Place to the British Council where I was hoping to make use of their library facilities and internet access. I was told the internet was unavailable today but is usually ready to use by anyone. I will pop in again tomorrow and see if I can spend some time investigating the job market in Hong Kong.

I then wandered towards Lan Kwai Fong to try to find Wellington street to get my hair cut. After a while I managed to find the hill up to Lan Kwai Fong and headed down the narrow street in search of salons.

Nearly all hairdressers in Hong Kong, especially small ones, are upstairs so yoiu have to go up a narrow stairwell to check out the facility. The first place I tried was shut but further down I found an empty salon wth enthusiastic staff. I had a shampoo that lasted for about 15 minutes! They go to town on your head and use their nails when massaging so it hurts a bit.

The guy who cut my hairspoke little English but he seemed to know what I wanted and took his sweet time about it. It looked good from the reflection in the mirror so I was pleased....another rinse at the sink and he trimmed me some more. When the rear view mirror came out he had cut the back and sides VERY short, the middle short and eft the top fairly long so I was not too happy.

Still, I paid and left but catching my reflection in the windows as I walked along made me want to rectify the cut so I found another place, got him to make it all the same length and now I have very short hair indeed. I should have gone for a number 1 all over and that would have saved so much time.

Tonight will be see everyone packed into restaurants and bars, couples holding hands and gazing into each others eyes. I dare say a few, or many, proposals will take place too. I have no-one to hold hands with tonite but my brother and sister-in-law will be around and don't really do V day either so I think we are off to the movies later. I hope it is the English version whatever it is...

We took the star ferry across to Tsim Tsa Tsui this afternoon as the sun was shining after a day or so of unpredictable weather.

The ferry ride affords you amazing views of the city skyline which I am told comes into its own at night. We are off to the south part of the island for dinner with friends later tonite so perhaps I will get a good view of the city at night when we return.

I am enjoying the differences that Hong kong is showing me compared to New Zealand. It seemed strange and difficult to leave New Zealand but now I am in Hong Kong, a thriving metropolis which hums and throbs like a machine, I feel quite at home.

Does Feng Shui apply to us humans?

I would like to think so. In that case I will sit with my back to the door and face out the window to The Harbor and a beautiful view out of this 13th floor apartment window in the wonderful, vibrant, flowing metropolis that is Hong Kong Island.

Actually I can only see part of the harbor from here, a very small part but a part nonetheless. I can see many apartment buildings and office blocks as you can well imagine.

Today I wandered out for an hour into the throng of people. I had a coffee and muffin at Starbucks and wandered the strange network of covered walkways that are prevalent here. They are also in the malls here so you never really have to go outside to get anywhere, or so it seems.

Later I met my brother for lunch and Nicola (my sister-in-law) and I headed for the Victoria Peak Tram. The tram takes you up to Victoria Peak where you get the most amazing views of Hong Kong and Kowloon. Do not just visit the view areas, we hiked along a circular trail that takes you along the hillside for some spectacular sights out across the islands.

I do have pictures but this Windows 98 laptop will not recognize my usb card reader so you will have to wait to share the views I encountered.

For some reason I now have a touch of the "you know whats" that mean I can't stray too far from the "you know what"...hmmmm.

Kinda nice to be back in a big city. :0).

I am back in Auckland where I started 3 months ago!

Upon arrival it bucketed down and my shuttle was packed. It took over 1.5 hours to get to Ponsonby where I am staying in the brown kiwi backpackers.

I am now booked to fly to Hong Kong on Sunday :0). The Chinese new year starts on 9 Feb so get ready, I need a dragon head or something to parade around in the streets!

I think I feel better about leaving New Zealand now. I was very sad but that feeling has gone, for now anyway, probably due to the travelling I have done over the last 3 days, no rest between Napier, Gisborne and Auckland. Having said that I will miss it and certain people beyond measure. Nothing lasts forever and this trip is no exception.

I was due to be back in the UK on 1 Feb 2005 and I am not far off that date. I expect to be in London around mid February now. It does not feel like 5 minutes since I was setting off and arriving in Auckland back in November last year.

One thing is for certain, I will be continuing my travels at some future date so stay tuned...

The day is slowly getting better. Woke up to noisy backpackers this morning at 7am. I think most of the people at the Flying Nun are fruit pickers and Germans.

I must admit that the weather and my being alone again have tainted my view of both Gisborne and the Flying Nun hostel. I can imagine this town is nice to walk around if the sun is shining and the hostel would be fun if you are with some good travellers too but both of these are missing for me.

However, I just popped in to see a movie ("The Incredibles") to waste 2 hours and my mood has improved. It is still drizzly outside but strangely warm out of the rain as the sun must be trying to break through. I also got a text from Robin that cheered me up.

So I leave for Auckland this afternoon and will be there for two more days before flying to Hong Kong on Monday 7 Feb. I have no idea what I will do there apart from see my Brother and Sister-in-law. It is the Chinese new year in a few days (Feb 9) so there must be loads happening. Perhaps I will get to be part of a chinese dragon!

One more song title.....this time an old folk blues song by Isaac Guillory (http://www.isaacguillory.com/). If you have not checked him out I recommend his music. He was Cuban born and moved to the UK when he was young and made some lovely folk music. He died a few years ago but not before I got to see him in an intimate setting in a pub in North London and watch him play some sublime guitar from about 10 feet away, an amazing musician and has always been one of my favorite guitarists. Buy this album...

http://www.cryanshames.com/guillory/live.html

The reason for the title, however, is because I now have a guitar! It was given to me by Carl, a Brit who works at the Paradiso hostel in Nelson. He has two and was kind enough after a jam session to say I could have it if I wanted :0).

It needs a good professional set up but will be good to bang away on and keep my chops up!

I flew to Napier from Nelson yesterday. The weather near Wellington was bad so we did not make our scheduled stop there but flew straight to Napier. Our flight was almost cancelled but we did go ahead with only 4 passengers on board a 19 seat plane! The weather was overcast upon arrival in contrast to the scorching sun back in Nelson.

I ate and drank at the Criterion Art Deco Backpacker bar and worked on the guitar for a bit before retiring for the night. I felt like I was in the north of England due to the bar and weather.

I awoke this morning to misty weather but headed to the Black stoney beach and watched the waves crash for a while and got a little emotional. I am now alone again on my travels reminding me of when I arrived and subsequently meeting and travelling with great people, having fun and forging a few good friendships. I decide to move in to town and get a coffee and get online where I am now.

I catch the intercity bus to Gisborne this afternoon, a four hour trip up the east coast. I want to watch the sun rise tomorrow morning (weather permitting) as it is the first town in the world to see the sun of the new day :0). I will take pics too.

Then I must get up to Auckland, change my flight to Hong Kong and say goodbye to New Zealand for the second time. I know that will be an emotional day, I better go buy some tissues ;0)...

It seems funny to look back to the start of my journey and how different I feel now after being iin New Zealand for so long.

There is nothing particularly profound to speak of as it is just life and my life in partiicular and whatever happens is just what has happened. I can analyze it or I can enjoy it or I can do both or neither.

After being involved with Robin it will be hard to leave but in some ways a relief as I tend to go headfirst into these things and worry about the consequences later. The consequences being I got too involved and there really was no future in it as we both knew so all good things must come to an end. I will be ok after a few days of mourning.

The decision of where to go next is proving difficult. I am now back on a tight budget so I am thinking carefully. I may leave Oz out and return another day. It seems a shame but that's the way it goes. I want to go and see my brother in Hong Kong but he will not be in his new house until March 1st. So I have some time to kill and I either do that in New Zealand or Australia, or both!

The north Island is on my hit list, just where in the north island is the question. I like the idea of Gisborne due to it being the first town to see the light of the new day, it would be lovely to watch the sun rise there. I also want to see some other coastal towns, Napier, New Plymouth, Raglan and the northland, Bay of Islands and Pahia.

Looks like I may be closing my eyes and sticking a pin in the map at this point.

More pics for your viewing pleasure folks...

Australia...

Briget giving me her best fake smile

Paul takes it easy...

The doggies, Lizzie, Mossy and Bridie

A lazy Christmas night

Me at Bondi beach, new years eve 2pm...

Bondi Beach

Sydney Opera House and of course, yours truly

My trophy. The crab I caught "crabbing" on lake Macquarie

Old Family Pictures

Kathy had a whole bunch of old family pictures that I had never seen. I include a few here as they are part of my history and pretty cool pics as well.

My Great Grandfather

My Great Grandmother

My great, great Grandfather and Grandmother with their children

Amazing family photo. My great, great grandparents with their family

My Mum on her wedding day at 19 years of age. Isn't she beautiful!

Back in New Zealand

Gareth, Robin and Beth enjoy the spoils of my motel room

Robin smiles her famous smile

Beth in black and white looks like she is in a horror movie

My bed in Queenstown in Neils room with the nice red sleeping bag from The Salvation Army!

The view from Neils house of lake Wakitipu

Robin and Bizzie arrive at Southern Laughter in Queenstown

Robin and Bizzie have the Fergburger experience...yum!

Robin outside the Homer Tunnel on the drive to Milford Sound

Robin (Bizzie in the back of the car) checks her pics. The Ford Ka was a little gem on the trip

One with the "ahhhhh" factor

My old work cubicle from which I managed to escape :0)

After receiving a text from JM in the US I now may change my plans once more.

I have been given the contact info for some people in New Plymouth who I may be able to visit briefly. They have a new age lifestyle to some degree I believe and know about Vipassana Meditation, a course which I may take for 10 days.

If you are interested about Vipassana you can read about it here...

http://www.dhamma.org/art.htm

If I am accepted on the course I will not be able to contact anyone for 10 days, so I am sorry about that.

There is a new Buddha on the horizon...

Yet again I am moving on. I must head north, perhaps Napier and then to Gisborne. Back on a budget again so we shall see how it goes.

I also need to get my backside in gear and post some more pictures. Rest assured when they do arrive there will be plenty of them.

Last Monday Robin and her friend Bizzie drove down from Nelson to Queenstown, this is an account of the days after they arrived....the names have been changed to protect the innocent...

The girls drove all night and slept in the car by the road side. They got to Queenstown around 9am and text'd me that they were having breaky. We agreed they would come and pick me up after they had eaten.

We shot off into town and went Luging! A little later we were laying out in the sun by the lake front. As I remember we went out later to get drunk but the girls were not happy with Qtown bars (Winnie Bagoes, World Bar and Altitude), although they did dance in Altitude for a bit.

They stayed at Southern Laughter while I went back up to the house.

Wednesday we took off to Te Anau and a boat trip at Milford Sound. I had been there before with bad weather but it was a mgnificent day and the trip was lovely. We drove back to Te Anau and stayed at the Barnyard Backpackers, a triple room with tv and ensuite facilities. It was a great place, I highly recommend it. It is 9km north of Te Anau itself.

Thursday we drove back to Qtown to get my stuff then shot off to Cardrona Valey to go horse back riding. Man oh man does it hurt if you canter and don't get the same rythym as the horse! I got the trot fine but the canter!!! Painful. My horse was called Amigo but he was not my amigo at the end of the ride.

That night we were booked in a place in Wanaka. We dropped off our gear and went to the local movie theatre which is al sofas. You can eat at the half time intermission so we had wine and dinner at half time. After the movie we returned to the hostel only to find that someone had left the door open and the light on.

It was like a bug infestation in the room. Hundreds of mossies and other assorted bugs. Bizzie had a fit and was demanding to be moved to another rroom or get our money back. The lady who works there gott narked and moaned but vacumed them all up. We had decided to go anyway so we got our stuff and called another place and stayed at a lodge in town.

On Friday we headed up the coast and stopped to hike near to Fox Glacier. It was amazing really and I had not been up before having stayed at Franz Josef two nights some time before. We made it up to Hokitika where we stayed at the cheapest hostel ($13 a night) in a triple room above the Jade Factory on the main street. It was very clean and quiet and for $13 was a bargain! You also get 10% off anything in the jade store for staying there!

Today we drove back to Nelson but stopped at Kaiteriteri beach for a few hours and sat on the beach and swam in the sea. The girls dropped my off at my hostel and we have gone our seperate ways once more so I am sad to leave them.

I must go and eat as it is almost 9pm and very stuffy in this internet place.

Until we meet again...

I wandered into town earlier today for two reasons, it is a lovely day and I wanted to get out of the house and also Neal had solid gold on the radio blaring out!

It is a tense day today as I am waiting to see if money goes into my American bank account tomorrow. I need to call the bank in Colorado at 3am tomorrow morning to catch them first thing on Monday as they open to make sure the account does not have a freeze on it which may put a spanner in the works regarding the wire transfer. I hope it all goes smoothly, positive vibes from y'all reading this would be much appreciated.

Due to sharing a room with Mr Snore I have had one or two nights of broken sleep. In fact I recorded Neal snoring last night and played it back to him today. He seemed quite amused as it does sound funny, not like normal snoring at all!

SLeeping in my $10 salvation army sleeping bag and on an old mattress that squeaks like mad when you roll over does not help matters. Still, I have a roof over my head and it is warm and remembering what it feels like to be out in the cold all night makes you count your blessings.

Another uneventful day today listening to music with Neal back at the house. Both Rodger and Willie are out cabbing today so I will see them later for dinner. I got the ok from them to stay until Tuesday night. I think they are worried I will be there for months! Rodger had some guy stay on his sofa before for 2 months after saying he was gonna be 2 days. I feel bad but they seem to be ok with me there, I am an easy house guest (those that agree say "Aye").

Neal lent me another $50 this morning and another $10 "pocket money" as he called it just now before he went to work. I have to check in to Southern Laughter for Wednesday night onwards so I need my money for that. I hope to get rooms 1, 2 or 9 as they are all good ones. It will be hard after being at Paradiso in Nelson that's for sure.

I managed to get the Fern Hill bus back yesterday for $2 which was well worth it. It takes 45 mins to walk back from town otherwise, all uphill! It is a killer. I think I will do the same tonite. :0).

So I have been thinking more of my plans moving forward. I have a rough idea of being here in NZ for 2 more weeks, going back to Oz for 2/3 weeks then to Hong Kong to see my brother then perhaps getting a flight to Colorado to ski and see old friends and then back to Shanghai for a few days and then back to London. It seems a scary thought to go back to London. It seemed scary leaving it a few months ago.

I missed my laptop for the first time a couple of days ago. I have thought of it once or twice but really missed having it the other day. Even though I get online at internet cafes it is not the same as having my lovely Sony Vaio to play with. I need to take more pictures actually. I did take one or two today of the house and the view from it but I will try harder to take it with me when I go out.

The weather turned good again today. It was not supposed to be good but a high front came in so we are having a nice dry spell. I hope it stays that way for Robin and Bizzie when they get here as I have been singing the praises of Queenstown all week. It would be a shame to have them arrive when it is raining.

I just got an email from my friend Alison back in the UK who has resigned from her job and is off to South America with her boyfriend for 6 weeks. It is nice to have a friend take a journey in some ways similar to mine and I look forward to hearing about her adventures down there.

For now I leave you with a quote I heard on TV the other day...

"Get what you want, lose what you have".

Please check out this site. I had the pleasure of hearing Jill and Stewart play in Boulder Colorado and meeting Jill socially on more than one ocassion thanks to my friend Mark (a source of inspiration and a true leveller beyond compare) peace bro!...

http://zeppox.ath.cx/~jesse/WadiRum/index.html

Old blues title for this blog entry and it partly relates to my current situation.

For all of you who think I am/was loaded due to working in the IT consulting industry, think again. I am now down to NZ$30...and thats it! This is after borrowing $120 from my friend Neal a few days ago. Funny how quick it goes when you top up your prepay on your phone, buy some crackers and cheese and a few bananas and a mars bar and one or two guiness at the Pig and Whistle.

Due to a cock up by the bank, some money I was being sent has been delayed so I now have to wait until Wednesday before I have any money of my own again, albeit a loan. Oh well, typical for me...

So yesterday was spent not leaving the house and thus not spending any money. Today I walked down the hill with Neal on his way to work. I hope to buy a few vegetables, crackers and cheese to nibble on before tucking into a meat dinner that Neals house mate Rodger knocks up every night.

Neal lives with two Queenstown cabbies, Rodger and Willie. Rodger is an ex Pommie and Willie is a Kiwi. They are both over 50 and are good lads as they have welcomed me to stay for a few days and Rodger cooks a meal every night. Neal is normally at work so I get his food :0).

I will feel better once I have money of my own. Right now I am a bit down. I cheer up when I get text messages though so feel free to send one (+64 21 058 3235).

So for a few more days i will be bound to the TV and watching E! or Sky Movies. Today is warm but cloudy. The weather is due to improve by Tuesday. I was told that this is the worst summer for rainfall and sunshine in NZ for 50 years or something silly like that! I picked a good time to come. Don't get me wrong there are some great days, just not enough of them.

Queenstown is not as busy as I thought it would be. It is no busier than the last two times I came here, or so it seems.

Some more good news, Robin and Bizzie are hoping to drive down from Nelson and be my sugarmammas! It will be great to see them here in Queenstown.

My friend Justine just sent me a quote from a book she is reading so I thought I'd steal it and post it here...

"Traveling (and one might as well say living) turns us into creatures of hap and contingency. We are forever navigating in fog, where the sensations of the moment are intense, and both our point of departure and our intended destination are lost to view in our concentration on the overwhelming here-and-now. Things are constantly happening, but we’re in no position to judge their meaning and significance."

I must add that time takes on a different meaning when you are travelling. I never know what day it is and rarely what time it is! This makes for a very unstructured and sometimes uneventful day but often it makes for a remarkable and incredibly enjoyable day, I'll take the rough with the smooth...

The day before yesterday (great start to a line) I went to the town centre in Nelson for the last time, or what I thought would be the last time. As it happended on the way back to the hostel I met Beth so I turned around and headed back into town with her. We met Max on his way back from town and he turned around and all 3 of us ended up in Nelson town centre once more.

Beth stopped off to check her email so Max and I decided to wander round and see some places we had never seen before. The main one for me was Queens Gardens which is a lovely little park area that I had never seen in all my visits to Nelson. What a little jewel it was. "It's not Hyde Park..." Max said as we went in through the gates (Max spent 2 years working in London) but it was nice enough.

Back at the hostel the mood was sombre, some people who have been here a while just sit and talk about the same stuff over and over and I missed having Robin around to talk to.

The evening was quiet, and after kicking a ball round with Gareth for a while Robin and Bizzie turned up fresh from their kayak trip to Abel Tasman. We helped them eat some bread and dips and veggies and Tim Tams and also some wine. We all hit the sack soon after.

I got up early to get the shuttle to the airport and said goodbye to Robin or at least, see you later. I met Carl the night porter still up in the small kitchen as he was unable to sleep after his shift ended at 6am. Carl and I had jammed a few nights before and it was good to have someone to play guitar with. It seemd the whole hostel was full of guitar players the other day.

The flights to Christchurch and Queenstown are beautiful. I still stand by what said about the best way to see New Zealand is from the air. Truly stunning scenery.

Ok, time to get a coffe, search the ads for a guitar and go buy a few nibbles to keep me going for the day, then back up the hill to the house to watch Sky TV. It ain't all bad...

This is the third time I have visited Queenstown. The only other part of New Zealand I have visited as much is Nelson. I made a promise to myself to return to the places I liked the most and sure enough I have kept that promise.

Queenstown is always a pleasure to return to. I miss my friends in Nelson but it was nice to catch up with Neil again yesterday. We went to the salvation army store in town to get a sleeping bag for me ($10) and then off to the Pig and Whistle for a guiness.

An ozzie guy got a light off Neil and invited himself to sit with us. He was an ok guy but the conversation got a little heated at times and I just wanted a laugh with Neil but we ended up leaving after a few more drinks and went for a FERGBURGER..

Yes back to the best burger in New Zealand. Yum! Neil said he had not had one since the last time we went there some time ago. A visit to the World Bar followed where I am sure the average age of the punters was 22. Some pool was played and then I began to fall asleep.

Oh, I watched the Taupo sky dive that Neil and some others did when I did mine on his DVD player at the house. It was good to see old travelling companions doing their jumps as we only saw our own jump on the day.

Today we walked down to town from fern hill road which is downhill all the way but I am not looking forward to the climb back up. A cab ride from town to their house is $10 so the walk will save me some money.

I think I will spend an hour or so chilling here in town, reading the classifieds for a cheap $30 guitar for sale and perhaps have a coffee. Neil lent me some money yesterday and I hope to make it last until I have some more of my own. Rest assured this money will stretch much further than before.

To be honest I am considering cutting the journey short, well it was changed once so I will change it back again. I have been on the move for almost 3 months now so that was really the time I alloted for the journey. If so I will maybe go to Oz for 3 weeks and then to Hong Kong for a short time to visit my bro and then to Shanghai briefly to visit my friend Dave if he is around. If not, I may just switch the flight back from Hong Kong.

I would love to visit Colorado before returning the the UK and see some of my old friends there and catch the end of the ski season. We shall see. For now I must enjoy the time I have left in New Zealand. It will all be over far too soon.

Trying to sleep in my room last night was next to impossible. You see, it is right next to 3 toilets on the ground floor of the hostel and last night everyone, and I mean everyone in the hostel must have gone to the toilet during the night as all I heard was the cisterns filling back up the whole time.

I have had this room before (Room 12) and had a similar experience although to a lesser extent. So be warned, room 12 at the Paradiso backpackers in Nelson, avoid if you don't like the sound of flushing toilets!

Tomorrow I fly to Queenstown and leave Nelson and my friends behind. I am getting tired of these goodbyes, it is very draining for someone of my emotional nature. Hardest to leave behind will be Robin, as we have struck up a close friendship. Maybe I will see her and her friend Bizzie in Queenstown if they decide to go there next week. Who knows.

I recommend the email place on Bridge Street, East of Trafalgar Street, for internet access. Avoid Aurora Tech, I had a bad experience with them asking me to pay when my machine broke down during a lengthy email.

It seems some long term stayers at the Paradiso are moving on soon also. I think I know most of the backpackers who work at the hostel now. They all live in the staff house behind the hostel which is a cool place, if a bit of a mess. They are a good crowd and I will miss them too.

Due to my money situation I may try Woofing (Workers On Organic Farms) at Kinloch Lodge near Glenorchy. This was recommended to me so I will give them a call and see if they need anyone. Apparently they always need workers and it will be some income and a good experience too.

The last few days have been glorious as far as the weather is concerned. Yesterday got a little cloudy and cool in the afternoon but cleared up later which was good as Robin called me to say she and Bizzie were on their way to the Honest Lawyer Pub so I got hold of Gareth with the van and we shot off there. Beth managed to get off work and came out in a cab and Robin and Bizzie whowed up with wine tour people in tow. A feast was had and we retreated to the hostel and off to bed as Robin and Biz are off Kayaking today, doing the same trip I did at Abel Tasman National Park. They have a nice day for it.

I am off to wander the town one last time, or at least for now...

You may notice from time to time that wierd comments appear in the blog. These are automated spam that hit blog comments and the site owners are doing what they can to lessen the impact of these messages.

Due to running low on money and not checking my account regularly I will be changing my plans again, so watch this space...

What a day! I realize I only have $40 left and have the worst hangover I have had for a long time.

So no big entry today just a big dose of feeling sorry for myself until my headache goes away.

Oh, yes, I am off to Queenstown on Wednesday. :0). No money so I will be enjoying the free stuff, wind, sun etc....

Ok more pics folks, enjoy...

Paradise at the Paradiso

I manage to walk on water...

Beth and Robin have a hug

Robin, ready for work

Dermot takes a moment to reflect...

View from Cathys balcony of Lake Macquarie, Australia

Mirrabooka Motors!

Paul and Leannes back yard, Mirrabooka, Australia

Robins famous smile

Arrgh, more pictures to come but this PC wont recognize the card!!

Oh well. I will have to put them up another time :0(.

For now...

I am moving on from Nelson to Queenstown but not sure if it will be today or tomorrow. Flights are very expensive due to the time of year. Lovely day today, no clouds, busy streets, markets going on, it seems a shame to leave.

When something inspires you, do you not act in line with that inspiration?

For example, when setting up this blog I chose to call it "The Road Not Taken" as it needed a title and having once again read the poem of the same title by Robert Frost a short time before, it became my chosen title. Along with that came the notion of being a traveller taking the path less travelled. I tend to do things a little differently than others so it seemed kind of apt.

There is one line that I identified with however and that was the line "Knowing how way leads on to way, I doubt it if I should ever come back". Often the thought of returning somewhere is much better than actually going back. Plus it is always a good idea to look forward and not back (mostly regarding relationships but this applies to other situations in life too).

Returning to New Zealand I no longer identify with this notion. I guess I do really but coming back to New Zealand felt like coming home in a way and that was a nice feeling to have while being so far from home. Yet home is a wierd notion to me of late due to living in the US for a while and only having spent a few weeks back in the UK before leaving on this trip.

I guess what I am trying to say in such a long winded fashion is that most of the time I do not like to go back to things but to move forward to new experiences, new places, new faces as these things keep you from feeling bored and stagnant. I am sure I am not alone in this notion, yet due to the routines we all have to adhere to at some point in our lives we forget that we can and must move forward and experience what we have not yet experienced, reach out even if it feels uncomfortable to do so, stretch our boundaries to the limit, throw caution to the wind and many other inspiring cliches... ;0).

No, really. Take time today to do something new. Then tell me what you did, I would like to know.

As for me...I had my morning coffee at a different coffee house...beat that! :0).

Everywhere I go I see buskers playing on the streets. It makes me want to do the same. I need to get hold of a cheap(ish) guitar and get up some chops once more and learn some old songs I used to play and perhaps I can make some money at last.

I was listening to my iPod the other day and even though I have about 3500 songs on there I really only listen to about 50 or so on a regular basis. Ok so Howie Day still gets a lot of play but I stumbled across an old demo of an Oasis track called "Little James" and just like its simplicity so have been wanting to play it ever since.

With that in mind I have found the lyrics and chords (wow Liam a Dm, C, G progression!!) and will promptly pop round to the local music shop here in Nelson and bore them with my rendition for a while.

For those of you also musically minded I suggest you check this out, it is a very simple little track with some nice lyrics and a simple but timeless progression which just makes you want to sing and play...

http://www.oa515.com/tabs/littlejames.txt

...Let me get what I want", sang the Dream Academy and sometimes I feel the same way, if only I knew what it was I wanted.

Strangely enough I am feeling a bit jaded and lost. Has New Zealand become too familiar for me that I am getting bored of it or is it just my usual short term attention span for anything that makes me feel I am ready to cut the travel and get back to reality and put down some roots.

Did I not try that in America?! Sort of I guess. Not sure if I will ever totally get used to being an alien in a foreign land. Does that mean London is calling me back? Possibly, if only the weather would improve :0).

It may be just another mental hurdle to overcome as I move along on my journey. There have been a few of those and this time may be no different but it does "feel" a little different. No chance in really figuring it out just move on and see what happens next.

...My trip to Manly the other day. I decided I would get out on the water before I left for NZ.

I opted to walk to Circular Quay from Chinatown where I was staying to take in some of the city. Some dude asked me if I could spare $2 for a ticket....jeez, walk like me mate......can you believe it, he was not a tramp just a loser...

The Quay was busy, the day was heading for 90 degrees and I strolled onto the Manly ferry I had heard so much about. The trip to Manly was quick, about 20 minutes or so it seemed. Getting off the ferry you are met by a couple of harbor side beaches by the wharf. To get to the ocena beach you walk up the "Corsa" past the shops and there is the beach like a light at the end of a tunnel.

By this time I was far too hot and there is no shade around the beach area so I dived into a cafe for lunch and people watched for a hour or so. I found a bench in the shade for another while and was tired from lack of sleep in the dorm room so decided to head home.

On the return trip my phone died on me! I managed to find a Vodaphone store and they told me to take it back for repair in NZ where I bought it. Oh no, the thought of being without my phone for a week or more put me in a bad mood.

I stormed back to the hostel and my mood was black due to the bad news and the heat getting to me. Back in the room the air con went on and I lay on my bed pondering life without text messages.

30 minutes later one of my roomies, Jerome from Le Mans in France, walked in with a nice little Vodaphone bag in his hand. He had just bought a new phone! I told him mine was bust and what was he doing with his old one.

Long story short...I bought his phone off him. A bit lame I guess but I can always resell it or better give it to some other traveller in need of a phone (yes Robin that means you).

So I have been messing with my new (or old) toy and have Vodaphone on the case to fix my phone.

I almost went out that night with the Irish lad in my room and his buddies and also the American girl asked me to come out with her crowd. Due to my long journey the next day I sadly declined the offers but part of me wished I was there longer to get to know my roomies and their friends. Tough luck mate.

So, early to bed, early to rise....please re-read my "Oh Lordy Lord" entry as this one takes off from where this one ends...

Never, ever, EVER again am I going to do what I did the other day.

Having decided to return to New Zealand ASAP I managed to book a horendous flight schedule. My Sydney to Auckland flight was at 9.30am getting to Auckland at 2.30pm NZ time. I had 2 hours before my next flight to Wellington and then one hour for my next flight to Nelson getting me to my final destination at around 7.15pm. Well that was the plan on paper.

The day itself went a little differently...

I left the hostel at 6.30ish. I was awake most of the night as I had been the night before due to the heat, humidity and just being back in a four bed dorm after the luxury of having my own room at Kathys house in Australia. Actually at 6am the American girl in my dorm came in from her night out and said "Time to wake up" as she knew I was leaving at 6ish. She clambered into her bed as I was climbing out of mine.

The day was lovely, blue sky and nice and warm. I made the 10 minute walk to Central station and got my (expensive) one way ticket to the international station ($11!!!). I checked in with no hitches and the first leg of my journey went pretty smoothly apart from having a middle seat with Mr bad breath to my left and Mr extremely fidgety to my right. We landed in Auckland, all ok.

Now. I had to go through customs and pick up my bag and go to the domestic terminal and check in for my internal NZ flights. The line at customs was huge. It took over an hour to get to a desk as their shifts kept changing and "CLOSED" would appear on the desk to our dismay, making the customs process even longer. Picking up my bag I had 45 minutes until my next flight. I scrambled out and got a trolley to do the 10 minute dash to the domestic terminal. I got there sweating and panting and checked in with no problems. However my boarding time was not right........hmmmmmm.

Getting to my departure lounge there was an announcement that my flight was delayed. This meant I may not get my connection! I went back through security and to the Air NZ sales desk to enquire...they said the nelson flight would be held back so I was ok...they gave me a new seat for some reason and that was that.

Going back through security one more time they decided to search my bag. The lady pulled my stuff out and ran the bag again, found some nail clippers I thought I had lost and then so that is ok and put it all back!!!!! Then they did a random explosive residue check on me.

To be honest the rest of the journey was uneventful but it was just a stressful day. I got to the Paradiso and had my own double room so I could spread out and relax.

I spent that night with some old friends from my last visit here (Beth, Gareth and Robin) and said hi to some others. It was sad that Dermot and Taichi were not around but they have moved on recently. C'est la vie. No more teaching Taichi English and no more hearing Dermot ask me if I want some of his whiskey.

Yesterday was sunny and lovely. I wandered into town and had a crepe. A Swiss lady (Babu) runs the crepe stall in town. I think she is a bit of a hippy as she is after two reggae/dub festival tickets at Kaikoura in the middle of January. Anyway her crepes are fabulous. I ran off to Cafe Affair and got a coffee for myself and one for Robin who was working diligently back at Paradiso as she nows works there in addition to Cafe Affair. I was so tired yesterday and was going to go out with Robin after her shift finished but she got off late and we were both tired and turned in for the night.

Today I woke to the sound of rain. Arse! It does this in Nelson. Miserable. I went to re-check into my room.....no luck, it was booked out already so I am looking for a motel room, or I may be allowed to stay in Robins tent which I have done before but when it is wet it is miserable as her tent leaks.

Still no plan yet. I want to go to Queenstown but not sure when I will go. I also want to head north to the Bay of Islands. We shall see. I don't like rushing around.

I am in a wierd place mentally right now as I am fed up with living out of a bag and not having a regular paycheck coming in. I am sure that will pass.

Hmmm, still very tired today. I may go to the movies later. It's a toss up between "Oceans Twelve" and "Spongebob Squarepants The Movie", tough choice.

Now in Sydney. One more two hour train ride from Morisset. I will probably do a harbor cruise or ferry tomorrow, apart from that not sure what I will get up to...

To be continued...

Ok, I had better let you know about my time over here for Christmas and New Year.

Christmas day I was woken for pressie opening over at Leanne and Pauls house. After the ripping and gasping at gifts we got ready to head down to Sydney for Xmas lunch. We stopped at more family on the way but made it down just in time for lunch.

"Prepare yourself" I was told when we got there.......35 people for lunch in a smallish house, it was tight but fun and riotous....minor food fights between the two tables ensued and after lunch more pressie opening was follwed with intense wrapping paper fights.

All good fun, but I was still sick so felt a bit crap most of the day, the best time being in the van where I could sit with my eyes shut for a while.

Boxing day was spent having fun by the lake.

Now, New Years eve...

Kathy drove me to Sydney and we went to Bondi Beach (pictures to follow). Amazing beach and surf here, lots of people, more arrived by the time we left at around 2pm and I can only imagine what it was like for midnight.

We then drove into the city where they were busy closing roads for later. We parked at the Rocks area near the harbour bridge and opera house. We went down to Circular Quay where Kathy decided that with the car it was hassle for her to stay. She had arranged with friends to see the fireworks from a penthouse in Kings Cross. Rob, Kathys friends son in law was working on the penthouse where the guy who owned it did not like the place and it is being gutted and re-designed. Anyway...

Kathy left and I went round to the Opera house and around. Very busy, alcohol checks and bag checks all over which slowed the pace a bit. I called Marcia (Kathys friend) to let her know I would meet them for the fireworks at 9pm (Sydney has 9pm fireworks for familes and then the midnight ones). I headed to "The Cross" where you are met by strip joints, ladies of the evening, touts and general hubbub.

I called to say I was there and Marcia said they were on their way. 15 mins later I called again...disaster....one of their crew had fallen and hurt his ankle so they were delayed. I waited another 45 mins by the fountain until she arrived. We sat with her family for a coffee and then shot off to the building, up to the top floor where the others were camped on the balcony.....the place was a shell, just the walls and that was it....however...

The view was spectacular. You could see all of the city and the harbor, bridge, opera house , the lot. After tucking into my 3 litre box of wine and nibbles the sun was going down. We had some fun with binos looking at other buildings and their goings on...Woosie told us he saw a girl changing in her bedroom but told us this after the fact.....!

After the sun set the city view was incredible. It cannot be described. the lights of the city and the boats on the harbor were amazing. At 9pm we had the fireworks which were great. They were not staying for midnight with the kids so we had to leave the building. My plan ( yeah right I had a plan) was to head back to the Quay and mad crowd. On the way I felt tired and drunk and it was only 10pm. They had shut Circular Quay station due to the crowds so I decided I had already seen the best view of the night and 2 more hours of drinking would put me in the Harbor itself so I headed home...

Jeez, trains north were few, I had to wait 40 mins for mine and then I realized it was a 2 hour journey!!!!! So I had midnight on the train with locals and random drunks. One guy in particular wanted to shake everyones hand and kiss all the women. I got to Morriset station at 1.20am and Kathy picked me up as I had text'd Briget with my arrival time.

Now some folks are surprised I did not stay for midnight as I am sure are 90 percent of you reading this, yet as you know I do things differently than most folks so there............

Anyway I hope you get a taste of the time I have had. Oh yes I left my camera with Kathy in the event I lost it so no pics from the penthouse, sorry!

Welcome 2005, I hope you treat me well this year...

Ok, still using song titles for blog entries...this time Howie Day....just apologising for the lack of recent blog entries.

Anyway. I have almost recovered from my illness so I will be moving on. The plans are changing in my head every day. To head north up the coast, head south, stay in Sydney for a few days....and also a desire to finish New Zealand as I still have much to do there.

I think many people have their own opinions and would do things their way yet as I always find and this blogs title (The Road Not Taken) backs it up, I often do what others would probably never do. Oh well, that's just me.

With the aid of my family I now have some extra funds to use which will come in handy for accomodation and food. Luckily, staying with my lovely Aussie relatives has meant that I have not had to spend much money. That is soon to end.

The last few days have been great, nice and hot. Therefore we have spent some time by the lake on the boats, the kids have been wakeboarding and wine and beer has been drunk in abundance. Sunsets have been enjoyed and old tales of women wearing nothing but a fur coat (Peter, nice story mate) to a party have been told.

Last night after dark Paul took us out on his boat to go crabbing. This involves chugging along at a slow pace, people out front with torches on the water and people at the back (scoopers) to catch any crabs spotted. Now this may seem easy but as soon as the crab sees the light he/she dives down under the surface so you can't hang about.

After a good 45 mins of seeing nothing Paul shouted "CRAB" right on my side....I had probably 3 or seconds to spot it and get my net under the water as he was going down......luckily (skillfully) I got him. It was a male so we did not have to put him back in (if you get a female with eggs you always put them back). He was a nice size and today I have the shell with his face sitting by my bed in trophy fashion as they cooked him up this morning and brought me the meat, how nice.

So my first crabbing trip was a success! Deep sea Marlin fishing next...

I am now in Oz. I am staying at Cathys house near Lake Macquarie north of Sydney. Sorry the blog entries ran dry but I was sick in NZ and went to the doctor here in Oz who told me I had Bronchitis and Asthma so I am on antibiotics and an inhaler! It sux!

It is lovely and warm here, in contrast to the variable NZ weather. I have already been eaten alive by mossies who seem to have a predeliction for biting me on my arse!

I have my own room here and Cathy makes the best muffins so I am on tea and coffee and muffins to aid my recovery. Cathy has a little dog called Bridie and her daughter Leanne has two big dogs called Lizzy and Moss. It is nice to have dgs around again. Bridie is small so you can pick her up and pet her, she is cute.

I must plan for my next portion of my trip. I will be going back to NZ for a visit to see some friends soon (yes Robin that means you). I was planning for New Year as I hate new year and it would be good to be with some fun folk for that but my debilitating (yeah right) illness makes me think it will be more like the first week in January.

So it will be Christmas and new year with my Aussie family. Cathys daughter and husband and two kids live right next door. In fact Bridget just popped in to say she was off to get some lunch for her Dad and everyone so I will be over there soon to chow down.

I will miss my UK family on Christmas day but my Aussie family are great so even though I am at deaths door (big baby) I will still have a good time.

Back to the iron lung then...........(such a bad patient)....

The Paradiso at Nelson should be renamed Hotel California as you can check out any time you like but you can never leave...

I keep checking in for one more day here. It is the free swimming pool, the free pool table, the free breakfast, the sun, the people. Without a doubt this is the best hostel in NZ. I took a few photos around the hostel today (including one of me jumping into the swimming pool as a forfeit for losing at pool) and will post them here soon.

That said I will be leaving on Thursday for Auckland. The Bay of Islands will have to wait for another time as I am heading for Waiheke Island. I will stay there for 3/4 days before flying to Sydney. I have been told by a reliable source (Dermot from Limerick) that the YHA is right next to the beach. Sweet As!

So the end is near. I have to get my head into the Aussie mindset. It will be hard after being here for so long but the second phase of my trip is about to begin so watch this space...

Unfortunately I am very tired today after my rafting trip to Abel Tasman this morning. The reason I am tired is I did not go to bed again until 3am....I know, you are all shocked...

I do have photos of the trip but I will have to post them when I get the use of a USB machine. The trip through the park was great! There was a fair wind so the guide (Pete) asked if we wanted to sail the first leg and we all decided we would love to start with that so the sail went up.

It was a good lazy start for me being so tired from the night before. As it turns out many places in the park are sheltered from the winds and make kayaking a dream here. When you get out of those sheltered bays it becomes harder and the waves are choppy but that makes it fun too.

We stopped off at a small beach and dragged our boats up on the sand while Pete brewed tea, coffee and hot chocolate along with a selection of biscuits, his own faves being the ginger nuts which " are great for dunking" he added.

Hot choccy on a beach was a new one for me...

We paddled more along the coastline of the park and saw a few seals on the rocks. We stopped at a beautiful beach (pics to follow) for a great lunch and general lazing around. I took a few shots through the caves at tge end of the beach and then lay on the beach while others (only 6 punters in our group) walked up the track for a view of the bay and Pete and my kayak partner for the day, Michael from Denmark, got busy with the frisbee.

It seemed like hours before we got the kayaks ready for action again and futher along the coast we got some seals playing and swimming near our boats. Heading in for the last part of the trip the wind was against us and we had a hard time getting back in.

The ride back to the bus was by water taxi. We had a big ginger bearded Scot who hates Aussies and enjoyed dropping one of the guides (an Aussie) off in chest deep water for him to wade in to the beach. He could have got much closer but hey, "he's only an Aussie".

I have a plan....

I am going to fly to Auckland and then fly on to Pahia further north (flying due to time constraints rather than a love of the prop planes here) I will try to book a day out sailing around the Bay of Islands and then return to Auckland and stay on Waiheke Island for a few days before flying out to Sydney.

I will be very sad to leave New Zealand. I really feel like I am beginning to get used to being here. Kiwis are great. I hope I find the Aussies as friendly and hospitable and full of character, let's wait and see eh bro!... :0).

I am losing track of my movements right now. I forget where I have come from and am not sure where I am going next. It is a wierd feeling.

I have been in Christchurch for the last two days at a hostel out of the town centre. It was a little too quiet. I had to play free pool on my own! However, I did go rafting with Rangitata rafts and that has been a highlight of the trip.

The day started with sunshine and no clouds. The bus trip to the rafting place takes just under two hours across the Canterbury plains. The lodge where they run the trips from is nice and has two very friendly dogs, "Brown Dog" and "Duck Face". The guides are a good laugh especially Bob who said he was back to rafting after a long break so he may not be too good. We ended up with BOb as our guide...

He was joking of course, he was a great guide. You get a good 30 minutes of floating along getting to know fellow rafters and have a few jokes. I was at the front with Sam from London and behind us were Sams wife Lucy an American couple Eric and Cathy and another English girl Gemma.

Gemma wanted to be tipped at some point if we did not go in one of the rapids so Bob did just that when we were not expecting it. It was pretty refreshing in the water and after that any splashing from other rafts meant nothing as we were already soaked.

The whole trip was great, you get to swim some parts of the river and even float through small rapids where you tend to swallow a lot of water. We did manage a good "surf" at one point where you face up river and hit the rapid from behind so to speak and you surf the wave....at the front of the raft you get soaking wet, absolutely fabulous though.

I thoroughly recommend this trip as you get to do Grade V rapids!

Today I was up at 6am to get a shuttle to the airport to fly to Nelson. Yes another flight...but you get to view the scenery from the air. The little planes get totally thrown around up there which can be daunting and if you are at all scared of flying do not take these little planes!

So, back in the Paradiso hostel again. This place is very friendly, most people who stay here are open to chat although most are very young indeed, I still have a problem with the age difference, I feel like I am back at college most of the time. Get over it Steve!

Typical, I have not booked the Abel Tasman trip for tomorrow. This place makes you so lazy. It is a great place to relax. Free soup is at 6pm and I have paid my $6 for the dinner they cook up here. I may stray into town later with Dermot from Limerick and TaiChi from France who are in my room. They are both on working holidays for a year.

I am still tired from rafting yesterday and need a kip. Perhaps tomorrow will be a pool day....life is hard up here in the north of the south island. It may be even harder once I get to Pahia and the Bay of Islands ;0).

Like an idiot I left my book on the plane this morning but I called Origin Pacific who found the book and kindly said they will hold it for me. So I have to either get a ride to the airport or I will fly out to Auckland and pick it up then. I am really enjoying this one too so I was annoyed at myself.

The book is called "Ghost Riders" by Richard Grant and basically it covers the history (and current interviews) of Nomads in the American West. I recommend it as a good travel read and interesting history lesson too.

I have little idea of what is happening outside of NZ so please let me know if anything exciting happens.

So, today I got up and would you believe it, not a cloud in the sky! Franz Josef welcomed me in all it's glory this morning, in fact I could say I saw Franz Josefs morning glory...but I won't...

I was on the next leg of my Intercity bus ride up to Greymouth with the intention of catching the train to Christchurch the next day. I find out while on the bus that the bus gets to Greymouth 30 minutes before the train departs for Christchurch so I go to the travel centre at Ross where we stop for a while and book the train.

Yippee! I did not want to spend the night at Greymouth anyway having just survived one Friday night there some time ago (where Myself and Nelly ripped up the dance floor of the railway tavern). So here I am now back in Christchurch after a lovely journey across the southern alps from Greymouth to Christchurch. I thoroughly recommend it should you come here. We lucked out with the weather though which made the trip one to remember.

The following are pictures of the train journey and also some from Franz Josef.

Stopping at a beach next to the Tasman Sea on the way to Franz Josef (looks cold but it was nice!)

Franz Josef at 9am this morning

Stopping at Arthurs Pass on the way to Christchurch

Shortly after leaving Arthurs pass

There is a bridge in this one...

A river runs through it

Don't stick your head out too far, there's a tunnel approaching

The southern alps

This one was taken from my seat, no viewing deck for me, no siree...

One for the road

The trip lasted around four and a half hours but did not seem long at all really. The last section of the Canterbury plains are very flat and gave me time to tune out and listen to some music and not "concentrate" on the scenery, boy does it tire you out looking at beauty.

I must add that the bus driver we had up to Greymouth talked pretty much the whole way. He had some interesting things to say. It does make a difference when you get a local giving you the low down and with some good humor too.

If I can change my flight to Australia I will have two more weeks here and if the weather keeps up it will be a bloomin' good time. I doubt the weather will co-operate somehow.

I trated myself to a single room in a hostel tonight. Still the same old noise outside the room so it doesn't really make that much difference. I think the two nights before I fly to Oz I will check into a hotel and splash out in celebration of my time in NZ slumming it in it's hostels. In fact they have been pretty good overall. Very few complaints. I do miss my own space though.

It is approaching 10pm here at Vadal on Cathedral Square. I am tempted to go to the Irish pub "The Bog" but may get some wine instead and see what's going on back at the hostel.

Oh, the Irish bar in Queenstown Pog Mahones is taken from the Irish "Pog Ma Thoin" which means "Kiss My Arse", excellent...I did not know that until my last visit there. :0).

Until the next time, this is Mork signing out, Nanu Nanu...

Today I spent my birthday on a bus from Queenstown to Franz Josef. Not the best way to spend the day but it was my fault for booking the trip! So no real stories to tell on this special day so I will just ramble on about something else...

Riding on the Intercity bus today listening to my iPod, which thankfully lasted all the way due to some charge left in the battery, I spent some time in deep thought. Some would say I was asleep but I prefer the deep thought idea.

I was pondering on the fact that I am still wandering and not settled. I do wish to be settled but am not and as every year passes it makes me wonder where it will all end. Back in Queenstown a dutch traveller thought I was 25 when I mentioned my upcoming birthday! I do not look old so does my psyche reflect that? Do I yearn for a perfect relationship or just a normal one that makes me feel perfect?

I guess it is different for everyone. Yet I am still searching for a worthy job. By worthy I mean one that is worthy of me. Something I can put heart and soul into. This, among other things has alluded me for 36 years.

Lets not be down on the situation. I am in many ways luckier than a huge number of other less fortunate souls on this planet and I do like to remind myself of that fact when I feel a little melancholy.

So what happens next? Do I keep on trying something new in an attempt to stumble upon what I need, what I want, what I desire? Is some form of plan not in order? Plan!! Plan!!!!!! Good god the word itself makes me quake in my boots. I can hardly bring myself to plan one day in advance over here let alone figure out a five year plan. I have always been this way, or so it seems.

I recently spoke to a fairly obnoxious woman from New York who told me that even though I spent time in NY state, that I was not really in NY at all. If you were not from Manhatten then you could not call yourself a New Yorker was her claim. It is at this point I forgot what my point was so I will move onto something else :0)....(red wine, don't you love it!) ah, yes ....it was more or less along the lines of.....what an attitude to have when travelling! Surely a traveller, a globe trotter would not have such a narrow minded view. Yet I meet many folks on the road who travel for different reasons.

Many people are having a gap year or have a 1 year working visa, some are away for 9 months or more and some for a month or so. Most seem intent on drinking like fishes the whole time, something you can do anywhere in the world, they behave exactly the same as they would do at home. Now this is what seems to get under my skin. I personally find many British people the worst when it comes to travellers. I won't tar everyone with the same brush and add a disclaimer that is is in my experience that Brits are a pain in the arse abroad. I have met many europeans here who are nice people. I have met some great Irish folks but good lord where are the good British people?!

Excuse the random changes in ideas but they are just coming out and the spongy keyboard here at the Montrose Hostel is helping to get the nonsense out very quickly indeed.

I guess certain aspects of travel have me a little down of late. I am tiring of hostel life again, tiring of casual conversations about how long I am here for, how long I have left etc etc blah blah blah....yes it comes with the territory but I am not good at small talk at the best of times prefering the times when you meet people who just want a good old laugh.

My mood will improve tomorrow as I rise and head for Greymouth. Now Greymouth is nothing to write home about mind you but I did have an interesting Friday night out there once upon a time.

Back to why people travel...

Thinking of why I am here again leaves me a little non plussed. I often think of the activities I am missing out on and places I am missing out on but hang on a minute what am I chasing here? Am I chasing these things to replace what I do not have? Am I travelling to stem the tide of going back to doing something I do not like? I would have to say yes to these self posed questions.

With that in mind I tend not to want to dwell on the good the bad and the ugly of travelling and just get on with it and take it at face value. After all, isn't that what we do every day of our regular lives?

Epilogue...

I am happy to be on the road, truly I am. Who cares why I am here. I am here and that is that. Tomorrow I may not be here, I may be there instead. What was that about Robert Frost?...taking the road less travelled and all that...

Christmas is coming and I will embrace this holiday whole heartedly. I will be with relatives near Sydney so I expect a sunny Christmas morning. Sorry I will not be able to hand out gifts this year. Please accept my warmest holiday greetings instead and the next time I meet you all I will give you a big hug...and maybe a card... :0).

Another day in queenstown and i do feel the need to move on again.

I have now booked on the Intercity bus to Greymouth. This will take two days and the first stop will be Franz Josef where I missed out on a heli hike due to bad weather. The next day will take me to Greymouth for the sole purpose of catching the Tranzalpine train to Christchurch.

I plan to go rafting at Rangitata and then head up to Kaikoura. If I can successfully change my ticket to Oz then I will have one more week to travel allowing me to head up to the north island again and see Napier, Coromandel and The Bay of Islands. If I cannot get my ticket changed then I will stay around Christchurch and then fly back to Auckland before heading to Sydney.

It seems a lot to cram in to my last days in the country but it will keep me busy and rid me of my recent lazy spell. The time I have left in New Zealand is running out and I am sure it will be sad to leave. I am looking forward to Australia and perhaps relaxing a little more, taking shorter and more relaxed trips and spending money on activities only when absolutely necessary.

It will be good to be on the move again, staying one night and then moving on to the next town. That is how my journey in New Zealand began and that is how it seems it will finish. Aww, it is going to finish! Of that, I do not want to be reminded :0).

I hope they are worth the wait...

Lake Wakatipu

The TSS Earnslaw

A view down to the lake

I managed to squeeze into this one

Catching Neil off guard

The gardens by the lake

Queenstown golf course

Down by the lake/jetty

The lake in the other direction

The TSS Earnslaw leaves the dock

Yes, mountains...

The Remarkables

I may get on the Stray bus system next. I don't want to fly to Auckland so maybe a bus trip will do for now. Car hire is too expensive. We shall see.

The weather has improved here over the last two days. It still gets chilly at night and rains a little but the daytime is lovely, just what the doctor ordered.

I got a text from Nick today saying he sold his van in Christchurch. Good news as he flies out to Oz on Monday.

I am here until Saturday and will be ready to move on. I think I need more new experiences and see new places and meet new faces. It won't be long before I get to Australia and a whole new phase begins.

To travel is to be free. Granted, there are visas and immigration and laws everywhere you go so we cannot just wander the planet without a care in the world, but these days, it is close enough.

However, with the idea of travel comes the business of tourism. I don't have a problem with the tourism industry per se, however it does feel sometimes that we (the collective traveller) are offered a miriad of "packages" and then once hooked are spoon fed our experiences abroad rather than living them ourselves.

My experience of this in New Zealand was on the Magic Bus circuit. I must add that my time on the Magic Bus was an enjoyable one and i met many great people who have made my journey thus far to be a memorable one. That said, we were constantly pushed or shall I say "offered" the opportunity to do activities every step of the way. This would not be so bad if these activities were cheap but they aren't. Almost all of them are over $100 and include bungy jumps, jet boating, rafting, quad biking, river surfing, glow worm caves (thankfully missed this one) and horse treking.

All well and good but for those of us on a budget (and there don't seem to be that many of us!) it makes this part of the journey a tough one. You feel that you are missing out if you don't take part in all these fun activities. Upon reflection you do not miss out at all. I forget that i am not really a tourist at all. Let me elaborate...

When I arrive somewhere I immediately try to blend in rather than taking my camera everywhere and snaping all and sundry, in a vain attempt to be viewed as a local or long term resident rather than a gullible, rug buying, gift shop wandering tourist. Whether I achieve this or not is another matter the main thing is that I don't get overwhelmed by the tourist attractions and let that money grabbing, hand holding, ring through the nose industry dictate what I do on my travels.

Therefore I am making a concerted effort for the next few weeks to live each day here on my own terms and not get caught up in the daily internal battle I seem to fight each day of waking up and thinking what activity I should be doing or if I should sit by the water and read for hours on end. Should I play the role of a tourist or do I play myself today?

I will go sit by the water with my book and think over this question... :0).

I woke up yesterday morning needing to move on. I asked Nick what his plans were and he was off to see Lesley at her friends house and also try to get his van sold at a car market somewhere in town. It was a sunny and windy day and I headed to Cathedral square for a coffee.

Considering my options over a latte and apple and blueberry muffin I knew I wanted to return to Wanaka and relax for a while. However, it also seemed a good idea to hit Queenstown again and meet up with Neil for some more well needed laughs.

The decision was made but now the day was wearing on so the buses to Queenstown would take all day. A quick call to Air New Zealand and I was booked on a flight at 2.40pm. I called Super Shuttle who said they would pick me up from the YMCA in 10 minutes so I rushed back to the hostel, picked my bag out of storage just as the man arrived with a van load eager to get to the airport.

A young American couple who had been travelling for 9 months were on board and we chatted about their travels and mine. They had a long trip back to the US but were looking forward to returning home. I am sure I will feel the same when the time finally arrives for me to go home.

Christchurch aiport is pretty small and an hour later we walked across the tarmac and boarded a twin prop plane, one hour from our destination.

This was the scariest plane ride I have ever had. The views flying in were magnificent but the wind threw us around like we were in a tumble drier! Whoops and gasps filled the cabin as we went up and down like a roller coaster. Thankfully we landed intact. Queenstown airport is small and I remember it from visiting the New World supermarket a week or so before as they are next to each other. A short shuttle ride later I was back at Southern Laughter hostel.

This time I was given a sweet room. A four bed dorm with tv, kitchen including an oven and fridge, dining area and comfy chair! Given the nice room I may extend my stay a few more days :0).

Neil was on form again last night. We chatted to a Japanese guy in his room who could not speak English very well but burst out laughing at everything Neil said. It was so infectious we ended up there for a couple of hours. We decided to pop out for some wine but stopped in for a guiness at Pog Mahones pub.

A few pints and a 12 year old malt later we moved on after chatting with a British couple at the bar for a while. The club we headed for was shut so we hit the 24 hour store for some food and then back to the hostel to eat. I tottered of to bed at about 3.30am. Yes my wish to have a few quiet nights is still a wing and a prayer away it seems. Then again, it is my own fault for coming back to where Neil is staying. He still has not found a job out here.

Apparently I am a "rich man" for chosing to fly here. Not so, I just needed to get somewhere fast and 4 hours after deciding I wanted to leave Christchurch I was at my chosen destination, you can't beat that.

Now I am looking at the activities again. Tandem hangliding, riding in a rally car for 2 hours for $85, whatever you want you can do it here, as long as you have the money that is!

I like this part of New Zealand. It will be hard to head back up north again but I must and will make plans for that soon enough. For now I will suck up all that Queenstown and Wanaka have to offer and for me that is plenty.

There are certain elements about staying in dorm rooms that make them unique, wierd and wonderful.

I always thought it would be the snoring that would keep me awake at night but no, it has been the sound of people falling out of the top bunk, Mr O'Riordan waking me up at 6am after a night out on the town chatting away like a madman or the constant packing and unpacking of bags at all hours of the day and night.

Privacy does not exist, nor does personal space as all belongings kind of mingle together ensuring a constant if distant feeling of paranoia regarding ones personal items. I always wake up when the early risers do and check my wallet, phone and dirty socks have not be taken, either deliberately or by mistake.

Recently the standard of dorms has declined. One place in Christchurch was awful, 3 tier bunks, you had to pay for your linen and duvet and therefore make your own bed (I know, such a hardship!). They had one sink in the male toilets which had the ceiling missing, 2 toilets, one with no lock on the door and the other sort of tilted when you sat on it. The kitchen was the size of a small family car and the atmosphere was akin to what you would find in a depressing version of the stepford wifes.

Don't get me wrong, there are some pluses, I just haven't figured out what they are yet! I am kidding. The people are generally friendly, the majority being German it seems, or scandinavian, a few Americans, some Brits and a smattering of Asians.

The highlight of dorm living so far has to be the time that a German guy fell out of his top bunk and was unable to find the door to "go for a pee" as he put it. That and the fact that Neil was shining his torch at the guys bunk shouting "How many of you are up there, come on, how many!!!" which freaked me out a bit, but apparently the guy had been moaning and hitting the wall and shouting so Neil thought there must be more than one person contributing to this noisy event.

Actually the real highlight was Neil waking up all and sundry one morning in my room, including an American he named "The Rock" due to his look and desire to exercise in our room at all hours so he could "look good for the girls in Oz" and a huge Dutch guy who was amazed to find himself being grabbed by a drunken Irishman at 6am. I have not laughed so much in a long time.

I do feel the need to treat myself to a hotel room. Perhaps on my birthday I will book a nice double room in a hotel for the night. I bet I will still sleep with one eye open......just in case.....

So for the past few days apart from riding in a 1984 Nissan Vanette for hundres of kilometres I have not really done anything. You would expect therefore that I have been saving money. Not at all. In fact the opposite. Doing nothing means doing nothing during the day. At night all hell breaks lose and bar hopping means money slides out of my account like water off a ducks back.

That said, I only feel bad because everyone else has been rafting and swimming with dolphins and all that good activity stuff. I HAVE to do the rafting everyone tells me as it is the only grade V you can do here. Tales of Gavin and Lesley coming out and seeing their lives flash before their eyes makes me wonder if I will want to do it but they also mentioned the nice lodge style accommodation and general great time and atmosphere for the whole time they were there.

But where do I go from here? Most people have reached their journeys end but not I. I have at least 3 weeks left here and need to decided where I will be spending it. To hire a car will be expensive but will give me the freedom to go wherever I want, whenever I want. It will afford me the opportunity to do my part and give rides to others, something I was lucky to get for my short stint hitching in the North part of the south island.

My birthday is fast approaching and it would be nice to know where I will be for that. I am not that bothered. Wherever it is it will be remembered for some time I am sure as will this whole time in NZ.

Anyway, some more photos for you....

The Arts Centre in Christchurch

Kings pawn to e4 - check!

The Cathedral - Cathedral Square, Christchurch

So, I am off to perfect the art of doing nothing. It's a hard life and we all have our cross to bear...

Leaving Queenstown was not easy as it was growing on me and we had to leave behind our Irish mascot Neil. For this part of the journey I was to head off with Nick (The Van) in his Nissan Vanette (1984).

The morning started with a downer as Nick had lost his wallet the night before. A trip to the club and Police station and still no wallet. Over a full breakfast Nick had to cancel his cards, however he did have a few "spare" cards in case of an emergency.

A beautiful sunny day lay ahead of us and we set off on our four and half hour jaunt to Dunedin. We passed a few spots for photo ops
along the way, sometimes not even bothering to get out of the van, as can be seen here.

Nick had a massive hangover so I did my best to keep him awake and he even mustered the odd smile or two.

Upon arrival at Dunedin we checked into the On Top backpackers which was pretty empty. True to form there were pool tables downstairs for $5 an hour so needless to say we sent some time over the next few days playing down there.

Dunedin was pretty quiet but a few of our party managed to liven it up a bit, most notably Gavin who was being pushed around the supermarket in a shopping cart and was then flabbergasted when they refused to serve him wine. Not to be detered he left and changed his shirt and returned with the aim to fool the folks at the counter. I was not present at this event but was present the next day when Gavin was shall we say "ill".

Lesley and I did take a trip out to St Kilda and St Clair beaches one morning and although very cold indeed and me suffering from a cold it was nice to be out of the town and hostel.

St Kilda beach, or maybe St Clair...

St Clair Beach, or maybe St Kilda...

Lesley contemplating taking a swim

Others brave the cold for a view of the surf

I am in there somewhere underneath all the layers

For the next stint we picked up another traveller, Dan from Northern Ireland. Dan, or doctor Dan as he became known as due to his profession was not the smallest guy being a sort of mix between myself and Nick so the 3 of us in the front of the vanette was not a pretty sight.

After picking up a much needed new brake light and stopping at Baldwin street, the steepest street in the world, for a hike up there and back Dan decided the back of the van was a good place to be and layed out on the inflatable mattress for a read. Halfway to Christchurch we swapped and after a few minutes of reading Andy McNab was taking a little snooze for myself. What a way to travel. Nick did a sterling job of driving all the way, this time not with a hangover so I think that made the journey a touch easier.

The Van

With it's proud owner...

Christchurch greeted us with some sun but that soon changed as the heavens opened which meant our night on the town was a wet one and freezing cold too. This is the coldest I have been since I got to NZ. Our hostel is also the worst one I have stayed at. The Occidental Backpackers on Hereford St should be avoided at all costs. I would not stop going on about how crap it was to Nick and Dan (who stayed elsewhere). 3 tier bunk beds! Luckily I got a bottom one. Also for a place that has room for over 80 people there are only 3 showers and for the men, one sink! The place is generally a bit of a dive and after staying in a few nice places you realize when you get a dump.

I am deciding now when to take the Tranzalpine express and also if I can afford to go rafting here and up to Kaikoura to see whales and perhaps dolphins. However, I do need to curb my spending and I may want to hire a car to travel back around the south island and up north to Auckland and around the northland to finish my trip here.

I am writing this with an horrendous hangover after trawling the bars here in the cold last night. I did manage to meet up with Laura from Nuneaton again and she came along with us around town. I am still in search of a club where I can really dance. I think I will try BASE, The Church and Mission as they all seem to get good write ups. The cities tend to be a little bland here and towns such as Wanaka and perhaps even Queenstown have much more of a south island feel, or what I perceive the south island should be like. I hope to return to those places soon.

I am also crying out for some sun. Nick is selling his van here and will be off to Oz soon and from what he is saying not too soon. The weather has not been kind to us recently and we are all looking for some warmth. I know Australia will have that in spades so I will not get too bogged down with the weather although having a cold does not help matters.

That's pretty much it for a while so I will post here again when I have a plan for my next move around the island.

Tomorrow I leave for Dunedin. Not being on the magic bus anymore I have to make my own way there but Nick with the van is heading there so I can get a ride with him. I am not really getting enough time in some places so if the funds hold out I plan to return to some of them again with the aid of a hire car.

Of all the places I have already visited there are a few I would love to come back to and a few I would like to revisit just because I did not take the time to get to know the place.

Wanaka was great, relaxed and beautiful. Queenstown grows on you as it is a bit touristy. I missed the glaciers at Franz Josef and Nelson was a good spot to relax and I need to get up to Abel Tasman. Taupo in the north island was also a place where I felt at home.

So the east coast beckons and the wonders that await me. I have to decide if I will extend my NZ trip and cut short my trip to Oz. If I want to do more on the north island then another week may be needed.

A few people I have met are on their way to Oz so I may see them around Sydney at Christmas time which would be fab.

I think Neil is staying in Queenstown to look for work as he is on a year long work visa so he will be sorely missed on my travels. If anyone ever meets a guy from Dublin named Neil O'Riordan then you are in for a great time. He is incredibly funny and I wish I had taped some of the ramblings late at night as I have never heard anything like it and probably never will.

I think my own travels will change soon as people I have been travelling with go on their own way and stick to whatever schedules they have planned. It will be sad in a way but I also feel the need to get some time alone and perhaps meet others along the way.

I'm getting pretty comfy here in New Zealand, it may be hard to leave.

I forgot to mention that I saw Michael Barrymore on the luge in Queenstown. Wierd!! The luge was a lot of fun and Gavin and I had a few battles on the way down. It is worth the money and cheaper than most attractions here.

I have to get a grip and stop going out late. I rarely get back to the hostels before 2am and I am feeling the pace quite a bit now. Anyway I have more pictures for you all...

I do my Bruce Forsyth impression outside Warehouse near Queenstown

Carol, Gav and Lesley with a Weka bird on our way to Milford Sound

Milford Sound at night

Milford Sound

Milford Sound 2

Milford Sound 3

Milford Sound 4

My travelling buddies for the Milford Sound trip, Carol, Gav and Lesley

Lookit...more Milford Sound!

Carol attempts long division when she should just be enjoying the view back from Milford Sound

The happy couple

Everyone does their own thing on a stop for a photo op...

Coming into Frankton

Closer to Frankton

Down by the water in Queenstown at night

Lesley takes in the sunrise at Milford Sound

One of the many waterfalls at Milford Sound

Carol makes a new friend

Lesley braves the chill for a shot...so do I for that matter

Gavs happy it's not another Nissan Micra!

Another waterfall!...and a boat :0)

Neil (Sweet As!) and Carol

Around Frankton

Gav and Lesley give it their best camera poses

Ok, that's it for now. I hope you get a feel for the place from these shots. They can never do justice to the amazing landscapes here.

This is my 4th or 5th day in Queenstown, I am not really sure which. The weather has been a bit off so not much in the way of activities to do. I have two more nights here and then off to Dunedin in Nick's van.

I will post more photos soon of our trip to Milford Sound. Hiring a car was a plus for this trip as it takes 4/5 hours to get there and the alternative is to go by bus. We had the added bonus of staying one night on the Milford Wanderer and had a lovely 3 course meal and some kayaking around the sound seeing penguins and attempting to avoid the sandflies.

One of our priorities seem to be finding free pool. One hostel we stayed at in Nelson had a free pool table where we spent many an hour perfecting our craft. We seem to be getting pretty good at it now. In fact Gav and Nick are playing at Altitude right now which is a bar where they have free pool from 4-7pm every day. I popped off to update my blog and write a few emails.

Tonight may be a big night as most people are going out. I feel a bit under the weather today and Carol is very sick and has been in bed all day. It may have been something we ate. Gavin seems ok though. Tough as old boots he is.

So, three weeks into the trip and it feels like 3 months. The constant moving on can be tiring. I wold have liked to spend more time in Wanaka and may head back that way if I hire a car later on. Dorm life is not so bad now and you do meet some folks and have some funny experiences so I think I can carry on dorming for a while. Perhaps when I get to Christchurch I may get a hotel room for one night and treat myself.

I must admit that after the sky dive I was keen to do more. There are courses here to learn more and they are not cheap but do allow a solo jump after 1 tandem jump and some ground training. To qualify and get certified to jump anywhere in the world alone costs around NZ$4000-$5000 and you must complete 25 jumps. Out of all the qualifications I have I think that one would be the most rewarding. Not much chance of that though due to time and funds.

I have yet to go rafting which is something I have to do here in NZ. I could leave it until I get to Christchurch as the forecast here is rain for tomorrow.

Stay tuned for lovely, incredible, beautiful photos of the voyage to Milford Sound.

Ok, more pictures. Sorry they come in all at once but that is the way it goes.

Lake Taupo

Maori dancers

Carol and Gavin say cheese

I think this is Mt Taranaki but it was a while ago and I forget...(Carol told me to "Work it" and this pose is all I could manage)

Marlbrough Sound from the ferry to the south island

Marlbrough Sound from the ferry

Seals playing

A view from the coast

Not sure where to go next...

More coastline

Wanaka from outside the hostel

Gav and Carol chow down

Around Wanaka

Around Wanaka

Around Wanaka

The powerful Nissan Micra

Beauty and the Beast

Still taking pics in Wanaka

Dusk in Wanaka

Carol in full flow as Neil listens intently, Gav in the background has heard it before :0)

That's it for now. I took no pictures in Nelson as I was too busy relaxing by the pool.

We leave Wanaka in a few hours for Queenstown. I think we will meet a few more people there who headed for Queens before we did which should be a good laugh. I will definately come back to Wanaka. It is a relaxed town and beautiful scenery abounds.

Last night we all went to bed early after a busy Sunday night the first night we got here. That was due to Neil and a whole blog entry should be taken up by the events of that night or actually the following morning!

We are booked on the Milford Wanderer for an overnight cruise of Milford Sound on Thursday. Watch this space for pics.

One more leg on the Magic bus then I will be back to catching rides.

Queenstown here we come...

Too much to write and it is 1am on a rainy Saturday night but what the hey...

Greymouth was a quiet town but the people I was with (namely Neil from Dublin) makes it as good as New York. He must write a book or even better get someone to tape record him, he makes me laugh the whole time. He should be listed as an attraction.

We wonder why they have so many one lane bridges here in the south, or as Neil put it "What's the story with that like?!". The blue rivers here are beautiful. Franz Josef was rainy so no heli hike but I saved $285 so pretty happy all the same.

Ok I will write more when sober....

I must admit to feeling more relaxed down here in the south island. It generally feels like things move at a slower pace. I guess the fact that there are only 1-1.5 million people in the south that there is plenty of space to get lost in.

I have for the time being settled, if I can call it that, in Nelson which is on the far nothern coast. This is a fairly small town but large for New Zealand and definately large for the south island. Walking into town from the hostel the other day I hardly met a soul until I got close to the town centre. It has a good feel to it, or a good karma, as Simon the guy who dropped me off in Nelson would have said. I will gladly take some of this karma around with me on my travels.

Apart from one or two people I have met, I seem to be the grandaddy of the bunch. I am still amazed at the amount of people who are here for a year. They have so much time to enjoy where they are, I just hope they realize how lucky they are. I am sure they do.

We walked up to the "Centre of New Zealand" yesterday. It seems to be a reference point from where NZ maps begin. It has great views of the city and bay area but as Gav mentioned after we struggled the last 50 yards to the summit, why couldn't they have put it at ground level. I hope to improve my level of fitness and not embarass myself too much in the future as people who smoke seem healthier than I at the moment.

Some of my travelling companions are keen to work here. In fact , only yesterday Neil my room mate went for an informal chat with a company which does lab work. He is torn between getting a job here in Nelson and just travelling about. Me thinks he will stick with the travelling for a bit, in fact I will put money on it...

Yesterday was a pool day. A few of us laid around for an hour or two before I decided to walk into town and get a feel for Nelson. Most towns seem pretty quiet here in the south island.

It seems a lot of people at Paradiso stay for a few days due to the resort style feel of the place and free breaky which I am pleased to say I got up in time for this morning. Neil from Dublin is in my room and he sleeps a lot suring the day due to him normally staying up until 5am so he is still in bed (fully clothed) and Carol and Gavin are not to be found so they are either off somewhere or more likely in bed still.

I am thinking of getting on a guided kayak tour up at Abel Tasman tommorow. Each day here the weather has been fantastic so I probably do not need to worry about having a good day kayaking.

I eventually got around to getting a BBH card so I can start saving at the hostels. After some confusion this morning I got a refund for one night as I had already paid and also got the BBH discount of $2 so it is only $19 a night here, pretty good for a place that has a pool and sauna and hot tub, $6 a night food cooked for you and free breakfast!

So I am booked for 2 more nights then I may find a ride or hitch further south. I must check the map to get an idea where I am going too. It is a shame Nick with the van is not still here.

Sorry the pictures are not up yet. Most places do not let you touch the PC's or have USB connections. I will have to find somewhere in Nelson that does and get them up for your viewing pleasure.

It is 11.15am, a could get a bit of sun and a swim in before lunch... :0)

Yesterday began by catching a shuttle to the ferry terminal to get across to the south island. Checking in was a breeze, I wish airports were this easy. The ride over was spent chatting in the bar with others until we saw land and went up top to look at Marlbrough Sounds. It was a beautiful introduction to the south island and I will post pictures when I can.

Arriving at Picton (a cute little town) the others headed off to catch the Magic Bus and I headed off to a small cafe for a toasted sandwich before heading up the road and asking directions for the best hitching spot.

Walking up the road a familiar face came round the corner. It was Paul the Mancunian from the Magic Bus. He had stayed behind at Taupo an extra day and was now getting the coastal train to Christchurch and then the Tranzalpine to Greymouth. He was late for the train so we just said a quick hi and he was gone again.

I stopped in at the Villa hostel and was told where a good hitching spot was. On arrival I set my stuff down and checked my watch. I think it was around 1.30pm.

My first ride was Don, a retired builder. He picked me up after 10 minutes waiting. He only took me halfway to Belnheim which was not a good point to get off I found out so I decided to carry on to Blenheim. Another 10 minutes and 3 teenage girls and a pit bull called Brooke stopped to take me to Belnheim. They dropped me at a place that was a straight road to Nelson.

By this time the sun was beating down and it took 30 minutes before a girl called Vanessa picked me up and she was going to see a friend in Havelock which was about 1/3 of the way to Nelson.

3 rides and I am still 80km or so from Nelson. Havelock is pretty small and not much traffic passed. I thought I would be spending the night here. Then I was picked up by an ozzie called Simon. He is an avid climber and his car was a junkyard but I was so relieved to have someone who would take me all the way to Nelson. This guy was an entertaining chap alright. He had moved from Oz to Golden Bay which he described as his paradise. It was a good last leg of the hitch. 4 rides to go 140km!

I met up with my Magic buddies at Paradiso hostel which has a pool, sauna, hot tub, a bus for chilling out in at the end of the night and free breakfast and a cheap $6 meal every night that they cook for you. The hostels are getting better :0).

I may spend a few days here and wander up to Abel Tasman National Park tomorrow for Kayaking and generally take in the area. I met a brit here who has a van so he may come in handy if we meet up further south and I need a ride.

This is the time to relax a bit more after a hectic week in the north island. It's about time too...

Two big nights out has left me a bit drained to say the least. The first night was partly due to our excitement at doing the skydive at Taupo and last night....well at least we left it until 9pm before finding a bar unlike the previous days 5pm start!

The weirdest things were happening last night. We started at a sports bar as we all had 2 for 1 vouchers from the Wildlife House hostel (highly recommended hostel by the way). The bar was pretty quiet and at one point 7 police officers came in and stood around various parts of the bar. One came up and chatted to us for a few minutes. Now this seemed a bit odd to me and to the others as well.

Later at Kitty O'Sheas bar the same thing happened. I was told they look for underage drinkers, people who are drunk and those who may start trouble. They hang around so people get used to their presence and start acting normal again.

However, it was not the police who caused our group trouble, it was the bouncer at Kitty O'Sheas. On the way in we were asked how long we had been out drinking. Our 9pm answer got us in ok. Later, one of our group (John from Cork) was having a laugh with some German girls but apparently showing signs of enjoyment makes you a possible drunk and a possible problem. The bouncer spoke to him and asked him to leave. No one could believe it. This guy would not hurt a fly and was nowhere near drunk, none of us were (well perhaps Gav).

It really was the strangest thing to see people being talked to for enjoying themselves. That and the numerous police in the bar every so often made me wonder if this town has a lot of problems with drunken behaviour.

So I left the bar at around 3.30am after dancing too much and ending up being soaking wet from sweating. I left the only other two who were left (Sean and Laura). Sean made it back to our room about 5.30am which meant at 8am when we were trying to wake him for the shuttle to the ferry terminal it was an almost impossible task. Luckily Carol had the magic touch and they all made it to the shuttle. I said my farewells and hope I can catch them somewhere on the south island as they are a truly fun group.

Today I went to Te Papa museum and wandered around town a bit. It sure is windy by the harbor. I am off for a nap soon. I wonder if the whole 3 months away will be spent trying to catch up on sleep!

Today was spent on a lond drive to Welly. Not much to say about the journey really. Staying at a hostel with others from the Magic bus and soon off to town as it is Saturday night.

Last night was a long one at Mulligans bar in Taupo. Must have got back to the hostel around 2am or so and got up at 7am. I think I added 2 more hours to my total sleep for the week.

Let's hope I can have a couple of easy days in Welly to recover.

Having opted for a bus trip to Wellington, I stood at the bus stop in Parnell awaiting the arrival of the Magic Bus. Now the Magic bus company are one of two that are popular with backpackers but not as much of an 18-30 piss up as Kiwi Experience buses.

Todays agenda was to head to Rotorua via Waitomo caves where people can pay through the nose to see glow worms. After arriving at the caves those who were doing a tour got off the bus and only 2 people were left on the bus, me and some Irish guy. As it turns out the caves were no great shakes and some spent $80 floating around in wetsuits (they call it blackwater rafting) to see the caves. I was pleased that I was not being drawn into the touristy stuff, not all of it anyway.

The best part of the bus trip was the characters that are on the bus, some of whom are now at Mulligans Irish bar in Taupo waiting for me to return to see an English guy who just turned up who had been sharing a room with one of the guys on our bus who is apparently a bit "mental". Most people on the bus seem to run into previous room mates and it is becoming a bit of a theme. Anyway I digress.

Yesterday after a traditional Hangi meal and Maori concert (I know very touristy but what the heck) I returned the the hostel with new found friend Mulati from Canada. She was looking for other friends who said they would be there. We found them and also found some others who they had befriended including a Brit from Harrow my home town. As it was Karaoke night at the hostel bar I opted for bed early. However, I did not get much sleep again and wonder if it is me or the hostels that are causing this insomnia.

Today we headed for Taupo. Taupo is beautiful, especially from 12,000 ft....yes I did my first tandem sky dive today and Mum if you read this, I obviously would not have told you before I did it but I am safe and sound and totally amazed at the experience. I highly recommend it, it is something out of this world. Pretty much everyone on our bus did the jump and we are celebrating our safe returns to earth at the Taupo bars tonight.

I must head back to the bar to check out this weird English guy and soon go back to the hostel for some sleep, should I manage any.

Tomorrow is a long drive down to Wellington where a whole new and different adventure awaits me, no more touristy stuff, at least for a while.

This machine will allow pics to be uploaded so here are a few...

Auckland from the top of Mt Eden

Rangitoto Island from Mt Eden

The trendy part of Mt Eden shops

Viaduct Harbor

Viaduct Harbor from the Waterfront Cafe

Ferry buidling from the Kawau Kat

Heading to Rangitoto Island

Rangitoto Island

Lava Caves

View from the top of Rangitoto

View from the top of Rangitoto

View from Rangitoto

A lone hiker has lunch on the island

A penguin says hi...

This clever one got a coat from somewhere

View from Tamaki Drive

View from Tamaki Drive

More to come...

Tomorrow I depart Auckland for Rotorua and then on to Taupo and then Wellington. I chose a trip over the harbor to Rangitoto Island on the Kawau Kat. The twenty minutes to the island flew by and it reminded me how much I like being on boats.

The hike up the volcano was not bad to begin with, lots of lava everywhere and a nice walk down a fern jungle was great. Near the top I checked out the lava caves and needed my torch to wander into the darkness. At which point I banged my head on the roof of the cave. These caves have not seen molten lava for a very long time but it must be longer than they have heard the four letter words echo through the dark void. Twas just a scratch so no ER visit was required.

I headed to the summit and was rewarded with beautiful views of Auckland and the surrounding islands. Just beautiful. I headed back down the way I came up to catch the 1pm scheduled ride back across to Auckland. Due to getting back earlier than expected I headed for Kelly Tarltons aquarium. The bus ride along Tamaki drive was great. No wonder peaple roller blade along here all the time.

The aquarium was ok, the penguins were especially good as you get pretty close to them in your tour car. Apart from that it is a little understated. I am just updating the blog then I need some sunscreen as the stuff I have is like alcoholic gel! Then back to Parnell for a home made dinner before relaxing and planning the next few days in the north island.

I will get pics up when I can as I have taken loads already but no internet cafe I have found allows me to upload pics.

Until tomorrow...

I was woken this morning by the duty manager telling me they needed to change the sheets as I was due to check out today and it was after the check out time of 10am already. I packed up and then set off for Parnell where I had arranged a stay at a Best Western. I know it is early in the game for a step up in accommodation but the jet lag is still bad and I need decent sleep soon.

Parnell is beautiful, imagine Hampstead if you are a Londoner. Trendy bars and restaurants abound. I settled into my room and decided to shop for some items of food and then get ready to go out to eat. I chose an italian restaurant called Portofino on the main strip of Parnell Road. This leads me to the next part of my entry entitled "Table for one Sir?..."

The dining alone experience is always a bit of a weird one. On entering Portofino I asked the waitress if I could sit anywhere, she replied "Is it just you sir?" or what I really heard was "IS IT JUST YOU SIR!!!!!?" I was ushered to a small table for two. To add insult to injury, 10 minutes later I was asked if I could move up one table to make room for a party of five! Sure, well hey why not stick me in the mens toilet and be done with it.

After a nice meal and two glasses of red wine I felt knackered and wanted my bed. Passing the Irish bar I saw earlier, I was tempted to wander in but it was quiz night and due to desperately needing sleep I opted for the room.

Now, the tv was interesting as I was getting English tv, such as Michael Palin in Himalaya. It was making me drowsy anyway so that was a good thing. I had some trouble getting off at first but then the land of nod arrived. What happened next was a little surreal.

I was woken by the phone ringing. Good grief who could that be? Anyway I picked it up and put it back down as I assumed it was a mistake. It rang again. I picked it up and answered....the conversation went like this:

Me "Hello?"
Some bloke "Hello, I'm calling about a 7.30am alarm call"
Me "An alarm call at 7.30?"
Some bloke "Yes"
Me "This isn't reception"
Some bloke "Yes, I know it's reception"
Me "You are asking me if I would like a 7.30am alarm call?"
Some bloke "No, I am asking you to give me an alarm call at 7.30am"
Me "This IS NOT reception mate, you have called another room"
Sme bloke" .........oh I'msosorry about that"
CLICK

I could not get off to sleep very well after that and some time later I thought if I had been more awake I would have said no problem sir and put the phone down. Then again it was a mistake I and I would feel bad if he had missed a flight or something important.....................

Well, that was day 3.

I forget what I put in my blog entry yesterday so forgive me if I repeat anything as I have seriously bad jet lag. I have had approximately 4 hours sleep in the last 3 days. My hostel is small but busy and the room I share with a brit called Matt is close to the dining area and tv room so it is pretty noisy all the time. I hope I can get used to the hostels as it is a culture shock at the moment. I am used to my old roomy apartment all to myself so this may prove to be a pain in the arse, initially at least.

Anyway, whinging aside (jet lag makes me a bit whingy) I look forward to moving on from Auckland to Rotorua.

I toyed with the idea of buying a car but that will be too much hassle for 6 weeks. Everyone here is selling their car!! My roomate is selling his, a German girl in the hostel is selling hers and so were a couple from the Czech Republic, although they hae now changed their minds as the car market did not work for them and I believe they head off today for the Northland.

Today I went out to get a cell phone sorted and took the 10 minute bus ride into town. Auckland feels a bit like London and a little like America to me. I quite like it. I will be back here in around 5 weeks and will spend more time here then. For now I just want to get moving.

My shuttle ride from the airport was entertaining as I was sat in the front talking with the driver whose name was Larky. What a great name, and he is a true Kiwi, I had real trouble understanding some of what he said due to his thick accent but he was such a nice chap to chat with. He told me of some American guy he had in the shuttle who "went berko" over something or other. I already love the Kiwi words and accent, in fact I find it hard initially to hear if they are a Kiwi and Ozzy or a brit as the accents are all pretty close.

I can't find an internet cafe that allows me to plug my camera card into the usb port via the adapter I have so no pictures yet folks sorry.

Well, I am here at last anyway. A day I thought would never arrive has arrived. I aim to give you a good idea of what it is like to be here with some thrilling prose so please let me know what you think from time to time.

Ten minutes left on the PC so I better go, I don't want to upset anyone here by overstaying my welcome, they may go berko on me ;0).

I just took a picture out of the window trying to capture the sigh of a full moon above the winf of the aircraft. It looked amazing but I doubt the picture will come out very well, at least the review of it on my camera did not do it justice.

Taking a wander back to the loo I realize how lucky I am to be in premium economy. I moved to a bulkhead seat after take off so have a little room to move.

I have a few different emotions going on right now - If I think of the trip ahead I get fairly excited, a little anxious of the unknown and sad when I think of leaving my folks behind. I will miss them. I have another long flight after I get offthis one and am certain I will be relieved to get to Auckland on Sunday morning (sorry for any errors but this keyboard is really bad!)

We landed in Tahiti for a stopover at 6am PST (US), I have no idea how long I have been flying but it feels like forever. Tahiti is humid. We got the royal treatment of 3 men playing guitars and ladies handing out flowers for putting in our hair, I realized this after putting mine in my pocket - well hey I am not used to this island life.

This airport is lovely though, open plan, modern, nice gardens and flowers all around, I took more pics which may not come out - shame - it is very pretty here. we have an hour wait here before we take off for the 5 hours to Auckland. I am trying to wonder what state I will be in at that time.

The hostel is a bit of a dump but everyone here says it is much better than other ones....not sure if i will get used to hostels....

It seems a bit cliquey here too, but early days yet.

I wandered up Mt Eden and took some great shots of the city and harbor area which i will post here when I can. I have not slept at all really so not sure what is keeping me going. As I type this I feel pretty groggy and it is only 2pm here.

All in all from taking off at Heathrow to landing at Auckland was around 30 hours! Boy will I get some sleep tonite....

I spent last night at a pub quiz with my cousins Carmel, Karen and Clare and their respective partners and friends. Tonight will be a relaxing last night before I fly out tomorrow but it was nice to have a few drinks last night, pretend I knew answers to the questions and generally be reminded of the Hemel way of life.

It was good to meet some new faces, namely Clare's friends Pippa, Jess and Lisa who made the evening all the more fun and by the end of it I felt like I had known them longer than one evening. In fact Pippa has recently returned from a 7 month stint in New Zealand so had a few suggestions for me. Added to the already lengthy list I wonder if 6 weeks will be enough time to go everywhere. I can extend the NZ part of my trip for sure but that will shorten my stay in Oz. We'll see how it goes.

The quiz itself started off easy at which point I made the fatal mistake of saying how easy it was (hence the title of todays entry) which then came back to haunt me later as the quiz got harder and my contribution less and less (sorry girls). I think we finished 13th out of 30 or so teams which wasn't bad. We were definately one of the more vocal teams in the pub which was of no surprise to me I hasten to add.

I have now got everything packed and this really makes a difference in terms of feeling like I am ready to go. The last week has been a long one or so it seems. A week from now I will have been in NZ long enough to figure out where I am going and also how to get there. I am pretty certain that I need to get with people who have a car and even hire one myself for a time should I need to. I have been in touch with someone who is buying a car when they get to Auckland this weekend, perhaps they may be a suitable travelling companion, at least for a short time perhaps?

Just a final note for my last entry before I leave. I may not get the chance to email everyone individually while away so please use the comments sections of this blog at the bottom of each entry with any remarks you wish to make, advice to give or just to say hi.

That said, I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year and I will see most of you when I return in a few months time after "Nga Haerenga O Aku Moemoea"...

...that I decided to take one more trip into the city. The day looked promising weather wise and I had mentioned to my Dad that I would meet him for lunch up at the Law Courts in Great Portland Street. I also needed just one or two more items for my trip so off I went on the tube to Charing Cross.

Being such a nice day, albeit pretty windy, I chose to walk around a fair amount and soak up some of Londons bustle before I get to experience the relative quiet of the New Zealand islands. First stop was Ellis Brigham in Covent Garden, fast becoming the place I part with my money with most often. After a few select purchases I wandered around Covent Garden and enjoyed the ever present sound of a string quartet planted firmly in their corner downstairs under the covered part of the Garden. I made a point not to hang out by the railings looking over at them play as the guy with the collection box soon swoops down for a contribution for the students of the Royal College of Music or wherever they are from, like they really need the cash - the posh bastards ;0).

I then took off around the back streets which I much prefer to the main roads. My stroll took me back down towards Trafalgar Square and past a few pubs that bring back some memories, the Pitcher and Piano and Chandos to name but two. Then up to Leicester Square and through to Piccadilly Circus and along Glasshouse street to my old haunt the Glassblower. Keeping to the back streets I went past more pubs I have frequented in the past, up Kingly street past the Red Lion (7 hour lunch break was had here), the Blue Posts and a few others.

It was soon time for lunch and hopping on a train from Oxford Circus to Baker Street and changing for a quick one stop on the Circle line to Great Portland Street I was soon at my destination to meet my Father for lunch. I was a little early so walked around Harley Street and Devonshire Street where there are some amazing Mews, the sort that always appear in movies. As Regents Park was so close it seemed rude not to pop in so I took a stroll along the south paths which I shared with many lunchtime joggers and various people sitting on benches having their lunches.

Entering the Law Courts I went through the security machine and was then "wanded" by the security guard due to my belt setting the thing off numerous times. I headed for court 9 but on arriving at the first floor via the stairs there were only 2 courts here. The elevator sign showed that court 9 was on the first floor but it was not here!! I went back down and found out that I had taken staircase A instead of staircase B....how stupid of me!

I eventually found the court and my Dad informed me I had missed all the action. He introduced me to Judge Knight briefly and we trotted upstairs for lunch. There was not much on offer at the small canteen but that didn't matter. We beat the rush as rank after rank of pinstripe suits flowed in grabbing sausage sarnies and donuts.

After lunch I headed on home for an uneventful journey back which is actually a good thing on the tube these days. So it was a nice windy day to spend up in town and it felt good to be there. I won't miss the hoardes of people (I had picked the first day of half term to go when the kids are all off school) but will miss the feeling that you get being up in London, a mix of insignificance due to the mass of people and a sense of belonging that comes from having spent so much of my early working life there.

London - it's time to go but I'll be back, so I sing in my best Cockney accent, altogether now ...

Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner,
That I love London so.
Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner
That I think of her wherever I go.
I get a funny feeling inside of me
Just walking up and down.
Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner
That I love London Town.

Oh, I had to show you this picture that was in the Times newspaper today, it was printed along with many letters to the paper complaining about street signs...looking at this picture, I see their point.

Song titles seem to make a regular appearance as titles for my blog entries. Today we have one from Sister Sledge. The family reference appears due to recent contact with some relatives in Australia. It would be terrible to go all that way and not meet up with family and thankfully they seem to feel the same way. Therefore I have offers of places to stay for my time in Oz, at least in the Sydney area and also Melbourne.

This will be a great time to get to know people whom I would normally never even get to meet. According to my current plan I will be in Sydney for the middle of December so I hope to have a Christmas down under with my extended family. It will be nice to have a sunny day for a change on December 25th.

The time in Oz will be good for that reason as I don't know anyone in New Zealand apart from those Bootsnall insiders who were gracious enough to offer me advice on where to go in New Zealand. I find it easy to meet new people so am not worried about spending too much time alone apart from the time I want to spend alone that is.

I do feel a tinge of guilt leaving England again. It almost feels like I am avoiding the reality of getting back to work. It is at times like this I need the voices of other travellers to come to my aid, to tell me it is ok to be selfish, to just do what you want to do for whatever reason because you just need to do it. Until I leave on Friday I will continue to feel this way. Only when I am on the move will I feel a sense of peace. Well, I can add another reason for going to my list. I will have gained a few more family members which will spur me on to organizing that family tree I often talk about working on.

I just noticed I am still using the American spelling for words that either have an "s" or a "z" near the end. I hope to return the the US when I can for although it has it's faults it was an amazing experience to spend so much time living there. Perhaps if the South Pacific captures my spirit I may spend some time living down there too.

Today was spent fixing the creaky floorboards in my folks house before the new stair carpet is laid on Wednesday and taking a few millimetres off the bottom of a door so it clears the new bedroom carpet in my Brothers old bedroom. It took 4 trips to the back garden to plane it and back up the stairs to hang it before it was right. Then some of my boxes of "stuff" shipped from the US were taken up to the attic to await my return. The house now almost resembles the way it looked before I descended upon it 9 weeks ago.

The house will soon be left with only a ghostly impression of my visit. I will have a faint memory of my mothers home cooking and the few glasses of red wine I would partake in the evening. I will soon be surviving on peanut butter and spaghetti hoops for breakfast (thanks Laura but I may pass on that suggestion), spend my days looking for folks with transport travelling in the same general direction as me and crashing out in dorm rooms in an attempt to save money for special occasions such as sailing in the Whitsundays off the east coast of Oz, swimming with Dolphins off the coast of New Zealand, white water rafting around Wanaka or Queenstown, kayaking in Abel Tasman national park and buying drinks for new found friends made on the road.

Man oh man, who wants to be doing all that...?!! ;0).

For my Grandparents 50th wedding anniversary, pretty much our entire family travelled off to the west coast of Ireland to a little town called Doonbeg in county Clare where my grandfather grew up. We took over a small hotel there which we were to stay at for the duration of our visit. However, due to being a little rowdy one night the hotel asked us to leave the next morning. I still remember to this day the sound of my grandfathers voice as he wandered the corridors of the hotel shouting "Are ya packed!!" in an effort to get us all out ASAP.

Getting my gear ready for this trip reminded me of this as my packing gets nearer to being complete, or should I say the arranging of the stuff in neat little piles to then be rammed into the rucksack never again to be arranged in nice little organized piles.

I will list the items below for two reasons. One, so that I can see what a fool I am for taking so much stuff and lose some of the stuff I really don't need and two, so that others who are reading this and who have spent time piling up their stuff can perhaps empathize a little and offer some words of encouragement.

So we have...

Packs
Lowe Alpine Skyline 55 Backpack
Berghaus Tor 22 daypack (not pictured as not sure if it is coming with me)

Clothing
Waterproof pants
Thermal underwear (should I go somewhere freezing - I hate the cold)
Gloves (see freezing comment above)
Swim shorts
Cap, floppy hat, 2 beanies, Aussie fold up hat
Fleece jacket
Speedo ultra thin fleece
Jeans (1 pair to wear around and feel normal)
Capri bouldering pants
Sweat pants (to slob about in generally)
Shorts
3 long sleeve shirts
2 T-shirts
1 belt
1 pair sneakers/walking shoes
1 pair of smart(ish) shoes (again for that normal feeling)
Underwear, socks etc

Sundry
NZ and Oz Rough Guides
Medical kit
Quick dry towel
Washbag and toiletries
Those essentials for spontaneous occasions (stole that line from someone...)
Notebook and pens
Digital camera
MP3 player
Mobile phone

and lots of bits like stuff bags, fold away headphones, chargers for electronics, army knife, torch etc etc...

The Gear...

Looking at the list written down I can't believe I am taking so much even though it does not look like a lot sitting on the floor.

I am sure things will be taken out after I do a quick packing test this weekend to make sure it all goes in. I know I will feel good being able to wander round without looking too much like a backpacker the whole time. I guess the constant clicking of my camera will break my cover though. New Zealand really is the other side of the world for us here in the UK. Auckland is 12 hours ahead of London which makes it easy for people here to know what time it is when they think of me.

I will be glad when it is all settled and the pack is stuffed to the brim and I await the cab to take me to Heathrow airport for the long journey to Auckland. Then, and only then can I answer back..."I'm packed!!"

__________________________________________________________________

Ok. I now have the real story of what happened at the hotel in Ireland from my Mother, and having heard what she said I now too remember the story.

The reason some of our family left that morning was due to the hotel having a band in the previous night that was very loud and was keeping my uncles kids awakw. He complained about the noise and the hotel did nothing about it so he decided to take his family to another hotel and my grandparents went also. The rest of us stayed behind at the noisy hotel.

Sorry for giving the impression my family are a rowdy bunch as it was a long time ago and my memory of the event is a little faded :0~

I wish I were aleady in New Zealand. Not because I do not want to be in the UK, I am quite accustomed to the UK once more and even feel a little at home now I have been back for 8 weeks. No, I am just tired of planning. I am not one for planning much anyway as my family and old girlfriends could tell you. I operate much better off the cuff and under a small amount of pressure. These circumstances work best for a procrastinator like me.

If I were already in NZ I could just get on with getting on... Having time to plan just makes me go into too much detail and ponder on my many options for accomodation, transport, destinations and the like. I even booked a hostel online today so I had a place to crash should I need it when I eventually get to Auckland after what will be over 20 hours in the air.

Now I am thinking about my transport options. I like the idea of a car the most as this makes me free to go wherever I want, whenever I want. It also has the added bonus of making me feel more like a local than a tourist. There are some good cheap(ish) deals for one way trips between Auckland and Christchurch. Should I be able to get some folks to come along the costs will be shared and make it even cheaper.

Would you believe it, the phone just rang....a recruitment agency asked me to chat for a while about opportunities. I told them I would be away for a few months so they will have to wait. I hate recruitment agencies anyway...they are only after a bum on a seat, they don't give a hoot about what you want. Call me when I get back you blood sucking SOB's ;0).

So the plan is developing slightly. I will see how the jet lag is doing in Auckland for a day or two and pick up some extra items for the trip there too. If the car option looks good I may opt for that and make a leisurely jaunt down to the south island via a few well chosen locales.

Another Bootsnall member contacted me yesterday offering to show me around the Christchurch area if needed. Such generous people the Kiwis!

Well here I am 9 days before departure and I will be glad to be on my way. It will be sad to leave home and family and friends, as always, but as REM's new song "Leaving New York" reminds us..."It's easier to leave than to be left behind".

When I tell people I am off to New Zealand and Australia for a few months I always get a positive response. However, I also get the obligatory "What are you going to do when you get back?". I haven't even gone yet and I am then forced into thinking about plans upon my return, namely getting a job somewhere.

The reason I point this out is that most people treat their time off work as a vacation and by that I mean a period of time spent somewhere away from home where you can relax and forget about the hassle of work for a couple of weeks. Then you are thrust back to reality once more when you get home.

There are some of us out there who look at these times a little differently. I like to consider them not so much as vacations but more of a journey of discovery. To just visit somewhere for the sole purpose of "seeing" it seems a little empty to me. They are still enjoyable times but not the things that stick with you for a long time to come.

I write this after coming across a quote by Arthur Frommer on Ralf Potts' Vagabonding website which pretty much echoes my own thoughts on travelling. You can read the quote here...

Arthur Frommer on why travel should be more than mere sightseeing

Flicking through my guide books the other day and noting "must see" locations it did not take long to realize that there are far too many places I would love to visit for the projected length of my stay. Too many amazing national parks, small towns, large cities and remote corners of the islands. I know I do not want to rush around seeing everything for the sake of it so I will resign myself to just enjoying the journey itself and not get caught up in "seeing" everything.

The trip itself will be the "not to be missed" attraction. Meeting folks from all over who are travelling, vacationing or just living their lives will have the most profound affect on me I am sure. Living in Colorado makes you appreciate the beauty that surrounds you on a daily basis but that does not make up for having good people around you to share it with.

That said, here are a few of the places that I did put down as my must see items. If anyone has visited these places feel free to leave some comments on this blog.

Auckland - Waterfront/Tamaki Drive/Titirangi/Waiheke Island

Northland - Wharangarei/Poor Knights Islands/Bay of Islands

Central North Island - White Island/Tongariro National Park/Napier

Wellington & South - Wellington/Wanganui/Egmont National Park

Marlborough & Nelson - Marlborough Sounds/Abel Tasman National Park

Canturbury and West Coast - Christchurch/Akaroa/Arthur's Pass/Mt Cook NP

Otago & Southland - Dunedin/Fiordland NP/Queenstown/Stewart Island

There were a few more places but I may as well include the whole book if I were to go on about everywhere that sounded like a wonderful place to experience.

Woke up to a beautiful morning today after a good few grey days, so I popped outside to snap this picture.

Apart from being a hit song for Europe back in the 80's, "The Final Countdown" is the heading for this blog entry as I am exactly 2 weeks away from boarding my first flight on what I hope to be an epic and truly amazing journey.

My tickets arrived yesterday and all looks good. I just need to confirm the first leg with Virgin and New Zealand Air.

Some more good news, my brother looks like he will be in Hong Kong around the time I plan to get there and my friend Dave, a well heeled traveller, will be in Shanghai too so it will be good to catch up after my jaunt in New Zealand and Oz.

More guide book reading and gear shuffling has been taking place over the last couple of days but at a rather slower pace as I have a bloomin' cold! That and giving myself some 3rd degree burns on my hand (ok I exagerate) after spilling lethally hot soup fresh from the microwave have made this a thorouhly enjoyable day ;0).

Sorry for the doom and gloom of that last paragraph, the English weather is back with a vengence and that does not help. In fact the storm yesterday resulted in thousands of tonnes of raw sewage entering the river Thames due to the pipes not being able to cope.

I remember while working for the Prudential I would train with the rowing crew at Barnes and never relished walking the boat into the Thames as you have to do. I was told that anyone falling into the Thames and swallowing any water was recommended to go get their stomach pumped! Perhaps that is extreme but when you see what washes up at low tide you tend to agree with this.

Talking about the Pru makes me think back to the jobs I have had. Looking back over the years I have worked at some interesting places with some great characters. I always leave every job with at least one person who leaves a lasting memory in terms of either remaining a friend or just having been a great person to work with, or lets face it, great to go get drunk with.

I am sure my journey down under will result in similar memories, I raise a glass to that...

Guide books are ok. No, they are better than ok, much better. However, nothing is better than local knowledge and with this in mind I sent out a bunch of emails to some folks who are members of the Bootsnall community who make themselves available for advice to other BnA members travelling to a region in which they have either travelled to or currently reside.

What a response! I woke up this morning and had a large number of emails waiting in my inbox. Not only had people responded to my broad request for tips and hints on travelling in New Zealand and Australia, but most of them had taken the time to go into some detail about what they did or what they recommend.

I guess this should not come as a shock as most folks are very helpful in this regard but it just felt good to have this extra boost before I finally leave on my journey. One person even offered to pick me up from Christchurch and take me to Akaroa where they lived!

So thank you to all of those that replied in such a rapid and comprehensive manner. I hope to find many on my travels with such a generous nature.

This comment goes out to the other vagabonders out there. How long did you spend preparing for your trip in terms of packing? This is the part of the preparation that is taking the longest for me. I still need some wet gear for those monsoon moments in tropical Queensland or glacier hiking trips in New Zealand. I still deliberate over the idea of having some form of smart clothing for social occasions. If so what sort of shoes do I need? Do I need 2 pairs of everything so I can wear one while I launder the others?

I know all this is just "fluff" as one BnA'er put it so wisely on the Bootsnall forum and that passport, money and tickets are the only items that are of vital importance to the traveller. Yet I still spend most of my day at odds with myself as I am trying to save money for the trip and not spend too much before I leave.

I will be happy when I am under way when circumstance and need rather than desire and want dictate my spending habits and other habits too for that matter.

The deed is done! Today the RTW ticket was booked. It does not feel like a proper RTW ticket as I will only be visiting 3 countries over 3 months and not 15 countries in 12 months. Nevertheless it IS a RTW ticket which does enable me to extend the trip should my money stretch to allow me to do so. I have a few more sundry items to sort out before leaving but once the tickets are here then I am pretty much set to go.

So, the itinerary as it stands right now is as follows:

29 October - London - Auckland (via Los Angeles)

13 December - Auckland to Sydney

22 Jan - Sydney to Hong Kong (via Auckland)

3 Feb - Shanghai to London

Some of these dates may change depending on what happens on the journey but I have allocated 6 weeks to both New Zealand and Australia. In an ideal world I would do at least 12 weeks at each location but that is not possible.

Not long to go now then. I have a couple of weeks to do one more round of visits to family and friends which will be good.

Once I am under way please feel free to leave comments right here on this blog or email me. I must thank the folks at Bootsnall for setting up the blog and allowing me to share this journey with you all. I recommend their site for anyone planning a trip anywhere in the world.

I am off to do some more reading about New Zealand. Ka mate! Ka mate! Ka ora! Ka ora!...

Getting my RTW ticket is proving a little more taxing than I had hoped. This is really for a couple of reasons. One, I am so bad at making decisions and two, although I have found a good deal online I am having difficulty picking out the final destination for my journey.

The deal allows me to travel to 3 major cities out of a list that are on the Virgin Airlines and New Zealand Airlines routes. I am only looking at Australia and New Zealand right now so this looks like a good deal as it is not too expensive due to the few stops and still allows me to be flexible with the RTW ticket.

However, the last stop has to be in Asia and can be one of a few places, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taipei, Tokyo or Osaka. I would love to go to Japan but it will be winter and expensive so my budget may not allow this. I would like to visit my brother in Hong Kong but we are not sure if he will be there when I get to go. I also have a friend in Shanghai but not sure if he will be there either. Singapore would be good and I could hop over to Malaysia and visit Kuala Lumpar.

Just a small dilemma which I will get around. I also got an email from the travel agent saying they had misquoted me and my second stop in Auckland on the way to Hong Kong (preliminary choice) IS considered a stop over and that adds to my overall cost for the trip.

That aside, I am looking at a date around 29 October as a leaving date.

Today we had a little demonstration across the street to protest against the proposed development of 15 flats in a 3 storey building which they want to erect almost opposite my parents house. This is a nice traditional area and the proposal of these flats will cause many issues in the immediate area.

My folks have already had 3 cars crash into the front yard in the time they have lived on this corner and other minor accidents have also occurred as it is a dangerous corner. I won't go into too many details but the protest today by local residents was due to a government agency representative coming to view the site and will now take a few weeks to decide if the plan can go ahead. The local council already rejected the plan but the developer appealed.

Anyway, a fair amount of folks turned out and as it is a work day many people could not attend. Traffic slowed to see what it was all about and there was a fair amount of horn honking and cheers as people drove by.

I include a picture of the protest to give you a flavor of the event. Around 60 people showed up in total (and one dog). I was all for lying in the road but was told we had to perform a peaceful protest. I will save my handcuffs and chains for a later day then... ;0).

Pinner residents protest against the proposal of 15 flats

For those of you with good eyesight you may just be able to read the sign held by the lady on the far left of the picture. If not, it says "S.O.D O.F.F" which really stands for "Save Our District - Oppose Fifteen Flats". I like the idea of telling the developers to SOD OFF...nice acronym!

Why do I sometimes do things at a snails pace? I think I am in that stage of trying to prepare too much and making sure I have dotted the i's and crossed the t's instead of just getting it all done. With this in mind I did get one step closer to my trip today by buying some gear, most important of all being a rucksack. This took a while but with the helpful guidance of Gareth, diminutive in stature but tall on knowledge, at Ellis Brigham in Covent Garden, I decided on what will become my trusty mobile home for the next few months.

I settled on the Lowe Alpine Skyline 55. I wanted something simple and not too big as all I would end up doing would be filling it up with useless items. I think this pack will do the trick.

I am aware of getting carried away and buying too many accessories such as mosquito nets, mini this that and the others and widgets that can be used to kill a grown bear should you stumble upon one in the wilderness of NSW...

Ok, I did buy a few widgety things, well not really, just a washbag, a medical kit and a towel that soaks up 9 times the amount of water that a normal towel does...now if I had a tag on me it would say "soaks up 9 times it's size in wine".

Oh, and also some cargo pants and shorts...I really need all of these items...

The most important item, my RTW ticket, is next. I promise I will have this sorted by the middle of next week. If not you may all suggest some kind of forfeit to pay me back for severe procrastination. Lets hope it does not come to that as many of you out there have vivid imaginations...

It was nice to be up in Covent Garden again. It is one of the most cosmopolitan parts of London where all walks of life can be seen, grungy folk, trendy fashion victims, tourists, hip Londonites (is that a word?) and I do like to watch these people go about their day. Stopping for a coffee and sandwich in Nero's coffee bar I realize that London is bloody expensive and will be glad to get a somewhat cheaper deal in Oz, well not that much cheaper but defo in NZ.

Returning home on the tube was relaxing as the sun was blazing. I stopped for a 10 minute hair cut outside Pinner station only to be greeted by a downpour when it was time to leave. Oh to be home again...

Ok ok...so today did not turn out the way I planned it but that's nothing new. I was greeted by a rainy morning as Autumn is here bringing with it the usual grey skies and rainy days. I was due to go to town today, and by town I mean London, but I received an email from my friend telling me she had sprained her ankle and would not be up for meeting later tonite. This and the rain kept me firmly indoors today.

I ended up spending the afternoon stripping wallpaper at my parents house. We got a lot done too. Now after a few glasses of well earned red wine I am typing a little blog update. There are many things I wish to include in this daily ramble but often feel like it should be travel based and not a forum for debate, conjecture or general nonsense that comes to mind. However, I do feel an obligation to speak my mind, after all, it's my party and I'll cry if I want to!

I had a quick chat with my brother and sister-in-law online today with the aid of Skype, a remarkable piece of voice over IP technolgy which is free at this point in time and allows me to chat free of charge to people all over the globe. They are just off to Italy for a vacation and to attend a wedding in southern Italy. I remember my trip to Rome where I was going to teach English before it all fell through (I can fill you in on the details should anyone be interested). A missed opportunity perhaps but I was able to visit Rome and imagined myself learning Italian and becoming "windwsept and interesting" as Billy Connelly would say.

I mention this because my brother, and he is not alone, wanted to know my plans and when I would be back to England. My answer...

Who knows! I am not going on vacation or a sabbatical. I am going ... and that is it. I am going. When I return is not really a question or option or plan. I may stay, I may not. It could be called vagabonding should I be planning on a longer journey. I don't have the finances to call it that but I try not to pigeon hole my trip and just allow myself the freedom to be doing it in the first place and I doubt that anyone else has the faintest idea what I am doing. Fear not everyone...I am just living...a little differently to most but living none the less. My point...

There is no point. There is no grand plan, no five year plan, just me living a different way to almost everyone I know and that makes me unusual and many people fear for my future. I, however, do not fear, for I am living the only way I know how, right now, please forgive me if it is different. I leave you with the words from a song by Rush..."There's nothing to fear but fear itself, not fate, not failure, not fatal tragedy". And so say all of us...

Have you ever been to Swindon? Well, I still haven't but I came pretty close today as I visited the largest indoor outlet mall in the UK. It just happens to be next to Swindon near junction 16 off the M4. It was really a ride along with my folks who decided along with my uncle and aunt that they needed to see what all the fuss was about. The fact that there was a Mountain Warehouse in the list of stores and I had seen a rucksack online from this very store that I was interested in AND I could possibly get it at 50% discount clinched the deal and off we set this morning....to Swindon.

To be honest, I do not like shopping or shopping malls, in fact I really dislike wandering round most malls and when I do venture into one it is directly to the store I need and back out again. After a cappuccino and an italian tart (or should I say cake) and a brief stop in a few random stores I made it into the West Wing of the mall and stepped into Mountain Warehouse. Being in the UK I should have known this was not to be anything like walking into Galyans or REI. If I had tripped up on the way in I would have fallen out the back door...this place was tiny. However, it did have some of the stuff I was interested in. The rucksack I had seen online was the same bloody price, no discount....arse! Every other rucksack they had was reduced in price but not the one I liked. Not one to get too upset I shrugged it off and decided that if I did get one here and it did not work out that I would not be happy driving all the way back to return it.

Therefore, I left empty handed. Back in London 2 hours and 80 miles later I have found a cheaper rucksack which I can get from the same store but in Covent Garden in the centre of London. I am looking at cutting out the expensive items for my trip and this goes for my backpack also. Should I lose stuff on route or have it stolen I don't want to agonize over the cost of my loss so I want to go cheap. Cheapskate I hear you cry..! Well, if the shoe fits...

So, whats in store for tomorrow? I will be trekking into the centre of London and buying my backpack, sorting out my ticket with Global Village Travel and then off to Clapham/Battersea to visit my friend Alison who I have not seen even after having been back in London for a whole month! How I neglect my friends. Sorry Alison!

Don't despair folks, It won't be long before you will be reading some rather more interesting entries and viewing some exceptionally more interesting pictures. For now I am soaking up each day in England, quite literally today as it was raining. It is such a beautiful country and I am lucky to have the time to enjoy it.

We are always travelling - wherever we are. Does it matter that I am in Pinner, North West London instead of Sydney, NSW at this very moment? - No, why should it? As of today I consider myself just someone passing through Pinner. If I treat this place like my old "home" then it just takes me back in time instead of just enjoying today and whatever it may bring.

However, if I look at it through the eyes of a traveller it suddenly becomes one of Englands small towns that probably sees a large number of foreign visitors who are sure to be enchanted by the village of Pinner, it's tudor buildings in the High Street and the Queens Head public house which dates back to the reign of Charles I.

So I won't wait until I am thousands of miles from here to share my journey with you - I will start now, and without further ado invite you to my home town of Pinner...

The name Pinner originally dates from 1231, or at least that is when the earliest known occurence of the name dates from. In Medieval times Pinner was not recorded as a "Manor" but was part of Harrow (it is the London borough of Harrow today). The Lord of the Manor in these times was the Archbishop of Canterbury and the population at the time consisted of a priest, three knights who had numerous tenants, roughly 100 villagers and a couple of slaves (people who owned no land).

Pinner High Street c1850 (the first known photograph of Pinner)

The character of Pinner has changed somewhat over the years as the picture of the High Street below will show but some things have not changed, most notable are landmarks such as St John's Church which sits atop the hill at the end of the High Street and the Queens Head pub which I visit whenever I return to this part of the world. The church dates back to around the mid 14th century and was really built so Pinner resdidents did not have to travel to Harrow on a Sunday for church.

Pinner High Street around 1900

Pinner High Street as it is today

Around the beginning of the 18th century the population of Pinner was 660 people. This figure rose slightly to 761 in 1801 and again to 1,310 by 1851. By 1951 the population stood at about 45,000 people.

Truth be told I was actually brought up in North Harrow until around the age of 14 when my family moved to Pinner and I became a "Pinner Boy". North Harrow is the poorer cousin to Pinner and the move made me feel we were coming up in the world. My parents still live in Pinner and it has been the home for many a famous person, most notably Elton John and the not so famous Jane March (The Sinner from Pinner!).

There are many beautiful sights to be seen in and around Pinner and I was lucky to stumble upon a web site that has many great pictures so I include a link should you be interested in seeing the area where my teenage years were spent.

Pictures of Pinner

It is a great place to call "home".

I hope you liked my introduction to Pinner. Next week - Bognor Regis...just kidding :0).

PS - Tomorrow I am off to the largest covered outlet mall in the UK (down the M4 to Swindon) to get some travel gear sorted.

Well, well, well, what have we here? They say it never rains but it pours and I think they are right. The boxes I had packed up and shipped 6 weeks ago back in Colorado Springs are now arriving thick and fast and if I have got this right, only one is unaccounted for at this point. I include a picture for no other reason than to have a benchmark from which to start with regard to the high quality of majestic scenery and splendour that will be adorning these pages before too long...

So my old life in the US is over for now but a new life begineth. I will be spending some time re-organizing my "stuff" as it had nowhere to go in my folks house right now and I can't leave it in boxes, well I could but I don't want to for some reason. Even now looking at the things I decided to hang on to it puzzles me why I did. I can't get rid of books so those had to stay as did my music equipment, mixer, mic, guitar pedals etc. There are some clothes I should have binned but we all make bad fashion choices don't we?....no, just me then.

Seeing all these boxes full of stuff makes me happy that I will soon be on the road with only a full backpack to worry about. The older I get the less I like having a bunch of useless stuff surrounding me. A famous musician was once told by his father that all he needed in life was a bed, a chair and a guitar...I couldn't agree more.

The choices we make often determine the course of our lives. I regularly find myself at a crossroads and having to make these choices, some easy, some difficult, but forced to make a decision none the less.

As a result, when I look back, it seems that generally I have chosen the "road less traveled" and continue to choose the unknown as opposed to the well trodden path.

Before choosing a name for this travel blog I decided I wanted something that was a reflection on my own life journey, something profound perhaps and original. I settled on a title stolen from a poem of the same name by Robert Frost. I include the poem below in its entirety as I feel it should be read in its complete form as opposed to its oft quoted few lines.

The Road Not Taken - Robert Frost (1874–1963)

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Therefore, I am once again venturing out beyond my comfort zone by heading off to Australia and New Zealand. I hope to share the journey with those that stop by this blog and perhaps somewhere along the road we will meet.