Two dodgy car deals and one pair of boots later I was more than ready to leave the museums of Melbourne behind for whatever Waikiki had to offer. Which, when you look past the high rise hotels and tourist traps, was agreeable weather, cheese in a can and a hostel room full of mayhem. Adventures included hiking barefoot through mud, racing our scooters down the highway (we were assured they didn't go over 30mph), somehow ending up with a brand new convertible f...

Australia and I didn't get off ot a great start...probably something do to with the fact that a chocolate bar is beyond what i'll consider paying for a sugar fix. I'm still recovering from the shock of how expensive everything is comapred to Asia. Sydney demanded over $30 for the privilidge of sharing a room with 7 18year olds who all had conflicting opinions on the concept of sleep. So after investing in some warm clothes and briefly venturing to some sights tha...

I finally managed to escape my own personal episode of 'Lost'! I was sucked into the tropical island for two weeks where 'the others' (westeners who'd slipped into a timeless existence there) tried to brainwash you into their bubble of indifference and instead of polar bears and scary dust clouds I had to survive things like free buckets of alcohol and shots that tasted like liquid death. Fortunately I managed to escape with my dignity in tact - having not fallen...

So I finally found some Honey Bees...We went to a bee farm on the Mekong Delta and there they were...asphyxiated in jars of honeycomb for no extra cost! Poor little bees. In Ho Chi Minh City we spent a little too long absorbing the tragic realities of the war. By the time we got thrown out of the museum, we'd temporarily lost the ability to speak and wandered around the city in a concerned daze. But by the evening we were back to sitting on tiny plastic chairs in...

Halong Bay in North Vietnam was stunning. The thousands of islands are scattered around randomly as if they've fallen out of a goddess's pocket. With all the traditional Vietnamese junk ships ferrying tourists around and a heavy mist lurking over the top of all the islands, it was like being in a tragically cast & poorly scripted pirate movie. Minus wardrobe assistant. Unfortunately, the caves in the islands that we went exploring in weren't as pirate-esque...