Have just arrived in Santiago and am trying to adjust to some serious jet lag confusion as I left Auckland at 5pm on Tuesday, travelled for twelve hours to CHILE and it is now 2pm the same day , Tuesday. And my Spanish only runs to Una cerveza por favor and as I dont drink beer anymore.............. Have been battering around the south and north islands of NZ for three weeks looking at museums, giant Kauri trees and going out on Bay of Island boat but ...

I have been keeping a casual list of the various forms of transport bywhich I have been moving around and have just reached number 24.........and its a helicopter. Never having been in a 'copter' before I wasn't sure how it would feel but the prospect of flying over, and landing on the surface of, either Fox or Franz Joseph Glacier was enough to overcome any concerns I might have had. It was truly magical to gently rise up towards the mountains and then...

WONDERFUL SOUNDS ON THE RADIO AS I DRIVE ALONG. TRY READING THEM OUT LOUD BEFORE YOU READ THE INTERPRETATION BETTER - Flour and water mixture for frying fish PEPPER Daily news journal WITHER State of rain and cloud and sun AGIN Once more NICK Part between head and body DID Opposite of alive CHICK Payment form or clothing prefered by Prince of Wales TIN Numb...

Well as usual, I seem to veer from a few quiet days to periods of untramelled action. Monday, left Christchurch by car, drove across moors and past blue/green lakes to the foothills of Mount Cook. Parts of the trip reminded me of Rannoch Moor but here the sun shone and water glistened. Made it, in the late evening to Omarama - in the middle of nowhere - which claims to be one of the best centres in the world for gliding so.............. The follo...

I can hardly believe that, since I last wrote - a week ago - I have driven over 2000 klms, visited the Australian Houses of Parliament, The Snowy Mountains, The Blue Mountains, ridden on a cable car, toured the Sydney Opera House, been up the Sky Tower, had dinner with Australia's leading food writer, missed a flight to New Zealand, attended an expo of the work of Ansel Adams and - today - taken a walk in a quintessentially English rose garden in Christchurch. ...