I was warned not to expect buses and trans in Asia to run on time. This was a good warning! Having picked up Adma from Northern England and Dave from Plymouth, the 5 of us waited expectedly for our 9:30am bus. 9:45 passed, as did 10am. Nerves were rising and our hungover patience was being tested, but finally at 10:35am our bus rolled in. What followed were 6 chunderous hours of windey roads into the Malaysian mountains. Lovely. However, this was all worth whil...

On Tuesday 1st April Matt and I touched down at Singapore Changi Airport at around 5pm. Here we were greeted after our 5 hour flight by Vicki Paine (a school friend visiting her Dad who lives in Singapore), and a very excited Ian Mann (a friend from school who will be doing the rest of Asia with me and Matt). In fact, Ian was so excited (despite wearing a bright yellow t-shirt with "Shy and Withdrawn" written on it" that he jumped on Matt and kisse...

On Saturday 22nd March Matt and I flew to Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia (but to you and me, its right in the centre). We met up with our tour group for the next 5 days and had a look around the town. The presence of Aboriginals was striking. They were much better represented here than anywhere else I'd visited in Australia. The next day we began the tour with a 5 hour drive to Uluru (Ayers Rock). This gave us time to get to know our gro...

Following a stopover in Rockhampton, which was lifeless and baking hot, I continued up the East Coast to Airlie Beach. This small town offers good links to sailing on the Whitsundays, which are a collection of small tropical islands off the coast of Australia. On Friday 14th March I began a 2 day 2 night sailing trip around the Whitsunday Islands. On this trip I snorkeled on some fringing reef, and later SCUBA dived too, both of which were great fun, as well as b...

Ozztrarlia - The start of 5 weeks I will spend here After a 4 hour flight from Christchurch, I touched down in Sydney at 7pm on Monday 25th February, and was met by Phil Gilroy. For those who are unaware, Phil is the husband of my Godmother, Gerry, and is the father of the family I would stay with for a week, whilst in Sydney. Upon arrival at their house in Mt Kuring-Gai (North Sydney) I was greeted by two rather excited boys, Jack and Liam. These two were gre...