On a horrendous morning, after the last night in Melbourne before of cocktails and karaoke, I boarded the plane to Perth, the city that never wakes.Probably a good thing for me as I vowed to give up the sauce for four weeks, my liver, kidneys and stomach aching in protest at my previous Brunswick lifestyle. Mum picked me up from the airport and snuck me into her hotel.Whilst it was good to hang out together, after four nights on the floor of her room, I decide...

So I landed some time ago in Melbourne, determined as it were not to think too much of it.I was going to use it as a springboard, after seeing Allie for a week, to somewhere hot with beaches, palm trees and surf boards, possibly with a yoga retreat. Melbournites are somewhat fanatical about Melbourne - it's so cultured they say (culture? show me the beaches; and let's put it into perspective, it's still Australia), European (hmmm been living there for the last 3...

The last few weeks have all been about the nature, the huge skies and landscapes that dwarf you in New Zealand, the lakes, the mountains, the beaches, the sunsets and the stars, like Ireland on steroids. There may be forty shades of green on the Emerald Isle but Kiwiland isn't far off by my reckoning.Apologies if the superlatives get a little tedious. Leaving Dunedin I landed in Te Anau, where a kindly Kiwi seeing I was lost (in a town centred around a T junctio...

Soooo back in Koh Samui I was going to have a restrained and civilised dinner with Lucy and her friend Storm, which we did have, at a beautiful restaurant on the beach.Once we got back to the villa, Storm suggested we finish off her bottle of tequila. Lucy instead rather sensibly retired to bed as Storm and I continued on to wreck havoc upon the Island. My personal highlights include playing pool with the local girls and boys at one of the more 'tasteful' go-go...

Vital Statistics Days on hollyday: 27 Number of massages since last blog: 6 (could do better) Number of days I can go without carbs before going insane: 4 Music mostly listened to: Age of Aquarius After our night in Chumphon, Danny and I got the 7am ferry to Koh Tao, which with Thai logic necessitated a 5 am pick up.Koh Tao is a big diver hang out, with beautiful beaches and due to the 3 monsoon seasons a very lush and verdant landscape.The only problem wa...