Dear Diary, 28/11 - Left Mercury Bay at the stupid hour of 7am on our way to Rotorua. A fairly quiet day on the bus. Went for a 30 min walk through a gorge used in the old mining days. A few of us made it slightly more interesting by loosing the main group 5 mins after our guide told us to stay togetehr otherwise we could get lost & they would have to contact search & rescue!! Being the intrepid explorers we are, we eventually found our way & got ba...

Dear Diary, Travelled from Auckland to Paihia (Bay of Islands) on 23/11 & arrived about 1pm. Went out on a Waka (pronounced Woka) with 1 other person & 2 locals, which is a traditional Mauri canoe. Went to a small island off the mainland, where we caught & cooked mussels, had some wine & sat about chatting before heading back. A very enjoyable afternoon even though the weather was a bit overcast. Had a good group of people in my dorm, all friend...

Dear Diary, Despite the long journey from Cambodia (via Bangkok & Sydney) I arrived here in one piece (although I did look like s***e - sorry but there is just not a word that describes it better!!). I did something in Auckland within 3 hours of landing that I haven't done for over a month & that was to have a pint of Stella!!! You may be wondering why it took that long, but if you consider it took 2 hours from wheels touching down to get to my hostel, ...

Dear Diary, Arrived in Siam Reap & it was unlike any of the other places I have been to when just arriving. THinbgs actually seemed to have an order to them!! No touts asking if you want a taxi or a hotel etc - a very pleasant change. Organised a moped driver to take me around the temples as I only had 2 days there, but was a bit shocked when he said we had to leave at 5am in order to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat!! The morning was actually quite an advent...

Dear Diary, Arrived in Saigon after a uneventful 5 hour coach journey (which is very rare for these parts). Having been here before, if only briefly, it was alot more comfortable sorting out accommodation etc. Went for a walk about on my first full day their & even did some cultural things like visit the art museum, which was actually really good & I took some sneaky picture of some of the works of art that caught my eye (the woman holding the child i...