Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts

Sunday 6 December 2015

New Zealand Adventures : 4. Ahoy Athos! Moonlight Waka Adventure and Resurrecting Aoteroa One

Kia-Ora!

Ahoy from Auckland, I seemed to have fallen into life as a water baby and was lucky enough to get a new day job working as an Engineers Assistant on board my now even BIGGER office in Auckland's boat yards - behold the big and beautiful ATHOS....minus the sails..


Sunday 22 November 2015

New Zealand Adventures: 3. Meetin' Black Magic, Volcano Exploring, Lordes Devonport and Sailing with Maori's...

Kia-Ora!

Been rainy days of late here in Auckland, so I got busy sharing my latest travel news from down under from cool little New Zealand.....but first let's say Kia-Ora from the summit of Rangitoto Volcano which Maori natives used as a lookout for any unwanted trespassers onto their island just off the coast line of Auckland.

But more on that later....this blog is pretty much a sailing special so hold tight.....


Sunday 8 November 2015

New Zealand Adventures : 2. Dolphin Research, Workin' Girl as a 'Boatie' in Auckland's Boatyards and a Piece of Volcano Heaven on top Mt Eden...

Kia-Ora!  

Greetings from New Zealand! now a month on the North Island!

Ahoy! I have recently been working on a 135ft Boat under the name 'Destination' in Auckland City's North Wharf Boat Yards, as what I call a 'Boatie'.... pretty much as a day worker doing all the odd jobs the maintenance crew need help with in one of the boat yards, but first, before life on board, let me tell you about my Dolphin research trip out in the Hauraki Gulf....



Thursday 22 October 2015

New Zealand Adventures : 1. Kia-Ora Auckland, Introducing Maori, Saving Whales with Project Jonah and Sea Cleaning Waiheke Island...


Kia - Ora! 


That's 'Hello!' in Maoritanga (Maori Culture), the indigenous race and language of Aotearoa 'The Land of the Long White Cloud' or as the white man 'Pakeha' calls it 'New Zealand'....

I will try and keep a blog of my explorations as much as I can, however long I'm here for...so here goes with some early days of my first two weeks of travel in this land far, far away....


Auckland City!

Tuesday 13 October 2015

Cambodia Adventures : 9. 'Shipwrecked' on Koh Sanloem Island, Phnom Penh City, Buddha's Footprint, S-21 Tuol Sleng Prison and My Final Farewell at The Killing Fields...

Soo-a-sday!

The end is now here *sniff* for my close to 3 month journey through The Kingdom of Wonder which is 'Cambodia' (still think it is such a cool name for a country..) has come to the end of the road and unfortunately you are reading my last blog from this little jewel from South East Asia. So this is gonna be a BIG one.....

I wasn't able to use my camera for a whole week as the camera charger blew up in the socket! so while sourcing a new one, I had some of my own adventures in the meantime.....


Wednesday 30 September 2015

Cambodia Adventures : 8. Lee-Hai Siem Reap, Mondulkiri Elephant Valley Project, Into The Wild and Following the Ancient Mekong River...

Soo-a-s'day!

Greetings from Cambodia!

I have not been able to have access to the internet for some weeks now since leaving Siem Reap so here is a mammoth blog highlighting the best bits of my past few weeks in the Kingdom of Wonder. I travelled from Siem Reap to Sen Monorom in Mondulkiri which means 'Meeting of the Hills' about 12 hours East of Siem Reap right into the jungles of Eastern Cambodia. I spent my last few days in Siem Reap teaching at the orphanage and in very holy places, joining the Monks and Nuns for Buddhist Prayer in the Pagoda...which was quite an experience!

The biggest storm ever then hit the orphanage on my last evening


Wednesday 9 September 2015

Cambodia Volunteering: 7. Last House Build #5 Storm Family in Trach Village Rice Paddies

Soo-a-s'day!

Last House Build! in Trach Village in the Siem Reap Province....in the rice paddie fields is where I find my fifth and final house build....*sniff sniff*



Thursday 3 September 2015

Cambodia Adventures : 6. Temple Raidin', Findin' Heaven on Earth and Akim, the Lost Child of Angkor Wat....

Soo-a-s'day!

I decided to do a seperate blog about my explorations of the Temples of Angkor as they are so magnificent I thought I'd do some 'Temple Video Diaries' to give you a chance to see a snippet of my raidin' adventures in the ancient temples of Angkor....


Enjoying the sunset at Heaven on Earth at the waters of Angkor Wat...


Saturday 29 August 2015

Cambodia Volunteering : 5. House Build #4 Lisa in Phnom Krom and English lessons at the Pagoda

Soo-a-s'day!

Greetings again from Cambodia which has now been for over a month and has flown by! (and I have a seriously defined right bicep!)

House Build #4 comes from the nearby village of Phnom Krom where we're building a brand new wooden house for a kind young lady named Lisa and her struggling husband with an 18 month old son :)

Wednesday 26 August 2015

Cambodia Volunteering : 4. Treak Community School, Shadow Puppets, Artisans DÁngkor, Silk Farm Factory and Phnom Penh Children's Hospital

Soo-a-s'day!

Greetings from Cambodia on Week #4 of my volunteer building relief work in Cambodia.



No house building this week, so I decided to go to a Cambodian School partnered with Volunteer Building Cambodia in the Treak Village Community. The school which I have to ride 4km from Siem Reap on a bicycle, provides free schooling for children aged nursery age plus, have been raising money through volunteer donations to build a vast expansion to their school as a community centre -  new classroom, toilets, meeting room, library, workshop rooms for women's courses, wash facilities and a playing field to provide modern and fresh facilities to the community.


Tuesday 18 August 2015

Cambodia Volunteering : 3. House Build #3 Mother, Four Kids and One Bed - Thnung Vilage, Meeting Mother Buddha, Khmer Dancing, Do Goodin' at the Orphanage, Breaking Landmine Victims and Lunch'n with Monk'ns....



Soo - a - s'day!

Welcome to blog #3 of my adventures here in the Great Kingdom of Cambodia! Thank you again for your donations towards my project here with Volunteer Building Cambodia . I have now completed my third house build in Thnung Village about 50 minutes out of Siem Reap.  The family receiving the house is a 47 year old mother with four children who were sharing this small thatched palm leaved dwelling on a plot of land her mother had given her behind her own house. They had one room, one bed and two of the children are teenagers who had to drop out of school to go help their mum by working on a rubber tree farm. The others can't go to school because it is too far away for them to walk there - so we came to change that!


Wednesday 12 August 2015

Cambodia Volunteering : 2. House Build #2 Mother & Son in Kror Peu Village, Kun Khmer Boxing, Phare Cambodian Circus and Blessed by a Buddhist Monk!

Soo-a-s’day!




I have finished the second house build in my international relief trip to Cambodia.  This is house build #2 and I'm out 45 minutes from Siem Reap city in a place called Kror Peu Village (Crocodile Village) We''ve started a brand new 'stilt style' house of Khmer Kadar style wood with a team of about 20 of us so hence all the bangin'! The family we are building for are a young boy and his mother who was abused by her alcoholic husband who eventually committed suicide. The two of them were living in a small one room thatched palm tree leaved roof house which we demolished and built a stilt style house with a room and porch for them to have. It’s a beautiful setting of rural Cambodia and the community are very sweet and appreciative.


Thursday 4 December 2014

Release of my E-Book! The Show Must Go On - Being with an Australian Travelling Zoo

Hello World! 

Today on this cold winter December day here in the UK is my birthday so.... I thought it might be an opportune time and occasion to say please BUY MY FIRST E-BOOK 'The Show Must Go On - Being with an Australian Travelling Zoo' which was just one of my many far-fetched experiences during my travels Down Under.

An adaptation of my story was first published overseas in German last year for travel book 'Australien wie wir es sehen' - so I've now brought you the uncut, full length English version for you to enjoy! will download from Amazon to all KINDLE DEVICES, IPAD AND IPHONES around the world.






Sunday 27 April 2014

'About The Time' ...The Quirks of Amsterdam and The Cat Boat!




'Yarr, I was riding past to verk along de Singel and stopped outside de Oude Lutherse Kerk and looked at zis canal boot and thought....hey zat boot is full of kats!'


A canal 'boot' full of cats!....meaning 'boat' in Dutch that is, said my strong accented dutch guide.... 
I'd been staying at the friendly Shelter Hostel right in the heart of the 'City of Diamonds' and took the opportunity to join their free guided walking tour of Amsterdam on a gloriously light but chilly Friday morning in the core of wintertime in The Netherlands.  Funny enough as cold it was for this chick from Blighty, Amsterdam was experiencing its mildest winter for many years.....only - 6 C. Brrrr. 


Monday 16 September 2013

Meeting The Amazon Man - Alan Holman - The Record Breaking Kayak Down The Amazon

Ahh life....row row row your boat, gently down the stream, merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream.....not for this guy it wasn't....and it certainly wasn't a stream.....

Last week, I met an incredible Guinness World Record Holder.....my first one too!

Now at 68, British man Alan Holman who in 1982 at the age of 38, is the first and only man on record that has ever kayaked the entire length of the 4,000 mile long Amazon River, you know what he said to me...

'Young lady, nothing ...is 100% impossible, but  
                  nothing is 100% sure'

                            awww.

Tuesday 20 August 2013

Two Summer Books that will Inspire the Free Spirit in you!


Hello people,

It's still summer and you should be in high spirits!! so I'd like to share with you two fantastic travel books I own that are guaranteed to inspire the free spirit you've always wanted to unleash!


How to Travel The World on $5 A Day : Travel, Cheaper, Longer, Smarter
- Matt Kepnes


'TRAVEL CAN BE DONE ON A BUDGET WITHOUT SACRIFICING COMFORT OR THE ADVENTURE YOU SEEK'
Bingo! isn't that just music to the ears of anyone who has dreamt of exploring to the ends of the fantastical suspending sphere of Planet Earth - 'without sacrificing comfort OR the adventure you seek'. C'mon this is not just another 'travel book' appearing on the shelf, its written by long term American traveller Matt Kepnes from the largest travel blog online  today Nomadic Matt who has gathered invaluable information from his seven years of full time travelling on a budget around 70 countries to date....he knows a thing or two about travelling, showing you that by spending approximately $50 a day, you can travel longer without having to be living the cliché life of a pauper on bread and water and squatting in rat infested backpackers with dripping ceilings as a budget traveller (I have never had a rat as a roommate but was lucky enough to get a dripping ceiling on one occasion!). Matt generously shares his experience and knowledge in an attempt to eradicate the 'travel is just for the rich' or 'too expensive' ethos that acts as an obstacle to many who dream of adventure and discovery without breaking the bank. Full of tricks, tips and secrets the book includes how to live and budget differently whilst saving for your travels, how to get free flights, finding cheap and comfortable accommodation and how to make your finances last for travelling cheaper, longer and smarter....plus more. 




Disrupting The Rabblement : Think For Yourself, Face Your Fears, Live Your Dreams, Piss Off Some Zombies
- Niall Doherty

Friendly Irish-born Niall Doherty of 'Disrupting the Rabblement' quit his job nearly three years ago and has since become a self-employed vagabond. Choosing to think for himself, he remains unconditioned by society to pursue his passions and help other people escape mediocrity whilst he takes on the challenge of travelling around the world without flying. Along with his You Tube Channel 'Renaissance TV' his E-book 'Disrupting the Rabblement' is his personal take on showing people how to 'rabble rouse' taking control of their own lives, challenging conformity and eradicate thoughtless living....tempting you to realise you can become fully conscious to your decisions and living a more fulfilling life.
In his own words..

'Disrupting the Rabblement is for all those people who have been doing what was expected of them and following all the rules, only to find that type of life extremely unfulfilling. It’s also for people who have already broken free and are aiming to make a positive difference in the world. It’s for anyone who wants to think for themselves, follow their dreams and help others do the same.'



Read the book if this sounds like you....its not a crime to think for yourself or say 'That doesn't make sense to me....'

Happy reading!





Thursday 30 May 2013

Carribean Sports Fever - How A New UK Initiative is Nurturing the Islands Hidden Talents


Ok, so the British Summer is around the corner, well you would think on some days but then on others you're disappointedly whipping out the winter wardrobe again. But.... usually summer time means the emergence of more active sporting activities with the more tolerable temperatures and prolonged lighter evenings in our favour. But some places out there in this big wide world, really, in the one outside your back garden, the gym or your local park or playground, are missing out on sporting opportunities due to their poor or otherwise non existent sports infrastructure.

Thursday 7 October 2010

Australia Adventures: 18. The Home of The Crocodile Hunter, Brizzy Brisbane and Goodbye to Queensland!

Hi everyone!

                                       The soothing serenity of Noosa Heads....



Welcome to my latest instalment of my endeavour to discover the wonderful Land of Oz...


Last time I left you I had been introducing myself to the Fraser Island Dingo's and continued travelling south down the east coast of Australia to the swanky sunshine town of Noosa Heads.
The town had a lot of roundabouts but good surf, not that I can surf well, but I rented a board from a backpackers that the hostel owner in 1770 had built himself and sent me packing there. Man, its fun having fun on the water out here! but people are very protective of their waves out here though which is pretty trivial to me, but I was rooming with a ex marine from the United States who was educating me about his four year life in the marines which was pretty fascinating. This is what I love about travelling, it gets you out of your familiar social circle and throws you in the mix with individuals from all different cultures and all walks of life. Love it, Love it, Love it! At the bottom of the road we had the Noosa river, perfect for a spot of chilling and fishing for my marine friend!