Danny's Travel Blog

There is no planet B

2009-08-29T00:35:00.000+12:00

I've just Signed On with thousands of other Kiwis calling for urgent action
on climate change and I think you should too!

Please click here and join me:

http://www.signon.org.nz/invite/accept/B6pAnYk2

Thanks,

Daniel

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My New Blog

2009-05-26T22:56:00.002+12:00

Whilst my dreams of travelling endlessly have not died, the brake has been applied for a bit while I attempt to hold down a job in doing what a man must do. Fear not, for the dollops of searching self awareness, pretentiousness and irony that any Wellingtonian must shoulder, look no further than my new blog.

http://thelazypoet.wordpress.com/

Many thanks for keeping in touch on my travels!

Home to Aotearoa

2009-02-05T10:41:00.001+13:00

Now the world trip is well and truly over, summer is drawing on and it's almost time to start working again. Wow, time has flown since I updated this blog! Arriving home mid-December to a clean, quiet country was quite a shock to the system. But after a couple of weeks of mum's cooking I quickly got used to the simple pleasures of kiwiana, BBQ's and the great outdoors. Janurary has flown and now it is time to "settle down" for a little bit. This time - Wellington will be my home for the next year or so! So for some photos from the last month or so...

Last Country - Laos!

2008-12-18T03:47:00.002+13:00

For the final chapter of this trip I went south in China and crossed into Laos. This country is so laid back it's unbelievable. This is a country where the main transport is on the back of pickups and a big town has 30,000 people. A far cry from China! From the border I went to Lang Namtha for a two day trek and then a slow boat down the Mekong for a couple of days. After that it was kayaking, climbing, tubing and caving - adventure central!

Hyah - our guide for two days of jungle bashing.

Lunchtime...

The village we stayed at for the night. We camped in the chiefs house...

Skip-rope! Having fun in the village.

Crazy old trees.

Modes of transportation in Laos. Tuktuks and boats!

Travel buddy's - Yenta and Dan

Slow boat on the Mekong.

Cooking our own cuisine in Luang Prabang.

Another useful sign!

If one is up at 6am in Luang Prabang they will see some of the local monks in procession to collect food offerings from people set up on the side of the road.

Climbing near Veng Viang

Buddha statue in a cave near Veng Viang

I'm rich! 50,000 kip notes gallore.

Tubing team heads down the river near Veng Viang. I've never seen anything like this in my life! The idea is to float down the river in your tube stopping at party platforms which serve drinks and have giant swings and ziplines. A great day out!

Jumping off a giant swing on the tubing route.

Tubers get pulled in by swing/bar owners.

The final leg in Laos - kayaking to Vientiane.

Over to the Wild West

2008-12-01T23:28:00.002+13:00

After checking out chilly Chengdu I flew down to the Chinese southwestern city of Lijiang. Famed for it's beautiful setting and amazing old town, I based myself there for a week, checking out the yawningly deep Tiger Leaping Gorge a couple of hours north of here.

Chengdu. Eight million people and growing faster than you can say 'Develop the West'.

Warming up on tea at a chilly Sichuan Opera performance.

The Sichuan Opera is a medley of shadow puppetry, slapstick and magic mask changing. And uniquely Chinese.

Fire breathing actors.

Off to see the cuddly pandas at the Chengdu Panda Research base. They say there is only about a thousand of them left in the world - most of them in the bamboo forests west of Chengdu.

Choosing veges for a fiery hotpot lunch!

The amazing Old Town of Lijiang.

With Shine, a Chinese girl I met in Lijiang and her friend Maymay's Grandmother. It was amazing to see four generations living under one roof!

With Grandma.

Yunnan countryside.

Day trip to Baishia, a rustic village filled with drying corn, maijong and papaya smoothies!

Tiger Leaping Gorge. The twenty km hike took a group of us a day and a half. These locals with horses followed behind us on the uphill to make easy prey of stragglers!

At the top!

The appropriately named hotel which we spent the night.

Gorge team poses at the hotel which Michael Palin describes as having the toilet with the best view in the world!

Climbing up from the bottom on a ricketing wooden ladder.

Mama Naxi's guesthouse. Every night at 6pm she cooks for everyone in the guesthouse. A massive delicious meal for about 80 pence!

Travelling North

2008-11-21T00:20:00.003+13:00

After leaving the backpacker haven of Yangshuo, I travelled north using any mode of transportation I could find and using any method of communicating I could think of. The language barrier is massive here! Mostly I end up pointing wildly at the phrasebook and nodding blindly. The village areas were amazing however. I reached the Yangzi river at Yichang and took a 36 hour passenger boat up the river to Chongquing.

Dragonback Rice terraces. Really nice area in the Hunnan province but it almost felt built for Chinese tourists. These "Traditional girls" were not even part of the entrance fee!

Fantastic sunset up on the terraces.

Great advice.

Chengyang, another touristy "Minority Village". Beautiful place though.

The Wind and Rain bridge.

A real village person. Hurrah!

People doing Tai Chi underneath an enormous bridge.

The Three Gorges dam. Shame about the heavy pollution in air.

Heading up the Yangzi river

I had great company in my cabin. A dinosaur archaeologist and an English language student. I could blabber English to them the whole time. Great!

Hiking in Emei Shan - a Holy Buddist mountain 3100 m high. I met some German guys in the hostel and headed up with them for some hiking. We stayed in a monastery at 2000m and froze our butts off! Great views and funny monkeys everywhere.

Marcus with his share of the fourteen blankets we divided between the three of us!

Onto the Mainland

2008-11-10T22:51:00.002+13:00

Time for the next stage of my Asia tour! Flying from Delhi to Hong Kong was a massive culture shock. From the dirty but dynamic Indian capital to the rigid, futuristic city of Hong Kong - is there any greater contrast! A few days in Hong Kong to procure a visa for China then across the border to Shenzen for the start of my four weeks in the land of bamboo, Ti Chi and Tsingtao.

Gleaming towers make a fantastic backdrop for grass and ponds of downtown Hong Kong park.

The historic Victoria Peak tramway.

Hong Kongs tacky but entertaining sound and light show - the largest of its kind in the world.

Hong Kong is not just concrete and steel. I took a day-trip out to Lantau island to see a big Buddha and this monestry.

Hiking on Lantau island

Had to check out the new Bond film on the day it was released. Chinese subtitles and all.

Off to China!

First stop: Yangshou, home of some otherworldly karst landscape.

Spot the climber! Yangshou is the next big climbing mecca.

You give me no good coin!

Having fun with some english students at the language school. Everyone wants to practice their english on me, ahh!

Sampling the local catch with some Spainiads I met.

Mobbed by the 'Countryside Tour'. It's unbelievable how many domestic Chinese tourists there are everywhere. Love that booming economy!

Crossing the Li river on a bamboo raft.

I ordered a bowl of noodles and got enough to feed two families!

Which fish would you like with your meal tonight sir?

Rabbits, ducks, snakes and even dogs at the local farmers food markets.

Incredible India

2008-11-05T00:02:00.001+13:00

Good things always come to end and I am sad to leave my home of two months. After a lot of difficulty in reaching it going to the Taj the effort was definitely worth it in the end. Even for the most cynical of Kiwis this is an incredible monument. Spine tingling i must say! A great way to end my time in this incredible country.

Deserts and Forts

2008-11-02T06:10:00.001+13:00

Rajesthan; Land of the raj, desert and OTT headdresses! I flew up here from Goa with Jono and met other kiwi friends, Tony, Andy and Steph for 8 days.

The crew ready to carve it up in Jaipur!

The palace in Jaipur was fantastic with parts of it still used for Bollywood films.

Slllightly uncomfortable here with colourful guards watching over my shoulders...

A Thali - well proportioned meal for about 1 pound!

3 kiwis, 1 Aussie and 1 American in a rickshaw; no room.

Amber fort. Rajesthan is amazing for the amount of battlements and forts scattering the countryside.

Fort-spotting in the powerful taxi contraption.

Indian Rail at it's barred best.

Hanging out in Jophpur's fantastic fort.

Jophpur on the Mehrangarh Fort.

Watch out kids for this beast of burdened fury

Watching sunset in Jaiselmer

Onto the camels for our four day camel trek in the Great Thar Desert

Me with ali baba trousers, scarfed up with unhappy camel rash.

Sunset in the desert

These not-so-nasties crawled onto us at dusk provoking nocturnal squeals

Lost in the desert

Leaping for joy

Me, Jon, Andy and Tony playing the parts of useless Raj Rulers.

Crazy amounts of kids in the desert villages wanted pics, pens and rupees from us foreign traders.

Confusion as the camels organise themselves for another day at the office.

Jon on his (failed) attempt to get to the airport for Thailand!

Goa

2008-11-02T06:06:00.001+13:00

Up to the sunshine state of Goa! I met friend from London, Jon Burrell here and we hit Goa's surf and beaches with a vengence, hiring a couple of scooters to boot around the many locations. Great to relax after so long spent on overnight trains and cramped hotel rooms!

Elephants and Temples

2008-10-16T04:15:00.001+13:00

Speeding ever south (well a slightly exaggeration) on buses and trains, I left Pondicherry for the temple towns of Tanjore and Trichy in Tamil Nadu and reached the southern point of India. Indias not so neverending after all! From this Holy point, it was into tropical Kerala, a look at some of its famous backwaters and a then to a wildlife park high in the Western Ghats. Next stop Goa...

The fantastic sandstone clad Unesco temple at Tanjore. A Holy elephant was patrolling the grounds and it blessed me for 5 rupees!

Traveller buddy, Axel comtemplating the backpackers bible.

This fellow had rather large looking horns!

In Trichy at the rock temple. We hot-footed it up the stairs fast in the blinding heat!

Ok then bunny

Sunset at Konyakumari, India's southern most point and one of only a few places where you can watch the sunset and sunrise over the ocean. I stuffed it up though and somehow managed to find the only place where it fell on the land!

Seashells in the seychelles

Village cruise in the backwaters of Kerela. This massive network of canals connects much of the state.

Stalking tigers

Coconut milk! I travelled with Ross and Margeox for a few days and learnt the difference between Queensland leaches and Keralan leaches from them!

Uplifting sign:-)

Local coconut supercruiser

Photo-snappy kids

Cool treehouse hotel that I will have to remember for next time!

Trotting up the hill on our beast of burden

Thanks for the ride maaate

The brochure didnt say the elephant package included this?

Leaches after the 'Nature Walk'. The leaches were just crazy! 50 or so at a time would be crawling up everyones trousers, with most of the walk spent flicking them off!

Fours a crowd in the autorickshaw

Periyar National Park

Seaching for the tigers that just DONT exist

Millions of Monkeys

Strange Kilakathi performance. A Keralan theatrical extravaganza of makeup and silence

Heading South

2008-10-04T02:13:00.002+13:00

What a busy 10 days its been! After a brief excusion up to Darjeeling I returned to Calcutta and started the big journey south. First stop was Orissa, a state that has just been devasted by floods. Puri, the town I was based in, wasnt affected but there almost no other tourists around! After Puri, it was a 20 hour train ride down to Chennai, and straight onto a bus for a two hour journey to Mamallapuram, a beach backpacker hangout. At the moment, I am sampling the French flavours and mediatation centers in Pondicherry before I head for the southern most tip of India!

Gurka monument just outside Darjeeling. The 8000m Kanchengazonda behind.

Good old Darjeeling Express. More a toy train than Express!

3AC - Three tier sleeper with Air-con. My choice of the 6 or so classes!

Not sure how much progress these men with buckets on their heads where making.

Local village that I visited after one of the guys started a conversation up while he was riding his Honda along side my bike!

Saachin's mother.

Tendulkur at the stumps.

Team photos after bowling a few (very wide) overs to these chaps!

This area of Orissa was so idyillic. Wish I could have stayed a week longer!

The Sun-temple near Konark

Fishing village kiddies with a mighty castle.

Fish, wonderful fish.

Fishing boats near Marmallarpuram

Email me about this one?

Yes, now for a slice of the continent. Pondicherry!

Gandi - looking rather buried after his birthday celebrations.

Sacre Cour?

Auroville - an experiment in transient, mediatational, communial, golden sphere thingy living

From Kathmandu to Kolkata

2008-09-23T00:51:00.002+12:00

Well a busy and crazy week! After my Everest trek I spent a few days in and around the Kathmandu valley having some much needed R&R and planning the next stage of my trips. After a bumpy bus-ride to the Nepalese border town of Sunauli. Another bus ride over the Indian side to the dirty town of Gorakpur and then onto my first Indian train!

I hired a bike in Kathmandu and biked out through the (mad) streets to the Royal town of Patan. It has a beautiful square with Hindu temples and colourful stalls.

Kathmandu valley.

Locals posing for the camera on our train from Gorekpur to Varanasi! It turned out we had got on the wrong train (all stops including farms!) so we switched trains about 10pm and finally got to Varanasi at midnight having meant to have gotten there at 7:30!

The river Ganges from our hotel balcony in Varanasi. What a full on place this was - the most hassle and touts I've ever seen!

The eleborate 'Ganga aarti' ceromony, performed every night at the main Dasaswadedh bathing ghat. They still kept in sync when the power went out and the lights went off!

Early morning boat ride on the river...

We got up at 5am but by the time we haggled for a rowing boat the sun had already come up!

Just another day at the ghat! Well, probably not - bathing here is such an eleborate and important ritual for most of these people.

Breakfast on the deck of our fairly lush hotel. I met Dan, Nath and Elena (all Spanish) in Gorekpur and spent four days with them in Varanasi.

Taking an autorickshaw to Sarnath, just outside Varanasi.

Sarnath, the place where Buddha spoke his first message. Convenently recreated just for us!

After Varanasi, an overnight train to Kolkata (Calcutta in old money). A vibrant, busy city very much still influenced by the British rule here.

Cooking up a storm with a Kalkatain!

Locals celebrating the ?? festival

Rickshaw-wallahs sleeping next to their machine. Could not believe how many people sleep on the streets here.

TAXI, taxi?

Caught in the rain (and not just any rain!)

The amazing Victoria memorial in the center of Kokata.

Darjeeling

The perfect cup of tea?

Nik, Kirstie (an aussie couple I met) and I playing the part of British planters.

Walking in the tea plantations

Everest Excursion!

2008-09-11T23:47:00.002+12:00

Flying in to Lukla; the day we flew in was misty and wet - the type of weather we needed to get used to for the next week!

Safely on the tarmac. What an experience coming into a 300 metre sloping runway in the rain! These twin Otters really are the business

A misty morning...

Logan contemplating a Buddhist prayer stone:-) You have to walk clockwise around them or you get a berating by very serious looking old sherpas!

One of many swingbridges on the way up to Namche Bazaar

A moody looking lake near Gokyo; the valley Logan and I walked up.

On top of Gokyo Ri; some 5300 metres or so.

Yeeha, Logan got to see some mountains after 7 days of mist!

7000 something peak

Yep, there it is...the way to rocks and nothing else (its out of season)

The incredibly striking Pumo Ri; 7165m opposite Everest

After Logan flew home after we did the Gokyo valley, I continued up towards Everest and this is as close as I got!

Another shot of Pumo Ri from Kala Pathar

And there is the beast - doesnt really look all that high after all!

Tibetian prayer flags

Two locals that got me over the Kongma La (a pass of 5535m). They almost ran up with my pack on!

Over the Kongma La there was probably the most amazing panorama Ive ever seen. Two 8000metre peaks and miles of glacier.

An amazing ridge of Ama Dablam

A very relieved and bearded me! 18 days and I get off the mountains without losing a day due to weather!

Across Northern India

2008-08-20T23:48:00.000+12:00

Monsoon

2008-08-17T19:56:00.001+12:00

Rain! It just keeps coming down. After leaving the Pakistani border and the Sikh city of Amritsar, the full force of the Indian monsoon hit. Roads blocked by entire trees slipping onto the road, villages swamped by orange coloured muck and bucket loads of fat drops of water. Makes things interesting!

Amritsar is the Sikh holy city and is home for the Golden Temple, a guilded temple built in the middle of a rectangular lake. Our Sikh guide, Lucky proudly showed us the complex and the communal cateen, which serves over 100,000 chapatis and dhals a day! From Amritsar, the six of us headed north-est for a seven hour drive to Dharamsala.

Dharamsala, or the Macloud Ganj where we stayed is home to the Tibeten government in exile and nestled high in the himilayan foothills. There were lots of 'enlightened' westerners hanging around too but we settled for a wander around the Dalai Lamas complex and lunch at the Chocolate Log - which served delightful chocolate cake! (home comforts taken at any opportunity in India!)

Next stop, Shimla, the official summer capital of the British Raj until 1939. We stumbled around here in the rain taking some poor, ill-kept horses up to a hindu monument on a nearby hill. We were less than impressed when a chap offered us his telescope to peer into the fog - arhh! Our moods greatly improved when walking around the Mall, a street at the top of the ridge which is lined with colonial style houses. We spotted pipe-toting cardigan wearing locals and school childen with smart uniforms on. Very English!

So a fun few days. Lots of history, culture and rain!

Pakistan - Part 2

2008-08-11T20:33:00.014+12:00

On the roof of the truck through the Hunza

Feet hanging out the front!

Dinner beneath Rakiposhi

Our driver, Karim

Cooling down near Gilgit

More rooftop fun...

Tea in the stream!

Local chap very proud of his Toyota...or is it a Mazda?

Pizza Hut sign in Islamabad...classy!

Markets in Rawalpindi

This is the crowd that turns up for the India-Pakistan border ceremony. One of the most amazing things Ive seen!

The guards on both sides try to outdo each other by crazy marching and shouting. They even manage to kick their own heads with the height of their goosestep!

Pakistan - Part 1

2008-08-11T20:17:00.001+12:00

The exciting part of the trip! From Kashgar in China, we drove on the Karakoram Highway which connects Pakistan via the Khunjereb Pass. The road took 20 years build and was completed in the 1980's and resulted in the death of hundreds of Chinese workers. We stayed in Yurts on the way up to the pass, basically a skin tent which the Kyrgyz village people use in the summer to tend their animals.

We were met on the Paki side of the pass by our guide and stayed in a place called Passu for our first night in Pakistan.The next morning was for hiking up the nearby Ghulkin glacier, nestled in between the ferocious looking peaks around. The people here are incredibly friendly, dressing in brightly coloured clothing and working in green terraced valleys. If you live in the Hunza valley, its likely you will live over a hundred!

Out local guides had a fleet of Willys jeeps. We jumped into these and whistled through the valleys, the locals waving and cheering as the crazy westerners careered through their villages!

We spent a couple of nights in Karimabad, Hunza's ancient capital perched high above the Karakoram Highway. We camped above the town in place called the Eagles nest, so named because of its incredible views of Rakaposhi (7788m) and Ultar 2. There was meant to be a solar eclipse and although it was visible, it wasnt quite the dark event we were expecting! The locals took us up the nearby Ultar valley the next morning, and went up a glacier that was very dodgy and would give Health and Safety officials a heart attack if they saw the path!

Kashgar and Yurts!

2008-08-07T17:57:00.001+12:00

Kyrgyzstan Adventures

2008-07-26T04:03:00.018+12:00

Flying from Istanbul to Bishkek was a red eye affair landing in at 1:30am and bunking down on the floor with a bunch of Slovenien climbers. The next morning I met up with the Dragoman overland people and started my central asian adventure! We are travelling overland from Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan to Kathmandu in Nepal going through China, Pakistan and India to get there. Mainly English people on the trip with a Norwegien, Canadian, Australian and a Kiwi rounding out the rest.

Kyrgyz soldiers guarding something...

First night camping with the truck, getting everything out.

Screaming past quirky muslim cementries in the truck

Missile Christmas decorations...Nice

Local kids checking out the photos in front of an freedom memorial

Lunchtime on route towards the Chinese border

Hiking above a small town called Naryn

Dung piled up for fuel outside a house in Naryn

Local gents in Naryn

Yurts in a valley we stayed in called Tash Rabet, an old Silk route trading post

Happy chappy climbing above Tash Rabet so he gets out of dinner.

Another happy scrambler

Not sure whether hes fallen out with his horse or cant decide which way to go

There were fantastically wide valleys and rough roads on the way south through Kyrgyzstan

These crazy Dutchys were bumping along in their Herbies on a a Amsterdam to Beijing charity rally!

Inside Daphne, our mighty truck.

Montenegro

2008-07-18T23:02:00.008+12:00

Bumpy roads! As we made our way from the capital of Albania; Tirana to the Montenegro border the roads got worse. Crazy to see hundreds of stolen Mercs (from Germany in the 90's) cruising round on roads little better than paved walking tracks. The beaches of Montenegro proved to be just the solution with a night at Petrovak, a cove where rich Romans used to holiday. We spent the afternoon at the beach and the next morning was more beach and an hour or two at Sveti Stefan, then on too Budva. Sveti had a very picturesque island jutting out from the beach where a luxur resort used to be. The water around it was just too perfect and looked like a film set!

We found a campsite in Budva and sat around like beached walruses trying to keep out of the high 30's heat. The beaches were absolutely packed and it seemed like every eastern european had made their way here for the summer festical.W e looked around the Stari Grad (old town) and ran from a thunder storm while enjoying some delicious mussels.

For my final day with Sal and Lach, we drove to Kotor which is at the end of Europes largest fjord. A fortified wall was built during the 13th century which surrounded the old town and a castle perched on the surrounding mountain. We sweated our way up there for some great pics before heading down for a greek salad and refreshing beverage. Last goodbyes before I got on the overnight bus from Budva to Belgrade. A fantastic 10 days with Sal and Lach that has just gone far too fast! They will continue their journey into Bosnia then Croatia on the way back to London in September.

Tirana's main sqaure.

From Greece to Albania

2008-07-12T06:08:00.002+12:00

It's been twelve days on the road and many memories to keep already. I started with a week with Tim and Jon Burrell and Jon Storer in Mykonos soaking up the hot Greek sun. The island is small, only 15 km across, but boasts a lot of stunning beaches and a vibrant town. We spent our time scootering round the island exploring the beaches, spotting the glamourous beach goers and living it up in our nice greek apartment. It was a fantastic week and I was sorry to have to leave the islands and head for the mainland.

I decided that 30 degree heat wasnt enough and met Sally Johnston and Lachlan Love in Athens. We checked out the Acropolis, had dinner on a rooftop at sunset below the Panthanon. We then headed up to Corfu, in their old school Ford Transit camper for a couple of days on the beach, hired a boat and spent an entire day cruising around the bays on the west side on the island. The island had a decidedly 70's feeling to it with laid back people and fading grandour. Off again, this time for the Albanian border and sweltering 40 degree heat. The camper has no air-con so it was windows wide open and wind through the hair to cool down!

Albania is in its wild west stage of tourism. After years of brutal leadership, the country is started to realise that its beautiful coastlines are very attractive to westerners. The main road up the coast is little more than a pot holed cattle track! The communist leader, Enver Hoxha ruled for 40 years and installed "mushroom" bunkers in every nook and crany in the country. You see them them dotted on the beach amounst the beach umbrellas. There is a 4:1 ratio of bunkers to every person in Albania.

We are now in Tirana the capital, checked into an air conditioned hotel (an absolute luxury in this heat!) and are going to head up to Montenegro tomorrow.

This is it. Who knows if we will come out the other side!

Soviet style engineering

Beach bunkers

Kite flying on our beach campsite

Fun with the exposure!

Greece!

2008-07-09T07:17:00.001+12:00

Alps Trip

2008-06-18T09:49:00.003+12:00

On the 6th of June, I set off for Munich to met up with Lindsay, an old Uni mate and a couple of his friends from Uni - Mark and Mattijn. We all wanted to climb Mt Blanc (again for me)!! We stopped off at a few places on the way to do some climbs and acclimatise. Most night we just parked up somewhere after climbing, cooked up a mean feed and fought over sleeping spaces in the van.

Mattijn is Dutch so of course it was mandatory to don orange as supporters for the Netherlands in the Euros!

Indian rope gurus...

First day with the camper in Switzerland. This pass we tried to go over was closed so we camped up, went for a hike and drove the alternative route to Interlaken!

Jumping for joy in front of the Eiger

The train that goes through the rock face of the Eiger to most of the way up the Jungfrau

Matthijn feeling sorry for himself after Mount Blanc...

More Venice

2008-06-03T11:42:00.003+12:00

Venice

2008-06-03T11:20:00.004+12:00

On the 11th of May, I went to Venice to help paddle a Dragon Boat in the Vogalonga festival in Venice! Li Chiang, a workmate, competes with the Raging Dragons, a dragon boating team based near Canary Wharf. They needed some people to fill the boat so I headed over with my old schoolmate, William and did the 30km race! It was great fun, hard work and definitely worth the sunburn. Heres some photos...

Paddling to the start

Hard at work

The locals having a go

Approaching the very crowded Grand Canal.

Twenty Seven

2008-06-03T11:06:00.005+12:00

Time to restart the blog for the coming 6 months! For the past few months I have been planning a trip which will take me back to New Zealand by Christmas time. On the 29th of June I will leave the UK for Greece. In Mykonos I will spend a week with Jon and Tim Burrell, meet Lach and Sally in Athens and travel with them up the Baltic coast to Sarajevo. From there I will go by train to Istanbul in Turkey and fly out to Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan. From there I will join a Dragoman overland tour through the Chinese Xinjiang province , Tibet and into Nepal. After some time in India and perhaps Pakistan I hope to travel to Africa for a time before finally arriving home!

In any case it has been a long time since I posted any photos so here are a few...

My 27th birthday in Kew!

Buckingham Palace in spring

London

2007-02-12T11:18:00.000+13:00

Five months since my last blog and five months in London! Well, where to start! I have been staying with Logan in Notting Hill and working for a marketing company in Kentish Town, north London doing a web project. Have managed to get to out of London a little to Barcelona, Munich and Baveria, Malaga in the south of Spain, Dublin, Belfast and a weeks sking in France. I have met a fantastic bunch of new people and got to love London for its diversity and atmosphere and hate it for the rush and bustle. Simply put, it's been a great experience all round and I have decided to do some more travelling then come back in June '07.

New York, New York

2006-09-30T04:35:00.000+12:00

On the Brooklyn Bridge opposite some lovely person taking my portrait...

Brendan's Bike

2006-09-30T04:17:00.000+12:00

At the start line everyone was ready.

Recipe - Brendan first drowns his bike in the big puddle, we then dowse whole thing in petrol, set to 250 celsius and then resubmerge in copius amounts of snow.

Attempt to start for two hours by removing from fridge and towing.

Success and a great time in Canada!

Canadian Rockies

2006-09-30T04:10:00.000+12:00

A few shots of my three weeks hiking in Banff, Jasper and Yoho National Parks and Mt Assiniboine and Mt Robson Provincial Parks.

Photos from Greenwoods

2006-07-29T05:58:00.000+12:00

Snapshots from Greenwoods Summer Camp in Michigan, USA

Greenwoods Camp

2006-06-25T16:22:00.000+12:00

Hi Everyone! I am at my summer camp in Michigan now after having a great time with Lois and Pete on west side of the US. Saw some amazing things and people on our journeys of 4500 miles or so - the scenery is incredible in some of the national parks over here. Its been a big change spending all day teaching kids waterskiing and climbing all day and then sleeping in a bunkroom with 15 other fourteen and fifteen year olds but a great experience all the same!

Missing everyone back in Chch, and missing the cold believe it or not! It gets unbelievably hot and humid here - am thankful for the periods I have on the lake instead of on the climbing wall! The camp has mainly Jewish kids from affluent families so they are quite used to all the toys. They are great kids though and its been an amazing experience getting to know them, and hopefully be a positive influence on them! The counselors, all 200 of them (the camp has a 3:1 ratio) are from the US, UK, Australia, South Africa and of course good old Land of the Long White Cloud! There are pages I could right about the fun and experiences we had over the last two weeks so hopefully I can waffle on about them in the next blog!

Better let the next person on the box jump in but until next time Adios!

From San Diego

2006-06-04T18:00:00.000+12:00

How'ya all doing kiwis!

Sorry I haven't emailed or blogged in the last month, seem to have been on the move so much that its hard to get PC access for more than a few minutes!

Have been having a great time with a couple of highlights being walking across the middle of the Grand Canyon and camping next to the Colorado river - its so massive its almost surreal! Have to be real careful of heat exhastion over here. Also San Francisco, Salt Lake City and of course Vegas have all been amazing too! Did some hiking in Zion and Yosemite too which by themselves are mindblowing! First time I have been walking the streets in 40 degree heat at 8 at night too! Am in San Diego at the moment, took a tour of the USS Midway with dad - a massive aircraft carrier converted into a museum today. Hope to update my blog with a whole lot of stuff soon including pictures soon

Missing hanging out with everyone in Chch, guess its getting kind of chilly now though!

Until next time, adios from San Diego

Easter in the Garden of Eden

2006-04-24T11:00:00.000+12:00

Climb up to Paradise! This Easter a group of us went up the Clyde River in Central Canterbury to the main divide and spent a few days camping there. After 4wding from Erehwon station up the river we spent a very cold night on the river bed and an early start got us up to a rock biv underneath the cascading ice of the main divide. The next morning we trudged up to the Perth col where amazing views of the Garden of Eden ice platuea awaited us. After tight rope walking on a crevasse edge we where down for a hot coffee before dark! More detail to come...

Barker Hut

2006-04-03T20:48:00.000+12:00

Since I'll be leaving NZ soon enough a group of us (Three brothers Addington, Keith, Heidi and the infamous Matthew Crop) decided to head up the Waimakiari river for a shot at climbing Mt Murchison. Although we did not reach the summit it was a fantastic weekend had by all with great views of the various 2000 meter peaks surrounding, sheer moraine walls, depleted glacial ice and a hut precariously perched between a steep bluff and six less than fresh bodies...excellent

Legs on Everest - Mark Inglis' Quest For The Top

2006-03-29T15:59:00.000+12:00

Legs on Everest - Mark Inglis' Quest For The Top
Check out local boy Mark Inglis bounding up Everest!