Montenegro

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

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!

Alps Trip

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

Venice

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

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

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

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

Brendan's Bike

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

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