Magnificent Ukraine
Ukraine is a wonderful surprise, full of interesting, unusual and amazing things. I knew next to nothing about it and had a vague (and totally baseless) idea that it might be a kind of emptier, […]
adventure
Adventures in Moldova
Moldova is kind of unusual. It’s a little bit this and a little bit that. Generally, I found the Moldovans to be quite reserved. Not really friendly or unfriendly, just sort of minding their own […]
Chasing vampires and bears
I’ve always wanted to explore Romania for its fascinating folklore, fairytale castles, and dark forests with wolves and bears, and especially Transylvania for the vampires.
Spring in Neykovo
While we were off gallivanting in Malta, the greyscale Bulgarian winter was transformed into full Disney technicolour. I had no idea our village of Neykovo could be so beautiful. All the deciduous trees, that I […]
The many layers of Malta
When my father’s family migrated to Australia from Scotland in 1927, their ship stopped in Malta. He kept a couple of old photos in his photo tin that always fascinated me. It looked so beautiful […]
First steps on the old silk road
It was an adventurer called Zhang Qian, between 100-200 BC, who is said to have started off the old silk road trade route, from China to the west. He keeps appearing in lots of different […]
From culture shock to panda bears
Arriving in China felt like we’d landed on an entirely different planet. One where we didn’t know the customs, how things worked or how to behave, where we couldn’t even communicate or manage the basics […]
Into the wilds of Nam Ha
Even though we paid more than double the going price for tickets on the one-whole-seat-per-person fancy van, somehow we still ended up sitting in the aisle on the public bus to Oudomxay in northern Laos. […]
Last Stop, Quito
Quito is the turn-around point for us, in this particular South American adventure. From here it’s back to Santiago (Chile), then back to Easter Island, then Tahiti and then home (via Auckland) to Australia. Quito, […]
Galapagos – The Enchanted Isles
The Galápagos Islands are most famous for the role they played in Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. I was quite surprised to learn that he was only ashore here for less than a month. He […]
Adventurous Hermit 