tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39338333794238414142011-11-28T01:27:12.672+01:00In which the author struggles in vain to summarise all the sights sounds smells friendships jokes fun frustration life colour and experiences of travel with the hopeless combination of mere words and pictures.Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.comBlogger881100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-84362813508216477262009-03-04T12:00:00.003+01:002009-03-04T12:04:31.341+01:00

That's right, it's been too long in one place and I'm off again...what's that?No, not me, my blog.This will be the last update here. From now on this blog will live at the much sexier http://cantplayguitar.wordpress.com. Come visit. Tell your friends. Enjoy.Yes, I am doing this because Simon told me to. Who am I to argue with what Simon says?

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-85446137607275893122009-03-02T07:03:00.002+01:002009-03-02T07:13:21.563+01:00

There is an exhibition of Monet and other impressionists at Te Papa at the moment, and there is lot of advertising for it around town. I saw - or think I saw - an ad on the side of a bus saying "Show me the Monet", with the classic waterlilies behind. That would be the best ad ever, and I immediately got excited and started telling people about it. But that was a few weeks ago, and no-one else

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-62204171309585071182009-02-23T09:38:00.004+01:002009-02-23T09:58:53.215+01:00

Last time I wrote about the facebook and blog blackout in protest against section 92a amendments. Today our PM announced that it has been delayed. Hopefully it will stay delayed forever. And I wrote about how the Wellington CC was going to replace the green recycling bins with (unrecyclable) plastic bags you had to pay for. Now they've canned that. Hooray. And I'm sure that both are because of

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-59236392237290223022009-02-19T09:21:00.004+01:002009-02-19T09:44:36.749+01:00

This is about a very Web 2.0 based protest that happened 9 hours ago now, so I am way, way behind the news. It's not even news anymore, but today there was a protest at parliament against a new law which basically reverses the usual innocent until proven guilty thing, with regards to copyrights and downloads. It is called Section 92A. There were a bunch of cameras there so it was probably on the

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-85573854245464383992009-02-13T10:26:00.003+01:002009-02-13T10:33:58.079+01:00

Andrew...... is writing this blog entry facebook status update style... moved back to Wellington... is working for the man... went to the rugby 7s dressed as a toy soldier... is looking for a flat... is catching up with old friends... enjoys Wellington despite the weather... wore cufflinks, leather pointy-toe shoes and a tie the other day and is torn between despising and being impressed by

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-41863025885266242412009-02-01T12:53:00.003+01:002009-02-01T13:04:55.000+01:00

The 'French' part of New Zealand, Akaroa, is just an hour or so away from Chirstchurch. Not very French anymore, but a nice little town and the drive there from Christchruch over the Banks Peninsula is very nice. Here are a few photos from Akaroa and around from Saturday.Colonial style buildings in Akaroa:One of the two wharfs in Akaroa.Akaroa harbour. Onawe peninsula, maybe it becomes an island

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-35165742255903990222009-02-01T11:40:00.003+01:002009-02-01T12:26:05.694+01:00

Not working yet, and not travelling either, I've been surfing the web all too much lately. Here are a some interesting articles and links I've found, mostly related to Green issues, the environment, and all that hippy stuff. I'll admit I haven't done much about actually being Green, but according to ReadWriteWeb, reading and knowing and sharing the issues are parts of their '7 online things we

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-71984301634693776042009-01-22T20:54:00.008+01:002009-01-22T23:17:43.739+01:00

Next trip in the rediscover New Zealand Odyssey: a couple of tramps with Tony and Dan. First up we were over to the west coast (via a breakfast stop for the famous Springfield pies) to tramp up to Welcome Flats. The drive down the coast was spectacular with rainforest full of rimu on both sides of the road and kererū swooping about. We walked in in spectacular sunshine surrounded by sandflies and

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-15118279846550184132009-01-13T10:11:00.003+01:002009-01-14T11:17:41.249+01:00

I was just reading about how protestors against Heathrow's proposed third runway have somehow managed to buy an acre of the proposed runway land, and will split it into many smaller properties and sell it in pieces to hundreds or thousands of people accross the world, to slow down any enforced acquisition process. Whether you're for or against the runway, you've gotta admit this protest's

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-46724922186332110462009-01-11T02:24:00.009+01:002009-01-11T09:34:26.559+01:00

(Some photos from New Zealand below)Finally, after all these ramblings, I am back in NZ, and all is good. The cheapest flying option from India to New Zealand was with budget airlines Tiger, Jetstar, and Pacific Blue, via Singapore and then Melbourne. This made for a few stops and minor adventures en route, where we loved the air-con and swimming pool of Rowan and Mie's complex in that "

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-66048558806056056132008-12-11T05:38:00.005+01:002008-12-11T06:14:39.164+01:00

My final post on the volunteer work I was doing in Daramsala. I was there for just over two months total, not so long, but long enough to get a few things done. My work at Lha culminated in running a workshop which was very successful and will hopefully continue to build some expertise in the Tibetan community in India. It was the second Joomla course in McLeod Ganj and everyone from the first

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-51561818661655646932008-12-07T14:29:00.004+01:002008-12-07T14:34:45.936+01:00

Here are a few photos from my stay at Arambol in Goa.It is Christian there! I spent my last day in India at a Catholic festival, The Feast of St Francis Xavier.With some beautiful sunsets. It was much more purple in real life.Me and my Uruguyan friend Gennaro indulged in a little Goa-style Motorcycle Dairies for a day. Had to bribe some cops because we did not have international driver licenses..

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-36051440833463350572008-12-01T12:38:00.003+01:002008-12-01T13:02:50.890+01:00

It's a little premature to eulogise my Indian experience since I haven't left yet, but I'm in Goa now and today set the scene for how the next few days will flow: lazy breakfast, swim, beach, swim, beach, slow walk down beach, late lunch, swim, etc. So how to summarise this crazy country? India is big. Very very big. And diverse in every way. Snow-covered Himalayas, jungles, endless plains, huge

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-3093989741851341242008-11-19T16:04:00.007+01:002008-11-19T16:16:58.031+01:00

I took a few photos walking to work this morning. Here we go...In my village, Gamru. This is my neighbour's house:This is at the edge of my village. I'm about to start the uphill section. If you look close you can see someone carrying some water (?) on her head:Himalayas are bright and clear and beautiful almost every morning.I'm almost in McLeod Ganj - the town in which I work - now. Note the

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-37317632740007209862008-11-19T15:10:00.007+01:002008-11-19T16:04:09.799+01:00

Another few weeks of volunteering/working in Daramsala have gone by. I won't bore you too much with the details, like I would never write about 'real' work in the 'real' world. I've installed this, upgraded that, found a new component for X, explained how Y works, fixed something else, blah blah blah. Almost all with the joomla and joomfish web content management and translation management

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-88526190231441827532008-11-09T11:55:00.009+01:002008-11-09T12:57:17.544+01:00

After only a few weeks of work in McLeod it was already time for a holiday! How sweet this volunteering gig is, compared to the real world. First stop en route: Agra, to meet Tony and Steph there, and visit the Taj Mahal. Even the extravagant 750Rp entry fee (equivalent to 100 cups of tea, 100 samosas and 100 newspapers) was worth it. Truly beautiful.The Taj Mahal Inside adjacent mosque

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-20997579220219182802008-11-08T14:42:00.011+01:002008-11-09T13:15:37.237+01:00

Kia ora. One Sunday last month I hired a taxi with three Scottish friends for the day and went to visit Kangra fort and other nearby attractions. Kangra fort is a castle near Kangra town, not too far from Daramsala. The Scots were less impressed by the fort than I was, since they probably all have castles in their backyards, but we all agreed on the fun to be had exploring the surrounding jungle.

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-70243138871974166012008-10-31T07:44:00.005+01:002008-10-31T08:32:36.359+01:00

A number of the books I've read recently relate to the meditation, need to work, India, etc, that I've blogged about recently. Art imitating life? Life imitating art? Neither, probably, just me reading what's interesting to me. If you're looking for a travel update come back next time, otherwise, read on...Paolo Coelho's The Witch of Portobello followed his usual formula of shallow mysticism and

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-64650065190153770362008-10-17T08:34:00.005+02:002008-10-17T09:30:39.400+02:00

McLeod Gang is home to the Tibetan government-in-exile. It is also home to large numbers of Tibetan refugees, and is the home of their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. The refugees and community is not as you might picture it, having been here for some time now and being fairly established, and not destitute thanks to the generosity of the Indian government, their own work, and international

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-23249211322630351312008-10-04T07:16:00.005+02:002008-10-04T07:51:00.837+02:00

Don't worry Lucas, just a normal travel update this time. From Mandi I went south to visit Chandigarh. A strange city, planned a la Canberra and Milton Keynes, but seemed to have kept some sort of soul to it. And strange in India for being distinctly middle class. Air conditioned shops, western brands, slick bars, disposable income galore. Whatever "the real India" is, this ain't it. Or maybe the

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-58625256743868443772008-10-01T07:29:00.007+02:002008-10-02T07:53:55.334+02:00

People often express jealousy at the amount of time I seem to spend living the dream compared to them, and almost as often say or think or presume that they cannot do the same. But most people I know are lucky enough to lived in the "developed" world, and if they want to, they can. Here are my calculations: In New Zealand minimum wage is (all NZ$) $12 per hour. So working 40 hours a week you earn

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-3924908708492568542008-09-23T15:05:00.002+02:002008-09-23T15:42:54.342+02:00

Ahoy there,I finished my time in Ladakh with a course in Anapanna "breathing" meditation. This involved being locked away from the real world for three days, no talking, no eye contact, no thinking about anything. It was very difficult. Not the not talking, but the not thinking part. It is amazing how much, how far, and how quickly my mind wonders. This is of course the reason for doing a

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-21041440573861666542008-09-23T14:58:00.002+02:002008-09-23T15:04:36.073+02:00

... will not be forthcoming. My memory card has almost as many viruses as my stomach. But I bought a new one (memory card) today! So normal service shall resume shortly.

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-32027038511533461222008-09-08T12:50:00.003+02:002008-09-08T13:36:35.196+02:00

I am never satisfied that what I write here does justice to the impressions that all these amazing people and places have on me. And I know that this time will be far further from the mark than usual. Anyhow...I've spent most of my time in India so far in Ladakh, which is part of Janmu and Kashmir state in the far far north. I walked over the Great Himalayan Range to get here. I've spent most of

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-29715269126771339992008-08-28T06:53:00.002+02:002008-08-28T07:08:06.451+02:00

On my second day in India, wandering-wondering round Delhi, I had that quintessential Indian experience that you daydream about before you travel. A street was blocked to traffic and all sorts of people crowded through it, skipping past the occasional sacred and oblivious cow and prostrated beggar. Incense, beads, and other religious artifacts that I won't pretend to understand yet were splashed

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-47303631021062577442008-08-08T15:16:00.006+02:002008-08-08T15:47:27.945+02:00

Me and the Isle of SkyeThe bridge to the Isle of Skye. Loch Ness and a castle.Old wall I stumbled across on Skye.On Skye.On Skye. On Skye.On Skye.Scottish eh?Yep, Scottish.En route to Skye. What a beautiful place to wait.View from Skye of other Islands.Skye. Immediately upon my return from Roskilde I lost my job. The project I'd been working on for the past eight or nine months got canned, and so

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-24485016812953111052008-07-09T12:29:00.008+02:002008-08-08T16:17:47.198+02:00

After Hurricane I was back at work for a week then off again for festival number two: Roskilde. Lucas and the other guys flew from London but I decided on the more interesting method, ferry first then hitch-hiking of course. Saturday morning I set off to Harwich, took the ferry across to the Hook of Holland and continued to Groningen, a small city in the north of the Netherlands. (You can get the

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-25278776084295894512008-06-25T11:58:00.004+02:002008-06-25T12:17:34.666+02:00

Val, Tony and I spent a long weekend near Bremen in Germany, at Hurricane Festival. It was very cool. Three days of good weather, good music, about 70000 people, blah blah blah. These bands were there: Apoptygma Berzerk · Bakkushan · Bat For Lashes · Beatsteaks · Bell X1 · Biffy Clyro · Billy Talent · Black Rebel Motorcycle Club · Blackmail · British Sea Power · Calexico ·

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-52930578951708671952008-06-14T15:12:00.005+02:002008-06-14T15:39:05.784+02:00

At the beachBrighton pavillionLocal shop. World's best t-shirt.Local grafitti.Our noisy neighbours.At Sussex vs Durham. Mustaq Ahmed!Our street.Rambling nearbyIn front of the beach, Hove.This is the day's 3rd post after this and this.I've moved house - to Brighton! Brighton is lovely, a really nice place. We live in the North Laine, in my humble opinion the coolest part of the coolest city in the

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-62317928382844082912008-06-14T15:03:00.002+02:002008-06-14T15:11:43.499+02:00

This is my second post today, the other one was Montreal.I returned to London and it was hot! In the tube and warm outside. London is a much nicer city on the days which aren't grey. The headed north the next weekend with Tony and Sam to cheer on the Black Caps at Old Trafford. Luckily we were there for the day we dominated, Ross Taylor scored 150 and it was awesome. If we could banter like the

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-30944964167258585302008-06-14T14:45:00.003+02:002008-06-14T14:53:16.219+02:00

(ye olde 1)(!)(ye olde 2)(marmot!)(graffiti)(advertising!)(squirrel)(white squirrel!)(Rue St-Denis)(Val and Louise-Phillipe picnic atop Mont-Royal)Montreal is a cool city. In the funky - cosmopolitan - young people - good graffiti - arty - lots going on - kind of way.

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-34652772479425207782008-06-11T12:25:00.004+02:002008-06-11T12:34:33.567+02:00

We were a couple of weeks too early. There was a lot of snow but no whales... but Tadoussac was still a cool place to visit though. It's where a big fjord that I can't pronounce or spell correctly meets the St Laurence so there is a mixture of salt and fresh water, hot and cold, therefore a lot of marine life. Every little cafe / restaurant / souviner shop had pictures of whales and belugas and

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-6405233918855099922008-05-20T19:27:00.004+02:002008-05-20T19:40:52.374+02:00

I continue my painfully slow slide-show of Quebec adventures with the day and a half we took to get from Quebec city to Tadoussac. We left late one afternoon, drove until nightfall, then slept here:It was somewhere not far from Baie-St-Paul I think. We ate a picnic dinner in the car and felt a bit sketchy, especially when all the passing cars went past us so slowly. Realised a bit later on that

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-42062676021192114152008-05-18T13:40:00.003+02:002008-05-18T14:02:14.990+02:00

Quebec City is very cool. It turns 400 this year and feels like a real European city. You know, narrow cobbled streets, beautiful cathedrals, sense of history, everyone speaking French, that kind of thing. I imagine this is pretty rare in North America.

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-31539675791549387452008-05-10T23:49:00.005+02:002008-05-11T00:23:09.278+02:00

That's right, canoeing with beavers! You know what that means, I must be in Canada. Quebec in fact, but it's too early yet for politics. I've been here for the last two weeks and have lots of fun to share so will post a few times in the coming days/weeks. Back to the canoeing...On my first morning in Quebec Mr. Valois was nice enough to take us out on a canoe tour. There weren't any beavers.

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-84817573502672510552008-04-22T18:56:00.014+02:002008-04-22T19:30:40.718+02:00

I've been here about six months now and have finally caught English, so have been to some very English football games lately. First up, Brazil vs Sweden. If watching two foriegn teams play a friendly in a stadium full of expats from those countries while the England team plays overseas is not English culture I'm never going to find it. Anyway, Brazil vs Sweden at Emirates stadium! How sweet is

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-36739074653544621742008-04-09T19:51:00.005+02:002008-04-22T19:31:08.628+02:00

Firstly if you're a regular visitor this is my second post in several days. The other is here.Believe it or not, this is only a few minutes walk from the London Underground:It's somewhere between Amersham and Chesham, way outside the M25 (I was scared too) , where a few weekends ago Valerie and I went for a nice stroll in the rain. It's a good escape from London and like all the English

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-81209567072011625022008-04-04T18:52:00.004+02:002008-08-08T16:17:47.198+02:00

Last weekend Tony and I went to visit our old friend Nick in Milton Keynes. Milton Keynes has a terrible reputation; I guess its close to home equivalent would be Canberra. It is not a real city, it was made by bureaucrats. So we were in no desire to get there too quickly, but were keen to get a little adventure into our white collar lives. So we decided to hitch-hike. It is not far, the fastest

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-9291538028343447382008-03-18T18:51:00.009+01:002008-08-08T16:17:47.199+02:00

Today is exactly one year since I left on this trip so I thought I'd do a quick review of it - with photos of course. It's been a series of fantastic adventures and experiences. I started from Sydney where I'd just finished a six-month job there. First stop was Australia's top end:Oz is a dangerous place!Then there was time for a month crashing round Indonesia's rainforests and volcanos:

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-38553449477339903532008-03-07T18:50:00.010+01:002008-03-07T19:29:31.665+01:00

Well folks, it's been a while between blog posts, but that doesn't mean that I've been idle. In fact the last month has been very busy with travels and I'm going to cram trips to Stockholm, Canterbury and Belgium into this post. This obviously doesn't do justice to the destinations, but then neither does spending just a weekend in them.One Friday night shortly after my return from Egypt, Tony and

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-37762709914977571322008-02-04T19:37:00.000+01:002008-02-10T17:46:47.341+01:00

I got away to Egypt for a week in early Jan. As any readers of Tony's blog will know (from back when he had a blog), he loved the place, and spent best part of the last year telling me so. So I went, and it was very good. Look!Beside the Nile.(no comment necessary)Sunset felucca ride.View of some Saharan mountains from a hot-air balloon ride at dawn. The valley of the kings is hidden somewhere in

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-19357322980249909942008-01-11T18:20:00.000+01:002008-01-22T18:33:38.900+01:00

With a good combination of weekend and 'bank' holiday, had a few more days off for the New Year and decided to finally get London done. This involved walking round Monopoly Board streets and postcard places, and taking a lot of photos. It was fun. New Year itself was a fairly standard night out in Leytonstone (our neighbourhood), but there's nothing wrong with that. Tonight I'm flying to Egypt,

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-68646393970163436062008-01-02T18:45:00.001+01:002008-08-08T16:17:47.200+02:00

To celebrate christmas, and to meet our old (Scottish) friend Ross, we decided on a trip to Dumfries, in Scotland. It borders Roxburghshire. Which would have been exciting if Roxburghshire hadn't ceased to exist, to become part of Borders. And travels being as much about a sense of adventure as anything else, we decided on a hitch-hiking race to get there. Me and Val in one pair, Tony and his

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-17913515936851858612007-12-29T19:08:00.000+01:002007-12-29T19:41:17.737+01:00

The last weekend before the xmas break me, Tony, and my girlfriend (!) Valerie decided to start riding the lowcost pony and jetsetted over to Belfast. It was a fun weekend in a very interesting city. All that stuff I used to not pay attention to on the news is very visible, though 'the troubles' are happily over. Look at the peace wall that still divides the city. They lock its gates at night

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-71109074054738899042007-12-05T18:45:00.000+01:002007-12-12T18:49:27.423+01:00

Life in London is sweet. I've established a fantastic routine of work, home, meet whoever is sleeping on our couch/ floor that night, party for a few hours, say goodbye to whoever is leaving the next day, sleep, and repeat. It's a good life. We don't have - or want - a TV or computer in the flat but the only boring moment was on one of the first days there, when we didn't have any guests. That

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-76873774273083405172007-11-09T13:34:00.001+01:002007-11-09T13:47:46.313+01:00

Hooray, I've found a job. I will start on a three month contract on Wednesday. I am perversely looking forward to it. I will be doing very similar stuff to what I did in Oz and NZ. The bonus of this town is that a) they pay you more b) they pay you in £. I'll tell you the disadvantages after a few weeks when I'm suitably disillusioned.The past two weeks of unemployment have been great. After the

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-36288397875408137632007-10-29T13:44:00.000+01:002008-08-08T16:30:32.618+02:00

It is your lucky day, my dear reader. As I procrastinate over job applications, I'll update you on what is new in my life.Yes, astute observer, 'life' has replaced 'travels'. Alas, it's become necessary for the other part of working holiday to take place. I had a very English welcome to England, as we hitched in a vanload of inane witty banter across the channel and arrived to Dover's famed white

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-53489771099785676132007-10-24T09:54:00.000+02:002007-10-24T17:07:13.992+02:00

Paris, Paris, Paris! Don't believe all the rumours about the Parisians, they are friendly and polite and nice and lots were happy to parle anglai with us. And don't believe all that merde about the French Diet either; I think the reason French girls aren't fat is because if they were they wouldn't fit into their tiny apartments!The buzz in Paris for the rugby was great. Everyone was talking about

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-81607592043488398082007-10-19T23:00:00.000+02:002008-08-08T16:17:47.201+02:00

Just a quick one boys and girls on my last several days in Poland. I'm writing from Paris now and will update you on my continuing adventures here soon enough.Moved on from Krakow to Wrocław. This was pretty exciting because it is a long way and I hitched, all by myself (Tony took off in the other direction from Olsztyn and we met up again here in Paris). It was easy, one ride all the way; seemed

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-32752814334206202922007-10-09T10:16:00.000+02:002008-08-08T16:32:10.830+02:00

Next stop from Olzstyn was Warsaw. Due to my last visit and Tony's enthusiasm, expectations were high. This is not normally how I roll. I know almost nothing about everywhere, but like almost everything, so am constantly being pleasantly surprised. This is the best way to travel. This time could never live up to last time, but was good nonetheless.Almost every Pole seems to hate Warsaw, even some

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-36287303649833374012007-10-01T16:29:00.000+02:002008-08-08T16:17:47.203+02:00

I've been fickle before, and I'll be fickle again, but right now my second favourite country in the world is Estonia. (First of course is our humble Aotearoa). Look, it has perfect lakes made by meteorites:And you can pretend to be local and go mushrooming:(and then throw it all out because you don't know what's safe)And check out fantastic autumnal scenery:Or have the best graffiti I ever saw:

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-44572705287769500652007-09-21T16:46:00.000+02:002008-08-08T16:17:47.204+02:00

My last post was from Riga. We explored it for a few days. Most memorable was the Occupation Museum of Latvia where we learnt all about the nasty recent history. Similar enough to the KGB museum in Vilnius and the almost eponymous museum here in Tallinn... and all very interesting, a little inspiring, and above all, sad. Here's a photo of some voting ballet from Soviet times. If you look very

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-42437683437004573922007-09-16T16:43:00.000+02:002008-08-08T16:17:47.205+02:00

From last time I headed north to Warsaw to meet Tony and continue our adventures together. Warsaw seemed like an amazing city and I'm looking forward to getting back there in the very near future. Through some friends of his we got to a fancy party with: a great band who covered Joy Division in Polish while the beautiful people clapped politely; the mayors of Warsaw and Budapest; best of all, a

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-32504732157127327892007-09-05T13:50:00.000+02:002007-10-24T15:03:18.293+02:00

"W go`rach jest wszystko co kocham" - "Everything I love is in the mountains". That is one of the few full sentences I can say in Polish. Touché.Until recently I'd been making a mockery of this blog's title but have been a little more adventurous this week, tramping round the south of Poland with some (Polish) friends I met in Italy.We spent most of the time in an area called Beskid Niski (prob

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-28230775796066144272007-08-27T15:26:00.000+02:002007-10-24T15:22:20.748+02:00

Kia ora bros,My skip through Central Europe started in Ljubljana, a very nice and small capital, where I helped cook vegetarian tacos for lunch and listened to Slovenian hip-hop, and had vodka and cigarettes for dinner. Living the dream comes in unexpected forms sometimes when you travel with this. Then went out to nearby Lake Bled the next day, which was beautiful with a small island and church

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-56286556251891679482007-08-16T00:07:00.000+02:002007-10-24T11:12:53.606+02:00

Since all 3 of my readers commented on the last post maybe I should always write in Italian?!Last weekend I returned to Bologna because some friends I'd made there through couchsurfing (which is treating me very, very well) invited me back for a party and a feast. I've never eaten like that in my life! The birthday party was at a restaurant and was good enough, but the next day we had a 5 course

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-38019193685559336572007-08-11T17:16:00.000+02:002007-10-24T11:12:53.607+02:00

Ragazzi,Sono troppo pigro scrivere adesso, e non ho scritto bene in questo blog recentemente. Allora, questa volta c'e' solamente un sacco di foto. Penso che sia più' interessante per voi cosi. Saluti. Mi scusate per l'italiano.Verona a notte:E nel giorno:In Alto Adige. Non mi sembra come Italia...I Dolomiti:Il tombo di Dante, a Ravenna:Un torre, anche a Ravenna:

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-59852848528012487772007-08-03T16:35:00.000+02:002007-10-24T11:12:53.607+02:00

Finished up the course in Perugia with a couple of late night's partying. Really enjoyed my time there and would highly recommend it to anyone. Italian wasn't the important part; I would recommend learning any foreign language to anyone especially us lazy mono-lingual (Anglo-Saxons at least) kiwis, and living in a town where they speak that language with a bunch of other students is surely the

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-6406639804991802482007-07-21T14:04:00.001+02:002007-10-24T11:12:53.608+02:00

I spend my weeks learning important things like for the 3rd case of the hypothetical you use the imperfect subjunctive and then the past conditional, unless you are speaking causually in which case you can just use the normal imperfective, or something like that (don't quote me!), but luckily in the last two weekends I've escaped to nearby Tuscany. I spent last weekend in Florence. I saw

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-6748556017787504072007-07-09T21:53:00.000+02:002007-10-24T11:12:53.608+02:00

As you probably know, I've been learning Italian off and on for the last few years... since near the end of uni in fact. It's been fun being in Italy and being able to use it. I've had lots of 'real' conversations with real people, and saved a lot of time and sometimes money with normal travel questions like 'when is the next train?' 'is there a good pizza shop nearby?' but without having to use

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-82691300175376214452007-06-29T17:07:00.000+02:002007-10-24T10:36:00.100+02:00

This post is the greatest clichè of all: I liked Rome. I retract the previous imperative to go to Greece and hereby replace it with 'go to Rome'. How fickle am I. Rome is rediculous. I believe the Italians say 'non basta una vita' ie. A lifetime is not enough. Being here, it is obvious why. In the last few days we've sat drinking on the Spanish Steps, befriended Hungarians, Indonesians and

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-79330277304426462632007-06-29T16:48:00.000+02:002007-10-24T10:35:24.286+02:00

Quick post before a very big one. Photos later.On the road to Rome lies Cassino. It was a major battlefield during WW2 when after the Italian armistace Germany continued to occupy Italy and the Allies came in from the south trying to take it. It was the effectively Battle for Rome because it was the last battlefield before the city. My grandfather fought there. We stopped on our way north for a

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-67641314995146127072007-06-25T15:01:00.000+02:002007-10-24T10:36:31.477+02:00

If you look at a map, you'll see that Sicily is only a few hundred kilometres from North Africa. We did, and got excited. So we jumped on a ferry and a few days later were standing in the Sahara cooking in 48 degrees... If you're anything like me, you know nothing about Tunisia (not even that NZers are supposed to get a visa in advance to visit. Ooops. That made for good times at the port). It

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-15450523019022658642007-06-21T18:36:00.000+02:002007-10-24T15:26:00.652+02:00

Ciao a tutti. Com'é state? Tutto é bene qui.That's right, I've made it to Italy. Ferried over from Greece with Tony and a transient Australian, Darin, we found in Santorini. We arrived into Bari and spent the day pretending to be Italian ie. eating gelato and pizza and drinking coffee. All those things really are better in Italy. And hanging out in the piazza all day talking to the local crazies

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-14415978256225349672007-06-15T11:02:00.000+02:002007-10-24T15:03:18.294+02:00

Hello everyone. It's been a while between posts so this will be a monster. He we go...(Left Santorini and spent 3 days in Ios... locally known as a party island. Since the most cultural thing I did there was eat a pottle of yogurt I'm parenthesising it and moving on. You didn't missmuch.)We returned to Athens and visited the Acropolis. It was more impressive from the bottom of the hill than the

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-63058431722569245722007-06-02T13:49:00.000+02:002007-10-24T10:37:37.535+02:00

Since we walked our ~400km faster than expected, we have some days to spare in Greece before Cam flies out. And what better place to pass them than here, in Santorini? This is a much smaller Greek island a bit north of Crete and is dripping with quintessentialism. Quintessential whitewashed houses with quintessential donkeys to take you up the top of the quintessential cliffs to see them.

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-53966595118146515432007-05-31T17:46:00.000+02:002007-10-24T10:37:37.535+02:00

A sunset over the sea. It was a big moment for us to see this; sun setting over the sea meant that we couldn't walk any further westwards: we'd finished the trek! Our last couple of days were along the coast where the White Mountains drop into the sea. It was beautiful, like the rest of the island. I won't try and summarise the whole trip now, but suffice to say it was awesome... I'll try and

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-26334927167264385232007-05-26T19:34:00.000+02:002007-10-24T15:23:12.045+02:00

We're almost at the end now! Only 2 days' walking to go. From Rethymno we bussed back to Spili then walked a penitential 45km that day to atone for our 4 day bender. That is a long way to walk up and down mountains, in case you didn't realise. But it was fun. We stumbled into a random village where the old ladies wouldn't let us leave without eating their apples and cookies and drinking their

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-13777422942145396712007-05-26T18:56:00.000+02:002007-10-24T10:37:37.536+02:00

Hi everyone,From Spili we bussed into the nearest city, Rethymno, for another break. We had a brilliant time there partying in the hostel and getting a lot of kudos from the other tourists that we'd walked there from the other end of the island - almost 200km by then I guestimate. Rethymno was a cool city with old Venitian and Ottoman stuff and we also investigated the local yoof scene by

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-8979340557137966922007-05-19T09:39:00.000+02:002007-10-24T10:37:37.537+02:00

We're now in the city after another good week's hiking. We crossed the second big mountain range in Crete, Psilotiris, and summitted its highest peak. We even got to play in the snow. Everything is still going well and my and Tony's "IT feet" (Cam's words) are hardening up nicely. There's not much more I can say; every day is the same but every day is different as well. One of the funny stories

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-19654320133395324752007-05-11T16:51:00.000+02:002007-10-24T10:37:37.537+02:00

The first part of our Cretan tramp has gone brilliantly. We've made excellent progress, haven't had any real troubles (except for with the sometimes elusive E4 trail markers) and are all having a fantastic time, blistered feet and all. We've developed a good daily routine of walking from 6 or 7 till siesta time at around 1 or 2, then continuing for a few hours in the evening and crashing to sleep

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-8432710565714056472007-05-02T14:20:00.000+02:002007-10-24T10:38:08.843+02:00

Spent another couple of days in Istanbul and met Tony who arrived after a tour of the middle east. When I last saw him 6 short weeks ago he had an almost new passport, was about to leave the south pacific for the first time, and was worried about how many pairs of socks he needed. Now he's a wordly traveller (and is still not sure about his socks). It was good to meet him and explore Istanbul

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-60895494329498106472007-04-26T19:34:00.000+02:002007-10-24T10:40:22.019+02:00

Yesterday afternoon I arrived in Istanbul. I came expecting a full-on intense hustling bustling city. 'Comes as a shock to travellers' my guidebook says. I was shocked: it is nothing like that. After Medan, it feels like Christchurch. But it's awesome! I'm in Europe! Everything is old. I've been to the most famous tourist places, and wandered aimlessly. Both have been fun. I'm looking forward to

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-67560970619192733262007-04-26T19:23:00.000+02:002007-10-24T10:42:29.364+02:00

I headed to Medan, one of Indonesia's bigger - and therefore more horrible - cities, to fly back out to Singapore then onwards. I ended up spending a lot more time in Indonesia than I'd planned, and had a great time. But in my last few hours there I finally cracked... all sense of patience and compassion was lost and I started getting angry at everyone. In my lowest point ever in traveling, I

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-39032459824949927982007-04-23T18:50:00.000+02:002007-10-24T10:42:29.365+02:00

In north Sumatra is an orangutan rehab centre at a place called Bukit Lawang. They take the apes that some people keep as pets and teach them how to be wild again. They also let lots of tourists come and take pretty pictures of the ones who are still learning. Since they're semi-tame you can stand really close and they don't mind. There are also a lot of monkeys around the town and some cool

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-15271558567333654392007-04-23T18:42:00.000+02:002007-10-24T10:42:29.366+02:00

With the days running out till I need to be in Europe, I skipped over to the tropical island paradise of Palau Weh off Sumatra's northern tip for a quick couple of days. The snorkeling was awesome! So many fish! This is just a snapshot off the wharf:I don't know why I was kicking round in the rainforest for so long to see not much; here I was able to swim out 5 metres, look down, and see hundreds

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-46531874681990649342007-04-23T18:31:00.000+02:002007-10-24T10:42:29.367+02:00

Continued north through Aceh province for 2 days (yes, 2 days. you've got to see these roads) to reach that famous good-time city, Banda Aceh. I got a big culture shock there... after a few weeks in the hills it was very strange to see family cars and real shops (ie with doors and signs and displays etc) and supermarkets and normal white-picket-fence-life again. The people there are much more

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-31085234698769556522007-04-23T18:12:00.000+02:002007-10-24T14:49:53.948+02:00

I continued north again, into Aceh province and a place called Ketambe. Aceh is all good these days. I felt safe the whole time there, and couldn't even see any signs of the recent conflict.The trip took even longer than all the others... the road was so bad that the buses' suspension broke so there was quite a wait for that. But it was worth the trip because the next day I got out into the

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-45917821664490991242007-04-18T10:17:00.000+02:002007-10-24T10:42:29.370+02:00

After Lake Toba I continued northwards to Berastagi and climbed the nearby Gunung Sibayak. The weather started off terrible: But luckily at the top cleared up a lot to open up views into the crater and fumeroles, and over the valley and town below. Then a few minutes down the downpour started again but it didn't matter because there were natural hot pools at the bottom!

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-44860110905130991862007-04-18T06:27:00.000+02:002007-10-24T10:42:29.371+02:00

After Mt Kerinci I traveled north over a couple of days, overnighting at the beach halfway. Traveled with a couple of others I met at Kerinci. We crossed the equator... so now I'm back in the northern hemisphere... it was funny actually. An old man on the bus was spewing up like crazy until we got within about 1/2 and hour of the equator... then he stopped, and didn't start again till about 1/2

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-78224094535898161372007-04-16T15:34:00.000+02:002007-10-24T10:42:29.371+02:00

hey all,sorry for the delay between posts... (working) internet access seems to be rarer than pork dinners around here. Rest assured that I have been having lots of adventures and will chronical them as soon as possible.ps.saw wild orangutans yesterday!

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-7949859467530046412007-04-06T10:17:00.000+02:002007-10-24T15:23:12.046+02:00

Yesterday morning at about 8am I was standing on the rim of Mt Kerinci, 3800m above sea level with awesome views across jungle and mountains to the Indian ocean, down the green valley below, and into the volcanic crater right beside me. For some reason I thought about where I'd have been at that time a few weeks before: in a meeting, writing some document or fiddling with some software. I

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-73014674932546777822007-04-06T10:08:00.000+02:002007-10-24T10:42:29.373+02:00

On the way up Mt Kerinci my guide found tiger tracks. Yes, tiger tracks! As in from that animal you see in the zoo, and is very rare in the wild. I was very excited. The tracks actually followed our track so we followed them for some time. Luckily they were heading in the opposite direction from us, so we were getting further away, not closer. Anyway, after a while there was a split branch

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-80345367986629902002007-04-06T09:12:00.000+02:002007-10-24T11:12:53.609+02:00

The people here are rediculously friendly. It is actually quite tiring. Everywhere I go people stop me to practise their English... it seems like everyone knows 4 questions. I take the opportunity to practise my Bahasa Indonesia. The conversation always starts like this:Then: Hello mister, where you go?Me: jalan-jalan (wandering around)Where you come from?Selandia Baru (NZ)How old are you?dua

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-24764982828611959572007-04-01T12:16:00.000+02:002007-10-24T10:42:29.374+02:00

I left Vinnie's just after 6am. 1 taxi, 4 ferries, 4 buses, 37 hours and a helluva lot of "hello mister where you go?"s later I arrived at Danau Maninjau in West Sumatra, Indonesia. It was a long trip but not so bad. I hung out with these guys on the overnight ferry ride:That's my phrasebook in one of their hands. Luckily it was a long ride because conversation was very slow. We did manage this

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-70066689244179918142007-04-01T12:02:00.000+02:002007-10-24T15:22:20.750+02:00

I stopped in Singapore for a couple of nights. My old workmate Vinnie and his kiwi flatmates let me sleep on their couch - thanks! Here we are enjoying a feast:Try and spot the king prawns with cornflakes... it's better than you might think. The other culinary delight was an ice-cream sandwich for breakfast.Singapore is a strange city. I've thought of how to describe it for a while and the best I

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-32905201130385974412007-03-28T05:48:00.000+02:002007-10-24T10:39:53.107+02:00

Darwin was very, very wet for the first few days. Apparently the wet season has carried on a bit longer than usual this year (climate change anyone?) One of the reasons I wanted to visit this part of the world was to see the nearby Kakadu National Park, but the main access road was flooded and most of its famous attractions were inaccessible. So instead I mooched around Darwin for a few days, got

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933833379423841414.post-44697312795012299222007-03-28T05:28:00.000+02:002007-10-24T10:39:53.107+02:00

My 6 months working in Sydney has come to an end. I had a good time there, but the same wanderlust that brought me has now carried me away. The next few months promise to be very exciting and I'll try and use this blog to post stories and photos.The main plan is a 6-8 week, hundreds of kilometer tramp with Cam and Tony across Crete (an island in Greece). I've got a few weeks to kill before we

Andrew Roxburghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02467430867996416132noreply@blogger.com1