Author archive
9 April 2023
Today is my first day on the Maldivian islands without any activity. No ferry rides, no diving, no snorkelling excursion. I went to swim at Bikini Beach late in the morning and again late in the afternoon. Eight years ago, it was an isolated beach for foreigners. Today, there were high-rise hotels right on the […]
8 April 2023
My options for the day Today, I move to Maafushi, an island I visited 8 years ago. The public ferry leaves at 1615 and I had three options for killing the day: Spend the morning at the beach then the afternoon in the café, Go diving in the morning and then the afternoon in the […]
7 April 2023
While based on the island of Gulhi, I did three dives with the Ayala Bubbles Dive Centre. It was a spotless outfit with nice new equipment. Being situated across the alley from my accommodation, it was a very easy experience. They didn’t require any checks of my dive card or previous dives. They only wanted […]
7 April 2023
Today is my third and last full day in Gulhi. Due to the dive times and opportunities, I had fallen into a routine on all my days here, meaning the last two days and today. The day would begin with an early wake-up around 0630 to 0700, followed by the hotel breakfast which began at […]
4 April 2023
Background on Maldives tourism A bit of background is useful in order to understand tourism in Maldives and why it used to be so expensive (and still is for some people). It is a very low-lying conservative Islamic country consisting of 1190 small coral islands in 27 atolls. Its highest point is only 2.4 metres […]
4 April 2023
First things first With a 3h time difference, I woke early and was out by 0700 for a walk. My intention was to secure my ticket to Gulhi or work out options if there was no 1500 departure as per the schedule. I confirmed that there was a 1500 departure from the Hulhulmale Ferry Terminal, […]
3 April 2023
Above: My ride from the airport to Male on the dhoni. Travel begins in earnest It was a very quick 5 night but 4 full days in Kuching. The time was spent sorting some land title issues, seeing family and going to the gym everyday! Today my travel begins in earnest, flying from Kuching to […]
29 March 2023
At the gate at Changi airport, I was a little apprehensive about having done a gate-to-gate self-connect, only possible because I didn’t have checked-in luggage. Information on Scoot’s website suggested that I should have cleared immigration, meaning that I would re-enter the airside. I was afraid the re-entry into airside might have been captured from […]
29 March 2023
Happy to leave! It is spring in New Zealand but I had been secretly counting down the days till I depart. The house is undergoing renovations and it has been disruptive, culminating with lots of white gib dust in the plastering process. On top of that, the month back in New Zealand hadn’t been the […]
20 February 2023
Above: My 377-seat A330-300 from Sydney to Auckland for AUD27 plus taxes. With the train to the airport back in operation, it was a swift and easy ride, arriving at the terminal at 0825. I expected a long wait for the AirAsia X counter to open but it opened at 0840, which was 3h30 prior […]