Articles from this Category
6 March 2015
Above: Flying to Great Barrier at low altitude. It was only a 30 minute flight from Auckland to the Barrier on a Britten Norman Islander. We left from North Shore Airfield rather than Auckland Airport, not only because of the proximity to our home but also to avoid parking hassles/costs at a big airport. Due […]
25 January 2015
We checked in at the office of Pee Jay White Island Tours in the morning and paid for our trip before heading to the boat. The 90 minute journey to White Island started with us leaving the Whakatane River going past the sandbar (which can due to tidal conditions determine the departure time). As we […]
10 January 2015
This morning, I got a rental car for AUD20 today from my hotel and drove to various points of interest on the island. There isn’t a ring road due to the topography so there was a little bit of backtracking. I soon noticed that everyone waves when you’re driving around! The scenery and buildings seemed […]
9 January 2015
Above: First thing I noticed when I stepped out of the airport were the short double digit number plates on some cars. I also saw a single digit one. Most were four digit though. Gabriel dropped me off at the airport around 0730 for my 0935 departure to Norfolk Island from Sydney Airport’s international terminal. […]
1 January 2015
I had called the state forestry office yesterday to enquire whether any rafflesias (world’s largest flower) were in bloom. Rather unexpectedly, they said “Yes, there is one on its last day” and encouraged me to go. So, it was a disappointment for me to wake up to a wet day. While the rain wasn’t torrential, […]
27 December 2014
It has been about 18 years since I had been to Sibu, where my mother hails from. As a child we had gone there to see grandma frequently. I thought I was long overdue for a visit there and had bought the air-tickets cheaply and impulsively some 10 months (sounds contradictory but it was impulse […]
11 August 2014
With such a full day yesterday, I seem to have come down a little under the weather with a sore throat. I slept in but after breakfast regained my motivation. I headed out with several ideas in my head but my feet took me to Kabatas where I boarded the 1130 ferry to Prince’s Island. […]
10 August 2014
Chora Church and Cruises I got my motivation back today and felt the urge to go do things that I hadn’t done in Istanbul. It was tempting to just repeat the old best-loved sights of Istanbul. I wanted to combined the Chora Church with one-way journey between there and the Bosphorus. Due to fog, I […]
9 August 2014
I went up to the top floor for breakfast and saw that the sky was black. Soon enough it started raining. As this was my fourth time in Istanbul, there was no pressure to go do anything so I didn’t really go out till the sun was out in the early afternoon. It is quite […]
7 August 2014
The hostel unexpectedly gave a light breakfast. It was good enough to get me going for the exploration of central Skopje. I set of at 0830 walking towards Macedonia Square and crossed the old stone bridge across the river to the so-called Albanian district. There were lots of newish monuments and statues some of which […]