One of the down sides to arriving in London at the end of a year on the road is the inevitable lack of cash. In my case, a refusal to check just how much cash was not still in my bank account in the weeks leading up to the UK resulted in my lack of … Read more
After a year of being on the road, meeting new people and making new friends everywhere I went (except for staying with Elea in France, and bumping into Sammyh in Morocco), it was nice to finally arrive in the UK. I got to see Sara, of course, and I also know some folks from home who … Read more
When one finds oneself in England, there are certain activities that one is expected to undertake in order to be accepted into proper society. The Royal Ascot, the Queen’s official birthday celebrations, and the occasional polo match, of course. Unfortunately, I was too broke this year to dress up like Eliza Doolittle and make small … Read more
Around the world, London’s taxi drivers are famous. The iconic black cabs, the notoriously difficult exam to become a cabbie, the cheerful friendly banter as they take you wherever you need to go. Saxon (a friend from the hostel) and I had all that to look forward to as we waved down a ride to … Read more
Whilst in Turkey, I became increasingly aware that my bank balance was in decline while my cost of living in the UK would be a significant increase from that to which I had become accustomed in Africa and the Middle East. This position was less than ideal. As a result, I decided to email every … Read more
Whilst reminiscing over old times (all of which were, of course, set in New Zealand), Sara mentioned that there is a Māori whare nui (meeting house) in England. In Clandon Park, to be exact. Looking it up online, we discovered that Ngāti Rānana, the London Māori Club, was scheduled to perform there that weekend. And … Read more
Way back in the year 2000, my mum’s cousin’s children’s godfather’s daughter (yes, you read that right – don’t worry, I didn’t work it out until a couple of months ago myself) went on a trip around the world. When my mum heard about this trip, she wrote to Sara, inviting her to visit us … Read more
Remember how taking a cruise from St Petersburg to Stockholm and then flying to Dublin was a false economy? And how I ended up spending a fortune at the shipboard restaurants, and on getting to the airport, and in a café cos I hadn’t planned out a shore excursion? And how I said that someone … Read more
Immigration procedures might have been simplified to the point where it’s easier for me to enter Europe than get through border control at home, but there was one aspect of entering Europe that didn’t feel quite so welcoming. The cost. In my head, the Australian dollar was roughly equivalent to the Euro, which of course … Read more
When I booked my cruise ticket from St Petersburg to Stockholm, I didn’t realise it was a real cruise. As in, when we stopped at a port I could get off and look around. I thought it was a ferry that made a stop in Helsinki to pick up and let off passengers before continuing … Read more