As a family we spent many of our school holidays visiting relatives in the coastal town of Napier. It was about six hours’ drive from Auckland, a long way to go with two restless children in the back, so we’d break our journey in different places along the way. Paeroa was a sleepy little North…
Tag: travel
Kiwi Cuisine 1: Growing up in The Land of Milk and Sheep.
I can’t remember exactly when I became a foodie, just that I would rather be run over by a double decker bus with a memorable meal in my stomach, as opposed to a mere lettuce leaf or two. Growing up in New Zealand we were unknowingly lucky and healthy. None of that GM food nonsense or EU…
London Markets – Portobello
The problem with travelling a lot is that it becomes easy to forget what’s on our doorstep. Recently, I’ve been re-visiting some of London’s markets so on Saturday, I put on my Fit Flops and walked to Portobello Road. If you’ve seen Notting Hill, you’ll know all about the Portobello Road area. There are market…
Tiziano Terzani -War correspondent turned ‘Kamikaze for Peace’
This is a photo of a quote by the late writer, Tiziano Terzani, whose book The Fortune Teller Told Me, has made quite an impression on many who’ve known the Far East. I can’t quite make out all the words on the hoarding in the photo, but towards the end he says something about “reaffirming the…
Malaysia Part 12: In search of bound feet shoes
Back in London, I had been planning our Malaysian itinerary when something in the guidebook caught my eye: “Wah Aik, 103 Jalan Kubu. Renowned for making silk shoes for bound feet. With foot binding no longer practised, the shoes are now lined up in the window as souvenirs, at a mere RM75 per pair.” I…
Epic Blogs 2: Christian Skoda, A nomad forever…
I first found Christian Skoda’s site, Nomad4ever, when researching some future travel plans. The name intrigued me. A nomad forever? I had to find out more. There, I discovered a man after my own heart; someone who believes there is more to life than the mythical 9 to 5 (more like 9am to 9pm, if…
Malaysia Part 11 – In the Night Market
Melaka was livelier in the dark than she had been in the daylight. Once we’d bade farewell to Cedric, we walked across to Jonker Street, past the miniature windmill surrounded by a perfect bed of flowers that would look more appropriate in Disneyland. It was a very different place to the one we’d left that…
Malaysia part 10 – Cedric makes Melaka
Owning a rickshaw is serious business in Malaysia. It’s not just about cycling your heart out as you transport passengers from A to B in exchange for Ringgits. You need and an eye for clashing colours, a friend in the plastic flower business and Lawrence Llewellyn Bowen flair; anything to make your ‘shaw stand out from…
Epic postcard moments 4
Some of you have been asking me where this photo was taken. (In case it looks familiar, it’s the one at the top of my blog page). It was taken from a rest-stop between Nice and Monaco on New Year’s Eve last year. We’d been hugging the coast so we could gawp at the views like this and what finer…
Epic eavesdropper in Brussels
It’s thanks to a stuffed horse that I overheard the following conversation. At the Roy d’Espagne pub in Brussels, there’s a horse by the bar (photo yet to be posted, but yes, it’s coming), an impressive example of large animal taxidermy (although how fine, I wouldn’t want to comment. When I saw the horse…
Epic postcard moments 3
This is another fantastic place for sunsets – The Bay of Naples. Monsieur and I had been to Capri that day and decided to overnight in Sorrento. We hadn’t booked anything so called a few hotels in the guidebook. I was scared that with my bad Italian I’d misunderstood the hotel manager who said she…
Epic postcard moments 2
In January, when Monsieur and I were staying in Cannes, we decided to drive along part of the Route Napoleon. The day had started quite nicely, but by mid-afternoon, it was as if someone had turned off the light. The clouds rolled in off the sea but in spite of threatening major precipitation it didn’t rain on…
Epicurienne 