I and several others are partial to a drive in the country and a pub lunch. Last Sunday spring was in the air. (That didn’t last. It’s 7C, the wind even sounds cold, and I’m told the snow is low on the surrounding hills – I’m not going […]
Suzanne Lenglen, from France, was a world class tennis player almost a hundred years ago. Never heard of her? Me neither. Not until I was researching this post. It turns out she and I have a lot in common. (Note to my kids: if you’re reading this – […]
“The beauty of travel, as of love or terror, is that it regularly turns all your ideas on your head and reminds you that you really know nothing at all.” Pico Iyer I’m used to a land crunched up on itself. The force of two tectonic plates grinding together […]
I saw my first real hand gun in Chicago. It was 1975 and I was on my way to Minnesota. I was edgy. Back home, I’d seen Starsky and Hutch on the Tele – if there was a gun someone always used it and someone always got hurt. The […]
This aside is an announcement! Coming soon: the adventures of a Kiwi AFSer. Yep, you read it correctly. Inspiration has struck and the ideas are flowing. The series will be haphazard, unpredictable, and short-lived. But, hey, it’ll be all mine. What better way to celebrate the centenary of […]
When we visited Ayutthaya we took an elephant ride. The old city, now a world heritage site, was the capital of the Thai Kingdom from the 14th century until it was sacked by the Burmese army in the 18th century. High on the back of the elephant, beneath the […]
Mid-winter is nigh and, with the bite of the cold, Thailand is on my mind. We’ve got another trip to the tropics in our sights – well, we’ve promised ourselves that come July we’re booking the flights. Our hoped for departure date is not till after Christmas so, […]
“The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.” – G.K.Chesterton On Thursday I flew to Wellington (NZ) for work, as I sometimes do. The airport is notorious; the […]
My Dear Dream Reader, You may remember a post from our road trip, all about Mount Taranaki. After days of waiting he finally revealed his true glory. And I showed my appreciation by clicking hundreds of photos on my phone. From each new vantage point I snapped […]
Begin at the beginning they say but for this post I’m beginning at the end. We were home, the first load of washing in the machine, our dog still running about the place with excitement and a dash of relief at our return, and I had a cup […]
Jill's Scene 
The korero