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This is a new page - hacked up as quickly as possible (like in 2 minutes !). It's just to let people know the latest news about where I am and what I'm up to. It's hard to keep up with the old travel journal lark with an hour or so in an internet cafe twice a week, so this page will give brief up to date summaries, about once a week...

Edinburgh, Scotland (April 18th, 1999)

Well, I've been home for over two weeks now, back to reality, Edinburgh and snow (in April !). Coming home was exciting and for the first few days it was great - seeing everyone again, eating the foods I'd missed, going out in Edinburgh, finding out what had changed since I left (not a lot) and enjoying a few home comforts and decent chocolate. Now I have been back for over two weeks, started back at work and the reality of normality has come over me all of a sudden. It's all a bit strange and sometimes I wish I was still away ! I still find myself slowing down when I walk past travel agents, heading towards the travel section in bookshops and searching for travel information in the bookshops. One consolation is that I can plan the next holiday, but it will only be for a few weeks this time ! For now it's back to life, work, buying a flat and responsibility (at least for a few years !).

Phuket Town, Thailand, (March 5th, 1999)

Hello again, this time from Thailand ! We've been here exactly 2 weeks now and are having fun, although most of the places we've been so far have been very busy and touristy (it's coming to the end of the high season now). So far we've visited Krabi Town, Ko Phi Phi Don, Ko Lanta, Kata (Phuket) and Phuket Town. You probably will see next to no updates in my travel journal in the next few weeks as so far we have found Internet access expensive and unreliable here (average 10 pounds an hour !). Tomorrow we're off to Surat Thani followed by: Ko Samui, Ko Pha Ngan, Hua Hin, Phetburi, Bangkok, Kanchanaburi, Ko Samet and finally back to Bangkok. I'm arriving home on Friday 2nd April - only four weeks left ! It seems very strange to be going home, but I'm actually quite looking forward to it. Watch this space for more updates. Bye for now !

Georgetown (Penang), Malaysia (February 18th, 1999)

Hello from Georgetown, where we've spent the last week ! 4 days would have been quite enough here, but due to Chinese New Year everything is closed, including the Thai embassy, so we had to wait around for a while. Anyway, Georgetown is quite an interesting place (for about 4 days), very Chinese, lots of historical buildings and temples, good food, very very hot weather, it's just a shame that everything is closed ! Tomorrow we're off to Thailand. Hat Yai for a night, followed by Krabi, Ao Nang, Ko Lanta and Ko Phi Phi and who knows where after that. As for updates, the journal is up to the end of Bali and Lombok and I've also written and posted photos about the Thaipusam festival in KL. Until next time ... Happy Chinese New Year !

Cameron Highlands, Malaysia (February 4th, 1999)

We're in the Cameron Highlands right now enjoying the cool climate and the quiet after the heat and humidity of Kuala Lumpar. While we were in KL, we were lucky enough to see the Thaipusam festival at the Batu Caves. This is a Hindu festival lasting three days, in which devotees who have had their prayers answered walk to the Batu Caves and then up the 272 steps into the caves carrying paals (milk churns) or huge kavadis decorated with deities and offerings. Many of the devotees pierce their cheeks and/or tongues with skewers and tridents of varying sizes or carry paals or fruit attached to their skin by hooks. It was amazing to watch and like no other festival I've seen before. Watch out for the photos which we are going to scan in as soon as we can find a scanner and a more detailed write up in my Malaysia journal. My journal is now more up to date, thanks to the cheap, fast internet cafes we've found in Malaysia. Australia has been written up, along with most of Bali, but New Zealand is not yet finished due to a technical hitch. Tomorrow we're off to Pulau Pangkor an island off the west coast.

Melaka, Malaysia (January 24th, 1999)

Greetings from Melaka ! We just arrived here yesterday after indulging ourselves with home comforts and lots of western delights from Singapore. After 5 nights of shopping, walking, eating anything we wanted, sightseeing and staying in an air-conditioned room with TV, fridge and hot water we are rested and ready to continue our travels on the budget ! So far what I have seen of Melaka is interesting - lots of history and a mix of European and Chinese culture, but since it rained all day today we haven't seen much. Tomorrow I'm planning on doing some serious updating of my journal pages as the internet cafes here are cheap and fast, so check out my journal in a couple of days !

Senggigi, Lombok (January 12th, 1999)

Hello from lovely Lombok, which so far I like better than Bali. We've just spent six lazy days in the Gili Islands, north-west of Lombok, snorkelling, swimming, reading books on the white sandy beaches and generally not moving very much. Tomorrow we're off to visit a few other places in East and Central Lombok, then it's back to Bali and flying out to Singapore on the 17th January. I've not done much to my web pages recently, still on New Zealand in the old journal. Watch this space !

Kalibukbuk, Bali (December 28th, 1998)

Hello from Bali. I'm sitting in a hot and sweaty "Internet Cafe" right now and I can't foresee myself doing many updates to my web pages in this country, if this place is anything to go by. It's so slow, it's painful - about 5 minutes to load one web page ! So far we've been to Kuta (1 day), Ubud (4 days) and now we're in Kalibukbuk, Lovina Beach in the North of Bali. We're having a great time, the countryside is beautiful, the food is great and the weather is warm, but not too hot because it's the rainy season. The only hard thing is walking down the street without being hassled to buy watches, hats, sarongs, bananas, transport, tours and anything else that's going. Happy New Year (when it comes !)

We're in Cairns (Dec 17th, 1998)

Right now we're in Cairns and it's sweltering outside. Lucky I'm in a nice air conditioned internet place ! We're having a great time here - on Saturday we're going to the outer Great Barrier Reef to do some snorkelling (hopefully not with the sharks !) and tomorrow we're off on a tour with a guy called Uncle Brian to see the tropical rainforests and waterfalls. It doesn't feel like Christmas time at all - all these decorations everywhere, but hot sunshine and blue skies all around. My New Zealand journal has been updated, but it's not finished yet and my next update will be from Bali - Wey Hey !! We leave here on Sunday (20th Dec).

Hi from Oz (Dec 9th, 1998)

A quick hello from sunny Australia. Yes the weather in Queensland is a shock to the system and we feel like we're in an oven ! We're currently in Airlie Beach, heading up to Cairns over the next week or so. We're off on a three day sailing trip on Friday, then it's back on the dreaded Oz Experience Bus (you'll find out why when I get round to updating my Queensland Journal). The Fiji journal is now finished and hopefully the New Zealand one will be swiftly under way soon. Merry Christmas !

Last Day in New Zealand ! (Dec 3rd, 1998)

Hello again ! Today is our last full day in New Zealand - tomorrow we will be flying to Brisbane, Australia. We've just spent the last week travelling round the North Island with my friend Judith who has joined us for a week. We've been to Rotorua, Paiha (Bay of Islands) and Whitianga (Coromandel Peninsula). It's been lots of fun, but we've had far too much alcohol (must be Judith's influence as we were totally dry for the two weeks before she arrived !). The weather has been pretty poor with rain more than half the time, but we had some sunny days. I've not updated my journal in the last two weeks, but I vow to do so in Australia.

Queenstown (Nov 20th, 1998)

This will have to be quick ! A drastic change to our plans has come about recently. No longer shall we be working in Auckland and no longer shall we be away for a full year ! To cut a long story very very short, things didn't go to well for us in Auckland. The job I was promised fell through due to lack of work, there were also problems with NZ immigration taking ridiculous amounts of time to process work visas (over a month) which hindered Gav's chances of getting contract work and made me decide to forget the new job offer I had. We left about a week ago and we're travelling round NZ for 3 weeks, Oz for 2.5 weeks, then it's Bali, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand for about 3 months. We'll be home around April, we'll be on a tighter budget but it'll be lots of fun and travel I am sure ! Watch this space. In the mean time, Gav did a Bungy today so check out the photo !