Patterns from New Zealand

While I wash and pack away from my trip to Buyat, Indonesia I am leaving you with some photo's from a trip I took to New Zealand in 2005:

Rangitoto Island, Auckland

Valentine's Day with Love

On this, the day of St Valentine I thought I'd let the message come from the sky:

 

Impressions of North Korea (Day 1)

"Journalists Jailed", "Nuclear Missile Tests" and "I don't think that Bill Clinton will come to rescue you" were some of the comments I received when I mentioned where I was going on my next trip. I knew, however, that ironically the biggest threat to my safety was an attack on the North. We were there on a government sanctioned propaganda tour whose objective was to show the best the North had to offer. I must admit that I did get a bit spooked when chatting to a friend in the US Navy who said "we hear things that you don't", but it all turned out okay. Ironically the person who expressed the least concern when I told her about the trip was my Mom. "So why North Korea?" was the other question I frequently got asked. There was no compelling reason, but when a friend said that he was going and I was able to take the time off work - the question was "why not?" It was an amazing opportunity to visit somewhere different and off the beaten track (but we weren't able to get the passport stamp and I forgot to ask to keep the visa.)

Bridge of No Return - Looking back on Dangdong, China

North Korea, Vietnam and China - The Communist Tour

With a great deal of difficulty I have managed to pick out a handful of pictures that show the highlights of my recent travels to North Korea, Vietnam and China. Enjoy the pictures and watch this space for more stories from my travels.

A collage of images from the trip

Take Only Pictures or Should I?

My aunt tells a story* - that is now going to be imortalised - of when they moved their home for the last 10 years across the country (which in South Africa is around 900 miles). The children (all teenagers) had been asked to box up their junk to be disposed of. When she walked into her youngest daughters room and saw 2 piles of boxes. One was labeled "Louises Junk - To Be Removed" and the other "Louises Junk - To Be Kept". Louise's response to her mothers exasperation at moving a "pile of junk" across the country was "I've spent years collecting all of this stuff, I can't give it away." (The end to the story is that when they moved back 2 years later the box of junk was untouched.)