I’ve been sitting on the fence about whether or not to go back to Australia next January. In a year that will see me travelling through New Zealand, Thailand and South Korea, adding in a fourth destination seemed a little gluttonous. I was also balking as the lineup wasn’t thrilling me.  But then I had a chat with my friend Stephanie (in the purple).  Things Tend To Happen™ when I talk to her, so I really shouldn’t be that surprised that I’m sitting here writing this post.
I realized a few …

Not much going on lately, it’s been a pretty quiet few weeks. Went for a walk in Hagley Park last weekend; the cherry blossoms have pretty much all faded now and the magnolias have completely taken over. Spring here is really lovely and surprising: I’m used to only seeing daffodils, tulips, crucuses (crocii?) and hyacinths around town, but here everything is on a larger, tree-sized scale.
Finally have a road trip coming up, am heading down to Lake Tekapo next weekend for my friend Kat’s 30th birthday. My bus …

With my trip to Thailand just under six months away, I’m a little late in beginning to think about vaccinations. Twinrix, the jab of choice against Hepatitis A and B, requires seven months forethought — unless you go the fast track route which while possible in under 21 days, requires a FOURTH shot within twelve months.
With this in mind, I began investigating exactly what shots I needed to go to Asia. While Thailand doesn’t require you to have any vaccinations to enter the country, most information that I could …

Sneaky puppy, watching me from the dried grasses alongside Waikuku Beach. I bet he thought he was so clever, that I couldn’t see him there. Ha! I sure showed him =)

I don’t usually post photographs with myself in them; mostly this is because Ive been travelling alone and so don’t have many shots with me in them. When I went to Milford Sound back in May, I made friends with a couple on the boat who also had a DSLR, they took this photo for me.
Before I left home I bought a tripod, but when I was packing I reached a rather manic state of “I have too much stuff!”, and decided to leave it at my parents place. I …

I did quite a bit of work on the site yesterday. I wasn’t happy with the old layout, finding it too difficult to browse through older entries. This one is far more user-friendly, as not only does it have more stories on the front page, but it actually has links to the monthly and category archives right where you would expect to find them. I especially love the mini-category nav bar with links to my most used categories. I have so much content on this site, but before it was …

Springtime has definitely arrived in Christchurch! Winter, bah, that wasn’t a REAL winter — something I couldn’t be happier about. It’s still a little chilly in the mornings, but most days, by the time the afternoon rolls around the temperatures are in the mid-teens and people are wandering about on their breaks without their extra layers on. Lately the sun has been piercingly bright, and the sky has been an impossible shade of blue. The trees, for the most part, are still bare though so it still feels like the …