Above:  Toulouse is also known as the Pink City because of its brick buildings. Today I make my way back to Auckland alone, while Kim makes his homecoming three days afterwards with his parents.  The reason for this is that he’s spending a couple of days at a car event at Goodwood in southern England. […]

We were only in Paris four years ago and I never expected that we would be back so soon.  I’ve made really good French friends in Paris and we decided to see them in their home ground. I love Paris but it’s even better with friends!  There’s Marie who lives in Paris itself and Lou […]

We flew out of Auckland to San Francisco at 1910, without any hassles, despite on standby tickets.  Kim and I had a couple of hangers-on with us:  his old friend Eric plus his best mate Rodger as well.  They’re all car fanatics and have quite a treat ahead in California with various car events.

I slept nearly all the way home, seated in Premium Economy.  It’s quite unusual for me to sleep on flights, sometimes being wide awake despite assistance with sleeping pill. It was a good end to a trip I didn’t really want to undertake, for good reasons.  I had only returned from a long trip to […]

A trip that I didn’t want We’re flying to Los Angeles for a short trip to Florida.  It’s not a trip that I really wanted or needed.  I had only just returned from a two-month trip to Yemen only a week ago.  It seemed ridiculous to fly out so soon heading in the opposite direction. […]

After a same-plane transit in Sydney, I arrived back in Auckland in the afternoon.  It was the end of another great adventure comprising of Socotra, mainland Yemen, and Morocco.  It wasn’t all fun, fun, fun but also a journey of learning.  I continued and built on my Arabic language skills and also learned Thai massage.