omgaz blog

Sunday, 13th September 2020

Hygge Holiday - Rainy Daney Days

Day two and three of our short Scandy-break. This was originally written for August 2019.

~3m read

Saturday, 15th August 2020

I know, I know - I've sparingly spread content across this site like vegemite on toast. In the last four years I feel as though I can count as many updates, both in usability and, more importantly, content.

~4m read

Tuesday, 13th August 2019

Hygge Holiday - Day One

Rise and shine!

~2m read

Thursday, 6th April 2017

Christmas in the Otways

Hohoho, Merry Christmas - or should I say Happy Easter; I'm not very timely with these writings.

~4m read

Sunday, 2nd April 2017

Philippines III - Dumaguete & Borocay

I'll save you some time and let you know it's DOOM-A-GET-EHY. What a cool city. Buzzing with people, bars, restaurants, shops and markets. If only I'd had more time here to explore the city and surrounds such as the turtle sanctuary on Apo Island or a short hop to Oslob for the whale sharks. Sadly this stop in Dumaguete was an overnight stay in transit back to Manila.

~4m read

Saturday, 11th March 2017

Philippines Cont'd: Bohol and Siquijor

Cebu was fantastic, but far too short. This is part two of my Philippines adventure for my 30th Birthday with Alex. If you care to read part one, flip back a page to the previous blog on Manila and Cebu.

~5m read

Saturday, 23rd April 2016

Hoy Pinoy! Manila and Cebu!

One of the hardest things whilst trying to plan this trip was dealing with Google constantly correcting my misspelling of Philippines. By the end of writing this blog, I hope to have it forever committed to useless memory.

~6m read

Friday, 1st January 2016

Perth, WA, and how I spent my summer holidays

Australia is big. I mean, really big. Take Europe for example, and then add some. Stuck in this continent over the Christmas period due to mandatory leave at the most expensive time of the year Cindy and I decide to head as far away as we can get without heading in to tropical wet-season in the top-end. We decide to head to Western Australia (WA).

~8m read

Wednesday, 24th June 2015

Cairns and the Atherton Tablelands

I love Cairns, especially in winter. The far north is tropical and warm and a nice contrast to the counter-side of the continent in Melbourne.

~4m read

Monday, 6th April 2015

One Year in Melbourne

Life is pretty good here in Australia: good weather, great natural scenery, affordable living, and a welcome escape from 'The London Commute'. I certainly don't miss an hour waiting at Paddington Station, or being packed into the tube like a sardine.

~3m read

Saturday, 10th January 2015

Going Home for Christmas with a Detour via Tokyo, Returning to Melbourne Via Hong Kong

Around September of 2014 I started to massively stress. Although I wanted to stay in Australia, my visa wouldn't allow it. I managed to find myself a job after a few, very stressful, weeks. A condition on my acceptance was a period of leave to head home for Christmas, so goodbye Melbourne.

~4m read

Wednesday, 3rd September 2014

Tasmania

Work was over, for now. I'd finished up a contract and was looking for new work and on the eve of my departure to Tasmania received a job offer with sponsorship - woo!

~2m read

Thursday, 7th August 2014

Brisbane to Cairns (Fraser Island, Whitsundays and the Great Barrier Reef)

I sailed a yacht, slept under stars, fell in love, ate tree ants, swam with turtles, and jumped out of a plane. The following is my account of two incredible weeks travelling from Brisbane to Cairns with GAdventures.

~4m read

Friday, 14th February 2014

Kia Ora, New Zealand

Well isn't this a surprise, a sudden detour methinks. A few hours before my departure to the Great Ocean Road I book a last-minute trip to New Zealand. Flying out of Sydney to Wellington, when I get to the end of my road-trip.

~5m read

Wednesday, 29th January 2014

Great Ocean Road and the Grampians

It had been a long while, since August, since I'd seen Alex and Chris. It was now January and the height of Summer and I had arrived into Melbourne from Alice Springs to venture out West along the Great Ocean Road.

~3m read

Tuesday, 14th January 2014

Adelaide to Alice Springs - The Great Outback Adventure to the Red Centre

Whilst I was in Japan I booked to go on another GAdventures tour. This time with Blanca and David, and in Australia. The goal was to cross 2325km of Australian Outback to reach the Red Centre and Alice Springs. To put those distances into perspective that's like driving from New York to Los Angeles or from London to Azerbaijan... a bloody long way.

~8m read

Saturday, 4th January 2014

Adelaide

The New Year had come and gone. It was now the beginning of January and hot as ever. David, Blanca and I had had a great few days of catching up and we were about to start our journey to the Red Centre, first stop: Adelaide.

~2m read

Wednesday, 1st January 2014

Merry Sydney and a Happy New Year

Christmas time in Sydney. I arrive cold, sweating, in pain and ill to Australia and make my way to the nearest medical centre. I'd been bed-ridden for the last 4 or 5 days in Malaysia and needed some help. I was prescribed antibiotics, rehydration tablets and pain killers and within 24 hours started to feel like my old jovial self.

~2m read

Sunday, 22nd December 2013

Kuala Lumpur & Malaka

I met two really cool people at the Reggae Mansions in KL. An Aussie girl and an American guy. We spent a few days hanging out, visiting the bird park, Malaka and the Petronas Towers.

~2m read

Saturday, 7th December 2013

Sapa

I'd just returned from Mai Chau to Hanoi and was about to set off again. I was due to board a night train to the mountainous north, near the Chinese border, to a town called Sapa.

~4m read

Sunday, 1st December 2013

Mai Chau

I'd just said my farewells to Matt; he was leaving for the airport and London. I was alone, again, but my parents would be arriving in a week.

~4m read

Tuesday, 26th November 2013

Camera; Fuji X20

I've received numerous compliments over the photos on my blog and Flickr account. I'll take a humble approach on this one and pass the successes on to my camera - the Fuji X20; almost all the photos have been taken with it, alongside my waterproof companion the compact Panasonic Lumix FT4.

~3m read

Monday, 25th November 2013

Halong Bay

I ended up taking two trips out to the bay because I loved it so much, but fortunately both were different experiences and with different people; the first trip was for 3 days/2 nights with Matt; the second was just for a day trip with my parents.

~2m read

Sunday, 24th November 2013

Hanoi

For the amount of time I spent in Hanoi, I took surprisingly few photos. It's not an attractive city but it is an interesting city, and one that I'll remember with fondness for years to come. It was a place that felt like home and a place that I was sad to leave.

~3m read

Friday, 22nd November 2013

Hoi An

We stayed in the hotel Hoa Binh a few minutes walk from the centre of town. Food was on our minds more than anything else so we found a friendly looking cafe to enjoy some local cuisine - the guide book told us to try Cao Lao and so we did; it was spectacular :9

~1m read

Thursday, 21st November 2013

Train Travel Through Vietnam (Mui Ne to Danang Night Train)

This post is a little segue from the brevity of my travel diary, and expresses my experience on the Vietnamese night train between Mui Ne and Danang.

~6m read

Wednesday, 20th November 2013

Mui Ne

After a day of travelling to and from the Chu-Chi tunnels from Ho Chi Minh in a crammed bus without air conditioning we were not looking forward to the 6 hour bus ride to Mui Ne - beach side town, but it wasn't all bad; I read a lot of Game of Thrones Book 3 and so before we knew it we were in Mui Ne.

~2m read

Sunday, 17th November 2013

Ho Chi Minh - Redux

I returned to ho Chi Minh by bus from Cambodia. The journey was interesting in the most sincere sense of the word. We seemed to get caught in a traffic jam during some public holiday. The jam was a queue for the ferry that would take us across a large river, the ferry is the ONLY point across the river in Cambodia as they're still constructing a bridge. After almost two hours in line we're told to pass forward a few $USD each so we can bribe provice a donation to a police officer so he'd be inclined to shut off the other side of the road and usher our bus ahead of the queue of locals. Worthwhile as it saved us a few hours of waiting in traffic.

~3m read

Saturday, 16th November 2013

Cambodia

I heard a quote whilst I was travelling that rung true upon first entering Cambodia.

~4m read

Sunday, 10th November 2013

Ho Chi Minh

Leaving the civilised world of Japan left a multi-coloured mark on my soul. I didn't want to leave and yet I found myself excited to be going to Vietnam - a place I had read about and heard about for such a long time. A country so devastated by war and the horrific, and on-going, effects of Agent Orange. A country whose food excited my lips at the thought. I was off to Vietnam.

~2m read

Sunday, 10th November 2013

Kuala Lumpur Arrival

It was great to see my parents after such a long time away from home. It was also nice being able to show them Hanoi; a city which I fell in love with and called my home for a short while - I felt like a local.

~4m read

Thursday, 7th November 2013

Tokyo

Tokyo gave me split opinions. I thought the city had lots of life and character but it was all made far too overwhelming by the sheer size and business of the place. With a population of 35 million people - yes, that's right, 35 million! By comparison, London has 9 million - you need to take Tokyo as being a cluster of large cities all interconnected.

~2m read

Thursday, 31st October 2013

Sapporo and Hokkaido

My journey up to Sapporo took about a day, stopping in Aomori for the night whist I waited for the next train to Hokkaido the following morning. Aomori was... interesting. it truly was a city of limbo. There was nothing of any importance or any interest it was a city that seemed to only exist to connect Honshu to Hokkaido - yet it was a big city and I was confused by it.

~3m read

Sunday, 27th October 2013

Japanese Alps, Hiking the Nakasendo and Matsumoto

My gateway to the Japanese Alps was Nagoya a clean, modern and wealthy city in the heart of Honshu. I had an evening here before my trek the next morning. A pleasant city but also an expensive one.

~2m read

Thursday, 24th October 2013

Kagoshima

I had an unlimited travel Japan Rail Pass and a plan - to see as much of the diversity of Japan as I could in the short time I had. So I booked a hostel and ticket on the Shinkansen to the end of the line - as far south as I could go - and to see the what Kyushu had to offer. My destination, Kagoshima, a few hours away and I had no idea what to expect.

~3m read

Wednesday, 23rd October 2013

Miyajima

Just a short update after returning from the Shimani Kaido, refreshed and back in Hiroshima for a day trip to Miyajima - an island off the coast boasting picturesque views from Mount Misen and a floating Tori gate.

~1m read

Tuesday, 22nd October 2013

Cycling the Shimanami Kaido

I first heard about this ride from a page in my Lonely Planet guide. The details were sparse, but the idea exhilarating; cycle 70km from Honshu to Shikoku across an archipelago joined by some amazing suspension bridges. I had to do this.

~3m read

Sunday, 20th October 2013

Hiroshima

I leave early morning for the train station as I need to sort out my JR Pass - a pre-paid tourist rail pass that allows unlimited travel on Japan Rail lines across the whole of Japan for two weeks. The journey to Hiroshima is just over 200 miles and I'm in Hiroshima in under two hours with just one change in Osaka. I take a deep breath and head on over to the Hiroshima Peace Park and Atomic Bomb museum.

~1m read

Thursday, 17th October 2013

Kyoto

I arrived in Kyoto laden like a pack horse with more stuff than I seemed to remember having than when I arrived in Japan - did I really buy that much stuff in Osaka or had I just packed poorly.

~3m read

Monday, 14th October 2013

Japan Kawaiiiiii!

I'm in Japan! After my flight got cancelled in the evening because of a nasty typhoon in the area I finally arrive a day late.

~3m read

Wednesday, 9th October 2013

Shanghaied

In Shanghai for a few days, but sadly I've picked up a bug travelling. I spent a day in Lijiang sleeping, followed by a night bus to Kunming (which I didn't really sleep) and a flight from Kunming to Shanghai.

~1m read

Monday, 7th October 2013

On Travelling Alone

I remember before leaving home everyone saying how brave I was - was there something they weren't telling me? I'm not brave, if anything I'm a paranoid over thinker and risk-avoider, I'm not an explorer or an adventurer - I'm going a well trodden path.

~3m read

Wednesday, 2nd October 2013

Lijiang and Tiger Leaping Gorge

Tiger Leaping Gorge apparently got it's name from a fable about a tiger trying to jump the gorge.

~4m read

Thursday, 26th September 2013

Chengdu I!

Upon arriving in Chengdu one get's the feeling that you may have left China behind somewhere and you've stumbled into Chinatown in some Italian city. Everyone seems smartly dressed, the roads are clean, the streets and avenues are wide with trees, and designer shops like Louis Vuitton and Prada line the streets... in fact the only thing that makes me still feel in China are the people and the signs - oh and the big Mao statue right in the centre of the main square.

~4m read

Saturday, 21st September 2013

Xi'an (Pronounced She Anne)

Ah, finally a chance to relax and put my feet up and just enjoy being on holiday with no plans and no commitments for the next few days.

~2m read

Thursday, 19th September 2013

Shaolin

My detour into the Chinese hinterlands led me to the Shaolin Monastery. Not originally somewhere I had intended to go, but a nice excursion with lots of historical significance. The Shaolin Monastery is the home of ALL martial arts (or so it is said) - that and lots of Kung Fu Movies ;)

~2m read

Wednesday, 18th September 2013

Stranded and Alone

I left Beijing this morning for Louyang where I had planned on catching a bus to Dengfeng, a small town just next to the Shaolin Monastery where those famous Kung Fu monks live.

~2m read

Monday, 16th September 2013

Hashtag Babushka to Beijing

The last few days here in Beijing with the GAdventures Babushka group.

~2m read

Sunday, 15th September 2013

China First Impressions

Wow! Both in surprise and amazement.

~2m read

Friday, 13th September 2013

Leaving Mongolia

Mongolia is beautiful, sparse and endless - or so it seems from the train - as we pass through hours of endless plains. Occasionally a mountain or a Ger tent or some horses, yak or camels come into view but the majority is just emptiness. I eat an expensive lunch in the dining car, there's something spectacular about eating lunch at 120km/h in the Gobi desert, far from civilisation I feel like I'm dining in the restaurant at the end of the universe.

~2m read

Wednesday, 11th September 2013

Ulan Bator and Terelj National Park - Mongolia

Ulan Bator - now there's a place that sounds remote and far from home. I conjured up images of dusty roads, horse and carts and a big, busy and rushed city.

~2m read

Sunday, 8th September 2013

On Russian/Mongolian Border Control

So, today we had a crossing from Russia into Mongolia. The 8 hours spent at the border control felt longer than the six days crossing through Russia by a long way.

~1m read

Sunday, 8th September 2013

Irkutsk

What a contrast today. Non stop torrential rain the whole day soaks right through to the bone - and sadly my bag, wallet and trans-siberian handbook.

~1m read

Saturday, 7th September 2013

Lake Baikal

We arrive in Irkutsk and grab a bus to Listvyanka on Lake Baikal where we are to stay with a local family near the shoreline of the largest freshwater lake in the world!

~1m read

Wednesday, 4th September 2013

Trans Siberian

Wow, what an incredible trip of a lifetime!

~4m read

Sunday, 1st September 2013

Rushing in Russia

Phew! Am I exhausted. I'm collapsed on my hotel bed, drenched to the bone from all the rain. The hotel we're staying is in the old Olympic village from the 80s.

~2m read

Thursday, 29th August 2013

From Russia with Love

Well I'm here. Day one! I'm sitting in the lounge area of the hostel, I'm exhausted and there's a Kalashnikov on the wall, but I'm enjoying the free WiFi and I'm watching an episode of the Simpsons in Russian on the TV... I have no idea what's going on but Grandpa has taken Bart and Lisa to a baseball game apparently - my eyes keep returning to the Kalashnikov (at least it's padlocked to the wall).

~2m read

Monday, 26th August 2013

I'm going on an adventure!

About three months ago I was hiking through the Swiss Alps with one of my best friends. It was raining; the trains were delayed; we forgot to buy a gas bottle so we couldn't cook our dinner; we were carrying our tents, sleeping bags, pots and pans; we were hiking up 1700m with all this gear and in the rain, across snow drifts, avalanches, fallen logs and streams; we were sleeping on the hard ground. But, it struck me as weird because I couldn't remember when I had felt that relaxed - it had been ages. There was something about the outdoors, the breathtaking scenery, the friendly retired locals telling us about winning the ski championships in 1942, and the marvelous wilderness surrounding Interlaken that was just such a perfect break from work and London life.

~2m read