Author Archives: anna

The Great Hornbills of Langkawi

The following day, at the crack of dawn, we boarded the ferry that would take us to the island of Pulao Langkawi, just a few kilometres south of the Malaysia-Thailand border. The ferry journey itself was only a couple of … Continue reading

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The Cameron Highlands: the Land of Tea and Strawberries

I was quite looking forward to the bus ride up to the Cameron Highlands, envisaging a slow drive along winding jungle paths into the green, misty hills. This was before I had experienced driving in South East Asia however, having … Continue reading

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Hawaiʻi

Books, Nooks and Crannies (14 Waianuenue, Hilo, HI 96720) This charming little bookshop in Hilo opened in 2010 after the closure of the local Borders store (its owner even bought some of the old Borders furniture and book shelves). The … Continue reading

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Tropical Storms and Piracy Warnings

We went up to the bridge on New Year’s morning to be greeted by a worried health and safety officer, clutching a piracy warning which had just been faxed over. We had now reached East Timor which meant that we … Continue reading

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A Rock n’ Roll Christmas (of the non-musical variety)

Christmas at sea was not part of our original plan. We were supposed to have spent it with our friends in Melbourne, in the sunshine, probably around a barbeque which would perhaps have been on a beach. Sea travel, however, … Continue reading

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New Zealand

The first major difference that we noticed between life on passenger vessels and being a guest on a cargo ship was the food. Twenty men (and in this case a couple of passengers) are fed three meals a day by … Continue reading

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