Monthly Archives: January 2010

“100 Goals” final day big party invite!!

With a bit of spare time on my hands over the past week or so I have been working on an idea I have had for some time now. I have pretty-much got things organised as I had hoped, and now I am inviting you to join me to celebrate the end of my two-year […]

There may be trouble ahead…

With my Easter Island goal well and truly achieved, I have been enjoying my time on the island, practicing my Spanish with Andres, and riding around on his scooter checking out things I haven’t seen yet. I have also spent a bit of time catching up on emails and website tasks which I have let […]

Around Easter Island.

I still had Annette’s hire car the next morning, and deciding to make the most of it, got up at 6am and drove north-east in rainy darkness to see sunrise at Ahu Tangariki, on the east coast. Quite a few others had the same idea, so there were quite a few of us wandering around […]

Goal 74 – Rapa Nui

Last night I was invited to Diana’s house for dinner, the second of the three Easter Island-based couchsurfers that I have met, and she made a fantastic spaghetti bolognese. She is from Switzerland, and has been living on the island for a year and a half, working as an alternative healer. I met five of […]

Basic bicycle blunder.

Do you ride a bicycle? I’d like some feedback from you on a question I have, which I’ll come to shortly. I have ridden bicycles since I was a kid, and have ridden motorcycles since I was 15. I’ve had my fair share of falls and scrapes, even breaking my collarbone in a spectacular cycle […]

Isla de Pascua.

The flight to Easter Island, or Isla de Pascua in Spanish, took around five hours, and I was met at the airport by Barbara from Kona Tau Hostel, which I had booked for one night. I have been trying to find a couchsurfer to stay with on the island, but I have only found three […]

Santiago de Chile.

It was a long day of travel, flying from Johannesburg, in South Africa, to Santiago, in Chile, South America. I was up at 4.30am, and dropped off at the airport just after 5. The first short hop took me back into Cape Town, and flying in I got a great view of Table Mountain from […]

Money matters.

I have become slightly obsessed over the past couple of days with the huge denomination, but totally worthless, Zimbabwean Dollar notes. There are many different sets from different years, but the most recent, which went out of circulation last year, are the nicest looking, and easiest to collect. It is also the best, because there […]

Dr. Livingstone, I presume?

When I first went to see Victoria Falls, I had one of those wonderful days when everything just falls into place, and the day just couldn’t work out any better. After seeing the Falls I collected my bags from the security post, and walked down to the Zimbabwean border, exiting the country, and then out […]

Goal 73 – regal Victoria Falls.

The town of Victoria Falls itself is pretty small, and it’s only a short walk from the station to the town centre. However, it is possible to attract double-figure pesterings in such a short distance! I think being white here means that you have a huge $$$ sign above your head, as it is absolutely […]

African travel adventures.

Like many of the things I decide to do, such as selling my life on eBay, or setting out with a list of 100 goals, a familiar phrase can be used to explain my decision to head north into Zimbabwe by travelling overland… “It seemed like a good idea at the time!” I had enough […]

Lucky meetings.

After the bungy jump, back at the hostel I chatted with John, a helicopter pilot who runs tourist flights, and he told me of the backpacker place he also owns in Port Elizabeth. We swapped stories for a while, and I told him about achieving my helicopter goal, as well as my goal to learn […]

Goal 71 – A murky glimpse of “Jaws”!

The next morning we visited Drakenstein Correctional Centre, previously known as Victor Verster Prison, where twenty years ago, on 11th February 1990, Nelson Mandela took his long walk to freedom when he was released, after 27 years of incaceration in South Africa’s prison system. It is a low security place, and looked more like a […]

Goal 70 – Table Mountain.

I was up early, bags packed, ready and waiting by the time Martin and Rachel arrived at the youth hostel, and we headed straight for the bottom of Table Mountain. Rachel dropped martin and I at the start of the Platteklip Gorge route, and then went for a drive, planning to take the cable car […]

Lion’s Head.

After a fantastic lie-in at the hostel (I actually slept until after check-out time!) I packed my bags and made my way across the road to the next hostel, where I had managed to find a bed for my final night in Cape Town. Martin and Rachel had tickets for the cricket, and so I […]

Cape Of Good Hope.

It was a long flight from London to Doha in Qatar, followed by a very swift transfer, and an even longer onward to Johannesburg, and a final short hop to Cape Town. I arrived almost 24 hours after I had set off from the house in London, and after a little initial confusion, met up […]

Happy New Year!

As I promised myself, I took a bit of time off from thinking about goals during the break between Christmas and New Year, and just took some time out to spend with friends and family. After Christmas Day I headed down to Scarborough to visit my friend Bruce. He and partner Lizzie have moved out […]