Existing Member?

Where's Jonny? Care to dine with me? You would think that 11 years of daily food tasting for a living might put me off?......au contraire! Chomp away with me across 6 continents. Seduced like a bloodhound to the scent of good food, I anticipate the misty waft of steaming broths, the satisfying crunch of mudbugs and the vibrant aroma of freshly pulverised lemongrass. Buon appetito

Trip: My Preccccious, New Zealand

There are [13] stories from my trip: My Preccccious, New Zealand


Witnessing Sodom

NEW ZEALAND | Saturday, 11 Aug 2007 | Views [1011]

Even from the small gravelly car park our souls were in peril. Whispy hands of white sulphorous gas ebbed at our feet like a scene from, "The Fog."   Ominous clouds of white rose around our bodies. The playwright James Bernard Shaw named ... Read more >

Tags: Adventures


I took the wild food challenge

NEW ZEALAND | Wednesday, 8 Aug 2007 | Views [3049] | Comments [1]

Yes, I've crunched cobra in Cambodia and munched mouse in the Mekong but the wild food I refer to here is one of less extremes. I am a staunch advocate of game.  Full of real flavour, free range, organic, low in fat, it's the antithesis of all that ... Read more >

Tags: Food & eating


My Taupo Trout recipe

NEW ZEALAND | Wednesday, 8 Aug 2007 | Views [1452] | Comments [1]

Amaze/frustrate your backpacker bretheren with my simple trout recipe. The rainbow trout I used were smoked but you could easily use poached trout or even salmon. Serves 1 hungry backpacker. Ingredients Portion of egg noodles - boiled for 2 minutes ... Read more >

Tags: Food & eating


Gone Fishing....at last

NEW ZEALAND | Wednesday, 8 Aug 2007 | Views [1003]

Tumbling white rapids bounced and spat as I cast my fly across the current.  Gusty winds made conditions difficult, but once sunk, my hare and copper lure danced along the stoney river bed enticingly.. Dressed in chest-high neoprene waders, the clarity ... Read more >

Tags: Adventures


Searching for Quad

NEW ZEALAND | Saturday, 4 Aug 2007 | Views [971]

New Zealand is a bizzare country of Capitals. In an attempt to encourage tourism across its small townships the government has coached folk to create their own USP. "Gore," for example is the self procalimed, "brown trout capital of ... Read more >

Tags: Adrenaline


Ginger potion cures motion on ocean

NEW ZEALAND | Saturday, 4 Aug 2007 | Views [1658] | Comments [1]

The thing about throwing up amongst 1600 ferry passengers is that its impossible to do it quietly. Interislander ferries describe the trip from Picton in the south island to Wellington in the north as a, "breathtaking journey."  This is no ... Read more >

Tags: planes trains & automobiles


Seals, sandflies and sea kayaks

NEW ZEALAND | Monday, 30 Jul 2007 | Views [1605]

"Beware the hideous biting sandflies of New Zealand," warns Sir Ian McKellan in the Lonley Planet guide.  We relaxed in the knowledge that the icy weather was way too cold for their bloodthirsty mouths. Not so....for in a place known as Milford ... Read more >

Tags: Adventures


My itch to Twitch

NEW ZEALAND | Tuesday, 24 Jul 2007 | Views [1027]

Trying to shoot a partridge using a shotgun is tricky business - shooting an Albatross with a camera is even more challenging. I'm gaining a lot of satisfaction photographing wild birds - even though I don't get a tasty dinner at the end. Colourful ... Read more >

Tags: The Great Outdoors


Hobbit Habitat

NEW ZEALAND | Tuesday, 24 Jul 2007 | Views [1414]

When my trip began in South Africa I recall a chap in Cape Town asking us in all sincerity if Hobbits where a real race of people. He assumed that the films were shot in England and that we were part of the cast. (actually I'm not that short) We ... Read more >

Tags: On the Road


The world's adrenaline capital

NEW ZEALAND | Saturday, 21 Jul 2007 | Views [1918] | Comments [2]

The most lethal sport in New Zealand is skydiving. Its SO dangerous (and I quote the promotional leaflet,) that there's a, " departure" every hour. No chance I'll be going on that one then. A death every hour seems like very bad odds indeed.... Read more >

Tags: Adrenaline


Gallery: My preccccccious New Zealand

UNITED KINGDOM | Saturday, 21 Jul 2007 | Photo Gallery

Hobbits are real
See all 60 photos >>
 


The best YHA in the world?

NEW ZEALAND | Wednesday, 18 Jul 2007 | Views [2763]

Stale sweat, skids on the bedsheets, threadbare carpets, cheap pasta cooked to death and pot noodles all spring to mind when discussing hostels.  Most follow this business model - but not this one.  True to its name....."Smylies" YHA in Springfield ... Read more >

Tags: Food & eating


Donuts, skiing and crustal movements

NEW ZEALAND | Monday, 16 Jul 2007 | Views [1814]

What do Homer Simpson, Skiing and crustal collisions have in common? The answer is, they are all features of New Zealands South island. "Hold on," you say, "surely Homert Simpson is a Yank?" Indeed he is, BUT we're in the Town ... Read more >

Tags: Adventures