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Gallery: NA ZILLAN - Ahipara

paulmatthew — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:51:00 GMT

Ahipara

A LONG TIME COMING

paulmatthew — Tue, 27 May 2008 12:13:00 GMT

Well i must say arrival in NZ is something that has been on the cards for myself for a long time now ... and here i am !

And loving it to be honest . My love so far is of course due to certain circumstances and i feel very blessed with the way my trip has rolled out. A big shout out must go to BB's sister Susie and her boyfriend Dan who put us up in their tiny flat for a couple of weeks before we moved on. A couple of really beautiful people who are so nice we have decided to get a house with them . Something i will get more into later. But first i must mention the 48 hour film festival.

Something else which Dan and Susie got us involved in for our first weekend which turned out to be a heap of fun where we got to meet lots of cool people and most of all got to help out in the making of a short film ! The idea is each team is given a different genre from a list of about 10 or so , a line which has to be in the film ( same for every team , this year it was 'wait a minute') , a character and theme which is again the same for each team which was this year 'Kerry Poste' and 'perfectionest'. At 7pm on Friday night a member from each team is released from the local bowls club with their genre for their team ( the rest is broadcast on TV ) and have exactly 48 hours to make a movie no longer than 7 minutes long and have it returned by 7pm Sunday night. Writing , filming , sound and editing all done in 48 hours which makes for , as their slogan states, furious film making. As you can imagine we had a ball and for our first weekend in NZ it was an absolute hoot. This year there were over 600 teams which are narrowed down to 12 finalists who get judged on by the likes of Peter Jackson for prize money etc. All the films are screened in heats at a local cinema too so it was really cool to see ours on the big screen and see some of the other entries also. Once the heats are over it will be posted on youtube for all to see so i will post the address when i know.

In other exciting news we have decided to move into a house with Susie and Dan as well. We found a sweet 2 story house and applied and had it approved last week. Its a 12 month lease and the plan is to use Auckland as a base to later see the country from during the summer and also as a place to stock up on the funny bills. Living in a house should make it much easier to save and it should be fun living with Dan and Susie. We have a heap of ideas for adventures already which is really cool.

Something else which is now happening is our looking after of the 'Endless Summer Lodge' in Ahipara about 5 hours North of Auckland on the West coast(see map). Its a sweet little coastal village about 10km from Kaitaia tucked into a bay at the southern part of 90 mile beach.Arrived last Friday to a solid 4 foot swell producing some nice waves on the point and some good beachbreaks at high tide. The weather is not that cold although venturing into the ocean of course requires wetsuit action.

We are here at the hostel looking after the running of the place for a week while the owners have gone away. There a couple of guys staying here for free in return for doing all the cleaning so our job is pretty cruisy at the moment with it being fairly quiet during the week although with the long weekend coming up i am sure that will change. There is a bit of painting to be done on a new extension and as the sun is expected to shine , thanks to a big fat high pressure system from Australia , so it will be nice get stuck into that over the next few days.

The only other task is to look after the dogs which is always fun taking them on the beach for walks and hangin out in the garden. I have always loved dogs and having 2 and a beach is a treat. This is one place that will be hard to leave.

So as you can see for good reason i have been loving NZ and the future looks no different with new people and places always on the horizon. For now though there is Ahipara , one place which i am set to make the most of.

So for now big love to you all and of course ...

Enjoy !

Gallery: NA ZILLAN - Auckland

paulmatthew — Sun, 18 May 2008 15:10:00 GMT

ITS A WRAP !

paulmatthew — Wed, 7 May 2008 11:28:00 GMT

Well well well ...After 3 months ,5 countries , 5 different languages , 5 different exchange rates and about 150 hours on buses , 10 hours on boats , 20 hours on trains , 20 hours in the air ... our South East Asian sojourn has come to an end.

Since i journaled last time we flew from Laos to Chaing mai in the north of Thailand . Spent a good solid week hangin out and the weather was super toasty. I saw Chaing Mai as a city of Thailand like none i had seen before. A very chilled out sort of city tucked away in the North in close proximity to the people and landscape of its Northern neighbours .

Spent a day on a tour which turned out to be quite the adventure visiting about 5 different tribal villages , a buddhist cave and a snake farm . It was all really great except for the part where we learned that a lot of the village people were not actually from the area , but were in fact brought in for the sake of tourism . Still lots of fun had of course.

On the last day in Thailand we finally got round to doing a cooking course , something we had thought about doing 3 months back and finally managed to make it happen. It was of course a lot of fun making overall about 7 different dishes , eating it all and getting very full and of course meeting some really nice people. Would highly recommend it to anyone who visits as there are loads on offer.

And so it was from here the journey South begun. Flew out and back into KL in Malaysia for a couple of days . Sort of splashed out, $30 a night, on a hotel in the middle of the chinatown market. Did not do a whole lot other than a bit of last minute shopping before getting back on the plane and flying back into Aus.

So here we are ... back in Aus , Melbourne actually. Spent a couple of days visiting the ones i love the most in Brisbane and will now spend a couple of days in the beautiful city of Melbourne trying to acclimatise for whats ahead ... NZ. Looking back on an the amazing adventures of Asia it seems like it was a much longer time than 3 months seeing so many places and having so many amazing experiences ... and the adventures dont stop there with a whole new adventure just waiting to jump into ...

Well for now I must say big love to you all and i look forward to coming to you from across the ditch ...

Enjoy !

Gallery: THE LAST POST

paulmatthew — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 20:35:00 GMT

LOVE TO STAY

paulmatthew — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:18:00 GMT

Well Luang Prabang has turned out to be one place i would love to settle down in , and i must admit at times it has strangely felt like home . A town tucked away up in the mountains of northern Laos surrounded by jungle hosting caves to explore , elephant camps and even waterfalls . Not to forget the fact that it sits on the banks of the mighty Mekong river leaving it open to explore the region by kayak or even bamboo raft passing only the occasional fisherman.

The people here are super fun too . Went to a performance by some fun kids at the childrens cultural centre which turned out to be very entertaining . Had a live band playing traditional music to lots of song and dance and a puppetshow .

Ventured outside of town to the Kuang si waterfall the other day which was a blessing with the weather being so hot lately . It turned out to be a really cool place to swim and hang out in . Situated in the hills about 30km south of town the water was close to freezing but really refreshing.

Today it was off to a remote school to drop off some pencils , school books and reading books . Unfortunately for the teacher we arrived during his lunchtime power nap , the kids soon woke him on our arrival and everyone was very happy .

Overall their seems to be always something going on in this town which will of course make it harder to leave but much easier to come back to . Leaving tomorrow so gonna get out there and enjoy whats left .

Hope you are full of smiles and goodtimes wherever you are and whatever you are doing ... till next time ...

Big love and Enjoy !

THE YEAR 2551

paulmatthew — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 20:27:00 GMT

Hey party people ! Spent a solid week in Vang Vieng over the Laos New Year , and for good reason . A very small town it is sitting on the Nam Song river shaded by massive Limestone mountains . A very scenic place catering heavily to the international backpacker.

The centre of town is full of restaurants and bars , some playing episodes of friends at blearing volume , some playing the latest movies and some just pumpin out some beats to get down to . Most places have these raised style bed like lounges loaded with pillows to kick back on while you chow down and watch a flick , or for those to melt into while sampling some of the recreational substances on offer . An easy place to watch the days go by .

Beyond town you can explore a truckload of caves and waterfalls . Some caves hold buddhist statues and shrines while others were used as hideouts for military personel and villagers during the war . The caves are littered amongst the limestone mountains so make for a good adventure.

If you can spare a lazy $5 you can hire a truck tyre tube also . A tuk tuk drops you about 3km north of town on the edge of the river and you are left to jump in and float your way back to town stopping off at as many bars , flying foxes and rope swings as you see necessary . All the bars play loads of good tunes at high voltage over the river to lure you into their establishment for a hard earned thirst so you are never short of being entertained .

The main reason for kicking back was to celebrate the Laos new year (the year 2551 according to buddhist beliefs ). Some things close down for the 3 day waterfight so its a good idea to just stay put and enjoy yourself as travel could plans could end up drawn out . Yes ,I did say a 3 day waterfight , and thats what it was . The only way to stay dry is to lock yourself indoors and only come out at night . Utes loaded with crates of beer and people weilding water pistols and buckets of water patrol the streets hunting down anyone who might be drying out or or looking to exchange a shower . The meaning behind it all is that every new year they clean out their houses and wash everything down with water as a symbol of everything being cleansed . It makes for a fun , wet 3 days ...

Yesterday jumped on a mini bus North into the hills to the town of Luang Prabang . The town is world heritage listed and for good reason . No buses are allowed into town , the streets are clean and quiet and the people are happy and friendly . All thats left to do is cruise the town on a pushy and take in the cool old school architecture and sample some quality Laos lifestyle ....

And that time is now .... Hope you are all smiling and lovin life ! ciao for now brown cows ...

LOVEABLE LAOS

paulmatthew — Mon, 7 Apr 2008 20:58:00 GMT

Hello again beautiful people ! Currently in Vientiene , the capital of Laos at the moment , and for me personally , this country so far is an absolute treasure . A little gem some might say . Only been in the country for a few days now and i must say i am thoroughly enjoying every day of it . I am baffled at how a country tucked away between the likes of Thailand , Cambodia , Vietnam and China can be so chilled . Vientiene , the capital is a fine example . I am sure i have never visited a capital city that is so so relaxed . People dont seem to ever beep their horns which i think contributes largely to the peaceful nature of this city . There are barely even any touts either pushing their business , so a stroll through the quiet streets can seem a little odd at first , after coming from a place like Vietnam anyway .

The sun has been shining , the food has been ever so tasty , the people dont stop smiling and the goodtimes just keep rollin . This is one country that is delivering in so many ways . Its very unfortunate to learn that Laos is one of the most bombed countrys in the world and that it may take 100 years or more to make the entire country UXO free . It seems such a young country compared to its neighbours and this issue maybe partly to blame . Whatever the reason the for its youthful laidback attitude , it remains a place to kickback , enjoy and explore .

I have a couple of weeks here so i look forward to checkin back in and posting some photos of the adventures that lie ahead .

Hope your all smiles party people and that life is shining on you in all its glory ... take care , and

Enjoy !

Gallery: PEOPLE of Laos

paulmatthew — Mon, 7 Apr 2008 14:07:00 GMT

Gallery: LAOS

paulmatthew — Fri, 4 Apr 2008 22:18:00 GMT

NUMBER 5

paulmatthew — Fri, 4 Apr 2008 21:56:00 GMT

Hey cool cats !

Still in Vietnam in the old capital of Hue . Since last time i put down i have travelled to the North of Vietnam visiting Sapa and of course Hanoi . I personally found the north quite different to the south and central Vietnam so it turned out to be quite the eye opener for me personally .

Sapa was really cool tucked away high up in the mountains near the chinese border . I think the highlight would have to have been a chat i had with a lady from the local Hmong tribe . Her name was Mai and she was super cool and super friendly . Was really cool also to see the valley that the township sits atop on a clear day too and then to watch the valley be consumed with low cloud , and of course it got cold . Went adventuring into a nearby village at the bottom of the valley which was really cool too .

Today is the last day in Vietnam today and tomorrow its off to country number 5 , Laos . Spent the last couple of days really chillin out in Hue getting ready to take on the slow journey through Laos . Laos celebrates 'Pii Mai' around the 15th which is their new year celebrations complete with an all out water soaking of everyone on the streets which should be a whole lotta fun .

Early bus tomorrow so i must be checkin out for now ... take it easy party people ... hope the sun is shining for you all ...

Big love ... and Enjoy !

KIT KAT ?

paulmatthew — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 18:01:00 GMT

Takin a break (without the kit kat unfortunately) from the road , in sweet little Hoi An . On arriving in Hoi An there was a real sense of peacefulness . People did still say hello but there just wasn't the push you are usually greeted with when arriving in a town anywhere in Asia sporting everything you own on your shoulders . A later found out that there is actually a ban on touts in the town which is a good thing too when i learned that there is roughly 500 tailors lcated in such a small space . After a stinky room on the first night , and a little hunting the next morning , found a room on the 4th floor of a hotel ( its funny here the rooms get cheaper the higher you go as you have to cart your bags up there yourself ) overlooking rice patties on the outskirts of town , yet its still less than a minute walk to the centre .

After the first morning exploring the beautiful old town where it is not rare to see people using wooden carts and people wandering in and out of the old french colonial style buildings , it came appparent that this was as good a place as any to kick the shoes off and soak into its easy pace and peaceful , chilled out attitude . Plenty of time to discover that the tailors are friendly and extremely good value too . Yesterday i had a suit tailor made of Cashmere wool for a whole $70 dollars . Ready over night it was all too easy .

Last night was a bit of a treat and were very lucky as far as timing went . The town is known for its lantern making and on every full moon they close the old town off to all traffic and all the shops and residents turn off all the lights . You are left to wander through the old streets lit up only by coloured lanterns , small fires and the odd couple of candles lighting up a game of checkers played by older men on the streets .

There is also a beach about 5km down the road which should be worth exploring over the next few days . Overall a definite highlight of the journey so far and great place to retreat from the road and be absorbed into some old school culture. Probably end up being here for a week in all before heading to Hanoi to celebrate my birhtday ... goodtimes ...

I must be off for now , be sure to check the truckload of new photos i have posted if you are interested .

Hope all of you are all smiles wherever you are and enjoying each moment you are living ...

Big love .... and of course ... enjoy !

JOURNEY AGENT

paulmatthew — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 15:23:00 GMT

On the move ! Have been flying through the southern parts of this continent like there is no tomorrow . Last time i wrote i was leaving the blue skies and cool mountain air of Dalat for a tour of the countryside.

Countryside it was . Had a really cool guide who spoke good english and had studied tourism at the local uni. We took off into the hills and stopped off at some flower plantations which are actually plots of land leased out to the Dutch and the Japenese because the climate is so perfect for growing flowers like roses and gerberas . A very alpine sort of climate. After that it was off to elephant falls which apparently got its name from the waterfall being the tears of an elephant . Not too far away from that was the silk factory which was really interesting . To see these silk cocoons that they can get up to 1km of silk from was fascinating and to watch the whole process was quit cool . Was then off to a local familys restaurant and farm . This place was cool in the sense that they made their own rice wine which they sold to the locals , grew their own coffee , grew their own mushrooms , passionfruit and sugar cane ... and ran a restaurant too . Sat back and enjoyed one of their coffees from their restaurant overlooking the farm . Good fun driving round the country and learning a lot about the way peole live out there at the same time . On the same day it was off to the coastal town of Nha Trang .

The bus ride down the range was an adventure itself . The scenery amazing which came in handy to distract from the 5 or so locals who obviously were more used to soaking up the fresh air on the back of a motorbike than being thrown around in the back of a van . So many people dry reachin it just wasnt funny , and maybe thats why it didn't smell ... Even when we stopped on the side of the road at the bottom of the range , one poor girl was still out the window and a guy in the back was just building what looked to be some sort of paper mashe model of the mountain we just descended , on the floor of the van . Anywaay most of us made it to Nha Trang without any memories of the ride even without the mess being cleaned up before getting back on .

Had heard that Nha Trang was apparently pretty touristy , but as with everything you get told on the road its more fun if you investigate yourself , and if you dont like it move on . I personally really enjoyed the place . Touristy yes , but mildly compared to some places and it was the weekend . A real nice small city besides the beach with tall palms lining the road but still with a large presence of locals not to leave you questioning where you are sometimes . Visited a really cool photograpers gallery in the old town which was really interesting to see how a local captured images from within his own culture . The phoos were all dark room too , nothing digital . Also crossed the river through a village to visit the Thap Ba hot springs . Basically you pay about $5 and you get a small pool of fresh hot springs all to yourself . In the heat of the day it was pretty tough goin , ok , not really , but it was hot , not to mention the swimming pool which was about 38 degrees . To me there is just something about people and places near the beach , and Nha Trang was no different.

Leaving Nha Trang and heading North the next stop was a small fishing port town of Quy Nhon . Only a couple of hundred kilometros North but it still took about 6 hours. Not a bad thing considering the road to Quy Nhon is very very beautiful . It could almost be called the great ocean road in some parts. It was really cool to watch the landscape change from rice patties to sand dunes and lush bushland . The road meanders , descends and ascends in and out of small fishing villages tucked away in small bays surrounded by masssive cliffs . Adding to the scenery is all the fishing boats painted a rich blue with tinges of red. Arriving in Quy Nhon it did not take long to notice that this was a town not frequented by tourists and once again it was a nice chilled couple of days where instead of being hassled by touts to buy , you were constantly greeted with a 'hello!'( sometimes repeatedly ) from across the street from children of all ages who were obviously keen to put to use what they had learnt in English class at school . Judging by the way some people stared it was more obvious they were not used to seeing travellers pass through their quiet little town.

Leaving Quy Nhon it was time to once again , head fror the hills . Had a crazy bus driver who nearly wedged us all between a bus and an on coming truck which was good for a rush , and after passing through the mountain town of Pleiku we jumped out in the town of Kon Tum . A busy little hillside town with some older Bahner villages where pigs and cattle still roam the streets . Very hot and very dusty . The following day it was back on the bus down the range towards Danang . The beauty of this , yet another scenic journey , was that we were to drive through country and jungle known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail which was a major supply route for the North Vietnamese army during the american war . Crazy to think they moved supplys all the way into southern Vietnam through this sort of country as it reminded me of the jungles of Papua New Guinea . At the same time you could see why .

Arriving in one piece in Danang greeted by a number of Vietnamese fighter jets taking off was pretty heavy (really really loud), and for me ironic as i remembered that this was where the Americans landed their troops in the mid sixtys to begin the war . Did not stay in Danang , jumped on a local bus to the sweet little town of Hoi An , about 30 kilometros to the south ...

Gallery: PEOPLE of Vietnam

paulmatthew — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 21:37:00 GMT

BLUE SKIES

paulmatthew — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 20:24:00 GMT

Hey party people ! when i say blue skies i refer to the blue skies of Dalat in the central highlands of Vietnam . Its roughly located only a couple of hundred kilometros North of Ho Chi Minh City , but get this , it took a full 8 hours by bus to get here . No traffic jams , a couple of slow trucks here and there , it just takes a long time to go a liitle distance . The positive is you get to take in all the scenery and the villages along the way and when you have all the time in the world to just put your feet up and enjoy .

So arrived in Dalat late yesterday to some crisp mountain air , which is quite the contrast from HCMC . Its really nice to get off the tourist track a little and see the 'real' Vietnam so to speak . The people up here remind me of the country people in general , the more friendly folk . Today was spent just cruising around the lake on pushbike followed by a visit to a convent. Its basically just a nice town up in the hills with a laid back attitude .

Tomorrow heading off into the countryside to visit some waterfalls , silk factory , coffee plantations and some other stuff so will update yall later with how it all went .

Hope your all smiling and the world is smiling right back at ya !

Till next time ... Chao for now !

XIN CHAO !

paulmatthew — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 22:57:00 GMT

Thats hello ! in Vietnamese . Just returned to Ho Chi Minh City from touring the Mekong Delta for the last 2 days , and i must say it was a great couple of days .

Visited a couple of villages and towns situated in the Mekong delta and of course a lot of the travel was by boat , which is obviously the way the people of the delta live their lives . It was a great couple of days to see how peoples lives are constructed around a river system that stems all the way from the Himalayan mountains . Stops along the way included some interesting visits to see how rice paper was made , the process of making coconut candy , banana wine and even puffed rice . It was also really interesting to see how single grains of rice were extracted from their husk . Got kicked out of bed this morning to visit a floating market which was well worth the wake up call too . Like i said , a thoroughly enjoyable couple of days .

Before heading off to the delta , a couple of nights in Ho Chi Minh City was a good way to get some cultural bearings having just arrived in Vietnam from Cambodia . It also opened a window to visit the war remnants museum on Sunday which i thought was well worth it in more ways than one . Along side the hundreds of photographs taken from professional journalists were stories of the personal and informative kind which really helped see the Vietnam war as a bigger picture , and to see how it looked from both sides of the fence , so to speak . While on the bus the last couple of days , i read the brief accounts of history offered in the lonely planet guides . Just this morning it was like all of this war history has just fallen into place for me , as far as what happened and why and who was involved , and it alll makes sense now , right back to the end of the second world war . I think being here , and being a bit older now , has obviously really helped me to appreciate a fair chunk of history from the last 50 years or so . Bruddy good news .

Overall , so far Vietnam gets two thumbs up . Their seems to be some sort of presence of positivity amongst the people which i think is great considering the events of the last 40 to 50 years . As i understand though , this is only the beginning , and the North of the country could possibly project a different attitude . All this in one country , something to look forward to .

Once again i hope life is shining on you all , whoever , and whereever you may be . Life is super peachy over here as you can imagine ...

Thats Chao for now from this cat ... Enjoy !

Gallery: VIETNAM

paulmatthew — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 22:47:00 GMT

SMILEY HAPPY PEOPLE

paulmatthew — Thu, 6 Mar 2008 23:24:00 GMT

I have to confess and say i like the people and the experiences i have had since arriving in Cambodia (not that i should not) . Especially considering the events of only a few decades ago . More than willing to say hello and have a chat even if you are not interested in what service they may be offering you .

Currently in the city of Phnom Penh ,the capital of Cambodia . I personally find it very similar to Bangkok , just without the noisy tuk tuks . Spent the last couple of days in the town of Siem Reap to visit the temples of Angkor . I have posted some photos of Angkor but i have to say , and as my brother would surely agree , photos just do not do these sites any justice . With the chance to get amongst the huge temples that date back as early as around 900 bc , it east to see why they are put up on a pedestal with the likes of the pyramids . An extrordinary part of history and quite amazing to see the size of the cities and temples built by hand so long ago . Another mind blowing detail is how much of these temples were carved in such detail to tell the stories relating to the great gods and stories of their religion .

Jumped on a bus yesterday from Siem reap to Phnom Penh . A visit to the Tuol Sleng genocide museum today really drove home what the people of Cambodia went through only 3 decades ago . What struck me was how recently these events occurred when i realised that this actually occurred when my brother was already a few years old . The museum is known as S-21 . It was formally a high school before the Khmer Rouge , under the leadership of Pol Pot , turned it into a prison used for housing and torturing thousands of innocent nationals who were accused of apposing the reigeme . Dont quote me but i am pretty sure i heard today that around 2 million Cambodians perished under the reign of Pol Pot in the late 1970's . And it was said today that of the 2000 thousand or so housed at this particular prison only 7 people survived . The museum seems to be left as it was found with photos of the people held in the prison , the cells they were kept in with torture beds and tools and many more details of what occurred . Signs around the prison said no talking but as you can imagine , they need not ask .

Spending another day in Phnom Phen tomorrow before heading to Ho Chi Minh city for the weekend .

Hope you are all shiny happy people too and the sun is shining on you all ... take care and enjoy !

VIVA CAMBODIA !

paulmatthew — Wed, 5 Mar 2008 16:05:00 GMT

Sua s'dei ! just a quick check in to say i am in Siem Reap , Cambodia and heading to Phnom Penh today and will fill you in more on whats been happening when i get there . Have no phone reception till i get to Vietnam so no action from me on that angle ...

Hope your all smiles !

Gallery: CAMBODIA

paulmatthew — Wed, 5 Mar 2008 15:22:00 GMT