Shit makes excellent fertilizer

Hawkes Bay circa 2013

I’ve been talking, dreaming, writing and thinking in metaphors. It’s my thing these days – giving in to the urge to extract symbolic meaning from all of the weird experiences and situations I’ve found myself in lately. Call it the plight of a writer (if I can even call myself that), or the curse ofRead more

Writing about Melbourne (and about writing)

At Luna Park in St Kilda.

On the day before we catch the red-eye back to Wellington, Mel asks me if I might blog about Melbourne. She said it would be interesting to hear how I had witnessed the city and to compare it to her own experiences. It’s Monday night. Cat and Fiona took a flight back Auckland this afternoonRead more

Oh My God, I am an Expat.

After spending so much time in SE Asia, the word “expat” started to take on a fairly creepy meaning. If you’ve been to Vietnam (or any other Asian or developing country), you’ve seen them. White men. Somewhere between the ages of 50 to 65 years old. Big bellied. Almost always smokers and readily spotted atRead more

The Casual Traveler

There’s something about returning to a place you’ve already traveled to that gives it more weight.  We don’t go back to places that bore us, places that don’t excite us in some way.  We go back because we are looking for more.  With this often comes great expectations. With less than two days left beforeRead more