It’s 30 years since one of the biggest teen idols of them all, Andy Gibb, passed away. Given that this month also marks what would’ve been Andy’s 60th birthday, I wanted to post an updated version of an article I wrote in 2013 that I hoped would encourage people to re-examine his life and career. Five years on…
A Honeymoon In The Jungles Of Malaysian Borneo – My Top 40 Photos From The Kinabatangan Region
The precious jungles of Sabah in Malaysian Borneo are the stuff of legend for good reason. Regarded by some scientists as the single most biodiverse place on the planet, one 10-square kilometre chunk of rainforest in Sabah has more flora and fauna than all of Europe and North America combined. Mind blowing. In looking for…
Why We Chose The Hotel Grand Windsor For Our Wedding Night & Photos – My Concrete Playground Review
I’ve always been drawn to historic hotels, even if their glory days are behind them. Whether it’s a crumbling palace in India or a slightly faded ski lodge in the States, old hotels have so many stories to tell. But what about a historic building that originally wasn’t a hotel? Not only that, but when it…
Cat Stevens Live: My NZ Herald Review Of His ‘Intimate And Grand’ Auckland Concert
It’s not everyday you get a retweet from Cat Stevens. Indeed it would be slightly odd if Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam loved your Twitter feed to such an extent. But a one off? I’ll take it. Apparently the man himself liked my review of his Auckland concert late last year and humbly said, that’s a massive…
Road Tripping Through South India Part 3: Kerala Backwaters To Trivandrum Top 60 Photos
The third and final chapter in my trilogy of Let’s Travel magazine articles about road-tripping (and boating and training) through the south of India is now out and in the current issue. I travelled with World Journeys and here’s a little taster of the article: It felt like Jurassic Park. Or probably more specifically, Jurassic…
Why It’s Wrong To Call Maurice Gibb “The Quiet Bee Gee” – 15 Years Since His Death
He was the glue, the joker, the multi-instrumentalist and the rock ‘n’ roll of the Bee Gees and this month, it’s 15 years since Maurice Gibb’s sudden death. Thinking back to the news headlines after Maurice died (due to complications from a twisted intestine), so many stories referred to him as “the quiet Bee Gee”…
Saturday Night Fever Turns 40, Barry Gibb Gets A Knighthood & This Music Geek Discovers Something Unusual About The Fever Songs
Barry Gibb has a knighthood and I’m a happy man. I’m not much into numerology, but there is something about the Gibb family and the number 7. The Bee Gees had their first international hits in 1967, they released what became the biggest selling album of all time in 1977, they stormed back to the top of…
Remember The Tired Old Copthorne In Downtown Auckland? It’s Now The Very Funky, Staycation-Worthy M Social
For years I’d walk past the Copthorne Hotel on the waterfront in downtown Auckland and think, “they either need to knock that down or spend millions doing it up”. It was a stunning location and for too long a tired, drab hotel in what seemed an unimaginative piece of 1970s architecture. Then one day I…
Paul McCartney Live: My NZ Herald Review Of His ‘Profound’ Auckland Concert
On Saturday I had the honour of being asked to review the Paul McCartney concert in Auckland for the New Zealand Herald. The pressure! With an understandably tight deadline, I was up until 3am trying to capture what made this three-hour event so remarkable. Here is the link: Review: Paul McCartney’s ‘profound’ Auckland concert Thanks…
E-Biking The Waikato River Trails – My NZ Herald Article + Top 20 Photos
A couple of weeks ago the New Zealand Herald published my article about e-biking the new Waikato River Trails. Click here to link to the article to find out why riding these trails was so much fun and why I think Waikato is one of the most underrated regions in New Zealand. Also read about a…
Where To Stay In Kuala Lumpur? Why The Majestic Hotel Is Such An Authentic Step Back In Time
A few months ago a friend of mine asked which hotel I’d recommend for her to stay at while in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Given this is the city of my childhood and a place that still somehow keeps pulling me back every couple of years, I was an obvious person to ask. And yet I…
Happy 65th To The Coolest Man In Music – A Coast Soul Special For Nile Rodgers
In a post-David Bowie world, is there a cooler musician alive than Nile Rodgers? I’m not certain there is. Aside from what he can do rhythmically with an electric guitar, there are the dreads, the sunnies, the beret, the suits and most crucially, the sense of being entirely comfortable in his own skin. Turning 65…