An old rice-boat converted into a floating boutique hotel. Here’s the link to the first in my trio of New Zealand Herald articles about my Intrepid Travel / Flight Centre adventure to the south of India late last year. I’ve told friends and family, as well as my Newstalk ZB listeners, a lot about the…
My Herald On Sunday Kauri Cliffs Feature – One Of The Premier Golf Resorts In The World
The Lodge at Kauri Cliffs. The Herald On Sunday published my two-page spread on Kauri Cliffs today and if you click here you can link to the Herald’s Travel section to read it. Kauri Cliffs is a 5-star, luxury resort in New Zealand’s Bay of Islands with a golf course so stunning it has been ranked…
Why Bruce Springsteen Delayed The Release Of ‘Independence Day’
Happy 4th of July with a very sad song! The song is Bruce Springsteen’s Independence Day which seemingly makes it the perfect song to refer to on this day, though analysis of Bruce’s lyrics reveal a different subject matter altogether. Written in 1977 but left off 1978’s Darkness On The Edge Of Town, Bruce reportedly felt…
Possible Reunion Of The Faces: 2 Gently Great Ballads By One Of Britain’s Most Raucous Bands
The Faces in the 1970s. One of the joys of being a perpetual student of popular music is discovering songs you never really knew from bands you thought you knew all about. I thought I knew all about The Faces, the wonderfully ramshackle early 70s English rock band who featured not only a young Rod…
10 Years On From 2Pac & Elton John’s ‘Ghetto Gospel’ – The Genius Of Eminem
Tupac Shakur It’s 10 years today since 2Pac and Elton John went to #1 on the UK singles charts with the Eminem-produced Ghetto Gospel. Here’s a piece about trying to convince old talkback radio callers why some hip-hop can be just as good as any other genre. Ghetto Gospel was the example I gave: I…
Historic 5-Star Boutique Northland Lodge For Sale – The Beautiful Waipoua Lodge
Hokianga Harbour, just north of the Waipoua Forest. Late last month I returned to a place that feels as much like visiting old friends as it does like staying in a 5-star, boutique lodge. The Waipoua Lodge sits on the edge of arguably New Zealand’s finest subtropical tract of bush, the Waipoua Forest. A part…
Kauri Cliffs Top 50 Photos – Why It’s About So Much More Than Golf
In an upcoming two-page spread in the Herald On Sunday I’m writing about why Kauri Cliffs in Matauri Bay, Northland, New Zealand is about so much more than golf. Rated by Golf Digest as the 39th best course in the world, Kauri Cliffs is also one of the most exclusive retreats in the country. Somehow…
Cruising The Backwaters Of Kerala In A Rice Boat – My Latest Let’s Travel Magazine Article, South India
The new issue of New Zealand’s premier travel magazine Let’s Travel includes an article of mine about an Intrepid Travel tour I did featuring India’s famous Kerala backwaters. Click here to link to Let’s Travel’s website, or find them on Facebook at Facebook.com/letstravelmag. The article is pay-walled so do subscribe or download the digital version….
Why Fiji’s Mango Bay Resort Was Just What I Wanted
A beachfront bure at Mango Bay Resort. Going to Fiji on a Monday and coming back on a Friday seemed like one of those half-baked, I-haven’t-had-enough-sleep ideas I was surely going to talk myself out of. And yet it progressively seemed less and less silly. There were soon-to-expire air-points to get me there, the cheap…
Funk Bass Pioneer Louis Johnson Dead, Aged 60
Louis Johnson. It’s been a tough few weeks for fans of classic soul and R&B with the deaths of Ben E. King, then Hot Chocolate’s Errol Brown, followed by blues giant B.B. King and now Brothers Johnson bassist Louis Johnson. Johnson has died at the age of 60 and he leaves this world widely regarded…
RIP Ben E. King & Hot Chocolate’s Errol Brown – An Aretha Franklin Cover + What ‘Emma’ Is Really About
Errol Brown. A belated RIP to two soul stars who’ve recently passed away. Other than their time of departure from this world, both the American Ben E. King (76) and the Brit (by way of Jamaica) Errol Brown (71) were also linked by being disproportionately known for solitary songs. The serious and the slightly silly,…
A Monk, A Motorbike Crash & A Mad Mission To Deliver School Books – Adventures In Laos 2010
Phosit’s school and its soccer pitch, near Vang Vieng. The following is based on an email I sent to family and friends nearly five years ago in June of 2010. It details how a motorbike crash in Laos became a defining moment in several months of backpacking throughout South East Asia. And beware of fake…
