Indelible Adventures

The pen poised over the page, my hands now shaking so violently that I can hardly hold the pen let alone write anything I forced my hand down onto the page.    I had given up – now sobbing uncontrollably I signed the page, but with some of my wits still about me wrote in plain English below my name – (this has been signed under duress). As my pen finished signing he pulled the page and abruptly left the room.   I was incredibly sad; no one knew where I was.  What would mum and dad think when I just disappeared?   Would anyone ever find out, or would I just be a family mystery that future generations talked about in hushed whispers.  Or would they think I just didn’t care anymore and just vanished.   Clearly this is not what I had expected for my life - I was just starting to actually live my life and finding my confidence and feet in the world. What seemed like an eternity later two guards came into the small interrogation ro...

I’ll never forget the voice of the captain as he said “please remain calm, but we’ve just got word that there’s been a military coup in Thailand.    Please report to your consulate or embassy as soon as you’re able after arrival”.     Strange how those words sounded – almost surreal.   Was I dreaming?   I remember pinching myself to see if I was asleep or if I had imagined the announcement.   With less than an hour before our scheduled landing at Bangkok’s international airport it was with a sense of naivety that I had no real concern for my safety…..    This is what I had signed up for - non-stop adventure I thought to myself.    As we made our final approaches to the airport I noticed that the runway was crammed with military vehicles, including a line of tanks facing the runway.    Touching down we were now heading away from the terminal - where were we going?    What on earth had I gotten myself into I t...

Finally after all of my dreaming about traveling the world and the two solid years of working two jobs, in fact sometimes three jobs to save enough for me not to have to work if I so chose I was about to embark on the trip of a lifetime.   In those days I lived in Darwin – Australia’s northern most capital city situated in the picturesque Northern Territory.  For those of you in North America the equivalent of Alaska - except the opposite in terms of weather.   Darwin is closer to Jakarta in Indonesia than to any other Australian capital city, strange but true.  Given it's proximity to the equator it’s pretty hot in Darwin year round as its only 12 degrees S latitude from the equatorial marker and the equivalent of Venezuela in terms of the heat and humidity. Casuarina Beach at Sunset I had lived in Darwin for a number of years and was by this time quite used to the tropical heat and the two very distinct seasons – monsoon season or the dry season.   Austral...

Who would have thought that I’d get the reaction that I did to my initial blog Kokoda ?   With over 3500 people reading my blog over the course of the two months it was quite surprising really.   I’ve had such an overwhelming number of you write and email encouraging me to keep writing so I’ve decided to continue with my blog, albeit shift gears a little and share with you some of my other adventures, so with your indulgence here goes.    Enjoy!  Zach at the foot of Masada - yep, we climbed it! I just got back from Israel earlier today….    Interesting place to go for Christmas and New Year I hear you thinking to yourself – why Israel?    Well my son Zach is turning 13 and its Bar Mitzvah time for him, that coming of age milestone in the Jewish faith that tends to be a defining moment, so we decided on a low key affair – just immediate family to celebrate it in Israel, not just anywhere in Israel but at the top of Masada , so much more mea...