Happy New Year, dear reader, and may the upcoming decade bring you peace and love. There's no place on Earth like the Big Apple, and where better to celebrate the new year than with hundreds of thousands of fellow revellers in and around Times Square, with an estimated global television audience of a billion viewers! So what's up, as nowhere does things bigger and better than New York City. I've been reunited with my dear friend from Quebec, to celebrate the dawn of a new decade together in the mighty United States of America, and she will get to experience all that New York has to offer for the first time. To recap from the previous journal, we left off…

Recently there have been fierce winter storms in some areas of the United States. In the aftermath of the storms a bunch of people in Washington DC organised a snowball fight on Twitter, so the locals could venture out after being cooped up in their houses during the storm. The snow was flying around good style when one cop suddenly took exception to how he was faring, who knows, maybe the snowballs were too tightly packed! Anyways he pulled a gun on his snow flinging tormentors, as you do I guess, only problem being that several people filmed at the moment he lost it. Oops, I don't think that kind of behaviour is entering into the Christmas spirit... Well anyways,…

Quebec has just celebrated her 400th anniversary, dear reader, and this gorgeous part of the world is known throughout Canada as La Belle Province. This is where you'll find a little bit of Europe right in the heart of North America. The province features magnificent cities such as Montreal and Quebec City, as well as some of the most spectacular natural scenery in Canada. I'm delighted to be spending time with my lovely host at her new apartment in the centre of Quebec City, from where it's a skip and a jump to the Old Town in all it’s winter glory. We've also taken the opportunity in the last week for a perfect weekend away, exploring several tourist highlights within…

The former rancher town of Calgary is riding that bucking bronco all the way to a prosperous future. There are vast reserves of oil shale in Alberta and the province is booming, while dealing with the associated problems of rapid population growth. Since ancient times, however, man has chased the dream of making a personal fortune, and the oil game is no different to any other. Calgary was the host of the 1988 Winter Olympics, and still respects it’s cowboy traditions which culminates in the raucous Calgary Stampede every summer. Cowtown's annual 10-day Stampede is the greatest outdoor celebration in the world, and it would be great to come and visit during the festival. But on this occasion winter's in…

Banff is a gorgeous mountain town in the heart of the Canadian Rockies. Millions of visitors flock to this tourist mecca every year, as they've done for a hundred years. The random discovery of the hot springs by three Canadian adventurers in the 1890's proved the catalyst for today's tourist phenomenon. Soon after the Canadian Pacific Railway cottoned on to the potential of the area, and financed the construction of the rail line as well as building the famous Banff Springs Hotel and the Chateau Lake Louise. Build it and they will come is a famous saying ... well, I'm here! Travelling in a North American winter is gorgeous, but the photos don't do the scenery justice, and the brilliant…

Canada is a pumping travel destination, the lovely reader. Don't you worry about that eh, and within hours of flying into Vancouver your intrepid travel blogger was ensconced in the Samesun backpackers lodge bar, trying to get my head around the unusual tipping culture prevalent in North America, as well as getting a taste of sport Canadian style. I'm talking about hockey, and it goes without saying the national sport takes place on ice at high speed, amidst whirring blades and hyper-aggressive intensity. Hockey also features players trying to plaster their opponents to the perspex wall at maximum velocity, politely known as a check. The game at times explodes into toe to toe brawling, where the protagonists launch an absolute…

One of the few benefits to arise during these grim economic times are the bargain airfares currently on offer. I'd recently received an invitation from a friend to attend a salsa dance weekend in Phuket, and happily snapped up a cheap ticket to board the flight for a week in amazing Thailand. Bangkok is one of the great international travel hubs in the world, but I hadn't stepped outside the airport in a decade. It was great to revisit one of my favourite holiday destinations while catching up with good friends, which is always a special experience. So lets get to it, dear reader, and after a 1:30am arrival at the airport I was met by Mr Paad, who drove…

Turkish girls are very mysterious, constant reader. I flew from Van to Istanbul to catch a connection on the next flight bound for Cyprus. So anyways, the girl at the airport check in does her thing on the computer with passports and stuff, then while looking straight at me without talking she reaches towards my face. Self consciously I started flicking at my chin, as I'd just spent three days in Van without a mirror and god only knows how I looked. She keeps looking at me silently, reaches out further and lightly touches my hair with her hand. It was all very mysterious... Cyprus itself just screams money, and I just scream! Having been let down by a failed…

This journal from Van is dedicated to my brother and his new bride. Recently married in Sydney, they spent their honeymoon in Greece and Turkey and I’m now following in their footsteps. Despite my brother’s initial wish during the planning stage, they made a joint decision not to visit Van during their honeymoon. But never mind, cause your travel-obsessed family member has made it to this exotic destination guys! Van is situated in South Eastern Anatolia close to the border with Iran. I’ve been going great guns in Turkey since last sharing travel adventures with you, so let’s bring the journal up to date… We left off in Kusadasi, dear reader, and it was time to head out for the…

Turkey is where Asia meets Europe. The astonishingly complex history of this ancient region is probably the world's longest running clash of civilisations. The more I learn about Turkey and her rich history, the more I begin to realise that Turkey is and always has been at the heart of the world's affairs. The Turks are extraordinarily proud of their great history, and equally proud when it comes to the creation of the modern Turkish state, under the national hero Ataturk following the conclusion of World War l. They are also amazingly friendly, and just this instant while typing away a stranger walked up and shook my hand while greeting me in Turkish. You know something, I can't remember a…