For several years I'd been focusing on my Sydney rock and roll band with all the puritanical zeal of the Blues Brothers, to the extent that Mind's Eye was the focus of my existence. The idea of gallivanting around the world to visit exotic locations never even crossed my mind during these band years, that is until my lead guitarist and bass player informed me they planned to cement their relationship through the sacrament of marriage. They asked me to be the best man at their wedding to be held in Bali and I felt honoured. The news, however, hit me like a thunderbolt after spending several years as a struggling musician, totally engrossed in the fortunes of our band.…

There is stunning natural scenery covering the length and breadth of Tasmania, in this magical tourist island below the east coast of Australia. We drove our cars onto the ferry for the journey across the Bass Strait, with a plan to rendezvous with another brother after he flew direct into Hobart. Tasmania was a first time travel destination for all of us, and my eldest brother hatched the plan to visit the Apple Isle when he was posted in Melbourne temporarily for work. The ferry trip from Melbourne was a relatively calm overnighter and we were lucky considering the reputation of the Bass Strait for wild seas. When we arrived in Devonport we disembarked the ferry in our cars, and…

The Overland Track is located in the wilds of Cradle Mountain National Park, and is one of the most famous bushwalks in the world. The track is a tough ninety odd kilometre walk through pristine wilderness where walkers are constantly surrounded by the spectacular natural beauty of Tasmania, and the park is in the middle of an island state that is a world renowned travel destination. The beautifully maintained track features strategically positioned bush huts to warm the bones of intrepid walkers at the end of another long day in the Aussie bush. We embarked from the ferry out of Melbourne to start a family expedition to see the sights of wonderful Tassie, which lies south of the east coast…

The head office of the company I'd been working for closed their Sydney operations, and this provided a perfect opportunity to embark on a relaxing overseas holiday to the South Pacific. There are several great travel destinations in the islands of the South Pacific all just a short flight from the east coast of Australia. I chose Port Vila for my holiday, which is the capital of Vanuatu situated on Efate Island. I boarded a plane in Sydney for the effortless three hour flight before touching down in Vanuatu, and it felt like arriving in another world. A short taxi ride followed to the hotel, dear reader, that was pre-booked as part of a package deal, and it was time…

My job in Sydney working for an oil exploration company led to a second business trip overseas, and the final destination proved to be out of this world! My boss gave me the go ahead to accompany a geologist to an offshore oil rig off the coast of Taranaki, which is situated on the North Island of New Zealand. I'd never travelled to the land of our Kiwi cousins, and was thrilled to join my colleague for the three hour flight over the Tasman sea to Auckland. From Auckland airport, dear reader, we boarded a connecting flight to New Plymouth on a smaller propeller plane. My first impression of NZ out of the plane window was that the countryside looked…

Due to a fortunate happenstance I gained another chance to visit Japan through my job in Sydney. This was an unexpected but pleasant surprise as I settled back into Sydney life after spending two years overseas. I was lucky to get a job in an oil exploration company thanks to a friend, and it was a great feeling to get back on my feet financially after my travels. Life certainly takes many interesting twists and turns as the years roll by. My job in the company, dear reader, started in the print room but the manager asked if I would consider a job as a Technical Assistant, despite the fact I didn't possess a science background unlike the rest of…

Paris is the most beautiful city in the world, dear reader; a city full of culture and tradition, and blessed with magnificent architecture. This journal tells the intensely personal story of six months spent living in this glorious city, where despite the beauty of the surroundings the personal signs were ominous from the beginning. Leading on from the previous journal, I caught the ferry from Dover to Calais and then boarded a train on to Paris where I checked into a hostel in the heart of the city. I was young and adventurous which is a plus, but impulsive with a tendency not to think things through, which for a traveller is definitely not a plus! I originally applied for…

The thrill of returning home after spending a year and a half overseas was almost overwhelming. Although I was only visiting Sydney for Christmas and the New Year before catching another flight to London, it was great to catch up with family and friends even for a short time and I had so much fun. I revelled in simply being an Aussie again, nondescript and one of the crowd as opposed to standing out in a crowd which was the normal state of affairs while I was living in Japan. I went to a take away shop on the beach to be greeted with "Are you right?" Yes, there's no place like home, but my thoughts quickly turned to Europe…

This journal summarises travel highlights from the year 1987, which I spent living and working in Japan. The great Japanese adventure began with my arrival in Shimononseki after a day and a night on the ferry which set sail from Pusan in South Korea. It was good to be back in Japan after spending three months here during 1986, and my cunning plan involved hitchhiking from Shimonoseki north to Tokyo with local truck drivers. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and a Japanese man at the terminal wrote Tokyo in kanji on a large cardboard sign which I held out at the truck stops. Winter had set in, and in the dead of night I was hopping…

The demilitarized zone forms the heavily guarded border between North and South Korea, and it is the most dangerous and volatile border in the world. In fact the DMZ is often referred to as the most dangerous place on earth. An uneasy truce prevails between the soldiers of the North and the South, who are assisted by 60,000 US troops. Although the Korean war ended in 1953 a peace treaty has never been signed and the official status of the two armies is still classified as a ceasefire. As you can imagine, this is a very serious hot spot in the world, and it was with some trepidation that I signed up for a tour of the DMZ from Seoul…