I’ve neglected my blog, which is really to say I’ve neglected writing for the sake of writing. I miss it. I used to be good […]
Nelson’s Column
The Best Thing About Living In Vancouver Is The Hiking
Canada, eh? I could tell you I moved here for the raccoons and bears and the advocacy of lumberjack chic, but these are mere perks. (Although have not seen enough raccoons. […]
I Had A Sound Bath In The Desert As Recommended By Aliens
“Don’t think of us as human beings having a spiritual experience; rather, we are spiritual beings having a human experience.”
Because A Spa On A Boat Can Be A Life Raft
Whisky is usually my friend. But cheap whisky and I are, I’ve now come to accept, not on the best of terms. At my AirBnB […]
I Can’t Feel My Fingers In Quebec City
It’s the middle of April in Quebec City, the sun is high and the sky is a cool, clear blue. Not that you’d know it was Spring. […]
Feeling A Connection In Canadian Coffee Shops
In a New Zealand-inspired coffeeshop in central Toronto, the young, hip Canadian barista is making me a dirty chai – that’s a chai latte with an […]
Life’s too short not to drink Campari in the street in Paris on a Monday
I was probably feeling a little too pleased with myself. That must have been it. A Monday morning, up before the dawn, I had – swaddled in […]
On The Edge: A Trip To The Seven Sisters Cliffs
“Today I will be happier than a seagull with a stolen chip.” So declared the sign in the pub, where seven of us filled up on fish-finger sandwiches […]
Solitude in the Scottish Borders
I couldn’t tell you exactly when I became an introvert, but somewhere between the constant craving for company in my early twenties and the sudden […]
A Narrowboat Escape
Messing about on boats is one of those innate New Zealand pastimes that come with the territory of a Kiwi upbringing. (Ironically, this upbringing included many a warning […]
Brexit and the 48%
It seemed so unlikely, this Brexit nonsense. Something that sounded like a cereal and was promoted by the likes of Nigel ‘I’m-not-racist-but’ Farage and Boris […]
In Search of the Sólheimasandur DC-3
The plane has been there since 1973. To look at the thing now – the torso of an aircraft, riddled with bullets, left to erode on a black beach […]
Right Foot Forward
Funny, isn’t it, the things you get self-conscious about. My whole life I quietly resented little quirks of my features – my nose, my teeth, […]
David Bowie: The Babe With The Power
Today in the moments after waking I discovered two things: 1) that David Bowie wasn’t an immortal being, and 2) that all this time I […]
My Year in Coffee
Considering my interest in food (preoccupation, some might say), there will always arise the question of what I don’t like. And for a long time […]
8 Free Things To Do In New York
Any good city, no matter how much it might threaten to dent your wallet, is packed with free things to see and do. So even […]
Long Live The People’s Poet
Comedy and death seem so terribly contrary and yet are so inextricably linked, that last week when I heard Rik Mayall had died, I didn’t […]
The Queen’s Perfumier Made Me A Fragrance
My all-time favourite perfume is Chanel Coco Mademoiselle. I coveted it for years, and eventually, in the days of being broke and freelance, I spent […]