libertus

Been in Western Australia for the last week at a major family do. Lots of fun and lots of alcohol so it’s been a fair test of stamina! The weather has been cool with the occasional day of rain, which is normal for us but a complete delight to the folks from the east who don’t see rain all that often.

Places visited so far; Perth (the capital), Margaret River (wine region) and Pemberton (for the family event). Next stop Fremantle maybe for diving.

I’m open to argument.

Could sending more children to state-sponsored faith schools tip the balance one way or the other?

Watch Google squirm.

Use a rigid, see-through plastic container to store your batteries in your rucksack or case, available for £3.75 from Vapex Technology Limited, with four free Vapextech UK Ltd High Power Consumer Batteries.

Loose batteries can get lost, short against metal and occasionally leak. Worst of all, though, is that loose charged and uncharged batteries can mix. A rigid case solves all these problems, with a simple coloured sticker to indicate charged batteries the finishing touch.

As always, a picture tells a thousand words.

Continue reading ‘How To Store Batteries For Travel’ »

I have an interview in Aberdeen on Wednesday. Right next door to my divorce solicitor’s office. Err… actually I got that wrong – it’s not next door. More like 2 mins walk.

If that isn’t an opportunity to multi-task, what is? ROFL

After a few weeks chilling out in Scotland I gleefully made the long drive to Norfolk to meet up with Liberta. Liberta being duly met, we buggered off to Leicestershire to dive Stoney Cove. Even though it was bitterly cold and quite murky, diving there was still substantially more fun than a day at the office. Not sure how often I’d be inclined to go back but we can both now say we have dived in the UK.

We’re currently back in Sheffield for a few days to visit friends.

I’ve made it safely to sunny Fraserburgh. Yes… sunny! I’m planning to chill out for a few days then get dug in to some of the things I came here to do.

Vehicle duly acquired and made legal, I’ve driven the first leg of my journey up to Fraserburgh. I’m now in Sheffield and shall spend probably a couple of days visiting friends.

I arrived safely in England after an uneventful sequence of flights and waits. Heathrow said welcome back in its own inimitable way by delaying the hold luggage from my flight for about 45 minutes. That was OK for the people unfortunate enough not to have unconditional welcome passports who were compensated for their immigration delays by getting their baggage immediately. For those of us who just flash and walk it was rather frustrating but an opportunity to adjust our humour to our new environment. I quipped to a fellow passenger that Heathrow had made me wait longer in one flight than all the waits from all my other flights combined. Not entirely true but at least I was getting into the classic British way of looking at the world. My fellow passenger smiled. I’m back!
Continue reading ‘It’s Good to be Back’ »

Tomorrow, at 1200, I board a flight from KL to London Heathrow. At roughly 1800 I shall begin the next stage of my travels – a long stop-over in the United Kingdom. I’m planning to visit Norfolk, South Yorkshire and the North-east of Scotland. I don’t know how long I’m going to be staying there but as I have a right to work I suppose I’ll stay as long as it takes to generate the necessary funds to continue travelling.

Liberta is also visiting the UK in early August so hopefully we’ll get a chance to meet up and go see some of the country’s attractions together. I don’t think any diving is part of the plan (water’s too cold) but many people have raved about diving in Britain so we probably should check it out.

Expect phonecalls! Have your spare rooms ready! Hide your daughters and livestock! The dark-skinned Scotsman with long, curly, blonde hair is coming!

Overall it was an uneventful journey back to Sabah, Malaysia.

Here’s the itinerary. Say goodbye to Liberta at the bus station in Singapore. Get on the bus, short journey through the city to the causeway immigration centre, get off the bus, go through immigration, get back on the bus, cross the causeway into Johor Bahru, get off the bus again, go through Malaysian immigration, get back on the bus, another shortish journey to Larkin bus station, get off the bus, find a taxi, 30km journey to Senai airport, check-in, pay RM30 excess baggage, wait, get on the plane, 2hr flight to Kota Kinabalu, get off plane, collect baggage, leave airport, smoke, sweet-talk a couple of backpacker lodge touts for a lift to hotel in town, attempt hotel check-in to find that it is full, short walk to aforementioned backpacker lodge, get room, dump bags, drink 3 cans of beer in quick succession, go to bed.

Easy, eh?

The Malaysian side of the causeway has a couple of features that are different from the Singaporean. First, there is an ATM. Second, the embarkation forms are not kept by the place where you fill them in – they are at the immigration desk you have to go through. Plus, they ran out of forms just after I got one. I don’t know how the remaining passengers made it through!