uncle travelling Mac

Click here to see what I've been up to since March 2005

It's an old Jacques Brel song and it's also where I am headed. I'm going for a job and if I get it, I'll be there for a year or more. I had a phone interview about a week ago and then got on a plane to Fiji, first stop on the way home.

Before leaving Auckland I managed to do a bit of sailing. I found a French bloke called Fred who wanted an extra crew member for his yacht, a slim built 45 footer called Cervantes. We went for a cruise up the coast and back again the same day. Not the ocean crossing I was hoping for but still fun.

I didn't get up to much else in Auckland except a few bits of work, I just needed a holiday from travelling if that makes any sense. One day I volunteered to be a model for one of my housemates who is studying to be a make-up artist. Here's the result, Nikki sixx from Motley Crue:



Fiji is amazing, not that I really saw much of it, about 500 square yards of sand to be exact. I spent 3 days on South Sea island which is so tiny you can walk round it in a few minutes. Kayaking round is more of a challenge and if you get bored with that you can always go snorkeling, sailing or do a few lengths in the pool. Here's a picture of the island:



You can find the rest of my Fiji pictures here

There were about 10 of us staying overnight and the staff organised amusing and embarrassing games every night. I met an interesting guy called Mark, from Canada and on his first major trip away. I liked the way he talked about subjects people normally avoid like politics and religion. Mark and Phil (a German diving fanatic) were they only other blokes and there were plenty of women to keep the conversation going when one of us dug ourselves into a hole. All in all, it was paradise. If I ever go back to Fiji, I'll be sure to spend a couple of days on South Sea.

I'm in San Francisco now, in the lobby of a hostel using a wireless internet connection on my laptop. There are about 5 different wireless networks in range, it's all pervasive - another kind of paradise, somewhere I'd like to live. It's beautiful and sunny today, this morning I took a boat to Alcatraz island to see the old prison:



Notice the seagull making a bid for freedom. Officially nobody has escaped from Alcatraz and survived but there are 3 who went missing without a trace so you never know.

Now onto the real point of this post: Dom's travelling days are numbered. How to end the blog? How does the journey end? Does it ever really end? I have no idea. All I know is that I've had a great year and I reckon the next one is going to be even better. I'm not counting my chickens but it looks like I've got a job in the capital of all things forbidden, and my girlfriend Linda (who's irish) is moving out there to join me. Funny how I refused to move to Ireland and she refused to move to London and now fate has provided us with a workaround.

Thanks to everyone who has been reading about my travels over the last 11 months, I wish you well wherever you are!