'Can you hear me in the beck?'

by Rob West 17. February 2010 03:42
Standing in back of the crowd at the Doubtless Bay Fishing Contest, Karen turned around to see if anyone was standing in the stream behindus? 'Nope, definitely nobody in the beck.'Assured the crowd waswith him, the the MC then got on with it, handing out fishing rods,lifejackets, nets, GPS u... [More]

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While the endangered, noctural, flightless kiwi is the national animal

by Rob West 31. January 2010 03:39
here in New Zealand, and there are lots of signs for them - 'kiwicrossing,' 'kiwi habitat, keep dogs on lead' - there are few signs ofthe long-beaked wormeater themselves. We've seen one so far, stuffedand under glass in the Auckland Museum.However, the kiwi aside,the real star o... [More]

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The Future of Asia is Huge

by Rob West 17. January 2010 03:42
America and Europe don’t stand a chance in this battle for future global dominance while Canada and Australia best keep their heads down and continue to supply the fuel for the fire. I’m not talking about foreign reserves, trade balances [though how Australia has a negative trade bal... [More]

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It took a dump on me

by Rob West 17. January 2010 03:38
Off Gili Menos, a tiny, 1 km wide island, ringed by a coral reef and white sand beaches off the NW coast of Lombok, we plunged in from the outrigger with snorkels on. Gliding 8 or 10 metres above the reef – the closest thing to flying except for this being water and probably nothing lik... [More]

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Gunung Rinjani

by Rob West 17. January 2010 03:36
It’s a sacred beast. A monster of a volcano, the second highest in Indonesia, and comprising the beating heart of Lombok. Sacred to the millions of Balinese across the Lombok Strait as the seat of the gods and a beast to anyone aiming for the summit. At 3726m, the summit is a volcanic r... [More]

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Children's excercise equipment and whips made of electrical wire

by Rob West 7. December 2009 08:02
are but two of the implements of torture on display at Tuol Sleng, a former high school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia converted by the Khmer Rouge into their chief centre of torture. Known widely as S-21 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuol_Sleng_Genocide_Museum, a visit is a full frontal visceral assault... [More]

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The hammer and sickle, the five pointed star and the swastika

by Rob West 28. November 2009 08:00
are the three most prevalent symbols in Vietnam after Uncle Ho's ubiquitous smiling face. Like a familiar yet foreign montage of misplaced World War II symbols to a Westerner rubbernecking from the back of a motorbike. But clearly WWII has nothing to do with any of this. Rather than symbol... [More]

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Three men and a coffin, a refrigerator and a 100 kg pig in a bamboo cage

by Rob West 28. November 2009 07:59
are but a few of the things spotted on the backs of motorcycles during a 4 day motorcycle tour we took through the central highlands of Vietnam on the backs of the rides of a couple of Nha Trang 'Easyriders.' In country where there are 30 motorcycles for every car (Saigon alone has 5 mi... [More]

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2.9 metres is the high water mark

by Rob West 27. November 2009 07:57
on the walls of the riverside cafes of the UNESCO World Heritage city of Hoi An http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoi_An in central Vietnam from the tidal surge of the 30 Sept 2009 typhoon. Possibly the highest ever recorded. A beautiful place and once the most important trading port in Vietnam and kn... [More]

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With a golden statue of 'Uncle Ho' looking on, the guide slid back the display case cover and handed me an AK-47

by Rob West 17. November 2009 07:56
Safety first. I popped out the magazine and slid back the bolt to make sure it's unloaded before handing it to Karen. Why don't they let you do this at the British Museum? A few days ago were were in the so-called 'Demilitarized Zone' or DMZ which was the heavily fortified bor... [More]

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