My Travels

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” — Lao Tzu

The Beginning

Here is my starting point.
Born in Liverpool England in 1965.
This makes me from the 1900’s LOL

A quick stop here in Bahrain , we actually never got off the plane.
This was 1974 and we were on our way to Singapore.

I was only 8 years old when i went here the first time.
I think we stayed for 2 weeks before boarding a ship to Fremantle Australia.
The ship we traveled on was the SS Patrice.
Additionally It would later be used as emergency accommodation in Darwin during Xmas of 1974.
Cyclone Tracy destroyed most of the city that year.

We lived in Sydney for quite a few years.
My dad was in the Navy so for this reason so we would end up moving a few times.

We lived in various places not far from Melbourne.
Dromana was the place that i spent the longest in.
This has the best beaches in Victoria and I really enjoyed my time here.

HMAS Cerberus in Crib Point Victoria is where I joined the Navy in 1982.
To read more about my time in the Navy click here

I traveled extensively in 1986 on HMAS Parramata a destroyer escort.
The first overseas country was to the Indonesian capitol Jakarta.
Air pollution was very evident sailing into the city as we could only see about a hundred meters through the haze

Next stop Honiara in the Soloman Islands

Spent 2 weeks off the coast of Fiji due to a military Coup.
Probably the worst 2 weeks of my life.
Defense watches 4 hours on 4 hours off.

Krakatoa volcano was an interesting stop
Its actually still an active volcano and the smell of sulfur is pretty bad.
Probably not the best stop for a ships BBQ

Off to the Philippines
Subic Bay was still a large US Navy base in 1986
The only place I actually got up close to a US nuclear submarine

After Subic Bay we traveled to Manila
When the ships arrived there many market people on the wharf with T-shirts for sale.
They had gone to great efforts to print these with an image of the ship, the only problem was they spell the name of the ship wrong.
HMAS PARMATTA

Tonga had the most clear and beautiful water I have ever seen.
Standing on the ship and looking down you can actually see the bottom and the fish swimming around.

Shanghai china was different in 1986.
It took 8 hours for our ship to travel up the Yangtze river.

New Zealand’s North Island is very beautiful

The South is just as nice

I spent 6 weeks working in Jamshedpur India.

Savanakhet Laos a favorite spot of mine.
I used to go here once a year to renew a visa.
Absolutely beautiful place to just sit alongside the river and see Thailand on the other side.

Spent time working in Bangkok at Dusit.
Have been here many times since when flying out somewhere

New Guinea, one of the most dangerous places i visited.

Japan is a fantastic spot to visit

A visit to Hiroshima is a definite must

Rayong Thailand. My current home

When i visited Hong Kong the first time in 1986 it was still under British rule.

Mount Tambourine was the last place i stayed in Australia.
Its a spectacular spot

Yangon is a great place.
At least it was before an army decided to take over and rule it.

Phuket Thailand.
I really don’t understand the hype.
It is the most expensive place I have visited.
I actually cut my stay short due to its lack of appeal.

Krabi in Thailand is my favorite place.
I stayed at the Golden beach resort
Spent time on the beach with the monkeys and rode an elephant.

Surin Thailand. (check out the elephant festival)

Here is where I spent the majority of my time in Thailand.
I lived in a town approx 45 minutes from Surin city it is called Rattanaburi.
I worked here for 7 years as a teacher and it was the most rewarding job in my life.

Let me know your favorite place, or somewhere you want to travel to.