Early morning sunlight burned my forearms, five miles offshore Mexico. My hands were raw from pulling up line. Pure muscle attached to the other end. The fishing was occasional yet bearable. My eyes tired from the glare of sparkling sunlight off the Pacific blue swells.

Let’s try by the rocks! he said. Fly fishing for gamefish on a surging ocean is ( Read more... )

Waves caused by the wake of a ferry passing in the night gently roll up along the shore of the island. It’s January in Canada, and here alone on Pender Island in a rented cabin I slept with the windows open last night. The air is soft.

My wife and children told me I look terrible, really terrible. Go spend some time by yourself on the island dad ( Read more... )

So, it's a blazing hot summer's day here in Laguna Beach. My bags are packed, the house cleaned up tidy, and I'm enjoying a last beer in the sun before catching NZ1 from LAX to AKL tonight. I will never see this beach cottage again, my car will go away, and I'm left with two checked bags. Looking forward to when Natalie can join me once I get ( Read more... )

having neglected LJ for a year and a half, it feels strange coming back ( Read more... )

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Pulling on the old boots and grabbing a jacket and the white felt Kyrgyz hat I strolled down to the Embassy. Meeting up with my friend Daniel we grabbed a coffee at Deluxe followed by a delectable lamb shish at the Phoenician where I ran into various other friends. I talked to Daniel for a brief while about Natalie, his recent romance, then onto ( Read more... )

I have a bomb of an entry to post, but I want to keep it to myself for a little while longer. The sound of the rain on the roof at 3am on a Saturday morning after a memorable night remains the only constant. And since I'm not ready to share, here's a potentially drunk email from my awesome mother jet setting in Paris again as if it's just another ( Read more... )

This morning I walked into the city on the way to work with my friend Anya, the private secretary to the NZ Minister of Transport. As we walked, the sound of big rig truckers laying on their horns as they circled the capital in a figure eight and blocking traffic in protest of recent taxes filled the air. "They're calling your name Anya!" I couldn' ( Read more... )

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I'm back in New Zealand after crossing Kyrgyzstan on a horse and am having dinner on Thursday with a Canadian girl I've been crazy about for a couple of years. She used to live beneath me in Evans Bay and we've stayed in contact via new technology (Facebook) - I'm really looking forward to it ( Read more... )