Cambodia Volunteering : 4. Treak Community School, Shadow Puppets, Artisans DÁngkor, Silk Farm Factory and Phnom Penh Children's Hospital

Soo-a-s'day!

Greetings from Cambodia on Week #4 of my volunteer building relief work in Cambodia.

No house building this week, so I decided to go to a Cambodian School partnered with Volunteer Building Cambodia in the Treak Village Community. The school which I have to ride 4km from Siem Reap on a bicycle, provides free schooling for children aged nursery age plus, have been raising money through volunteer donations to build a vast expansion to their school as a community centre -  new classroom, toilets, meeting room, library, workshop rooms for women's courses, wash facilities and a playing field to provide modern and fresh facilities to the community.

Cambodia Volunteering : 3. House Build #3 Mother, Four Kids and One Bed - Thnung Vilage, Meeting Mother Buddha, Khmer Dancing, Do Goodin' at the Orphanage, Breaking Landmine Victims and Lunch'n with Monk'ns....

Soo - a - s'day!

Welcome to blog #3 of my adventures here in the Great Kingdom of Cambodia! Thank you again for your donations towards my project here with Volunteer Building Cambodia . I have now completed my third house build in Thnung Village about 50 minutes out of Siem Reap.  The family receiving the house is a 47 year old mother with four children who were sharing this small thatched palm leaved dwelling on a plot of land her mother had given her behind her own house. They had one room, one bed and two of the children are teenagers who had to drop out of school to go help their mum by working on a rubber tree farm. The others can't go to school because it is too far away for them to walk there - so we came to change that!

Cambodia Volunteering : 2. House Build #2 Mother & Son in Kror Peu Village, Kun Khmer Boxing, Phare Cambodian Circus and Blessed by a Buddhist Monk!

Soo-a-s’day!

I have finished the second house build in my international relief trip to Cambodia.  This is house build #2 and I'm out 45 minutes from Siem Reap city in a place called Kror Peu Village (Crocodile Village) We''ve started a brand new 'stilt style' house of Khmer Kadar style wood with a team of about 20 of us so hence all the bangin'! The family we are building for are a young boy and his mother who was abused by her alcoholic husband who eventually committed suicide. The two of them were living in a small one room thatched palm tree leaved roof house which we demolished and built a stilt style house with a room and porch for them to have. It’s a beautiful setting of rural Cambodia and the community are very sweet and appreciative.

Cambodia Volunteering : 1. House Build #1, The Floating Villages of Kompong Khleang and a Monk named Kosol

Release of my E-Book! The Show Must Go On - Being with an Australian Travelling Zoo

Hello World! 

Today on this cold winter December day here in the UK is my birthday so.... I thought it might be an opportune time and occasion to say please BUY MY FIRST E-BOOK 'The Show Must Go On - Being with an Australian Travelling Zoo' which was just one of my many far-fetched experiences during my travels Down Under.

An adaptation of my story was first published overseas in German last year for travel book 'Australien wie wir es sehen' - so I've now brought you the uncut, full length English version for you to enjoy! will download from Amazon to all KINDLE DEVICES, IPAD AND IPHONES around the world.

'About The Time' ...The Quirks of Amsterdam and The Cat Boat!

'Yarr, I was riding past to verk along de Singel and stopped outside de Oude Lutherse Kerk and looked at zis canal boot and thought....hey zat boot is full of kats!'

A canal 'boot' full of cats!....meaning 'boat' in Dutch that is, said my strong accented dutch guide.... 
I'd been staying at the friendly Shelter Hostel right in the heart of the 'City of Diamonds' and took the opportunity to join their free guided walking tour of Amsterdam on a gloriously light but chilly Friday morning in the core of wintertime in The Netherlands.  Funny enough as cold it was for this chick from Blighty, Amsterdam was experiencing its mildest winter for many years.....only - 6 C. Brrrr. 

Let 'Em Skate - An Extreme Street Sports Charity Thats Off The Wall

Ok so for this scribble, even though I'm all grown up (as the conforming society will say) I'm a fan of cartoons, especially this little guy who probably is one of the most famous cartoon characters created on our third rock from the sun. Can you guess who it is ......even though there is a picture right there...yep Bart Simpson. I loved him as a kid, he was a real rebellious dude - the famous little yellow rascal who's mischievous nature is rarely seen without hurtling along on a trusty skateboard up to no good.....but actually not all skateboarders are up to no good, undeserving of the whole 'tut tut tut' waving the pointed finger in disgust at them as if they were juvenile delinquents. Lets lift those judgemental stigmas.....they actually should be encouraged.