My sketchbook

I took a sketchbook around the world with me, here are a few of the drawings.

The buildings of New Orleans are created with wooden slats and invoke memories of the plantations.	Amazingly, Central Park is a beautiful, peaceful sanctuary in the middle of New York. You can also see where John Lennon once lived and where he was assassinated.
I love the textures of the surrounding rocks and find them a challenge to draw	We waited ages at this Hare Krishna vegetarian cafe in Arequipa, Peru for a simple sandwich, at least we were entertained by a group of musicians.
Santacatalina nunnery, again in Arequipa. This had the peaceful feeling of deserted but timeless place enticing you to just sit and 'be' for hours. I loved sitting here and drawing it.	Arequipa is overlooked by this mountain called 'Misty'. We watched the sunset here and the lamps come on. There was an optimistic old lady trying to sell us pop but we didn't buy any, I suppose she'll try again the next day.
This is a strange little island in the huge lake Titticaca. The men knit and wear woolly hats.	This was amongst many of the Inca ruins
Although it's incredibly famous, it's possible to walk along deserted streets and not see a soul on this lost city. We also climbed Wayna Piccu which was a killer	Now, this was fun. And what an amazing place, an oasis in the middle of the desert!
The Japanese gardens in Buenos Aires	The Iguazu Falls span the border between Argentina and Brazil. They are massive!!! Although I haven't seen the Niagara falls, these are supposed to be more impressive
Whooa! Easter Island, don't these guys look chilled?! They know they're cool and sit there like proud cats in a sunny window space.	The huge heads also have intricate carvings around the nose and ears.
There is also ancient rock painting around the island	There is also one kneeling statue, very unusual
Now this is the place to have serious fun, rolling down hills in a ball, lugeing, and hot springs.	A view of the city of Auckland with Mount Eden in the background
A natural cave formed by the sea	We love windfarms and went quite a long way to see this huge installation. I tried to make the sketch look airy by using light, broken lines
The best milkshake in New Zealand	A magical evening, a drunken Chris and myself staggered to this remote lighthouse when we were camping in the middle of nowhere. We wanted to see if it used a rotating lens of a flashing light. It was a flashing light.
Frolicks in the North Island of New Zealand	The usual Sunday concert in Christchurch
In Sydney now. A free Sunday evening concert in The Rocks area	Techno-didge street performance

Here are some stories for you to figure out the meaning
	A typical shack made from corrugated iron, this was our kitchen while on a tour in the great outback
Our tour up the west side of Australia from Perth to Coral Bay	A ghost town that has been preserved since the gold mining days
Right across the desert, diagonaaly from Perth to Alice Springs	Uluru, with some of the engravings found around the perimeter
The British built a telegraph wire right through Australia's middle. The wire was named 'The Singing Wire', this was a manned repeater station at Alice Springs	Getting a lift to Byron Bay from the Woodford Festival turned out to be a nightmare journey
The most beautiful island we visited. It's off the coast of North East Malaysia	A trek amongst the hills of northern Thailand
The beautiful town of Pai, northern Thailand	Flo was a skinheaded German who was travelling to Pai during a Buddhist festival day. He occupied the backseat (normally reserved for monks) and wrapped a purple airline blanket around him against the cold. A monk on the bus thought we was from some strange sect!
Thai for 'Excuse me!' is Cor-a-pie! I remembered this by thinking of seeing a pie on the footpath. It really works in a crowded market place too!
The Taj Mahal	The huge astronomical observatory. Look around this in our interactive Virtual Panorama Tour
	The place where Buddha became enlightened, in Bodhgaya
Varanasi	Staying at Auroville in India we had a lack of water for a few days even though it poured down (the solar pumps didn't work). Eventually we just showered in the rain, it was chilly but refreshing
At Auroville, I attempted to fix the solar tracker although the PCs were totally outdated and unreliable	The heliostat is used to track the sun and shine it into the centre of the temple
Views of the place we stayed in Auroville	Rishikesh in Northern India
The deserted Maharishi Ashram	Home again, Stafford Castle

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