Free e-books: World travel; Suicide Grief; Malaysian Borneo (green travel)

 

The price of my three e-books are now $0.00 – on Amazon: "A Love Letter to Malaysian Borneo.", "Surviving Suicide" and, "Naked in Budapest: travels with a passionate nomad,". Enjoy my gift to you!

A Love Letter to Malaysian Borneo

Surviving Suicide

Naked in Budapest

                                          Two anthologies I've appeared in 

Malaysian Borneo- one of my fav places

A love letter to Malaysian Borneo, or, can this travel writer be green? By Heather Hapeta

There’s no universally accepted definition of ecotourism, and there are considerable overlaps in the meanings. It’s perhaps the most over-used and misused word in the tourism industry - often deliberately misused for marketing purposes.

Hapeta say "I’m a self-taught writer, not a journalist, or an ecologist. This is not a scientific paper with lots of facts and figures, merely the musings about green issues by a traveller who wants to walk as lightly as possible on Earth"

She uses her trips to Malaysian Borneo as a way of exploring the issues.  She also says she is "Time-rich, I’m a slow traveller, so stay longer in more places than most, trying to absorb the culture and flavours, to sit and watch people. It also means that although I don’t always sign up for an expensive eco-tour, I do try to practise the principles of ecotourism."

This small book starts with her surrounded by noisy, diesel-fumed boats, nudging each other, racing their engines, drivers manoeuvring so their passengers get the best view.  It made her wonder "can a travel writer, or any traveller, really be green - or is this just an oxymoronic dream, given the air miles needed to get to destinations?"

In this essay-cum-travel memoir she considers how green she was, or wasn’t, while exploring this ‘seething hotspot of bio-diversity’ of an island. (‘Quote from Planet Earth’ BBC TV).

She obviously agrees with Malaysia's tourism tagline. ‘Malaysia - truly Asia’ and this booklet is a good introduction to the island of Borneo and green travel issues around the world.

Hapeta has two other book available on Amazon ( and other e-sellers) Naked in Budapest: travels with a passionate nomad;  and, Surviving Suicide - a mother's story

She writes travel blogs on www.kiwitravelwriter.wordpress.com  

Her FaceBook page is The Travelling Writer

Holidays and travel writing: they pay you to do what?

Daku Resort, Fiji...

New Zealand travel writer Heather Hapeta aka 'the kiwitravelwriter' is running a 7 day travel writing course at the Daku Resort in Fiji in August.

Sounds like a great way to combine a beach holiday with your writing and travel passions. The course is geared to teach you the ins and outs of writing travel articles, blogs,etc.

Topics include (but not only):

· How to write for specific publications
· Know your market
· What works – what doesn’t?
· Where to sell your stories – locally and internationally
· Finding your own style, and the secrets of style
· Use your senses; quotes; fact files
· Query letters, and the taxman
· Considering other markets
· Photography and travel writing

. . . plus exercises, daily expeditions, and lots of talking in-between, and one-on-one time with your tutor as required.

By your last day you should have a perfectly formed (and critiqued) article ready to pitch to an editor and start earning.

Course requirements: enthusiasm and curiosity are essential. Add notebooks and pencils; a camera; perhaps your laptop or an audio cassette – and, as we are on a Pacific island – sunscreen and swimming costumes are highly recommended!

$NZ500 discount for early-bird bookings – by end of April 2010 - for THIS travel workshop only. The price includes flights from New Zealand, accommodation (twin share) meals, and visits associated with the course, and naturally, an exciting week-long holiday retreat at Daku Resort.

For more information on click on travel writing course at Daku Resort.

health issues continued

(Scroll down to read previous posts re the kiwitravelwriter and diabetes)

Well, here is is the end of another day and I'm not grumpy. YAY!

I sprung out of bed after a good nights sleep, had my fav breakfast ( avocado and tomato on wholegrain toast) along with my usual black coffee ... made in a French press ... and was soon out for a morning walk. I  walked, half city streets and half Hagley Park, alongside the the Avon river for 35 mins. i will do the same route each day for a week and hope to reduce the time - I'll then add more distance then repeat the procedure.

Then, oxygyn and endorphins coursing through my body, I wrote a book review that's been siting in my 'to do list' for a month or two, attended to some Soc of Authors business, visited my mother, picked broad beans and silver beet from my little, but productive and organic, garden. And now, its time to get a meal ready - not bad for day five of my diagnosis and determination to get healthy at last.

Hanmer Springs NZ

 Its been very easy to fool myself. for years i have reamined the same weight, do lots of walking ( and I live in on the thrid floor of an appartment block with  no lift/elevator) and walk around my city a lot - howver to be healthy it seems I need to do extra, actual excersise.  So that's todays check in - thanks for the support you have been sending via facebook, and twitter - and a few on this blog. kia ora to you all!

kiwitravelwriter and diabetes day 4

(Scroll down to see previous posts on this topic)

Well I was wrong when I said summer had arrived in my city a couple of days ago. This morming, with my new walking shoes at the ready for an early start, I woke to light rain and low temps.

I dont know if that's the reason for my mood but I have been a bit grumpy today: it started when I heard a couple of men telling porkies and I decided not to go out for my usual Saturday lunch with a group of friends - and have spent the afternoon snoozing and watching some unwatched, recorded TV shows.

Two good things though: I have eaten as I should, drunk water (which is like medicine to me) and this morning , before the black dog appeared, I nearly completed the story about Kaikoura Wilderness Walks -  a 2 day hike (6hrs the first day) I did last week. Check it out.

Now I am going to be un-ecofriendly and have a relaxing bath, do my nails, and go to bed  with a book (I''m reading a great book by a fellow member of NZ Society of Authors called  Under the Huang Jiao Tree by Jane Carswell ) for an early night - ready to start tomorrow, with a  new attitude!

As an old song says, "pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again." or something like that - and I  will. Things that were on todays list will be done tommorrow - including a longer walk in my new sneakers, with my pedometer which I now see doesn't count steps - just kilometres, miles and calories! (see how I just rushed onto TradeMe - the kiwi version of E-bay - and bought the cheap one ... assuming all pedometers caount steps.)

Oh well, will just do the kms .. but the smaller numbers will not look nearly as impressive as  those for 'steps'

Tomorrows post will be brighter - I promise - I'm not promising you, but myself, I dont like me like this.