For Lonely Planet’s new online accommodation-booking service, called Haystack, I was initially employed as a consultant. I was involved with developing the shape and structure of the project from an author’s point of view, and contributed to the structure of the templates that are used today for authors employed to wrote Haystack reviews.

Later, I wrote Haystack reviews for my home town of Melbourne and for Palau, Yap and Guam. You can find them scattered in among here somewhere.

Here’s a sample review of mine:

THE PATHWAYS HOTEL, YAP
The Pathways Hotel is a special little place - a warm, welcoming and beautiful eco-resort. The hotel is a collection of free-standing cottages perched up in Colonia’s jungle-covered hills, balancing modern comforts with traditional Yapese aesthetics.

Each thatched cottage, built with native materials, features pleasant sitting verandas, many with a clear view of Chamorro Bay. The cottages are surrounded by lush greenery and are connected by elevated pathways that allow you to command all you survey; they also feature screened windows and have a pervading rustic appeal. The resort was knocked around by Supertyphoon Sudal in 2004 but has proved to be remarkably resilient, something for which we can all be thankful. The cottages have been restored to their former glory and only the traditional Yapese meeting house remains to be resurrected. Otherwise, all is shipshape for your travelling pleasure. There’s a wonderful courtyard restaurant and bar, as atmospheric as you might expect and full of bonhomie and wellbeing.