http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/AdamKent/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from AdamKent en-us Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:52:18 UTC Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:52:18 UTC And so I find myself at the final destination. After travelling for over a year on a fantastic journey it really feels like the end now. This brings mixed emotions. I'm happy and even slightly relieved to be heading back to the familiar faces of friends and family that I haven't seen for so long but naturally dissapointed that the ride has to come to an end. New York offers a totally different http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/New-York/blog-140784.html Following on from my last blog Fiji I need to mention that my time on Mana Island did actually improve greatly towards the end. At the end of the week there was an influx of good people and the atmosphere changed drastically. I suppose this is the thing with such small places it all depends on the people you are randomly thrown together with. After my stint on the tropical island I returned t http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/California/Los-Angeles/Hollywood/blog-140783.html Flew out of Auckland on a sunny summer afternoon providing some fantastic aerial views of the city and the harbour as I left. Three hours and a bit of turbulence over the South Pacific later the plane was making its approach to Nadi International Airport. The first thing that struck me about Fiji was just how green it is. Less developed than I expected even as the plane came in to land I was con http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Fiji/Mamanuca-Islands/Mana-Island/blog-137695.html Escaping Australia was as simple as a three hour flight from Sydney to Auckland. Arriving in New Zealand I was happy to find the weather there was about perfect. Slightly cooler than Australia but clear and fine. My time there was limited but I tried to make the most of the good weather and got in as much sightseeing as possible. Obviously five days is far too short a time to actually travel aro http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/blog-137694.html A two hour train journey from Sydney Central took me to Katoomba high in the Blue Mountains. The weather was certainly different to what I had experienced recently cold and wet but changing by the hour to totally clear or to more drizzle. Lucky I brought my jacket the shops seem to have a thriving trade in warm clothing and waterproofs for the huddled tourists shivering in Tshirts and sandal http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Blue-Mountains/blog-133522.html Well finally escaped Australia after around ten months on and off spent in the land downunder. Oz has had its good times and bad times for me most of the bad times whilst working for a variety of psychopathic employers I did leave with some interesting and unique experiences plus I've met a lot of great people in my time there very few of whom were Australians I should mention.I had grown http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-132504.html Some more pictures here for another blog lost to my little archive of photo CDs. Shinjuku is the part of Tokyo famous for all the neon signs bright lights and high rise buildings. Paying a visit to Shinjuku on a sunny afternoon obviously the neons weren't on yet hence the trip to Shinjuku Park http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Japan/Tokyo/Shinjuku/blog-132186.html A selection of favourite pictures from my travels http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Bristol-County/Bristol/blog-131307.html After my fairly stupid idea of taking the nightcoach from Melbourne to save on a nights accomodation I can never sleep in a seat I arrived at my final destination in Australia tired and irritable at 6.30 in the morning. Not relishing the prospect of dragging my bags around the city in search of a cheap hostel I went to the YHA across the road from where the coach dropped me off. A snooty Yank http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-131306.html My stay in Melbourne just would not have been complete without a tour to see the sights of the legendary aussie soap 'Neighbours' I was in luck on my trip. As I waited at the office to meet the tour bus the guide excitedly told us that we would wait a while before leaving as a long running member of the cast would be popping in to sort something out with them. Turns out it was Alan Fletcher a http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/blog-131305.html Whilst backing up my photos from the memory cards again I came across these pictures from my flight Perth to Melbourne which never really fitted in anywhere and slipped my mind. Decided to put them on here under its own entry Hard to keep track of all these photos I bought my camera brand new right before my trip started and I have long since rolled past 9999. Roughly 11000 pics in 11 mon http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/blog-125150.html After busting my balls pounding the streets of Melbourne in search of employment and emailing resumes to any and every employer and agency possible I eventually received one job offer from a 'work agency' run by one of the hostels for a 50 fee. The guy at the agency was short on details but as it was my only offer I hastily accepted.The job was to work as a kitchen hand at a cafe in central http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/blog-125122.html Whilst thumbing through the leaflets for Melbourne's transit system trying to get my head round the train routes I discovered that there is a town in the suburbs of Melbourne called 'Thornbury' same as my hometown back in England Given that I am bored and skint and I promised myself the weekend off from jobhunting I thought it would be worthwhile spending the 3 for a ticket to Thornbury to http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/blog-118637.html Finally I have escaped Western Australia After new year I spent a couple of days in Perth before flying on to Melbourne Victoria. Hopefully I can find some more work here before a brief stop in Sydney and finishing the final legs of my journey to return home...Caught up with a couple of my farming friends at an ice bar in Melbourne. First time I've come across one of these so I had to give it a http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/City-Centre/blog-118064.html What better way to spend a sunny New Years Day here in Walpole than chilling out at the beach. Along the Denmark coastline there is a forest that literally meets the sea in spectacular fashion with karri growing right to the waters edge of some inlets. The park is a mix of forest sheer headlands sheltered bays and unusual flora. William Bay is located between Denmark and Walpole off the South Co http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Walpole/blog-115656.html Fed up with Pemberton I headed down to Walpole for a bit of rest and relaxation over the new year. Walpole is 420km south of Perth and 120km west of Albany roughly a two hour coach journey southeast from Pemberton. With a population of only 450 the township of Walpole is completely encircled by the 18000 hectare WalpoleNornalup National Park. Within the boundaries of this National Park are fo http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Walpole/Valley-of-the-Giants/blog-115654.html Been spending my time lately working in another small town south of Perth Pemberton. The YHA hostel here is more reminiscent of a hardlabour camp than a backackers. The usual atmosphere of travelers sitting round drinking and laughing throughout the afternoons and evenings has been replaced by one where the workers are picked up every morning at 6am and driven off to toil in the fields picking http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Pemberton/blog-112486.html Ok whilst clearing out the pictures on my camera's memory cards I came across these photos from 'Samphran Elephant Ground and Zoo' in Thailand. Seems I totally forgot to add this one to the blogs Got a picture of me with some tigers It was nowhere near as cool as the 'Tiger Temple' in Kanchanaburi where I forgot to charge my camera battery and missed out on getting any pictures of me strokin http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Thailand/Central/Bangkok/blog-105730.html Thanks to the wonders of international air travel I can enjoy a swift breakfast in Bangkok have lunch in Brunei and be back at the hostel in Perth in time for dinner The time spent on planes trains and automobiles to get from A to B is often pretty mundane and I've done it all so regularly now that a journey of over 4000 miles in a day can be relatively painless.So I arrived back in Perth vi http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Busselton/blog-105526.html ...This is the motto of the Cambodian Army who train locally at the Siem Reap 'Airborne Shooting Range'. I am now an honourary member and I've got the tshirt to prove it I just couldn't leave Cambodia without living out every man's Rambo fantasies and having a go with some fullyautomatic weapons My weapon of choice the AK47. As soon as you pick it up you know it means business. It has a g http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-98449.html