Ariadne

Since I got to NZ and met the family we've been doing a whole host of outdoor-sy stuff including; walking, horse riding, jet boating, tall ship journeys, sea kayaking, kiwi spotting and dolphin watching. We did pass through some cities but the way dad worked the itinery out it was on Sundays or public holidays when everything was closed. We're pretty sure he did it on purpose. The family flew home a few days ago so right now I'm on Waiheke for a few days, relaxing before I head to Auckland. There's a cinema and a smattering of cool arty shops, as well as some beautiful beaches but I'm a little impatient to get to Auckland and meet some Ozbus friends who may be in the area. ... read more

What's this I keep hearing about warm climbs and perfect weather? It's been rain for THREE DAYS and we drove from Uluru to Adelaide! Do you even know how far apart they are! Very, very, very far apart. Through a desert. And it's still raining. Australian skies are massive and they're still full of clouds, horizon to horizon. Still, I feel almost at home. It's certainly an improvement on the humid heat we got in Darwin on the first day. Am jealous of the snow, but would not change places. Lucky Lydia getting a white xmas (ish) when she's so young. ... read more

Bali is insane. It's almost as bad as Istanbul for people trying to sell you things, although I'm simply ignoring them all now. It makes life a lot easier. I'm even refusing to buy stuff I like, just because the aggressive selling annoys me. It's very hot here, but apparently it's 40 degrees in Darwin (!!!!!). Hopefully it'll cool down as we head South. Have been swimming a lot to cool down since our hotels have been fairly nice. OzBus pool parties are fun especially as one guy has bought a guitar. Patrick actually surpassed himself and brought a three piece jazz band into the hotel to busk for us at one of them! ... read more

Don't know if I'll be abe to email you on the fourth so I'm going to say it now: Happy Birthday Have a great day, eat lots of cake and know that I'm going to be thinking about you. I'll give you your present in New Zealand Loving and missing you Kate PS: Will someone please show this to Mum if she's still suffering from internet illiteracy. ... read more

The campsite in Erzincan was still being built around us as we got there, but we managed to contribute to the general chaos by lighting a bonfire to keep the cold away and ending up using half the buildihng material as fuel. Oops. Still it was a great success and we all got to feel smug because all the people who'd been afraid we'd set fire to the tents huddled around it pretty soon after sundown. ;)... read more

Sorry I haven't been updating: there's been too many distractions and not enough internet terminals along the way, but I'll start filling in the blanks soon. Too save time entries will now be listed by different places, not day by day, which works well as we're staying longer in the same places now. Missing you all Kate... read more

Chitwan is beautiful; far more tropical than I expected Nepal to be. We got in very late at night the first day and crossing the border into Nepal was surreal; on the Indian side everything was exploding (it was Diwali, so only fireworks), people were hassling you for money and everything was totally chaotic. Going into Nepal was like everything had suddenly been switched off. The first day we had a village tour, followed by swimming with elephants. The elephants seemed very keen to sit down and dump us in the water, which goes to show they have a sense of humour. And so did we when, coming back from a walk through the jungle, we saw a crocodile metres from where we'd been swimming. That night we had a stick dance, where the cheap Nepalese ... read more

We were staying outside Varanasi (thank god) in a relatively green and surburban area which seemed to house the city's Tibetan population, in a hotel that will remain nameless, because after the long list of complaints I've racked up against them they might well choose to sue me. They had no change whatsoever, which meant if you wanted to buy something you got an IOU. Not trusting in their ability to magically become organised overnight this meant I didn't get anything to drink and was even crabbier than I normally would have been after being subjected to a hyper active three year old wandering the corridors; slow service; portions so tiny we had to demand more, Oliver Twist style; refusal to tell anyone that they didn't actually have the thing you were asking for, just nodding ... read more

Lucknow was fun; we got their too late to actually do anything so we sent Patrick (half of the bus's Canadian population; likes walking, food and walking to get food and/or beer) to get us some twenty ruppee (fifty rs to the dollar) noodles which were very good and bigger portions than most restaraunts. We messed around in the party room for so long that the actual residents chucked us out and we had to go next door. It was one of the best OzBus nights so far, which was good, seeing as someone left my key in the other room and I ended up sleeping on their sofa. I was probably the most comfortable person there, because several people simulataneously decided to have a sleepover and were trying not to breathe too deeply for fear ... read more

Can't believe I forgot about Aggra. Where the Taj Mahal is. Aggra is actually very nice, if you discount the crazy people outside the Taj and the Red Fort who will in some cases follow you and scream at you to buy stupid crap you don't want for ten million times the proper price. NEVER EVER EVER buy something from one of them, because you will be swarmed by all the others and they will not leave you alone until you've escaped inside. And they will invariably offer you the thing you just bought for half price, making you feel even more ripped off than ever. It never occurs to them that they could have asked five minutes ago. The Taj was beautiful, although personally I liked the Golden Temple better. The way they inlaid the ... read more