Travel Blog Posts
Down the East Coast, Down Under... Cairns to Sydney, 3,500km and 16 days
Published: December 29th 2008Oceania » Australia
December 29th 2008
These are just some of the ooodles of pictures I've taken whilst travelling down the east coast of Australia. Starting off on December 11th, I joined a Contiki tour down the east coast which took me to Cairns, up to Cape Tribulation and Port Douglas, back to Cairns then onto Airlie Beach, Whitsundays for 2 days of sailing, Rockhampton (on the Tropic Of Capricorn so this is where we finally left the humidity), Noosa, Byron Bay, Fraser Island, Surfers Paradise (one of my faves although extremely tacky!!), Port Stephens / Nelson's Bay and then onwards to Sydney where we finished the tour on Boxing Day. Very strange but on the main highway, there is a signpost for a turnoff - for Newcastle and Wallsend!! (And Toronto but irrelevant!) anyways!.... The tour was quite intense, a day ... read more
December 8th 2008
Some pictures from my first stop in Australia; Melbourne, Great Ocean Road, Grampians and new friends I met along the way ... :o)... read more
November 21st 2008
On leaving Franz Josef, my next stop would be Wanaka. Not a stop over on our bus route so I hopped off all on my own whilst the rest of the bus head straight down for Queenstown. It was nice to get out of the mayhem for a few days and i took the chance to have a mini detox! A couple of runs, a morning out on a mountain bike around Sticky Forest and a climb up Mt Iron - and no alcohol for 3 nights! Sticky Forest overlooks Lake Wanaka and it's a well known set of tracks over here. After doing a couple of the runs on my own, I bumped into Steve who lives in Wanaka, so I bombed around the tracks with him for a couple more hours before heading back ... read more
November 3rd 2008
Well here I am, I'm not sure where to begin or what to talk about as in the 2 weeks that it has been since I last wrote on here, I've done so much and taken so many pictures that I run the risk of boring u all to tears! My first stop off the Bluebridge 3 hour ferry ride is Picton, a tiny town which literally serves the purpose as the entry and exit point for the south island, not a lot going on at all really but it is the best base to head off to Malborough Sounds and the Queen Charlotte walk which I would be doing with Emily the day after arrival. Emily and I were raring to go - our first day, we arrived for our water taxi and to collect ... read more
October 7th 2008
Rainy rain rain, lots of of it - I'm currently experiencing some of New Zealand's spring time weather. It has rained non stop today - winds expected up to 130kph in some of the north island. I don't feel too hard done by because it's like this everywhere from what I can tell with news reports and newspapers. I had hoped to see some of Taupo but alas I think I'll have to come back another day. I managed to get a walk out today when there seemed to be a clearing in the gale force winds and torrential rain but then since mid afternoon I've been grounded to my hostel. Not that I don't have waterproofs with me, I have everything I need but for the sake of wandering around and without the views, I ... read more
September 23rd 2008
I didn't get off to the best start - my bag didn't show up when I did :o( Quarantined by the government department of Biodiversity, by the end of Day 2 I still awaited its safe arrival to my hostel! The change in time zone didn't affect me, well not too much! Driving away from the airport, I was glad to look out the window of the taxi and think to myself - woo hoo, this is it - I'm finally here! We drove down Queen Street, the main street that leads downhill to the harbour. My hostel is located in a 12 storey high rise, similar to the Standard Life (?) building next door to Lynch's in Jesmond. My taxi pulled up about 12.30am local time, I was full of beans - my bodyclock was ... read more
Bye Bye Cape Town... and watch out New Zealand!
Published: September 19th 2008Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Cape TownSeptember 19th 2008
Whoop whoop, well guess what - the weather improved today and I got to do my final 2 dives! So I'm now a PADI Open Water qualified diver! EEK! Think we were out for about 50mins altogether, diving around the shores of False Bay, eyeing up the wildlife, getting tangled in masses of kelp and generally doing some great diving! It felt as though this dive was easier than the last one, in terms of not panicing so much and feeling more familiar with getting the breathing right, popping my ears without having to think about it too much. It's all good! I was even having a little sing-song (well, was more a humming kind of sound) as I paddled along... Gemma, my instructor was taking pictures and I was following her along the bottom - ... read more
My second week in Cape Town
Published: September 18th 2008Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Cape Town
September 18th 2008
I don't feel like a backpacker just yet, I've been lucky enough to be staying with Andre (who lives with his Mum) in a nice area of Cape Town, so I'm safe and my stuff's safe and I get a room all to myself ! Whoop Whoop! Cape Town is a very modern place, but at the same time you can see sights which make you look twice. Within only a few miles, you can drive between detached houses with double garages, safety gates and green bands and the next minute you're driving through shanty towns where the people just seem to be hanging around, playing in the street. Washing hangs from every possible area, including between trees on the mainroad. Horses are tied up near the roadsides and today i saw a barber shop, which ... read more
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