Michelle & Mike's World Tour
We'll be visiting over 22 countries in our quest to discover varied cultures and generally shirk the responsibilities of life in the UK, come with us on our magical journey of discovery! ChelleandMike
Travel Blog Posts
Christmas & New Year in Sydney
Published: November 30th -0001Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney » Surrey Hills
September 27th 2010
Alice Springs - Sydney This would be our first of two visits to Sydney on this trip, Michelle had managed to talk Abby (an old school friend now living in Sydney) into allowing us to stay in her flat whist she was in turn visiting the UK. This would be perfect since Sydney would be home for the next two weeks over Christmas and New Year and we wanted a bit more space away from the hostel scene. We got to the flat and were immediately greeted by Jahne (a very pretentious IT girl wannabe who is also Abby’s house mate, you can probably tell she doesn’t become our favourite person). I couldn’t get her name right to begin with, calling her Jarney and Johny but then I got it when she said “Jahne, like Parmajahne”, ... read more
September 27th 2010
Darwin - Freemantle (Perth) We flew back to Perth from Darwin and made our way to Freemantle, a smaller neighbour town five minutes away. We had visited Freemantle briefly during our last stay in Perth, doing a night tour of the prison which was great fun, so this time we wanted to spend a bit longer and see what the place had to offer. We also had the chance to catch up with Glen and Cheska, another British backpacker couple who we worked with at Monkey Mia who knew Freemantle well and recommended it as a good place to spend some time. I was impressed with the amount of soul this place had, there are buskers at every turn, musician’s in every bar, coffee houses and walkway and for lovers of a decent pint (or schooner ... read more
September 27th 2010
Nov 2009 - Monkey Mia - Carnarvon - Coral Bay We arranged our free transport out of Monkey Mia with one of the tour companies that visit there on a weekly basis and the day before leaving Mair decided she wanted to come with us so the three of us loaded our bags and said our goodbyes and Emma gave us all a fruit salad stolen from the breakfast buffet. As we were now spending a couple of days with a tour group we got to visit the places we went to the week before, Shell beach and the lookout points and this time the flies were worse! Before getting to Coral Bay we had to spend a night in Carnarvon, What a dump! We had to find a hostel to stay in for the night ... read more
Monkey Mia. Work, Rest and Play
Published: November 30th -0001Oceania » Australia » Western Australia » Monkey Mia
September 27th 2010
18.9.09 - Monkey Mia, WA We left Perth at 7am on a Friday morning and had an 11 hour bus journey with a couple of stops at scenic roadhouses in between, we were travelling with another boy and girl who had landed the same job’s as us so quickly made acquaintance with Faye and Ben and arrived at Monkey Mia in no time. We got to the resort at about 8pm and were introduced to the boss and shown to our temporary rooms, then told we’d probably be working the next day, happily we didn’t have work so instead it was used to explore the beach that would be home for the next few months and then get drunk on the goon and beer purchased on the journey up, not the brightest idea since we would ... read more
February 20th 2010
8.9.09 - 18.9.09 Perth WA After a 10 hour overnight flight with South African airlines we landed in Perth and were looking forward to getting to the nearest and cheapest hostel to ditch our bags before heading to the nearest pristine beach for some real r&r. Sadly the wait would be dragged out by some time due to Australia’s rigorous border control which needed to x-ray our bags, examine our shoes and cross check left, right, left again and then centre. Finally and after some hours from departing our plane we were on Australian soil and jumped on a shuttle bus to our backpackers to ditch our bags and take a brief walk of the city before heading to bed, the beach would have to wait until we weren’t so knackered! Before we could even start ... read more
September 15th 2009
Day 88 Royal Natal Park 3.9.09 Today we did the only thing you can do on a mountain range, our laundry. After the laundry we went on a 2 hour hike. It was hard work but a nice way to waste some time and take in the scenery. Later, Benny, our driver cooked everyone a roast beef dinner, it was burned to a crisp but a nice thought. Day 89 Royal Natal Park - Johannesburg 4.9.09 Today we drove to the big bad city famous for a number of things including Nelson Mandela, Apartheid and the highest gun crime figures in the world, that said you shouldn't believe everything you hear. When we arrived in joburg my initial impression was "wow they have some big security fences on these buildings" when we got to the hostel ... read more
September 15th 2009
Day 85 Aliwal North - Lesotho 31.8.09 We left the death camp at around 7am and stopped in town for a few supplies before heading towards Lesotho. Across the border it was like a different world again, reminiscent of east africa, in as much as there were lots of huts and very basic buildings not to mention run down shacks that would still be housing people. We climbed higher and higher in our truck until we reached our camp, Malealea Lodge, apparently "Lesotho in a nutshell" which is good considering we only had a nutshell's time to take it all in! In the evening me and Chelle cooked for the group (stuffed butternut squash with Apple Pie and custard for dessert). Day 86 Lesotho 1.9.09 As we camped on uneven ground last night we were both ... read more
September 15th 2009
Day 77 Outshoorn 23.8.09 Our second and only full day in Outshoorn felt similar to that of a school trip, I shall explain why. We awoke refreshed from a decent sleep, eager for a shower and to get our laundry done, this plan was immediately foiled by the fact that the whole of the eastern cape would be without power until 9pm... Oh yeah, I can't think if I've already mentioned this but Africa as a whole (inc Namibia & SA which are pretty westernized) suffers from sporadic power outings and relies heavily on generators, which make's simple tasks such as using a washing machine and watching the football (little luxuries i've come to expect after being in SA for nearly 2 weeks) not very easy. Come to think of it, it's a bloody good job ... read more
September 10th 2009
Day 69 Sossusvlei - Highlanders 15.8.09 Today we crossed the Namibia / SA boarder and it didn't take long to notice the stark differences between the two countries landscapes. From the arid dessert landscapes of Namibia to lush green mountains just past the SA boarder it's never been clearer that we were in another country. We drove most of the day stopping briefly at a town called Springbok to do a cook shop. We eventually arrived at Highlanders, a campsite set in the heart of a vineyard. Michelle was on cook group and made beefburgers whilst I joined the rest of the group for some wine and cheese tasting, I don't remember much after that other than someone falling into the pool... Oh and the premier league season has started!!! Day 70 Highlanders - Stellenbosch 16.8.09 ... read more
September 10th 2009
Day 59 Bush Camp - Bush Camp 5.8.09 Another very long drive day was separated by a 2 hour stopover in Windhoek (Namibia‘s capital). Windhoek was a great place that had a Miami feel to it, palm trees, expensive boutiques and lots and lots of white people (mostly German)?! Apparently Windhoek was a German colony during the war and is still heavily influenced by their culture. During our short visit we had a look at their Meteor exhibit which is displayed in the town centre, it consisted of 32 meteor chunks that were part of a 57 piece meteor shower. It sound’s far more impressive than it was! After this it was onward to the next bush camp where Michelle discovered that our sleeping bags zip together to create a double sleeping bag, good to find ... read more
Tot: 0.126s; Tpl: 0.003s; cc: 9; qc: 86; dbt: 0.0968s; 1; s:notus w:www (50.28.60.10); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.8mb
