http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Coles-and-Clayts/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Coles and Clayts en-us Tue, 08 Dec 2009 04:36:56 +0000 Tue, 08 Dec 2009 04:36:56 +0000 Same day different continent....13th May 2009Now we realise that on our previous blog we had an entry for the 13th May but as 'today' ended a mere 43 hours after it started we felt it deserved another entry Yes like Marty McFly today we went back in time from being 11 hours ahead of the UK in NZ we are now 8 hours BEHIND the UK. So we landed at San Francisco airport after another very http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/San-Francisco/blog-398961.html And so into the final Oceania blog and the home straight Although it seems only yesterday that we landed in Christchurch 3700km later we leave our beloved Big Fat Neville behind and head to California. We realise that we focussed more on the natural beauty of NZ as opposed to the cultural but here you can find so much of both and its well worth the 24 hour flight to find out for yourself De http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/blog-397612.html 5th May 2009In high spirits we loaded Nev back up and left our camp site in Taupo to visit the local Huka Falls which is an area where the Waikato river narrows from over 100 metres wide to only 15 metres wide causing scarily fast rapids nearly 220000 litres PER SECOND From one extreme to the other we left the crashing rapids and headed north to what's known as 'the hidden valley' the tr http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Rotorua/blog-396934.html 30th April 2009Think rain coldness and a 4.20am start. That was us and Nev this morning...and the start of our adventure over to the North Island. We had booked our ferry crossing the day we had arrived in NZ planning to catch the best sunrise of our trip as we crossed the Cook Strait heading for Wellington. At the time it was the perfect plan but we hadn't factored in any rain which was kin http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Wellington/blog-395752.html 25th April 2009A long days drive We set off from our beach resort and headed first to Cape Foulwind they have great names for everything over here to visit the local seal colony. Apparently we are here at a great time as the pups are being nurtured toward independence which meant we got to see them 'running' around and playing with each other Despite their great comouflage we got to see hug http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Blenheim/blog-394537.html 21st April 2009We woke to mist blanketing our campsite working its way through the gorge. It was a cold start but we were soon warm when after a short drive onwards into the park we stopped to climb the surprisingly steep Haast Pass Walkway. Only a 30 minute round trip but it hurt nonetheless After taking in the panoramic views at the top we drove northwards continuing to stop intermittently t http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Glaciers/blog-393439.html The thrill seeking edition... 17th April 2009After waking from our second night in Neville in Cromwell we got back on the road and headed towards the infamous Queenstown adrenaline capital of the world Another scenic drive took us towards the Kawarau Bridge bungy jump the worlds first. Finding it too hard not to stop in we pulled over and watched with butterflies in our stomachs as peop http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Queenstown/blog-392286.html We know a lot of people who have been excited about reading about our time in NZ so we shall endeavour to describe as best we can. Already only a few days in we think that that may be quite a challenge as everything is so obscenely surreally epically beautiful. Because of this there may be a few hundred scenery pictures over the coming weeks..... but here's our attempt13th April 2009We woke http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Christchurch/blog-391447.html A new city a new country a new continent. We aren't going to lie to you hearing English again recognising all the fruit and veg on sale and understanding a menu isn't something we have been overly excited about. There has been something both fun and terrifying about being in places where you really are an outsider and it almost feels as if our 'travelling' has been put on hold. But we are sure http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/Mosman/blog-389153.html So this is our final blog from China...sob sob...and marks the end of our time in Asia. This leaves us feeling slightly sad as it has been a great few months but we still have Oceania to explore so it's not all bad1st April 2009We woke on our final overnight train at around 9am and were expecting a long day of travel down towards Hong Kong. We 'got up' as best we could we were on the middle ti http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Kowloon/blog-387507.html 28th March 2009From one municipality to another our train from Beijing rolled into Shanghai at 0705 and we quickly eventually now accustomed to the 'elbows out' walk made our way onto the subway train and to our Hostel. Here we are staying on Duolun Lu which is very famous in Shanghai as being the old stomping ground of artists poets and as home of some very famous Chinese literature. Afte http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-386331.html As we have been in Beijing for nearly five whole days and we think this is some kind of personal best this is quite a long blog. So deep breaths here we go...23rd March 2009Our train arrived at 9.30am and we were instantly hit by the cold. We joined the longest taxi queue we had ever seen and 40 minutes later were heading for our hostel in the famous Hutong streets. There are a number of the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/Great-Wall-of-China/blog-384634.html 20th March 2009Our train arrived at 0630 and as we left the station we were met by the huge city walls of the old city of Xi'an which surrounded the neon lights of McDonalds KFCs and countless other chains. We immediately realised that this would be our first taste of 'big city' China. Xi'an as one of China's first capitals has a long history spanning over 3000 years meaning Xi'an was a bust http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shaanxi/Xi--an/blog-383917.html 16th March 2009 Continued...After arriving in the town of Emei Shan at 6pm we took a taxi to our hostel for the night where we shared ideas with other travellers on our best route for the following day. Emei Shan is one of four Buddhist mountains reaching a peak of 3099 metres which is 10167 feet and according to Wikipedia twice the size of Ben Nevis. The route to the top is scattered wi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Sichuan/Emei-Shan/blog-382792.html This blog is dedicated to our mums...the long awaited arrival in Chengdu home of the Panda Bears14th March 2009Having arrived back in Kunming the previous day and having a flight out this evening we decided to have a low key day. We sorted out the long overdue laundry we had rushed through on arrival last night before sitting down to breakfast and checking out the local map. Around lunch time http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Sichuan/Chengdu/blog-382786.html 11th March 2009A strange breakfast awaited us this morning. Poached eggs.....floating.....in soya sauce soup. It was good for the first bite After breakfast Mr Liou walked us to the bus stop to ram us onto an overcrowded bus and see us on our way but not before mocking Hayley's ripped jeans We arrived back in Jianchuan and grabbed a bus to Dali 4 hours away. Dali was once the capital of thi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Dali/blog-381260.html 9th March 2009Way back when we were in Udaipur in India we met some good friends from France who shared some secret knowledge with us.... tales of a tiny and beautiful town called Shaxi 4 hours south west from Lijiang....We set off with the names of 2 towns written down and a hand drawn map. A little dubious with our tendancy to get lost we were pleasantly surprised when lo and behold 4 ho http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/blog-380783.html 7th March 2009We woke up early excited and anxious about the forthcoming couple of days. We were force fed breakfast by Mama of Mama's Guesthouse before jumpingsqueezing onto a minibus with the other 5 trekkers for the 2 hour transfer to Qiaotou the west startfinish point of Tiger Leaping Gorge. Tiger Leaping Gorge is one of the worlds deepest gorges measuring 4000 metres from the peak of http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/blog-380773.html After feeling anxious about our upcoming trip sat writing our blog in Hanoi it turns out that this border crossing couldn't have been any smoother Well it went pretty well considering we didn't have anyone to hold our hands this timeOn finishing our blog we went for some dinner and then headed for the overnight train to Lao Cai where we were due to arrive at 6am the following morning. Our c http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-379344.html We can't believe it We are sitting in an internet cafe with passport plus visa train tickets and morale all in check. What a difference a few days make Having had a trying few days in Hanoi we have just had an amazing long weekend cruising around the UNESCO World Heritage site that is Halong Bay. Halong Bay is a group of 1969 Islands and Islets in an area of 1500 square KM. Even without th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/blog-378097.html