Crouchy

We spent Christmas eve travelling between Hervey Bay and Townsville. This was a 1000 kilometre drive that took us 14 hours! We left early and in the heat of the middle of the day, got very hot in the car. We kept the windows open in an attempt to cool ourselves and left the air con off to try to save fuel but also because it came our like a mouse blowing through a straw! After that drive we said we would never subject ourselves to that kind of drive again! We got to Townsville around 9pm at night. The hostel reception was closed, but as I had called ahead en-route, they left a key in the safe box outside. We had a small double room and found our melted butter and cheese to be no ... read more

One of the places we were absolutely going to visit on our travels was Australia Zoo. Both Charlie and I grew up watching the charismatic Steve Irwin present the Crocodile Hunter and display his passion for wildlife and Australia Zoo. The zoo is located about an hour North of Brisbane along the Steve Irwin Way. The road was named after Steve just before his death and runs for about 30 kilometres. We got to the zoo at about 10am, just after the zoo had opened, we still had to queue! We knew the zoo was a home to Crocodiles, Koalas and Kangaroos, but didn't expect to find the amount of wildlife we did. As we walked through the gate, we were greeted by a lady holding a lizard and wanting to tell everyone about it. She ... read more

Staying at Tab's parents house helped keep refreshed for the journey on to Ballina. Only taking us a few hours, we drove into Ballina at about 2.30pm. Having no idea where to go, I rang Mark who directed us to his work. It was good to see Mark as it had been two years since he left the UK to live with Heather. I've known mark for around ten years, and we started chatting like we had only seen each other the other day. Once Mark and Heather had both finished work we all got back to their place to drop our things off and sort our sleeping area, the sofa bed in the front room! The plan was to spend the evening at the local pub where they have a quiz every week. Great, we ... read more

The sign from Melbourne said 850km to Sydney and wow, it was a very long drive. Ten hours from city to city. We were on our way to see Tabitha and Jeff, the couple we met whilst on the kitty raft in Kanchanaburi, Thailand. They had been kind enough to offer us somewhere to sleep, eatand do some washing whilst in Sydney. This saved us a bunch as Sydney is a super expensive place! We got to their apartment around 7pm and were shown to our room. The apartment they have is large and very nice. The balcony area was a comfy place to chill out! Tabs and Jeff had a few things planned for us whilst there, but had to wait until the weekend. On Friday, Tabs and Jeff went off to work and Charlie ... read more

After all these bus journeys, it will be a long time before I travel by bus anywhere! Eventually, we got back to KL. This was only a 3 night stay as we needed to head down to Singapore. Again, we stayed in Sunshine Bedz and as ever, Patrick and the staff were super friendly and made us very welcome! We moved on from KL, you guessed it, by bus, our final one to Singapore! 5 hours it took us. Only a short trip as the bus journeys go! We drove over the bridge and into Singapore. Singapore is known as the wealthiest of the Asian countries. This was proven when I spotted a Ferrari after 2 minutes! Our plan in Singapore was to stay with Dom, Charlie's best friend from home. The bus dropped us off, ... read more

The journey from Samui was via a three hour propellor driven plane. It was tiny! I had been on a plane of its size before, when travelling around the Caribbean with my squash buddies in 2007. But, unlike me, this was Charlie's first experience of being on a plane so small.. The Fireflyz plane had two comfortable seats either side of a central eisle. We were given chocolate muffins and a drink during the flight! Malaysia is a richer country than Thailand and therefore, the currency is stronger and things cost more to buy. Thailand is geared towards the traveller/tourist as people have been flocking there for many years to see the culture and beautiful scenery. KL is a city of many tall skyscrapers that is trying to pull the whole country forward to becoming a ... read more