http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Daveyd/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Daveyd en-us Wed, 06 Jan 2010 11:23:02 +0000 Wed, 06 Jan 2010 11:23:02 +0000 Well i've sort of put off writing this installment for the last week instead burying myself for many hours into the world of PS3 Cricket and 007.Even tonight after my dad and i returned from Andi Di's and we'd been home for about 10 minutes and were told that the Gas was being turned off due to an alleged high demand i'm struggling to be bothered finishing what i started a little over 9 weeks http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/West-Yorkshire/blog-464183.html Well i was pretty tired last night so i feel fresh and i have an hour to kill before the pickup to do Waitomo Caves. Add to that it's raining again outside and well the time in waitomo so far suuuuuuuuuucks ass allow me to explain....So the day started off well enough yesterday we woke up and had 1st breakfast watch Lord of the Rings if you don't get that which was pretty much Jam on toast http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/blog-459637.html So after a long wait yeah right i can finally give you an update of the last couple of weeks which have been rain drenched sun soaked and wind swept affairs taking us from Rotorua down to Napier and Hastings via Palmerston North and all the way across to the towering Mt. Taranaki in the national park of Egmont and finishing up for now in New Plymouth........details of course.So i think we http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/blog-459520.html Wow I can't believe it sitting hereSorry i have to interupt and say that right now as i sit here Laura is frieking out cos a moth has just entered the room and keeps taunting herAnyways as i was saying sitting here it's hard to imagine it was four weeks ago today that we landed after 27 hours travelling into Auckland can ya believe itWell it is one month in and i think i left you guys l http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/blog-457121.html Well it's been a few days since we've managed to update you guys back home and we have a bunch of pictures to leave you all with by the way you'll notice all of the images shot are of a fairly lower resolution. The main reason being i'm not adding anything shot with the pro kit which hopefully i can reserve for an exhibition when i return to the UK.So anyways i have heaps to tell you guys....It http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/blog-455391.html Well friends and family we seem to be picking up quite a pace as we head up north with Cape Reinga hopefully the ultimate destination in the North.Whether or not we actually make it remains to be seen. Ya see our bus passes will only get us as far as Pahia which incidentally we leave for today but Cape Reinga is still about 7 hours North of there by vehicle.We maybe forced into doing an excursio http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Bay-of-Islands/blog-453980.html Well as the title suggests we are today making the first step on the true backpacker trail Well it's been more like a holiday so far as we've found it cheaper to stay in two hotels the quadrant and the mercure than staying in hostels.So it hasn't been that long really since we updated you folks back home and beyond on our adventures and mischief but we're now on Sunday 15th and in truth we're http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/blog-453205.html Good Morning or evening for those of you up northWe made it after flying just under 20000KM via Hong Kong from Heathrow we landed in Auckland at around 7am with our bodies crying what the hellSo we travelled down to London on the Mega Bus opr Mega Crammed Bus as i like to call it we left Sheffield at a slightly later time of around 1015hrs and arrive into London Victoria about 1400hrs. http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/blog-452751.html Well wow what can i say for once i'm bordering on speechless. You see 8 months ago i had an idea well more like a thought about venuring further than i'd ever journeyed before. I suppose in truth the thoughts of travelling have been there since i left to join my first ship when i was 17.So here is the break down for those of you who didnt know realise or actually care that i'd done 10 years at http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/blog-450965.html So my vacation is slowly drawing to an end but i'm pleased to say i can finally announce the closely guarded plans i've been planning with LL for the last couple of months but that will follow shortly....So i know i didnt type a blog to accompany the images from Blackpool but to be fair their wasnt a huge amount to put so i thought the images were good enough to be left up alone i hope you enjoy http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/North-Yorkshire/blog-440443.html Blog to follow people but here are the images from Blackpool last week....RegardsJd http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Lancashire/Blackpool/blog-437392.html Itrsquos been a whilst since Irsquove posted anything and as usual Irsquom going to hide behind the excuse that Irsquove been a bit buy getting my ldquoaffairsrdquo in order. As far as I can recall itrsquos been about 68 weeks since I added anything and even without looking I canrsquot begin to remember what the images were ofAnyways August pretty much flew by my 28th Birthday w http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/blog-434079.html Its been a long month already and itrsquos barely a week in still itrsquos a big relief to finally have my immediate future secure. Irsquove been confirmed to go to the Braemar after my vacation towards the end of August.Well itrsquos also coming up on the final week of 8 really long ones in Norway I love the place but enough is enough itrsquos too much too often Irsquom afraid a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-416126.html Well to be fair the title of the blog is slightly misleading as Russia was quite a whilst ago but it's been so busy and the ports keep coming thick and fast that it's been impossible to keep on top of things.So the last blog sort of finished at the end of my first cruise which was slightly manic as it was all about getting back on top of things and trying to get sorted with a view to the Baltic c http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-412478.html Hey there sorry i've been away for a whilst but here's the first of two updates today.....So hit the ground running I needed to and thankfully I managed to as it was back to earth with a quite literal bump as I landed in Manchester on the 21st May 2 days before I was due to start work again.Still it felt good in a way to be back in the UK even if it as just for a couple of really manic days. Af http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/blog-412462.html So to sum up then how would I rate the holiday as a whole Fantastic awesome amazing brilliant I donrsquot have enough praise for South Africa as a country.From the point of view of the Airlines Irsquove used and there staff well theres a bit of a mixed bag really. The ground staff in the UK and considering im en route back there and I donrsquot want to jinx things but they have been aw http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/blog-400818.html So inevitably the end was always going to come around as it always has to however this time it didnrsquot come too soon and it didnrsquot seem to come as quickly as it can do.The three and a half weeks I had in South Africa seemed to have been just about right in all aspects.My final day couldnrsquot have started any better blue skies barely any clouds and my first clear unobstructed vie http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/blog-400809.html So where actually do i start today it was again an early start well by my standards anyways i don't actually know how im going to cope when i have to go back to work next week with time changes and early mornings especially with the second cruise being a Baltic cruise ah well such is the life that i lead.Anyways time to get back on point i headed south again today with my choice of destination http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/blog-400017.html Well Well Well after a couple of days kicking back and subsequently kicking my heels in my hotel i was itching to get things moving again today and did just that eventually.I woke up quite early well for me it was quite early anyways 9am and i was ready by half past to go and pick up my hire car from Sixt. I've been pleasantly surprised by how straightforward everything has gone so far touch http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Hout-Bay/blog-399728.html Well since I'm holed up in my hotel with little or nothing possible today I've decided to write a foreword to the summer season which begins for me in principle on the 24th May however the prep work started some way back in Feb.I hope to add some images to this also from the huge archive which i have built up over the last two full summer's which i have spent in the Fjords in particular but also http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/blog-399454.html