http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Emma-and-Gary/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Emma and Gary en-us Wed, 06 Jan 2010 02:41:04 +0000 Wed, 06 Jan 2010 02:41:04 +0000 Around The World In 11 MonthsFirstly it's been a ridiculous delay but after finally managing to get our New York blogs up we made a start on writing this but never got around to finishing it. Job applications and interviews got in the way back to earth with a crash. Since we've returned we've had a hundred and one things to do and unfortunately our blog fell off the list of priorities. Par http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Scotland/Inverness/blog-316021.html Panoramic View Goodbye New YorkThe Last Full DayIt was now our last day in New York and our last proper day of our trip. Although there was still loads we wanted to do in New York it obviously had to be condensed for our last day. We'll be back sometime this city is great.It started off with the usual 96th Street Subway journey although this time we got off at Canal Street to have a nosy abo http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/New-York/Manhattan/blog-300692.html Statue of LibertyOne of the main tourist attractions in New York is The Statue of Liberty visited by hundreds of tourists on a daily basis. We had been previously advised to get there as early in the day as possible otherwise we should be prepared to stand in long queues. Eager to beat the crowds we set off from the hostel around 8am. The Statue of Liberty stands tall on Liberty Island as a w http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/New-York/Manhattan/blog-298940.html Panoramic View Manhattan Skyline Through Empire State Building Safety BarsSkyscraper ViewsOn Thursday we got up early. We wanted to beat the queues as today was the day we were going to climb or at least take the lift the Empire State Building. Famous for King Kong and being the tallest something or other at one point it's a New York tourist mustdo and as such is awash with crappy souvenir http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/New-York/Manhattan/blog-301124.html Late Night ArrivalOur flight left San Francisco a wee bit later than we had wanted to and the journey over was mainly spent playing the in flight Trivia game on the screens. Aside from the ridiculously tricky aviation questions it was a lot of fun and both myself and Emma won different rounds. We eventually landed in JFK airport New York City and by the time we got our bags it was half past e http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/New-York/Manhattan/blog-301082.html City ExplorationFollowing a slightly longer lie in than normal we enjoyed a free breakfast at the hostel never get tired of those bagels and then headed to the Union Square Information booth to buy our travel pass for the next three days and also to see if there was any special offers on. The travel pass entitled us to unlimited travel on any mode of transport around the city giving us the fr http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/San-Francisco/blog-296828.html Be Sure To Wear...A JacketYep compared to LA and in fact most places during summer San Francisco is a pretty chilly place. It's just as sunny as most other places but it has an almost permanent fog shrouding everything basically huge scale condensation and has some nasty coastal winds. That being said the weather doesn't exactly make or break a place for us.The overnight Greyhound as ment http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/San-Francisco/blog-295124.html LA City TourDue to our short time scale in LA we really hadn't too much time to see a lot so we opted to do the LA city tour that our hostel offered. Los Angeles is a ridiculously big city and the only comparable place we have ever been in size is London. Only the public transport system here is practically non existant save for a few rickety buses and a beleagured subway system. It means get http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Los-Angeles/Hollywood/blog-296324.html Los Angeles The City Of AngelsArriving in LAX Los Angeles International Airport we were sitting on the runway for an additional hour before one of the largest airports in the world found an available gate for the plane. At this point we were beginning to think that it would be a bit of a nightmare getting through passport control and customs making our estimated arrival at the hostel of 4pm http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Los-Angeles/Hollywood/blog-295125.html Panoramic View On The Approach To Mala Mala IslandSouth Sea IslandWe got up early to catch the transfer to the port where we set sail. Our destination was the closest island called South Sea Island which allowed us for the most time to spend on any island resort. It is the island next to Bounty Island famous for being the setting of Celebrity Love Island. South Sea Island is one of the small http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/Mamanuca-Islands/blog-295134.html Exit Strategy From New Zealand Rotorua To Taupo To Aukland To The SkyOn our second last day of New Zealand we had a few things to do so after browsing the town centre of Rotorua for an hour or two we headed back to Taupo as we needed to return a faulty product. Fortunately it wasn't far out of the way and we spent some more time in the Taupo centre. Hitting the road again in the afternoon w http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/Viti-Levu/Nadi/blog-293790.html Up To RotoruaFollowing our Bungy in the rain we headed into town and picked up a few gifts before heading back on the road for a short journey to Rotorua. Rotorua is a city on the southern shore of Lake Rotorua in the Bay of Plenty region and is well known for its geothermal activity with a number of geysers and mud pools located in the city. The area was initially settled by M257ori of the http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Rotorua/blog-291385.html Panoramic View Geothermal TaupoArrival In TaupoWe arrived in Taupo and had our usual squint through the town in the van. It was a bit bigger than we had expected and had a similar vibe to Queenstown not least of all in the extreme sports field. Choosing a campsite proved to be more taxing than we thought but we eventually opted for one a short distance from the town centre.From Tongariro up http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Taupo/blog-290649.html The Fellowship Of The VanHaving seen enough of cities for the mean time we decided to head up north in the campervan and see where the road took us. We had no set plans for the day so we thought that it would be good to turn into a number of smaller towns on the way to Tongariro National Park. Tongariro National Park is the oldest national park in New Zealand located in the central North Island http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Tongariro-National-Park/blog-290598.html Journey To PictonWe were debating whether to go to Nelson which was a further hour from the ferry and Picton and would require a return journey. Not really wanting to double back and figuring we didn't really have any time to do anything there anyway we decided to drive from Kaikoura straight to Picton.After the enjoyment of some authentic Fish n Chips none of this frozen fish malarkey the d http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Picton/blog-289708.html Hanmer SpringsFollowing another lengthly drive we arrived in Hanmer Springs a small town in the Canterbury region of the South Island of New Zealand. The town is built around a popular hot spring which was discovered in the late 19th century. Many tourists flock to the area particularly during the summer months however when we arrived the area was bustling with tourists and the campsite was n http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Kaikoura/blog-288625.html Panoramic View At The Top Of Fox GlacierWalk To The Franz Josef Terminal FaceIt was raining when we woke up at our campsite at Franz Josef. The whole area was grey and shrouded in fog so we wondered what kind of effect this would have on our plans as we hoped to do some walking today. After the usual breakfast dishes and cleaning up we headed down the road to the visitors centre to have a loo http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Fox-Glacier/blog-288621.html QueenstownQueenstown is in the south west of New Zealand and it is built around an inlet on Lake Wakatipu. Queenstown is a centre for adventure tourism with many companies offering skiing jet boating bungy jumping and mountain biking just to mention a few. It is where commercial bungee jumping first began and probably offers more extreme sports than anywhere else in the world and for the lon http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Queenstown/blog-286826.html Dunedin to Milford Sound Wednesday morning was another early start as I'm sure you won't be surprised to read. Well aware that we had a long drive ahead of us in order to get to the other side of the country we wanted to get onto the road as soon as possible. Although we spent most of the day driving the scenery on the way was spectacular. We passed through a number of small towns and a lot http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Milford-Sound/blog-286676.html Panoramic View Horse Rides On Otago PeninsulaDunedin Celtic For EdinburghEager to get to Dunedin we packed the van and headed south relatively early in the morning. Thankfully the wind had died down during the night and the driving conditions had improved. The drive south was really nice and rather entertaining especially as we passed near a number of towns and streets with Scottish names l http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Dunedin/blog-286046.html