http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Escapaders/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Escapaders en-us Thu, 24 Dec 2009 03:55:13 +0000 Thu, 24 Dec 2009 03:55:13 +0000 By the time you read this final entry to our Blog Christine and I will be home after a fantastic trip. South Africa is the last stage of our round the world trip and in many respects we feel we have saved the best until last. It is by far the most interesting country we have visted. It is not always comfortable to be here and especially in the cities but there is so much to see and do and a gre http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Gauteng/Johannesburg/blog-166243.html Our journey north to Bangkok coincided with the early onset of the rainy season and boy did it rain. However there have been sufficient intervals between the showers for us to see and do much. Bangkok is everything you must have heard about it noisy completely gridlocked very crowded full of people who want to sell you something and often 'on the edge' especially after dark. The rain show http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-156658.html What a difference. A seven hour flight from Brisbane crossing the lunar landscape of the Northern Territories upto Darwin and then over tha Equator just and back to the Northern Hemisphere and Singapore. Our arrival downtown at 10pm coincided with rush hour. Welcome to Asia. We had just a day to explore the city which is a fascinating mixture of new and old and a melting pot of cultures and r http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Lanta/blog-152146.html We caught the legendary 'Ghan' railway from Adelaide to Alice Springs. Travelling in second class it turned out to be rather less exotic and legendary than we had hoped. The train is named after the Afghans who ran the original camel trains across the Australian centre from Adelaide to Darwin. The journey took about 19 hours overnight and we arrived in Alice Springs to driving rain and temperatur http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Airlie-Beach/blog-144494.html Christine and I have now been in Australia for over two weeks. Five days in Sydney allowed us to rest and to see the sights. After a luxurious night in a beautiful hotel paid for by my two kids as a birthday present we moved to a hostel in Manly. This meant that we travelled to the city each day on probably the best ferry journey in the world Number 30 out of 45 in the 'Rough Guide's Must Do l http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/South-Australia/Adelaide/blog-140481.html We fly out to Australia on 7 March. It will need to be good because New Zealand is a very tough act to follow. The South Island has far fewer people but most of the jawdropping scenery from Abel Tasman National Park where we hiked and did some kyaking then through Punakaiki where we lived in the most laid back hostel in the middle of a 'rainforest' on to Franz Josef to walk on the glacier and http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Kaikoura/blog-135374.html We are just starting our fourth week in New Zealand. The weather has been beautiful throughout following a very disappointing summer for the Kiwis. Just arrived in time for a really settled spell.We spent longer in the North Island than we had planned largely because we stayed with Christine's cousin Ian and his wife Sue. They made us so welcome and we fell in love with their two children Cein http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Punakaiki/blog-130945.html We missed a day crossing the date Line on the flight from L.A. to nadi in Fiji. decided to dispense with the recommended 'orientation' day in Nadi and head straight for the yasawa Islands. Joined a catamaran full of locals and backpackers for the two hour voyage to Waya island one of the most southerly of the yasawas. it is just perfect despite some rough edges. Chris and I are living in a 'bur http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/Yasawa-Islands/blog-123881.html Christine and I are now travelling south from San Francisco along Highway 1 which hugs the coast all the way to Los Angeles. San Francisco was terrific. We cycled along the bay and over the Golden Gate Bridge visited Alcatraz joined the shoppers in China Town and met lots of people at the hostel. The weather is gorgeous...cold but wonderfully clear and sunny. The locals are talking a lot about http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Los-Angeles/blog-120557.html