Fitravelling

After Christmas we went down to Lake Naivasha with some friends from work. The lake is about a 2 hour drive from Nairobi in the Rift Valley. We stayed at a really cute little log cabin with open fire place. At night we weren't allowed off the balcony as the animals come up from the lake and graze. We saw zebras both nights coming up to feed. We were told that hippos come up to the cabin as well, but we didn't see any. The cabin was a stones throw away from the lake so on our first day there we went for a big walk and saw zebras, gazelles, hippos and baboons. Unfortunately the giraffes were being shy, but they're usually in the same area. The great thing about this lake is that it's close ... read more

After Vietnam we flew back through Bangkok for a few days for a spot of shopping and a few cocktails. We went up to the Banyan Tree hotel and drank cocktails at sunset over looking the city.... read more

I thought I was pretty luck to score a couple of months in Fiji, but I somehow also managed to score a (work) trip to Vanuatu. From the outset it has to be said that Port Vila is a beautiful city, so laid back with such naturally stunning surroundings, I slipped into an automatic state of relaxation. If work wasn’t nagging on my mind I could have had a fabulous trip, but alas duty called so unfortunately clear sunny days were spent in the office. But the afternoons, with vibrantly coloured sunsets and a drink in hand, were all mine. The trip started with an ungodly wake up at 4am, on my birthday no less! Well I soon made up for that, as I sat on the plane (still half asleep) the lady next to me ... read more

One of my weekend trips away recently was to Takalana, which is about 2.5 hours north of Suva. We had two car loads of people, the unfortunate group were in front in the rickity old van, the lucky ones (including me!) were in a brand new 4-wheel drive....aahh, I do like to travel in style. And the 4-wheel drive was necessary, from about half way the tar road ends and the mud and gravel roads take over. Our destination was a small backpackers place up on a hill overlooking a black sand beach. It’s rather unusual, it feels like sand except it’s really dark (but not muddy). After we’d arrived and had lunch in the sun, followed by a nap on the ground, we followed the local children to a water fall. The walk wasn’t very ... read more

Early Saturday morning we all assembled to set off to Volivoli beach, the northen most part of the island. Our cultural mix this weekend consisted of Aussie, Kiwi, Pom and French. The five of us piled into the 4-wheel drive and set-off, first driving across the new bridge at Nausori which had just opened on the Thursday. The bridge had been in planning and construction for a few years so it had been a fairly momentous occasion in Fiji. An hour and a half into our journey the smooth luxury of tar gave way to the adventures of narrow gravel roads. The scenery was fabulous, lush tropical jungle, vibrantly coloured flowers and animals enough to fill Old McDonalds farm. It’s always fun driving along these bumpy out of the way roads because the local Fijians are ... read more