http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Fitravelling/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Fitravelling en-us Thu, 31 Dec 2009 08:40:44 +0000 Thu, 31 Dec 2009 08:40:44 +0000 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 we http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Kenya/Rift-Valley-Province/Lake-Naivasha/blog-235530.html Our last stop before Nairobi was Dubai which was somewhere neither Paul or I had ever been. Luckily we were there for nice weather it was warm but not stinking hot. We did a cultural stop at the museum and then a shopping cultural trip to the gold souk Heaven I was in heaven. Admittedly Paul was a tad bored. So after that we went out to the desert for some dune bashing watched the su http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/Dubai/blog-230506.html 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. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-230502.html We decided to take the long way to Nairobi so visited Paul's parents in New Zealand and then mine in Vietnam. Our first trip out of Hanoi where mum and dad are was to Sapa which is up in the mountains. It started with a 9 hour overnight train trip which wasn't too bad we had a 4 berth cabin so could sleep...sort of....they were wooden beds rather thing matresses on top. We arrived at some http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Northwest/Sapa/blog-228037.html 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 wasnrsquot nagging on my mind I could have had a fabulous trip but alas duty called s http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Vanuatu/Efate/Port-Vila/blog-97974.html It had been a few weekends out of the water so we thought we should head down the coast a 45 minute drive South from Suva to do a dive at what is acclaimed as one of the top 10 dive sights in the world. While we were there we figured we might as well take advantage of a great 'local rates' deal at the hotel and stay somewhere flash. The hotel was really lovely beautiful grounds and really lov http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/Viti-Levu/Coral-Coast/blog-89218.html 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 4wheel drive....aahh I do like to travel in style. And the 4wheel drive was necessary from about half way the tar road ends and the mud and gravel roads tak http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/blog-85071.html 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 4wheel drive and setoff 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/Viti-Levu/blog-85086.html Here are some more photos from Fiji that I didn't add before. http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/Viti-Levu/blog-82068.html The other weekend I went with a group of friends to visit a traditional Fijian village to experience the culture and get away from the hustle and bustle of Suva. It was an epic journey taking 67 hours each way from Suva. Jane and I started our journey on Friday afternoon leaving Suva by taxi bound for Sigatoka a town along the coral coast heading towards Nadi. Our master plan of arranging http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/blog-80218.html So this is Fiji...not a bad place to stop for a few months. I'm in week 3 now and really enjoying myself. I've met lots of people at Homestay where I'm living mostly kiwis which is a worry but they're lovely all the same I won't write much here because I've put descriptions in the pictures. But basically I've been keeping busy when I'm not at work I'm out having dinner or drinks somewhe http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/Suva/blog-77114.html For New Years I was lucky enough to have 3 days off so I hopped on a plane to Phuket to visit the Valtas family. Dana had flown in from London and Wendy from Canberra. The first night I stayed with them on Karon Beach at the Hilton which was lovely of course. The second night we moved to Patong beach to be closer to all the action. We went out for dinner then partied the night away. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Phuket/blog-36251.html HiThis is my first entry on my overseas adventure. We left Canberra on Wednesday 29th June and arrived in Bangkok late that night. Amy Pietsch Wendy and I flew cattle class but had fun doing it. We drank champagne and watched movies some of us stupidly wached romantic love movies should have stuck to the comedy I think. None of us slept very well. Luckily Evita made it on our flight we http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-12453.html Mum dad and I flew out of Cyprus headed for Cairo Egypt. We spent the first day exploring Cairo we walked along the Nile before heading to the bazaar so naturally I had to shop for more things Cairo was pretty full on there's something like 25 million people in Cairo alone. It is a muslim country and it showed by the way the women dressed the majority of women wore head scarfs and a lot http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/blog-18002.html Sunday 14th We drove about 2 hours out of Nicosia to stay at a very laid back inn at the foot of the mountains but only a 10 minute drive to the beach. It was lovely we went to Coral bay beach more swimming and laying in the sun. Then that night had a traditional Cyprus meal at the inn. Monday 15th The next day we spent the morning at another beach before driving up into the mountains fo http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Cyprus/blog-17993.html Thu 11th We left Cyprus at 7am and flew to Turkey to stay in Istanbul for a few days. Our trip started a bit rocky when we arrived and needed to buy visas you do it at the airport before passport control. However the only ATM on that side of the barrier wasnrsquot working and we had no Turkish Lira. After being sent to numerous counters we finally met someone who could help. So he took u http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/blog-17344.html Wed 10th A fairly laid back day before heading back to the Syrian club for another meze with people wersquod met the night before. After dinner we smokedhellipthis thinghellipIrsquom not entirely sure how to describe it. It is a big bottle with a pipe and on the top is the coals that burn the tobacco which comes in different flavours. You donrsquot inhale the smoke you just take th http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Cyprus/blog-17343.html Sun 7th Mum and dad drove us down to the party central of Cyprus where we were going to stay for 2 nights. We spent the day at the beach it was becoming a fairly regular thing by now then went to our hotel. We got a great location in between the beach and all the clubs and cafes. That night we sat on balcony and had some drinks then wandered into the party area to find a life outdoor conc http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Cyprus/blog-17342.html History Just to give you an idea because I had none before I came Cyrpus is split between North and South. Therersquos been a lot of fighting here and for the last 20 odd years the UN have been here. The Nth of the island is Turkish and the Sth is Greek. The city of Nicosia the capital has an old town which back in the very old days was surrounded by a wall. This city has now been spli http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Cyprus/blog-17340.html We arrived back in London and that marked the end of contiki. It was sad to see the adventure come to an end but my body sure as hell appreciated slowing downWe got back in the evening and stayed at the contiki hotel as did most other people on the bus. That night we had a yummy chinese dinner then went to the hotel pub to say our final goodbyes.The next day was a very slow start followed by http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-16178.html