Flames106

The 6th stop of our 7 deal round the world flights was Los Angeles. The first taste of the cold weather which we needed to now become accustomed to. We had already seen and done most of California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona on a previous trip here in 2004, so this trip was mainly a stopover to visit Edels uncle Robin and his wife Gina and their 2 boys, Jamie and Casey. Needless to say Edel managed to get lots of shopping in over the 3 days, and it was really nice to get a bit of luxury and comfort in a nice house instead of a dodgy hostel! Thanks for that Robin! So after a few days of good food, lots of drink and shopping it was time to move on, too soon, but ... read more

It was a toss up whether we would go to Ayers Rock/Alice Springs or Tasmania on the final leg of our Australian travels but eventually we opted for Van Diemans Land based on the purely positive feedback we had received from other travellers who had visited there. We flew into Launceston which is Tasmania's 2nd largest city despite having a population of just 66,000 people. It reminded us a lot of Wellington in NZ and indeed as we travelled throughout Tasmania much of the landscape, mountains and lakes also had a distinct New Zealand feel to it. The people here are definitely a lot friendlier and more relaxed than on mainland Australia, this is most noticeable on the roads where people will actually let you change lanes and give you a wave instead of giving you ... read more

So back from New Zealand and straight back on the road again. Picked up 2 new passengers in my cousin Melissa (Mullagh Mel or Mel the motivator) and Enda. We missed the Great Ocean Rd last time we were in Melbourne cos the weather was so shite so now is the time to do it! We headed down the coast road towards Sydney stopping at various campsites along the way in places like Kiama, Taratha and Lakes Entrance. Melissa really got into the camping by the end of the trip but things were a little shakey at the start given the number of large spiders/ curious possums and mischevious ants we came across! En route down we had a few days stopover in Melbourne again where we decided to stop by Neighbours night in St.Kilda ... read more

So off to backpack again after over 4 months of being settled, it just didnt suit us! We flew straight to Melbourne and met up with Edels sister Niamh and Gaven again for more crazy adventures! Arranged an apartment in St.Kilda for a few weeks and were quickly joined then by Edels parents Packie and Marge who decided the lure of Australia was too hard to turn down this year especially with both of their girlies over here! Did lots and saw lots including a short trip to Sydney where we did all the touristy stuff, me and Edel also went to see Snowpatrol here along with my cousin Melissa and some friends-amazing concert! (locked) Niamh and Gaven then left us but we kept busy exploring Sydney and Melbourne as well as going to the ... read more

Last leg of Chapter 1 of our travels. We figured we earned a few days on the most beautiful beaches in the world after a tough 3 months travelling around South East Asia. Well deserved I think ye all will agree... So we arrived in Surat Thani airport early and only 3hrs boat from our final destination of Ko Pha Ngan but par for the course in Thailand it took us 7hrs to get there. Bus stopping on the side of the road trying to get us to eat, having to wait 2hrs for a boat as a result of this, and then having to get a tuk tuk and taxi boat to reach our beach of choice. But by Jesus was it worth it, the most savage beach we saw in Thailand, it was ... read more