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Harriet Abrahams Joined: January 13th 2008
Logged in: February 18th 2009
Logged in: February 18th 2009
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Travel Blog Posts
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The rest of my time in Australia flew by, similar to my time in Singapore and Malaysia. I ended Australia in Cairns where the weather was lovely and I stayed in a nice hostel called Bohemia Resort. I did a couple of day trips from there including a days snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef and a trip into the rainforest and to some stunning waterfalls. The snorkelling was great fun, I even spotted a few sharks. I made friends with a couple of girls, one of whom, Larissa, was staying at my hostel which was cool as it gave me a buddy to hang out with up there. We were given a really nice buffet lunch and the oppertunity to try scuba diving. I gave it a go but really didn't like it, so decided ... read more
Melbourne
I can't believe I've not done my blog for my entire time in Australia - sorry folks, been having rather a good time! I arrived in Melbourne at the end of April and stayed there for almost a week. I was staying in St Kildas which was a really nice area and the hostel was always buzzing which meant I met lots of awesome people. I had a day trip along the Great Ocean road which was fun and got to see lots of cool sights including a short helicopter ride over the twelve apostles. From Melbourne I got the over night bus to Sydney where I stayed in a hostel called 'Wakeup'. It was another lively hostel and I was lucky to be sharing a room with some awesome people. From Sydney I took the ... read more
View from Te Kaha
'East As', as it's known on the kiwi bus, has been one of the highlights of my trip. It's a four day, three night trip around the east cape of north island, but I rather fell for it so extended my trip by four nights. There were only seven of us on the bus and luckily we all got on well so had lots of fun. Our bus driver, Rex, was in his seventies and such a laugh to be with. He'd obviously been driving the route for a long time and had many funny stories to tell, aswel as a vast knowledge of the Maori history and culture which was interesting. The first night we stayed in a hostel called the Homestead Lodge in Te Kaha. We arrived early in the afternoon so spent the ... read more
Puzzle world!
I've moved up to the North Island in the time it's taken me to write this, so rather alot's happened - I'll try not to ramble! Franz Josef was fantastic, one of my best days here. The weather was rather pants, but me and my friend Beth sung our way through it in a vague attempt to keep spirits high (I know the comments I'll get for writing that!). It was an amazing experience being on a mountain of ice for the day - there are massive cracks and water holes which are easy to fall into so it's rather exciting. The glacier is expanding around 20cm a day, so the ice is constantly changing shape. As a result the guides have to make new routes everyday, so the climb was quite slow as we found ... read more
Tongariro crossing
Wow, time is totally flying and I can't believe how much we're fitting into each day. Since the last time I wrote, we've ventured down to the south island where the climate is slightly cooler, I've been bitten to death by sandflies, have made many new friends and am enjoying the spectacular scenery (amongst many other things). I spent my final day in Taupo doing the Tongariro Crossing with Craig. We were the only ones who managed to get up for the early start following a rather heavy night, so that was an achievement in itself, but the crossing is 18.5km long and very challenging. (For more information go to ). It took us six and a half hours, and though tough, the views made it worthwhile. The skies were so clear that we could see ... read more
Bar
I can't believe how much I've done in a week. I started the kiwi experience early last Thursday and have enjoyed every minute so far. I started at the Bay of Islands, more specifically Paihia. We stayed in a little hostel called the Pipi Patch which was basic but had a great bar and was a short walk from the beach. I made friends with two girls called Victoria and Laura on the coach, and we spent the first afternoon together. We had a boat ride around the bay, then visited Russell which is on the mainland but a long drive away so we took the ferry accross. It was a really sweet village with a fantastic ice cream shop and a stoney beach. We spent a few hours there before returning for a barbeque at ... read more
Rangitoto
Not even a week has passed since my last blog, but I leave tomorrow for the kiwi experience so I thought I'd better update now as I don't know when my next chance will be. Unfortunately I currently have tonsilitus so I'm pumped up on antibiotics and pain killers to try and calm my HUGE tonsils which are choking me ! The doctor said that they were the largest ones she's ever seen, is that something to be proud of?! Daddy insisted I send him a photo of them, but I think I'll refrain from posting a picture of them up here! I'm leaving at 7.15am tomorrow, so I'm hoping the antibiotics will kick in fairly fast and not make the journey to the Bay of Islands miserable. I'm not sure how long I'll be up ... read more
Fishing
Two weeks have slipped by since I last did a blog - sorry folks! Lets hope I can remember what's been happening?! The weather here is gradually becoming more autumnal with more rainy days than sunny ones, but I've still been able to go to the beach and do everything I want to. When I arrived in Auckland I compiled a list of around 12 activities that I wanted to do, and I'm happy to say that it's now completed. I went and did the sky tower last week which is one of the most prominent features of Aucklands' skyline. I think I've been spoilt in the past with visits to various other tall buildings in America, Canada etc. so though fairly impressive, I didn't think it was anything too special. I resisted doing the free-fall ... read more
Cricket
Well I'm now half way through by time in Auckland which is rather scary, but Fiona reminds me that I'm not allowed to mention that! On the up side, the cricket has improved, yay! I went to Eden Park last Friday with Olivia from school and one of her friends who happened to be back in Auckland on that day. It was really good fun; we paid a little more to get seats in the shade with back rests which was definitely worth while. We enojoyed a few mini bottles of wine and soaked up the atmosphere, which was great as we were surrounded by fellow Brits. I decided to take myself on the 16km coast to coast walk on Saturday. I was quite surprised by how challenging it was, not only because I got terrible ... read more
Tracey and Molly
I'm getting a slating for being a 'pomme' out here at the moment - I wish our cricketers would improve pretty rapidly! They're playing a one day international at Eden Park tomorrow, which hopefully I'll go to but the weather forecast isn't great and the friends that I'd go with would have to get off work. I forget that not everyone's on a long holiday like me! I went to Auckland museum last Thursday which was actually fairly fun! Of course with the girls being there we didn't venture out of the childrens' area, so I didn't learn much, but the girls enjoyed it. I'll have to take myself back for the educational part at some point I guess. The girls' nanny, Tracey, has an eight week old golden retriever puppy named Molly who we visited ... read more
Australia 
Malaysia 
New Zealand 
Thailand 
