http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Janey Matt/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Janey Matt en-us Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:28:41 UTC Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:28:41 UTC SUMMARYThrough the last six months on our journey we have some end statsMotorbikes hired 5Turtles hit 1Other Kiwis we met on our journey 4Number of people who asked us if New Zealand is in Europe 4Times we got sick 9Times we heard Dave Dobbyn on the radio in Europe 11.5L bottles of water consumed 450Walled medieval towns we accidently drove through 1Elephants ridden 1Number of t http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/blog-333065.html Starting the trip in Canada proved to be tougher than expected. Matt's dizziness took a turn for the worst in New York and after being bedridden for 4 days we planned to cancel the flight and stay in New York. This was a tough situation as money was low and accommodation was full in New York so staying appeared to not be an option. Waiting for us at the other end was the wonderfully hospitable H http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/blog-333011.html We arrived at JFK airport after a slow turbulent flight from Iceland. At JFK we finally got in a yellow taxi Brooklyn bound. The driver did everything he could to get us lost but with GIS maps in the back seat we fought back pretty hard and managed to get to our BnB despite his deliberate turnoffs and detours. The guesthouse is great a warm cosy brownstone house on 38th St in Flatbush Brookly http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/New-York/New-York/Brooklyn/blog-326893.html Paris and IcelandDriving west of Switzerland we entered France. Staying one night in an African themed lsquoroom above a pubrsquo in some small eastern French village was interesting. We drove into Paris to return our rental car and our last leg of continental Europe. Driving into Paris we fluked it and didnrsquot get lost navigating our way to one of their three airports. After a few metro http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Iceland/blog-325081.html We left Budapest and drove North to ViennaWien. After a long anticipation arriving in Austria was great. The smell of cow manure filled our noses the sounds of Mozart our ears and our eyes the beautiful green grass and mountains. Our first stop was Salzburg home of Mozart and Mozart Balls The Sound of Music and the real Von Trapp family lots of salt salz lakes mountains and churches http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Austria/blog-321970.html Driving south of Croatia took us into the worldrsquos newest country and maybe one of the smallest Montenegro. Montenegro became independent from Serbia two years ago and is slowly finding its place in the world of tourism. We drove to Budva the largest coastal town which is a very busy summer holiday destination and not much else. This is the type of beach you imagine when you think http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Bosnia-and-Herzegovina/blog-318266.html Slovenia and Croatia.Crossing the northeastern Italian border we drove into Slovenia and the Julian Alps. From there we made our way to the beautiful Lake Bled the iconic lake with a church on itrsquos central island pretty cool. The differences we noticed in Slovenia are the people look like eastern Europeans the houses all look Austrian we are only a few kilometres from the border the p http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Slovenia/blog-314664.html Toscan and Venezia After a few hectic days in Rome driving into the Tuscany countryside was such a good break. Taking our new leased car through the central Italian countryside we ended up in Siena a small gothic town. The campsite was great quiet and away from everything under big oak trees. We tried to slow the pace a bit in Tuscany and spent most of our time driving between small medieval http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Tuscany/blog-313970.html Amalfi and Rome Arriving in the big old Italian boot from Greece proved to be a long day. It started with walk bus ferry bus walk train walk train train collapse And arriving at Naples Naplio late at night with no booked accommodation is pretty much a donrsquot in the guidebooks. If Naples is home to the mafia guns and drugs then the train station is like the cesspool in the middle. http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/blog-312178.html Being behind on the trip planning we woke up one day with nowhere to stay and decided to try heading to the Peleponesse. We caught a train to Corinth Korinthos and were stoked to find a near empty campsite right on the beach. It was exciting to go to Corinth and imagine Paulrsquos journeys and the meaning behind his letters to the Corinthians. Corinth is a cute seaside town with some ancient r http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Greece/blog-310536.html Yasus everyone We arrived in our first European destination Athens Greece. After a four hour flight from Bahrain we flew over Saudi Arabia Israel and the Greek Islands before descending over the Acropolis and other awesome sights in Athens.We were pretty stoked that the weather was a comfortable 32C sunny and dry After catching the metro with all our gear to Omonia Square home to many drunks http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Greece/blog-306598.html We arrived in Bahrain small island country off the coast of Saudi Arabia at 2am one night after a 7 hour flight delayed again. Flying over India Dubai and Myanmar was great although take off was intense amidst a thunderstorm with lightning strikes every 10 seconds for at least an hour. At 2am walking off the plane all dazed and tired we realized it was kinda hot. 43C in fact. Waking up th http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Bahrain/blog-302818.html Leaving Bangkok early one morning by bus we thought arriving in Siem Reap Cambodia would be a straightforward journey. Wrong wrong wrong After busing to the ThaiCambodia border crossing the border took an hour or so at immigration. As soon as we crossed the border everything changed so dramatically. The landscape became flatter the children skinnier and the people far poorer. We had been warne http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-299179.html We came to Phuket via boat from Phi Phi Island 1 and a half hour journey. Arriving here our luggage broke go Asian lsquostreetsrsquo and the coach driver dropped us at a five star resorthellipguessing he heard wrong We decided to stay at Kata Beach which is probably the nicest beach in Phuket and not as touristy and busy as Patong Beach. The beaches are more like home and even had sur http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Thailand/Central/Bangkok/blog-295875.html On a spur of the moment decision we decided to go with our English friend Amanda and an English guy Kevin to Thailand and try to get some great weather. After squishing up in our rental car we returned it and hopped on a boat from Langkawi to Satun which is a town in southern Thailand. We had heard it is easy as pie to cross the border here so after a quick boat trip we were hauled onto a bus http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Thailand/South/blog-290276.html Penang through to Langkawi leaving MalaysiaAnother bus trip later and we arrived in Penang or Georgetown which is an island in the northwest of Malaysia attached by SE Asiarsquos longest bridge. Georgetown is known for its historical buildings and English settlements apparent in the many old churches. Unfortunately Penang is probably going to be remembered in a less than enthusiastic wa http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Malaysia/Kedah/Langkawi-Island/blog-287195.html The 6 hour bus trip from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur goes through a fair amount of southern peninsular Malaysia. Aside from the occasional village tucked underneath the acres and acres of palm plantations therersquos not much change to the landscape. The bus stopped for us at the border for customs more police and security wandering around with rifles where we could stand between Singapore and http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Malaysia/Pahang/Cameron-Highlands/blog-284023.html Ok so we finally arrived in Singapore after a long day for us. Up at 4.30am for a two hour flight from Cairns to Brisbane then a five hour wait at Brisbane airport. Then finally on our eight hour flight to Singapore. Poor Matt But he was great and we had pretty good food and movies on the flight and the scenery was really interesting. Flying along the coast of Australia through the red centre http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Singapore/blog-281835.html Finding NemoWell second day in Cairns and wowhellipdid we find nemo and much more Firstly we drove up past more sugar cane and banana plantations from Mission Beach one sunny morning we really canrsquot get by without air con from this point. The scenery is beautiful through the tablelands from Mission Beach to Cairns and beyond with mountainous rainforest following the route north. When http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Cairns/blog-279534.html We completed our longest drive 650km from Yeppoon to Airlie Beach on Friday. So we were slightly wasted after that but enjoyed the scenery. At the Mackay district the land changed from dry brown hot and flat to beautiful fields after fields of sugarcane and dramatic hills. This continued all the way to the Whitsundays where the big ranges look similar to Milford Sound but with slightly wa http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Whitsundays/blog-277154.html