http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Jo-and-Mark/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Jo and Mark en-us Fri, 25 Dec 2009 05:43:56 +0000 Fri, 25 Dec 2009 05:43:56 +0000 To say that we were worried about Colombia would have been an understatement.......Well that was true for the first 6 months or so anyway. Then we started to hear really good reports from lots of other fellow travellers all of a sudden we were really looking forward to this leg of the trip. We weren't disappointed either Colombia is one of the most beautiful South American countries that we have http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/blog-23915.html After finishing the Inca Trail it was time to get a move on the original plan was to go to Nazca to see the Nazca lines however all of the buses were full on the day we needed to travel also the weather was very unsettled and we were worried about arriving there and being holed up for days waiting for a clear day so that we could take the flight. We decided to not bother with Nazca and instead http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/blog-23877.html After a day in Cuzco it was time to check in and have the pre trail briefing............Dont think so We went to the travel agent at the prearranged time only to find the office shut The only shut office on the street had to be ours it wasnt feeling too good We had no idea where to get the bus the next morning the tour agents didnt have a clue whether we were still going etc. etc.We arr http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Inca-Trail/blog-22370.html .............................................And we were so glad we did the country is breathtakingly beautiful we visited Copacabana Of Barry Manilow fame well not really really pretty place in parts quite unusual in others one unusual custom occurs twice daily outside of the cathedral the priest blesses the local cars and drivers with holy water the cars all get dressed up in their http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/blog-21797.html Another mammoth 24 hour journey brought us to Peru the border crossing was pretty cool in an old North American gas guzzling tank Peru is an amazing country one weve both been really looking forward to some strange customs we had to quickly get used to beggars use buses to give you their story then give everyone a handful of sweets and collect money afterwards on the same bus journey we w http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/blog-21796.html We arrived after an uneventful flight fresh as daisies same couldnt be said for our pitters and feet though...HMMMM nice thought that one no to tell the truth we were knackered Anyway we met a lovely couple Vicky Sig in our last hostel in Auckland who we found out were on the same flight as us so we decided to travel together it was really great having travel partners and it m http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/blog-20289.html We Mark myself Gertie got the ferry to the North Island we arrived in Wellington looked around there then headed out to the east coast. We visited a place called The Pinnacles which were huge rock formations that resembled pipes from an organ. The walk to The Pinnacles took 3 hours thanks to some very heavy rain the previous night it was extremely muddy. On one part of the walk the http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/blog-17710.html Eventually here after a few restful weeks in Perth it was back to lugging the backpacks everywhere.....BUGGERThe overnight flights were pretty tiring we left Perth at midnight arrived in Christchurch at 6 PM the next day within a few days we'd bought ourselves a car and were off on our travels.........Well that's how it should have been as soon as we bought the car it wouldn't start we bo http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/blog-17593.html Just a day trip but a really great one the sharks turtles and rays were really awesome in the walk through aquarium we also got to stroke rays in the ray enclosure all told we had a brilliant day. http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Perth/blog-14985.html We'd been looking forward to this place for a long time luckily the Perth weather was kind to us and the day was sunny and warm.We hired a tandem and had a really great day riding around the island tandems are excellent fun we'd recommend one to anyone looking for something a bit different just keep an eye on your rear passenger else you could end up pretty knackered by the end of the day Luc http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Rottnest-Island/blog-14962.html After surrendering every single piece of fruit or vegetables including our polystyrene esky to the WA border crossing we crossed over into WA. This part of the trip was a total last minute thing we only decided to come here after hearing all the stories from other travellerswe met it sounded so beautiful we had to come....We weren't disappointed.We headed on straight down to Walpole which http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/blog-14259.html We took three days to explore the Whitsunday Islands which were absolutely beautiful. The sand was so white and fine and the coral reef was amazing we had perfect weather and alll was great.....except the boat that we were on was destined for the knackers yard...broken steering broken toilet and the loss of one engine made the trip a little less than perfect but we still managed to have a bal http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Airlie-Beach/blog-10036.html After a quick scoot down the coast we arrived in Rainbow Beach which was our base for the Fraser Island trip. One of the first things we did was a dolphin kayak trip this was simply stunning we saw huge pods of dolphins some swam right underneath the kayaks though i think the highlight for me were the massive manta rays that made an appearance they swim really close once they realise you're n http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/blog-10647.html well we made great time after Fraser and shot through down to Sydney as quick as we could managenot before buying me a DIDGERIDOOPoor Jo the most noteable small stop being in a small place called Nimbin it's famous in Oz for being the weed capital of Australia and we're not talking dandelions here folks you can buy cookies cakes whatever you want.....a really strange placeOn arriva http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-10649.html This area was absolutely beautiful huge valleys lovely mountains we made it a very quick stop and left the same day WA here we come http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Blue-Mountains/blog-11280.html This road really blew us away the scenery and drive was spectacular the ruggedness and beauty of the coast just can't be captured on camera. We took a couple of days to explore it was well worth the drive. http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/South-Australia/blog-11283.html This part of the trip was a grueller As the title suggests it's the equivalent distance of travelling from London to Moscow.We drove anything from 200 to 700 kilometres per day Bertie the vamper can held out great and we ended up doing the leg really quickly sightseeing included 4 daysWe stopped off at the Great Australian Bight and saw loads of Southern Right whales as they made their way u http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/South-Australia/blog-14247.html After the farm we headed off back down to Cairns to take in the sights and sounds of Cape Tribulation which is farther north from Cairns it's a beautiful area full of pristine tropical rainforest we had a few days down there before heading off. On the way back we decided to do a spot if hang gliding Jo's idea and what a great one weather conditions were just about perfect the views w http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/blog-8640.html well first leg what a place to start nothing like being broken in gently....NOT India may be to some people's taste but i'm afraid it was definately not our cup of tea as the old colonials might have said two days after landing we'd decided to leave ASAP Cue whistle stop tourist time we came we saw we buggered off damn fast http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Jodhpur/blog-4430.html WELCOME TO THE LAND OF SMILES WOW what a beautiful country and such a beautiful happy friendly and helpful race of people too well most of them anyway We loved it here good job really we ended up staying for three months http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/blog-4435.html