http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Jobo18/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Jobo18 en-us Sat, 02 Jan 2010 04:39:45 +0000 Sat, 02 Jan 2010 04:39:45 +0000 We landed in Chicago in the evening of Inauguration Day...we braced ourselves for mahem but there was nothing going on So we landed got our bags safely phew We had planned to get a cab but saw a shuttle desk and thought we would try and get to our hotel a cheaper way The guy said if we ran we could catch him and get a ride to our hotel.....it was fine the driver was putting the bags in http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Illinois/Chicago/blog-370436.html Finally after rearranging our flight to go through Sydney rather than Fiji we touched down in Honolulu a day later than planned but avoided getting stranded in Fiji. It was a 20 hour trip with our last flight being 10 hours but it went smoothly and Hawaii was lovely. We arrived very early in the morning but managed to check in shortly after arriving at the hostel. Dan had treated us to a studio http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Oahu/Waikiki/blog-367396.html DVD day Goat Island 14th 15th Browns Bay 16th Tried to fly to HawaiiSo our time in Auckland has come to an end...after our day at Piha we just lounged around and watched DVDs Was nice to chill out and not do anything Have packed so much into our trip that chill out days have been very rare so this fortnight around Auckland has been good to just go to the beach or watch DVDs.....going to http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Massey/blog-364144.html Browns Bay Rangitoto Retail Therapy Rothesay Bay Graham's 52nd Bay of Islands Westgate City Browns Bay Poker night and hangover Friday DVD night cricket Miranda Piha.Right guys wlecome to a whistle stop blog of all our ongoings since the New Year. We saw the New Year in in a British run pub good times. The first day of 2009 we spent lying on the beach at Browns Bay we're not gonn http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/North-Shore/blog-362620.html Once we'd managed to hot wire Jayn's car we were on the road early morning to Bay of Islands only kidding of course we had permission and we filled it up with the green one. Left the house around 8.30am with our picnic and 1st stop was Whangarei Falls described as the Paris Hilton of waterfalls the the most photographed falls but not the most impressive....150km North of Auckland 26m high http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Bay-of-Islands/Paihia/blog-360900.html Think we had the best New Years Days ever this year we went to Browns Bay and laid in glorious sunshine. A beautiful day thank goodness as everyone was blaming us for the downpour of rain on New Years Eve......we went back to Marion and Johns for dinner and played a quiz and Jayn was drinking The quiz was good fun and probably beat Christmas Day as it was loads of people getting together an http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/blog-360898.html After the attractions at Rotorua we drove to Hamilton turned up at a YWCA...the lonely planet assured us it wasn't a convent but it was an odd hostel Luckily they only had one single bed left and it was in the middle of nowhere too so good we moved on and found a place in the lonely planet that was actually on the main strip through town.....it was described as eyrie and it said the communal lo http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Hamilton/blog-360897.html From the stables hostel in Napier we drove to Lake Taupo after doing the Art Deco tour. It was pouring with rain so hot water beach was out of the question Around Taupo we visited the Spa Thermal Park we had planned to do the Huka Falls Walkway but once we discovered that you could drive up to the falls and not do the 50minute one way walk in the rain then there was no question about it T http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Rotorua/blog-360894.html Ok this is where I have been naughty and not written my blog for a while and we are only up to the 20th December. After the Franz Josef hike we hit the road and stayed overnight in a lay by OPPOSITE THE RAILWAY DOH in Greymouth...not much there apart from the Monteiths Brewery. Getting a shower in Greymouth the next morning proved the biggest challenge ever The swimming baths weren't op http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Nelson-Region/Nelson/blog-359731.html Hi allAren't I spoiling you all with another journal oh so soon D started typing this on 22nd Dec...sorry for the delay in only publishing it today...4th Jan DHope you are all coping with the mad rush of Christmas at home It is not Christmas here no rush no subzero temperatures and it doesnt even get dark to see the lights I'm looking forward to getting to Jayns and hopefully she' http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Franz-Josef/blog-356274.html We were the last camper in the lay by the usual We usually depart late morning after a lazy lay in and breakfast and the much needed cuppa tea have missed cups of tea...too much of a fath in a hostel So we made our way to Milford Sound it's one way there and one way back so had to do it in a day really. Lots to see on the way as u can see from the photos....it was 120kms and we stopped http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Milford-Sound/blog-355477.html We booked a shuttle to collect us from Jayn's to go to the airport it was cheaper to book a flight from Auckland to Christchurch rather than do the trainbustrain and also 15 hours so the 1hr 20 mins flight was a breeze We picked up the Jucy camper after much confusion on where to get it from I hovered in the rentals car park at the airport with our bags whilst Dan went on a quest to fi http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Christchurch/blog-355398.html Doug Linda are looking to move to the Bay of Islands in New Zealand and are currently house hunting over there they booked a flight to Auckland the same day as us so we could all go to the airport together. We said our goodbyes before security and then bumped into them again at the gate As we boarded the plane Doug Linda watched us and saw us take off. Was sad to leave Adelaide a great p http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/blog-354021.html Ok so I've finally got the photos up of the Wicked Camper and Adelaide today We arrived in New Zealand on Sunday evening...we were greated by my auntie Jayn dad's sis and my cousin Phil. Have been here a couple of nights and it's so good to catch up with Jayn....so Dan has told me I have to catch up on my blog. We left Adelaide on Sunday so I must do my blog on AdelaideWe travelled from http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/South-Australia/Adelaide/one-tree-hill/blog-352646.html Hello boys and girls Sorry it's been a while Have been making tracks since MelbourneWe left Melbourne on Monday and stayed at Geelong for the night...u may recognise that place as they were in the AFL final...we saw the AFL final in Margaret River...its a massive event over here in Oz. Good times. Geelong was a nice place felt more 'normal' than some other sketchy places that we have stay http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Port-Campbell/blog-350794.html Hi allCurrently in a strange games place...total darkness and lots of geeks playing computer games and screaming at the screen...but they have cheap internet so its all good Today we picked up our Wicked Camper after the biggest hike ever after kings canyon. We absolutley loved Sydney think i got up to the blue mountains in the last blog we spent a few days with Jen Col and then we http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/blog-348108.html Ok you lucky lot another blog so quickly after the last one we have found a global gossip cafe open till 11pm we are recovering from a couple of heavy nights and bus trip 2moro getting all my photos on for you all. not much touristy stuff lately but lovely beach here in byron. had a hard day lying on the beach and catching some rollers on the beach 15ft waves very cool although http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Byron-Bay/blog-343596.html We are now in New South Wales 1hr ahead of Queensland which is most odd. We arrived in Byron Bay after Surfers Paradise yesterday...it is really fun here D So carrying on from my previous snippet...Noosa was really fun. We stayed somewhere for a couple of nights then had to move due to being fully booked damn triathlon we have this habit of things happening whilst in the place or we lea http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Byron-Bay/blog-343071.html Hi allSorry it has been a while Been on the move fairly quickly lately so not much time to jump on the net and type for England literally hahaSo think from where i last left off we were on route to Hervey Bay...Hervey bay was cool but literally was just a stripe of beach and a few shops. Its a base to do Fraser Island from or whale watching. We didnt do fraser we have been weighing up wh http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Surfers-Paradise/blog-342522.html We left Cairns on the 19th October and headed down to Mission Beach only a couple of hours on the Greyhound and then afterwards went to Townsville. We spent Dan's birthday here not by choice just happened to be places down the East Coast have been pretty quiet country towns. Fine for a short stop over to break up the journey just browsing the shops getting the beers in and chilling out by t http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Hervey-Bay/blog-339181.html