KG

After a couple of nights in Adelaide to recuperate, it was time to hit the road again, leaving Adelaide behind for good. We boarded the big green bus at silly o’clock in the morning and headed for Great Ocean Road. In all it took us 3 days to get to Melbourne, we went through Halls Gap, (killing a poor Wallaby that dared to run in front of the bus) the Grampians where we saw McKenzie Falls – damn steps again. I was starting to see a pattern emerging in this holiday and wasn’t too impressed. I saw my first real Australian kookaburra when we returned to the top of the steps, maybe a reward from above for persevering, who knows. We stayed in Warrnambool, visited Torquay and the famous Bells Beach. The beach is where some ... read more

I did a 3 day/2 night camping trip to Kangaroo Island and I loved every minute. We slept in swags under the stars and amongst the possums, made damper bread on open fires and hardly saw a flushing toilet the whole time! This was the first time I tasted kangaroo meat. Delicious with barbecue sauce! We saw lovely scenery, Admiral’s Arch, The Remarkable Rocks, Seal Bay and went sandboarding at Little Sahara. Typical Aussie outback adventure – great!... read more

South Australia was my next destination, and so we headed to the capital – Adelaide. I really liked the city; it was fairly small for a capital but friendly, clean and safe. We went to Mount Lofty Summit, Clelend Wildlife Park (where I cuddled a koala) took the old fashioned tram to Glenelg and did the typical backpacker things in the city…….the free museums, 2 for 1 Big Mac’s and ladies night at PJ O’Briens!!!!!. We made Adelaide our base for around a month while we nipped off and did more exciting things. For some reason something kept compelling us to go back to My Place Hostel, I think it could have been Andrea’s famous hat parties! All you can drink homemade punch for only $5………..as long as you wear a ridiculous looking hat! Oh, I ... read more

When we left KL it was the usual destination, Singapore. Clean, nice, glad I went, but boring. Only spent 3 or 4 days here as well and it was long enough to do and see what I wanted. Went to Raffles Hotel and had the obligatory Singapore Sling (cost me £6.18 for the pleasure), went to the zoo and night safari. I really enjoyed this, kinda cruel to have a Polar Bear in a zoo in Singapore though, poor thing used to the extreme cold and here he was now living virtually on the equator! Did a self guided tour around the city, saw Raffles Landing Site, the Merlion and all the usual sights of Singapore.... read more

A short boat ride away was my island retreat of Ko Pha Ngan, I spent a week here doing.....well, not very much. Thoroughly enjoyed the luxury of a beautiful hut right on a private beach, hammocks, veranda, the full works. All for the equivalent of £5 a night! One day was spent on An Thong National Park, sea kayaking, walking to the lake in the mountains, swimming and snorkelling. I even saw a wild monkey up a palm tree. So different to Scotland.... read more