KeithLisa

As we drove down the Princes Highway early on Friday morning, the rain splattered down the windscreen and the sky was a dark shade of grey. But it was a long weekend, and we didn’t mind the weather, for we were going on an adventure in to an unknown region of NSW. We’d only ever ventured as far as Wollongong on the South Coast, so you can imagine how pleasantly surprised we were by the scenery and surroundings as we travelled further away from Sydney and then Wollongong, in to the Shoalhaven region. It is a very scenic drive and we were taken by the real countryside charm of villages liked Berry, where we couldn’t resist a stop off on the way back for coffee and chocolate brownies with whipped cream and yes, you guessed it, ... read more

We arrived in Hervey Bay, fresh off the plane from Sydney and were conspicuous from the start, overdressed in our jeans, fleeces and trainers, whilst the locals wandered round in board shorts and flip slops. The temperature was about 15 degrees warmer than it had been in Sydney, the sun was hot in the sky and it seemed strange to think that it is autumn/winter here. The shuttle bus took us through dry, arid and very flat landscape, now and again dotted with a few settlements. Nearer Bundaberg the landscape changed to green fields as far as the eye could see, mainly sugar cane farms. We were dropped off at Cellblock, the place we would call home for the next week or so, and found our room to be in a converted cell. Quite appropriate considering ... read more

We left the relaxed atmosphere of Palawan behind and headed to a very hot, humid and heaving Manila. We decided to pay a little extra for a “coupon” taxi from the airport to Melati Pension, in order to avoid the chaos and the touts outside the airport doors. The drive was surprisingly tame when compared to our experiences in Cebu City. Most of our day in Manila was spent in Robinson shopping mall, enjoying the air-con whilst whiling away the hours until our flight left for Hong Kong. We arrived in Hong Kong late in the evening and were shocked to find the temperature was a chilly 10 degrees Celsius. This was a real shock to our systems after experiencing 30 degree heat in Manila a few hours earlier. We caught the A11 bus to Causeway ... read more

The guide book advises that Cebu City is a little less chaotic and easier to get around than Manila - well, we flew in to Manila and flew straight out again to Cebu, hoping that the guide book wouldn't let us down... We were shocked at the chaos, poverty and fumes that hit us in Cebu. If Cebu is meant to be any indication, we are pretty scared for our last night in Manila. The guide book says "At least the Cebu taxi drivers don't work for Satan". Well they do. But rewind a bit, we left Hong Kong on an early morning flight, landed in Manila and bought an onward ticket for the next flight to Cebu. Jumped in a taxi and decided to find somewhere to stay uptown, which we were advised by a ... read more

From Queenstown we headed North past Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea. The weather was beautiful, the scenery spectacular, but the hairpin bends and one-way bridges across the rivers made for a slow journey. We enjoyed lunch on a very desolate but pretty Haast beach. Unfortunately we had entered sand fly territory and could not hang around long before making a dash for the car. The west coast of the South Island is sparsely inhabited and the few towns that you do come across are small and seem to lack life. The town at Fox Glacier is no different. We arrived in the afternoon and checked into an uninspiring but comfortable holiday park. After dropping our gear off we headed to Matheson Lake for a walk and to try and catch the reflection of NZ’s highest peaks ... read more