Lyndsey Riding

Mark and Lynds

Lyndsey Riding

In August 2009, we decided after talking about going travelling so much, why didn't we just go for it? And so started the busiest year of our lives! After spending months redecorating our home, we rented it out. We also began budgeting and planning for our adventure. In December 2010, we fly to Hong Kong and begin a 5 week trek of China, Vietnam, Cambodia before finshing in Thailand. From here, we are spending a month travelling around Thailand (mainly Island hopping and a visit to the bridge over River Kwai) before flying to Melbourne for a few days. We then move onto New Zealand where we are spending two months travelling both islands. We are then spending a week in Fiji to relax and top up the tans! Our final adventure begins in LA where we then spend 6 weeks travelling around the whole of America.

Fiji

Oceania » Fiji » Yasawa Islands » Nanuya Island May 15th 2011

Blue Lagoon

Mark and Lynds

Our adventure in New Zealand had come to an end and for me and Mark, the final part was about to begin. Only two months left to go (which is still a long time- about the same time we were in Asia for) However, before heading to the States, we had two weeks of relaxation in Fiji to attend to! We arrived in Nadi and transferred to our hotel for the night before heading off to the islands the following morning. We were booked onto a package tour of 12 days which takes you to 6 islands and also takes care of all the transfers, meals and accommodation. We awoke in the morning to a nice cooked breakfast as part of our welcome package and unfortunately for me, another bout of bites from bed bugs (welcome ... read more

Final Days in New Zealand

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island May 14th 2011

Whale Spotting

Mark and Lynds

Kaikoura It’s crazy to think we are down to our final weeks in New Zealand and it’s only two weeks now before we fly to Fiji. After spending plenty of time travelling the West Coast we now just seem to be flying up the East coast back to Auckland. First full day in Kaikoura was a bit of a right off to be honest; we arrived at the Adelphi Lodge around 7pm where we were staying and had planned to get an early night so the next day we could get out early and explore the town... sadly that didn’t really work out as most of the next day was spent recovering from a monster hangover. In our defence it wasn’t entirely our fault, we stopped for a cheeky nightcap before bed in the hotel bar ... read more

Next Stop Antarctica

Oceania » New Zealand April 21st 2011

Millford Sound

Mark and Lynds

As you leave Queenstown you have two choices with ‘Stray’ you can either head straight across country to the outskirts of Christchurch or for the more adventurous you can take a route that covers the most Southern parts of New Zealand before heading back up. We have plenty of time so south we go! After leaving Queenstown our next destination was a place called Milford Sound. Originally we hadn’t planned to go here at all, so when the opportunity came up to do a boat cruise we jumped at it, without really knowing what it was... all the pictures looked pretty so why not! Millford Sound/Gunn’s Camp... We were certainly not disappointed as Milford Sound turned out to be just an amazing place. It’s basically a massive ‘Fiord’ that has been created over the course of ... read more

Believe it or not, this is Lynds in Gunn's Camp when the coal fire went out!

The ONLY Penguin we saw on Stewart Island

This is what happens when you get too close to a Sea Lion!

Wanaka and Queenstown

Oceania » New Zealand April 19th 2011

Sunset over Lake Wanaka

Mark and Lynds

Wanaka We once again boarded the bright orange bus and headed for a little town called Wanaka which is located around an hour and a half from Queenstown. Before arriving though, we stopped off in a town called Makarora where we were initially due to spend three days. However, upon arriving, we realised that there really wasn’t anything to do and so we decided to jump on the bus the following morning. The town of Wanaka is populated by around 3,000 people. This becomes higher in the winter months due to the ski season. We have read that Wanaka is like a smaller Queenstown. The town offers everything you would need. There are some good shops for clothes, a supermarket, cafes and restaurants, beautiful walks and a place called, ‘Puzzling world’ for kids (and big kids) ... read more

Volcano's, Seals & Ice Glaciers

Oceania » New Zealand April 1st 2011

On top of the Volcano!

Mark and Lynds

It is so hard to sit here and describe in words just what a beautiful place New Zealand really is. The back drop for almost everywhere is either a stunning mountain range or Volcano, rolling green hills, deep lakes of green/blue, crystal clear rivers...amazing coast lines! It’s the only place I know where you can surf and ski... see whales, seals and dolphins... trek in woodlands/rainforest or maybe up an ice glazier or if you prefer just sit in a bar and watch the world go by. Tongarrira National Park: Probably my favourite place so far has been Tongarrira National Park and there we decided to have a crack at the ‘Tongarrira Alpine Crossing’. It’s 19.8km up and straight over an active volcano to the finish line. You start at 1100 feet, climb to 1700 before ... read more

Arriving in New Zealand

Oceania » New Zealand March 28th 2011

The Stray bus

Mark and Lynds

After a pretty uneventful flight we landed safely in Auckland. We now have two months here and have booked passage round both the North and South Islands with a bus company called ‘Stray’. Basically it is a big Orange bus that stops at various points around the country and you just hop on and off as you please... Our first stop should be Auckland as we are staying with our friends Jenny & Paul, however this particular weekend they are staying in their holiday home in the surfing town of ‘Raglan’ and have kindly asked us to join them there... Based on our first few days here, New Zealand should be very interesting... so far we have managed to find ourselves in a coastal town that had been placed on Tsunami Alert... Hiked over an active ... read more

Amazing Australia

Oceans and Seas March 22nd 2011

Melbourne City Centre

Mark and Lynds

After enjoying a couple of days of luxury to end our first adventure, we finally bid farewell to Asia and hello to Melbourne, Australia. We arrived at Bangkok airport (which was no short of a miracle after the crazy taxi drivers urgency to get us there!) we decided to settle in a bar and have a few drinks before the flight. I always insist on a couple of drinks before a long flight due to my fear of flying. I would like to think that I am getting better but there is still something that about that waiting period after you have checked in that begins to raise my fears. As we sat and chatted about our excitement for the next leg of our trip, we suddenly heard the greatest crashing noise. After wondering what the ... read more

Return to Bangkok

Asia » Thailand March 9th 2011

Grave of the Unknown Soldier

Mark and Lynds

Thankfully the journey went well and we have now returned to Bangkok for our final few days in Asia. It ended up being so simple, just one hour on the boat to the mainland and then another seven hours by bus to Bangkok... It does makes for a very long day but both of us are really looking forward to coming back to somewhere familiar... We are also staying in the same hotel we first came too as it was cheap, close to everything and to be honest it was too much hassle to look around for somewhere else. We now have ten days left in Asia and that gives us a great opportunity to explore Bangkok in more detail. To be honest the more we look the more we love this place! Here in Thailand ... read more

Thailand - Koh Samui, Koh Phangan & Koh Tao

Asia » Thailand March 3rd 2011

Koh Samui beach

Mark and Lynds

Koh Samui The journey from Phuket to Koh Samui was never going to be an easy one as we had to cross Thailand West to East which is a fair old trek and after our last adventure we didn’t have high hopes. However nothing was going to prepare us for what happened next. The plan was simple... get picked up at the hotel, two buses and a boat and we’d be there. Things went wrong pretty much straight away; firstly we spent the first four hours crammed into a mini bus full of French people. Now I have nothing against the French but my god don’t they moan!! 4 HOURS of constant winging. The man in front of us was a massive beefcake type guy we nicknamed ‘Princess’ as to the common eye he was a ... read more

Thailand - Bangkok to Phuket

Asia » Thailand March 3rd 2011

Street food on the Khao San Road

Mark and Lynds

It’s strange to think that the first part of our trip has already come to an end and we have to say good bye to the faces we have been with for the past few weeks. The crossing from Cambodia went fairly well, even if the Cambodians & Thai armies were taking pot shots at each across the border that day... we also enjoyed a fairly long journey to the hotel as the driver was trying to avoid the mass demonstrations that were taking place in the city. However despite all that first impressions of Bangkok were very good. It’s not quite the shanty city we were expecting, indeed compared with the dusty dirt tracks of Cambodia it was weird to be driving on normal roads again. Bangkok is much the same as most cities, high ... read more

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