I flew to Singapore to meet my house-mate from uni Steve, and his older brother Chris, as well as Emma, my friend from back home in Basingstoke. The reputation of Singapore's airport had preceded it as one of the nicest in the world, and when I arrived it didn't disappoint! Mints and sweets were being handed out, internet was on offer for free and the staff were actually friendly!! The four of us got reacquainted, and wandered down Orchard Road, the main thoroughfare in the city. With Steve, Chris and I being used to much more expensive parts of the world [View Full Entry]

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Before flying to Singapore to meet with Steve and Chris, I had just under three weeks to blast up the East coast of Australia. My first stop was Melbourne, and after visiting, this is one city that I'm disappointed because I don't really think that I got the most out of it. Almost, everyone I had met really enjoyed Melbourne, but I had a kind of lethargy about me when I was there and didn't come away having had all that good a time. That said, my very fortunate (and unplanned) timing meant that the Grand Prix was in town during [View Full Entry]

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To head north from Christchurch, I managed to snare myself a hire car! Because a lot of tourists travel New Zealand from North to South, hire cars often end up down in places like Christchurch, when punters are actually looking to pick them up further North. To get the cars back up to the North, the rental companies give you 24 hours to relocate the car for free - you only have to put in the petrol. I was given a little Daewoo something or other to relocate to Picton, the main entry port at the top of the South island. [View Full Entry]

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I have now reached New Zealand, which is like everyone says - very beautiful and lovely with great scenery although the weather can be a bit of a tester. If you hear a New Zealander complaining about the rain in England you can tell him where to shove his kiwi fruit as this is meant to be the height of summer and it has rained quite a lot...as you will hear. I arrived in Christchurch in early January and I had a great plan to stay there for a few days, make friends, and buy a campervan with them and tour [View Full Entry]

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From South Africa I moved onto Sydney, and when I arrived I felt like Brooks in Shawshank. The world had gone and got itself in a big damn hurry. Instead of the sedate pace of South African life there were people absolutely everywhere. It was quite weird after six weeks away from it. Anyway Sydney is cool, and as I have explored the city more have really enjoyed it. Christmas Day here was actually pretty rubbish, the weather was cold and windy but I headed down to Bondi Beach all the same. Not really much going on down there so after [View Full Entry]

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Since leaving Cape Town I've been heading east along the Garden Route via the BazBus - a hop-on hop-off bus service that picks you up and drops you off at whatever hostel you're staying in at the next town. I think that back home in England the BazBus is pushed pretty hard by places like STA as the only safe way to travel across South Africa. Having travelled for a little while now in South Africa, I think that the security aspects of this country are slightly overstated. Obviously, there are areas which are dangerous and you shouldn't head to after [View Full Entry]

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November 2004 saw me bidding an emotional farewell to friends and family and heading off my my post-graduate travels. The initial trip that I had mooted with my uni friends Steve and Chris had fallen through - I would now be meeting the Norfolk boys in Singapore for a month long blitz through South East Asia. In their absence, I had decided to forge my own path, which eased me into the traveling way via the English speaking South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, before heading up through South East Asia with Steve and Chris, and then culminating the trip in [View Full Entry]

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