http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Meems/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Meems en-us Wed, 03 Dec 2008 23:44:04 UTC Wed, 03 Dec 2008 23:44:04 UTC The journey to get to Bangkok wasn't as flawless as I'd hoped. I guess with 3 flights to catch something was bound to go wrong it just so happened that everything that could have gone wrong didFirstly my domestic flight from Melbourne to Brisbane was delayed by 40 mins. That wouldn't have been an issue but with the flight times as they originally stood I was pushing my luck to meet my intern http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Thailand/Central/Bangkok/blog-101455.html This is my final week in Melbourne in fact my final week in Australia before embarking on the final leg of my trip so I thought I should write a final Aussie entryThe weekend I returned from the outback Mick and I went down to Colac to attend Mick's football awards presentation evening. I assumed that a function like that would require us to go suited and booted but Mick reassured me that it http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/CBD/blog-97996.html After a short 50 minute flight from Melbourne I arrived in Adelaide airport and managed to get the last shuttle bus direct to my hostel. Feeling a little aprehensious about being alone again somewhere new and the week ahead it was comforting to find myself in a big old converted house. Reception was closed so there was nobody waiting to greet me but I found my bed linen on the side board w http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Northern-Territory/Uluru/blog-94114.html Having seen the sights of Sydney I decided to brave the 13 hour bus journey back down to Melbourne. Luckily enough I had two seats to myself and after purchasing an inflatable travel pillow I was able to lie down and well sleep We stopped in the capital Canberra for lunch on the way and I was shocked at how tiny it was. I swear that Oprington has more hustle and bustle than the capital http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/St--Kilda/blog-92216.html I finally decided that the time had come to check out of my Byron haven And this time rather than booking another night or two when actually meaning to check out I handed the keys over and said my goodbyes. I was really sad to leave but I knew it was time.I made my way to the greyhound bus stop and prepared myself for the 13 hour long journey ahead of me. With my sleeping bag under my arm and http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-90490.html The Gold Coast or more specifically Surfers Paradise was pretty much your average seaside party town but with a great beach as only you'd expect in Australia. I decided it wasn't really a place I could spend any longer than a day so after a few hours on the beach and a run in with Sally from Home and Away oh yes I booked my next leg of my trip...Byron Bay.I'd heard that Byron was another se http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Byron-Bay/blog-87241.html After Magnetic Island I hopped on a greyhound bus and headed to Airley Beach. Now Airley beach is the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands but apart from that all this place has to its name is a manmade lagoon Anyway Steve and Wendy and myself decided to book up a 3 day 2 night sailing trip around the Whitsunday Islands. We chose a smaller sail boat rather than a full on party catamaran in http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Fraser-Island/blog-85925.html So after 4 weeks of Melbourne I sadly left Mick behind and flew up to the North East of Austraila to begin my trek down the East Coast. I found it really difficult being alone again after such a long time of not having to think about EVERYTHING for myself It took me a couple of days to snap out of my sorry state but I soon befriended a nice candian girl who I hung out with for a couple of days. http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Cairns/blog-82943.html My flight to Australia actually arrived into Melbourne half an hour earlywhen does that ever happen That meant that I had to wait anxiously for over 40 minutes for Mick's mum to pick me up from outside the aiport someone I had never met and I had no clue as to what car I should be looking out for or what she looks like I was merely looking for someone who looked as if they were looking for http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/St--Kilda/blog-79410.html As soon as Mick left Auckland I booked a flight down to the South Island to see the true New Zealand I met Mads in the hostel in Christchurch and decided to go for the stay 2 nights get one free offer There wasn't an awful lot to do in Christchurch but Mads had a dutch guy bob coming down to see her on the 2nd day and I found out that a guy I'd met in the North Island was also in Christch http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Christchurch/blog-77919.html So Myself Steve and Rich all made our way to the airport and got on the flight across to New Zealand. When we got to the airport we were thouroughly grilled by customs about any equiptment we may have on us that we shouldn't have or that needed to be cleansed. I denied everything despite having shoes that had trekked throught the rainforests of Fiji but the lads declared their tent. Not wan http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/blog-73290.html After the Fiji Experience myself and 7 lads went on to do a bit of Island hopping. First stop was Beachcomber Island...the party Island. On the ferry over someone mentioned that there was supposed to be a concert of some sort going on at the time we were there but as we hadn't heard anything about it we didn't really pay much attention. As it turns out CocaCola in NewZealand had run a competi http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Fiji/Mamanuca-Islands/Malolo-Island/blog-73282.html I left LA on the 18th May and arrived at the airport in Fiji at about 3am on May 20th having not existed on May 19th I was greeted by to Fijian men playing the banjo and singing very happily a little too happily for that hour of the day if I'm honest I then made my way to the Fiji Experience desk where I was given a shell necklace to wear. I met a couple from England who were also going to b http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Fiji/Viti-Levu/Nadi/blog-68655.html After 2 weeks of nonstop sight seeing camping in the cold it was a relief to reach the hotel back in LA again comfortable in my mind that I'd made the most of my time in West America. I also had a smile on my face as Mick was going to be meeting me at the hotel Mick had actually badly sprained his ankle playing football the night before his flight and was on crutches...something his football http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/California/Los-Angeles/Orange/blog-68647.html After a crazy weekend in Vegas we headed for the tranquility of Yosemite National Park. We firstly hiked around the forest looking at all the Secoya trees the biggest trees in the world and took some photos before heading to camp. In the morning we had a free day in the park. Faye and I decided that instead of spending the whole day doing one hike up to a waterfall we'd hike up to see Mirror l http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/California/San-Francisco/North-Beach/blog-64164.html A week of camping deserves 2 nights in a hotel right And what better place to unwind than VEGAS We started our adventure in style too. We had a 30 seater limo pick us up from our hotel ready for a 2 hour trip along the strip with a couple of stops along the way. Everyone got dressed up and was in the mood for a party. We were the first in the limo and it was the definition of a party limo http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Nevada/Las-Vegas/blog-64161.html We had a reasonably early start to the day today we were to drive through the Arizona desert until we reached a place called Laughlin our campground for the night en route to the Grand Cannyon. We stopped along the way to look at some cactus. I had no idea that cactus were as big as they are they're absolutely massive as you should be able to see from the pic We then pulled up by some sand http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Arizona/Grand-Canyon-National-Park/blog-64156.html I sadly left Canada behind me and headed over to Los Angeles to start a 2 week tour with Trek America around the West of the USA. Having had such an amazing time in Candada with some truly brilliant people I was on quite a downer when I reached the hotel in LA where I knew nobody in an area I'd been advised not to leave the hotel due to the risk of being attacked I decided to stay in the room http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/California/Los-Angeles/blog-64141.html Having spent a fair bit of time in Vancouver myself Lucy our new English friend Madaline who I'd met in Toronto who'd rocked up to our hostel in Vancouver and Jo the Aussie chick decided it was time for a bit of a girlie trip to Vancouver Island. After a 5 hour journey including 3 busses and a ferry we arrived in Victoria. A place that people had been raving about. Personally I wasn't o http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Tofino/blog-55580.html Mick gave me a free return bus ticket to Whistler so on Monday morning I took the Snowbus across to Whistler. The journey took 2 hours...I was dreading it having lost my ipod but it was absolutely fine as they played us a film and I fell asleep I woke when my head bashed against the window really hard and couldn't believe the view. It looked like we were driving through a tropical island we http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Whistler/blog-52618.html