NatalieLinnell

Hi everyone, Realised it was forever since I did a blog entry and as it will be a year since I left home in a few days I thought it would be good to do an update. I am now living in a hostel in Cairns working on the reception and travel desk, it is pretty fun as you get to meet lots of new people all the time and to go on trips for free to try them out. Went on a tour of some great waterfalls around the atherton tablelands and rainforest last weekend and going out snorkelling on the great barrier reef for the second time tomorrow on a luxury boat. Also went to the launch new boat on Friday night and got to meet loads of people, free champagne and food and ... read more

Thursday 27th Jan- Took the bus to Coolangatta, now in the state of Queensland where they don't have day light saving so the time is an our earlier than in NSW. The hostel was more like a hotel or uni halls, was really nice with aircon etc. Took a walk along the seafront and around the headland before sitting on the beach and going for a swim. Walked back through the town before having dinner and an early night. Friday 28th Jan- Had the morning in Coolangatta before getting the bus to Surfers Paradise. Natalie and Luke were on the bus and Katy and Beth were already in the hostel in Surfers. The hostel was like holiday apartments and the rest if Surfers was made up of highrise apartment buildings and hotels, can see why people ... read more

Was time to carry on up the coast to various beach side towns. Wednesday 19th Jan- Had a walk down to the harbour, the hostel was half way between the town and the harbour so the location was perfect. Walked out to the nature reserve and along the jetty before having lunch on the beach. Then walked the length of the deserted beach which was beautiful. Made it back to the hostel just in time as there was a huge thunderstorm. Paul, Lindsey, Katy and Beth left the hostel for the bus station and me and Danny stayed another night. It was pizza night at the hostel so had pizza and played cards with some people at the hostel before bed. Thursday 20th Jan- Got up at 5am to catch the early bus to Byron Bay. ... read more

After our first Australian Greyhound journey which was luxurious compared to American greyhound, we were in Newcastle (a bit different from the UK equivalent). Wednesday 12th Jan- Headed to Nobby's head beach on the east of the city. It was a cloudy but warm day with a nice breeze. I walked alongt he beach and around the headland, up to the lighthouse and out to the end of the harbour wall before chilling on the beach. Unfortanatly burnt my forehead and nose which peeled towards the end of the week, not a good look and also ended up with huge white pande eyes from my sunglasses. In the afternoon we went to the salt water swimming pools which are outdoors next to the ocean and I swam a few lengths. In the evening we went with ... read more

We headed to the central coast to a small place called Point Clare near Gosford to stay with Katy's great aunt and uncle. We were made very welcome and were able to rest up and plan the next part of our trip after a very hectic but wonderful Christmas and New Years in Sydney. Mon 3rd of Jan- We had settled into our little annex below Lynne and Pete's house, which has amazing views and a really nice garden and had been made very welcome by them. After some much needed sleep they took us for a drive around the area where there are rivers, bush land and beaches. We had a coffee by the sea in a nice seaside town before heading back to the house and having a BBQ. Tue 4th Jan- Had a ... read more

On Monday 20th Dec- we left the hostel in Christchurch at 3.15am to head to the airport and catch a 7am flight. We had a fairly small plane and some bad turbulence over the Tasman Sea due to strong winds but yet again Air New Zealand was fantastic. We got an airport transfer to the hostel and spent the morning updating blogs and photos while waiting to check in. The hostel was really central, right next to town hall and George Street. The room was huge which was a bonus as we were staying there for 2 weeks. After heading to the supermarket and eating dinner, it was a very early night. Tuesday 21st Dec- We decided to do the city open top bus tour to get our bearings of the city, had our first sight ... read more

After a very long flight of 14 hours and missing Monday the 6th of Dec, we arrived early in Auckland int he North Island and waited at the airport for Beth to arrive from LA. We then caught a shuttle to the hostel which was in teh centre of Auckland and left our bags in storage until check-in time so we could take a very tired walk around the city, the centre wasn't very big and we walked through the park, the uni campus, had some lunch and saw an interesting outdoor photography exhibition before finally checking-in and taking a much needed shower. We then headed dow to the harbour area and saw some nice boats including some America's cup yachts. Then had an early dinner and an early night. Wednesday 8th Dec- We waited outside ... read more

Mum and Dad arrived on Staurday night so I headed to their hotel on Sunday morning, was so great to see them and we went for a good breakfast before doing a long walk around Stanley Park. In the evening we went to a nice restuarant and then I headed back to Bob And Tracey's. On the Monday we took the boat accross to North Vancouver and then caught the bus up to Lynn Cayon to do some walks around the forest. The weather wasn't brilliant but under the tree's it was pretty dry. We then had lunch back at the port in the market and looked aorund the little stalls and shops in the market place. On Tuesday Mum and Dad had a trip to Whistler so me and Katy went to the Mall and ... read more

On Sunday Nov 21st we took the bus back to Vancouver and then in the evening we went to a Vancouver Canucks Ice Hockey game at the Rogers stadium. It was really great to watch a professional game, so fast paced and often brutal. It was also a competitve game but unfortantly the Canucks lost at the last minute. Then on Monday we just had a chill out day, had a walk to the mall in the afternoon which was a mistake as it was the coldest day in Vnacouver for 25 years with a wind chill of -6. We didn't shop properly just looked for a new camera for Katy so we are going to go back to the mall to get things for New Zealand, it is so huge and very easy to get ... read more

Sat 13th Nov-Sat 20th Nov We stayed with Kevin and Ernie from Friday to Tuesday, on Saturday we went with Ernie and took a walk around the Missionary grounds and went to the look out point with great views over the Fraser River. We then had a nice meal and Julie and Gabriel also came round. Then relaxed in the hot tub on the deck. On Sunday Kevin and Ernie took us on a sight seeing trip to Harrison hot springs and we took a walk around the lake and then went off road driving above the lake on the logging tracks, it certainly wasn't your average Sunday drive and had great views. We headed back down into Harrison for some food and drinks before heading home. On Monday the rain was really heavy so we ... read more