Travel Blog Posts
New Zealand.....part 2....
Published: January 11th 2010Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Canterbury
November 5th 2009
Finally, a few more piccies from various outings around the South Island ! To be honest we really didnt do all that much other than work and save pennies whilst we were in Christchurch, although had a really nice few weeks with Becky when she arrived on her travels here, was soooo good to see her ! I dragged her out on a girlie night with some work friends which was a good laugh ! Poor Nath was surrounded by squarking girls for the evening and then woken by about 4 of us trying to squeeze into our little flat to sleep later on that night ! Was not so funny the next morning, I felt like death. My hangovers get worse and worse every time ! Becky, Nathan and I also went for a weekend ... read more
The Land of the Long White Cloud.... part 1.....
Published: October 5th 2009Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch
September 30th 2009
After a week spent mingling in the sunshine with the beautiful people of Sydney (and sticking out like sore thumbs in our rags!), we arrived into Christchurch, New Zealand. Where it felt more like we'd just arrived in the Arctic. It was bloomin freezing compared to what we'd just spent the past 6 months in !!! We were met by friends from home, Zoe and Mark who both moved out here a few years ago, and whisked off to their pad in the hills on the outskirts of the city where we spent the next month or so coming back down to earth with a huge bump whilst the hunt for work began.....! Now, 6 or so months on, we are back into the swing of the Western world (even if somewhat backwards....!), back into the ... read more
Sticky Singapore & Sunny Sydney
Published: May 14th 2009Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney
April 28th 2009
Yet again another mission border crossing !! They make it sound so simple in the guide books..... WRONG !!! We flew from Borneo back into Johor Baru in Southern Malaysia, and made our way down to the border on a bus. Where we then had to wait an hour for another one, then get off at the check point with all our stuff, then go through immigration and customs, then get on another bus to take us over the causeway and into Singapore. Then get off the bus and go through immigration again, then get stopped and quizzed about how much we enjoyed our stay in Malaysia, then head down to wait for another bus which would then take us into the city where we were going to catch the tube to the airport !!!! Phew ... read more
March 21st 2009
We were soooo excited about coming to Borneo, for both of us its always been one of those really far away sounding places that you never expect to visit ! Plus it wasnt part of the plan initially, so was like an added bonus ! The only downside was we could only fit in 10 days, so we headed straight for Sabah, on the eastern side. It was about a 2hour flight from Southern Malaysia to Kota Kinabalu, the biggest and busiest town in Malaysian Borneo. (Borneo is split in two, the top half is Malaysian, the bottom is Indonesian) We arrived and caught a cab into the centre, to a hostel where we'd planned to meet up with Brad and Laura again, a couple we met and travelled with for a few days in Laos ... read more
March 15th 2009
Up until the day before we were due to cross over into Malaysia, we actually had no idea where we were heading or how !! However we bumped into an ozzie guy (who was just about the only other person camping on our deserted beach in Thailand!), and he happened to be getting rid of a Malaysia, Borneo and Singapore guidebook ! Result !! So, with a map in our mits, we managed to get ourselves to a border crossing where we could catch a boat over to Langkawi, yet another island ! It wasnt without mishaps though, as we went through immigration, it turned out that on arrival in Thailand, the Thai officials hadnt taken into account our visa and stamped Nath with a date that was now overdue and therefore invalid ! So the ... read more
Island Hopping, South Thailand - someones gotta do it !!!
Published: February 3rd 2009Asia » Thailand » Southern Thailand
February 2nd 2009
After our xmas and new year on lovely Koh Tao, we said goodbye to our little bungalow and Ralph the lizard, and headed to the nextdoor island in the Samui group, most famous for its Full Moon parties; Koh Phangan. After the sea crossing from the mainland to Koh Tao, I went fully prepared and dosed up on sea sickness tablets ! It wasnt too bad though and we arrived in one piece.... Not sure on where we were headed, we found ourselves being bumped along in the back of a taxi van towards Hat Rin beach, which is where the infamous beach parties are held each full moon, and also each half moon now too ! (They dont miss a trick out here !) As it was really early in the morning, it was pretty ... read more
Xmas & New Year on Koh Tao, Thailand !
Published: January 10th 2009Asia » Thailand » South-West Thailand » Ko Tao
January 10th 2009
We're back in Thailand !! Arrived back into Bangkok and headed straight down South to the Samui Islands in the Lower Southern Gulf of Thailand, to our chosen xmas destination of Koh Tao !! So exciting to be arriving on the islands, although the past couple of months have been amazing, its also been quite hectic and both of us were very much looking forward to a couple weeks of relaxing, swimming and diving ! (Sorry guys, its apparently like -6 there now isnt it ?!??!) Over the past weeks in SE Asia, we've become accustomed to (as well as each other!) hot and smelly cities, roads you can barely walk let alone drive on, motorbikes carrying a whole family, their groceries and a live pig all at the same time, Vietnamese spitting all over the ... read more
January 10th 2009
As we travelled further North, peoples attitudes towards us changed quite a lot. There is still quite a large North/South divide even so long after the war, and perhaps due to the fact the North were actually fighting the Americans whilst the South were with them, and maybe cos of the way the French treated them in the past, they appeared to be more hostile, and certainly saw us as walking $ signs !! Even so, North Vietnam is just as interesting and beautiful, if not more, than the South. Halong Bay and Sapa were incredible places to visit, we boarded a Junk for 2 days and a night which sailed around Halong, stopping at some amazing caves and islands. We kayaked around the little islands as well, even going through a small cave which opened ... read more
December 27th 2008
During the month we spent in Vietnam, we visited so many different places its so difficult to choose the pics and what to write about ! Naths just about lost the will to live....its so tiring sitting next to me watching me update our blog apparently.....!!! So we've divided Vietnam into two parts... ooooh the suspense...haha ! We had a super smooth border crossing from Cambodia into Vietnam, arriving in Hoh Chi Minh City (Saigon). what a place ! Just when we thought the roads and traffic in Asia couldnt be any more hectic, this place was unbelievable ! There are litterally thousands of motorbikes throughout the city, the roads are crammed full of them. It is most definitely an art crossing these roads, you just have to go for it and somehow they all manage ... read more
December 18th 2008
We only spent just over a week in Cambodia in total, and it was a real mixture of highs and lows ! It started off with probably the worst day we'd had all trip. The border crossing from South Laos into Cambodia was a nightmare. We were fleeced of money from start to finish and there was nothing we could do about it ! Plus the journey which was supposed to be a few hours, turned into all day and then half of the next ! Was definitely an experience though !! We were changed to about 5 different minibuses, all the way along (these are the only way of crossing over, conveniently....) each minibus deteriorating massively, the last one was literally on its last legs ! Driven at break neck speeds along pot holed and ... read more
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