Odysseus
Kim Edwards Joined: October 19th 2006
Logged in: May 20th 2009
Logged in: May 20th 2009
Travel Blog Posts
On the road
Scotland was a nice change; the people are very relaxed and laid back. I would once identify similarity to Australians except over the past few years the general population of Sydney have become so loud and sometimes aggressive that I think the Scottish are probably more down to earth! Now Scotland I had been to before and seen a lot so it was a re cap for me, so I acted as the tour guide again. Edinburgh was having a festival when we arrived and along with the storm that sent everyone home. We visited Edinburgh castle but did not enter, and then back to the van and headed North West. Staying in parks and little country road sides. The weather was a bit colder than we had thought so we didn’t go right to the ... read more
Mum in Santorini
After reading up on what islands had what to offer and where they were located the best and most interesting plan led to Santorini (Also known as Thira one of the more southern most islands towards Crete) The camper was to be left on Santorini, Packing up the night before and leaving the van at old port meant we slept the night there and woke up the next morning with enough time to walk around 2miles north east to the new port in order to board the ferry for Naxos. Naxos was similar to Santorini just bigger and a lot more laid back (not the party scene and less tourists) After Santorini we dropped off at the port of Santorini. This was quite different as there was nothing more than a bunch of very small tour/ferry ... read more
Dira Caves
After working Most of the coast south coast we decided we had better speed up and visit the islands. So planning a route with a few stops on the east coast of the Peleponnese with the finally destination being the Capital; Athens. I won’t go deep into details about the other attractions of this journey so as not to bore. So just one I will mention, Dira Caves. These were amazing, I don't think there would be many to rival these, most of it is viewed by boat. I'll just let you check out some pics so you can make up your own mind. The first impressions of Athens were like a wake up to the western world. Navigating around Athens proved to be a little trickier for me than I had thought (I then realized ... read more
Ferry from Italy to Greece
With a little difficulty in communication I finally manage to purchase ourselves and the camper van tickets for the last ferry of the day. A quick shop for food and we’re on our way - boarding just in time! The trip is long and hot, sleeping in the van is near impossible due to the heat and noise of the engines so armed with a pillow and sheet I enter the communal areas of the ferry in search of somewhere to call my bed. The air conditioned areas enable a more comfortable sleep. Had it not been for the roaming announcer at each stop, I would have slept all of the way. Patras is the arrival port and first taste of Greece. Having not had much sleep the first impression is not great and my main ... read more
Brother and I
Hello again! It is almost 2 years since I have visited this site, I am sure the same applies to most of you. Hello to any new friends and welcome back to everyone else. So here I am browsing over my previous journal, I find myself a little surprised how many little adventures I have forgotten. It is now that many of my memories come flooding back. Pondering now more seriously over what lays ahead of me the dream begins to become reality. After all the sad farewells I find my feet leading me down the path toward the airstrip - my rucksack on my back (if it weren’t for my new toy, my DSLR) it could almost be deja vu. I chose a direct flight to London however going cheap I get stuck with a ... read more
Temple next to my guest house
Feb 18th Today I went to Star Bucks to use the wireless internet but they were charging a fortune so canned that idea and since it was Sunday and Chinese New Year’s Day as well I walked the streets to check out the market stalls. Feb 19th Today I booked into a tour of Dui Inthanon (a region north of Chiang Mai where the highest mountain in Thailand is found) The trip was pretty simple, we visited two water falls, grabbed lunch and then went to the kings temples (one for himself and one for his wife) and then went to the highest point in Thailand before returning home. The following pictures will describe the tour along with the beautiful gardens of the kings national park. Feb 23rd The past few days saw me depart on ... read more
Elephant tour
Wakeup was 5am as planned, a quick shower and hurriedly dressed to catch two trains to Tokyo station before 7:30am and then on the bullet train (shinkansen) for an hour ride to Narita airport to check into my flight to Bangkok, Thailand. Check in was the best ever, I didn’t even wait for more than a few minutes. I did have about an hour wait at the boarding deck so I called home to use up the rest of my credit on my Japanese phone then listened to some music on my mp3 player. The flight over to Thailand was great; Singapore airlines were very nice and professional. One hostess was so nice that before we left the terminal she found me a better seat without me asking, during the flight she offered me extras and ... read more
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I got off to an early start, Boss man had looked up the train time tables and it appeared I was to depart on the 7:56am train. After being dropped off at 20 to 8am I found I couldn’t exchange my JR voucher for my JR pass so I had to pay for my ticket to Hakodate.. then when I went to head to the platform I was informed that the next train was due in an hour and a half… Boss man had miss understood the time table! Damn it. Anyway after getting on the train then transferring at Hakodate and exchanging my JR voucher I boarded a shinkansen for speedy trip back to Tokyo. Instead of hopping off at Tokyo Station I thought it would be a smart idea to hop off at Ueno ... read more
Night boarding
Well, it seems like it is about time I update my blog. Since my last update all I have been doing is snowboarding and going out to the local clubs/pubs at night. The lifestyle here is very laid back and social. Snowboarding as a sport seems to be very easy to pick up and there are few better places to learn than Niseko, Japan where the powder comes on thick and strong. The first day I arrived saw a break to a bad spell on the slopes and everyone already in Niseko was celebrating. Apparently over the past week or so, Niseko had received rain and very little snow so conditions were not too good. Luckily with my arrival I brought the snow! On my first day I was lucky to get some tuition from my ... read more
The train ride from Sapporo to Niseko
The accommodation in Hakodate was great, the service was very good also and the amenities were brand new and clean as a whistle. I awoke in the middle of the night as the heater was on too hot only to find it was snowing and raining at the same time. The rain was melting the snow which was disappointing but still great to see snow none the less. After I showered the hostess was kind enough to give me some sweets and a can of coffee for my journey. Upon leaving Hakodate no more than 5 minutes into the trip we entered tons of snow fields, it appeared to be new snow but only a fairly light covering. After leaving Sapporo station I set out to find accommodation and the cheapest place I could find was ... read more
