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Olivers Travels - Oliver Gee

I left my home in Perth, Australia in Dec '07 and still haven't been back.

'Is this because you're running away from something?'

'What are you scared of?'

'What's wrong with Perth?'

'Oh, I didn't know you'd left...'

I imagine these are probably some of the thoughts racing through your head right now.

But no, I've not returned for one reason: There is still more of the world to explore and experience!*

*Also I don't actually have a ticket home yet.

But this isn't a problem, because having no tickets, little money, and mostly no plans seems to create the best stories, many of which I have been chronicling on this blog for you to enjoy. It's probably not the best way to find out exactly where I am, because I'm usually a few weeks behind in writing, but this is certainly the best way to find out where I've been and what I did there.

If you wish to be notified when I update the blog, click on the little 'subscribe' icon below-left, and an email will be sent to you as I publish each entry.

I hope you enjoy the stories, scroll down to read them, the most recent entries are first.

All comments are welcome, but sometimes won't be accepted (Tom)

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Joined on: March 13th 2008
Last Login: October 12th 2008

Blog Entries: 17
Photos: 153

TB Code: [blogger=64967]
Status: BLOGGER

Blogs & Travel Journals

by Olivers-Travels, order by Date newest first.

By Olivers Travels
September 26th 2008

Oliver in England, with a Twist.

Europe » United Kingdom » England

Cornish Air
Elizabeth is clearly impressed

I arrived in England on a cold day in June with 20 pounds in my pocket and hardly any plans. After spending the first part of my stay in St Albans with the Maddicks (more on this later) I headed for the big city - London - to see what all the fuss was about. I checked into the cheapest hostel I could find, and although it looked decrepit and filthy I was happy to stay there after discovering that breakfasts were free. I dropped off my bag and took to the streets, looking for a job, an opening, or just [View Full Entry]

By Olivers Travels
August 12th 2008

Wasted on the Swiss??

Europe » Switzerland » North-East

James and Kevin
Taking in the view from an old fortress. Probably talking about toast.

How I loved Switzerland! Free bike hire around Zurich (genius idea), Kevin and the lovely Gianom family (James's old high-school mate), and Germany only a short drive away if you felt like dropping in for an evening (we did). How could you go wrong? In fact Switzerland, on the whole, was probably the country I enjoyed the most during the Gee Boys Eurotrip 2008. A bit of information for those of you playing at home: The Swiss have four different national languages based on which corner of the country you happen to be standing in. The people around you might be [View Full Entry]

By Olivers Travels
July 20th 2008

Around Italy. And it's pronounced Grah-tsye not Grassiest, Tom

Europe » Italy

Winding Roads and Cutthroat Corners
On the way to the Amalfi Coast

Apparently all roads lead to Rome and it turns out the cheapest flights all lead there too. So Tom, James and I took the cheapest flight out there as soon as we could and landed in Rome with no plans and no idea where we'd be tomorrow, let alone where we'd spend the next couple of weeks. You'd think I'd have learned about accommodation pre-booking from Paris, but you know me. I never learn. I don't know how it happened, but before we could figure out how to say "cheapest accommodation possible" in Italian, we found ourselves being ushered off the [View Full Entry]

By Olivers Travels
July 17th 2008

Family Reunion

Europe » United Kingdom » England » Leicestershire » Leicester

All Seven
James clearly standing on his toes.

100 relatives, one marquee, and an unwritten speech. I've often been heard saying that this is a recipe for disaster, and this is exactly the predicament I found myself in on the morning of the Family Reunion/25th Wedding Anniversary for my parents. I suppose I was carried away with excitement from meeting so many new cousins, Uncles, Aunts, and long lost family friends in the preceding days that I hadn't put much thought into the speech. I hadn't even put pen to paper yet. But everything always works out, and this would be no exception - I figured. Anyway, it was [View Full Entry]

By Olivers Travels
July 12th 2008

Near Disaster in Paris

Europe » France » Île-de-France » Paris

The Eiffel Tower
On a perfect day... and they'd predicted rain.

"Eugh, well zair are no other options, I suggest you find a nice bench to sleep on," said the seemingly rude and nasty Parisian lady from the Tourism Office, and she was being completely serious. I kept my cool, and walked off. A bench!!!??? My 13 year old brother Eddie and I had headed down to Paris from London for two days and one night with absolutely nothing planned, except that Eddie wanted to climb the Eiffel Tower. We didn't book any accommodation, or make any arrangements at all, we were just going to 'play it as it lies' and see [View Full Entry]

By Olivers Travels
July 9th 2008

Leaving African Trails

Africa » Tanzania

Our Truck
This little baby took us through the whole of East Africa. Here she is crossing a bridge with a rare species of Australian monkey hanging out the side.

I took the hour long trip to the Kilimanjaro Airport by taxi, and was lucky enough to be driven by a considerate man who called himself ‘Fresh’ (possibly insane) and couldn’t speak English. I know he was considerate because when he saw that I was a whitey, he dug out a cassette of 80’s pop love songs and put it on for me, giving me a knowing smile and turning the volume right up before it even had a chance to begin. It was thanks to Fresh that I had the fortune of spending my last moments in Africa with Whitney [View Full Entry]

By Olivers Travels
July 1st 2008

Face to Face with a Wild Lion - Zambia

Africa » Zambia » Chipata

Lioness
Thirsty lioness, probably deciding which of us safari goers looked tastiest.

Zimbabwe's problems were too serious for us to visit, and we had to cut directly from Malawi into Zambia instead. But imagine my delight in finding out that the national currency here was also called Kwacha! The change of plans worked out well for us though, as we had a few extra days to kill and decided to make our own way North to check out South Luangwa National Park. This would turn out to be one of the best decisions we made, because the game drives we did were nothing short of spectacular. We stayed at Flatdogs campsite which was [View Full Entry]

By Olivers Travels
June 27th 2008

Where The Malawi Are We?

Africa » Malawi

Little Albert
This delightful little boy just came up and lay down next to me at Kande Beach.

Here's the story of my grand (and quite unique) entrance into Malawi. My first impressions of the country were pleasant. I was wearing my Celtel Akon tee shirt (see French Drop entry) and I was feeling great. We got stamped out of Tanzania by a scowling bulldog disguised as a lady, then crossed the border to the Malawi side and headed to Customs. I wouldn’t say I was glad to leave Tanzania, but I was excited about seeing this new country that EVERYBODY raves about. I walked into the immigration office with a big smile (which is a ploy I use [View Full Entry]

By Olivers Travels
June 25th 2008

When I Was in Zanzibar...

Africa » Tanzania » Zanzibar

Sunset off the North Shore
Beat that

Ah, Zanzibar was fantastic. Highlights included snorkelling, fresh seafood markets, and drinking beers in a bar that overlooked the ocean with the sunset illuminating the dhows that were sailing by. But I wouldn't want to make you jealous, so here is just one story which I will cherish for a long time. We were staying on the north end of the island and Dulal, a Bangladeshi guy with a thick British accent and an enormous beard, had rented a small motorbike for the day. He invited me to jump on the back for a trip to a small and apparently beautiful [View Full Entry]

By Olivers Travels
June 9th 2008

A Long Fall at Victoria Falls

Africa » Zambia » Livingstone

Victoria Falls

I heard your retinas can detach when you go bungy jumping. I couldn't believe it - going blind just from jumping off a bridge! Whatever next? Armed with this knowledge, I made sure I didn't tell my Mum about my jump at the 3rd highest jump site in the world until AFTER I had done it. The jump was a thrill, I have a nice video of it too. It was 365 feet or 111 metres high (sounds better in feet, doesn't it?) and the girl that went before me started crying hysterically right when she was meant to do her [View Full Entry]

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