Flying into New Zealand, we were once again re-united with our Scottish pals, Laney and Susan. No matter how much we try and move around the world, these 2 always seem to conveniently crop up to cramp our style. Anyway getting a big old campervan seemed the thing to do so after a couple days pottering around Christchurch, we picked up the oil tanker of a road vehicle and set out on the roads of Kiwi-land. First stop was the tallest mountain on the island, Mt Cook. You need a few days and a bit more specialist equipment than the trainers [View Full Entry]

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On to the East Coast of Australia then. We flew into Sydney resigned to the fact that everything was going to cost an arm and a leg... so with that behind us we decided to go out for a few beers! It's good to get over your issues we thought (beer helps too). The following day we headed out to do the typical tourist thang and stroll round the harbour. It was all a pretty impressive sight and it was so weird actually standing in the shadow of a building that you've seen so many times in pictures, on the telly [View Full Entry]

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After a taster of things of things to come in Singapore, our next stop on the trip was the financially crippling Australia. No more Thai curries and a beer for £2. Nope, now we are back to western prices which inevietably means, God forbid, that we may even have to cook our own dinners and even worse - drink beer before we go out. It's be like our student days relived. As seems to be the common theme, we started off this new country in true Ross and Sean style of unintentional blundering by first getting into an argument with a [View Full Entry]

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Crikey, it seems like a long time since I've written a blog... Sorry about that chaps, we've obviously just been too busy enjoying ourselves to get round to doing something as mundane as blog writing. But now that we've got a few hours to kill (waiting for a ferry in NZ) I'll fill you in on some of our exploits... After finally having our fill of Thailand, Ross and I decided to start our long and arduous journey towards Singapore for our flight to the wonderful world of OZ. We contemplated flying but it was a bit on the expensive side [View Full Entry]

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The main point of me coming to this dilapidated town in Southern Luzon was that it stands at the foot of Mount Mayon. Translated as the 'Beautiful Mountain' it is dubbed the world's most perfect volcano due to its near symmetrical appearance. I had plans to climb it over a 2 day period. However, due to the fact that the volcano was at an activity level 2 (out of 5) and more so the torrential rain that was pounding the area, no company would allow me up for the trek. I decided to wait a day to see if the weather [View Full Entry]

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With Heather over to visit Sean, I was given the chance to explore another South East Asian country, recommended by a couple of people we had met, but seemingly not visited by many as part of the 'backpacking' circuit. Not only this, but it also gave me 18 days away from the moaning, worrying and general woman-like tendencies that make up Sean.... The Lonely Planet guide bought the day before my flight was the only information I had on the country so I boarded the plane with great expectation coupled with overwhelming mystery. Although the boarding of the plane didn't exactly [View Full Entry]

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After the calm serenity of Cambodia we decided we needed a bit of hustle and bustle back in Thailand so we headed back to good ol' Bangkok. This feeling lasted about a day before we got fed up and wanted more beach action so we booked the train the following day to Chumphon - the gateway to the Thai Gulf islands. After a rather turbulent catamaran crossing from Chumphon we got to our first Thai beach on the island of Koh Tao - and what an island it was. You know that picture that forms in your head when someone mentions [View Full Entry]

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After all the partytime in Vietnam our poor livers were in need of some serious recovery, and nowhere seemed better than the little heart shaped country in SE Asia called Cambodia. We headed into the capital Phnom Pehn to start with early in January and to be honest it was a bit of a dump, we did very little here (the first time round anyway, be patient dear reader...) except watch the mighty Luton achieve an admirable draw against the Scousers in the FA cup and walk though the most rat infested market known to man (seriously some of those blighters [View Full Entry]

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The Journey across Laos through to Vietnam was arduous to say the least. We had a rough plan to make it down to Saigon with the hope that a big city would bring the best celebrations for Xmas. However, a few days before, we found out that Kerry (who we travelled China/Hong Kong with) was going to be at a place called Nha Trang with some friends. Coincidently, a couple of Scottish friends we met on the ferry to Shanghai were also thinking of staying there for the festivities. Obviously the Party liaison Officers, Ross and Sean, were required to liven [View Full Entry]

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Right then, onto Laos. We headed out of Chiang Mai on a fully loaded minivan heading for the Thailand/Laos border at Chiang Kong. Normally I wouldn't have mentioned such a mundane event but we had the strangest fellow on the van I've ever come across (well nearly, I am traveling with Ross... ho ho!). He was clearly of Thai origin but he spoke with the worst cockney style accent I've ever heard in real life; imagine Dick van Dyke in Mary Poppins and you'll pretty much be there - he even uttered the phrase "cor blimey!"after he sneezed at one point, [View Full Entry]

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