TravelBlog » Si and Jess 2009 RTW adventure

Si and Jess 2009 RTW adventure - Simon Hartley & Jessie Watts

Travel Itinerary 31/03 - 27/08/2009

31st March
London - Jo’burg; transfer flight to Vic Falls 1st April
Vic Falls to Cape Town Overland Tour (Zimbabwe/Botswana/Namibia/South Africa) 3 weeks 02/04-24/04
Capetown Township Teaching Volunteer Project 3 weeks 24/04-15/05

16th May
Cape Town - Bangkok (in Bangkok for check in 2pm on 17th)
Gap Adventures Siam Discovery 22 day tour 17/05-07/06
(Bangkok - River Kwai - Ayutthaya - Chiang Mai - 3 day hilltribe trek - Chiang Rai/Golden Triangle - Khao Sok NP - Koh Samui - Koh Tao)

7th June (after 1pm)
Bangkok - Melbourne
Backpacker campervan hire Melbourne - Cairns 8/06 - 05/07

5th July
Cairns - Auckland
Backpacker campervan hire Auckland - Christchurch 06/07-26/07

26th July
Christchurch - Nadi, Fiji
Feejee Experience Mangos and Mantarays (hop on hop off coach service)
Viti Levu and the Yasawas

4th August
Nadi - Los Angeles; transfer flight to San Francisco
Trek America Gold Rush 05/08-16/08 (Yosemite NP, Sierras Nevadas, Great Basin, Zion and Bryce Canyon, Lake Powell, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas)
Car hire Las Vegas - San Francisco (LA, Big Sur, Monteray, Wine Country) 18/08-26/08

24th August
San Francisco - London
Arrive back London Heathrow 25th August 10:30am

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Joined on: March 19th 2009
Last Login: November 26th 2009

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Blogs & Travel Journals

by Si and Jess 2009 RTW adventure, order by Date newest first.

By Si and Jess 2009 RTW adventure
August 5th 2009

Fiji Time North America » United States » California » San Francisco

Leaving New Zealand for Fiji
Flying over the Southern Alps

Bula!! There's a word which Kiwis tend to often overuse - 'awesome'. However, there have been times on our travels where the word can be used wholely appropriately. After arriving in Fiji I was already missing New Zealand, not only for its scenery that really was genuinely awesome, but also the freedom of our campervan home that let us go where and whenever we liked. For the first 4 days of our time in Fiji, we travelled on a Feejee Expererience bus which despite its aim to show us the culturally rich 'real Fiji', frustrated us in confining us to a [View Full Entry]

By Si and Jess 2009 RTW adventure
July 26th 2009

Adrenalin Central in Winter Wonderland Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch

Bay of Islands Bliss

Kia Ora! What a fantastic new world of adventure we've discovered! Luckily we've been largely blessed with good sunny weather, having really only had two miserable days over the last three weeks (that's better than your average English summer ain't it?!). The scenery has been incredible (even better with the winter's snow) and the list of things to do endless, so we've got a fair bit of catchin' up to do! From Paihia (Bay of Islands) we returned south via the scenic west coast, passing through the ancient Waipou forest, which contains huge Kauri trees, some of which are believed to [View Full Entry]

By Si and Jess 2009 RTW adventure
July 9th 2009

New England Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Islands » Paihia

Airlie Beach
Breakfast on the beach!

Hello again, is the weather still nice over there?:(:) We've ended up driving 4163 miles (over a 1000 miles a week!) between and around Melbourne to Cairns settling into fine sunny dry weather by the second half of our journey and now (via a 4hr flight) have been put back right where we started or so it seems! Auckland, like Melbourne can't make up its mind between being sunny and overcast or wet and is nearly as cold (about 15 degrees). What's more we're travelling south from here (rather than north) so it will get even colder. Oh well it's hard [View Full Entry]

By Si and Jess 2009 RTW adventure
July 1st 2009

Life's A Beach Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Airlie Beach

The Big Banana, Coffs Harbour
The original big thing, here since 1964, it originally advertised just a fruit store and now has grown into a theme park!

Pleased to say the weather has got a lot better here! Another example of how huge this country is (and how far we've come) - it may have been cold and wet in Victoria but here in Queensland we've had perfect sunny blue skies with temperatures now in the very comfortable mid-twenties! Upon leaving Coff's Harbour we came across one of Australia's icons, a 'big' icon! Australia is famous for its 'big' things - they are in your face large sculptures used to advertise the product or the theme they are selling. Fittingly, the Big Banana at Coffs Harbour was the [View Full Entry]

By Si and Jess 2009 RTW adventure
June 22nd 2009

The Freedom of the Open Road Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Coffs Harbour

Old Town Hall, Melbourne

G'day! How's sunny England?! Melbourne was a bit of a shock to the system. There I was thinking 'it's Australia, it can't get that cold', going out in just a t-shirt and hoody and later returning to the hostel to grab my jacket, hat and gloves! Apparently they had just been hit by a particularly cold spell plus the on and off rain made matters worse. Melbourne is a great city though, despite lacking the major sites that Sydney may hold it has a very livable feel to it and is extremely multicultural. We found you can eat any food you [View Full Entry]

Flinder's Street Train Station, Melbourne

By Si and Jess 2009 RTW adventure
June 9th 2009

Life in the Jungle Oceania » Australia » Victoria » Melbourne » CBD

Erawan Falls, Kanchanaburi

Sawat-dii Khrap! We've been loving Thailand over the last three weeks experiencing a new culture and way of life. To sum up in as little words as possible... elephants, temples, Buddhas, snakes, shakes, rice, noodles, tuk-tuks, songthaews, jungles, waterfalls, ladyboys, monkeys, markets, monks, massages, beautiful beaches, geckos.... Following on from the River Kwai we spent the next day relaxing at Erawan Falls (also in Kanchanaburi) where we bathed in beautiful clear waters where the fish nibbled at our feet if we stopped still for too long (a little disconcerting!). In the afternoon we v [View Full Entry]

By Si and Jess 2009 RTW adventure
May 18th 2009

'Hitler has only got one ball.... Asia » Thailand » Western Thailand » Kanchanaburi

Botanical garden, Singapore airport
Beautiful orchids

Hello from steamy Thailand! Yes it's very hot here 29 degrees + and its sticky heat not like the hot dry heat of most of Africa and far removed from the changing weather of Cape Town (which was a bit like a British summer, all but a relatively good one!). It's also the wet season here, however when it rains it only pours for a short time then clears up. Most of the transport and the hotels have air conditioning fortunately so when you walk outside it's a bit like stepping into a sauna! We left our house in Cape Town [View Full Entry]

First meal out with our new group, Bangkok

By Si and Jess 2009 RTW adventure
May 16th 2009

Staring Jaws in the Face! Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Cape Town

Camps Bay driving back from Hout Bay

Our time in Africa has sadly come to an end so I thought I'd finish this chapter of our travels before we fly to Thailand (on Saturday 16th) to experience a whole different culture and new array of experiences! As you may know by now we have been spending Monday to Fridays volunteering in Hout Bay (about 15 minutes from Cape Town where we are living) at the primary, high school and township community centre. This experience has been at times rewarding but at others frustrating. The main activity at the primary school has been helping kids with computer skills - [View Full Entry]

By Si and Jess 2009 RTW adventure
May 6th 2009

Booze, boulders and baboons Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Cape Town

Franschoek

We were up early for our first day at school. I was a little nervous and if Si was then he didnt show it. Our first job was to help the little ones (5/6 yrs) with extra literacy work. This consisted of reading with them and talking through various letter/colour books and talking about items from containers all beginning with the same letter. Naturally the kids were most excited and tickled by the items that made noise, e.g) a toy that croaked when you pressed it and one that made a 'mooing' noise. The resources were fairly basic and I wished [View Full Entry]

By Si and Jess 2009 RTW adventure
April 27th 2009

The Sky's The Limit!! Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Cape Town

Cheetah Park, Namibia

Wow, done so much since last wrote (btw sorry last blog has only just been published from Namibia wouldn't work before). In summary we've stroked cheetahs, gone canoeing, winetasting and quadbiked over dunes and walked and rode horses in the Namib Desert and I've sandboarded, gone karting, abseiled and jumped out of a plane from 10,000ft!! From where we last left off, first went to Cheetah Park where we saw and handled big and baby cheetahs and saw them being fed. One licked me and was like somebody rubbing sandpaper up my arm! They also had a baby giraffe which was [View Full Entry]

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Si and Jess 2009 RTW adventure - Simon Hartley & Jessie Watts

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