After the excitement of safari, the second half of the honeymoon didn't start as smoothly as planned. We had already had our flights changed not long before the wedding and instead of flying directly from Nairobi to Mauritius we had to get up early to fly down to Johannesburg before catching a connecting flight to Mauritius. All was going well until the connecting flight was cancelled due to problems with the plane or some other rubbish. We were among three hundred or so unhappy people who had to be ferried to a local hotel, queue for a room and wait to [View Full Entry]

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Day 1 After our overnight flight, which had been largely incident-free, we arrived at Nairobi International Airport and were transferred to Wilson Airport for our flight to the Masai Mara. The flight took just 40 minutes, although Alex at least was unable to appreciate the views as she promptly fell asleep following several sleepless nights of excitement/nerves in the run-up to the wedding! We arrived at the Mara shortly before lunch and expected to be driven straight to Richard's Camp, where we would be staying for the next 4 nights. However, our guide Leng, who met us at the airstrip [View Full Entry]

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Sunday 20th April 2008 No chance for a lie in this morning. We were rudely woken by the alarm clock at 5.30 in order to catch the early train from St Pancras International. Needless to say we were early to the station which gave us plenty of time to get into the holiday spirit and to enjoy a croissant and a coffee before boarding the Eurostar to Brussels. Two hours of reading and dozing on the train and we were in Belgium; the view on the way had been limited by fog but it was only France. Changing trains was simple [View Full Entry]

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It has been a while since we graced these pages but after a brief jaunt across the Irish Sea, we couldn't resist the chance to fill you in on our lovely holiday (even those bah humbugging, who have been at work for the past two weeks). So, it has to be sure been a lovely holiday in the Emerald Isle, one which we have largely spent enjoying beautiful scenery and large meals, interspersed by pints of Guinness and Bulmers (Alex got told off by a waitress for calling it Magners). Our trip began, as most do, with a brief delay at [View Full Entry]

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Photos to follow. Thursday 18th January We made yet another early start for the airport, having successfully squeezed all our last minute souvenir shopping and newly tailored clothes into our bulging rucksacks. After spending a few minutes badgering the taxi drivers to provide us with seatbelts, we were soon away through central Bangkok (already gridlocked) and then out towards the airport on the expressway. The new airport is pretty plush and makes for a decent travelling experience, and we were soon to know why when we were stung for the 500 B departure tax! Despite more hassle at c [View Full Entry]

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Wednesday 10th Due to the early escape to bed the previous night we woke up early. We managed to drag ourselves the few yards to the sea for a pre-breakfast swim which was nice and refreshing. The weather was rather cloudy but we decided to hang around our guesthouse, Seaflower, for the day. We passed the day playing volleyball with two English guys and generally relaxing on the beach. The afternoon was more of the same. We spent the evening in the restaurant/bar where I nearly died from a Jungle curry which Alex had coaxed me into eating and Alex struggled [View Full Entry]

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Wednesday 3rd January We got up and had breakfast with Clem and Becky before seeing them off to work and then watched some more cricket while packing. We then had an incredibly long trip to the airport including train, bus and finally taxi - after which we felt even more grateful for having been so well looked after during our stay. Our first flight to Singapore was extremely turbulent throughout its 5 hour duration, especially when you consider that planes are known to come down in bad weather in this part of the world. After watching some lightning flood the sky [View Full Entry]

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Friday 29th December We had one last day before flying on again and decided that we should really explore Melbourne a bit after spending several days in the area but not really exploring. The first stop of the day was a short walk to the Victorian market. The place was huge and sold everything from food to didgeridoos. We had a good wander around and Alex bought herself a fancy looking hair pin which calmed the shopping urge for a bit longer. We then caught a free tram from near our hostel which took us on a circuit of the city [View Full Entry]

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Saturday 23rd December We made an extremely early start and were at the airport by 5am, although several delays awaited us. Eventually we were on our way and had an uneventful flight to Melbourne, albeit with a slightly bumpy landing. After spending what seemed like hours queuing through passport control and customs, we caught the skybus into the city. As our train out to Hamilton, in western Victoria, was not until the evening, we had a couple of hours to cruise up to Federation Square along Flinders Street and also explore the new discount shopping centre above Southern Cross Station. [View Full Entry]

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Monday 18th December No early morning start, much to our relief. We left the campsite on foot, heading just around the corner to the Hururu falls. They weren't spectacular compared to what we've seen in the past and so we didn't loiter in the vacinity long. We set off along the track towards the area called Waitangi, passing through a mangrove forrest on the way - spying some crabs in the mud as well. Waitangi is the birth place of modern New Zealand as it was in these grounds that the Treaty of Waitangi was signed by 45 or so Maori [View Full Entry]

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