SteveW
Steve Wreford Joined: July 19th 2007
Logged in: January 31st 2010
Logged in: January 31st 2010
12 months of travel from August 2007 to September 2008 took me to Central/Eastern Europe; Egypt; Russia; India/Nepal; Thailand; S.E.Asia; China; New Zealand; Australia; South America and the US. I hope you enjoy my photos and commentary. Let me know what you think and if you would like any tips if travelling yourself ona career break...specially if you are as I am in your 40's . Happy travels. SteveW
Travel Blog Posts
Wall Street - New York
An American Road Trip. Having spent eight months travelling around the world I come to the final leg of my journey, joined by my son’s Oliver and Josh. As part of my adventure, I arranged for my son’s to fly and meet me at JFK Airport New York. My flights from Nassau, Bahamas transferring via Miami to New York was running about an hour late, but thankfully I made it across JFK to meet the boy’s flight in the arrivals lounge, where I enjoy a long awaited hug. Soon after, we were on a shuttle bus heading to New York City where we chatted incessantly, catching up on the latest news. It wasn’t long before we were walking through Times Square, our necks craning towards the sky in awe of the skyline buildings above. Around 10pm ... read more
Miss Bahamas - World Entry
The Bahamas The flight from Quito, Equador at 9am, to Miami, in the US was a bit bumpy as the pilot looked to fly around bad weather, but the journey through Miami Airport was even more turbulent as their organisation and signage to help passengers around their airport was really quite hectic and uninformative. But after a stressful few hours through mayhem and having been booked onto a later flight, because I had missed the first, I eventually get my connection to Bahamas Capital, Nassau. When I arrive, I confirm my initial ‘Town Hotel’ booking over the phone at the airport and head there by taxi. At £37 a night it was simply cheapest room on the Island, a venue I would be staying for a couple of nights at the start and four days at ... read more
Peruvian Mother and Child
PERU Travelling on Friday 13th of June, I set out from Sidney airport to Lima, Peru on a 28 hour journey taking three flights with over total of 20 hours of air time - landing at Auckland, and Santiago, where I enjoyed the delights of Chile capital airport for eight hours. When I arrived at Lima, I take a taxi at around mid-night to the Miraflores area, where I book into the Esperanza hotel for four nights before hooking up with my next Intrepid group to encounter the ‘Peru in Depth’ tour. After my long journey, and fighting jet lag due to time differences, I sleep in to about mid afternoon after which I make my way into the Miraflores town centre to get a feel for the town and a grab meal. I then walk ... read more
Up Close & Personal
ECUADOR - The Galapagos Islands After fully enjoying my ‘Peru in Depth’ tour, I take an early flight from Lima to Quito - the capital of Ecuador to hook up with my final Intrepid trip group to explore what I hoped to be a highlight in my round the world adventure - five days in The Galapagos Islands. I had once studied Charles Darwin’s Theory of evolution of the species at Wolfson College Cambridge as part of an industry course, completing a thesis on competition and competitiveness and was keen to visit the country which had inspired him. On arriving at The Sierra Madre Hotel I attended a meeting with an Intrepid reprehensive where I met two new couples joining the trip - William & Julie from New York and Olivia & Marcus from London plus ... read more
Koala Talk
Australia - East Coast To say that you have a hope of covering ‘Australia’ in only three weeks is a bit misleading, but by following a tried and tested (and well beaten path) along the East coast, covering the two States of Queensland and New South Wales, I am able to get a taste of the vastness and beauty of this unique continent. A journey that allowed me to sample terrains as diverse as tropical rain forests and rare sand island’s; at the same time enjoying the sights of some of Australia’ most intriguing wild life set in their natural habitats. On arrival at mid-night I book into The Cairns Backpackers and after a good night’s sleep, I woke early to book myself onto a boat trip taking me to the great barrier reef. At reception ... read more
Maori Mask Magic
New Zealand - North Island Having said my goodbyes to the Intrepid group, I make arrangements to leave my enormous and heavy (30kgs) suitcase at the Hotel So, which I will return to after extending my NZ adventures to the North Island travelling alone ‘Back Packer’ style. I take only a number of clean t-shirts and underwear in my day pack and head off to Christchurch airport to take just an hours flight at 11.30am to Wellington…NZ’s Capital. The main attraction of Wellington for me was to enjoy its performing arts culture and having booked myself into the YHA I soon start to explore the city and its theatres. In just two days I manage to fit in two plays and a musical, as well as spending a morning at Tu papa - NZ’s National museum. ... read more
Cool Place To be!
New Zealand - South Island Thursday 1st May I fly from Hong Kong to Christchurch New Zealand via Singapore and Sidney. It is my final day in Asia and having travelled through India, Nepal, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, China and Hong Kong I reflect the many highlights of this incredible trip offering me many amazing experiences over four months…and I must say that I am feeling a little sad to leave this incredible continent. Little did I realise when I embarked on this adventure that I would enjoy the whole experience so much and in additional to the amazing places I have seen…it is the remarkable people I have met along the way that has made this trip so special. Alas as I finally touch down in New Zealand after a 22 hour journey I am ... read more
Long Haired Yao Minority Group
China Mainland To Hong Kong As I leave Singapore on an 8am flight to Beijing via a connection flight to Hong Kong for a journey which will take in total around 7.5 hrs, I muse over what may lay ahead in a country which boast the world’s highest population at over 1.3 billion people, with one of the few workable remaining communist administrations and a region which boasts one the fastest economic growths and commercial developments. With a total of 60 hrs/four overnight sleeper trains to endure taking me of 15,000 kilometres from Beijing to Xian; Shanghai to Yangshuo; the rice terraces of Longji to Hong Kong little did I know how fascinating and westernised this oriental region would be. I land at Beijing airport at 5.30pm local time and take a shuttle bus into the ... read more
Angkor Wat Skyline
Landing in Siem Reap Cambodia on Sunday 31st March at 7am I am allocated a young 26 year old taxi driver named Muay who found a Hotel for me in the town centre area. On arrival we negotiate a price for the hire of the taxi for two days starting the next day. He then invites me to join him to attend his friends wedding party that day. At 10.30am he picked me up from the hotel and along with another one of his friends we head out of town to the countryside for the party. On arrival I am greeted by the wedding entourage where the young couple and their wedding group are dressed lavishly in hired satin outfits. The groom is pleased that I have joined their wedding party and I get down to ... read more
