Suzanne Murray / Paul Arnold

Suziepaul

Suzanne Murray / Paul Arnold

We're travelling again, so we promised to keep people updated, hence, a travelblog x



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Days on the run



November 12nd update

OK so a bit of a run-down as to our trip:

We set off on September 2nd 2008 (!) for India before heading to China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Singapore. We stopped over in Sydney on 16th December for 5 nights before arriving in Melbourne for Christmas and New Years. We moved into our flat on the 3rd of January (with no electricity for the first two days) and worked all the way up until we left on 16th June 2009. We traveled through the centre of Australia then drove from Darwin down to Perth. We spent 3 weeks in New Zealand before a 12 night stay in Raratonga, Cook Islands.

We arrived in LA on 29th August 2009 and did a big loop of the West coast of USA, another big loop of the Deep South then flew to New York on the 22nd of October to finish off America and our trip by doing a month loop of the East coast including Eastern Canada.

We are currently in Boston and are leaving tomorrow for Rhode Island before dropping the car off in New Jersey and spending the last week of our trip in New York City which we are really excited about. We have very little money left but are surviving by stealing other people's drive-thru orders and distraction techniques in cornershops. xx


Total Distance: 0 miles / 0 kmMouse: 0,0

Route round the World






North America » United States » California September 9th 2009

Famous people and Labour Day Leaving LA via Mulholland Drive and the huge mansions of the Hollywood Hills we encountered holiday traffic along the beautiful Pacific Coastal Highway and stopped over in a grim motel in the OK town of Ventura before getting to the heaving, and expensive Santa Barbara. The town was full of interesting things to see but also felt homely and classy, we strolled down the buzzing pier and around the harbour and explored the Spanish-influenced architecture of the town. We knew that Santa Barbara was a favourite hangout of the rich & famous but we didn't expect to be walking down the road side-by-side with Halle Berry and her husband & baby. After looking around the many upmarket shops along the main street we spent some quality time on the clean beach, ... read more
Suze on pier
California hills
Born to be wild

North America » United States » California » Los Angeles August 29th 2009

La La Land As soon as we got off the plane at LAX we struggled to get to grips with the change of pace and scenery, after only a minute of being in the taxi, whilst still in the airport, we were pulled over by traffic police, a stark reminder that our road trip around the US would be a lot different to Australia or New Zealand. We hung around with our friends KP & Sam and all stayed in downtown LA which was a complete dump and had a deservedly bad reputation at night, however that didn't stop us from getting the buses and metro to all the major sights such as the Hollywood Boulevard, Rodeo Drive, Sunset Strip & Beverley Hills which were all really amazing. Heatwave! The weather was also intense, on top ... read more
Bad cops, bad cops
It was tense
Our plans to deal drugs took a bad turn

Oceania » Cook Islands » Rarotonga August 19th 2009

Cook Islands & The Jurassic Park soundtrack We powered up the North Island of New Zealand and stayed with our friend Alisha who we had traveled with in China and after a pleasant stay in Auckland we jetted off to the Cook Islands and as we flew onto the island we got a chance to view its beauty by air, from the sprawling emerald-green lagoons to the dramatic mountainous centre of the island (cue Paul singing the Jurassic Park theme tune every half hour) Our hostel was right on the beach with an amazing view of the lagoon and nearby smaller islands. After a few quiet days relaxing on the beach and exploring the small town where we were staying, we decided on going for a meal in the main town on the island, which featured ... read more
Enjoying the sun in the main town
Lagoon at Muri Beach
View from the hostel

Oceania » New Zealand August 11th 2009

Heading North We left for the east coast and after another fantastic drive through the countryside we arrived at Kaikoura, where we had booked ourselves on a dolphin encounter for the following day but as it was such nice weather as we arrived at midday we decided to move the encounter forward to that afternoon (which worked out perfect weather-wise). As it turned out there was a pod of over 700 dolphins waiting for us just 20 minutes out off the coast and after getting the full wetsuit gear on we hopped on the boat in search of the wild dolphins. Not long after setting off we were immediately surrounded by hundreds of dolphins swimming all around the boat which was an unbelievable sight. The sea was absolutely teeming with fins, pairs or groups of dolphins ... read more
Scaring off the dolphins
Catching us up
Very acrobatic

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island August 8th 2009

Tackling the West Coast The last time that we traveled through the west coast of the south island we had terrible weather and so decided to skip through it fairly quickly so we were lucky that this time the weather was amazing (especially considering that it has the highest average rainfall for the whole country) and we witnessed the incredible views along the drive from Queenstown to the township of Franz Josef. The views along the coastal road were breath-taking with untouched wilderness and deserted beaches and the town at the bottom of the glaciers were welcoming and had all the comforts and necessities we needed. We booked ourselves on a half-day trek up the Fox Glacier, the bigger and quieter glacier of the region and after a tough walk up the side of the glacier ... read more
Very windy
And cold
Just north of Queenstown

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Queenstown August 5th 2009

Weather and windscreens On the drive from Lake Tekapo to Mount Cook the once-clear skies began to change and we drove right into a storm, meaning we decided to skip hanging around and head straight for Queenstown in the hope that the weather was better down there. The weather in Queenstown was great and we drove into the pretty town with its gorgeous mountain views centrepiece of the vast lake and remembered why we enjoyed our stay here so much the last time. The first task was to fix a crack in the windscreen which we thought had occurred during our drive as we didn't see it when we left (and obviously became worried about how much this was going to cost) but on taking the van to the window repairs place the guy told us ... read more
On the way to Queenstown
Blatantly about to slip
Taking a quick break

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island August 2nd 2009

New Zealand Landing in New Zealand we were excited at the change of scenery, albeit a familiar one, and after arriving at midnight we were just excited mainly about getting some sleep. We stayed in a great cosy hostel just outside the town centre and it was nice to have a couple of days back in Christchurch to revisit some of our favourite sites such as the pretty botanical gardens and always-interesting people-watching in cathedral square (you're guaranteed to see at least one crazy person there per day). In search of something we hadn't yet seen we got the bus to the mountain for a short walk and magnificent views of the region, however our passage was ultimately blocked by a group of mean-looking cattle that literally chased us back down the hill. A new ... read more
Suze enjoying the view
Said view
An obstacle

Oceania » Australia » Western Australia July 24th 2009

Final stretch of the coast Passing through the tropic of Capricorn was a good indicator that the weather would turn and almost immediately we noticed the once all-blue skies had turned cloudy, we had our first splashes of rain on the windscreen and the long-sleeved clothes started to make an appearance during the day, We got the last space available in one of the few campsites in Denham and set off the following morning for the famous resort of Monkey Mia to wastch the dolphin feeding that is done in a controlled environment right on the beach. The first feeding was rammed full of people on the tiny stretch of beach but luckily for us within half an hour the second feeding began, most people had cleared off and not only were we right at the ... read more
Dusk in Denham
Self-explanatory
Dolphin feeding area

Oceania » Australia » Western Australia July 16th 2009

Snorkelling, Swimming and Sunbathing After the relaxing time in Broome we had a fair bit of driving to do to get to the next stretch of coast and it turned out a fair bit of driving through featureless, barren landscapes and stopping in quiet roadhouses or industrial towns (and an overflow site on a golf course) but after a few days of constant driving we finally made it to the Ningaloo Reef, Cape Range National Park and the town of Exmouth which we used as a base to explore the reef and park. The spectre of the school holidays again loomed as we had to book our tiny unpowered space next to a huge, loud Aussie family well in advance, and the fact we had loud neighbours was only made more bearable by the fact that ... read more
A stop on the way to Exmouth
Freezing cold water
Shell beach

Oceania » Australia » Western Australia » Broome July 8th 2009

Back to civilisation Knowing that we had a good four days in Broome and no driving for a while we were looking forward to settling in a campsite and seeing all the sights at a leaisurely pace. Well one caravan park tried to charge $40 for a camping spot, effectively a piece of grass and a toilet, and everywhere else was full so we ended up staying in the overflow site of a youth centre the whole time we were there and befriended a couple from the UK who were recently married and were touring the west coast together. There wasn't much to do in Broome but compared to some of the places we had visited we were pretty happy. We spent a couple of days soaking up the chilled out ambience and beautiful surrounds of ... read more
So Close
Pretty quiet
View from town beach




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