http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/The-R-and-R-Show/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from The R and R Show en-us Mon, 04 Jan 2010 22:40:49 +0000 Mon, 04 Jan 2010 22:40:49 +0000 We planned to do a bit of a road trip when we got back to New Zealand visiting our friends and family in Whangarei Rotorua Whakatane Napier and Wellington. But when our old boss heard we were coming home early he offered us a few weeks of relief work back at 1XX being flat broke we couldn't say noSo less than a week after returning to the country we headed back to the marvellous Eastern http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Bay-of-Plenty/Whakatane/blog-321788.html Well we're back home in New Zealand. But we've got a couple of weeks to cover before we continueOn our last day in the UK we made our way to Heathrow Airport extremely early our flight was at 10.15pm and we arrived at around 5pm This was because we weren't sure what sort of traffic we'd encounter on the way and because we still needed to pay for our flight changes and therefore hadn't able http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/South-Auckland/blog-319903.html OK sorry for like the millionth time way too slow on the updates That just means we've been busy enjoying ourselves does it notOur trip from Paris to London was fairly uneventful as the bus on the way to Paris had gone on the train we figured we'd be doing the same to return. But this time we got to go on the ferry however not before Richard had the third degree from British immigrati http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-316311.html As Joey on Friends would say...toot de la fruit Richard is rather caught up in lying around with his foot up so after a week or so of this it is my turn to get the blog up to date.With heavy hearts and sun browned limbs we said goodbye to San Sebastian and headed to Bordeaux our second to last Busabout stop. The bus was absolutely packed with idiots crammed in for a long day to Paris 8am to http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Croydon/blog-307064.html Roho It's the blog you've all been waiting for Well not really it's the update some of you have been hassling us for. We're back in London now so plenty of time to update everything. So last time you heard from us we'd just arrived in Madrid...Rich It was Rohani's job when we got off the bus to walk us in the direction of our hotel. Yet again we walked the wrong way. Thankfully this t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Croydon/blog-303998.html It's all Roho again today I'm afraid got a bit of catching up to doLet's start with Florence. We spent five nights there and I loved it. It wasn't quite as hot as Rome but pretty darn close. Our accommodation was a camping ground about 6km out of the city centre. A lovely place but a bit of a hike from the bus stop and you never knew if you were going to get an air con bus or not OK it w http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/Madrid/blog-298496.html We'll blog properly soon but just cos I've been meaning to I thought I'd enlighten you on what exactly our travel days entail.Our Busabout buses generally depart at 8am so it's an early start if you're moving on from somewhere. You never know who your guide and driver are going to be as they are on the circuit and going somewhere new every day. Most of the guides are Aussies or Poms. As soon a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Provence-Alpes-C-te-d-Azur/Nice/blog-296083.html Roho Sorry Nana but fucking Rome. Perhaps we ought to start with Venice first.Rich We arrived in Venice in 35 heat and were astonished when we got to our room. It was cute and small and absolutely stifling inside. But not to worry I'm sure the tiny little fan heater they provide you with will cool things down nicely. If only that were true...had trouble sleeping due to the heat througho http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-292715.html Roho Well technically we're not in Venice right now we're on the mainland I think in a place called Mestre. Cars aren't allowed in Venice itself let alone buses so we stay in a camping ground about 20 minutes out of the city. The camping ground runs an hourly shuttle so it's not hard to get into Venice proper. So anyway last you heard from us we were in Munich.Rich Where really we onl http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Veneto/Venice/blog-291153.html Just a quick one from Roho since I've got a bit of time...Richard's hand flared up again while we were here in Munich and the German medical system is much more efficient than the Czech Republic's In about three hours yesterday we saw a few doctors had an X Ray and blood tests. None of which showed up anything but the gaggle of doctors students and nurses gathered around the X Ray decided http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Bavaria/Munich/blog-289473.html Roho Photos once again not a happening thing. Sorry don't blame us it's the super securityised hostel computers We're trying our best so some may appear...maybe. So we totally forgot to tell you about the truck we saw between Prague and Cesky Krumlov.Rich Rohani turns around taps me on the shoulder and says 'look at this'. To our astonishment the truck in the traffic queue behind u http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Austria/Salzburg-State/Salzburg/blog-288157.html Roho OK I guess it's a bit confusing when we say we're in Vienna and we're going to be talking about the Czech Republic But we blog in arrears.Rich Let's start with Prague. After lots of build up I was expecting a beautiful old city that people are proud to live in. But the feeling I got is that people are living there just for the sake of living there. If it wasn't for Prague Castle th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Austria/Vienna-State/Vienna/blog-286905.html Danke...giggle this is Richard saying thank you and the shopgirl's response at a market we stumbled on in Dresden.I quite enjoyed Germany. We spent 3 nights in Berlin where it was very hot. The first day we started by going to visit the East Side Gallery the longest remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall with lots of famous graffiti art on it by artists from around the world. Richard decid http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Prague/blog-285421.html Roho Sorry the last one was a bit slap dash. And apologies for the lack of photos too. We're still getting to grips with this whole hostel lifestyle.Rich Amsterdam was...interesting...what more do I need to say I didn't smoke pot I didn't wear clogs I didn't see the red light district and I only wish I did one of the above. You decide which.Roho I know you regret not trying raw herrin http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/District-of-Berlin/Berlin/blog-283011.html Well there are two computers at this hostel and two of us so it's a one man job today sorryI'll start with the bus ride from London we were up at 3.45am on Tuesday for Terence to take us to East Croydon station. It's surprising how many Londoners begin their commute at 5am...depressing.6am saw us reach London Victoria station from where we had to find our way to the Victoria Coach Station http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/West-Flanders/Brugge/blog-281490.html Roho BrrrrRich Yes lesson learnt.Roho Get bigger backpacksRich You should never underestimate how hot or cold it can be in London...as we found out at the weekend.Roho I never underestimated the weather...hello who's my Daddy I overestimated the capacity of my backpack for more than one jersey So why don't you start with Saturday...Rich Our first stop was the Tower of London. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Croydon/blog-280383.html Don't fret a proper post with photos is coming We've been very busy tourists the past couple of days but we're taking a break tomorrow and we'll do you a nice update thenKeep your eyes peeled coming up the Crown Jewels St James's Park Buckingham Palace the George Inn Leicester and Isa NacewaRohoxx http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Croydon/blog-280090.html RohoSo flying long haul sucks even if you thought you were smart to break it up halfway in Singapore for a week.And for the gateway to the Middle East for an extremely popular and otherwise very lovely airline Dubai Airport is a heap of shit. RichMainly due to the showerheads next to the toilets I mean what the hell are you supposed to do with those thingsRohoWash your....self I would thi http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Croydon/blog-278980.html Well the latest Singapore jaunt is over we'll be back here for two weeks at the beginning of September.One of the wonderful things about Changi Airport is the free internet and the fast processing...well in my experience anyway Could be something to do with those flights arriving and departing at godawful hours...So anyways in another eternity or so we'll be touching down at Heathrow for japes http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/Changi/blog-278336.html Golly me where does one start I think on Saturday is a good place to start. Well let's see we had lunch at the delicious Sushi Tei where Richard discovered there is even more to sushi than chicken Even I discovered something tempura fried sushi roll...yes Yum yum. For dessert I had black sesame ice cream different and very niceThen it was off to Aunty McGeather's for some essential p http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-277766.html