Notes: Exchange Rate was P40 for $1AUD Vince says: We have been back home in Brisbane now for about 2 years so decided it was about time to get our butts back overseas as adventure was once again calling us. We knew we wanted to do a big trip in SE Asia in the years to come so weren’t too keen on seeing anything that we knew would feature in this extended trip. So it was actually Suz that came up with the idea of the Philippines. I sound surprised because, well frankly at the time, I was! Suz doesn’t plan, she has no interest in planning, she prefers to fly by the seat of her pants and let me do all the planning, as I love it! So for her to come up with this ... read more

Our little travelling party of 3 arrived in Berlin late Monday afternoon to the closest campsite…..30 minutes from the centre. It was ridiculously cold and we finally came to the realization that in the last 2 weeks temperatures had dropped so rapidly that although our “one summer” adventure continued, the summer part was definitely over. We blasted the heater and not an hour had passed when it suddenly stopped (this was not the first time though, as we had experienced this in short bursts previously!). We all panicked thinking we were going to freeze to death if the heater had broken. Luckily for us, that day the van was warm so we were ok for the time being, but come tomorrow we all prayed that heater would be on again. As usual that evening we had ... read more

Sunday morning we started the drive to Prague. It was quite a way to go in old Jonsey so for the sake of him and our boredom levels we decided to break the journey up and sleep at a roadstop that night. Monday we woke up early and continued our drive. As we crossed the Czech border it wasn't border control or signs that alerted us to the new country but the horrible bumpy roads! As we made our way to the campsite we bounced and jumped and banged in pot holes that littered every inch of the roads. After going on the longest wild goose chase due to never ending roadworks, finally we made it to the campsite, only to see that it was closed for the year and when we checked the GPS we ... read more

We said our very sad farewell to the beaches and headed off to Budapest, Hungary. Thanks to a hot tip from two of our great friends from the Croatia sail we got into Budapest Friday night and parked in a fantastic central spot in the city for free! We set up as much as you can when you’re free camping, had a wander around the streets to stretch our legs and settled in for the weekend. Saturday morning we jumped on the metro and 4 stations later we were smack bang in the heart of Budapest. Our first stop was to find a shower! So off to a local hostel we went and used their facilities to get ourselves fresh and ready for the day ahead. It sounds funny but hostels really don’t mind, and for ... read more

We touched down in Milan and picked up Jonesy after his lonely 2 weeks sitting in the airport carpark. It took us 4 hours to drive to Venice where we found a quiet free camping spot for the night (there was no point checking in to the camp ground as it was already 10.30pm after all). The next morning we hit the camp site, set up, and then caught the 11am ferry across to Venice proper. Our first impressions of Venice were everything you would imagine, picturesque canals, old-world bridges and charming shops down every lane and around every corner. After checking out St Marks Square (San Marco Square) we caught another ferry down the Grand Canal and got off at the famous Pont Rialto (a beautiful bridge spanning the Canal). From there we lost ourselves ... read more