Mui Ne started off as a little fishing village on the coast, it lies about 4 hours north from Ho Chi Minh, but the area is fast becoming a popular tourist area and there is now a lot of small resorts built along the coast line, most of them are beach hut style places or similar and it doesn't feel like the area is being too spoilt by it all as they are not set right on top of the village itself but further down the road. The bus dropped us off at one end of the road and with all [View Full Entry]

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glad to be back As soon as I got off the plane the atmosphere smelt and felt different, a different kind of heat and just something in the air that told me I was back in South East Asia and I love it, this is the sort of place I really love travelling in. I was picked up in a cab by my hotel and driving through the streets of Ho Chi Minh city reminded me of arriving in Delhi last year, but about 100 times less chaotic and without most of the bizarre sights I witnessed back then. Even though [View Full Entry]

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Originally I planned to arrive in Airlie Beach and book myself on to a boat trip leaving the next day so I'd have time to visit a few more places up the coast afterwards, but I got a little side tracked by sun and beer and the chance to relax after the camping trip and bus journeys. I largely blame Andy, Rich (both from Bristol) and Kirk (from Canada) for my inertia, my excessive beer drinking and my continual pie eating that have been the main activities I've indulged in since arriving in Airlie. But I also have to credit them [View Full Entry]

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Fraser Island Next stop on the magical mystery tour of the coast was Hervey Bay a rather unspectacular place with nothing much of a beach just a strip of hostels, hotels and shops, but its used a jumping ground to get to Frasrer Island and so the crowds come flocking in. After a bit of a late start due to my refusal to get a bus at some ridiculous hour in the morning after drinking and diving into the early hours of the night before, I arrived too late to book myself onto the Island trip for the next day and [View Full Entry]

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Off to the east I was actually feeling a bit nervous about getting back on the road again after feeling quite settled in Sydney, but I also couldn't wait to get moving again and head up the East Coast. My last weekend in Sydney the sun decided to shine non stop and there seemed to be blossom out everywhere and I started to feel a real affection for the place, but I had the joy of a 14 hour bus journey to look forward to, so packed up my things, leaving a big bag of stuff in Sydney and yet still [View Full Entry]

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With Natalie and Joe back from their holiday and Lou and Dom back from Bali I was out of the flat and moved to a Backpackers near town between Kings Cross and Potts Point. They've managed to re-create the atmosphere of Londons Kings Cross out here almost perfectly, there's just something in the air that feels the same, but why they would want to do this I have no idea....... But the hostel was nice, not too big and on a quite road with a few bars and cafes. Dressing in the Dark As I was working I was put in [View Full Entry]

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Arriving in Australia I arrived in Sydney to warm sunshine and bright bright blue skies which disappeared after 20 mins as the sun set, but I was picked up from the airport by my mate Louisa and her boyfriend Dom and whisked off to a gorgeous little restauraunt for a 3 course dinner and lots of white wine, a welcome to Oz treat for me which was indeed very welcome after the past few weeks of nothing more flash than beans on toast or a cheese sandwhich. Lou and Dom and a few others are living out in Bronte not far [View Full Entry]

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I was slightly nervous as I approached Wellington as I was being picked up at the bus station by Amy and Randal. They are two of the 5 New Zealanders who looked after me on Boxing Day after being hit by the wave, they all looked after me for nearly 24 hours until I was helicoptered off to hospital and I didn't think I'd ever see them again. As it turned out I came across a local newspaper article on the internet, I started reading it and recognised a few of the details and realised it was one of the girls [View Full Entry]

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Catching up 13 hours of flying, 4 movies and 3 plastic meals later I arrived in Auckland. It was all very confusing as I set off at 9.45pm on Wednesday 3rd August and arrived at 5.30am on Friday 5th August, where did my Thursday go?? I didn't sleep a wink on the plane as I was right in front of the big movie screen the whole way, I did manage to get a couple of hours sleep in the afternoon at my hostel and then somehow managed to go out drinking and playing pool until about 4am with some folk from [View Full Entry]

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Road trip For our last week in California Jen and I decided to get ourselves some wheels, hit the road and head down the coast. We'd taken up a very kind offer from Tom the driver on our Yosemite trip to meet us and help Jen get to grips with driving in America and all the different laws and to talk us through the route to Highway 1 from the car hire place, with Jen driving he took us on the route and then we took him back into town and dropped him off. I don't know how far we would [View Full Entry]

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