Two weeks ago we begun our trip around New Zealand's South Island with the Kiwi Experience; leaving Christchurch behind after a great experience watching the All Blacks beat (well, thrash) England. Things didn't start well, as we were soon greated by our driver for the first section of the trip-Ginny. Ginny was a lovely girl, who decided to welcome us all on to the 'fuck truck' , telling us that we didn't entertain HER enough, and also that one of the accomodation options-'The Lazy Shag' in Kaikoura, that we could possibly get one ourselves! How lovely. Kaikoura was the first stop [View Full Entry]

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On Saturday night we were lucky enough to go and see England play the All Blacks in Christchurch for the second game of the Iveco Series. England had lost the first match in Auckland a week before and had made six changes to the team, in a bid to turn around the series and end it in a draw. We properly got into the spirit of things, going to Base Backpackers before the game, having a couple of drinks and getting our faces painted for the game. There were loads of England fans in Christchurch, but the Kiwis are Rugby mad, [View Full Entry]

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After leaving Brisbane we went on to Byron Bay, finally leaving Queesnland for New South Wales. Byron has the reputation for a being a hippy hideout, when back in the 70s it was transformed from a little town into a early backpacker haven. There is an awesome beach, which seems to stretch for miles, and we did a walk that went up the cliffs up to the lighthouse, which gave us great views across the beach. The weather wasn't too great whilst we were in Byron, lots of rain, but on the last day, just before we caught our night bus [View Full Entry]

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NOTE: PUBLISHED NEW PHOTOS!!! We've been in Australia for just over 2 weeks now, and its flown by. After close to 2 months in Asia, getting here was a welcome relief. It's so easy to get caught up in the ozzie mentality, the laid-back lifestyle and the all round good vibe. We're working from the top down- Cairns to Melbourne. We flew to Cairns from Singapore and met Jess (from China tour and who went to Luffa), but the weather wasn't too great in the 3 days we were there. Cairns is a purpose built tourist town, from what we could [View Full Entry]

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There's no real excuse why the blog hasn't been updated for three weeks, so I won't make one. There's a lot to cram in, so things may be quite brief! Last time you heard from us we were in Bangkok, about to head for Chiang Mai, in the north of Thailand. After visits to the Grand Palace, and various 'Wat's we too an overnight bus up to the second largest city in Thailand, and to be honest, it was just nice to be out of the travellers mecca of Khao San Road. Its known as that, but Thailand is rapidly turning [View Full Entry]

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Krabi, Thailand. The Thai province most affected by the Tsunami of Boxing Day 2004. Its taken Thailand a while to recover from the disaster, to come to terms with the people they have lost, and to regain its positoin as the number one tourist destination in Southeast Asia. Signs for Evacuation Routes line the beachfront at Ao Nang, Railay and Phi Phi, the worst affected area, clearly posted to get to higher ground. The estimated death toll in Thailand is just over 8,000. The disaster as a whole is thought to have claimed 230,210 lives. Now, three and a half years [View Full Entry]

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Right, get a hot drink ready because this one may be a long one but it's definitely worth reading! After Kuala Lumpur we made the bus journey over to the port for the Perhentian Islands, arriving at Long Beach to rain! We settled in our basic huts right next to the beach, and set up camp with a coffee and a book, because the rain was there to stay. The next day was also a wash out. On the third day the sun returned! So making the most of it we headed to the beach, layed out our towels and were [View Full Entry]

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On Monday the Olympic Torch passed through Kuala Lumpur, starting off at the iconic Medaka Square in the Colonial district of the city. We were there!! It was bloody hot, and the five of us didnt stop sweating through all of it, plus the Malaysians were mental when anything was happening, I was almost floored by a sweeping tide of people LOADS of times. Anyway, here are the photos, tonight we're off to the Perinthian Islands off the East Coast of Malaysia. [View Full Entry]

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A lot of the cities in China proved to be a bit of a disappointment for us really. Beijing and Shanghai especially didn't live up to what we had in our imagination; oriental flair, lanterns lining the streets, noodles in street carts ... a lot of that was missing and the city as a major world city lacked something and felt a bit awkward. Stepping into Hong Kong though, we were struck by familiarity straight away, and it felt good! Its modern a modern Chinese capitalist city, with all the hallmarks of a typical western big city, and it still incorporates [View Full Entry]

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Hellooooo everyone, So after Shanghai it was on to the south of China. The journey itself was a daunting task: 22 hours on a train, lovely. It started ok to be honest, train stations in the past in China have been pretty shocking, very busy and overcrowded, dirty, and unorganised. This one however was nothing like it, it was more like a shiny new airport, complete with glass dome over the top of it. ooooooo. The train wasn't so bad, I think we were all pretty tired from all the cities anyway, and so getting to sleep wasn't too difficult. The [View Full Entry]

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