clarabelle - Claire Duff

I think it was Benjamin Disraeli who said "Like all great travellers I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen"

In the hope that this doesn't happen to me, I'm preparing this journal. I'm writing it mainly for myself so that I can look back on it in years to come along with the thousands of photo's I'll end up taking. I'm writing it also for the many family and friends who have helped me on my way in so many different ways - I might take forever to make a decision but once I do, I move pretty fast!! It's also for anyone who stumbles across it and wants to have a read. Whatever your reason for reading, enjoy!

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Joined on: November 30th 2008
Last Login: September 16th 2009

Blog Entries: 37
Photos: 947

TB Code: [blogger=101355]
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Blogs & Travel Journals

by clarabelle, order by Date newest first.

By clarabelle
July 1st 2009

And now, the end is near... North America » United States » California » Los Angeles » Hollywood

I'm sitting here in my room in LA, after finishing packing my bags for the last time. It's hard to believe that in just a few hours I'll be on my way home. There are days when it feels like I've hardly been away any time at all, but I know that after 5 1/2 months on the road, it's time to come home. Before I start getting all reflective, here's a quick rundown on the few days I've had here in LA. I've been staying in Chinatown, and so, have been making good use of the LA Metro rail to [View Full Entry]

By clarabelle
June 28th 2009

Seattle, WA and another long train ride North America » United States » Washington » Seattle

Space Needle from below (4)

My first experience in the USA was the border crossing at Blaine, WA. After giving digital images of all my fingerprints and having my photo taken (it felt like all that was missing was the board with the numbers on it!) and being quizzed, they let me in, and then charged me $6 for the pleasure. When they were scanning my luggage, they thought I had some gingerbread men in my bag; I couldn’t work out what it was they were talking about, and they didn’t press it. Later on I remembered I had bought an Inukshuk in Canada, which maybe [View Full Entry]

By clarabelle
June 24th 2009

A bear bum, not a bare bum! North America » Canada » British Columbia » Whistler

Black Bear from Whistler Village Gondola

Well, I suppose it is a bare bear bum, but I’ll get to that in a bit and then it should all make sense! Leaving Vancouver behind, I headed up to Whistler, around 2½ hours away on the bus. It’s a lovely drive once you get out of the city and you get on to the ‘Sea to Sky highway’. Whistler is a nice own - it’s a lot bigger than I expected, with a permanent population of around 10,000. Whistler Village is a resort town; it’s very organised with visitors in mind, which is great, considering that’s what makes up [View Full Entry]

By clarabelle
June 19th 2009

Jet lagged in Vancouver North America » Canada » British Columbia

Capilano Suspension Bridge (2)

So, as I mentioned in my last posting, I arrived here in Vancouver before I left NZ. Although the flight was only 12 hours, it was a long 12 hours stuck in the middle seat. After clearing customs and immigration, I headed for the taxi rank as my accommodation is outwith the zone for the shuttle buses. As the driver was putting my luggage into the boot (or I should say, the ‘trunk’), I got into the front seat of the car, only, forgetting that everything’s on the wrong side over here. It took me a few seconds to realise that [View Full Entry]

Views from Capilano Suspension Bridge (7)

By clarabelle
June 13th 2009

Skiing in NZ Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Methven

Canterbury Plains from Mt Hutt (2)

Kia Ora! (Apologies if you get this one twice: there were server problems when I posted this and I don't think the emails went out). So, here I am, back in New Zealand. I don’t think it’ll surprise anyone when I say, that, I quite like it here!! Arriving in Christchurch I didn’t really have much of a definite plan, all I knew was that I was probably going to hire some form of transport and head down to Queenstown and do some skiing at Coronet Peak when it opened on 13 June. As by this time, I’d decided that I [View Full Entry]

By clarabelle
May 27th 2009

Australia Photos Oceania » Australia

Pat a Koala

Here are some photos from Australia which I should have posted long before now! [View Full Entry]

Me at Mt Ainslie, Canberra in background

By clarabelle
May 27th 2009

On the road in WA Oceania » Australia » Western Australia » Perth

My van (I don’t have a name for this one other than ‘the box’ - look at the pictures, you’ll see why I’ve not had any flash of inspiration about names!) wasn’t ready for me this morning when I went to pick it up, so the company gave me a shot of this huge 4WD Nissan Patrol which is their bush camping vehicle, with a tent and all sorts of things stored on the roof rack. I was just to use this as a run-around for a few hours until hopefully my own van would be ready for me to take [View Full Entry]

By clarabelle
May 19th 2009

Back on the train again! Oceania » Australia » Western Australia » Kalgoorlie

The Indian Pacific: Adelaide to Perth This leg of the trip saw the train leaving Adelaide around 6pm on Sunday night and pulling into East Perth station at 9am on Tuesday morning. Yes, 2 nights on the train - it was a long journey! There were no CWA ladies on the train to keep us amused this time! I was sitting next to Martin from Holland who has just finished his mechanical engineering degree and had been to Adelaide to visit some friends he’d made whilst he had studied there for a few months as part of an exchange programme with [View Full Entry]

By clarabelle
May 16th 2009

Great Ocean Road and more Oceania » Australia » Victoria » Great Ocean Road

Suzy Swift and I hit the road this morning, leaving Adelaide and heading for a small coastal town called Robe. Quite an uneventful drive, just getting used to the car and the roads as this was my first time driving in Australia. It’s pretty easy going - some long straight stretches of road and the occasional windy bit. I made a couple of stops along the way, one at a small town called Kingston SE where they have a big lobster and crayfish industry. People who have been to Australia before will have seen many of these big icons before, and [View Full Entry]

By clarabelle
May 5th 2009

Adelaide Oceania » Australia » South Australia » Adelaide

After my journey on the train, I arrived in Adelaide. I spent my time visiting the museum of South Australia where they have quite a good section on different south pacific nations, as well as quite a lot on Aboriginal culture. I also spent some time at the South Australia Art Gallery - I’m not much of an art buff - if it doesn’t catch my eye straight away then I tend to just keep walking past, so it didn’t take very long for me to get through it! Adelaide is quite a small city, and is nice and easy to [View Full Entry]

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