3 hours after leaving Auckland we touched down at Nadi Airport on the main island of Fiji in the South Pacific. First thing that hit us when we left the aircraft was the heat, 30 degrees or more!! Our initial accommodation was pre booked by e-mail a few days before at Smugglers Cove on Nadi Bay. Looks like the next 17 days here on these islands could be pretty tough, nothing much to do, maybe we will have to just laze about on the beach, read, swim in the ocean, and watch sunsets. Turns out guests at Smugglers can play [View Full Entry]

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Decisions!! Decisions!! Which direction next? Do we retrace our steps back to Wanaka then head across to Franz Josef Glazier and up the longer West Coast or travel across the island towards Dunedin and up the East Coast. If we had thought more about our route at the start we would've planned it differently. Following another night at Te Anau holiday park our decision was to travel towards Balclutha then work our way north up the eastern side of NZ. We spent the night at Kaka Point after watching Yellow Eyed Penguins coming ashore at Roaring Bay on Nugget Point. This [View Full Entry]

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Touched down at Christchurch Airport with no plans other than looking at campervan hire availibility and cost. Checked out a campervan at an airport hire companies depot, it looked good so we decided to go for it, except we didn't realise tomorrow was Good Friday and the start of the Easter Holidays. There were none available until at least Sunday. Headed into Christchurch instead. Found decent accommodation at Thomas"s hotel for NZ$ 69 per night, the current rate is 2.5 New Zealand Dollars to the pound. Spent a few days in the South Island's largest city exploring the centre, visiting places [View Full Entry]

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Yet Again!!! Our bus journey wasn't straight forward, the scheduled 10 hours overnight journey from Agnes Water to Airlie Beach took over 12 hours. A serious road traffic accident had us waiting more than 2 hours at Rockhampton until the road was cleared. We Limped Knackered into Bush Village Hostel 3 hours later than expected. We've been looking forward to this leg of our adventure for some time, reason being? Our sailing trip to the Whitsunday Islands on the Great Barrier Reef, Aye! 3 days on a yacht, this is a new experience for us both. Heard lots of good things [View Full Entry]

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After mulling over the destinations on our Greyhound Bus Timetable we decide on Rainbow Beach, sounds nice, so this is our next stop. Surprisingly the coloured sands are not the most impressive feature in this tiny place. Pre-booked Frasers Backpackers Hostel, another good choice. Our room was ensuite with a balcony. On our arrival we clocked a notice announcing a free introductory guided walk by Matty Mudcrab. His name alone was enough incentive for joining the tour. Turns out he was terrific, one eighth Aboriginal with an impressive repetoire of native bird calls. Walked up through woods until we came to [View Full Entry]

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They call Queensland the Sunshine State, lets see. back on the Greyhound bus we discover that there's one hour time distance between New South Wales and its northern neighbour. Queensland hasn't adopted daylight saving therefore it gets dark earlier in the evening. Whits that aboot!!! betcha the farmers have something to do with it, same as wintertime back home, it's garbage!!, live stock cannot tell the time. Their start to the day is surely based on sunrise, so it doesnt matter whether it is five of six in the morning, farmers still have the same amount of daylight hours to work [View Full Entry]

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Just corrected a couple of spelling mistakes from my last blog, no I haven't got a shoe fetish!!! I wrote that we ate sannies, instead of sarnies. I also mentioned that not a sole boarded the ferry, should've read soul. Actually, that is also a flatfish. I haven't got a fish fetish either. Hoping the weather improves as we travel north. Our Greyhound Bus ticket allows unlimited stops on one way travel between Sydney and Cairns, so we are giving Newcastle a try for a couple of nights. We arrived at the Backpackers By The Beach Hostel, late afternoon following a [View Full Entry]

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Scheduled overnight train journey to Sydney takes 11 hours, typically it took 12 hours. Arrived at Central Train Station at 8 in the morning with no accommodation booked, although we did have a few places in mind. Ended up picking the Ambassador Hostel at Kings Cross 'cos they offered to come and pick us up. True to form, had to change accommodation after one night when we were awakened by the deafening sound of a workies hammer tool vibrating through the walls. The inside of the building next door is being demolished!!! anyway the hostel is a bit grubby and too [View Full Entry]

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Left South East Asia on a 9 hour flight from Bangkok to Melbourne. On arrival, it looked like we would never get out the airport, almost 2 hours waiting for luggage and getting through customs. Eventually boarded the Skybus to Southern Cross Station for 15 Australian dollars each, just under 7 pounds. This also includes a free shuttle to your accommodation, so after a short hop on the bus, we were dropped off at the Miami Hotel in Hawke Street. This place is a cross between a hotel and hostel, I think most people would be happy with the hostel but [View Full Entry]

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After flying from Hanoi back to Thailand we used the direct bus service from Bangkok Airport to the city. It drops you off close to the Khao San Road, and costs 150 Baht each. In this famous, some would say infamous road, backpackers from around the globe gather amongst a congested mix of bars, restaurants, cheap guesthouses, and stalls selling fake I Ds, designer clothes, counterfeit DVDs, and CDs. Not forgetting the obligatory tattoo parlours, hippy gear, body piercing, and hair braiding. We didn't fancy staying right amongst it, so we tried an area nearby called Rambutri. Turned out great, little [View Full Entry]

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