derekw10
Derek Wright Joined: September 11th 2008
Logged in: May 16th 2009
Logged in: May 16th 2009
Travel Blog Posts
View from Greg's House
New Zealand South Island Nelson After leaving the amazing and fun North island it was time to head South. My first stop in the South was going to be Nelson where I would be staying with a friend Greg for a few days. Greg lives about 30k out side Nelson in a place called Wakefield in a beautiful spot in the country all you can see from his house is fields of forest trees and mountains a very nice place to stop and spend a few days while I have man flu. Greg and his family and friends were very welcoming and made me feel right at home, it's kind of strange, to me this is a big deal with Greg letting me stay at his house and his Mum and Dad and friends inviting me ... read more
Hot Water Beach
To day I said good buy to Auckland and hello to my stray bus. Stray is a hop on hop bus service which will take me on a guided tour around nz. Hahel Hahel was my first stop, in Hahel we visited the hot water beach and Cathedral cove. Cathedral cove was really pretty and was a bit disappointed could not spend more time there as it was getting dark. Our Stray drive Nanna cooked us all a BBQ where I was drunk and almost missed the food which is really unlike me but had a really good first night. Raglan I can not really remember a lot a bout Raglan as we did not see to do much when we were here or on the way hear. The first 2 days on the stray bus ... read more
Ferry Building
Well here I am in New Zealand all on my little own, after travelling for 5 Months with Ceri. I found my way to the hostel without getting lost so all has started well. I arrived in Auckland early evening, so I thought I would wonder around the city to see what it has to offer and get some food in as I was staving. The nearest supermarket was an 30 min walk away but took me an hour plus to find as I got lost which is pretty hard to do in Auckland but I managed it. Back at the hostel and a full belly with my first good meal in over a month Pasta and Chicken mmmmmmm. I went to my room to meet my new room mates for the next 3 nights. You ... read more
It's the London eye but in Brisbane lol
Ceri and I left Sydney on the long coach trip up to Brisbane, 16 hours. We were recommended by a friend of mine called Danny that used to live in my home town Newbury but now lives in Brisbane to stay at the Bunk hostel. The first night at the bunk they had the Nintendo Wii champions on, being a Wii fan I had to have a go. I got to the final of the bowling but it was running late so me and the guys in the final were awarded a jug of beer each, which is nice but I hate beer and they would not swap it for a JD and coke ...... tight arses. In the morning there was work offered to me by the hostel to move some boxes, this took me ... read more
Sydney Opera House
Ceri and I said good buy to the exceptional beauty of the Blue Mountains and hello to the fascinating city that is Sydney. Ceri and I had to drop of the camper van then Leah one of Ceri friends kindly offered us a lift, as well as putting Ceri and I up for our stay in Sydney. Leah has a bubbly personally and totally mental as well (in a nice way of cause). Leah deiced to show Ceri and I around the city, and it was a brilliant tour of the city. We saw Harbor Bridge, Opera house, Darling harbor, the rocks, Queen Victoria building, before driving to lane cove where Leah lives. Leah made Ceri and I feel very welcome in her home. It was so good to be in a home rather than a ... read more
Melbourne
Hello faithful readers, if I have any left? It’s been a while since I last updated my blog but over the last 2 weeks I have had some good, bad and ugly times…….. Bad times start way back at Alice Springs. Ceri and I had a fright when arriving at the airport, we were not booked on the flight WTF? There was 1 hour to our flight was due to leave and Ceri and I were not on it. We had to call the emergency number for our travel agent. To cut this long story short, we call the emergency flight number, and thankfully due to the nice person on the end of the phone and the nice Qantas lady at the airport and a lot of luck due to our flight was delayed by 3 ... read more
Kings Canyon 1
Alice Springs / Central Australia Arriving at the heart of the central Australia Alice Springs we were greeted by sand fly's, which over the next week hovered around me like s***, to understand how annoying these fly's you will have to visit Alice Springs for your self. Annie's place was the hostel where Ceri and I was staying. This hostel has everything you need good kitchen, swimming pool, big movie screen at night, TV in your room, a nice bar that serves $5 meals. Alice Springs is a tiny town but has everything a tiny town need from shopping centres, Casinos, Cinema, Hospital and aboriginal people wondering the street stinking like they have never had a wash, I found out later this is because they are homeless which I did not realise. 3 Day Uluru Tour ... read more
Middleton beach
After the last month in cold China I was really looking forward to seeing oz & Perth and Western Oz. First Impressions of Perth were not good but like every place I have been to so far my first impressions are always wow this is not much. I'm not quiet sure what I expect when I come to these places maybe a red carpet and a marching band and I will be won over right away. After 2 weeks here now I do like Perth and the laid back attitude not to mention the beaches and the sun of cause. It's just like the UK but with sun, but it is very expensive. The first 4 days in Perth were just browsing the city there nothing really that stands out here just another city like any ... read more
Bund tunnel 1
Shanghai Well hear I am at the end of my time in China and what a month it has been. China is an experience some good some bad but have no regrets coming hear to see the amazing things I have seen. There is not really much to tell about the last leg of my China trip. Shanghai is nice enough but there does not seem to be a lot to do here that Ceri and I have not already done. We both have had rotten colds over the last week as well which sort of takes the get up and go out of you. We went to the Bund which is a tunnel under the river so you can get in to the Oriental Pearl tower the biggest skyscraper in China. We also went to ... read more
Terra Cotta Warriors 1
Xian Terra Cotta Warriors The first day of Xian was spent going to see the famous terra cotta warriors. It took just under an hour to get to the warriors and the lonely planet book advice to get a tour guide while going around so you can learn more about the warriors. I did not know that all the warriors that were found have been remade as they were all broken when found. Also they are coloured when first found but once the air gets to the paint they just go a clay colour. There are 3 main pits with pit 1 being the biggest and the best to look at. The terracotta figures, dating from 210 BC, were discovered in 1974 by several local farmers and still digging them up today. It was a really ... read more
