esg1988

South Island began with the fun of sleeping at Christchurch Airport. Luckily for me there was still some seats left to lie across. The guy sleep across from me was from England so got some good travel tips off of him before heading out to the bus. Met a lovely girl from Newcastle who was just finishing south island so she gave me loads of pointers too. We took the coastal road to kaikoura - the most spectacular scenery I've ever seen. The afternoon was spent aboard a fishing boat. I was catching to fish at a time and was so pleased when I caught the biggest fish. It was a major workout on the arms too. We enjoyed a dinner of crayfish and Sav Blanc before heading back into town for an interesting quiz night. ... read more

So the very first experience of money in Indonesia was paying for my 'on arrival' visa. The lady behind the counter refused to take a $5 bill from me because it had a tiny tear in the corner. The Australian woman behind me in the queue explained they don't like 'dirty' money. Had a lovely taxi driver to the centre of Yogyakarta (or Jogya as it is known locally). He explain lots of history andthe reason for all the motorbikes on the road at this particular time of day, Students! Although a little cautious a lovely man showed me where I was planning to stay. He showed me around a little too, helping to organise a SIMcard for me, some onward transport and explaining the local scams used on tourists! Had a proper dinner of half ... read more

Luckily for me as I was so busy at work the week leading up to my departure I was completely knackered for my overnight flight to Bangkok. I slept so well :) This still didnt make navigating Bangkok airport any easier. The first thai food I had was traditional Pad Thai absolutely delicious! Cocktails along the main tourist street are all advertised as 'Very Strong' and my goodness they are. One cocktail and I was ready for bed. Visited the Grand Palace, absolutely stunning. Managed to arrange a tuktuk to travel around to a few more of the temples etc Navigating around bangkok without a proper map though proved to be a little difficult meaning we ended up walking for about two hours completely lost. Took a day trip outside of Bangkok, where i got to ... read more