Geoff Swann
Hi there, I am currently along with millions (probably) of others shirking my responsiblites and travelling around the world for a year. Follow my progress here on my blog, when I get around to writing it. Hope you enjoy following my journey, cos im certainly enjoying living it! Geoffgeoffs_odyssey
Travel Blog Posts
August 16th 2007
Here is the next installment coming right up.... We left Laos and got an overnight train back to Bangkok, on arriving we decided that we didnt want to spend any time there so headed straight on a bus to the Thailand/Cambodia border in Aranya Prathet/Poipet. At the border we encountered the notoriously corrupt immigration officals, as we were getting our visa there we had the 20 USD payment ready (there is also a big sign on the wall saying 20USD) so the guy tries to charge us 1000 thai baht (30 odd USD) then when we discuss it, he says that the sign is for the buy in Bangkok price here the price is higher - we have to pay his price.. we bargain him down to 20USD and 50 thai baht each (less than a ... read more
August 15th 2007
Hello again, Having left Australia I embarked on the final stage of my trip, that is a trip through South East Asia. First stop was Thailand, and after a day or so checking out Koh San Road and the big buddha and stuff, I was ready to head down to the island of Koh Tao. Spent a few days there chilling out in beach side bungalows and doing my advanced open water scuba diving course, which was lots of fun, really great coral and warm water so it was all pretty good. Could easily get stuck there diving and chilling if the money would last! Had my first banana pancakes there, so good I went straight back for seconds, (those that have tried them will hopefully understand what I mean, they really are that good). Although ... read more
East Coast and Outback times
Published: November 30th -0001Oceania » Australia » Northern Territory » Darwin » City of Darwin
July 7th 2007
Hello again. Well got to Airlie Beach which is not a great place apart from the fact that the trips to sail the Whitsunday Islands depart from here! So went on a racing yacht called Condor, which in its day won all the major ocean races twice. Been kitted out now for 28 people but its still a racing yacht with all the winches and grinders and stuff, got to help out with the sailing, raising the sails and tacking and stuff which was good fun, then spend the time sitting on the high side of the boat hanging over the side as we cruise along. Went snorkelling of the boat, and visited Whitehaven Beach which is a stunning long white sand beach that appears in tourism Australia brochures and stuff. We slept on the boat ... read more
May 20th 2007
After the rafting trip I passed straight through Christchurch and headed up to Kaikoura which is a small town on the east coast of the south island about 2 hours north of Christchurch. The setting for Kaikoura is very scenic with a snow capped mountain range visible from the beach, however the reason that so many people head there is because of the large amounts of marine wildlife that can be seen there. This is because there is a deep undersea trench close to the coastline that means that animals that usually feed far out to sea can get there deep sea prey close to the shore. The area is famous for whale, dolphin, seal and albatross watching, There is also the chance to swim with wild dusky dolphins in the area, there can be ... read more
May 15th 2007
Hello, time for the next installment of my travels, playing catchup with the blog right now but hey! Arrived in Melbourne and went to stay with some relatives that have a farm about an hour or so outside the city. Had a great time there helping out on the farm, catching up with family I had never met and getting a flavour of australia from the local point of view. Then went back to melbourne to meet a friend from university and we hired a car to go see the great ocean road, along with a girl from switzerland that we met (hey ed and tina - hows it going?) Had a great time with good weather and stunning scenery- really is a great drive, with some cool little towns along the way. Randomly got to ... read more
May 1st 2007
Had to do at least one adrenaline thing in Queenstown and had heard great things about the canyon swing. As the name suggests it is a great big swing into and across a canyon. Basically you are harnessed up and then choose which way (10 different options) to throw yourself off the platform that is 109m above the canyon floor. Attached to a rope rather than a bungy cord you freefall for 60m and then start swinging across the canyon towards the cliffs on the other side in a 200m arc. It is a very smooth transition from plummeting towards the ground to hurtling towards the cliff face but a whole lot of fun. Decided to choose this over bungy as sounded more appealing and had heard that it was as scary as the bungy. ... read more
Milford Sound and Routeburn Track
Published: August 9th 2007Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Queenstown
April 30th 2007
The trip to Milford sound involved a long bus journey with a stop in the picturesque town of Te Anau on Lake Te Anau. The scenery driving through the fjiordland area was stunning with the mountains and valleys etc. Its not actually that far as the crow flies from Queenstown to Milford but due to the mountains the road takes a very circuitous route around. Climb into the mountains and then pass through the Homer tunnel which is the only pass through the mountains and then drop down dramatically to Milford Sound. I was staying a couple of nights in Milford sound so that I could do a sea-kayaking trip on the sound. This was a full day trip and absolutely amazing. Guiding company were really good, we were all in double kayaks (would have preferred ... read more
April 30th 2007
Right hello again, Left you all as I arrived in Wanaka. This was a really cool little town with stunning scenery. The major highlight of my time here was going skydiving! This is so much fun and if you havent thrown yourself out of a perfectly good plane from a great height before I fully recommend it. I jumped from 15,000 feet which is a long way up and you freefall for 1 minute... So arrived at the sky dive place and get a interestingly coloured suit to wear - kinda looks like a clown suit but hey! Then get told that its my instructors second day and that he was the landscape gardener and they were just short of staff... Get harnessed up and meet Chris my jumpmaster - go through the briefing etc and ... read more
March 30th 2007
hello again, I have now arrived on the south island, which is absolutely stunning. I started with a few days at a chilled out eco retreat type backpackers in the Queen Charlotte sounds. Access by boat or walking from the Queen Charlotte track, nice accomodation right by the water with private beach, lots of hammocks all over the place to lie in, free kayaks to use, spa, log fire in evenings etc. Yeah basically pretty nice, spent the time hiking up onto the queen charlotte track and onto a hilltop lookout for 360 degree views of the queen charlotte sounds - pretty stunning. Also did a couple of sea kayaking trips but didn't see any seals. Lay in hammocks by day and at night to look at the stars... so clear as obviously no light pollution ... read more
March 12th 2007
Hello again, Here is the next instalment of my blog, being threataning to write this for ages so here goes. Having had a great christmas time with Pete and Gill Winter, I decided to head down to Wellington for New Years eve and to continue the recovery on my ankle. Wellington is a really cool city, by the sea, and because topography (now theres a clever word to use!) it is built around the hills etc so looks cool with lots of greenery and stuff, but is easy to get around. Now they say that Wellington is the party capital of New Zealand, and it certainly has a good nightlife there. New Years eve was a good night ending at about 7am. Then spent a couple of days chilling out and checking out some of the ... read more
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