http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/jecjec28/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from jecjec28 en-us Tue, 08 Dec 2009 04:55:36 +0000 Tue, 08 Dec 2009 04:55:36 +0000 Cox Plate 2009 http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/CBD/blog-458083.html Weekend getaway to Surfers Paradise http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Gold-Coast/Surfers-Paradise/blog-393366.html Annual trip to Melbourne for the Cox Plate http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/City-Centre/blog-393363.html Trip to Brissy... http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/blog-199210.html Had a lovely couple of days in Phi Phi. We arrived by boat on Tuesday afternoon. Lucky I didn't get seasick The travel sickness spray really worked It took about 2 hours to get there from Phuket.Yesterday we went on an island hopping tour. We got to snorkel swim kayak around the islands and beaches of Phi Phi. Todd got to snorkel with sharks I was too scared to go in. There were lots of pre http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Phuket/blog-224166.html It's our last day in Bangkok. Well last full day. We woke up early this morning and caught the train to Chatuchak Markets about 8.30am. Lucky we went early We left around 2pm and it was packed Apparently 200000 people visit each day All without airconditioning I started to feel a little lightheaded after a while. The markets are crowded packed together tightly and have everything for sale http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-224163.html Hi allFirst morning in Phuket. Just had a lovely buffet breakfast at our hotel Salathai Patong Beach gorgeous here We arrived late last night and given an upgraded room Very nice Slept in this morning till 9.30 and then down to brekkie. Booked an elephant trek transfers to Phi Phi island for tomorrow and also a 2hr massage this afternoon We spent the last week in Manila. WOW Talk abou http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Phuket/blog-222728.html Hi allBeen in Bangkok for 3 days now. Seen a few sites and shopped a fair bitFirst night we flew in we checkedin unpacked a bit then hopped onto the Skytrain to Nana where all the tailors are located. Todd got measured up for a suit from httpwww.dressforsuccess.com. Afterwards I went to another tailor to get measured up for a suit too. We grabbed dinner from Siam Paragon...in the food c http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-220642.html Annual trip to the Cox Plate in Melbourne http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/blog-219550.html Not quite the weather we were hoping for...but then it's Melbourne and so we pretty much assume it's going to be cold colder or freezingWe arrived in Melbourne on Thursday night about 9.30pm. SEAMLESS Tickets check. Luggage check. Suits Check Our accommodation We stay at the Shortstay apartments in Southbank. Just gorgeous I highly recommend staying there See their website httpww http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/blog-100191.html Touched down in Sydney tonight and was so happyI actually flew into Sydney on Thursday but went to the Gold Coast for my cousin's wedding. Tonight will be my first night in my own bed I am so looking forward to itOur Europe trip was so much fun We saw a lot of things in a short amount of time I'm looking at the photos now and it's really hitting me what we actually didIn summary... Fave http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/Penrith/blog-69417.html After losing my passport having a bad 5 hour transit stay at Heathrow and 12 hour flight filled with noisy kids and babies I was ready to screamI actually slept 8 out of the 12 hours to Singapore. I guess that was good. I flew through the night and had a window seat with 2 people next to me. So annoying when you wanted to go to the toiletAnyway I made it to Singapore and had a 2 hour break th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-69416.html Can you believe I lost my passport at HeathrowI had just got off my British Airways flight and was on my way to customs to go out and get my suitcase. There were HEAPS of people As I was carrying so much stuff it was hard to rummage through my bags. In the end I got annoyed and got out of the line and literally took everything out of my bags. I tried to stay calm and take everything out metho http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-69414.html The day had finally come I had enjoyed my time in Europe but really did miss home and was looking forward to being back in Australia where I could speak the language knew how things worked and just be around family and friends. I had stayed up the night before to pack so didn't need to pack much this morning. Adam left early to go on the Dachau day tour and stopped by to say goodbye. For breakf http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Bavaria/Munich/blog-70941.html Another warm morning and another earlyish wake up. Nat Todd and I went down to breakfast while Adam stayed in. He got sunburnt from the game the day before After breakfast we all head to Marienplatz city centre. Todd and I went to an Internet cafe while Nat Adam went to the Tourist Information Centre to book some tours. Afterwards we all walked down the mall area looked for Aussie support http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Bavaria/Munich/blog-70282.html Guten Morgen Munich We woke up to a very warm and steamy morning Our room faced the morning sun and we both had to get up early because it was so uncomfortable to sleepin We went downstairs to have our included breakfast. The breakfast room was filled with soccer fans Aussies Brazillians Germans mainly. After breakfast we took the train to the Munich Fanfest where Nat Adam were to pick u http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Bavaria/Munich/blog-69413.html Frankfurt Prague 13th June 2006Talk about security checks We had so many bag searches leaving Germany it was ridiculous Especially if you're carrying an excessive amount of carryon bags The flight itself only took about an hour. Seems like everything is about an hour from each other in Europe. We arrived in Prague around 8pm. It was pretty quiet when we arrived. Not many people in the airp http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Prague/blog-69412.html After finishing up at the Heineken Factory yesterday we caught the tram to the city centre had lunch at Maccas don't worry I had a salad this time not another burger and did some souvenir shopping. We then caught the bus back to the hotel to collect our luggage and took a transfer to the airport.Checked in and ready to go we watched the Holland vs Serbia Mont game at the sportsbar in the ai http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Hessen/Frankfurt/blog-69411.html We arrived in Amsterdam yesterday afternoon.The Excess Baggage ExperienceThe flight over was quick and turned out to be expensiveOur transfer guy picked us up on time and were at Heathrow with lots of time to spare. When we checked in we were shocked to find out we were 20kg overweight That's for 2 of us We had got so used to chucking all our stuff in our suitcases that we didn't think of overl http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-66197.html Ahhh a morning without a wakeup call scheduled breakfast and early departure BlissFirst stop this morning was Lillywhites to find Todd an Australian jersey for the first game. We had looked before the tour but there were none. We were disappointed to find out they still had no stockNext stop was the post office. We walked down to lower Regent St and asked the post office how much it would cos http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-69424.html