http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/jezzball/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from jezzball en-us Fri, 25 Dec 2009 17:10:12 +0000 Fri, 25 Dec 2009 17:10:12 +0000 Howdy all I have recently returned from working the grain harvest on a property located out of Munginidi on the NSW QLD border. With memories of the snow a very distant memory I was treated to 30 degree plus days and big open skies. The harvest runs in this part of the world from early October through to Christmas depending on rain and other seasonal conditions. In total we Stuart a Scottish b http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Moree/blog-455447.html Carissa and I have recently returned from 3 months living and working in the beautiful snowy mountains. The answer is yes it really was as fun as it sounds. The snow was fantastic and there was never any shortage of folk coming down to visit and take advantage of the free couch. Our lovely flatmate Jen was very gracious in accommodating all our couchsurfing friends.Carissa worked at the Thredbo http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Jindabyne/blog-440641.html Carissa and I have just arrived home from a two week sojourn to Bali and I have nothing but good things to report. If there is a supposed crisis of the financial variety unfolding in various parts of the globe somebody obviously forgot to inform the Balinese. Although it took a little adjusting we soon adapted to the less than hectic pace enjoyed by many of the locals and expats alike. It would http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/Kuta/blog-411040.html Hello All Carissa and I have recently returned from the Byron Bay mud I mean Bluesfest held over Easter. What is it with us and music festivals It seems we have an uncanny ability in the words of one of the performers Mr Tim Finn to 'bring the weather with you'. That being said Bluesfest did not dissapoint and Carissa myself and Rhys enjoyed many of the acts including Ben Harper Michael F http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/South-Australia/Victor-Harbor/blog-388331.html South Australia's license plate reads 'The Festival State' which it would seem is right on the money. Summer here is awash with festivals events street parties and sporting events including the jewel in the cityrsquos crown the Clipsal 500 V8 Supercars racing through the Adelaide CBD.Carissa and I have enjoyed finding ourselves smack bang in the middle of it all and are sad to be leaving http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/South-Australia/Adelaide/blog-377128.html With Christmas 2008 already a mere memory Carissa and I took to the open road again enroute to our next destination Adelaide. We actually managed a head start this time as my sister and her husband had done a lot of the hard work for us leaving the van at Avalon airport having toured the NSW and VIC east coast. First stop was the Geelong botanical gardnens where we walked through a desert gard http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Great-Ocean-Road/blog-364291.html Alas our time in Tas has drawn to a close. I have provided some key phrases to best sum up our time here in the Apple Isle if you look closely you may stumble across a common theme ldquoItrsquos raining cats and dogs Nice weather for ducks Itrsquos bucketing down. Yes the precipitation has been at times intense but despite the generous proportion of water that has fallen from th http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Tasmania/Tasman-Peninsula/Port-Arthur/blog-354370.html We had only been bush walking for approximately 2 hours but a mere dawdle I realise for some of you more hardened walkers out therehellip However it was at this point that I finally had to admit the stark truth which I had been denying since setting out from the relative safety of Leersquos Hut in near 0 temperatures and driving rain. I was absolutely freezing. This obviously meant that Cari http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Tasmania/Bicheno/blog-346487.html Flemington Racecourse Melbourne approximately 3.04pm. A collective sigh goes up from the crowd. It seems no one had fancied the Bart Cummings long shothellip No.10 Viewed.Along with 106000 other happy racegoers my good mate Chris and I along with his cousins hailing from Melbourne made our way to Flemington for one of the worldrsquos most prestigious horse races.Now let me say I know a http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Flemington/blog-342072.html Well the 'big thaw' is well and truly underway Tasmania is throwing off the blankets now that spring has finally sprung..... We are currently in Launceston where Carissa is working having just completed a 6 week stint in Smithton North West Tasmania. We were spoiled by the kind hospitality of the House family who own and manage the local pharmacy where Carissa worked while Murray was able to http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Tasmania/blog-334883.html How much fun is a road trip Yes this is a rhetorical question. Carissa and I have just spent the last week making our way over land and water to the great south land TASSIE. Having made our way down to Melbourne in plenty of time we decided to venture a little further south to check out the Mornington Peninsula. We made our way via Mornington around the bay to Sorrento where we biked our w http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Tasmania/Cradle-Mountain/blog-319277.html It was around the time that I realised we were looking for Serpentine Waterfallin the wrong national that it also dawned on me that I couldnrsquot be having morefun. Yes four and half days of pure stupidity with mates from home wasunderway.The reason one of our good mates enrolled in flight training school in BullsbrookWA was graduating from the air force as a bonafide pilot. Not just a pilot http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Perth/blog-316670.html Ok let's not muck around Dubai Do Buy is big really big. Nothing here is done by halves and if it's shopping you're after then welcome home. Dubai is home to countless shopping plazas including the largest one in the world. Unfortunately as Carissa will attest to I'm not a very good retail buddy and found myself moaning about walking aimlessly around the bohemith shrines to consumerism m http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/Dubai/blog-311234.html Leaving behind the comfort and luxury enjoyed in Africa thus far we set out on our budget camping safari and fell back to earth with a great thud in dusty Amboseli. Maybe we are just getting soft in our old age but in hindsight we probably would have done ourselves a favour to experience the budget safari experience PRIOR to the luxury version. As previously mentioned Carissa and I had opted fo http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Kenya/Rift-Valley-Province/Amboseli-NP/blog-308859.html A long time ago before the automobile skyscrapers and sprawling polluting metropolis's sprang up all over the world there existed an ecosystem that worked in perfect harmony. Carissa and I have been fortunate enough to have expierenced a glimpse of what such a world might have been like having spent the last three days on the Masai Mara. It literally feels like a step back in time mixed in w http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Kenya/Rift-Valley-Province/Masai-Mara-NP/blog-306431.html A very big hello jambo sana from Bujumbura Burundi. It has been non stop for Carissa and I since we arrived in Nairobi Kenya last Tuesday after a marathon 34hrs of travel Sydney Bangkok London Nairobi. Upon arriving in Nairobi we met up with Carissa's parents who are here to preach at two separate missions conferences as well as visit a prison that our local church back home has built to http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Burundi/blog-302589.html Hello all yes its been a long time between drinks but Carissa and I have been keeping busy. Since we last spoke Carissa and I have rounded out our time in Mackay loaded up the trusty Hiace and made our way back down the east coast to Sydney. We couldn't help but notice just how cold it seemed to get upon crossing back into NSW. Cheeky Queenslanders not only do they rob us of the state of origin http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Fraser-Island/blog-299135.html Hi all since our last blog Carissa and I have made our way up to sunny Mackay QLD. At this point I must apologise for the lack of contact turns out our wireless broadband is not so wireless. Not to worryhellipSince leaving Asia behind us we were home for a brief stint to celebrate a friends wedding congratulations Ollie Aanika before journeying North to the Central Queensland coast. Carissa http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Makay/blog-274673.html With great sadness our time in Asia is fast drawing to a close and that nagging feeling known to most as reality is almost upon us and with it a long forgotten pastime known as work. Since we last spoke Carissa and I descended on Thailand and made our way to Khao San Road the backpackers mecca in Bangkok. We sampled some of the best street food in Asia I still get a little teary when I think a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-258266.html Carissa and I have since continued our journey south along the east coast of Vietnam. Since we last spoke we left Hue behind and along with it the gloomy weather and made our way to Hoi An. Hoi An is a beautiful little town that was once a major port of call for international traders hence a real variety of cultures and influences are still evident today. Again Carissa and I braved the scooter an http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Nha-Trang/blog-254744.html