Sign In
Page 2 of jotoms Travel Blog Posts
June 11th 2006
After 27 hours of travelling I made it to Kenya. I was dissapointed to stop in Bangkok airport for only 30mins - I've never been to Asia before... I spent about 4hrs in the Dubai airport as well, and we're flying back through for a night on the way to Morocco, so I'm hoping to at least ride around in a cab for a few hours and see the city. Emirates is an awesome airline. I had maybe 200 movies and 100 TV shows to chose from. I'm finally in Africa. It is wild. I was worried about getting a visa at the airport, but it went smoothly. I got a cab to our hotel, then paid a cab driver to drive me around town for 1.5hrs. I was told it's too dangerous to walk around. ... read more
Days 19-20 (June 9-10)
Published: June 10th 2006Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Blue Mountains
June 10th 2006
Day 19 (June 9) I went to the Blue Mountains today. It's supposed to be the "grand canyon of australia." It was rainy in the city when I left but the sun was coming through at times. I took the two-hour train from Central Station at 10am. It was cool to see the suburbs of Sydney from the train, and I took in a lot from the conversations of the local commuters. I arrived around noon and had a nice lunch. The canyon is only a mile or so from the train station, and you walk through a nice little town called Katoomba. I knew when I got there I was in trouble. It was still rainy and very foggy. I had read about the Mtns being covered in fog, and I had been hoping it ... read more
June 8th 2006
Day 17 (June 7) I had a noon flight to Sydney so my morning was pretty shot. I flew through Brisbane on Virgin Blue, which is a pretty nice and cheap airline (sister of Virgin Airlines). I'm staying at the "best hostel in the world" in 2005 called "Wake up." It's actually really nice and reasonable. I just hung out there last night and talked to a bunch of people about their travels. Since the beginning of my trip, I'd say 80% of the people I have met are Irish or English, then maybe 10% Canadian, and a total of 2 Americans. Day 18 (June 8) Sydney is very clean. I can't find any trash on the sidewalks. I started my day looking for a place to watch the Hurricanes beat up on the Oilers (game ... read more
June 4th 2006
Day 14 (June 4) I spent the night of the 3rd at an airport hostel for US$18. I got what I paid for. It was gross. I had a burger for dinner, which was almost inedible. For some reason, despite the large numbers of cows all over NZ, they don't know how to make a burger. Plus their version of ketchup ("tomato sauce") is nasty. Anyway, my room had 4 other people in it. I woke up to what I thought was this guy's last breath. I seriously thought he was dying. He would stop breathing for 15 secs or so, and then make a sound like he had been underwater for 3mins and just come up for air. He'd do that about 3 times and then stop for another 15secs. Everyone woke up but him. ... read more
June 3rd 2006
Day 13 (June 3) My last real day in NZ. We went to the Wai-O-Tapu park where it reeks of sulfur. They have geyers and mud pools that boil and green lake... It was pretty cool. I was definitely sad to be leaving NZ. I had a blast. I hit the road around 1pm to turn the Spaceship in by 5pm. I'll miss my new friends and my Spaceship. It's so nice to travel around and not worry about having hotel arrangements. I put 2200km on it in 9 day (nearly 150miles/day). Problem is gas in NZ is $1.70/liter, or US$4.20/gallon. I spent a fortune on gas but it was worth it. I will definitely come back to NZ and visit the South Island. It's back to traveling alone for one more week before I meet ... read more
June 2nd 2006
Day 12 (June 2) Wow! I just jumped out of a plane at 15,000 feet. It was amazing. As you can see from my picture I was terrified... I had a great time on the hike with my new British friends (Adrian, Sophie, and Lucy). They're so nice and fun and we all have similar senses (?) of humor. After the hike we were headed the same direction so we've carpooled over the last few days. I'll post pics of them when I get a chance... I first heard about sky diving in Taupo when I was in Raglan. A Canadian guy was telling me about it and said it was one of the coolest things he'd ever done. I then heard the same thing from a few more people... My Brit friends were all ... read more
Day 11 (June 1)
Published: June 4th 2006Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Tongariro National Park
June 1st 2006
Day 11 (June 1) I slept in my camper at altitude and it was freezing, prob 25degrees or so. I'm practicing for Kilimanjaro. Anyway, I woke up and met the ride to the park entrance. The hike is 17km (~10miles) up between 2 volcanos. It's billed as the best one-day hike in the world, which I agree with. It took 7 hours but the views were amazing. I took at least 100 pics. I'm having a great time and sorry to know I'm down to 2 days left in NZ. I could easily spend 2 mos. I have a lot more to write about but am rushed so I will have to do it later. I also haven't had time to proofread this, as I pay for each minute I'm on here, so I'm sure there ... read more
May 31st 2006
Day 6 (May 27) I stayed at the Mousetrap in Paihia and watched the Rugby Finals on TV at a bar. The locals were so into it; it's NZ's Super Bowl. I couldn't really tell what was going on and it was kinda boring at first, but I got into it... Day 7 (May 28) I hung out around town and tried to plan my next few days. I was planning on heading back through Auckland to the middle of North Island (about 400km), so I wanted to plan out as much as possible. I rented a kayak and paddled out around an island in the bay before heading out of town. The days are finally clear and beautiful, so the drive was surprisingly enjoyable. CDs are already getting old though. I stopped often along the ... read more
May 27th 2006
Day 5 (May 26) was nice. Rented my spaceship (his name is OB1 - I didn't make that up, it's on the door) and headed north to "Northland." It rained the whole drive, but I was able to stop and see the largest Kauri tree in NZ. The picture doesn't do it justice - it's 150 feet tall. I was there all alone in the rain and wind and I had only about 15 mins left before sunset. Freaky. My Spaceship has a great sound system (with iPod input - too bad I forgot mine), but there are ZERO radio stations up north of Auckland, so I drove in silence for hours. Finally found NZ's Wal-mart called the Warehouse and bought the new Chili Peppers (2-disc) and Jack Johnson CDs. Anyway, drove 450km that day and ... read more
May 25th 2006
Day 1 (May 22) Had a 11am flight out of CLT. My bag was overflowing so I had to leave my camping pad - hope I don't regret that. Finally got everything to fit. Elisabeth took me to the airport and I was off to Houston (2:20). In Houston I watched Yao Ming board my flight to LAX. He was surrounded by other passengers taking his picture on their phones. As he handed his boarding pass to the gate agent and turned to go down to the plane he jacked his head on the doorframe. Kinda funny. I then saw Sheldon Williams board. I got to my exit row seat and then Paul Davis (MSU) and another big guy sat next to me. Not sure his name, but he had a Final Four 2003 bag, and ... read more
Options
Blogged From
TravelBlog Awards
Top Photos
Tot: 0.137s; Tpl: 0.007s; cc: 14; qc: 78; dbt: 0.0374s; 1; s:apollo w:www (50.28.60.10); sld: 1; ; mem: 6.5mb
© 2013 TravelBlog.org & Bloggers