nicnac
Nicola Edward Joined: October 26th 2008
Logged in: June 7th 2011
Logged in: June 7th 2011
Travel Blog Posts
So after 2 weeks of inland travel we were very excited to get to the beach. We got an overnight bus down south and arrived at 6am in the pouring rate and found a wee hotel on the beach thinking we'd go to bed for a couple of hours then go to the beach when it stopped raining. It didn't stop raining for 3 days, and by all accounts won't stop till the dry season! The next day we moved hotels to a place nearer the backpacker's scene so we could at least play pool when it was raining! There happened to be a Scottish bar, woohoo, run by a nutter from Craig Neuk so we got a bit of banter there and met up with the ozzie couple a few times. Apart from that we ... read more
So we got to Cambodia, home of Angkor Wat after an awful trip! As said before we got an overnight bus then a songtheaw to the border. On the other side there was a severe lack of public transport, just a group of young guys sitting next to their cars / minivans in the shade. They started speaking to us saying they could offer us a lift into the nearest town, 2 hours away!We got a wee it of banter then they started getting arsey asking us to make them an offer for transport, refusing everything they said. Then they started saying there was nothing in the town so they could get us somewhere to stay for the night and take us to Phnom Pehn the next morning. OK. We had no other option but to ... read more
Sabaydee! Yeeha I'm back in the land of the tuk-tuks! After a very ugly 40 hours in transit from New Zealand we got to Bangkok at 12am and man it was hot. We got a taxi to our beautiful hostel and headed out for a beer and spring rolls. The next morning we got on the skytrain to the bus station to buy tickets for a bus that night up to the Lao border, got lost in a huge park in the centre of the city (i got burnt shoulders, not good when you're BACK-packing). We took Ross to a restaurant we went to before for some fried rice and chicken and headed for the famous Khao San Road, via tuk tuk of course. I love Bangkok! We had a beer, I got a haircut (for ... read more
on the wagon
12 days, 1 island (the north one), a banger of a station wagon and a tent. After an early morning in Sydney we got a stupid plane to Auckland run by Spaniards, who like to talk on the p.a. system thingy. Unfortunately by the time we arrived and changed our watches, again, it was getting late. Mum and Alan had booked a campervan and campsite so we still had to find a tent and pitch it in the dark. We did make it but after 3 nights realised we were the same price, and comfier, to use on-site cabin/chalet type things. It rained. A lot. Fortunately we could sit in mum's warm van in the evenings and have them get brekkie ready in the mornings, except for those mornings we had to wake them up! So ... read more
reunited with the gang
Very glad to be back here after our half circle tour of Oz. Getting of the bus we noticed how warm and familiar Sydney is. It's honestly the warmest I've felt since June! We found a cheap hostel above a pub called the Mountbatten Hotel, funky name eh. Pretty basic but close to the Train station and the pubs...... That night we met up with Vicky (friend from uni) and Nadine (a former apple picker) and some Dundee boys Stef knows at the famous Scruffy Murphys, an Irish bar doh. Tis a very messy place but good beer and live music. So we had a few drinks and ended up at a Chinese Bar, Charlie Chans, or Jackie Chans, or Charlie Chaplins and met some great random ozzies. The bar comes thoroughly recommended! The next day ... read more
Canberra motel room
Seriously where? We got off our looooong bus journey through the country-side to be met with, not much. Canberra was a city designed on a big drawing board by some pompous architect as THE Australian capital. Result - a city of huge wide roads, lots of circular roads, ugly commercial buildings and the odd nice parliamentary building. Our motel was a little bit of a dive, imagine a 60's american motel crossed with that lovely Thavorn hotel in Phuket (check back throught the blogs for that review) . But it was fine, complete with TV and microwave, bonus. Needless to say we drank tea and ate noodles and micro lasagne for the weekend! On Saturday we got tickets for the NRL game, Brisbane Broncos versus Canberra Raiders. We walked up the the Parliament Hill, saw a ... read more
Flinders St station
Another song for the title this week, cos as you may have guessed, we made it to Melbourne!! woohooo. After a quick flight South East in the tiniest plane ever (free morning tea too, bargain - idi I already mention that?) Stef's ozzie cousins picked us up and took us to their home in Endeavour Hills on the other side of the city. We spent the day catching up and planning our week, Ross had his hangover kip and since we were too late to book the official Neighbours tour, found the locations for Erinsborough High and Ramsay Street. Stef's auntie cooked up our first (of many) feasts for dinner then we settled down with a beer to watch footie on tv in preparation for the next day..... ...which was Sunday and when I gained another ... read more
Mildura city centre
- A highly irritating song from a Mildura tv ad, which I can recite word for word now. Ozzie tv sucks. So our last 3 weeks in Mildura flew by, working 6 days then a day off to do washing and shopping. We also managed to catch the latest Harry Potter installment at the cinema. Seven of us fruit picking girls and a German bloke headed to the busiest spot in Mildura one Friday night and some of us watched the film, the others fell asleep! And we were fortunate in our last week to get some hourly paid work on the farm which meant a half decent paycheque. Our plan was to get the bus to Melbourne to stay with Stef's auntie, uncle and cousin however on Thursday payday before we were to leave we ... read more
Horse and chariot racing
Woohooo we have a new job! After coming back from work exhausted and still skint, the hostel owner finally found us a better job. We've joined 5 other folk picking oranges just up the road for a lovely Aussie farmer, Steve. (he also likes motorbikes, what a coincidence) Our first day I was up and full of porridge for our 8.15 depart from the hostel in the little minivan. On arrival at work, our team, now known as Team Scotland by everyone else was given a tractor with the empty bins and drove out to a wee area of grape vines, noooooooo! (note: A- Team Scotland was originally thought of as from Swedish decent, cos we're so tall??? and B- hold on tight when Ross is driving) Fortunately these vines are different to the ones we ... read more
Yay we're in sunny Sunraysia, Mildura to be precise also known as the sultana city. Got here last week and hung about at the hostel for 3 days doing not a lot. Mildura is a very strange place, it's extremely spread out so the centre is deserted except for a few shops and mcds. Our first night we went for a wee walk (and pint) and couldn't find a pub!!! To add to the eeriness, there a few streetlights and strange music was playing everywhere along the streets. Eventually we found a working mans club. No not YMCA but a lovely establishment where we got the long awaited pint and a sandwich. Our hostel is supposed to be a working hostel, so the owner has some farm contacts and on Friday night we were offered work ... read more
