http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/stewartgetslost/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from stewartgetslost en-us Fri, 01 Jan 2010 17:19:58 +0000 Fri, 01 Jan 2010 17:19:58 +0000 So from Bukit Lawang it was time to head to Lake Toba. Unfortunately this meant going back through Medan. Which meant being a celebrity again. You see what I didn't mention last time is that because hardly any tourists stop in Medan those that are around are a great attraction to locals and everyone gets taught the phrase Hello Mister and isn't afraid to use it. It's quite a nice feeling http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Sumatra/Lake-Toba/blog-433819.html Yet again I start with an apology. This time its that the highlight of Bukit Lawang undoubtedly was trekking in the jungle with orangutans. However my camera had packed up by then and thus no orangutan photos. I'm still hoping that one of the folk I trekked with will get round to sending me them one day but until then you'll have to make do with the residue of my photos Im afraid.See the m http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Sumatra/Bukit-Lawang/blog-433750.html OK so lets start with a confession. I'm home. So all the remaining blogs will be written with a wistful air and might possibly make places sound better than they really were simply because they aren't England. But I'll try and remain objective. And so lets start with Penang. Which quite frankly was a little bit rubbish.I better clarify that for 2 main reasons. One is that to just give a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Penang/George-Town/blog-433749.html Avid readers of this blog might have realised by now that I quite like a cup of tea. So when the opportunity to visit a tea plantation presented itself I would quite literally get an overnight bus then sit for 7 hours in a bus station starting from 3am to get there. Fun times folks real fun times. The things I do for a brew.Suffice to say I was pretty shattered when I got to Tanah Rata the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Pahang/Cameron-Highlands/blog-433535.html You know usually I like to go for a clever pun for these titles. But this time I just decided to go straight for the jealousy button. And you already feel pretty jealous don't you Don't lie I know you are. As Lionel Ritchie once said I can see it in your eyes. Hello.We made an early start from Kota Bharu and as such were relaxing on Coral Bay on Pulau Perhentian Kecil by 11am. I'd rent http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Terengganu/Perhentian-Kecil/blog-433529.html It seems the Malaysian governmenttourist boardwhoever had an off day when naming Taman Negara National Park. You see Taman Negara is Malaysian for... yup you guessed it National Park. Very uninventive. If this was in Singapore you can guarantee it would have been called the Tigelephant National Park with Tigers and Elephants apparently roaming around not that I saw hide nor hair of them http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Pahang/Taman-Negara-National-Park/blog-428018.html I just love it when a bus pulls up in the middle of a hot sweaty bustling city without any indication of whereabouts in this city you actually are. All I knew is I wanted to go to Chinatown and the drivers finger pointed the general direction I should walk in. Fortunately it wasn't too far and the sight of a big backpack and a sweaty face meant I got a nice crowd of touts telling me their hos http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Wilayah-Persekutuan/Kuala-Lumpur/blog-426999.html And so the Stewart bandwagon hits its final leg or as its a wagon should that be wheel After a thoroughly enjoyable flight with Qantas from Brisbane to Singapore I emerged into the sort of intense humidity that I really hadn't encountered since Central America. And this was at 9pm. I sweated my way to a hostel on Singapore's tube system having a good chuckle at the rap that was used to http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-426909.html Australia. Possibly the worlds biggest gap year destination with backpackers coming in their droves to travel the East Coast. I was going to the East Coast too but my itinerary was slightly different. You see after 10 months on the road I'm a bit tired. I got through New Zealand running on fumes I suspect if at that time I was in a place where I had to haggle and constantly getting hassl http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Gold-Coast/blog-423085.html Yup thats right folks arriving in Christchurch meant that it was the end of my time in another country of my trip. Which signals that England is drawing inexorably closer. But lets not dwell on annoying things like that lets talk about my time in the South Island's largest city.I arrived late after a day long bus ride from Invercargill so had just enough time to find a nice hostel then hit t http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Christchurch/blog-423066.html Before I start an apology to subscribers to my blog. I've just published about 11 entries which means your inbox has just been clogged up. I've already lost one of you from the ranks because of it and I like to look after my subscribers so sorry about that folks. If you're reading this and aren't a subscriber why not And now to the main course.Do you remember back in Uruguay when I went http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Stewart-Island/blog-422495.html The first thing you will notice about this blog title is that I thought about it in the same train of thought that I thought of the Fox Glacier one. The second thing is the use of the world sound to mean good. I hasten to add this is not part of my usual vocabulary but it did seem appropriate in this instance.I went from Queenstown to Milford Sound with a company known as EcoTours. Why don't http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Milford-Sound/blog-422471.html Where was I A question I find myself asking myself with increasing regularity these days. And usually the answer is I don't know. Quite often these questions are asked out loud. But I better not say anymore or you'll all be ringing psychiatrists. And frankly I dont want that.Right so Wanaka. What a lovely place. I knew I'd be spending time in both Wanaka and Queenstown but on the advi http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Wanaka/blog-421320.html The journey between Nelson and Franz Josef is a painstaking 9 hour trip in a minivan. Quite ridiculous really that New Zealand is considered a developed country yet every single South American country I got a bus in and yes this includes Bolivia the bus service was much better and more comfortable. Something to work on for our kiwi friends methinks. Not much to report on the journey apar http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Fox-Glacier/blog-421319.html From Picton I headed west through Nelson to the little town of Motueka which is pretty close to the Abel Tasman National Park. Sadly this is one place where time caught up with me and instead of having 3 days there to complete the Abel Tasman track one of New Zealand's Great Walks I just had the one. This left me with 2 options. The cheap way was to just get a bus to Marahau walk up the http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Abel-Tasman-National-Park/blog-421318.html The 3 hour ferry crossing between Wellington on the North Island and Picton on the south is a very pleasant experience. Especially the last half hour or so when the boat ventures into Queen Charlotte Sound. I enjoyed it so much I decided I'd stay a night in Picton for a bit of a mosey around rather than scoot straight off on a bus elsewhere like 90 of people from the ferry official statisti http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Picton/blog-421316.html This time I was in Wellington for good. And by good I mean 3 days. Rob had now finished his gruelling exams all 1 of them so was free to show me a bit of the city. First stop was New Zealand's national museum Te Papa. It's a monstrous place and to be honest there are large swathes of it which I found wholly uninteresting. However there are some excellent sections such as the one on nat http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Wellington/blog-421313.html I can see your puzzled faces now blog fans. But Stewart I hear you cry. You said you were going to Wellington. Fear not devotees I did indeed go to Wellington whereupon I met up with Rob. You may remember Rob from such blog entries as Rod Stewart the famous singer from the 80's and Who spilt the salt. He put me up for the night then being as he had an exam to be revising for said http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/blog-421269.html Firstly let me get one thing straight. I have never seen a full Lord of the Rings film. I saw a bit of the first one but got thoroughly bored and stopped watching. However I recognise that the films are hugely popular and being as this blog has been struggling for ratings recently I figured a LOTR related title might pull in some extra viewers. Time shall tell.Taupo is a town just a hop http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Tongariro-National-Park/blog-420502.html Before any representitives of Rotorua's tourist agency try and sue me for libel the title is of course a reference to the rather overpowering sulphurous smell that lurks around Rotorua and is not me taking a cheapshot at the town which I actually thought was a rather pleasant place. However like Auckland Rotorua didn't get off to a flyer with me through no fault of its own. You see back i http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Rotorua/blog-420215.html