Page 4 of thetravelbugtribe Travel Blog Posts


Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Islands » Russell July 14th 2010

We were checking emails one evening and came across one from the Whangarei group on Couch Surfing. It was from an American girl asking if anyone wanted to join her competing in the Russell Birdman contest. A couple of weeks before, I had seen an article in a paper (NZ Herald travel section?) about the festival and thought it would be a fun way to spend a Saturday. I hadn’t mentioned it to Colin as of course he would be playing football that day, and I try my best not to find us other things to do on a Saturday too often! But it seemed like fate had dropped this group posting in our in-box. We decided that we’d reply and see what happened. The least we could do would be to offer a bed and ... read more
Morgan sewing
Karen and Alex watching Morgan sewing one of the kites
Cutting excess curtain off one of the kites

Oceania » Australia » Western Australia » Geraldton May 22nd 2010

Wednesday 19th May 2010 - Denham -- Geraldton 3295km After a brief stop at the Telecentre in Denham to upload the last blog, we headed on our way further south. We made a few stops before hitting the main highway again. First was at a place called Eagle Bluff, a view point overlooking part of Shark Bay. We didnt see any eagles, neither did we see the suggested dugongs, sharks or dolphins. The dugong are apparently off towards the mouth of the bay where the water is warmer, cant blame them really, the water here is pretty chilly. There were plenty of sea grass meadows though, which are very attractive to them. Next was Shell Beach. This is a long stretch of beach along the L'Haridon Bight in Shark Bay made up of 'coquina bivalve' shells ... read more
Swimming at the feet of the conservation staff
Shell Beach
Shell Beach

Oceania » Australia » Western Australia » Exmouth May 18th 2010

Saturday 15th May 2010 - Cape Range NP (1864km) We sort of had a lie in this morning to get over from the last few days but we wanted to get some snorkelling in while the tides were high and before the winds picked up too much, so didn't hang around too much. Not that it made much difference, the wind has been strong here for a few days, cancelling whale shark trips and generally annoying everyone. On the other side of the hills down the centre of the peninsular (and including most of the hills) is the Cape Range NP. Off the coast is the Ningaloo Marine Park. We drove through one and swam in the other. Most of what we saw of Cape Range NP was scrub and desert, though the scrub was pretty ... read more
View from lookout near Exmouth
Gully near Exmouth
Whale shark

Oceania » Australia » Western Australia May 14th 2010

Tuesday 11th May 2010 - Freo → Jurien Bay (352km) Meeting our CS ride share and picking up the car was pretty easy. For the car, we swapped drivers license details and money for a key and Perth road map. Quick and easy. Marlyn, the couch surfer who will be joining us for some or all of this trip, was almost as easy to find. We'd got to Freo early and were wandering round, and stopped at a statue of an early prime minister for a look and to shelter from the wind to text Marlyn. There was an Asian girl standing there with a couple of bags, and we heard a phone bing just after we'd hit send. But she didn't move, so we kept wandering further. Five minutes later we get a text back ... read more
two more
and another koala
koala doing what it does best!

Oceania » Australia » Western Australia » Fremantle May 10th 2010

Saturday 8th May - Auckland → Fremantle As we always claim that our trip begins when we leave home, we thought that we'd better begin this trips blog from home too. Not that there is ever a lot to say about packing up and driving down to Auckland and heading out to the airport. The same with flights, this one was average. Our CS host had offered to pick us up from the airport, partly as he was at his girlfriends nearby and partly as he doesn't rate the public transport from the airport back to Perth or Freo. What he didn't mention was the service in the airport! Fair enough, its an old airport and looks it, it obviously wasn't designed for the amount of people coming through these days. But the staff hardly make ... read more
Karen outside the Round House
Quokka
some lizard or other

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Northland April 5th 2010

Maybe not literally our own back yard, but compared to many of the places we have been, this long weekend was just up the road. Our own backyard, just up the road and right up our alley? Too many cliches already! But a slow cruise in the kombi, stopping where and when we wanted, loads of long walks along loads of long beaches (and some not so long beaches), exploring new places, spending time in the fresh air, sitting out under the stars (until we got too cold) - totally right up our alley!! Like many travellers we've spoken to, there is so much locally (and throughout NZ) that we haven't seen yet, we are too busy heading off to far flung places that sometimes we forget where we live and how amazing it is. Yes, ... read more
The beach at the end of the road
A refreshing freshwater lake just back from the beach
Freecamping on the beach


Saturday we were up early to go down towards Auckland for a day trip to Tiritiri Matangi Island. Tiritiri Matangi, meaning “tossed by the wind”, is a protected, predator free island run by DOC as an open scientific reserve and wildlife sanctuary. Only a limited number of people are allowed to visit each day, and so you have to book a bit in advance. ( www.360discovery.co.nz) We caught the ferry from Gulf Harbour, a development towards the end of the Whangaparoa Peninsula, which was much easier than driving all the way into the city, having to find parking (and pay for it!) and be there earlier than we needed to be at Gulf Harbour, and the ferry costs more from the city. Getting on the ferry, we thought we'd be rained on soon as all we ... read more
Bellbird
Saddleback
Stitchbird

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Northland » Waipu January 24th 2010

Just a quick entry as it was only a quick trip to the caves. We had a couple of couch surfers with us who had been to Abbey Caves (previous entry, different couch surfers!) a couple of times, and wanted to try somewhere different. It had been ages since Colin and I had been to Waipu Caves, so off we went. Waipu is a small settlement south of Whangarei. It was settled by Scots who had travelled from Scotland to Nova Scotia then on to NZ. Waipu is (more or less) on the coast, and the caves are about 20km inland. We took a less direct route through farming country, partly as its nicer than driving along SH1, but also to give Doris and Niki a bit of a tiki tour. We were expecting to be ... read more
Stalagmite
Cave roof
Glow worms

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Whangarei January 9th 2010

Abbey Caves are a series of undeveloped limestone caves just outside town. We’re not sure how many caves there actually are, but there are three signposted that you can enter. The plan of the caves we got from the library only shows the three caves, but they all have various passages and entry/exit points. The first is Organ Cave, the largest, and then there are Middle Cave and Ivy Cave. You are meant to be able to walk through the latter two, or at least, exit at a different place than where you go in; we’re sure you don’t get to walk through the whole cave. The plan is a little vague to our untrained eyes. All the caves have stalactites, stalagmites and glow worms. There is also a “Rock Forest” around the caves with some ... read more
Organ Cave
Middle Cave
Water and rocks, Middle Cave

Europe » United Kingdom » England » Oxfordshire » Oxford December 23rd 2009

Winchester - a detour on the way to Oxford. We went to Winchester to meet Andy and Josie , a couple we first met when we hosted them at home via Hospitality Club. They are the reason we have a blog on this site; we were impressed by theirs and so moved from another site to this one. We had a wander round the Christmas Market behind the cathedral then went up to the Great Hall for a look at King Arthurs Round Table. A slight misnomer as it wasn't made until the 14th C and King Arthur was around at least 750 years earlier. It was made round to ensure that no one knight was better placed than any other, and each knight had their labelled place. Click here for some great details including the ... read more
The Round Table
Stained glass window, Great Hall, Winchester
Quad, Jesus College




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