http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/toga/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from toga en-us Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:50:30 +0000 Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:50:30 +0000 Hi everyone Tina we are currently at Miami International Airport waiting for our flight to Philli where we get our connecting flight to Gatwick so the last leg of our amazing travels and boy are we looking forward to seeing all you lovelies over thereSince our last blog we have been cruising the sea with Her Majesty thats the Majesty of the Seas and what a great time we've had. Its an ama http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Miami/blog-272245.html Hi you'all Lynda hereWe're on the last leg of our journey now and in America. We reluctantly left Fiji it was so beautiful and flew to LA. Didn't really know what to expect rape and pillage but no such luck The lovely Mikey was there to meet us even though he'd been given the run around about where we would land. It was lovely to see him again and he hasn't changed a bit still g http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Miami-Beach/blog-270715.html Bula everyone Lynda here we are having a WOW in Fiji I'm glad we didn't listen to all those people telling us to skip Fiji it's the best. The people are the friendliest we met and the most helpful nothing is too much trouble AND they make the best LIIT that we've come across although still not as good as the Hideout.We've met some lovely people here including a honeymoon couple called Ruth a http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/Viti-Levu/Coral-Coast/blog-267845.html TinaHi everyone its Sunday today and you've guessed it another hangover two weeks on the trot however another fab party Anyway more of that later first off I'll start where we left off.Got to Auntie Jan's and Uncle Norm's last monday when we blogged and our plans were to go with them on the Tuesday to there bach pronounced batch and is the kiwi term for a holiday home however Uncle Nor http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Northland/Paihia/blog-265918.html Hoorah I have just been appointed an extra Toga though in my case it apparently means Tame Old Git Athome. We have friends who are trying to find there way back from the south island and were having difficulty until we advise them to follow the trail of empty wine bottles which did the trick. I am a bit worried as the girls tell me they have just been practising for my birthday bash on Saturday ni http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Northland/blog-264219.html Tina What a lovely place Akaroa is sorry Dad but its a bit of a French settlement stuck right out on the Banks Peninsula of NZ and it really is beautiful we had a lovely two night stay even the local pub stayed open after 10pm After our whirlwind tour of the South Island is was a lovely place to rest up.Lynda Before we left we wanted to visit the Marae anyone who was paying attention t http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Devonport/blog-263972.html Hi everyone Lynda here reporting from the South Island been here a few days now and have logged up thousands of miles and seen some simply stunning scenery from forests to mountains to lakes to oceans to bush to fields you name it I think its here and we've seen it. It's a shame we had to say goodbye to Karen it would have been great if she could have come but I suppose someone's got to k http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Christchurch/blog-262267.html Karen here it's my turn. I am officially a TOGA now that I have downed my first LIIT at the Irish bar in Rotorua. Except they called the cocktail Four men and his Dog instead of LIIT but being an Irish bar I guess we couldn't expect much else. Also it tasted crap but I downed it anyway that's how much I wanted to be a TOGAAnyway firstly I'd just like to say it wasn't my fault that we weren' http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Rotorua/blog-260782.html Tina Just a quickie from us cos our honourary third toga is doing the blog for our time in New Zealand so far. Lynda and I just wanted to add a quickie to say that we are having a fantastic time and so far its been brill even though emotions are running high and we are crying at the drop of a hat makes a change from the soaps eh. We have so much admiration for our cousin Karen she rea http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Rotorua/blog-260242.html Hi darls Lynda here with our very last blog from Australia boo hoo. What service you get here wish Arriva would take heed we were picked up by bus from our hotel in Port Douglas the driver loaded our luggage and that in itself is no mean feat let me tell you and then he drove us right up to the reception of our new accomodation Southern Cross Atrium Apartments all for 6 what a servi http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Cairns/Cairns-City/blog-259098.html Hi Lynda here. We're hoping we still have an audience is there anybody out thereYou'll be very pleased to know well I hope so that we made it first to Cairns and then onward to Port Douglas thanks Susie and Mark for pointing us in this direction it's gorgeous. Don't think we'll be doing Greyhounds other than Crayford Dogs for a very long timeWe've been here for 6 days the longest stop http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Port-Douglas/blog-257303.html TinaG'Day folks hows it going All good here left Brisbane after just about getting the hired car back in one piece had a really hairy moment driving in to the return rentals car park when I just didn't see the barrier lifted just in time for me to shoot underneath without any damage phew close call thoughArrived in Airlee Beach after a short flight and headed straight to Tourist Inform http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Airlie-Beach/blog-256603.html Karen's very kindly organised us an itinerary for New Zealand. Anyone requiring the services of an excellent Travel Agent in New Zealand you know where to go Thanks coz .....Right oh...... Here's ya itinerary. Arrive Monday 24th March early even before sparrows start to fart. Stay the night with Karen and Luke in Warkworth. Tuesday 25th driving to Rotorua staying 2 nights at the Cedar Lod http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Port-Douglas/blog-255965.html Hi guys Lynda here we've hit the road. Picked the car up and left Sydney with a promise to return one day I really love it there but am sure there are more pleasures ahead for us. Anyway with Tina in the driving seat and me the navigator we were off. First stop the Hunters Valley one of the wine regions in Australia. We arrived about 5ish and for a change it didn't take us too long to deci http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Hunter-Valley/blog-254247.html Tina Well folks we have now done trains and boats and planes. Our first train journey took us from Melbourne overnight to Sydney being ever so considerate to our children and not wanting to waste their inheritance we didn't book a sleeper as it was nearly 300 more expensive than a recliner. Anyway its only a nights sleep we missed out on but it was a bit of an adventure and there was two l http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/Opera-House/blog-251885.html Hi everyone can you believe we're the other side of the world Took a while to sink in. We're in Melbourne a really neat compact city very easy to get around with lots of free transport wicked. We've been on a free bus with commentary and a free tram again with commentry and going different routes think we should do that in LondonOur first backpackers is a pile of croc as they say. A http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/Ramsay-Street/blog-250937.html Just arrived and no time to talk will update later.Our outline forthcoming itinerary is something like this. Will fill in bits as we go along.Melbourne28th Feb overnight train to Sydney.Arrive Sydney on 29thFall off I mean climb bridge at 2pm.Staying in Sydney for 3 days and then hire a car. DriveDriveGet to Brisbane to meet up with a couple we met in Thailand not ladyboys. Stay in Brisbane http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/blog-250420.html TinaArrived here ok and headed for the Joo Chiat area as one of the hotels we checked out looked like they had availability and we were right so booked into the Gateway at 95 a night we are here for 6 nights and are trying to keep our spending down cos its alot dearer here than all the other places we've visited. Anyhow to cut a long story short there is an airshow here to coincide with our http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/Geylang/blog-249518.html TinaWe're getting a bit worried are writing this in the hope that someone out there is still interested cos we haven't had any new messages for days now. We're not sure if you're all fed up with us or each other or whether the blog's bocked for some reason. Anyway we've asked our blog engineer David to look into and hopefully we'll hear from your all again soon Hope so we love getting me http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-247243.html Tina Well can't tell you how happy we were to say goodbye to the cold of Ha Noi we were so cold although having said that enjoyed our time there apart from the miserable staff at the hotel we stayed in anyone out there reading this and going to Ha Noi take our advice and don't stay at the Nam Hai 2 there are much better ones out thereArrived in Samui in the dark stepped off the plane an http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Samui/blog-245506.html