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Toni
toni lister
Hi - thanks for stopping by!
Vaughan & I ventured on our first international trip (together) in 2005. We had the same idea as everyone else from NZ about making our way around the UK & Europe, but somehow found ourselves trapped in London and working for a while. Typical story! However, all was not lost, and we did actually make an effort to get out of the place when time and money allowed. It was fantastic to have the opportunity to travel to so many other countries that are right there on your doorstep. On our return to New Zealand, we had expected to settle down a little, but all we really did was establish a new base in a different part of the world, and we continue to enjoy experiencing other countries and cultures, and look forward to more trips in the future.
I hope you'll all stop by to look at our pics sometime so we can share what we have seen and done, with you. Please excuse the typos.
Take care xxxx
Travel Blog Posts
Phnom Penh,Tombraider Temples in Siem Reap, and a Last Goodbye to Bangkok!
Published: August 28th 2011Asia » Cambodia
May 5th 2011
Day Eleven This morning we got up in time for our mid-morning flight out of Chiang Mai, bound for Phnom Penh in Cambodia, via Bangkok. Unfortunately our flight was delayed for about 1 ½ hours, and by the time we got to Bangkok, we were met by ground staff to escort us to our next flight at top speed. Even with my knee injury still causing considerable pain and slowing me down when they wanted us to run from one end of the terminal to the other, we still managed to make it on board without them having to hold the flight for us. Phew! Finally arriving in Phnom Penh, we jumped in a tuk tuk and headed for our hotel. The trip took about 15 minutes, and even in that time, the differences between Thailand ... read more
The Beauty of Northern Thailand - Pai, Chiang Mai, Mountains, and Tigers!
Published: August 14th 2011Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Pai
May 3rd 2011
Day Seven Today we got up early and took a taxi to the airport for our flight to Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand, to eventually catch a bus to the mountain town of Pai. The flight was uneventful and our arrival in Chiang Mai was really nice, as passengers were greeted by ladies in traditional Thai dress offering free local snacks – despite Chiang Mai’s population of around one million people, it had a much more relaxed and personal feel to it. We managed to make it to the bus depot in plenty of time, although it took us quite a while to sort out our bus tickets. We had a bit of the wait at the bus station, so we got some more water from the 7/11, and some street food for lunch. It was ... read more
Typical Beach Tourism in Pattaya
Published: August 11th 2011Asia » Thailand » Central Thailand » Pattaya
May 2nd 2011
Day Five Today we hired a scooter from the hostel where we were staying – it was a bit of a shitbox beast of a scooter, but we managed to get it going, and it was big enough to carry both of us. We grabbed a map and starting hooning all around the Pattaya and Jomtien Beach areas, for a bit of a look – it was great to have our own transport so that we could do whatever we wanted. Vaughan got the hang of the traffic rules (or lack of), and we ventured up the steepest hill we could find to King Rama IX Royal Park, for a look at the view back over Jomtien Beach and the surrounding areas. Yet another giant Buddha statue greeted us at the top of the steps, and ... read more
May 1st 2011
OK, so I'm finally onto writing the blog for our trip to Thailand and Cambodia in April. Sorry for the delay! Day One Yay - off to Thailand and Cambodia on our much anticipated trip for 2011! We flew Air Asia X (the new budget airline in NZ) through Kuala Lumpur, to get to Bangkok, which took about 19 hours altogether. Air Asia X wasn't anything to rave about, and the transfer through Kuala Lumpur was a nightmare overall, but we didn't really have any specific issues and we arrived in Bangkok safely in the mid-afternoon. It was cloudy and humid, but we managed to negotiate the airport train and then two metro trains to our hostel, near Siam Square. The ride on the train(s) was a good introduction to Asia for Vaughan, as we went ... read more
December 13th 2009
OK, so once I publish this I will finally be caught up on the travel blog. Sweet! As many of you know, Vaughan and I went to the Maldives for our honeymoon in November. We arrived in Male after transferring through Singapore, and were feeling quite tired. Male is the city on the main island in the Maldives, where all the locals live. The airport is on another island, about 15 minutes boat ride away from the main island, so we got sorted out on the local dhoni boats over to Male, and off we went - it was pretty dark, but arriving on the main island was very exciting. We got a taxi to our hotel, and zoomed down narrow cobbled alleyways, competing with scooters, bikes and pedestrians. We arrived safely and crashed out in ... read more
Another Australian Visit - Hello, Sunshine Coast!
Published: May 31st 2010Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Sunshine Coast
July 13th 2009
OK, so I thought it was about time that I put this up here. I was waiting for Sara to get back to me with the names of all the places & the stuff we did, but we all know that she's a slacker & busy with Uni, so will forgive her on this occasion, and just get these pictures up as this whole thing is weighing on my mind. Day 1 So anyway, in May 2009 Vaughan and I went to Australia to catch up with Sara (and Sarah) in Brisbane, and to see Vaughan's Mum (Marianne), and Step-Dad (Bill) in Maroochydoore, on the Sunshine Coast. We arrived in the morning on a nice sunny day, and made it into the city on the train from Brisbane Airport. We were staying in town, with Sara ... read more
Magical Monterey, and Homeward Bound!
Published: December 10th 2009North America » United States » California » Monterey
January 6th 2009
Tuesday 14th October (Day 50) Reno - Monterey We woke up in the morning with the beautiful town of Monterey on our agenda, although we knew that it was the final destination of our amazing trip (which was a little sad). We headed out of Reno for the drive, basically heading back to Sacramento and then on towards San Francisco on the I-80 (the same freeway we had visited the big truck stop, all the way across the country in Iowa). We passed loads of small towns and made it up into the mountains before coming back out into a more desert-like area. After some time we could see what looked like a lake up ahead. We still felt like we were in the middle of the desert, so it was really bizarre. There were loads ... read more
Los Angeles to Reno - roadtrip!
Published: November 4th 2009North America » United States » California
January 2nd 2009
Thursday 9th October (Day 45) Orlando - Miami - Los Angeles We got up and managed another breakfast at the Waffle House before heading off back towards Miami. We had to leave fairly early as we had to drive back south, return the rental car and get to the airport for our flight to Los Angeles. The drive back wasn’t quite as picturesque as I had hoped, as we didn’t really have time to travel down the coast road for one last look at all the beaches. We pretty much travelled back on the freeway, and made it back to Miami just in time. Unfortunately we got tangled up in some road works and a big round-about system, and we ended up fully circling the airport area about three or four times before we managed to ... read more
Orlando Thunderstorms and Cape Canaveral!
Published: October 7th 2009North America » United States » Florida » Cape Canaveral
January 1st 2009
Miami - Orlando Tuesday 7th October (Day 43) Today we were checking out and heading for Orlando, so we stopped for one last time at Walgreen’s. It had certainly been helpful for cold drinks and decent snacks (and awesome air conditioning) during our stay in South Beach. We picked up some fresh fruit salad and other items for breakfast, and ate them on the way to the Everglades National Park, which we had decided to detour to. We headed west for a while and blasted down freeways and past everglades and swap areas - I felt bad that we were using the very roads that were contributing to the degradation of the everglades, but didn’t really see much of an alternative since we were already on our way. We drove for about 45 minutes and found ... read more
December 24th 2008
New Orleans - Miami Saturday 4th October (Day 40) We got up in the morning and had one last stroll past the restaurants and tourists shops. I bought a few items for people back home and Vaughan bought a white t-shirt, as he was finding it too hot with all the black-coloured shirts he had brought with him. New Orleans was so sunny and really vibrant - it was full of bright colours and action and music. We didn’t want to go, but unfortunately it was time to get sorted out to make it to the airport. Miami was calling, and we had plans for the evening there already. We made it back to the hotel to check out and called a taxi to take us to the airport. The flight was fine and for once, ... read more
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