http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/windingwillow/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from windingwillow en-us Wed, 30 Dec 2009 13:23:15 +0000 Wed, 30 Dec 2009 13:23:15 +0000 This is mostly a photo blog with a list of places visited. Some of the photo's have captions and I think there is more than one page of photo's so don't forget to click next and look at the last few photo's some would say they were the most interesting London after Clara's wedding went back to london with Ele and her mum and spent my last few hours in the UK at Lambeth Palace not too shabby http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-97257.html Day one After arriving very early into San Fran I checked into one of the best hostels I have ever stayed in the Green Tortoise. Its greatest appeal is the free internet and free bagel breakfast every morning but it also has little touches like a sink in the room and every dorm bed has its own indivdual light seems like heaven to backpackersThey also do other free stuff like meals and live mus http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/San-Francisco/blog-80202.html I was here for two nights and decided to stay at a proper hotel on the famous Las Vegas Strip ....... well when in Vegas...........so I stayed at the Circus Circus Hotel. I met a random girl from hawaii at the airport and we spent the first afternoon and evening together exploring the Las Vegas Strip this is the collective name for the road where most of the major hotelscasino's are found. Check http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Nevada/Las-Vegas/blog-80201.html Supremely jet lagged and in shock at being in a country with such a huge population again I checked into a hostel on hollywood boulevardEnded up staying up to try and power through the jet lag chatting to a nice girl in my room who gave me a bit of advice what to do with my time here.Day one 31st JulySo today I explored Hollywood and did all the typical tourist things the Walk of Fame all http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Los-Angeles/blog-78862.html Twas very sad to be leaving although glad about the next adventures of travelling and returning home to see friends and family. These are just a few select pics of my last week in sydney. To tell the truth I was ill for half of it so didn't get done half the things that I wanted to but it was good to catch up with my sydney based friends before leaving OZ. Also great to be settled for a while aft http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-78864.html Well thank you very much to Jayne and Glenn who let me stay in their flat whilst I was in Melbourne especially as it was Jayne's first week back at work They also took me to see an Aussie rules game at the Telstra Dome which is something I've wanted to do since before I arrived in Australia It was the Mighty Western Bulldogs vs the Carlton Blues it was a very tense match and at times very clos http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Great-Ocean-Road/blog-76681.html Really enjoyed this trip it was an organised 6 day tour with adventure tours and we had a fantastic timeDay one started as was to be the theme for the rest of the trip very early Not a full minibus but almost full the lights were off to let people sleep but most people were too excited We arrive at our first toilet stop and its freezing I have not been this cold in a long time time for a h http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/South-Australia/blog-73963.html This is the last blog about my trip down the east coast of australia it's hideously late as i've been on the road so much but here's what I remember and I hope you enjoy itWell after leaving Noosa we had literally a whistle stop in Brisbane an hour between buses where we met up with my friend Jayne who I had made whilst working in Sydney at the lovely custom call Was really cool to catch up http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/blog-71702.html I had a lovely day and a half visiting alice springs I wish i'd had a day or two extra in the murder capital of australiaI'm not being sarcastic There is actually a lot to do considering its in the middle of nowhere and is quite small if you compare it to Sydney. Kangaroo rehab centreI visited a centre for rescued Kangaroo Joey's baby kangaroo which is well worth a visit basically when k http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Northern-Territory/Alice-Springs/blog-72036.html Well I've been to Fraser island before but it was part of our package and I just about had time so decided to do it againobviously i've already done a blog entry for this place so won't say much about it and I think the photo's speak for themselves not to mention the captions. Rainbow beachHowever this time I went from rainbow beach which is a lovely place and whilst there Eva finally got to http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/blog-69701.html Mission BeachSo we moved on next to mission beach unfortunately the weather did not improve so Eun Hye was unable to her skydive but we did have a great time here I have now been white water rafting in rapids up to grade four the grades only go up to six and six near certain death on the Tully river It was brilliant Our boat was one of the best at rafting obviously and we were http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Mission-Beach/blog-67118.html Apart from the cold in sydney I felt i had stood still too long and when a chance to get back on the road again came I took it Am travelling now with Roopa a girl I met in Tasmania and Eun Hye also known as Eva a flatmate of Roopa's in Sydney from Cairns down the east coast. However no trip from Cairns is complete without a little trip up north to visit Cape Tribulation we have booked an http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Cape-Tribulation/blog-65990.html yes i did it that most geeky of things which is an absolute must for anyone who is in australia who grew up watching neighbours as well as having many wonderful childhood adventures I'd like to point out I didn't just watch neighbours So anyway moving on and back to the point........I have done a neighbours meet the stars night Originally i thought i was meeting the actors who played Toadie P http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-62684.html Well hello there Have had complaints from a few of you that you had heard nothing from me in a while the reason being I have been in sydney simply living and finding a job rather than doing lots of exciting things. However I have been up to one or two exciting things Tom and I have taken a tour of the sydney opera house we have also been to see the ballet there on easter monday I have been to http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Manly/blog-54964.html Ah tassie land of uncomprehensible cartoon characters......................well this and so much more. Often compared to scotland by travellers i've met tassie is quirky. I like that. For example on arriving into Hobart the roof's of all the buildings are different colours each house has something a little different about it they are all individual and thats why it works. Kind of gives it a qu http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Tasmania/blog-43999.html Well I thought it was about time I sent you a little update about the stuff we've been up to in Sydney since we've arrived back. I'm afraid there aren't many photo's because I've been a bit useless and not taken my camera out at important times We raced back to Sydney in time for Australia day on the 26th of Jan all the local's got really dressed up and had transfer flags on their arms and che http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/Manly/blog-39422.html We took a bus from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh the capital of Cambodia which took about 8 hours including the longest border crossing I've ever had it was about an hour to get our passports stamped and checked several times we started whistling the great escape theme having escaped from ' nam and reaching cambodian soil the ticket we had booked took us straight to the king guesthouse wh http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/blog-24964.html Fraser island is lovely and as our tour guide Ranger Rob pointed out often is a natural phenomenon. We went on a 3 day guided tour here with the cool dingo tour company and had a great time.Fraser island is the largest sand island in the world approximately 124km by 15 km and required 4 x 4 buses to get us around. It is comprised entirely of sand apart from three rock formationsIndian head bei http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Fraser-Island/blog-36939.html ...I've gotta say that i found some peace of mind in Byron Bay...........Well after an overnight bus and train ride it was definately worth the trip Its definately somewhere I would come back to its just nice because it is a small town by the sea although it is totally set up for backpackers holiday makers and has a slightly bohemian feel to it. Byron Bay is renowned for its good waves for sur http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Byron-Bay/blog-37795.html Well its felt abit like the really wild show as over the last week we've had lots of intentional and unintentional wildlife encountersdon't worry mum no sharks We started in Port Macquarie which although the weather wasn't the best at times is a really nice place that you could easily spend a week in. We were there on a recommendation from a girl we met in the hostel in Canberra particularly http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Port-Macquarie/blog-36272.html