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Well we have now been home a fortnight and we are still settling back into normality. We enjoyed a week getting used to being at home with no plan or sightseeing to do! It was great meeting up with family and friends that we have not seen for 6 months other than on webcam (Skype is fantastic).


It has felt really strange trying to get back into our old routine, everything feels so familiar and normal but different. It has been lovely sleeping in our own bed and being in our home, staying in one place for more than 4 nights. However we did go to the Lake District for the weekend, we enjoyed a family barbeque and a walk up Orrest Head on Sunday, where we had a fantastic view of Lake Windermere with my old high school in the foreground.


I am lucky and have walked back into my old job and have survived my first week. It is nice to be back as Eclipse are a good company to work for and I have great work colleagues. Getting paid this week was a bonus as we can now have some stability and some money to pay the bills!


We have had the best 6 months of our lives travelling the world, we have seen so many amazing sights and met so many interesting friendly people. We will miss our daily adventures and not spending time together travelling to new places but hopefully we can now explore more places in our future holidays.


Amazingly we spent every day together and did not fall out or argue once, it is important to look after each other and keep safe. We got engaged in April on Oliver’s birthday in Brisbane and we have now been together 10 years.


Oliver is currently looking for work and trying to work out what career he would like for his future, quite a task. We hope that our travels have enhanced our outlook on life and enabled us to take a look at our lives and see what changes we would like to make, if any.


I hope everyone has enjoyed reading our blog and it has helped some of our fellow travellers. It hasn’t always been easy to keep a daily diary but I think once we get it all printed out it all the time will have been worth it. It is not often you write down everything you have done each day for 6 months, we can’t wait to read it all!

Round the World Trip Summary

6 months - 27th January to 11th July 2009


12 countries: Peru, Bolivia, Chile, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore,
Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, China, Mongolia, Russia


4 continents: South America, Oceania, Asia, Europe


Transportation:

11 planes
12 trains
3 4x4 jeeps
2 camper vans
1 hire car
1 canoe
41 boats

Loads of taxis, buses and city metro train journeys


Hardest countries to travel in: Bolivia, China and Russia (didn't speak the language!)


Easiest places to travel in: New Zealand and Australia (did speak the language!)


Favourite cities: Auckland, Sydney, Perth, Beijing


Countries we would like to return to on holiday: New Zealand, Australia, Thailand


Places we would like to live: Auckland, Taupo in New Zealand and Perth, Sydney Australia


Countries that exceed expectation: Peru, New Zealand, China


Holiday locations we would recommend: Peru, New Zealand, Thailand: Aonang (Krabi), Koh Samui, Koh Tao, China: Beijing

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