A two hour ferry ride from Georgetown in Penang and we had arrived in Lang Kawi, a small beach island just off the east coast of Malaysia. The weather was amazing and we couldn't wait to shed our heavy backpacks and hit the beach. We shared a taxi with a random European girl to save on costs and soon were checked into our room. No sooner had we dumped the bags and the heavens opened and it started to pour down. So out came the waterproof jackets... It didn't last for long thankfully and we ended up bumping into the two girls Becky and Emma who had also just arrived and were walking around trying to arrange accomodation. We arranged to go for some food together and headed back down the beach looking for a restaurant. ... read more

Arriving in the Cameron Highlands was a refreshing change from the hustle and bustle of the country's capital city, Kuala Lumphur. The Cameron Highlands, in stark contrast, is a cool and peaceful place with lots of lush greenery, winding hill roads and beautiful green mountains. We really appreciated being away from all the noise and having some peace and tranquility again. We had decided to stay in Tanah Rata at small backpackers hostel called Daniel's Lodge. After changing rooms because the first room had about a foot of rain water in, we settled into a lovely damp and mouldy room that smelled pretty bad. Even the sheets felt damp and we were starting to wonder why we had actually picked Daniel's Lodge. Feeling hungry, we decided to forget our room worries and head out for some ... read more

We travelled from Singapore to Malaysia by bus which is the easiest way to do it, but neither of us had really prepared ourselves for what lay ahead. As soon as we got off the bus we were surrounded by taxi drivers (at least 8 of them) trying to get us to go with them and not giving us time to think. Two white girls stand out like a sore thumb and the drivers obviously saw us as easy money. In the end we managed to get on the local bus to Melaka. Once on the bus and away from the baying taxi men we had time to actually look around and take things in. The shock was immediate - there were no signs in English and nobody on the bus spoke a word of English! ... read more

And so we headed to the only destination in our travels where we had planned to be there at a particular time. For as long as i could remember i had dreamed of spending Christmas and New Year in Sydney. We caught the Greyhound bus back up to Sydney after spending a fantastic two weeks in Melbourne (even had the same driver who took us on the fatal journey down to Melbourne!) We were both so sad to leave Melbourne as it is one of the best cities we have both ever been to and we met so many great friends here. Arrived in Sydney very tried after what was to be our last overnight bus ride in Australia. Thank god! Our first day there we met back up again with our good friends Paul, Nina, ... read more

So at this point we have been travelling in Australia for almost 2 months and we have only just made it past half way down the east coast! My mam only realised at this pont just how huge Oz is when she looked at a map and realised how many overnight trips we had been on, how little we were down the east coast and how far we still had to come! Oz is so big - you can fit the whole of Europe inside its land mass. It's just unimaginable quite how big this place is. The best thing about Australia so far?....The Sun?..... The Cold beers (aparently the Aussies say theirs are the coldest in the world).....No - it has got to be the name of places!! We've visited places called Rainbow Beach, 1770, ... read more