Little Rees

I'd never been anywhere as remote as Easter Island (Isla de Pascua/Rapa Nui). It's the most remote inhabited Island in the world (the flight was 5 hours from mainland Chile and we crossed two time zones to get there). The closest inhabited neighbour is Pitcairn Island, 2075 km (1289 miles) away with just 100 inhabitants. The minute you land you realise this place is very different. Actually before you land; we flew past the island and took a large u-turn to line up with the runway. The pilot needed to get it right as the runway ended and the Pacific Ocean began about 15 foot from where we stopped. The airport resembled a beach hut, the passport control were nowhere to be seen and we were adorned with fresh floral necklaces as we arrived...I could see ... read more

I was back! I'd lived in Bondi Junction, Sydney back in 2006/7 and while I was living and working there managed to do almost none of the must-do touristy things so when I booked my flights this time I told my travel agent to get me to Sydney for a week as I had unfinished business there. I arrived in my hostel in Potts Point and checked into my 10 bed dorm to meet some of my new roommates, three Finnish girls who were all lovely and welcoming (and very beautiful too) and after a quick chat and hello, I got some sleep. In fact, I slept from about half two in the afternoon, woke up for about two hours or so and slept again till nine the next morning...I need my sleep! I wasted no ... read more

Travbuddy Melbourne The flight from Alice Springs to Melbourne was nothing short of horrific (and that's not just my opinion; my two Dutch friends who have never had a problem with flying also said how awful it was). It was mainly the take off and landing that was bad (although as it was a two hour flight then there wasn't that much in between). As we took off from Alice, we quickly started turning to the left and did a u-turn. It was a pretty windy day and the heat rising also caused some bumps. It was a real roller coaster ride. It didn't help that the Alice Springs airport gates look like you are entering a local outdoor swimming pool with its dusty dirt track to walk along to get to the plane. The landing ... read more

I was picked up outside my hostel at 7am in Darwin which would be my last lie in for a while. There was a mix of nationalities on our bus, Japanese, Australian, Russian, Dutch, Korean, Indonesian, French and also a Welsh couple. (Yay!) Our driver/guide, 23 year old Ross, explained to us that as there was going to be a total distance of 1,500 kms (nearly 950 miles) to cover in the two days down to Alice Springs and so to make it more interesting and fun for us all we were to play games and competitions. Of course, everyone's ears pricked up when he mentioned alcohol as the prize when we arrived in Alice. We set about putting ourselves into teams and chose names, mottos and theme tunes. I went into a group with two ... read more

The flight from Perth to Dubai was fairly long at nearly 11 hours but it was only a quarter full so I spent the time laying in a row of my own, eating, sleeping and watching movies so it wasn't too difficult a flight. I have been to Perth before but as I have family living here I wouldn't fly all the way to Australia without visiting. I'd spent most of the time in Dubai on my own so I was excited to see familiar faces. I have basically spent most of my time in Perth eating and drinking, my cousin's have been fantastically good hosts and have spoilt me rotten. I spent the first week in with my cousin Dawn and her family. She has four children aged between16 to 25: a girl, Emily, twin ... read more