On the 19th of November 2008 we're setting off on a trip of a lifetime to Hong Kong, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. You can keep upto date with our travels, check out our diary entries and see our photos on this site. Also, why not leave a us quick note on our message board!
Hi again, We arrived in Hanoi Airport early in the morning and had arranged through our hotel for a guy to pick us up and take us to Hanoi city and our hotel, Little Hanoi which was located in the old quarter. As soon as we left the airport we were hit by the crazy traffic and it only got worse as we got closer to Hanoi. There are no words that can describe the roads and traffic in Hanoi, its absolutely mad. There are thousands of mopeds, cars, bicycles, tricycles etc on the roads and no one follows any kind of rules or regulations, even a red light does not automatically mean stop, it means you should stop but most people don’t. We found it extremely difficult to even cross the road outside our hotel ... read more
Hello Everyone, After a long and smelly flight from Sydney (we sat next to the toilets where some poor guy was throwing up for 8 hours! )we arrived in Thailand to a warm and humid Bangkok. We took the first available local bus from the airport and got dropped off just outside our hostel, excellent service and much cheaper then a taxi. We stayed one night in Bangkok, at Lub'd, we spent the time sorting out Steve's visa for Vietnam. I was happy to find out that I don't need a visa for Vietnam, just one of those perks you get for being Swedish. We didn't want to hang around in Bangkok for too long so we decided to leave Steve's passport at the Vietnamese embassy and to pick it up again just before our flight ... read more
So September came and with around 3 weeks to go the weather changed from winter to spring and then the fun really began! The hotel quietened down to around 50% occupancy so we had less shifts which meant more free time. The temperature really picked up and with the new relaxed atmosphere around the place due to there being less guests and the end being in sight, so did the partying! Our wonderful flatmate Pru invited us along to her parents house in the Hunter Vally for a music festival in the vineyards, Bimbadgen. This was a top weekend, thanks to Pru's dad scoring backstage VIP tickets for us all, we had a full on freebie day mixing with the bands with endless Coronas, wine and food thrown in. Now we hadn't heard of any of ... read more
Well where do we start! No really, where do we start! Its been over 3 months since we posted a blog. The reason for this is that we've been hidden away in a national park in the middle of nowhere (not exactly true), with limited or no Internet access and masses and masses of work has meant that we've been far to busy anyway! Ok so the partying and snowboarding also took up quite a bit of our time as well. So we arrived at the Ski Rider Hotel Motel with little idea of what we were getting ourselves into. For a start we didn't appreciate that we would for the next 3 months be "stranded" in the middle of Kosiousko National Park, half an hours drive down the road to the nearest town of Jindabyne ... read more
Bula (Hello) Everyone! Just a quick note with our pics from Bounty Island in Fiji. We've not had chance to type up a blog yet but thought you might want to see the photo's in the meantime. After a few nice days in Sydney including a whirlwind weekend with friends at Bondi Beach, we've just arrived in Canberra on route to the Snowy Mountains. This is our last night of freedom before we take another coach tomorrow to the town of Jindabyne close to Perisher Ski Resort. Our new employers, Ski Rider, then pick us up from there...back to the grindstone after 7 months haha. Will try to write more soon but there's no internet access at the hotel so not sure when. Wish us luck :) Steve and Maja x P.S Happy fathers day Dad ... read more
Hello everyone, Steve was suppose to write this blog, but due to a very bad 'man flu' he has opted for picture duty. So this is a solo effort from me, Maja. We have been touring the South Island now for about 3 weeks and feel like we have seen everything it has to offer, except for some disappointments and cancellations due to bad weather, we've had a great time. We began our South Island adventure by going North from the ferry port, to Nelson and the Abel Tasman National Park. We had planned to do some kayaking there, but due to the cold weather we decided not to. From Nelson, we headed straight for Kaikoura on the east coast for some whale and dolphin watching. On the way to Kaikoura we stumbled upon a seal ... read more
Wow wow wow wow wow! If we had a pound for every time we'd said that over the past 2 weeks it's fair to say that we'd have a few quid in the bank! The scenery here is like a cross between Austria, the Lakes, Sweden and Asia...rolling hills, amazing mountain backdrops and unexpectedly fine beaches. It’s got the lot, shame about the weather though :) We started our New Zealand adventure in the North Island with no real plan at all. After a rainy day in Auckland we'd hatched a plan and picked up our campervan which we thought would be the best way to get around and do and see as much as possible here (as cheaply as possible). Luckily when we arrived at the Britz office we were told that we'd been upgraded ... read more
Well we've really done some proper travelling since we last posted, all of 10 days ago! From Sydney to Newcastle to Hunter Valley to the Blue Mountains and finally to Canberra. All in our little camp camper van. We've also got another name for her but first things first.... Before hitting the road we spent the morning at the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Remembrance Parade in central Sydney. This was a quite moving experience being up close to thousands of veterans, we've seen the British Remembrance Day Parades before on TV but the atmosphere when you're actually there is really something, seeing the old boys (and girls) faces up close with both tears and pride beaming from them was something we won't forget in a hurry, especially after learning more of their stories ... read more
Hello from Sydney! We've been here now for almost 2 weeks and have really enjoyed it. Our plan was to come to Sydney and look for a job, but this plan lasted for about four days (I think this was plan C). On the fourth day foxy Roxy from Ski Rider called and said that we had been successful at Ski Rider and that we have got jobs for the whole ski season starting in June..yipee! So we hatched plan D, go and see more of Australia in the next couple of months but in good old backpacker spirit we've changed our plans again and are now fixed on Plan E haha! We're flying to New Zealand in a couple of weeks to explore that country instead, then back here for the ski season. Anyway, we ... read more
Well, we've got good news and bad news that we couldn't wait to report.... The good news is that we've got the ski jobs which is FANTASTIC! Starting in mid June we'll be working at the Ski Rider Hotel in the Perisher Mountain Resort. The bad news for you our faithful readers is that now we'll have an income, we won't be home until November! Sorry guys but we're sure you'll manage without us! x ... read more
