After a wonderful long weekend in Mito, we were off again to our last destination - Tokyo! We got up early to say goodbye to Yotsuha and Mika who had to go to school and work. Mika's parents took us to the station. A short train ride later, we were in Tokyo! Our hotel was in Akasaka, a really trendy district - smaller streets, dotted with restaurants and shops and really vibrant at night. We walked around while waiting to be checked it and got to know the area and has lunch. Later that evening, we went to Roppongi, which is known as the entertainment district of Tokyo. It was certainly more impressive than Brisbane and any Australian city for that matter, however we preferred the intimate and vibrant feel of Akasaka. We went to ... read more

Kyoto - the ancient capital, abundant with traditional Japanese culture, gardens and temples. Upon arrival, we quickly discovered Kyoto was like many towns and cities we've visited in the Middle East - there is the 'new' city and the 'old' city. After checking in to our downtown hotel, we went for a stroll to the old quarter, Gion. At the very end of long street was Yakasa shrine - a large shinto shrine set amongst a backdrop of lush trees and gardens. It is said construction started on this in 656 and it became the object of Imperial patronage in the early Heinan period. Later we walked through the tiny backstreets of Gion to the Gion corner, a small theatre tucked away in the backstreets to see a (touristy) traditional performance of Japanese arts starting with ... read more

Finally, after 4 years we were going back to Turkey!! I don't know how I can describe why I love this country so much, I just do. We left Samos and took the 1.5 hr ferry to Kuşadası, Turkey. We were greeted at the port by Anne-Maree. Anne-Maree used to work in the same department as me, and after an Intrepid trip (like me) she decided to go back and teach English. She then worked as a hotel manager for a few years in Pammukale (we also visted in our last trip) and now in Kuşadası, working in tourism. So we set up base in her gorgeous apartment overlooking the town and the port. After beers on the balcony, we went to dinner and met the charming Fadl (spelling?) at her favourite restaurant. The next day ... read more

We flew out of Split with budget carrier Veuling. The original plan was to fly to Rome and then hop onto an EasyJet flight to Thessaloniki. However, the Veuling flight was half an hour late, and when we got to Rome there were hundreds of people in the passport 'queue'. 45 mins to get to the head of the line it was evident we were going to miss the flight. It took us a further 20 or so minitues to find our bags. Finally made our way to T2 and found the EasyJet customer service who happily put us onto the next flight for €115! I explianed we had purchased missed flight cover for this very reason. Well a smile ensued and of course the fee was waved. And this was all an extra €10 each ... read more

So it was goodbye to Bosnia & Hersegovina and hello Montenegro. Next stop was the rafting camp at Šćepan Polje, just over the border. So close to the border in fact after we got stamped into Motenegro, we went back into Bosnia & Herzegovina to drive to the camp! We were greeted by cute apline-like cabins, a gorgeous flowing river and a stunning backdrop of mountains with mist coming over. While most of us had drinks, Maree and Claire went rafting. Since there was limited activites due to the rain, I had a bit of a snooze then joined the others who got into the wines we had bought at the wineries! After a hearty dinner, it was off to bed for another early start. The next day we drove to the Ostrog monestary. Built into ... read more