Backpack Geek

The Last Story

So we’re a LOT behind on blogging… so much so we’re now back home, only just though…kinda! Yes we have been busy since our last blog and for those following this we should tell you what we have actually been up to.

We last left you hanging in suspense… we were supposed to be throwing ourselves out of a plane the next day, in Taupo, New Zealand! Well, sadly, we didn’t due to the rain. However that day we did go to the natural springs near by and boy were they hot! We also wandered down to the world’s largest volcanic lake, Lake Taupo and it is HUGE!

From Taupo we headed to a place called River Valley, aptly named because of the river right next to it. Normally you could white water raft down this river, of multiple grade five falls, but again due to too much rain the day before the river levels were to high and dangerous. We then headed to Wellington for a one night stopover, in the most bizarrely coloured hostel of the trip; the whole of the outside was zebra striped, and the Wellywood hostel was not small!

The next morning we got the ferry to the South island, with some small entertainment from a hilarious street dance group, and arrived in Nelson. Rob and I decided to pay for a roast dinner at the hostel and it was well worth it, with a tasty desert too. Although we’d only seen rain the last few days, we woke up the next morning with some sun! So I said “Hey Rob… shall we try sky diving here?”, and early afternoon we found ourselves on the way to a sky diving centre right by the Able Tazman, excited but very nervous too! After watching a ‘taster DVD’ so you’re aware of the stupid thing you’re about to do, we got into our gear and started on the accent to 13,000 feet. The plane, if you can call it that, was TINY, just big enough for me, Rob, our tandom men and a camera man each, all sat on the flood squished. We got some amazing views though, especially from where I sat, as I was by the transparent door! Once dangling from the side of the plane it’s easy… just scream! Seriously though it truly was amazing, the free fall was just insane. I think we were freefalling for about 30 seconds, then you have a nice ride down to the ground with the parachute up. Well… it’s nice until your tandom man makes you spin around or upside-down with your parachute. So sky diving… do it!

As we got on the bus to leave Nelson, who turns up to get on but Alex, Becky and Rach, my uni mates! After a scream of delight and hugs we get on the bus and head to Westport. That evening we made some cheesy pasta and the girls bought Rob and I our first ever anniversary card from someone else! It was our 6 year anniversary that day! We all then went for drinks and an old guy bought Rob a drink, just for being with ‘4 gorgeous girls’! From Nelson we headed for Lake Mahinapua, AKA the Poo Pub (the Kiwi name as its easier). Here everyone pays for their room and meal, and Rob and I somehow end up paying half the price as everyone else, for the best ‘room’: our own caravan! Fully equipped with a heater (very important), fridge and twin beds! It was also the night of the Kiwi Experience fancy dress party, our theme was a ‘P party’. So after our home made meal by grumpy santa the hostel owner, we got ready! We had the 3 little Pigs from Alex, Bex and Rach, Rob was Popeye, I was Pam Anderson. Other notable people were, Penguins, pubes, Pippy Longstocking, picnics and a Pint of Guinnis!

So from the Poo Pub we headed to Franz Joseph, where our hostel had a Jacuzzi! On our full day there, the girls, Rob and I did a full day hike up the Franz Joseph glacier, which was fun and definitely the most exciting place to go to the toilet! The hot tub was bliss when back in the hostel, along with a nice meal in the bar. We then headed to Wanaka which was a nice small down, a bit like a ski resort with a large lake near by. After one night there we went to Queenstown and that night we all decided to go out. So the girls, Rob and I had a few drinking games in the hostel and then went to ‘World Bar’ where you could get cocktails from teapots! An excellent night had by all, thanks to the teapot cocktails and the many free drinks from the offer the bar had on.

The next day we all went luging at the top of a hill overlooking Queenstown, with some great views. In the evening we all made a roast dinner, which was lovely, even though it took so long! The girls were leaving the next day so we said our goodbyes. Rob and I went out to Milford Sounds the next day, which is said to be one of the most naturally beautiful areas of the world. It was pretty spectacular, even though it chucked it down most of the day. The rain however, made hundreds of small waterfalls down the rock faces, which were very pretty. We then left the next day for our long trip to Christchurch. Rob and I just had some food and chilled out that evening as the next day was our flight to LA! So the day after, we got up and caught a shuttle bus to the airport and flew back up to Auckland to catch our longest flight of our travels, 12 hours to Los Angeles.

Los Angeles

Through our flight to America we crossed the date line, and so went back in time, even though we’d been travelling for 12 hours! Once at our hostel in Hollywood, we had a small walk around Hollywood Blvd and went bed early. The next day we had a better explore, and properly looked at the stars on the street down Hollywood Blvd, went to the Chinese theatre to see the handprints on the ground. Mine are a lot smaller than Will Smith’s! I also spotted the Harry Potter threesome’s prints which was cool! We got the metro into the centre of LA, experienced some form of Spanish festival and wandered around. It wasn’t very busy actually but we thought we’d go.

The next day we went to Universal Studios, which was great! Some fab rides, such as Jurrasic Park, the Mummy and the new Simpons 4D ride. In the evening we met up with one of Rob’s colleagues and had ‘juicy’ burgers in Johnny Rockets. We had an early start the next day as we went to DISNEY!!! It took a long time getting there, but was well worth it.  The Indiana Jones ride was just AMAZING and the rest were really good too. We did spend a fair while queuing for autographs for characters, including Mickey, Tinkerbell (who was Rob’s choice) and some princesses. The parade at the end of the day was great too, and highly energetic! After a lie in the next day, we went back to Universal as we had a free days pass so went and did some rides and shows we didn’t do the other day and went on some rides again.

Las Vegas

On the next day we got our flight to Las Vegas! We checked into our room in the Stratosphere hotel and went straight to the pool on the roof as it was hot! In the evening we went on all three rides at the top of the Stratosphere, which involves trying to make you think you will fall off the building in three different ways. From there we got the bus down to the other end of the strip and wandered back up. We watched the Billagio water fountain display, ate in the Mirage and went in Caesars Palace for a quick look around. Early the next morning we got on our coach to go the Grand Canyon. It was a long journey there but it we got some lovely views from two different points around the South rim. Even though we got back late, we hadn’t actually gambled yet, so we took our chance on some roulette in our hotel and beat Vegas!!! Yes… we started with $20 and finished with…. wait….$30! Okay so not a lot, but still, we came away with more money!

Trek America

Very early the next morning we got a flight to New York City. This was the meeting place for our trip with Trek America. In the afternoon we walked most the length of Central Park to the Apple Store, wandered up to Columbus circle and had dinner in Hooters! Though the food wasn’t amazing it was still an entertaining meal. We then went to see Times Square, which was bright to say the least! Again, the next day was an early start as we were meeting our fellow Trek America’s at 7.30am. After a slightly disastrous journey there, thanks to the change in the bus timetable, we arrived late but got there. Our group of 9, plus our trek leader, then headed off a good few hours North-West of NYC. Once we’d set up camp in our first campsite of the trip, we went to a couple of wine tasting places, surprisingly good fun! We all headed back to camp, had our burrito dinner and a relatively early night!

The next day we drove to Niagra falls, where we went on the Maid of the Mist boat tour and got wet! We then crossed the boarder into Canada and stopped on the other side for a wander around. Once done there, we headed towards Toronto, camping up about half an hour away from the city. This night was also my first cooking night for the group, with my job partner, Fiona. So yes I helped make food for 10 and didn’t poison anyone! So the next day we all went into Toronto city, popped up the CN Tower for some views, then had a wander around, including China town. The China town in Toronto is supposed to be one of the biggest in the world! After some sushi with a friend, we headed back to the campsite. In the evening we all went out for a drink into town, and had a short but funny night, which culminated in Fiona and I racing around a bar in chairs with wheels on. However I did knock over someone’s drink in the process… all good though!

The day after, we left for Algonquin park. When we arrived we went a short walk to a view point then headed down to a lake for a chill and bit of a sunbathe! For our full day in Algonquin, we went canoeing and it was a memorable day! To cut a long story short (if possible) me and Rob ended up capsizing, loosing our camera and damaging valuables, and being rescued by our friends. After we all had lunch on an island, we were then all rescued due to the choppiness of the lake. (However we must thank Adam, Rob and our tour leader Grant for canoeing for another hour, and capsizing themselves, to get the rescue men!)

Next up was Ottawa, a brief stop there just for an afternoon. We went on a tour of the parliament building after a little walk around the city, which had lots of old buildings. The morning after we popped back into the city to go to the market in the morning and have pancakes. That day we then headed to Montreal, arriving mid afternoon, and wandering up to a lovely square not far from the port. In Montreal we got to stay in a hostel rather than camp, so we checked in and chilled.  Rob and I set off to explore the next day, walking up Mount Royal and came back down to a huge ‘organised jamming session’! Hundreds of people just came to a big park with an instrument (mainly bongos) and made music! In the evening we all went to a restaurant called O’Noir, this is a place where you eat completely in the dark in order to experience the sense and taste of food more. It is also a place where you experience how blind people would feel in a restaurant. All the waiters were actually blind to make it even stranger but interesting!

Quebec was the next place we visited, this was ‘more French than France is’ according to Rob! It was one of those quaint towns, with cobbled streets, little shops and cafés everywhere. However, it’s on two levels and it does take the breath out of you going up the stairs! Up top, Rob and I walked around the citadel, then went into a small museum and learned about Canada’s past. After a nap in a park and a walk around we headed back.

We headed back into the USA the next day, Rob getting through even though his passport was canoe damaged! Once into the US we drove through rain to Acadia National Park. Once we put our tents up in the rain, and discovered how wet they are, we chickened out of camping and found a cheap motel! Once this was sorted we had some good food in a place called Geddy’s. The next day we went on a long bike ride around the National Park, luckily it didn’t rain though it was forecast too! In the evening we went for a meal at a restaurant with free second pasta courses, where Rob finished off 4 other meals!

We had a very long drive to Rhode Island the next day, luckily the rain still held off in the evening, in which we has a huge cooking session. This was because we’d bought food for the other 2 nights we ate out in Acadia. After our last night campfire, many smores and some drinks we went to sleep. The next morning our lovely camping neighbours decided to allow their children to wake everyone up by bird calling, but after this we sadly packed and then counted all cutlery, tent pieces etc, then set on our way back to New York. Most of us did manage to get to meet up in the evening though, and got to have some tasty food in the Hard Rock Café. We also got within a few hundred metres of the Obamas that evening, as they were watching a Broadway show just off Times Square… and we could SEE the theatre! After a final goodbye for most, we headed back to our places.

New York

The next day Rob and I got on a boat to Ellis Island, getting some pics of the Statue of Liberty on the way. We went on an interesting tour about what happened through the immigrant process when they arrived on the Island back in the day. Once back, we had a wander around the downtown area and then decided to get the sub across to Brooklyn, and walk back over the Brooklyn bridge! Got some nice views when going over there! The next morning we got up and Rob found us a lovely place for breakfast that he’d been in when he was there a couple of years ago… MAN they did good pancakes! We then had a trip up the Rockefeller, which had some amazing views. There was also a funky room at the top, where areas of the floor, ceiling and walls lit up in different colours where you were standing. Technology these days! Afterwards, we popped into Macy’s for a little look, then Madison Square Gardens, then headed back to Times Square and the M ‘n’ M store! Yum! After a little waiting, our friend Kairo finally arrived! We had a wander around Central Park and then went and got some food from Hooters (again), clearly a favourite with the boys… no idea why though! Here we also met with Kairo’s brother, Chad! After some greasily good food, we wandered around, went into the Trump building, wandered around some more then found a bar. We had a great chilled out night… rollin’ four deep for the most of it! ;) Thanks to Kairo and Chad for showing us some Manhattan night scene!

On our last full day we pottered about the city, went to see Grand Central station in all it’s glory, then had a big walk through Central Park. We sat down and Rob idolised some 5 year olds that were learning the skills of American Football and baseball, until it started to rain pretty heavily. In our short stay under a big posh tunnel, with about 60 other people, we saw 2 brides having their picture taken! Tunnels in Central Park must be the place to be! We finished our trip with a HUGE pesto pizza and got an early night as we had to be up early the next day. So up we got at 4.30am, and made our way to JFK to fly back to Heathrow.

So there you have it, three months of travelling is noted for you all to read! We really did enjoy ourselves, and there were so many great things we saw and did. If anyone actually read all of this, I’m very impressed! Keep a look out for another one, because I wanna go again, maybe Africa, South America, the North Pole…

Ciao for now!

Rob Falls in Love

Yes, yes. It’s a little late again. We’re sorry. We are now in the awesome New Zealand, land of the long white cloud. I will, however, pick up where I left you - in the hostile depths of Australia! Wow, we’ve done a whole lot since then… Sydney and Melbourne We spent our second day in and around Sydney and their impressive Powerhouse museum which used to hold the generators for their metro network. We went around an awesome Starwars display, as well as a practical hands on science bit and a transport exhibit. Some pics of steam trains and red post boxes for Dad are in there! On the next day we had the worst day of our trip with a cold day at Bondi beach, an accidental trip down a toll road and a parking ticket for $135 (70GBP) for “parallel parking in the wrong direction” - bastards. Our chins did not drop and a few days later saw us arriving in Melbourne, and meeting up with Rob’s uni mates Tom and Sam, before heading into town for a good night out (plenty of drunken pics). The following day was spent in the melbourne museum which was featuring a dinosaur exhibit (it was easter Sunday too!), before we met up with an old school mate Ric! We spent three days with Ric which were really, really chilled out and fun. We played Mario Kart, went surfing on a Victoria beach and just slobbed about a lot which was a nice change from driving 3 hours every day and camping with one stove for 3 weeks. Thanks Ric!!! We cancelled Fiji, and gained about 300GBP for the priviledge, and headed to NZ last Thursday. New Zealand And oh my, am I glad we ended up with an extra week here. If Elee wasn’t intent on seeing Disneyworld and Vegas I’d be here for another six months. The people are incredibly friendly, the scenery is awe-inspiring, the accent is hilarious and the prices are down on Aus. Before I skip through the time so far, in three back to back days I will have:

• Been to a naturally heated spa / geyser pool powered by sub-surface geo-thermal activity
• Been zorbing (rolling down a hill in a ball filled with water)
• Been caving/tubing through 2kms of caves 25-75m underground with a rubber tube
• Been skydiving

Need I say more? Auckland to Taupo We arrive late Thursday and checked into the best hostel so far, the Brown Kiwi. Friday saw us exploring Auckland and going up the largest tower in the Southern Hemisphere (forgetting the camera…*sigh*). The next day we started our trip on the -amazing- Kiwi Experience!! We headed north to the bay of islands, where I plan to retire (I’ve been assured broadband is arriving there shortly). A bay of over a hundred islands, where we went dolphin spotting/swimming. The swimming involved overtaking a pod travelling at 30km/h and splashing with them as they swam past. We were then advised to “catch them up”… We were in the bay of islands for two nights at a fantastic hostel called the mousetrap. I would have gladly stayed for two weeks. We then headed back to Auckland for a night before leaving the Big Smoke for our first stop Mercury Bay. The Kiwi Experience has, so far, been an absolutely brilliant decision. Stopping off at free and interesting stuff, taking care of accommodation and activity booking, an interesting but not too persistent commentary have all led to the best week of my travels so far. We’ve weaved across the north island, meandering south, through Rotorua - an area of intense geo-thermal activity where the pavements are heated naturally, to Waitomo with enormous and beautiful caves. We’re currently in Taupo, home to the worlds largest volcanic lake. Tomorrow, we should be falling out of a plane at 15,000 feet to see all of it beneath us….wow!! So yes, Rob’s fallen for NZ hard. The good news is they’re after IT Professionals, so I should be able to move over pretty soon! I best go, been in this internet cafe for 2 hours uploading photos/videos/blogging/enjoying coca-cola and peace and quiet whilst Elee does the washing back at the hostel! Mwuuhahahahaaaa!

A Few Videos

Hey all!

I’ve stuck up a load of photos and a few videos

http://www.backpackgeek.com/photos/album/72157616727522778/videos.html

Enjoy!

Catching Up!

My, my are we behind on these!!! Elee’s blogged all about Fraser Island (which was awesome), so I guess I’ll bring you up to speed from there!

From Hervey Bay we packed up our stuff and drove down the Steve Irwin’s Zoo just out side of Brisbane. The zoo was fantastic, full of all sorts of random animals I’ve never seen before. There we keepers in the tiger enclosure playing with the tigers - who seemed more active, happy and engaged than any other creatures I’ve ever seen in captivity.

There was Koala patting and a really good informative talk along with elephant feeding sessions (though we are already elephant pros after our experience from Thailand). There was also a magnificant show featuring birds, crocs, reptiles and more which was just incredible, plenty of videos to go up about that. It was a brillian day, with loads of great pictures and vids.

Then we pressed on down through Brisbane, stopping at the maritime museum which was a little dull, but we didn’t have much time. We got to explore an old warship which was quite interesting, before we set off south for the fabled Surfer’s Paradise! The first thing we did here was run into the sea and get battered by some pretty fierce waves for an hour or so! Following that we explored the town, found the Hard Rock Cafe and planned our trip to V-Fest the next sday (Saturday 29th March).

Wow! V-Fest was just amazing. The rain held off for most of the day and we saw a few smaller acts, then Duffy, Razorligt, Snow Patrol, Madness, the Kaiser Chiefs and The Killers. Right as the Killer’s came to the anthem that is Mr Brightside, the heavens open and we’re all drenched in warm rain for 3 minutes of awesomeness.

After trudging back to Surfers, soaking wet, we kipped overnight and found a campsite to sort our clothes out. We then bought a 2D pass to Australia’s largest theme park with an adjoining water park. 2  The theme park was pretty good, with notable rides includingh the Tower of Terror (where you are launched at 156km/hour up a vertical tower) and the Big Drop (where you are released from the same tour at the top and freefall for 3.4 seconds!) Vids to come!! The water park was great fun too even if the weather wasn’t too accommodating.

We then pressed south to Byron Bay, beached a little before getting bored and pushing south to camp in Mosquito City. I got fed up at 5 AM, drove out to a beach and we spent the last few hourssleeping there. We then pushed further south to Coff’s Harbour, where we holed up in a campsite away from the rain again. We were actually 2 days behind a serious flood as we made our way south, with roads just reopening, buildings being completely gutted and loads of the attractions having been closed. We did however manage to go taboganning at the Big Banana!

From Coff’s we moved south again (noticing a pattern) into Port MacQuire which was a beautiful town with a fantastic Irish bar. We watched rugby union, league, soccer and some AFL before driving to an industrial park and kipping up! Next stop was Newcastle, an incredible industrial city, which is the largest exporter of coal in the world. Trains about 2-3km long just FULL of coal were pouring into the docks and loading up rows of container ships. We went round a small ww2 fort (the only one to fire at the Japenese in WW2 (th missed)). The next day was a morning stroll along the pier in Newcastle before heading to the Big Cheese : Sydney!

We arrived there on Sunday evening, finding a gorgeous tourist park which is just a 30 min tube ride out of town. Yesterday we headed in and did the classics, bridge and opera house, walking across the bridge and climbing to the top of one of the supporting pylons. This cost us $10 (£5), doing the “bridge climb” and going about 15m higher would have cost us $179. Crikey.

And here I sit on the morn of the next day, ready for our second day of “the greatest city in the southern hemisphere”. I’ll get some more media up tonight, hopefully some pics and even a few videos!!

PS - Wordpress has gone haywire and I can’t see what I’m typing very well, so apologies for any typos!

Fraser Island

Hello everyone! Sorry for the lack of updates on the blog front but hopefully we can now get you up to speed!

Since our last blog we’ve been to Rockhampton, beef capital of Oz, had, just one (much to Rob’s dissapointment), tasty steak between us where we were entertained by some v drunk crazy girls dancng very oddly! We then drove on down to Hervey Bay, Fraser Island stop by point basically. We booked our trip to Fraser Island, we decided to go on a guided tour rather than a DIY 4WD, mainly because of time constraints but ended up getting good value for money we thought! Although we had a problem getting there as our credit card decided not to work as we went to pay for the rest of the trip 15 mins before the boat set off, and there were no cash points near by… so we missed out. But rearanged everything for the next day where we made sure we had the cash.

Fraser Island itself was beautiful! Once there we went on a walk through the rainforest, then for an all you can eat lunch (with pumpkin soup - pumpkin is our new favourite food, VERY tasty!). In the afternoon we drove along the beach on the east of the island, around 60-70km? On the way we stopped off at a shipwreck called The Maheno, which has just been sat on the beach for around 60 years. Then we stopped off at the ‘coloured sands’. Rob and I could see about 4 shades… there’s supposed to be about 75! We also stopped off for a swim down Elis Creek, the islands freshwatwer stream that runs straight into the ocean. Refreshing is the best word for that! Finally we stopped off at the tip of the island and climbed up a huge rock to look out onto the gorgeous sea. Dinner was also an all you can eat affair, much to Rob’s delight, but no pumpkin soup.

On the second day (after an all you can eat brekky) we went to Lake Woubbie in the morning. This is a freshwater spring that is now blocked in by a big sand dune. Because the dune continues straight into the lake, it gets deep very fast, its about 4 metres deep about 5 metres in! It was really pretty and we got about an hour to play! Then back for an all you can eat lunch, still no more pumpkin soup :( In the afternoon we went to the beautiful lake McKenzie. This consists of pure rainwater and has absolutely no water flowing in or out of it! It really is a postcard picture place! After that we got the ferry back across and went back to our campsite, with Rob for once, feeling less hungry than he has been since February.

We will update you soon on the rest!

Elee and Rob!

Roadtrippin’

Hello all!!

This one is coming from the campervan as we travel from Mackay to Rockhampton. We’ve been in the chubby (the campervan) for five days now steadily making our way south along highway one from Cairns. The first two days was spent cruising round the Tablelands to the west of Cairns. This national park was really with some magnificant waterfalls and views as we meandered up and down the hills. We camped at Granite Gorge, a small creek inhabited by hundreds of small rock wallabies and small turtles.

By the second day we were heading southwards towards mission beach, which is currently occupied by deadly jellyfish. The next day we proceeded southwards again to Townsville where we visited the Museum of Tropical Queensland. Here Rob fired a cannnon, Elee was clamped in leg irons and we learnt about the shipwreck of HMS Pandora.

On Friday we drove out to Airlie Beach and had some fish and chips before sunbathing on the man made lagoon. Yesterday was an early drive down to Mackay where we stayed on the beach and spent the day planning the rest of the trip and enjoying a BBQ on the beach!

The front of our van is incredibly geeked out. We have an inverter attached to the cigarette lighter which provides a proper australian power socket. We’ve then got a spiltter in that to give us two sockets before having two converters to British plugs! Out of that comes A laptop charger with external 3G modem, and an iPod charger for the ipod/iphone. All in all it just about fits in the glove compartment!

We’ve also listened through the first 2.5 books of Harry Potter on our travels, determined to finish the series before we arrive in Melbourne in 20 days time!

See you all later!

Rob and Elee

Chang Beer Kicked Rob’s Ass

Sorry about the late update! Us geeks havent had as much internet access as we thought we would have!!

So update: Chiang Mai was awesome! The trekking was really good fun and we met some really great people. Shout out to Theresa, Rob, Paul, Thomas and Stefanie! We started the first day around the pool at our hotel (BMP - very good!), then went into the city in the evening to have a look around the night market, picking up two t-shirts for 2GBP each.

Early start the next day to begin the trek, and we went straight to the elephant sanctuary where we got to ride on an elephant with the rest of our group! Our was very cheeky and demanded bananas before he would continue. However, tossing bananas ahead encouraged a good speed!

Then we had a 3 hour walk through Thailand’s hilly “jungle” (more like dried scrub land!) where we taught the practical uses of Bamboo (Catapult, food, walking sticks and a bong!). Then we camped at a small village which was memorable to say the least, including a shower in the stream and saw the night out with a campfire. Next day the hardcore trekkers (two nighters) continued. A 45 minute trek and we had lunch for almost 2 hours followed by an hours trek through rice plantations down to the first waterfall. An hour at the waterfall, before a 45 minute walk to the second where we camped for the night. Note to all : it’s freezing to shower in a waterfall even if the temperature is 30 degrees :D

That night Jan (our guide) cooked up pumpkin mash which was the best meal we had in Thailand (Pumpkin, soy, rice and all things nice)! The following day was a small walk followed by Bamboo rafting which was mucho funo and probably the highlight of the trip, though Elee was bullied by Rob, Paul, the rafter, the locals and the other tourists! (Although Rob fell in :P)

Once back in the hotel the origional team (minus Stefanie and Thomas) met up for beverages where Chang Beer really DID kick Rob’s ass.

[caption id=”” align=”alignnone” width=”500” caption=”About 80p a Pint!”][/caption]

 

Next morning after a restless night for Rob, we checked out, lounged about the pool and almost missed the train back!

One day in Bangkok, and one day in transit later and we arrived at Gilligan’s in Cairns Australia - party capital of the East Coast. Our first day was spent lounging about the pool (again!) and exploring a bit of the town. We also decided against studying for the four day PADI course, and as such are leaving town a little early in our chubby (campervan)! Last night (our first night) we were woken up firstly by a room mate being sick, then by Rob being shouted at by an angry Frenchman and being made to swap beds, and lastly by some excessive snoring. We endured.

Today was spent job doing, booking Scuba, Green Island, changing travel plans, ringing home, buying internet time, blogging, buying food, postcards and other odds and ends! We also spent some of the day lounging (!) around a swimming pool/fake beach on the promenade. Very nice indeed!

We’re going to round off the essay there, so thanks for enduring, and hopefully we’ll be updating you again once we have the chubby.

Rob

Oh my Buddha!

NB - This post is now a week old - photos of the trek are up but I’ve not written it all up yet! Coming soon!!

Hello everyone!!

Blog post number two comes from the train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. We’ve slept the night on board and are now sat on my bed admiring the sceneary as we climb northwards into the jungley area of the northern city.

Our trip to the beach 2 days ago went very well, with a 2 hour car trip to Pattay and then a 40min boat trip out to “Coral Island” (aptly, if commercially, named). The beach was gorgeous (see attached pics) but despite 5 applications of factor 25 suncream and staying out of the sun between 1 and 3, my face still managed to get a little burned (missing my Aunty’s Pizz Bun sunblock stick!)! Elee’s back was a little burned too, but she already has really prominant tan lines!

Yesterday we whacked on the factor 50 and headed out to the Grand Palace which was truly spectacular. Shorts and open shoulders wern’t allowed so I had to wear some rather fetching borrowed pants, but it was certainly worth it. Check out the pictures we’ve put up! Im hoping to get some videos up shortly, but forgot to install the software to convert it for YouTube. Downer was it being the hottest day yet (I’d guess early-mid 30s) and Elee getting -more- burnt.

Today we get off the sleeper train at 10:30AM and check into our (relatively posh) hotel (With pool!). We’re planning on a day in the shade next to the pool, then a visit to the night market tonight for some shopping (I have my heart set on a bandana!).

Ciao for now!

Rob

Never Confuse A Caramel Keg with a Brazillian Darkness

Trip blog number one! Today we put the travel in travelling and are about to bust our body clocks as we arrive in Bangkok at 6AM. I’m currently sat at the departures gate in Abu Dhabi. We’re flying with Etihad airways which, so far, has been an absolute pleasure! We had top quality food on the flight just gone, and a selection of about 40 films to watch.

The only downer was Elee beating me at an inflight game of draughts.

Update:

I’m writing this in our hotel in Bangkok! This is the end of the second day and we are really enjoying the city. On the day we landed we managed to get a tour about the city on a Tuk-Tuk and visited a couple of temples. We the found out hotel, had a nap (jet lagged!) and met up with some of our friends over here. Being pretty tired it was really, really nice to have someone show us the basics around the hotel, taking a walk down Khaosan road and enjoying some crazy rice, egg and chicken combo.

Today we moved hotels from a £40 a night to a £10 a night jobbie for two tonight and tomorrow. Bangkok has been an eye opener, but the smog and nagging is already getting on our nerves! Food has been fantastic, really cheap and tasty. We’re on a day trip to Pattay tomorrow and then thursday night we’re taking a sleeper train to Chiang Mai. In Chiang Mai we have a hotel with a pool (bliss!!) and a trek out into the jungle for two nights arranged.

About to head to bed, so ciao for now and we’ll blog again in Chiang Mai!

NB

I’ve also uploaded a batch of photos from the first couple of days. Enjoy!

First Video Blog!

Wowzerz! Three days until we leave! Elee’s packing her bags now, and we made a little, silly, unprepared or rehearsed video. Enjoy!