Travel to Japan, Hokkaido, Niseko.

This isn't something that I imagined I would be doing only two years ago but my partner, Jenny, and some of her family were going to Japan for a skiing holiday so I thought ... why not. Actually, visiting Japan for any reason had never been on my horizon.

Having learnt to ski only two years ago I have to admit that I was a little hesitant, particularly given that I had only ever skied the relatively comfortable slopes of Mount Buller (in the Victorian Alps). The thought of the potential for powder snow (aparently a rarity at Buller) seemed to excite the rest of the Devenish family; especially 11yo Georgia, 8yo Lauchlan and 6yo Benny. The two older kids delight in out-skiing me on any slope, which is only to be expected given that grandmar Jenny had them skiing before they were proficient at walking.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to North-West Thailand, Pai.

The first trip the tree of us did together was to Kanchanabury -the tiger tempel. What can I tell you besides that it was amazing? We also did our first hitch hike there- as we took local buses with many many thai people- I was sitting right next to the driver on the thing that you are not supposed to sit on :) he dropped us off somewhere along the road and told us we had to walk to sideroad to the tiger tempel- about 4km. lucky pigs as we are... we hitch hiked with the first pick up that stopped along the way :) On the way back we got picked up by a tour and paid them to take us straight to Bangkok.

We then headed to Chaing Mai -which we liked but more the surrounding than the actual city. We did a one day tour- starting in the morning with bamboo rafting, an elephant tour afterwards, a small trekking to the waterfall, saw some rice-fields and overall the trip was well worth the time and money spend. Chiang Mai has different markets every day of the week- so we went crazy with the shopping options and discovered many thai food deliacies... such as ant-eggs in an omlett (I cut out on that one, Tati and Karo can tell you more about that... but as they didnt finish their shared portion I assume it was rather... unenjoyable).

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to Penang, Georgetown.

This morning, we woke up, had breakfast, and headed out exploring. Since my arm got burnt through the window on the awful bus journey, I had to keep covered up. And the weather was so hot! We stumbled upon Fort Cornwallis, the largest fort in Malaysia, and decided to check it out.

The fort was named after the late 18th century governor-general of Bengal, India, Charles Cornwallis. It was originally built from palm trunks in 1876 by Sir Francis Light, to protect Penang from pirates and the north-western peninsular state of Kedah. In 1804, however, it was rebuilt using bricks and stone, reaching completion in 1810. There was once a moat surrounding the structure, but due to a malarial outbreak in the 1920s, it was filled in. In its entire history, Fort Cornwallis never engaged in battle.

After the fort, we took an unsuccessful rickshaw ride in search of our hostel, but ended up walking most of the way. It wasn't the rickshaw driver's fault; we couldn't remember the road we were staying on.

When we finally found our way, we freshened up, then headed out for some lunch. I had an amazing Tandoori chicken set meal at a restaurant named Jayah (I think!) on Upper Penang Street. It's the best meal I've had since Cambodia. And it cost less than £2!

Back on Muntri Street (yes, I remember where we're staying, now!), we found the Hainan Temple, and after chatting to a little old man outside, (who, incidentally, studied English at the school next door, back when it was simply two classrooms) we removed our shoes and took a look inside. I marvelled at the ornate stone carvings, created by Chinese craftsmen during the 1995 remodelling project. The temple was originally founded in 1866, and completed in 1895.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to Western Australia, York.

We decided to head to York and stop for an overnight stay at Avon Valley Park which was along the way. Using our 10 years out of date camp site book and a £30 Sat Nav we’d bought from Gumtree this was gonna be a g’day mate!! First drama... one hour from Perth we seen our first “Roo” close up.. very very close up!! Well I seen it - Phil was too busy tuning “Hits 666” on the radio. I screamed and Phil slammed on the brakes - we skidded across the road and nudged the Kangaroo, at least we know our Roo bars work K (No Kangroos were harmed in the making of this blog J (the old jokes are the best!)).

Next the suiciddle Sat Nav tried to kill us taking the over a mountain on an unsealed road which kept getting narrower, bumpier and steeper, we started to get really worried but we couldn’t find a place to turn and had to keep going,.. finally after a few Km’s (we use the metric system now Boo to miles feet and inches J!!) we found a turning spot.. PHEW!! Then it started raining we started creeping
SAM_5800our way back down the mountain Bob was slipping a sliding all over the road and we nearly poop’ed ourselvies! 30mins after we both open our eyes and we were back on the glorious tarmac! Thank god for those gippoes!

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to Mumbai, India.

Traveling in India, you quickly realize that you must – under all circumstances – remain flexible and go with the flow as much as possible. The difficulty in doing this, though, is knowing when to become rigid so you don’t get eaten alive as well. It’s an intuitive feeling one begins to possess - India is a country of extremes that teeters it on a fine wedge: a beautiful palace stands next to slums; a woman is ornately dressed, but doesn’t have any teeth; a rich man builds himself a 40-storey tower of glass to live in, just for himself, while a beggar with no legs goes hungry; one of the oldest civilizations in the world, propagators of major religions, has citizens that defecate on the street, right next to the roaming cows, in plain view. And that’s the key – the dichotomies are all in plain view, not embarrassingly concealed, swept under the rug; and it’s enough to make you bonkers.

In any case, remaining flexible after three bus connections in order to traverse about 40 kilometers, we made it from Palolem to the Margao train station. We had a bit of a wait ahead of us
central train stationsince our train was late, so had a late lunch. We had to observe a few people to figure out how to order, then deduced at which counter to do so. I walked up and put in my order, paid, and received a little piece of paper with my order on it.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to India, Madhya Pradesh.

I’ve loved Indian food since I first had it early in High School. I verily thought I could eat it every day for the rest of my life. So, now that I’ve eaten Indian every day for the past 22 days, in India itself, is that still true? Hmm… ok, maybe not every day; but still probably once a week, if it’s the Americanized Indian.

In general, the food here lacks variety, is oily, lacks taste other than curry, cumin and turmeric and uses unreliable ingredients. And don’t ask an Indian cook to cook you anything other than Indian – it’ll all taste like curry, cumin and turmeric, whether it’s pizza, pasta, or a fish sandwich. We were in a restaurant in Palolem that had Mexican on the menu; I gave it a quick thought, and correctly decided against the chicken burrito when we received (to our surprise) our complimentary chips and salsa – “salsa”, I wanted to tell them, is not ketchup with curry, cumin and turmeric. Even the McDonald’s we’d visited in Mumbai for a change of pace didn’t really change the pace, other than the fries. I had the Chicken Maharaja Mac – Mumbai McDonald’s chicken curry, mutton masalaanswer to the Big Mac in a red-meatless country. The only thing resembling the real thing was the bun. And the special sauce? Guess what? Yea – it tasted of curry, cumin and turmeric.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to Philippines, Palawan, El Nido.

El Nido was a great place. We stayed in a small hotel owned by a French guy named David and a Swedish guy called Tommy. The restaurant/bar had amazing view over the beach. Our first night we sat at the bar chatting with Tommy and David when we found out they make there own rum shots... And unfortunately for us we had to try them. They tasted good but didn't feel to good the next day. We also met a great Philippine couple that night that ware also on holiday and it was really interesting to talk and see how our life's are different when growing up in the European countries or here in the Philippines. 

Our room in El Nido did not have an air condition and as I am no fan of them and I only think they are loud and unhealthy and the room had a fan so I thought we ware fine. Ohhh was I wrong about that. Our first night was one of the hottest sweeties I have ever lived. And as the electricity gos off at 6 am the fan did too. We did try to sleep but ware more rolling around until we finally got up into the cold shower. Or should I say we shovelled some water over us from the bucket we had in the shower because the pressures on the shower only gave you a few drops of water.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org

Travel to Australia, Queensland, Cairns.

Today it stopped raining!!!! And as I am staying quite near to the Botanical Gardens I thought that I would see what they had to offer. Well it didn't disappoint, there were some interesting plants in the Aboriginal gardens, some lovely foliage and very unusual flowers. Also they have an art gallery and events centre which were originally storage tanks, so they are round with some metal structures in them but that's about all and they are used for concerts and all sorts of things really good inventive architecture. Cool.

Spent the afternoon in the centre of Cairns where a concert was held, free of charge and provided by the local council. There is a manmade lagoon on the sea from for people to use instead of the sea as it is stinger season in the summer here. This means that jellyfish the size of the nail on your little finger float around in the sea, if you are unfortunate to get bitten by one of the little blighters you are likely to suffer cardiac arrest and there is no antidote you either live or die there is nothing much a medical team can do except monitor you. There are
imagealso another species of jelly fish larger than this variety which although don't have such a deadly sting can make you feel very uncomfortable. On the entrance to the beach there is a bottle of vinegar and a notice which says use the vinegar and seek medical help immediately. All of this make the manmade lagoon look very inviting.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org

Travel to Chile, Santiago Region, Santiago.

Santiago, which is the capital of Chile (520 m above sea level) and was founded in 1541. The city is shaped by lots of hills around the city and the imposing Andes mountains which can be seen from most points in the city.  Santiago's economic growth is obvious all over the place, it is a modern and booming metropolis. The city is home to a lot of restaurants, shopping centers, theaters, and even has a subway.
The rising skyline, including the tallest building in Latin America, the Gran Torre Santiago is very impressive.
I felt home in an instant, which was a very strange feeling - after all we are talking about “the end of the world” in many respects. I like the atmosphere, the people, just everything - well that is not true the old town where the cathedral is located was not as nice. As a true Swiss I like green balconies with lots of  W (hotel) wine barplants – but I think I have never seen so many balconies full of plants – it seems fair to call it the green city. Well that is unfortunately not the whole story, there is a big issue with pollution, due to thermal inversion (a weather phenomenon whereby a stable layer of warm air holds down colder air close to the ground). And seeing all the SUV's and Beemers and other brand new European cars (you name them), it is clear where the problem comes from.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to Malaysia, Penang, George Town.

Ah, the romance of the train. The clickety-clacking of the rails, being gently rocked side to side as you fall asleep like a newborn. The romance of waiters in white uniforms serving our wonderful meal on crisp linen tablecloths and sparkling china while we clink our wine glasses to the end of a perfect day. After a peaceful night’s sleep, going to the restaurant car for steaming cups of coffee and freshly-made croissants. That’s what we saw as our train passed the Singapore to Bangkok Orient Express going the other way. Now the reality of the 2nd-class sleeper. After leaving our beautiful apartment in Bangkok, we caught a cab. We had heard that the traffic could be miserable, so we didn’t want to take any chances. We got to the train station with two hours to spare. Okay, we could kill two hours. Then we got on the train and had to wait. And wait. And wait. The sun was about to set by the time we pulled out of the station.

Before the train left the station a woman came around and asked us what we wanted to eat. We placed our order for both dinner and breakfast the
Line Clear - Nasi Kandarnext day. We were told that our dinner should be coming by at 7. We didn’t know that the man who made up our beds also came by at 7! So much for our wonderful meal…

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to Honduras, Bay Islands, Utila.

Today we dove on the north side of the island. Seemingly the north side has the most fish life and is very popular. It did not dissapoint. Even though the waters were choppy and we had to decend with four foot rolles on the surface, once we were under it was calm and beautiful. The coolest thing about diving Utila is that the coral formation looks like all those pictures of the coral reef you see in books, but never actual see under water. They are ragged and full of tiny crevices that you can poke around (not literally) and see some amazing life. What I love about the dive sights here is that we tend to spend a lot of time in shallow parts of the reef which is great if you like the macrolife. There were so many baby fish darting around as well as snails and small crabs. There were big fish too. We saw a beautiful green eel, a nurse shark, and a baracuda. There were no equipment malfunctions and diving was easy and fun.

Today was a great day of diving but we have had many of those in many different places. Tonight was something really special, a meal that will no doubt be remembered forever. We had dinner at Chez Lola on the south side of the island. CHEZ LOLA IS NOT A RESTAURANT, it is a home, and tonight we went over Lola and Sebatian's for dinner. Lola and Sebastian are from Nice, France and they own a little plot of land with a vegetable and spice garden.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to United States, Washington D.C.

Today I'm so excited because it is my first day in Washington D.C.. We went to a lot of places that are really famous. We went to Library of Congress, Union Station, the United States capitol and congress, and the Air & Space museum.

Library of Congress is the largest library in the world. Many people came to Washington because it has a lot of informations about the topic that you had. The library had more than 120,000 books. There are movies and other more things. Each day there are more than 1,100 books are leaned and borrowed. If this library didn't exist, the world will not have that much good informations to research about. The smallest book in the world is about how is a period. If you have been to the library, you will realize how small it is. In the library there is also the biggest book in the world. I didn't go to visit those fantastic things, but I still have a good time in the library. Everyone brought gifts in the gift shop, I saw some that says something like "Keep clam and have a cupcake". We saw some cultures of the Mayas and Aztecs. I want to buy one bookmark of it, but I want to save money for the other days in Washington. I love that first day because I learned how to save money, walk faster, knowing how to count the coins of United States, and a lot of things more.

The second place that we went is the United States capitol and congress. It is the place where the president and leaders debate or discuss about an difficult issues of the world and United States. Soon in that place will have a very important issue that can cause people around the world affected. The senators are elected by the voters, so that means that people had to vote for it. The senator is available for a six year terms. Inside the United States capitol and congress there is a huge statue that I think it mens freedom. The dust bowl in 1941 in United States has a big relation with the congress. In that time the people want to put down the prices of the things, but the senators didn't put it down. It is one of the bad things that the congress did. We also bought gifts in the gift shop, I bought key chain and a lot of things that are cool. I didn't bought things to myself because I don't want to waste too much money. After the United States capitol and congress, we went to the beautiful and ancient Union Station.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to Thailand, Phuket.

I will be flying out of Malaysia on May 6th and landing in Kathmandu just in time for lunch at a much higher elevation. Sadly this is as far as the planning goes at the moment. I don't know what adventures Nepal will bring me, but I'm looking forward to new food, new language(s), and lots of free time to enjoy the beautiful scenery. Don't worry, May is springtime in the Himalayas and it will be in the high 20's C (80's F) during the day. I still think anything below 75F will feel cold to me, as Phuket has turned me into a spoiled beach bum. But I'm New England bred; I'm not going to let a little chilly weather stop me! Who knows, I may even go check out Everest ;)

For those of you who are constantly concerned about such a fragile little girl roaming the big bad world, I have great news. I will not be traveling solo this time! I had the pleasure of hosting a Frenchman by the name of Eddy a few weeks back, and he has so kindly invited me to come join him in his travels. So we will be backpacking around the Nepalese countryside for about a month. He will be heading back to France in June, at which point I am also planning to make my way to Europe. Don't ask me what countries, the answer is all of them, but we'll just see how far my money can take me.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to Burma, Yangon.

I determined early in the trip that I would enter Myanmar with an open mind, in fact it was almost blank. Er, perhaps that should read ... a blank canvas! I didn't want excessive research to impede a voyage of discovery to this unique travel destination in South East Asia. Of course I'm aware of Myanmar's recent history, as the country has just awakened from 40 years of almost total isolation. Destinations such as this are becoming rare in an increasingly connected world, so I thought I'd experience Burmese culture before the country is inevitably overrun by tourism, as is the case over in neighbouring Thailand. An Aussie guy in the Bangkok hostel was stunned to hear I had no Lonely Planet, was completely oblivious to the absence of ATMs, and had not cashed up with beaucoup US dollars. I'll have to admit the conversation did give me a bit of a hurry up, so I scrambled for the internet to get the good oil. Fortunately visa ATMs have recently been installed in December 2012, so armed to the teeth with mountains of knowledge I was able to slump back into an intellectual torpor!

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to Sierra Leone, Freetown.

So – Monday in Freetown! Mark and I headed out to seek out more accommodation for the international runners to stay in the night before they head home. In the evening we headed to the Hash – The Drinking Club with a Running Problem. Apparently there are Hash Harrier groups all over the world, and seeing as they are all keen runners, we thought they were a prime target for our marathon promotion. What an amazing experience! So there are runners and walkers, and for totally social reasons (yeah right!) I joined the walkers group so I could chat to people. Every week they start in a different location. The runners have trails left out for them and the walkers have a leader. Halfway around, someone has carefully planned a water stop (cold water!) and we continue round small communities, avoiding raods with traffic. The communities are a bit unsure what is going on as a about 50 people run or walk past their house. Then, once it is over, it turns into a big drinking session. And of course I was initiated as I was a 'Hash virgin'. Mark had been once last year and Emma had been a couple The petals!!!of weeks back so they sat back and laughed.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to Central America Caribbean, Guatemala.

Today we slowly woke, tired from our days of hard work, getting to sleep in a little later than usual, however today was going to be a jam-packed day! After breakfast and once all the dishes had been washed, we set off for a tour of ancient Mayan ruins! Our tour guide was a Mayan spiritual leader which made our tour an amazing learning experience for us! Learning about the ruins and the culture was so interesting and we learned so much! Our tour guide didn’t speak English so Susan, our tour leader, translated everything for us. We saw where the Mayans played a special kind of four on four “football” with their hips, heads, knees, and elbows! This game was a spiritual game, based largely upon the energy of the players, having to have good energy in order to do well in the game. We learned that there was about 150 thousand Mayans who lived in the area, but only 30 government figures would have lived in the place that we visited. We also learned that they place was only rediscovered forty years ago, the excavations took about ten years to complete, and it was originally built and inhabited in the twelve hundreds! We visited the ruins on a very special day, as it was the spring equinox, where there is equal daylight and night. This also meant that there was a special Mayan ceremony taking place in order to celebrate this special day!

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to Indonesia, Bali, Tabanan.

Today's agenda was to be a fairly relaxing day as we drove up the hills towards Mt. Batukaru. Our beloved guide picked us up at 9:00 a.m. on the dot and off we went. I have been wanting to visit a silver shop to show Be how the artisans work and design. So Nyoman made a quick stop at Prapen Jewelry just outside of Ubud. Yes, it is a typical tourist spot but I did enjoy watching the creative part of jewelry making. It was very detailed and time consuming to make all the little silver balls and just watching them glue their designs together was fascinating. I kept thinking of my carpal tunnel issue and I know I'd be fired within the first week if I were given the chance to create jewelry! Ha! It takes patience to make jewelry look beautiful and I now have a stronger appreciation of that art.

So, basically, I walked out of there with a few silver baubles and 2 awesome silver and pearl rings! Check!

Next stop? Wait for it.... Bali Butterly Park! I know... I know! Yes, I know it's a "chick thing" but what did you expect? We love
Cocoonsbutterflies and Bali has the prettiest Lepidopteras. You can see huge velvety black ones dancing atop the trees in the gardens. There are blue ones with big bold yellow spots in the center of their wings. I've seen small bright yellow ones dancing in the garden in the early morning light. Ah...Butterflies! So, we stopped for about an hour (poor Nyoman) and walked around their sanctuary and just took in their beauty. There was a hatchery in the center of the garden that we were able to get into. One of the workers placed some of the newly hatched babies on our arms and shoulders. These babies were only born that morning and were waiting for their wings to fully expand and dry before they would be released into the larger garden area. Yes, it was fun and i'll post a picture or two. Get your Butterfly ON in Bali if you can!

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to Cambodia, Siem Reap, Knar.

After a long but fairly painless Ibis bus ride from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, I was greeted at the drop-off point by the Cashew Nut's tuk tuk driver, and promptly taken to the guesthouse. The courtyard area had a tranquil feel to it, and as I entered the dimly-lit reception area, I was handed a wet face towel and a glass of cold water. I was given information regarding the guesthouse rules and excursions, then I was taken to my large air-conditioned room on the second floor. I had a quick wash, sent a few emails and set out to see what Siem Reap had to offer. I

I found my way to the local market, selling bags, clothes and souvenirs, then headed round to Pub Street for something to eat. I stopped at a little restaurant down one of the side alleys, and ordered a fried rice for $2. After dinner, I wandered to a bar, ordered a glass of wine, and spent about an hour people-watching before hailing a tuk tuk back to the guesthouse. L

Later, I accompanied the tuk tuk driver to the airport to meet Edithe, then we returned to the guesthouse and planned our next two days' activities.

Waking up late morning on Wednesday, we went to Pub Street for lunch. We ordered a set meal for two in Khmer Soup restaurant, and enjoyed amok, Khmer curry, rice and spring rolls, along with fruit shakes. It was delicious! When we finished, we went to one of the many fish pedicure tanks that surround Bar Street, and spent about an hour having our feet nibbled for a whopping $3! I can't believe how cheap Cambodia is.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to Costa Rica, Guanacaste, La Fortuna.

The bus ride from Monteverde to La Fortuna was unpaved and therefore unpleasant. Sleep during the windy, bumpy ride was unsuccessful and the minute we stepped off the bus in town we were "greeted" with annoying tour salesmen. They were polite and friendly but we really weren't in the market for a tour having been in town for less than a minute and wanted to find our place and drop our bags. The "hostel" we booked was less than sufficient, but the bed was comfortable so I didn't mind. Apparently hotels have caught on to the hostel trend and started mislabeling themselves as hostels when they don't provide wifi, a communal area or a kitchen, amenities typical of hostels. Luckily we only booked one night there and found a far better place the next day. The next hostel was more like a backpacker resort; complete with a pool, swim up bar, restaurant, kitchen and lush courtyard. Alonzo was an awesome host, very attentive and helpful. It was like our own little oasis tucked away in the town. The town of Fortuna was pretty uneventful. There were a few restaurants that pretty much all served the same food for a steep price, and very minimal nightlife. We booked an ATV tour set on a farm at the base of the Arenal volcano, our first tour of the trip! It was so surreal; animals freely grazing and enjoying the company of other creatures with a backdrop of jungle and rolling hills. I wish all farm animals could live unconfined like this. There were trails carved out for us, and since it rains often in Fortuna, there was mud everywhere. Some of the puddles were even inches deep with water. We were pretty shocked that given the conditions of the trails the ATVs were not 4wheel drive! Our guide said, "they're 4wheel drive if you get off and push." It was a lot of fun and I'm really surprised I managed to hang on with Kevin's crazy driving, and peeling out around turns. We also got to pose with a six foot python that the guide found on the farm and was taking to the local zoo.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to United Kingdom, England, Norfolk.

Well we arrived safe and sound. The Emirates plane ride was fairly bumpy, but sleep was enjoyed as was the myriad amounts of food. The jury is out as to whether Emirates is better than the "Flying Kangaroo". Seats were ok for views but comfort is on par with QANTAS.
The trip to Dubai was overnight so not much to see, took off over Glenelg and crossed Eyre Penin between Pt Lincoln and Cowell tracking over Bight then headed up and over Kalgoorlie and then asleep till we were crossing the Maldives in the dark. Dubai is a thriving airport and the number of planes there was uncountable. At least 6 A380s for Emirates - more likely more than 10. Airport is neat, tidy and plenty of action at 6am.
Left at about 8.30 for Gatwick and what a beautiful sight. Smog everywhere over Dubai and the trip up the Persian Gulf gave me goose bumps as we crossed where the Euphrates joind the gulf. We followed that river, probably as Abraham journeyed some 4000yrs ago and we flew over Basra - centre of the early Mid-East conflict with British forces. Then we crossed the snow capped Turkish Alps and what
Dubai Airport 1a sight. One of the all time best views from a plane. After that over the Black sea and then clouds all the way to Gatwick.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to China, Hangzhou.

It is unbelievable that we are heading into our final week of March! I still cannot wrap my head around how quickly the weeks scoot by. I knew that this year was going to go by very quickly, what with it being filled with new experiences… but this is madness. The end of March brings about the beginning of April which is going to be a month filled with “firsts” and plans.

Lifestyle-wise, April is going to bring a very significant change. At work, I’m going to be taking on a classload and transitioning into more of a teaching position and away from the marketing madness. We are beginning a new term altogether the first week of April, so it’s a bit like a fresh start and reboot for the center at large. April is also set to bring our center an additional Foreign Trainer who is entering onboarding this week. That is bound to turn our center’s operations on its head as that could mean a lighter classload, and better coverage for our classes during vacation time.

Ah, vacation time – the next major change being brought to my schedule! In about a month,
Spaghetti with Chopsticksmy mother will be here! It looks as though everything visa-wise has been approved, so we can actually start to look forward to this thing as though it’s actually happening! We have some pretty spectacular plans laid out, so it is bound to be a very good visit.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to Indonesia, Java, Borobudur.

Early Monday morning, we boarded our flight from Denpasar to Central Java on Lion Air. Finally. The Borobudur. I could almost touch it. Our flight was fairly short and as we landed in Jogja and stepped into another world again. Java is another world so it seemed to me. With Mount Merapi hovering in the distance, the beautiful Call to Prayer sounding off in the background....Bali seemed so "far away" when we landed in Yogyakarta.

The humidity was extremely high (as usual) so we decided to check into to our hotel and relax the remainder of the afternoon. We stayed at a decent hotel near the Sultan's Palace. The accommodations were good for the price and the staff were extremely friendly. Apparently, there are lots of students in this city and it's apparent with all the activity during the evening hours. Many of the shops and restaurants do not open until dinner time and the streets are filled with pedestrians and motorbikes.

Early the next day, our tour guide picked us up and off we went to my main destination for this trip. Our itinerary was The Borobudur, Prambanan Temple, Sultan's Palace, lunch and finally an artisan village. Our
Our wonderful guide taking the time out to teach us about the temple's meaning.tour guide was short of fabulous. I will upload his information later so if anyone is interested in getting a very good guide - he's yours for the booking! Anyways, our guide gave us the best insight on who built the Borobudur and further information on Buddism and what each level of the temple meant. He took his time explaining the meaning of the symbols and even went so far as showing us the actual translations of some of the temple's drawings. He was thorough and did not rush into just showing us all the "tourist spots" and whatnot. He allowed us time for good photo ops as well as recommending some interesting views while in the temple. I learned a lot about Buddism and what each pose meant from this guide. I learned about the value of numbers in Buddism as well and what they mean in relation to reaching Nirvana.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to Northern Thailand, Nakhon Sawan.

'Ten Baht,' said the rugged, heavy-set Thai woman sitting inside the rusty, caged snack shop, holding a two-meter long bamboo switch which she pointed toward the raving mad crowd gathered outside of her office. She took the stick and jabbed at one of the Macaques as it tried to wedge it's way between the worn metal cage and the wretched tin roof, cackling with one eye open and one shut as the boorish beasts looked on with a healthy dose of respect and indifference alike. She opened up the door and emerged from her self-imposed prison and tapped the seat of my motorbike with her stick before tapping the seat of a motorbike next to the cage which looked as if some great and ancient demon had torn through it with jaws of steel and then she laughed a huge hearty laugh as I reached into my pocket to grab my camera but soon thought better of it as the crazed whooping and hollering grew to a fevered pitch as more and more macaque's gathered around hissing and showing fangs and biting tails and scurrying about. I had once witnessed a macaque jump from a tree, grab a bag of popcorn
Photo compliments of Tara Kenyonand disappear before our friend Jenn had even gotten her helmet off at these the very same mountains and so I tucked the camera back into my pocket as the mob intensified, their screaches reaching an earsplitting frequency. We handed her the ten baht which would guarantee the macaques would not have free range to gnaw upon our motorbike seats and thus guaranteed our asses a cushioned ride back to town and went off to climb some rocks but not before Patrick acquired a giant pack of multi-colored cheeze ball-replica-all-purpose-tourist-wildlife-food and started tossing them about. One among the crowd greedily took hold of his finger and wouldn't let go, and then it scratched his hand which started to bleed and so I thought better about handing them out and of course David took an orange soda and threw it against the curb in the direction of a large male. For kicks he walked over to try and grab it and was promptly sent scurrying back for his life - that fanta was now a possession of the elder-statesman who flashed his gruesome teeth and terrible stare and that was enough of that.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org

Travel to Argentina, Buenos Aires.

We hadn't actually planned our arrival in Ushuaia and rode about aimlessly, hoping we would find somewhere to stay. As has become the norm on this trip, a helpful stranger with a liking for bikes appeared in a minibus and told us to follow him. Having learnt that this is usually the way we fall on our feet, we followed him through the city to a hostel. Unfortunately the hostel was full but after a chat with him we spotted another one further up the road that we could park the bike at. A Michael Caine look-alike showed us to our room and then never stopped talking to whoever would listen to him the whole time we stayed were there. Sometimes it has been helpful that our Spanish is limited.

The next morning we took our huge pile of laundry to be serviced for first time in three weeks, hoping it would wash away the grim smell of plasticine that came from the laundry hand soap we had been using. As we made our way back to the hostel, Byron decided that some of the power issues we'd been having with the bike might
Amazing view of Perito Moreno glacierbe to do with the ignition and asked Isabel for a hand to check it out. As she unscrewed the front light a small package sat in there that she thought were spare screws. She couldn't have been more wrong as Byron took it out, got onto one knee and asked her to marry him!

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to New Zealand, South Island, Lake Tekapo.

I had been a tough start to 2013. My brother has a heart condition and a gastro bug took out his heart. He was choppered by the emergency helicopter to Waikato Hospital, before being flown to Auckland Hospital. It was a close to 99% he wouldn't survive. The surgeon outlined the options to us. An emergency surgery in the morning, which has a near 100% chance of killing him, or we wait until he passes. We pressed forth with the operation, hoping for a miracle. Our family drove up to Auckland in the middle of the night from Ohakune, Gisborne, New Plymouth, Tauranga. Some forked out nearly a $1000 to fly up to be with us. It was a long day, with little news. Lets say, the muffin break cafe in the hospital did a roaring trade from us lot. We got a phone call at 3pm, to say he was barely hanging on, he was on bypass again and they were concerned. Still we waited. Lack of sleep overtook many of our family, sleeping as they were in the hospitals transit lounge. We got another phone call at 6pm to say he had been taking off bypass due to him
Wellington City

Seat 1D, Bombardier Q300 Aircraftimproving, but he rapidly declined and was put back on bypass. 4 times this happened. By 11pm, they were still in surgery. 15 hours in surgery at that stage. Finally at one o'clock in the morning, he was delivered in a critical and barely alive state to the Intensive Care Unit. Later that morning, we went in to see him. What a mess, tubes, piped blood everywhere. He was in an induced coma, his breathing barely visible or audible. When he was given the all clear, i decided to head back to Tauranga. I had work and commitments. My Mum and Dad remained in Auckland. Home by myself, i closed the curtains and slept like the dead. A few days later at work, i came down with a migraine. I went to the doctors where they gave me some pills. They didn't work.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to Laos, Luang Prabang.

It is my last morning here in Luang Prabang. I've decided to splurge a little and picked a place right on the Mekong River to get breakfast. The weather is beautiful and the scenery fantastic. There are hardly any people out, but the silence is broken with some Thai/Laos music and I must say I like that.

I got to Luang Prabang the morning of St. Patty's Day. And by morning I mean 1 am and that was after my 30 hour bus ride. Naturally I had made no reservations so I hit the streets with the others who made the same mistake as myself and after a lot of knocking on doors I found myself a $6 dorm room. It's may sound cheap, but for what I got it wasn't but at 2 am I couldn't wander forever. Actually that's not true, I probably could have but my new friends refused to allow me to go off alone so to prevent them from worrying I settled.
I passed out after a much needed shower, but was up just a few hours later for a run and oh what a run it was! After 30
imagehours on a bus my body was excited to get up and go. The morning was cool and nobody else was on the streets. On top of that I found a new hostel to go to, although I still had another in mind.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to China, Yunnan, Dali.

This place was WAY better than Kunming!! Oh man. Way nicer people and far better scenery. What's unique about Dali is that it's divided into the Ancient City and the new city, Xia Guan (lower town). The new city is modern; deluxe hotels and large shopping malls, while the Ancient City is a well-preserved relic from the 8th century. Nowadays, Dali Ancient City is mainly set up for tourist visitors. In fact, there's even a street named "yangren jie" which means "foreigner street" lined with shops selling bootleg CD's, crispy crust pizza, and cheap garb.

The Dali Ancient City lies on the western edge of Erhai Lake. The altitude here is 6,330 feet, almost the same elevation as Lake Tahoe. Behind it soar the Jade Green Mountians and the awesome Cang Shan at 13,330 feet. To me this city reminds me a lot of Bishop, CA and the corridor along Highway 395. Dali is famous because it used to be the end node for trade along the Burma Road during the 9th century. To protect it from rival kingdoms, Dali is surrounded by massive stone walls and thick gates on all four sides. The
The Three Pagodasonly group to have successfully taken the city by force was Kublai Khan and his Mongol Army. Like a bawws.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to Australia, Victoria, Philip Island.

Monday started with heavy cloud and showers, but gradually the sun came through. So the washing was done and The MH and trailer both got a much needed bath. Mary quoted the old Percil ad where 'you can really see the difference!'

After lunch the weather cleared so we decided to drive to Phillip Island. There are numerous attractions on the Island - the Chocolate Factory, The Penguin Rookery, and the amazing coast which was the feature of the day for us. Well we confess to consuming excellent chocolate and seeing penguin as well.
It was only a short drive from Wonthaggi to San Remo through rolling country side. Flocks of sheep more like seen in NZ, and cattle.
At San Remo (small town) we crossed the bridge to Phillip Island.
We planned to go around the Island clockwise, our first stop being Cape Woolamai. With a cold southerly blowing, we decided not to walk down to the pinnacles at the tip of the cape. Luckily with a powerful tele lense we were able to capture a peep at the unusual rocky shore line.
The Woolamai Surf beach is really beautiful. Today was the day that
I cheated
Picture from the visitors info centre sign boardthis beach has been declared a surfing national park.
We back tracked from there to the Colonades, an unusal ribbed rocky structure.
Heading west we passed the Phillip Island Grand Prix Raceway and there were motorcyclists out there ripping around the course.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to Maharashtra, Mumbai, Colaba.

"Slumdog Millionaire" or "Shantaram" can't do this city justice. How can they? My tourist brochure and guidebook both rightfully fawn over the city's stats and records. For instance, this peninsula city is the second biggest city in the world after Tokyo for population. Half of those, though, populate the biggest slum in Asia. Less than 5km from the slum is the most expensive house in the world. The city produces an unbelievable 40% of India's total GDP and is home to the flourishing art, literature, business and finance sectors of India, if not Asia. Bombay is as famous for her huge cinema industry as she is infamous for her crime. It's a city who's population has swollen beyond the perameters of human decency, yet continues to adapt, housing thousands of refugees and street families that arrive here from all over Asia and the Middle East each day. The facts are fairly impressive and they point to a metropolis that empitomises the Indian civilisation- from the Raj era through to the modern day. In the "land of contrasts" this is truly the capital. I'm at the end of my second stint here, after 5 days total in Mumbai, and have decided it's a city I can see myself living in one day.

From Bhopal, I stepped off the train at midnight onto the empty platfrom of Mumbai's Victoria Terminus - the busiest train station in Asia, apparently - and was hit instantly by the muggy heat that only a polluted inner city can generate. It was also very quiet - where were all the car horns!? Despite the unnaturally large rats on the tracks, the odour carried on the light breeze was not the usual sewage and rotting rubbish, but the smell of fish. This all made a terribly pleasant change, even if the stench of fish in the 30 degree heat isn't the nicest smell either. I got a taxi to a guest house I'd been given the card of by a tourist friend, and was depoited outside a grotty-looking building, in an alleyway where colour clearly came to die. I took the lift to the stiflingly hot fifth floor hostel and took a room. I found it very difficult to sleep.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org

Travel to Philippines, Benguet.

At Grassland Summit, close to 3,000 feet above the rugged terrains of Northern Luzon, the first positive development of the evening comes in a thick French accent. “Dinner is ready!” calls Mister Tee, our group’s organizer for this climb.

Being called for dinner late in the evening – past seven, to be exact – would normally send me to my feet excitedly, but after six hours of riding a jeepney through ridiculously bumpy roads, four hours of walking in the rain and through muddy trails (even slipping once), and enduring an 8-degree Celsius evening in my shorts (my pants have been covered with mud), my enthusiasm instantly dissolves into a lethargic passivity. Inside my tent, I stare at the fog that has engulfed the campsite, shivering and cowering under my blanket every time the wind blows and aggravates the cold air.

But the arduous journey has taken its toll on my stamina and there’s yet an evening and a full day ahead so I open a couple cans of corned tuna and place them between two slices of whole wheat bread before lying down to sleep. I check my phone, which freezes for a few moments before dying out,
Joyriding, Cordillera-style
Top-loading, or using the roof of transportation to sit people or place loads, is a common practice in the hinterlands of the Cordillera region.a victim of the near-freezing temperature. I use a dry shirt to wrap my camera’s battery and tuck it in my shirt to keep the cold from also draining it out. Up here where there are no electrical outlets, resourcefulness is essential in maximizing power – whether of your gadgets or of your body.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to Middle East, Jordan, South.

Aqaba was a beachy holiday spot compared to the rest of Jordan. I ended up spending two nights there, and was intending to stay longer but (and normally this wouldn't deter me) I was so annoyed by the mosquitoes in my room at night time, I decided I would either move to a hotel closer into town (my hotel was further out, overlooking the South Beach) or go somewhere else.

Because I am headed for Egypt soon, I thought it would be easier to just stay in Aqaba and catch the Jett bus on Friday back to Amman - about a five-hour drive. Then I started thinking about Wadi Rum again, and how it would be wonderful to camp in the desert. I couldn't make up my mind, so I spent my full day in Aqaba at the downtown (eating, of course!) and then went to get a coffee. While at the cafe I called my guide from the camp in Wadi Rum and asked what we could do for a camping trip. It wasn't expensive, so I decided to go back to Wadi Rum, camp, and then head back to Petra the next day where I could also get a bus to Amman.

In the afternoon in Aqaba I went snorkelling off the south beach. You only have to walk out a few metres there and you start to see fish and bits of coral. So I took a snorkelling guide from the hotel and he took me out to what I would call 'the deep' and showed me all sorts of fish, urchins and different types of coral. In some parts the water was freezing, so a hot shower was very welcome afterward!

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to India, Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi.

Someone leaning over your table at a desolate, dirty old bar in Delhi to inform you that the place you are about to travel to “takes no prisoners” is always concerning. But as two South Africans and One New Zealander discovered, this couldn’t be further from the truth. The destination in question was

Varanasi AKA the home of the great Ganges River AKA a place we should brace ourselves for, apparently.

So in the words of Journey “we took the midnight train…” from Delhi to Varanasi. Turns out the midnight train deserves the title “takes no prisoners” far more than the city does! This train orders you aboard, sleeps you at the mercy of the three or four other passengers in your cubical, and can’t be done without a small prayer.

We were in sleeper’s class. (You could pay more and be a lot more comfortable.) This involves signing a waiver to say you won’t blame the train company if you get ‘poisoned, raped, or murdered’, and a hard bed without a blanket or pillow.

The journey’s a long one and we arrived in Varanasi after more than 12 hours travelling. Looking around Varanasi’s
Varanasitrain station it seemed we had been transported back to India circa 1930. Beggars and hungry children congregated at the old, run-down station. As we ventured into the harsh light of day we were greeted by cows, dust, dirt, tuk-tuk’s, and no roads in sight.

And there we were. Varanasi. A city of many names: “the spiritual capital of India,” “the holy city,” or to quote the best one I’d heard so far, “The oldest living city on earth.” One can only imagine how many incarnations these cows had been through.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to United States, Arizona, Grand Canyon.

We spent the day in Las Vegas yesterday. It really is a crazy place - nothing is real, and I can't imagine what it must be like to live there full time! It's pretty hot in Vegas - a welcome change after the snow!

Feeling a bit delicate from the previous night, but we were keen to see some sights, so we took the monorail(!) to the end station and then walked back along the strip looking into various casinos and hotels. Still no real gambling - my total loss is $2 on slot machines which I don't know how to work!

Highlights of the Vegas strip include Venice complete with gondala rides (my favourite), a recreation of downtown New York with Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge and Empire State Building, a fairy tale castle, a recreation of the Trevi Fountain in Rome, a Dutch scene with windmills, clogs and giant swans, and a sunken pirate ship at Treasure Island...just completely bizarre!

We had giant fajitas for lunch - getting a bit sick of large American portions and fried food, so Victoria and I are on a vegetable-seeking mission...

Had a power nap in the afternoon, then headed out for dinner and a show.

Las Vegas is famous for its all you can eat buffets, so we went to MGM casino/hotel and tried out theirs - it was good - not only were there vegetables and fruit, there was also non-fried food, and some excellent crab legs and shrimp!

We then went to see a show - Cirque de Soleil - Ka, also at the MGM. It was very 'Vegas' - over the too, with fireworks at the end! The set was incredible, and there were lots of acrobatics that you wouldn't think were possible to do.. So all in all a great experience!

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to India, Rajasthan, Udaipur.

Harry was waiting for us at nine and we left our lovely retreat, probably the loveliest place we have stayed for a long time. The journey started off across the flat plains of Rajastan but soon we were in to the countryside. There is much evidence of farming and people are using old methods, carrying water on their heads and wheat they have cut. There are haystacks as they prepare for the dry season. Cows meander across the road and we have to slow down to avoid them. Lots of men congregate hoping to get some work for the day and the markets are starting to get busy. The mountains appear either side of the road and we begin to ascend. The land becomes drier and more desert like when we stop for a drink. It is very hot and to only 11 am. We carry on and notice that the surroundings seem litter free, we pass through a small town and they have pavements! and no rubble, wait now it comes and women are digging out a channel for the rain when it comes.We stop at Ranakpur to visit one of the largest and most important of
1444 pillars all differentJain Temple complexes in India. Built in 1439 it has 1444 pillars all different and each telling a verse of the holy book of the Jain religion. Before entering he temple we must be dressed correctly, no shoes or socks, long skirt, or trousers, no leather of any kind as the Jain believe that killing is wrong and will not even eat an egg, luckily plants remain in the diet they obviously didn't understand that plants are living organisms.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to Philippines, Manila, Ermita.

Manila is the tenth largest city in the world with a population of about 21 million - not counting the people who live on the street, I imagine. It would be interesting to see statistics on those numbers. They must be very high.

Manila is also not your average South East Asian city. Actually it feels more like a Latin American city. Probably the mix of Spanish and American influences. The Philippines was a Spanish colony for 300 years before becoming an American colony and it is the only country in SE Asia (besides the new East Timor) which claims Christianity as its "official" religion. Also, unlike other SE Asian cities, the cuisine is just awful.

A little known fact is that much of Manila was laid to waste during the Second World War. It was second only to Warsaw in its destruction. This is where America and Japan came to blows, and Australia can probably thank Manila for being the distraction which kept the Japanese from invading further south.

The old city, Intramuros, which lies within a fortified city wall must have been quite attractive once. Very little of the original remains,
Fortified walls
Intramuros, Manilabut there are glimpses of its former grandeur in the cathedrals and some partly restored buildings. My favourite, St. Augustine's Cathedral, is modest from the outside, but the interior, in its cool cement greys and pale turquoise, with blue glass chandeliers is quite lovely.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to Asia, Brunei, Bandar Seri Begawan.

Anyone who says Brunei is sterile and boring should spend three days in Manila before arriving in the tiny sultanate. It is the best place on earth for deManilafying. Bandar Seri Bagawan is the antithesis of Manila. The traffic is benign; it is spotless; there is no pee on the pavements; everything works; it is a small and wealthy city; and the food is great. No more pot noodles purchased from the 7eleven, YAY!! The hotel is quiet, and there is no construction site around the corner using angle grinders at midnight. Even the water is clean.

The only bad smell we come across during our stay is when walking through a cemetery past something which has been partly dug up and is in a horrible state of decay, but this is by no means the norm around here.

Unfortunately we only have time to stay for one full day so don't
Bruneiget any further than exploring the capital. Brunei has some incredible virgin rain forest which we would have loved to have inspected, but we were already booked on a flight to KK and so we will have to go back some time on a more in-depth expedition.

Bagawan is a compact little city, which is actually just a town. Two beautiful mosques and the Sultan's palace are worth a visit to oooh at the architecture; but the most interesting parts of town are the over water kampongs. They can be reached by bridge or boat and are wonderful to wander around. The faded colourful houses, often made out of up cycled bits and bobs, stand on stilts over the river and are joined to each other by wooden walkways. The communities are really friendly and everyone shouts a welcoming hello from their kitchens as we pass by. There is no shortage of opportunities to smile at people who are smiling at you and to wave enthusiastically at children. Even the boatmen are easy going, friendly and accommodating.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to Australia, Queensland, Lizard Island.

This is the highlight destination of our trip! We arrived here on our 6 person prop plane! It was pretty amazing to see the Great Barrier Reef from above. We have been to 2 places that you can see from space - The Great Wall of China and now the Great Barrier Reef. We were met at the Lizard Island "airport" pavillion by some of the staff and were taken right to the resort where welcome beverages were waiting. Once we got settled in our room, we got our little boat, our picnic lunch and our snorkle gear and headed out around to Watson's Bay to get a look of the reef from below. There are a few pictures from our first snorkle visit below :) We are pretty happy with the underwater camera so far. I also got some video, but after reviewing it, I learned that I need to pan a whole lot slower! While down there we saw a sand reef shark! It was probably 5-8ft away from us and about 5ft long, but quickly swam off - I was kinda happy about that! While eating our bento box lunches - which were really good, a bunch of
It was a little tight...little tiny fish started jumping in schools around our boat! It was like they were being chased and just skimming the water - but the staff here says its just what they do. After our final snorkle, and after losing an earing while trying to take off my mask (Sorry Michael & Laura - final resting place is the great barrier reef!), we headed in for the day so we could clean up and get ready for dinner. Dinner was a 7 course tasting menu - just small portions of everything - - from tuna tartar to huge prawns to grouper to venison...the fish was so fresh - you can tell the difference.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to Malaysia, Pahang, Tioman Island.

After leaving the jungle we headed for the East Coast of Malaysia to Cherating. Cherating is a beautiful quiet fishing village most notable for serving up fantastic Seafood and attracting surfers during monsoon season. As I had done something to my knee and . . . OOOhhh . . . had a . . bit . . of a bad . . .shoulder!!! (honest) I decided to miss out on doing loop da loops on a surf board and head straight for the seafood! for less than 20 squids! we were served a plate full of crabs in a homemade spicy sauce, a plate full of Tiger Prawns in another homemade spicy sauce and a plate full of deep fried Calamari, washed down with 6 cans of Tiger Beer! not bad (burp)

After Cherating we took a 5 hour bus journey down south to Mersing and a 2 hour ferry journey over to Tioman Island. We were told that the right hand side of Salang Bay was the busiest, so we did one down the left hand side, right to the end of the bay. We stayed at Ella's place and had a sea front beach shack with sunset views
Our shack :)for less than 10 quid a night! we had the beach to ourselves most of the time and there was a coral reef just a 100 metres from our door where did some snorkling. . .oh yes, snorkling!! huh hmmmm . . .

My first attempt at snorkling: trying to balance on one foot, whilst trying to put a flipper on, whilst holding onto my other flipper and my goggles, whilst trying to not get knocked over by waves and drink salt water, was the start of my snorlking career! After I finally made it out to any kind of reef I was staring through steamed up goggles whilst snorting and drinking salt water! I thought to myself . . . "Is this s**t supposed to be fun!?" . . . the sea was alive with F'ing and Blinding as I made my way back up to the shore and launced my flippers up the beach! it was only after this I realised my beard was letting the water in . . . I became beardless the next day!! from there it got gradually better and we finished off by going out for the day on a snorkelling trip
Say Chays :)around a few small islands away from where we were . .

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to Oceania, Fiji, Nadi.

Arrived at Fiji airport to a wave of tropical heat and a cheery welcoming band. Quickly adjusted to relaxed "Fiji-time" by lazing and swimming at the resort pool with a brief trip to Nadi to see the colourful Hindu temple, stopping for a freshly-cut coconut en-route. Next day hopped on a 5 to-a-row local bus across Viti-Levu to Suva the chaotic capital, staying at the aptly named Raintree lodge on the edge of the jungle. Took a very hot and muggy guided trek through the Colo-i-Suva forest park, slipping and sliding over rocks and muddy paths to waterfalls before visiting the national museum with its giant ocean-going canoes and tales of cannibalism (and dodging the heavy tropical thunderstorms that started to flood the museum !).

Travelled up to the Navua valley in the highlands for a scenic whitewater rafting trip down a deep canyon with the river running high after all the rain - paddling the rapids with brief stops for lunch on a rapidly disappearing sandbank and a powerful back-massage shower under one of the many waterfalls streaming down the rocks. Finally took a boat trip out to visit Mana, one of the small idyllic island resorts, swimming out  Hindu Temple, Nadi from white sandy beaches to colourful coral teeming with fish and starfish, and chatting to the friendly locals in the sun....

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to United Kingdom, England, Manchester.

Well we are both sat in the lounge coughing like real good ones. Mike is coughing as his asthma is giving him jip. I am coughing my heart up as found out I have bronchitis. No-one wants to sit near us which is quite nice but could be a bit boring after a while. However you never know when we get on the plane no-one will want to sit next to us, ha ha

Well we are off to Vancouver and then a 3 hour drive to Whistler for 12 days skiing not sure this is going to happen with the way we feel at the moment but I am keeping my fingers crossed that my tablets start to kick in within the next 24 hours.

It was really funny as yesterday I thought I had better go to the doctors as my cough and pain in my side was getting worse. So I made an appointment at our local practice. Now I will set the scene here - our local practice is a country practice and it appears that when you ring up they are so glad to get a telephone call they do not even let the phone ring more than once. So they begged me to come down for 11am the same day.

So waiting for the appointment both Mike and me are watching BBC news and the main story is about antibiotics and how in a few years time due to overprescribing we will be facing an apocolypse which should be seen to be as big a threat as terrorism. So my typical trait came out of me, me, me as I said I would be ok as I never take tablets let alone antibiotics (watch this space as how often do your words come to bite you on the bum!).

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to Australia, New South Wales, Eden.

Have you ever wondered what the Garden of Eden looked like? According to the sign on the holiday park we have used we are right there. As RV parks go it is excellent, both in appearance and cleanliness. We are parked under some kind of fig tree. Tried out a couple of leaves but they were the wrong colour. (and size)

We have heard of Eden for many years as a refuge for damaged yachts in the Sydney Hobart yacht race. We knew little else of this southern corner of NSW.

As we had another sunny day, getting washing and servicing done on the motorhome was first priority, followed by a visit to the whaling museum.

Some ask 'what kinds of things need servicing and doing each week?" There are many, inside and outside the vehicle. Marg has a weekly spring clean, polish etc. This care of those things we have been blessed with has subtle but important value. Late this afternoon, two ladies who travel together wanted to have a look at our M.H. Not because it was for sale, but because it is the type of vehicle they are looking for, and will be in Ballina
Tom
The false killer whale 'Sheep Dog' who rounded up the humpbacks. When he died, his skeleton was preserved.(Where ours was built) in a week or so. They asked how old our van is and how far we have travelled. Theycommented that it still looked brand new.

Other servicing is preventative maintenance. Every month I go around and tighten cupboard hinges to make sure they are firmly nipped up. It only takes 10 minutes. But if hinges are loose and shaken on our bumpy roads, its not long before the holes a flogged out and need major repair.

Tyres are an important part of good maintenance. David found that he had been running his tyres way below the correct pressure on the caravan. This may well account for some of the turning difficulty he has experienced when reversing. A friend looked at my tyres some time back (40 yrs as a truch mechanic) and he advised based on measurements lifting my pressures by an additional 5 PSI. Keeping these correct gives more stable ride, better tyre life and improved fuel efficiency.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to India, Uttar Pradesh, Agra.

We woke up after a good night sleep occasionally being interrupted by street dogs barking and barking. We were out the door early to catch the 7am train to Agra from Delhi. We organized with our hotel to drop us off at the south train stations. It was a little bit expensive considering it was not far, but we preferred the security of knowing a taxi will be there early than having to look for one.
I was excited to be on my first train ride and so was taking pictures of the train station surroundings and exploring a bit the station before the train left. I got some chai and a few snacks and water as well. We had second class seats so we found our seats, Kyle put our baggage overhead and strapped them in so that they could not be. The train ride was about 5 hours and the train left one hour late. We arrived to Agra around noon.
As soon as we stepped in he train we were surrounded by locals for the trip. Some sitting others standing through all the trip. Kyle baptized me on my first Indian train ride with a cup of chai from a passing vendor. We arrived in Agra at 12pm. Kyle found a very good site to check the train status at raildb.com and so we could see whether the train was late or on time.
When we got to Agra around noon we were surrounded by tuktuk and taxis our way through them to the prepaid booth. As we had paid for the taxi an older local man went with us and offered for 600Ruppees to be our guide to see sights for the day. His name was Munu and he had had a book full of written letters from previous tourists. We first went and got our hotel, which was a 5 min walk from the Taj Mahal and the hotel rooftop restaurant and incidentally our room had views of the Taj.. It was a kind of modern hotel and out room was the only one on the top and it had a rounded bed. It was quite cool!

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to Australia, New South Wales,Tilba Tilba.

Monday 11th dawned cool but yet another bright day which just got better and better.
Today we back track a few kilometers to visit one of NSW's heritage towns and an old cheese factory. David knew of the ABC Cheese Factory also known as the Tilba Cheese factory and thought we should visit. Well, what a great decission that was.

Central Tilba is only one kilometer from the Princes Highway, and really is a must see town. This little town had its origins in the 1800s when gold was found, but as the returns reduced, alternate employment was needed. As the area has a good rainfall, a cheese factory was established. The factory now is modern of course, but it manufactures a great variety of cheese - none of it bland like some big name cheddars for example.

There was a generous variety to sample, staff knowledgable and helpful, and a superb product range. Their 3 yr vintage was great. I sampled their Fire Cracker cheese and foolishly asked where the fire was. Just wait 30 seconds and yuou'll find out. POW! The explanation is that it is the aftertaste that distinguishes excellent cheese from the also rans.

MMMMM
Not only did the cheese shop have a great range of cheese, but we also found a great variety of other things on the shelf, some produce based, others very helpful for campers with minimal space. I found a silicon sleeve to put over hot handles on frypans etc - I great thing for me as I have singed skin a fer times when doing a realy hot fry up on the gas cooker. Problem solved.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to Croatia, Dalmatia, Dubrovnik.

The weather would be an important factor in deciding whether to hitch-hike from Dubrovnik and unfortunately it was raining. We decided to head for the road and see what happens. Whilst walking through the centre, we met a couple of English lads heading south and a large group of English heading home after finishing a boat tour. Michael tried hitching but with absolutely no luck, which we attributed to the fairly constant and occasionally heavy rain. So it was quickly to Plan B. The bus to Kotor left at 12 noon and the Japanese lad from yesterday was there at the bus station - his name was Tamio. The road edged around the fiord and provided extremely beautiful views. We decided not to stay in Kotor but to head further inland. The road left Kotor and headed straight up the mountain. The scenery was amazing with tremendous views over the fiord and the coastline. The road was extremely winding and the corners were such tight hairpins that it appeared that the back end of the bus was hanging over the edge of the precipice. Then higher still and soon we were travelling alongside snow-capped mountains - the road was frightening at times but well worth the experience. We changed buses at Cetinje and then the bus headed to Titograd (now the capital of Montenegro and renamed Podgorica). Three Canadians were travelling on the latest bus - a couple and their young daughter. They were very friendly and we had a very nice chat. The scenery for this part of the journey was rugged mountains covered with brown leaved trees making it look like autumn - it was slightly bleak with lots of isolated houses.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to Australia, Victoria, Melbourne.

Hello everyone,
Hope you are all well. The year seems to be flying past. I can't believe that you are half way through the school year and we are approaching the last leg of our travelling.

We have spent the last 3 weeks in Melbourne. This is a city in the South of Australia. It is where Reuben's Uncle and cousins live, so we have been staying with him since we arrived in Australia. It has been lovely here, the weather has been super hot, so we have been staying indoors or in the shade until about 3pm, then exploring the area. It has been great spending time with family and having a 'home' for a few weeks, rather than living out of a backpack.

What have we done since we have been in Australia?

One of our adventures was that we spent a few days driving a section of road called the 'Great Ocean Road'. It is a stretch of coastline on the South of Australia that is famous because the coast line varies in landscape so much. Some of the rocks are made from a rock that wares away easily so makes lots of caves, stacks and jagged inlets. While other sections are harder rock they gently slope into the sea, rather than being jagged rocks. It was a fantastic couple of days and we saw the main attraction called 'The 12 Apostles'. We also stopped off at lots of little towns and saw other attractions, such as 'Loach Ard Gorge'.

Whilst we have been here we have been lucky enough to see lots of wildlife. Firstly we saw kangaroos and one had a joey! I was so excited and took lots of pictures. Kangarioos only live in Australia so I was really pleased I saw one. Then when we were on the Great Ocean Road, we saw Koala's sitting in Eucalyptus trees. They were much bigger than I expected and looked really fluffy. We obviously didn't get very close to them as they were in the wild, but they looked very sweet sitting and eating in the trees. Our last treat was to see penguins. We went to St. Kilda at dusk to watch the penguins coming back from hunting to feed their chicks. The chicks were really big and black, white and fluffy. The chicks hide in the rocks so they are safe and then when it gets dark they start to call for their parents. The parents swim into the beach, land on their tummies and then woddle up to their chick. It was a really special evening.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/

Travel to Asia, Taiwan, Keelung.

We cruised into Huang Pu one smoggy morning. This is the port city for Canton which is now called Guangzhou. It is a huge industrial port and Huang Pu is all business. The Academy Awards were going to be broadcast on the ship that morning so we decided to stay on board to watch them instead of taking a tour into Canton. As it turned out the signal wasn’t very good…maybe we were being jammed by a certain government. So we went ashore for a walk about and to grab a bite to eat. Most of the restaurants were already closed for the afternoon but we found one Chinese restaurant which was located in a parking garage, of all places! The food wasn’t bad and we were the only gringos in the joint.

The local officials have a very strict immigration system with face to face inspection, passport scanning and photographing each passenger. It felt sort of like a scene from “Argo” when the U.S. Embassy staffers were trying to get out of Iran. This led to rather lengthy lines getting on and off the ship. But the ship’s staff had a nice little party pier-side with refreshments and music
HUANG PU IMMIGRATIONSto ease the wait for the guests. Even the Chinese officials were swaying to the music.

The next morning we arrived in Kowloon and got the premier docking space overlooking Hong Kong and the famous harbor. We didn’t have much free time for sightseeing since our computer had crashed several days prior to our arrival. We spent most of our time shopping for a new computer and then trying to rebuild all of our files, pictures and programs. It is always a bit dicey to buy electronic equipment overseas, if for no other reason than different electrical plugs and questionable international warranty, etc. We found it amazing that computers are cheaper in the U.S. than in China, where most of them are assembled! Alex, the ship’s computer manager, was a miracle worker in what he was able to salvage from our hard drive. We have an offsite backup system but we need about 12 hours on shore with a stable internet connection to download everything from our old computer again.

Read more at http://www.travelblog.org/