Papua New Guinea
We made a spur of the moment decision to book a 7 night cruise on the P&O Pacific Eden. The cruise ship was not one of the massive ones, but could still fit 1500 people. We were a little dubious…
Lombok and Bali
Jetstar started a direct route from Cairns to Denpasar and we jumped straight on the launching sale price, of less than $500 for both of us return!! We left Cairns on Chris’s birthday Thursday 21st of May at 11.30am and…
Pune, India
This trip to India, was not like any other trip I have ever done for two reasons. One, I was not with Chris, and two, it was for work. To get to Pune, I flew Cairns to Brisbane, Brisbane to…
A few days in Tokyo
The plane Vanilla Air left a little late again, then they land out on the tarmac so you have to get a bus over to the terminal. My bag took ages to come out and all this snow balled into…
Hokkaido snowboarding
Hokkaido – Sapporo and Niseko We flew from Cairns into Tokyo on the Jetstar Dreamliner which was pretty comfortable as we had a spare seat between us. Landing in Narita we got on the Skyliner which costs about $25 each…
Cowboy country – Dallas/Fort Worth
Flying back into the states was pretty horrible. We lined up at immigration for over 2 & a half hours. They were so unorganised and under staff (there were about 60 desks but only 3 people working), that our queue…
Cancun, Isla Mujeres and Chichen Itza
We took the ADO bus from Playa to Cancun. It was about 2 hours and cost about $4 each. The hotel we chose for Cancun was called Dos Playas a small all-inclusive hotel next to the the pier for boats…
Playa del Carmen, Cozumel, Coba, Tulum
After 2 nights, we got a taxi to the highway about 20 pesos then the ADO bus to Playa about 50 pesos. It only took about 40min to get there. We booked a room at the Reina Roja, which means…
Pureto Morelos
Pureto Morelos We left the hotel at 7am and our flight was at 10.10am to Dallas/Fort Worth. The flight was pretty uneventful. The seats on American Airlines are pretty uncomfortable and it’s funny because all the air hostess are quite…
City of Angeles
Venice Beach and Santa Monica After a bit of a sleep in and breakfast we caught the bus to Venice Beach. The bus system here is pretty horrible, but cheap. We finally got there and walk up and down the…
Morro Bay – Santa Barbara – LA
We drove down to the Morro Bay marina to find that the town was a cute little fishing village cross nuclear power plant. There were seals under the gangway in the marina, their little puppy faces are too cute. Next…
Monterray – Morro Bay
We stopped in a cute sleepy seaside called Monterey. The main part is called Cannery Row and was made famous by the author John Steinbeck. After spending an hour looking around town we had a picnic down by the ocean…
San Francisco … where hearts were left
I didn’t sleep that well and was up at 6.30 to have a nice hot shower and wash my hair. We helped Jane cook scrambled eggs with spinach and goats cheese for breakfast..yum! First we checked out these 6 Victorian…
Yosemite National Park
Bishop to Yosemite We left Bishop and headed for Yosemite through the steep Tigoa pass. This road is only open for a few months a year because of the snow. Jane check the weather and it was forecasted for -2degrees…
Sin, Surf, Sierra
Death Valley/Bishop First day of the tour we met the group and found out we were actually joining a group that had already been touring for a week and we were joining for the second week. The leader’s name is…
The Grand Canyon
After our late night and only a few hours sleep we went down to the Hertz desk to enquire about a car. We managed to hire a Mustang…dark grey, fast and fat! We went back upstairs to finish checking out…
Las Vegas
Vegas baby Tuesday/Wednesday Left home at 4.15am on Monday morning for our 5.30am flight from Cairns to Brisbane. In Brisbane we had a 3 hour wait for our flight to Los Angeles. The flight was 13.5 hours I think and…
Whitsunday’s Adventure
It all started after an 8 1/2 hr drive south of Cairns to the lovely Airlie beach and Whitsundays Islands. Airlie Beach provides the ideal base for Whitsundays holiday fun and adventure, where accommodation styles are as varied as the…
Bali
Saturday: Flew Jetstar from Cairbs to Denpasar via Darwin arriving around 5.30pm. In Indonesia you need to buy a visa on arrival which is US25 dollars that lets you stay for 30 days. We had a car waiting to take…
Cambodia
Phnom Penh We got the Mekong Delta Bus from HCMC to Phnom Penh on Friday the 19th. The bus is pretty comfortable with tv, air con and roomy seats and they gave everyone a pastry and bottle of water. The…
Ho Chi Minh
Hello Ho Chi Minh 2.10pm – 3.20pm Vietnam Airlines VN0329 (JMBXHL) Da Nang – Ho Chi Minh City $107 We had a very smooth flight from Da Nang to HCMC. The hotel had recommended 2 types of reliable taxis so…
Hoi An
Day 1 Vietnam Airlines (VN311) Hanoi – Da Nang, Sat, November 13, 2:40pm – 3:55pm$85 We landed in Da Nang in the pouring rain where a car was waiting for us to take us to Phouc An Hotel. Our room…
Hanoi and Halong Bay
Hanoi – Day 1 After leaving KL on the 3.30am bus to the LCCT terminal we landed in Hanoi, the capitol of Vietnam right up north. Hanoi is a heaving city full of horn honking scooters, tall skinny buildings and…
Kuala Lumpur
Day 1/2 Mel took us to the Cairns international at 10.30am to check in for our flight to Darwin. When we got there we were lining up to check into the next leg to Singapore when we were lucky enough…
Himeji Castle
Himeji Castle Himeji Castle is about half way between Kyoto and Tokyo. So we got off the train, threw our backpacks in a locker and headed up the road. Also know as the White Heron, this magnificent castle is built…
Hiroshima and Miyajima Island
Hiroshima Arriving early on the 8am shinkansen (2 hours) from Kyoto, we went straight to yet another K’s House where we had a flash double room this time, with our own bathroom, TV, A/C and huge bed! After dropping our…
Nara
Nara We tried really hard to sleep in today but got up just before 7am. Today is a day trip to Nara which was 1 hour outside Tokyo on a local train. In Nara there are heaps of deers which…
Kyoto
Temples, Shrines, Temples, Shrines… Last night we checked into K’s House Kyoto which is close to the train station in the south side of Kyoto. We dropped our bags off and headed to down town Kyoto and walked millions of…
Yudanaka – Snow Monkeys
A few hours on the train north to Nagano where the 1998 Winter Olympics were then another hour on a private train and we landed in rainy Yudanaka. It is a sleepy little town, but beautiful! We stayed at the…
Nikko and Edo wonderland
Nikko and Edo wonderland Time for a day trip from Tokyo…to Nikko. After about 1.5hrs on the shinkansen then local train, we arrived in the most beautiful old town! We got a free shuttle bus to the Edo wonderland. This…
Tokyo
DAY 1/2 So, we’ve had our first full day in Japan and I think we’ve walked a million kms! Last night we landed at Narita airport at 8pm local time after 7 hours flying. We got the local Keise line…
Delhi
Delhi 8.5 hour flight from London Heathrow to Mumbai International Airport. After a 5 hour delay in Mumbai spent in the Jet Airways VIP Lounge drinking and eating what ever we wanted (which wasn’t much), we finally boarded our connecting…
Goa
Goa Saturday at 7am we got a taxi to the airport. It was sad to say goodbye and we wrote a little letter to Oshwin, who hadn’t woken up yet. We arrived in Goa at 1pm and a driver took…
Agra and Jaipur
Rajastan: Agra (Taj Mahal) & Jaipur (The Pink City) Monday and Tuesday we rested at home and planned our trip to Agra and Jaipur. Wednesday morning we took a cab to the train station (800Rs) and got the 6.15am Shitabi…
Ludiana & Amritsar
Punjab: Ludiana & Amritsar (Golden Temple) The next train to Amritsar was severely delayed so we decided to bus it. We took a rickshaw to outside the city where the buses stop on the side of the road and you…
Dample and Tiger Safari
Uttarakhand: Dample (roadtrip through the real India) & Jim Corbett Tiger Safari Monday morning we hired a car and driver and headed North west to Karan’s uncle Nippy and his wife poppy’s house in Dample . We left home at…
Berlin
East side vs. West side … learning the story We stayed at the St Christopher’s Inn hostel where we drank 2 euro jagaers, beer from steins and dined on curry weaners! We went on a free walking tour of Berlin.…
Amsterdam
Red lights, Canals, Clogs, Bicycles and Buds We flew to Amsterdam early Sunday morning. You can get into town from the airport via train. We had already booked accommodation at this rad hostel called The Flying Pig. They have queensize…
Edinburgh and the Highlands
Scotland Highlands and Hogmanay in Edinburgh Christmas at Club Hollybush was a success filled with load of homecooked goodness, including rumballs. English people do not know what rumballs are…we’ve decided Aussies have rumballs and Pomms have Mince (fruit) pies. Leah…
Cotswalds, Bath, Stonehenge
Cotswalds, Bath, Stonehenge We first stopped in at Oxford to see the university and have some lunch. We then headed up to Moreton-in-Marsh. It was freezing and so foggy. Looking out the window all you could see was white from…
Venice
Venice We took the train to Venice so it was awesome crossing the bridge over to this magical island city of bridges. We booked to stay at the Hotel Bernardi in the heart of the old city. The hotel is…
Pisa and Cinque Terre
We took the train from Florence to Pisa, where we got out and took the mandatory few photos of the Leaning Tower (but not before getting lost!). It’s hilarious seeing everyone posing in different positions and trying for different angles.…
Florence
We’ve decided that Florence is the most beautiful city we have seen so far. The cobble stone streets, side walk cafes, markets, amazing aarchitecture river, bridges and gardens all combine to make this city, one of a kind. We checked…
Rome
All roads lead to Rome… After only a few hours sleep and some frantic packing we made it to stansted airport where we flew good old ryanair to Rome (Ciampino). Our hostel was just around the corner from the main…
Mykonos
Mynokos was a great place to end our holiday. Although our first impression was not so good. The cabins we stayed at at Paradise beach was not really a cabin but a permanent tent- consisting of 4 walls, 1 window,…
Santorini
“It has been said that the sunsets in Santorini are the best in the world. From the Caldera breathtaking views of the volcano & neighbouring islands. From the east, miles of dark sandy or pebbled beaches. Everywhere one sees small…
Athens
We landed in Anthens coming from Cairo on 21 may 2008 and it’s Chris’s birthday! Aegean Air – Cairo to Athens Flight A3931, £198.73, 14:55 – 16:55 Accommodation at Zorbas, 2 nights, £50 We spent a day walking around the…
Cairo
Pyramids, Papyrus and People We got an overnight bus from Dahab to Cairo, leaving at 11pm and arriving in the dusty, horn honking city of Cairo at about 7am. We got a cab to Lialy Hostel where we had previously…
Dahab
Dahab Diving Arrived in Sharm el Sheik on Tuesday 13th 9.15pm, after waiting for quite a while for our luggage to turn up we found our driver with a cute little ‘Emily’ sign and headed off to Dahab. Another English…
Brighton – Snow on the beach
Happy Easter Bunnies We had a really nice Easter full of fatty food, sleep, snow and snuggles! Thursday night was spent on the couch with our flatties eating pizza. Then on Friday we spent the day walking around Borough Markets…