Laura & Weeny's Travel Adventures

NEW ZEALAND - Rotorua (5)

2006-04-09T06:58:28Z

21/3/06
We arrived at Rotorua at 7pm and checked into the Base hostel, new and very modern and has a crazy very high indoor climbin wall and Cinema, tonight we ate and went to bed.
22/3/06
We decided to go to the Whakarewaewa Thermal Resort which is also a Moari arts and crafrt institute, we walked arround and saw boiling pools of mud,sulpher springs and geyzers. One gyzer was 20 meters high and flowed 99% of the time. We alsowatched

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NEW ZEALAND - Waitamo Caves (4)

2006-04-09T06:57:50Z

21/3/06
Brilliant, today were going on a adventure trip called,'RAP,RAFT AND ROCK' After arriving and gettin into all this special safety gear(wet suits,socks,rousers,grippy gum boots,harnesses and a mining hat with light and battery pack) we drove near and after our briefing we started with a short walk and then abseiled 100ft into mid air which was good scary, then sat in big car tyre inner tubes and floated down the caves and suddenly we could see what we came to see, millions of glow worms! Fantastic,they let off a lovely torquise light to attract little flys ect... We climbed through some very small tight gaps witch looked like u couldnt nearly fit but did. At the end of one of the caves well all switched off our lights and had a hot drink and some chocolate which was really nice and peacefull, it was pitch blach for about 20 mins, really relaxin.
After we headed out of the cave and our final task was a very hard high rock climb, that day was brilliant as was our group of 6 and our guide. After all thet we had another 4 hour drive to Rotorua. (See why weeny fell asleep so early the other night)

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NEW ZEALAND -Bay of Islands (3)

2006-04-09T06:57:21Z

19/3/06
After a big brekkie we went to 'the adventure park' which was really close by, It was wicked fun, there was a massive Trapeze,Tight rope,Water slide,a massive inflateable slide(about 40ft high), a tarzane frameand trampoline, it was so much fun. Weeny loved it and made some friends with these lads, laura got chattin to there mum and it turned out she knew Tom Butler! She was called Dot, she invited to take us fishin later that night and we happily accapted. We met up with her and her sons about 7.30pm. Firsly we fished off the beach, we were havin a fantastic time,laura cought a fish and i cought three and a big eel! We fished for around 2 and a half hours and after she invited us to come back and cook the fish for our dinner,she de-scaled and gutted them in seconds! Then rolled then in flour and added a little pepper, they truley were gorgeous. We sat up talkin with her and her husband till gone midnight, they were lovely.

20/3/06
Today we done half day trip around the Bay of Islands, this place is beautifully stunning,and half an hour in was spotted a massive pod of Dolphins(300+), so we switched the engines off and drifted with them, they rubbed against the boat and jumped right out of the water next to us and came up for regular breaths with little sprays of water. After a bit we had to leave them and explore the islands,theres 144 of them and the 'Hole in the Rock' which was a hole in a massive rock created buy water crashin on it, our boat drove through it!
After our tri we had a huge 8 hour drive to get to the 'Waitamo Caves' We were lucky enough to find a hostel still open at gone 8pm and checked in,here was only one other Irish couple there who were lovely and we talked and exchanged storys and info that night.

NEW ZEALAND -Bay of Islands (3) remains copyright of the author LauraP, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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NEW ZEALAND- Kaikoe (2)

2006-04-09T07:09:54Z

16/3/06
After breakfast our EZY RENTALS collected us and took us to the office to collect the car and sigh the rental agreements. We were soon on the road and heading north towards the 'Bay of Islands'
Not long into the drive we picked up a 60 year old kiwi hitch hiker, he was really nice and told us loads about the country. after droppin him off we saw a sign for Kai-iwi lakes and decided to have a nose, and wow we were so glad we did too, they were amazing, huge crystal clear blue water with sandy beaches. We got out for a paddle but thinkin it would be freezing but it was lovely and warm and the day was great too, about 23oc again!
After a while we headed back on our mission. a couple of hours later we were going through a town caled Kaikoe and spotted a KFC so pulled over for dinner. The town was filled with Moari people, there absolutly massive!! We got chattin to the guy in front of us in the queue and next thing he invited us to stay with his family in there caravan they use for holidays thats in there front garden. His name was Tom Butler and he was huge too but the lovelyest funnyest kind people, we all ate our KFC together and it was good to be in a family atmosphere again. We brought some drinks and chatted all night,we were told about the moari culture and traditions, it was brilliant.

17/3/06
We got up at 6am today because Tom was taking us to work with him,he drives the school coach and collects the children from the surrounding villages, you can see how everybodys all so friendly and happy. He used to be a tour guide and gave us a tour in the coach and told us loads about nz. We also were shown around the school.
After we drove up to ninety mile beach around a 3 hours drive. When we arrived we hired a snow sledge and done sand tobogganing on really steep sand dunes.We drove as near as possible but was about a hour and a half walk each way,but had lovely views and was good excercise i spose. It was so hard climbin them and the san was so hot aswell, on the walk back we met another Moari family who invited us to have a drink of water at there tent, we had a good chat and they gave us a pearlesent shell. After we headed back to Toms, en route we stopped and had a sneaky shower and freshen up at a campsite. It was St.Patrics night and went out with Tom's son Tom and his girlfriend. In our second pub there was Karioke which was a laugh and met some of their friends, we had a right laugh. When we got in we made some noodles and crashed out fpr the night.

18/3/06
We had a much needed lay in and at lunch time went Speed-Way car racing with Tom who normally enters in his owne race car, today was the year finale so was very busy and entertaining. But after this we said our good buys to the friendly family and parted headin towards the Bay of Islands, we arrived at 6 after a short drive and checked in at 'Bay Adventures' It was lovely with its owne pool and spa and was immaculate. Weeny fell asleep at 7pm for the night with out even havin dinner due to the recent late nights and lots of drivein.

NEW ZEALAND- Kaikoe (2) remains copyright of the author LauraP, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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NEW ZEALAND - Auckland (1)

2006-04-09T07:03:38Z

Today we woke up nice and early and were excited because we were goin to New Zealand!! Our flight was at 11.40am from Sydney and was for 3 hours. Nz is 2 hours ahead of Sydney. Once we arrived and collected our luggage we took an airport shuttle to the center and checked in at 'The YHA City' We got a twin room which was on the top (7th) floor and had a good view over the city and Sky Tower. It was a gorgeous day, hot and sunny, about 24oc and a suprise to us, after unpacking our rucksacks we sorted out our hire car. We had done alot of re-search in Oz before and told them we had a quote for $20 a day(8 pound) and they regretably matched it and we got an upgrade to a good sized 4 door automatic with air con and all the extras, we were really lucky, we met some people who payed exacly double and had a really rubbish small car,they werent happy..
That eve we went for a meal in Nandos, which was nice and after walked around the city. We decided we were going to leave Auckland in the morning.

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AUSTRALIA

2006-03-13T08:03:57Z

2/3/06 - Because it was another rainy day instead of spending the day in Port Ste

AUSTRALIA remains copyright of the author LauraP, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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AUSTRALIA - Sydney (14)

2006-03-13T08:46:57Z

2/3/06 - Because it was another rainy day instead of spending the day in Port Stephens we thought it best to drive down to Syndey because we have to be there tomoorow morning anyway to drop off our campervans. It took around four hours to drive to Syndey and then we found a campsite around 15km from the city centre. So tonight was the last night the four off us had our campervans, which we were gutted about. Its been really good in the campervan you have so much freedom and it was nice to meet Amy and Alex to travel with.
In the evening we made a really nice meal of curry and baked a chocolate brownie cake for me because its my birthday tomorrow!
3/3/06 - My Birthday!
We all dropped our campervans off this morning. Then spent a while looking for accomdation for the night. It was different being in Syndey because its definetly the busiest place we've been and we found it pretty hard to find a room for the four of us because its Mardi Gra at the mo the biggest Gay festival in the world!! so almost everywhere was fully booked and they all put their prices up.
So in the end we stayed in the Vibe hotel $200 for a room with two double beds so the four of us could fit! Its was our last night with Amy and Alex and my birthday so that night we went to Darling Harbour and had the best night out.
4/3/06 - Today was sad we said our goodbyes to Amy and Alex who'd we'd become really fond of. They were going to stay with Amys auntie who lives in Oz in Tarie. We couldnt afford to stay in the Vibe hotel another night so went to look for some hostels. We found a pretty cheap one called the Hyde park backpackers, in a good location.The rest of the day we spent getting lost round Syndey.
In the evening we watched the Mardi Gra parade is was so busy their where thousands of people out that night and most of the roads had been closed off specially. It was fun to watch all the gays prancing about in all their costumes.
5/3/06 - Went sightseeing round Syndey today and to the aquarium. The aquarium was really good we got to see penguins, seals, crocodiles and loads of sharks.

AUSTRALIA - Sydney (14) remains copyright of the author LauraP, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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AUSTRALIA - Port Stephens (13)

2006-03-08T05:38:53Z

1/3/05 - We left Port Maguire early morning and drove down to Port Stephens which took around 4 hours. And again it rained all day!
Once we'd arrived we found a top tourist campsite located next to the beach. We didnt do much when we got there just went food shopping and stayed in the campervan playing card games and having a few drinks. It was raining to heavy for anything else, but when it does rain the campervan seems so cosy!

AUSTRALIA - Port Stephens (13) remains copyright of the author LauraP, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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AUSTRALIA - Port Maguire (12)

2006-03-08T05:19:59Z

27/2/06 - It rained the whole journey to Port Maguire and once there it rained all night. We stayed in a campsite near the town centre and near to the beach. That evening we watched the film Red Eye which I really enjoyed and then just chilled out. The weather was pretty miserable!
28/2/06 - Today it rained on off all day. Its so strange its raining we've had nothing but sun before this. We had a look round the town and went to the pancake shop and had chocolate and ice cream pancakes, they were the nicest pancakes ive ever had! And we had to have them because it was pancake day. When we got back from town Alex and Amy had gone shopping and got pancake mix. So that evening we had even more pancakes!I think i'll need to diet pretty soon!
Weeny and I went walking along the beach and watched some people fishing by the sea and then we saw two dolphins! It was so nice there was a mummy one and her baby. They were getting so near to the fishermen and we could see them so clearly. They stayed around for a while it was lovely to watch.
It rained all evening and we couldnt be bothered making food so we all got a large pizza for only $5! so so cheap and it tasted good.
After we had dinner me and weeny just chilled in the campervan playing games, and weeny started to teach me how to play chess. But then we saw a massive cockroach run along the curtains! I screamed and rain out of the camper into the pouring rain and was to scared to go in until it was dead! So Weeny had the job of killing it, it took him ages to find it again and then he got it by spraying loads a deodrant and insect repellent on it. They are so hard to kill, he thru it outside and it was still alive. I didnt wanna go to sleep once it had gone because I thought there might be a family in the campervan, but there was nothing.

AUSTRALIA - Port Maguire (12) remains copyright of the author LauraP, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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AUSTRALIA - Coffs Harbour (11)

2006-03-08T04:30:13Z

25/2/06 - After we left Nimbin it took us a few hours to drive to Coffs Harbour. Once there we managed to find a pretty good campsite located opposite the beach. Coffs Harbour is a small town but very nice. Its not as touristy as most places we have been to so quite quiet.
26/2/06- Today the boys hired a surf board and me and Amy did some sunbathing. After went to Woolworths to get some dinner. Woolworths arent like at home they are proper supermarkets over here like a tesco or asda. Had bangers and mash for dinner it was so yum! We have been eating pretty well not how i imagine most backpackers eat. That evening we all went tempin bowling it was two games for $11 (a fiver)! Such a laugh even tho I lost both times!!
27/8/06 - Today we left Coffs Harbour and made our way to Port Maguire. On the way we stopped off at a Candy shop and got to see it being made. It was quite fun to watch and we got free tasting aswell. So that was the best bit! We then had a look round the big bannana plantation and headed toward Port Maguire.

AUSTRALIA - Coffs Harbour (11) remains copyright of the author LauraP, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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AUSTRALIA - Nimbin (10)

2006-03-13T07:25:44Z

25/2/06 - Planned to do some surfing today but rained quite heavy all day. So instead left Bryon Bay and headed to Nimbin around an hour inland from Bryon. Nimbin is a very strange place!Its a hippy town stuck in a 1970's time warp! All the shops are painted in bold bright colours and in almost every shop you can buy weed and hash cakes. The people in Nimbin are quite strange because its the only place in Australia you can smoke drugs and the police turn a blind eye even tho its illegal. We went to the nimbin museum which was very weird, it was kind a like a junk shop and just had so many wierd things in it. As soon as we arrived at Nimbin we had people come up to the van and ask if we want any drugs and throughout the whole time we were there. They have a few cafes which you can smoke in and quite a few souvernoir shops. It was a really funny place to visit but we didnt stay to long around an hour then left for Coffs Harbour.

AUSTRALIA - Nimbin (10) remains copyright of the author LauraP, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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AUSTRALIA - Byron Bay (9)

2006-03-13T07:29:16Z

22/2/06 - Once we'd left movie world we headed to Bryon Bay. We arrived at 7.00pm but it actually became 8.00pm because Australia is so big they change the time between Queensland and New South Wales. Once we had arrived we went shopping found a campsite. We paid the most we've paid for a camspite which was $35, but its was in such a good location only 2mins walk into the town. That night had dinner and crashed out movie world took it out of us!
23-2-06 - Woke up early this morning and got some body boards and went to Main Beach at Bryon Bay. We stayed at the beach for a few hours messing about on the borads, then had a look round the town. Bryon Bay is a really cool place its just full of young people. Its small so really easy to get around and just has a really nice atmosphere. There loads of cool surfer shops and bars. That evening stayed in because we've all been spending way too much money, but Alex cooked us a yummy curry for dinner.
24/2/06- Today we planned to do some surfing but it rained on off all day and was pretty heavy. So instead looked round the shops and went on the internet. In the afternoon we went to look at the most easterly point in Australia, they have a light house there and its suppose to be an excellent viewing point to see dolphins (and hunchback wales in april-may), we didnt see any dolphins but saw a couple of turtles in the sea. Since we come into New South Wales the weather has changed quite a bit its the first time we've had rain since we've been in Oz and its not as sunny!But heh im so not complaining its still so much warmer than home and i love it here. That evening Alex made us dinner again we are getting spoilt! After we went to a pub called the railway and then onto a bar. Had a wicked night!the night life is really good, very busy everywhere.Got in quite late and crashed out.

AUSTRALIA - Byron Bay (9) remains copyright of the author LauraP, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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AUSTRALIA - Surfers Paradise (8)

2006-03-13T07:34:53Z

20/2/06 - We arrived at Sufers Paradise in the afternoon and went to a campsite that had been recommended to us. It was only 1/2 hours walk to surfers Paradise and the beach is directly opposite the campsite so a good location. Surfers Paradise is suppose to be like Aiya Napa and not so nice! I didnt think that at all, the only thing that not so nice was the high rise building, but apart from that its very clean theres a great beach,great surf, lots of shops and bars. As soon as we arrived we headed to the beach for a swim. While Alex was swimming he got stung by a blue bottle Jelly fish. It looked as tho he'd been whipped on his back and looked so sore. We went to life guards and they sprayed Stingo on it. He was luckly because Blue Bottle jelly fish are not dangerous they give a nasty sting. That evening it rained for the first time since we've been in Oz, so we all huddled in the camper ate spaghetti bolognese and played cards.
21/2/06 - Our plan for today was to go surfing and Weeny to teach us. So we went to surfers paradise beach and hired a surf board for the day for $30. In the end it was just Alex and Weeny surfing because the sea was so rough and not so good for us beginners. Weeny was wicked he was standing up on the board loads. In the afternoon we had a look round the shops then headed back to the campsite. That evening it rained really heavily. So we stayed in the camper had dinner and drinks. At the moment we are travelling with a Alex and Amy and will be untill we get down to Syney. We are all having such a great time together, its a right laugh. They are both from the UK and live in Boltom.
22/2/06 - Today we all went to Warner Brothers Movie World theme park about 1/2 hours drive from surfers. They have a few other theme parks around surfers but this was the one we most wanted to visit. Its like an alton Towers but all the rides have a movie theme. The first ride we went on was batman 2 a stimulator ride, we got to see the actual bat mobile and boat used in the movie. We went on the lethal weapon ride which was a roller coaster, saw a shrek 4D Movie where we all sat in rows of seats that moved up and down and we had to wear special 3D glasses it was so good. We saw the police academy stunt show it was very impressive they picked out amy from the crowd to help which was so funny,the stunts were really good. We saw an Austin powers show, went on a scooby doo ghost train, a log fume with the steepest drop ive eva seen, we all got so soaked!Weenys, alex and amy went on the superman ride but i was too chicken! It goes from 0 - 700 kilometres in 2 secs and go upside down loads and it looks so fast! Weeny and alex loved it, amy hated it so just aswell i never went on. It was a wicked day out and after we left we drove down towards Bryon Bay.

AUSTRALIA - Surfers Paradise (8) remains copyright of the author LauraP, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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AUSTRALIA - Brisbane (7)

2006-03-13T07:31:13Z

19/2/06 - Didnt do too much today just lazed by the pool and went food shopping. That evening had a BBQ and went into the city to a backpacker bar called DownUnder. Alex and Amy came and another couple Ronda and Mike who we met at the campsite. I also met up with Jenny from back home whos travelling round Oz for a year with her Boyfriend. It was the best night! And so lovely to see Jenny. We drunk snake bite all night as for a jug its only $10 and we all entered this competiton to win $50 tab at the bar, but we lost!
20/2/06 - Had to be out of the campsite by 10.00 am and then made our way to Brisbane City Centre we had a drive around and Alex and Amy got there Campervan serviced. Then drove are campervans to surfers Paradise on the gold coast which took around 2 hours.

AUSTRALIA - Brisbane (7) remains copyright of the author LauraP, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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AUSTRALIA - Beerwah (Steve Irwins Zoo) (6)

2006-02-23T04:10:46Z

It took around three hours to get to Beerwah from Hervey Bay. We arrived around 10.00pm and found a Big4 campsite to stay the night.
The next day we went to Steve Irwins Zoo, with Alex and Amy. It was a fantastic day out and we actually saw Steve Irwin but only for a brief moment he was riding past us on a scooter with his child and smiled. At the zoo we got the chance to see venomous snakes, dingos, wombats, tasmanian devils, crocodiles, kangoroos, birds, tigers and turtles. Weeny won a prize of a free photo with an animal for doing the best monkey impression, it was soooo funny! He did it infront of a hundreds of people while we were watching the croc show. So we all got a free photo taken holding a 7ft python it was wicked. That afternoon we drove down to Brisbane and stayed in a big4 campsite 10km from the city centre. We had a BBQ and drinks that evening.

AUSTRALIA - Beerwah (Steve Irwins Zoo) (6) remains copyright of the author LauraP, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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AUSTRALIA - Fraser Island (5)

2006-03-13T07:40:10Z

16/2/06 - Today went on a two day safari tour to Fraser Island. It took 50mins on the ferry to get there from Hervey Bay. There were 24 people in our group and we travelled in a 4WD army coach, it was mad! Me and weeny were sitting right at the back so it was the most bumpyest, we were flying out of our seats!Fraser Island is a sand island 123km long. It has a seventy-five mile long beach which is actually used as a highway for all the cars. You have to drive a 4WD on the island otherwise u'll get stuck in the sand, and even then the 4WD's still sometimes get stuck. First stop on the trip was the Yidney Rainforest. We got off the truck and walked for 1/2 hour through an amazing rainforest. It was so much cooler in the rainforest then the island and really beautiful. There are many venomous snakes in the rainforest but luckerly we didnt see any just huge spiders which was just as scary! After the rainforest we got back on the truck for another bumpy ride to Indian Head Point the furthest point north of the island. We had to climb up a steep rocky hill to reach the view point, but once there the view was spectacular. You could see the whole of fraser island and way out to sea. We spent a while admiring the view and looking at sting rays and tuna in the sea. Unfortunately you cant swim in the sea at Fraser island but thats because its a breeding ground for tiger sharks and the current is very strong. Some of the group even saw a shark eating at the tuna. Next stop we were back on the truck to see the Maheno ship wreck on the beach which was 100s of years old. It had become very rusty and there HAD been alot of corrosion from the sea. But once it had been a very impressive cruise ship. After we got to swim in Eli Creek. It was freezing!! There are many creeks on Fraser island. And they are really lovely becuse they are not man-made they are just formed by the rain. That evening we had a BBQ buffet which was very yum and a group of around 14 of us played shed (a card game) using three decks of cards! It was a right laugh and we played for hours. That night we stayed in Tents but they were so nice we had a double bed and there was a wooden floor. It was the best nights sleep ive had.
The following morning we were up by 7 for breakfast and back on the truck to lake Wabby. We had to walk for 1/2 hour over the sand dunes in the scorching heat to get there!But once we arrived the walk had been well worth it. It was a gorgeous lake at the bottom of a big sand dune. We spent a few hours swimming and enjoying the lake before the 45min walk back to the truck. For lunch we had yummy fajitas and then made our way to our last stop lake Birrabeen. The lake was so beautiful the water was was completely clear and the sand was pure white it was just stunning. We swam in the lake for around an hour an it was so lovley and warm. After we had to get the ferry back to hervey bay. It had been such a fantastic trip, we met such lovely people and just had so much fun. Once back in Hervey Bay we picked up the campervan and made are way to Beerwah a couple of hours south from Hervey Bay. We travelled with a couple we met on the Fraser Island trip, Alex and Amy. They also have a campervan and our travelling down to Sydney.

AUSTRALIA - Fraser Island (5) remains copyright of the author LauraP, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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AUSTRALIA - Hervey Bay (4)

2006-03-13T07:41:59Z

13/2/06 - Left our campsite early morning and headed for Hervey Bay. It was an extremly long day of driving and we didnt arrive at hervey bay till 8.30pm! That night stayed at a BIG4 campsite and as you can imagine didnt do to much were shattered from the long drive.
14/2/06 - Got woken up early today by the birds and the sun was scorching hot at 7.00am. Went around the town trying to find a good deal on a trip to Fraser Island. We would like to stay there for a night. We found a pretty good two day trip where you stay in 5* tents but its not until the day after tomorrow. A 5* tent has wooden floors, and a big double bed! See we know had to do camping in style!
That night had a BBQ with a guy called Dan and his family we had actually met them in Arlie beach and they travelled down to Hervey bay the day after us.
13/2/06 - Today booked our 2 day safari trip to Fraser Island and spent the day with Dan whos from Canada. We swam at the beach and looked round the shops. Had fish and chips for lunch and tried this Australian fish called Barramundi, it was delicous. That evening had dinner with Dan and his family again, and played cards.

AUSTRALIA - Hervey Bay (4) remains copyright of the author LauraP, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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AUSTRALIA - Airlie Beach (3)

2006-02-21T04:42:40Z

10/02/06 - Today left Townsville and headed towards Airlie beach, on the way we stopped off at the Billabong Sanctary (its like a zoo) We got to feed and touch kangaroos which were just wandering about the place. We also got to hold and have our photos taken with a python , baby crocodile, koala and lizards ! It was fantastic! We saw crocodiles being fed and emus and got told alot about all of the animals at the sanctary. In Australia they have many dangerous and venomous animals. That afternoon we arrived at the BIG4 camspite in Airlie beach. We met a young Australian couple Nelson and Katy in the pool and went out clubbing with them that night. Nelson was actually on big brother in Oz so all night long people kept coming up to him. They were really nice and we had such a wicked night hopefully we'll get a chance to see them again in Brisbane thats where they live. The next day being a bit hungover didnt do too much just chilled out by the pool. That evening we cooked Nelson and Katy a BBQ of burgers and mint lamb steaks it was yum! We then watched Charlie and the Chocolate factory on a massive outdoor screen they have at our campsite. They have loads of cool stuff here a really nice big pool with water slides,crazy golf, bouncy castle, outdoor cinema, a fantastic cinema with loads of BBQ's.
12/2/06- Today went on a boat trip round the Whitsunday islands. The first beach we stopped at was white heaven beach its 7km long and so beautiful. The sand is made from 90% silicone and when you walk on it its like snow and not hot. The next stop we did some snorkelling and saw many fish including a big mauori wrasse, parrot fish and bat fish. Everytime we swam in the sea we had to wear a stinger suit which is like a lycra catsuit!not the most attractive! But its not worth taking the risk not too wear one, if you get stung its so dangerous and you can even die. Had a fantastic day out at the whitsundays and met some lovely people on the boat. The guys that worked on the boat even gave u sthe left over food to take with us. Australian poeple are so friendly and really kind, nothing like the English. They all wanna chat to you and are so helpful. That night we made sausage and cheese omlettes with the leftover food we'd been given and weeny played tennis with a guy who'd been on the boat trip.

AUSTRALIA - Airlie Beach (3) remains copyright of the author LauraP, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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AUSTRALIA - Townsville (2)

2006-03-13T07:43:30Z

9/2/06. Left the camspite early morning and headed towards Townsville. Walked around the town and then visted the reef HQ aquariam, which was great. They have the largest living coral reef aquarium in the world, its home to thousands of incredible reef creatures. We saw sharks, turtles, sting rays and thousands of differnt types of fish. That evening found a BIG4 carvan site to stay at and we even had our own private toilet and shower!

AUSTRALIA - Townsville (2) remains copyright of the author LauraP, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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AUSTRALIA - Cairns (1)

2006-03-13T07:46:06Z

1/2/06 - Arrived in Cairns around 10.00am after a whole day of travelling. Very excited but so exhausted. Oh yeah and the airline lost my luggage!Wasnt to bothered was so happy to be here! Got a cab into Cairns city centre and its such a beautiful place so green, palm trees everywhere, very clean and lovely and sunny. They have this beautiful man-made lagoon in the city centre for swimming and a small beach. There are BBQ's there you can sunbath, swim, play sports its so cool. At the moment in Cairns its their rainy season, but since we've been here its been lovely and sunny around 35 degrees everyday. Its not so busy either because its the off season. First two nights we stayed in a hostel called the Bellview. A very clean friendly place, we had our own room with en-suite, fridge, kettle and fan. The first day we arrived we went exploring round the town centre, its mainly shops and restaurants and they have this enormous shopping mall two blocks long. I bought a few bits because my luggage still hadn't arrived and the airline gave me $100 compensation. Pretty good huh!. Our second day in Cairns we spent the whole day looking for some cheap campervan rentals. The very last place we went to gave us the best deal $68 a day (32 pounds). It does seem quite alot but it was the cheapest we found by far. The following day we collected our camper it was soooo exciting! Went shopping straight away for all the food and bits we needed. That night we stayed at campsite in Cairns, it was so hot all night and we had to leave all the doors and windows open. I was so scared all the creatures would come in! In the morning I woke up with these really itchy bites on my hand they were so painful.
4/2/06 - Today woke up nice and early to the birds singing and went to the man-made laggon in Cairns and stayed there for a few hours swiming in the pool and sunbathing on the grass. In the afternoon we left Cairns and headed north to Port Douglas a small fishing village which took around and hour and a half. Theres not much going on here but they have a lovely beach. We went swimming in the sea and it was like going into a warm bath and this was around 5.00pm. You can only swim in the netted area in the sea otherwise you can get stung by the jelly fish. This time of year its stinger season and if you get stung it can be fatal. That night stayed in a lovely campsite. It was still so hot at night so left the back door open and woke up with loads of bites! I still have the bites on my hand so need to go to the chemist its so sore. Our plan for today was to head north to Cape Tribulation a rainforest but we have to go back to Cairns to get a mosquito net and fan for the camper. We booked a trip today for two dives at the great barrier reef so excited and we got a real bargin it cost $100which is so cheap. After went to the chemist and got some anti-histamines for my hand then went back to the campsite and was completely knocked out from the tablets, i slept for hours. That evening we met two guys on the campsite one who actually lived on the site and the other who was travelling round Oz for a year.
6/2/06 - Today went back to the campervan shop as our lights in the van werent working, then went to find a decent hairdressers my hair looks minging and its gets really damaged from the sea and sun.
Eventually found a half decent one and you get 30% off if your a backpacker. The rest of the day went to the lagoon. That evening we were invited for dinner with Paul and Mark the two guys we met in the campsite last night. Mark is 19 and been travelling round Oz for 7 months and Paul is very strange but really sweet! He must be around 60 and lives on the camspite, hes partially deaf and all he seems to do is read, play back gammon and smoke drugs. Paul cooked us apricot chicken, rice and veg. It was the yummyest dinner we've had since being here. After dinner Paul taught us his favourite game backgammon, we had a great laugh.
7/2/06 - Woke up early today as we have our trip on the great barrier reef. The boat leaves at 7.30 and we just got there in time! The first dive site was off a beach and there were jelly fish everywhere, so we decided it was best to wear wet suits. But apparently those jelly fish where not harmful. We didnt see many fish because the visiblity was quite bad, but the next dive site was in the middle of the ocean and was really amazing! I could not believe how stunning the coral and fish were! The colours were amazing and we saw so many different types of beautiful fish. Diving on the great barrier reef is really as beautiful as people say, me and weeny were both completely shocked and just had the best time. Met some really cool people on the boat and had a really lovely day out. That night we had been invited to BBQ by a couple Ray and Colin who lived on our campsite. We had the most gorgeous food, meat,pumkin, sweet potatoes, onions. We bought round some wine and beers and had a really fun evening. They were the lovelyest couple so so kind and freindly. Colin is English and he met his girlfriend Ray (shes australian) 8 years ago while travelling. They now have a child together and just recently moved to Cairns from Melborne.
8/2/06 - Got up early toady and had my hair appoinment. The guy did a pretty good job and even curled it with straightners and it looked lovely. After my hair was done we said our goodbyes to Cairns and started heading down south of the east coast. After driving for around 4 hours we started getting really low on petrol and all the garages were shut so we ended up having to stop and stay in a campsite untill morning. The camspite was stunning it had a lake and the facilties were so clean it was really posh.

AUSTRALIA - Cairns (1) remains copyright of the author LauraP, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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THAILAND - Ko Samet (7)

2006-03-08T05:33:13Z

Heys guys sorry havent updated the travel diary for a while, just been too busy having too much fun!he he!

We stayed in a beautiful island called ko samet for just under 2 weeks. The island was beautiful lots of gorgeous white sandy beaches a proper chill out place. Once we had arrived we had a bit of a nightmare trying to find accomdation as everywhere was completely full!after hours of walking up and down the island we managed to find properly the last free bungalow on the island so as you can imagine it was not the nicest! but we were desperate and ended up staying in that particular place for over a week until we found something else alot nicer and cheaper.

We were on ko samet for xmas and new years and i have to stay it was most definatley the best new years ive ever had!being on a beach getting really drunk with hundreds of people in such a beautiful place, drinking buckets of thai whiskey and red bull, what could be better. Thats a really common drink out here and its very cheap, but it really makes you so crazy!
In the days didnt do too much mostly sunbathed, went exploring the beaches and have been playing lots of frisbee!so pretty good at it now. Met lots of really cool people so most eveings would go out for dinner usually a bbq on the beach and then head onto the bars. Theres only really two bars everyone goes to and because the island is so small so we got to meet lots of people and had some pretty good partys.
Left go samet after two weeks and headed down the south of thailand to a island called krabi.

THAILAND - Ko Samet (7) remains copyright of the author LauraP, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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THAILAND - Chang Mai (6)

2006-03-08T05:33:36Z

7-12-05 Today we arrived in Chang Mai. We got picked up from the station free of charge by the quest house we were staying at. The Guest House was called Eagles 2 and it was recommened in the rough guide. But it was horrible,dirty,smelly and i hated it. We only paid 240 baht (like 3 pound)! so i suppose what do you expect for that little money. That evening we went to the Night Bazzarr. It like a massive market there are stalls everywhere selling just about everything! Mum you would love it! This is so your kind of place!
8-12-05 - Today we checked out bright and early from the not so nice quest house. And found some where a bit more pricey but lovley and clean. It had a nice hot shower, frige and telly, all of which the other quest house didnt have. Then we got a moped and went exploring round Chang Mai. It proberly the easiest way to get around the town and they are very cheap to rent. Chang Mai is a very lovely place its chilled out and the people seem helpful and friendly, nothing at all like Bangkok which is totally mad! We went to the Zoo on the moped which was quite easy to find and had a really nice time. There are 7,000 animals at the zoo but i dont think there was that many when we were there. And there was quite alot of construction work going on so some animals were not there, like the penguins and seals which i would of loved to have seen. It was 20baht (30p) to get into the zoo much cheaper then London Zoo eh!
9-12-05 In Changi Mai at the moment its Mardi Gra, so there has been lots of partys! We went to the Night Bazzarr in the evening and there were thousands of people! We watched a live band and a procession down the main street. The Mardi Gra is on for three days and it seems to be quite a big thing here. That night we had Mc Donalds we so needed it Thai food is lovely but theres nothing like tasting something that reminds you of home. Thai food is all leaves, rice and noodles very good for you but we are kinda sick of it now! We've been out to an italian resaurant had pizza and pasta, a mexican resaurant had nachos and tachos, a isralie restaurant had falefel and hulomi cheese! Its amazing how many different types of resaurants they have, you would think it would just be Thai food,but then again theres so many foreigners around. Im getting a bit rubbish writting this diary i keep forgetting things we've done and on what days! I leave it a couple days before i update it and then forget so many things,i should write stuff down!One evening we met up with a friend of Weeny's friend who leaves out in Chang Mai. He has been leaving here for two years. He is a cool guy and we went to a bar had some drinks and he told us some nice places to go and things to see! We are planning to meet up again before we leave Chang Mai.
10-12-05 - We moved guest house again and found somewhere cheaper but just as nice. Its very clean and spacious and theres even a swimming pool. Its called the Top North Guest House, it took us a while to find but since we've got a bike its made travelling around alot easier! Since being in Chang Mai Weeny has done rock climbing on those man made walls they use, it was over 15 metres high!Now i no that doesnt sound high but trust me it was bloody high! I wanted to have a go also but wasnt wearing proper clothing. I may still have a go before we leave, it did look such fun and he got up that wall so fast, the instructors couldnt believe it was his first time! Arr im so proud! The other day we went to the Ma Sae elephant camp, there were over seventy elephants and we were allowed to buy sugar cane and bananas to feed them! I started taking photos and then my camera battery ran out, talk about bad timing! It was so wierd seeing so many elephants all together and being able to touch them and feed them! They are beautiful animals and some were so big! We even saw a two month old baby elephant, when i saw it i fell in love! It was the most cutest adorable thing ive ever seen, i was so upset i didnt get any photos of it! We played wiv the baby elephant and he was so sweet! After we'd spent time looking at all the elephants they performed a show. You will not belive the things these elephants did! They played football, played the harmonica,danced and even painted pictures of trees and flowers! It was proper crazy! And the elephants are even in the guiness book of records for being able to paint! The paintings were really good! I bet you think im pulling your leg but I swear we saw all of this. After the elephant we went to the monkey centre. Now I thought this was really cruel!! When we went in there were around a hundred monkeys all chained up! We bought some food to feed them and they were going berserk! like they had never been fed before. I thought it was evil to have them chained up, thats not how monkeys should live. I asked if they keep them chained all the time, they said once they close up for they day they let them free, but i dont no if thats true and even if it is, imagined been chained up all day! The monkeys also put on a show for us, they played basketball, rode on a bike, shook our hands, done sit-ups and press ups, they threw Weenys watch into this pool of water and made the money go and get it!I did feel really sorry for the poor monkeys!Thailand is definately a crazy place!
Been thinking of little Joseph and how much it would have loved to see all the animals!
13-12-05 - Today got woken up by the buidling work going on next to our guest house, yesterday was woken up by some extremly loud music from a live band, being played near the hotel! This was at like 8 in the morning we were not impressed. Today been chilling out done a bit of sunbathing and walked about the town! Tonight we have a free cookery lesson, it was a special promotion with one of the cookery schools! It should be good fun, we are going to be cooking at the airport with about eight other people, I think we are cooking chicken and cashew nuts. Anyway better get goin because we have to leave for the cookery lesson soon!Ill let you know how we get on.
15-12-05 - Last nite we had our free cookery course it was not at all what we had expected. We got picked up from outside the cookery school and thought we were going to the airport, but we were actually going next to the airport plaza to a massive outdoor food festival! Once we arrived we couldnt believe it, we were at this big festival with hundreds of people everywhere, and we had to get up on stage and cook chicken and cashew nuts with four other people. We where shown once what to do and then it was out turn to get stuck in!It was being filmed and we had an audience watching us, but was really fun! The food we cooked was yummy! Weeny was getting all muddled and in Thai they were talking about him over the mic to the audience! Once we'd finished we received certificates and a free recipe book!They also gave us 100bath in vouchers to use at the festival for food and drink, we went and got a free foot massage with a french couple we met there!After the festival we went out for drinks wiv the French couple we had met and had a really wicked evening! Today we went to the hot springs! It took us around an hour to get there on the bike. But as soon as we got there i managed to burn the back of my leg on the exhaust on the bike!It was so painful, we went and had a look at the hot springs we thought they were good, but not as impressive as we'd imagined!And because i had just burnt my leg I i was in alot of pain! We cooked some eggs in the hot springs and weeny ate some, i didnt wanna chance them they smelt rank!There is a resort next to the hot springs kinda like a Champneys, where you can getting pampered very cheap. We both decided to call it a day because my burn developed a massive blister and it was sore!
19-12-05 Today we are leaving chang mai and going to a island called Ko Samet. Its roughly around three hours from bangkok. I am sad to leave Chang mai ive become very fond of the place its so chilled out and relaxed here i can see why people love it so much!If there was a beach near it would definatly be 100% perfect.
Ko Samet looks stunning crystal white sandy beaches and the whole island is 6km long so nice and small to get about easily.
We are leaving at 6.30 this eveing and will arrive at Ko Samet 12pm tomorrow.

THAILAND - Chang Mai (6) remains copyright of the author LauraP, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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THAILAND - Bangkok (5)

2006-03-08T05:33:52Z

3-12-05 - Today was our last day of the trip we headed down to Bangkok along the Chao Phraya River on a longtail boat, which took around an hour. Once back in Bangkok is was a shock because everwhere we had been on our trip had been so peaceful and quiet and Bangkok is very manic! We got back to the hotel we were staying for the nite which was the Vengthai hotel,and in the evening headed out for dinner with our group on the trip. We went to a lovely restaurant in Bangkok and then all headed down to the Koh San Road to get pissed! Dont remember too much off the nite but remember it was good!It was sad having to leave the friends we'd made on the trip as we all got on so well. Tommmorrow Weeny and I will be on our own to go and explore Thailand and decide where abouts we want to head to next.
4-12-05 - Today we checked out of the hotel and went looking for some cheaper accommodation to stay the night. We ended up finding a hotel alot cheaper but not as nice. We have decided we want to got to Chang Mai next in the north of Thailand, so booked an overnight train for tomorrow night which takes around 13 hours!
5-12-05 - Checked out of our hotel today and have to wait till six to get the overnight train to Chang Mai. Didnt do too much looked round the shops and markets and took it easy. We were told to leave around 5.30 to get the train for six. But thought just in case the journey takes a little longer we left at around 4.45 and we thought we'd have plenty of time. But the traffic was so bad because of something to do with it being the Kings birthday and we only just made it onto the train, it was so stressful! The overnight train was not half as bad as i imagined we had the tops bunks which were quite small but it was quite comfortable. It was suppose to take 13 hours but ended up taking 15 1/2 hours because the train tracks were apparently slippery as he had been raining.
5-12-05 Today we arrived in Chang Mai. We got picked up from the station free of charge by the quest house we were staying at. The Guest House was called Eagles 2 and it was recommened in the rough guide we had. But it was horrible , dirty, mingin and i hated it. We only paid 240 baht (like 3 pound)! so i suppose what do you expect for that little money. We didnt even get a good nites sleep because the music from the local bars was so loud!!

THAILAND - Bangkok (5) remains copyright of the author LauraP, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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THAILAND - Thong Pha Phum and Kanchanaburi (4)

2006-03-08T05:34:08Z

30-11-05 - Today we drove around two hours to see a nearby Karen village. We stopped off at the local market on the way to get some sweets and fruit for the kids. Once we arrived they put on a show for us were they sang and danced. Then we met the school kids and gave them their sweets and played games wiv them!some of them were so cheeky! and some soooo cute!it was a real laugh!then the karen people made us a massive lunch, for starter soup and then about six different dishes, I could only have one of them because the others were to hot!!And lots of fresh fruit for desert, they are very welcoming people. We had a look round the village and saw how they live. I tried this thing that old people in the village like to chew and was almost sick!the most disgusting taste, it was some leaf wrapped round in some thing and was foul! After spending most of the day at the village we went back to stay in the small town of Thong Pha Phum. Our guest house was quite nice but we got woken up at 4 in the morning to the monks chanting!
1-12-05 Today we went by bus to the Hellfire pass museum!It was very interesting and I learnt so much about the lives of the POW's during world war II. It was very sad hearing what the people of the war went through and unbeleivable how many people actually died building the Thai-Burma railway and the conditions and torture they were subjected to! We then got on a train on the Thai-Burma railway which took us to the 'Bridge over the River Kwai'. Then we got on a rickshaw(bicycle) to the Apple guest house where we were staying that evening.
That afternoon we went to the tiger temple. This is kind of a bit like a zoo there where animals just wondering round, horses, wild boar, chickens,deer, cubs!But the main reason we came was to see the tigers! This has to have been the most craziest thing ive ever done, it was really sureal but so amazing!We went into this place where there were about five or six tigers and one at a time we were allowed to go up and touch them. At all times we were with one of the guys that worked there. Then we got to sit next to the tigers and stroke them while the people that worked there took photos for us!You are properly thinking these tigers were chained up?but they werent! and at any time they could of eaten us!!!! So amazing! We were all scared but really enjoyed it!Thailand is so crazy but such a wicked place.
That nite me and the other girls on the trip (another Laura and a girl called Asun) shaved Steve's head! It looks good by the way!He was moaning it was getting long so we thought why not!
2-12-05 Today we went to the Erwan Water falls in Kanchanuri. This is a seven tier waterfall. As soon as we got there we saw monkeys!The waterfall was so stunning, you are allowed to swim in it aswell. We went up and swam in levels three and four as these are the best for swimming in! I couldnt stay in for long because as soon as you get into the water you get attacked by fish and they start biting you! It doesnt hurt but feels really really wierd!
That afternoon we got the bus back to Bangkok which took around two hours. Then went to the place we were staying for the nite which was a Traditional Thai teak house. It was a lovely house and so big. We had a traditonal thai meal that evening and had to wear sarongs.

THAILAND - Thong Pha Phum and Kanchanaburi (4) remains copyright of the author LauraP, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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THAILAND - Sangkalaburi (3)

2006-03-08T05:34:26Z

28/11/05 - Today we got up nice and early and had six hours of travelling to do to get to Sangkalaburi the first stop on our trip! The journey wasnt to bad but we were all knackered once we got to our guest house! We stayed at the P. Guest house in the most amazing location I have ever seen! We stayed in wooden lodges that were sitauted on a stunning lake it was so picturesque! We had to share cold showers! and toilets and there were insects, frogs and geckos everywhere!Quite an experience!Steve keeps on getting bitten by the mosiqutoes they love him!its funny!

29/11/05 - Today got up early and went on and hour and a half long tail speed boad through the lake to get to the jungle!Where we were going elephant riding and bamboo rafting! it was such a nice journey and the scenery was absoluetly stunning!ive taken loads of photos! Once we arrived in the jungle there were all the elephants waiting for us, we had the little elephant because i was a bit scared they are so big, there beautiful animals but enormous! We rode on the elephants through the jungle for around an hour and went through many rivers.it was a really wicked experience which i would do again and it was surprisingly very comfortable. Once we had finished the elephant ride we went on to do some bamboo rafting! There was four of us on a bamboo raft and and we had to go down this river, some of the river was nice and slow, but then all of a sudden we'd hit these rapids and have to work really hard not to hit into trees and rocks it was so funny!After bamboo rafting we went and had lunch in the karen village these are minority people that live in Thailand in the jungle.They have such a completley different way of life it was very interesting.
We then took the longtail speed boat back to our guest house and went onto see some beautfiul temples and then to an orphange!The orphange was very sad there were over 100 children. Their ages ranged from 3 months old up to 15.As soon as the kids saw us they all ran over and jumped on us and would not leave us alone you could tell they were so excited. We played wiv the kids and they performed two shows for us, which were really good. The lady that ran the orphange was Italian and came to Thailand fifteen years ago. She just starting looking after one child as the mother couldnt cope and then the orphange grew from there, She was an amazing women with so much patience. There was kids and dogs running round everyone and she seemed so relaxed!It was very sad seeing the kids, they were all so lovely and to think they had been abandoned was awful. Went back to the guest house all itchy because it was untill after we'd been holding and playing with the kids that our Leader Jane told us most of them properly have head lice!nice! Had a really good day today saw loads of amazing things.

THAILAND - Sangkalaburi (3) remains copyright of the author LauraP, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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