So from where I roughly left off in Hawaii we spent a couple of days up in the north where we went Shark Cage Diving which was great fun (us guys screamed more than the girls!) and then chilled out on the beach and then headed down back to Waikiki beach for our last few days. We visited Pearl Harbour one day and then the next day we spent on the beach with the two girls as they flew to LA that evening. The next couple of days we visited a few other beaches and one evening we met a russian man in our room who bought us beers so we hung out with him for the evening before being joined by 4 germans and an american!
Were now in L.A which has been great fun! as we only have 2 days we have packed it in. Yesterday we went on a tour of LA where we saw lots of celebrities houses and venice beach, we didnt see any celebrities but we saw many people that looked like jacky chan. Today we have been to Universal Studios which has some amazing effects and we saw lots of film sets and went on lots of rides!
Tomorrow morning we head off to New York for a few days and on monday we are heading home! Madness that its all coming to an end!
See you soon!
Will
Wednesday 20 May 2009
Tuesday 12 May 2009
The North Shore
Aloha,
We're currently chillin' out in a beachside hut with the two girls we met on the plane (they're both called Becki weird i know!) and have been enjoying the radiant sunshine for the past few days. We began our hawaiian adventure with a two days on the sandy beaches of Waikiki and now we're up on the North Shore. Have already enjoyed the beach at the bottom of our garden and today we even got to swim with turtles that line the beaches, it was amazing!And...tomorrow we're going shark cage diving!!!I'm very excited and think i might just jump ship and not worry about the cage!In a few days time we'll head back to Waikiki to check out Pearl Harbour and Diamond Head. tongiht we had a very delightful dinner prepared by the girls (they come in handy sometimes i.e. I woke up to the smell of pancakes for breakfast) spagetti bolognese and chocolate pudding, apparently its our turn to cook tomorrow night though. Only two weeks today and we catch our flight back to mother England. Hope all is well,
Will (written by one of the Becki's)
We're currently chillin' out in a beachside hut with the two girls we met on the plane (they're both called Becki weird i know!) and have been enjoying the radiant sunshine for the past few days. We began our hawaiian adventure with a two days on the sandy beaches of Waikiki and now we're up on the North Shore. Have already enjoyed the beach at the bottom of our garden and today we even got to swim with turtles that line the beaches, it was amazing!And...tomorrow we're going shark cage diving!!!I'm very excited and think i might just jump ship and not worry about the cage!In a few days time we'll head back to Waikiki to check out Pearl Harbour and Diamond Head. tongiht we had a very delightful dinner prepared by the girls (they come in handy sometimes i.e. I woke up to the smell of pancakes for breakfast) spagetti bolognese and chocolate pudding, apparently its our turn to cook tomorrow night though. Only two weeks today and we catch our flight back to mother England. Hope all is well,
Will (written by one of the Becki's)
Sunday 10 May 2009
Fiji and Hawaii
I have been hopeless at updating this recently so I do apologise. I cant even blame it on being busy as we spent the whole of Fiji sat on lovely islands reading books and chatting to people all day!
Ill sum up Fiji nice and quickly. We were there for 18 days, 14 on the islands travelling around loads of different resorts and meeting loads of really lovely people, played volleyball on the beach every day and then spent the evening playing amusing games! was really nice having some chill out time instead of rushing around seeing places! We then spent a few days on the main land and went and did a bit of shopping in the cheap shops and things like that!
Now we are in Hawaii! Because of passing the data line we lived the 8th May twice which was weird! We met a couple of girls from dorset on the plane and we got on well with tyhem so were now travelling around hawaii with us so thats a nice change (and it means they cook tasty food for us!) from the usual 4 of us! So far in hawaii we have sent a couple of days chilling in the water and on the beach and went to a tasty steak takeaway yesterday. Today we are heading up north with the girls to spend a few days there. All is good and its kind of crazy how soon we will be home but im looking forward to seeing everyone again!
Hope everyone is well,
Will x
Ill sum up Fiji nice and quickly. We were there for 18 days, 14 on the islands travelling around loads of different resorts and meeting loads of really lovely people, played volleyball on the beach every day and then spent the evening playing amusing games! was really nice having some chill out time instead of rushing around seeing places! We then spent a few days on the main land and went and did a bit of shopping in the cheap shops and things like that!
Now we are in Hawaii! Because of passing the data line we lived the 8th May twice which was weird! We met a couple of girls from dorset on the plane and we got on well with tyhem so were now travelling around hawaii with us so thats a nice change (and it means they cook tasty food for us!) from the usual 4 of us! So far in hawaii we have sent a couple of days chilling in the water and on the beach and went to a tasty steak takeaway yesterday. Today we are heading up north with the girls to spend a few days there. All is good and its kind of crazy how soon we will be home but im looking forward to seeing everyone again!
Hope everyone is well,
Will x
Saturday 18 April 2009
New Zealand - the north
Since I last wrote we have done alot of things and I don't have a clue which order they were in but they have including seeing lots of waterfalls and my personal favorite has to be the rabbit shearing show we went to!
The past week has been jam packed for us but it has been lovely having the two girls (Makaela and megs) around for a change. When they turned up it did mean that we had to behave ourselves as much as we could but it was lovely to have a change! We have had so many laughs this past week and far too many late nights and early starts! Once we had picked the girls up from aucland airport and spent the night in auckland we headed off to the bay of islands. That night we went to a pub quiz where we were the youngest by about 100 years! We held our ground for a while and then we started slipping until we finally finished last! but i've always been told its the taking part that counts...
The next day we headed off on a fast boat to check out the bay of islands which was good fun and rather wet! In the afternoon we headed further north towards ninety mile beach. We played football with a swiss man called aldo who claimed he was rubbish but then spent the entire game showing off far too much and putting us to shame! We also had alot of fun driving the car on the beach! most people were cautious but I got a bit carried away and a few people were feeling a bit ill after my reckless driving but it was the most fun i've ever had driving!
On the 17th it was my birthday! most of the day we were heading back down to ackland stopping off at a waterfall and we saw some sheep that were spray painted pink which was rather amusing! In the evening whilst we left the girls shopping and drinking coffee and chatting us guys went off to a super 14 rugby match which was alot of fun! After the match we headed back to find the girls and we went out for the evening for a few birthday drinks!
yesterday we headed to the coromandel peninsular where we went to cathedral cove and hot water beach and then went out for our final meal with the girls in the evening. This morning we had to say bye to the girls which was very sad as they were very fun to have around and now we have to get used to the four of us again! Tommorrow we are heading off to Fiji for 18 days which is going to be great as our tans need a topping up before we head home!
Hope all is well with everyone,
Will x
The past week has been jam packed for us but it has been lovely having the two girls (Makaela and megs) around for a change. When they turned up it did mean that we had to behave ourselves as much as we could but it was lovely to have a change! We have had so many laughs this past week and far too many late nights and early starts! Once we had picked the girls up from aucland airport and spent the night in auckland we headed off to the bay of islands. That night we went to a pub quiz where we were the youngest by about 100 years! We held our ground for a while and then we started slipping until we finally finished last! but i've always been told its the taking part that counts...
The next day we headed off on a fast boat to check out the bay of islands which was good fun and rather wet! In the afternoon we headed further north towards ninety mile beach. We played football with a swiss man called aldo who claimed he was rubbish but then spent the entire game showing off far too much and putting us to shame! We also had alot of fun driving the car on the beach! most people were cautious but I got a bit carried away and a few people were feeling a bit ill after my reckless driving but it was the most fun i've ever had driving!
On the 17th it was my birthday! most of the day we were heading back down to ackland stopping off at a waterfall and we saw some sheep that were spray painted pink which was rather amusing! In the evening whilst we left the girls shopping and drinking coffee and chatting us guys went off to a super 14 rugby match which was alot of fun! After the match we headed back to find the girls and we went out for the evening for a few birthday drinks!
yesterday we headed to the coromandel peninsular where we went to cathedral cove and hot water beach and then went out for our final meal with the girls in the evening. This morning we had to say bye to the girls which was very sad as they were very fun to have around and now we have to get used to the four of us again! Tommorrow we are heading off to Fiji for 18 days which is going to be great as our tans need a topping up before we head home!
Hope all is well with everyone,
Will x
Wednesday 8 April 2009
whale watching, farms, tramping and much much more...
Its been far far too long since I last wrote anything so im going to try and remember everything and ill split it into sections of what we have done and where weve been....
Franz Joseph
Franz Joseph is a big off glacier that we visited. We were going to do the walk up on the first day but it was raining loads so we made a group decision to sleep in late and then spend the day in thermal spas relaxing! best decision ever. Me and Tom also almost won a drinking competition in the evening but some pro turned up at the end that had won 5 times before and beat our score by 1 second! I know our parents would be proud.......
West Coast
We headed up the east coast and stopped off for a couple of nights on the way. Went to a glow worm cave and went to a few beaches.
Able Tasmin Forest
In the Able tasmin we hired two double kayaks and filled them full with tents and food and stuff and then kayakes around the coast of the able tasmin for two days which was amazing! we put our tents up on a random remote beach that we found for the night!
Jim and Marys Farm
At Jim and Marys we went round the HUGE farm over the hills which was good fun and looked around the area. Spent alot of time chatting to mary and playing football in the garden,
Kaiiiiikooorrraaaa
Not sure how to spell it but we went out whale watching there which was quality and then on the way back in the boat about 200 dolphins surrounded the boat and did tricks for us! very cool!
Winerys!
At about 10.30 in the morning we headed off around the marlbrough wine region to test out all of the local wines! apparently they are famous for their wines so we had to see for ourselves what they were like! By the end we were pretty much experts in white wines! and a little bit merry....
Night Ferry
Took the night ferry over to the north island and watched slumdog millionaire on the ferry to keep me awake and got into wellington at about 2 in the morning.
Tongariro Crossing
Went up to tongariro and did a 20km walk that is meant to be very pretty - but we picked the day where it was raining, covered in cloud and at the top there was 100 mph winds which meant you couldnt really walk very easily!
Rotarua
spent the day in the place that smells like gone off egg. there is steam coming off everywhere which is kind of crazy!
Somewhere up North
were somewhere near the top of the north island and we meet up with megan and makaela in a few days time which should be good fun!
Hope all is well,
Will x
Franz Joseph
Franz Joseph is a big off glacier that we visited. We were going to do the walk up on the first day but it was raining loads so we made a group decision to sleep in late and then spend the day in thermal spas relaxing! best decision ever. Me and Tom also almost won a drinking competition in the evening but some pro turned up at the end that had won 5 times before and beat our score by 1 second! I know our parents would be proud.......
West Coast
We headed up the east coast and stopped off for a couple of nights on the way. Went to a glow worm cave and went to a few beaches.
Able Tasmin Forest
In the Able tasmin we hired two double kayaks and filled them full with tents and food and stuff and then kayakes around the coast of the able tasmin for two days which was amazing! we put our tents up on a random remote beach that we found for the night!
Jim and Marys Farm
At Jim and Marys we went round the HUGE farm over the hills which was good fun and looked around the area. Spent alot of time chatting to mary and playing football in the garden,
Kaiiiiikooorrraaaa
Not sure how to spell it but we went out whale watching there which was quality and then on the way back in the boat about 200 dolphins surrounded the boat and did tricks for us! very cool!
Winerys!
At about 10.30 in the morning we headed off around the marlbrough wine region to test out all of the local wines! apparently they are famous for their wines so we had to see for ourselves what they were like! By the end we were pretty much experts in white wines! and a little bit merry....
Night Ferry
Took the night ferry over to the north island and watched slumdog millionaire on the ferry to keep me awake and got into wellington at about 2 in the morning.
Tongariro Crossing
Went up to tongariro and did a 20km walk that is meant to be very pretty - but we picked the day where it was raining, covered in cloud and at the top there was 100 mph winds which meant you couldnt really walk very easily!
Rotarua
spent the day in the place that smells like gone off egg. there is steam coming off everywhere which is kind of crazy!
Somewhere up North
were somewhere near the top of the north island and we meet up with megan and makaela in a few days time which should be good fun!
Hope all is well,
Will x
Tuesday 24 March 2009
Segways and Milford Sound
The last few days have been good fun. On Monday it was Josh's birthday so In the morning he went Bungy Jumping and Myself and Matt went to play Segway Golf! Segway golf is probably the best game ever invented! We caused quite a bit of havoc flying around the course into anything in our way and into each other! Once we got the hang of them we were pretty good and we were hitting the top speed most of the time and we didn't fall off much! In the afternoon the others went skydiving but I couldnt do it so Im going to try and do it somewhere else but it was a great day! In the evening josh opened up his birthday presents that we wrapped up in towels because we couldnt find and wrapping paper and then then we all digged into a bit of birthday cake after a few birthday beverages and a ferg burger which are probably the best burgers in the world!
The next day we headed off to Milford sound which is a huge fiord about 4 hours from where we were. we woke up at 6 o'clock to get there on time with me and tom sharing the driving because the other two were asleep in the back for the whole journey! Milford is an amazing place with loads of waterfalls and seals and stuff like that! we were lucky to get there on a sunny day as it rains for 220 days a year apparently.
Were back in queenstown now and were heading up the west coast to Franz Joseph in the next couple of days!
Will x
The next day we headed off to Milford sound which is a huge fiord about 4 hours from where we were. we woke up at 6 o'clock to get there on time with me and tom sharing the driving because the other two were asleep in the back for the whole journey! Milford is an amazing place with loads of waterfalls and seals and stuff like that! we were lucky to get there on a sunny day as it rains for 220 days a year apparently.
Were back in queenstown now and were heading up the west coast to Franz Joseph in the next couple of days!
Will x
Saturday 21 March 2009
Queenstown!
Since leaving Ronnie and Nigels house in christchurch we have been heading slightly south towards queenstown where we are now! The scenery on the way down has been amazing all the way and you never get boring roads. Myself and matt have adapted well to driving an automatic car but its taking a bit longer for josh and tom! They keep thinking the car is going to stall when they slow down so they wack there foot on the break, thinking its the clutch meaning that we stop very quickly and everyone goes flying out of their seats!
On the way down we have stopped off at a few beautiful lakes that are turquoise in coulour and are surrounded by snow capped mountains! I was tempted to go for a swim until I put my foot in the water and it was freezing cold!
Were now in queenstown which is where all the extreme sports are! We went jet boating today which was a good laugh and a bit scary as we were so close to smashing into rocks at points! Tommorrow is joshs birthday so we decided to do all the crazy things tommorrow! So in the morning josh and tom are going Bungy Jumping whilst myself and matt are playing a round of golf on segways! Our choice is a little tamer but we think a lot more fun! In the afternoon all four of us are going skydiving! I am the biggest wimp in the world so I don't know why I agreed to do it but it should be amazing! We went for the 12,000 ft one because that sounded quite high off the ground!
Ill update you on how it went after I've stopped shaking in excitement in a few days time!
Will x
On the way down we have stopped off at a few beautiful lakes that are turquoise in coulour and are surrounded by snow capped mountains! I was tempted to go for a swim until I put my foot in the water and it was freezing cold!
Were now in queenstown which is where all the extreme sports are! We went jet boating today which was a good laugh and a bit scary as we were so close to smashing into rocks at points! Tommorrow is joshs birthday so we decided to do all the crazy things tommorrow! So in the morning josh and tom are going Bungy Jumping whilst myself and matt are playing a round of golf on segways! Our choice is a little tamer but we think a lot more fun! In the afternoon all four of us are going skydiving! I am the biggest wimp in the world so I don't know why I agreed to do it but it should be amazing! We went for the 12,000 ft one because that sounded quite high off the ground!
Ill update you on how it went after I've stopped shaking in excitement in a few days time!
Will x
Thursday 19 March 2009
from Coldplay to playing in the cold (well not that cold)
So since I last wrote us guys have been up to quite a bit! The first night we drove with our campers into the middle of a forest where we could camp for free and then the next day we headed off to Sydney for the final part of our aussie adventures.
First of all in sydney we got lost on the harbour bridge! josh and Tom went one way with myself and matt behind and we wern't concentrating so Me and Matt ended up in the centre of sydney completely lost but having alot of fun accidently going into bus lands and nearlly going into car parks that were about a meter too low for our van whilst josh and tom were somewhere completely different panicking because they had lost us! After we found eachother we headed out of town to a camp site. We then headed off to see coldplay that evening - well it wasn't that easy! First of all we planned to get the bus with just over an hour to go until 30 minutes before we are meant to be there that no buses are going to turn up so we rushed back to try and get a taxi! 45 minutes after that we realised the taxi wasn't going to turn up either - by this point myself, tom and matt were just casually playing with sticks in the road quite happily whilst josh was having a mental fit and violently pacing round in circles due to thought of actually missing coldplay! We tried our hardest to calm him down but he wasn't having any of it! Josh is sat behind me at the moment saying "your making me sound like a mental" - well he was crazy! We finally got to coldplay by deciding to jump into one of the campervans and drive through sydney very quickly to get there in perfect timing, well except missing the support act! On the night coldplay were amazing and the atmosphere was awesome! they also had some cool lasers and lights which were cool!
The few days after Coldplay we took the campers back which was a sad moment, the couple of days after that we headed off around sydney and checked out a couple of beaches like bondi beach and manly beach and went into the centre of sydney.
Yesterday we got up really early to get a taxi to the airport for our flight to New Zealand! the flight went well apart from going through security on the way where we had agreed to not attract attention to ourselves and just get on the plane! This didn't quite go to plan when matts bag got searched thoroughly as it had suncream in and a giant sharp bottle opener! The flight over was nice and easy and it was time to pick up our car and head into Christchurch. The car is nice and big - the only thing is that it is automatic so were all having to get used to driving that!
Our First stop in New Zealand is where we are at the moment which is Ronnie, Nigel and Tims house. Its been amazing here staying in a proper house again and it weird having things like carpets and duvets that we have not had for the last 2 months! We've had great food which is a million times better than us four attempting to cook and I had the best nights sleep I've had in the whole holiday as I had two pillows! Normally when at home I have at least 8 pillows so having one has been difficult but two is a definite improvement! Today we headed off slightly out of christchurch to a cool cafe at the top of a hill - coincidently called 'hill top cafe'. The views from the cafe were amazing!
Over the next couple of days were heading off to queenstown to do some jet boating and bungee jumping and extreme sports like that that I will probably wimp out of most of them and ill sit with a cup of tea and watch from a distance!
Hope all is well,
Will x
First of all in sydney we got lost on the harbour bridge! josh and Tom went one way with myself and matt behind and we wern't concentrating so Me and Matt ended up in the centre of sydney completely lost but having alot of fun accidently going into bus lands and nearlly going into car parks that were about a meter too low for our van whilst josh and tom were somewhere completely different panicking because they had lost us! After we found eachother we headed out of town to a camp site. We then headed off to see coldplay that evening - well it wasn't that easy! First of all we planned to get the bus with just over an hour to go until 30 minutes before we are meant to be there that no buses are going to turn up so we rushed back to try and get a taxi! 45 minutes after that we realised the taxi wasn't going to turn up either - by this point myself, tom and matt were just casually playing with sticks in the road quite happily whilst josh was having a mental fit and violently pacing round in circles due to thought of actually missing coldplay! We tried our hardest to calm him down but he wasn't having any of it! Josh is sat behind me at the moment saying "your making me sound like a mental" - well he was crazy! We finally got to coldplay by deciding to jump into one of the campervans and drive through sydney very quickly to get there in perfect timing, well except missing the support act! On the night coldplay were amazing and the atmosphere was awesome! they also had some cool lasers and lights which were cool!
The few days after Coldplay we took the campers back which was a sad moment, the couple of days after that we headed off around sydney and checked out a couple of beaches like bondi beach and manly beach and went into the centre of sydney.
Yesterday we got up really early to get a taxi to the airport for our flight to New Zealand! the flight went well apart from going through security on the way where we had agreed to not attract attention to ourselves and just get on the plane! This didn't quite go to plan when matts bag got searched thoroughly as it had suncream in and a giant sharp bottle opener! The flight over was nice and easy and it was time to pick up our car and head into Christchurch. The car is nice and big - the only thing is that it is automatic so were all having to get used to driving that!
Our First stop in New Zealand is where we are at the moment which is Ronnie, Nigel and Tims house. Its been amazing here staying in a proper house again and it weird having things like carpets and duvets that we have not had for the last 2 months! We've had great food which is a million times better than us four attempting to cook and I had the best nights sleep I've had in the whole holiday as I had two pillows! Normally when at home I have at least 8 pillows so having one has been difficult but two is a definite improvement! Today we headed off slightly out of christchurch to a cool cafe at the top of a hill - coincidently called 'hill top cafe'. The views from the cafe were amazing!
Over the next couple of days were heading off to queenstown to do some jet boating and bungee jumping and extreme sports like that that I will probably wimp out of most of them and ill sit with a cup of tea and watch from a distance!
Hope all is well,
Will x
Tuesday 10 March 2009
Somewhere further down Australia
Since I last wrote a post we have done so much I have forgetten most things and lost what order we have done everything in!
the campervans are nearlly coming to an end as we have to give them back on saturday but they have been alot of fun and we have had some crazy times! One evening we were tired so we stopped off on a random road outside a chinese church and cooked some dinner and fell asleep. The next morning we woke up to find ourselves parked in the middle of roadworks with 8 lorrys surrounding us and a traffic light system working each side of us with us in the middle of it! Was very amusing but we quickly got out of the roadworks as soon as we could!
We spent three days in Byron bay which was alot of fun as there was a very cool beach with lots of waves so we spent lots of our time in the water on our body boards! After byron we headed out to Nimbin which is a little town in the middle of the forest which I can officially say is the weirdest place I've ever been! Every shop was selling either drugs or 'herbal remidies' and people would come up to you and offer you drugs, I would probably class it as hippie heaven - but we didn't stay long!
The last couple of days we have been heading down through the great lakes which are very cool and alot quieter than alot of other places, yesterday we found some huge sand dunes that were like a desert they were so big so we got our body boards out and spent the afternoon dune boarding which was very amusing!
Apart from all this we have been chilling on the beach and cooking up tasty meals in the campers - were all expert cooks now!
Oh, we had alot of fun in australia zoo as well! we chilled out with koalas and kangaroos and all that kind of stuff!
Hope all is well,
Will x
the campervans are nearlly coming to an end as we have to give them back on saturday but they have been alot of fun and we have had some crazy times! One evening we were tired so we stopped off on a random road outside a chinese church and cooked some dinner and fell asleep. The next morning we woke up to find ourselves parked in the middle of roadworks with 8 lorrys surrounding us and a traffic light system working each side of us with us in the middle of it! Was very amusing but we quickly got out of the roadworks as soon as we could!
We spent three days in Byron bay which was alot of fun as there was a very cool beach with lots of waves so we spent lots of our time in the water on our body boards! After byron we headed out to Nimbin which is a little town in the middle of the forest which I can officially say is the weirdest place I've ever been! Every shop was selling either drugs or 'herbal remidies' and people would come up to you and offer you drugs, I would probably class it as hippie heaven - but we didn't stay long!
The last couple of days we have been heading down through the great lakes which are very cool and alot quieter than alot of other places, yesterday we found some huge sand dunes that were like a desert they were so big so we got our body boards out and spent the afternoon dune boarding which was very amusing!
Apart from all this we have been chilling on the beach and cooking up tasty meals in the campers - were all expert cooks now!
Oh, we had alot of fun in australia zoo as well! we chilled out with koalas and kangaroos and all that kind of stuff!
Hope all is well,
Will x
Saturday 28 February 2009
Fraser Island
We went to fraser Island yesterday and it was amazing! Its the largest island in the world that is made just of sand so all the roads were made of sand amd everything around it (although we were quick to point out every time we saw some concrete). Because the roads over there are very very bumpy the only vehicles alowed on the island are 4x4s so our bus was a mix between a bus and a lorry (AKA a 'Borry') - these are very fun and if your sat at the back (as we did) you fly a good 10 feet off your seat every time you go over a huge bump (maybe slightly over exagerated). The day started at 7ish with a walk through the sandy rainforest and then we went to the main beach called 45 mile beach - the cool thing about this beach is that it is also the main highway on fraser island so everyone is driving up and down the beach weaving between people with their deck chairs out enjoying the sun. Also, the beach is an airport aswell so the cars have to dodge the planes coming down as well which is kind of crazy! The next thing we did in the day after we had driven to the end was go one one of these planes! They are 7 seaters but in ours it was just the 4 of us and one other girl and they take you up over the sea where you can see through the clear blue waters sharks and sting rays and things like that and then they flew us over the main island so we could look down onto the beach and the lakes! After this we spent the afternoon at lake Mckenzie which is probably one of the most amazing places I've been. It has a white beach around the edge and then the lake is a fresh water lake that was very very very very very very blue and clear! Whilst in the water we met some guys that were amazied by our tower builing skills (matt on toms shoulders, tom on joshs shoulders and then to finish it off myself picking them all up to build the best tower ever - not quite perfected yet though!) and we grouped together to make a tower of 8 people - probably my prodest acheivement ever.
Today we are travelling down in bruce and Sheila and tomorrow we are hopefully going to Australia Zoo for the day which should be a fun day out.
Will
Today we are travelling down in bruce and Sheila and tomorrow we are hopefully going to Australia Zoo for the day which should be a fun day out.
Will
Friday 27 February 2009
Campervans, crocodiles and cooking!
So since my last blog we've been up to an awful lot. On our final day in Cairns we went up to cape tribulation for the day which was good fun, cape tribulation is a rainforest that goes onto a beach. Our leader was a guy called billy who kept us laughing all day, the funniest thing had to be in the afternoon when we got back onto the bus and he told all the girls that he'd picked something special for the girls on the bus and the guys were not allowed any so he handed out these leaves to all the girls and told them to rub there hands together - they all rubbed there hands together and it made there haneds smell of farts! he then went round high fiving the guys for the next 5 minutes!
The next day we picked up our campervands - first job was naming them - Buce and Sheila were the designated names. We had a problem with the security bond but thanks to vicky and Roger we sorted it out and then we hit the road! We were meant to have one big camper and one small one but they ended up giving us two big ones which has been a big advantage! Tom and Myself have Bruce and Josh and Matt have Sheila. The campers are kitted out with stove, grill, microwave, sink, fridge air conditioning and lots lots more! At first Tom made me stick to the speed limit but now we've done about 1000 km it has got to the stage where it is fun to to try and set a new land speed record for the campers! During our journey down we've slept in a few camp sites but we've also parked our campers up in some crazy places! We found a car park in the middle of know where where josh managed to get the camper stuck on the way to because it was so bumper which was very funny! We've also been to the whitsunday islands and were off to fraiser island tomorrow.
Up north the weather was a bit wet but now were hitting the sun and it is baking from the minute we wake up all the way through the day which is very cool! Its also very different as were cooking for ourselves now for every meal which has been a good laugh and rather different to thailand where we ate out every meal! Some of our meals have been better than others but overall were doing a good job and dont worry yet mum im not starving to death!
We always seem to park in places that say 'beware of crocodiles' - this doesnt fill me full of confidence that im going tio wake up in one piece but so far i've survived.
Hope all is well.
The next day we picked up our campervands - first job was naming them - Buce and Sheila were the designated names. We had a problem with the security bond but thanks to vicky and Roger we sorted it out and then we hit the road! We were meant to have one big camper and one small one but they ended up giving us two big ones which has been a big advantage! Tom and Myself have Bruce and Josh and Matt have Sheila. The campers are kitted out with stove, grill, microwave, sink, fridge air conditioning and lots lots more! At first Tom made me stick to the speed limit but now we've done about 1000 km it has got to the stage where it is fun to to try and set a new land speed record for the campers! During our journey down we've slept in a few camp sites but we've also parked our campers up in some crazy places! We found a car park in the middle of know where where josh managed to get the camper stuck on the way to because it was so bumper which was very funny! We've also been to the whitsunday islands and were off to fraiser island tomorrow.
Up north the weather was a bit wet but now were hitting the sun and it is baking from the minute we wake up all the way through the day which is very cool! Its also very different as were cooking for ourselves now for every meal which has been a good laugh and rather different to thailand where we ate out every meal! Some of our meals have been better than others but overall were doing a good job and dont worry yet mum im not starving to death!
We always seem to park in places that say 'beware of crocodiles' - this doesnt fill me full of confidence that im going tio wake up in one piece but so far i've survived.
Hope all is well.
Tuesday 17 February 2009
Singapore to Australia
After Kuala Lumpur we flew out the next morning to singapore for our 2 days there! Singapore was good fun and on the first day we went on their version of the London eye which was fun and it was the biggest one in the world! Singapore is kind of odd as it has sky scrapers one side and thyen next door is beaches. When sat on the beach you can see thousands of huge ships out to sea as it one of the biggest ports in the world which is kind of crazy! I cant really remember what else we did in singapore but it was good fun! We saw a band in the evening at a free concert which was a good laugh!
We headed off the next afternoon to australia - it was a random flight that was split into two parts as we stopped in darwin and it was on small planes so we were releaved to land in australia!
The weather in australia is amazing as its around 35 degrees with blue skies! In Cairns there isnt many proper beaches but they have a very cool outside horizon pool with fountains right by the sea. By the side of the pool they have BBQs that are free to use so were going to chuck some kangaroo meat on the Barbie for lunch today! Were picking up our campervans in a few days time so were all looking forward to that!
Hope all is well,
Will x
We headed off the next afternoon to australia - it was a random flight that was split into two parts as we stopped in darwin and it was on small planes so we were releaved to land in australia!
The weather in australia is amazing as its around 35 degrees with blue skies! In Cairns there isnt many proper beaches but they have a very cool outside horizon pool with fountains right by the sea. By the side of the pool they have BBQs that are free to use so were going to chuck some kangaroo meat on the Barbie for lunch today! Were picking up our campervans in a few days time so were all looking forward to that!
Hope all is well,
Will x
Saturday 14 February 2009
Kuala Lumpur
We flew out of phuket last night and we headed into kuala lumpur in the early hours of this morning to spend a day here before flying to singapore! its been pretty hectic but fun! Today we spent the day by going to the top of a really tall tower! the 4th tallest in the world! you got a quality view from the top which was nice.
In the afternoon we sat in a park, it was all good for a while until we realised that everyone was staring at us and we didnt have a clue why, that was until a group of girls came up mand asked for a photo. We thought this was for us to take a photo of them but then we realised they wanted a photo of us because we are young white guys! We were the only white guys in the park! Another group of girls then came up 10 minutes later and asked for some photos with us and then the first group came back for even more photos! By this point we were milking it as much as we could as the attention was all on us! It is rather weird that everywhere we go everyone is staring at us!
Monday - Australia here we come.....
In the afternoon we sat in a park, it was all good for a while until we realised that everyone was staring at us and we didnt have a clue why, that was until a group of girls came up mand asked for a photo. We thought this was for us to take a photo of them but then we realised they wanted a photo of us because we are young white guys! We were the only white guys in the park! Another group of girls then came up 10 minutes later and asked for some photos with us and then the first group came back for even more photos! By this point we were milking it as much as we could as the attention was all on us! It is rather weird that everywhere we go everyone is staring at us!
Monday - Australia here we come.....
Thursday 12 February 2009
From Koh Phangan to Phuket
So the last time i wrote was just before the full moon party! The full moon party was alot of fun and very crazy! there was thousands and thousands of people on the beach and the atmosphere was crazy! The party started atb 10 and went on all the way through the night until about 8ish!
The next day was our last day in Koh Phangan, we spent the morning sleeping and then in the afternoon we went with Mrs T (the owner of the resort we were on - legend) to watch her son John in his school football match! There team won 3-0 which was good! We then went back and Mrs T promised us that she would teach us how to make Pad Thai so that when we are in the campervans we can cook it for ourselves! So we went into their kitchen and learnt how to make it which was fun! When we left Mr and Mrs T they gave us all Thailand football shirts because they new josh was eyeing them up!
That evening we got onto the sleeper boat heading for the mainland. The sleeper boat is basically a boat that is full of very very very long beds that everyone sleeps on! we then got a minibus from one side of the mainland all the way across to phuket on the other side. Phuket is like a big city with a beach! Were flying to Kuala Lumpur Tonight and then spending a day there and then flying down to Singapore ready for heading off to Australia!
The next day was our last day in Koh Phangan, we spent the morning sleeping and then in the afternoon we went with Mrs T (the owner of the resort we were on - legend) to watch her son John in his school football match! There team won 3-0 which was good! We then went back and Mrs T promised us that she would teach us how to make Pad Thai so that when we are in the campervans we can cook it for ourselves! So we went into their kitchen and learnt how to make it which was fun! When we left Mr and Mrs T they gave us all Thailand football shirts because they new josh was eyeing them up!
That evening we got onto the sleeper boat heading for the mainland. The sleeper boat is basically a boat that is full of very very very long beds that everyone sleeps on! we then got a minibus from one side of the mainland all the way across to phuket on the other side. Phuket is like a big city with a beach! Were flying to Kuala Lumpur Tonight and then spending a day there and then flying down to Singapore ready for heading off to Australia!
Tuesday 10 February 2009
Koh Phangan
We've spent the last 5 days or so on the island of Kph Phangan. Were staying in an 'appartment that is the most basic one that we have had to stay in so far! in the room it has a double matress on the floor and a fan in the corner and then all the bathroom has is a 'squatter' and a bucket of water to flush down - not even a sink!
Koh Pangan has been very cool for meeting lots and lots of new people as its where all the packpackers are so over the past week we have met 3 chilians, 1 sweed, 1 australian, 1 german, 1 mancunian, some russians, 1 canadian and some people from cheltnam (plus a load more!). The ones we get on best with are the chilians who are very cool, we chill out and play volleyball with them in the day and the have bought over some kind of chilian drink with them they always offer round in the evenings which is very tasty!
The other people that I get on very well with are Mrs and Mr T and there 11 year old kid John! they own the place we are staying at and I have a feeling they may want to adopt me! Mrs T plays pool against me at least 10 times a day and Mr T is very funny! There kid John never seems to go to school much so spends most days playing us at draughts (well we use beer bottle caps on a chess board but it does the job) which he is very good at! it confused us alot at first because they have different rules than us that we didnt understand so he kept beating us! we also play in the sea and football with him and his friends.Overall koh pangan has been the best place for meeting other people.
Tonight we have the ful moon party which is a gathering on one of the beaches where about 40,000 people go so it should be amazing!
Were off to Phuket tomorrow for a couple of days and then heading down to malasia and singapore and then our flight finally to australia!
Thats all for now,
Will x
Koh Pangan has been very cool for meeting lots and lots of new people as its where all the packpackers are so over the past week we have met 3 chilians, 1 sweed, 1 australian, 1 german, 1 mancunian, some russians, 1 canadian and some people from cheltnam (plus a load more!). The ones we get on best with are the chilians who are very cool, we chill out and play volleyball with them in the day and the have bought over some kind of chilian drink with them they always offer round in the evenings which is very tasty!
The other people that I get on very well with are Mrs and Mr T and there 11 year old kid John! they own the place we are staying at and I have a feeling they may want to adopt me! Mrs T plays pool against me at least 10 times a day and Mr T is very funny! There kid John never seems to go to school much so spends most days playing us at draughts (well we use beer bottle caps on a chess board but it does the job) which he is very good at! it confused us alot at first because they have different rules than us that we didnt understand so he kept beating us! we also play in the sea and football with him and his friends.Overall koh pangan has been the best place for meeting other people.
Tonight we have the ful moon party which is a gathering on one of the beaches where about 40,000 people go so it should be amazing!
Were off to Phuket tomorrow for a couple of days and then heading down to malasia and singapore and then our flight finally to australia!
Thats all for now,
Will x
Wednesday 4 February 2009
From the Jungle to the Beach
Since my last post we have down an awful lot but at the same time very little! Most of our days have consisted of laying on the white sand reading our books and every so often jumping into the sea - I'ts a hard life - but I seem to be adapting to it quite well!
After spending a few days in Chiang Mai right at the north of Thailand in the jungle we decided we shjould go right to the south of Thailand to the Islands - we thought we would do this by night train instead of flying as it would be more exciting.
The first train we got was 13 hours and that got us down as far as bangkok - we went by 1st class train as unfortunately they didn't have any second class tickets left - having to go first class isnt somethinf to moan about though! we had our own room for 4 of us and was served tasty food. The next morning we got into bangkok and spent the day there chilling in a park waiting for our next train that evening going to Surat Thani which is the nearest train station to the islands, this time we went second class which wasnt quite as smart but it met some nice people as we didnt have our own room - including a very crazy south african man who didn't do the south african population any justice with his antics!
We finally made it to Surat Thani early the next morning and that was when we needed to get a bus,boat and then taxi to our accomodation - probably the craziest transport I've been on - nothing was safe! we got there eventually though and we settled down into our beach bungalows on Ko Samui!
Our accomodation in Ko Samui was very cheap and right on the beach! We spent our days chilling in the days on the beach reading and cathing a bit of the sun. The sea was warm and because it was a steep incline into the sea you could dive straight into the sea from the beach and you would be out of your depth really quickly. I invested in a volley ball and a set of beach bat and balls quickly so they kept us entertained most of the time! We also tried out alot of the local resterants which was fun and the sea food is amazing by the islands because its all so fresh! On the last day before heading off to Koh Toa we decided to go Jet skiing! it was absolutely crazy! Tom and I were on one and matt and Josh on the other! It was very scary and alot of fun as you can pick up alot of speed!
The next day we headed off to koh Toa (thats where we are now) by boat nice and early in the morning. Koh Toa is the most amazing island ever! its really really small as one side of the island is only about 2 kilometers long. The biggest beach stretches down that side ofthe island and thats where we are staying. On the beach there is never normally more that about 30 people which is amazing! we bought some snorkelling stuff and if you go out about 20 meters into the water you can see loads and loads of fish all different sizes!
2 days ago we went on a snorkelling trip for the day all around the island. The first stop was shark bay where we did infact see sharks! There was about 5 more stops where we nemo fish and all other types of cool fish and some funky corals and it was amazing when your dived into the water and there were thousands of fish surrounding me. The final stop was at a place called japanese gardens which is 2 islands joined together by a sand bar.
Today Tom and Josh have gone scuba diving whilst me and matt take a day off from the stress and will chill out by the beach!
Hope all is well at home and I do apologise to the people that struggle to read alot at a time for the length of this post!
Will x
After spending a few days in Chiang Mai right at the north of Thailand in the jungle we decided we shjould go right to the south of Thailand to the Islands - we thought we would do this by night train instead of flying as it would be more exciting.
The first train we got was 13 hours and that got us down as far as bangkok - we went by 1st class train as unfortunately they didn't have any second class tickets left - having to go first class isnt somethinf to moan about though! we had our own room for 4 of us and was served tasty food. The next morning we got into bangkok and spent the day there chilling in a park waiting for our next train that evening going to Surat Thani which is the nearest train station to the islands, this time we went second class which wasnt quite as smart but it met some nice people as we didnt have our own room - including a very crazy south african man who didn't do the south african population any justice with his antics!
We finally made it to Surat Thani early the next morning and that was when we needed to get a bus,boat and then taxi to our accomodation - probably the craziest transport I've been on - nothing was safe! we got there eventually though and we settled down into our beach bungalows on Ko Samui!
Our accomodation in Ko Samui was very cheap and right on the beach! We spent our days chilling in the days on the beach reading and cathing a bit of the sun. The sea was warm and because it was a steep incline into the sea you could dive straight into the sea from the beach and you would be out of your depth really quickly. I invested in a volley ball and a set of beach bat and balls quickly so they kept us entertained most of the time! We also tried out alot of the local resterants which was fun and the sea food is amazing by the islands because its all so fresh! On the last day before heading off to Koh Toa we decided to go Jet skiing! it was absolutely crazy! Tom and I were on one and matt and Josh on the other! It was very scary and alot of fun as you can pick up alot of speed!
The next day we headed off to koh Toa (thats where we are now) by boat nice and early in the morning. Koh Toa is the most amazing island ever! its really really small as one side of the island is only about 2 kilometers long. The biggest beach stretches down that side ofthe island and thats where we are staying. On the beach there is never normally more that about 30 people which is amazing! we bought some snorkelling stuff and if you go out about 20 meters into the water you can see loads and loads of fish all different sizes!
2 days ago we went on a snorkelling trip for the day all around the island. The first stop was shark bay where we did infact see sharks! There was about 5 more stops where we nemo fish and all other types of cool fish and some funky corals and it was amazing when your dived into the water and there were thousands of fish surrounding me. The final stop was at a place called japanese gardens which is 2 islands joined together by a sand bar.
Today Tom and Josh have gone scuba diving whilst me and matt take a day off from the stress and will chill out by the beach!
Hope all is well at home and I do apologise to the people that struggle to read alot at a time for the length of this post!
Will x
Friday 23 January 2009
Chiang Mai
On Tuesday night we headed out of bankok by coach overnight up to the north int0 Chiang Mai, The bus was decorated all in pink and we all got pink plankets and pillows which was very exciting! we turned up to our guest house in chiang mai at 6 in the morning rather tired due to lack of sleep on the coach so we went to sleep until mid day and then got up and wondered round to check out where we are! We chilled out for the rest of the day wondering round markets and little shops.
On thursday we woke up nice and early as we headed off into the jungle for 2 days with a group of people to do lots of cool stuff. We had a 2 hour drive to get to the jungle and then went on a walk through the jungle to a waterfall for a swim which was alot of fun then kept on walking through until we ended up where we were staying the night. The people with us were very nice and we got on well. We had 2 Canadians, Dave and Claire, 2 French people, whos names they couldnt even pronounce let alone me and then finally a lady from some island in the carribean called sindie and finally our leader Singa who was a very funny man, he liked playing jokes on us by throughing stuff at us in the jungle pretending it was snakes of spiders! In the evening we chilled out in the jungle p[laying cards and sitting around the camp fire with the locals who were rather drunk picking up random instruments and playing them badly (we all joined in!), we then headed off to bed after a few beers.
The next day (today/friday) we went for a short walk in the morning and then drove to the elephant place where we went on elephants for an hour around down by the river which was very cool and rather scary at times when the elephant was walking on the cliff edge! We then went rafting down the river for an hour where we got very wet! After that we headed off to a tribe near by where we met the funniest tribe! there was a 65 year old lady that was about 3 ft tall that had the biggest smile on her face (although she only had 2 teeth left!). I asked how much it would cost to take her home and when they translated it to she was very excited so I think I may have made a new friend!
The two days were alot of fun and it was a good laugh chatting to the people from other countries like dave and claire that were a good laugh! (you'd better read this dave and claire as I've given you a good review!)
Were going to a tired zoo tomorrow where we get to hold baby tigers and stuff like that and then in a few days were heading off down to the south island by train to chill on the beaches!
Hope all is well,
Will x
On thursday we woke up nice and early as we headed off into the jungle for 2 days with a group of people to do lots of cool stuff. We had a 2 hour drive to get to the jungle and then went on a walk through the jungle to a waterfall for a swim which was alot of fun then kept on walking through until we ended up where we were staying the night. The people with us were very nice and we got on well. We had 2 Canadians, Dave and Claire, 2 French people, whos names they couldnt even pronounce let alone me and then finally a lady from some island in the carribean called sindie and finally our leader Singa who was a very funny man, he liked playing jokes on us by throughing stuff at us in the jungle pretending it was snakes of spiders! In the evening we chilled out in the jungle p[laying cards and sitting around the camp fire with the locals who were rather drunk picking up random instruments and playing them badly (we all joined in!), we then headed off to bed after a few beers.
The next day (today/friday) we went for a short walk in the morning and then drove to the elephant place where we went on elephants for an hour around down by the river which was very cool and rather scary at times when the elephant was walking on the cliff edge! We then went rafting down the river for an hour where we got very wet! After that we headed off to a tribe near by where we met the funniest tribe! there was a 65 year old lady that was about 3 ft tall that had the biggest smile on her face (although she only had 2 teeth left!). I asked how much it would cost to take her home and when they translated it to she was very excited so I think I may have made a new friend!
The two days were alot of fun and it was a good laugh chatting to the people from other countries like dave and claire that were a good laugh! (you'd better read this dave and claire as I've given you a good review!)
Were going to a tired zoo tomorrow where we get to hold baby tigers and stuff like that and then in a few days were heading off down to the south island by train to chill on the beaches!
Hope all is well,
Will x
Monday 19 January 2009
Bangkok
The flight was good and all went to plan - watched a couple of films and slept a little bit aswell - food was tasty and the air hostesses were up to scratch. We got to the hotel in the afternoon and dropped our bags off and wondered around the roads for a while get hasseled by every person we walked by! The smells as we went down the road were mad as one second you could smell fumes and the next you could smell tasty thai food that was being cooked by the side of the road. We went to our hotel for dinner and then headed off to bed.
Today, our first full day in bangkok started off with tom getting chased by a load of homeless people chucking bird food at him until he payed them money! we walked briskly on and took photos of him being attacked! We then headed off to the Grand Palace and Reclining buddah and a load of other Temple tings that were all gold and shiny! After this we went on a boat trip and a sky train to get to a huge shopping centre that was alot more modern and less pushy than the old part that we are staying.
We then headed off into a big park where we ended up in pedalos around a huge lake where we saw huge dragons (well very large lizards) bathing around the park which was very scary! This evening has envolved going to a crazy night market where we picked up a load of bargains (like superman t-shirts!) and all sorts! Were very much getting into the swing of haggling people until the give in a sell us something for very cheap!
Today, our first full day in bangkok started off with tom getting chased by a load of homeless people chucking bird food at him until he payed them money! we walked briskly on and took photos of him being attacked! We then headed off to the Grand Palace and Reclining buddah and a load of other Temple tings that were all gold and shiny! After this we went on a boat trip and a sky train to get to a huge shopping centre that was alot more modern and less pushy than the old part that we are staying.
We then headed off into a big park where we ended up in pedalos around a huge lake where we saw huge dragons (well very large lizards) bathing around the park which was very scary! This evening has envolved going to a crazy night market where we picked up a load of bargains (like superman t-shirts!) and all sorts! Were very much getting into the swing of haggling people until the give in a sell us something for very cheap!
Sunday 11 January 2009
We fly into Bangkok, then we will either fly or train it to chiang mai, hang around there for a bit. Then train it back, then we get the train to Surat Thani, and get the bus and ferry to Ko Samui island and then the bus back to Phuket. We then get the train all the way down to Kuala Lumpa and Singapore!
A Week On Saturday.....
When I say its a week on Saturday it seems extremely close. Everything seems to be getting together and I got enough wind-up torches for Christmas to power a city for a year it seemed! We also picked up our hoodies today which seemed a few weeks ago that we would never get because every company that we went to said they couldn't do it! Anyway, all there is to do now is pack my bag and get on the plane it seems! Although that does sound all too easy!
Where are we Going?
Thailand, Malasia and Singapore - 17th January - 16th February
Australia - 16th February - 18th March
New zealand - 18th March - 20th April
Fiji - 20th April - 08th May
Hawaii - 8th May - 18th May
Los Angeles - 18th May - 21st May
New York - 21st May - 26th May
Have to start somewhere.....
Thought the whole blog 'thing' has to start somewhere. The trip is getting closer - with 46 days to go (not that i'm counting). We booked tickets to see Coldplay in sydney this week which is very very exciting! and we have also now booked everything. Now we just have to wait for the fun times to begin!
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