Hotel Elisa Apia

... and is one of the few beaches on Upolu where the surf actually makes it to the shore. Most of the surf breaks up on the multitude of reefs that lie just off-shore, which can be a danger for surfers. After another swim, we headed back to Apia via the Cross Island Road, passing through the clouds as rain covered the mountains.

... wife and family went back to America and the estate became the property of the government. His step daughter did return to the island and is buried with Stevenson. Most of the people are very poor and live in small houses on stilts, although there are some lovely houses too so some people must have money. There are no cemetaries on the island and family members are buried in the garden. Some of the graves are very ...

... opened up to have no walls. With Liam, we chose to keep most down, and it was still great because we had a great breeze come through the hut. I set Liam's tent up on one of the mattresses and Birgit was on one side, and Matthias and I on the other. There was no electricity, and the bathrooms and showers were across the road in a public bathroom setting. We then snuggled up in our Fale under the mosquito netting and listened to the ...

... They gave us a tour round the house which was rebuilt due to a cyclone but was impressive never the less. After the tour round we were given a fresh coconut and there was some Samoan dancing. (they had put it on for the people of the cruise ship but we gate crashed). Eddy was doing a tour there so he came over and chatted to us for a bit. RLS tomb was at the top of a mountain called Mt vave (i think), so we decided to go have a look. OMG it was a ...

... might think to work on your tan here, dress codes and customs along with the risk of getting seriously BURNED makes the tan, well, lets say not really a tan, yet... I am however going to give the underwater world a chance. When we get to Savaii next week I hope to bye some snorkelling gear so that I can see for my self what the fuss is all about. A whole week at the white sandy beaches of the big island of Savaii, can't wait to get there!!! Take care now!

... to Wet and Wild, a pretty good water park but again it rained. The highlights of the day was seeing Amanda go down the Kamikaze sitting up straight, which panicked the lifeguard at the top of the slide and Shipley thinking he had won on the slide where you can race each other only to be given a false start. After that we decided to head straight down to Byron Bay. Which we had been told is everything Surfers is not.

but is sure as hell looks like it! As I left Byron Bay last Sunday, tears came to my eyes. A bunch of the Cheeky Monkey staff came to wish me goodbye and help me load my stuff onto the Oz Experience bus. Working at Cheeky Monkeys and settling in Byron Bay was easily one of the best things I've done while travelling. I got to know some amazing people from all over the world and from various walks of life. I will cherish those ...

On Tuesday we drove to Wet'n'Wild on the Gold Coast. It was quite a cold and wet day which we thought would be a good thing as we wouldn't get burnt or have to queue to long... how wrong were we?! First water slide of the day and we are stood in a queue with hundreds of lovely kids (on bloody school holidays!) and already our teeth are chattering because its pouring down and we are soaked... oh the fun! It worked out OK in the afternoon as we must ...

We flew up to Brisbane from Sydney and hired a car in Brisbane. We stayed at the Bunk which again was a really nice hostel, they are so much better than the ones I stayed in in South Africa. We went to Steve Irwins Zoo just outside of Brisbane, it was a really good day out, they had a snake show, tiger show, crocodile show & bird show. We also got to feed the kangaroos & stroke ...

The next leg of our southern exploration began at Airlie Beach, gateway to the 74 beautiful islands which sit a few kilometres from the mainland and make up the Whitsunday Islands. Protected from development by their National Park status, the islands offer some of the most spectacular natural scenery in Australia and so it is no surprise that thousands of tourists like us flock here every year to spend a few days sailing around their crystal shores. After a hefty night ...